Stacy Connelly – Daddy Says, ''I Do!'' (страница 8)

“Please, Sam. Just leave it alone.” She rushed off before taking his order, but it was just as well. Sam had lost his appetite.

He wished there was something more he could do, but thanks to his friendship with Billy, Sam knew enough about law enforcement to realize the sheriff would need proof. More than that, he would need Nadine or Will to press charges.

He’d talk to Will again, he decided, and if that didn’t work, then maybe he’d have a talk with Darrell Nelson.

The bell over the diner’s door rang, and Sam looked up in time to see an already familiar blonde step inside. Kara slid her sunglasses up to the top of her head, pushing her straight hair back from her face. She glanced uncertainly around the crowded diner, and he had the feeling that holding Timmy’s hand was giving her as much reassurance as it gave the little boy.

Her nephew. Not her son. Single moms had always been off-limits, and even though something about Kara tempted him to break that rule, he was glad he wouldn’t have to. Glad he wouldn’t have to look too closely at the reason why he would have been so willing to cross that line.

A hint of weariness seemed to tug at her shoulders, something he hadn’t noticed before. She was tired after her trip from—

He frowned. Where, exactly? he wondered, as he realized she hadn’t told him where she was from. Or what had brought her to Clearville. Or how long she was staying. True, they hadn’t had much chance to talk, but weren’t those simple facts ones that normally came up right off the bat?

As Kara paid for a to-go order and reached for the bag, Sam was tempted to cross the diner and offer to carry it for her, like some kid with a crush on a pretty girl, willing to cart around an armload of books if that was what it took to have her smile at him.

She held out her free hand to her nephew, who’d wandered a few feet away to crawl into the booth closest to the front window, but Sam stayed put as the two of them left the diner. No need to push his luck when he could bide his time. After all, he already had a date with the lady the following night.

Thinking he might find out something about the woman who had him so intrigued, he made his way to the front counter. “Hey, Rolly, the blonde who came in for take-out, what did she order?”

“Why is that any of your business?” the other of the diners demanded.

“Give me a break,” Sam said, familiar with the older man’s soft spot for young women. Kara must have quickly made an impression on Rolly, just as she had on him. “I’m just trying to get an idea of the lady’s tastes.”

The former army cook eyed Sam as if he’d never seen him before. “Not someone like you.”

“Is that right?”

“Sure is.”

Certainty rang in the older man’s voice, taking some of the fun out of the game. The attraction was mutual, Sam would stake his reputation on that. But even though he’d seen the spark of awareness in Kara’s gaze, the slight blush on her cheeks, he also sensed a wariness in her. A deer-in-the-headlights hesitation that warned him she’d be more likely to run away from him than rush into his arms.

“What makes you think a lady like that wouldn’t want to go out with me?” he asked Rolly.

“You are something else, Sam.” A familiar female voice had him turning to face Debbie Mattson. Judging by the smirk bringing out the dimples in her round cheeks, she’d been standing behind him all along. “All a woman has to do is cross the town line and you start sensing fresh meat.”

Annoyance flickered through Sam. Not so much at the baker’s pointed barb. That was the kind of relationship they had after knowing each since grade school. It was more the way Debbie had lumped Kara in with all the other women he—okay, he had to admit it—all the women he’d chased after.

He couldn’t come close to putting a finger on what made Kara different. But he’d long ago perfected the ability to hide his true feelings. “My radar must be working overtime, seeing as I met Kara even before she hit town.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope, met her when she ended up with a flat on the side of the road.”

Aware of the narrow mountain roads leading to town and the lack of cell coverage, Debbie’s smirk faded some. “She was lucky you happened by.”

“That’s what I said!”

She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Why do I have the feeling you’re not joking? Honestly, Sam, when the right woman comes along, how is she going to take you seriously?”

Serious relationships led to serious heartache, and that was something he could do without. “My right kind of woman is all about having a good time.”

They might just have met, but his first glance had revealed that Kara wasn’t the “girls just want to have fun” type. All that meant, though, was that whatever relationship they had wouldn’t last, already a guarantee thanks to Kara’s temporary status in his hometown. He had nothing to worry about.

“Well, I wish you and your good-time girl good luck,” Debbie said as a waitress waved her over to a table she’d just cleared.

Sam doubted Debbie’s wishes had much to do with it, but luck was definitely on his side, he decided, as he spotted a furry green leg sticking out from the corner booth. He grinned as he picked up the familiar stuffed dinosaur. It looked like Kara needed rescuing a second time.

Kara collapsed onto the small sofa in the tiny living area of the hotel’s two-room suite. Exhaustion pulled at her until she thought she might sink clear through the too-soft navy brocade cushions and never get up again. The two-day drive had taken a lot out of her, but the last half hour had completely worn her out.

How could she have lost Timmy’s stuffed animal? It wasn’t like she didn’t know how much the dinosaur meant to him. Losing that dinosaur, one of the last connections to Marti…it felt like another part of her sister had just slipped away.

As soon as Timmy had climbed into the unfamiliar bed and realized the toy wasn’t waiting there for him, they’d searched the minivan, checking between and beneath the seats. She’d tried asking him the last time he remembered having the dinosaur, but Timmy had started to cry, and Kara had been too upset herself to push him harder.

She didn’t know what to think about Timmy’s last tearful request to sleep with the tiny car Sam had given him. She should have been grateful that the little boy had taken comfort in the toy. But she only felt like that much more of failure, so much so that she wondered if Marti hadn’t had the right idea.

Maybe Timmy would be better off with Sam.

A knock on the door pulled her from those heartbreaking thoughts, and Kara wiped her eyes as she pushed off the sofa. The dinosaur would turn up. It had to.

“Who is it?” she called out softly as she reached the white paneled door.

“Room service.”

“I didn’t…” Her voice trailed off as she recognized the masculine voice and the already too familiar skip in her pulse. Sam…

Opening the door without removing the safety chain, she met his gaze through the narrow gap in the door. “I didn’t order room service.”

“You didn’t order dessert at Rolly’s either, which is a real shame because they have the best chocolate silk pie around,” he said, holding up a clear plastic container with a huge slice inside.

“You brought—wait, how do you know what I ordered at the diner?”

“I’d stopped in there. You didn’t see me, but—”

“You noticed I didn’t order dessert,” she filled in, “and brought me pie?”

Kara didn’t know what to think about Sam making such an effort to see her again. After all, she could hardly tell him she wasn’t interested when she’d already asked him out for a date! And she could hardly tell herself she wasn’t interested when her racing heartbeat and the heat rising to her cheeks would have labeled her a liar.

“Yep. Figure this way, you’ll owe me…dinner and two desserts.” He paused as he pretended to tally up her debt.

“What if I don’t like pie?”

“Everyone likes pie.” Confidence rang in his voice and casual posture, leaning against the side of the recessed doorway, offering up the rich, decadent, tempting dessert. “And then there’s always my other special delivery.”

Kara gasped as he brought his other hand into sight and quickly slammed the door shut. She slid back the security chain and opened the door all the way to reach out for the stuffed dinosaur Sam held. Sinking her fingers into the soft green fur, she pulled the toy to her chest. “Where did you find him?”

“Timmy left him in the booth at the diner.”

“But I called! They said he wasn’t there.”

Sam flinched a little. “Yeah, that’s probably because I’d already taken him with me. I was planning to come straight over here, but then I got a call about a motorist who’d broken down on the highway. Sorry about that.”

“You had a job to do. That’s more important.”

“More important than reptile relocation?”

“Yes,” she said with a laugh at his teasing. “You know how these stuffed dinosaurs make nuisances of themselves in urban areas.”

“We’re lucky he didn’t destroy Tokyo. He’ll be much happier in his natural habitat.”

“Timmy will be thrilled to have him back. Thank you, Sam.” Kara dropped her gaze, mortified to feel the sting of tears burning her eyes.