Zaylie stomped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. “Benjy gets to go to the barn, and he’s not a big person.”
“Benjy is going to work, not to play.” Claire picked two pieces of straw from Zaylie’s tangled hair. “Besides, I’m sure your kittens are wondering where you are. They haven’t seen you since before supper yesterday.”
The arms slowly uncrossed and she smiled. “I need to tell them all about Nomie. We need to go to the bunkhouse so I can see them.”
“Maybe for an hour but then we should come back and help Miz Mavis and then get dinner ready,” Claire said.
“Take all the time you need,” Mavis said. “I’ll put on a pot of beef stew for them. If you’re back thirty minutes before time to eat to make a pan of cornbread, we’ll be good. I bet both of you would like a nice long shower, or a bath after sleeping with the cows last night.”
Claire draped an arm around Mavis’s shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. “Thank you so much.”
“I understand that deal you’re workin’ on is going to be finalized a week from Monday. You might as well stick around here until after that. You’re welcome, and I can use the help for the ranch party. Besides, it’d be easier to be right here to run in and take a look at things as you change your mind about how you’re goin’ to do things,” Mavis said.
Claire finished getting Zaylie’s jacket on her and reached for hers. “Mavis, are you playin’ matchmaker between me and Levi?”
Mavis tucked her chin down to her chest. “Looks like somebody needs to do something. I can see you’re attracted to each other, and I like you, Claire. Don’t sit on your hands and let him get away. He’s a good man, but he’s never been in a real serious relationship, so he might not know how to go about this courtin’ business.”
“What makes you even think we are anything other than friends?” Claire put on her jacket and laid a hand on Zaylie’s shoulder to point her toward the front door.
“He’s happy, and I’ve meddled enough. But I’d like for you to stay now that”—she nodded toward Zaylie and winked—“the deal is solid.”
“Are y’all talkin’ about my Christmas again?” Zaylie asked.
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“You will be close by after the holidays anyway. Might as well just stick around and help me through then,” Mavis said.
Zaylie ran on ahead of her as usual, giving Claire time to analyze what Mavis had told her. There was definitely chemistry between her and Levi—like nothing that she’d ever experienced before.
Zaylie hurried inside the bunkhouse, threw her jacket toward the sofa, and dropped down on her knees in front of the basket of kittens. “Did you miss me? I was helpin’ Nomie.” She went into a long narration about the new calf.
“I’m going to take a bath, sweetie.” Claire’s tone sounded strange in her own ears. “You stay right here until I get done, and then you can have one.”
“’Kay.” Zaylie nodded as she took all the kittens from the basket. “Where is Gussie?”
As if she knew her name, the cat pranced out of Claire’s bedroom and went straight to the door and meowed. Claire opened it, and she darted outside.
“I’ll take care of the babies,” Zaylie said. “Levi says I’m good at ranchin’.”
“You are good at everything you do,” Claire agreed as she kicked off her shoes and undressed on the way to the bathroom.
When the tub was half full she added bath salts and then sank down into the warm water with a long sigh. She slid down on the sloped back and went over the last couple of days in her mind. Was Levi really the one?
She was jerked back to reality when her phone rang. “Zaylie, can you get that?”
“It’s Daddy!” Zaylie squealed.
Claire quickly washed her hair, rinsed it, and pulled the plug on the tub. She wrapped herself in a big fluffy white robe and twisted a towel around her head. When she made it to the living room, Zaylie was holding up each kitten to show her dad. “I want all three of them for my Christmas present, Daddy. That’s what I asked Levi to give me.”
“Oh really?” Grant chuckled. “It’s official, baby girl. I get to come home for Christmas and your birthday. You’ve told me what you want for Christmas, but I haven’t heard a word about your birthday present.”
“I want a mommy of my very own like Teresa has,” Zaylie answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“I don’t think they sell mommies at the base store,” he teased.
“Well, then go to the mommy store and get me one,” Zaylie told him.
“I’ll see what I can do, but what’s your next idea just in case?”
“I’ll take a ranch. Levi says I’ll make a good rancher, but I need a ranch,” she said.
“That might be harder to get than a mommy,” Grant said. “Hey, do I see Claire back there with a towel on her head?”
“Yep, you do. Talk to her now, Daddy. Grumpy is cryin’, and I need to tell him a story.” Zaylie handed the phone off to Claire.
“Take it off video and speaker,” he said.
“You don’t like to see me wearing my towel turban?” she joked.
“That’s part of it,” he answered.
She hit a button and put the phone to her ear. “Okay, shoot. What’s goin’ on?”
“Angela and I are both so eager to start a life together, and with Zaylie asking for a mommy for her birthday, it seems like an omen.” Grant’s voice was more upbeat than it had been in years. “Things might be moving faster than we thought with this and with me coming home, but I don’t want to jinx it too much. How’s your new project going?”
“I’m signing the deal a week from Monday,” she said. “And Mavis has asked me to stay another week.”
“Pretty soon you’re going to week-at-a-time it until you just move in on that ranch for good.” Grant laughed. “Got to go, but know I love and support you.”
“Good-bye, and thanks,” she said.
There was no doubt in Claire’s mind that Angela would make a wonderful mother to Zaylie, but Claire felt that she was somehow still getting the short end of the stick.