She’d tried to talk to Adam again since the night he’d locked his door to her, but he had not wanted to listen. For a mother who prided herself on excellent communication with her children, Evie was pretty frustrated.
She had no idea what to say to him to make him understand that without her kids, her life would have been nothing. Certainly, both her pregnancies had been disasters—but that didn’t make the children disasters, too. No matter how hard you tried with kids, somehow you always came up short.
The silence between them lasted a few heartbeats too long for comfort, but Evie kept looking outside. They passed the school block. The band stood in position at the front of the parade. Brightly colored jerseys mixed and mingled, as Little and Big League players not participating in the all-star games would march in the parade, wave and throw candy.
“I thought you liked her.”
Evie sighed and returned her attention to the problem child of the week. “I do like her.”
“So why the third degree?”
“I love you. I want what’s best for you.”
“Toni’s what’s best for me.”
God, I hope so, Evie thought, but she kept her lip zipped.
The weather was perfect to Evie’s mind—sunny, hot and dry—and all her troubles and tensions faded as enjoyment of Oak Grove, friends and family took their place. Founder’s Day equaled fun and fireworks. What could be better? Though people did bring up the bet here and there, and the fact that both Evie’s team and Joe’s occupied first place in opposing leagues, the ribbing was good-natured, and folks seemed more excited about baseball than they’d been in years, which was saying a lot.
The all-star games drew huge crowds. Although the most talented players from each team were chosen to play, the kids did not play together until that day, which made the games interesting to watch.
Evie didn’t have to coach, so she sat in the stands, drank her Coke, ate her peanuts and cheered. The twins got dirty under the bleachers; Adam and Toni won their game. A harbinger, she hoped, of things to come.
Adam took off with a wave for Mom and a kiss for Toni. Evie sighed. Times had changed. She’d best get used to them.
She called for the twins, needing a hug however dirty she’d get from it, but they were gone. Her heart banged a bit harder and faster. Kids didn’t up and disappear in Oak Grove, but then, you could probably say that about the other places kids had disappeared from. Evie preferred to have her kids in sight at all times. Label her paranoid—she didn’t mind.
“They’re with Dad.”
Toni’s voice at her elbow set Evie’s mind to rest. She turned to smile at the girl at the same instant what Toni had called her father registered. Evie’s smile turned into a great big grin. “‘Dad,’ huh?”
Toni shrugged and looked at the ground. Evie let the subject drop. Something good must have happened between Toni and Joe. Evie was just glad it had. The way the twins worshiped Toni, Evie had figured they’d be calling her “Evelyn” before too long. She needed to spend time curing them of a new bad habit the way she needed another hot dream about Joe Scalotta.
“Where are they?”
Toni pointed to the grass in left field. Joe was on the ground, and both boys tumbled over him. For some reason the twins thought Joe was their personal wrestling trainer. Whenever and wherever they could, the two pulled him to the ground.
“What is that all about?” Evie asked.
Toni shrugged. “They like to jump on him. Maybe they know they can’t hurt him.”
“Do they do that with you?”
“Nope.”
“Me, either.”
“Must be a guy thing,” Toni observed solemnly.
Evie nodded, enjoying the camaraderie with Toni they’d shared from the first day. Being the only woman in a houseful of men sometimes made Evie feel like the only female on Planet Testosterone.
Benji straddled Joe’s chest and Danny his belly. They started bouncing up and down.
Evie put her arm around Toni’s shoulders. “Should we save him?”
“Nah. He likes it.”
“Go figure.”
“Yeah.” Toni sighed and shook her head, her attitude so clearly saying “Men!” that Evie laughed and gave her a little squeeze.
Together they crossed the infield and stood shaking their heads at all three of them.
“Boys, get off Mr. Scalotta.”
“He says his name is Joe.”
“Fine. Get off Joe.”
In a sudden and agile move, Joe dumped both of them onto the ground, came up on his hands and knees with a roar and tickled them until Evie feared there would be an accident. Then he climbed to his feet and brushed the grass from his legs.
In khaki shorts and a red tank top, with his hair full of dandelion fuzz and his face flushed from laughter and the sun, Joe was something to see. Evie’s breath caught.
Toni went over and started whispering to the twins.
Evie and Joe had not spoken beyond a casual word since the night at his house. Remembering both the truth and her fantasies made Evie blush.
“You look nice,” Joe ventured.
She glanced at him in surprise. Her red-white-and-blue short set was worn two days of the year—Fourth of July and Oak Grove Founder’s Day. Personally, she figured her star-spangled red shorts might be a bit much, but she’d learned long ago to please herself first, since there was virtually no pleasing everyone.
“Thanks.”
They stared at each other. Now what?
Joe stepped closer, tilted his head down in a conspiratorial manner, and Evie did the same.
“I talked to her,” he said.
“Mmm?” Evie murmured an encouragement.
“I don’t think I got through completely, but she seems to have gotten the main point. How about you?”
Evie wasn’t sure how to answer that. Adam had said he would not make his mother’s mistake, and from his vehemence, she believed he’d meant that. But he’d also said he wanted to be less responsible, more of a kid. Not an encouraging statement to repeat to the very large and intimidating father who waited for an answer.
“I talked to him,” she said, hoping that would be enough.
“And?”
It wasn’t enough. Brownie point for him. “He knows my opinion.”
Joe grunted. “So what do we do?”
“We continue to be good parents.”
“How’s that?”
“Watch them like hawks. Promises are easy to make.”
“And tough to keep.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You’re starting to get the hang of this dad thing.”
His smile was both joyous and rueful. “I think so.”
“Mom!”
The twins hit her in the knees. She slammed into Joe’s chest. The impact made it difficult to breathe, since the man was built like a brick. He caught her by the elbows before she bounced off and landed on her backside. That would have been lovely. Then he set her on her feet and held her arms a moment too long.
As his size and his scent enveloped her, Evie resisted the urge to fold herself into his arms. Joe made her feel physically safe and emotionally in jeopardy. The combination drove her crazy.
So instead of crawling into his embrace, Evie stepped back, out of reach but not out of range. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes, and her hand shook. Jeez, she had it bad.
He cocked his head. “You all right?”
“Yeah.”
“Do those two always love you to death?”
“Every chance they get.”
She turned around, and discovered Toni held one boy by each hand. The three of them had their heads together and were whispering furiously. Evie frowned. “What’s going on?”
Toni glanced up, and an emotion Evie couldn’t quite place crossed her face, then disappeared, leaving Evie with a sense of unease.
The twins grinned and launched themselves at her again, but Toni yanked them back. “Can Toni and
Joe watch the fireworks with us? Can they, huh?”
Evie tensed. No help for it now. To say no would be rude. But the thought of watching the fireworks while she shared her blanket with Joe Scalotta made her twitchy. The quilt she’d brought would definitely not be big enough for five.
“Sure,” she said. “No problem.”
The twins jumped into the air with a whoop and a holler, then gave each other a high five. They missed hands and smacked Toni in the stomach. Benji looked at Danny; Danny looked at Benji. They took off running before Toni got her breath back.
“Hey!” She chased them around center field.
Evie and Joe chuckled and watched in companionable silence.
“She really is great with them,” Evie observed.
“Yeah. Amazing, since she’s never had any brothers or sisters. You’d think they’d drive her nuts.”
“They do me. But they’re kind of cute to the untrained eye. Devious—like puppies.”
“Puppies? Aren’t they always cute?”
She snorted. “You’d think so. Until they go on the rug. Or bark at midnight and again at dawn. Chew up the coffee table, your taupe pumps and the only copy of a Health 4 final exam.”
“You’ve had a dog?”
“Nope. But I have a very good imagination.”
“Really?”
She glanced at him, only to find his gaze on her, warm and curious enough to make her heart leap. Did he know how good her imagination was? And that lately it had been occupied mainly with him—naked?
He winked at her and rocked back on his heels. “So the twins do a lot of table chewing, do they?”
She laughed. “Are you always so literal?”
“Not always.”
The way he spoke made Evie wonder how good his imagination was and how it had been occupied since their last evening together.
“Where’s the best place around here to watch the fireworks?” he asked.
“I’ve already staked my claim. Years of testing have revealed the top spot for optimum viewing capacity.”
“You’re a professional, I see.”
“In more ways than one, buster.”
His gaze wandered over her once more. “I’ve noticed that.”
This was fun. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
“Promise?”
Evie just smiled and called to the kids. “Guys, time to eat.”
That brought the herd at a run, which saved her the trouble of answering questions she wasn’t certain of herself.
Joe hadn’t had so much fun since he showed his Super Bowl ring to the president. He didn’t want the day to end. He felt at home, part of a community, part of a family.
The day, from eating fried chicken in the sun, to buying the twins ice cream that melted down their faces, arms and legs, then taking them to the portable toilets to wash off, couldn’t have been more perfect. As the sun set, and kids started tossing fluorescent necklaces in pickup games of horseshoes and keep-away, he sat hip to hip with Evie, a pink lemonade in his hand and a silly grin on his face. This was definitely the life.
“You seem happy,” she said.
He glanced at her. She looked so pretty in her festive outfit, her great legs folded beneath her and one of those luminescent circles on her head. Joe wanted to kiss her, right there in front of God and Oak Grove. He wanted it badly enough that he inched to the edge of the blanket. Sometimes what he felt for her snuck up and scared him to death.
“I am happy.” He gazed out over the crowd with a sigh of contentment. “I love it here. Oak Grove is so much like the town where I grew up. One state north, but a whole lot the same.”
A band started playing in the gazebo. Big-band music, strains of a time long gone but not quite forgotten.
Joe’s parents had often gone dancing. In those days people knew how to dance—together. His mother had taught all her boys, insisting they would be grateful one day. Thus far he didn’t think any of them had found much use for the waltz or the fox trot, though the polka had come in handy during college beer parties.
Closing his eyes, Joe remembered how he and his brothers would huddle at the top of the stairs and watch his parents push back the couch and coffee table, then dance around and around the living room. They’d looked graceful—Mom so lovely and Dad so handsome—deeply in love for always. They would laugh and kiss, then hold hands and come upstairs.
Joe hadn’t realized until right this moment how those Saturday night dances had assured him and his brothers of the rock-solid sturdiness of their parents’ love—for each other, their children and the life they had built together. As long as his parents danced on Saturday night, all was right with the world.
Joe opened his eyes, swallowed his last sip of lemonade and stood. “Let’s dance.” He held out a hand to Evie.
Her eyes widened, and she stared at his hand as if it had sprouted a snake’s head. “I don’t dance.”
He hauled her to her feet. “You do now.”
She protested all the way to the cement circle in front of the bandstand, where older couples moved in perfect time to the slow beat.
Joe stepped onto the dance floor and pulled Evie into his arms. She stumbled into his chest and stomped all over his feet. “Sorry,” she mumbled, though she didn’t sound sorry at all.
She came up to his collarbone, and if he leaned down just so, he could rest his cheek against her hair. She smelled like summer and sunshine. “Just follow my lead,” he whispered.
“I’ll have to.”
“It’s easy. Listen to the music. Feel the beat. The box step goes… Step together, back together, side together, front together. That’s it, keep going.”
“Who are you—Arthur Murray?”
“I’ve always fancied myself Fred Astaire. The man had grace.”
“And class.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Evie caught on quick, and as she did, she relaxed in his arms. Joe hadn’t danced like this since he’d left home. The combination of the music, and the night, and the scent of her had Joe tingling like a teenager.
“Did you ever think that if people could dance the way they used to, the world might move back toward an age of innocence?”
She looked into his face. “You certainly are a dreamer. “
“Or a hopeless romantic.”
“Hopeless, for sure.”
He sighed and tugged her closer. “Too bad, huh?”
“Yeah. This is kind of fun.”
“Don’t you teach dancing in gym class?”
“They do square dancing in junior high.”
“A useful skill if ever there was one.”
She laughed. “They learn rhythm, and cooperation, and following directions. But you might be right. At the next curriculum meeting, I think I’ll suggest a ballroom-dancing unit.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
“Tell that to a fourteen-year-old.”
Joe just smiled, and when the music ended, he dipped her. Evie’s sharp gasp of surprise, the startled flare of her eyes and the sudden clench of her hands on his shoulders made him lift her back into the circle of his arms. They stared into each other’s eyes—long and deep—as the sun slid below the horizon and darkness spread across the land.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let you fall.”
She stepped closer and leaned her head against his chest, slipping her arms about his waist. The warmth of her body along his made Joe’s heart stammer.
“I think it’s too late,” she whispered.
“I think you’re right.”
Toni stood at the edge of the dance floor with one arm around Benji and one around Danny. Her plan was working, and she hadn’t even done anything yet—except keep the twins away from her dad and their mom. This was going to be so easy, it wasn’t even funny.
“Now?” Danny asked.
“In a minute.”
“You said that five minutes ago,” Benji pointed out.
She ignored them, wh
ich she’d discovered worked a whole lot better than arguing. You couldn’t win with those two, anyway.
Tightening her hold on the twins so they wouldn’t escape too soon, Toni fixed her eyes on the romantic scene playing out in front of her. Their dance had looked like something from a black-and-white movie. Toni hadn’t known her dad could move like that. It made him seem different, somehow. Not like a dad, and definitely not like a rough-and-tough football player. Which was good, because Toni didn’t think Mrs. Vaughn liked Joe’s old image. But this new one had definite possibilities.
If her dad had been wearing a tux, he could have passed for that suave guy in the movies he liked so much—Bond, James Bond—but the older ones with the Scottish guy who ended up being Indiana Jones’s dad. That guy had class and grace.
The band began to play a faster tune, and her dad and Mrs. Vaughn quickly pulled apart. Almost like they felt guilty. Darn. Toni had hoped they’d kiss right there on the dance floor.
She gave Benji and Danny a shove. “Go,” she ordered, and they were off.
Her dad saw them coming and stepped in front of Mrs. Vaughn before they could knock her down. It was so sweet the way he protected her. But Mrs. Vaughn didn’t seem to see it that way. Instead, she frowned and elbowed her way around Joe.
Toni hurried forward to make sure the twins didn’t muck things up.
“We’re tired, Mom. We want to go to bed,” said Danny.
Mrs. Vaughn’s frown deepened, and she went down on one knee, pressing her lips first to one sweaty forehead and cheek, then to the other. Toni watched, fascinated.
Benji and Danny were like twin tornadoes out of control, but Mrs. Vaughn loved them. She was always touching them, even if she wasn’t looking at them. Kind of like she knew where they were all the time because they were a part of her. She’d kiss their brows, the way she was doing now, and murmur “I love you” against their hair. The two would smile, as if they’d heard that a hundred times before, which they probably had; then they’d run off to cause more trouble.
Toni gave a sigh of awe, and Joe flicked a considering glance her way, but she pretended not to see. Sometimes, even though she knew it was wrong, Toni wished that Mrs. Vaughn were her mom.
Out of Her League Page 17