Natural Born Trouble (16 page)

Of course, the game was taking its toll on him as well. Some nights he went home so aroused, it took a jog around the house and an icy shower before he could settle down and have any hope at all of getting to sleep. When he realized he was tempted to start warming a pan of milk at bedtime, he knew he was in serious trouble.

Yes, indeed, the more Duke saw of Dani Adams, the more intrigued he was. He hated that no matter what he tried, she continued to look a little aloof, a little sad. In the midst of the wildest, noisiest family celebration, she kept mostly to herself. Not even Sharon Lynn's or Jenny's best efforts could penetrate her shell for long.

After the cookie-baking episode, she was more careful than ever, it seemed, to avoid spending any time whatsoever with his sons, so careful that it was clear she desperately wanted to gather them into her arms for hugs. Only a fool wouldn't recognize that she was a woman just made for mothering. It was in her eyes as she watched them, a longing so deep, so fierce that it reaffirmed Duke's determination to make her their mother.

The boys sensed those maternal instincts, too. They gravitated to her at every Adams family event and though she was as skittish as a horse around a rattler, sooner or later she came around. Every single time.

Josh and Zack made her smile when no one else could. The smiles were cautious, tentative, to be sure, but they lifted Duke's spirits as much as any oil strike he'd ever made.

Dani seemed to be the only one who didn't get how much her warmth was valued. On some level, she clearly blamed herself for getting too caught up in the lives of those girls she'd ultimately lost. She thought she was the one who'd hurt them, when the truth was it was their father's cavalier attitude that had set them all up for anguish.

Duke would never make that mistake. He was a decisive man, always had been. Once he made a commitment, he stuck to it, for better or worse. He would have stayed married to Caroline, enduring the cold emptiness of the relationship if that had been what she wanted. Duty and honor were that important to him.

Now he wanted Dani Adams to become a significant part of Josh's and Zack's lives, a permanent part. The boys needed a mother's love. They needed Dani. And he would do whatever was necessary to get her for them. He owed it to them after the mess he'd made of his marriage to their mother. It was as simple and clear-cut as that for him.

His own feelings toward her were more complex. He enjoyed Dani's company. He wanted her in his bed. He had vowed to himself that he would always treat her the way she deserved to be treated. The only thing he couldn't promise her was love. He hoped that the things he could offer would be enough for a woman who understood the meaning and importance of family.

Thanksgiving was coming and he decided the holidays were the perfect time to step up his campaign, turn up the heat another notch, so to speak. Christmas would be the ideal, most romantic time to announce an engagement. He made that his goal and set up a strategic plan that corporate executives—Jordan included, he thought with a grim smile—would have envied.

Her family, bless them, cooperated by issuing an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner at White Pines. The message had been relayed by Jordan just that afternoon. Duke mentioned it to the boys when he got home that night, certain of their response.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“Cool,” Joshua said. “Will there be turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie?”

“I imagine so,” Duke said. He was fairly confident that this family would celebrate with old-fashioned excess when it came to their Thanksgiving feast.

“Will Dani be there?” Zachary asked.

“Of course.”

“Are you gonna kiss her again?” Zack asked, proving that he was as adept as any Adams at sneaking up on people.

Duke held back a grin. “Maybe.”

“Does that mean you and Dani are gonna get married?” Joshua asked. “I haven't got all this grown-up stuff figured out yet.”

“Kissing sometimes leads to marriage,” Duke conceded carefully.

“But what about you and Dani?” Josh persisted. “Are you guys gonna get married?”

Duke knew better than to set them up for disappointment. His plans were a little too iffy to
make a firm declaration on the subject just yet, especially when anything he said was likely to be repeated. He could just imagine Dani's reaction to hearing the news of their impending wedding from someone else.

“We'll see,” he equivocated.

More than once after a frustrating day behind his desk, he'd lain awake at night wondering if he really could get her riled up enough to marry him. He figured she was the kind of woman who was going to go down the aisle still denying that she was in love, especially with him. Persuading her otherwise might be challenging enough to make him forget all about bringing in another gusher.

If it turned out he was wrong about keeping his interest in Dani alive for all eternity, at least the boys would have a mom again. He would be free to get back to the kind of work he loved. Even as the unfairness and selfishness of that plan struck him, he tried to calculate how to make it work.

He felt Zack tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. “Then she would be our mom, right?”

“Yes, if it happens, she would be your mom. Would that be okay with you guys?”

Joshua shrugged. “I suppose.”

Duke was startled by the less than enthusiastic endorsement. Had he read the signals all wrong again? “I thought you liked Dani,” he said.

“I do, but moms go away sometimes,” Josh said, fighting tears. “It might be better if Dani was just our friend.”

Holy kamoley, Duke thought. This was an angle he'd never expected. He gathered both boys close.

“Not every mom goes away,” he said carefully.

He'd tried very hard not to blame their mother for running out. In fact, he'd bent over backward to shoulder most of the responsibility for driving her away. If she ever came back, he didn't want the boys to hate her for something for which much of the blame was his.

He struggled for an explanation that would console and offer hope at the same time. “We've talked about this before. Sometimes things happen between grown-ups that can't be helped. When it does, one of them goes away. That doesn't mean you shouldn't love them when they're around or treasure the good memories you have. You have to take risks or you'll go through life being very lonely.”

“No way,” Zack protested fiercely. “We've got each other. We'll never be lonely. We don't need anybody else.”

“If that were true, would you be having such a good time with your new friends here in Los Pinos?”

Both boys hesitated as they considered that.

“I guess not,” Josh conceded.

“Someday you're going to be a grown-up, and you're going to want even more than good friends. You're going to want somebody to love. I want you to believe that taking a chance on love is worth the risk, worth whatever hurt might happen.” He grinned at them. “Because, you know what? Sometimes that risk pays off big time and lasts forever.”

“Like with you and us,” Joshua said.

Duke's eyes swam with unshed tears. “Exactly,” he whispered. “Exactly like us.”

And if he had his way, Dani would become a part of that tight-
knit circle just as soon as he could make it happen. Despite what he'd just told his sons about putting everything on the line for love, the only thing he wasn't willing to risk was his own heart. He'd had years of evidence to analyze. He was pretty sure he didn't even have one.

* * *

On Thanksgiving morning Dani discovered the kitchen at White Pines in predictable chaos. Maritza, who'd been Grandpa Harlan's housekeeper practically forever, was trying her best to shoo everyone out, but lured by the scent of roasting turkey and pumpkin pie, no one was paying a bit of attention. Even Janet, whose lack of culinary skills was the stuff of family legend, seemed drawn to the one room in the house she usually avoided.

“Señora Janet, everything here is under control,” Maritza declared again. “Please, you go and take the others with you. It is Thanksgiving. You should be relaxing and enjoying your company.”

Janet made a token protest, offered to make the dressing and was soundly discouraged not only by Maritza, but also by everyone else as well.

“Ungrateful wretches,” Janet said, laughing. She scowled at Jenny. “You especially. I expected more loyalty from my firstborn daughter.”

“Hey, I grew up on your cooking for the first fourteen years of my life. The best I can say is that I survived it.” She turned to her younger sister. “Lizzy, you have no idea how grateful you should be that Maritza is here.”

Janet threw up her hands. “Okay, enough. I'm going where I'm appreciated.”

“I saw Dad out by the barn with Duke and the twins,” Lizzy offered. “Dad is always eager to see you.”

Janet gave them all a satisfied smile. “Yes, he is, isn't he?” she said as she slipped out the screen door.

Dani watched her go and wished she could follow. She was still putting up a valiant battle with her emotions, but she feared she was losing the war. Just the mention of Duke's name was enough to stir her senses alive. It really was absurd how little control she had over her reactions to the man. Worse, he knew it and he was deliberately plaguing her.

He never had gotten around to asking that all-important question that had brought him into her office a few weeks back. She'd been left to speculate and wonder and worry, even though he was suddenly underfoot everywhere she went. There hadn't been a doubt in her mind that someone would think to include him and the boys in today's celebration. Hearing that he was outside with her grandfather had made her pulse jump just the same.

“You could go, too,” Jenny suggested mildly.

Dani stared at her. “Go where?”

“Out to the barn.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

Jenny laughed. “Oh, sweetie, give it up. The only one not admitting that you're nuts about the guy is you.”

Dani frowned. “One of these days, Jenny Runningbear Adams, you are going to fall head over heels in love with some man and I am going to lead the troops in making your life miserable about it.”

“Not me,” Jenny declared emphatically. “I don't have time to fall in love. Between lobbying in
Washington and teaching, my plate is full. I'm perfectly content.”

“Famous last words,” Dani taunted. She glanced at Lizzy, who was listening in with an amused expression. “I say a year, tops. How about you?”

“First she has to meet somebody,” Lizzy pointed out. “She never pokes her head into anyplace where she's likely to meet anyone interesting. She spends all her time surrounded by teenagers and lawyers.”

“Watch it, baby sister,” Jenny warned. “Our mother is a lawyer. She wouldn't appreciate you disparaging her kind.”

“Everyone knows that Mom's an exception,” Lizzy said loyally. “The ones you know are out for a buck.”

“How would you know that? You've never met most of them.”

“I hear you and Mom and Dad talking. How do you think I got to be so smart?”

Jenny chuckled. “Who says you're smart?”

“Daddy.”

Dani and Jenny exchanged a look. “Of course,” Dani said. “For a minute there, we forgot we were talking to Grandpa Harlan's best and brightest.”

Lizzy scowled at her teasing. “I could tell you a few things…” she muttered.

“Such as?” Dani asked.

“You seem to forget that I worked for Duke all summer long,” Lizzy taunted meaningfully.

Dani's heart seemed to lurch to a stop. “So?”

“I heard stuff.”

“About?”

“Never mind,” Lizzy said airily. “I'm going out where I'm appreciated, too.”

She left her sister and Dani staring after her.

“What do you suppose she knows?” Dani asked, unable to mask her curiosity.

“Very little, I think,” Maritza chimed in from the stove. “She is just talking big to get your attention.”

“It worked, too,” Jenny observed thoughtfully. “She mentioned Duke and your antenna shot up. Interesting reaction for a woman who claims the man doesn't matter to her.”

“Oh, go to hell,” Dani muttered.

“Young lady, you do not use such talk in my kitchen,” Maritza said indignantly. “You are not too big for me to wash out your mouth with soap.”

“Uh-oh,” Jenny taunted. “You're in big trouble now.”

“I'm going where I'm appreciated,” Dani said.

“To the barn?” Jenny asked, her eyes twinkling.

“No. To find my father.”

“Now there's the ticket. Run off to Jordan,” Jenny taunted. “Don't expect him to side with you, though. He's like the rest of us. He's just waiting for an engagement announcement. He discovered that being a daddy was fun. Now he wants to try out being a granddaddy.”

“He does not,” Dani protested, though the claim made her very nervous. She suspected there might be some truth to it.

“Does, too.”

“
Niñas,
stop it,” Maritza ordered. “You will spoil the food with all this bickering. Be nice.”

Dani laughed. “How often have we heard those words?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around Maritza and hugged her. “
Te amo,
Maritza.”

The housekeeper's dour expression softened. “
Te amo,
Danielle. You are my own precious one.”

“I thought I was,” Jenny protested with a glint of pure mischief in her eyes.

“You,
niña,
are the thorn in my side, especially today. Now go. You both are in my way.”

It seemed everywhere Dani went she was in the way. She tried the den, but Jordan, Cody and Luke were busy cussing a blue streak at the television. It appeared the Dallas Cowboys weren't delivering today.