Slowly steering the truck out onto the street, Josh didn’t draw another breath until he had it straightened out and headed down the highway toward his ranch. The streets were completely deserted, and as they passed car after car off in the ditches lining the road, he decided that although he’d made the right decision about taking Kiley and Emmie to the ranch, it was going to be one hell of a long drive home.
* * *
As Josh slowly steered his SUV onto the lane leading up to his ranch house, Kiley finally relaxed enough to unclench her fists. The five-mile trip from the TCC clubhouse to his ranch had taken the better part of an hour and had been more than a little nerve-racking. She had lost count of the vehicles they’d passed that had slid off the road, and there were several times it felt as if the Navigator was going to join them. Fortunately, Josh was an excellent driver and managed to control the truck.
Although she was reluctant to admit it even to herself, she was glad he had insisted that she and Emmie go home with him. There was no way she’d have made it to her subdivision without having an accident. The highway had too many curves, and combined with her inexperience driving on ice, it would have made it impossible not to end up in a ditch. The thought that Emmie might have been hurt caused a chill to snake up her spine.
“Are you cold?” Josh asked, reaching for the heater. “We’re almost at the house, but I can turn the heat up if you need me to.”
She shook her head. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.”
When Josh finally parked the SUV in the attached four-car garage and shut off the engine, he pushed a button on the remote clipped to the driver’s sun visor to close the door behind them. “It may have taken a while to get here, but we made it safe and sound.”
“Thank you,” she said, meaning it. “I can’t believe how bad the roads are.”
He nodded. “I’m afraid we’ll have to make our own dinner. I called Martha earlier this afternoon when the weather started to fall apart and told her and Bobby Ray to go on home. They have a ten-mile drive to their place and I wanted to make sure they got there before the roads got too bad.”
Kiley stared at him for a moment. The fact that he was concerned for his housekeeper’s and foreman’s safety caused her opinion of him to go up several notches.
“I make dinner for Emmie and myself every evening,” she said, smiling. “I think I can manage making dinner for the three of us.”
He grinned. “Good. I’m afraid my culinary skills only extend as far as boiling water for ramen noodles or packaged macaroni and cheese.”
“I thought most Texas men were born knowing how to grill,” she teased as she reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” he said, getting out of the truck to walk around to her side. Opening the door, he extended his hand to help her down from the seat. “I do know how to grill, but I’m not going to risk life and limb in this weather to walk out to the barbecue pit to burn a couple of steaks.”
She laughed. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I used it up on that drive home,” he said, his smile fading. He reached up to thread his fingers through her hair. “I’m glad you made the decision to come home with me.” He leaned down to brush her lips with his. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you trying to navigate all those curves.”
Her pulse sped up. “Josh—”
He placed his finger to her mouth to silence her. “I don’t want you to worry. Contrary to what happened three years ago, I swear I can be trusted.”
Before she could respond, he turned to open the Navigator’s back door and reached in to unbuckle Emmie. “She’s sound asleep,” he whispered, gently lifting her daughter from the car seat.
Kiley’s breath caught when Emmie roused, saw who held her, then put her arms around his neck and trustingly laid her head on his shoulder. Her daughter was friendly by nature, but she had never taken to anyone as quickly as she had Josh. Did Emmie somehow sense that he was supposed to be someone special in her life?
Following Josh as he led the way into the house, she couldn’t help but wonder what she was going to do about her suspicions that Josh might be Emmie’s real father. How was she supposed to even start that conversation? She couldn’t very well say, “Oh, by the way, I suspect the child you’re holding might be your daughter.” That wasn’t something just thrown out as a casual comment.
Deciding to keep her silence for the time being in hopes an opportunity presented itself, Kiley followed Josh through the mudroom into the spacious kitchen. When he turned on the lights, she caught her breath as she looked around. The black marble countertops and white custom-made cabinets were gorgeous, but it was the restaurant-size stainless-steel appliances that really caught her eye. They would make cooking an absolute joy.