Ruth Dale - Parents Wanted!

When Matt looked up to face the applause, his expression was serious, not arrogant at all. In fact, it looked as if he had to swallow hard before he could find his voice.

Even then, all he said was, “Thank you—thank you all. I don’t deserve this but I appreciate you folks giving it to me.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I know it’s a cliché but...” His gaze wandered over the faces in the throng, settling in on Laura’s for a heart-stopping instant that made her catch her breath.

After a moment he went on in a low, even humble, voice. “This town has given me so much that it’s only fair for me to try to give back what little I can. It takes all of us to make Rawhide the kind of place where we’re happy to live and bring up our kids. If I’ve helped at all, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity. And for this.”

He waved the plaque above his head, grinned and stepped off the bandstand.

Laura stood fro en to the spot for a moment Then her background and training surged to the fore. She stepped in front of him when he would have returned to his spot.

“Excuse me,” she said through the tumult of sound, “but I need a little information for the Review. If you have a moment...?”

For an instant, she thought he might turn her down. But then he grinned and said a cocky, “Sure. I try never to disappoint a lady.”

She could have kicked him for that.

It was easy enough to get the who-what-where-when-why of it—the classic five W’s of journalism. But getting to the man beneath was considerably harder, for a variety of reasons.

For one thing, the interview was conducted sitting side by side on the edge of the bandstand, with well-wishers feeling free to wander past to admire Matt’s plaque and offer congratulations. For another, he’d reverted to his old sardonic self. Only when Jessica and Zach rushed up to give him hugs did he relax into soft good humor again.

Jessica beamed. “I’m proud of you, Daddy!” she announced.

Zach parroted her: “I’m proud of you, too, Da—” Stricken, he glanced at his mom and hurriedly changed it to, “Mr. Reynolds.”

The near miss was like an arrow to Laura’s heart but it didn’t seem to faze Matt, who sent both children on their way with hugs and kisses. When they were gone, Laura couldn’t help observing, “You’re very good with children.”

He shrugged. “I like ‘em, that’s all.”

“At least we have one thing in common.”

He looked at her through suddenly narrow blue eyes. “I think we have considerably more than that in common.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Not a chance. Tell me, have you lived your entire life in Rawhide?”

He nodded. “Except for a few years at the University of Colorado.”

“Your family...?”

He looked thoughtful. “My dad died four years ago and my mom moved back to Oklahoma City, where her people are. You know my grandpa and my daughter.”

She couldn’t miss the pride in his voice at mention of his daughter. Softly she asked, “And your wife?”

He grimaced as if with remembered pain. “She...had a medical problem and died when Jessica was only a baby.” His gaze sharpened. “How about you? Your husband...?”

“An accident while jogging.” She looked away. “The car didn’t even slow down.”

“That’s really tough, Laura. Where were you living at the time?”

“Chicago.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Is that why you moved to Rawhide?”

She nodded, belatedly realizing she’d lost control of the interview. “W-when did you start your construction company? Did you—?”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said. “I want to know more about you. What did your husband do?”

“He was an attorney and don’t ask any more questions!” She glared at him, jabbing her pen point against the paper in her reporter’s notebook. “I’ve got enough for my story.” She closed her reporter’s notebook with a snap. “Thanks for your time and congratulations again on—”

“Laura!” Katy hurried up. “Would you do me a favor?”

Laura nodded. “Of course.”

Katy offered a couple of folded pages from her reporter’s notebook. “Could you take this back to the office and leave it on John’s desk? That’s where everything sent to Box 100 ends up.”

“Katy!” Laura stared at her. “You didn’t!”

“Didn’t what?” Matt looked from one to the other.

Katy looked pleased with herself. “I answered Prince Charming’s ad.”

“You what?” Matt looked clueless.

“Oh, Matt!” Katy shook her head as if in disappointment. “If you don’t know about the ad, you’re one of the few who doesn’t. It’s a Classified, from Prince Charming looking for a wife who is nice and pretty and who likes kids and animals.”

He looked aghast. “Some guy actually put in a Want Ad for a wife? I don’t believe it.”

“It’s true.” Laura backed up her friend.

“But there are women all over the place,” he argued. “Why would anyone have to advertise to find one?”

Katy glared at him. “Come on, Matt, say what you mean—that women are a dime a dozen.”

“You said that, not me.”

Laura had had enough. She stood up. “I’m going back to the office. Katy, give me your application, and I’ll turn it in.”

Matt shook his head disapprovingly. “What kind of man would run an ad like that?”

“I’m assuming that’s a rhetorical question,” Laura said. She turned to Katy. “Shall I pick Zach up here or at your place?”

“Don’t go,” Matt said quickly. “Before Katy busted in, I was about to ask what it would take to get a piece of that apple pie Zach told me about.”

Before Laura could respond, a honey-coated voice that could only belong to Brandee Haycox, local femme fatale, interrupted. “This I’ve got to hear.”

Matt wanted to groan but didn’t. He’d been enjoying Laura’s company before everybody and her sister busted in on them. Nevertheless, he stood up and gave Brandee a peck on the temple; after all, she was his date, at least technically.

“Hi, Brandee,” he greeted her. “Glad you could make it.” And only a little sarcasm crept into his tone, although she was four hours and eleven minutes late.

“Really?” Her thin brows curved up. Unlike most of the women here today, she wore a sundress instead of pants or jeans. Her feet were encased in spike-heeled sandals. She’d been dressing fancy since grammar school.

“Yes, really.”

She rolled her eyes. “You seemed to be having a great time without me.”

He had been having a great time, he realized. Finally he’d satisfied at least a little of his curiosity about Laura.

But chivalry made him say, “Nah. I was just doing my duty.”

At which point, Laura waved her notebook in the air. “I just interviewed Matt for tomorrow’s paper,” she explained.

“Why?” Brandee wanted to know. “Did he rob a bank?”

Laura almost smiled at that one. “No, but you’re getting warm. He just won Citizen of the Year.”

“Really? You did?” She threw her arms around Matt’s neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, then pulled back to scrub at the lipstick stain with one beautifully manicured fingertip. “I’m so glad because now I won’t feel so guilty breaking up with you!”

CHAPTER THREE

LAURA was looking straight at Jessica when Brandee made her stunning announcement. The little girl had slipped up to hover behind her father instead of joining the circle—eavesdropping, it was clear to Laura.

But the satisfaction on Jessica’s face now was eyeopening to say the least. The girl was overjoyed! Laura’s heart went out to her. She’d obviously felt threatened by her father’s girlfriend, rightly or wrongly. Did that mean she’d resent any woman who might enter Matt’s life, temporarily or permanently?