Claire wiggled in church that morning, as much to stay awake as out of boredom. Zaylie had curled up with her head resting in Claire’s lap five minutes into the sermon. She gently brushed the child’s hair back out of her face, and tears welled up in her eyes when she realized that next Sunday she wouldn’t be there.
Angela and Zaylie needed to bond, but Claire felt like she was giving up her child for adoption. Angela was going to be a stay-at-home mom to the girls, and that was wonderful. Grant would be home in time for supper every evening, and they’d soon find a place in the small community.
And I’ll be right there in Sunset. Levi and I can see each other as often as we want. It is what it is, so I might as well stop dwelling on the part that makes me sad, she thought.
The preacher ended the sermon by saying, “We’re having a Christmas potluck dinner in the fellowship hall, and everyone is welcome to stay. I went through there between Sunday school and church, and I think there’s enough food to feed the whole state of Oklahoma. So if you forgot and didn’t bring anything, stay anyway. There’s plenty.”
“I brought two pies and a slow cooker full of chicken and dressin’. That’ll cover us,” Franny whispered.
“We brought leftover cookies from the ranch party,” Claire said.
“Is it over? Can we eat?” Zaylie opened her eyes.
“Yes, we can, sweetheart.” Franny stood up. “Let’s get on into the fellowship hall before all the chocolate pie is gone. Mary Sue makes a good one.”
Zaylie tugged on Claire’s hand. “There’s my friend Riley. Can I go with her?”
“Long as you wait right inside the door for me. I’ll need to help you with your plate,” Claire said.
Zaylie scampered through the pews to where Riley was waving. She grabbed her little friend’s hand and the two of them wound through the people toward the fellowship hall.
Franny lowered her voice. “Riley’s mama, Mindy, is going to ask if Zaylie can go home with them for a playdate as soon as we get through eating. That will give y’all enough time to get things done at the house. I’ll even keep an eye out and call when Mindy brings Zaylie home.”
“Why would you do that?” Claire asked.
Franny rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and then rested them on Levi. “I can think of one almighty sexy reason.”
“Franny!” Claire blushed.
“Don’t you Franny me. I might be old, but my eyesight is fine, and the way he fills out them jeans would put any woman’s under-britches in a knot.”
“Did you say something to me? I was watching Zaylie to be sure she didn’t get lost in the crowd,” Levi said.
“Franny has arranged for a playdate for Zaylie so we can get things out of the house without her underfoot.” Claire tucked her arm into his.
Franny moved to the other side and looped her arm into his other one. “I never pass up the opportunity to make a grand entrance with a handsome cowboy.”
Levi knew exactly how Claire must’ve felt the night before at the ranch party. He knew only one old guy at the potluck dinner, and that was because he’d bought a bull from the man a while back. He was introduced to what seemed like the whole town of Randlett, and although he tried to keep all the names and faces together, it was an impossible task.
He wound up sitting between Franny and Claire and listening to everyone around him talk about what was going on in town. It wasn’t a bit different from the church dinners in Sunset, except that he didn’t know the people or the events they were discussing.
“If it was summertime, I’d suggest that we sneak out of here and go dance barefoot and naked by the creek at the backside of the Longhorn Canyon,” he whispered to Claire.
The visual of that turned her face crimson. She glanced up, but no lightning came zipping down through the ceiling.
“What’s up there?” he asked.
“Lightning bolts that God will send down if he hears you talking about gettin’ naked by the creek,” she answered.
“I’m thinkin’ that maybe God’s too busy to listen to us today?”
“We could dance naked in the bunkhouse and go skinny-dippin’ in that big tub.” She slipped her hand on his thigh and squeezed. No way was she letting him get ahead of her on her own stomping grounds.
“I bet after a few kisses that the water would boil.” He lowered his voice even more.
Her face burned. “You’re pushin’ your luck. Any minute now we’re both going to get zapped.”
A little lady that was sitting across the table from them giggled. “I remember back when my husband, God rest his soul, used to make me blush.”
“He’s not my husband, Miz Letha,” Claire said.
“Neither was my feller then, but he was a few months later,” Letha said. “It’s good to see you so happy, Claire. We’ve been tryin’ to fix you up with someone ever since you moved here to take care of Pauline. Guess God had other plans.”
Claire wasn’t sure that God had anything to do with it, but she nodded and changed the subject. “So when are y’all havin’ the ladies’ gift exchange?”
“Next Sunday but I understand that there’s going to be some changes at Pauline’s place and you won’t be here,” Letha said with a sideways glance toward Zaylie.
“But we drew names, and I don’t want the person I got to be left out so I’ve got my present all wrapped and ready. I’ll send it with Franny,” Claire said. “And next year my new sister-in-law will be with y’all for the fun.”
“We’ll gladly take her right in.” Letha nodded.
And I’d gladly take you right in if you’d stay at the ranch forever, Levi thought. He jerked his head up and looked around to be sure he hadn’t said the words out loud and then went back to eating his chocolate pie. Franny was right…he did love the pie…but not as much as he loved Claire.
When had that happened? When exactly had he fallen in love with her? He’d liked her from the first with her independence, her mothering instinct, and sass. But somehow over the course of time, admiring her had developed into something more. His eyes cut around to really look at her. She hadn’t changed in that moment when he’d figured out that he was in love. There was no halo over her head or wings on her back. She was still the same Claire Mason who’d pointed a gun at him, but something was definitely different and it all had to do with him.
After the dinner, they hurried back to the house to get things taken care of while Zaylie was gone. He took out several boxes of quilts while she packed bolts of fabric into big black garbage bags for travel. She was on the other side of the room, when she felt his presence. She turned slowly to see him standing in the doorway, light coming in from behind him creating nothing more than a silhouette. This time he didn’t look like the abominable snowman, and his arms were wide open, so she walked right into them and laid her head on his chest.
“Tell me that you’re never going to leave me?” she said.
“Only if God has other plans. I’m in this for the long haul.” He cupped her cheeks in his big hands and lowered his lips to hers.
With her eyes shut and heat flooding her body, her soul found its peace right there in the cold, empty house. So it was true…home wasn’t a place, it really was a feeling. Home was Levi—being with him, sharing life’s experiences with him.
He kissed her once more and said, “Let’s get this room cleared out. Zaylie will be home at three Franny said, and if we leave right then, we can be home by dark.”
Home.
The word kept popping up, and every time it did she got a visual of the ranch, not Nanny’s house or the new Harris property or even Grant’s place on the base in San Antonio.
“I’ll get the new battery installed while you get the rest of the fabric ready,” he said. “And I don’t work for free, darlin’. You have to pay me with a kiss every time I take a load of stuff to the truck.”
“Then maybe I’ll hire you to tote all my personal stuff out to the car.” Her eyes twinkled in merriment.
“I’m available for as many kisses as you are willing to pay out.” His eyes twinkled.
“Think you can stand that many?” She pulled another bag from the box.
“It might set me plumb on fire, but sweetheart, I’m willin’ to go out in a blaze of glory if you are,” he teased.
“Better wait a week so poor little Zaylie doesn’t have to live with Franny until her daddy gets home.”
“That’s right.” Levi stopped long enough to help her tie off the bag.
They’d had some hot and heavy makeout sessions, and they’d had sex, but his touch still sent ripples racing through her body—every single time.
With a little hop, Claire wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “Here’s a bonus kiss to get you started.”
He carried her to the sofa where he sat down with her in his lap. “We could use the next hour to…”
She put her fingers on his lips to shush him. “Darlin’, don’t even say the words. My body is already beggin’ for that, and we don’t have the time. But next week, my bedroom window will always be open.”
“Honey, after Grant gets Zaylie, I’m coming right in the front door. I don’t care who knows that we’re seeing each other or sleeping together.”
“You plannin’ on sleepin’? I had something else in mind.” She hopped up from his lap. “And it didn’t involve snoring.”
“I can live with that plan,” he said. “But right now I’ve got a truck to load, Miz Mason.”
An hour and many kisses later, she stood on the porch and waved at him until the truck was completely out of sight. Her grandmother’s car was parked out on the curb, leaving the garage empty for Grant and Angela. The trunk was full, as well as the passenger seat and half the backseat, leaving only room for Zaylie. Everything she owned could be put into a truck and a car. That didn’t say a lot for a woman her age.
She walked through the house one last time, letting the memories flood her mind. She and Grant had lived there for a year. There were arguments between them, but then there were good times during that time. Nanny had still been lucid and very outspoken. She’d given them room to make their own decisions, but if they got too far out of line with it, she didn’t hesitate to draw them right back in. And there was always, always the smell of something cooking in the house. Claire missed that when she went to her parents’ next duty station—Florida, she remembered. It had been one of her favorite spots, but they’d only been there six months when her father went on deployment to Kuwait. Her mother was transferred to California, so they’d been jerked out of school and put into a brand-new environment—again.
Then there was the past three years when she’d taken care of Nanny and watched her mind slowly leave her body. Role reversal was what it had been. She’d become the adult and Nanny was the child. She shut her eyes and leaned against the wall, remembering all the times when Zaylie and Nanny played together like two little girls. Those days were sad but happy at the same time. Nanny had reverted back to her childhood, and Zaylie loved having a playmate when she visited them.
“Aunt Claire!” Zaylie’s voice brought her back to the present day. She opened the door and two little girls burst in, ponytails flipping from one side to the other.
Zaylie looked around the room and frowned. “Where’s Levi and the truck? How are we goin’ to get home?”
“We’re going to drive Nanny’s car so we can have our own vehicle at the ranch. Levi put a new battery in it for us. He left a few minutes ago, but he’ll be there when we get there. Why?”
“Because Riley has a bunny and I wanted to tell him about it,” she said. “It don’t look like Hopalong. It’s white.”
“Hey.” Riley’s mother waved at the door. “Just makin’ sure she got inside safely. We’ve got to run, but when y’all get back up here permanently, we need to have lunch and discuss that cowboy you had stayin’ close to you all during the dinner.”
“Thanks for letting her go play with Riley and yes, ma’am, we will have lunch.” Claire waved back, not letting on that Grant would be the one staying here permanently.
Riley gave Zaylie a hug, and then they were gone, leaving Claire and Zaylie alone in the house. She glanced around one more time, said a silent good-bye to the best place that she’d ever lived, and took Zaylie by the hand.
“You ready, sweetie?”
“Yep. I’m ready to go home.”
“Me too,” Claire said.