Her Baby Dreams (7 page)

“A
re you sure you don't need me anymore?” Rose asked, excitement lacing her voice.

Ashby looked up from where she was working on her Web site.

“Yes, go. You have more important things to attend to today. It isn't every day that your son turns fourteen.”

“Tell me about it! There isn't much more that needs to be done. Living in a house full of bakers and candy makers has its advantages.”

Ashby could only imagine the treats Max and his friends were in for tonight. She laughed. Dottie oversaw the shelter, and taught the women the trade of candy making and baking, along with basic business skills. Her ministry was working out wonderfully for the ladies. And Mule Hollow.

“You're coming, right?” Rose pulled her purse from beneath the counter beside where Ashby sat studying the computer screen.

“Seven o'clock. I'll be there.”

Rose checked out the dress Ashby was considering. “Beautiful. Are you ordering that for the store or is it going to be exclusive to the Web site?”

“It's for the site, but I'm thinking I'll bring a couple in for us here.”

Rose glanced around at the eclectic mix of fashionable merchandise Ashby had filled the store with.

“This place is amazing,” she said.

Ashby smiled proudly. Because she'd started a successful Web site that catered to a wealthy clientele, she was able to mix a few of those items in with a wonderful variety of merchandise in a price range more accessible to the average shopper, many of whom Mule Hollow was now drawing on a regular basis.

Ashby delighted in traveling into the heart of Texas Hill Country seeking out talented people making unique items, the beaded denim jackets and hand-tooled leather belts that everyone loved, for example.

“You have a gift, Ashby. I never thought I'd be working in a place like this. Or that Max would be turning fourteen in such a wonderful environment as Mule Hollow.”

Ashby hugged her. “The town is blessed to have you here. And I couldn't do without you. Now go or you'll be rushed.”

“Right. See you there.”

Ashby felt blessed herself as she watched Rose leave. There were never enough hours in the day to keep things fresh on her site and in the store. Rose helped immensely and enabled her to take a day off here and there.

Such as tomorrow afternoon, when she would go help with the cleanup at Dan's. Since the fire almost a week earlier, she hadn't seen much of him. But she'd thought of him. Actually, it was more than that. She couldn't
stop
thinking about him.

She'd told herself over and over that nothing had changed about him. He'd gone into his home to save a picture of his mother. It didn't alter the man as she knew him.

At five o'clock, she closed up and headed down the sidewalk to her apartment house. The lovely Victorian with white siding and green turrets added so much to Mule Hollow's ambience, sitting at the west end of Main Street. Ashby loved living there, though her neighbors had been changing on a regular basis lately. Of all the women who had originally rented apartments when she'd come, Ashby was now the only one who remained. The other single women had married and moved away. And the cycle began again with new occupants. The apartment across the hall from her had just become empty and she expected to see someone moving in any day.

She was passing Sam's Diner when she saw Adela, Norma Sue and Esther Mae sitting out front at the green picnic table. When they beckoned for her to join them, she detoured for a quick visit.

“Sit down and have a glass of lemonade with us,” Esther Mae said.

Norma Sue patted the bright green bench beside her. Sinking onto it, Ashby accepted the glass Adela held out to her.

“You are coming out to Dan's tomorrow to help with the cleanup, aren't you?” Norma Sue asked.

“Yes. Rose is going to work the store for me.”

“Good,” Esther Mae said. “It's such a shame that he lost everything. Everything, that is, but his mamma's picture. That boy does love his mamma. Ashby, you do know that boys who love their mothers make good husbands.”

Ashby hoped that was true, but she didn't know if that was a real statistic or an Esther Mae statistic. She realized, belatedly, that she should have kept on walking.

“We know you're not so sure about that when it comes to our boy Dan. But he's a good man,” Norma Sue said.

She could admit that she had a newfound curiosity about him, but that didn't change the fact that he was no match for her. “Have any of you ever cleaned up after a fire?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.

Adela nodded. “Be certain not to wear anything you don't want ruined. That soot just refuses to come out.”

“You know that boy hasn't stopped working.” Norma Sue changed the topic midstream. “Lacy said he's been carrying on like nothing happened. Made a trip somewhere the day before yesterday for a load of cattle. Poor boy hasn't even got a bed to call his own, but he's working as hard as ever. And to think, all because of a good-for-nothing lamp cord. All I can say is the good Lord works in mysterious ways.”

Adela smiled, meeting Norma Sue's sympathetic gaze. “Yes, He does, so don't fret.”

Ashby was a bit baffled by what they meant by the Lord working in mysterious ways where Dan's fire was concerned, but she knew they wouldn't rest until they got him settled. Although she felt certain Clint and Lacy would want him to stay with them as long as he needed to. “Well, I enjoyed the company but I need to go home and change. I'm supposed to help out at Max's birthday party.”

“I think that's great,” Esther Mae exclaimed a little too exuberantly. Ashby looked at her curiously and the woman turned as crimson as her hair. “You know what I mean. It's good that Rose has a friend like you. And to think little Max is turning fourteen. Of course, you might need some help out there with all those rambunctious boys running around. I sure do hope there will be some men to lend a hand.”

Norma Sue's and Adela's faces were suspiciously blank. Ashby reassessed Esther Mae's.

“Sheriff Brady will be there. I'm sure he can handle anything that the teenagers can throw his way.” She stood. “I'd better go if I'm going to be on time. I'll see all of you tomorrow.”

“Ashby, you have fun out there tonight,” Norma Sue said, her mile-wide smile stretching mischievously across her round face.

Ashby said a quick goodbye, then crossed the street and headed straight for her apartment. Thinking about Norma Sue's smile, she couldn't help feeling as if she'd escaped something.

The house was quiet as she made her way up the steps leading to her apartment. What were the ladies planning? They'd looked like they were up to something. She was putting the key into her door when she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs behind her. She turned just as Dan Dawson came around the corner of the landing. He was dressed all in black from the Stetson covering his black hair to his boots. All the black made his blue eyes stand out.

The man was gorgeous.

He swept his hat off and held it in one hand. “Hello, Ash,” he said, his lips twisting into a lazy smile that made his eyes look dreamy. Or maybe they just made Ashby feel dreamy when they caught her with her guard down.

“Hello,” she said, though her throat had gone dry. “How are you?” She meant both emotionally and physically. She wondered if he'd stopped coughing.

“I'm good.” He patted his chest. “Stopped coughing a couple of days ago. Thanks for taking such good care of me. I should have come by sooner.”

He'd come to thank her. The idea pleased her. “I was glad to. Everyone is about to burst, they're so ready to get out there tomorrow and start cleaning up.”

He nodded. “They're good people. You coming, too?”

She felt her stomach flutter when his smile seemed to reach out and touch her. She nodded, making him smile briefly.

“I'll look forward to seeing you there and getting the place cleaned up. I've been stuck trying to get a list ready for the insurance company.”

Feeling awkward just standing there, Ashby placed her hand on the door frame. She didn't trust herself to move her hand farther to pat his shoulder. “I'm really sorry. I know it's hard.”

He tapped the hat on his thigh, his expression thoughtful. “Like the Bible says, we came into this world with nothing and we'll leave with nothing.”

“This is true. Still, it has to hurt some.” Ashby realized he didn't look devastated.

His lips thinned and he met her eyes straight-on. “I learned a long time ago that there are some things you can't control. And the secret to not letting them have control over you is simply not to let them. If you understand what's important, it's not so hard to do that. Now, if someone had died in that fire, then I'd have lost something. The most I lost was a bunch of furniture.”

“You do realize you could have been killed running in, right? But I understand. If someone thought there was a reasonable chance of getting back out, they would have done the same.”

“I felt pretty good about it when I went in. But I also know, as much as I hate to think about not having a photo of my mom, even if that had burned up, I'd still have her in my heart.”

Ashby was touched. She and Dan had never had a serious conversation before. Even the day they'd spent getting through the bike race, they'd been too busy butting heads. “I'm glad you have the picture. How long has your mother been gone?”

“About six years. She was a remarkable lady.”

Esther Mae's words fluttered through Ashby's mind. “You'll have to tell me about her sometime.”

He smiled. “I just might do that.”

Their eyes locked and held. Ashby smiled. “Well, I have to go. I need to change. Are you looking for someone in the apartment building?”

“Nope, I'm just checking out my new digs.”

Ashby met his twinkling eyes. “New digs?”

He jerked his head toward the door behind him. “My new apartment for the next few months.”

Nothing could have surprised Ashby more. “You're moving in? Here?” She sounded as dumb as a brick.

“Yep,” he said, and winked. “Howdy, neighbor.”

I
t had been a tough week, but Dan had made it. He'd stayed at Clint and Lacy's for five nights, and had tossed around several ideas about his living arrangements for the next few months. When Adela had called and offered the free use of the vacant apartment in her complex, he'd liked the idea immediately. He'd insisted on paying, of course. She looked fragile, but she'd been a hard sell. Even after he'd explained that his insurance policy reimbursed him for housing while he rebuilt, she'd held out, refusing to take payment. In the end, they'd settled on her donating the rental fee to the women's shelter. Both of them had been happy with that solution.

It wasn't until he'd climbed the stairs and encountered Ashby that he realized there might be an added benefit to living here. He wouldn't get bored, that was for certain. Not that he'd be around all that much. Still, he had to admit that he found the idea appealing. Much more appealing than camping out in his barn, which he had been thinking about doing before Adela approached him about the apartment. He could have stayed at Clint's but it might be five months before his place was finished. That was too long to impose on his friend's generosity.

Looking at Ashby's stunned expression, he knew she didn't share his feelings. The idea bothered him. “Hey, you just told me how good it was to see me.”

She paled. “Oh, uh, yes. I mean, it's great that you're moving in.”

Dan found her completely lovely in her pink, flustered state. Yes indeed, this could be very appealing. He pulled his key from his pocket. “Do you want to take a look with me?”

“No, really. I need to go. I have to get ready for Max's birthday party—”

“Hey, I'm going to the party, too.” He stuck the key in and let the door swing open. “Come on. Take a quick tour. You can give me the insider's perspective.” He could see her waffling, so he tried a pitiful expression to win her over.

She relented. “A quick tour, then.”

“After you.” He stepped back and let her pass.

“You're going to need everything,” she said as soon as they were inside the bare apartment.

“Not really. I'll probably just get the basics. Something to sleep on and a chair. Maybe a cooking pot.” He was surprised when she whirled around to face him. She was beautiful in her concern, her big emerald eyes wide.

“You'll do no such thing! I'm sure everyone will want to pitch in and help furnish the place for you.”

“Ash, it's okay. I was just joking. A little, anyway. I'll get a frying pan, too.” The woman did not know how to take a joke.

Her eyes glittered as she clamped her mouth shut. “This is the kitchen.” She swung her arm wide, encompassing the small galley kitchen with its oak cabinets and white appliances. Then she pushed past him and stormed to the door off the living room. “This is your bathroom, and here—” she took a step back, to the second door “—is the bedroom. And there you have it. Small but cozy. I'm sure you and your cooking pot will be very happy.”

“Does it make you mad that I can joke?”

She crossed her arms in a huff, making her hair swing at her jaw. “Yes, actually, it does. I think you hurt more than you are admitting, and, like always, you hide behind this jokey facade.”

Their eyes met and held for a moment. “You think I live a lie?”

She looked away for an instant. “Well, not necessarily a lie. But I think you—”

“You don't know me well enough to even begin to understand what I think, Ash. You judge me, but you won't even try to get to know me.”

“You're right,” she said, moving to the door. “I don't know you. And I certainly don't understand you. And I think you've reminded me of that fact a couple of times now.”

“Only because I keep hoping maybe somewhere along the way you might want to get to know me better.”

“And I told you before that wouldn't work. It would be a waste of time for both of us. I'm really sorry for what's happened, but nothing else has changed between us.”

She left him standing in the center of his new apartment. The woman flashed fire through her eyes sometimes when he said something she disagreed with. It was intense enough to make everything else fade when it happened. And there was no use explaining it away…

“You do know I'm not a guy who gives up easily,” he called after her. “Especially on a worthwhile cause.”

The slam of her door made him chuckle.

This could be a very interesting setup.

 

The actual celebration for Max was that several of the men were taking him, his best friend, Gil, who lived down the road, and a few guys from school camping. Rose had suggested it, but wanted to have cake and sodas before the guys headed out.

Ashby was on a soda restocking mission in the kitchen when Dan came striding in. She'd watched him strut around, flirting easily with all the ladies, especially Stacy, and she'd witnessed firsthand how they all reacted to him. Why, even Stacy, who didn't talk much to anyone, spoke to Dan. She had actually seemed relaxed with him. That never happened, not even when she was in a roomful of women. Ashby wasn't sure if this was good or bad, but she had to admit it was remarkable.

As if they hadn't argued earlier, he smiled when he saw her. “I've been sent to help you.” He held out his arms. “Load me up. I'm yours.”

She hadn't yet forgotten the earnest look in his eyes when he'd told her he hoped she'd want to get to know him. She'd even felt tempted to change her ways, until she arrived here to find him already in action.

Tearing her eyes away from his smile, she hurried over to the ice chest. It was packed full of a variety of drinks. “Can you lift this?” she asked, glancing at him coolly.

The expression that crossed his face was comical, a mixture of insult and disbelief. She did not have to hear his voice to know his ego was stung by the question. Dan lifted his arm and did a quick bicep curl, a purely male response that almost made her want to smile.

“What do you think?” There was a teasing gleam in his eyes.

“I guess a silly question deserves a silly answer.”

His shotgun laugh startled her with its intensity; she felt it all the way to the soles of her feet.

He cocked his head to the side. “I'm going to win you over if it's the last thing I do, Ashby Templeton.”

The entire incident flustered Ashby so badly she was certain he could see she wasn't as immune to him as she wanted to be. “I wouldn't be too sure about that.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she suddenly felt.

Of course, he winked at her. Which should have reminded her that this was a game to him.

But it didn't matter to her. And that was the scary part. “Can I help you?” she asked. Needing a distraction, she reached for one handle of the chest.

“Sure. I would say tell me how to win you over. But actually, I like the challenge of figuring you out.”

Despite her frustration, her lips twitched. “You never give up, do you?”

He turned serious in a flash. “I think for the first time since I've known you, you finally got something right about me, Ash. I never give up.”

It was said with such conviction that she believed him. After a heartbeat, he winked again, picked up the loaded ice chest as if it were a five-pound bag of sugar and strode out the door.

She stood where he'd left her, in the middle of the roomy kitchen, heart thundering in her chest, her stomach bottomless. Excitement. Anticipation. Danger…that's what she was feeling.

And she'd be lying if she said she didn't like it.

 

“You look a little flustered,” Rose said as Ashby came to stand beside her. “I saw Dan bring out the cooler of drinks. Does he have anything to do with those pink cheeks?”

“The man completely baffles me. It's frustrating.”

“You know, girlfriend, that's not a bad thing,” Lacy interjected. She laughed when Ashby appeared less than convinced. “Keeping your sweetie on his toes, and vice versa, keeps the sparks flying.”

“Okay, enough of that. I want to fall in love and have children, but I want it to be long-term, and Dan is a short-term kinda man. Believe me, I know.
That's
what those sparks are all about.”

Rose and Lacy each laid a hand on her arm. Rose spoke. “I know what you mean. I had dreams just as strong as yours, and I understand where you are coming from. But I think you're reading this wrong. I think Dan is a forever man. I think he's the type of guy who falls once, hard, and hangs on without letting go. He's a good man, Ashby. If you watch him, really watch the way he interacts with women and children, you might see more to him than you think. He's never been anything but respectful to me.”

Ashby found him in the middle of the crowd of boys, playing football. He was running across the field with three of them hanging off him, laughing as he went. The admiration on the boys' adolescent faces was apparent. He wasn't letting them win easily, and Ashby realized the boys were eating it up.

“Dan is in no hurry to fall in love. It could be years before he wants a family. I'm ready now. Believe me, I've wasted enough years of my life on men who aren't ready to commit. I don't have time to get mixed up with another man like that.” She didn't feel like elaborating.

Steven had been just as charming, just as carefree and just as openly flirtatious as Dan. She'd fallen in love with him against her better judgment, and look where it got her. In the end, he'd found he couldn't be a one-woman man, which left Ashby out in the cold. She couldn't go through that again. It wasn't just Steven—almost every guy she'd dated had the Peter Pan syndrome. They were completely content to remain in Never-Never Land for eternity. Like Dan. He was happy with the way he was. She had to wonder if he would ever grow up and take on the responsibility of a family. Despite what Lacy and Rose thought about him, she couldn't trust him.

“I'm looking for a man more like Lance Yates.”

Lacy's mouth fell open. “Lance Yates? Give me a break. He's nice and all, but I saw you two talking at the last potluck dinner—there wasn't so much as a flicker in your eye when you looked at him. Not the case with our man Dan. You should see your eyes fire up when you look at that man. Pretty telling, if you ask me. And anyway, men fall when they fall. When that love bug hits, girl, there's not one thing you can do about it.”

Ashby wasn't so sure about that—sparks in her eyes or men suddenly falling in love and everything changing. No, men like Steven didn't change. She'd stay away from his kind. Because to do otherwise meant a broken heart.

She watched Dan as he went down beneath his tenacious assailants. They all landed hard, a pile of tangled legs and arms, with Dan on the bottom. It hit her that the man would be good with children.

“Max loves it when Dan comes out here,” Rose said, as if reading her thoughts.

Ashby smoothed her slacks and tried to look as if that bit of information didn't surprise her. She also had to fight off asking why and when. She spent at least three or four evenings a month here babysitting, and she'd never seen him.

She felt eyes on her and looked up to find both Rose and Lacy smiling at her like hyenas.

Ashby fumbled for a topic, any topic other than the one they so obviously were dying to discuss as they continued to study her. She felt like a lab rat. “Oh, what's the use? I guess you both already know he's moving in next door to me.”

They both laughed out loud. “We've been wondering when you were going to say something,” Lacy said.

“We didn't want to push too hard,” Rose admitted.

“For some reason I find that hard to believe.” Ashby smiled, despite the turmoil inside her. “Please don't give the ladies false hope.”

“Ashby,” Lacy huffed. “They aren't listening to us.”

She knew it was true. Still, she hoped if no one else made a big deal out of it, they'd let it go. She was going to have a hard enough time dealing with Dan himself, without worrying about anyone else pushing them together. And she was afraid that if she didn't keep up her guard she might give in and go out with him. She hated to admit it, but she was already weakening. She was going to have to do a lot of praying on this. God had a plan for her life, she knew He did. She just had to be patient. But that was exactly the problem. She'd lost her patience a long time ago. She wanted a family. And she was terrified God might tell her no.

Because of that fear, she'd made some wrong choices when it came to men. Steven hadn't been her first mistake. She'd been trying not to disappoint her mother when she'd wasted time dating Carlton and Brad. She hadn't liked either of them in the first place, but knew they were the type of affluent men her mother wanted her to marry. Men with blood so blue it sparkled. Or so her mother thought. Their rejections had been a blessing, because she realized if she'd married either of them it wouldn't have been right. Of course, it had taken her a few rejections to find it in herself to stop trying to please her mother. Her mother would have been happy with either marriage, but Ashby would have been miserable. Still, even this understanding hadn't prevented the damage caused to her self-esteem over their rejection. For a girl who'd been brought up to think keeping up with the Joneses was everything, being told twice in a row you didn't was hard.