Sam didn’t mind having that conversation with his friends in hearing range, she wouldn’t let it bother her, either.
She gripped the strap of her shoulder bag and sailed past him.
Chapter Five
Sam pushed his coffee mug from side to side. Dori had Becky occupied at the counter with crayons and paper. Just as he’d settled at the corner table, a steady stream of customers had come in for their midmorning coffee. The place had gotten more crowded than he’d expected. By the time he greeted all the new arrivals and made introductions, he’d begun to think he and Kayla would never get down to business.
Maybe a straight talk at the Double S wasn’t such a good idea, but he hated the thought of bringing this woman back to his ranch.
When they were finally as isolated as they would probably get, she beat him to the punch.
“Sam, as I said to you last night, your mother can’t get around. She’s not going to be able to do much housework or cooking. Or probably even to handle the stairs alone at first.” She lifted her hand for a second, then put it flat on the tabletop, almost as if she’d planned to reach out to him. “I’d like to stay at your house and help out.”
“Hell, no.” A muscle in his cheek flexed.
“Okay.” She set her teacup and saucer down in the exact middle of her place mat. “That’s fine.”
He looked at her warily, knowing she’d never let it rest at that. And she didn’t.
“As we were driving here, I noticed there’s a bed-and-breakfast nearby. Let me stay there with Becky.”
“Yeah, right. I’m supposed to trust you not to take off with her?”
“Of course you can trust me. And the judge did give us joint custody. I have every right to be with her whenever I want. Why would I try to take her away?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” he countered. “What’s to stop you? You’ve got a rental car sitting right there at the house.”
She looked at him. All the way through him, probably. “Yes. And that’s where it will stay when I’m at the ranch. Without having it penned in by other vehicles, if you don’t mind.”
So she’d seen what Jack had done to her little blue sedan. Looked like she’d gotten the message. Good.
“If Becky and your mother and I are alone all day,” she continued, “I would need the car in case of emergency.”
That kept him quiet. After what had just happened to Sharleen, he surely couldn’t argue with a need to be prepared.
“Sam, I’m a teacher. I’ve been fingerprinted for my job and have a clean record. What’s more, I’m honest and trustworthy, and you won’t have to worry about having me in your home.”
“That’s not a worry to me at all.” He couldn’t have made his tone any colder.
“Because you don’t plan to let me stay.” Her eyes brightened. He stirred restlessly in his seat. “Becky has been ‘dumped here,’ as you put it, literally with strangers. You’ve got a ranch to take care of. And you know a nanny from some agency won’t be able to sign—or worse—to communicate with Becky in an emergency.”
Sam forced himself to stare without blinking, without relaxing one bit. He would not let her get to him.
Becky came running over, waving her piece of paper. She slapped it on the table in front of Kayla and snapped her fingers.
From upside down, he saw a brown blob with a couple of floppy additions to it. As little as he could tell about it, the blob could have been anything from a rabbit to a tractor.
“A dog,” Kayla said. She looked at the picture, smiled, then brushed one palm briskly across the other. “Very nice.”
She rose. “I’m going up to get Becky’s milk.”
The child went along with her, gesturing wildly as they went to the counter. Kayla looked on, signing back to her.
What they were talking about, he hadn’t a clue. He never would. Busy as the ranch kept him, what chance in the world would he have of learning another language? Zero to none. Besides, at his age, he probably couldn’t pick up on it, anyhow.
He looked at the drawing on the table again. Beside the brown blob Becky had added a green blob that might have been a doghouse. Or an alien.
Damn.
How could he hope to raise his child? He couldn’t even understand the kid’s drawings!
For a moment, his determination wavered. With both hands, he got a firm grip on his coffee mug