Chapter Fifteen #2
Despite her burgeoning belly she managed to crouch down and pet it. “Oh, you’re a sweetie.” It rubbed against her hand and purred even louder.
“Smokey is our new receptionist,” a male voice commented. “She’s great at greeting visitors but her typing skills need some work.”
Trish chuckled and looked up at the man standing near her. He wasn’t as tall as his sons, but his facial features were very similar to Brett and Blake’s. He had that square jaw and dark eyes, and his hair was thick like theirs, just more brown than auburn except for some silver strands.
“So Smokey is actually trying to type when she walks across my keyboard?” a familiar female voice remarked. Maci appeared behind the man from whom she rented office space. But clearly Bob Lemmon was much more than a landlord to her. Maci was in love with his son.
“Of course,” Bob replied.
Trish moved to straighten up, but a cramp gripped her side again and she grimaced. Bob reached out, closing his hands over her elbows to help her up from the crouch she’d been ill-advised to try.
“Are you okay?” he asked with concern.
He was as nice as his father had been to her at the Four Corners. Tears stung her eyes for a moment over the difference between Brett’s family and hers.
At least her maternal one.
The older man studied her face, his concern in his dark eyes now. “Do you need anything?”
“This is Trish, Bob,” Maci said. She moved up next to him. “Are you okay, Trish?”
She nodded. “Yes, I just forget sometimes that I have a couple of extra passengers on board.”
“Twins?” Bob asked. “That’s wonderful.”
“It is,” Trish said. This was what she’d wanted for so long, to have these babies, to be a mother. She was going to focus on the gratitude instead of the anxiety from now on.
“Congratulations,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“Can I get you anything?” he asked. “We have water, coffee and tea in the back. Or I can get you something from one of the shops around here, too.”
“That’s very kind,” Trish said. “But I’m fine.”
“That’s a bit of a drive from the Four Corners to here,” he said. “So if you need anything let me know.”
“Thanks,” Trish repeated.
“You didn’t need to make the drive all the way here,” Maci said. “I would have been happy to come out to the ranch later today.”
Trish nodded. “I know but…uh…”
“You wanted to talk in private?” Maci asked, and she tensed a bit.
“No, it’s not that,” Trish said. “I was taking care of Lucy alone when Mr. and Mrs. Lemmon showed up—”
“Mr. and Mrs. Lemmon?” Maci repeated, her forehead furrowing. “That sounds so formal.”
“Sadie and Lem,” Trish said, remembering what they insisted she call them. Or Grandma and Grandpa since mostly everyone called them that now. She never would, though. While they were very sweet, they weren’t family to her.
Bob chuckled. “Ah, scared you off, huh? Were they matchmaking?”
She shuddered a bit at the thought. “I doubt they would try to match me up with anyone.” But they had kept asking her about Brett.
“I don’t think anyone is safe with those two,” Bob said. “Even me.” He shuddered, too. Then he bent down and scooped up Smokey. “This is the only companion I want in my life.” And he carried the kitten down the long hallway.
“So you’re just using me as an excuse to get away from the ranch?” Maci asked, but she was smiling as if she wasn’t offended.
Trish hoped she wasn’t, that she hadn’t done too much damage to their friendship. “I also wanted to make sure that Nolan did everything you needed him to in order to get the estate settled.”
“And you’re asking me instead of him?” Maci asked. “Don’t you trust him?”
Trish sighed. “I don’t know if he trusts that I’m doing what’s in my best interests.”
“I don’t think he’s worried about just your interests,” Maci said.
“I’m sorry that you’ve had such a difficult time with him,” Trish said. “Until you told me, I had no idea that he was having anyone spy on you.”
Maci pointed to the empty receptionist desk. “That’s why nobody is sitting in that chair anymore. Robert admitted to spying for Stokes.”
Trish shook her head. “I’m sorry you had to fire him.”
“He quit,” Maci said. “And he feels bad about what he did. Does Stokes?”
Trish shrugged. “I don’t know what he thinks,” she admitted.
“So the two of you aren’t close?” Maci asked.
“He’s been kind to me,” Trish admitted.
“Is he interested in you?” Maci asked.
Trish laughed and patted her belly. “I don’t think anyone is interested in me right now.”
“You’re beautiful,” Maci said.
Trish laughed again.
“I’m serious,” Maci said. “And I hate that your mother undermined your self-confidence. You were always beautiful, but you’re even more so now.”
Tears stung Trish’s eyes again. She would have blamed the hormones, but she knew her friend’s sweet compliment would have affected her no matter what. “I’ve missed you,” she said. Stepping forward, she closed her arms around Maci and hugged her as tightly as her big belly allowed.
“I was always here,” Maci said. “And I will always be here for you.”
“Thank you,” Trish said.
Maci hugged her back. When she pulled away, she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re home. And yes, Nolan Stokes withdrew his petition to probate court. Everything is settled.”
Trish sighed. “That’s good.” She waited for the relief to wash over her. But she had a strange feeling—or maybe it was just the nerves from earlier that were still hanging on—that she couldn’t relax yet.
Maybe it was just the concern that she’d taken on more than she could handle on her own that was making her feel so unsettled despite Maci’s claim. But as Brett had pointed out earlier, she didn’t have to do everything on her own. She just wanted to.
* * *
Trish Dempsey was not at all how Bob had pictured her. He hadn’t expected her to be the sweet, beautiful young woman that she was. But she had been best friends with Maci and Frankie, so maybe he should have expected her to be more like them than the lawyer she’d hired.
Not that he’d met her lawyer. But he probably needed to do that to find out why the guy had hired Bob’s former assistant to spy on him.
“Excuse me…”
He glanced up from his desk to find Trish standing in the open doorway to his office. “Yes? What can I help you with?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “I just wanted to say again that I’m sorry about what my lawyer did. I had no idea that he’d hired anyone to spy for me.”
Bob shook his head. “I don’t think that it was just for you,” he said. “He had my assistant spying on me even before your father died.”
Trish’s forehead furrowed beneath the stray curls that lay across it. “I don’t know why he would do that. It doesn’t make sense.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Bob agreed. “I’m about the most boring man there is.
I spend most of my time here in the office or upstairs in my apartment above the office.
” He flinched over how pathetic that sounded.
But that was his fault for pushing his children and his dad away for all the years that he had.
He was trying to reach out more, trying to be more social now.
“I know you’re always welcome at the Four Corners,” Trish said.
Warmth filled Bob’s heart. “That’s kind.”
“I’m starting these camps for kids to spend the day and eventually the summer at the ranch,” she said. “We’re going to have a petting zoo and other activities for them.”
Bob chuckled. “I’m not a kid anymore.”
“No, but maybe you’d like to bring some kids.”
“Only grandchild I have already lives there,” Bob said. “But I would love to see more of her and my sons and daughter-in-law. I’ll make a point of coming to visit more often.”
She smiled. “That’s good. And…”
“What?” he asked when she trailed off.
“Nolan Stokes’s new ranch isn’t far from the Four Corners,” she said. “Maybe you should stop by and ask him why he’s so interested in you.”
Bob’s stomach flipped. He was not good at confrontation; he was much better at avoidance. He shrugged. “I’m sure he would have reached out to talk to me if it was something that mattered.”
Trish shrugged. “Maybe. But talking to him might give you peace of mind.”
Or disrupt the little peace he had even more. And somehow Bob suspected the latter was what would happen.