enjoyed having you around, even if it wasn’t as often as I’d have liked.” Then she looked at Kieran. “I hope you’ll come by regularly, too. I know your job keeps you busy, but...” A tear slipped down her cheek, and she paused to wipe it away.
But she didn’t need to finish her words. Kieran knew what she meant. He’d make it a point to come around more often than he had in the past. “I’ll never be too busy for Rosie or the two of you.”
“See?” The pastor placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I told you all we had to do was pray about it, and everything would work out.”
Kieran wasn’t very religious, but he appreciated them putting in a good word with the man upstairs. As far as he was concerned, this was working out for the best—for everyone involved.
“Why don’t you go back into the living room?” he suggested to the grieving couple. “I’ll help Dana get the food set out.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” Sandra said as she got to her feet. “I feel funny not being the hostess, but...”
Dana slipped her arms around Zach’s mom. “I know you do, Sandy, but let me take over your duties today. Besides, I have help.” When she glanced at Kieran, he nodded his agreement.
“Come on,” the minister said. “It’s time for people to show you their love for a change, just as you’ve done for them in the past.”
After the Lawsons and Pastor Mark returned to the living room, leaving Kieran and Dana alone, Dana said, “I hadn’t realized Zach gave you custody.”
“I’m not entirely sure why he did.”
“He considered you his best friend.”
Kieran had felt the same way about Zach, but still, what had he been thinking when he’d asked Kieran to step up and parent Rosie? He was a diehard bachelor and not the least bit family-oriented.
Sure, he loved and respected his siblings. But seriously? He would make a lousy parent.
“Just so you know,” Dana said, “I agree that it’s in Rosie’s best interests to stay on the ranch with Sam and Sandra, but you need to consider something.”
Kieran never made rash decisions. What did she think he’d failed to think about?
“Sam has heart trouble, and Sandra’s health isn’t very good. I’m not sure how long either of them will have the stamina to keep up with an active three-year-old.”
She had a point, and while he had no idea what the future held, he was glad the couple wanted Rosie—and that they would be able to raise her, at least for the time being.
As Dana moved about the kitchen, pulling salads from the refrigerator and serving spoons from the drawer, Kieran watched her work. He was drawn to her hair, especially since the color reminded him of autumn. She usually wore those long red locks pulled into a topknot or woven into a twist held up with a clip. He’d seen her with it hanging down once, and it nearly reached the small of her back.
He’d always thought of redheads as being a little feisty, but Dana was more serious and a little old-fashioned. She was also bright and the studious type. At least, he’d always had that assumption because she was a graduate student and a researcher at the history center, so it was an easy jump to make. Either way, she wasn’t the type of woman Kieran dated.
When Dana turned away from the kitchen counter with a bowl of macaroni salad in her hand, she caught Kieran studying her. For a moment, something stirred between them—a spark of some kind. Maybe a flash of chemistry. He’d dated enough to know when an attraction was mutual.
But if he was right about what he’d sensed, she seemed to get over it a lot faster than he did.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No.” Hell, no. He’d merely zoned out, caught up in a momentary fixation. He shook off his wild thought. “I... I just wasn’t sure what to do next.”
“Would you take this salad, along with the others on the counter, to the dining room and place them on the table?”
“Sure.” Glad to have a job to do, one that would take him out of the kitchen and away from her, he took the bowl and did as instructed.
What was the matter with him? Even if he did find Dana attractive and interesting, she’d dated Zach. It wouldn’t be right to think of her in a...well, in a romantic way.
So he’d better get his mind on either someone or something else. Quickly.
* * *
Dana reached into the drawer nearest the oven and pulled out a couple of pot holders. But she couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder to see Kieran carry the first of the salads out to the dining room. The man might be well-dressed and gorgeous, but he was completely out of place in a kitchen, let alone one that was built in the 1950s.
Even when he wasn’t dressed in a stylish gray Armani suit, the corporate vice president seemed to be cut from a different bolt of cloth than Zach. Kieran was made from expensive silk, like the fancy yellow tie he was wearing, while Zach had been made out of rugged and durable denim.
It was impossible not to compare the two men, to note their good qualities or admire their close friendship, although now that Zach was gone, there was no longer any reason to.
Dana returned to her work and pulled a ham from the oven, leaving two casseroles still baking inside.
When footsteps sounded in the open doorway, the kind made by Italian loafers and not cowboy boots, she turned to see Kieran return, his hands now empty.
“What next?” he asked.
She put the hot pan on the stove top, then set the pot holders on the counter. “Would you mind slicing this ham?”
“No, not at all.”
“There’s a serving platter in the small cupboard over the fridge. There might also be a couple of trivets in there. I’ll need them to hold the casserole dishes.”
His brow knit together. “What’s a trivet?”
She couldn’t help but smile. He’d probably been raised with a housekeeper, a cook and a nanny, so it was no wonder that he didn’t know his way around a kitchen. But she had to give him credit for trying to help and to fit in. “A trivet is a small little rack that keeps a hot dish from resting directly on the table.”
“Got it.” He brushed past her, leaving a soft trail of that mountain fresh scent in his wake.
She couldn’t help taking a second whiff, appreciating his unique fragrance. But that’s the only arousing awareness she’d allow herself. She shook off her momentary attraction, took the pot holders in hand again, removed the two casseroles from the oven and placed them on the stovetop.
After Kieran set the platter on the counter, he removed the trivets from the cupboard. “Why don’t I put these on the table so they’ll be ready for those hot dishes?”
She thanked him. Then, in spite of her resolve to keep her mind off him and on her work, she watched
