The Cowboy's Baby Blessing. Deb Kastner

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СКАЧАТЬ gesture that left her feeling a bit flustered.

      “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

      Seth’s smile turned into a toothy grin. “Why don’t you toss that thing and we’ll see?”

      Good grief. It was probably better for her to throw the rope and be done with it. She had no idea what she was supposed to do when she missed, because up until this point in the auction, all the men had been successfully roped, one way or another. Sometimes the cowboys had to be artful in getting that rope around them, but so far every single one of them had managed.

      Rachel was bound to disappoint everyone with her pathetic attempt at lassoing Seth. Hopefully, the crowd would just let her retreat gracefully off the stage with her “prize” when she failed.

      Releasing her breath on a sigh, she aimed the loop like a Frisbee and threw her lariat in Seth’s general direction.

      As she knew it would, it didn’t even come close to flying over his head.

      More like waist high.

      How humiliating.

      But before she could so much as blink, Seth dived forward, over and into the lariat, rather than under it. She gasped in surprise as he tucked his body and somersaulted to his feet, the lariat successfully tightened around his waist.

      He offered his hand and gestured toward the platform stairs with another cheeky grin.

      “Ready for lunch?”

      Rachel couldn’t find her voice, so she merely nodded as the crowd applauded them both.

      Great. Her first thought of Seth being half man, half monkey was apparently not that far off the mark.

      He might be well able to come to her rescue where repairing the playhouse was concerned, but she had major doubts about how easy he would be to work with. He seemed like a nice enough man, but he didn’t appear to take anything too seriously.

      Would he go off swinging through the trees when he was supposed to be building playground equipment?

      She glanced over to Zooey and Lizzie, expecting to see smug looks on their faces, but they’d already lost interest in her and now stood with their heads together, no doubt debating the pros and cons of the next bachelor on the docket. Lizzie hadn’t put in her bid yet—and she was looking for a bachelor, someone she could eventually call her sweetheart.

      Rachel considered rejoining them and then discarded the idea. Her impish daughter and equally mischievous best friend were bound to embarrass her—and worse, Seth—and she’d just as soon wait as long as possible before that eventuality.

      Besides, Seth was probably hungry from all that backflipping and handstanding he’d done. At least if she had Seth to herself, she would be able to find out when and how she could avail him of his talents—those of the non-branch-swinging variety.

      She led him across the community green to where she’d left her picnic basket under the cool shade of an old oak tree. She’d had the toddlers in her day care decorate the basket as part of arts-and-crafts time. It was now threaded with multicolored ribbons and randomly dotted with finger paint. Rachel was proud of the creation, and especially of her kids.

      “Your basket looks awesome,” Seth complimented.

      She turned and met his gaze, half expecting to find mockery in his eyes, but he was totally earnest, insofar as she could tell. His smile looked sincere.

      “Thank you. My day-care kids made it for me.”

      “I can tell it was created with love,” he said, sinking down onto the checked wool blanket she’d spread on the ground before him.

      She smiled, pleased by his thoughtfulness. He was clearly a nice guy. Maybe this experience wouldn’t be a total disaster after all. She smiled appreciatively and laid out the classic country picnic fare of fried chicken, macaroni salad and baked beans, with chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

      Seth opened the water she offered him and downed the entire bottle without taking a breath. Wordlessly, she handed him a second bottle.

      “Thirsty much?” she asked when he took another long drink.

      He grinned. “Just rehydrating. Wait until you see my appetite.”

      She gestured to the food. “It’s all yours.”

      Although technically, it wasn’t. She couldn’t forget that Zooey would be around before long with her own healthy appetite. Rachel had packed some of Zooey’s favorites.

      In preparation, Rachel fixed her daughter a plate and set it aside, then filled a plate for herself.

      “Eating for two?” he teased.

      For the briefest moment Seth’s words took on an ugly context, one she’d long ago fought and overcome. She wasn’t reed thin like Lizzie and even Zooey, and she accepted now that she never would be.

      As a child, she’d been bullied. Worse than that, even, when she’d become a teenager.

      But the glimmer in Seth’s eyes wasn’t cruel. He was joshing her about the two plates she’d fixed. She wasn’t going to make it a sore point just because at one time in her life she’d had low self-esteem because of her weight.

      She laughed and casually leaned back on her palms, crossing her feet at the ankles.

      “This extra one is for my daughter, Zooey. She’s still following the auction, helping my best friend, Lizzie, pick out the perfect handsome bachelor for a date, but I imagine she’ll be around as soon as she gets hungry.”

      “Was that your daughter I saw bidding on your behalf?”

      Rachel nodded and shifted her gaze away from him, suddenly uncomfortable and embarrassed that he’d noticed that she hadn’t been doing her own bidding. She also worried that he might have misconstrued her words.

      If Lizzie was looking for a handsome bachelor to date, it stood to reason that Rachel had been looking for the same exact thing. And that Seth might think that bachelor was him.

      Oh dear.

      “Yes, that’s Zooey,” she cut in quickly, before he had too much time to think about what she’d said previously. “She’s sixteen. To be perfectly honest with you, she had an entirely different idea than me on what I was looking for. She took over my bidding completely without my consent.” Suddenly realizing how insulting that might sound, she scrambled to backpedal. “I didn’t—That is—I wouldn’t—”

      When she stammered to a halt and heat rushed to her face, he finished her sentence for her.

      “You wouldn’t have chosen to bid on me.”

      * * *

      No big deal, he told himself, but knowing that Rachel hadn’t really wanted to win him still pricked at his pride.

      Rachel met his gaze, her deep brown eyes thoughtful and expressive.

      “No. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have. That СКАЧАТЬ