This Kiss

Dev met her gaze and along with his fear she saw the tiniest bit of humor. “I should get out the map and show him how far it is. But somehow I still don’t think he would get it.”

She smiled. “Yeah, kids are pretty literal.”

“I do get it, Daddy. I want Hannah to stay and we should help her.”

Dev curved one hand around the boy’s small shoulders and turned him so they were face to face. “Hannah is a busy lady, an important doctor. She lives in California and her job is there.”

“Makin’ people better?”

“That’s right.” Dev nodded encouragingly.

“Kids get sick here, too,” the child pointed out sagely.

Oh, boy, she thought. Ben Hart, almost four—and pretty precocious for his age—could rip her heart out with one chubby little fist and walk away with it in his back pocket.

“Yes, they do,” she said. “And then you go to see Doc Holloway. He was my doctor when I was a little girl.”

Dev glanced at her, then back to his son. “You know how I work hard to make the ranch grow?” When the child nodded, he continued, “Hannah has worked hard like that to join a practice in California.”

“But she’s already a doctor. Why does she hafta practice?”

She caught her top lip between her teeth to stop the laugh that threatened. “A practice is a doctor’s business, like raising horses and cattle is your daddy’s job,” she explained.

“So bring your business here,” Ben said.

“Oh, sweetie. I can’t.” She searched desperately for the words to make him understand. “Could your daddy move his ranch somewhere else?”

From the safe circle of his father’s arms, the child half turned toward her and she could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. Finally, he shook his head. “Nope.”

“It’s the same way with my business. My patients are a long way away. If I live here in Texas, they can’t come see me to make them better. I have to stay there.”

“But I’m here,” he said, pointing a finger at his small chest.

Oh, mercy, she thought. “Yes, you are here. And I’m going to be very sad when I have to leave you.”

“Don’t leave,” the boy said, as if that settled everything. “Then Daddy and I can make you happy.”

Dev coughed uncomfortably. “Her dreams aren’t here, son.”

The boy’s brow furrowed as he thought that one over. “How come, Daddy? When I have a bad dream it’s here too.”

“I’m not talking about nightmares,” Dev explained patiently. “I’m talking about what Hannah wants in her life. And she doesn’t want a life here. A man can’t make a woman happy if her dreams don’t include him.”

Hannah saw the faraway look in his eyes and the flash of pain. Was he talking about his ex-wife, Ben’s mother? Again she wondered what had split them up. What was his story?

Ben concentrated on his father’s words for a while, then said, “I know. We hafta change Hannah’s dream to ’clude us, Daddy.”

Dev’s mouth curved up at the corners and again she couldn’t help wondering what his lips would feel like against her own. Heat started in her breasts and radiated north and south. If the warmth showed pink in her cheeks, she hoped he would chalk it up to their time outdoors. In a way that was true although not because of the sun. Sitting so close to him on that horse had given her trouble of the man/woman kind.

“One person can’t change another person’s dreams, son,” Dev explained patiently. “Hannah has already made up her own mind what she wants to do.”

“You hafta change her mind.” It was as if his father hadn’t spoken.

Hannah wondered if the child had inherited that stubborn, single-minded determination from his father. If so, and Dev turned the force of it on her, there could be hell to pay. But that wasn’t likely. This was history repeating itself. She’d noticed him, but he wouldn’t give her a tumble.

“I can’t change her mind,” Dev said.

More like he didn’t want to, Hannah realized. That was a relief. But the thought rang just a bit hollow.

“Sure you can, Daddy. You tell me all the time I can do anything if I just try. You gotta try.” His eyes, the same shade as his father’s, lit up. “I know what you can do.”

“I know I’m going to regret this,” Dev said to Hannah. Then he looked at Ben. “What can I do?”

“Kiss Hannah.” The child nodded emphatically.

The heat that had just receded returned to Hannah’s cheeks. “Sweetie, I don’t think your dad wants to do that.”

“Sure he does. He kissed Cassie Gordon once and he did it good because I heard him tell Polly that she wouldn’t leave him alone afterward.”

Her mouth twitched at the look on Dev’s face. He was still wearing his hat. The shadow it cast prevented her from seeing if he blushed, but he was definitely squirming. Chalk one up for the offspring.

“Is this true?” she asked.

“Well—”

“So you’re still the Pied Piper of Destiny’s female population?”

“Not even close.”

“But what about poor Cassie Gordon?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head over her,” Dev said wryly. “She’s a barracuda in sheep’s clothing.”

“That’s a mixed metaphor.”

“Since when is English grammar your specialty?”

She shrugged. “I’m an all-around gifted gal.”

Ben put his little hands on his father’s face and turned it toward him. “Daddy, you hafta kiss Hannah. You can change her dream. It works in the movies.”

“What are you letting this child watch?” she asked.

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “That’s a good question.”

“I saw it in Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White— all of ’em. Polly said they’re okay.”

“You’re going to have your hands full with him, Dev. He’s a bright one. If anyone knows what a double-edged sword that can be, it’s me.”