He’d been in love once before, but she’d left him when he spiraled out of control after his niece’s death. Six long months, and a lot of therapy later, he’d regained most of his equilibrium and she’d moved on. Surprisingly, he hadn’t missed her too badly. Maybe he’d been in love with the idea of being in love and having a family of his own. He couldn’t help but think that perhaps it was time to start thinking about the future again. Suddenly, he was eager to get home and call his mother and tell her he’d met someone.
Granted, there were a million pitfalls ahead. Not the least of which was the fact that Joy and Chantal lived in California, and he lived in Canada. He pushed the sudden enthusiasm down. He had the rest of the train journey to get to know them better, to figure out if the connection he felt was shared.
He tuned out his thoughts and after a long, slow glance at his companions, focused his attention back on the fire.
Someone to his left threw something at the fire. It hit with an audible thump and burst into an explosion of brightly colored sparks. People screamed and Chantal jerked backward. Seth lunged for her arm to hold her upright. He missed and in what felt like slow motion, she tipped backward and went down. Hard.
Joy screeched and dropped to her knees. “Chantal? Are you okay?” She glared at Seth. “Help me get her up. We’re leaving.”
“Mama, I’m fine. I was watching the carolers over there. The noise startled me. I’m fine.”
“I don’t care. Seth, help me,” Joy demanded.
He bent and lifted Chantal to her feet, though he was certain she could have done it herself, given the time to do so. “There you go,” he said, making sure she had a proper grip on her crutches.
“We’re leaving,” Joy barked.
Chantal looked crestfallen but didn’t argue. Seth was annoyed, but he understood Joy’s feelings. “Do you want me to lead or follow?” he asked.
“I’ll go first. You make sure she doesn’t fall again,” Joy growled.
Seth nodded. Chantal gave him a ‘my mom is nuts’ look but followed her mother out. The silence between them on the way out of the park and in the taxi to the train was arctic cold. Seth’s heart shriveled.
“Can we talk?” Seth asked as they crossed the platform to the train.
“No. It’s past Chantal’s bedtime and I won’t leave her alone.”
Okay, he could respect that. “What if I found a babysitter?”
“I should just trust some random babysitter?” She gave him a withering stare.
A lesser man would have been defeated. “How about I find someone, and if you approve of them, we spend a few minutes together?” He wasn’t above pleading. For all that their relationship ran the gamut from flames to ashes, he wanted to talk to her, see why she was so afraid of giving Chantal an inch, to learn who she was when she wasn’t in Mama Bear Mode.
“Maybe,” Joy snapped. “If I feel I can trust them.”
“Where can I find you when I locate someone?”
She gave him their room number and turned to go.
“Goodnight, Joy. Sleep well, Chantal. Maybe we can see each other tomorrow.”
Joy glared at him over her shoulder. One thing was for certain: the woman had spunk. He waved and winked when Chantal looked back at him. She grinned in return.
Joy pushed her hair back and furiously brushed it into a ponytail. She was exhausted. Chantal was in bed reading but showed no signs of going to sleep. Part of her hoped Seth found a suitable sitter. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gone out without Chantal. Even if it was with Seth, she could sure use a night out.
How could such a good-looking and helpful man be so infuriating? He made her crazy in more ways than one. She wanted to see more of him, and at the same time hoped never to see his face again. Maybe he’d get off the train now. She snorted at the ridiculous thought. She wasn’t about to give up a free train trip and three weeks of free side excursions. Why would he?
“Mama, there’s someone at the door.”
Really? She hadn’t heard a knock. She strode to the door and peered through the peephole. Seth. She might have known. She yanked the door open.
“Hi. You know Maddie, right?” Seth said instead of greeting her. “I ran into her in the lounge car. Chris is sleeping, and she has the night off.”
“I’d love to watch Chantal for you,” Maddie smiled warmly.
Joy debated with herself. A nurse would be the perfect babysitter. She twisted her lips together and clenched her fists. They were on a train and security guards patrolled the halls at night to make sure there were no uninvited passengers and to watch for potential problems. It would probably be safe.
“I brought my book and some coloring pages for us to do.” She pulled a sheaf of papers from her purse. A box of pencil crayons and a few other things clattered to the ground. Joy knelt and picked up a lip balm, a hairbrush, a bottle of spirit gum, and a tin of black shoe polish from the floor and passed them to Maddie, who was picking up other things. Maddie blushed. “Sorry. I carry a lot of stuff. Both mine and Chris’s.” She shrugged. “I probably should have dumped some of it out, but I wasn’t expecting to babysit. Well, what do you think? Can I babysit? I’ve been missing my sister’s kids since I started working for Chris.”
