Hidden Hills (12 page)

His thoughts returned to the master bedroom with its twelve-inch crown molding, where he'd practically thrown Charlotte from his arms. Her soft lips and wounded expression would haunt him for days if he didn't do something about it.

Jeremy swung out from the far side, holding onto the metal cable. “This is awesome… I can even see Charlotte from up here. Oh man — what a rack!”

Her ample curves flashed before Jake's eyes as the younger boy stretched his neck to see for himself.

“Wow! I'll bet it's a twelve pointer.”

A buck… he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Can we go hunting, Dad?”

Jake flexed his shoulders to ease the crick he'd gotten from looking up too long. He was beginning to see how a man could succumb to a place like this, especially if he'd been raised here and knew every nook and cranny.

“It doesn't belong to us, son.”

Bruce's feet dangled overhead. “This place is totally awesome. I'll bet you could buy it real cheap, and we could go hunt'n and fish'n all the time.”

“Real cheap, huh?”

“Yeah, or maybe we could all live here and…”

“Hold it!” he said, putting an end to the boy's plans before they had a chance to go haywire. “To start with, Charlotte can't sell it cheap… she owes too much. And as for us all living together, we won't even discuss it. Okay?”

Bruce swung his feet, tilting his head to the side. “Don't you like Charlotte?”

It caught him off guard, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know where it was going. “Of course, I like her. She's nice.”

“I know. You were kissing her, and I bet you want to do it again, too.”

Tension mounted in his shoulders and neck. At least he knew what the boy had seen wasn't x-rated. Next time he'd make sure they had some privacy.

“She's our neighbor,” he said in hopes of explaining his way out of it. “I was just being neighborly.”

Bruce's feet swung back and forth, stirring the warm fall air. “You don't kiss our other neighbors ‘cause they're old prunes, but Charlotte's hot. I'll bet she even likes kiss'n.”

“Get down, both of you.” He hadn't meant to be so gruff.
Lord
,
give me patience
. If he could just manage to hang on and not let Bruce know he'd hit a touchy spot, then he might have a chance to win Charlotte over before the little rascals could run her off.

Bruce landed with a thump in the leaves near Jake's feet, but Jeremy flipped over the ledge, powering his way through seven chin-ups before touching the ground. The boy was gaining upper body strength now that he'd started lifting weights in gym class. It was another of the many reminders Jeremy was now in his teens. Where had the time gone?

Lost in thought, he didn't realize Charlotte was anywhere around until he heard a low whistle. Her eyes were focused on his legs, or rather on the bloody welts and scratches making them look like he'd been in a cat fight.

“What happened to you?”

“Me?”

Her lips twitched. “Looks like you found the old trail.”

“Old trail?”

She motioned toward the way she'd come. “This is the new path. We keep it clean with the lawnmower.”

“Wipe the smirk off your face.” A dozen or so mosquito bites on his legs were already dealing him misery. The path was in plain sight, but he'd been so fascinated with the tree house, he hadn't even noticed.

Charlotte laughed out loud before walking off, leaving him scratching behind his knee like a dog digging for fleas. By the time he caught up, she'd already made it halfway to the barn.

“I promised to show Bruce my fishing hole,” she said. “But it's getting late.”

Jake fell into step beside her. “I'm in no hurry if you're not.”

She glanced at her watch as if she had somewhere she had to be. Did she have a date? He thought about the kiss, not liking the idea of her responding to another man. “About what happened back at the house…”

“It won't happen again.”

His brow shot up in surprise. “What makes you so sure?”

She waited for the boys to pass. “I've got more than enough problems without getting involved.”

“Who said anything about getting involved?”

Charlotte's head snapped up. “I've never been a one-night stand, and I'm not about to start now!”

The glare alone was enough for him to know he was skating on thin ice, but the razored edge to her voice was a real eye-opener. After all this time, he'd finally met a woman who didn't play silly games.

“So you want to get married again?”

“No.”

Jake could see his options dwindling away. All that remained was the Good Neighbor Award, and he'd never been one to settle.

She reached a clearing not far from the backside of the corral fence and pressed two slender fingers against her lower lip. A shrill whistle reverberated throughout the woods. The ear-splitting noise was by far the most unladylike thing he'd ever heard, and certainly something he'd never imagined he would hear coming from a graceful creature like Charlotte.

“What?” she asked, seeing him shake his head in disbelief.

“Nothing.”

“You got a better way of getting their attention?”

The response from his boys was instantaneous, with Maggie gingerly pulling a dead briar limb from the hem of her blouse. The kids circled Charlotte as if she was a stick of candy, each wanting their share of attention.

He was the only one to notice when Becky arrived with her arms locked around the toddler riding on her hip. Winking at the girl, he lifted Andy onto his shoulders.

A little seed of doubt popped into his mind as he listened to the kids talking with Charlotte. They seemed to be bonding, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing. He'd hate to see little hearts get broken.

His boys took to the idea of the creek with the same wild enthusiasm they'd shown for the tree house. It was a kid's dream come true to run free on a place like this, and after seeing it for himself, he had a better understanding of why Mitch had been willing to move heaven and earth to keep it.

Becky ran ahead, ducking into the barn and returning with an old garden hoe for her mother. Then they were off in a single line with Jake and Andy bringing up the rear.

“What's the hoe for?” He raised his voice to be heard.

Charlotte lifted her weapon. “Protection. You never know when a moccasin might appear.”

“No self-respecting snake would mess with us. We're making too much racket.”

Instead of crossing the yard, she took another cleared path in the trees. It wound through a grove of red maples and poplars, back to the edge of the pasture fence, and then dipped deeper into the woods. Maggie's hard cast brushed against his leg when she dropped back to hold his hand.

“Are we there yet?”

The small palm was as moist as the ringlets curling on her damp forehead. “Tired?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, wiping sweat away in a dramatic gesture with her free hand. “It's a long way to the creek, and me and Becky always get tired.”

“Becky and I,” he corrected.

Maggie frowned. “Are you tired, too?”

“Never mind.”

Charlotte raised the hoe like a banner. “Look alert, kids. We're almost there.”

Jake was certain they'd been walking in circles when she stopped at a large, familiar rock and pushed back the limbs of a wild evergreen shrub. The only thing separating them from the water was a thicket of mountain laurels and some underbrush. With shrieks of delight, the kids raced to the creek bank where they stopped long enough to remove shoes before jumping into the ankle-deep water. Pea gravel and sand lined the bottom, making an ideal play area for the little ones, and Jake didn't think twice before turning Andy loose. After soaking the girls, Bruce and Jeremy waded upstream to explore the larger rocks around the next bend.

“This is nice.” He sat beside her on a thick patch of moss where she was taking in the golden rays of sun filtering through the overhead canopy of leaves. “But why did we take such a long hike to get here when the house is just up the hill?”

She nodded toward her girls splashing and rolling around in the water with Andy. “Do you think I could have kept them out of the creek if they'd known how close it was?”

“I see your point.”

They sat in silence, watching their children play. It was peaceful. He liked this woman, and it was more than just her looks. He felt a harmonious accord with her as well as with this place. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she looked away, as if taking in one last panoramic view of her surroundings.

“Mitch and I used to bring the girls here when they were small. I'm going to miss this place more than I'll ever miss the house.”

There was nothing he could say to ease her pain, so he lay back and closed his eyes. The relaxing sound of running water was drowned by squeals and giggles. His boys laughed, but Charlotte's girls giggled — constantly. Soon he was dozing, knowing they'd scream if they got into trouble. An occasional splash of cold water landed on his face, reminding him of where he was.

Charlotte nudged him awake with her elbow. “Look, coming down the creek.”

Jake sat up, propping his arm behind her. The wind caught her hair, lifting it gently toward him until he could smell the sweet perfume of her shampoo. It was a short-lived moment as the soft breeze moved on, stirring the wild ferns along the far side of the creek.

He blinked, coming fully awake to see her pointing. Wide grins covered the faces of his older boys when they came wandering into view. Their clothes were plastered to their skin with mud and grass stains, a tribute to the fun they'd had. It was getting late, and someone had to be the bad guy.

“It's time to go.”

“But, Dad!”

“You heard me.”

“But we ain't found Charlotte's fish'n hole yet,” Bruce said, skimming a rock downstream. “There's no fish here, just a bunch of minnows.”

She glanced at her watch. “I'm afraid we've spent more time exploring than I'd planned. It's after four, and my fishing hole is actually Mr. Drenfield's pond. If we followed the trail, it'd take a good hour to walk there and back.”

“But you promised.”

“I said if we had time. What part of the afternoon would you have skipped? The tree house? The trails? Or maybe the creek?”

The boy seemed to consider her question before tossing the last of his rocks on the ground in grudging defeat. His shoulders shrugged. “Guess it's okay. We don't have our fish'n poles no how.”

“I'm impressed.” Jake grinned at Charlotte's blank expression. “He gave in with just one little sulk. Next time you can be the bad guy.”

A few minutes later, they'd hiked along the same pathway up to the yard at the back of the house. The children were barefooted, and he and Charlotte had somehow managed to carry all the shoes.

“This was a good idea,” he said, leaning the hoe against the porch. “My boys haven't had this much fun in ages.”

“Nor my girls.”

“What do we do about Maggie's cast?” He watched her sling the heavy plaster from side to side. “It's bound to be soaked.”

She stacked her load of shoes with his. “Not to worry, we're going to see Mark tonight.”

“You have a date?”

Her expression gave nothing away when she unlocked the door. “Mark's my brother-in-law and the kid's pediatrician. If you must know, I haven't had a real
date
in a long time, but I do have a specific time I have to meet him.”

“And that's supposed to make me feel better?”

Her nose wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“I don't like competition.”

She shook her head. “You never stop trying, do you?”

“Not when it's something I want.” He walked on, letting her come to her own conclusion.