Arabella. “Your daughters? Dorothy told me you had triplets.”
He’d seen her around town with the girls already. She obviously loved her children. And who wouldn’t fall for these three? They were dressed in matching blue dresses with puffy sleeves and embroidery across the bodice. Each girl had a different flowery design, which probably meant their mother had recognized their individuality and made sure they did, too.
“Yes, four years old and growing too fast.” Arabella nodded, then headed toward her girls, her smile at a thousand-watt beam. “Hello. Did you have fun eating your dinner with your friends in the nursery?”
“Jessie was mean to me,” one of the girls said, pointing an accusing finger at her sister.
Arabella turned to the cute culprit. “Jessie, were you ugly to Julie?”
Jessie produced a pout. “Julie wouldn’t share her cookie.”
“Oh, my goodness. Julie, you know to share with your sisters.” Then she turned to Jessie. “But, Jessie, you each had your own cookie, so I don’t think you needed any of your sister’s.”
“I shared, Mommy.” The third of the bunch said, her puffy blue plaid dress swirling around her chubby little legs. “I was nice to Jessie. I gave her part of my cookie then Julie gave me some of hers.”
“Thank you for that, Jamie. But I think your sisters need to kiss and make up and then give you a big hug since you shared your food to please both of them.”
The older lady laughed. “I couldn’t get them to do that. They wanted to talk to you about it.”
“C’mon, now,” Arabella said, urging the girls toward the table. “Mommy has to help clean up. And I can’t do a good job if I think you girls are mad at each other.”
“Who’s that?” Jessie asked, pointing toward Jonathan.
Arabella sent him an appraising glance. “This is Dr. Turner. He’s here to … visit.”
“No doctors,” Jamie said, shaking her head. Her sisters shrank back against Arabella, holding each other despite the cookie situation.
Jonathan couldn’t stop his smile. “I see you’re all acquainted with doctors.”
“They don’t like shots,” Arabella said, mouthing the words. “This is a nice doctor,” she told Jamie. “He came from a big city.”
“Where?” Jessie asked.
“Not too far from here,” Jonathan answered, the girls captivating him with their charm.
Arabella pulled at Jessie and Julie. “Okay, say sorry so I can get you back to the nursery for story time.”
Jonathan watched as the tiny doll-like girls stared each other down then grabbed on for a long group hug. After that, they were all giggles. Arabella guided them back to the nursery worker, kissing each of them before they once again held hands and walked down the hallway.
“They’re beautiful.”
Watching them out of sight, Arabella turned back to Jonathan. “Thanks. They have their moments.” She started gathering plates. “I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”
He got up, accepting that he was being dismissed. Accepting, but regretting it. He wouldn’t mind spending more time with her and those little girls. “I’ll help clean up, too.”
“You don’t have to. We have a meeting after cleanup. It’s boring unless you’re on the committee.”
“Oh, right. Dorothy informed me I wasn’t allowed to stay for that.”
“She’s afraid somebody will have better ideas than her,” Arabella said under her breath. Then she put a hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay,” he replied. “I’ve been around her for a little while now and I do believe you’re right.”
Arabella gave him a slight smile. “People are watching us, you know. Dorothy will be puffed up with pride, thinking she’s made a match.”
“Oh, is that why she insisted I attend this dinner?”
“You mean you didn’t figure that one out?”
“No, I didn’t. But … I’m glad she did force me in here. The food was great and it was nice to get to know you a little better.”
“We’ll see how that goes,” she said. Then she turned and strutted away.
Jonathan told himself he didn’t care what Arabella Michaels or anyone else thought. He’d come here with a purpose. He wanted to get to know his niece. And he wouldn’t let a pretty, voluptuous woman in a flowing skirt and cute cowboy boots stop him from doing that.
Back in his car, Jonathan pushed at the memories of his own lousy childhood. In no hurry to get back to the Lucky Lady Inn, he made his way across the town green onto Railroad Street. Glad the speed limit was slow here, he let the top down on the convertible and breathed in the crisp fall air.
Just outside of the main stretch of town he stopped at the driveway of the huge creamy-yellow Victorian house with the big, tree-shaded yard. This was where Arabella, her triplets and Jasmine lived. He’d seen them at the town green when he had come to town the first time and followed them to this house.
A set of matching bronze-encased porch lights sent out a welcoming glow on each side of the big double doors. Colorful yellow and burgundy mums and fat orange pumpkins decorated the long wraparound porch, and a matching set of fall wreaths gave a welcoming look to the entranceway. Nice, he thought as he zoomed on by. It was a little run-down but still like something out of a magazine spread.
He hated that Jasmine had been abandoned. But he thanked God that she’d found a safe place to stay. And he couldn’t fault Arabella because it certainly looked as if she cared about Jasmine. He’d just have to prove that he cared about his niece, too.
Driving around the quaint mountain town, Jonathan compared it to Denver. This threadbare little town certainly was quiet and less crowded, but it reminded him of the place where he’d grown up, which was only about twenty miles up the road. He didn’t like small towns. This one held a forlorn look, like a frayed set of yellowed lacy curtains. But it also exuded a sense of pride. Apparently, Clayton had seen better days, but it wasn’t a ghost town yet.
He sure hoped Jasmine would consider coming to Denver. Maybe she’d like the big city.
Pulling into the less-than-stellar white clapboard boarding house with the faded green shamrock-shaped sign proclaiming it the Lucky Lady Inn, Jonathan wondered for the hundredth time if this had been the right thing to do.
He’d made a nurse mad after canceling their date to take a few days to come down here. He’d also made the chief of staff mad when he’d told the man he might need to take an extra week to work this out. How would Jasmine react? Would his niece want to get to know him, or would she scorn him the way her daddy had?
Legally he couldn’t force her away from a place where she’d lived her whole life. He was a complete stranger to this girl. But he wanted to be family
