"Well, stop trying," she told him coolly. "I'm here for two weeks, that's all. In all likelihood, because you're going to build on the carnival grounds, I probably won't be coming through here next year. And even if I did, by next year you'll probably have a wife or a life, or something to keep you busy and away from me, so why don't you and those lips of yours just back off?"

Angry, she pushed past him and hurried back into the house.

Will stood there, a little stunned, a little dazed. Several half theories notwithstanding, he really wasn't sure just what had happened here. He didn't have a tiger by the tail, it was more like an entire pride of lions.

Emphasis, he thought, on the word pride.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen," he murmured to himself, "is what's called being run over by a freight train."

Because he wasn't entirely sure he could trust himself to be civil to Denise if he ran into her in the house right now, Will waited a few more minutes after he'd reached the house before entering. The only thing he was sure of was that he had never encountered anyone quite like Denise before. Never encountered anyone who made him jump through emotional hoops before.

As of yet, the jury was still out on whether or not that was a good thing.

The grandfather clock in the foyer was just preparing to chime five o'clock the next morning when Denise came down the stairs and into the living room carrying a still partially sleeping Audra in her arms.

She was surprised to find that Will was up ahead of her and appeared ready to go. Recovering quickly, she tried to sound as polite and distant as possible.

Denise shifted Audra up higher in her arms to keep her from slipping. Audra seemed not to notice. "I didn't know whether you were serious about getting an early start."

He unfolded his long legs and rose from the sofa. "I'm usually very serious about the things I say." It was only being around Denise that tended to scramble his composure and thought process.

Usually. Denise latched onto the telltale word. He was probably subtly warning her that when he'd spoken to her last night, he hadn't been serious. In other words, she shouldn't allow herself to feel that there was something evolving between them. Well, at least they agreed. Nothing should be evolving between them. Any sweet talk coming from him was all just part of a game that men played.

But she'd already learned that.

If possible, she stiffened a little more. "I'll keep that in mind."

Will had absolutely no idea what she was trying to communicate with that line. Maybe it was even better that way.

Hearing a noise behind her, Denise turned around. Zoe was smiling at her warmly, gesturing toward the kitchen with a spatula. "Good morning," she called out.

Jake nodded a greeting in Denise's direction as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Don't want it to get cold," he murmured.

"Cold?" Zoe laughed. "It doesn't even have time to hit the plate from the skillet before you eat it. Man thinks it'll hurt my feelings if he chews before swallowing."

Standing like the outsider she was, Denise felt a pang of longing at the love she saw thriving between the older couple. The kind of love that she knew would never be part of her own life. Magical things like all-enduring love just never happened to people like her. She pressed Audra closer to her breast.

"So, what can I get you for breakfast?" Zoe asked, one foot back in the kitchen.

Out of the corner of her eye, Denise saw Jake readily helping himself to a hearty breakfast. He had an appet.i.te like her father used to. When there had been that much on the table to eat.

"Nothing, really," Denise a.s.sured the other woman.

A hint of a disapproving frown creased Zoe's lips before she spoke.

"Nonsense, you need to keep your strength up." Sensing further resistance, Zoe leveled a stern look at Denise. "You might as well resign yourself to the fact that you are not leaving here until I see you eat something."

Will was beside Denise. "Better listen to her." There was affection in his voice as he glanced at his mother. "She might look like a pushover, but she ruled us with an iron hand. Still does." Looking down into Denise's eyes, he winked at her.

A wave of queasiness came on response. Her empty stomach had nothing to do with it. "All right," she surrendered. "Toast."

"On the side." Zoe counternegotiated with a decisive nod of her head. "Come on, child, let's get you off to a proper start."

For an inkling of a moment, as Zoe led her off, Denise felt as if she was twelve again. She had to admit, at least to herself, that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation.

Denise looked at Will as he turned off the engine after pulling into a parking s.p.a.ce in the visitors section of the hospital parking lot. "What are you doing?"

Unbuckling his seat belt, he pocketed the car key. "Parking the car."

She didn't want him to think he had to accompany her into the building, or wait until she got inside. "You don't have to. Audra and I can walk from here by ourselves."

Will got out, then rounded the hood in time to open the rear pa.s.senger door for Audra. The little girl fairly bounced out of the car.

"I have no concern about you walking, Denise," he said matter-of-factly, taking Audra's hand in his. "I figure you've been doing it long enough to get it right. I'm coming with you."

She didn't like the way Audra gravitated toward him instead of her. She didn't want to have to wean her daughter's affection away from Will. Or deal with the pieces once they were on the road again.

Puzzled by his motives, Denise studied his face. "Why?"

He was already walking toward the hospital. Denise had no choice but to keep up. "To see how your father's doing."

The man's legs were much too long, Denise thought She found she had to hurry in order just to keep pace. "I repeat, why?"

Will waited for Denise to catch up at the curb, then walked through the electronic doors with Audra. "Why are you so suspicious?"

He wasn't supposed to be the one asking questions, she was. "I find it easier that way. No surprises."

The lobby of the hospital was warm and inviting just the way he'd meant it to be, Will noted with a small sense of pride. There was nothing threatening or forbidding about it as hospitals had once been.

"Surprises are part of the nicer things in life," he told Denise.

Surprises usually meant something had gone wrong, or something bad was about to happen. "Not as far as I'm concerned."

Audra tugged on his arm. "I like surprises," she told him when he looked down at her.

He'd take support any way he could find it. Will scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed next to nothing. She almost did.

"Girl after my own heart," he teased affectionately. And, if he were being honest, she'd already won it. It had to be a family trait, he decided.

Audra's mouth formed an almost perfect O as she looked at him in confused surprise. "I'm not after your heart, Will."

"Well, too bad, you've got it anyway." Giving her a huge bear hug, he set her down on the floor again. "All right, ladies, let's get the show on the road." He saw the puzzled frown on Audra's face. "Figure of speech, honey."

Audra's eyes danced with laughter she hadn't let loose yet. "You talk funny."

"Sometimes," he agreed. And then he looked over Audra's head at Denise. "And as to why, I thought maybe your father could do with a little encouragement since you seem bent on seeing only the dark side."

Denise was about to snap that he could leave her father to her, but bit back the retort. He was trying to do a good deed, even though she had no idea why. There wasn't anything in it for him.

"That's very nice of you," she finally guardedly allowed.

He began to lead them to the elevators on the side. "Haven't you noticed? I'm a nice guy."

"Yes," Denise muttered under her breath, "I've noticed."

The grin on Will's face as they entered the elevator told her that he'd heard her.

It was a s.p.a.cious, bright-looking waiting area, designed to help soothe the frayed nerves of those who occupied it Denise felt agitated the moment she entered it. Having Will sitting beside her didn't help her state of mind.

Rising, she went to stand by the window. It looked out on the open field behind the hospital. She stared at it without seeing. Her mind was on what was happening within the operating room not thirty feet away. Glancing up, she saw Will's reflection in the gla.s.s. He was reading to Audra. She struggled against slipping into the warm, comfortable place that yawned before her. It was only an illusion. She knew that.

"You don't have to stay here, you know."

Marking his place, Will looked up. Her back was tense, he thought It bothered him that there was nothing he could do to help her. "I know."

She swung around, spoiling for a fight Wanting to tear into something. Anything to take her mind off the operation. Off the fears dancing around her like a bedeviled witch doctor in an old Sat.u.r.day morning cliffhanger.

"Then why are you?"

He placed the book on Audra's lap and rose. Crossing to Denise, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't tense, she was rigid. "Because I think you could use a hand to hold."

"Mama can hold my hand," Audra volunteered.

Turning, Will smiled at the little girl. "Of course she can." He looked at Denise. "I meant a large hand." He closed his hand over hers.

Against her better instincts, Denise left her hand where it was, at least for a moment She couldn't have said why it felt comforting to have this man holding her hand, but it did.

But because it did, she forced herself to pull her hand away. She looked at the time. Ten minutes since the last time she'd stared at the clock. "I thought you said you had to go to work."

Will shook his head. "No, you said that I decided to call in and take a few days off." He smiled into her eyes. There was vulnerability there. He wondered what she would say if she knew he'd seen through her facade. "I've got a lot of vacation time stored up, but until today, I really haven't seen the need to take any."

"Need?" She pounced on the word as if it had reared its head and bitten her.

"Wrong word." He realized his error. She probably thought that he meant he needed to comfort her. Denise obviously thought that being occasionally needy meant being weak. "Desire," Will amended.

Desire.

The word rippled along her skin as if it were a seductive whisper.

Here she was, in a hospital waiting area, antic.i.p.ating the outcome of her father's surgery, her daughter sitting not five fidgety feet away from her and she was actually allowing herself to be affected by a man who had been a total stranger less than forty-eight hours ago.

d.a.m.n, but she should have her head examined. And her heart permanently excised.

"As long as you want to hang around..."

"Yes?" he coaxed when she let her voice trail off.

She nodded toward Audra. "You might as well finish reading that story to Audra."

Will grinned as he turned to look at Audra. "I never could resist a captivating smile." Crossing back to the sofa, he picked up the book and resumed reading.

Denise turned away and went back to looking out the window. The sound of his voice was a soothing cushion for her agitated thoughts.

"You're humming." Will couldn't help the amazement in his voice.

"Yes, I'm humming." She would have been singing if she could carry a tune. The surgery had gone well and everything looked upbeat for a change.

"Are you happy, Mama?" Audra struggled against the seat belt that was buckled around her lap, trying to lean forward.

Denise half turned in her seat. "Yes, I'm happy, baby. Grampa's going to be just fine."

"Just like Will promised," Audra reminded her loyally.

For once, she didn't feel like arguing. "Yes, just like Will promised." Her eyes shifted toward him. "Got any more promises you want to keep?"

"A few," he said significantly.

"I wish..."

"What do you wish?" he coaxed when Denise didn't finish.

But her courage was gone and with it, the moment. "I wish I didn't have to work today."

He had a strong feeling that wasn't what she'd wanted to say, but he let it pa.s.s.

"I'll help you, Mama."

"Like you always do, baby, like you always do," she murmured with affection.

"Looks like you have a welcoming committee," he commented. Several of the crew members were gathered at the entrance to the grounds.

"Uh-oh," she murmured. The euphoria, she thought with a pang, had been short-lived. Time to return to the real world.

"Hey, Denise, where've you been?" the tallest of the men demanded, striding toward the car as soon as Will parked it. Thin and wiry, Skip looked to be solid muscle despite his frame. Both eyebrows knit together to form a single dark, angry line. He looked into the interior of the car. "And where's Tate?"

She wasn't accustomed to having to account for herself, especially to someone who worked for her. "He's in the hospital. It's a long story," she said quickly to forestall any questions. She had one of her own. "What's the matter?" Skip wouldn't have been standing around, waiting for her if everything was going well.

He didn't bother with a preamble. "Todd and Angel quit this morning."

The words felt like two sharp knives slashing away at her strength. "Why?" She looked from one man to another, looking for an answer.

Skip said nothing, but the man next to him, Roy, told her. "They said it was a long time in coming. When Jules left," he mentioned the last man to quit just before they came to Serendipity, "that started them thinking that maybe they should find something else to do, too. And then Harry left yesterday. Todd and Angel said there was no future in staying here."

Momentarily stymied, she blew out a breath. What next? "Great, four people in one month." She thought of her father. He hadn't been able to help putting the structures up, but he still ran the carousel, at least in theory. For the sake of his pride, even though he was absent, she amended the count "Five."

Roy looked at her, concern in his dark brown eyes. "What are we going to do, Denise? We can't be everywhere at once. And how are we going to finish putting up the rides and testing them? Cecil and me-" he nodded at the man behind him "-have been working since sunup, but-"