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Jason took a calming breath, wondering as he did so if he would live through his daughter’s preadolescence. You could forget the actual teenage years. There was no doubt in his mind he’d be six feet under long before he managed to shepherd her through adolescence, but he would like to eke out another year or two of life before his heart gave up in disgust. “Maura, it wouldn’t have even taken two seconds for you to yell up the stairs and tell me what you were doing. Two seconds.”
“It’s not like I knew you were going to blow a gasket or anything.”
“Honey, I thought you were still mad at me and had taken off again. It took me three hours to find you after I yelled at you for the cigarette pack I found in your room.”
“Well, that wasn’t fair because I was just keeping it for Marissa. She didn’t want her mother to find it at her house.”
Jason arched a brow. “The only reason I even thought to look through your things was because some of your clothing smelled like smoke when I was doing the laundry.”
“Oh. Well—”
“Don’t bother. The point is I’d made it halfway through the student directory before Kelsey Earling’s mother admitted you were there. I wasn’t looking forward to going through that again.”
Jason took a deep breath to settle himself. “Okay. You didn’t run away. You have my apology for thinking such evil thoughts. Now, since you’ve already barged in on the new neighbors, why don’t you introduce me?”
“Cath,” Don practically barked, “the plates?”
“For heaven’s sake, Donald,” Catherine replied tersely. “I found you a fork, didn’t I? Just eat it out of the dam carton and keep quiet.”
Great, thought Jason tiredly. As if he didn’t have enough of it, the new neighbors were the kind who sniped at each other. How wonderful. Patiently he stuck the introductions out. “I understand your husband’s irritation. You’ve had a long day with the moving and all. And we’re interrupting your dinner. My name is Jason Engel, that’s my daughter, Maura, and we are leaving—right now. Maura, say goodbye to your friend. Welcome to the neighborhood. Nice to meet you all. Come on, kiddo, you’ve got a salad to finish up.”
Maura immediately dug in her heels. “But, Dad...”
After a year of raising his daughter all by himself, Jason was finally beginning to understand the necessity of heading this kind of thing off at the pass, child-rearing books be damned. “No ands, ifs, or buts about it, sweetie, we’re going. This falls under the general heading of rudeness and learning how not to be.”
Catherine was enjoying Maura’s antics. As for Jason Engel, well, he seemed frazzled, but all right in his own way. His heart seemed in the right place, at any rate. If she wanted to get to know the daughter better, maybe borrow her if she needed a kid fix and Amy was busy, Catherine knew instinctively she’d have to walk a fine line with the father and avoid alienating him. She could tell he was very protective of his offspring.
“If it’s any consolation,” Monica said to Jason, “your daughter waited a year longer than Amy here before trying a cigarette. Fortunately, it made her as sick as a dog and that was the end of that.”
“Mom,” Amy wailed with a horrified look. “How did you know?”
“You think I didn’t know what was behind your green complexion and upset stomach when you came home from that overnight last fall? With the way your clothing reeked of tobacco? Get real, kid. I wasn’t born yesterday.” Monica looked Jason Engel up and down speculatively. “I’ve got an idea,” she said. You could almost see the proverbial lightbulb flash over her head. “Don bought enough Chinese for one of my brothers and his wife, too, but they had to leave. Why don’t you and Maura finish up your salad and bring it over here? By the time you get back, Catherine or I will have found the plates and we’ll all share what we’ve got.”
Maura looked pleadingly at her father, and he knew if he said no, he’d be out buying more candy bars tomorrow. Oh, well. “Maura, it’s infringing. They haven’t even had a chance to open a box yet—”
“They could all come to our house, couldn’t they, Dad? That wouldn’t be infringing. It would be gracious on our part, right?”
Catherine had to hide a grin at the child’s ingenuousness. She turned her attention back to Jason and waited.
“Ordinarily, you’d be right,” Jason replied. “But as you well know, there are exceptions to every rule. Times when normal protocol doesn’t apply.”
Maura scowled suspiciously. “Like when?”
“Like when somebody gets so excited at seeing somebody they know, they race out of the house without turning off the kitchen faucet.”
Maura studied the floor. “Oh. But nothing bad happ—”
“Like when the lettuce that somebody was washing covers up the drain in that sink, causing it to overflow.”
“Uh-oh.”
“And finally, like when that same somebody’s father races into the kitchen to get to the tap, slides on the wet floor, tries to catch himself only to knock a bottle of salad dressing off the countertop and have it smash all over the floor leaving glass shards everywhere that he hasn’t had time to clean up yet because he went looking for his daughter. That’s like when.”
Maura looked everywhere but at her father. She cleared her throat. “Yes, well, sorry about that, Dad.”
Catherine finally took pity. “Sounds like you’ve had a heck of an afternoon,” she told Jason. “Let the mess sit there for a while. It won’t go anywhere. As long as you don’t object to the chaos here, I don’t mind. Sit down. Eat. Fortify yourself for the cleanup ahead of you.”
Maura looked at her father pleadingly.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck in a tired gesture. “All right, if you’re sure you don’t mind. I’ll go salvage what I can of the salad. I think I’ve got another bottle of salad dressing in the fridge. Maura, you come help.”
Maura grabbed Amy’s hand and tugged her along in her wake. “Amy can come too, right. Dad?”
Jason grunted his agreement as he opened the back door and held it for the two girls. They shot through the opening and kept right on going. He sighed. “When a gentleman holds the door for you, you’re supposed to say ‘thank you,”’ he called after them, shaking his head. Damn, but this parenting was work.
“I don’t have any beer in the house,” Catherine advised him. “I’m afraid you’ll have to bring your own if you don’t want pop or water.”
Jason shook his head regretfully. He could sure use one. “I don’t keep anything alcoholic in the house,” he said with a sigh of regret. Not since Karen had remarried and Maura had come to live with him. Bad example. “Water or soda will be fine. We’ll be back in five minutes, no more, I promise.”
As soon as the door slammed, Monica was up and standing on tiptoes to look out the kitchen window at their retreating backs. “Did you hear what that little girl said, Cath?”
“No, what?”
Monica grabbed both Catherine’s arms and held her still. She spoke softly, not wanting Don to overhear. “Cath, that child said it was just her and her dad living there. The mother’s remarried.”
“Yes, so?”
“So, he’s tall and has a nice body to go along with the height. If his hair was any darker brown it would be black, eyes to match. He’s as handsome as sin. Good God, the man even has manners. Forget about your blond, blue-eyes fetish for a minute. Did you see the way he held the door for the girls? My gosh, if I can see it, why can’t you? That, my dear, is prime marital material! I’m thinking that you can still have it all! Why, any idiot with even minimal level hormones could fall for that hunk. All you would have to do is get him to fall in love with you, and presto, instant family.”
Chapter Two
Catherine couldn’t keep her jaw from dropping open. “I can only hope,” she whispered to her sister, “that whatever form of madness you have suddenly developed is not genetic in nature. I find you downright frightening at times—especially since we’re related.”
With a flick of her hand, Monica brushed Catherine’s insult off. “Let’s think about this with an open mind, sister, dear. The man was tall, he was dark, he was handsome. He conveniently lives right next door. In my opinion you could make beautiful babies together.”
“You are insane. We’ve barely met the man and you’re already marrying me off to him?”
“What are you two whispering about over there? Would you kill me if we started without them, Monica? I’m half-dead from hunger,” Don grumped.
“We’re talking about what a grouch you are when you’re hungry, Don.”
Don managed a wounded look. “I’m a paragon, a saint, I tell you. I put up with the two of you, don’t I?”
Monica turned her back on her husband and resumed her lecture. “Think about the embarrassment factor of doing it your way, Cath. Even if we manage to locate one of those sperm bank places, you’re going to have to walk in and explain what you want. Think about that, sweetie pie.”
Catherine did, flushed and swallowed hard. “Oh, well, when you put it that way I can see that this idea of yours makes perfect sense. Just tell me one thing.
“What’s that?”
“If I’m not brave enough to march into a sperm bank and explain what I want, and let’s face it, they’d have to at least have a suspicion of what’s on my mind—only carrying one product the way they do—what makes you think I’ll be able to propose marriage and parenthood to Jason Engel?”
Monica sighed and closed her eyes. “Nobody’s asking you to propose tonight, Cath. Patience is its own reward, remember that. You’ll be living right next door to the man. All you have to do is make sure you spend some time together every now and again over the next little while, so that any little seeds we plant get a chance to bear fruit.”
“They’re here,” Don announced, as a brief knock sounded on the back door before the handle turned.
“We’re back,” Amy announced, running into the room. “The water’s mopped up and the glass is gone, but the floor’s still kind of slippery and slidey.”
“Come on in,” Catherine called to Jason and Maura.
“We’ll finish our discussion later,” Monica insisted under her breath to Catherine before going to take the salad bowl from Maura.
“No, we won’t,” Catherine returned just as quietly, tossing her hair out of her face with an exasperated motion. Honestly, sometimes Monica could be downright scary. Catherine crossed over to Jason and relieved him of the paper plates, cups and two liters of pop he’d brought as an additional offering. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. “This was very thoughtful.”
“You’re welcome,” Jason replied. “I’m afraid it was all I could come up with in terms of an impromptu housewarming gift.”
“It’s perfect,” Catherine assured him, already unscrewing the cap on the cola bottle. “It’s been a distressing day. I could use a jolt of caffeine right about now.” She gave Monica a meaningful look.
“I bet. Here, let me do that,” Jason said, pulling several cups out of the plastic sleeve they’d come wrapped in. “How about your husband and your friend? What would they like?”
“What husband?” Catherine asked, as she watched his strong hands take over the task of pouring drinks. “Oh, you mean him? Donald? That’s not my husband—”
“Kindly refrain from referring to me as a that,” Don interjected. He’d already confiscated the paper plates and was spooning out large quantities of rice onto one. “I am a he, at least I was before I started withering up and dying from lack of nutrition.”
“That grouch over there,” Catherine indicated, as though her brother-in-law hadn’t spoken, “belongs to my sister, Monica. She actually loves him.” Catherine pointed in Monica’s direction. “Amy is theirs.”
Jason took a quick look around the kitchen, then leaned slightly back to glance down the hallway that bisected the front of the house. He hadn’t missed anybody. “Then you’re not—?”
Catherine shook her head in a determinedly cheerful manner. “Nope, I’m not married. Free as a breeze.” There was a brief flash of panic crossing her new neighbor’s face, and Catherine knew he was envisioning being hunted. She almost laughed out loud. The man would die if he knew how close he was to being right, provided Monica got her way.
A quick look behind Jason brought Monica into focus. Her sister’s eyes were crossed in an obvious sign of disapproval. Monica must have thought she was being too flippant. Too bad. Catherine would be nice to the man, friendly, but only because he had a daughter she was pretty sure she’d enjoy being around. The child seemed to be such a stereotypical preadolescent it was downright funny, at least from Catherine’s point of view. But she was not going to bother struggling to understand the male mind again. No way. Forget it.
“You’re blowing it,” Monica whispered as she passed by on her way to the table. “Subtlety is the key here. We’re only planting seeds, remember?”
“Put a sock in it, Mon,” Catherine advised her sister cheerfully. “I don’t care if I blow it or not. I’m implementing plan B whether you approve or not.”
Monica, however, was not to be deterred. She switched to a high-beam smile as Jason approached the table, several cups of soda held firmly between his two large hands.
“Here we go, everybody,” Jason said heartily. “Pop all around.” But underneath the external good cheer, he just wanted to eat and get out of there. He’d been hunted too many times both before and after his divorce not to be nervous about having a single woman move in next door. He was not interested. No sirree, not him. There was no such thing as happily ever after. He’d learned that the hard way. He might take the chance if he was on his own and he’d be the only one paying the price for failure, but Maura had had enough upheaval in her young life. He was off the playing field until Maura was safely grown.
He looked at Catherine Nicholson as she sipped her drink and almost groaned out loud. It would be tough going if they had to spend any time together. No mistaking it, this was one extremely attractive woman. Even all hot and bothered looking from her rough day, Catherine exuded sex appeal. Now that his heart had dropped back down into his chest after his daughter’s disappearing act, he could see that. A good woman to steer clear of, as a matter of fact. At least until his head could convince the lower part of his body to swallow the company line he was trying to feed it.
He despaired over the injustices of life. Why couldn’t she be safely married? Or if she had to be single, why couldn’t she be ugly? But no, there was absolutely nothing harsh or unattractive about her. Hair the color of ripe chestnuts curled under gently along her jawline and it angled up toward the back of her head, forming a saucy high wedge. Her eyes were a soft, medium brown framed by thick spiky lashes, and her skin was creamy and without blemish. There was not even a single freckle with enough nerve to marr the smooth arch of her high cheekbones. And her body was nicely padded in all the places a man appreciated a bit of padding. He didn’t know if he could handle having that body right next door, unattached, available for pursuing. He ground his teeth in frustration.
You, Jason silently informed himself, had just better be on your guard. You cannot even begin to entertain the type of prurient thoughts you are already considering. Not while Maura is at such an impressionable age. Just stop it.
Jason consciously averted his eyes from Catherine’s cameo profile and sat. Catherine handed him the Mongolian beef container, so he was forced to turn his head briefly in her direction, but as soon as he had a firm grip on the carton, he returned his eyes to look directly in front of him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
After checking around that everyone else had a plateful, Jason spooned a large amount of rice onto his plate, then topped it with an equally large amount of the beef. He tore the top off a little plastic envelope of soy and squeezed that liberally over the mound and picked up his fork. Jason had it loaded and halfway to his mouth when something Maura said earlier clicked and he dropped the fork with a clatter.
“The crib,” he said before he could think how it would sound. “You have a baby?”
Jason cringed. He didn’t mean to sound judgmental, but he was already attracted to her. And he could tell Maura had taken an interest in her, as well. He was not unaware of the lack of feminine guidance in his daughter’s life, he just didn’t know what to do about it. He had no sisters, and his former wife had “gotten on with her life,” an event that seemed to exclude her own daughter. It just might be good for Maura to spend some time with Amy and her aunt. They seemed close. But not if the woman had no morals.
“Are you divorced?” he asked hopefully. That would explain a baby.
“Divorced?” Catherine asked. “No, I’m not divorced. I’ve never been married. And I don have a baby. Where’d you get that idea?”
“But you moved in a crib,” Maura said, obviously confused. “I saw it. I was going to ask you if I could baby-sit for you. I took the Red Cross baby-sitting course and everything.”
“The crib,” Monica repeated, sounding a bit panicky to Catherine’s ears. “That’s easy to explain.”
Catherine’s eyes widened at that. It was? This she had to hear.
“It’s an heirloom,” Monica announced baldly, and Catherine blinked at the blatant lie. “Handed down through my, um, mother’s side for several generations.
Don looked up from his rapidly shrinking mountain of cashew chicken. “It is?” he asked in surprise. “I thought it was another one from the shop.”
“Well you thought wrong,” his wife told him.
“How come we didn’t use it?” her spouse continued.
“Because it’s an heirloom handed down to the youngest daughter of the family, that’s why,” Monica informed him in a rather severe voice.
“Oh,” Don said. nodding wisely. “Your family always was a little weird. Sounds like something strange they’d come up with.” His interest returned to his plate of food, and Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. This was the reason she rarely lied. Somehow the lie always snowballed, and you ended up a nervous wreck while you tried to keep things plausible and remain undiscovered in your deceit. In the process, your digestive juices turned on your stomach wall and before you knew it, presto, instant ulcer. Before she could check Jason’s face to see if he’d swallowed Monica’s ridiculous explanation, Amy interrupted.
“Aunt Cath?”
“Yes. Amy?”
“You know how we were going shopping and out to lunch on Saturday so you could get your kid fix?”
Jason’s head snapped up. He stared first at Amy, then at Catherine.
Across the table Catherine could see Monica’s eyes were closed and she was shaking her head. “Uh, yeah. What about it?” Not only did she now owe Monica another favor—since Amy had just made it clear they had already made plans together for Saturday, and it wasn’t to pay Monica back for helping today—but even a quick sideways glance in Jason’s direction told her he was back on red alert. Well. too bad. That was his problem. He’d figure out she wasn’t interested sooner or later. Meanwhile it was sort of entertaining, in a perverse sort of way, to watch him squirm.
“Well, maybe Maura could come with us. That way,” she continued brightly, “I’d have a friend and you could get a double kid fix all for one trip to the mall. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
Catherine propped her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand, while she considered the idea. Actually, it wasn’t bad. “Two for the price of one, huh? Sure, why not? It’s okay with me if it’s okay with Maura’s dad.”
“Kid fix?” Jason questioned, raising a rather formidable brow at her.
Catherine gave him an arch look in return. Let him think what he liked. “I enjoy kids. So what? Just because I’m unmarried and have no children of my own does not mean I don’t appreciate their company and value their friendship.”
“Yeah, Dad, some people like being around kids.”
“Some people aren’t responsible for a child’s formation and upbringing. They can afford to let down their guard and just have fun. I’d love to kick back and relax with you, Maura. Unfortunately, I’ve got all the responsibilities of being both parents to you, and that’s got to take precedence.”
Catherine smiled at Maura. “He’s got you there, sweet cheeks. When I’ve had my kid fix for the day, or you get bratty, I can just send you home and go on my merry way. Your dad can’t do that. He’s in it for the long haul and deserves a lot of respect. Having fun with you is the easy part. Disciplining is hard, though. And judging by what I can see, your dad’s doing one heck of a job.”
Maura looked doubtful, but Amy cut in. “So she can come?”
“If you don’t mind sharing, it’s okay with me, but like I said, Maura will have to get her father’s permission.”
Maura clasped her hands in front of her. “Please, Daddy,” she pleaded. “You can’t object to this. She’s a grown-up and everything.”
Giving permission would get him out of the doghouse with his darling progeny, but dam it, Saturday was his day to spend quality time with Maura. Not that his daughter wouldn’t probably have a better time without him around—which hurt. “Maura, I’d be willing to take you to the mall. I’ve offered several times—”
“But I want to go with Amy and her Aunt Cath. Please?” his daughter begged.
“I thought you and I could do something together that day. If you don’t want to go to the mall with me, maybe we could—”
Monica cleared her throat and smiled. “I’ve got an idea,” she said, sounding very much like the cat that swallowed the cream. “Why don’t you go along with them, Jason? The four of you could all go together and spend the day at the mall. Go to lunch. Maybe even see a movie if you get shopped out.” Monica shot an ingenuous smile at her sister.
Catherine blinked. She’d been outmaneuvered. Darn her sister’s rotten hide. “Jason might not be comfortable spending his day with three women, Monica. You know how men are about shopping. You shouldn’t put him on the spot like that.”
Jason sighed. This really was not the way he wanted to spend half of his precious weekend. Still, it was probably the only way he’d spend time with Maura without getting himself further into the doghouse. “No, it’s all right,” he said. “I’d be a fool to turn down the opportunity to escort three such beautiful women anywhere, even the mall. I’ll drive. I’ll even spring for lunch.”
“Dad!” Maura wailed. “Everything will be wrecked if you come along!”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Maura, I happen to know that the only time you even acknowledge my presence when we’re out in public is when it’s time to get out the credit cards. Otherwise I’m pretty much just a background fixture. How will my coming along ruin things?” He already knew the answer. It just didn’t make any sense to him.
“Because you’re my father!” his daughter cried. “Couldn’t you just give me some money and let me go with them?”
Jason rubbed his eyes tiredly. He wanted to be a friend to his daughter, God knew he did. Was it his fault Maura kept pushing him into the roll of disciplinarian? “Maura,” he began patiently, “by choosing to force the issue here and now instead of waiting until we’re alone and could talk this out, you’ve put me in the position where I’ll have to speak plainly and possibly embarrass you and your friend.”
Maura’s eyes widened in consternation.
“You’ve been wanting to go to the mall, and I have offered several times to take you. Here’s an opportunity for you to get what you want. But Saturday is my day to spend some time with you. I’m afraid you’re going to have to suffer my company or lose the trip.”
Maura’s lower lip was stuck out about a half a yard, Jason thought as he measured it with his eyes. This was one unhappy little girl. “Come on, honey, give a little, get a little. You’re going to have to learn the fine art of compromise.”
Catherine decided to put in her two cents’ worth. She was unwillingly starting to like and respect this Jason Engel. He wasn’t afraid to stick to his guns, not even in the face of some formidable preadolescent resistance. “Your dad’s right, Maura. You’re a very lucky girl that he cares enough to be so careful of you. Let’s give him a break and let him come along. Next time we’ll make it all girls, all right?”