Doorstep daddy (6 page)

_{She chuckled. "Was it that bad?"}

_{' 'I could have used an interpreter for all those square jaws." He sighed. "I thought you would be there, and I am not happy you weren't."}

_{"Don't worry about it." Her voice sounded warmer.}

_{"I knew you were naive and probably not on the same wavelength, although you were sweet about it. My sister's a nice woman, but she doesn't think sometimes. I love her, anyway."}

_{"But I invited you. You should have come."}

_{"Well...I thought it might be better not to after I talked with Gerri earlier in the day and she didn't say anything about the party."}

_{"It's my fault," he said, thinking he should have yelled like a drill sergeant at Gerri. That might have gotten the message across to the woman.}

_{"It's not your fault, idiot, although you might not be so generous when I tell you I got you two totally useless horse-head bookends that glow in the dark."}

_{"I'll cherish them forever." He meant it, too. "Will you come over for dinner tomorrow?"}

_{"Urn..." She hesitated.}

_{"Please. I'd like a friend. I need one. You can protect me from Amanda."}

_{"Oh, Lord. What did you do now?"}

_{"Nothing. I think. And everything, so I'm told," he said, and filled her in. "So when Joey asked me, I said it was okay by me if Amanda wanted to go. You'd have thought I was the chief torturer at the Inquisition when I told her. What did I do wrong?"}

_{Callie chuckled. "Teenagers hate even the idea that they're under any kind of parental control, let alone to have it acknowledged to their peers. Especially to peers they're attracted to."}

_{"Don't say that part."}

_{Callie laughed this time. "Richard, that's what it's all about when you're that age. Amanda is a teenager, plain and simple."}

_{"I think those are the most frightening words after}

_{'nuclear explosion,'" he said. "Although, I thought it was really polite of Joey to ask me first."}

_{"He's a good kid, despite some of Gerri's nonsense. Matter of fact, you should tell Amanda that."}

_{"I will." He thought of his conversation with Joey. "Hey, is there something wrong with the public school here? I researched the school systems thoroughly before I moved here, but Joey tells me none of the other kids in the development go to the local school."}

_{"I've heard nothing and, believe me, I would have. My sister sends her kids to private school because it's trendy, not for any other reason. Like the material girl she is. Gerri needs to have a show of wealth all the time to prove she's not poor anymore. Everyone has a quirky holdover from their childhood. But as far as the school goes, don't worry about it."}

_{"I don't want to move Amanda or Jason. They've seemed to settle in okay. Since the school system's excellent, I truly don't see the point. But I don't want them to be outcasts, either."}

_{"You're a good uncle."}

_{Her words meant more than anything he'd heard in a long long time. "Thanks. I only wish Amanda thought so. I can't seem to do anything right."}

_{"She's thirteen. No parent can."}

_{"Can I do anything right with you?" he asked softly.}

_{"Oh..." Her voice faltered as if he'd set off an unexpected spark. He hoped so. Talking to her about child-raising held an unexpected intimacy for him. Finally she said, "You do okay."}

_{"I'll do much better," he promised.}

_{"And, Richard...I'll see you tomorrow."}

_{When he hung up the phone, he admitted he liked
keeping her off balance.}

_{He planned to keep her even more so.}

_{"I
shouldn't be
doing this," Callie muttered, pulling into Richard's driveway the next evening.}

_{She stopped in front of the house itself, halfway around the horseshoe drive. The house's elegant, French-chateau facade was miles above her boxlike apartment complex. She bet the inside was to die for. Yet the formality was an odd place for a guy to bring three kids to live. She would have thought someplace less structured and formal-looking would have been more suitable.}

_{Her nephew, Joey, came around the side of the house with Amanda. The pair weren't talking, but walking side by side with just enough distance between them to indicate interest and insecurity.}

_{Callie smiled as she got out of the car. Oh, most definitely a mutual crush, she thought. "Hi, guys. How's it going?"}

_{"Hi, Aunt Callie," Joey said, looking surprised. "Oh, yeah. You're having dinner here, too."}

_{Amanda blushed furiously. "I asked him."}

_{Callie grinned at her. "Great. He's very cute, isn't he?"}

_{"Aunt Callie!" Now Joey blushed furiously.}

_{"Well, you are. And if you're lucky, then Amanda thinks so, too. What's on the dinner menu? Anybody know yet? Do we have to make a great escape for pizza?"}

_{"Japanese," Amanda replied, her blush lessening. "If my uncle doesn't mess up."}

_{"I'll make sure he doesn't." Callie wondered what kind of cook he was. Probably hopeless, helpless and sexy there, too.}

_{As the two teens led her into the house, she knew she
probably shouldn't have come to dinner. Her sister's lack of follow-up invitation had hurt, and Richard's apology had soothed her. Accepting his dinner invitation was partly from vulnerability and partly from the desire to flaunt him under her sister's nose. That Joey was eating here, too, would only rub Gerri's social climbing the wrong way. Her son and her sister, but
not
her. Maybe it would wake Gerri up enough to show some true manners from now on. Maybe.}

_{The quick look at the downstairs rooms they passed reassured her. The house was big, and the furnishings sparse. Toys and papers were scattered everywhere, giving the place the lived-in look of any normal child-harassed household. Not perfection, not even close. She needed to see that, she thought. Or maybe not.}

_{Richard stood among the steaming pots, expertly flipping strips of meat with tongs. He grinned at her and wiped his brow. "Hi."}

_{"Hi yourself." She held up a couple of perfectly nice horse-head bookends. "Here's your housewarming gift. The batteries died so they don't glow in the dark anymore."}

_{"I'm disappointed." He chuckled. "Hey, they
are
nice. Thank you."}

_{"You're welcome." She'd been pleased to find something male and dignified.}

_{A loud banging exploded from behind the cooking island.}

_{"That's just Mark, the Emeril Lagassi of the toddler world," he shouted above the din. "Kid's been back here for an hour having a ball."}

_{"That's all that counts," Callie said, laughing wryly. Richard wasn't hopeless and helpless in the kitchen. At
least he was still sexy. He had the best of the three going for him. "Need some help?"}

_{"No, no. Yes. I won't lie. Could you watch the soba noodles while I do the vegetables? Both need major attention, more than a convict on parole."}

_"Sure."

_{Callie came around the island. Mark sat on the floor surrounded by every pot and pan Richard wasn't using. The child stacked and restacked a set of plastic bowls, then banged a pan on the floor several times as a reward for his good work.}

_{"Foo! Foo! Foo!" he shouted happily.}

_{"Give him a set of bars and a tin cup to run back and forth across them, and you'd have the next Jimmy Cag-ney," Callie commented.}

_{"He thinks he's cooking." Richard hollered, "Amanda! Go find Jason and tell him it's dinner in five minutes. By the time you find him, it will be."}

_{Amanda looked murderous. She probably didn't want Joey to know she had to look after her brother, Callie thought, remembering the time a boy she'd liked had been scared off by her responsibilities. They just weren't cool.}

_{"Joey, make yourself useful and go with her," Callie said to the boy.}

_{"Sure, Aunt Callie." The boy looked happy to help. Young love did that.}

_{After the pair left, Richard cleared his throat loudly. "Joey's a nice boy."}

_{"Yes, he is." Callie didn't look up from the soba pot.}

_{"Do you think she's too young to...to be around a boy like that?" he asked.}

_{Callie shrugged. "Hard to say."}

_{"Okay." Richard looked bewildered.}

_{Callie shook her head. "Look, they're both pretty young, so I'd be surprised if it went beyond holding hands and an occasional peck on the lips."}

_{"I don't even want
that,"
he exclaimed.}

_{Callie laughed. "Richard, you're sure to make it worse if you don't relax. She has a crush, her first probably, on a boy who's got his first crush, too."}

_{"Okay." He shook himself. "I'm relaxed."}

_{"Yeah, like a wolverine's relaxed. You need to talk to Amanda about sex."}

_{"Oh, God! Can't I have one normal conversation with the kid?"}

_{"Nan. She's a teenager. Look, you want her to respect her body, right?" "Lord, yes." Mark banged pots.}

_{"And you want her to know what to do if a boy ever pressures her in the future." "Is there no end to this?"}

_{"Foo! Foo! Foo!" the next Jimmy Cagney shouted.}

_{"You want her to know these things ahead of time,
before
her first real date."}

_{Richard paused. "That makes sense."}

_{"Of course it does. Better to do it before she's doing more than walking around the house with a boy. Talk to her about the emotional side of sex, not so much the mechanics. She probably knows that part. Heck, Jason probably knows that, too."}

_{"Great. Another one in the wings."}

_{"Actually I thought Joey and Amanda looked sweet together," Callie said, pulling out a soba noodle with a fork to test for doneness. It needed more time.}

_{"You did?"}

_{"Mmm-hmm. You know, this is fraught with danger
for my nephew. A boy's first crush can devastate him if it goes badly."}

_{"That's true. Mine dumped me for a kid on the basketball team. It took me six months to get over it."}

_{"She was a fool," Callie said.}

_{He turned her toward him. "I'm glad you think so. But I like my latest crush much much better."}

_{Callie looked into his gorgeous brown eyes. She couldn't
not
look. His lambent gaze fascinated her. His lips closed the distance in the most innocent and yet exotic of kisses. His mouth plied hers, seeking a mutual response. She could taste his scent, imprinting its uniqueness on her brain. She could feel his breath hot on her cheek. She could hear his search for air to fill his lungs. She could smell the burning of his passion....}

_{It reminded her of bad broccoli.}

_{They broke apart just as the pan of vegetables turned black. Richard yanked the pan from the stovetop, rescuing it before a fire actually started. But nothing edible could be salvaged.}

_{"Damn!" he cursed, looking disgusted.}

_{"Oh, no," Callie murmured, realizing the boiling soba noodles had mined to a lump of glue.}

_{She and Richard looked at each other. "Pizza."}

_{Richard kissed her again, this time hard and fierce, his tongue swirling with hers in the sudden heat that gripped them both.}