Wyoming Cinderella

A roar would have been less frightening than that softly put question.

Ella felt a twin tremor run through the children cowering behind her.

The children felt her quiver as well.

Never in all her life had a voice affected her so. Like whiskey, it had the power to make her feel loose-limbed and giddy. Making an improvised comb of his fingers, the man ran them through a thick shock of hair the color of molasses. His sideburns were tinged with silver. Very distinguished looking, Ella decided, tucking a stray tendril of her own unruly hair behind her ear. Instantly she regretted the self-conscious gesture.

She wasn’t here to gawk at this gorgeous hunk of manhood, but rather to give him a well-polished piece of her mind. Ella knew better than to accept his sudden concern and elegant surroundings at face value. Some of the nicest homes in which she’d been placed had housed the worst monsters.

How dare her hormones sabotage her self-righteous anger!

It mattered little to Ella that he didn’t look at all like the villain she had envisioned on her death march over here. He had neither the broken blood vessels nor bulbous nose characteristic of a heavy drinker, nor the hooded eyes of someone who has something to hide. In fact, the man surrounded by stacks of important-looking papers was exceedingly handsome.

That all too feminine observation only served to make Ella even angrier. As far as she was concerned the question she asked was purely rhetorical. The fact that he was more interested in what was going on with his computer than with his children was answer enough.

“Just because you have money doesn’t give you the right to divest yourself of your parental obligations,” she snapped.

After traipsing first from her property to his and then from one exquisite room after another, searching for someone to accept responsibility for these two dirty-faced cherubs, Ella’s sense of moral indignation was on full burn. Surely anyone living in such luxury should be able to afford decent child care.

“Come out from behind there, you two,” Hawk said, rising from his chair. “And tell me what’s going on.”

It irritated him to see Billy and Sarah cowering behind a complete stranger like she was Saint Michael the archangel sent expressly to rescue them from his fury. Hawk knew that they were giving this young woman the impression that, on top of being negligent, he was an ogre, too.

The pair stepped timidly out from behind her to face their father’s anger. Ella kept a hand glued to each child’s shoulder, giving them both a reassuring squeeze.

Though the concern reflected in this man’s eyes made her doubt he’d ever actually laid a finger on either of them, Ella remembered being beaten for far less in the name of “discipline.”

“Maybe it would be better if I talked this over with the children’s mother,” she suggested.

Hawk couldn’t have agreed more. “I’m sure it would. Unfortunately, since their mother just recently died, I’m afraid I’ll have to do.”

Ella was taken aback. Despite her best effort to remain angry, her heart softened.

“I’m sorry,” she offered lamely. “How long ago?”

“Not quite a year.”

She was sorry for asking. Aside from it being none of her business, there was little she could do to help other than to bend down and give both children a deeply felt hug. As tears welled up in little Sarah’s eyes, Ella felt moisture rise to her own. She knew firsthand what it felt like to lose a mother at such a young age.

As much as she would have liked to comfort the poor child, time was a commodity that she scarce could afford. Glancing at her watch, she wished she could somehow stop its hands from ticking onward by sheer willpower alone. Regrettably, time refused to accommodate her. Any other day, she might have welcomed an adventurous hike through the thicket to meet her rich new neighbors. Today, however, she was late for an interview. And while it may not be the most glamorous job in the world, it was one she desperately needed. The growing mountain of rejection letters piled atop her desk confirmed the dismal reality that unrecognized creativity paid even less well than slinging hash.

Ella checked her watch again.

If her truck decided to cooperate, the trip into town would take the better part of twenty minutes, leaving barely enough time to compose herself before facing the prospect of yet another dead-end waitressing job. That time frame did not allow for the return hike over a game trail connecting her property to that of the children who had shown up unannounced on her doorstep earlier that morning.

The pair had looked as bedraggled as the litter of kittens that somebody had so “kindly” dumped on her property a couple of weeks ago. Mewling in the rain, they begged to be taken in and properly cared for. Belatedly Ella realized that it had been as great a mistake to offer these young callers their fill of chocolate chip cookies and milk as it had been to feed the kitties that had promptly taken up permanent residence beside her rusty wood-burning stove. An orphan herself, Ella had a soft spot in her heart for any abandoned creature.

Telling herself that these children were not her responsibility did little to ease her conscience. When those chocolate-smeared faces looked at her as if they’d somehow stumbled upon the home of the good fairy, she could no more abandon them than she could have let any hapless stray starve to death.

“We’ve been living with our grandma and grandpa,” Billy offered helpfully.

“Just until I could arrange to move the family out here,” Hawk interjected. He didn’t want this young woman to think he was the kind of father who dumped his responsibility on his aging parents. Parents who were no longer physically up to the challenge of raising young children.

“I was hoping a geographic change would do us all good,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I misjudged the difficulty of running a business via computer. Power outages are such common occurrences way out here in the boon-docks that I have to admit to having second thoughts.”

The look of chagrin upon that handsome face made him appear far less formidable than he had only minutes before. In fact, Ella found herself fighting the surprising urge to gather him up in her arms and comfort him as well. The provocative thought sent blood rushing to her face, making her feel all of sixteen again.

“On top of everything else,” Hawk proceeded, eager to share his worries with another adult. “The lady I hired as a nanny ran off with a truck driver two days ago, leaving me completely in the lurch.”

By way of explanations, Ella had to admit this one was first class. She’d come marching over here all set to turn this man into the local Social Services agency and found herself mentally retracting every rotten name she had called him on the way over. All things considered, some of them had been unusually harsh.

“I’d plugged the kids into a video an hour ago hoping I could buy enough time to complete a crucial business transaction. It never occurred to me that they would wander out of the house. I know it’s no excuse,” he scolded himself.

Squatting down to look his children directly in the eyes, he did something that took Ella totally by surprise. He gathered them into his arms and said, “I don’t know what you two were thinking, but don’t ever, ever do that again. I don’t know what I’d do if anything were to happen to you.”

Had she not been standing there, Ella wondered whether this macho man might have actually allowed himself a tear or two of relief. Watching him, it was hard not to wonder how differently her own life might have turned out had her own father shown half the concern that this man was displaying.

Glancing up in her direction, Hawk suddenly became very businesslike. “I’m sorry to have burdened you with my troubles, Miss McBride.”

“Please call me Ella.” She wanted to make certain these children knew she wasn’t completely forsaking them. “As your closest neighbor, I’d be more than happy to take both of you for a walk sometime so your daddy can get caught up on his work. Just make sure you ask in advance and that he escorts you over to my place.”

Checking her watch again, she came to accept how hopelessly late she was. Short of catching a flight with the next scheduled superhero, there was no way she was going to make that interview on time now.

“I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you,” Hawk said, genuinely contrite. “I’m deeply indebted to you. If you haven’t already gathered as much, my children mean everything to me.”

Even so, Hawk hated to be beholden to anyone. If there was a way to settle the score, he would like to get it out of the way now before this young woman discovered how truly wealthy he was. Having encountered more gold diggers in his life than he could count without the aid of a calculator, he was leery of accepting favors from anyone. Long ago he had given up on the idea of anyone doing him a good turn without an ulterior motive.

“I’d be more than happy to pay you for your trouble,” Hawk offered, reaching into his pants pocket for his wallet.

Ella looked startled.

Hurt.

“Certainly not,” she responded stiffly. “But if you wouldn’t mind me placing a long-distance call on your phone, I’d really like to try rescheduling an interview that I’m in the process of missing right now.”

Again she felt the man’s eyes perusing her appearance. Knowing she must look frightful after trekking through the underbrush, Ella scowled at him. After all, it was his fault that she looked so disheveled. Her sense of moral obligation had taken its toll. Beneath the heat of the day, she had wilted like a store-bought rose. Her best shoes, which had not been designed for overland excursions through tangled brush, were completely ruined. And a glance in the mirror near his desk showed red marks across her cheek, scratches that attested to branches smacking her in the face. By the time she straggled inside this luxurious home, she looked better prepared to apply for a job as a safari guide than a waitress.

She most certainly did not need this particular hunk to make her feel even less attractive than usual. Abandoned by her father at birth and orphaned by her mother’s premature death ten years later, Ella was past the preferred age of adoption when she entered the state’s social system. Each time a prospective parent passed her over for a baby, a toddler, or a prettier, blond, blue-eyed little girl, she became convinced that her own freckled-faced, red-haired—the bane of her existence—plain looks were not going to get her anywhere in this world. So instead she chose to cultivate other attributes like diligence, competence, loyalty and a fertile imagination that could take her far beyond any institutional walls.

The children’s father didn’t return Ella’s scowl. Instead a dazzling smile spread across his face. One could almost see the proverbial lightbulb going on over his head.

“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, stepping forward and pinning her with a gaze that could best be described as predatory.

Startled, Ella took a step backward and tripped over the arm of a plush chair.

Hawk reached out a hand to stop her tumble in midair.

At his touch, Ella felt a whoosh of air leave her lungs. Her lips formed a perfect “O” that filled the room with an exclamation of astonishment. A zing of electricity passed from his hand to hers, locking them in a current of pure sexual energy. Ella’s pulse skittered. Her eyes widened in surprise. His, she noted, were the most remarkable shade of gray shot through with golden flecks, and they sparkled with male awareness. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was no more immune to the electricity generated by their touch than she was.