Healing the Boss's Heart (11 page)

“We’re all fine,” Maya answered over her daughter’s squeal of delight. “What brings you here, Nicki? Is everything okay?”

The preschool teacher nodded. “It will be. I’ve been visiting that poor, lost little girl you found out by the Waters cabins.”

“Do they know who she is yet?”

“No. We’ve been calling her Kasey. The initials
K
and
C
were embroidered on her shirt so it seemed natural to put them together like that. We tried every name beginning with a
K
sound that we could think of and she didn’t respond to any of them.”

“Will they let us see her?”

“I can’t see why not. Maybe Layla being there will encourage her to talk more. The area where you found her was searched thoroughly and there was
no sign of her parents or anything that may have belonged to her or them. We’re stuck unless she identifies herself.”

“What will happen to her?” Maya asked, deeply concerned.

“As soon as she’s released I’ll take her home with me,” Nicki answered. “I’ve fostered babies before and since she can also go to work with me, it won’t pose a hardship.”

“That sounds ideal. Which room is she in?”

Nicki pointed, gave brief directions, then bid them goodbye and hurried off.

As Maya entered the hospital and made her way down the hall, she knew that Greg was following close behind. She could feel his presence and hear Layla babbling to him in her childish way. To his credit, his replies were always given as if he and the child were having an intelligent, adult discussion. He never patronized or talked down to her, nor did he seem to be holding a grudge since Maya had fallen silent.

Truthfully, she hadn’t known how to respond to his suggestion that she was clinging to the past. Her first reaction had been to categorically deny it. Then, as she’d begun to mull it over, she’d decided he might have a valid point.

That, of course, was not something she intended to tell him.

Greg could
not
be as good as he seemed, she
argued. No man was. She was merely overwrought at present and would soon be back to her normal, logical, sane self. She just hoped she didn’t slip and do something rash before that happened.

Like what?
she asked herself.

Her cheeks flamed the instant her heart answered far too honestly.
Like kiss him the way I’ve wanted to. And hope he kisses me back.

Her steps momentarily faltered.

Greg touched her elbow. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Maya answered, disgusted. “I’m just so mad at myself I could scream.”

“That’s probably not a good idea in here,” he teased. “You might end up in their psych ward.”

Hearing the amusement in his voice she whipped around, hands fisted on her hips, and faced him. “Well, if I did it would be your fault, you, you…”

Well, that was certainly an adult response,
Maya concluded, so upset she could hardly think straight.
And totally befuddling, if the look on Greg’s face was any indication.

She clenched her teeth to stop herself from continuing past the point of no return.

Layla had already had her arm around the man’s neck. Now, she leaned closer to whisper in his ear.

As Maya watched them, she saw a grin spread across his handsome face. His dark eyes sparkled and there were little smile lines at the corners—lines she was becoming all too familiar with.

“What?” she demanded. “Are you two conspiring against me now?”

“Not at all,” Greg said. “The princess was just assuring me that you might sound mad but you didn’t mean to.” His smile widened. “Is she right?”

With a grimace Maya did the only fair thing. She answered honestly. “Yes.”

T
he curly-haired blond toddler was napping in a crib when Maya, Layla and Greg entered her hospital room.

“She looks so tiny,” Greg said softly.

Layla seemed fascinated but also held tightly to him. “Who is she?” the three-year-old asked.

“We don’t know. Your mother and I found her after the tornado and brought her here.”

“Where’s her mama?”

“We don’t know,” Maya replied. “They can’t find her.”

“She looks sad.”

Greg gave Layla a little hug as he continued to carry her. “She’ll be okay. The doctors and nurses will take good care of her here.”

Once again, Layla leaned close to his ear to speak only to him.

This time, instead of sharing her comments, he excused himself. “We’re going to go back to the lobby for a second. Wait for us here?”

Maya nodded. She had approached the bed and was gently stroking the child’s hair away from the small bandage covering the injury to her forehead.

Seeing Maya’s kindhearted ministrations touched Greg’s heart and made his gut clench in a way that was unfamiliar to him.

As he and Layla hurried away, he was thankful for the break. Staying so near to Maya of late had been doing strange things to his thought processes. He knew he’d done the right thing when he’d offered her the spare apartment, yet he was beginning to have serious misgivings about her being so close by all the time. Working with her was one thing. Having her as his neighbor, being with her constantly, was clearly another.

Greg entered the gift shop and set Layla down. “Okay. Your choice. Pick a toy that you think the little girl would like. Just remember she’s younger than you are.”

Taking her assignment so seriously it almost made him chuckle, Layla wandered among the stuffed animals as if her decision was critical. She picked up one toy after another, weighed it carefully, then moved on.

He glanced at his watch. “Tell you what. Choose any one now. In a few days, if Kasey hasn’t gone
home with Miss Nicki, we’ll come back and buy her another toy. Okay?”

“Okay.” Layla handed him a small pink teddy bear similar to the ruined one he’d seen Maya pull from the rubble of her living room.

He passed it to the clerk, asking quietly, “Do you happen to have two of these?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Would you like them wrapped?”

“Not this one,” he replied with a wink. “We’ll take this upstairs with us now. Charge me for two and wrap the other one. I’ll pick it up in a few minutes on my way out.”

“Yes, sir.” She removed the tags, then bent and handed the bear to Layla. “Here you go, honey. I hope your little friend likes it.”

Greg paid quickly and followed Layla to the elevator. Judging by the affectionate way the child was hugging the gift bear, getting a second one had been a good decision. The fact that she hadn’t asked for anything for herself made him doubly glad he’d bought two.

Kasey was awake by the time they rejoined Maya at her bedside. She seemed a bit shy until Layla approached and offered her the stuffed toy. Greg saw their gazes meet and sensed a childish empathy.

“See? She likes it,” he told Layla. “You made a wonderful choice.”

“Uh-huh.” The child’s expression was one of both
joy and subsequent sadness as Kasey cuddled the small pink bear and began to babble to it happily.

“Have you been able to get her to talk well enough to tell what she means?” he asked Maya.

“No. She’s said plenty but nothing I could make sense of. Layla was speaking in short sentences when she was about this age. I’d hoped for the same.”

“Maybe she’ll do better once she’s out of a hospital setting. She’s certainly happy with her new toy.”

“I know. Layla used to have…”

Standing off to the side where the three-year-old couldn’t see his face, he placed a finger across his lips to silence Maya and gave her a nod toward the door. “I have to be back to work with Mike soon and we haven’t eaten yet. I think it’s time we headed for Isabella’s.”

“Okay.” Although she took her daughter’s hand and started toward the door, she looked puzzled.

As soon as they reached the hospital lobby, Greg gave her a sign to wait and ducked back into the gift shop. When he emerged carrying a gaily wrapped gift and handed it to Layla, he thought Maya was going to cry.

“She seemed to love it and there were two just alike so…” He knew he was grinning foolishly but the little girl was so thrilled with the simple gift he couldn’t help himself. She tore away the paper and hugged the bear as if she were greeting a long lost friend.

Maya picked up the discarded wrapping and wadded it into a ball. “You shouldn’t have.”

“Yes, I should,” Greg countered. “She didn’t ask for anything for herself. All she was concerned about was buying the perfect toy for Kasey and I figured she deserved one of her own.”

“That was so sweet.”

To his surprise his cheeks warmed. “Hey, that’s me,” he joked to cover his embarrassment. “Mister Nice Guy.”

“Well…”

Her slow drawl, misty eyes and lopsided smile made him laugh softly. “Okay, okay. I won’t press it. Wouldn’t want to undermine my reputation as a ruthless businessman.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Maya said. Her smile became one of adoration as she cast a loving look at her child. “But I won’t ever forget what you just did, either.” Her subsequent “Thank you” was delivered with a catch in her voice.

Greg didn’t know what to say in reply. He had done it for the little girl, not to impress her mother, yet it seemed he had pleased them both.

If he’d been sure it was wise to be glad about having done that, he’d have felt a whole lot better about the situation. Unfortunately, he was having serious misgivings in regard to almost everything that had to do with Maya Logan. He already liked her far too much for his own good, and his emo
tional attachment to her and her daughter was increasing so rapidly he could hardly keep track of his burgeoning feelings from moment to moment. This was not good. Not good at all.

For Maya, remaining near Greg was beginning to be as necessary as breathing. She craved his presence, his strength, his wit, and even his sage advice, although she was loath to admit the latter, even to herself. What was wrong with her? They hardly knew each other. If it hadn’t been for the way the tornado had disrupted everyone’s life, they might never have progressed past being employer and employee—barely acquainted and hardly friends.

And now? The sight of his handsome face and his adorable expression as he had presented the teddy bear to Layla was permanently etched in her memory. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said she’d never forget that kindness. She was positive it would stay with her the rest of her life, just as other special events had.

And speaking of special events, she reminded herself as she took a last forkful of lasagna, they needed to reschedule the committee meeting regarding the Founders’ Day Christmas Celebration. No matter how impossible or inconsequential it seemed today, December would be here before they knew it and everyone would expect life to have returned to normal by then.

Finished eating, Greg laid aside his napkin and leaned across the narrow restaurant table to ask, “What’s wrong? You look worried all of a sudden.”

“I was just remembering the Founders’ Day planning that never got done. We’ll need to rebuild the town hall from the ground up. And I’m not sure how many committee members will be available, even if I wait awhile to reschedule everything.”

“So, start with plans to rebuild. You said you’d have gotten a quick settlement if your house had been leveled. The same should be true of the town hall.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose we will get some money soon. Trouble is, I have no experience in construction so I have no clue how long it might take to build a replacement.” She paused, thoughtful. “I know we’d want it to be just like the original.”

“It could look the same,” Greg said, “but you’ll have to use modern materials in order to bring it up to code, especially since it’s a public building.”

“Oh. What a shame.”

“Not entirely. It will be a lot less likely to accidentally catch fire like that house over on Third Street did after the power came back on. Today’s wiring and breaker boxes are much safer than those old fuses were. You could also put an interior safe room or storm cellar in the plans if you wanted to.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. That old building stood firm in all kinds of weather for more than a hundred and fifty years. I’d have to see what the rest of the committee think about making changes.”

“Who’s on it besides you?”

“The city council and Mayor Dawson, of course. And Reverend Michael and I. We do most of the organizing with the help of Glenis Appleton, Nicki’s mother. My brother Jesse drops in whenever he can get away from the Circle L. The same goes for Chief Ridgeway. He shows up when he’s not on duty. We can always use more steady, dependable members. How about joining us?”

Greg recoiled and raised his hands, palms out, as if she’d just suggested something sinister. “Whoa. Not me. I’d end up making everybody mad the minute I opened my mouth.”

“Only if you insisted that your ideas were the only right ones.” She waited for his wry grin to appear and wasn’t disappointed.

“Suppose they are.”

“Suppose they’re not.”

His grin widened. “Now you’re hurting my feelings, lady. When have I been wrong? Name one time.”

Sobering, Maya said, “When you offered me a free place to stay.”

“I was doing you a favor. How was that wrong?”

She looked into his dark eyes, willing him to un
derstand and not take offense or overreact when she said, “I don’t know how you feel about it, but I’m having far too good a time when we’re together. And in case you haven’t noticed, we’re together a lot.”

“Is that so bad?”

“It’s not bad at all,” Maya said softly. “It’s good. That’s the problem.” She cast a sidelong glance at her daughter. “I don’t want—us—to become too attached to you. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Why? Because I’m not your type? Or because you still hold it against me that my family is well-to-do?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and lowering her eyes to the linen napkin she had clenched in her lap. “Because you told me when you hired me that you’d be leaving High Plains as soon as your father passed on.”

“Suppose I change my mind?” Greg asked.

“Have you?”

“I might.”

“And you might not,” Maya said, getting to her feet and easing Layla’s chair back as he rose on the opposite side of the table. “Thank you for a lovely meal. When you see Michael, tell him I’ll get in touch about the planning meeting.”

In one way, Maya was sorry she’d been so blunt. In her deepest heart, however, she knew she’d done the right thing by speaking out. Even if Greg wasn’t becoming as attached to her and Layla as they were to him, her reasoning made perfect sense. The child
had never had a father to love her. And it had been a long, long time since Maya had felt anything this strong, this compelling, drawing her to any man. The last thing any of them needed at a trying time like this was to have to come to grips with unrequited love.

That thought seared her all the way to her core.
Love? Oh, yes.
In the space of a few days she had fallen head over heels for her boss. And if he didn’t stop doing things that touched her heart and made her love him even more, she was going to have to look for a different place to live.

The way she saw the touchy situation, she was tempting fate if she remained his neighbor. He had already made it a practice to touch her hand. Sooner or later they might even share a kiss. That would be terrible. And wonderful.

Would God have thrown her and Greg into such close proximity if He had not planned for them to fall in love? she wondered. Or was this a test of her faith, her determination to be a good Christian in spite of trying circumstances?

She didn’t have a clue. And with her pastor busy helping others and also working with Greg on the Waters cabins, there was no way to catch Reverend Michael and confer with him in private. At least not right now.

Therefore, Maya decided, she’d go back to her old neighborhood and see if she could assist her neigh
bors. And she’d visit the remaining half of her home, too. Maybe there, in familiar rooms that had once afforded such comfort, she could reason through her dilemma regarding Greg. It was worth a try. Anything was better than stewing over her emotions.

Or over one immovable force, she added wryly. Gregory Garrison had a mind like a brick and he was twice as hardheaded.

“And I’m no smarter,” she muttered. “If I were, I would have refused the apartment the minute he offered it.”

Would she have? Probably not,
she concluded. Even in retrospect she could see that she had been attracted to Greg all along. She may not have realized it, but the beginnings of those feelings had been brewing from the moment she had stepped through the office door to apply for the position as his executive assistant.

Accepting that fact made Maya even more furious. She was an adult. A mother. The sole supporter of her only child. Surely she had accepted that job for her daughter’s sake.