Read Granted: A Family for Baby Online
Authors: Carol Grace
Granted: A Family for Baby (6 page)
There was a long silence as the tension grew and became a barrier between them. She sat stiffly, wedged against the passenger door. He drove slowly down Main Street, afraid he’d hurt her feelings, more afraid she’d noticed the effect she had on him.
“Hey, how about stopping for dinner at the diner?” he suggested casually as if nothing had happened. “Monday night, pot roast. I owe you.”
“No, thanks.”
“Okay,” he said, as if it didn’t matter. But it did. He didn’t want to eat alone. Though he never ate alone in
the diner. He always ran into somebody he knew. But somebody wasn’t Suzy. He wanted to eat with Suzy.
the diner. He always ran into somebody he knew. But somebody wasn’t Suzy. He wanted to eat with Suzy.
Maybe it was better this way. Better to get her out of his car, out of his after-work life before his libido started acting up again. He pulled up in front of her house and before he could move, she’d jumped out, lifted Travis out of the car seat and hurried up the front steps. He followed, carrying the car seat.
Her phone was ringing. She unlocked the door, and he dumped the car seat on the front porch, intending to leave immediately. But before he left he heard her say, “Hello, Allan,” and he froze. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Like hell he didn’t. He stood there, shamelessly listening.
“Dinner...tonight?” she said.
Before he heard her answer, before he lost his cool, walked in there, yanked the phone out of her hand and yelled “No,” into the receiver, he stomped back to his car, where he kicked the tire before he got in and went to the diner by himself.
Chapter Four
S
uzy didn’t want to go anywhere. Not with Allan, not with anyone. Brady had never been the easiest person to get along with, but the way he’d reacted to her touch, to an innocent gesture, made her feel as if she had a contagious disease that he was afraid he’d catch. Then, as if he felt sorry for her, he’d asked her to dinner. Well, she didn’t intend to be a charity case. Not for him, not for anybody. Allan was still on the line. Waiting for her answer.
uzy didn’t want to go anywhere. Not with Allan, not with anyone. Brady had never been the easiest person to get along with, but the way he’d reacted to her touch, to an innocent gesture, made her feel as if she had a contagious disease that he was afraid he’d catch. Then, as if he felt sorry for her, he’d asked her to dinner. Well, she didn’t intend to be a charity case. Not for him, not for anybody. Allan was still on the line. Waiting for her answer.
“Are you still there?” he asked.
“Still here,” she said. “But I’m afraid I can’t go. I can’t get a baby-sitter. Not on this short notice.”
“Bring him along,” Allan said.
Suzy hesitated for a moment. Only a man who loved children would say bring him along. So maybe Allan wasn’t the most exciting man in the world. She reminded herself she wasn’t looking for exciting. She was looking for reliable, trustworthy, dependable. Maybe
she should give Allan another chance. With Travis. And with herself. She told him she could be ready in an hour.
she should give Allan another chance. With Travis. And with herself. She told him she could be ready in an hour.
It took her that long to take a shower, give Travis a bath, and find clean clothes for both of them. Allan was wearing chinos and a casual sweater tonight, looking more relaxed than the last time. Where did he live? What did he do? Had she been so uninterested she hadn’t even asked?
“Where are you from?” she asked after she’d buckled Travis into the back seat of Allan’s rented sport utility vehicle.
“I’m from L.A., but I live in Utah now,” he said. “Near Park City. Best skiing in the world. Do you ski?”
“No.”
“Lived in Harmony a long time?”
“All my life.”
“Nice little town,” he said, but she picked up a trace of condescension in his voice.
“Good place to raise kids,” she said.
He glanced at Travis in his rearview mirror. “I would have taken you to the Mirabeau,” he said referring to the only “fancy” restaurant in the area, three miles out of town on the highway. “But with your son, maybe we’d be better stick to the diner.”
Suzy’s heart stopped for a millisecond. “The diner?” she said. What if Brady was still there?
“Why not? It looks like a real authentic diner. Not one of those phony new ones that tries too hard and comes off looking...phony.”
“It’s authentic all right,” she murmured. “Especially if you like pot roast.”
“My personal favorite,” he assured her.
Suzy told herself Brady would be gone by now. And
if he wasn’t? She was under no obligation to accept the first dinner invitation that came her way. Especially since he was only trying to make up for treating her like a leper. So what if he saw her come in with Allan. He knew she was looking for a husband. He knew she couldn’t afford to turn anyone down.
if he wasn’t? She was under no obligation to accept the first dinner invitation that came her way. Especially since he was only trying to make up for treating her like a leper. So what if he saw her come in with Allan. He knew she was looking for a husband. He knew she couldn’t afford to turn anyone down.
Then why did her pulse race as they approached the diner? Why did her eyes scan the street for his car and her heart pound when Allan held the door open for her and Travis? As if she was guilty of some heinous crime.
Everything seemed to stop as she walked in. Dottie, the waitress, paused with a tray on her shoulder. Two ranchers at the cash register stopped talking. Even the old jukebox was suddenly silent. The man in the corner booth turned his head and their eyes met for long moment. Brady. She should have known. She should have known he’d stare at her the way he stared at guilty cattle rustlers. She raised her chin a notch and stared back. She wasn’t guilty of anything. His booth was crowded with his friends. He turned back to them and never looked over again. She might have been a gnat, for all he cared.
Allan, unused to authentic diner atmosphere, didn’t notice anything was amiss. He commandeered a table and Dottie brought Travis a high chair. Suzy buried her face behind the menu, studying it as if it was a guide to the meaning of life, as if she hadn’t memorized it in all these years.
Allan ordered a glass of wine. He tasted it and made a face. It was apparently not the right vintage. Then he ordered the pot roast and that’s when things really started to go downhill. They were out of pot roast.
“How can you be out of pot roast when it’s your special?” he asked Dottie petulantly.
“Sorry, hon,” she said, snapping her gum. “How about the veal chops?”
“I don’t eat veal,” he said.
“On account of your religion?” she asked.
“It has nothing to do with my religion,” he said. “I’ll have the tuna salad.”
“That’s on the lunch menu,” Dottie informed him.
Allan exhaled loudly and Travis wrinkled his face into a frown. Suzy unwrapped a package of crackers and handed him one. He threw it on the floor. Good-humoredly, Allan picked it up. Travis threw it down again. Allan picked it up, this time not so good-humoredly. The next time, Suzy picked it up and put it on the table out of the baby’s reach. Travis screamed. All heads turned in their direction, including Brady’s. Suzy gave Travis back his cracker and avoided Brady’s penetrating gaze. But Travis didn’t. He swiveled his head and caught Brady’s eye. He opened his mouth and screamed, “Da-da.”
Brady waved and Suzy’s cheeks flamed. She wanted to hide under the table.
Tired of waiting, Dottie went back to the kitchen and they were stuck in never-never land.
“It was the dinner from hell,” Suzy told Tally on the phone later that night. “Poor Allan. He left an extra-large tip to make up for the mess Travis made. Crumbs all over the floor. And he never got any pot roast. I’ll bet that’s the last time he’ll wax nostalgic over authentic small-town diners. Or take a one-year-old to dinner.”
“Or take on the sheriff in arm-wrestling,” Tally added.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” Suzy said. “I told him Brady never loses. But he insisted. He didn’t believe
me. ‘Just a little friendly competition,’ he said. How’s his wrist, anyway?”
me. ‘Just a little friendly competition,’ he said. How’s his wrist, anyway?”
“Just a mild sprain. Nothing that will prevent him from taking off for Utah tomorrow,” Tally assured her. “I’m just sorry it turned out so badly. For everyone.”
“Not for Brady,” Suzy noted. “He seemed to be having a great time for all the noise he and his friends were making. Shaking dice. Arm wrestling. All that male macho stuff. It was no place for an outsider.” She didn’t mention the “Da-da” incident. She was trying her best to forget it.
“You warned him,” Tally said. “How’s your mom?”
“She’s better. Well enough to take Travis tomorrow. So call me at work if you come to town. We’ll have lunch.”
Suzy dreaded going to work the next day. Didn’t know what to say to Brady. She needn’t have worried. It was as if yesterday had never happened. None of it. The lunch at her house, the ride out to the Gentry ranch, the cattle in the road, the dinner she didn’t go to with him, or the arm wrestling.
That’s what made him such a good sheriff. The ability to put aside the past and move on to the next step. He looked up briefly when she came in the door, but made no cutting remark about her being late. Didn’t tease her about her quest for a husband, or nag her about ordering more signs.
Was he mad, sad, upset or just indifferent? She sat down at her desk and stared at her appointment book. The next few weeks until the election were packed full of events, a spaghetti dinner in the church basement, a coffee at the Dunwoodys and the barn dance. She just
had to endure being his secretary until he won, and then she’d leave.
had to endure being his secretary until he won, and then she’d leave.
Which reminded her to order champagne for the victory party. She picked up the phone and ordered streamers, too. Might as well go all out.
He heard her. “What are those for?” he shouted from his office.
“For the celebration,” she shouted back.
He opened her door and leaned against the doorjamb, his broad shoulders filling the doorway. A shock of dark hair fell over his forehead. Her fingers itched, wanting to sift through his hair again, massage his shoulders and hear him moan deep in his throat again. She knotted her fingers together and willed her heart to stop its erratic drumming.
“You’ll be celebrating whether I win or lose,” he said. There was a bitterness in his tone he couldn’t hide.
“How do you mean?”
“You’re leaving,” he said flatly. “Unless you’ve already found Daddy Right.”
“No, of course not.”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Two dates in a row with what’s-his-name.”
She pursed her lips together to keep from saying something she’d regret. “When I find him, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Spare me,” he said. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
Puzzled, she drew her eyebrows together. “I thought you’d be happy for me.”
“I thought so, too. But I don’t like it, you throwing yourself away on some yokel.”
“There are other people in the diner besides yokels,” she said.
“Yeah, like amateur pilots. Did Travis like him?”
“I didn’t ask Travis.” She knew he was thinking that Travis didn’t call Allan “Da-da.” He’d reserved that name for Brady. But he didn’t say it, he just stood there, leaning against the woodwork, exuding pent-up energy and filling her office with sexual tension. She used to think she understood him, but not anymore. She didn’t know what he was going to do or what she wanted him to do.
Restless, she got to her feet. “I’m going out to put up Brady for Sheriff signs in front of houses. I’ve got a big list of supporters who’ve agreed to let me post the signs.” She took a hammer from her bottom drawer and went to the door. He stayed where he was, blocking the doorway. “Do you mind,” she asked, stopping just short of bumping into him.
“Yes, I mind. I mind your blowing me off for dinner last night I mind being your baby-sitter when you go out with other men. I mind most of all when you look like that.”
“Like what?”
Her eyes were wide and innocent as if she had no idea what he meant. But her lips were soft and inviting and only inches from his. He felt the heat from her body, smelled the scent that clung to her skin. “Like you want to be kissed.”
She gasped. “That’s ridiculous. Brady, get out of my way.”
“I’m not moving. Come any closer and I’ll have to take action.”
“Action? You’ll take action?” she sputtered. She put one hand against his chest to push him out of the way, still gripping the hammer in her other hand. “You wouldn’t dare.”
That was all he needed to push him over the edge.
He didn’t answer. He kissed her. A hard, possessive kiss. He had no choice. She dared him. She drove him to it. He felt the shock waves hit her body. He heard her sharp intake of breath. Then her lips softened and molded to his and she kissed him back. One hand, instead of pushing him away, took a handful of shirt and pulled him closer, and she kissed him again. Tasting, testing...and in one moment, their relationship underwent a drastic change, from boss-employee, from colleagues, friends...to something else entirely.
He didn’t answer. He kissed her. A hard, possessive kiss. He had no choice. She dared him. She drove him to it. He felt the shock waves hit her body. He heard her sharp intake of breath. Then her lips softened and molded to his and she kissed him back. One hand, instead of pushing him away, took a handful of shirt and pulled him closer, and she kissed him again. Tasting, testing...and in one moment, their relationship underwent a drastic change, from boss-employee, from colleagues, friends...to something else entirely.
Her mouth was so soft, so unbelievably sweet. Her body meshed with his as if they were made for each other.
He slid his arms down her back and pulled her even closer, hearing his heart hammer against his chest. Feeling his body respond, he knew he should quit while he was ahead. Instead he nibbled gently on her bottom lip. Her lips parted and he slipped his tongue inside. So deep, so rich, so mysterious. He’d known her for years and yet he’d never known her. Never known she would respond like this to him. Never known he’d respond to her. Not like this. Like he’d gone out of control. Like he wanted to shut the door to her office and sweep her up into his arms....
The phone rang. She jerked out of his arms. And dropped the hammer on his toe. He howled. She answered the phone.
“Yes, sure. I’m on my way.” She picked up the hammer and brushed past him on her way out the door, flushed, disheveled and breathing hard.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Out,” she said. And she was gone.
Suzy marched down the street, eyes staring straight ahead, cheeks burning. At the first house, the Mc-Clearys’,
she stopped, picked up the Brady sign leaning against their front gate and like a robot, hammered it into the hard dirt next to the front porch.
she stopped, picked up the Brady sign leaning against their front gate and like a robot, hammered it into the hard dirt next to the front porch.
And while she was hammering, she was muttering under her breath. “Idiot, you idiot. What is wrong with you? Kissing your boss in the middle of the day, in the middle of your office? Haven’t you learned anything in the past two years?” The answer was obviously no. She was just as stupid now as she was then. Making bad choices. He was not the right man for her. And she was a woman with a history of falling for the wrong man.
Fortunately she hadn’t fallen for Brady. Not really. She’d kissed him, yes, but that was all. It could be explained and forgotten, swept under the rug. They could go on as they were. After all, it was just a matter of weeks and it would all be over—the election and their working together.
She stood on the sidewalk and observed her work. The sign was crooked just like Brady’s smile. She tore her gaze from his image on the sign. Why did he have to be so good-looking, why did he have to taste so good, be so strong, and such a good kisser. Damn, damn, damn.
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