River's End (River's End Series, #1)(36)

“Isn’t there a family friend or something?”

Charlie shook his head no again. “There’s Lynnie. But everyone knows she’s our housekeeper, and I don’t want to bring our housekeeper.”

Well, shit. It wasn’t like she could volunteer to take him. The girl who was having casual, meaningless sex with his uncle wasn’t exactly whom she pictured Charlie’s teacher wanting to be invited to a Mother’s Day Tea.

“What about that girl, Jocelyn?”

“She’s a stupid friend of Ben’s.”

“Hmm. So that’s a no?”

He shook his head, and turned towards her. “Who are you?”

Erin was taken aback. She was barely introduced to Charlie, but really, she’d been on the ranch for more than a month. “I’m Chance’s sister.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “I know that. I mean, aren’t you Uncle Joe’s girlfriend?”

Erin wanted to roll her eyes at that question. And how did Charlie pick up on it? “I’m… yes, I guess I’m Joey’s friend.” No. No, she so wasn’t.

“Couldn’t you come with me?”

Erin’s mouth opened. Shit. No. Jack would kill her if she consented to that. Not to mention the complete inappropriateness of the situation; she was screwing the boy’s uncle for crissake. She couldn’t pretend to be his mother at a school tea party.

“I don’t think that would work.”

Charlie stood up and fisted his hands. “Look around, you’re the only girl here. Who am I supposed to take? There isn’t anyone. It’s not like you’re doing anything else. You’re always just here, doing nothing. Why couldn’t you do this for me?”

Erin stood up. “Charlie, you don’t even know me.”

“So what? You’re a girl.”

“It’s not appropriate.”

“And going alone is? Or to be the only kid there with a man instead of a lady? I’ll look stupid. I don’t want to look stupid. Like I can’t even find any girl to go with me.”

Erin’s heart pinched. Stupid. She knew exactly what it was like to be called stupid in school. There was no worse hell than being known as the stupid one in class.

“I don’t think your father would allow it.”

“What won’t his father allow?”

Erin whipped around when Jack’s voice came from behind her. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He raised an eyebrow at her and then at Charlie, and his eyes narrowed when he saw Charlie’s tears. He came up the stairs, his boots clattering on the wooden steps with each heavy footfall. Erin moved back to give them more room. Jack leaned down on his knees to his son’s height.

“What’s the matter, bud?”

Jack’s voice was different, gentle and kind. The normal, surly briskness was gone. The glacial edge with which he usually laced his tone around her was softer. She blinked. He sounded so different and so kind. Exactly what a father should be to his child. What no man had ever been to her.

Charlie pushed off his dad’s hand on his arm. “Nuthin’.”

Jack glanced up at her. “I heard yelling. Did you do something to him? What’s wrong?”

“She’s bothering me!” Charlie suddenly said, pointing a finger at Erin. Tears gathered in his eyes. “She-she wants to live here and she was bothering me about it! She wants to be Uncle Joey’s girlfriend, but I don’t like her.”

Then Charlie turned and fled into the house. Erin’s mouth dropped opened in shock. Her compassion towards Charlie froze as soon as the little shit blamed it all on her. He sold her out. Like Jack would ever believe her instead of his own son. She shook her head when she felt Jack’s gaze settling on her. He rose to his feet, now looming a foot above her.

“That is not what happened. I was crossing the yard, and I saw him crying up here on the porch. I came up and asked him what the matter was. His school is having a Mother’s Day Tea, and he said he had no one to take. He was crying because he didn’t want to look stupid by bringing you. Then he asked me to take him. I told him it wasn’t appropriate, and that’s when you walked up. I did not come up here to weasel my way in with him. It had nothing to do with Joey.”

Jack’s face didn’t change during her entire tirade. He didn’t believe her.

She kicked the bottom stair in frustration. Wearing her tennis shoes, all it accomplished was to make her toes vibrate in pain. “Why would I use your son? If I’m really plotting to take over the Rydell River Ranch, as you seem so convinced I’m trying to do, why would I approach your younger son? I wouldn’t. I would approach your older son. And that’s beside the fact that it wouldn’t get me anywhere. God, it’s not like I’m after you.”

His eyebrows lifted and his expression seemed strange. She swallowed and quickly snapped her mouth shut. Shit. She really said way too much. She dropped her eyes to her feet.

“I actually hadn’t thought you were doing any of that. But it’s good to know you’re not after me.”

She raised her eyes to his. He was smiling. Jack Rydell was smiling at her. He was amused by her. How dare he? He obviously suspected she was trying to take his ranch through his brother, and now his son accused her of the same thing. What was she supposed to do? Not react?