Small-Town Moms by Janet Tronstad Page A

to hold it in place.
    â€œI thought you might be afraid of heights,” she said solemnly.
    â€œNow how would you know that?” he asked, content now that she was curving her face into the palm of his hand.
    â€œBecause I’m scared of heights, too,” she whispered.
    â€œWell,” he said. “We’d make quite the pair then, wouldn’t we?”
    He felt her nod with her head against his hand. He curled his hand under her chin and tipped her face up slightly so he could bend down and kiss her. The first one was quick and much too fleeting. But as he angled his head to kiss again, he heard his heart start to pound in an alarming way. He stopped and realized it wasn’t his heart that he was hearing.
    He turned his head and saw that Lilly was knocking on the window of his pickup. He saw the bus in thebackground and the other children running to other cars. He and Maegan had been in lost in their own world. He glanced over at her and saw she was adjusting her hair.
    â€œThe window,” she whispered at him.
    He opened the door instead. Lilly was standing there with her backpack slung over her shoulder. “We were just—” he tried to think “—I mean, we were waiting for you and—”
    â€œPlease,” Lilly said as she rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen kissing before.”
    â€œOh, yes, I suppose.” Clint wondered what the rules were for foster parents. He pulled his seat forward so she could slip into the backseat of his pickup.
    â€œMy dad kisses women all the time,” Lilly declared with indifference as she threw her backpack inside and slid in.
    Clint frowned slightly as he turned to face the girl. “I really don’t think you ought to be—”
    Lilly was getting a belligerent look on her face.
    â€œWe finished painting your room today,” Maegan interrupted with cheer in her voice.
    Clint realized that now wasn’t the time to question Lilly on the morals of her father. Besides, he didn’t need to ask her much. He knew his brother. That’s why he’d devised a proposition for Joe that the man wouldn’t turn down.
    â€œIs it lavender?” Lilly asked, not quite relaxing yet. “Did it come out looking like the color it’s supposed to be?”
    â€œIt’s perfect,” Maegan assured her.
    The smile on Lilly’s face made Clint content. He wished he’d taken out a paintbrush when the girl firstcame to his house. He’d do anything to see that the girl was happy. He hadn’t told anyone yet, but he’d figured out what he could do for Lilly. He was going to offer the ranch to Joe in exchange for him raising Lilly. He had already bought Joe’s portion of the ranch from him ten years ago, but Joe might be ready to settle down and he liked owning things.
    Unfortunately, if he gave his brother all of his money, he would be starting over himself. He knew a couple of jobs that were open in Dry Creek and he’d get by. He figured it would sour his chances with Maegan, but he was going to ask her to be his wife anyway when everything was settled with the girl. If a man couldn’t risk his pride for love, then he was a poor man indeed.
    Clint started the pickup again and backed out of the spot where he’d parked. Maegan was going to have dinner with them tonight and then he was going to drive her back to her room over Mrs. Hargrove’s garage. They all had a routine these days and it was one that satisfied him. It was five more days until his brother’s birthday and he’d called Joe yesterday reminding him he was expected for dinner that night. Lilly planned to make him a chocolate cake with candles and Maegan promised to make a chicken enchilada recipe that Mrs. Hargrove had shown her.
    Clint planned to call his brother on Monday and remind him again. As bad as it would hurt to have Lilly ask to go with Joe, he could deal with that better than the hurt Lilly