Taming A Fortune

As Toby headed into the house, Brian and Kylie followed Justin’s lead, rushing outside in their pajamas and choosing their own spots to spread out on the blankets.

But Angie’s thoughts were on Toby.

“I’ll get the popcorn,” she told the kids. “Showtime is in five minutes.”

She made her way into the house slowly. She didn’t want Toby to think that she was following him.

But what if he’d wanted her to?

Oh, get a grip. She was so sleep-deprived, she was becoming delusional.

She was about to carry the first load of refreshments outside when Toby stepped into the kitchen.

“Thanks,” he said, his eyes contradicting the simplicity of his single word as they bored deeply into her own.

She tried to downplay the intensity in his gaze, as well as her efforts to provide a fun evening for the kids. “It was no big deal.”

“Actually, it’s a big deal to me. You have no idea how much I need this right now.”

She thought Toby was going to pull her in for a hug, and she would have willingly gone—if he’d made the first move. But as her heartbeats pounded off the seconds and he didn’t make the attempt, she realized it was probably more likely that one of the kids would come flying in the door to ask what was holding them up.

So she handed him the bowl of popcorn and grabbed the five ice-cream-filled mugs by their handles and led the way out the back door.

“So what are we watching?” Toby asked as he settled into the only spot the kids had left open, which happened to be right beside Angie.

“Star Wars I,” Justin said.

“No, dude, this is Star Wars IV,” Brian said snarkily, as if Justin was an idiot.

“How can it be number IV when this is the first Star Wars they ever made?” Justin challenged back.

Angie quickly explained the nuances of the Star Wars episodes before the boys came to blows across the blankets.

“So you’re both right,” she said.

The boys conceded, going back to their ice cream.

“Is that my bedsheet?” Toby asked as he studied the improvised movie screen nailed to the side of his barn.

“Well, the boys’ sheets are dark blue, and Kylie’s has a My Little Pony print,” Angie defended.

“Why is there a big brown spot on it?” Toby asked, glossing over the fact that the boys had put nail holes into his sheet.

“Justin dropped his end in some manure while I was on the ladder trying to nail it in place,” Brian explained.

“I’m sorry,” Angie said. “I didn’t know they were going to use real nails. And I didn’t realize they’d dropped it in cow... Well, in...you know. I just thought you had stained sheets.”

Toby looked at her as if she’d been the one to drop the manure outside the barn in the first place.

“Did you try the popcorn yet?” she asked, trying to get the conversation heading in a different direction. “I put extra butter on it for you.”

Toby reached into the bowl. “That stain on the sheet makes it look like Luke Skywalker has melanoma on his face.”

“What’s ‘melanoma’?” Brian asked.

“It’s a kind of skin cancer,” Angie answered.

The pillows looked so comfortable. Maybe she could just put her head down for a second and rest her eyes, maybe even doze off for a moment or two.

“My mommy died of cancer,” Justin said.

“Is Luke Skywalker gonna die of cancer, too?” Kylie asked.

Oh, no. Angie hadn’t meant to mention the C-word.

“Nobody is going to die tonight,” Toby said, trying to save the day.

But that didn’t make Angie feel much better. If her brain hadn’t been so sleep-deprived, she might have thought before opening her mouth.

Here she was, trying to do something fun and nice for the family, but then she’d screwed everything up by reminding them of their dead mother.

No matter what she tried to do, it seemed that she only made things worse. Maybe Toby and the kids would be better if she ran for the hills and stayed out of their lives forever.

They’d be better off. But as she scanned the yard, taking in the sweet kids and the handsome cowboy who’d taken them in and given them a home, she wondered how she’d ever just walk away from them without looking back.

Or did she dare risk it all and stick around until she finally got things right?

Chapter Seven

The kids settled back on the blankets to watch the movie. Toby and Angie did, too, stretching out next to each other.

By the time Han Solo was telling Leia that he was in it for the money, Toby leaned over and whispered to Angie, “Is there any more popcorn?”

He hadn’t eaten lunch, so he’d pretty much wolfed down the spaghetti Angie had set out for him, but it really hadn’t quite filled him up.

“I’ll run in and make some more,” she said, getting to her feet.

He hadn’t meant to put her to work. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Actually, I was about to fall asleep. It’ll help me stay awake.”

Toby followed her into the kitchen. She may not need any help, but he saw an opportunity and decided to take it. With the kids so engrossed in the movie, he didn’t know when they’d get another chance to be alone. And the longer he’d lain next to her, the more he’d craved some one-on-one adult time with her.

When she realized he’d followed her into the kitchen, she said, “I’m so sorry about bringing up the C-word earlier.”

“Don’t even give it another thought. Everyone slips up now and then. Besides, I was the one who brought up melanoma in the first place. And if it makes you feel better, the social worker told me that the kids need to talk about their mom. It’s better for them to process her death in a normal, healthy way. When they lived with their aunt, they saw a bad example of hiding emotions behind the bottle.”

Just thinking about Barbara reminded him of the unsettling conversation they’d had. He’d almost forgotten about it once he’d gotten home. Angie had a way of getting his mind off his trouble, which was one more thing he liked about her.

Should he tell her about the call?

He didn’t consider the idea very long. He didn’t want to dump any more on her than he had to, no matter how easy she was to talk to. She wasn’t in this thing for the long haul anyway.

Besides, why did he want to think about Barbara when he had Angie in front of him now, standing at the stove, heating oil and popcorn kernels in a covered skillet?

When the corn began popping against the lid, she moved the pan across the burner—back and forth, faster and faster—her breasts swaying with the motion.

Aw, man. If he didn’t stop gaping at the mesmerizing sight, those kernels wouldn’t be the only thing popping.

“Is the popcorn done yet?” Justin yelled from the open doorway.

If you were talking about being hot and bothered, Toby was certainly close to done.

“Just about,” Angie called out to the boy. “I’ll bring it out to you in just a minute.”

Justin ran back to the movie, and Toby decided he’d better do the same before his thoughts got the better of him.

A few minutes later, Angie joined them in the yard, bringing the replenished bowl with her and settling back into her spot next to Toby. Even the action scenes, with swishing lightsabers, zooming X-wing fighters and intergalactic battles, didn’t keep Toby from wanting to reach out and grab more than a handful of popcorn.

But he managed self-control.

By the time the credits started to roll, he looked over and saw that Kylie and Justin had fallen asleep.

“I guess we’ll have to carry them in to bed,” he whispered to Angie, who’d nuzzled into the pillow next to his.

But she didn’t answer.

He leaned over and, while tempted to brush back the strands of hair that had fallen across her face and tell her the movie was over, he let her sleep.

Brian, thank goodness, picked up his blankets and pillow and made his way into the house on his own. But Toby had to carry the smaller kids one at a time.

Thanks to Kylie’s overzealous efforts to make them all cozy for the movie, the mattresses were completely bare. Remaking all the beds seemed like way too much work to do. So instead, he went back to the grass, retrieved a couple of blankets and put one over each of the sleeping children.

When he returned outside and saw Angie curled up under the stars, the corner of his comforter tucked under her chin, he stood there and watched her for a while.

Now what? Wake her up? Send her home?

Invite her inside?

He looked back at the house. Considering the bare mattress that awaited him inside, he figured, what the heck.

She looked so soft, so comfortable. Why not let her nap? He could certainly use a little snooze himself.

So he lay down next to her, just as they’d done when the movie had first begun. Then he pulled a blanket over the top of them. Surely one of them would wake up in an hour or so. At that time, they could each go their own way, she to her house and he to his own room.

And no one would be the wiser.

Toby might not be able to invite Angie to actually spend the night in his bed, but this seemed like the next best thing.

* * *

Angie wiggled backward, not quite ready to wake up from her dream.

When had her bed gotten so small and cramped?

Her back was pressed up against a warm wall, her bottom nestled against something hard.

Her waist was tethered down.

She didn’t feel trapped or claustrophobic, though. Nor did she feel compelled to move away. Rather, she snuggled deeper into the cocoon of comfort.

Whatever had been clamped on her waist slowly traveled upward until it reached under her shirt and began to fondle her breast.

Ooh. Nice. She sighed and arched in contentment, her dream getting better by the minute.

A warm breeze whispered along her neck, as lips brushed against the sensitive skin below her ear.

She leaned her head back to provide more access to the mouth that was giving her such delicious pleasure.

Swish.

Swack.

Swish.

What was that flapping sound?

Angie didn’t want to stir, didn’t want to ever wake up, but the annoying sound wouldn’t go away. She cracked her eyes open and saw something big and white floating up in the wind, then smacking down against the side of a huge, red barn.

A barn that looked a lot like Toby’s.

Why was her bed in Toby’s backyard?

Wait. Whose pink-pony-covered pillow was wrapped in her arms?

And whose hand held her left breast? Whose fingers had tightened over her taut nipple?

“You feel good,” a sleep-graveled, baritone voice whispered against her ear.

Toby?

This wasn’t a dream, was it?

Swish. Swish. Splat.

Were those water droplets that just sprinkled her face?

“What the—” Toby shot up, and his hand left her breast. “Oh, hell. The sprinkler.”

Angie stared at Toby through wet lashes, fully awake now and trying to piece together why they’d been sleeping together outdoors, why he’d been holding her so intimately. But more water from a nearby sprinkler shot her in the face again, and Toby grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the house.

“We have to get this stuff inside. Everything’s going to get soaked.”

Angie, still dazed from her erotic sleep-induced bliss, didn’t take the time to decide whether Toby had been fully awake or dreaming. Instead she snapped out of it long enough to run for the movie projector, pull the hefty old machine off the relocated patio table and lug it, extension cord and all, inside the kitchen, trying to dodge the shooting sprays of water as she went.

She set the reels on the table, just as Toby dropped the first load of wet blankets on the kitchen floor.

“Why are you guys all wet?” Kylie asked, walking into the kitchen before Angie could process what had happened outside on the lawn.

Angie waited for Toby to answer because she didn’t think the words would form in her throat.

But a red flush on Toby’s face as he reached down for one of the damp pillows and placed it in front of his waist suggested that her hormones hadn’t been the only ones getting an early-morning workout.

She didn’t know whether to laugh at his discomfort or run out of the room in embarrassment because, whatever had just happened—sleep-induced or fully conscious—their friendship had just taken a tremendous turn in an unexpected direction.

Maybe it was best if she got out of here.

She was usually good with smooth exit strategies, but she couldn’t seem to get her brain to engage.

As much as she’d like to pretend this morning hadn’t happened, she hated to leave Toby to face the music alone. And judging from the pink tint blossoming underneath his stubble-covered cheeks, he didn’t quite know what to make of it, either.

“The sprinklers came on early this morning,” Toby mumbled, not dropping the pillow. “So Angie and I were trying to get all this stuff inside.”

“Why didn’t you bring it in last night?” Justin asked, making his way into the crowded kitchen, oblivious to the strong but awkward sexual attraction swirling in the room like a Texas dust cloud.

“Sweet,” Brian said, padding in to join them, his red hair sticking up on one side of his head. “You guys had a sleepover.”

Oh, great. That wasn’t going to look good in the social worker’s report—if one of the kids happened to mention Toby having a woman spend the night while the kids were home.

Angie reached up to smooth her own sleep-tousled hair.

Maybe she should tell the kids she’d been out for a morning jog and had decided to stop in for breakfast.

She glanced down at her bare feet. No, they were too smart to fall for that. She needed to nip this thing in the bud before everyone in town heard that she and Toby had slept together—which, technically, they had.

“It wasn’t really a sleepover,” she said. “I just dozed off while watching the movie.”

“Then can Mike Waddell kinda fall asleep over here next Saturday after our baseball game?” Brian asked.

The energy-drink kid? Angie could only imagine the hyperactivity that would come along with that night. But at least the focus was now off her.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Toby said, finally releasing the pillow.

“If Brian gets a sleepover, then can I have a slumber party?” Kylie asked.

“How many girls do you want to come to your slumber party?” Angie asked.

“My teacher said that, if we have a party, we have to invite everyone from the class so we don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. And we have twenty-three kids in our class. But I don’t want to invite Destiny Simmons because she told everyone my hair looks funny because I don’t have a mommy to do it right.”

That reminded Angie that Kylie needed a real mother figure, someone permanent. And not a fly-by-night female role model who’d nearly made love to a man outdoors in broad daylight, with three impressionable kids inside the house.

“Twenty-three kids?” Toby asked. “But that’s counting the boys, too. You can’t invite them to a girls’ slumber party.”

Kylie pointed at Angie. “But you had a girl over for a slumber party.”

The tiny red-haired cherub in the princess pajamas had brought the conversation full circle without missing a beat.

And just as quickly, Toby opened the pantry door and changed the topic. “Hey, guys. We need to get our chores done early today. Why don’t I make pancakes for breakfast? You can help me by setting the table and getting the juice out of the fridge.”

Smart move. New focus.

While the children were distracted with setting the table and getting the orange juice out of the refrigerator, Angie decided it was the perfect time to sneak out of here.

She was such a coward. But she was doing what she did best—leaving before things got uncomfortable again.

So she slipped out the back, quietly shutting the door. When she walked by the kitchen window, Toby spotted her and lifted his eyebrows.

She gestured, then mouthed, “I have to go.” It was a lame excuse, especially since she really had nowhere to go on a Saturday morning. But she couldn’t very well stay here and play house with Toby and the kids.

He nodded as if he understood. Yet guilt, embarrassment, fear and other emotions she hadn’t yet pegged all tumbled around in her throat, threatening to cut off her air supply.

She put her thumb to her ear and her pinkie to her lips, giving him the universal sign for telephone. Then she mouthed, “I’ll call you.”

Again, he nodded.

Then she climbed into her car before she could debate whether she really had any business calling Toby at all.

* * *

Ten minutes after Angie drove away, the cordless phone on the counter rang and Kylie answered it before Toby could make a grab for it. Was Angie calling him already? He could understand her wanting to get the heck out of Dodge this morning. He’d been tempted to jump in her car and go with her just to escape the curious eyes pelting him with unspoken questions.

What had he been thinking, spending the entire night with Angie like that? Better yet, what had he been thinking setting those damn sprinklers on a timer to go off at six in the morning? If they hadn’t blasted them with water, Toby knew exactly what he would have done to Angie’s sweet, warm and tempting body this morning. He wouldn’t have stopped with a hand on her lush breast—that was for sure. Instead, they’d gotten sprayed with water like a couple of dogs someone had to turn the hose on to keep from going at it on the front lawn.

“Yeah, Aunt Stacey,” Kylie said. “He’s right here, fixing pancakes for us and Angie.”

Obviously, Kylie still hadn’t realized that Angie had left. Or that Toby was still staring out the kitchen window after her like a sad, abandoned puppy.

He tried to reach for the telephone before Kylie could tell his sister anything else, but his hands were full of slimy eggshells, which he’d have to rinse off first.

“Uh-huh,” Kylie continued. “Angie and Toby had a sleepover last night. And Toby got my pillow all wet, but that’s okay because he said I get to invite my class over for a slumber party.”

With his hands clean, but still wet, Toby took the phone from Kylie. “Hey, Stace. What’s up?”

“Why did Kylie put you on the phone?” Stacey asked. “I wanted to talk to Angie.”

“She’s not here,” Toby said, a bit more defensively than he’d intended.

“She left already?” Justin asked. “Aw, man. I wanted to ask her to help me build a spaceship out of LEGO.”

“We’ll see her later,” Toby told the disappointed boy.

But the truth was, he didn’t know when they’d see Angie again. Or if Angie would even want to see him after the way he’d been pawing at her this morning.

“Later, huh?” Stacey asked. “I heard the two of you have been spending a lot of time together lately, but I had no idea you guys were at the sleepover stage.”

Toby covered the mouthpiece. “Brian, stir the pancake mix. I’m going to talk to my sister for a sec. But don’t use the stove until I get back.”

After giving all the kids an assignment, Toby walked into the living room so they wouldn’t hear his line of defense.

Not that he’d done anything wrong. Had he? Maybe if he just explained what had happened...

Hey, wait. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation.

When he reached the living room, he asked, “So how’s Piper?”

Everyone knew Stacey adored her nine-month-old daughter, so he figured he’d change the subject to one of toothless grins and sleepless nights.

“She’s fine,” Stacey said. “Growing cuter and smarter every day.”

“And how about Colton?” he asked, hoping he could get her talking about her new fiancé, one of the neighboring ranchers. “Have you guys set a date yet?”

“Colton is doing great, but don’t try those distraction tactics on me. I’m one step ahead of you, big brother. You are not getting out of this one. What’s going on with you and Angie Edwards?”

His sisters, Stacey and Delaney, were protective over all their brothers, but particularly Toby since his family always accused him of being a softy—and a sucker for a sob story. Not that Angie was a sob story.

“Nothing’s going on,” he said. “Angie’s been helping me out with the kids. That’s all.”

“Are you paying her for babysitting services? Because I heard Angie’s always looking for a new job. She never seems to stick with one very long.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not paying her. She’s doing it to be nice and because she likes the kids. And for your information, Angie is a very hard worker. Just because she hasn’t found a career she likes doesn’t mean she isn’t a good person.”

“I never said she wasn’t, Toby. I was just telling you what I’ve been hearing around town. I went to high school with Angie, remember? She used to date a lot back then.”

Toby felt a jostle of jealousy stir up again in his veins.

“What do you mean she used to date a lot? Like she was...” Toby didn’t want to say anything that would be demeaning to Angie, but he didn’t know how else to ask.

“Well, she didn’t have a reputation for being fast or anything like that, but she was known as the Queen of the First Date.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means she would go out with a guy if he asked her, but usually, they never made it to a second date. I don’t know if it was fear of commitment or what, but she never went steady with anyone or took any of the guys seriously. She for sure never had sleepovers with anyone before. Or at least none that I heard about.”

The envy died down a little bit inside him. At least he couldn’t fault Angie for being choosy.

“Listen, last night wasn’t a sleepover. It was just an accident. Nothing, uh, really happened.”

He hoped his sister hadn’t caught the hesitation in his voice.

“Aha!” she said. “Define ‘nothing.’ And ‘really.’”

“I’m not defining anything.” Toby looked back to the kitchen to make sure none of the little ears had made their way within hearing distance.

Stacey clicked her tongue. “You wouldn’t be getting so defensive if your relationship was strictly platonic. So how far have you guys gone?”

Toby couldn’t believe Stacey had just asked him that. “This isn’t high school, Stace. We’re not playing truth or dare. I’m not talking about my sex life with my little sister.”

“So you’re saying there is a sex life to talk about,” she said, a spark of excitement lighting her voice as if she’d tricked a leprechaun into revealing the location of his pot of gold.

Embarrassment was an understatement. Toby remembered holding the wet pillow up to cover his arousal this morning when the kids came into the kitchen. He wished he had something to hide behind now.

He wasn’t going to admit to anything. He’d said too much as it was and figured silence was his only option.

“So,” Stacey said, apparently changing tactics, “the reason I called was to tell you that Mom and Dad are having a family dinner at their house tonight. And we’d like you to bring Angie.”

“Why, so you guys can check her out and pump her for information? No way.”

“Mom told me and Delaney you’d say that when we came up with the idea.”

Great. His family was already plotting and scheming.

“That’s why,” Stacey continued, “Delaney is calling Angie right now and asking her to come over for dinner. Too bad she didn’t pick up the phone a few minutes earlier. We could’ve killed two birds with one stone.”

“I’m not coming to dinner tonight,” Toby said. “And I’m not inviting Angie.”

“Why not? If there’s nothing going on between you two, then why try to keep her away from your family?”

Stacey had a point. Unfortunately, with the sparks that were jumping between him and Angie lately, he doubted a blind man would believe there wasn’t anything going on between them.

And knowing his family the way he did, he was sure they’d figure out something was up the second he, Angie and the kids walked in the door.