“Well, clearly he wants to be.”
Tara fisted both hands on her hips. “I don’t get it. Why? What’s in this for him? He doesn’t know me. Yet he’s going out of his way to be nice to me, to my brother and sister. Nobody does all that for just a smile.”
“A smile?”
“That’s what he said he was after when I asked him. He wanted to make me smile.”
“Oh honey.” Daniel laid a hand over his heart. “That is just the sweetest—”
“Craziest,” Tara interrupted.
“You, my darling girl, are jaded and suspicious.”
“I have to be jaded and suspicious. The world is not a nice place, Daniel.”
“You don’t live in the world, sweet cheeks. You live in Wishful.”
“Which, I concede is a nicer place than most, but still.”
“I think you’re looking for some ulterior motive where there is none. You need to consider the fact this really is what it appears to be.”
“Which is?”
“You’ve caught the attention of a real dreamboat guy, and he just wants to spend time with you. And, in this case, I don’t mean ‘spend time’ as a euphemism. Although Jace Applewhite is hunky and delicious enough that if I weren’t with Christoff and he swung the other way, I’d be all about spending some quality time with him.”
“Daniel,” she chided.
“What? Don’t you find him attractive?”
“If you like the tall, broad-shouldered lumberjack type.” She pictured Jace hefting that axe. “With those big, capable hands...”
Daniel grinned.
“Okay, yes, damn it, I find him attractive. I’m not blind or dead.” Which was probably part of the problem. It wasn’t nearly as easy to shut off the attraction to Jace as it had been to the various other guys who’d shown interest over the last year and a half.
“So what’s stopping you?”
“I don’t have time for dating.” She’d made the excuse often enough, it fell off her tongue in a rote recitation. “I am, as you pointed out, basically a mom. A single mom at that.”
Daniel took her by the shoulders. “Sweetie, I respect the fact that you’ve embraced that role and all the responsibilities that go with it. God knows those kids needed that. But it’s still important for you to remember that you’re more than that.”
How can I be, when I’m here? In coming to Wishful to be guardian to her siblings, she’d given up the core of her identity. “I barely remember what else I am or used to be.”
“You are a vibrant and gorgeous woman in her prime, who deserves to get a little attention just for her. Jace Applewhite wants to give you that attention. And he’s arranged for a situation where you actually have opportunity for that. Why on earth wouldn’t you take advantage of that?”
“Because.” There were reasons.
“Because, why?”
“I don’t know if I even remember how.”
“How long has it been since you did something as normal as going out on a date?”
“A year. And I’m not sure it actually counts as a date. When he came to pick me up at the house and saw the kids and babysitter, it took him only about twenty minutes to make his excuses and drop me back off. Nobody in my age bracket wants to sign on for a package deal. And who can blame them? Twenty-one is hardly the time most people are thinking about kids. They’re too busy figuring out what they want to do with their lives, playing the field. Nobody wants to be a pseudo-parent at that age.” God knew she hadn’t.
“Yes, but consider the fact that Jace knows about the kids. Knew about them when he offered up the apartment. He’s known about them all along and seems to enjoy spending actual time with them. All points in his favor. He’s still not running. He actually likes you, Tara.”
He hadn’t balked at the news that her father was in prison either.