“He’s coming.”
“Mama, get me out of here!” Becky screamed, her voice echoing in the ductwork.
“I will, honey,” Charlotte promised, knowing it would take a miracle for her throbbing hands to hold on much longer. In answer to her prayer, she heard heavy footsteps bolting up the stairs. Expecting the older boy, she was relieved when a stranger put his arms around her from behind and clamped his large hands on Becky’s legs.
****
Reaching as far into the opening as his wide shoulders would allow, Jake was able to work his left hand down to the girl’s waist and catch her leg above the knee with his right. On the count of three, he lifted while the woman pulled.
Something caught.
“Ouch! You’re hurting me!”
“What’s wrong, Becky?” Charlotte asked.
“Mama, it’s got my hair!”
Jake felt an involuntary tremor course through the woman’s body. The situation was even worse than he’d thought. The girl was panicking. She’d been upside down for several minutes and regardless of losing a few hairs, they had to get her out.
“Becky,” he called, keeping his voice calm. “Can you move your arms?”
“I’m scared.”
“Can you free your hair?”
“It’s dark!”
“I know, sweetie.” He heard the tears in her voice. “But you’re a brave girl.”
“No she’s not,” Maggie said, trying to see into the opening. “She’s scared of the dark.”
“Maggie, please!” scolded the frustrated mother. “Get out of the way and hush.”
As the woman pressed into his side, the combination of honeysuckles and pine cleaner whiffed upwards, tickling his nose. It was then he noticed the color of her hair — auburn. He tried to ignore her, but even the job at hand couldn’t stop the excitement of liquid fire shooting through his veins. Becky kicked, bringing him back to reality.
“Is your hair free?”
“Uh-huh,” came the muffled reply.
Jake saw the white knuckles on the woman’s clinched fingers. No doubt she was terrified, but he was glad she’d kept her cool. A hysterical female would have been worse than the kid stuck in the wall. He bent his knees for more leverage and buried his nose in her wild mop of a ponytail.
“Ready?”
She pulled while he lifted, and a moment later the screaming girl was out of the wall, staggering as the blood rushed from her head. The woman sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around Becky in a tight hug and showering her with kisses.
“Mama, you’re hurting me!”
“Sorry.” She kissed her again on both cheeks before releasing her.
He had been trying to catch a glimpse of this woman for days. Now that he’d finally caught up with her, he couldn’t believe his luck. Even without makeup, there was a proud elegance in the way she held herself. Her green eyes and porcelain skin reminded him of Maggie, but the dark auburn hair was more like the older girl.
“Thank you sounds lame after all you’ve done,” she said, still breathless from the exertion. “How can I ever repay you?”
Several ways came to mind, but none involved having the kids around. While he’d been drooling over her, Jeremy and Bruce had been backing toward the bedroom door, making their escape. Before he could say anything, the woman was pointing an accusing finger at Bruce.
“Hold it, young man!” she said, the anger in her voice unmistakable.
“What’s he done?” Jake dreaded the answer.
“Your son has been one disaster after another, since coming into this house!”
Bruce shoved his hands deep into his pockets and dropped his head.
“Let’s try to be rational,” Jake said, hoping to defuse the situation. The woman was furious. He knew his boys could be brats, but they were his responsibility. He didn’t need a stranger telling him how to raise them.
“Rational? You want to talk rational? He tried to push Becky down a laundry chute, and I’m supposed to be rational?”
“Bruce?”
“I didn’t push her, Dad, honest. Becky wanted to see the bottom, so I helped her.”
“Helped her?” The woman’s voice rose in anger. “I don’t think so. There’s no way Becky could have gotten so far into the wall without being pushed.”
“I just said I helped her. Don’t you listen?”
“Bruce!” Jake jumped in at the first sign of disrespect.
“But, Dad…”
“That’s enough, son. Come here.” He motioned for his boys to cross the room. It was time to put a lid on this hornet’s nest. “Care to explain how this got started?”
Bruce squirmed, kicking the toe of his sneaker against the carpet. “Do we have to?”
“It’s the ghost!” Maggie said, tugging on his arm. “He tried to get Becky, but you wouldn’t let him!”
“It was just a joke, Dad.” Jeremy spoke up in his brother’s defense. “We didn’t mean to hurt her, honest.”
“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” Jake said, knowing the punishment had to be severe. “Becky could have been hurt or even killed. Do you realize that?”
“Sorry, Dad.”
Jake rubbed the back of his neck where the muscles had tightened into iron bands. Up until now, their pranks had been aimed at grown-ups in the neighborhood, but things were getting out of hand. This was more than an ordinary prank.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it this time. Girls aren’t as tough as boys, and you’d better not do anything to hurt these two.”
“Aw, Dad, you know we wouldn’t hurt ’em on purpose.”
He believed them, but the stunt had scared the daylights out of the girl’s mother, and rightly so. What-ifs were running through his mind.
“We’re sorry, ma’am,” they said in unison. Jake knew they were trying to lessen the punishment by apologizing without being told. If they were to be neighbors, then he wanted to start on good terms.
She appeared to accept the regret in their apology. “I’m just tired and this… well, it aged me by ten years,” she said, rubbing her forehead. The dark circles under her eyes affirmed it. “Sorry I blew up.”
“You have a right to be upset. I promise it won’t happen again. Isn’t that right, boys?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Wait a minute.” She placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t I know you?”
Jake nodded. Her knuckles weren’t white anymore, but warm to the touch. The connection he felt was undeniable, much like when their eyes had met. “I’m the guy who forgot his milk the other day.”
“I thought you were familiar,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte McGregor, and these are my girls, Becky and Maggie.”
“I’m Jake,” he said, relieved she appeared to be cooling off.
She smiled again and this time, it was directed straight at him. “You never did say how I could repay you.”
“That isn’t necessary, but I believe my sons have worn out their welcome.”
“It’s over and done—” Her hesitation led him to believe she was more shaken than she let on. “Becky’s fine. Aren’t you, dear?”
“Yeah, it was fun! Can we do it again?”
“No!” her mother cried vehemently. “And don’t any of you go near the door again.”
Jake followed Charlotte to the kitchen where she filled mugs with steaming coffee. The liquid sloshed, but he pretended not to notice her hands shaking.
“I brought the extra cup from home in case a neighbor stopped by,” she said, the empty pot resting in the sink. “But to tell you the truth, I was expecting a woman.”
“Guess I’m the only welcome wagon you’re likely to get today.”
He relaxed on the floor of the empty room, his back against the cabinet and his long legs stretched in front of him. Taking his time, he studied Charlotte through the steam rising above the rim of his cup. From his vantage point, he could testify she had the longest, shapeliest legs he’d seen i
n ages. The messy hair and dark circles only added to her feminine appeal.
She took time to hug Andy and give him a cookie, before finding her own square of linoleum. He couldn’t believe his usually shy toddler snuggled into her lap and laid his head against her chest. The boy scrunched his shoulders, giggling when she kissed his neck.
“I love hugging this guy. He’s such a happy little fellow.”
“Most of the time.”
Her attention focused on him after the toddler lost interest and ran off to play. “I’m glad you’re here. Becky’s small for her age, but she was getting heavy. I should nail the door shut on the laundry chute.”
“There’s no need, I’ll do it,” he said, smiling when she tried to hide a yawn. It wouldn’t take him but a minute to have it fixed. “Have you been cleaning all day?”
“Except for a little while this afternoon. I had to meet with Becky’s principal.”
Jake nodded. “So it was you.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“At school today,” he explained. “Unfortunately I was there for a meeting, too. I saw you leave Mrs. Ruff’s office.”
Charlotte frowned. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recall seeing you.”
“I was in the corner.”
“Oh.”
“But I knew it was you.”
Her expression clearly said he wasn’t making any sense. “I recognized you from Saturday night.”
“Saturday night?”
“At the Pizza Plate.”
Her face paled. “Are you the guy in the window… the one who kept staring at us?”
She was looking at him as if he was some kind of wacko nutcase. He held up his hands in surrender. “Wait a minute, you’ve got me mixed up with your other stalker. It’s true I glanced your way, but only once. It doesn’t mean I was staring. Maggie came over to my yard when you were inspecting the house. I recognized her red hair.”
Charlotte’s eyes locked with his for what seemed like an eternity. He’d never thought about how vulnerable a woman on her own with small children would feel.
She visibly relaxed, giving him what seemed to be the benefit of the doubt. “I’m sorry. My husband was a lawyer, and a lot of his cases involved children. I just panicked.”
He felt like a heel. Here he’d been fantasizing about this woman since the first time he’d seen her face. Her voice wasn’t impersonal, like it sounded at the grocery store, or prissy, like when she’d talked with the realtor. She seemed real, and he wanted to get to know her. “I’m the one who needs to apologize, and I should’ve introduced myself, but our food arrived, and well, you’ve met my boys. It would’ve meant starvation if I’d left the table then.”
“Apology accepted. So you had to see Mrs. Ruff, too — wait a minute, that’s where I’ve seen Bruce. He was in her office this afternoon, wasn’t he?”
Jake frowned. “Do you think their rooms are on the same hall?”
“It’s possible. And I could be wrong, but I think our kids might be teaming up with each other.”
His suspicion was tweaked. “What makes you think so?”
“Voices carry in empty houses, and I heard Bruce telling Jeremy something about Becky saving his skin.”
“I knew it!” His anger simmered just below the surface. He’d been had by an eight-year-old.
“What’s wrong?”
“The little rascal didn’t give a straight answer all evening. He lied to me!”
“Well,” she said. “If he lied, then so did Becky. But to be fair, Mrs. Ruff didn’t call any names.”
The girl wasn’t his problem. “I’ll have Bruce’s hide for this!”
“Now wait — we aren’t sure they lied. It could be something entirely different.”
He emptied his cup and stood up, offering her a hand. “We’ll see. Right now, I need to finish some paperwork I brought home, and the boys have homework.”
“Thanks again,” she said. “You were a Godsend.”
“No problem.”
****
Arriving home to an empty house the following afternoon, Jake had a good idea of where his boys would be. They’d talked of nothing else the night before. Charlotte’s back door stood open so he knocked as he entered, carrying a basket loaded with fruit and nuts. “Welcome wagon.”
“Thank you. We love fruit. As a matter of fact, I think the paint I used in here is apple green.”
He glanced around, taking in the clean cabinets and bright color on the wall. It was hard to believe how much the place had changed. “Nice.”
“Looks different, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does. Reminds me of the day we moved in next door. Elsie Parker invited us over for fresh apple pie.”
“How long ago?”
“Right after Jeremy was…” Jake’s reply became lost in the chaos going on upstairs. He was fast on his feet, but Charlotte beat him to the bathroom at the head of the stairs by a good five seconds. Following her in, he herded kids out of his way.
“It hurts, Mama!” Maggie screamed, tears streaming down her blotchy cheeks.
He crouched beside the girl, trying to calm her fears, but his stomach tied in a knot at the sight of her little arm trapped in the antique toilet. It was twisted at the elbow, the wrist and hand completely out of sight.
Her shrill voice pierced his ears, causing his eyes to cross momentarily, but he knew the ringing in his ears was nothing compared to what she was feeling. The screams corkscrewed in his head when he touched the arm just above the elbow.
Bruce leaned in for a closer look. “Hey, Maggie, can you feel any doo-doo in there?”
Jake jerked his head toward the door, a warning to the boy, but it was too late to stop Maggie’s green eyes from filling with terror. “Mama!”
He wasn’t sure if her arm was broken, but he was positive he’d gone deaf in his left ear. If his boys were responsible for this, they’d be grounded for life.
Charlotte distracted Maggie for a moment by drying her tears. “How did it happen, honey?”
“Su-Susie doll dropped her shoe.” She sniffed. “An-and I tried to get it.”
“Had you flushed the toilet?”
Her lips quivered. “Uh-huh, and it got me-e-e.”
Positioning his shoulder, he tried to work so the girl couldn’t see what was going on while maneuvering her arm. “It’s beginning to move. I just don’t want to do any more harm.”
“Mr. Jake,” Maggie said, looking up at him with trusting, tear-filled eyes. “Do I still got a hand?”
“Sure you do, sweetie. You’ll see it in just a minute.”
Her green eyes sparkled. “Am I your sweetie?”
His heart melted. “You and Becky can both be my sweeties.”
A mischievous grin replaced her tears. “Can Mama be your sweetie, too?”
Charlotte’s face glowed. “Two sweeties are all he needs.”
He couldn’t help but grin. For years, his boys had occupied every inch of his heart, but now, in two short afternoons, Charlotte’s girls had plowed their way in.
“Thank goodness!” He freed the arm at last and spread her small palm open in his. “I can see all five fingers.”
Maggie’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “It’s nasty!”
“It’ll wash off. Now wiggle your fingers.”
Fresh tears shimmered. “They don’t move no more.”
Jake intercepted Charlotte’s worried glance while waiting for Jeremy to return with a clean towel. She held Maggie’s arm under the faucet in the sink to wash away the slime, then carefully placed the towel around it. He picked her up and carried her to the car. “I’ll lock up. Do you want me to go with you to the emergency room?”
She slid into the driver’s seat. “It isn’t necessary. I’m used to doing things by myself.”
He and his boys stood on the steps watching while Charlotte and her girls backed out of the drive. She’d seemed a little put out, but he couldn’t blame her. After a couple of long, hard days
, not to mention the near misses with her girls, he figured she had a right to be a little flaky. Besides — she was absolutely gorgeous.
****
Supper came from leftovers, but the kitchen was still a mess. He loaded the dishwasher, wiped the table, and tossed the dirty towels into the laundry hamper while the older boys finished their homework. The afternoon’s distraction had been a welcome change from their usual routine. Instead of the toddler pestering his brothers, Jake found him at the living room window with his nose pressed against the glass. At first glance, Andy appeared to be watching the stray cat searching for mice under the hedges, but then he saw the tears on his cheeks.
“What’s wrong, son?” Jake asked, crouching beside him.
“When Mama come home?”
He hugged him, breathing in the faint scent of pine and honeysuckles still lingering in his hair and clothes, a sure sign of Charlotte getting her hugs in. Andy didn’t know what it was like to have a mother. The older boys had memories, but his baby had nothing.
“Mama’s in heaven. She’s not coming back.”
Andy’s head bobbed. “Uh-huh! Her bring Maggie back.”
“No, she…” Jake stopped. It hadn’t occurred to him that Andy was watching for Charlotte. “She’s the girls’ mama, but her name is Charlotte, and that’s what we’ll call her.”
“Mama Char’it.”
“No, just Charlotte.”
Andy stomped his foot. “Mama Char’it!”
“She’s not your mama, Andy,” he said, losing his patience at the first sign of a temper tantrum. “Charlotte and the girls are our neighbors. They’ll live in their house, and we’ll still live in ours.”
“I go see her?”
“If you’re a good boy.”
“I be good. I like Char’it.”
“Yeah,” Jake agreed, concerned his three-year-old might get too attached. “She’s nice. I like her too.”
Jeremy deserted his books. “You know what, Dad? It’ll be cool having Charlotte next door. Did you know she works two jobs? And she says I can babysit sometimes and earn extra money… if it’s okay with you and I keep my grades up.”
Hidden Hills Page 4