Maggie wrapped her arms around the little girl, keeping her steady.“If you’re quiet, you might hear it.”
Delilah went completely still.For a minute, Maggie thought the little girl was holding her breath.
Finally, a gust of wind whipped through the trees.The branches creaked, the leaves rustled, and the faintest whistle sounded.She smiled when Delilah’s hands tightened on her arms.
“Whispers… Tree whispers.”Delilah was whispering, too.
“It does sound like they’re whispering.”Since the treesand Delilah were whispering, Maggie followed suit.“I’d never thought of it that way.It’s a gentle sound.”
“Yep.”Delilah leaned back against Maggie and yawned.“I wike it.”
Instinct had Maggie starting to rock.When Cody had been little, rocking was the surest way to help him drift off to sleep.If Delilah was tuckered out from the hike and needed a quick nap while the boys were off investigating, Maggie was all too happy to keep rocking and hold her close.
They stayed that way for some time.Between the whispers of the trees and the steady pattern of Delilah’s breathing, Maggie allowed herself a moment’s peace.She wouldn’t think about work, her recovery, wonder how long it would take for her to be medically cleared to return to work, how to reconnect with her son or her son’s surprising stance on her and Braden dating.
Nope.All of that could wait.
Maggie was on the verge of dozing off when she heard Cody let out a whoop.She knew they were headed back because their voices were slowly getting louder, but she couldn’t make out any words.Cody was talking excitedly, his voice rising and falling, and Braden let out an occasional deeper mumble.
“Ma!”Cody waved, then started running to her.“Guess what!We found something, Ma.”
Maggie shifted so that Delilah was more secure in her lap.“Something good, I take it?”
“Uh-huh.”Cody kept glancing back over his shoulder at Braden.“It’s real heavy and real fragile so he’s being careful.”
“Can you tell me what it is?”Whatever it was, her son was practically vibrating with exhilaration.
“It’s a secret.Just wait.”He was sort of hopping from one foot to the other, impatiently waiting for Braden and the mystery object to reach them.
She, however, refused to watch Braden.At the moment, she was calm and in full control of her emotions, and she’d really like to keep it that way.Now was not the time to analyze why Braden triggered unwanted nerves or jitters or flutters or heart palpitations.Now was the time tooohandaahover her son’s discovery.
“Look.”Cody pointed…at Braden, who was carrying the surprise.
It’s fine.She focused solely on what Braden was holding.“Is that a bone?”Shewassurprised.
“A really big bone.”Cody put his hands on his hips.“Bigger than a bear or a moose or a buffalo—Braden said so.”
She agreed with Braden.“What kind of bone is it?”From the sheer size of the thing, she felt confident she knew the answer.But she wasn’t going to deny her son his big announcement.
“I don’t know, Ma.Something big, though.”He was bursting with pride.
“So I see.”She did her best to act suitably impressed.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if it was a dinosaur bone, Ma?There’s lots of ’em in Montana.They roamed all over here back in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.”He stopped talking and scratched his temple.“Shouldn’t we wake Delilah up so she hears all this, Braden?She said she wants to know about dinosaurs.”
“We should.Sorry she fell asleep on you, Maggie.”He rested their find on the ground.
Maggie peered down at Delilah.“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.She’s a tiny thing.”Tiny and preciousand missing her mommy.She reached up to smooth the hair from Delilah’s forehead.
Braden knelt in front of them.“Delilah, wake up now.”Once again, he was right there, so close, and so…so irresistible.He had the slightest scar along the right side of his jaw.His eyelashes were thick and long—even with mascara, hers would never look that good.And he was looking at his daughter with so much love.“Delilah.”He grinned.“We’ve got a surprise for you.”
Delilah wriggled and stretched.“What, Daddy?”She stretched some more—and slipped from Maggie’s lap.
She and Braden caught Delilah at the same time.While Braden was chuckling at his daughter, Maggie was scrambling to breathe.It didn’t help when his blue eyes zeroed in on her.The easy smile he’d been wearing shifted into something entirely different.Something heavier and warm and 100 percent tingle inducing.And for the first time that day, she sort of liked the tingles.
* * *
Well, damn.At this rate, Braden didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping the promise he’d made to himself.Not if she was going to look at him like that, anyway.And he wasn’t sure he was too upset over it, either.He liked the way she was looking at him—liked the way it rolled over him and made him feel alive.
