Lani's Makeshift Family Read online

  Against his better judgment, he watched Lani Cabot as she told how she came to be here. He knew he was missing parts of her story because he focused too much on her damned eyes, full lips, and the way the light sparkled on her teeth when she smiled. And she smiled a lot.

  A tightness squeezed inside his chest as if a fist grabbed his heart. Damn the pain. Damn the rainfall, and damn her beauty. He’d worked hard at and had been successful in secluding himself from women—until now.

  “So you see, the girls and I had no choice. When the deer darted out in front of my car, I lost control. Luckily the boulder caught under the wheel before we landed in the lake. When I heard the flood warning on the radio, and the rain had started again, I packed what I could carry and hiked up to the road.” She smiled…again.

  He swallowed down a huge gulp to empty the glass.

  “I’m still amazed that no cars came by to help.”

  “December isn’t tourist season up here, not much traffic.” He stood and poured himself another shot glass full. “Where were you headed?”

  “Like I said—” She cocked her head and glared. “Maybe you didn’t hear me before….”

  The silence of the mountains intruded into his thoughts. Here he sat in his cabin with a beautiful woman, desperately trying to ignore that fact. He wanted to look past her, but the light seemed to illuminate her face. Was that a tiny dimple to the left of her lips or just a shadow? Oh geez. He mentally shook himself. This was pathetic, like some junkie at a drug buffet.

  “I’m from Utica and was going to visit my mother in Plattsburgh. The rain made seeing awfully difficult, and I lost my way.” She lifted her hair from her shoulders as if the weight were too much.

  His gaze followed her movements and didn’t miss the smooth whiteness of her slender neck. He swallowed hard and took another sip.

  “When I crossed a bridge, I saw a building—this…your house. We could have drowned in the river, or froze. Nick?”

  “Um?”

  She gave a soft laugh. “I wasn’t sure you were listening again. We were so cold. The girls…they were like ice when we finally found your place. They’re so small…and well, I was so scared that they’d…I turned the thermostat over eighty. I’ll pay for the heat—”

  He waved away her words. “It won’t bankrupt me.”

  “But I insist.”

  “At least the kids got warm.”

  “Yes, their little bodies were shivering so…”

  He could remember holding tiny babies like that, so long ago, and now the emptiness made his heart ache. Fingers, no bigger than a few inches, wrapping around his….

  “Nick? I asked if I could call my mother. I tried to find your phone last night, but you have it hidden pretty well. We were surprising Mother, but—”

  “No.”

  “I’ll call collect—”

  “You couldn’t find a phone because I don’t have one.”

  He could see the firm muscles of her legs as she moved. Lani must jog, he told himself, ticked that he even noticed. She dropped onto the sofa opposite him. Like a little girl, she folded her legs beneath her and rested one hand on each knee. She tugged at her shirt with both hands obviously trying to cover her legs from his eyes. Her shirt? His, and damn, it looked a hell of a lot better on her. She rocked gently in her seat, not much, actually, he would barely notice if he wasn’t staring. When he started to wish he wore a size small shirt instead of an extra large, he pulled his focus to the deer’s head on the wall.

  “No phone? Oh my. Then how can I call the Triple A office?”

  He chuckled, not because it was funny, but her innocence…and the slight curve to her lower lip when she asked the question struck him. This ogling was ridiculous. He needed to hide his interest. He slugged down the rest of his second drink and got up for a third. Normally one would do, but tonight was unusual. Not every day did he find a woman, damn, a beautiful woman in his cabin. Urges he hadn’t felt for so long reawakened when he looked at her. An uncomfortable air filled the room. A man. A woman. Geez, he couldn’t wait until morning when she’d leave. “I’ll take a look at your car tomorrow. Probably can tow it out with my Jeep.”

  “That would be wonderful.” She turned to look at the pictures on the end table.

  Ones of his parents, grandfather, and one of him with his dad that he’d allowed to remain in the cabin. The others, he couldn’t keep out any longer.

  “You know, I remembered seeing you in these pictures and when I…that is after I hit you, well, at least I knew you weren’t a robber.”

  He shrugged as she watched him pour another Scotch. By her questioning look, she didn’t approve. Hell, with the way he’d acted when they met, he wasn’t surprised if he frightened her. But despite her expression, she had the appearance of someone pretty confident. Her actions sounded as if she was levelheaded in getting her kids safe. One thing he couldn’t take was an airhead of a woman.

  “I…hope I can find my car.” She gave a nervous laugh. “And, I do appreciate being able to stay here tonight, but I don’t want to put you out any longer.”

  The ceiling light was by no means bright, but her eyes had a way of capturing the slightest ray—and sparkling. He couldn’t say ‘don’t worry about putting me out’, because she was. She was intruding on his seclusion, and he didn’t need that. All he wanted was peaceful days of hunting, fishing, and reading—alone. No woman around—and, oh God, he couldn’t take hearing their sweet sounds—no children.

  Even beneath the flannel, he could see the form of her breasts, full and round, and he imagined, soft, as she raised her arms above her head with a yawn. Damn it! He really didn’t need a woman around.

  The hand grasping his heart tightened. He downed his Scotch in one throat-burning gulp.

  “Good night, Nick.”

  He raised his empty glass toward her and inhaled the clean scent that wafted toward him in the slight breeze of her departure. And cursed.

  Chapter Two

  Lani couldn’t go to sleep without checking on her daughters. She knew she overdid seeing if the babies were all right, but she couldn’t help her actions. Each in their own ways, they’d needed extra attention. Lexi often cried non-stop while Ana remained so silent it often broke Lani’s heart to see her. Thank goodness, though, that they were twins. Lani had already noticed a bond between the girls.

  Often she thought Lexi did all the communicating for the both of them because she knew exactly what her sister wanted. Lani sighed. Motherhood was overwhelming enough, but the car accident, hitting Nick, and then ending up in this cabin added to her worries.

  The light from the hallway cast a dim glow on the girls as they slept soundly. She tiptoed near to cover Alexa. The baby stirred, and Lani pulled back. Would she ever learn to leave sleeping babies alone? The temporary cribs she’d fixed for them on the floor, with large dresser drawers and plenty of blankets for cushions, seemed comfortable enough for the twins. Luckily, the girls were small enough to have plenty of room in the old drawers.

  Pushing aside the pile of diapers, clothes, and her how-to-care-for-toddlers book, she collapsed onto the bed. Despite her exhaustion, she knew she couldn’t sleep right now. What a day. What a week.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  Looking at the girls, she wondered if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life—and theirs. Reaching for the book about taking care of babies, she held it to her chest with one hand and picked up Alexa’s yellow sleeper with the other hand. Inhaling the wonderful scent of baby, she rested her head against the pile of clothes and said a silent prayer.

  Tomorrow she’d straighten the mess she’d made by dumping out everything when she was so exhausted and only wanted to get the girls to sleep.

  She whispered, “Mommy loves you two,” and shut her eyes and bit her lip. How close she’d come to losing these babies she’d only brought to this country a few days ago. The long trip from Russia, where she’d adopted them, seemed like ages ago after
this frightening day. She had no idea where she’d summoned the energy to hike through the mountains in the rainstorm today, but she knew she’d do anything to protect her daughters—she was all they had.

  Opening her eyes to see a beam of light across their tiny faces, all the years of frustration and hoping, vanished as quick as a breath snuffs out a candle flame when she looked at them. When the call had come from Kathy Scott, her caseworker, that a set of one-year-old twin girls was available in an orphanage in Russia, Lani vacillated between excitement and hysteria.

  What did she know about taking care of two babies? What did she know about taking care of one baby? Nothing. She’d never even had a brother or sister to practice on. No nieces or nephews, and too busy in high school with cheerleading, swimming, and boys—she’d never even baby-sat!

  No, she knew nothing about taking care of babies, but she’d taken every parenting class available—yet had no experience. Now it was on-the-job training. She set the book and sleeper on the bed and stood to place a kiss on each girl’s forehead. No way could she have separated the two. Looking at them, she whispered, “I’ll learn to be the best mother I can.”

  Since the house had three bedrooms, she went to sleep in the other spare one that resembled the master bedroom with beamed ceiling and log walls. All the furnishings appeared antique, mahogany bed and dresser, ivory washbowl and pitcher on a stand near the window. Quaint but unusual for a bachelor’s place. Nick must be married. She collapsed on the bed, wrapping herself with the blue patchwork quilted bedspread. Her heavy eyelids closed until a knock sounded on the door. She hugged the bedspread to her chest. “Yes?”

  The door opened with a creak. Nick’s hair tousled over his forehead as he leaned in. As if he didn’t want to enter the bedroom, he hovered near the door, pushing back the strands of hair.

  “Look, it’s getting kind of hot…er…warm in here. Think the girls warmed up enough so I could at least drop down the thermostat?”

  “Of course. I’m sorry I was so tired, I didn’t think of it.”

  He turned to leave.

  “Nick, thank you.”

  He grumbled something and left.

  Lani sat up and smiled. How cute that curl on Nick’s forehead looked. She ran her hand across the quilt, back and forth as if she would have liked to push back the hair for him. A faint scent of cologne made its way toward her. She inhaled and suddenly a weird feeling, as if a chill sped through her, had her wide-awake. With a start, she realized the sensation was warm, no darn hot, and it started at her toes. She collapsed into the soft pillow.

  How weird being alone in a stranger’s cabin, a handsome stranger. Yet, she didn’t feel any physical threat from him. Well, there was something she felt seeing a gorgeous man like Nick, but it wasn’t fear. She had to be sensible, someone that looked like him had to be married.

  Good thing Nick was turning down the heat.

  ****

  For the hundredth time, Nick tossed and turned beneath his brown afghan. He threw both pillows on the floor. Lani’s scent, kind of sweet, kind of spicy, clung to them, keeping him from sleep. Each time he’d breathe, he could smell her, see those emerald eyes, and imagine what it would feel like to touch her full breasts. Damn it! He’d been doing fine staying celibate all this time. As a bag of potato chips calls out to a dieter from the pantry, beautiful Lani Cabot called out from the spare bedroom. At least his damned insomnia had him imagining she called out. With a tug of the afghan, he covered his head. “Damn horny jerk!”

  A crash sounded.

  What was that fool woman up to now? Nick flew out of bed and clutched the footboard. The sudden movement sent the bump on his head throbbing, but he had to see what caused the noise. The sound was much louder than something falling. Sucking in a breath, he yanked open the door and ran headlong into Lani in the hallway.

  “Damn it!” he shouted.

  “Sorry! Did you hear that? What was it?” Lani asked. She stood in the dimly lit hall, her light brown hair tousled.

  At least she looked as if she’d been sleeping—then what was the noise? “I thought you—” His glance caught hers, and they darted toward the twins’ room.

  “Shh. They’re both asleep,” Lani whispered as she and Nick stood in the doorway of the spare bedroom.

  With a gentle push, she guided him toward the living room. Why the hell had he slept shirtless? She’d only touched him for a second, probably less than a second, but the spot on his back burned as if her hand were a fiery ember. Morning couldn’t come too soon.

  Lani followed Nick’s silhouette into the darkened living room. The only light came from the small lamp she’d left on in the bathroom in case she needed to tend to the girls during the night. Thank goodness for the dark, or he’d see her crimson complexion. Just because she touched his naked back, she didn’t need to have heat burn up her cheeks like this. She’d have thought he would be freezing without a shirt, but by the warm sensation on her palm, his skin wasn’t cold at all.

  She gritted her teeth. She had to stop noticing him.

  Nick flipped on the overhead light. He pushed strands of hair from his forehead and made soft clicking sounds with his lips, like someone just wakening. But his eyes looked red surrounding the deep dark brown, as if he hadn’t slept a wink.

  “Must be something outside. Stay here—” he said.

  “I want to see too—”

  “Black bears are partial to honey-blondes with emerald…with green eyes.” He grabbed a brown leather aviator jacket from a hook by the door, shoved his feet into climbing boots, and took a flashlight from the shelf overhead then stepped onto the porch.

  Bears! He’d said that just to scare her, even though he couldn’t know about her childhood fears. Nick Hunter was rude, handsome, not very social, and…handsome.

  She waited in the living room. A stale smoky scent, from long ago burned embers, filled the air. In her attempt to warm the girls when they arrived, she hadn’t really looked around the cabin. Earlier, she had hurried through the room so fast that now was as if she were looking at it for the first time.

  Huge wooden beams supported the ceiling, running down the sides between walls of logs. Mounted heads of deer and moose glared from their perches on the walls. An air of mustiness mixed with the embers. In one corner, a wrought iron staircase circled around. Newspapers, magazines, and clothing covered the tops of most of the rustic furnishings. No sign of anything female. And the only woman in the photographs looked much older, his mother, Lani guessed.

  She walked toward the couch to get an afghan and gasped. Along the floor near the stone fireplace rested a hideous bear rug, complete with head. It was fanned out with its eyes open, glaring at her. Although its claws were short, to Lani they looked horrifying, and her heart raced at the foolish fear knowing full well this bear couldn’t hurt her or the girls. Early childhood memories of the stories her father had told her surfaced. She cautiously stepped to the other side of the couch, grabbed the afghan and followed the hallway into a kitchen.

  Although the cabin was made of logs, the inside was modernized with black appliances and a wooden countertop. Beams ran along the ceiling, sporting copper pots and pans from metal hooks. By the mess on the counter, she was fairly certain this wasn’t a woman’s kitchen. Pulling the afghan tightly, she leaned to look out the window. As if a shade of blackness covered the glass, she couldn’t see a thing.

  “Damn it!” Nick’s shout from outside didn’t sound as if a bear had knocked over a garbage can or had gotten into any minor trouble. His anger indicated something major had caused the noise.

  She couldn’t stand it and ran out onto the porch.

  “What the hell are you doing out here—” Nick aimed the flashlight toward her. “—barefoot?”

  Gripping the afghan tight with one hand, she shielded her eyes.

  “I said to stay inside—”

  “Stop that! I can’t see.”

  “Fine. You want to see?” He moved the light aw
ay.

  She followed the beam of light pointing toward the left. “Oh no!” She had no idea which way they’d come from to find the cabin—until now. Through a veil of rain, she saw torrents of river water ran several yards away near the foot of the hill where the cabin sat. No knowledge of the wilderness was needed to see there must have been a road under the water’s path at one time.

  A black Jeep scrunched against a tree near the bottom of the hill. Unless Nick was a reckless driver, which could be possible, the water had moved the Jeep.

  Without a word, he aimed the flashlight farther to the left.

  A gasp flew out of her mouth. What used to be the bridge, which she’d crossed with her babies, hung like broken toothpicks, dangling above the rushing currents.

  She shut her eyes. “Is there another way out of here?”

  No answer.

  “Nick, can we get to the main road any other way?” Maybe he hadn’t heard her again? She opened her eyes. Even in the dim light, she could see Nick’s wrinkled brow, eyes blazing with anger, and guess that a litany of curses passed inside his head.

  She had her answer.

  ****

  No, there is no other way out, Nick thought. I’m stuck here with you and two babies. And, oh God, how the hell can I live through this?

  “Nick? Did you hear me?” Lani asked.

  “See that curve at the bottom of the hillside?” He shone the flashlight, scanning the landscape. “The river bends around the bottom of this property. And that’s the back—”

  “Oh my God!”

  He knew, even in the darkness, that she could see the mountain was the backdrop of the cabin’s lot, which backed up to the base of the rocky wall. No way could anyone make it over that.

  “What about…to the sides? Is there a way—”

  He wasn’t getting any pleasure out of the frantic tone in her voice. It grated on his nerves, reminding him of their predicament. “I said the river curves around and makes a half circle, like a damned moat—”

  She glared and he guessed his language was the cause. Seemed Ms. Lani Cabot had tender ears.