Never Say Never (14 page)

He ran his hand carelessly over Joey’s hair, instantly making the fine blond strands go awry. Jill didn’t think he even realized he’d mussed his son’s hair in a fatherly and affectionate gesture. She forced a smile to her lips, thinking that Dustin was right. Joey would be fine, and she wanted to go upstairs and take a moment to indulge in some deep breaths.

Nodding, she turned to go upstairs. The doorbell rang, and Jill halted, knowing her parents had arrived. She didn’t want them to see her like this, anxious and no doubt having some runaway mascara around her eyes. Not for anything did she want them to think she was unhappy at the ranch.

“Go on,” Dustin said, his voice rough. “I’ll stall ’em.”

“Thanks.” Jill didn’t take a second more to express her gratitude. She flew up the stairs, feeling immensely guilty for dumping her duties on Dustin, but badly needing to force herself back into the pleasant mood Carl had stolen from her.

Dustin flung open the door, Joey at his heels. “Marsh. You old buzzard. I should have known you’d get here first.”

The sheriff walked past him after wiping his boots on the mat outside. “Yep. Hated to think you might not have anyone to help you set out the
hors d’oeuvres
.”

He pronounced it hors-doevres. Dustin had to grin. “Eat them, you mean. Anything you’re supposed to set out would never make it to the table.”

“Exactly. That’s what I said.”

“Well, you came too late, then. Jill’s had everything ready for hours.”

“She’s an organized little thing, isn’t she?” Marsh dumped his Stetson on Joey’s head, much to the child’s delight, as he walked into the parlor. “So, there’s the ornery twig that caused so much trouble.”

Dustin ignored his friend’s glee. “Don’t start, my friend. We’ve had plenty of excitement here today without you kicking up some dirt, too.”

“What’d I miss out on?”

“Just the ex showing up. Nothing more interesting than that.”

“Hm.” Marsh looked around the room at the big Christmas tree and the smaller version. “Don’t guess the mistletoe got him any better luck than it did you.”

“I don’t think so.” Dustin left the Christmas room, knowing Marsh would follow him into the kitchen. “Jill was more upset to see him than I thought she might be.”

“Really? Still harboring feelings, is she?”

Dustin sat down at the table in a leisurely manner that betrayed the fact that the same thing had crossed his mind. “Seemed to have her hand planted pretty square in the middle of his back, pushing him out the door.”

“Well, you never know with women. They don’t know what they want.” Marsh grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat down across from Dustin. The sound of the can being opened was loud in the sudden stillness.

Dustin considered his friend’s words. Women
didn’t
always know what they wanted; men didn’t, either. Jill had been upset, but not pining upset for that city boy. He briefly wondered what she’d seen in her ex-fiancé, then asked himself what she might see in him, any better than that city boy.

He wouldn’t let himself think about it. “The guy had some coconut-smelling stuff in his hair. I could smell it five feet away. Oh, hell, that reminds me. Joey, come here!”

His son ran into the room. “What?”

“I forgot Jill wants your hair slicked down.” He ran his hand under the faucet to get it wet and mashed it across the cowlick. “There. That ought to do.”

Joey instantly ran his hand through it, undoing Dustin’s handiwork before running up the stairs. Marsh laughed.

“She’s changing you already, friend.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dustin glowered across the kitchen.

“I never saw you do that before. Heck, you’ve never acted like Joey was much more than your shadow. Jill must be working on you.”

“You’re fixing to uninvite yourself from Sunday dinner, Marsh,” Dustin growled. “I may have been a little slow in the fathering department, but I don’t see you being too eager for a bunch of rug rats, either.”

“Nope. Can’t see it myself,” Marsh said cheerfully. “I do see Jill being hellaciously beautiful with a big nine-month belly, though.”

“Yeah?” Dustin sat down again, unwilling to be drawn into what he knew was Marsh’s attempt to rile him. “Don’t reckon she’s going to get pregnant, so I guess you’ll have to miss out on the show.”

The doorbell rang, interrupting what Marsh’s next jibe would have been. Dustin crossed into the hallway and opened the door.

“Howdy, everybody. Come on in,” he said, taking Mrs. McCall’s items from her hands. Beside him, his mother appeared. “Mother, this is Lana and Bob McCall, Jill’s folks. Bob, Lana, this is my mother, Eunice Reed. Jill’s finishing dressing, but she’ll be right down,” Dustin said, taking the things into the kitchen. He could hear the greetings his mother was issuing and Joey’s little feet thundering down the stairs to greet the newcomers. In the hall Marsh stood waiting to be introduced.

“This is our local sheriff, Marsh,” Dustin said, giving him a slight shove into the hallway. “My best friend since way back.”

The McCalls shook Marsh’s hand and he beamed at them. “The Reeds have been looking forward to your visit. I think you’ll find your daughter is in the best of hands,” Marsh said.

Lana looked a little startled, Dustin noticed. He shot a frown Marsh’s way. “Have a seat in the parlor, please. I think Jill’s set out some snacks for us.”

“Your home is beautiful,” Lana told Eunice.

“Thank you. You’ll be interested to know that your daughter is responsible for the festive atmosphere in this room.” Eunice pointed to the various holiday decorations. “We so appreciate you letting us have her for a while. She’s brought so much happiness to our home.”

“Oh, I’m so glad.” The delight on Lana and Bob’s face was easy to see. They were crazy about their youngest child. If they knew that Jill’s ex had been by just moments ago and how badly he’d upset their daughter, they’d have a fit.

Dustin cleared his throat. “I’ll go check on Jill and see if she needs any help with Holly,” he said.

The truth was, Jill was taking longer than he’d expected. With the additional ringing of the doorbell, he was certain she’d have hotfooted it downstairs. Maybe she needed a good, strong shoulder to lean on more than he’d realized.

Dustin went upstairs, hesitating outside her bedroom door. He knocked lightly. She didn’t answer, so Dustin walked to Joey’s room. There was no Jill, no baby Holly being readied in a last-minute frenzy in there.

The sound of retching in the connecting bathroom startled Dustin. After a second, he realized Jill was in there, obviously very sick to her stomach. He wasn’t sure she’d eaten breakfast, having been busy with the preparations, so she likely hadn’t eaten something that disagreed with her. Dustin moved to the door, uncertain as to what to do. He’d known City Boy had upset her, but enough to make her that sick?

I do see Jill being hellaciously beautiful with a big nine-month belly.
Marsh’s words came back to hit him with the force of a storm gale. Dustin bowed his head, wondering if they were all going to have the opportunity to find out.

He felt a little ill himself, just thinking on it.

Chapter Nine

Silently, Dustin walked away from the door. Of course, he should make certain she didn’t need any assistance. But knowing Jill, she’d be plenty furious if she knew that her private moment of suffering had been witnessed.

Dustin went down the stairs, promising himself that if she wasn’t down in five minutes, he was going to make Jill let him in. Or at least, reassure him that she was going to be okay.

Exactly four minutes forty-five seconds later, according to Dustin’s watch, Jill came down the stairs. She walked into the parlor with a smile on her face and Holly propped up on her shoulder, looking like a Madonna to Dustin’s worried eyes. Jill didn’t look like a woman who’d just been heaving her insides. He shot a critical eye over her body, but all he could see was shiny blonde hair waving gently at her chin, emphasizing her sparkling smile. Her skin perhaps was a trifle paler than normal, but her blue eyes were as large and luminous as ever. But still, after she finished kissing her folks in welcome, she turned, her eyes meeting his and lightning fast, her gaze skittered away.

What the hell was going on? Dustin wondered. Had he said something to make her want to avoid him?

His mother got up, taking the baby from Jill’s arms. “Eunice says you’ve done all this decorating yourself, Jill,” Lana said. “Everything looks wonderful.”

Jill shook her head, sitting down on a chair near Joey. She pointed to his son. “This little fellow here is responsible for the beauty of that tree,” she pointed to the table-top tree whose branches still sported the lopsided effect of silver ornaments bunched on one side and gold on the other, “as well as that tree, which he and his father not only cut down but decorated as well. I can’t take credit for any of it.”

“Your daughter’s very modest,” Eunice said. “We don’t know what we would have done without her this Christmas season. Jill, are you ready for us to adjourn to the table?”

“Yeah! Let’s…let’s eat,” Joey shouted.

“It sounds like we have some hearty appetites here. I’d better get a move on.”

Jill stood, her smile even, but Dustin wondered if perhaps it seemed a bit forced.

In five minutes, Jill, Lana, and Eunice—after handing the baby over to Dustin—had all the hot dishes set on the sideboard. “We’re going to be informal today and let everyone serve themselves,” Jill announced. “There’s tea, water, or wine, which I’ll pour, if everyone will tell me what they want.”

Drink requests were turned in, and Jill went to the kitchen to fill them. Dustin handed the baby off to Marsh, who accepted her as gracefully as if Dustin had handed him a moldy head of lettuce. “You’ve got to work, too, if you’re going to mooch,” Dustin told him before hurrying after Jill.

Jill was in the kitchen putting ice cubes in glasses, her back to him as he approached. “Jill,” he said softly.

“Oh, my!” Turning startled eyes on him, she said, “My mind was obviously elsewhere.”

“I…” Oh, to hell with it. Why beat around the bush? “Jill, are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes. Don’t I look all right?”

“You look…” He started to say beautiful, then realized that probably would go over like a lead balloon, no matter how true it was. “You look fine. A little pale, maybe.”

“Oh.” She shook her head, returning her attention to pouring the drinks. “Maybe I didn’t put on enough blusher. Would you mind carrying these out to the dining room?”

Dustin took the glasses, casting one last look over his housekeeper. Lack of makeup wasn’t the problem, but she was obviously going to stick to that story. There was no way he could tell her what he’d heard. What little he knew about Jill told him she wasn’t receptive to broadcasting her personal life around. And she would never, for crying out loud, tell him she was pregnant, if that were the case.

Because plainly she wasn’t going to tell anyone.

Lunch was an ordeal Dustin got through only by keeping his mind on a million other things. The McCalls were a wonderful family, but it did put him a bit on edge feeling like he was eating with the all-American family. He walked outside to the fence line after inviting Bob to go with him. Bob had declined, instead choosing to dry dishes while his daughter and wife washed. Obviously, there was going to be a family powwow in the kitchen. Dustin could only hope that Jill’s parents weren’t going to try to get her to return with them permanently. Then he’d have to advertise for another housekeeper, and that was getting to be a drag. Especially when he finally had one that fit their family better than he’d ever expected.

Outside, the sky was gray and lined with white, stringy clouds, confirming the cool, crisp feeling of winter in Dustin’s bones. No matter how warm the house, no matter how cheery the company, he still felt cold. A big-eyed steer moved its heavy girth toward him, less fearful than the other cattle. Dustin stared the steer down, but it came closer anyway.

Kind of like Jill, always edging closer to that empty space in his soul.

“Didn’t you get enough to eat?” Marsh asked, coming to rest his arms on the fence beside Dustin. He pointed at the steer. “That’s a big piece of meat, even for a tall guy like you.”

“I ate enough. I didn’t think you were going to fill up that cavern you call a gut though.”

Marsh grinned. “Why go hungry when there’s all that good food for a man to eat?”

“You ought to get married.” Dustin’s voice was sandpaper-rough. “Then you might not have to mooch off my table so much.”

“Nope. What I need is a cook, which I can’t afford on a sheriff’s salary.”

Dustin snorted. “Don’t poor-mouth to me. We’ve made plenty of money selling steers the last couple of years. You’ve got no woman to erode your profits, so don’t tell me your bottom line isn’t healthy these days.”

He felt Marsh’s gaze narrow on him. “Your head more sore than usual today? Got indigestion?”

“No.” Dustin knew he was being a bear, but he also knew Marsh was tough enough—and friend enough—to take it.

“No wonder Jill isn’t smiling much, if you’ve been so lovely to be around.”