The More Mavericks, The Merrier!. Brenda Harlen

haven’t come in yet, anyway.”

      His frown was back again. “You ordered outfits?”

      “Wait until you see them. They’re the—”

      “I don’t want to see them,” he told her. “I want you to send them back. I can afford to buy clothes for my kids. I don’t need your charity.”

      Fallon sighed. “It’s not charity. It’s a gift.”

      “And very thoughtful,” Bella interjected again, with a pointed look at her brother.

      Jamie sighed. “Bella’s right. I’m sorry.”

      “Prove it,” she said.

      His brows lifted. “How am I supposed to prove it?”

      “By agreeing to fulfill the requirements of my list.”

      “I’m not that sorry.” He pushed the paper away from him.

      She shoved it at him again.

      With a sigh, he reached out to take it, his fingertips brushing against hers in the transfer. Little sparks skipped through her veins in response to the brief contact.

      She glanced up, to see if he’d experienced any kind of reaction. His gaze remained focused on the page, his expression neutral.

      “I have no objection to a tree,” he finally conceded.

      Fallon ignored her own disappointment. “Great,” she said. “We’ll bundle the kids up this afternoon, take them in the sleigh out to the woods and find an appropriate specimen.”

      “That’s a wonderful idea,” Bella agreed.

      Jamie frowned. “This afternoon? What’s the hurry? It’s only the first day of December.”

      “A tree is the most obvious symbol of Christmas,” Fallon pointed out reasonably. “Having one in the house will help you get into the spirit of the season.”

      Nothing in his expression hinted at the tiniest bit of holiday spirit, but he shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. If you want to take the kids out and chop down a tree, I’ll see if one of the kids from next door is available to help you drag it back.”

      “Uh-uh,” Fallon said, shaking her head. “I’m not taking the kids out to chop down a tree—we are.”

      “I don’t have time—”

      “Make time,” she said, interrupting his familiar refrain.

      He frowned. “When did you get to be so bossy?”

      “She’s always been bossy,” Bella chimed in. “I don’t know how it’s possible that you’ve known her for more than twenty years and not known that.”

      But Fallon wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed her ability to take charge and assert herself when the situation warranted. There were a lot of things that Jamie had never noticed about her. Most notably the Montana-sized crush she’d had on him since she was a girl experiencing the first stirring of adolescent hormones.

      And while a part of her was grateful that he’d never discovered her feelings for him, another part continued to be frustrated that he’d always viewed her as his kid sister’s friend. Sure, over the years they’d developed a friendship of their own outside of their mutual connection to Bella, but Jamie had only ever seen her as a pal to hang out with and an occasional confidante.

      She was the only person he’d shared his anger and frustration with when he’d discovered that his wife had secretly been taking birth control while he’d thought they were trying to get pregnant. Of course, when Paula finally had conceived, Jamie had shared the good news with everyone in Rust Creek Falls. He’d been so thrilled, he’d practically shouted it from the rooftops. But he’d subsequently admitted to Fallon that Paula wasn’t nearly as excited about having a baby as he was—and even less so when they learned that she would have three of them.

      “I thought you were the bossy one,” Jamie responded to his sister’s comment while his speculative gaze lingered on Fallon.

      “I’m not bossy,” she denied.

      His lips twitched. “Of course not. And now, I really do need to get out to the barn to check on Daisy,” he said, suddenly remembering his expectant mare.

      Fallon nodded. “Will we see you at lunch?”

      “Not if I’m going to finish up early to go out hunting for a Christmas tree.”

      “I didn’t ask you to do that,” she pointed out.

      “It gets dark early this time of year.” He snagged a couple of muffins out of the container on the table, then winked at her on his way to the door. “These will tide me over.”

      She started to offer to wrap them up and fill a thermos with coffee, then clenched her teeth to hold back the words. She was pleased that he liked the muffins, but while offering baked goods was an acceptable and neighborly gesture, sending him off with a bagged lunch and a hot beverage was something a wife would do.

      And Fallon wasn’t his wife—she was his friend and his children’s babysitter, nothing more. She needed to remember that—for the sake of her own heart.

       Chapter Two

      While Jamie was making his way to the door, his sister started clearing the breakfast dishes off the table.

      “If you have to get to work, I can take care of that,” Fallon offered.

      “I’m not really in a hurry,” Bella admitted.

      “You don’t have to meet Hudson to look at applications?”

      “Not until this afternoon.”

      Fallon shook her head. “Really? You were so afraid to sample my baking that you made up that story?”

      “I didn’t make it up,” her friend denied. “I just fudged the timeline a little.”

      “I’ve prepared lunch and occasionally dinner here numerous times over the past ten months and you never balked at eating anything I’ve cooked,” she pointed out.

      “You know how to put a meal together,” Bella confirmed. “Dessert? Not so much.”

      “Ouch.”

      “You have a lot of talents,” her friend soothed. “Baking just isn’t one of them.”

      “But the muffins were good, weren’t they?”

      “They were very good, but one batch of muffins isn’t going to make anyone forget the potluck experience.”

      Fallon scowled as she washed the babies’ hands and faces, then she and Bella carried the triplets into the living room.

      Because Henry, Jared and Katie were preemies—born almost two months ahead of schedule—they were a little bit delayed in their development and had only recently started to crawl and climb. Their sudden mobility had Jamie in a panic about childproofing the house, so there were now caps in all of the outlets, child locks and latches on all of the doors and drawers and baby gates to block off the rooms that were completely off-limits to the little ones.

      He also had a play yard—which Fallon thought was intended to go in the yard, but he’d assured her was also suitable for indoor use and gave the babies a little more room to roam around than a traditional playpen. But for now, with Bella there to provide an extra set of eyes, they were letting the babies crawl around the floor.

      While her brothers were playing with wooden toy cars, Katie was preoccupied with the sparkly ring on Bella’s finger. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Fallon said.

      Katie, of course, didn’t respond but continued to be mesmerized by the massive diamond.

      “You’re