Last's Temptation (5 page)

Poppy relaxed at Malfunction Junction over the next week. She and the children settled in and they got to know Olivia and Calhoun and their children, Minnie and Kenny. Curtis and Amelia loved riding Gypsy and couldn’t believe their new friends had a wonderful windmill in their yard.

There was much about the ranch that fit Poppy and the children just fine, but there was just as much that was uncomfortable. Poppy laid out clothes for the children to wear to their first day of school, wanting them to look their best. She had enrolled them as quickly as possible, deciding that it was time for them to enjoy a different type of education than they had heretofore.

It was also time for her to seek employment. Dressing herself with care—and trying to look as
little like the seductress Mason clearly thought she was—Poppy went to the high school and applied for a job teaching English grammar and the classics.

To her surprise, the principal was more than happy to hire her, on the condition that she got her Texas teaching certificate. “It’s not often we get a double major with a master’s degree applying here,” the principal said. “Your life experience is textured and unique, and I’m interested in your doctoral project.”

Poppy shook her head. “I don’t know that I’ll ever finish.”

The principal nodded. “It will be a challenge with the parenting role you’ve undertaken. However, I have no doubt that one day I will address you as Dr. Hastings.”

Poppy walked out into the sunlight of the waning August day, feeling as if she floated on air without benefit of pulleys and circus equipment. “Dr. Esmerelda Hastings,” she murmured, liking her name for the first time in her life. “Esme.”

In fact, she really liked the person she was becoming.

She was changing, and a lot of the positive change was due to Last. He’d been the first one to call her Esme, and she was beginning to feel as if the exotic, beautiful name fit her. When she reached
the truck she’d borrowed from the Jeffersons’ ranch, Curtis and Amelia hopped out of the back.

“How did it go?” Amelia asked.

“Believe it or not, I have a job. I’ll be working in a school very close to yours.” Esme smiled. “I can hardly believe it!”

The children clapped, their joy obvious.

“I like it here,” Curtis said. “Let’s stay for always!”

Amelia grew serious. “Did you tell the principal that we have to go back to California in a month?”

Poppy…Esme nodded. “She has a substitute already. It will take time for me to get my teaching certificate renewed and updated for Texas education anyway. There’s a great deal of work I have to do and training to go through. I won’t actually put in my first day of school until December, although I can substitute once I get my certification.”

“That’s wonderful, Aunt Poppy,” Amelia said.

“Aunt Esme now,” she said with a smile.

“Why?” Curtis asked.

“Last thinks we should all be who we really are.” She smiled as she got into the driver’s side, the children getting in the passenger side. “I have to say there’s something very relaxing about being who I really am.”

Curtis looked at her as he put on his seat belt. “Are you going to marry Last?”

Esme shook her head as she started the truck. “No. But he’s a good friend.”

“We wouldn’t mind if you did,” Amelia said.

“We’ve never had a father before,” Curtis said. “Not a real father, anyway.”

Amelia nodded. “He’s spent more time with us than—”

“It’s okay,” Esme said. “Don’t think about the past. Just be happy.”

“We do worry,” Amelia said. “It’s not as easy as waving a wand.”

Esme stopped the truck, turning to look at the kids’ worried faces.

“We really like it here,” Curtis said softly, his slightly freckled face earnest and hopeful.

“I know you do. We’ll try to make it work as best we can.” Esme touched both of their faces for an instant. “Be brave. I know it’s hard, but I’m positive it will all work out for the best.”

“There’s no magic in Malfunction Junction,” Amelia said. “It’s like you’re a superhero who can’t use your powers.”

“Which is scary,” Curtis added.

“Hmm,” Esme said. “You’re right. Definitely no
sleight of hand and no illusion will work here. However, we’ll just have to be ourselves and let that be magic enough.”

The kids nodded, sitting back in their seats. Okay, she was scared, too, but it would do no good to voice her worries. They had to make the most of this wonderful opportunity Last had given them.

He’d asked her not to leave and so had the children. She would try her hardest to make it work—for all of them.

“Y
OU’VE GOT TO LET GO
,” Mimi told Mason. “All that anger isn’t healthy.”

Mason gazed at his best friend, the biggest source of trouble, heartbreak and joy in his life. “I want to kick his tail.”

Mimi put the final touches on an apple pie for her father, the former sheriff of Union Junction, and took off her apron. “Mason, Last had to grow up one day. Only Peter Pan remained a boy forever, and I’m not so sure that was healthy.”

“At least he could fly.” Mason was disgruntled and determined to gripe about everything.

“Apparently so could Esme. The circus must have been an interesting place to live.”

“I have always hated the circus. Clowns bother me.”

Mimi laughed. “Oh, please. You always spent so much time around the rodeo. Calhoun married a rodeo clown’s daughter. And let us not forget, the Jefferson boys had some clownish moments of their own.” She looked at him. “Mason, you’re going to have to accept that your baby brother has grown up.”

Mason pursed his lips. Only Mimi dared to reveal the naked truth to him. He appreciated it—and it made him mad as hell. She was sass and good sense. She bent over to look at something in the oven, and his gaze settled on her sexy rear end for a split second before he forced himself to look away.

“I just don’t like her,” he said. “She’s odd.”

“She’s exotic,” Mimi said, standing. “And would you expect anything less from one of your brothers? I don’t think any of them have married a boring girl.”

Mason didn’t like that either. “It upset Valentine.”

“And she got over it. She was surprised, Mason, that’s all. Perfectly normal, don’t you think? Not worth writing a dramatic script over.”

“Mimi,” Mason said, “you’re annoying me.”

“Good. Someone needs to.”

The apple pie smelled heavenly, and that did
nothing to improve his mood. The sheriff’s and Nanette’s dinners also smelled good. Mason frowned, his stomach rumbling. Helga, the ranch’s housekeeper, was a good cook, but sometime when he wasn’t looking, Mimi had developed a talent for delightful home cooking. He almost always could find a reason to perch in her kitchen, hoping to snag a snack.

He worked and he went there to see Mimi’s daughter Nanette and fill his belly. It was a good life, though there was still something missing.

“My family is a pain in my ass,” he said suddenly.

“And you really need to get over that, too,” Mimi said. “It’s nearly all over. They all have their own families. Then what will you gripe about?”

Mason scratched his head, wondering why he always felt so unsettled. “I’ll find something.”

“You know,” she said, putting a beer in front of him, “you weren’t always such a drag.”

Mason blinked. “Wasn’t I?”

“No. You used to be fun. We used to have wonderful adventures.”

His gaze flicked for the slightest instant to the blouse that stuck nicely to her body. Motherhood definitely agreed with her. “You dragged me into them.”

“You only lacked imagination.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” He drank his beer, realizing that somehow Mimi had coaxed him out of his dismay over Last’s newest familial additions. “Damn it, I never had time to have an imagination.”

“Well, now you do. You’ll have lots of time, and surely there is fertile ground residing inside that handsome head of yours.”

“Mimi, do you ever hear from Brian?” Mason asked suddenly, wondering how her ex-husband had ever let her go.

Her gaze separated from his. She turned to check something on the stove. “No. We’re on good terms, but we have no reason to talk to each other.”

“What about Nanette?” Mason asked. “I always thought Brian was a pretty good ol’ guy. It surprises me that he doesn’t want to see his daughter.”

Mimi shrugged but didn’t look at him. “Some men are better at fathering than others.”

“I guess.” Mason stood. “Thanks for the supper, Mimi.”

She didn’t meet his gaze. “You’re welcome.”

He realized he’d hurt her feelings, and that was the last thing he wanted to do to his childhood
friend and confidante. Walking to her, he lifted her chin gently. “Sorry,” he said gruffly. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Mimi gazed up at him, her blue eyes sparkling with tears. His heart grew tight inside him. “I’m a jerk,” he said. “You were happy until I came here with my problems and my big mouth.”

Mimi nodded. “Yes, you are a jerk,” she said softly. “But…I still think you should run for sheriff.”

Smiling, he pulled away from her. “That’s my Mimi. Always looking for the next adventure.” He kissed her cheek lightly, tipped his hat and left the kitchen to go say goodbye to the sheriff and Nanette.

Mimi being Mimi, she really was the only woman who could make him feel as if he was still a cowboy who mattered.

“I
T JUST CAUGHT ME
by surprise is all,” Valentine said to Last as he came to her bakery, Baked Valentines, to drop off Annette. “I wasn’t expecting you to bring home a souvenir family. Esme seems perfectly lovely, though.”

“I wasn’t expecting it either. One moment I was in the air, hanging by some fabric and good luck, and the next thing I knew…”

“You were falling for a woman and her children.” Valentine smiled. “Sounds very romantic.”

“No,” Last said, “it’s not like that. I didn’t fall for her, and she certainly didn’t for me. It’s not romantic at all.”

Valentine looked at him as she put in a sheet of cookies. “Did Esme tell you she came by here after she applied at the school?”

Last frowned. “Applied at the school?”

Valentine hesitated. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be such a gossip.”

“No.” Last shook his head. “When did this happen?”

“A few days ago. She applied and was accepted, though she has training to do, of course. Then she brought the children here. I gave them a snack, and Esme and I had a long girl chat. It was fun.” Valentine shrugged. “There’s something about her that really is quite innocent and refreshing.”

“She doesn’t tell me anything,” Last said. “Why doesn’t she have a girl chat with me?”

“Because you’re not a girl?” Valentine said. “And maybe she’d like a bit of independence? Jefferson males can be quite claustrophobic with their…you know.”

“No, I don’t.” Last was growing more irritated by the moment. Why hadn’t Esme told him she’d applied for a job? Instead she’d stopped by to see the mother of his child.

“Well, their machismo,” Valentine said. “You brothers all have a healthy dose of it. Sometimes it’s romantic, sometimes it’s amusing—and sometimes it’s annoying.”

“I still think she should tell me things.” Last didn’t like this new private side of Esme. It made him feel less in control of… “We have no relationship,” he said slowly.

“I know,” Valentine said, surprised. “You told me.”

“I guess she doesn’t owe me anything.”

“No. Not even a daily accounting of her whereabouts.” Valentine shrugged. “I thought it was brave and admirable of her to go out in a town she knows nothing about and seek employment. It shows that she’s not looking for a Mrs. degree.”

Last tightened his lips. “I never thought she was taking advantage of me. And we both agreed in the beginning that we were totally wrong for each other. I was only trying to help her out.”

“Sure,” Valentine said, “and these cookies are all going to jump in the oven themselves. Get up off your duff and start putting some trays in ovens.”

He complied, glad at that moment for Valentine’s direction. “Mason thinks she’s got too much baggage for me.”

“No.” Valentine shook her head. “She has more life experience maybe. Why?” She looked at him, a twinkle in her eye. “I thought Esme was only someone you rescued.”

“Actually she rescued me from a sea lion,” Last said. “I really was out of my element in California.”

“So when do you leave on your African bungee tour?”

The idea was less appealing than it had been a few weeks ago. “I’m not sure.”

Valentine grinned as he burned his hand on an oven. “Last, you have a woman on your mind.”

He grunted, not about to agree.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t let anything Mason has to say about a woman influence you.” Valentine shook her head. “He doesn’t appear to be a romance expert, does he?”

“Hell, no. And I’m not looking for romance,” he insisted. “I was only commenting that Mason thought Esme had more experience than me.”

“Only in terms of maturity,” Valentine said, turning to peer into the oven. “But you’ve grown up a ton since I met you.”

Annoyed, Last stood. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll be by tomorrow to get Annette.”

“All right,” she said absently, not looking at him, her gaze still on the cookies. Last nodded, putting his hat on his head.

He needed to have a chat with Miss Esme, he decided. He would initiate this girl-chat session, and she would tell him everything she’d told Valentine.

Then maybe he wouldn’t have this unsettled feeling.

He wanted her to need him as much as he needed her.

“T
HE CHILDREN WONDERED
why you didn’t come by today.” Esme smiled at Last, letting him in the front door. “You missed the small supper I fixed.”

“You’ve settled in quickly.” Last looked around the den. “This looks different.”

“We’re used to setup and takedown in the circus. We simply moved some things around to make it homier for us. The children and I like to play cards, and the sofa was too close to the TV.”

She gauged his mood to be somewhat down. “Sit,” she said. “The kids are in bed, but I’ll get you some of the dinner we ate.”