Parnell clicked off the phone and sighed deeply. He had pretty much stayed busy all morning since they were working on a section of Eden that demanded his absolute attention. But now, things had settled down and he was going over one of the engineer’s reports and he was finding it hard to concentrate. He wished he could say that his flaring desire of the night before was a thing of the past but it wasn’t. Anytime Rose would cross his mind an unwelcome shiver would flow through him. And that wasn’t good.
He glanced at his watch. It was close to noon. Normally he didn’t go home for lunch, but for some reason he wanted to see the girls. After putting aside the report he’d been reviewing before Gabe’s call, he crossed the yard to his truck. As soon as he started the engine he couldn’t help but ask himself just who he was trying to fool. He was more than aware that this was the girls’ nap time. The reason he was going home in the middle of the day was because he wanted to see Rose.
* * *
Rose turned at the sound of the back door opening. She had been busy lining the kitchen cabinets with new contact paper when she looked at Parnell questioningly. She hadn’t been expecting him to come home for lunch. He rarely did. “Is anything wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, I just thought I’d drop by to see how you and the girls were doing.”
She nodded thinking he didn’t have to leave work; he could have called. “We’re fine. The girls ate around eleven-thirty and this is their nap time.” She wondered why she was telling him that. It wasn’t like he didn’t know the girls’ daily routine.
“And,” she decided to add before he could ask. “Mr. Fulton came by and checked out that tear in the carpeting upstairs. He agreed that the entire area has to be replaced and will arrange for someone to come in to take care of it.”
Parnell nodded as he leaned against the kitchen counter that was across from where she was standing. “Did he say when?”
“No. He indicated he would call you. And, Gabe’s mom called to check on the girls. I thought that was real thoughtful of her.”
“Yes, it was,” he said, heading for the sink to wash his hands. It then came to his attention that Joella Blackwell had been calling a lot lately to check on the girls and he appreciated it. “Have you eaten lunch yet?”
“No, I’ve been busy doing this since the girls went to sleep.”
“How about taking a break and joining me for lunch,” he said, leaving the sink to head for the refrigerator. “Do we have anything that I can fix?”
She was surprised by his request. She had never shared lunch with him, unless it was one of those times like Saturday when they had been out with the girls. “Yes, there’s the chicken salad that I made this morning. The girls enjoyed it on a croissant with chips and a pickle.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“All right, I can fix it,” she said, moving toward the refrigerator.
“No, I can do it. I didn’t come home for you to wait on me. Go ahead and sit at the table.
She wanted to ask why had he come home, but didn’t. Instead she moved over to the table. She hadn’t expected his presence and had come up with a plan to set in motion when he’d come home. But she did not intend to miss any opportunity – any perfect moment – to make Parnell see the advantages of them getting married.
“You sure you don’t need my help?” she asked as she took a seat.
“No, I can handle this. Besides, you’ll have your hands full once the girls wake up from their nap. Most kids are fussy before their naps, but my girls tend to be fussy after their naps.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Boy, don’t I know it.”
“But still, Becky would be proud of them.”
She wondered if he was bringing up his deceased wife’s name to keep some sort of declared distance between them. If so, he would find out it wouldn’t work with her and she was determined not to let it work with him either. “Yes, I’m sure she would be, just like I’m certain that she would be proud of you as well. You’ve done a wonderful job, Parnell. Not all men would have been able to handle what you’ve done. Overall, what do you see as your biggest challenge in taking care of the girls?”
He placed a plate of chips, sandwich and a pickle in front of her, chuckled and said. “The hair. How can two little girls have so much of it is beyond me. I had to take the class, Hair 101, from my mom. I appreciate the way you braid it on Mondays, then all I have to do is make sure it’s decent on Sundays.”
Rose thought there was never a time when she’d seen the Cabot twins and they hadn’t been decent – from their hair all the way down to their toes. Parnell did a good job of dressing them as well. They always wore cute identical outfits.
“What do you want to drink, Rose?”
She glanced up at Parnell. “Water is fine.”
He nodded and opened the refrigerator. His back was to her and that gave her a chance to check him out from behind. As always, she liked what she saw. His jeans fit so perfectly on his body and his backside was nice, real nice; so nice she could feel her stomach doing a flip.
When he turned around he almost caught her staring. She quickly bowed her head to say grace and then picked up her sandwich. When he placed the water down beside her place she glanced up and looked at him and she felt the pulse beat rapidly in her throat.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He then took the seat across from her and after bowing his head to say grace, he began eating his sandwich as well. After a few moments, she asked. “So, Parnell, what’s the real reason you came home from work?”
She saw surprise flicker in his eyes as if he was taken aback by her question. After washing the portion of his sandwich he’d just eaten down with iced tea, he looked over at her and said. “I told you, I wanted to check on you and the girls.”
“Why? You’ve never dropped in at lunch to check on us before. Don’t you think that I can handle things around here?”
“You know I do.”
“Okay, then why are you here?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “I live here,” he said in a teasing voice.
Something intangible shimmered through her with his smile. She couldn’t help but smile back. “I know that. Tell me something that I don’t know.”
He didn’t say anything at first and then out of the clear blue sky, he said. “What if I told you that I’ve been giving your proposal some thought.”
Now it was her time to be surprised. She hadn’t been prepared for that; especially when she hadn’t started overwhelming him yet. She couldn’t stop the feeling of pure happiness that flowed through her at that moment. Her decision to do what she felt she had to do was reinforced even more. She was determined to show him every chance she got just how much passion the two of them could generate. She had never known a man who wouldn’t weaken if the right amount of passion was applied. It wasn’t called seduction for nothing. “If you were to tell me that then I would say that I’m glad to hear it,” she said.
He leaned back in his chair and she figured he must have heard an inexorable amount of optimism in her voice and decided not to get her hopes up by saying. “I said I’ve been giving it some thought, Rose. I still haven’t changed my mind about anything.”
She nodded. “And I can respect that. I would also like to make a suggestion,” she said picking up her glass of water.
“What?”
She could feel his eyes on her. “I think the best thing I can do is to convince you that together, you, I, and the girls would make a good family. And the only way I can do that is to move in.” She slowly glanced over at him, needing to see his reaction to her suggestion.
He put down his sandwich and stared at her. “Do you honestly believe that will help things?” he asked in a low, yet incredulous tone.
She shrugged slightly. “I don’t see how it will hurt. I get to play the role of wife-for-hire. At least, to a point. Until you make a final decision, I’ll still sleep in the guestroom.” There. She was making it absolutely clear just where she drew the line.
A slight frown touched his lips. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
She felt her lips twist in a smile. “What? Me being a wife-for-hire or me sleeping in the guestroom?”
He lifted a brow before picking back up his sandwich. “Are you trying to be funny?”
“No. I’m trying to be someone who wants you to see my value in your household.” She didn’t add. In your life.
His dark eyes seemed to rest more intently on her. He placed his sandwich back down when he said. “I do see your value, Rose.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then prove it.”
She knew he heard the challenge in her words. It was reflected in the handsome yet cautious face that stared at her. Then, as if in slow motion, he pushed his chair back from the table to stand. She watched as he rounded the table to come where she sat. She tried to downplay the trembling of her hand that was holding the water glass. In a surprise move, he bent and took the glass out of her hand and set it down.