“It wasn’t a date," Seth clarified. “They went to a lecture and decided to catch some dinner first.”
Lauren had looked exceptionally pretty that evening. She smelled even better.
Seth clenched his teeth together and gathered the supplies. After giving Star one last pat he joined Mitch outside the stall.
“You didn’t want her to go.”
“Didn’t matter to me.”
“Liar.” Mitch cocked his head to the side. “I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Are you sleeping with her?”
“Absolutely not.” Seth yanked his coat from the hook. That night in the clinic had been a close call. Too close.
“You have kissed her.”
Seth scowled. “How is that any of your business?”
“Okay, we’ve established that you’ve kissed her.” A look of satisfaction crossed Mitch’s face. “How was it?”
“Awkward.” Seth shoved one arm and then the other into his coat sleeves.
“The ice queen cometh?”
“Not at all.” Just remembering the sweet taste of Lauren’s lips had the power to turn his blood into a river of molten lava. “Hot would be more the word.”
Mitch’s expression was clearly skeptical. “If the kiss was hot, you’d have slept with her.”
“Lauren is Ivy’s nanny.”
“Give me a better excuse.”
Seth couldn’t believe Mitch was being so persistent. He held on to his temper with both hands and reminded himself Mitch had no idea this was a sore subject. If Seth didn’t get all uptight, he never would. “I made a promise to Jan.”
“Anna said you promised not to marry until Ivy was grown. She didn’t say anything about not sleeping with anyone.” Mitch paused. “Why did you make that marriage promise again?”
Mitch had been living out of state during Jan’s illness and death. Seth realized they’d never talked about that time.
“Jan’s parents divorced when she five,” he explained. “Her mother remarried when she was about Ivy’s age. To say Jan and her stepdad weren’t close would be a huge understatement.”
“She made you promise because she was worried about Ivy having a wicked stepmother,” Mitch said matter-of-factly.
Worry over her daughter’s future had consumed his wife’s last days. “Jan loved Ivy so much. She just wanted her to have the very best life possible.”
“More parents should be that concerned.” Mitch’s jaw set in a hard tilt and his face became an expressionless mask. Seth had no doubt his friend was remembering his own broken and dysfunctional childhood.
Mitch pulled on his gloves and stepped outside without even zipping his coat. They were almost to the house when he stopped and faced Seth. “What I can’t understand is why Jan didn’t trust you.”
“She trusted me.”
“No, she didn’t,” Mitch insisted. “If she had, she wouldn’t have been concerned about Ivy’s future. She’d have known you’d never marry anyone who didn’t love your daughter.”
Seth changed the subject, but for the rest of the day he couldn’t stop thinking about Mitch’s comment. Had Jan really not trusted him to do what was best for Ivy? He’d always tried to be a good husband, a good father. Granted, he hadn’t spent as much time with Ivy before Jan died as he had after she’d passed. Part of that had been because of his wife. She’d been a traditionalist, believing a mother should be the primary caregiver.
Had she feared he’d marry the first woman who crossed his path just so he’d have someone to take care of Ivy?
He remembered those dark days after the funeral.
The house had seemed so empty. It had been difficult to take care of the ranch, mourn the loss of his wife and try to meet the physical and emotional needs of a grieving child. Perhaps he would have taken the easy way out and married quickly....
Seth immediately rejected the notion. As stressful as his life had been at the time, to him marriage was sacred. Besides, it hadn’t taken him long to discover that he loved being an active participant in Ivy’s care. In fact, even if he did marry again, he’d never go back to being on the sidelines of her life.
Because of the promise he’d made, it didn’t matter if he fell in love. It didn’t matter if the woman loved Ivy as much as he did. It didn’t matter if they could build a warm and rich life for themselves and Ivy.
All that mattered was that he’d looked into Jan’s eyes and made a vow. He couldn’t see how he could live with himself if he broke that promise.
Chapter Fifteen
It had been quite a week.
Lauren beat the egg mixture with a whisk and poured the liquid into a skillet. She’d made great strides in analyzing her dissertation research, Ivy had started walking short distances on her rocker cast, and they’d added the adorable border collie to their household.
Every time Lauren thought about it as “their” household, she reined herself in and gave herself a stern lecture. This was Seth’s household. She was merely a friend lending a hand.
The only trouble was it had started to feel like her home. She’d spent almost every waking moment of the past couple weeks with Seth and Ivy. While Seth relaxed and continued to recover from smoke inhalation, they’d eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner together.
Every evening before Ivy went to bed, Lauren and Seth took turns reading to her in front of a crackling fire with Bailey at their feet.
After Ivy and Bailey went to bed, they stayed up and talked about everything from changes in the global economy to the upcoming basketball tournament at Sweet River High School.
Lauren remembered her father once remarking that if he had to spend more than five consecutive days in her mother’s company, he’d go crazy. She’d accepted the statement and not given it much thought. Now it made her sad. She couldn’t imagine ever feeling that way about Seth.
“Stop it,” she told herself.
“Stop what?”
She whirled around.
Seth leaned against the door jamb, looking incredibly sexy in a blue plaid shirt and jeans. Today would be his first full day working the ranch. He coughed only rarely now and she hadn’t
