Vera stepped back and regarded her daughter with something akin to satisfaction. Lark’s chest constricted. No matter how much she loved her mother, Lark had never been completely sure her mother felt the same way about her. Vera’s childhood in San Antonio had been composed of a string of beauty pageants starting when she was one. She’d grown up praised for her beauty and style. Lark was sure it had broken her heart to give birth to a child of average prettiness and no interest in fashion.
Her mother must have thanked heaven when Skye came along. Beautiful and personable, with an abundance of talent. A mini Vera. A doll for her to dress and mold into the perfect pageant princess.
“See, that took me no more than a minute and a half and you look so much better. Imagine what would happen if we did a little mascara and eye shadow. You really should take more care with your appearance. What will people think?”
Considering that her patients in the ICU were unconscious and their family members too distressed to notice anything but their loved ones, Lark doubted that it mattered what she looked like. “I’ll make more of an effort.”
Knowing it would make her mother happy, Lark went into the small bathroom off the entry and checked her appearance. To her amazement, her mother was right. The little bit of makeup had transformed her. She was pretty. Not beautiful like Skye or their mother, but maybe attractive enough to make Keaton give her a second look?
The instant the thought entered her head, Lark banished it. Depending on how her mother responded to Lark’s request to babysit Grace, she might just be stuck dealing with Keaton on a much more regular basis. If that happened, the last thing she needed was to start wondering if she appealed to him.
First of all, there was the hundred and some years of fighting between their families.
Then there was the little problem of whether or not she could trust him. Skye had put her faith in Jake and look what had happened. He’d vanished when she needed him most.
Last, but certainly not least, Keaton’s brusque manner and ruggedness were a little overwhelming. Granted, he’d handled Grace with an acceptable amount of gentleness, but he’d obviously been on his best behavior. Would he be as careful with her?
And would she want him to be?
Swept away by the thought of his large hands skimming over her body, pulling her tight against him as his mouth claimed hers in a vigorous kiss, Lark shuddered in delight. Her skin warmed as the fantasy heated her blood. She could almost feel the scrape of his rough chin against her neck. Desire lanced through her like an electric shock, leaving her knees oddly unsteady.
“Mom,” she called, emerging from the bathroom. “I have a favor to ask you.”
Vera frowned. “I’m not sure this is a good time. Your father is very distressed about the loss of the tree farm and the damage done to the irrigation pipes.”
Lark recognized this tactic. Her mother was always using Tyrone as an excuse to avoid doing things she deemed too great a burden. Ignoring her mother’s broad hint, Lark muscled on.
“Grace gets to leave the hospital in a couple days.”
“So soon?”
“It’s been three months.”
And as far as Lark knew, Vera had only stopped by once. Lark thought about Keaton’s mom, visiting both a child she didn’t fully believe was her granddaughter and the woman who’d been instrumental in taking her son away. Gloria had just as much reason to take her anger out on Skye and the baby, but she’d chosen a path of forgiveness instead.
“Things have been so bad around here, I haven’t noticed how much time has passed.”
“I was wondering if you could help me out with her.”
“I don’t know how I can find the time. There’s so much to do here.”
Lark braced herself to beg. Her parents had always made it hard for her to ask for anything. “Please, Mom. Can’t you help me out until Skye gets better?”
“Are you sure you’re the best one to be taking care of your sister’s baby, Lark?”
“If not me, who else?”
“There’s the father.” Vera arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Has he shown up yet?”
“If you mean Jake...” She didn’t dare defend a Holt to her mother. “I don’t know where he is. His brother hasn’t had any luck locating him.”
“Does that surprise you? None of those people can be trusted.”
“Grace is a Taylor, Mom.” Lark wasn’t comfortable misleading her mother, but she hoped that maybe Vera would be more inclined to help if the conflict with the Holts wasn’t part of the equation. “None of us had heard from Skye in four years. We don’t even know if she and Jake were still together.”
Vera considered this and for a brief second, Lark thought her mother might have forgiven how badly Skye hurt them when she’d run off with a Holt. But then Vera shook her head.
“I heard that brother of his is doing a DNA test. We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”
“Grace is so beautiful, Mom,” Lark said, hoping if she appealed to what her mother valued most that Vera might be persuaded to put aside her hurt and embrace her granddaughter. “She looks exactly like Skye.” Which wasn’t completely true, but hopefully Vera would be so thrilled to have a mini Skye to smother with love that she wouldn’t notice the Holt eyes and bone structure.
“I’m sure she’s quite lovely.” Vera could have been speaking of a stranger’s child for all the warmth she showed. “I can see that you are quiet passionate about taking on the responsibility of your sister’s baby. I just don’t think you realize how challenging it will be with you working full-time. A normal baby is exhausting and she’s bound to have special needs. I’ll speak with your father about helping you out with the child care costs.”
And Lark knew her last hope was gone. Her mother wasn’t ready to forgive Skye for turning her back on her family and would resist warming up to Grace.
“I don’t want a stranger taking care of her,” she told her mother, letting her disappointment show. It was looking pretty certain that her options had dwindled to Keaton.
“She’s had strangers taking care of her for the last three months,” Vera retorted a touch impatiently. “I don’t see the difference.”
The difference was Grace had needed medical attention and the nurses in the NICU were experts in the care of preemies. “I appreciate your offer of financial help, but I really think we owe it to Skye to do the best we can for Grace, and that means having her family take care of her.”
A layer of frost coated Vera’s features at Lark’s mild reproof. Almost immediately she wished she could take back her criticism. No purpose would be served by alienating her mother, but along with regret, Lark noticed a tiny buzz of triumph for having stood up to her mother.
Unfortunately, Lark’s confidence quickly faded as the reality of her situation engulfed her, and she drove home in such a state of disappointment that she didn’t remember Keaton had invited himself on her shopping trip for the baby until she noticed the four-door pickup parked in front of her house.
The clock on her dashboard said quarter after two. She was fifteen minutes late. Lark settled her car in the garage and headed down the driveway to meet up with Keaton.
“I forgot we were getting together today.”
“You look different.” His eyes narrowed as he surveyed her.
When his gaze settled on her lips, Lark remembered