AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fifty-Five
Robin was at her desk while Becky napped, a few minutes before the school bus would be there to drop off the kids, two days after their first ball practices. She still hadn’t had a chance to capture her man alone and tell him how he made her feel.
She’d finally accepted the inevitable. She was Nick’s. She wanted him to be hers. She planned to tell him as soon as she captured him first.
And made her demands—they were going to figure this out together, her and Nicholas Tyler. It was just a matter of time.
If it came down to it, she was recruiting a babysitter to stay at his place with the kids, while she lured Nick back to her place and told him exactly how she felt. Probably Chandler. Chandler was right there, and the kids liked him just fine.
She shot a look toward Nick’s office.
Nick was in his office with Aaron Masterson, a bean farmer—a very successful one—who was wanting to hire a local company to transport his product each harvest. It would be a lucrative contract—he was the biggest bean farmer in the west. Not just the state, the entire west.
Nick really wanted that contract—even if he and Aaron Masterson had competed with each other in high school and hadn’t liked each other much back then—apparently that was a thing between Tylers and Mastersons, at times.
Plus, Aaron had asked her to dinner the last time he’d been in.
She’d thought Nick was going to throw him off the bridge into the river that ran behind their lot that afternoon. Chandler had intervened at the last moment—flat out telling Aaron that Robin was Nick’s and to keep his paws off.
Aaron had laughed—and called Robin directly that night. She had no clue how he’d even gotten her number.
She suspected it had been Perci—Aaron was her husband’s uncle, after all. It could have been Pandora, too. Her nieces could be brats, still.
She’d told Aaron the truth—she was unavailable. And politely declined. She’d just make a point of introducing the man to Rory the first chance she got. She hadn’t given up hope that Rory would eventually relocate to Wyoming, too.
As for Aaron, well, Robin was completely unavailable. Her heart was Nick’s—even if she hadn’t told him that.
Robin looked toward the front door when it opened. It was a bit early for the school bus. Her breath caught.
Jude Tyler stood there.
And Linsey, Noah’s social worker.
There were two men with them. One was around Robin’s age, tall, soft, and balding. The other was around two or three years older than Nick. He looked at her out of piercing dark eyes. Appreciative eyes.
She’d admit it—if she’d seen him before, she’d have at least looked. He wasn’t as look-worthy as Nick, but it was real close.
He wore a suit that probably cost more than the furnishings for the entire office. A very severe suit, that made him look a bit cold and unapproachable. Her breath caught. “Can…I help you?”
Jude had a flushed, almost ill look on her face. “Hello, Robin. We need to speak to Nick, actually.”
“He’s in his office, finishing with a potential client.” Robin wasn’t stupid—she knew how to read the room. Neither Jude nor Linsey was very happy right now. And the balding man behind them was almost gloating.
Robin decided in that instant she didn’t like him one bit. Her mama-bear instincts were flaring. And that was never good. “If you’d like to have a seat, I have water, or coffee. Or…apple juice. The school bus will be dropping off Nick’s two and my older two any moment. They always come in like a tornado, so be prepared.”
“So the kids come here after school?” the man in the suit asked, frowning at her, then looking at Becky and her toys that littered the small couch. Was he judging? Robin’s back immediately went up. “Can’t appropriate childcare be found?”
“What business is it of yours?” she asked, bristling immediately. “Our children are happy and healthy and with their parents as much as they possibly can be, rather than shoved into a daycare or being watched by sitters. Tyler Trucking is a family business. What’s wrong with that?”
“I meant no offense, ma’am.”
She saw his lips twitch a bit. As if she’d amused him. Becky shifted on the sofa behind them. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll move her to the bean bag in the spare office. So you can have a seat. Jude, take my desk chair, near the fan. You look about ready to fall over.”
“It’s the heat, I think,” Jude said, taking a water bottle when Robin grabbed her one. Robin scooped Becky into her arms, hoping her daughter would stay asleep.
A vain hope.
Her daughter fussed and snuggled her head on Robin’s shoulder.
