almost laughed aloud at both the sweet patronizing and the gentle reproof. Her mother’s friend meant well, but she still thought of Meg as a youngster who needed a guiding hand. Meg guessed that in the face of her mother’s illness, Sandy Yoder thought she should be the one to offer it.
“Thanks for worrying about Mom, Mrs. Yoder.” She went back to stir the bubbling gravy, then turned off the stove. “But Kathy and Jack are staying till Saturday. Mom won’t miss me tomorrow.”
“Well, if you really think so, I suppose. But Meg, dear, don’t let yourself get too, y’know…involved with Kelsey Jamison. He…well, he’s the kind of man who’s totally self-involved, if you know what I mean. And that farm of his needs so much—”
“Mrs. Yoder…” Meg drew a long breath to keep her temper from rising like the simmering gravy. Her thought of Sandy Yoder being sweet in giving her unsolicited advice just burned to a crisp. The woman wasn’t sweet at all, Meg decided—she was just an old-fashioned busybody.
“Sis, we’re ready.” Jack stuck his head around the old-fashioned swinging kitchen door and threw an unrepentant, pointed grin toward Mrs. Yoder. “Are you?”
“Yes. Yes. Everything’s done in here,” Meg answered in gratitude; another moment and she’d have been very rude indeed. Everyone accepted Jack’s occasional mild rudeness with a shrug, but if she’d cut the woman short, her mother never would’ve heard the end of it, and then Meg in turn would’ve had to hear about it for days.
“Oh, dear. Well, you run along. I’ll pop in again in a few days.”
“Sure, Mrs. Yoder. See you then.” Meg decided she would be very busy the next time her mother’s friend called in to say hello. It would be the truth, anyway. On Monday she had to make contact with her office in London; she’d left two clients in the air about investments She just hoped Clive had been watching their accounts. And she’d postponed a decision on recommending a resort compound for the Neels, her firm’s oldest client. Also, she’d turned over to Clive a new client, an important European hotel chain that sought investors. Another wanted her services in expanding their holdings, wanting to include a strategic piece of real estate in Hawaii.
At eight-thirty Meg tucked her tired mother into bed, and Jack and Kathy did the same for their children before sneaking off to the front porch swing. By nine-thirty Meg looked at her watch and wondered what to do with herself for the next hour. She was restless. The house was quiet.
She might as well pull out some work; she hadn’t touched her briefcase since arriving home. At the very least she could review that real estate proposal and the report on the financial stability of the firm making the offer.
Instead, she walked into the kitchen and dialed Kelsey.
It rang five times. Six. He wasn’t there, and neither were the children. Seven. No answering machine, even. She chewed her lip with unreasonable disappointment.
But she shouldn’t feel so, she chastised herself. Kelsey was a busy man. He had a life of his own, and his children—
“Hello.”
The receiver was an inch from the disconnect button when she heard his voice. She yanked it back to her ear.
“Kelsey?”
“Yeah?” He sounded preoccupied. Almost short-tempered. Maybe she shouldn’t have called.
“It’s Meg.”
“Meg?” A curious relief entered his tone. “Oh, hello.”
She relaxed “I called because…” Why had she? She couldn’t very well say she’d phoned simply because she wanted to hear his voice. “I’m sorry, Kels, about earlier. About rushing you off the phone.”
“That’s okay, Meg. I understand. Sometimes things are in total chaos here, too. I should’ve picked a better time to call than suppertime, myself.”
“No, you’re welcome to call anytime.” In the background she heard laughter and what sounded like a bleat. “Now it sounds as if you’re the one who’s busy.”
“Not really. We’re out in the barn. Thad and Phillip have a young Hereford bull they’ve been raising for two-year-old class in 4-H this year. Fair’s coming up, and they’re counting their chances at winning the Grand Champion.”
“Oh. Do they really have one?”
“Mmm. They might.”
“Well, I wish them luck. Did the girls raise anything?”
“Lissa didn’t seem to want to do it this year. Aimee has a lamb she’s babying, but I don’t think she’s put her best into the effort. Too impatient, I guess.” His voice suddenly grew quiet.
Too impatient. Like Dee Dee. Quick, vivacious, passionate-about-life Dee Dee.
Nostalgia waved over Meg, and she wondered if Kelsey’s thoughts centered on remembering, too.
It was almost her undoing.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah. I was about to shoo the kids to bed.”
“No, Daddy,” she heard Heather in the background. “I don’t wanna.”
“Lissa,” she heard Kelsey order in a muffled aside. Lissa answered, but Meg couldn’t hear what was said.
“I’m keeping you,” she said apologetically.
“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have let them stay out this late, anyway, since tomorrow’s a big day for ‘em. Lissa can get Heather to bed, and the rest of the kids are on their own.”
Meg frowned. It seemed to her that Lissa was doing a lot of mothering. Did Kelsey depend on her too much? Who did Lissa have to turn to?
“Kelsey, was there something else you wanted when you called earlier? I had the feeling you were about to ask me something when we had to end our conversation.”
“Um, as a matter of fact, I wanted to ask a favor.”
“Ask,” she prompted, when she heard the hesitation in his voice. “I can only bite your head off through the phone lines if I don’t like it. Tearing you limb from limb would have to wait for personal contact. And then again, I might just say yes.”
His rich, deep chuckle shot through her like a sugar high. Oh, how she’d missed hearing it. She craved more.
“You’ve taken to biting off heads while out in the big bad world, have you Meg? Like the Queen of Hearts?”
His amusement delighted her. “That’s it. Cross me, buddy, and I’ll send out my black knights. Now what’s the favor?”
She heard his sigh. Kelsey didn’t like to ask for anything, she recalled.
“Would it be possible for you to take Heather with you tomorrow? I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“No, it’s not. I intended the invitation to include Heather, anyway. I’m sorry if I didn’t make myself clear.”
“Great!” The relief in his voice was substantial. “Really great. I have to run up to K. C. to pick up new tractor parts. I’ll take the boys with me, but it’s not the kind of thing the girls—well, you know. Anyway, there’s no need for you to run all the way out here. I’ll drop the girls off on my way, if that’s all right with you?”
“Sure, Kels, that’ll be fine. At ten.”
They said good-night, as longtime friends would, neatly and with the warmth of long association.
She wouldn’t wish for more. No…it would be foolish.
“Boys, stay in the car,” Kelsey instructed as they pulled up in front of the Lawrences’ white two-story house. “We’ll only be a minute.”
Aimee was