Cover Of Night

"Mimi is Mommy’s mommy," Cate said, glad she didn’t have to say that ten times really fast. "Just like I’m your mommy."

She saw Tanner’s lips move as he silently repeated the words Mommy’s mommy. He stuck his finger in his mouth as he regarded Sheila with laser-beam intensity.

"I feel like a zoo animal," Sheila complained.

"Zoo?" Tanner asked around his finger, his interest caught.

"Zoo! Mimi’s taking us to the zoo!" Tucker shouted with glee.

"Trapped," said Cate, grinning at Sheila.

"Ha ha. I happen to think that’s a great idea. We certainly will go to the zoo," she promised firmly. "If you behave and go to bed when you’re supposed to."

Once the boys saw her putting their clothes in their suitcases, the jig was up, as Cate had known it would be. Their excitement almost fizzed out of control. They started dragging out the toys they wanted to take with them, which of course would have required chartering a plane for that purpose alone. Cate let Sheila handle the situation, since she would be in charge of them for the next couple of weeks and the boys needed to get even more in the habit of listening to her.

Finally they were packed, with a limit of two toys each. By then they were winding down, and Cate left Sheila to the chore of getting them bathed and into their pajamas while she went downstairs and tackled the job of switching their car seats from her Explorer to Sheila’s rental. She should have done that in the daylight, she thought after wrestling with the straps and buckles in the overhead dome’s dim light. Finally the seats were secure, and she trudged back inside to make name and address tags for the seats, since they would have to be checked in to the plane’s luggage hold. She made another trip outside to put the tags on the seats.

The September night was chilly, and Cate wished she’d grabbed a jacket before going out. She paused for a moment, staring up at the star-shot sky. The air was so clear there seemed to be thousands of stars hanging overhead, many more than she’d seen anywhere else.

The night surrounded her, but it wasn’t silent. The roar of the river was constantly in the background, accompanied by the rustle of leaves as the wind whispered through the trees. The uppermost branches were already starting to turn color; fall was coming fast, and as winter took hold, business would slack off to the point that some weeks she wouldn’t have any paying guests at all. Maybe she should start serving lunch during the slow season, she thought. Just simple stuff, like soups and stews, sandwiches; they were easy to make and would keep some money coming in. When snow was two and three feet deep on the ground, the promise of hot soup or stew or chili would bring the citizens of Trail Stop over. Heck, it might even bring Conrad and Gordon Moon in from their ranch.

Sheila’s question about Cal swam back into her mind. She had never even remotely connected him with anything romantic – but then, she hadn’t thought romantically about anyone. She still couldn’t get her mind around that concept, but she felt that odd little pain in her stomach again as she wondered once more why he was so closemouthed around her. If he could chat with other people, why not her? Was something wrong with her? Did he shy away from her because he didn’t want her to get ideas about him? The idea was almost laughable – and yet it wasn’t. She had two small children. A lot of men didn’t want to get involved with women who had children from a previous marriage.

But why was she even thinking this way about Cal? She had no basis for that supposition. She’d never been interested in him in that way, and if he had any such ideas about her, then he was the world’s best actor, because he’d revealed nothing.

She shoved the whole subject away. It was nuts, and she was nuts for letting herself obsess about it. She should be making plans for the next two weeks.

While the boys were gone, she could get some things done, such as clean out the freezer and pantry, and pile rocks around the circumference of the parking lot to make it more official-looking than just some gravel spread around. She could go through their clothes and pack up the things that were too small or too worn, and put them in the attic. She should probably donate the clothes to a shelter or something, but she couldn’t bring herself to part with their things vet. She still had all their baby clothes, the tiny onesies, the bibs and socks and adorable little shoes. Maybe by the time they started school, she would get over this ridiculous attachment to their outgrown clothing; if she didn’t, she could foresee the entire house being used as storage.

Yes, she had a lot with which to occupy herself while the boys were gone. Maybe she’d be so tired at the end of the day she wouldn’t be in tears from missing them so much.

That reminded her that if she didn’t gel inside in a hurry, they would already be asleep. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to tuck them in and read them a story for the next two weeks, so she didn’t want to miss tonight.

Sheila was just getting them into their pajamas when Cate entered the steamy bathroom. "All clean," Tucker said, beaming up at her.

She bent to kiss the top of his head, hugging him close and then straightening with him in her arms. He snuggled close, his head on her shoulder, making her heart squeeze at the knowledge that these days were flying by and soon they would be too big for her to pick up – not that they’d want her to. By then they probably wouldn’t want her hugging and kissing them, either.

Cate picked up Tanner, who wound his arm around her neck and smiled winsomely at her. She pulled back a little, narrowing her eyes at him, which might have been a little more effective if she hadn’t been patting his back at the same time. "You’re up to something," she said suspiciously.

"Not," he assured her, and smothered a yawn.