“What a marvelous place to grow up.” She looked out to the barns, the sheds, the well-treed lot and the gravel drive. “It’s the picture of country living. And you must have a ball decorating this porch for Christmas with garlands and twinkle lights. Have you owned it a long time?”
Garlands? Twinkle lights? Guilt found new lodging in his chest as he thought of the artificial tree he stuck in the living room corner every year, using two strings of lights and two dozen satin balls from Walmart. “Nearly three years.”
“Well, it’s meant to inspire roots.”
“Now if I could only figure out the whole ‘wings’ part of the equation that every child psychologist talks about,” he remarked as he led her into the kitchen. “Encouraging Aiden to take a chance is the tough part for me.”
“He’s five, he’s cute and he’s getting spunkier. He just needs to spread those wings on his own a little. Take a few falls.” She nodded toward the tree house, visible through the wide picture window above the sink. “And I can see I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know,” she added, “so let me just say this kitchen is absolutely lovely. And clean. Which is kind of scary, for a single dad.”
“He has help,” a woman’s voice interjected.
Rainey turned, surprised. So did Luke.
“Hillary. I wasn’t expecting you to stop by.” Luke offered his former sister-in-law a puzzled look.
“Sorry, I came through the back door to grab my file bag from yesterday.” The woman lifted a black canvas tote in her left hand. “I wanted to copy some notes into my laptop and realized they were still here. Oops.”
* * *
It didn’t take a college degree to read the other woman’s ruse, which meant maybe Rainey shouldn’t be here. But Luke seemed to think nothing of the explanation. Of course, he was a man and more than likely oblivious.
“I’m Hillary Baxter, Luke’s sister-in-law. I help him with Aiden.” Cool and crisp, Hillary nodded toward the tree house outside the back door. “You’re the twins’ mother.”
“Rainey McKinney. Nice to meet you.”
Hillary offered a thin smile. “Yes, well. I have to go. Duty calls.”
Luke set down a box of crackers he’d pulled from the cupboard and nodded. “I’ll see you Monday.”
“I’ll be here.”
Her tone hinted she belonged here, Rainey didn’t. Hillary exited through the back door and made a show of climbing the ladder, clutching Aiden in a huge hug, reminding him twice to stay away from the opening, and then hugging him again, whispering something.
Rainey fought the urge to choke. The other woman was pretty and accomplished. Her style and grace shone like well-rinsed fresh pearls. Perfect hair, great shoes, tailored pants and a silk shirt.
Who wore silk to visit a kid?
Luke handed over a jar of peanut butter. “Can you spread this on those crackers? And I have some little fancy cupcakes from the store. I think they’d be high-tea stuff, right?”
“Perfect.”
“We don’t have to make tea, do we?”
“Not this time,” she told him. “Juice boxes will do the trick. And please note that the children are playing nicely, they’ve scrambled up and down that ladder at least a dozen times to gather treasures from under the trees, and no one has fallen.”
“Yet.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” she chided him. She gave him a tiny elbow thrust to drive home her words. “Our instincts for survival tell us to hang on. To watch our step.”
“Preach that to me after your first trip to the E.R. on a busy Saturday.”
She nodded. “Good point. I might be singing a different tune then. Okay, peanut butter crackers, tiny cupcakes with sprinkles, and juice boxes. Our high tea is ready.”
* * *
She’d fussed about, putting everything on a foil-covered cookie sheet because he didn’t own a fancy tray. He thought the whole thing silly until he saw the kids’ eyes go wide as Rainey and he approached.
“This is so fancy!”
“Oh, I love it, Mommy!”
“Daddy, this is a great party!”
Luke’s heart swelled as he climbed the ladder. Rainey lifted the tray up to him, and as it changed hands, their gazes met again.
Sheer beauty.
And it wasn’t because of her lovely face, her gold-toned skin or the soft tumble of hair.
It was her spirit, shining through the smile she gave him.
His chest tightened, as it did the week before when he’d first laid eyes on her. But inside, his heart melted.
Think, man. She’s got a troubled history. And even if she didn’t commit the crime she did time for, she was part of the gang that held up that store.
He knew all that. Rainey’s teenage years had been nothing but trouble, but in all his years on the force, he’d seen a lot of kids change their lives. Why not her? Why not now?
You’re willing to risk Aiden’s well-being? You’re a grown man. He’s a kid who’s already drawn the short straw on mothers once. Leave it alone.
Luke had to. He knew it.
But ignoring this attraction to Rainey was the last thing he wanted to do.
She curtsied to the trio in the tree. “And when you’re finished with that, young royals, I’ll be sure to tidy up the castle forthwith.”
Her poor imitation of a highbrow British accent made them giggle. They ducked inside the little house, and their delighted voices made Luke silence the voices nagging him. “This was a great idea.”
Rainey aimed a wistful look at the tree house. “I missed a lot of tea parties while I was gone. I need to make that up to them.”
He longed to offer words of comfort, but they’d be just that. Empty words.
She noted his silence with a resigned look. “But I’m back now and determined to be a good mother.”
He couldn’t address that subject honestly, so he opted for a new topic, a safe one and hoped she didn’t notice his lack of segue. “How are the wedding plans coming? Everything going all right?”
* * *
His quick change of subject said Luke found her former actions reprehensible. Well, so did she, but that was then. This was now. “Quite well. We had a family meeting last night and all systems are go.”
He laughed. “My mother helped with my brothers’ weddings. She was insanely busy during the planning. And there wasn’t much I could do to help except haul furniture around. And deliver stuff.”
After seeing her uncle’s reaction the night before, Rainey completely understood. “Uncle Berto said the same thing. Still, those are important tasks when you’ve got a big party planned. And we’re adding a dairy section to our farm booth for the festival the week after, so I’ve got to make sure I have everything set for that. The wedding, the booth, the store, decorating.”
“That’s an ambitious project,” he mused. “Do you need a generator? I’ve got a portable one. I’m doing a petting zoo with the crew—” he motioned toward the barn “—but I don’t need electricity. They’ll have the park lights on, and temporary lights will be strung around the perimeters.”
“I could use an extra generator as backup. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
He