Single (Stockton Beavers #1) (12 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Roberta

When you first meet him, a selfish man will sweet-talk you into believing that the world revolves around him. Don't fall for it. A man who takes without giving will never put you first. His one and only priority will always be himself.

Under the glow of the upstairs night-light, I nibble on the tip of my pen. Is that advice too harsh? I lift my teacup off the tray and sip at it as I ponder my words. It's not like I've given up entirely on the idea of love, but I expect any young girl to date with her eyes wide open. Some men are devious and hurtful and cruel, and I'd be doing a grave disservice if I didn't include any warning about them. Guys like that are full of tricks, and no girl deserves to be unhappy just so she can have someone in her life.

A key jiggles in the lock down below, and I hastily put my cup down before slipping my journal under the folded-up blanket I'm sitting on. Fresh off another road trip, Luke spent the entire day running errands, fixing the leaky rain gutter on the side of the house, and
going on his date
—so we haven't had time to catch up. That's why I waited up for him, but he's most likely exhausted and craving his own bed. It's just that I missed him, more than I thought I would.

His soft footfall hits the stairs as he tries to make as little noise as possible. My heart turns over. Uh-oh, he thinks everyone's asleep. What in the world is he going to think when he finds me out here in the hall? Probably that I'm snooping for information on his date,
which I totally am
…

But when he reaches the top, it's apparent that something's not right. His hair's no longer pulled back. His face is red, and his shirt's untucked. Yet his eyes light up the second he sees me.

"If I had known I'd have a tea party for two waiting for me back at home, I definitely would've skipped dessert." He groans, kneeling down beside me. "Man, I could really use some kinda pick-me-up right about now."

"How'd it go?" I ask, filling his cup before adding a splash of cream and four lumps of sugar to it.

He shakes his head in amusement as I hand it to him. "You remembered how I take it."

"Well, not many guys drink tea. You stand out," I tease him.

He presses his stocky shoulders up against the wall as he sits down next to me. "I'm really liking this tradition we started."

He takes a mighty gulp before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and I can't seem to draw my gaze away from his lips, utterly enthralled by the way the facial hair around his mouth is now slightly darker than the rest of his goatee. I have the unbelievable urge to kiss him just to see what it'd feel like, how sweet his lips would taste.

Instead, I move the tray in between us and cast a quick glance at his unsuspecting profile. "So tell me about the date. Was it that bad?"

He sighs, stretching out his legs. "Do you know I jogged around the square ten times just now? After I brought Heidi back to her car, I just couldn't come in yet. She had me so worked up, I had to go blow off some steam first. Figure things out."

"And did you?"

"Yeah, I think I did," he whispers, turning his head and resting it on his shoulder to look at me. "Roberta, there's something we gotta do together. I'm afraid we can't put it off anymore."

I inhale sharply. Is he saying what I think he's saying? Is he finally going to kiss me?

"By any chance, do you have your phone on you?"

I try my best to hide my disappointment. "Yeah…Why?"

I turn my head, and we're so close our foreheads are practically touching. Immediately, I find myself drowning in those gorgeous eyes of his, losing whatever grip I have left on my self-control.
Those eyes
… Damn it, girl. Get it together. Luke's really cute—so what? It's just that every time I realize it, it seems like a brand new discovery. Before that day at Beaver Field, I never really thought about him like that. In all the online video clips I ever saw of him, he always had his batting helmet on. And he didn't exactly blow me away in the DMV-style mug shot on the Beavers' website.

But in person, he exudes this…
I don't know what
… A quality none of the "studs" I've dated in the past ever came close to possessing. It's like he's grateful for every breath, every moment, and through that gratitude shines a spirit that takes in everything around him. He's not caught up in how he's coming across. He's more interested in acknowledging the person in front of him. And somewhere deep inside my heart, I recognize that for what it really is—complete and utter selflessness. Without another word, I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, willing to give him anything he asks for.

He sits up, looking me square in the eye. "We need to tell Landry that I hired you."

Anything but that
, I think, as panic floods through me all at once. "Are you crazy? You said—"

"Forget what I said." He gently puts his hand over mine. "It doesn't matter now…Heidi knows."

I yank my hand out from under his. "You told her?"

"No, of course not," he insists. "She heard you and Mom when she was standing on the porch. She knows something's up, and she's threatening to tell the Beavers if I don't cooperate." He meets my gaze, and I can't look away as his eyes peer into mine. "Please, Roberta. We have to tell him. It's the only way I won't have to go on any more dates with her. Because as far as I'm concerned, what little downtime I have belongs to you and Mom and no one else."

There's no mistaking that he means every word of what he just said. He basically admitted that he has zero interest in getting involved with another woman, and it makes me tingle all the way down to my toes. He wants to be at home with me and not go out with anyone else. Trying to hide the warmth that's creeping into my cheeks, I bend my knees and bring them up to my chin. "Okay, so what exactly are we going to tell Landry?"

"Just that Mom got sick, and you'll be taking care of her for a little while."

"But Luke, you don't know Landry like I do," I protest. "He's going to want details."

"Roberta," Luke pleads, reaching for my hand again. "He can't find out she has Alzheimer's. He'll want to get involved, and I—"

"You can't risk it." I nod, placing my hand on top of his. "I understand. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

Lowering his head, he nods, whispering, "I know."

Having my hand on his is a heady feeling. It's bigger than mine, stronger than mine. And by him reaching out to me, it's evident that in the span of a few short weeks how much he's come to trust me. And the sad thing is he's been nothing but open and honest with me, when I've been keeping so much from him.

Reluctantly, I release his hand and set my phone on top of the tray. "Just follow my lead, okay?"

He stares down as I hit the speaker button before he quickly glances up at me again. "Thank you for doing this."

I give him a wry grin. "Don't thank me yet."

It starts to ring, and for a moment, I close my eyes, not wanting to have to lie to my good friend, but knowing how much Luke may need me to. And it's not like Luke's completely wrong in his assessment. Landry lives to fix people. He did it with me. He did it with Luke. And I'm sure he'd like nothing more than to barge in and save the day by "helping" Luke's mom. It's just the kind of guy he is. He means well, but at the same time, he can be extremely domineering. I think, ever since his wife died, it's the only way he can demonstrate some control over this crazy thing called life.

"Bobbie Jo?" Landry greets me with his familiar twang.

And for a moment, I feel a sharp pang in my heart. It's been a while since anyone's called me Bobbie Jo, and I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until hearing his voice. I shut my eyes and breathe. Right now is not the time to dwell on the fact Landry's the only person in my life who knows my real name.

It came about the morning he drove me home from the hospital. Any other person would've wanted to know what I had done and why, but he came to trust me after watching how I eased his wife through her final moments. He didn't ask questions when he picked me up after my surgery, and he never pressed me for answers later. He was simply there for me at a time when I needed a friend, and he's been in my corner ever since, respecting my privacy enough to support me, while at the same time, knowing well enough to let me be. In return, although I never confided in him about David, I asked him if, from that point on, he'd call me by my real name, Bobbie Jo. A part of me I wish I could share with Luke.

"Is it really you, darlin'? Where in tarnation have you been hidin'?"

I roll my eyes for Luke's benefit and receive a jittery smile from him in return. "Now, Landry. What a thing to say. It's not like we haven't texted each other since you've been back at the ranch."

"But it'd still be good to hear your voice once in a while," he scolds me. "I miss you. The kids miss you. It's not the same around here without you."

And my heart lurches again because I hated having to walk away from those kids, my maternal instincts crying out, especially for his daughter, Taylor. Truth be told, whenever I write in my journal, she's how I envision my daughter to be—smart, blond, full of life.

Luke's smile falters somewhat when he sees how much Landry's words are affecting me. Panicking, I rush on, needing to get a grip on my emotions. "Now don't go telling me any tall tales, cowboy. It seems there's still plenty of hubbub going on around you. Was that a splash I just heard in the background?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, I'm grillin' up some steaks by the pool for a late dinner. Ruby's comin' over and—"

"Hold on a minute… Ruby Brier?"

A sly grin crosses my lips as Luke's eyes meet mine.

"Now, Bobbie Jo, don't you start," Landry drawls. "We were over at the cancer center, droppin' off the check from the auction, and the kids invited her over. Since she's been helpin' me set up the patient advocacy side of the organization and all, I thought, why not? Now's as good a time as any to thank her for all she's been doin' for me."

"Well, as it turns out, I'm not alone here either." I wink at Luke. "I'm sitting next to your big auction draw, himself."

Landry spits out whatever it was he was drinking. "Single?" he chokes. "You're there with Single?"

It's hard to decipher what's going through Landry's head right now, even for me, but Luke leans forward and gamely jumps right in. "Hey, man. What's up?"

But Landry rudely ignores him. "Bobbie Jo, am I on speaker?"

When Luke's face goes white, I attempt to laugh it off. "Well…yeah."

"Take me off, please."

And that's when I start to get worried because this isn't the Mike Landry I know. I can't even look at Luke as I lift the phone to my ear. "What is it?"

"Bobbie Jo, just what do you think you're up to?" Landry starts in on me.

"What? Nothing!"

"He was supposed to be goin' out with the auction winner tonight. So what's he doing there with you?"

Luke's face is turning from white to green, and I place my hand over my beating heart. "Relax, Landry. He did go on the date with her. I can personally vouch for him."

"And do I even wanna know how you're able to do that?"

"Because he hired me to take care of his mom," I blurt out. "That's what we were calling to tell you about."

Landry sighs heavily on the other end, and all I can do is shrug at Luke as he buries his head in his hands.

The steaks are sizzling on the grill, and I wait for Landry to turn them over one by one, before he responds, "I thought we had a pact, Bobbie Jo."

I sit up straight, like I just got caught doing something wrong. "We do."

"Then why are you there with one of my players?" he asks, point-blank.

"It's not like that."

His phone dings and he doesn't answer me right away. Instead all I hear is a chair scraping over the cement as he drags it closer to the kids yelling in the pool. I wait, growing increasingly anxious, until he finally retorts, "It's not? 'Cause right now I'm readin' an email that's just been forwarded to me. You wanna know who it's from?" He pauses briefly only to groan in my ear. "The young lady who won him in the auction…Heidi Foster. She's complaining about how disappointed she was in the whole evening—and I haven't even gotten past the subject line yet. So I wanna know, Bobbie Jo: why would Luke end his date early and come a runnin' to you?"

I groan, and Luke looks up, clutching his forehead. "He didn't come a runnin' to me. He came a runnin' to his mom, Landry. I can't help it if the three of us happen to be living in the same house together."

Landry goes through the roof. "What?!"

"You heard me," I reply calmly.

"Bobbie Jo, what can possibly be wrong with Carla Singleton that you had to go and move in with them?"

Luke chews on his lip, watching me. This is it, moment of truth. I
can't
screw this up for him.

"She had an accident in the kitchen and burned her hands. So she can't do much of anything. That's why I'm here."

All right, I didn't flat-out lie to him. I wouldn't do that. But will the little I told him be enough?

"So it's only a temporary arrangement, then?" he prods.

"I really can't give you a time frame, Landry," I dodge. "Every client is different."

"But that doesn't explain why I'm the last person to know about this," he huffs.

"You're not," I respond more gently in order to smooth his ruffled feathers. "Luke just didn't want to bother you about it. He offered me the job the night you had me deliver the tickets to his house, and not having any other immediate employment opportunities, I decided to take him up on it."

"You're tellin' me that you'd swear on a stack of Bibles that's all it is? That it's nuthin' more than a job to you?"

I cross my fingers behind my back as I glance over at Luke. "I swear."

"'Cause I don't need any more drama when it comes to Single, Bobbie Jo. What I need is for him to start firing on all cylinders so I can get the front office off my back about him," he mutters. "They don't like how he's scared of his own shadow, especially when there's been no noticeable spike in ticket sales for bringin' him back."