Nola. “I’m sorry.”
Her friend sat down beside her. “There’s no reason to be sorry, dear. We all miss Brad and Karen. They were wonderful people, but they left you a child. A child you get to love and raise as your own. What a special gift.”
“I do know. And I love this baby, but I’m scared. What if I can’t be a good mother?”
“I have no doubt you’ll be a wonderful mother. You know why? Because you’re a wonderful person and this little boy or girl will be blessed to have you.”
“Oh, Nola. I hope you’re right.”
“I am. You know what else? We’re all going to be around to help you.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m so glad because I’m going to need you.”
Nola patted her hand. “Well, count on me. Now that that is settled, where are we going to find a big enough oven to cook our Thanksgiving Day turkeys? The ones at the church are already being used, and ours barely work. Too bad Jarrett couldn’t replace the one in the community center.”
“I’m not going to do that,” a familiar voice said, “But I may have another solution.”
Jarrett hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he’d wanted to check on Mia and had found the door partly open.
“I overheard. You’re having trouble finding working ovens.”
Nodding, Nola stood. “We always feed a large group on Thanksgiving. And this might be the last one that we’re all together.” Her eyes brightened with tears. “You said you might have a solution.”
“I have two large ovens at my house.”
Nola immediately smiled. “You do?”
Jarrett stole a glance at Mia. She didn’t look impressed by his offer. “Yes. When I built the house I was told it would be a good selling feature. They’re like new.” He shrugged. “You’re welcome to them.”
“Oh, my, that’s the answer to our prayer.” The older woman paused. “There’s one condition. You have to come to our Thanksgiving celebration.”
In the past Jarrett been happier to stay at home and watch football. He had gone by his brother’s house last year for dessert, only because little Jenna had asked him to. He had a weakness for pretty young women. He glanced at Mia. Maybe is it was time to count some blessings. “I’d be honored to come by.”
Chapter Five
HE had to be crazy to have suggested cooking Thanksgiving dinner here.
Jarrett stood back and watched as half a dozen women scurried around his kitchen. He’d told himself earlier that he wasn’t going to hang around, but they’d showed up at dawn, ready and eager to begin the baking and cooking.
He had to admit that the place was filled with wonderful aromas. The one disappointment was that Mia wasn’t there. It was crazy of him even to think about her at all. She was pregnant, and her life was going in one direction while he needed only to think about one thing—the computer-chip-factory project. And getting out of the jail of his crummy apartment.
Nola walked over to him. “You have a wonderful kitchen, Jarrett. Every modern convenience a woman could ever want. Seems such a waste that you don’t have someone to share this with.”
Jarrett smiled, but ignored her comment. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Just so you know, we’ll clean up everything. You won’t even know we were here.”
“I’m not worried. I have a cleaning service.”
“Well, just the same. The place will be spotless when we leave.”
Just then his phone rang. He grabbed the extension in the office. It was his brother. “Hi, Trace. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Same to you,” Trace echoed. “I’ve been given orders to call you and see if you changed your mind about coming to dinner today.”
Kira couldn’t stand for him to be alone. “I appreciate the invitation, bro, but I seem to have a place to go. A few of the tenants have asked me to share the meal with them.”
There was a long silence. “You better be careful, no telling what they might put in your food.”
“Very funny. I do have a few friends. Besides, the tenants and I are getting along fine.”
“Well, that’s good.”
He didn’t want to talk about any apartment troubles. “I take it Kira is fixing dinner today.”
“It’ll be just us since Jody and Nathan have gone to be with Ben at the army base.”
Jarrett remembered Kira’s student who’d gotten pregnant in high school. Jody had had the child and Ben had joined the military, but he’d stayed in touch. The couple had gotten married this past summer.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. “I’ve got to go, Trace. Tell everyone happy Thanksgiving.”
After replacing the phone, Jarrett walked across the great room and into the entry. He pulled open the door to find Mia and several other people standing on his porch.
He frowned. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I’m allowed out now. Some,” she added stubbornly. “I just have to stay off my feet as much as possible.”
He took her by the arm and led her to the sofa, followed by the other dozen or so tenants. “Why did you come here? We’re going to bring the food back to the community room.” He folded his arms. “You aren’t supposed to do anything.”
She nodded. I know, but there’s a problem at the community room. It’s flooded.”
Jarrett cursed. He didn’t need another thing that he had to pay for. “How bad?”
Joe spoke up. “I shut off the main valve, but there’s about an inch of water on the floor.”
Jarrett murmured some choice words as he turned back to Mia.
She suddenly looked unsure. “We didn’t know what to do, so we came here.”
Nola walked into the room. “Mia, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
“No, I’m fine, but the community room is flooded.” Mia looked back at Jarrett. “We have no place to have our dinner.”
Every eye turned toward him. He had no choice. “Well, since everyone is here, I guess it’ll be at my house.”
Cheers filled the room, then everyone scattered to do their chores. He pulled out his phone and punched in the McKane Ranch number, wondering how he’d gotten into this situation. He glanced at Mia Saunders, those big blue eyes staring back at him. A sudden stirring in his gut told him he was headed for disaster if he wasn’t careful. Hell, he’d never been careful in his life.
His
