Still, practically attacking him on her front porch had been highly inappropriate—even if he had kissed her first. He was her best friend’s brother-in-law and he was in Riverdale temporarily. Those were two ingredients for a recipe for disaster.
Scowling, she looked at the mess in her living room. Clothes she’d tossed aside over the past few days were strewn from one end of the room to the other. Several pairs of shoes were waiting on the floor anxiously to trip her, likely when she least expected it. She needed to clean up. But then she always needed to clean up. She was a slob. Both Richard and Kylie had told her so on more than one occasion. They were right; she hated cleaning.
Hearing the phone ring, she glanced at the caller ID. Richard. She answered on the third ring. “I’m trying to clean my house. What do you want?”
Richard chuckled at that. “Yeah, right. You’re drinking your morning coffee and sitting on your ass.”
“What do you want?” she repeated, knowing he wouldn’t ever buy the house cleaning thing.
“I called to find out what happened last night.”
“What do you mean what happened?”
“Don’t be coy. I saw you leave with Beau Callahan in the middle of the night.”
Of course, he had. Richard was the biggest busybody she knew. “It was not the middle of the night—and he merely drove me home.”
“Really?” Richard sounded disappointed.
“He was worried about me driving after having wine. End of story.”
“That’s almost believable. You drive like crap even when you’re completely sober.”
She rolled her eyes. “You obviously think I’m lying. Exactly what kind of answer are you fishing for?”
“Let’s face it, he’s hot. And he’s rich.”
“What’s your point, Richard?” She tossed her coffee cup into the sink with the rest of the week’s dirty dishes.
“I already gave you my points—two of them; rich, hot.”
She rolled her eyes. Richard was simple, she’d give him that. “I’m not interested.” She repeated those words inside her head three more times.
“Why not?”
“Because, he to make him feel better. ed to di’s not my type.”
“What is your type then? Because for the life of me, I have dug through thousands of men trying to find it and have been unsuccessful up to this point.”
“Gay men don’t like women,” she told him crassly. “You keep trying to set me up with gay men.”
“All my friends are not gay, Kate. You’re stereotyping.”
“Wick is gay,” she insisted.
“He’s quite offended that you think so,” Richard informed her. “He’s a little feminine now and then, but one hundred percent hetero.”
“Well, maybe now that he knows how he comes across he’ll man up a little—and not by grabbing and groping.” Kate leaned against the counter. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere. I have things to do today.”
“Do you need a ride to get your car?”
“Yes,” she decided, knowing there was no way she was going to call up Beau Callahan and ask him for a ride. She didn’t want to bother Kylie and Trey on their last day off together before the work week either.
“I’ll pick you up in an hour. I’m looking forward to seeing your clean house.”
“Fat chance,” she said, and hung up.
By the time Richard showed up and they drove over to Trey and Kylie’s house it was noon. She was surprised to find Beau in the driveway, bent under the hood of her vehicle. Last she’d looked, the damage had been to the back end of the SUV.
“Nice ass,” Richard said, raising a brow and wiggling it.
“Will you just shut up and go home!” she hissed, climbing out of the car. After shooting a knowing look in her direction, Richard drove off to his own house. Kate stalked up to where Beau was standing. “What are you doing?”
He looked up, his brown eyes locking on hers. “I didn’t know you were on your way over. I’m almost done.”
“Would you mind telling me what you’re almost done with?”
“I changed your oil and your spark plugs. Don’t you ever do any maintenance on this thing?”
She thought that over. She’d had the rig serviced not that long ago. Well, maybe it had been longer than she thought. Regardless, she frowned at him. “I didn’t ask you to do all that. How much is it going to cost?”
He straightened, wiping some grease off his fingers with a rag. “I’m not worried about the money. It needed to be done and I was sitting around doing nothing.”
Dammit, why was he being nice again? She had come over here with the idea of copping major attitude. Now she was going to have to be civil.
“The words you’re looking for are thank and you,” he told her, grinning halfway before turning back to her engine.
She scowled in spite of the fact that she knew she should be nice. “I know how to show gratitude.”
He raised a brow, but didn’t comment.
“Thank you,” she said, the words low but discernible.
“You’re welcome. I didn’t get a had the decency to wincean just chance to check your brakes but if they are in half as bad a shape as the rest of your car, they’ll need to be done too.”
She watched him tighten something up with a wrench. “Why do you play baseball if you like working on cars so much?”
“Because there’s a whole hell of a lot more money in professional baseball than there is in mechanics.”
“I thought it wasn’t about the money,” she reminded him.
“It’s not. I love playing ball too.”
And that was that, she figured. Realizing she couldn’t exactly go anywhere until he was finished, she leaned back against her car door.
“About last night—” he began.
She cut him off. “Forget it. I acted like an ass.” Had she really just said that? From the look on his face, he was surprised too.
“We just got caught up in a weird moment,” she added, knowing she was babbling on. He was staring at her strangely and it was making her nervous. “It was late and we’d been drinking. I’ve already forgotten about it.” So shut up, she told herself silently and immediately shut her mouth.
“For what it’s worth, I acted like a jerk too. Let’s just start over.”
She supposed that was better than walking around awkwardly all the time—not that they wouldn’t end up doing that anyway. “So how long are you planning to stay?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. I have some work in New York I have to tend to sooner or later. For now I’m going to get a little R&R.”
An idea popped into her head. “I don’t suppose your R&R could consist of making the dreams of twenty-eight second graders come true, could it?”
Apparently finished under the hood, he let it shut with a slam. “What are you getting at?”
“A personal appearance. Or do you have to go through your agent for that?”
He was quiet a moment. “Usually, yes, he sets all that up.”
“So your answer is no then?” It wasn’t like he owed her any favors. She was the one who owed him.
He looked mildly uncomfortable. “I’m kind of trying to keep a low profile here, Kate. If word gets around that I">He apparentl
6
By the time Monday morning came, Kate’s mood had improved a little. In spite of her hatred of cleaning, she had come home Sunday afternoon and picked through the mess she called a house. She’d cleaned the bathroom and washed the dishes. She’d even washed several loads of clothes. Naturally, her washing machine was giving her problems but she managed to kick it into submission. She now had all five outfits picked out and clean for the week.
She even managed to get to school half an hour early, which for her, was unheard of. Armed with a latte in one hand and a bagel in the other, she settled down in her classroom and began going over her lesson plans.
A light tapping on her door interrupted her a few m
inutes later. She recognized a parent standing just inside the room. Marcia Pendleton, if she remembered right. David Pendleton, a bright eyed but rather precocious young man, was a member of Kate’s class. He had also been the recipient of a reprimand on Friday for kicking another student. This wasn’t the first reprimand he’d received. He was regularly kicking, biting and pushing the other children.
“Ms. Nyland? I’m sorry to barge in on you but I thought we should talk about the incident that occurred on Friday. David is waiting in the hall so we can have some privacy.”
Kate figured David should probably be in on the conversation since it was his bad behavior in question, but she wasn’t his mother. She waved Mrs. Pendleton in and stood.
“I have to tell you that David’s father and I were very upset to find out David had gotten into trouble again. Since the last time, we thought things had gotten better.”
“David is a good boy most of the time,” Kate said, motioning for Mrs. Pendleton to sit down. “Most of the instances of bad behavior have come after recess or group activities.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say,” Mrs. Pendleton said, frowning.
“Basically that David doesn’t like to work or play with the other children. He prefers to have his own area and be by himself.”
Mrs. Pendleton narrowed her eyes. “David has a lot of friends. He tells me all about them.”
Sure he does, Kate thought. She knew for a fact that David spent most of his time alone, behind the big toy out back. She didn’t tell Mrs. Pendleton that. “No one dislikes him, Mrs. Pendleton. He simply doesn’t prefer to share or be a part of our group activities.”
“Yes, well, isn’t that his choice? He told me that you forced him to be part of a group project on Friday and that’s why he acted out and kicked another child.” Mrs. Pendleton’s expression had gotten significantly less friendly than miscarriage just 5"> when she had first arrived. “I don’t have David in school here simply to make friends. He is here to learn.”
Kate was quiet a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Part of the learning experience is working with other children. It prepares them for later in life when they have jobs and children of their own.”
“I think my husband and I can handle that sort of thing at home. You’re supposed to be teaching him reading, writing and arithmetic.”
Was this woman for real? Kate reigned in her temper and forced a smile. “I understand your concerns. Much of our curriculum requires group activity. I simply can’t give David an evaluation on those activities if he won’t take part or if he strikes out at other children. The time before this, he bit someone. You must understand the health issues involved with biting. It simply isn’t acceptable.”
“So you’re saying that if he doesn’t do group things with the other children you’re going to fail him?” Mrs. Pendleton now looked downright angry.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. The state requires certain areas of curriculum to be followed. Many of our science projects, art and music projects—and even a lot of our flash cards and math games—require more than one student. There simply isn’t enough time or supplies to have each child do everything individually.”
“So it’s about the money.” Mrs. Pendleton’s lips thinned in irritation. “Then I’ll just write you a check.”
For goodness sake, just when Kate thought her day had gotten off to a good start, this is what she had to deal with. Sighing, she tried again.
“Mrs. Pendleton, it is not about money. David is showing signs of social distress. He doesn’t like to play with the other kids. When he does play with them, he is exhibiting mean behavior. It is my job, as his educator, to let you know there is a problem. Personally, I have no issues with your son. As long as he’s by himself in the classroom, he’s fine. But on a social level, he is not. If my child were displaying this type of behavioral problem, I would want to know.”
“Well, David isn’t your child so you don’t have to worry about it. Perhaps he would be better suited in someone else’s classroom.” Mrs. Pendleton stood up.
“I don’t think so. I enjoy having him in class and he and I get along fine,” Kate said, also standing. “I would be glad to go to the principal’s office with you and allow Principal Wilson to shine some light on things. Maybe he would have some ideas how we can solve this issue.”
“I think I’ll just go talk to him myself.” Mrs. Pendleton’s heels clicked against the floor on her way out. Kate sat down and took a gulp of coffee. Great. Now she would have to spend an extra hour in Principal Wilson’s office today.
The bell rang and children scurried into the classroom. Kate pushed her thoughts of Mrs. Pendleton aside and got to work teaching her class.
By the time the bell rang at three o’clock, she was more than ready to go home. The day had progressed downhill from Mrs. Pendleton’s visit. Kate had been forced to spend her lunch hour explaining her side of the story to Principal Wilson.
Donald Wilson was a middle-aged man with an ice age view on education. Not only that, he was absolutely on either side of her head. ">di scared to death of Mrs. Pendleton. He’d told Kate to work it out with David—ease him into activity at the child’s comfort level. He’d basically told her he knew she could handle it and kicked her out into the hall.
David had behaved well enough for the day. But there was tomorrow and the next day and so on to worry about. She didn’t know what to do about him.
Pulling into her driveway, she shut the car off and frowned. There was a red Volkswagen parked in front of her house that looked suspiciously like Wick Meyers’ VW. But it couldn’t be, could it? She’d all but told him to never come around her again. As the door to the red car opened, her worst fears were confirmed. There were those damned pink, fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror…and there was Wick. She sighed, knowing her day was about to get a whole lot worse.
Unfolding from the interior of her SUV, she turned to greet him. Hells bells, he had flowers in his hands. The man was apparently clueless.
“I came to apologize,” he said, stunning her. He hadn’t seemed like the apologetic type the other night. She supposed she should hear him out before she kicked him to the curb again.
“It’s no big deal.” She watched him fidget. The guy actually wouldn’t have been so terrible looking if he didn’t slick his dark hair back with so much gel. It made his skin look pastier than it should. Not only that, the glasses he wore were too thick for his face. They made his eyes seem too large. These were all things he could have fixed for himself if he had a clue—which he didn’t, she reminded herself.
“I got the impression from Richard, that you were quite upset about the other night. I didn’t intend to frighten you.”
“You didn’t frighten me, Wick. You came on a little strong, that’s all. It’s in the past though so don’t worry about it.”
“Well, I brought you these.” He offered her the flowers, a nice bouquet of daisies. Awkwardly, she took them. For some reason, she had a bad feeling she shouldn’t accept them. She didn’t want this guy to have the wrong idea.
“I like you, Kate,” he said, stepping toward her.
She backed up. He was creepy in a very unsettling sort of way.
“I was hoping we could start over. Maybe go to a movie or something?”
“I don’t think so, Wick. I appreciate the offer and the flowers but I’m just not interested.” Better to be direct and to the point.
He frowned. “I’m not gay, Kate. You shouldn’t have told Richard that. It was slanderous.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” she said, getting a bad vibe now. He looked angry and agitated. Stepping toward her house, she tried to stare him down. “I think you should leave, Wick.”
“I think I will. But not before I let you know that you are dead wrong about me. You shouldn’t be so rash to judge people, Kate.”
“Go home, Wick. You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I wanted to apologize. But I can see you don’t care that you were wrong about me. That’s too bad.”
Something about the look in his eyes made her skin begin to crawl. She turned away from him and hurried to her front door. Once she was safely inside, she locked i his forehead against hers. She he wast and peered through the front window. Wick was standing by his car now, watching her house. Great. He was not only a groper but he was crazy too.
She reached for her phone and dialed Richard’s number. “Your friend is a lunatic,” she told him, once he had answered.
“Who might you be referring to?” he asked, sounding amused.
“Wick, who do you think?”
Wick was still standing by his car, apparently in no hurry to go home.
“Wick? What are you talking about?”
“He’s out in front of my house, Richard. He was here with flowers when I got home. He wants me to go out with him again.”
Richard was quiet a moment. “Well, what did you tell him?”
“I told him no, of course. And then he got angry because I told you I thought he was gay.” A little rattled, she backed away from the window. “He’s still standing on the street staring at my house.”
“That doesn’t sound like Wick. Maybe he’s making a phone call or something.”
“Richard, call him and tell him to beat it or I’m calling the police.”
“Kate, calm down. Wick is harmless.”
“I don’t care how harmless you think he is. He’s standing in the street staring at my house after I’ve asked him to leave. He’s creepy.”
“Okay, okay,” Richard relented. “Don’t call the police. I’ll call him.”
Kate disconnected the call and watched as Wick looked down at his cell phone. He answered it, and a moment later climbed into his car and drove away. Relieved, Kate turned away from the window. She walked over to the table she had set the daisies on and picked them up, carrying them over and dropping them into the trash with a resounding thud.
Beau looked over the endorsement deal his agent had overnighted him from New York. It was a deal with a popular athletic shoe company. He’d worked with them for years, so he knew the deal was pretty cut and dry. He read through it casually and then signed it. It was crazy the amount of money they were willing to pay him just to use his face.
In the Eye of the Storm Page 6