The Lies Uncovered Trilogy (Books 4, 5, and 6 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) (37 page)

"Sounds like fun," Kit mused. "Just try not to be too territorial."

Marc tried to absorb that in the humor Kit threw it at him. Still, it bothered him that there was truth to what he said about his brothers being all over Kit, and wondered about her response, especially if she did have a thing for cowboys.

Taking her arm, he guided her up a trail paralleling a new driveway that cut through the woods leading to Rick and Sophie's house and continued holding her arm, and she didn't try to pull loose, which surprised him. Ever since the kiss at the site, she'd managed to keep a working distance between then, so it was obvious her no-commitment, no-staying-in-my-tent rule was still in place. He might try another kiss at some point though, but now wasn't the time.

"The house is kind of off by itself," Kit commented, as they continued up the trail.

"Not completely," Marc replied. "Since Rick and Adam are joined at the hip, Adam and Emily's house is probably up here somewhere."

Looking askance at him, Kit said, "The house is probably up here, as in, the house
is
up here, or you assume it's up here because you have a nit to pick with both men?"

"I don't have a nit to pick with them," Marc countered.

Kit gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Hansen, you have so many nits to pick around here you need a dinosaur-size nit comb."

The house came into view, a beautiful cedar house that blended with the forest, but as they approached, Marc released Kit's arm and stopped walking so he could take a moment to collect his thoughts. It was all beginning to come back, the way it had been before he left. Rick started to cozy up to him right after learning they were half-brothers instead of cousins, but only because Rick finally started feeling guilty because, all his life, he'd lived across the driveway from a guy he hadn't really given shit about, who happened to be the reason he was alive.

"Don't go getting cold feet," Kit said. "It's not like you."

"I'm not getting cold feet," Marc snapped. "I'm wondering why I'm here."

"Try, it's the polite thing to do after you've been gone four years, but if that doesn't work, how about, Rick's your brother and you're the reason he's alive, and he might want you back in his life because you made a difference. Or maybe because you're a real pain in the butt, but everyone around here already knows that and they love you in spite of it."

She went on ahead, marched up the porch steps and knocked, then stood back and waited for Marc to catch up.

"I'd be in Texas trying to worm my way into the Belize project if I hadn't let you talk me into this," Marc mumbled, as he plodded up the steps.

Once on the porch, Kit reached up and tucked a lock of hair into Marc's ponytail, then straightened his collar, patted his chest, and said, "I think you'll pass."

"I'm not trying to impress anyone," Marc said, but he did like the moment of attention Kit gave him, little womanly touches, like someone who cared. Like a wife.

CHAPTER 6

The door to Rick and Sophie's home flew open and Rick rushed out, and before Marc could react, Rick threw his arms around Marc, patted his back, and said, "Man, you sure took a long time to come home."

Marc smiled some, but wasn't sure whether Rick was being genuine, or maybe, just before he opened the door, Sophie might have straightened his hair, fixed his collar, patted him on the chest and sent him out to act like he cared. Sophie would do something like that, and Rick did whatever Sophie wanted since he'd been jumping through her hoops for years.

"I got busy in school," Marc said, "and before I knew it four years slipped by."

"Come on inside." Rick grabbed Marc's arm and tugged him through the doorway. "Sophie's rounding up the kids. They're walking now, so we're thinking about getting a herding dog."

Marc stopped Rick as he went to shut the front door, and said, "Kit's with me."

Rick looked at him, puzzled.

"My assistant. Kit Korban," Marc explained.

Kit stepped into the doorway from where she'd been standing on the porch, off to the side, and said, "Well, actually, that's past tense. I was Marc's assistant. But if things go the way I hope I'll be in charge next time."

Rick shifted his gaze between Kit and Marc and it was obvious he was asking the same question to himself everyone else had. Who was the beautiful woman with Marc and was she sleeping with him?

Marc cleared things up by saying, "We're following Dad's ranch rules mainly because Kit doesn’t give me a choice, but if we end up doing a little digging around in the Indian mound I'll be her field hand, nothing more, which means she'll have me doing all the dirty work."

"Hansen, you are so full of it," Kit said. "No one can keep you out of the dirt because you think you know better than anyone else how to dig. But that's why I have you as my assistant."

Marc laughed and relaxed some. The light banter helped cut through all the brotherly dishonesty. "So, I heard you and Sophie are expecting twins," he said to Rick.

Rick smiled, as if pumping out kids was the greatest thing going. "Sophie started out wanting ten, but that was when we were eight and nine," Rick said. "She scaled down to six when she was twelve, and after the triplets, announced she'd never go through that again, which lasted about a month. She's doing fine though, and Mom's back in baby mode. You know Mom and babies. Honey! Marc's here," he called out to Sophie.

"Be there in a minute, sweetheart," Sophie called from beyond the hallway.

A moment later, a little naked boy came rushing into the room, squealing and laughing, and ran up to Rick with arms raised to be picked up, which Rick did. "This could get dangerous," he said, eyeing his son, whose little cock was aimed at him. "We'd better get some diapers on you."

Rick started down the hallway and was passed by a little naked girl, who stopped at the end of the hallway and stared at them. Then she was joined by a little girl in a diaper, who stood beside her sister, both staring at them.

Sophie emerged from the hallway, and spotting Marc, walked up to him, gave him a hug, and said, "You really are a sight for sore eyes." She looked him over, and Marc knew she'd spotted the ponytail. To Marc's surprise, she smiled like it really didn't matter and followed up by saying, while toying with his ponytail, "You always did have nice hair, just enough waves and blond highlights to make women jealous. I actually like the ponytail. It suits a man who spends his time on archaeological digs. We heard all about it." She looked beyond Marc and said, "And you must be Kit. Grace told us about you, and about having tea in the woods. She plans to bake cookies and come again tomorrow afternoon, so I hope you're ready."

Kit offered her hand, "I'm ready. In fact I plan to stop the dig every afternoon at two for tea, but I haven't mentioned it to Marc yet, for obvious reasons."

She looked at Marc and smiled, which had Marc thinking about what that smile did to him, and the lips, and other things he didn't need right now. "You're in charge here, Korban," he said, getting back on track, "but I never did think you were cut out for field work."

"I'm as cut out as you," Kit said, "I just don't see a reason to go completely native."

Both little girls toddled into the room, and standing on each side of Sophie, tucked their heads against her, wrapped their arms around Sophie's legs, and continued to stare.

Sophie put her hand on the top of the little naked girl's head and said, "This one's Tina, and this one's—" she placed a hand on the head of the one in the diaper "—Rena."

"Rena and Tina," Kit mused. "That's adorable. How did you come up with those?"

"Rena's named after her great-grandmother, Maureen," Sophie said, "and Tina's named after my step-mother, Justine, who's their grandmother. It came out Rena and Tina, even though we hadn't planned it." She put her hands on her belly. "These two are Sam and Sophie. I talked Rick out of naming one of the girls Sophie the first time, but this time he stood firm. At least we haven't needed baby name books so far. Maybe the next go around."

Kit looked at Sophie with a start. "You plan to have more?"

Sophie laughed. "Actually, we're quitting with these two. Rick's had enough doing the spread-legged-feet-in-stirrups thing while the doctor pokes around looking for sperm. But he knows what pregnant women go through, so he's treated me with respect from the start of both pregnancies. He also knows modesty's a thing of the past. It's like a nudist camp around here at times, when the kids break loose while Rick and I are in the Jacuzzi and we have to go chasing after them, but it's a whole lot of fun, especially later, after we get the kids to bed and that big tub's still waiting and we know we won't be interrupted when it matters. We convinced Adam and Emily to do the same. It beats sneaking off to the hot springs. Well, I'd better get these two into their jammies and into bed." She gave Marc a little peck on the cheek, and said, "Welcome home stranger, don't stay away so long next time. Rick will be out in a minute."

As Sophie herded the girls down the hallway, Marc looked beyond them and saw a pair of double doors, wide open, and a large Jacuzzi. Sophie's enthusiasm about what went on in that big tub, and the knowledge that Adam and Emily would also have one, had images coming at Marc from all directions, and they weren't images of Rick and Sophie, or Adam and Emily. Imagining him and Kit in a big Jacuzzi didn't work either, because that meant home and kids and the whole commitment thing. But there was still a hot springs pool tucked away in a cavern just up a trail from Kit's encampment, and that, he could imagine sharing with Kit.

Rick returned with his son, who was now in yellow pajamas with ponies all over them and feet with rubber treads. "It gets a little hectic around this time of night," he said, "but since you'll be here a while we'll have time to get together, I hope a lot."

Marc looked at Rick's son and was surprised to see he didn't have the Hansen dark brown eyes and dark hair. His eyes were actually kind of gray-green, or maybe green-brown.

Rick, seeing the focus of Marc's attention, said to him, "He got our mother's eyes. His hair's also got the blond streaks, like yours. So, meet your namesake, little Marc."

Marc stared at the boy, not knowing how to respond. He also hadn't missed the words our in reference to their mother, a clear acknowledgment that Rick considered him his brother now. It made him feel strange, like maybe Rick actually cared some. It also made him feel connected.

"You named him after me?" he asked, even though it was obvious. It just didn't seem... real.

"You're my brother," Rick said. "The only reason I'm here is because of you. It's ironic that he has your hair and eyes instead of mine, but I can live with that. There are far too many Hansen's with dark brown eyes and hair. It's time the genetic pool got a little diversified."

Marc had the strangest urge to hold the boy. He'd never been one to want to be around kids, even his brothers when they were small, although Maddy had been different. She was tiny and cute and trusting, and wrapped in pink and lace. But Rick's son, little Marc, was staring at him like maybe he saw something familiar about the eyes, although Marc knew the kid had no idea about the color of his own eyes, but he'd hear about it as he grew up. It wasn't all negative though. Women seemed to like the color, or at least it gave them a chance to take another look and comment if they were interested.

"Can I hold him," Marc asked, while opening his arms.

"Sure." Rick passed his son over to Marc.

Holding the boy in the crook of his arm, Marc was surprised he didn't fuss at leaving his father, and equally surprised that he was staring with curiosity, like he expected Marc to say something to him. The problem was, Marc had no idea how to start a conversation with a one-year-old. But he did know about dinosaurs, and all little boys loved dinosaurs. At least he had. He even had his
Giant Book of Dinosaurs
stashed away somewhere.

Shifting little Marc so he was balanced, and holding onto his little arm with his other hand, Marc said to him, while strolling around the room, "Once upon a time there was a thirty-foot-long dinosaur named
Nigersaurus
who had a broad straight muzzle with more than fifty columns of teeth, all lined up along the front edge of its squared-off jaw, which allowed
Nigersaurus's
mouth to work close to the ground, enabling him to mow down mouthfuls of ferns and horsetails and other plants, kind of like a Mesozoic cow. But what was different about
Nigersaurus
was that his skull bones were nearly translucent..."

About fifteen minutes later, Kit caught Marc's eye, pointed to the clock on the mantel, and said, "I hate to break up this uncle-nephew bonding, but we're expected for dinner at seven."

Marc, who was now in the middle of an explanation about a family of dinosaurs called sauropods that were characterized by large bodies, long necks, and small heads, said to little Marc, who had been listening intently, even though Marc knew he was probably intrigued by the color of his uncle's eyes more than what he was saying, "When you're three I'll get you a little shovel and we'll do some digging in the Indian mound." He handed the boy to Rick.

Rick looked at Marc, and said, "You can't tell kids things you don't plan to carry through. He'll expect you here when he's three to start the digging."

Marc glanced at Kit, who was looking at him curiously, like maybe he'd just gotten rid of a little personal baggage and she was pleased. And maybe he had. Returning home to learn that Rick named his son after him was completely unexpected, and had him thinking some, like maybe there was still time for him and Rick to bond like brothers. He also had a mental inventory of dinosaurs he'd tell little Marc about, and maybe start him on a fossil collection.

"You will be back before too long, won't you?" Rick asked.

Marc held Rick's gaze, and replied, "Yeah, I'll stop by between digs."

As Marc and Kit followed the trail back, Kit said, "That was a pretty non-committal answer you gave Rick. The way you took to your little namesake, I somehow expected more from you."

"He's a cute kid."

"Sure, he has your hair and eyes."

"No, I mean he seemed interested in dinosaurs."

"I'm sure he was. The two of you probably descended from the same dinosaur egg, which would have been genetically connected through your mother," Kit said, "and before you take that as a negative, your mother might have given you up at birth, but she did pass on to you some pretty incredible eyes. Little Marc will appreciate them when the girls chase after him."

Marc said nothing, but Kit's indirect compliment had him thinking about kissing her. Maybe not now, but soon. It had him thinking a lot of things he hadn't expected, like taking whatever they had to the next level, wherever that would be.

***

Dinner that night was its usual noisy affair. Ryan, the eldest of Marc's four younger brothers, dominated the conversation, which he directed at Kit, about what went on at the bull-riding competition that day, while their mother flitted around between the table and the kitchen, looking much as she had over the years, just thinner. His father, however, looked on with concern, and Marc wondered why. But when his mother went over and gave his father a kiss on the lips, and his father touched her face and smiled at her, Marc sensed his mother was doing better. He also saw the deep devotion between his parents and understood why his father was angry. Marc Hansen hurt the woman Jack Hansen loved, and that would not be tolerated.

The only one missing from the pack at the table was Maddy. Marc still pictured a pretty little nine-year-old with long pigtails, sitting in the empty chair that was apparently still her place, and wondered what to expect. Kit's comment that Maddy could be thinking about sex bothered him. Little sisters shouldn't think that way, especially innocent-looking little sisters with big brown eyes, and curly brown hair, and a smile that could melt anyone's heart.

"So Kit, where do you plan to go after you leave here?" Ryan asked, intercepting a conversation Kit was having with Jeremy.

"I haven't decided yet," Kit replied. "I kind of like ranch life now. Maybe I'll hire on here."

"Good idea, "Josh said. "I'll teach you how to ride."