She opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t an apology, so she closed it again.
“Don’t worry so much. Not about me.” He glanced down at the doll and smiled. “I enjoy playing with Amber, seeing how a little girl’s mind works. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do.”
“If you’re sure...”
“I’m sure you can stop apologizing. You and your kids are not a burden and you’re not intruding. Just make yourself at home. Settle in. Or else I’m going to get mad.” He sent her a wink. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m mad.”
* * *
EVEN AS THE words left his mouth, Wyatt realized his mistake.
“I’m so sorry.” His turn to apologize. “That was a stupid thing to say. It’s a joke between my brothers and me—from an old TV show.”
To his great surprise, she laughed. “I know. I watched The Incredible Hulk reruns when I was a kid. I loved how he grew all big and green and furious.”
Despite her good humor, his guilt persisted. “I didn’t intend to threaten you.” He considered the phrase again. “Although that’s exactly the way it sounded.”
“You were teasing, Wyatt. I got that.” Her smile faded. “Travis doesn’t threaten. He just...explodes.”
“I hate reminding you of him.” And hated remembering his own dad’s hair-trigger temper.
“It’s not as if I ever really forget.” She drew a deep breath and then made an obvious effort to improve the mood. “You seem pretty experienced at holding babies. Did you spend a lot of time taking care of your younger brothers?”
“My mom was sick for a while before she passed away, so I did a fair amount of babysitting. Especially with Dylan.”
“No wonder you’re so good with Amber! Though after taking care of three younger brothers, I would expect you’d had enough of dealing with children. Yet here you are sponsoring a summer camp.”
“Kids are important.” He’d planned on having a full house, back in his twenties when he’d believed getting married was part of his future. Too bad for him, the girl he’d loved wanted a different kind of life. Now everything he did was for the ranch and his brothers. “Caroline and Garrett proposed having the Circle M host the teenagers, and I decided we owed it to Henry to help the kids the way he helped us.” And that was as close as he’d ever come to that long-ago dream.
Susannah gave him a puzzled frown. “Henry?”
“While I was growing up, we lived in town, where my dad repaired cars at the service station. After he died, I went to work out here for Henry MacPherson. Eventually he had all of us move in with him. And he left the four of us the ranch in his will.”
“You lost both parents?” Her blue eyes widened. “That’s so sad. How old—” She broke off the question as Amber returned to the living room. “Did you find the bottle, sweetie? That’s good. Sick babies need to drink.”
Now feeling a little foolish, Wyatt shifted the doll to the crook of his arm. “Maybe you should rock the baby for a while, Amber. I think that might help her get well.” With a push on the chair arm, he got awkwardly to his feet.
“It’s a him,” Amber said, clambering into the rocker. “Russell.” With a serious, concerned expression, she cradled the doll against her body and offered him the bottle.
“I could use something to drink, myself,” Wyatt said, keeping his voice low. “Coffee, maybe?”
“I’ve just made a fresh pot.” Susannah led the way through the dining room. “Russell was her friend when we lived in Gillette,” she said. “His family had the house next door and the two of them would play together most of the day. That was two years ago, but she still asks about him sometimes.”
“Changes are hard on kids.” Wyatt reached above her head to push open the kitchen door.
“You would know. And I’m afraid, since we’ve moved so often...” she said, walking past him. “But now—” She stopped short, just inside the doorway. “Well, hello, Dylan!”
His brother’s voice came from the kitchen. “Afternoon, Ms. Susannah. How’s your day going?”
Following, Wyatt didn’t stop as quickly, so he bumped into her, knocking her off balance. He put his hands on her narrow waist to steady her. “Sorry about that. You okay?” The world seemed to halt for a moment as he held her. Under his palms, she drew a deep breath and blew it out again.
“Of course. I’m fine.” She stepped out of his hold. “Dylan, what are you doing hanging around the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon?”
Dylan saluted Wyatt with a lift of his coffee cup. Then he refocused his attention on Susannah. “Actually, I’m on a mission—I was sent to find cookies. Garrett said you were baking this morning and the kids were hoping...”
Arms crossed, she eyed him skeptically. “The kids?”
He winked at her. “Of course. Pure altruism on my part.”
“I’m sure.” She nodded toward a plastic container on the counter. “Those are the cookies. All ready for the kids.” Her emphasis on the last two words drew Dylan’s grin.
“I’m sure they will appreciate the effort, and I’ll say thanks in their place.”
Susannah smiled at him. “They’re welcome.”
Still standing by the kitchen door, Wyatt felt very much outside the conversation, as if he wasn’t in the room at all. Dylan had always been a ladies’ man, able to win a smile from females nine years old to ninety. That had never bothered him before. Wyatt wasn’t sure why he resented his brother’s easy charm this afternoon.
“I had a couple of other things to talk over with you, if you’ve got a minute,” Dylan was saying.
“Sure.” Susannah leaned a hip against the counter. “What’s going on?”
Wyatt remembered he’d come in for coffee. Jaw set, he stalked across the kitchen and elbowed his brother away from the machine so he could pour a cup.
Prodded into motion, Dylan joined Susannah by the breakfast bar. “First off, that reporter is gonna show up here tomorrow to interview me. So if you could freshen up the other guest room, that would be great.”
“No problem,” she told him. “But I’ve been wondering, how did this house end up with two guest rooms?”
Wyatt started to answer, but Dylan spoke first. “You and Amber are staying in what used to be my room before I moved into the loft in my studio. Comfortable, isn’t it?”
“Incredibly comfortable. We appreciate you sharing with us.”
“Anytime.” His grin could only be called flirtatious. “Meanwhile, we grown-up types were talking about giving the kids a picnic on Thursday, down at the creek, on the other side of the barn.”
“Where the picnic tables are? That sounds like fun. I’ve walked there with Amber. She wants to play in the water.”
“I imagine they all will. We also thought we’d give them a day off from making their own meals and put you in charge of the food, if you don’t mind. Sandwiches, fruit, that kind of thing. More cookies would be good.” Another of those grins.
And Susannah smiled in response. “I don’t mind at all. I’m glad to help with the camp in any way I can. You’ll want everything ready by noon?”
“Sounds about right. We’ll show up and let the kids carry everything down to the creek. There are a couple of picnic baskets around here somewhere, I believe. And I’m sure we’ve got at least one