A House Full of Fortunes!. Judy Duarte

early forties, approached. “What’ll it be?”

      Toby placed the kids’ orders, then asked Angie, “What would you like?”

      She gave her standard reply. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

      But when Toby ordered the double bacon cheeseburger, the large onion rings, fried pickles and jumbo peanut-butter milk shake, she realized she’d have to rethink her strategy if she ever went to another restaurant with him again.

      Where was she going to put all that food?

      “Maybe you’d better not bring me those pickles,” she told the waitress.

      The woman nodded, then made a note on her pad. After she left them alone, things got a little quiet. Actually, too quiet, since Angie tended to get bored easily.

      So she said, “Looks like the kids will be busy for a while.”

      He smiled. “I remember when those games were brand-new. Fifteen years later, and they’re still entertaining kids.”

      “You might not believe this,” Angie said, “but I was a whiz at Ms. Pac-Man. There weren’t too many people who could outscore me.”

      “Not even Mr. Murdock?”

      At that, Angie laughed and shook her head. “Please don’t tell him. I’ve never met a man more competitive than he is. If he finds out, I’ll be forced to defend my title.”

      “Wow! A titleholder?” Toby tossed her a heart-strumming grin. “Who would have guessed that I’d be sharing a meal with a real live champion?”

      “Yeah, well, it’d be nice to have a more worthwhile claim to fame than ‘Top Scorer on Ms. Pac-Man.’” Angie settled back in the booth. Even the praise over what little she had achieved in life didn’t do much in the way of soothing her embarrassment over her mother’s public criticism.

      “I’m sure you have plenty of things to be proud of,” he said.

      Their gazes met and held for a moment. Her smile faded, and she broke eye contact.

      She was also a champ at changing subjects.

      “The kids certainly seem to be settling in,” she said.

      “They seem to be. It was tough for a while, though. Justin was acting out and getting in trouble at school, but he’s doing better now. And Kylie no longer has nightmares. Brian still holds back a bit, although I can understand that. It’s hard for him to trust adults. Each one he’s ever had to depend on has abandoned him—one way or another.”

      She’d heard a few scant rumors about the kids, but she didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t.

      “What happened to their mother?” she asked.

      “She was diagnosed with cancer right after Kylie was born and died just before her first birthday. Justin was only two at the time, so Brian’s the only one who was old enough to remember her.”

      “What about their dad?”

      Toby glanced toward the arcade, where the kids continued to play. Still, he kept his voice low. “From what I understand, he wasn’t the kind of guy who could handle responsibility. When Ann, their mom, found out that she was pregnant with Kylie, he left her. And no one has heard from him since.”

      “That’s so sad.” Angie had always been close to her father, and when her parents had split up, it had crushed her. Losing her dad to cancer two years later had been even worse.

      “After Ann died,” Toby continued, “the kids went to live with her sister. But Barbara wasn’t prepared for the challenge of raising two toddlers and a five-year-old. She drank as a way of escape. And the kids seemed to exacerbate her stress—and her need for the bottle.”

      “When did the state step in?” Angie asked.

      “Last year, when Justin’s behavioral problems in school escalated. The authorities were called in to investigate, and that’s when they found out how bad things were at home. Shortly after that, Barbara was arrested. At that point, she was ordered to get in-patient treatment and the children were placed in separate foster homes. I hated the thought of them being split up. Family is important. And they’d lost so much already. So I volunteered to take them in.”

      “That was a big step for a bachelor.”

      He shrugged. “My mom was adopted. It just seemed like a natural way to pay it forward.”

      There it was again. Toby’s altruistic personality. Everything about him was too perfect. Even his slightly mussed hair, which she was still tempted to reach out and touch.

      It had a bit of a curl to it. Was it really as soft as it looked?

      Oh, good grief. Get a grip, girl. She forced herself to stop gawking at him and to keep the conversation going. “So how long have you had them? About six months?”

      “Yes, and I’ll be the first to admit that it was a big adjustment. But it’s getting easier. I actually like having them around. The ranch was too quiet before. You probably can imagine what it was like for me, growing up with all my brothers and sisters. I’m used to noise. Sometimes I feel as if I can’t concentrate unless the decibel level is over ninety-five.”

      Actually, Angie couldn’t imagine what any of that had been like. She didn’t have any siblings. So her house had always been as quiet as a tomb, unless she had friends over.

      “It was the talk of the town when you got custody of the kids,” she said. “Most people didn’t think it would last.”

      “My buddies certainly didn’t think it would.”

      “How about you?” she asked. “How are you holding up?”

      “I’m doing all right, but it’s put a real cramp in my social life.”

      Angie smiled. “You mean with the guys—or romantically speaking?”

      “Romance? What’s that?” Toby laughed. “Actually, if I were even in a position to be looking for a relationship, I’d be in a real fix. Most women go running for the hills when they hear I have three children, even though the situation is supposed to be temporary. Other women look at me as if I’m some kind of hero. But even then, when they’re faced with the reality of dating a man with the responsibility of three kids, they don’t stick around long.”

      Point taken. Toby was making it clear that he wasn’t looking for a relationship. Therefore, Angie now knew this clearly wasn’t a date.

      “Yet here you are,” she said, “out with the kids having burgers, when you could be having a few beers at the Two Moon Saloon and dancing with Horseback Hollow’s most eligible bachelorettes. From what I remember, you were always a pretty good dancer.”

      “I still am. Maybe I’ll prove it to you sometime.” Now, that was a challenge Angie looked forward to. And while the boyish grin on his face suggested that he was teasing, for a moment, for a heartbeat, she’d suspected that he’d been a wee bit serious.

      And if they were ever to lay their secrets out on the table, she’d have to admit that she wouldn’t mind dancing with him, holding him close, swaying to the slow beat of a country love song, her body pressed to his...

      “Seriously, though,” he said, drawing her back to reality, “if I wanted a beer, they’d serve me one in here. But I have enough on my plate without having to worry about dancing and courting the ladies, too.”

      “I hear you.” And she did—loud and clear. He’d said it twice now, which was just as well. Really, it was. “I’m not looking for love, either—although my mother seems to think I should be.”

      “Doris is really hard on you. Why is that?”

      “Because she’s lost all hope of me making a financial success of my life. So if I can’t be the money-making ballbuster she envisions, the least