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She took a deep breath and watched him stride around to the driver’s door, hop in, then turn the key in the ignition. The truck’s engine started with a roar.
He muttered something under his breath and pulled out of the parking lot while she was still struggling to find her seat belt. Holding the shoulder strap, Jolie dug down behind the seat to locate the buckle.
Suddenly his big warm hand slid along her hip and fished the fastener out from behind the seat.
She felt a zing of sensation where he’d touched her, then immediately chided herself.
He was married.
And she had sworn off men.
She murmured a quick thank-you. Hoping he couldn’t see her face flush, she managed to connect the two ends of the belt.
The silence in the cab grew until Jolie couldn’t stand it anymore. “Is your home very far?”
He shifted on the seat and shrugged one shoulder. “Nope.”
Jolie waited for more of an explanation, but apparently that was his whole answer. She’d have to try another subject. “Mr. Price, how many children do you have?”
He cleared his throat. “Griff.”
Jolie turned to look at him. “I beg your pardon?”
“My name is Griff. There’s one child.”
Jolie nodded and waited for him to give her more information. He stared straight ahead at the road.
Her annoyance grew until after a few moments she decided one of them needed to show some manners, so she tried again. “Griff, is your child a boy or a girl?”
“Boy.”
Jolie struggled to hold on to her temper. He acted like she was charging him by the word. “How old is your son?”
He started to answer when a ringing phone interrupted them.
He reached inside his jacket and pulled a cellular phone out of his shirt pocket.
Turning her head just a little, Jolie studied him in the gathering gloom. His expression darkened as he listened intently to whoever was on the other end of the line.
Scowling, he glanced at the clock set in the dashboard. “When?” he barked into the phone, tightening his grip on the instrument.
His intensity made her uncomfortable. The man certainly didn’t believe in wasting time on conversation. Or manners. Jolie was accustomed to polite small talk, no matter how meaningless.
“Take care of that now.” He barked into the phone.
Jolie shifted her gaze to stare out the window at the empty country and the sapphire sky as she listened to his one-word questions and answers. The landscape that had seemed beautiful and wild a few hours ago now appeared barren. She fought down the urge to ask him to take her back to the diner.
Don’t be a fool, she thought. She was going to be courageous. Besides, she didn’t have any options. She was starting to realize how easy her life had been when she’d let others make her decisions for her.
She chanted her new mantra to herself. Courage, I live with courage. And because of that courage, she had her first job. She had wanted to work right after college, but her father had always had a reason she should wait. A trip, a charity ball to organize, overseeing the redecoration of the house.
Griff turned off the main road. She glanced at him and decided she wouldn’t let a little surliness get her down. She’d just have to work on those clever comebacks that always occurred to her an hour after she needed them.
She could see a house in the distance, sitting on a broad expanse of open plain. The huge building behind the house was probably a barn. Didn’t ranches have barns?
She thought of a dozen questions, but when she glanced at Griff, who stabbed at the power button on his phone as if he was killing a venomous insect, she decided not to waste her breath.
She’d talk to Mrs. Price.
As he parked behind a small, battered, blue compact car, Jolie stared at the enchanting yellow-and-white Victorian house, complete with wraparound porch and gabled roof, and hid a smile.
The big sour cowboy who had driven her in from Billings did not belong in such an enchanting home. It looked too feminine and had too much charm. His wife must be a lovely woman.
Without a word he opened the driver’s door and climbed out, then hauled her suitcase out of the back.
Jolie opened her door and slid out of the truck, following Griff up the front steps. She stepped through the open door and almost bumped into an old woman in the entry hall.
The woman jammed an ancient black pillbox hat with torn netting over her gray hair while she scolded Griff Price. “About time you got back. Now I got to drive in the dark.”
She thrust a lethal-looking hat pin through the battered crown of her hat and glared up at him.
She glanced at Jolie. “Baby’s asleep.” Without saying another word, she headed out the door.
Baby? For some reason Jolie had pictured an older child. She watched the woman march down the steps and get in the blue car.
By this time Jolie was not the least bit surprised not to get an introduction.
Just as the old woman was closing her car door, Griff hollered down to her. “Hey, Margie, did that feed supplier call?”
Jolie spun around to stare at Griff Price. That was Margie?
Chapter Two
So much for making assumptions, Jolie thought. Obviously Margie was not Griff Price’s wife.
Jolie tore her surprised look away from Griff and looked back to see Margie, driving like someone qualifying for the Indy 500, head out to the main road in a cloud of dust.
Not meeting her eye, Griff took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. “She was in a hurry.”
Jolie choked back a sarcastic remark. He turned to go back out the door, as if that was all the information Jolie needed.
Was he just going to leave her standing here? She stepped in front of him, grabbing the sleeve of his sheepskin jacket, blocking his path. “Wait a minute. Where are you going?”
He stared at her for a moment with those sky-blue eyes, then shook her hand off his arm and ran his hands tiredly over his face. “I told you. I have stock that needs tending.”
Confused, Jolie looked around. “Is your wife here?”
His face hardened into a scowl. “No wife.”
Jolie’s hand dropped to her side, and she eyed the big cowboy. Now a few of the pieces of the puzzle that hadn’t made sense fell into place.
She suspected she knew why he was acting so rude. His wife had left him with their child. He was hurting and he covered it up with anger. How many times had she watched her father do the same thing?
“I’m sorry.” It sounded trite, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Don’t be.” He said curtly and shrugged one shoulder as if he wanted her to think it didn’t bother him. Abruptly he turned toward the stairs. “I’ll show you the baby’s room.”
She followed him, her heels clicking on the bare wood of the stairs. He stopped at an open door and gestured for her to go ahead of him.
The only light in the room came from the hall. Jolie could see a crib in the corner and assumed Griff’s son was asleep. Then, as her eyes became accustomed to the gloom, she saw movement in the small bed.
Jolie turned to ask Griff the child’s name, and the words died on her lips.
He was gone.
He had left her standing alone in the doorway, with no information about his son. Jolie felt the outrage grow inside her.
How could he leave her standing here without even bothering to give her the baby’s name? Angry or not, the man needed to pull himself together for the sake of his child.
Jolie flipped the light switch. The baby boy sat quietly in the corner of his crib, staring at her, his big blue eyes blinking against the sudden light. He had a head of blond curls and was going to grow up to look just like his daddy.
Jolie hoped he ended up with a better disposition.
“Well hello there, little guy,” she said.
Staying where she was for a moment, she smiled at the child, afraid to approach too quickly and frighten him. She knew some babies were afraid of strangers.
He was about the size of her cousin’s youngest child, so she guessed he must be about ten months old. “Did you just wake up?”
Jolie took her jacket off and laid it over the back of a chair. “My name is Jolie.”
Slowly she moved into the middle of the room, then stopped about five feet from the battered crib. “I don’t know your name because your daddy had to leave in a hurry.” And he’s a handsome, rude man, she added to herself.
The baby sat motionless, staring at her with his big blue eyes.
“So this is your room. I don’t know where I’m supposed to sleep.” The baby’s room contained just the crib, an old wooden dresser and a single bed with a bare mattress.
No toys or stuffed animals littered the room. Griff’s housekeeper must be a very tidy woman. “Where’s all your stuff?”
The baby didn’t move or change his facial expression at her inane conversation. He just continued to stare at her. She moved a little closer to the bed and watched him watching her.
“Are you ready to get up?” Jolie had no idea if he was waking from a nap, or had been put down for the night. She took another step toward the bed, feeling as though she was in the middle of a one-person, red-light-green-light game.
When he showed no signs of being alarmed by her presence, Jolie moved all the way to the bars of the crib. He was dressed in a blanket sleeper, and she could tell from where she stood that he needed a fresh diaper.
“How about we get you cleaned up and go find your daddy. I have some things I need to say to him,” she said, not allowing her annoyance to show in her voice.
It wasn’t the baby’s fault that his father had no manners.
She lowered the side of the crib and reached in to get him. He allowed her to pick him up, and when she lifted him up against her chest, he put his head on her shoulder and wound his arms around her neck, then gave what sounded like a little sigh as he nestled into her body.
Jolie felt her heart turn over. In that instant she fell in love with a little boy whose name she didn’t even know.
Jolie sat at the dining room table, her temper simmering just below the boiling point. Holding the quiet baby in her lap with one hand and, with the other, folding clean baby clothes she had discovered in the dryer, she waited for Griff Price to return.
Where was he? Didn’t people who worked on a ranch quit when the sun went down? It had been dark for hours.
She slapped a tiny shirt down on the shiny tabletop. “There’s no excuse for the way he walked out on me,” she said to the baby, careful to use a cheerful conversational tone that masked her feelings.
“Leaving you with a stranger.” Tossing the shirt into the basket, she yanked a faded sleeper out of the small pile.
She kissed the top of his head. “He didn’t say ten words to me on the way here from the diner.”
Jolie took a deep breath, trying to relax, then nuzzled the tumble of clean curls on the baby’s crown. “How does he know I can be trusted with you?”
If he were her little boy she’d never leave him with someone she didn’t know.
She’d given him his bath, fed him, and he was now ready to be put to bed. Together they had explored the house while she’d waited for her employer to return.
No matter how busy Griff claimed to be, the man should have been home early enough to spend some time with his son. She knew from her training nothing mattered more than the early bonding between a parent and child.
That was why she had spent so much time with her cousin’s children when they traveled and left them in the care of their nanny for weeks at a time.
She assumed this little boy’s mother had already deserted him. If she lived nearby, Jolie reasoned, the ex-wife would be caring for her son. Griff wouldn’t have had to hire Jolie.
Jolie’s thoughts shifted to the child she held. She was worried about the baby. He was too quiet.
He didn’t try to crawl, and he didn’t reach for things. He just watched her and clung to her when she picked him up. He didn’t laugh or vocalize in any way.
Maybe it was because she was a stranger. Tomorrow, when he was used to her, he would probably be more active.
She glanced around the dining room. Something was not right about the home environment, either. Earlier, as she’d wandered through the house getting acquainted with the place, she’d felt uneasy.
The wonderful old Victorian was clean and extremely tidy, but there were no homey touches, no warmth. Nothing that hinted at the people who lived here. As if the clutter of everyday life, the things that told something about the residents, was not allowed to accumulate.
It bothered her. Not for Griff Price’s sake. Whatever had made him such a closed-off grouch was his problem. Jolie’s concern was all for the baby she held in her arms.
As she waited, she smoothed her hand over the little boy’s fuzzy blanket sleeper and enjoyed the weight and warmth of him as he settled back against her lap. “I have some questions for your daddy.”
He turned his head and looked up at her with his big blue eyes. “I don’t even know your name.” Jolie stroked the soft skin of his little cheek.
“I’m not even sure where your daddy wants me to sleep.” She stroked his cheek again, and his eyelids blinked sleepily.
There was a bedroom next to the baby’s room, but she didn’t want to presume. After glancing into bedrooms, she couldn’t even tell which room Griff slept in. Her suitcase still sat at the bottom of the stairs in the entryway.
Jolie turned the baby so he lay in the crook of her arm, and confided her anxiety at facing Griff Price with her questions. “Confrontation has never been my strong suit.”
She chanted her new mantra for him. “I live with courage. Catchy, isn’t it? For the next few weeks I’m going to take care of you, even if it means getting in your daddy’s face.”
Jolie discarded the idea Griff thought her so efficient she didn’t need any guidelines. She suspected he had simply not bothered to tell her.
Did he expect her to do other work besides caring for the baby? There was no evidence of an evening meal. In fact, there was little food in the refrigerator. Before discovering baby clothes in the dryer, she wondered what the little guy would wear tomorrow.
The baby’s head nodded against her arm, and she turned him and hoisted him up against her shoulder. He nuzzled into the curve of her neck, his little body relaxed as he slid into sleep. She stroked his back and fell a little more in love with him.
The longer Griff Price took to come home, the madder she got.
She continued to rub the baby’s back. If she wasn’t desperate for a job and a place to stay, she would demand he take her back to town the minute he walked in the door.
As soon as she had the thought she realized she was kidding herself. She couldn’t leave until she straightened this man out about the way he was raising his son.
His cows seemed to mean more to him than his child.
Griff Price’s behavior was inexcusable.
The back door slammed, jerking her out of her thoughts. She looked up and spotted Griff coming through the door that led to the mudroom. He stopped at the kitchen sink, his broad back to her.
Jolie got up, holding the sleeping baby on her shoulder as she strode into the kitchen to give the man a piece of her mind.
He stood, his tall frame hunched over the sink, washing his hands. In the short time since she had met him she had forgotten what a big man he was.
He turned to look at her, surprise plain on his face. “Evening.”
Had he forgotten she was in the house? She cleared her throat and said in a low voice, “Actually, it’s past evening.”
He stared at her for a moment, then his glance slid briefly over his son, as if trying to place who they were. Finally he looked past her, over her shoulder.
What was he doing, checking the dark house to see if there was anyone else there he might have forgotten?
Jolie took a deep breath and reached for her courage, determined to pin him down. “Mr. Price, I have some questions I need answered now.”
His expression became shuttered so quickly she blinked at the change in him.
He shifted his glance away from her face. “Okay. I’m listening.” He picked a towel up off the counter to dry his hands.
Jolie put a protective hand up to cradle the sleeping child’s head, as if contact with the baby could keep her focused on what she planned to say to him. “You left without telling me the baby’s name or anything about him.”
“His name is Riley.” Griff seemed to be searching his mind for something else to say. “He’s ten months old.”
She watched him focus on something behind her again, and his shoulders slumped in a defeated movement as he leaned his hips against the cabinet. “You’re leaving.”
Jolie glanced over her shoulder and saw that he stared at her suitcase. “Oh, no. I’m staying. My suitcase is there because you didn’t bother to tell me which room is mine.”
She couldn’t leave.
Not just because she didn’t have any money.
Griff Price needed her, whether he realized it or not. And for a lot more than changing his son’s diapers. His expression told her how badly he thought he needed her, and he didn’t know the half of it.
No one had ever needed Jolie before, not like this.
She would stay, not for him, but for the precious little boy asleep in her arms. She hadn’t missed the fact he hadn’t taken even a moment to ask after his child.
“We need to talk.” She suspected before long he would regret he hadn’t taken her back to town tonight.
Griff let out a sigh as he watched the stubborn set of Jolie Carleton’s sweet little chin. Still fighting his headache, he thought sourly, was there a phrase he hated more than we need to talk?
He eyed the beautiful, frazzled-looking woman standing there holding his nephew. In the few hours since he had met her he had tried to forget what a fine-looking woman she was.
Griff eyed the set of her jaw and knew before the words were out of his mouth he would regret asking. “About what?”
Her lovely mouth dropped open as if he had asked an astounding question. She caught herself gaping at him and closed her jaw with a snap of perfect white teeth.
Taking a deep breath, she glanced down at Riley, then hissed at Griff. “About your responsibilities, Mr. Price.”
Well, he had a million of those, that was for sure. “What responsibilities would those be?”
Her pale fine skin flushed. “This baby!”
She was no longer trying to keep her voice down. Riley jerked awake, his head coming off her shoulder.
Griff didn’t want to talk about his nephew. Not tonight. If she had just kept her voice down, Riley would still be asleep.
He skewered her with a look designed to intimidate. “Wrong, Ms. Carleton. I hired you to take care of Riley. He’s your responsibility.”
Griff turned away from the dumbfounded look on her face, crossed through the house to the stairs and picked up her bag.
He didn’t want to explain anything. Talking about the baby would lead to talking about his wife and his brother. That was a subject he didn’t plan to cover, especially with a stranger.
He needed some aspirin and a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow would be another too-full day. He’d still be out on the range tonight if the moon hadn’t set.
As he got to the top of the stairs he heard her determined footsteps just behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and held back another sigh as he watched her march up the stairs.
She looked like a woman with a mission. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she hadn’t liked his answer.
That scowl he had used on her downstairs worked on his hired hands but didn’t seem to phase Jolie Carleton.
Save me from crusading females, Griff thought as he put her suitcase just inside the door of the bedroom next to the baby’s room. He straightened up and braced himself for another round.
She sailed past him without a word, stepped into Riley’s room and closed the door firmly behind her.
Surprised to find, in spite of his headache, he was a little disappointed she hadn’t faced him down again, he stood and stared at the closed door.
He had no intention of telling her about Deirdre or Jake, but he had enjoyed the flush on her cheeks and the flash of anger that ruffled her composed exterior.
In the diner she had come across as cool and collected. With all that temper simmering below the surface, she might prove to be more passionate than he had first supposed.
Standing out in the hall, he heard her walking back and forth across the bare wood floor, murmuring to Riley.
Griff continued to stare at the closed door as he wondered what it would be like to peel the fragile silk of her blouse off and see all that fine pale skin turn rosy with arousal. His body reacted to the thought, and he smiled.
This just might turn out to be an interesting couple of weeks.
He could hear her through the door, still muttering to the baby. Griff rubbed his hand over the tired muscles of his neck. He was pretty sure the discussion regarding his responsibilities wasn’t over.
When a woman said she wanted to talk to a man, it meant she talked until she got the man to agree.
Tired as he was, he found himself looking forward to tomorrow night.
Chapter Three
After spending less than twenty-four hours with Riley, Jolie was concerned about the little guy. Maybe he was coming down with something, but he was too quiet.
She needed to talk to Griff tonight. It was already well past dark and Griff Price had not returned to the house. He had left before she’d awakened this morning. Now Riley was almost ready for bed, so that meant a whole day with no contact between father and son.
She suspected Griff was staying away so he wouldn’t have to talk to her.
It was her fault. She should have stayed calm last night instead of closing the door in his face, but she had been so angry she would have said things he wasn’t ready to hear.
He thought the baby was her responsibility. His announcement had told her a lot. Could he actually think he didn’t need to have contact with his son at this point in the child’s life? That a temporary baby-sitter could take the place of both parents?
Into a bowl she put fresh greens from the garden outside the mudroom and glanced down at Riley, who sat quietly on an old towel in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Although Riley watched her all the time, he didn’t make sounds or smile. Jolie knew his eyesight and hearing were okay, she had given him some basic tests and he had responded by following her movements and turning to sounds.
She put the greens aside and took two wooden spoons out of a crock by the stove, placing them on the towel beside the baby.
“Pick them up, Riley. They’re for you. It’s okay to touch them.” She smiled at him, encouraging him with a nod of her head.
Riley looked at the spoons, then back up at her. He didn’t reach for the utensils, just continued to watch her.
She waited for a few moments, and when he didn’t move, she found a set of metal measuring spoons in a drawer, gave them a shake so they all clanked together, then laid them beside the other spoons.
“Don’t they make a fun noise?” she cooed, and bent over him, giving them another shake. “Take them.”
As she dangled the spoons, his gaze lingered for a moment longer on them, then returned to her face. This time she noticed his fingers opened and closed, but he still didn’t reach out.
She laid them down on the towel beside him. “When you’re ready, you pick them up.”
As Jolie returned to dinner preparation, the suspicion that something might be wrong emotionally with Riley tore at her heart.
She had no idea how to tell Griff that she suspected a problem. Her greatest apprehension was that Griff might not care. Could he be that detached from his own child? Or did he already suspect that something might be wrong, and he couldn’t accept a less than perfect child?