Jasper just nodded, then he took one good long look at me, went down on his knee so we were eye level, opened his arms and said, ‘Aye laddie, I’m sorry this happened to us, but I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. ’ One single tear slowly ran down his face and I knew then Uncle Jasper was probably just as scared as I was. He just hugged me tight and said, ‘Me and Shorty, we came to take you home, laddie.’” Beau’s voice had dropped, but now he chuckled again, then shook his head. “And I knew everything was going to be okay,” he said with a careless shrug that she knew hid a well of emotion. “We’ve been together and a family ever since.”
“That’s a wonderful story,” she said quietly, blinking the mist from her eyes. “Did you ever learn to cook?” she asked, making him chuckle again.
“Nope, can’t even boil eggs,” Beau said with a grin, closing the distance between them to help her off with her coat. He leaned close until his breath warmed the back of her neck, making her vividly aware of the pulsing ache of yearning slowly spreading its hot fingers through her belly. Cassie had to swallow to dispel some of her nervousness, smothering the wave of awareness that was making every female nerve ending stand at attention.
She was supposed to be immune to this type of man, she reminded herself firmly.
“Cassie,” he whispered close to her ear. “I want you to know I feel exactly the same way about your mother and your aunt as you do about Uncle Jasper,” he said, looping her coat over his arm and stepping back from her. “They’re wonderful as far as I’m concerned.”
“Well, thank you, but I’m going to remind you of that the next time mama or Aunt Louella rushes into your office and tells you to do some outrageous thing like turn all your faucets on so that your pipes don’t freeze when it’s not even cold out.”
Beau chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve had plenty of experience with the outrageous?”
“Living with Mama and Aunt Louella was always one outrageous adventure after another,” she admitted. “But I adore both of them and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He chuckled again, then grew sober, his gaze finding hers and sending a fluttering straight through to her timid heart. “I’m glad you made it,” he said softly. “It’s a miserable night.”
She wanted to glance away, to break contact with those gorgeous blue eyes, but mentally scolded herself for being a coward.
He was just a man, for goodness sake. She’d dealt with hundreds of men in her life, probably thousands. There was certainly no reason to get all flustered every time this one looked at her.
Still, there was something very different about this man that made her very aware of her own feelings and emotions. It was just a tad unnerving since she truly thought herself immune to any kind of man.
She rubbed her hands together and glanced back at the windows on either side of the large front door, wanting to break the connection between them.
“It is getting bad out,” she admitted with a rueful smile. “I could barely see driving here because the snow’s coming down so hard. And I don’t even want to think about having to drive home in it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, taking her arm and leading her out of the foyer. “I’ve got a heavy four-wheel-drive vehicle so I can make house calls no matter what the weather. If it gets much worse I’ll drive you and Sofie home, and Shorty can return your car in the morning. Deal?”
She looked into his eyes and had to remind herself she was merely here to help her daughter. She was doing this for Sofie. There was nothing between them. Nothing personal at all, she reminded herself. So all these feelings coursing through her, confusing her, alarming her, were to be ignored.
“Deal,” she agreed reluctantly, making him smile.
“When I picked Sofie up from your mother’s, we had a chance to chat,” he said with a mysterious smile, glancing down at her as he led the way through the foyer. “And before I picked up Sofie, I made a couple of other stops at a couple of other first graders’ house’s as well,” he said with a knowing lift of his brow. “Seems there is a bit of disruption going on with two of the boys. One’s parents are separating—”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cassie said softly.
“And the other’s grandmother recently passed away very suddenly. They were apparently very close so the boy’s quite traumatized by the loss.”
“Oh, Beau, the poor thing,” Cassie said, her heart softening toward the boys whom just this afternoon she wanted to thrash. “So they’re both having some personal problems of their own. I guess their behavior is understandable under the circumstances.”
“Understandable, yes, but certainly not justifiable, Cassie,” he said quietly. “Just because they’re having personal problems doesn’t give them the right to take out their pain on someone else.”
“You’re right,” she said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “But at least we know there is a reason for this behavior and they’re not just being cruel to Sofie.”
He chuckled. “It would be hard to find anyone who’s deliberately cruel in Cooper’s Cove. I think the mayor forbade it decades ago. But it does explain what I was trying to tell you this afternoon, those feelings of insecurity I was talking about.”
Cassie nodded, listening intently as he continued.
“So, I had a little chat with both boys, and then with their parents. Separately of course, which is how I found out all this info. And I think I’ve worked up a solution for all involved, at least to the teasing and bullying problem.” A shadow passed over his features. “Let’s hope it’s enough to do the trick.”
She was desperately trying to pay attention to his words, but he was so close she could see the sparkle in his eyes and the small laugh lines around his mouth….
He’d changed into more casual clothes, she suddenly realized. Gone was the professional suit he’d always worn in his office. Now, he had on soft, well-worn jeans, a heavy Irish cable knit sweater and work boots. Much to Cassie’s annoyance it made him look far less intimidating and a great deal more appealing.
She forced herself to keep her mind on the subject at hand. “Judging from the change in Sofie’s attitude since you brought her home from school this afternoon, she’s feeling better about the situation as well,” Cassie said, still shocked by the difference in her daughter. This problem with Sofie hadn’t been far from her mind all afternoon. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? How quickly their emotions change?”
“With kids this age, it really is just a lot of confidence,” he admitted as he pulled open a closet door in the expansive foyer and hung up her coat. “So much of their emotions and attitudes are fed by their immediate world. Parents, family and friends make up everything, and are everything to them, and as long as everything is copacetic with all three, they’re happy.” He shrugged. “But when they’re not, that’s when problems develop.”
“And you think that’s what’s happened here?” she asked, and he nodded.
“Yes, I’m afraid that’s exactly what happened. But I’ve talked with the boys, and with Sofie, so now let’s see if we can work out some kind of truce to keep them all happy. Are you hungry?” he asked abruptly and she paled
