Free A Cold Creek Reunion by RaeAnne Thayne Page A

unnecessarily.
    “Yeah, I heard.”
    “Alex? Maya? Come out this instant.”
    “They’re in here,” he called out, although some part of him really didn’t want to take on more trouble. He thought of their encounter a few days earlier when she had looked so fresh and pretty while she worked on the inn’s flower gardens—and had cut into his heart more effectively than if she had used her trowel.
    She charged into the room, every inch the concerned mother. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you two answer me? I’ve been calling through the whole hotel.”
    Taft decided to take one for the team. “I’m afraid that’s my fault. We had the sander going. We couldn’t hear much up here.”
    “Look, Mama. Soft.” Maya held up the piece of wood she had helped him sand. “Feel!”
    Laura stepped closer, reluctance in her gaze. He was immediately assailed by the scent of her, of flowers and springtime.
    She ran a hand along the wood, much as her daughter had. “Wow. That’s great.”
    “I did it,” Maya declared.
    Laura arched an eyebrow. She managed to look huffy and disapproving at him for just a moment before turning back to her daughter with what she quickly transformed into an interested expression. “Did you, now? With the power sander and everything?”
    “I figured I would let them run the circular saw next,” he said. “Really, what’s the worst that can happen?”
    She narrowed her gaze at him as if trying to figure out if he was teasing. Whatever happened to her sense of humor? he wondered. Had he robbed her of that or had it been her philandering jackass of a husband?
    “I’m kidding,” he said. “I was helping them the whole way. Maya even wore ear protection, didn’t you? Show your mom.”
    The girl put on her headgear and started singing some made-up song loudly, pulling the ear guards away at random intervals.
    “Oh, that looks like great fun,” Laura said, taking the ear protectors off her daughter and handing them to Taft. Their hands brushed as he took them from her and a little charge of electricity arced between them, sizzling right to his gut.
    She pulled her hands away quickly and didn’t meet his gaze. “You shouldn’t be up here bothering Chief Bowman. I told you to stay away when he’s working.”
    And why would she think she had to do that? he wondered, annoyed. Did she think he couldn’t be trusted with her kids? He was the Pine Gulch fire chief, for heaven’s sake, and a trained paramedic to boot. Public safety was sort of his thing.
    “It was fun,” Alex declared. “I got to use the sander first. Feel my board now, Mama.”
    She appeared to have no choice but to comply. “Nice job. But next time you need to listen to me and not bother Chief Bowman while he’s working.”
    “I didn’t mind,” Taft said. “They’re fun company.”
    “You’re busy. I wouldn’t want them to be a bother.”
    “What if they’re not?”
    She didn’t look convinced. “Come on, you two. Tell Chief Bowman thank-you for letting you try out the dangerous power tools, after you promise him you’ll never touch any of them on your own.”
    “We promise,” Alex said dutifully.
    “Promise,” his sister echoed.
    “Thanks for showing me how to use a sander,” Alex said. “I need one of those.”
    Now there was a disaster in the making. But because the kid wasn’t his responsibility, as his mother had made quite clear, he would let Laura deal with it.
    “Thanks for helping me,” he said. “I couldn’t have finished without you two lending a hand.”
    “Can I help you again sometime?” the boy asked eagerly.
    Laura tensed beside him and he knew she wanted him to say no. It annoyed the heck out of him and he wanted to agree, just to be contrary, but he couldn’t bring himself to blatantly go against her wishes.
    Instead, he offered the standard adult cop-out even though it grated. “We’ll have to see, kiddo,” he answered.
    “Okay, now that you’ve had a chance with the