Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch. Lynnette Kent

furious.

      “Tobias Rafael Mercado, where have you been? What do you mean, sneaking off without telling anyone? You’re not too old for a spanking, mister, and this may just be the day you get one.”

      She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the truck seat to stand in front of her. Bending down, she looked him straight in the eye. “Lili and Rosa have been worried sick, Toby. Why would you do something like this to them?”

      Toby had adopted the toe-scuffing technique again. One shoulder lifted in a shrug.

      Straightening up, Willa blew out a short breath. “We’ll talk later. Go to your room…and stay there.” The boy turned to start for the house, but she put a hand under his chin and made him look up at her. “Do you understand, Toby? Do not leave your room.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” With a slump to his shoulders, dragging his feet, he went into the house. In the stillness of the day, the slam of a door could be heard clearly.

      Willa stood for a moment with her shoulders hunched, too. Then she straightened up and looked at Daniel through the open truck door. “Where did you find him?” Her cheeks were bright red with what he figured was pure embarrassment.

      “In the barn at my place. He was up in the loft, and he sneezed. Maybe he really does have a cold.”

      “If he was sick, he should have stayed home in bed instead of worrying my aunts to death.”

      “I guess so.”

      “He’s been a handful recently. Always up to something.” She said it almost to herself…or as if he were a friend she’d turned to for advice.

      But Daniel knew she didn’t want help from him. He put his hand on the key to crank the truck engine.

      “Wait.” Willa reached out, and he turned off the engine again. “I haven’t said thank you.”

      “Not necessary.”

      “Of course it is. I appreciate you bringing him home—you saved us hours of worry.”

      “Anytime.”

      “I hope not.” She flashed a smile that took him straight back to last night, to the incredible satisfaction he’d found with her. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”

      Daniel’s mood crashed like a falling rock. “I’m sure you will.” Once again he reached out to start the engine.

      “Willa?” Two women came scurrying out the front door and across the veranda, both of them tiny, about sixty years old, with bright, dark eyes and identical faces. “Willa, we just talked to Toby. Is this Major Trent?”

      “Yes, Lili. Daniel Trent.” She gestured to the aunt wearing a pink-flowered dress. “Daniel, this is my aunt, Lilianna Mercado.”

      “Pleased to meet you,” he said automatically, wishing he was outside and standing up instead of talking awkwardly across the interior of the truck.

      The other aunt, wearing blue flowers, crowded in next to her sister. “This is Rosa Mercado,” Willa said from behind them.

      “Miss Rosa.” Daniel nodded. “It’s a pleasure.”

      “We’re so grateful to you for bringing Toby home,” Lili said. Rosa nodded in agreement. “He slipped away while we thought he was napping, and we had no idea where to look. And with Willa gone, we weren’t at all sure what to do.”

      “It’s no problem. I just found him in the barn and drove him back.”

      “We do appreciate your effort.” Rosa put a hand on her chest, somewhere near her heart. “And we’d like to thank you properly. Please come in and join us for lunch.”

      Daniel glanced at Willa and saw her mouth tighten. “Thank you for the invitation, but it’s really not necessary. I’ll just get on back—”

      “Oh, you can’t!” Rosa leaned into the truck, bracing her hands on the passenger seat. “I’m sure you don’t have much in the way of groceries up at that house, and it’s so far to drive to the nearest town, you’ll be starving before you get anything to eat. Please, come in. Willa should have asked you before now.” She gave her niece a reproving look.

      Trapped. While he was still trying to think of a way to say no, Willa cleared her throat. “Lili and Rosa are right, Daniel. Come in and have some lunch. It’s the least we can do since you brought Toby home.”

      His stomach chose that moment to growl fiercely, and the Mercado sisters laughed. Lili clapped her hands. “You see, you need some food right now. You’re a big man. You shouldn’t be going hungry.”

      Daniel grinned and surrendered. “Who am I to argue with a lovely woman? Thank you, Miss Lili. I’ll be glad to stay for lunch.”

      Lili and Rosa fussed over him all the way into the house, herding him through the large main room, with its twenty-foot ceiling, into the dining room beyond, where they led him to the head of an antique table that could easily have seated twenty people. The chairs were equally old, ornately carved and upholstered with red leather, but remarkably comfortable.

      “You sit and relax—” Lili instructed, laying a hand lightly on his shoulder “—while we get the food ready. It’ll just be a moment or two.”

      In little more than that, the table was spread with a lunch the size of which Daniel had seldom seen outside an army mess hall. He’d expected Mexican food, but instead there was a huge casserole pan of lasagna, with hot cheese and tomato sauce bubbling on top, plus a crisp salad in a glass bowl, warm bread in a napkin-lined basket, sliced apples and pears on a silver plate…

      “This isn’t lunch,” he said when they joined him, the aunts on his left and Willa on his right. “It’s a banquet.” He looked at Willa. “Toby doesn’t get to eat?”

      “I took a plate to his room,” she said, her eyes on the salad she was serving herself. “He had fallen asleep. I guess he does have a cold.”

      “I thought he had a slight fever when I touched his forehead this morning.” Rosa shook her head. “But not enough to keep him in bed, I guess.”

      “Ten-year-old boys are pretty hard to tie down.” Daniel forked up a bite of the lasagna. “Wow. Delicious.”

      Rosa and Lili smiled at his appreciative groan. Willa took a deep breath and let it out slowly, finally allowing herself to relax a little. She’d been afraid, though of what, she wasn’t quite sure. She hadn’t really thought Daniel would try to—to sweep her off her feet in her own home, in front of her aunts and her child. Despite what they’d done…together…last night…she didn’t know him at all. But she believed she could trust him to behave in front of her family, at least.

      Maybe she didn’t trust herself?

      She dropped her fork at the thought, and everyone looked up as it clattered against the china plate. “Sorry,” she managed. “The lasagna is terrific, Lili. As always.”

      Focusing on her food again, she had to admit it was nice to have a man at the head of the table once more. Jamie had sat at the other end, nearest the kitchen, and Lili and Rosa had avoided putting Daniel in his seat. But the sheer size and presence of a strong, virile male made a difference in the room. A difference she had sorely missed.

      And wasn’t that just wonderful? Here she was, already putting Daniel Trent into her dead husband’s place. This was just what she’d hoped to avoid, warning him off. They didn’t need another man in their lives, stirring up hope in the kids, getting Lili and Rosa all flustered, making Willa herself wish for more of what she’d had last night. She’d simply have to resist any urge to get closer. How hard could that be?

      Looking up just as he smiled at Lili after yet another compliment, she got an inkling of exactly how hard, indeed. The man was a charmer. And she was far from immune.

      She couldn’t help noticing he made a good