Hannah’s heart thudded. Her nerves fluttered. Her breaths came in shallow pants.
She’d obviously shocked him. She could see it in his eyes and in the fact that he almost dropped his drink.
She was more than a little shocked herself. She didn’t sleep with men she’d known for barely two weeks. She hadn’t slept with a man to whom she wasn’t married or engaged to be married in a decade. But she wanted Boone McBride. She wanted him rather desperately.
And unless she was positively clueless, he wanted her too.
So why was he just standing there? Why didn’t he say something? Do something? Yes, heat had flared in his eyes, turning them to molten silver, but his feet hadn’t moved. He hadn’t said a word.
When he finally moved, all he did was lift his snifter to his mouth.
Hannah almost, almost, bared her teeth and growled at him.
After about a million years, he spoke. “I want to make love to you right now more than I want to breathe.”
Whew. Okay, so she hadn’t misread him. However, there was a but coming. She could tell.
“But.”
I knew it.
“I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
Take advantage of me, please!
“This seems like a spur-of-the-moment decision and somewhat out of character for you, Hannah.”
“That’s the point! I want to change my character. My current character has no color. I have no color. I’m so over black, and gray is not much better. I shouldn’t be afraid to hold a baby, Boone. One of life’s most precious moments is rocking a newborn baby.”
“Celeste said something similar to me not too long ago.”
“She’s right!”
“She’s always right.”
“What does she say about sex?”
Boone physically took a step back. “Um, that we haven’t discussed.”
“Well, as someone who has gone without it for longer than I care to contemplate, I can assure you that sex—well, good sex, anyway—is another one of life’s precious moments. I’m confident that sex with you would be good.”
“I, uh, haven’t had any complaints.”
“I’m not ready to be a mother or a wife again, but I want to be able to cuddle and love on a little one and go to bed with a man again. I like you, Boone. I’m hot for you. I want to live! Are you going to help me or not?”
“Damn skippy, I am.”
Her breath hitched at the heat that blazed in his eyes. Setting down his drink, he crossed the room, prowling like a panther. Hannah shivered. A part of her—the dull, gray part—couldn’t believe she was doing this, but the color sizzling through her veins right now was red—bright passionate red.
Then Boone placed his hands on her hips and tugged her against him and his obvious erection, and his mouth swooped down toward hers.
And because life was all about timing, and Hannah’s timing was invariably bad, Brianna wailed.
Boone groaned.
Hannah moaned.
It was the sound of parents everywhere.
“This is so much my luck,” Hannah muttered.
Boone kissed her forehead rather than her mouth. “I think this is probably a good thing.”
“You’ve changed your mind.”
“Not at all. I’m totally on board with doing my part in welcoming you back to life. It’s gonna be my pleasure. But I think you and I will both enjoy the process more if we do this the right way.”
From the nursery came, “Waaa! Waaaa! Waaa!”
“With a babysitter?” Hannah asked.
“Absolutely. And a little romance. Romance is another one of life’s gifts. Let me romance you into my bedroom, Hannah. Let’s do this the right way. I want to give you romance.” He kissed her briefly on the mouth and added, “In addition to a mind-blowing orgasm.”
She might have whimpered just a little bit before saying, “You’d better go tend to your baby.”
“Yeah.” He stepped away.
“I’m going home.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“Hannah?” Boone said, just before disappearing down the hallway. “Be prepared to be romanced.”
She floated all the way home.
He sent her flowers the next day, a big, beautiful mixed bouquet in a rainbow of brilliant colors that made her smile. The enclosed card invited her to join him for a dinnertime picnic cruise on the lake. They had a lovely time, but they didn’t have sex. He left her with a kiss at Serenity Cabbage’s front door at eight fifty-five, using every minute of Nic Callahan’s turn at babysitting.
The day after that he sent her a cookie bouquet from Fresh and invited her to go running with him and Bree around the lake. His jogging stroller was sweet, the baby dressed in a little running suit and adorable, but that was the only exercise Hannah got. On the third day following their return to Eternity Springs, she didn’t see him because she spent the day playing tourist at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Day four, they had a lunch date scheduled at the Mocha Moose Coffee Shop, so the knock at her door shortly after dawn was totally unexpected.
“Hannah, it’s me,” Boone’s voice called. “Hannah, wake up. I need help!”
She raced toward the door, flung it open, and clapped her hand over her mouth at first sight of Boone. His shoulders drooped. His eyes were red with exhaustion. His dark hair stood straight up in places where it appeared he’d repeatedly run his fingers through it. In one arm, he held Brianna.
The other held a dog, a precious little red long-haired puppy.
“I’m begging you. I’m desperate. Take one or the other? I don’t care which. They’ve both been fed. I need half an hour. Shoot, just twenty lousy minutes will do. I was already running low on shut-eye. New baby, that’s the deal, I get it. But I didn’t factor in a baby when I agreed to take a puppy. I haven’t slept for more than ten minutes all night. I need a little nap. Please, Hannah?”
“Wait a minute.” She held up her hand, palm out. “You got a baby and a puppy? In the same week?”
“I told you about the pup. Remember up at Lover’s Leap the day we met? I was trying to come up with a name.”
“Yes, I remember. However, you also told me you were talking about a dog, but speaking about a baby that day. Trace Parker McBride.”
“Yes, I was. But you suggested a great dog name. Ranger. This is Ranger. Will you take him, Hannah? Please?”
“Oh, for crying out loud. And here I thought you were an intelligent man.”
He smiled sheepishly and held up both the pup and the baby.
Hannah surrendered. “Come in. Let me put some clothes on.”
“I’d make a suggestive comment, but I’m too tired.” He slumped into a chair with a mewling baby and a whining puppy. He was asleep by the time Hannah finished dressing.
She roused him, sent him staggering into her room, and then took both the dog and the infant and left. “This is not how I imagined having Boone in my bed,” she muttered she shut the door to Serenity Cabbage a few minutes later and headed for his home.
He’d left the door standing wide open, not a surprise since he’d had his hands full, but still, Hannah shook her head at this uncharacteristic carelessness. What was he thinking? Adopting a puppy and a newborn in the same week?
She shouldn’t be surprised, however. Judging by what she’d seen of him and what his friends and family said about him, once Boone McBride decided to do something, there was no stopping him or changing his mind. He kept his word and his commitments, which was a very attractive quality in a man.
And yet, a puppy and a baby?
He’d looked adorably pathetic standing at her doorway this morning. Guess crazy could be attractive too.
His half an hour of sleep stretched to over two hours, but Hannah didn’t mind. She’d had no firm plans for the morning, and truth be told, she was enjoying herself.
She’d put Brianna down for a nap, and then played with the puppy and a knotted rope. He was a sweet little guy, playful and affectionate, and eager to please. “Look at those big brown eyes. Aren’t you just the cutest thing?”
His coat was a darker, chestnut color. She wondered if it would change to the mahogany red she associated with Irish setters, or if this was the color he’d keep. “Either way, I’ll bet you’ll be a handsome fella when you’re grown. You’ll be all elegant and regal, and the center of attention wherever you go.”
She’d seen that with the pair of Irish setters her lake house neighbors took walking every day. The rambunctious redheads literally stopped traffic. They were friendly dogs and took all the adulation as their due. Hannah pulled another toy from the basket and tossed it to him. Ranger pounced, the rubber mouse squeaked, and a hummingbird buzzed by on the way to the feeder hanging from a post.
Hannah sat back in her chair, content. There were worse places and ways to spend a summer morning. Hannah loved dogs, and from childhood on, her family almost always included a pound puppy of one sort or another. They’d lost a little mixed-breed terrier shortly before the accident.
She’d sometimes wondered if having a dog to come home to after the girls died would have changed anything. Maybe a pet would have anchored her. Maybe she wouldn’t have run away from home. Or maybe she’d have given the dog away.
Certainly she could not have wandered the world in the way that she’d done for three years. But maybe, just maybe, her wandering days now were drawing to a close. She cuddled Ranger against her and rubbed his long floppy ears. “Maybe someday in the not-too-distant future, I can have a cute little puppy like you. Good boy. Aren’t you a good, beautiful boy?”
They played a few more minutes, then Ranger climbed onto one of the half dozen dog beds positioned around the house, circled three times, lay down, and went to sleep. With both her charges down, Hannah made coffee and grabbed a yogurt from the fridge for breakfast. She tidied up the kitchen and family room—Boone’s sleepless night had resulted in a mess—and then she chose a John Sandford novel from one of Boone’s bookshelves and took it and a cup of coffee onto the deck.
It was a beautiful summer morning. Sunshine sparkled like diamonds on the surface of the lake, and songbirds filled the air with music. The scent of woodsmoke drifted from the direction of Brick Callahan’s campground. Eternity Springs billed itself as “A little piece of heaven in the Colorado Rockies,” and Hannah figured they had it right.
Here at this moment, she felt like she’d stumbled into paradise. Metaphorically, she’d died beside Lake Winnipesaukee and wandered around in hell for three years, but now she was poised for a rebirth. Reincarnation, Eternity Springs style.
And maybe a dog.
Hannah chuckled softly at the whimsical direction of her thoughts just as sounds of stirring in the nursery emitted from the baby monitor. She set aside the novel and went to tend Boone’s child. A diaper change later with nine AM fast approaching and Boone nowhere in sight, she settled into a porch rocker with Bree and a bottle. “I do wonder who will show up first?” she said to Bree as the hungry baby latched onto the nipple. “Daddy or today’s nanny?”
She’d checked the schedule Boone had posted on his refrigerator. When Ranger lifted his head from his pillow and pricked his ears, she told him, “I think I’ll put my money on Sarah Murphy.”
Hannah won the bet. At nine on the dot, a red Jeep sporting the Fresh Bakery logo on the side pulled into Boone’s drive. Sarah exited the vehicle carrying a bakery box. Petite with dark hair worn short, she had eyes that were a similar blue to Hannah’s. This morning, they sparkled. “Hello, Hannah. Don’t you make a pretty picture sitting on Boone’s porch with a baby in your lap? But I’m wondering, did I look at the schedule wrong? Is today not my day for day care?”
Hannah smiled and shifted Bree to her shoulder to be burped. “You’re not wrong. Not about today being your babysitting day, anyway. The pretty comment, I don’t believe. I didn’t even take time to comb my hair this morning, and my socks don’t match.”
She extended her sneaker-clad feet to display the truth of her claim, then summarized the situation for Sarah, who shook her head. “I knew that he’d claimed one of the pups and that they were ready to leave their mama. I never put that event together with Brianna’s arrival. Oh, wow. Well, better him than me. These are going to be an eventful few weeks, aren’t they?”
“I suspect so.”
Bree let out a big burp that had both women exchanging a smile. Hannah rose from the rocker, saying, “This is probably the best time to conduct a handoff. She’ll likely finish off her bottle now.”
“Cool. I’ll trade you a cinnamon roll still warm from the oven for one little bundle of love.”
They did the switch, then Hannah peeked inside the box. “Oh, Sarah, that smells sinful. Boone is in for a treat when he comes looking for breakfast.”
“I say you snooze, you lose. You should have it, Hannah. Now, while it’s still warm.”
She was tempted. Sarah must have read it in her expression because she encouraged her by saying, “Tell you what. I admit to being partial to my own cinnamon rolls. Why don’t we split it?”
“Deal. How do you like your coffee?”
“Black, please.”
The two women went inside, and Sarah settled into the rocker with the baby in the sunroom facing the lake while Hannah made fresh coffee. Hannah cut the roll in two, plated the halves, placed the plates and two cups of coffee on a serving tray, and carried it to the sunroom. By then, Brianna had sucked her bottle dry. Once she gave another good burp, Sarah placed the baby in the bouncer, which sat in the middle of the sunroom’s table.
“I had one of these when my son was born. We both loved it. Baby stuff has seriously improved in the years since I had Lori. Of course, that was many years ago.”
“My youngest was born eight years ago, and I thought her baby swing was pretty spectacular. The one Boone bought makes it look like a horse and buggy compared with a Ferrari.”
“How many children do you have?” Sarah asked, her smile friendly as she speared a bite of roll with her fork.
It was a natural question to ask. After all, Hannah had introduced the subject by mentioning Zoe—something she couldn’t believe she’d done. Telling Boone was one thing, considering the circumstances under which they’d met, but to mention her so casually to Sarah?
Was Hannah’s broken heart truly beginning to heal?
Well, Sarah was watching her expectantly, so now was not the time to explore that question. Instead, she summoned up her strength and stated, “I had two daughters. I lost them both along with my husband in an accident three years ago.”
“Oh, honey, no.” Sympathy welled in Sarah’s violet eyes. She reached across the table and touched Hannah’s arm. “What a tragedy for you. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.” She signaled the subject was closed by licking her lips and then asking, “This roll is either heaven or the most sinful thing on earth. If I were to settle here, I’d need to establish some firm boundaries about how often I’m allowed to visit Fresh.”
Sarah picked up her coffee mug and grinned over its top as she quipped, “Many have tried, few have succeeded. So you’re thinking of staying in Eternity Springs permanently?”
What? I blabbed that too? “No. No. I have no plans. Still trying to figure life out.”
“Hmm. What about Boone? Is something—”
Crash. “Yelp. Yelp. Yelp.” In the great room, Ranger darted away from the brass table lamp, now lying in the middle of the floor, giving Hannah an excuse to hop up from the table and evade Sarah’s interrogation.
Startled, Brianna let out a wail.
Instinct had Hannah immediately turning back to the baby, but once she realized that Sarah had Bree, she focused on the lamp disaster.
The lightbulb had broken, the lampshade bent, but the base appeared undamaged. Hannah retrieved a broom and dustpan from the kitchen and set about cleaning up the mess, a challenging task since Ranger had decided he needed to help and kept tangling himself around her legs, yipping and nipping at the cord. “Stop that, Ranger. Down. Stay down.”
Boone walked into the house just as Ranger managed to knock the dustpan from Hannah’s hand and send the glass shards flying. “Ranger!” the man snapped. “Bad dog.”
Unfazed, the puppy ran to him to say hello by jumping and nipping and yipping. Boone let out a long, heavy sigh, bent down, and scooped him up.
“Uh … hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Boone,” Sarah said. Then she waved Brianna’s arm and added in high-pitched voice, “Hi, Daddy.”
Hannah folded her arms. “Gotta love a man who manages to squeeze a half-hour nap into three full hours.”
“Guilty as charged, and I humbly beg your pardon.” He eyed the lamp and then winced. “It’s been that bad, has it?”
Hannah sniffed. “Brianna is an angel. Ranger hasn’t been bad. He’s just a puppy. It’s not his fault that you don’t have the sense God gave a goat.”
“I know. I know. Ranger and Bree at the same time is a bit too much.”
“Ya think?”
He flashed that boyish grin that lately seemed to make Hannah’s heart give a little flutter. “No worries, though, because I figured out what to do to fix it.”
Hannah sent Sarah a droll look and stated, “Now, why am I not surprised?”
Sarah asked, “Are you sending the puppy back to Mac?”
Hannah shook her head and said, “No, he won’t do that.”
Simultaneously, Boone said, “No, I wouldn’t do that.”
Sarah settled Brianna back into her bouncer. “So how are you going to fix it?”
“He’s cooked up a scheme,” Hannah said. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly what it was too.
“It’s not a scheme. It’s a solution to a problem. I’m going to hire a night nanny for Ranger.” He turned a puppy dog look toward Hannah. “Want the job?”
Bingo.
When Hannah didn’t immediately respond, Sarah scoffed. “A night nanny for a dog?”
“Why not? It makes perfectly good sense. These first nights away from his mother are hard ones for Ranger, and he’s going to require attention. I physically can’t give him the attention he’ll need because I’m already sleep-deprived thanks to Bree. The last thing I want is to stretch myself too thin and have an accident of some sort. Last night I scared myself. A night nanny takes care of that problem. And since I have help with the baby during the daytime, I’ll be able to work with Ranger on the training he needs.”
His smile hopeful, he asked, “What do you say, Hannah? The pay is good. Really good.” He paused, waggled his eyebrows, and added, “Comes with benefits.”
Hannah snickered.
“I’ll bring him over to the Cabbage every evening just before I take over daddy duty solo.” Oblivious to their audience, Boone sauntered over to Hannah and placed his hands on her hips. “What do you say? Will you be our night nanny?”
“For how long?”
“I think it’s usual for puppies to cry at night for a week or two, but Ranger is a smart dog. He might make the transition in a few days.”
“What if I say no? Do you have a backup plan?”
“I always have a backup plan, but I hope I won’t need it. Say yes, Hannah. Please? I want you.”
Yes, well, she wanted him too, didn’t she?
“Okay. But I’ll need a crate and food and whatever else he needs before you bring him tonight.”
“Deal. We’ll do that after our lunch date.”
“You still want to do lunch?” she asked, surprised.
“I do. As long as…” He turned toward his babysitter. “Sarah? Are you good holding down the fort here for a few hours this afternoon?”
She’d been watching Boone’s and Hannah’s exchange with avid interest. “Of course. That’s why I’m here.”
“I’ll pick you up at noon?” Boone asked Hannah.
She shook her head. “I’ll meet you at the Moose. I have an errand or two I’d like to do this morning, so I’ll be on my way.”
“Okay, then.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “See you at noon. Thanks a million for the assist this morning. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
“Glad to help. Just don’t make a habit of it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Smiling, Hannah crossed to where Sarah sat holding Brianna. She bent and kissed the baby on the back of her head, then said to Sarah. “It was nice visiting with you. The cinnamon roll was spectacular. I hope you enjoy your baby day.”
“I plan on it.”
“Cinnamon roll?” Boone repeated in a hopeful tone.
Hannah laughed. “You snooze, you lose, McBride.” She was grinning as she exited the house and shut the door behind her.
Inside, Boone spotted the bakery box and sighed to see it empty. Sarah said, “So, you want her, do you? As something more than a dog sitter.”
“Definitely more.”
“Are we talking something permanent? Is the most eligible bachelor in Eternity Springs off the market?”
Boone dragged his thumb through the dribble of icing at the bottom of the bakery box, then licked it off. “Yes, I think so. If I can persuade her to hang around, then I think it’s a real possibility.”
“Oh, wow. A scoop! A baby, a puppy, and a wife! Is this public news? Can I share?”
“That would be premature. I’m not one hundred percent certain I’ll be able to pull this one over the finish line.”
Sarah shook her head. “You’re Boone McBride, Eternity Springs’ own silver-tongued, silver-eyed juggernaut. I’m betting on you. And I can speak for the entire babysitters’ brigade that we are ready to assist in any manner possible. We excel at interventions when they’re necessary.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So when should we plan for a wedding? And where? Here? Texas? Her hometown?”
“I’m not going to rush her.”
But he was going to charge his batteries. He’d need 100 percent power to light her way to life, happiness, and love.
Probably wouldn’t hurt to have a backup battery, come to think about it.
He and Hannah were meant to be. He’d known it the moment she’d asked him to make love to her. Call it kismet or karma or fate or even a sprinkle of Celeste Blessing angel dust, meeting her that morning up at Lover’s Leap had been more than chance. It had been destiny. Be a light.
What he hadn’t realized was that illuminating someone else’s world would light up his own life too.
Boone scraped one more puddle of icing off the bottom of the box and took the delicious sugar hit. “I won’t rush her,” he repeated, “but I’m thinking a candlelight service here in Eternity Springs on New Year’s Eve.”
“That’s moving at a snail’s pace where you’re concerned. A New Year’s Eve wedding sounds fabulous. I suggest you phone Celeste this morning and book the Honeymoon Cottage at Angel’s Rest.”
“I’m on it.” Boone watched through the window as Hannah Dupree, dressed in black and mismatched socks, walked the path between his home and Serenity Cabbage. “I’ll get Tucker’s wife to work on finding the perfect wedding gown for Hannah too.”
“Wait a minute!” Sarah exclaimed. “Your cousin Tucker? When did he get married?”
“That’s a whole different story, but it’s a good one. Why don’t you hand me my baby, and we’ll sit outside in the sunshine and rock for a bit? I’ll tell you all the grubby details about Tucker and Gillian’s romance.”
He did exactly that, and had her in stitches about the wedding vows that the Elvis impersonator had instructed Tucker and Gillian to exchange. After he’d told the entire story, and with Brianna snoozing peacefully in his arms, he brought the conversation around to the earlier topic. “Sarah, about those interventions you mentioned. Do you think our babysitters’ club would be willing to play matchmakers from time to time?”
“Honey.” Sarah patted his knee. “This is right up our alley. Tell me what you’re thinking.”