Page 41 of The Maverick

She smiled. Nick could always make her smile. Maybe that was part of the reason she loved him so much. “Right. I need to get changed. My pants are torn.”

He looked her up and down. “Why didn’t I notice that?”

“It’s hidden. He tried to rip them from me and couldn’t. Thank God.”

Nick looked like he was about to explode. His teeth clenched, and his eyes narrowed. “If he wasn’t already dead, I’d rip him apart with my bare hands.”

She slid off the stool, wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her uninjured right cheek against his chest. “I’m glad you won’t ever have to.”

He rested his chin on top of her head. “I’m glad, too. Do you want to tell Jake alone? Do you want me there?”

“I think I should do it alone. He loves you, but the feelings he has for his father are...well...complicated. I get that. I think it will be a relief, but he’s still going to have some questions.”

“Okay. You go change and talk to Jake. I’ll take Bailey to the family room and, if she’s finished with her homework, we can play a rousing game of Candy Crush.”

Rachel chuckled. “Does she beat you as often as Jake beats me? Which is like always.”

He smiled and nodded. “She does. I don’t think I play it enough to beat her, not that I would if I could, but it would be nice to win once.”

She leaned up and kissed his mouth. A soft kiss...a kiss of thanks and maybe of promises for things to come.

He moved his hands to cradle her head and kissed her back.

Not a hot kiss, not a sexy kiss, but one that conveyed so many more emotions. Did he love her like she did him?

They needed to have a long talk...tonight after the kids went to bed. If he didn’t ask her to marry him, maybe she’d ask him. At the thought, she smiled.

“What?” he asked. “You seem to have something on your mind.”

“Just some plans for later. Let’s go talk to the kids.” She turned toward the living room and the stairs.

The closer she got to Bailey’s room and Jake, the more her insides clenched. What if she was wrong and he would be upset that his father was dead? That couldn’t happen, down deep she knew that, but that didn’t stop the fear of telling him.

* * *

Jake and Baileywere quizzing each other for their spelling test. Rachel stood at the door to Bailey’s room The way they interacted with each other did Rachel’s heart good. Jake had gone so long without a friend, and though Bailey knew the kids at school better than Jake did, she never left him on his own. Rachel knew this because Jake had told her Bailey was his best friend, but it was a secret because she wasn’t supposed to have a boy as a best friend. But they decided it didn’t matter because Nick and I were best friends.

Rachel told him she thought that was wonderful.

Jake had been happy to hear it and ran off to play with Bailey after he’d shared the secret with his mother.

Rachel shook her head. What a wonderous time being eight was. So many new things to discover and learn even what it meant to have a best friend.

She walked down the hall into her bedroom and changed into a pair of jean shorts that showed off her legs, which she thought were her best feature. Then she slid on a purple t-shirt and tucked it into the shorts before slipping on a pair of mule sneakers. After assessing herself in the long mirror on the back of the door, she headed back to Bailey’s room.

The little girl and Jake were still quizzing each other. Nick stood next to them and helped on the harder words.

“Jake, honey, I need to talk to you. Would you come to my room, please?”

He looked up at his mother, a vision of herself looking back at her.

She was glad that he looked like her from her red hair to her green eyes. He had nothing of his father in him. Rachel hoped that his hair would darken and his freckles would fade. She hated the thought that he might get teased because of his hair.

He followed her to her room.

She shut the door. “Why don’t you sit on the bed with me? I have something to tell you, and I’m not sure how to do it.”

“It’s best to rip off the bandage. I heard Sarah say it to Smitty when he was talking about one of the cowboys.”