Maybe the bustling wasn’t so bad, after all. Only trouble now was, she didn’t go away. In fact, she seemed to be waiting for something. She hovered at the edge of his desk, her gaze fixed on him as if trying to determine how to broach whatever was on her mind.
“Coffee’s good,” he said, watching her uneasily. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Don’t worry about the dishes. I’ll bring them back to the kitchen and wash up when I’m done,” he said, hoping she’d take the hint and leave.
She actually grinned at that. “Trying to get rid of me?” she inquired.
Almost as if to taunt him, she pulled up a chair and sat down. What astonished him was the fact that even though she was wearing her oversize maternity clothes, she managed to look as sexy as if she’d been wearing something slinky. His imagination was perfectly capable of envisioning every curve under her shapeless top. As if it might make a difference, he turned his attention to the food she’d brought. He poured syrup on the pancakes and cut into the eggs.
“I told you yesterday that I didn’t want you waiting on me,” he reminded her even as he took his first bite of pancakes. They were light as air. He knew for a fact that Consuela hadn’t left these, which meant Jessie had been cooking. “You need to rest. Taking care of a new baby is tiring. I want you concentrating on Angela.”
“Angela’s fine. She’s been fed. Now she’s sleeping. That’s what newborns do.”
He snapped a piece of crisp bacon into crumbs and prayed for patience. “So, rest while you have the chance. Read a book. The library next door is filled with them.”
“Maybe later.”
He could see he was getting nowhere. Maybe if he divided up the chores and took the lion’s share himself, she’d restrict herself to doing only what she’d been assigned.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said. “I’ll fix breakfast and lunch. You can deal with supper, since Consuela already has those dishes prepared and ready to pop into the oven. I’ll clean up. Agreed?”
“That hardly sounds fair,” she said. “I’ll cook all the meals. You clean up.”
“No,” Luke insisted, his voice tight. “We’ll do it my way. And since you’ve already done breakfast today, I’ll handle dinner. You’re done for the day. Go take a nap.”
“I wonder why I never noticed before what a bully you are,” she commented, her expression thoughtful.
The observation didn’t seem to trouble her a bit, but he found it insulting. “I am not a bully. I’m just trying to divvy things up fairly.”
“You have an odd notion of fair,” she observed. “Oh, well, never mind. I won’t argue for the moment. Maybe you should consider the pancakes a bribe,” she suggested.
Luke’s gaze narrowed. “A bribe? For what?”
“So you’ll do what I want, of course.”
“Which is?”
She opened her mouth, seemed to reconsider, then closed it again. “No, I think we’ll wait and talk about it later. I think you could use a little more buttering up.” She stood and headed for the door.
Luke stared after her in astonishment. “Jessie!”
His bellow clearly caught her by surprise. She halted in the doorway and looked back. The glance she shot him couldn’t have been more innocent if she’d been a newborn baby.
“Yes?” she said.
“What kind of game are you playing here?”
“No game,” she insisted.
“You want something, though. What is it?”
“It can wait. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Tell me now,” he ordered.
She smiled. “I don’t think so.”
She closed the door with quiet emphasis before he could even form another question. Suddenly, despite himself, he found himself laughing.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said aloud. “Maybe I underestimated you, after all, Jessie Adams. Seems to me you have gumption to spare, more than enough to take on the Adams men.”
On the other side of the door, Jessie heard the laughter and the comment. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, Luke Adams,” she murmured sweetly.
Unlocking the puzzle that Luke represented had become a challenge she couldn’t resist. And drawing Erik’s family back together seemed like the best Christmas gift she could possibly give to all of them. She’d come to that conclusion during a long and restless night.
Erik wouldn’t have wanted his death to split them apart. He wouldn’t have wanted the unspoken accusations, the guilt and blame to stand between Luke and his parents. Whatever had happened on Luke’s ranch that day, Erik would never have blamed the big brother he’d idolized. He would have forgiven him. As much as Erik had craved his independence, he had loved his family more. If he hadn’t, he might have fought harder to break free from Harlan’s influence.
If, if, if…so many turning points, so many choices made, a few of them deeply regretted.
If she had accepted Harlan’s offer to fly to his ranch, then the storm and her unexpected labor wouldn’t have forced Jessie into accepting Luke’s help and his hospitality. If that wasn’t a sign from God, she didn’t know what was. Obviously, He had given her a mission here and the most readily accessible place to start was with Luke. After all, Christmas was a time for miracles.
With the snow plows uncertain, she figured she had a few days at least to utilize her powers of persuasion. By the time the roads were cleared, she was determined that she and Angela wouldn’t be going on to Harlan and Mary’s alone to celebrate the new year and a new beginning. Their son would be with her.
* * *
By late that afternoon, Jessie’s plans and her temper were frayed. She hadn’t seen more than the flash of Luke’s shadow the entire day. He’d managed to sneak lunch onto the
