children stopped playing and looked at him. “I don’t want you giving Sally any trouble. If she needs help, you do so. No argument about bedtime either.”
“Yes, sir,” they called in harmony.
He smiled and nodded. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Uncle Ross.” Olivia waved.
“Yeah, bye,” Jared said as an afterthought as he ran for a ball.
Ross turned to her. “I really appreciate this.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“I know, but I do.” He walked to her, stopping just out of reach. His gaze met hers. A spot of heat flushed through her middle that had everything to do with his attention. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow around one.” He went down the steps.
“Okay.”
He hadn’t made it to his truck before he said, “Call if you have any questions.”
“I will.” Sally wrapped her arm around the post he had stood beside earlier and leaned her cheek against it. She watched him leave. Ross put his hand out the window and waved. She stayed there until he was out of sight.
What would it be like to have someone who wasn’t eager to leave her? That she could say bye to who would look forward to returning to her. At one time she’d believed she had that. Instead Wade had acted as if coming home to her was a chore. Why had he married her if he hadn’t really wanted her? In less than a year he had been off with someone else.
She wanted a man who desired her. That she was enough for. Maybe one day she would try again, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She had plans, dreams. That was what she should be thinking about. She was better off without the obstacle of a man in her life for the time being.
Yet here she was seeing to Ross’s niece and nephew. At his house. When he’d driven away, it had seemed as if they were husband and wife and she were seeing him off to work. But that wasn’t reality. She was the babysitter and nothing more. And she didn’t want anything but that.
Lucy interrupted her troubling thoughts with, “Aunt Sally, we’re hungry.”
“Well, it’s about lunchtime. Come on in.”
The kids stomped up to the porch.
“Let’s go see what we can find in the kitchen.”
After lunch they returned to playing. The pizza Ross had promised arrived just as he’d said it would and they ate it picnic style under one of the oak trees.
The sun was low as they finished then went to feed the horses. Jared took the lead. First, he turned on the hose to add water to the trough. Sally grinned at his puff of importance as he went into the barn to get grain. He returned with a gallon tin can full and let each of the girls dump a part of the feed into two buckets for each of the horses.
As Lucy took her turn, she hit the rail with the end of the can. It went flying and landed in the water trough. She gasped and tears filled her eyes.
Sally placed a hand on her back. “It’s okay, hon. We’ll get it.”
“I’ll do it.” Jared started pulling his shirt off.
Sally looked at him in dismay. “What’re you doing?”
“It’ll get wet if I don’t take it off.” He handed her his shirt, then leaned into the trough far enough that his head almost touched the water. When he straightened pulling the can out, the water inside spilled all down his front.
Sally laughed. “Obviously you knew what was going to happen.”
Jared grinned, dropped the can on the ground and took his shirt from her. “Yeah, we drop it in almost every time we visit.”
“How come a boy can take his shirt off and a girl can’t?” Lucy asked.
This wasn’t a discussion Sally wanted to get into, especially with other people’s children. She just had to keep the answers simple. “Well, because boys and girls are different. Especially when they get older.”
“Uncle Ross is a boy and he never takes his shirt off,” Olivia announced. “Not even when he’s swimming.”
What was she to say to that? “Guys don’t have to take their shirts off if they don’t want to.”
“When it’s hot I like to take mine off.” Jared picked the can up and headed for the barn.
Olivia’s statement left Sally curious. She’d have thought a man with Ross’s physique should be proud to show it off.
Lucy took Sally’s hand. “Sometimes when I’m playing with the water hose, I take mine off.”
It was time to change the subject. “Let’s go get a bath and have a snack before bedtime.”
By just after dark, Sally had all the kids in bed. She wasn’t sure who was happier, them or her. She’d had less active days at work. Plopping on the couch, she stretched out her legs, letting her head rest on the pillowed leather behind her. Sally closed her eyes and sighed. She and the kids had had a nice day. They were a good tired and she was as well. While she was trying to convince herself to get up and do some studying, her phone rang.
Digging in the back pocket of her jeans, she fished it out.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Ross’s rich voice filled her ear.
Her heart did a little pitty-pat. “We’re doing great. Have you been worried about us?”
“More about you. Two kids can be a handful so I can imagine three’s more difficult.”
He had been thinking about her? “Everybody’s fine. They’re all in bed now.” She yawned.
“I bet you’re thinking about going as well.” The timbre of his tone suggested ideas better left locked away. She sat straighter. “I’ll be up for a little while longer.”
“I really thank you for this.”
It was nice to feel useful to a man to whom she was attracted. For so long she’d felt unworthy. In the end duped and rejected. “You don’t have to keep saying that. How did your meeting with the Chief go?”
“Really well.”
He’d asked her some personal questions, so she felt entitled. “Do you mind if I ask what’s going on?”
“No. It’s just that I’m on the shortlist for Battalion Chief. I’ve been trying to make a good impression. Not being there when the Chief’s making his rounds wouldn’t have been good.”
“You’ll make a great Battalion Chief.” Of that she had no doubt.
“I don’t have the job yet.”
“Maybe not yet, but you’ll get it.” He was good at his job and others noticed. She certainly had.
“The competition is pretty strong. I’ve worked with all of them at one time or another.”
“I can’t imagine anyone being more qualified than you.” And she couldn’t.
“Thanks, Sal, for that vote of confidence. It means a lot.” Ross’s voice held a note of gratitude.
She couldn’t stem her curiosity about him. “Have you always wanted to be a firefighter?”
There was a pause. “Yeah, ever since I was a little boy.”
“That’s a long time.” Her amazement rang in her voice. They shared something in common. They both had known what they wanted to do since they were young.
“I’m not that old.” He chuckled.
“You know what I mean. What made you want to be a firefighter?”
This