Love And The Single Mom (Singles.... With Kids #1)

by C. J. Carmichael

  Cooking wasn’t her only gift.

  During a lull in business, she came to him with a bowl of soup and a scone. He waited for her to ask him where he’d been, but she didn’t.

  “How’s the job search going?”

  He held out a hand. “Don’t ask.”

  “Sorry to hear that. I thought maybe you’d found something….”

  That would have explained why he hadn’t shown up on Monday as he’d promised to. But he didn’t have a good reason for that. At least not one that he could tell her.

  He nodded at the food she’d brought him. “When I’m done with this, would it be a good time for me to keep working on those cash flow statements?”

  Her cheeks pinkened. “You don’t need to do that. You’ve already helped enough. With the books and…other things.”

  She was thinking of their sort-of-date on Saturday night. But he didn’t see how that could count as a favor. He’d enjoyed himself. Enjoyed being with her and watching her with her kids and just…being with her.

  “You’d be doing me a favor by letting me help. Before I’m reduced to watching daytime television.” He couldn’t believe he was practically begging her to do something he’d decided he absolutely wanted no part of. He tensed as she considered the offer—then relaxed when she slowly nodded.

  “If you’re sure…”

  “I am.” And he was. Sure he was being a total idiot.

  Tuesday’s Soup of the Day:

  Corny Cauliflower

  HE WAS BACK. After showing Robert up to her apartment, Margo couldn’t believe how light-footed she suddenly felt. No customer’s request was too much trouble. Every rambunctious child was cute, rather than annoying.

  She took him a cup of coffee and a brownie around three. When she returned from picking up the kids from school, he was just finishing for the day.

  “How about a coffee for the road?”

  He accepted the offer and she filled an extra-large-sized cup for him as her kids perched on their stools for their usual after-school snack. Peter didn’t pay much attention to Robert, but Margo noticed Ellie give him a couple of studied looks.

  “Robert’s helping me with the business side of running the bistro. Doing the accounting and preparing the statements I need for the bank.”

  Peter ignored the information, but Ellie seemed interested. “Don’t you have to go to work in the day? My dad doesn’t come home until dinnertime. Sometimes later.”

  Robert focused on pressing a lid onto his coffee cup as he answered. “I’m between jobs right now.”

  “Do you have kids?”

  His jaw muscle tightened. “No.”

  Margo was a little surprised at his brusque answers. The other night she’d gotten the impression that Robert liked kids.

  Peter downed the last of his juice. “I’m still thirsty.”

  For the first time there was a flicker of interest in Robert’s eyes as he glanced at her son, but it disappeared quickly. “I’ll catch you tomorrow,” he said to Margo, before taking off without a word of goodbye to the kids.

  “He doesn’t like us,” Ellie said.

  Margo frowned. “That’s crazy. How could anyone not like you guys?” She gave them both a hug and was about to usher them upstairs to start on their homework when her cell phone rang.

  She whipped the phone out of her apron with a premonition of trouble. Only a week ago Tom had called to tell her about his wedding. What was it going to be this time?

  Leaving Em behind the counter, Margo took the call in the kitchen, her back resting against the door to the industrial-sized refrigerator.

  “Margo speaking.”

  “This is Ruth Bigsby, Margo. How are you?”

  Peter’s first-grade teacher. “Fine, thanks. Is Peter having trouble at school?”

  “No, no, he’s doing fine. I didn’t mean to alarm you by calling. But there is a small concern I wanted to mention.”

  “Yes?” Small concern. How small? This was probably something to do with Tom’s wedding and the recent upheaval in all their lives. Margo hadn’t seen much change in Peter at home, but maybe he’d been acting out in class.

  “Peter’s been excusing himself to go to the bathroom quite frequently, lately.”

  “Oh?” Margo didn’t see the problem. “Peter drinks a lot of water.”

  “Yes, he keeps his water bottle at his desk and usually I have no problem with that, but it has struck me as excessive lately and I thought I should tell you. In case you wanted to take him to see his doctor.”

  Pull her son out of school, leave Em shorthanded at the bistro and go to the doctor’s office because her son liked to drink water? “Well, thanks, Ruth. I appreciate that you’re worried about Peter.”

  Margo disconnected the call, then hustled the kids up to the apartment. “I’ll be back soon,” she told Em, but Ellie needed help with a research project and Margo found herself entangled on the World Wide Web trying to suss out facts on ant colonies.

  At five, when the staff changeover occurred, she ran downstairs to make sure all was well. She found Sandy covering for Edward again.

  What was with that guy? When he’d applied for the job he’d seemed almost desperate for the extra income. And for the first while he’d been such a good worker. She’d have to have a more serious talk with him, and soon, Margo realized.

  But not tonight. She was already running late as it was, and Nora was planning to stop by for a coffee later. She was bringing a new friend with her tonight, an installation artist named Selena Milano. Margo didn’t quite know what an installation artist was. She supposed she would find out later.

  Margo pulled a lasagna from the freezer for dinner and chopped fresh veggies for Ellie and Peter to snack on in the meantime. Dinner was late—but then she’d never been known for serving it on schedule. Earlier she’d been busy baking a lemon tart for Nora and Selena. She’d set it aside to cool and now she placed it on a tray, along with serving plates and forks.

  To expedite bedtime she decided to forgo baths this one time. As was becoming usual, Peter fell asleep before she finished the Spider-Man adventure he’d chosen as his bedtime story. She went to Ellie’s room.

  “I read your report, honey. You did a terrific job.”

  Ellie nodded without looking up from the first Harry Potter book. She was rereading the entire series in anticipation of the latest movie release.

  Margo bent to kiss her cheek. “I’m going downstairs to have coffee with my friends. I’ve got the monitor with me, so just shout if you or your brother need anything.”

  “We’ll be fine, Mom.” Ellie spoke again without raising her head.

  Loving the fact that her daughter could get that engrossed in a book, Margo hurried down the stairs. The first thing she saw as she stepped out of the kitchen was Edward—talking to a group of girls at a table for four. She went behind the counter to confer with Sandy.

  “When did he show up?”

  Sandy rolled her eyes. “About ten minutes ago. Those girls are his friends. They came in with him.”

  Margo strode out from behind the counter and headed toward the table in question. As soon as she caught Edward’s eye, he straightened and started backing away.

  “Catch you later,” he said. “The boss is getting mad at me.”

  As if to prove his point wrong, Margo smiled at the girls, then turned to Edward. “Sandy has her hands full right now. Do you think you could help her?”

  She would have hauled him into the kitchen for a serious chat, but Nora showed up then, with an exotic-looking woman who had to be Selena. Selena had short, dark curly hair, big brown eyes and a funky skirt and top that shouldn’t have looked good together, yet did.

  “Hey, Margo. Nice to see you.” Nora gave her a hug. “This is my friend, Selena. She’s working on a piece of art in front of our building right now.”

  Margo shook hands with the new arrival. Selena’s skin felt a little gritty. The artist gave her an apologetic smile. “
Sorry. I was working with papier-mâché today and I just couldn’t scrub all that stuff off.” She examined her right hand. “My nails are still a mess.”

  “Maybe so. But the rest of you looks great.” Margo admired the way Selena’s chunky turquoise jewelry complemented her coral top. Those were colors Margo simply couldn’t wear, much as they suited the other woman.

  “It’s great to meet you, Selena, and I want to hear more about what you do, but first let me get us some coffees. Nora always has chai latte… What would you like?”

  “Straight espresso for me, please.” Selena swept an expert gaze around the bistro. “I just love your place. Good colors. Nice karma.”

  Margo liked her instantly.

  Later, when they were all seated in the annex room, Margo found out that Selena had something very important in common with her and Nora. She was a single mom, too. Her son, Drew, was almost twelve.

  “It’s always been just the two of us,” Selena said, almost smugly. “And that’s the way I like it.”

  “No joint-custody issues,” Margo noted. “That must be nice.” Still, despite the headaches of coordinating schedules with Tom, she was glad that her children had a father in their lives. She knew Nora felt the lack for her son, Danny, even if Selena did not.

  “So, tell us about the wedding reception.” Nora glanced at Selena. “Margo’s ex got remarried last Saturday and she was invited.”

  “Oh.” Selena’s face softened with sympathy. “Was that tough?”

  “Not as bad as I thought it would be. The venue was amazing. I took a card from the restaurant.” Margo passed it to Nora. “I thought your sister might be interested, for her wedding.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be sure to give this to Suzanne. But tell us more about the night.”

  “Ellie and Peter looked adorable. And they seemed fine. I think they actually had a pretty good time.”

  “What’s the new stepmom like?” Nora asked.

  “Very attractive and elegant.” Margo grimaced. “Not only is she nice-looking but I think she may actually be a genuinely nice person.”

  “That’s terrible,” Selena said.

  Margo laughed. Selena obviously got it. “I know. I really wanted to dislike her. But now I don’t even get that small satisfaction.”

  “So now are you wishing you’d taken my advice and asked a date to the reception?” Nora wondered.

  “Actually…”

  “She did take someone!” Selena raised her espresso cup in salute. “Way to go, sister!”

  Margo couldn’t help but grin.

  “Was it the banker? Robert? Oh, I can’t believe this—Margo’s finally gone on a date!”

  “Don’t make me sound like such a loser, Nora. Only…maybe I am. Because it wasn’t really a date. I told Robert about the ceremony and he offered to go with me for moral support.”

  “He volunteered to go to your ex’s wedding?” Nora shook her head. “I didn’t think they made guys that nice anymore.”

  “I’m not sure they ever made them that nice.” Selena picked up the knife Margo had set next to the tart. “Is anyone else hungry? Because I can’t look at this beautiful thing another second longer without biting into it.”

  “Dive in,” Margo encouraged her. “And to tell you the truth, I can’t figure Robert’s motives out. He’s been helping me with the accounting, besides going to that reception with me.”

  “You want to know his motives?” Selena passed a plate to Margo. “That’s easy. He wants to sleep with you.”

  Just the suggestion gave her a little buzz. She tried to blame the feeling on too much espresso in her double mocha tonight. “No way. We’ve been alone several times. And he’s never even tried to kiss me.”

  “Really?”

  Nora looked surprised and Margo realized she’d just made a rather pathetic admission. She and Robert were both unattached singles, about the same age, who’d been spending lots of time together lately. Why hadn’t he tried to kiss her?

  “The theory still holds,” Selena insisted. “It’s just that Robert hasn’t yet realized that he wants to sleep with you. Or perhaps he has, and he’s fighting the attraction for some reason.”

  “Maybe he’s scared off by the fact that I have two kids.” Margo thought about how stilted he’d been that afternoon when he was at the counter with Ellie and Peter. That was it, she decided, as disappointment tightened around her chest. Robert didn’t like children.

  “Could be,” Nora allowed. “He sure seemed to back off the other night when he saw the photographs of Danny, Peter and Ellie.”

  “That’s right. He did.” Margo thought about how happy she’d felt this afternoon when he’d showed up again after a couple days away. But if he didn’t like kids… Well. He definitely wasn’t the right guy for her, no matter how nice he seemed to be.

  “Hey, I almost forgot.” Nora placed a paper bag on the table. “I bought you a present.”

  Margo pulled out a mug. Spelled on the side was a motto that seemed very appropriate for her life right now. Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.

  “It made me think of you,” Nora said. “Of us. That it’s time to start broadening our horizons.”

  “You talking about men?” Selena asked.

  Margo grinned, her mood lightening. No doubt about it. She liked Selena. “That’s right.”

  “Well, as long as we keep things fun and casual, I’m all for men. Can I join the club?”

  Margo exchanged glances with Nora. “Club?”

  “The Singles With Kids club,” Selena elaborated.

  “That sounds like us, all right.” Nora cut three new slices of the tart, then slid one onto each of their plates.

  “Dig in, everyone.” As she picked up her fork, Margo felt comforted. It was a crazy world out there for a single woman with young children to raise. But at least she wasn’t alone.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Days Unemployed: 11

  THE NEXT MORNING Robert made a new rule for himself. He would go to Margo’s only if the agenda was all business. He’d buy lunch, update his job search queries, then prepare the cash flow statement for Margo. That was all. He wouldn’t allow himself to spend any time alone with her. Above all, he would leave the bistro before her children returned home from school.

  Yesterday had been a close call. It was obvious that Ellie was already suspicious of his role in her mother’s life.

  As for Peter… Robert frowned. The young boy was the physical opposite of Andrew, blond and slight rather than stocky and dark, but he had that same trusting light in his eyes that had drawn Robert to Belinda’s son. He had to keep his distance from those kids.

  The real problem here, of course, was Margo. There was a sparkle about the woman. The sincerity in her smile was difficult to resist. As he’d watched her serve her male customers, he’d wondered why they didn’t all fall instantly in love with her.

  Like he had? No. He wasn’t in love with Margo. Just a little bit infatuated. Soon, the right job opportunity would present itself and then he’d be out of temptation’s way. Once he was working his usual long hours in the financial district, he’d forget all about Margo’s Bistro. It was just because he had so much idle time on his hands that he couldn’t seem to stay away from her right now.

  After a workout and shower at the gym, Robert drove to the bistro. Margo served him a coffee and a muffin, before taking him up to the apartment to work on the books. At noon she brought his lunch on a tray and then left him alone to eat it.

  So far his plan to spend as little time with her as possible was working.

  Possibly too well.

  He ate quickly, resisting with effort the temptation to go downstairs and see if she had any time to talk. Instead, he checked in with his headhunter and returned a few calls.

  Then back to the cash flow statements. No matter how he tried to juggle the numbers, though, he couldn’t get the result he wanted, the results Margo needed.

  An hour later, he accepted the ine
vitable and printed off the statements. Glancing at his watch, he saw he’d finished just in time. He still had a half hour before Margo went to pick up the kids from school. He wanted to be long gone by the time they arrived home.

  He tracked Margo down in the kitchen as she was pulling a tray of muffins from the oven. “Hey. Just wanted to let you know that I’m finished.”

  She swiveled to face him, the hot tray still in her hands. Her cheeks were flushed and she was smiling. She looked very pretty.

  “Would you like to test one of these before you go?”

  He forced his eyes from her face to the muffins. “Are those the same kind you made last week?”

  “I’ve modified the recipe a little. They should be better.”

  He waited as she dumped the steaming-hot muffins out onto a clean cloth.

  “Help yourself.”

  He broke a corner off one of them and popped it into his mouth. His taste buds were immediately impressed. “Wow, this is lots better. Here—you try.”

  Robert broke off another piece and fed it to her. Her lips parted. He felt the flick of her tongue on his finger. For a moment their eyes connected. Then they both glanced away.

  Margo chewed, then judged the results. “The texture is much better. Flavor, too. Not bad.”

  “Better than that. I’ve never tasted anything like this.”

  “Yes…but…” She took a second taste, then frowned. “I don’t know. I’m still missing something.”

  “Are you sure?” Robert popped a bigger piece into his mouth. “I think they’re perfect the way they are.”

  “Maybe.” Margo jotted a few comments in her notebook. When she set down the pen, she gave him a hopeful look. “So the cash flow statement is ready for the bank?”

  He couldn’t look at her as he nodded. “I printed it out for you and left it on the desk upstairs.”

  “That’s great. But…is something wrong?”

  “Margo, when the bank sees those cash flow projections, they’re going to be concerned. As they should be.”

  He forced himself to look her square in the eyes. She stiffened her shoulders. “Why? What’s wrong?”