Mimi replied, her tone bright. “He was adamant on the age requirement.”
Annabelle caught the glance that passed between Mimi and Frisco, Mimi’s chin up, Frisco’s gaze narrowed suspiciously.
“Well, Mimi, it seems we agree on one thing,” he said softly.
“Will wonders never cease?” she shot back, her tone too sweet. Yet somehow strong underneath.
Annabelle’s eyebrows raised.
“She’ll have to come home with me,” Mimi said, with a put-upon sigh. “One of you can drive Annabelle back into town tomorrow.”
“Thought you weren’t going to help us anymore,” Last said helpfully. “We sure don’t want to put you out any.”
“That’s okay,” Mimi said, in the voice of a Good Samaritan. “Annabelle will be more comfortable at my house, I feel certain.”
From upstairs, Emmie’s wail floated down, loud and miserable.
“What’s that?” Mimi demanded.
“It’s my baby,” Annabelle said hurriedly. “She suffers from colic and doesn’t sleep well at night. Excuse me.”
She ran off up the stairs, almost glad to be away from whatever unspoken conversation was going on downstairs. One thing she was certain of, Frisco didn’t want her there—and neither did Mimi.
“NICE OF YOU TO GIVE us a hand, Mimi.” Frisco tossed her a wry grin. “We’ll think about you listening to sweet baby tears all night.”
Mimi was about fit to be tied. She’d nearly not come in time! What if these over-eager Jefferson brothers had hired the attractive little blonde? Mason would be back in two weeks, after all, and the last thing she wanted him to find upon his arrival was a dainty housekeeper.
“I’ve never seen you jealous before, Mimi,” Frisco said lazily. “You sure do put on a good show.”
“Shush, Frisco.” Mimi rolled her eyes at him. “If you were only half as smart as you think you are, you’d still only be thinking on a third-grade level.”
“Mimi and Mason, sittin’ in a tree—” one of the brothers started.
She whirled around. “Cut it out, guys, or I leave the lady—and the baby—with you. And none of you will get a wink of sleep tonight, I’ll bet.”
It would be more because of Annabelle than the baby that they might not sleep tonight, but Mimi wasn’t going to let any of them know they’d scored with their baiting of her. She knew how to keep this group of bad boys in check.
It was Mason who threw her for a loop. And she wasn’t about to have him come home to a ready-made family scenario. She didn’t like the fact that her housekeeping scheme had nearly backfired on her.
“We’re just yanking your chain, Mimi.” Frisco grinned at her, eager to make peace.
“I’ll go help Annabelle pack up the baby,” she said with a long-suffering sigh.
A loud pounding sounded on the door, and this time, Fannin waited to see if it would burst open again, with someone else making themselves at home.
No one came in, so he got up and jerked the door open.
To Mimi’s horror, what looked like a sorority stood on the porch, before silently filing into the den. A middle-aged woman stepped forward.
“Annabelle didn’t get on the bus with us,” she announced with grave determination. “And we’re not leaving without her.”
Chapter Three
Desire to get all these women off his property swept over Frisco. “Annabelle and the baby are fine,” he said, somewhat annoyed that the spokeswoman seemed to think some type of transgression might be wrought upon his two short-time house guests.
“We have a right to be concerned. We don’t know you,” she replied.
“Yes, but did all of you have to come back for her? I paid for those bus tickets.” Good money, he could have added, but thought better of it.
“Busses aren’t running.”
Voices murmuring behind her told him that all the women were concurring with her statement. Shock began to spread through his tired brain. “They were running when I left.”
“Apparently, there’s ice on the roads out of Union Junction. Storm on the way in, too. They shut down the station and canceled all outgoing routes. Even Shoeshine Johnson’s school bus-taxi service was closed.”
“How’d you get here?” Bad luck seemed to swirl around him. If the busses weren’t running, he could wind up with a bunch of females—and a colicky baby. The thought was enough to chill his bones. He sent a belligerent glare Mimi’s way so that she’d know this was all her fault. And Mason’s.
“We hitched a ride with the driver of an eighteen-wheeler who loaded us into the back of his truck. He’d stopped across the highway at the truck stop.”
He stared at her, trying to imagine that.
“Twenty minutes in the truck wasn’t bad. Any further than that and we’d have had to spend the night in the bus station,” she admitted. “That would have been miserable. But Jerry made certain we were comfortable.”
Frisco blew out a breath as he looked around at all the women. He wouldn’t have wanted them spending the night in a bus station, especially not since they’d come to Union Junction to apply for a job at the ranch. There was some responsibility involved, he admitted to himself, if not chivalry.
“There’s plenty of room here,” he said begrudgingly. “We have three houses on the property that the twelve of us share. We’ll divide you up…” He hesitated at the black look in the spokeswoman’s eye. Clearly there’d be no dividing.
“On the other hand, Navarro’s house should sleep all of you just fine.”
Navarro straightened but wasn’t going to disagree with the pointed look Frisco shot him. “I’ll go pack.”
Three of his brothers went out the door with him, fairly peacefully for four men who’d just given up their home. Frisco was suspicious about the lack of protest. He watched Last shoot a smile toward the ladies and realized he had a bigger problem on his hand.
His brothers saw an advantage to all these women being stuck on the ranch for the night.
He’d have to keep a tight eye on them to make certain there were no shenanigans.
Navarro came back inside, escorting a stranger. “The truck driver was still outside.”
“Hey, Delilah, ladies,” he said to the spokeswoman and her companions, astonishing Frisco, who hadn’t even thought to ask her—or any of them—their names. There were simply too many women, and he’d never remember them all. Nor had he expected to see them again.
Delilah
