Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

“I noticed,” Callum said between bites of ice cream. “The part about Bo and Jody, in any event.”

“She doesn’t look sick,” Jerry said.

“Excuse me?” Ella Mae leaned over and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Nobody’s sick, sweetheart.”

“You said Evelyn’s got it bad.”

She uttered a bark of laughter. “When somebody has it bad, that means they’re in love. My point is, this whole tangle needs to get resolved and your father is the only person who can do it.”

“Any suggestions?” Callum asked.

“Follow your heart,” said the café owner.

He wasn’t accustomed to following, he was accustomed to leading. Maybe that was part of the problem, he conceded. Maybe he talked too much and listened too little.

That was going to change. Callum intended to listen to Jody, even if it meant facing the possibility that a marriage of convenience was the right way to go.

I F J ODYhad figured she could spread the word quietly that Callum was the boys’ father, her hopes of discretion received a knockout punch on Sunday morning. As the four of them arrived for church, Ben greeted everyone he knew by announcing, “This is my daddy!”

“Mine, too,” Jeremy said, a bit defensively.

Although a few people had already heard the news from Ella Mae and Bo, most were startled. Jody caught a disapproving frown from Melody Lee, a former PTA president who’d tried to get Jody fired from her teaching job when she became pregnant. Others shook Callum’s hand, glad to see him again and willing to suspend judgment.

“The Prodigal Son has returned,” he told the preacher ruefully.

“To stay, I hope,” came the response.

“We’re working on that,” Callum said.

He’d certainly been working at being a father. Last night, he’d introduced the boys to the game of dominoes. Although they couldn’t add their scores, they’d relished the challenge of counting and matching the dots on the tiles.

Jody’s throat tightened as she recalled childhood evenings at the kitchen table playing with this same worn set in the company of her parents and friends. That was the way family life ought to be. If only she could have that kind of closeness with Callum for more than just a few days.

During the game, her gaze had fallen on his hands. Although they lacked the ranching scars her father had sported, they moved with strength and deftness. Between rounds, he’d built an elaborate domino structure and encouraged the boys to blow on the end tile until the array flattened itself amid an exhilarating series of clacks.

Later, Callum had directed the twins to sit beside their mother on the piano bench and sing while he stood behind them, providing bass. They’d harmonized until a muffed version of “Row Your Boat” dissolved into laughter.

If only Callum would stay. If only he belonged to her.

Jody was intensely aware of him sitting beside her through the service. The broad shoulders, the high planes of his face, the full, good-humored mouth all marked him as someone special.

For the rest of the service, she struggled to pay attention to the preacher. It was a good thing there wasn’t a pop quiz at the end.

In the social hall afterwards, as people gathered to talk before going their ways, the twins ran to play with friends. Old acquaintances surrounded Callum. Jody, hanging back in the crush, saw Bo approaching.

He seemed oblivious to the attention of the dark-haired waitress from the café, which had been riveted on him from the moment he arrived. Callum had mentioned yesterday, among various tidbits he brought back from town, that she had a crush on the guy.

“Have you two resolved anything?” Bo said quietly.

“Not yet,” Jody admitted.

Spotting Bo, Callum disengaged from his group and came over. “The boys asked if it was okay to go home with the Wiltons and their son for the afternoon. I didn’t think you’d mind. We’re supposed to pick them up after dinner.”

“It’s fine.” Already, Ben and Jerry were turning to their father as an authority figure, Jody mused.

“How long are you planning on staying?” Bo asked him. In case the question sounded rude, he added, “My interview comes out next Friday. I was hoping you’d get a chance to read it.”

“I’m not sure how long the office can spare me,” Callum admitted. “If I’m not here, maybe Jody will be kind enough to send me a copy.”

“Of course,” she said.

To her, Bo didn’t look satisfied by the indefinite answer. Neither, for that matter, was she.

On the road home, Callum took the wheel of the pickup. Jody settled back, content to let him drive. The truck had been her father’s and had never suited her.

“Tell me something,” he said. “Are you happy here?”

“In Everett Landing? Sure,” she said.

“Always have been?”

“Yes.”

“Always will be?”

“Probably.” As long as she had something special and wonderful to hold on to, Jody added silently. Like two adorable little boys. And a trip to Paris that she’d never forget.

“You enjoy being a rancher?” he probed.

“I like carrying on my parents’ work. The Wandering I meant the world to them.” That had been clear from her father’s will, which had left Jody copious instructions for running the ranch, as if to make sure she didn’t rush to unload the place.

“What about teaching?”

The question made Jody’s throat tighten. She’d adored her classroom and the challenge of helping her second graders master new material. “I miss it.”

“Will you ever go back?”

She hadn’t allowed herself to think in that direction. “It would be disloyal to give up the ranch.”

“You mean you’re going to spend the rest of your life playing Dale Evans even though you always wanted to be a teacher?” he said. “When we were in college, you used to dream about decorating your classroom.”

“Things change,” Jody said. “This is not your problem, Callum.”

“Okay, I’ll back off. For now.” He steered around a pothole in her driveway. “Let’s talk about getting married.”

Her heart performed a ballet leap. “Have you made a decision?”

“Only in the preliminary sense.” Maddeningly, he stopped talking while parking in the garage. After the engine cut off, he climbed out and started to come around.

Jody exited by herself, too impatient to wait. “What do you mean, you’ve made a preliminary decision?”

“There’s no sense in embarking on a marriage of convenience unless we’re sure we can handle it,” Callum said. “Do you agree?”

“I suppose so.”

Walking toward the house, he matched his stride to hers. “We weren’t very convincing yesterday during our jam session.” He opened the side door, which she’d left unlocked as always.

“What does music have to do with marriage?” Lifting her long skirt, Jody stepped over the sill.

“I wasn’t referring to the music. I meant our lack of restraint.” Callum paused in front of her. At such close quarters, his nearness made her skin tingle.

“What lack of restraint?”

“The part where I grabbed you.”

“It was just a kiss.” She was getting good at lying, Jody reflected ruefully.

“Like this?” His touch on her arm was all the warning she had before his lips gently explored hers.

Jody’s tongue tasted fire. She drew it back, and then dared the flames once more. Only when she heard a groan and realized she didn’t know whether it was hers or Callum’s did she wrench herself away.

“You see the problem.” His eyes had a hooded appearance. “We can’t keep our hands off each other.”