Free Fannin's Flame by Tina Leonard Page A

went to the doctor who presided at the rodeo, the one all the Jefferson boys thought was so pretty. She’s very smart, and she agreed to help me find a midwife so I could have the baby at home.”
    “What?” Mason had come in to hear what Doc had to say, and his whole body went rigid. “You can’t do that, Mimi! It’s dumb!”
    She’d been pale, Kelly noticed, until Mason’s pigheaded statement. And then it seemed life was breathed into Mimi through stubborn, determined, prideful will. “It’s not dumb, Mason. You just shut up. ”
    Everyone was silent for a moment.
    Then Fannin said, “Well, just like old times around here now, isn’t it?” which broke the ice and made everyone laugh, except Kelly, who wondered if it really was like old times or if everybody was just doing an amazing job of hiding their true feelings.
    “I’ll go over and stay with Mimi,” she said suddenly.
    “No,” Helga said, “I go with Mimi.” And she patted Mimi’s hand telling Kelly what she planned to do.
    “Mama has decided to move over to Mimi’s,” Kelly told Fannin. “She says the sheriff and Mimi need her.” There, she thought, that ought to make everybody happy.
    And for some reason that made her mad—at Fannin. She couldn’t help remembering the conversation she’d overheard. And the order he’d e-mailed in to the Honey-Do Agency, as if he expected the world to be so easy for him that he could ask for the perfect woman. He’d tried to camouflage it as a work request, but she knew better.
    He’d been shopping. The man did like to shop. She knew that firsthand from their stroll in town, where the ladies had hung out from shop doors to call hello. She’d seen one girl give him a hug that was far from just-bein’-friendly.
    She knew just what Mr. Hard Case needed.
    “I’m going to stay here, Mason,” she announced.
    “Oh, sure, of course. Whatever you need.”
    “Oh, no. It’s a matter of what you need,” she said sweetly, her gaze deliberately on Fannin. “You’ll need housekeeping help. Mama needs me close by.And the Honey-Do Agency must keep their clients happy. This is a wonderful solution for everyone.”
    Fannin stared at her.
    “Now, you don’t need to do housekeeping here,” Mason said uncomfortably. “You’re a guest at our ranch.”
    “I’d rather earn my keep, if you don’t mind. I’ll take Mama’s job, and she can do what she feels called to do.” She smiled at Fannin. “I know how happy that will make everyone.”
    She didn’t miss the concerned glances the men threw each other. Boy, she had a surprise for them. They were going to wish they’d been nice to her mother—especially Mr. Cocky.
    And she went upstairs to unpack.
    The brothers watched as Fannin headed up the stairs, purpose in his step. “You were supposed to keep them separated,” Calhoun said to Last. “Another harebrained idea.”
    “Now she’s living here,” Archer said. “And by the look on Fannin’s face, nothing could have made him happier.”
    Last sat mutinously on the couch, staring at his brothers. “I didn’t know Mimi was going to have a stress attack of epic proportions.”
    “I didn’t know Mimi was so lonely,” Navarro said. “I feel pretty bad about that.”
    “Yeah.” Last mulled that one for a moment. Alone most of the time, pregnant and with a sick father, Mimi was overtired, the doctor had said. He’d put heron total bed rest until the baby arrived. Which had Mason totally gonzo. He was turning into a protective bull right before their eyes—sending his precious Helga next door was the least he intended to do for Mimi.
    But Kelly living at the ranch was far worse.
    “What was that?” Last said, sitting up straight. “I heard a door slam.”
    “I heard it, too,” Navarro said. “It came from up stairs.”
    They all listened.
    And then they heard it, plain as paint on a fence.
    Squeak, squeak, squeak!
    Last sighed. “Bedsprings locked into the rhythm of love. I didn’t even