Page 48 of Texas Temptation

“Hi Caleb. How are you doing?”

“I’m almost all better. Aunt Amelia said if I had any more energy, they’d have to bottle it to sell.” He almost bounced on the bed. “Rosita has games we played. Candyland is my favorite—only you don’t get any real candy. And there’s Chutes and Ladders. Her grandchildren play them and so I got to, too. And Aunt Amelia taught me how to play Go Fish. Can we play cards, Mommy? I’m really good. Aunt Amelia said I’m a natural.”

Jordan nodded and laughed at his exuberance, all the while conscious of Cade’s brooding presence in the doorway. She flicked a glance at him from time to time, wondering what he was thinking. She hadn’t expected him to stay through Caleb’s recitation. And his expression was anything but comfortable. But he didn’t leave.

“Sounds like so much fun. We’ll have to get cards to take home with us,” she said, wondering where she could also find the games. Maybe at a store in town. Otherwise, she’d have to wait until they returned to South Beach.

“I’m sure we have a few decks lying around. Caleb can have a couple,” Cade said.

Jordan looked at him, struck by how lonely he looked. Standing in the doorway as if looking in on something, he couldn’t quite join.

She longed to ask him to come sit on the bed, to tell Caleb about their trip, but dare she? If she did, what would he think? That she was trying to make more of their relationship than there was? Or did he just want to be included?

“Come in and tell Caleb about card games you played as a child,” she said, daring to try.

For a moment she thought he’d join them. Then he straightened.

“I have work to do,” he said, turning to leave.

Jordan’s heart sank. She had hoped.

“Mommy, I got to play with a dog. Mr. Murray brought him in. Rosita didn’t like it, but Aunt Amelia said it was all right. He didn’t have a tail, but he wiggled all the time, and licked me.”

“I wish I had been here. Did you like the dog?”

She tried to focus on Caleb’s animated descriptions of the cattle dog who had visited, but part of her wondered about Cade. Had he gone to change? Would he head for the office? Or just close himself away in the study?

Already the trip to Los Angeles was fading.

Amelia waited for Jordan to join her in the dining room before beginning dinner. Jordan still wore the skirt and blouse from the flight and was pleased Amelia liked it.

“Not as feminine and flowery as the dresses you like,” Jordan said, slipping into her place at the table.

“Ah, I do like my frilly dresses,” Amelia said with a satisfied smile. “But they’re not for everyone. That outfit suits you and makes you look older, more mature. How did you fare in Los Angeles? It’s been an age since I was there. If we had all gone, we could have taken Caleb to an amusement park while Cade worked.”

“I went to help Cade,” Jordan reminded her gently.

When Rosita entered carrying a platter of roast beef surrounded by new potatoes, Jordan smiled at her.

“I hear I have you to thank for hours of fun Caleb had playing board games.”

“He’s a delightful child. If he’s here when my grandchildren come to visit, they will play well together.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Amelia asked. “And as soon as the bandages come off and they make sure his eye set, he’ll be rearing to go. Jack said he could help groom one of the gentler horses, if that is okay with you, Jordan. I don’t see why not. Vicki had her own pony by this age, though she didn’t take care of it all by herself. That would be too much for a child, only four. But she could ride with a lead and loved to visit and talk with that pony. And feed it carrots. Remember, Rosita?”

“Indeed, I do, Señorita. I will bring the rolls.”

Cade’s place had been set, but he hadn’t arrived.

“Caleb said you taught him how to play Go Fish,” Jordan said as they ate.

“Vicki loved to play card games on a rainy day. She and Marissa or she and Cade or all three of them. Especially in the wintertime when Cade didn’t work outside, or have to go into Dallas. They’d fix popcorn and spend the afternoon in front of the fire.”

The older woman grew pensive.

“I shall always miss them. They went far before their time.”

Jordan nodded, wondering if that was what Cade had seen at Caleb’s bedroom door—an echo of the times he and his wife played cards with their daughter. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to come in and join them.

---