CHAPTER TWELVE
“Kitty, kitty,” Caitlin called. “Time to eat.”
The fat gray cat didn’t come, but Henry filled the stainless steel bowl with food anyway. The cat would be hungry sooner or later. It didn’t look like it skipped any meals.
He was helping Caitlin with her chores while Elisabeth cooked dinner. Anything to keep him out of the kitchen and away from her.
Henry needed space.
He was getting too close to Elisabeth. Their midnight encounter two nights ago had only been the beginning. Working together, living together. He couldn’t turn around without catching a glimpse of her. And if he didn’t see Elisabeth, he was thinking about her. That didn’t seem…right.
Not when he was only her friend.
Henry had to keep reminding himself of that. But it was the truth. He was nothing more than the Wheelers’ farmhand, friend, and fairy godfather. And when the time came to leave, he was out of here.
As Caitlin glanced around, she pouted. “Where is that cat?”
“Maybe if the cat had a name, he would come,” Henry suggested.
“He has a name,” she said. “Cat.”
Henry chuckled. “I meant a name like Caitlin or Henry or Flower.”
“How about Kitty?” she suggested.
“Good idea, but that name is a lot like Cat.” Henry rubbed his chin. “How about Ritz?”
“I love Ritz crackers. So does Elisabeth.”
He’d been thinking more along the lines of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but crackers worked. Especially if Elisabeth liked them—no. He shouldn’t take her into account for everything. Not when he was only trying to be her friend, a temporary one at that.
“Come, Ritz.” As Caitlin called the new name, Henry shook the bowl of dry food as added incentive. “Dinnertime, Ritz.”
The no-longer nameless cat came running as fast as his too-small-for-his-large-body legs could carry him.
Caitlin’s mouth formed a perfect O. “Ritz likes his name.”
“Yes, he does.”
“I like you.”
Henry ruffled her blond curls. “I like you, too, princess.”
“Will you be my daddy?”
He froze. That wasn’t what he expected her to say.
“Puh-lease?” she added.
Henry opened his mouth and then closed it. He was at a loss for words. Instinct told him to pack his duffel bag and leave. Forget about packing. He didn’t need any of the stuff Cynthia had purchased for him.
Caitlin tugged on his hand. “Will you be my daddy, Henry?”
A ten-carat-diamond lump formed in his throat. He swallowed around it. “Do you want me to be the daddy if we play house?”
“Yes, but I also want you to be my daddy all the time. The other kids at my preschool have mommies and daddies. I just have Elisabeth. A sister. Abby’s my sister, too.
” Caitlin scratched Ritz’s head, and the cat purred as loud as a tractor engine.
“All the princesses have daddies. Ariel, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora.”
“What about Snow White and Cinderella?” Henry brushed aside his own question as two little lines formed above the bridge of Caitlin’s nose. “You have a daddy.”
“But he’s in heaven. You’re here with me.”
Henry couldn’t deny her four-year-old logic, but he had to be logical himself. He would never be good enough. He could never be the type of man someone would look up to and call Dad. Not only was he not father material, but he also didn’t want to be a dad.
He was too selfish, too fond of his adventures and indulgences, and too determined to get his own way.
His parents hadn’t been the best role models, but Henry was pretty sure being a parent meant learning to give up control as much as it meant learning to take responsibility. And he wasn’t good at either.
He winced. That made him sound like he had a Peter Pan complex.
Well, he enjoyed some responsibilities, like making his friends happy.
But being a father wasn’t like making friends happy.
Being a father didn’t allow you to pick and choose when you showed up.
If fathers made a mistake, it was a big deal.
Caitlin stared up at him expectantly.
He needed to say something to her, something a four-year-old would understand. “But I’m not a daddy. I’m…Henry.”
Her lower lip quivered.
Oh man, he didn’t want her to cry. She was just a little girl who wanted to be loved. He ignored the tug on his heart.
“What if I became your fairy godfather instead?” he asked.
Her cute nose crinkled. “What does a fairy godfather do?”
“He makes sure you’re happy and smiling all the time.”
She grinned. “You already do that. You bought me Flower and played vet with me. Oh, and remember when we colored?”
This was working. He smiled. “Then I’m one step ahead of the game.”
“Will you still call me princess?”
“Of course, princess.” He emphasized the last word. “Okay?”
As she nodded, her curls bobbed up and down. “Okay.”
But it wasn’t. Not really. Henry felt as if he’d dodged a bullet. Three of them. But Caitlin was happy, and he was relieved. He could be a fairy godfather or a real godfather.
A real father?
Forget it.
* * *
I’m not to blame.
Over the next few days, the words became Elisabeth’s mantra. She was trying hard to believe them. The words gave her peace about her parents’ deaths and a sense of freedom she hadn’t thought possible. And it was all due to Henry.
Thinking about him brought a welcome smile to her face. She couldn’t help it. He was thoughtful and hardworking. He’d stopped making so many mistakes and endangering the farm.
However, he was also becoming a…problem.
She glanced at the clock on her dashboard and stepped on the accelerator. The engine spurted. She pressed on the gas pedal again. Finally, the Suburban sped up.
She couldn’t deny Henry was gorgeous. Any breathing female would be attracted to him.
But Elisabeth’s growing feelings for him went beyond the physical, and that bothered her.
A lot. She’d lost a fiancé over having to raise her siblings and had no regrets.
Keeping them all together was the right choice.
She would never get involved with a man who didn’t want kids.
Not that she wanted to get involved with Henry.
She didn’t.
Except she was getting attached. So were the kids. She didn’t want to think about what would happen when Henry left, but she had to.
He would be leaving. Just as soon as Manny returned or once Henry’s month was up in a little over two weeks. Elisabeth didn’t know what would happen first, but it didn’t matter. The result would be the same.
She had to prepare herself and the kids for his departure.
They would have to get used to an empty space at the table again.
They would have to give Ruff extra love and attention.
Ritz would be back to sleeping on top of her.
They would have to put a radio in the bathroom to replace Henry’s singing in the shower.
Thinking about all those things made her heart hurt.
That was bad.
Maybe it would be smart to distance herself and the kids from Henry. But how?
Caitlin tagged along after Henry as much as Ruff did.
Abby sought him out to help her with homework or some advanced subject she’d decided to study for fun.
Sam pretended not to care, but Elisabeth noticed he watched Henry and not with the same mistrust he used to show.
She even looked forward to having coffee with him during their breaks.
Distance wasn’t possible.
Elisabeth stopped the car in front of the barn. She jerked the parking brake into place, yanked the keys out of the ignition, and jumped out of the Suburban. If she hurried, she could get the feed unloaded and a chicken in the Crock-Pot for dinner.
Ruff barked.
“Home from work?” Henry asked from behind her.
The rich sound of his voice sent a shiver of pleasure along her spine. Ugh. She didn’t want to react to his voice. To him. Not when she already missed him, and he wasn’t even gone. Elisabeth pushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “Yes.”
“A little early for you.”
It wasn’t a question. Elisabeth hadn’t known Henry paid attention to her schedule. His interest flattered her. Made her feel warm and tingly inside.
Stop.
What he said to her shouldn’t mean anything. She hated that him noticing something small about her life made her feel this way.
Elisabeth opened the tailgate to remove the two fifty-pound bags of feed.
She untied her stained apron from work and tossed it into the SUV.
Bill Tucker’s two-year-old son had squirted a bottle of ketchup all over the table and her, but she didn’t want the fabric to get dirtier.
“A coworker is sick, so Kathy needs me to work the dinner shift, too. I just have to do a few things here first.”
“That’ll be a long day for you.”
She struggled to pull one of the feed bags out. “I’ve done it before.”
“Let me take that.”
Elisabeth appreciated his offer, but she didn’t need the help. She wouldn’t rely on him any more than she had to. “Thanks, but I can do it.”
“I know you can.” Henry picked up the bag without any effort. “I want to help.”
She worked on removing the next one.
“Do you want me to get the kids from school and watch them for you?” he asked.
Babysitting was a long way from wanting to have children of his own, but his offer made her wonder if the kids were softening his views on having a family. “Theresa’s doing it. She already picked up Caitlin from preschool and will get Sam and Abby later, but thanks.”
“I’ll do it some other time.”
Her heart danced at the possibility. “Sure.”
“What about this weekend? I can watch them, and you can go out.”
“Out where?” she asked.
“Out on a date.”
Huh? Elisabeth nearly dropped the bag, but thankfully, Henry grabbed it. She was so flustered she couldn’t even thank him. All she could think about was him offering to babysit so she could go out with another man.
Ouch. She needed more than distance from Henry; she needed a reality check.
“I don’t date.” Ick. She sounded like a pathetic, shriveled-up spinster. Might as well hand him a list with all her flaws and fears. “I mean, I rarely date. The kids and all. Theresa always wants to fix me up with someone, but I hate blind dates as much as I hate people playing matchmaker with me.”
Henry stared at her. “So, you’re not looking for Mr. Right?”
“I’m not looking for Mr. Anything.” But as she said the words, she got the funny feeling she was looking at Mr. Right himself. Her mouth went dry.
“Instead of a date, you and Theresa could hit the town for a girls’ night out.”
“We haven’t done that in a long time.” Too long, Elisabeth realized.
“You could have fun.”
“Why are you so interested in me having fun?”
Henry widened his stance. “You work harder than anyone I know. You need a break, if only for a few hours. Away from the bistro, the farm, and the kids.”
“Three kids can be a lot of work. Think you can handle them?”
“Yes.” Confidence laced the word. “Caitlin goes to bed early. Abby likes to read. Sam and I can figure something out or just talk.”
Elisabeth raised a brow. “Talk to Sam?”
“Or look through his comic books.”
Henry did know the kids pretty well. He was good with them.
As long as cooking wasn’t involved, she wouldn’t worry about their safety.
Not with Sam there. Abby was mature for her age.
Caitlin would describe everything to Elisabeth, down to the smallest detail the next morning.
Maybe this could work. And she did need time away.
Not from the farm or the kids. But from Henry. “I’ll talk to Theresa.”
“Do,” Henry encouraged. “Ask her about this Friday night.”
“I will.” Her feet dragged on the way to the house, and she glanced back. The way he was looking at her made her heart beat triple time. “And, Henry…thank you.”
A dazzling smile lit up his face. “My pleasure.”
Great. He was pleased because she had agreed to go out for a night. Without him. She’d wanted some distance, and she’d gotten it. So why wasn’t she just as happy about it?
* * *
Friday—girls’ night out—arrived. Henry was prepared.
Elisabeth had cashed his second paycheck for him that morning.
He’d spent his entire first check on supplies for the nearly finished porch swing and a few extra treats for Elisabeth, but this week, he had money left over after shopping for tonight’s activities—a tea party for Caitlin, a build-your-own ice cream sundae science experiment for Abby, and a rented video game system for Sam.
Almost time.
Henry was itching to get started. He rubbed his palms together.
The Wheelers’ fairy godfather had found his groove.
It was all he could do not to write out an itinerary for Elisabeth and Theresa’s girls’ night out. Doing so would be overstepping his bounds, but he felt odd not being able to ensure she would have a good time.
Elisabeth walked down the stairs. “How do I look?”
Henry’s breath caught in his throat. He was used to seeing her wearing jeans or her server uniform or a Sunday church dress or her bathrobe. But all dressed up…
Whoa. She cleaned up well.
Her powder-blue button-down shirt matched her eyes. Her above-the-knee khaki skirt made her legs look longer. Good thing he’d decided not to play matchmaker. She didn’t need one. What she needed was a bodyguard. Henry swallowed. Hard.
“You’re stunning.” He forced the words from his dry throat.
Elisabeth glanced at the brown mules on her feet, and her cheeks reddened. “Thanks.”
“You’re wearing makeup.”
She touched her cheek. “Is it too much?”
“No, it’s just right. And your hair, too,” he said. “The men of Berry Patch had better watch out.”
Her sparkling gaze met his. “You’re so sweet.”
She wouldn’t think he was so sweet if she had any clue how attractive he found her.
A car door slammed. Time to pull himself together. Not only for his sake but for the kids’ sake, too.
“You and Theresa have fun tonight,” he said.
Elisabeth picked up her sweater from the back of the couch. “Oh, Theresa couldn’t make it.”
“Then who—”
A knock sounded. Henry opened the front door and wanted to slam it shut.
Gabe Logan stood wearing a wide grin and holding a colorful bouquet. “How’s it going, Henry?”