Levi heard Cade’s deep voice, patient and reassuring, through the bathroom door the next morning. Even though comforting a sick and cranky wife couldn’t be fun, Levi envied him. A wife who adored him, a new baby on the way—Cade had it all.
Levi continued on to the kitchen, poured himself a cup of coffee, and stared out the kitchen window. What did he have to offer a woman? He didn’t have a square foot of land that belonged to him or even a house. He had a good job and a few dollars in his savings account, but…
“Dammit!” he swore under his breath, and then a movement caught his attention.
The old work truck, once a shiny orange and now faded with age, was coming to a stop right outside the gate. He couldn’t take his eyes off Claire and Zaylie as they made their way to the house with Beau right behind them. Had she felt that little spark the day before when they’d locked eyes? Was it too soon to even feel like that?
She was downright cute in that old coat hanging down to her knees and rolled up at the sleeves, and a ponytail swinging back and forth with each step. He waited until they were on the porch before he left the window and filled a mug of coffee for her. When she had hung up her coat and Zaylie’s, he handed it to her.
“Something to warm the hands,” he said.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “Bad morning for Retta?”
“Oh yeah. What can I do to help with breakfast?” Levi asked.
“No, I can take care of it. We’ll have bacon, eggs, biscuits, and pancakes this morning. I’m pretty organized, so I’ll have it ready in less than thirty minutes,” she said.
He got out a skillet and set it on the stove. “I can fry bacon while you do biscuits and pancakes.”
“I really don’t need…” she started.
“I want to help,” Levi said. “We’re grateful that you are here for Retta. We’re all so excited that we’re going to have a baby on the ranch, but we feel so sorry for what she’s having to go through right now.”
“Baby? Who’s getting a baby?” Zaylie slapped hands on her cheeks. “Aunt Claire, are you havin’ a baby for me? I want a sister and we can name her Cinderella and she can play with the kittens with me…” She stopped to suck in more air.
Claire took advantage of the timing and said, “Retta is going to have a baby, but I don’t think she’s going to name her Cinderella.”
Zaylie picked up the biscuit cutter and pushed it down in the dough. “We’ll just see about that.”
Levi chuckled. “I bet she’s heard that from you and in that tone, right?”
“More than once.” Claire nodded.
“Mavis and Skip said that pretty often when I was a kid.” He laid several strips of bacon in the frying pan.
“So how old were you when they adopted you?” she asked.
“Somewhere around three. I don’t remember much about my mother, other than the pretty lady who came to see me on Christmas a few times. She was more like a distant cousin than a mom,” he said.
With military parents, Claire could relate to that. When she and Grant were growing up, one or the other of her parents was pretty often sent to posts where the family couldn’t go. She and her brother seldom had two parents at home at the same time. And when they were home together, it was more like two strangers lived in the house with Grant and Claire. It wasn’t that the children weren’t loved, or that they wanted for anything, but it wasn’t a warm family.
She carried the pan of biscuits to the stove, and Levi stepped to one side to allow her to get them into the oven. When she straightened up, their noses were only inches apart, and their gazes locked. Neither of them blinked for several seconds.
“Aunt Claire, can we have Easter eggs?” Zaylie’s voice jerked her back to the present, and she quickly took two steps back.
“Easter eggs?” Levi’s drawl was even deeper than normal as he went back to frying bacon.
A blush crept up into her cheeks. “Hard-boiled eggs.”
“Well, I’d like some Easter eggs too, Miz Zaylie, so I’ll put some on to boil. Do you like them better than scrambled eggs?” Levi asked.
“I like all eggs, and I like bacon, and I like pancakes,” she answered. “Can I crack the eggs, Aunt Claire? I like this kitchen better than the one at your house.”
“I thought you wanted Easter eggs,” Claire said.
“I do, and Levi does, but we need ramblin’ eggs for everyone else,” she said.
Levi raised an eyebrow.
“Scrambled eggs,” Claire translated. “And yes, you can crack the eggs. That would be a big help while I make pancakes.” Claire kept her back to Levi until the heat left her face. She couldn’t stay on the ranch a day longer than was necessary—she’d almost kissed Levi right there in front of Zaylie. And the bad thing is that she wished that she had so she’d know if it was as good as she’d imagined.
Cade made it into the kitchen. “Retta is on the sofa with a cool rag on her eyes. Claire, thank you so much for your help. As soon as this mess clears up, Mavis will come out and help us, but you are a godsend right now. All three of us can run a ranch with a hand tied behind our backs, but we hate to cook.”
“Amen to that. I can grill a mean steak or make a pot of chili that’s fit to eat, but that’s the limit of my cooking ability,” Justin said as he joined them in the kitchen. “I called the body shop that we’ve used for years and told him what your van looks like, Claire. He says that it’s totaled for sure, and he’ll buy it from you for parts after you talk to your insurance company.”
Cade started back toward the living room. “Justin’s right. We’d survive on our cookin’, but that’s about the extent of it. I hate that your van is wrecked, but if it had to happen, I’m glad it was on this ranch.”
“I’ll stay and help,” Zaylie said seriously. “I’m a big girl and I can make bickets.”
Cade stopped long enough to pat her on the cheek. “Thank you, sweetheart. I bet you make wonderful biscuits.”
“Yes, I do,” she said.
Justin went straight for the coffeepot and picked it up. “Has Retta got crackers and tea? If not I’ll take some in for her. She said your suggestion helped a lot yesterday.”
“She’s got both, but she might like the company,” Cade answered.
Levi moved to the bar where Claire was making pancakes on an electric griddle. “We all love Retta so much, and it’s tough to see her so sick. She told us last night that just having you here helps as much as your cracker and tea remedy.”
“I’m thankful that it’s helping her. Zaylie’s mama was miserable for three whole months with morning sickness. Nanny told us about tea and crackers, and it sure helped her,” Claire said.
“Know what I’m thankful for?” Zaylie asked. “For my kittens and for bacon.”
“Bacon!” Levi slapped his forehead and rushed to the stove. “Thank goodness it didn’t burn. That’s all we need—the smell of burning food would sure make Retta sick.”
When the bacon was finished, Levi got down six plates, just in case Retta could eat a little something, and started to set the table.
“I can do that,” Claire said.
“It’s tough for you to accept help, isn’t it?” Levi went on about what he was doing.
“What makes you think that?” Claire asked.
“No thinkin’ to it. You prove it every time you turn around.”
“Sorry. Force of habit,” Claire said.
“Why?” Levi asked.
“Well, someone had to be the planner in our family, and that job fell on me at a young age. My parents were busy with their careers and didn’t have a lot of time for two kids.”
“You the oldest, then?” Levi removed milk from the fridge when he’d finished setting the table.
“No, I’m the youngest by two years. Story is that I was an accident. They’d only planned to have one child,” she said.
“Well, you are sure enough a pretty accident,” he said, and grinned.
Heat started on her neck and crept up to her cheeks. There was no doubt that he was flirting now, and she liked it.
“Call Cade and Justin to breakfast while I get the biscuits from the oven,” she said.
“Aha! You’re letting me do something. Progress is made.” He chuckled.
Levi got finished with the feeding chores and planned to do some maintenance work on the tractors that afternoon. But he had to wait for Justin to finish what he was doing to help out, which left him with an hour in the middle of the morning with nothing to do. He checked on Little Bit, the donkey. Poor little thing looked up at him with big brown eyes like he was begging to be let out.
“I know you don’t like to be cooped up. How would you like some kid company?” he asked as he tugged on his gloves. “You wait right here and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He’d barely made it inside the house when Zaylie came running to greet him. “I told Aunt Claire you was home.”
“How did you know?” Levi asked.
“I heard your boots on the porch. I’m getting boots for Christmas.” Zaylie took him by the hand and led him into the kitchen.
She stopped in the middle of the floor. “Want to go to the bunkhouse and see the kittens?”
“She’s been worrying about those cats all morning.” Claire smiled.
Levi let go of Zaylie’s hand and brushed flour from Claire’s hair. Then he picked up a wet cloth and wiped it off her nose. “Been makin’ bread have you?”
“No, a banana nut cake and the recipe said to sift the flour three times,” she answered.
“It ought to be a good one with all that much work. I wondered if maybe you and Zaylie might like to ride out to the barn with me to see Little Bit, the miniature donkey.”
Zaylie’s blue eyes got wide. “Can I pet him?”
Levi nodded. “Sure you can. He loves kids.”
She danced and twirled around several times across the floor to grab Claire’s hand. “Please, please, please.”
“Cade is with Retta, and there’s nothing that has to be done right now,” Claire agreed.
Zaylie headed toward the back door in a run, but Claire caught her by the shirttail as she ran past her.
“But first you need your coat and stocking hat, young lady,” Claire told her.
“I’ll help with hers while you put yours on,” Levi offered.
“I can…” Claire started but stopped. “Thank you. That would be nice.”
The icy pathway was still frozen solid, so Zaylie slid to the truck, part of the time on her feet, the rest on her butt, giggling the whole time.
Levi tucked Claire’s hand into the crook of his arm and covered it with his. “Is this her first time to see this much snow and ice?”
“We had a pretty good snow a couple of years ago, and I took pictures of her, but I don’t think she remembers it too well.” Claire shivered.
Levi wanted to let go of her hand and draw her close to his side, but he didn’t. He didn’t want the disappointment when she pulled away from him.
“I left the truck engine runnin’. It’ll be warm in there.”
He settled Zaylie into the backseat and fastened the seat belt. When he turned around, Claire was struggling to get up into the truck. He put a hand on each side of Claire’s slim waist and lifted her into the passenger’s seat. “Guess I should get a runner put on the truck for short folks.”
“We do have our challenges. I’ve never seen a truck that high off the ground,” she said.
“It’s so I can drive it all over the pasture without gettin’ stuck,” he explained. “And tall folks have challenges too. Cade is six feet four inches, and if he’s wearin’ his cowboy hat he has to duck when he passes through doors. I’m only six feet tall, so I don’t have that problem.”
But I liked the way you felt in my arms, so I’ll procrastinate about that runner business, he thought.
“My daddy is tall. I miss him.” Zaylie sighed.
“But it’s not long until Christmas,” Claire reminded her.
“Really? Is it the day after Thanksgiving?”
“No, it’s about thirty days after Thanksgiving,” Claire said.
“That’s for…ever.” Another long sigh.
“It really is forever to her,” Levi said. “When you compare her almost five years to our almost thirty, then it’s like six months to her.”
“Who says I’m almost thirty?” Claire protested.
“I figured it out from things you said. So how old are you?”
“I was twenty-eight last May,” she answered.
“So was I, only in April, so I’m older than you.” Levi parked the truck beside the barn.
Zaylie undid her seat belt. “Y’all are old.”
“Relatively speakin’.” Levi grinned. “But someday you’ll be twenty-eight and you’ll think it’s young.”
“Was Nanny twenty-eight when she died?” Zaylie asked.
“No, she was eighty-eight.” Claire unfastened her seat belt.
“Wait for me to come around and help you both,” Levi said as he got out of the truck.
“Eighty-eight!” Zaylie squeaked. “That’s a lot.”
“Yes, it is, and I can only hope I live that long so I can watch you grow up and have a wonderful life.” Claire put her hands on Levi’s shoulders, and his went around her waist again. When she was on the ground and headed into the barn, he picked up Zaylie and slung her up on his shoulders.
“Look, Aunt Claire, I’m a hundred feet tall,” she squealed.
There was no way she’d hit her head on the tall door frame, but Levi said, “Duck, Miz Zaylie, or you might get knocked off.”
With a loud giggle, she bent her head forward until her wispy blond hair tickled him on the forehead. He carried her to the stall and eased her down onto the barn floor. The little donkey came over to the rails and stuck part of his head out, his big brown eyes begging Zaylie to pet him.
“Can I go in there with him, please, Aunt Claire, can I?” she begged.
Claire turned to Levi. “Is it safe?”
The donkey was adorable. Just one more animal that Zaylie would fall in love with. And when it was time to leave, she would cry for days about having to leave him and her kittens. Life would have been so much easier if she hadn’t even thought about driving through Bowie and Sunset to scout out a place for a quilt shop.
“Look over there in the corner.” Levi pointed to a cottontailed rabbit.
“A bunny too? Can I pet it?” Zaylie whispered in awe.
“His name is Hopalong and yes, you can pet him. If you sit down, he’ll come and get in your lap,” Levi answered, and turned to Claire. “Is it all right if I open the gate and let her inside?”
Claire nodded, and Zaylie put her hands on each side of Little Bit’s head and kissed him on the forehead before making her way to the corner and sitting down in the straw. Sure enough Hopalong came right over to her and inched his way into her lap. Then Little Bit nudged her on the shoulder, wanting his share of the attention.
“She’s in heaven,” Claire whispered.
Levi leaned on the top rail of the stall. He was close enough that he caught a whiff of her perfume with every breath. She stepped up on the bottom rail so she could see better, and her arm brushed against his. Even through his coat and her jacket, he could feel the sparks.
“She’s going to be sad for weeks when she has to leave. She is already attached to Beau and the cats and now a little donkey and a bunny.” Claire rested her elbows on the top rail. “I may have to wait until she’s asleep and get her a few miles down the road before she wakes up.”
“But just think of all the memories she’ll have,” Levi said. “Has she ever lived on a ranch?”
“She’s lived in military housing and my place her whole life. This is a brand-new experience for her as well as for me,” Claire admitted. “My brother and I went to two different boarding schools and stayed a year with our grandmother. That was the closest we ever got to country living, and her house, which is where I live now, is right in the middle of Randlett. And I talk too much and too fast when I’m nervous,” she said.
“So what are you nervous about?” Levi moved over a little closer so he could nudge her with his shoulder.
“I’ve been thinkin’ of takin’ my quilting business a step further and putting in a store. It’d have fabric for folks who want to quilt. I’d have my sewing machines there, and maybe I’d even invest in a quilting machine so I don’t have to pay someone to do that for me. And I’d give lessons and…” She stopped. “I’m talking too much. You aren’t interested in this.”
“Yes, I am. Mavis goes to a quilting bee at the church twice a month. They make quilts and raffle them off for the missionary fund,” he said.
“So there might be a little interest in this area?” she asked.
“You could talk to Mavis, and she’d tell you, but I’d guess there would be.” His heart threw in an extra beat at the thought of her living close by.
“I saw an empty house right on the highway in Sunset. It has a FOR SALE BY OWNER sign in the front yard. It looked like a perfect place,” she said.
He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “That would be the old Harris home. I’ve been in that house. It’s got three bedrooms, a single bathroom, and a small kitchen. The folks moved down to Waco to be near their son.”
“A room for my sewing machine, one for my quilting machine, and the living room could be my store front. And I could live in the third bedroom,” she said.
“Sounds like it’d be perfect.” He almost groaned. There she was, a successful entrepreneur looking to expand and make more money, whereas his assets were a four-year-old pickup truck that was paid off and ten head of prime heifers. “So what makes you nervous about it?”
“Change, again. Moving, again. Having a store instead of a house for Zaylie when she needs to stay with me.” She named off her concerns fast enough that he had no doubt she’d been arguing with herself for a long time about this idea.
“You seem like the type to take the bull by the horns and spit in his eye,” Levi said.
“Or look him in the eye and then take a step back and shoot him,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I like decidin’ whether to shoot or spit.”
“Aunt Claire, look at Hopalong. He likes me,” Zaylie said just above a whisper.
“And so does Little Bit. If Hard Times was here, I bet he’d like you too,” Levi said.
“Hard Times?” Zaylie frowned.
“He’s the turtle. Remember the picture in the dining room?” Levi asked.
“On the wall with the ones of Gussie and Beau?” Claire reminded her.
“Oh yeah. When is the turtle comin’ home so I can see him too?”
“In the springtime when the leaves are green,” Levi said.
“Is that when Benjy comes home too?” Zaylie asked.
“No, Benjy will probably be here just as soon as the weather clears up,” Levi told her. “But you”—he turned his attention toward Claire—“can call and talk to Mavis about that quiltin’ stuff this evening if you want to.”
“Maybe I’ll just wait until she and Benjy come out here. Talkin’ about those drawings, I thought they were reprints from a famous artist,” Claire said.
“Someday Benjy might be famous, but right now he’s just our resident artist,” Levi said. “I sure hope they get out here before you leave, and if not, I can bet that Mavis will be one of the first people in your new store.”
“I want to see Benjy,” Zaylie said. “He can draw my kittens. Aunt Claire, can I have a bunny and a donkey for Christmas?”
“I don’t think so. Remember, you asked for kittens, and Santa’s going to have a hard enough time gettin’ squirmy cats down the chimney. And remember you asked for cowboy boots too,” she answered.
“That child belongs on a ranch,” Levi whispered.
“They don’t put Air Force bases on ranches,” Claire told him. “And my brother has a few more years before he can retire.”
“Miracles happen during the Christmas season,” Levi said. “Miz Zaylie, we should be going back to the house now.”
“Can I come back tomorrow?” Zaylie asked.
“You can come back every day you’re here if you want,” Levi said.
“Okay.” She kissed Hopalong on the nose and then did the same to Little Bit.
“Thank you, Levi,” Claire said softly.
“Seeing the animals through a child’s eyes—that makes me so happy.” He opened the gate for Zaylie, and she waved at the donkey and bunny until she couldn’t see them anymore.
Retta was in the kitchen when they got back to the house. “I’m feelin’ better so I thought I’d help with dinner. That pot roast you’ve got in the oven sure smells good. Oh, Mavis called and you are supposed to call her back as soon as you get here,” Retta told Levi. “She’s offered to help out until after Christmas. Soon as the roads are fit, she’ll be here before breakfast and stay until after supper like she used to do before we got married.”
“I got to pet the donkey and the bunny, and I wish I could live here forever…” Zaylie was telling Retta all about her two new friends when Levi slipped out and went to the living room to call Mavis.
She picked up on the first ring. “Why didn’t you call me immediately when you found out Retta was pregnant? She needs my help.”
“Yes, she does, and we’ll be glad to have you back on the ranch until she feels better,” Levi said. “I’m sorry that I didn’t call you. I was so shocked and excited and she’s been so sick that—”
“And you’ve got company,” Mavis butted in. “Tell me about them so I won’t be surprised when I get there.”
“She and Retta hit it off from the beginning, and she’s very good in the kitchen as well as keeping Retta calm. It seems like the morning sickness is worse if she’s all stressed out. And Claire does quilting. She sells them on something called Retsy.”
“You mean Etsy?” Mavis asked.
“That’s it,” Levi said. “And she’s kind of, sort of, interested in the old Harris place to put in a little shop. She’d like to talk to you about it.”
“Put her on the phone,” Mavis said.
“She’s fixin’ dinner right now.”
“I’ll only talk a minute or two,” Mavis told him.
“Hey, Claire, Mavis wants to talk to you,” he yelled as he carried the phone to the kitchen.
She took it from him and said, “Hello, Miz Mavis. I’m Claire Mason.”
“So glad you’re there to help Retta out while she’s been sick. Levi tells me you sell quilts on Etsy and are looking for a shop?”
“Yes, and I hear that you’ve got a quilting bee at the church.”
“We do, and we’ve got quite a bunch of quilters in our area who would be happy to have a local place. Come to church with me, and I’ll introduce you around so you can get to know everyone.”
“That’d be so nice of you.”
“And I know the lady who has the key to the Harris house anytime you want to look at it. Well, I know you’re in the middle of fixin’ dinner and I don’t mean to keep you, so we’ll talk more about this when I get there.”
“Thank you.” Claire was smiling like she’d just won the lottery when she got off the phone.
And Levi felt like he’d given her the winning ticket.