Baby Dreams And Wedding Schemes

The look he favored her with just then sent her temperature soaring several degrees higher. Which was not a good sign, Sasha decided angrily, releasing a breath that puffed the bangs off her forehead.

“Lest you faint away from shock,” she said gratingly, struggling to hold on to her temper, “I take great delight in informing you that I have not the least intention of becoming anyone’s wife.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded smugly. “That’s what they all say. At first.” He twiddled with the empty pie plate sitting in front of him as he spoke. “I’ll give you about five minutes until that tactic changes. The next step is sugarcoated sweetness.”

“Ooo-ooh.” Sasha’s hands formed fists at her sides as she blinked away the red tide of murder from her gaze. She planted herself directly opposite him and leaned in, holding her face mere centimeters from his.

“You may think you’re God’s gift to this earth, Reverend,” she rasped. “But let me be the first to have the temerity to suggest that I don’t find you so irresistible.” She refused to look away from those black depths. “Oh, I’d like to have a child like Cody, make no mistake about that.”

“I thought so.” The superior look on his face was shortlived as she prepared her ammunition and fired with both barrels.

“But to take you into the bargain seems an awfully high price to pay to be a mother.” She stiffened her backbone with barely concealed fury.

“Men!” She spat the word out in disgust, “Let me tell you, buster. Minister or not, I haven’t the least interest in you or any others of your kind.” Her eyes held his, refusing to look away from their piercing intensity.

“I am a career woman, dedicated to pursuing her own interests and livelihood. I don’t need a man to support me or to hold me down or to nurture. I’m fully capable of building my own life.” Her teeth hurt from clenching and she eased up on her jaw just a fraction. “If and when I decide to have a child, there are the facilities available. I don’t need you to accommodate me there. Thank you very much!”

Sasha could feel the heat radiate off her face as she ended the tirade and wondered if she’d been too blunt. At least he had the grace to look embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I just naturally assumed that you were another—”

She cut him off. “Don’t naturally assume anything about me, Mr. Windsor.” Sasha tossed her head back angrily. “I like children, a lot. That’s all. Period. No strings.”

He nodded. “Fine. I understand.”

She searched his gray eyes but saw nothing save a faint remnant of suspicion and perhaps a hint of relief.

“What do you suggest I do about Cody, Miss Lambert?”

She sucked in a breath of air and allowed a slight softening to mold the curve of her straight lips. At least he had decided to listen to her opinion concerning Cody’s welfare. His gray eyes glinted at her.

“Thank you for your interest in him. And I really do apologize. I guess I was way off base.”

“Yes, you were,” she agreed pertly. “I am only thinking about Cody.”

He nodded gravely. “So am I.”

Sasha took that as a green light and proceeded to offer him her advice. “Well, Rev,” she began irreverently, enjoying the frown that drew his thick black eyebrows together.

Do him good, she told herself. Obviously thinks he’s hot stuff.

“The first thing I’d suggest is that you go down to Booker’s and see if you can find another goldfish to replace Henry. And eventually you’re going to have to talk to Cody about this strange idea he has regarding his mother’s death.”

He nodded, obviously considering her advice.

“I know. I did try, but when we moved and my mother was with us, I thought he’d forget about it. He hasn’t had a nightmare for quite a while, but obviously Cody still thinks about Angela. I guess we’ll just have to go over the whole thing again.” He heaved a sigh that lifted his wide shoulders high. “I’m not anxious to go back to that era.”

Sasha watched him covertly.

“You know, part of the problem might be that he’s by himself all the time,” she suggested softly, and watched as the Reverend Jacob Windsor frowned at her criticism, his back straightening in his chair.

“I spend as much time as I possibly can with my son, Miss Lambert.”

Sasha could hear the ice crackling in his voice and decided to drop that aspect. For now. She stood and carried the dishes to the sink, stacking them haphazardly.

“I’m sure you do, Rev. But tonight, I’m going to spend the evening showing Mr. Cody Windsor what a good time is like in Allen’s Springs.”

Sasha smiled widely. She liked kids, especially their capacity for love. She hadn’t had much to do with them lately; not with the store and all. Of course, Allen’s Springs usually attracted an older clientele to its rejuvenating mineral waters, although parents and children did come to the lake in the summer. And since she’d moved from Toronto, her siblings had found it expensive to visit.

This was exactly what she needed to get over Dwain, she told herself. Just what she needed to be young and carefree once more, no longer tied to a man who demanded straitlaced perfection and unending cloying devotion in a little town where their every move was relayed back to his fawning mother.

“How?”

She turned in surprise. The Reverend Jacob Windsor stood behind her, a look of expectation on his narrow face.

“Well, let’s see...” She paused, thinking madly. “Cody and I are going to go on a picnic.”

She grabbed a basket from the closet shelf and considered the contents of her fridge. When a choking sound penetrated her consciousness, she turned to find her guest eyeing the lake trout stretched out across her refrigerator shelf, its glassy eye fixed on them both.

“You’re not taking that, are you?” he asked curiously. “I mean, you’re not going to serve sushi or something, right?” He frowned down at her, his finger stroking the line of his jutting chin. “You know? Not right after Henry’s, er, demise?”

Sasha pointed her chin in the air and ignored his rudeness. She had never even seen sushi!

“If you hurry,” she intoned snottily, “you might get back with that goldfish in time to go with us.” Her eyes flashed indignantly. “Not that I’m inviting you, you understand. I wouldn’t want to be accused of pursuing you like some man-hungry female on the make.”

She didn’t bother to sugar-coat the words although Sasha wondered later if it was exactly the right phrase to use with a minister.

“Yes, ma’am,” he quipped, moving toward the door. “I got that message loud and clear.”

His eyes glanced across the blur of yellow sticky notes dotting her refrigerator. Each note had a cat prancing across the top and a word scrawled across the bottom. His eyes glimmered with some hidden vestige of humor as he studied their curious poses.

“I think it’s only fair to mention, however, that Cody is not an ailurophile. In fact, he’s allergic.”

He sauntered out the door, a smug smile of superiority curving his lips as Sasha frowned at his retreating back. He was trying to get back at her, make her feel inferior. Well, she’d show him!

She ignored his departure and concentrated on filling her picnic basket. But, finally, when she could resist no longer, she gave up and dashed out the door after him.

“A what?” she called.

Jake Windsor turned toward her. “An ailurophile. A lover of cats.” His gray eyes opened wide, mocking her ignorance. “I was sure you would know that one.”

But Sasha was ready for him. “I don’t go for bombastic words,” she told him saucily. “Too pretentious for a rural area like ours.”

With that she marched back into her house to prepare Cody’s picnic. And all the while her mind enumerated the indubitable assets of the newest inhabitant to Allen’s Springs.

So what if he was tall. Taller than her in fact.

And dark.