Cowboy’s Temporary Nanny, page 18
Adam was still on his knees, and under other circumstances it would be ridiculous, but right now, it took Kaylee’s breath away. He looked like a drowning man desperately searching for rescue, or a man who had just had his heart broken. She couldn’t understand why, either. She had just told him that she loved him, so why did he look so sad?
He got to his feet slowly, like every movement hurt. “All right,” he said, nodding once. “I understand. And you have every right to make that choice. Of course you do. I only hope that you have a good life. And you should know that you’ve changed my life. Matty’s, too. That’s something I will always be grateful to you for.”
He was already several steps towards the door before Kaylee understood what he was saying. Even then, she felt like she was moving in slow motion. She had only just gotten him back. The idea that he thought she would let him go again so soon was almost too much for her to process.
“Hold it right there, sir,” she finally said when he was almost out of the room, presumably about to grab Alice and beat a hasty retreat. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
He frowned, looking thoroughly confused. “I figured this is when I’m supposed to bow out gracefully. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, and I’m not too keen on prolonging my misery, either. Why, is that wrong?”
“It is. It’s very wrong.”
She stood on legs shaking so badly that she was dimly amazed at her ability to walk. She managed it, though, and crossed the room to stand in front of Adam. When he made no move to touch her, she took matters into her own hands. She slipped her arms around his waist and peered up into his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a bewildered laugh. “But I’m thoroughly confused now.”
She rose up on the tips of her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Well, then let me explain it. I don’t want to think of you fondly years from now. I don’t want you to be grateful to me from a distance for my too-short role in your life, and Matty’s life. I want to be there with you.”
“I don’t think I understand.” The two spots of bright color in his cheeks made Kaylee think that maybe he did understand, though, at least a little.
“What I’m saying is that I’m going to need you to help me find something to do with myself in Whittier Creek for the long term. Because I don’t think I’ll be content with being a stay-at-home mom, no matter how much I love Matty.”
Adam’s hands tightened reflexively, drawing her even nearer. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You want to come home with me and Matty? Back to the ranch?”
“Yes,” she confirmed with a giddy laugh. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I want to come back to Whittier Creek, to the ranch, if you’ll have me. I don’t want to be with you here because I don’t think either of us belong here. I don’t want this life anymore, if I ever did.”
Adam let out a shout of excitement and lifted her into the air. He twirled them both around for a couple of dizzying spins, then gently set her down again. He didn’t let her go, though. With how tightly he was holding her, she thought he might never let her go again. He bent and kissed her deeply, and she was glad for the strength and security of his arms because she thought she might melt into a puddle on the floor without him to keep her upright. They were still pressed against each other that way when Alice walked back into the room and let out a whooping cheer that startled them apart again.
“I’m sorry,” Alice said breathlessly when she was finally able to get her laughter under control. “Forgive me, but the looks on your faces are absolutely priceless. Anyone would think you were in high school and I was Kaylee’s mother, catching you making out on the couch.”
Kaylee laughed, too, and although she was able to detach her lips from Adam’s, she couldn’t quite make herself let him go. She kept her arm looped tightly around him, irrationally worried that he would vanish into thin air if she couldn’t feel his skin against hers.
“Why am I not surprised that you had a hand in this?” she asked, positively beaming. “Not that I’m complaining. I have a feeling I owe you a pretty big thank you.”
Alice waved her off, clearly enjoying herself immensely. “Please, Kaylee. Making people aware of what a wonderful writer you are is my pleasure, without a doubt. Especially given what I’ve got to say next.”
Kaylee glanced up at Adam, but he didn’t seem to have any more idea what Alice was talking about than she did.
Alice, with Matty cradled in her arms, milked the dramatic pause for another moment longer before she finally explained herself. “After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to take on a new hire. Any idea who that might be?”
Adam squeezed Kaylee tight, but she still had a difficult time believing that Alice was talking about her. It had felt strange enough submitting her article to Texas Highways, and odder still to have them accept her entry so quickly and happily. She had been sure that her brief stint as a writer was a one and done thing. It was difficult to adjust to the possibility that it might actually be more than that.
“Alice?” she asked timidly, hardly daring to believe that this woman she respected so much might actually want to hire her. “You don’t have to say that. I think it’s so sweet of you to come here with Adam—”
“She didn’t just come here with me,” he put in, his voice full of unmistakable respect. “She was the boot that moved me in this direction—and she insisted on coming with me just to make sure I went through with it. I’m ashamed to say it, but I don’t know that I would have gotten up the courage to come to Dallas without her spurring me on.”
Kaylee thought this over for a moment, and decided she had no trouble believing it. Still, it didn’t help her to make sense of whatever else Alice was trying to say.
Fortunately, Alice seemed more than happy to take care of that part on her own. “Kaylee, you aren’t a stupid girl, so don’t pretend to be. Some part of you must know what I’m getting at. I’m not getting any younger, and I’ve been troubled for some time about what might happen to my little paper when I’m not fit to run it anymore.”
“Please, Alice, I don’t see you retiring any time soon.” Kaylee wasn’t even trying to be flattering on this point. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Alice was still working twenty years in the future.
“Which is exactly the image I’ve tried to cultivate,” Alice countered, looking a little tired for the first time since Kaylee had first met her. “But I won’t be up for this forever, and I intend to hire somebody extraordinary before I go so I can make sure I leave the paper in the right hands. That, my dear, is you. I’ve known since the first time we spoke that if, by some miracle, you could ever be convinced to stay in Whittier Creek, I would want you on my paper. You’re the kind of woman I can leave my life’s work to, someday. I wasn’t convinced I would ever really find that.”
Kaylee could only stare, completely stunned by what she was hearing. In her wildest dreams, she had never imagined hearing anyone speak of her this way, let alone somebody she respected as much as Alice Lake. Directly on the heels of her awe came the bubbling fear that she wasn’t nearly good enough to live up to the high opinion.
“Please, Alice, it’s so sweet of you to say this, but—”
“No,” Alice said, shooting her potential arguments down unheard. “No buts. This isn’t the time for that sort of thing. You can tell me all about the articles you’ve submitted that went nowhere. When you do, I’ll go toe to toe with you, telling you about mine. Rejections are the hallmark of a genuine writer—they are not an indication of your value or your potential. I already know all about both of those. So, tell me, dear, will you come and work for my little paper? Because I can’t think of anything I would like better.”
Adam bent and kissed Kaylee on the cheek, nuzzling a stubbled cheek against hers before standing back up to his full height.
“It would be one less thing for us to worry about,” he said quietly, and Kaylee could almost feel him looking at Alice. “So, what do you say?”
For a rare instance in her life, Kaylee couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, she settled on giving Adam another big, messy kiss, before leaving him for a moment and throwing her arms around Alice, trapping a very surprised, very indignant Matty between them.
Twenty-Eight
“Tell me, you crazy girl, are you planning on staying here all night? Not that I object to it, mind you. I would just like to know what I’m in for when I see you next.”
Kaylee, who had been entirely absorbed in the article she was working on, glanced up at Alice and laughed. That was something she had been doing a lot of lately. Laughing. It had never occurred to her that she could have a job that would work her to the bone and still make her deliriously happy, but there were plenty of things in her life now that she had never dared to dream of before.
“Don’t worry, Alice, I’m on my way out, too. I was just looking over the Neocyber article one last time before handing it over to the interns. You know how it goes.”
Alice laughed, and Kaylee stood and stretched. She could remember a time, six months ago now, when she had stood and stretched at a different desk. It was still difficult to reconcile that far-away life that had made her so miserable with the wonderful one she was living now. She didn’t want to try too hard to do it, either. Some little-girl part of her that still believed in fairytales worried that if she did, her new life would evaporate and she would find herself in Dallas again.
She had been back in Whittier Creek, what she now easily thought of as home, for a little over six months. During that time, Alice had made it her mission to show Kaylee as many of the newspaper ropes as she possibly could. It was clear that she was being groomed to take over the paper someday, but she hoped that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. She was having too much fun learning from Alice, who was an absolute fount of knowledge. That, and she wasn’t quite ready to put in the time needed for her to run a paper on her own. Not when every single day she had with Adam and Matty still felt like a veritable miracle.
“How long are you going to call them interns, Kaylee?” Alice asked now, that now-familiar knowing smile playing across her face. “When do you think you might be comfortable calling them your subordinates?”
Kaylee shrugged, feeling strangely shy. “I’m not sure. Not tonight, though. Tonight, I’ve got to get home. I promised Adam that I wouldn’t be late, and that’s a promise I haven’t always been so great at keeping.”
Alice nodded, and the two of them headed out to the parking lot together. Looking around the bustling streets of the town, she couldn’t help but smile. She loved this place so much. Now that she was safely planted in Whittier Creek, she could allow herself to see how truly unhappy her life in Dallas had been. Everything about her life here made her so much happier, from her work, to the community, to the home she returned to every night. The only fly in the ointment was that her father still hadn’t come to terms with her abrupt change of direction. But that was something Kaylee had mostly made peace with. If her dad loved her, he would get on board sooner or later. If not? She had people who loved her now, people who would stand by her no matter what happened next.
Saying a quick goodbye to Alice and climbing into her car, Kaylee drove as quickly as possible back to the Lewis ranch. It took no more than twenty minutes, but when she let herself inside, she found Adam already dishing out their dinner onto his nicest plates. She knew that Adam couldn’t manage much more than sandwiches, despite all of his many talents, and so she knew that the shepherd’s pie he was dishing out now must be courtesy of Sophia. The truth was, though, that she would have been happy to eat a bag of stale chips for dinner, so long as she was sitting across from Adam.
“Sorry!” she called, hurrying into the kitchen and tossing her things onto the table carelessly. “I’m not late, though. Not quite yet. And whatever it is you’re dishing out smells wonderful. So maybe I’m not sorry after all.”
She moved past him to Matty, who was sitting in his highchair and pushing cheese crackers around the tray happily. As his chubby hand moved, he muttered the word “Dada” over and over again. He had been saying it for a couple of weeks now, but it still struck Kaylee as amazing. She could still vividly remember the anxious, underfed infant she had first met when arriving at Adam’s door. The child she was looking at now didn’t resemble that one in any way. This baby boy was the product of a happy home, and Kaylee was proud to be a part of it.
The three of them ate together in their usual fashion, Kaylee and Adam discussing their days while Matty babbled on about the mystery life only a small child understood. It seemed like a normal evening to Kaylee, and as Matty began to fuss, she started wondering why Adam had made such a big deal about dinner in the first place. As soon as the thought popped into her head, though, she felt Adam’s strong, sure hand enfolding her own.
“Kaylee, I want to start by saying that I know I can be a stubborn man.” He stopped right there, and Kaylee couldn’t help but laugh. She had never met a man more stubborn than hers, but that didn’t bother her. Truth be told, she loved him all the more for it.
He smiled indulgently, which had the strange effect of calming her fit of giggles. “Right, so we’re on the same page there. And I’m assuming we both realize I’m not so great with change, either.”
Kaylee put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh, then gave the whole thing up. It wasn’t like she was fooling anybody. “If you’re interested in my humble opinion, then no. Change is not your strongest point. But you said it, not me.”
Adam smiled, and it was so sweet that it dried up any laughter she might have left. When he slid out of his chair and onto one knee, that laughing was replaced by a gasp. “Adam! What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you something,” he answered, his voice surprisingly shy. “Two somethings, actually.”
She nodded without being fully aware that she was doing so. “Okay, what’s the first one?”
In answer, Adam pulled a simple ring out of his front pants pocket and held it out to Kaylee for inspection. “I know this isn’t the fanciest way to do things, but it’s still what feels right to me. The same way that having you by my side, for the rest of my life, feels right. I love you, Kaylee. I can’t think of anything in the world I want more than you are being my wife. Please, will you marry me?”
Kaylee slid out of her chair onto her knees in front of Adam. She held out her left hand, not caring one bit that it was visibly shaking, and watched as he slid a simple yet elegant ring down her ring finger. She had never seen herself as the marrying kind, but now, she couldn’t think of anything in the world that would make her happier than being Mrs. Lewis. She would still be herself, always, but she would also forever with the man she loved.
With the ring on her finger, she threw her arms around Adam’s neck, kissing him deeply, just to make sure he knew how enthusiastic she was about the idea. There was moisture on her cheeks that she was dimly aware must be tears, but she didn’t care. She was too happy to care about much of anything at all.
“What’s the second thing, Adam?” she asked with a shaky laugh, looking down at the shiny stone on her finger. “You said there were two questions.”
He nodded and looked more than a little nervous. That almost set her off laughing again, although she managed to keep the giggles in. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of anything that could make a man more nervous than asking a woman to marry him. When he slid a sheet of paper across the table to her, waiting for her to glance over it, she finally understood.
“She’s doing really well, by all accounts,” he said, tapping his finger over his sister’s name. “I won’t pretend to understand what it’s like to have an addiction, but I’m glad to hear that the treatment she’s getting is working.”
“So am I,” Kaylee agreed, her heart fluttering in her chest.
Adam smiled, and he looked far more uncertain than she felt. “The thing is, the letter she sent me makes it clear that whether or not she’s getting clean, she doesn’t feel like she’s able to be a mother. She wants me to be Matty’s parent. That means, if you really do want to marry me—”
“I’ll be Matty’s mother,” she finished for him, grinning from ear to ear.
He nodded, silently, and she put a hand to his cheek. “Okay, sir. I only have one question for you in return.”
“Anything,” he answered without missing a beat.
“Can we adopt him? Will your sister let us do that? Because, more than anything, I want the three of us to be a real, true family.”
He kissed her deeply while Matty looked on. Kaylee understood then that for the first time, she was home. She had a family, and she would never let it go again.
End of Cowboy’s Temporary Nanny
Do you love sexy, stubborn cowboys? Please keep reading for an exciting excerpt from Rancher’s Sexy Single Mom and The Rancher’s Tempting Nanny.
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