Читать книгу Mommy For A Minute - Judy Christenberry - Страница 7

Jack turned to stare at his daughter. “Who the hell—I mean, who is Lolly, sweetheart?”

Lauren cleared her throat. “My little brother used to call me that because it’s easier to say than Lauren. It’s about the only L word children learn quickly. I told Ally she could call me Lolly.”

Jack glared at her. “I guess that’s better than calling you—Never mind. I still don’t think her staying here is a good idea.”

“Suppose we try it for a few days. If it’s not working out, you can find another place.”

And suddenly Jack could no longer argue. He didn’t have the stamina. Maybe that was why they called her The Shark. The woman was relentless. “I’m going to keep looking. When I find a place, I’m putting her in it. So be prepared.”

He spun around to leave and found himself facing his daughter. “Sweetheart, you’re going to stay with—with Lolly until I can find a place for you to go to school.”

Ally’s face broke into a big smile. “I like that.”

Muttering about women, Jack stalked down the hall.

LAUREN’S SMILE matched Ally’s. “I hope you’re happy staying here, Ally. I am.”

“I love it, Lolly. Maybe Daddy won’t ever be able to find a place for me!”

“Well, it will only be for four weeks, sweetheart. Then I’ll have to go back to work.”

“Where do you work?”

“Downtown. Maybe I can take you down there one day, and we could have lunch.”

“Will Daddy go with us?”

“No. He’ll be working here. But we’d be back before he finished work. We’ll talk to him about it.”

That was one conversation she dreaded.

THE WEEK PROGRESSED quietly. Lauren did her grocery shopping and made her trip to the art supply store at night, not testing Jack’s patience about taking Ally out in the car.

On Friday, her day was spent in the kitchen, with Ally beside her, supposedly helping, getting ready for dinner that night.

“Who is coming?” Ally asked again.

“My baby brother, the one who used to use the desk.”

“Is he my age?”

“No, he’s almost twenty-two.”

Ally’s eyes got large. “That’s lots older, isn’t it?”

“Yes. He lives in his own apartment, and he’s bringing a friend who lives there, too.”

“Aren’t you making a lot of food?”

“Yes, I decided I’d freeze some for later.”

Ally gave her a confused look.

“You know, like ice cream. It stays good until you thaw it out.”

“Oh.”

It was just before noon when Lauren finally slid two large casserole dishes into the oven. “Now we need to fix lunch. Your daddy will be hungry.”

“Me, too.”

Lauren made roast beef sandwiches and sent Ally to call her father. The child came running back down the hall.

“Daddy said in a little while.”

Lauren took Ally’s hand and went back down the hall. As she suspected, Jack was working away, with no knowledge that he’d said no to lunch.

“Jack?”

“Uh-huh?”

“I want you to come to lunch. It’s all ready.”

“Just a minute,” he muttered.

“Do you need some help?”

“Yeah, can you come hold this in place while I nail it?” he asked, still focused on his work.

Lauren did as he asked. She didn’t realize quite how close she would have to get to him. But as she held the wood, his arms went completely around her to nail it in place. His rock-hard chest pressed against her, leaving her no avenue of escape.

She couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to have his arms around her for real, pulling her into a kiss.

“Okay, now we can go.”

His words cut into her heated reverie. “Go where?”

“To lunch. You said it’s ready now.”

“Right.” That was why she’d come into the office in the first place. Somehow she’d gotten sidetracked.

Ally took his hand. “I’ll show you, Daddy. Lolly’s been cooking all morning.”

He looked at Lauren. “We don’t need anything complicated for lunch.”

“No, I’ve been cooking for this evening. My brother and his friend are coming over for dinner.”

He stared at her. “You can cook?”

“Of course I can. My mother taught me a lot of recipes before she died, and I’ve learned others. Did you think I ate out every evening?”

“I know professional women who do that.”

They had reached the kitchen and the aroma of roast beef lingered in the air. He noticed it at once, his gaze going to the plate on the table. “We’re having roast beef?”

“Yes, is that a problem?”

“Not at all. I love roast beef.”

“Good. Ally thought you did.”

She finished pouring glasses of iced tea for the two adults and milk for Ally. “Okay, Ally, you can say the prayer for us.”

The child did so and then beamed at her father. “It’s a good lunch, isn’t it, Daddy?”

“You bet, honey,” he agreed after taking his first bite. “It’s wonderful. I think I may owe more than five dollars for this one.”

“It’ll average out. Besides, I froze a lot of it.”

“Like ice cream, Daddy.”

“Yeah, I do that, too. Some days, I don’t feel like cooking, but Ally needs a good meal.”

“Yes, she does.”

“Lolly made something else with chicken in it,” Ally said, frowning as she tried to remember what it was.

“Chicken spaghetti, sweetie.” She looked at Jack. “It’s my brother’s favorite.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s a casserole that my mother made. All the kids love it.”

“Ah. Down home food.”

“Yes. When one of them asks for that, I know something’s up.”

“So what’s up tonight?”

“The friend is female. He says she doesn’t eat enough and he wants me to feed her. I think he wants me to meet her, but he doesn’t want to say it’s something important.”

“How old is he?”

“Almost twenty-two. He’s the baby.”

“Have any of your other brothers and sisters married?”

“No, none of them.”

“You know, at twenty-two I fell in and out of love every other month. I wouldn’t attach too much to this visit.”

“Maybe. But James makes good decisions.”

“Are any of your other siblings coming this evening?”

“No, just James. One brother, Steve, is in the army and doing his training. The two oldest, Bill and Barry, don’t expect me to cook for them anymore. My sisters are twins, twenty-five. Regina works for a dress designer. We call her Reggie. And her twin Virginia, who we call Ginny, is working on her master’s in history, hoping to go on for her doctorate.”

“If she can afford that, she’s doing well.”

“She works as a waitress to supplement her share of the insurance money.”

Jack just shrugged his shoulders. “That’s not easy. I know what it’s like to have two jobs.” He nodded at Ally. “Speaking of which, I’d better get back to the paying one.” Thanking her for lunch, he went back down the hall to work.

After Lauren put Ally down for her nap, she set the table for dinner for three, wanting everything perfect. She’d even bought fresh flowers the night before for a centerpiece. Now she did the arrangement and put it in the middle of the table.

She chose some soft music on the stereo to play during dinner. Just as she was moving away, they broke into the music for a weather alert. Bad weather was moving into the metro area that evening. Possible thunderstorms, even the threat of a tornado.

It was late fall in Dallas. They frequently had tornado alerts, but they seldom materialized. And they could use some rain. They hadn’t had much this fall.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders. Not much she could do about it.

She thought of something she’d been planning to do some research on. Now would be a good time while Ally was sleeping. She moved into her bedroom, where her law books were stored temporarily. She got lost in her work, much as Jack did in his, not thinking of Ally until she heard her tiny whisper.

“Lolly?”

“Oh, sorry, baby, is it time for you to be up?”

“I think so. It’s very dark outside. Did Daddy go home without me?”

Lauren looked out her bedroom window, surprised to see dark clouds. She checked her watch. It was four-thirty, later than Ally usually slept, but it shouldn’t be totally dark outside.

She hurried to the television and turned it to the Weather Channel. They were predicting a big storm at any moment, with possible tornadic activity. Lauren wasn’t sure what to do.

Deciding not to bother Jack, since there was nothing he could do, she found a game Ally could play and used it to distract her.

“I love chutes and ladders,” Ally exclaimed as they played a second game.

“Yes, it’s fun, isn’t it? Does Daddy play it with you?”

“Sometimes. But I have to take my bath and get in bed. So we play it on Saturdays.”

“I see.”

“Can we go see if Daddy wants to play now?”

“Well, he’s working. But it’s almost time for him to stop. Maybe we’d better go tell him about the storm.”

About that time, the rain began. It was thundering down hard, and she wasn’t surprised to see Jack at the windows, staring out.

“We came to tell you about the storm,” Lauren announced from the door.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. It’s coming down pretty hard.”

“Yes.”

“When are your dinner guests arriving?”

“At six. I think I need to go put the casserole in the oven to heat up in case the electricity goes out.”

“Does that happen much here?”

“I don’t know. I just moved in a month ago. We sold the family home and divided up the money between the seven of us. I bought this place then. The owner was selling each unit by itself. I was lucky and got the owner’s place.”

“Go on and put it in the oven. Ally can help me pack up.”

“You can’t leave in this downpour. You’ll need to wait the storm out here. It’s too dangerous to drive in it.”

“We don’t want to get in your way. We’ll be fine.”

“That makes no sense. You’ll probably be doing me a favor. I’ll have a lot of food prepared and they probably won’t come.”

She went to the kitchen to start heating the casserole. Then she looked for candles. Just in case.

She put the candles where she could easily find them.

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was five-fifteen, too early for her guests. She hurried to the door and swung it open. Bill and Barry were standing on the front porch. “Hi. What are you two doing here?”

“We wanted to make sure you were doing okay in your new place. With a storm like this, you might have problems,” Barry said as he moved inside.

“But you shouldn’t have driven in this storm,” Lauren protested.

“We didn’t think it would get this bad,” Bill confessed. “If we hadn’t been over halfway here, we would’ve gone back.”

“Come on in and dry off. There are some towels in the bathroom.”

She went to her bedroom and found some sleep shirts her brothers could wear. “These aren’t good-looking, like your shirts, but they are dry.”

About that time, Jack and Ally came down the hall. “Oh, Jack, these are my brothers, Bill and Barry. They came to check up on me. This is Jack Mason. He’s working on my office.”

They all shook hands. Then the guys asked to see what Jack had done so far in the room.

“You might as well show them, Jack. You can’t possibly take Ally out in this.”

As they went past the dining room, the guys noticed the dinner table set for three. “You two were invited to dinner?” Barry asked.

“No, I think your brother James and a friend were having dinner with Lauren,” Jack said evenly, showing no resentment at Barry’s tone.

“Are they still doing that?” Bill asked. “I thought he would’ve gotten over that after a few weeks.”

“I believe he’s bringing someone to meet your sister.”

“A girl? Is he bringing a girl? What’s wrong with the boy?” Barry demanded. “You don’t do that unless you’re planning on doing something permanent. He’s not even twenty-two yet. Has he lost his mind?”

By that time, they’d reached the office and Jack showed them his drawing of what the room should look like when he’d finished.

“Hey, this will be nice,” Bill exclaimed.

Before anything else could be said, they all heard the doorbell ring again.

“Damn, he shouldn’t be bringing a girl here,” Barry protested again.

“Maybe we should wait a minute and give Lauren a chance to meet her without any protests from you two,” Jack said with a grin. “It might make it hard on James.”

“You know James?” Bill asked.

“No, Lauren told me about him at lunch.”

“You ate lunch with Lauren?”

“She insists on making lunch every day for us. I’m deducting a certain amount from my bill. She’s also taking care of Ally, too, until I can find someone to take her.”

“Cute kid, but did Lauren volunteer for that? I mean, she works long hours. I don’t see—”

“You didn’t know she’s not working for four weeks?”

The two men stared at Jack, their mouths open. Then they whirled around as one and started back to the front of the house.

“Uh-oh. Looks like I spilled the beans. We’d better go apologize to Lauren,” he muttered, taking Ally’s hand.

“I didn’t see any beans, Daddy.”

“I know, honey, but I should’ve.”

They reached the kitchen just as the two older brothers were greeting the other two guests. Lauren introduced Jack and Ally to James and a beautiful young woman named Cheryl.

Before Jack could say anything, Barry demanded to know why his sister wasn’t working for four weeks. Lauren shot Jack a look, obviously understanding how that information had gotten out.

“I’m taking some time off. Why? Is that a problem?”

All three brothers stared at her. Finally, Bill said, “No, not if that’s what you want to do.”

“Yes, it is. I’m getting settled in my new place. And I’m taking care of Ally while Jack works.”

“Oh, sure. We didn’t realize Jack was a friend.” Bill shot a look at Jack, obviously reevaluating his status as friend—or maybe more than friend.

Jack looked at Lauren, but he said nothing.

“Yes, well, I’ll need to add a few places to the table,” Lauren said, not bothering to explain, as she had to Jack earlier that day.

“May I help?” Cheryl asked, and Lauren immediately gave her something to do, making her feel welcome.

Within minutes, Lauren had expanded her dinner for three to dinner for seven. She added more broccoli to the pot and cut up more salad. She put Bill and Barry to peeling more potatoes, and suggested to James that he entertain Jack and Ally.

Just as they sat down to dinner the electricity went out. Lauren found the candles and matches and they ate their dinner by candlelight. Outside, the storm raged.

“I like this dinner, Lauren. What did you call the casserole?” Jack asked.

“Chicken spaghetti. It was one of Mom’s favorites.”

“Yeah, I love it,” James said, smiling at Cheryl.

“I’d love the recipe,” Cheryl said softly, looking at Lauren.

“Of course. Mom got it out of a church cookbook, so it didn’t originate with her. But it’s very filling and has a lot of good things in it,” Lauren explained.

“It’s a good thing you fixed a lot of it,” James said, “since Bill and Barry arrived.”

“You think we shouldn’t check on Lauren?” Barry demanded.

“You know I always come on Friday,” James pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is a bad storm. We were afraid she might find she had a leak or something like that,” Bill said. “You never know in a new place until it’s tested.”

A crack of thunder emphasized his words.

“Ooh, that was close,” Lauren said, staring out the window.

Ally whimpered, and her father comforted her. “We’re okay, baby. Don’t worry.”

Cheryl said, “I haven’t seen a storm like this before.”

“I remember a bad one when we were little,” Bill said. “We were frightened, but Mom and Dad calmed us down.”

“Yes, they were good at that,” Lauren said. “It’s different when you’re the adult. It’s easier to convince a child.”

“Yeah,” James agreed. “You used to tell me everything was all right.”

“But I was right, wasn’t I?” Lauren asked.

“Yeah, but—” Just then a booming crack of thunder resounded. “Do you want to tell me again?”

“I don’t think it works as well when you’re an adult.”

Lauren almost ducked at another loud boom of thunder. “Maybe we should just pretend it isn’t storming.”

Jack gave her a skeptical look.

She squared her jaw and got up from the table. “How about dessert? I made carrot cake.”

Her brothers showed enthusiasm, but Cheryl and Jack looked a little unsure.

James leaned over to Cheryl. “You’ll love it, honey. It’s one of Lauren’s specialties.”

“I’m willing to try it, but I’ve never had it before.” Cheryl gave Lauren a smile.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be upset if you don’t like it. James, will you get some saucers, and Bill, some clean forks, please?”

She took one of the candles from the table into the kitchen. The cake was heavy and she realized she couldn’t carry it and the candle at the same time. “Barry? I need some help here.”

She heard footsteps and assumed Barry had come to assist her. “Thanks. The cake is too heavy and—”

Turning around, she almost dropped the cake when she realized it was Jack who had followed her to the kitchen. “What happened to Barry?”

“He was still eating chicken so I volunteered. You needed help?”

Help was just what she needed. Help from her brother, not Jack. Somehow just being alone with him in the kitchen was making her nervous. She could feel her heart pick up the pace, and her voice was breathless when she finally responded, “You can take the cake.”

Jack reached out for it and, underestimating the heft, nearly dropped it. Acting on instinct, she flung out her arms and they met his hands as he got a tighter grip on the plate.

From the mere contact she felt a sizzle course from her hands up her arms, jolting her with its intensity. Pulling back as if burned, she grabbed the candle and spun toward the door, trying not to let Jack know she was running away.

The quick motion extinguished the flame on the candle, plunging the kitchen into darkness.

In her haste to escape, she ran into something hard, warm and…all male.