Claire reached for Levi, but all she got was a hand full of blanket. Her eyes popped open to see him leading the calf out of the stall toward the door. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Levi returned without the calf and eased down beside her. “Don’t know what happened with that calf, but her mama came to claim her. She’s in the corral right now, and Nomie is having breakfast.”
“Does that happen often?” Claire asked.
“Never seen it before. When they reject them, we have to raise them on the bottle,” he answered.
Zaylie sat up and yawned. “Where’s Nomie?”
“Her mama came back to get her.”
“Okay.” Zaylie raised her arms and stretched. “But can we still go see her sometimes?”
“Of course you can,” Levi assured her. “Nomie will be in the corral for several days or maybe longer. She and Little Bit will probably become good friends, and you can come and see both of them.”
Zaylie kicked back the blanket. “I’m hungry, Aunt Claire. I want biscuits and gravy this mornin’.”
“Oh, you do?” Claire raised an eyebrow.
“Please, Aunt Claire.” Zaylie sighed. “Can we have biscuits and gravy? I’ll help you make it.”
Levi nudged her shoulder. “I’d be willin’ to help too. But first I need a cup of good strong black coffee. How about you?”
“Yes.” Claire got to her feet. “You goin’ to drive us home?”
“For biscuits and gravy, I’ll drive you anywhere you want to go, darlin’,” he answered.
“Yay!” Zaylie was on her feet and running toward the barn doors. “And can we have banana muffins too?”
“Don’t push your luck, young lady,” Claire called after her.
“She’s an amazing kid.” Levi laid a hand on Claire’s shoulder. “You and your brother have done a good job with her. Someday I want to have a whole house full of sassy little girls just like her.”
“No sons?” Claire asked.
“Maybe half a dozen of each.” He grinned.
“You better get a wife who don’t mind bein’ pregnant for about fifteen or twenty years,” she said.
He opened the truck door for her. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and have two at a time.”
A cold shiver shot down her spine as she thought of someone as short as she was carrying twins. Lord, she’d look like she’d swallowed an elephant. She’d always been jealous of Grant for having a daughter and thought she’d like to have one of her own someday, but a dozen kids? She didn’t know if she was up for that.
“Why would you want such a big family?” she asked when he was behind the wheel.
“I was an only child. Justin and Cade are like brothers, but…” He paused. “We would have all been better off if we’d had a sister in the mix.”
“How’s that?” Claire pressed on.
“From guys who have sisters, I understand they can be a real pain in the butt, but in my opinion they teach a brother a lot,” Levi said.
“And what if all you ever get is sons?” she asked.
“Then I’ll be happy with them and beg Grant to let me borrow Zaylie once in a while to keep them in line.” He parked outside the yard and hurried around to help her and Zaylie out of the truck.
That means he’s plannin’ on bein’ in your life for a while. Franny’s voice was clear in her head.
The smile that was so big it almost hurt her face said that she sure didn’t mind that idea. Zaylie entered the house first, and Claire almost tripped over her when she went inside. Instead of hurrying over to the counter, she’d stopped at the doorway from the utility room into the kitchen and planted herself right there. Arms over her chest and head tilted to one side, she stared at the strange woman who was busy making breakfast.
“Well, hello, Levi.” Allison looked up from the stove, and her eyes traveled from his boots to his hair. “Looks like you spent the night in the barn.”
Justin’s pearl snap shirt came almost to her knees. Her toenails were painted bright red, and her dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. “Y’all hungry? I made biscuits and gravy. Coffee is in the pot.”
“Who is that, Aunt Claire?” Zaylie whispered loudly.
“I’m sorry,” Levi apologized. “This is Allison Walker. Allison, this is Zaylie and her aunt Claire, who are helping us out until after Christmas.”
Zaylie walked right up to her and stuck out her hand. “I’m almost five. How old are you?”
“More than five.” Allison laughed. “Justin is in the shower. He’ll be out in a few minutes, but I can put the food on the bar and everyone can eat when they’re ready.”
Claire stepped around Zaylie. “Pleased to meet you, Allison.”
There was no doubt about what bed the woman had slept in the night before, not when she was wearing Justin’s shirt. Or maybe that was using the term sleeping too loosely. A crazy surge of something akin to jealousy shot through Claire’s body. Is this the lifestyle that Levi was used to? How many women had made him breakfast after a night in his bed? Had Allison been there? Had she worn his shirt when she cooked breakfast for him?
“Likewise.” Allison nodded as she shook her hand. “Buddy was moanin’ at the bar last night about how you turned him down.” She reached out and plucked a piece of hay from Claire’s hair. “Guess y’all all stayed in the barn last night?”
“Yep, we did,” Zaylie said. “Nomie needed us to feed her all night long, but this mornin’ she went back with her mama.”
“Nomie?” Allison’s eyes went back to Levi.
“A newborn calf that got separated from her mother. Zaylie named her Nomie,” Levi explained.
“Moses is in the Bible and so is Nomie,” Zaylie informed her as she got into her chair at the table. “Orange juice, please, and two biscuits with gravy on them.”
“We have a bull named Moses,” Levi explained. “So she named the new calf Naomi after someone in the Bible.”
Allison bumped her hip against his. “Are you gettin’ religious on me, Levi?”
“One never knows.” Levi slipped an arm around Claire’s shoulders.
“Good mornin’, folks.” Justin stopped in the doorway, and Claire swore that she could see a little bit of a blush on the big cowboy. Water droplets still hung on his brown hair, and his blue eyes scanned the room, taking in everyone and settling on Zaylie.
Before he could say anything else, the sound of the front door opening was followed by Benjy yelling for Levi. “Where are y’all?”
Mavis stopped as abruptly as Zaylie had, inhaled, and then let it out in a snort. “Justin Maguire, there’s a little girl in the house.”
“No, she’s a big girl,” Zaylie said. “She just looks like a little girl because she’s short like Aunt Claire.” She turned and frowned at Allison. “You’ve got on Justin’s shirt. Why would you wear his shirt? Did you spill milk on yours?”
“Yes, I did.” Two dots of high color turned Allison’s cheeks crimson. “Breakfast is on the bar for anyone who wants to eat. I should be going now; let me get my things. Justin, walk me out to my car?”
“Sure thing.” Justin looked eager to get away from the awkward situation.
“Y’all want to join us? Looks like there’s plenty,” Levi asked Mavis and Benjy.
“I do.” Skip came through the back door. “We had pancakes and they were good, but man, this looks great. Good job, Claire.”
“Aunt Claire didn’t cook,” Zaylie said.
“Justin’s friend Allison did the cookin’.” Claire was sure glad that she wasn’t dressed in a man’s shirt that barely reached her knees that morning. The way Mavis glared at Allison, it was a wonder that she wasn’t anything but a greasy spot on the floor.
“Ohhh.” Skip’s eyes were suddenly as round as saucers, and he turned toward Mavis. “Don’t let it get your blood pressure up, darlin’. Boys been bein’ boys since time began.”
“But not with a little girl in the house,” Mavis snorted.
Levi filled a plate with food and carried it to the table. “Benjy, you hungry?”
“I ate, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it doesn’t hurt to have two breakfasts so I’ll eat again. Oranges are high in vitamin C, and that’s good for the body. It protects against colds.”
“Does all them freckles on your face make you smart?” Zaylie asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to read about freckles to find out. Did you really sleep in the barn with a new calf? Was it cold?” Benjy asked.
“We had a blanket to keep us from bein’ cold,” Zaylie said as she picked up her fork and began to eat.
Justin slipped back into the room and loaded a plate with food. “Well, that was embarrassing. I thought she was leavin’. Had no idea she was going to make breakfast. But Mavis, this isn’t the first time…”
Mavis threw up a palm. “Things is different now. There’s a little girl in the house who’ll be askin’ questions, and Benjy is here on Saturday mornin’. If you must bring home women, then do it on Saturday night and kick them out before breakfast on Sunday morning.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Justin said, and then picked up a plate.
“Are y’all talkin’ big people stuff?” Zaylie frowned.
“Yep, we are,” Justin answered. “So why did y’all sleep in the barn last night? Were you campin’ out?”
“Nope,” Zaylie answered. “We was savin’ Nomie.”
Levi told the story again of the poor little calf that had gotten separated from her mother. Claire watched his face as he talked. It lit up when he talked about how Zaylie was a calf whisperer. He really would make a good father to the dozen kids that he talked about.
“This is good breakfast,” Zaylie declared. “Allison can come back and cook for us again when we sleep with Levi in the barn.”
Justin’s laughter echoed off the walls. “You goin’ to yell at Levi, Mavis?” He wiped at his eyes with a napkin.
Claire bit the inside of her lip to keep from giggling. It was a double standard all right. She’d spent the night with Levi out in the barn, and no one was throwing a fit about that. But Justin bringing a woman home after the bar closed down was evidently a major sin.
“They were sleeping,” Mavis said.
“Not all the time,” Zaylie piped up. “We was feedin’ Nomie when she was hungry.”
“Okay, enough about last night,” Claire said. “Let’s talk about Retta and Cade coming home on Monday.”
Claire let the conversation float around her as she drifted off to her own thoughts. If she inhaled deeply she could still get a whiff of the hay in the stall, and by shutting her eyes she could pretend that she was back there, curled up against Levi’s broad back. To anyone else, it might seem like a strange night, but to her it had been a night in paradise.