Cowboy Sam's Quadruplets

“You’re going to wake Aunt Corinne, you ape!” she whispered. “You’re too old to be throwing stones at a lady’s window!”

“You didn’t come see me,” Sam said. “I thought I’d pick you up.”

“You’re so not funny.” He was like a big puppy, she decided, completely unlike the cagey barrister one saw in court. “I’m not coming down. I’m reading a book, and it’s very good.”

She didn’t really expect him to buy her flimsy excuse, and he didn’t.

“How can I find out if I want to marry you if you stay locked up in your tower?” Sam asked.

“That’s a problem you’ll have to resolve on your own. Now go away.” Seton started to close her window, then heard her aunt’s voice on the porch.

“Hello, Corinne,” Sam said. “Yes, it is a lovely night.”

Seton eavesdropped shamelessly.

“I’d love to come inside. Thank you, Corinne,” he said.

She realized he’d gone into the house with her aunt. There was nothing she could do except get dressed and go downstairs. Somehow, she’d have to run Sam off before her aunt plied him with tea and cookies and questions about his aunt Fiona and uncle Burke. There was nothing Aunt Corinne would love more than to catch up on her dear friend.

Seton jumped into a blue dress, pulled a brush through her hair, gargled, smoothed on some lipstick and flew down the stairs. Sam had his head under the sink, looking at the pipes. Aunt Corinne held the flashlight and a box of tools at the ready.

“Aunt Corinne!” Seton exclaimed.

“Ow!” Sam started and banged his head on the cabinet, and Aunt Corinne jumped like a cat startled by a barking dog.

“Seton! I thought you were asleep!” her aunt exclaimed. “What are you doing up?”

Sam raised a quizzical brow and grinned.

“I’m … I thought I heard voices,” she said. She gazed back at Sam, annoyed.

“Sam’s come to fix my sink,” Corinne said. “I saw him in town and told him I was having issues with it, and he said he’d stop by.”

Seton glared at Sam, who shrugged. “Did he really?”

“Yes,” Sam said, “and it turns out you did drop your ring down the drain, Corinne.” He handed it to her and winked at Seton. “She thought she had, but didn’t have her glasses on at the time.”

“You didn’t mention that to me,” Seton said. “I could have helped you look for it. You didn’t need to bother Sam, Aunt Corinne.”

“Oh, Sam’s never minded helping me out.” Corinne’s expression was blithe. “None of the Callahan boys mind coming by because I give them lots of cookies.”

Sam smiled. “I actually come to see your aunt. The cookies are merely a nice benefit.”

“Oh, you rascal.” Corinne handed him a wrench. “Thank you, Sam. Now you wash up and we’ll all have a snack. I’ve baked some Toll House cookies fresh, and they’re my best batch in weeks.”

Seton frowned. “Surely we could send Sam home with his cookies, Aunt? I’m certain he has a busy day tomorrow, and it is late—”

“Why, Seton.” Corinne handed Sam a dish towel to dry his hands. “No one goes to bed at nine o’clock.”

Seton blushed. She’d been in bed with her book earlier. “Since everything seems to be handled down here,” she said. “I believe I’ll go back up to bed.”

“You do that,” Sam said, and her aunt smiled.

“Yes, Seton. Get your rest, dear.”

She hadn’t really wanted to go upstairs while Sam was here. Clearly, he couldn’t take a hint to go. Seton pursed her lips, trying to decide what to do—had he not just asked her why she hadn’t shown up at his place?—and decided to call his bluff. “All right,” she said brightly. “Good night, all.”

She forced herself to go back upstairs, and felt like a child who’d gotten sent to bed early. But she was doing the right thing. Sam hadn’t said a word about coming by to help out her aunt. He was playing games with her and the best thing to do was ignore him.

It wasn’t going to be easy when she could hear Sam and her aunt downstairs laughing and reminiscing. Seton sighed and tried to focus on the mystery, which no longer seemed that riveting. After a while, unable to concentrate, she put the book down and tried to hear what they were saying.

Twenty minutes later, she heard the front door open and Aunt Corinne call, “Good night!”

Sam said, “Good night!” Seton heard his truck pull away and realized she’d closed her book. She’d never be able to concentrate on the red herrings now.

Sam stayed on her mind too much these days.

“Seton?”

“Yes, Aunt Corinne? Come in.”

“He’s gone.” She entered and sat on the vanity chair. “Didn’t you want to see Sam?”

Seton wondered if her aunt had dropped her ring down the drain on purpose just to get Sam and her niece in the same room together. “I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve had dinner together the past few nights. He keeps mentioning his proposal like he means it. Frankly, I’m confused.”

“He seems honestly interested in you.”

Seton wondered if Sam was interested or just being expedient about his plans. “I don’t know, Aunt Corinne. I’m not skilled in the dating game, I guess.”

“Hiding up here is no way to encourage him,” her aunt pointed out.

“I don’t really want to encourage him,” Seton said. “I think we might be too different.”

“You came back because of Sam,” Corinne reminded her.

“I know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what he really wants.”

“He wants a woman,” Corinne said. “He wants you.”

Seton blinked at her aunt’s frankness. “He doesn’t know me.”

“What’s to know? You like him, he likes you. There’s no perfect rubric for love, Seton.”

She sighed. “He wanted me to visit him tonight.”

Aunt Corinne gazed at her. “What can it hurt?”

She didn’t know. Nothing, except her heart, of course. But maybe she was worrying too much. Seton got up, began to put her dress back on. “I’ll go. But I feel stupid.”