Blue Ribbon Summer (The Baltimore Banners Book 3) (3 page)

Ian maneuvered the car into the shaded area then cut the engine and got out, his gaze drawn to the large Victorian farmhouse further up the drive. Freshly painted with dainty trim and a round turret and a full wrap-around porch complete with a swing, the house sat quietly amid several large willow trees and a fully grown garden exploding with color.

Ian could imagine himself sitting on the porch swing, sipping a beer as Kayli curled up next to him with her luscious curves and...

Where the hell had that thought come from? Too much country air already, probably. He shook his head and smiled to himself, heading toward the house that beckoned invitingly. Maybe this whole adventure wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought.

He was less than ten feet away from the house, walking along the uneven cobbled stones when he heard a shout. A dark blur flashed in his peripheral vision a split-second before he felt something slam into his legs. The unexpected contact threw him off-balance, one foot catching in the uneven walkway. His arms pin wheeled for balance but it was too late and he went down, rolling under the ball of fur that was now on top of him.

The mingled scents of dog breath and farm assaulted him as he threw his arms up, trying to stop the slobbering beast from drooling all over him.

"Ronan! Down!" The sharply-spoken command brought the dog to a halt, and Ian pushed himself up on his elbows, expecting to come face-to-face with a furry behemoth.

Instead, he was eye-to-eye with a smiling border collie, its shaggy black and white tail waving frantically. Ian looked up to see Kayli coming to a stop, her cheeks flushed from running toward him. She leaned down and pointed her finger at the dog, giving Ian a nice view of tanned, firm skin. All he had to do was shift just a little more--

"Bad boy!"

Ian jumped, thinking he had been caught trying to stare down her shirt, then realized Kayli was talking to the dog. He let out a soft sigh and adjusted his gaze to safer scenery, like her boots.

"I am so sorry," Kaylie apologized. Ian took the hand she offered and gripped it firmly, not because he needed help standing, but because he just wanted to touch her again. But he probably should have let go sooner, because she flashed him an indecipherable look as she pulled her hand away and stepped back.

"I have no idea why he did that. He's usually better behaved." She glanced down at the dog, then back at Ian, her gaze raking over him as a frown creased her brow. "And now he's got dirt and everything all over you. I am so sorry."

Ian looked down at himself, not surprised to see muddy paw prints and streaks of dirt over his shirt and pants. What did surprise him was when Kayli reached out, her brow furrowed in concentration, and began brushing the dirt from his pants legs like he was a two-year old who didn't know how to stay clean. Ian stepped back, surprised not only by her touch but by his body's swift reaction to that same touch.

But Kayli didn't seem to notice. She was still bent over in front of him as she drew one hand to her face and sniffed. Ian took another step back just as he heard a screen door bang open and shut behind him.

And great, here came Luke Duke's twin down the steps, looking like he would be more than happy to kick Ian's ass. Was it her boyfriend? Husband? Ian hadn't noticed a ring but that didn't mean anything. He took another step back just as Kayli turned toward the dog, the murderous look on her face at odds with the sparkle in her eyes.

The boyfriend/husband came to a stop at the bottom of the porch steps and surveyed the scene with a cool detachment. "Kayli, what is going on out here?"

"Your dog! Dammit Ronan, when are you going to stop rolling in cow shit?"

Flecks of light glittered in the closing darkness, blinking in time to the cricket song that echoed in the still air. Kayli pushed her toe against the porch and set the swing in motion, adding a rhythmic creak to the soft background noise. She rested her head against the back of the swing and closed her eyes with a soft sigh.

This was her favorite time of day, when day and night hovered together in the odd light of twilight and made it seem as if time stood still, if only for a few minutes. It was the one time of the day when everything slowed then stopped, when anything was possible, when nothing mattered.

A chance just to be.

The screen door opened and closed with a soft creak. The sound of booted footsteps headed in her direction, stopping in front of her. She sighed again and opened her eyes to see Jake leaning against the porch railing, his strong profile shadowed in the darkening light as he stared across the front yard. He must have sensed her watching him because he turned toward her, a small grin on his face as held out a bottle of beer for her. She leaned forward to take it, then took a long swallow before sitting back.

"So how did today go?"

Kayli shrugged, then rolled her neck and shoulders to work out some of the kinks. "I suppose okay. The twins are catching on quick. And everyone had fun, so...Who knows? If this works out, maybe I'll start a summer camp." She let her words drift away with another shrug, staring past Jake into the deepening night.

Jake watched her for a quiet minute then hoisted himself onto the porch railing, balancing himself against the newly-painted column. "What? Why? I thought you were just helping the girls get ready for the fair."

"Yeah, but I was thinking that if this worked, I could really start a camp, maybe get some more money coming in. It wouldn't hurt." Silence greeted her statement, as she knew it would. Just as she knew that she had now opened a topic of conversation that was better left alone, at least as far as she was concerned.

"Speaking of that--"

"Jake, please, not right now."

"We need to talk about it sooner or later. And with me due to ship back out, we're running out of time."

"No, we're not. Everything is fine."
For now.
But she knew better than to say those words out loud.

Jake leaned his head against the porch column and took a long drink from his own bottle. Kayli watched him in the shadows, and could see his jaw clench even from where she sat. She pushed herself up from the swing and went to stand next to him, leaning against the railing so she was close to him, but so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Kayli, something needs to be done. You know that. You can't keep doing it by yourself. You deserve a real life. With me gone--"

She turned toward him and met his gaze, not even trying to hide the pleading in her own eyes. "Not tonight. Okay? Can't we just sit here and relax? Please?"

He kept watching her, his own gaze steady and serious. The seconds ticked around them, each one longer as she held her breath and waited. Jake finally looked away with a loud sigh and shook his head, and she knew she had won this one small round.

But she knew her time for winning was running out, and that Jake was right. Sooner or later, before he left, they were going to have to talk about their options.

Talk about hiring help they couldn't afford...or talk about their brother Cole coming back.

Kayli's stomach churned at the last thought but she ruthlessly pushed it away. Now was
not
the time to talk about it. Or even think about it. She turned away from Jake and hoisted herself up on the porch railing, swinging her feet against the spindles with a soft tap-tap-tap. Several minutes went by before Jake reached out and nudged her leg with the toe of his boot.

"Stop it. God, now I know why Mom always yelled at you for doing that. It's annoying."

Kayli resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him, but just barely. She had succeeded in getting Jake's mind onto something else, which is what she had set out to do. She didn't want to push her luck with anything else.

"So...I think Mr. Hockey has the hots for you."

The statement, made so casually in the deepening darkness, was so unexpected that Kayli nearly fell off the railing. She tightened her grip on both the wood pillar and her beer bottle and shot Jake a look of such disbelief that he actually laughed at her.

"Oh, please."

"I'm serious. He kept staring at you all day. I thought I was going to have to go all big brother on him."

A blush heated her face. Kayli lifted the bottle to her lips and drank deeply, hoping Jake wouldn't be able to see it. Yes, she had noticed Ian staring at her with those darkly intense eyes--because she had been doing her best not to stare at him. And her staring had nothing to do with how out of place he had been, with his fancy sports car and fancy clothes.

He was so different from what she had expected, so different from her down-to-earth and funny friend Bonnie that she still couldn't believe the two were related.

"I don't think you have to worry about that. I'm not exactly in the same league with him, you know." Kayli had meant the words as a light-hearted tease, but even she was surprised by the wistful defeat she heard in her voice. Wistful or not, though, it was the truth. Ian Donovan lived on a level so far out of her realm of experience that they may have come from two different galaxies.

"Really? So who do you think is in your league? And please don't even think of saying Cody Miller."

Kayli whipped her head around and made phony gagging noises. She had gone out with him on exactly two dates, and the second one was only because she thought the first one was a fluke and that he really couldn't be that bad.

She had been wrong.

"Uh, no. Eww. No Cody Miller. No thanks."

"Glad to hear you have some sense, anyway. But I don't get why you're saying you're not in the same league as Mr. Hockey."

"You're joking, right? Did you see that car he was driving? I mean, what's something like that cost? Fifty thousand? And his clothes. I mean, really. Who even dresses like that up here?"

"Actually, that Beemer probably runs closer to a hundred grand. And he had planned on dropping off the twins then going golfing, which is why he was dressed like that."

Kayli opened her mouth but no sound came out. She was still so stuck on the fact that some people actually paid that much money for a car that she couldn't think of a single sarcastic remark about dressing up to play golf. Jake either didn't see her struggle, or chose to ignore it because he kept on talking.

"Trust me. Mr. Hockey has the hots for you. You should go out with him when he asks."

Kayli ignored the little thrill that shot through her at the idea of being asked out but she pushed it away as she dropped down from the railing and handed Jake her empty bottle. Now was not the time for unrealistic day dreams.

"He does not have the hots for me, and he's not going to ask me out. And if he did, I would say no. We don't have anything in common, and I'm not interested, anyway." She walked across the porch and went inside, letting the screen door slam shut but not before she caught her brother's last laughing word.

"Liar."

#

"Great job, Shelly. Just remember to grip the halter closer to her head, and keep that head up. Sara, try not to look down too much--you want to keep your eyes up and look at the judge all the time, okay?" Kayli clasped both girls on the shoulder then took the leads from their hands, taking control of the cattle. She motioned over her shoulder. "Why don't you guys go hang with Lori a little bit, okay?"

The twins nodded then took off at a run across the field. Kayli shook her head at their enthusiasm then turned the cattle and headed into the small barn. The cool dimness was a welcome respite after being in the hot sun, and she breathed in deeply of the cool air and mingled barn scents.

She led the heifers into the double stall and removed their halters, then tossed a few flakes of hay in the corner before closing the gate. Kayli leaned her arms along the top of the railing and watched them eat, smiling when one of them broke away and came over to nose her hand. She laughed and rubbed her palm up and down between the heifer's eyes.

"Did you need any help with them?"

The quiet inquiry startled her and she whirled around in surprise to see Ian silhouetted in the doorway. He took a step toward her then stopped, and she could see the grin on his face even from where she was standing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you. I just thought you might need some help."

Kayli pulled her gaze away and walked toward a water barrel in the corner then dunked both her hands in and swirled them around. She shook them off then wiped them against her shorts, taking care not to look over at him when she answered. "Nope, I'm good. But thanks anyway."

Kayli expected him to turn around and leave, but he didn't. In fact, he took a few more steps into the barn and looked around before he leaned against the stone wall, one foot crossed in front of the other. She glanced down at his feet and noticed he still wore some kind of expensive loafer, and tried not to smile. "It feels good in here. I didn't think a barn would be so cool."

"Um, yeah. It helps that this part of it is kinda underground, plus the stone and..." Kayli let her voice fade away, realizing that she was starting to ramble. She seriously doubted if Ian was interested in why the place was cool, and was probably only making conversation. Why he would do that, she didn't know. "Anyway, we're done for the day, so you don't have to hang around anymore. Sara and Shelly can go home now."

Ian didn't say anything, just watched her from where he was standing, that small grin still on his face. Kayli turned away, more than just a little unnerved, and searched for something to do. Any other time there would be at least a dozen little projects that would keep her occupied. Today, she couldn't find anything. Her eyes drifted to the hay bales stacked in the corner, and she headed toward them, deciding to move them closer to the stalls.

Just for something to do. Because she couldn't just stand here and do nothing, not while Ian watched her with those intense eyes and that unnerving grin.

She grabbed one of the bales by the twine and turned, then almost walked straight into Ian with it. He stepped back just in time, still smiling at her. Kayli shook her head and moved past him without a word, then placed the bale against the wall where he had been leaning. She turned to get another one and stopped in surprise.

Ian had grabbed a second bale and was now walking toward her with it. He raised his brows and nodded toward the first bale. "Do you want this on top of that one?"

Kayli reached out to take it from him, surprised even more when he side-stepped her and set the bale down. "Mr. Donovan, I appreciate it but I really don't need--"

"It's Ian."

"Whatever. Listen, I appreciate it but I really don't need your help so--"

"I don't mind."

"No, really. Thanks but..." She waved her hands in front of him, motioning to his clothes. He was dressed in khaki linen trousers and a loose-fitting buttoned shirt that looked more appropriate for boating than hauling hay bales. "You're really not dressed for it and we wouldn't want you to get your clothes all dirty. So thanks, but I got it."

Ian's grin faded a bit with her biting comment, and she thought there was a flash of something in his dark eyes--irritation, maybe?--but she ignored it as she went to get another bale. Her last comment had come out sharper than she had meant it to, and she knew she should probably apologize, but she was too hot and irritated to fall back on good manners. And unnerved. What was it about Bonnie's brother that made her so...nervous? And jumpy.

The conversation with Jake from two nights ago came back, as clear as if it had just happened.

Probably because she couldn't forget it. And every time she remembered it, she became more irritated.

With Jake, for putting foolish thoughts in her head.

With herself, for just thinking those foolish thoughts.

She heaved the bale and turned, and this time she really did walk straight into Ian, with enough force to send him stumbling back a few steps. Kayli bit down on the retort that sprang to mind, and nimbly stepped around him. She expected him to say something but he didn't, he just picked up the fourth bale and fixed her with a look she didn't really understand. He tossed it on top of the pile and kept looking at her.

"And again, I really don't mind. I've been dirty before. Do you need the others moved?" He kept her pinned with that unreadable look, long enough to make her feel uncomfortable...or like he was waiting for an apology. So she took a step back and let out a sigh, wondering what had gotten into her, wondering why she was being so rude. She tried to smile, or at least not frown so much.

"No, that's it. Thank you. Um, like I said before, we're done here so--"

A chorus of screeching mixed with giggles interrupted her, and Kayli hurried to the door to see what was going on. She was nearly run over by the twins racing into the barn, followed by a laughing Lori.

"Uncle Ian, can we?"