Yours, Mine and Ours (Second Chances)

by Daley, Margaret

  "That's not your job. It's mine." Anger generated a taut thread throughout her voice. Again Zachariah was overstepping his bounds and invading her life.

  "That is my job. I'm his coach."

  Tess rose. "Fine, he can play the goalie position, but remember I'm his mother. I'll take care of any emotional hurts."

  Zachariah slowly stood and leaned across the table toward her. "And who will take care of your emotional hurts?"

  Stiffening, she curled her hands around the top of the chair. "I'm fine. My ex-husband can't hurt me anymore."

  One of his eyebrows arched. "Is that so?"

  Her fingers tightened on the plastic chair. "Yes," she said through clenched teeth.

  "You could have fooled me. The way you avoid any kind of personal relationships tells me you're still running scared. What's gonna happen when you want to stop and you've pushed everyone away?"

  "That's not your problem." Every muscle in her body was held so rigidly she thought she might break.

  "That's what you keep telling me. I suppose one day you'll manage to get your point across."

  "Wesley, it's time to go," Tess called out, trying to ignore the tension between Zachariah and her that could slice the air with a razor sharpness.

  "You're so good at retreating," he murmured as Wesley ran up to them.

  "Will I be able to practice extra, Mr. Smith?" her son asked, his whole attention on Zachariah.

  "That's up to your mother. If she says yes, we can start tomorrow afternoon."

  Wesley finally turned to Tess. "Can I, Mom? He's gonna help me be the best goalie. Mr. Smith knows everything about soccer."

  Tess stared at Zachariah over her son's head, her lips pinched together. Wesley was forming an attachment to Zachariah that frightened her. She sensed she might not be the only one hurt if she let down her guard and allowed the man into her life. Look what happened to Wesley after Brad walked out on the family.

  "Mom, can I?"

  Tess blinked, breaking visual contact with Zachariah, and glanced at her son. "Fine, if your room is cleaned. Now we'd better leave and pick up Shaun."

  She didn't look at Zachariah as she walked from McDonald's, but she knew he was watching her. Why did the man want to get up close and personal? Why couldn't he just be her friend at a distance? She would be so much better off. But a tiny voice inside screamed, liar.

  * * *

  Tess poured the mineral salts under the flow of the hot water and listened to the sound as the bath filled. The scent of eucalyptus, clary sage and spearmint wafted to her, and already she felt the tension slip away as though it were cascading grains of sand in an hourglass. All day she had been looking forward to a quiet soak and some private time to relax before everyone returned home and chaos once again ruled in the household.

  When the bath was ready, Tess turned off the tap and rose to get her robe. She wanted the salts to dissolve completely and the water to reach a comfortable temperature. Hurrying into her bedroom, she undressed down to her panties and slipped her robe on. As she started to leave, she spied an article of clothing sticking out from under her bed.

  Puzzled, Tess knelt down and looked beneath it. She frowned as she dragged out one tennis shoe, two pairs of underwear and a sock. Bruce had found a new place to stash his "goodies." When she saw chunks of food and a bone, she shook her head and scooted further under. Wait till she got her hands on Bruce.

  When she heard a whistle of appreciation, then a deep masculine voice say, "Now that's an interesting sight," Tess jerked up and hit her head on a wooden slat.

  "Ouch!" She wiggled out from under the bed with her hands full of pieces of dog food and a bone, her robe riding up dangerously high, her bottom sticking up in the air.

  "Sorry about surprising you, but I couldn't resist making that comment," Zachariah said from the doorway, his gaze shifting from the sight of her flushed face to the intimate and not so intimate apparel strewn about her on the floor and the bed.

  Tess snatched up the two pieces of underwear and stuffed them under the mattress. "And to what do I owe this invasion of my privacy?"

  "I just brought Wesley back from practicing with him."

  "I thought he was eating dinner with you all," Tess said, an accusing tone in her voice. She would never have been in this predicament if she had thought there was a chance Zachariah would be bringing Wesley home. She would have made sure she was wearing enough clothing to cover her from head to toe.

  "He is but he wanted to get some soldiers to use with Lance's castle, and I thought since I was coming this way I would see if you and the family would like to come over this evening for a barbecue."

  The question, "Why?", was out of her mouth before she had time to think about it.

  He advanced into the room and held out his hand to help her to her feet. "Because you have to eat and because I like your company."

  Tess grasped his hand and stood, the small confines of the room suddenly shrinking even more now that Zachariah dominated the space around him. She glanced at the rumpled sheets on her bed and an image of her and Zachariah sharing it filled her with a blazing heat like a brush fire sweeping over the landscape. She pulled free and took a step back until she came up against the nightstand. Clutching the front of her robe together, she stared up at him with panic edging into her gaze.

  His smile softened the hard planes of his face. "Relax, Tess. I only want you to come to dinner. Nothing more."

  "It's never nothing with you, Zachariah. You want it all."

  He remained where he was standing. "Will you come? The kids can have hot dogs. We'll have steaks."

  She felt him crowd her as if he were in her personal space when in actuality he wasn't. She thought of her bath awaiting her and knew if she didn't take it soon the effects of the mineral salts would be ruined. And now more than ever she needed to relax and let the stress drain away.

  "Fine. We'll come. Katie and Granny Kime will be home by five and Shaun by six. When do you want us to come over?" She sidestepped away from the bed and toward the door. She had to get out of this room before she didn't care that Wesley was in the house and her bath was cooling.

  "As soon as Shaun comes home. We can eat out in the backyard."

  "Zachariah," Wesley called out.

  "In your mother's bedroom," he answered while Tess's eyes grew round.

  "Zachariah? What happened to Mr. Smith?" she asked as Wesley came into the room with a box of his soldiers.

  Zachariah grinned, that lopsided one that was so carefree. "Mr. Smith sounds so old, formal. Do you mind?"

  She wanted to say, "What difference does it make what I think. You do what you want when you want," but instead, Tess murmured, "No."

  "We'd better hit the road, Wesley, and let your mother get back to what she was doing."

  Zachariah steered her son from the room but not before throwing one glance over his shoulder at her. The gleam in his eyes spoke of wants and desires. She looked away, trembling.

  Tess listened to the sound of the front door closing before she released her pent up breath. She shouldn't be bothered that Wesley was calling Zachariah by his first name, but again it reminded her of how close they were becoming. Every time she turned around, she felt tied to Zachariah more and more until she was afraid she wouldn't be able to break the bonds.

  When she glanced back at the bed, she realized as a picture of her and Zachariah clasped together materialized in her mind she wasn't even sure she wanted to break any bonds. A lightheadedness assailed her, and she had to remember to take a deep breath instead of holding it.

  Maybe she should stop fighting this attraction and see where it led her. She shook that rebellious thought from her mind, feeling as though she were giving up on her plan to make it on her own.

  As she headed for the bathroom, she recalled with determination the pain she felt first when her mother died then her father left her to be raised by her grandmother. She felt again the deep hurt she suffered when her husband aban
doned her and the children. The wound of betrayal festered and bled once more. This was what she didn't ever want to experience again. And she wouldn't if she relied only on herself, she vowed as she slipped into the soothing water.

  Chapter Eight

  Later that evening, Tess grimaced as she pulled her car up to the curb and listened to the coughing sound it made before she turned off the ignition. Shaun threw open the doors and scrambled out of the car. How was she going to make it to Oklahoma City in this piece of junk the week after next?

  "Mommie, Mommie, undo me," Katie said, wiggling her legs as she yanked at the straps on her safety seat.

  With a deep sigh Tess reached into the back and unsnapped Katie, noticing for the first time she had her shoes on the wrong feet. Before Tess could say anything about that, Katie shot out of the seat and hurried after her brother.

  "Hurricane Katie strikes again. I wish I had half my children's energy," Tess muttered to herself as she climbed from the car, lifting her gaze to Zachariah's front porch.

  There he stood, watching her while holding Emily in his arms. An image of power and sensuality filled her vision, momentarily stunning her as if she had been instantly frozen. He had no idea the intensity he emitted, his forceful nature quietly overwhelming everything in its path, much like the hurricane she had accused Katie of being.

  Tess recalled his kisses that sought to claim a part of her. She recalled his hands that sought to possess a part of her. And she recalled the emotions he sought to stir in her. Her heartbeat sped at the sight of him. All at once she regretted accepting his invitation to dinner. It was becoming impossible for her to resist his particular male charm. She didn't know how much longer she could keep him at a distance.

  Slowly she walked toward him. He shifted Emily from one arm to the other, whispering in her ear, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. His daughter giggled and pulled on his lower lip as if to capture that smile.

  "Down. Want to play," Emily said, squirming against him.

  "Hold on, princess." Zachariah swung his daughter up and placed her on his shoulders. "In a minute."

  Emily laughed and held onto his head. "Ride. Ride." She bounced her bottom up and down.

  Zachariah descended the steps and met Tess on the walkway to his house. "The kids are out back. Where's your grandmother?"

  "Enjoying a rare moment of quiet. She begged off, quickly heated up a frozen dinner, and planted herself in front of the TV."

  While Emily yanked on Zachariah's hair, he looked upward as if he could see his daughter. "Probably the only sane person around."

  Laughing, Tess went through the open gate and stopped just inside his fenced in yard. Shaun was tied to a tree while Lance and Wesley were playing pirates and Katie was jumping on a small trampoline, singing a silly song at a screeching level that Granny Kime probably heard four blocks away. At least her daughter had removed the shoes that were on the wrong feet.

  "Definitely my grandmother was the wise one," Tess said, shaking her head.

  Zachariah placed Emily on the ground, and she immediately half ran, half waddled toward Katie. "All we need to complete the picture is Bruce."

  "I could always go home and get him."

  "No way. If you leave, you might never come back."

  His jesting words made her flinch. "I won't ever abandon my family," Tess said in a fervent voice, then walked toward her daughter. She realized she had overreacted to Zachariah's casual comment, but her response had come out before she had thought about it. It had come from a deep well of hurt.

  "Katie, settle down." Tess stopped at the edge of the trampoline, aware that Zachariah was staring at her.

  "Can't, Mommie. Hafta get my energy out," Katie shouted as if she were trying to be heard over her own voice.

  "Well, do it quietly." Tess stood by the trampoline and watched her daughter bounce over and over. Tess knew she couldn't spend the whole evening doing this, trying to escape Zachariah, but his words earlier had renewed the old pain of abandonment that had shaped her life so much.

  When Zachariah laid his hands on her shoulders, Tess realized her time was up. When he kneaded the taut muscles beneath his fingertips, she knew he wouldn't accept her walking away, that he would demand to be heard more than Katie ever would.

  "I thought we knew each other well enough that I didn't have to guard everything I say."

  His whispered words flowed over her neck, tingling her, reminding her of the pull he had on her. She turned then, leaning away from him so she could look up into his face.

  Hurt flickered in his eyes before he killed the emotion and peered down at her with a neutral expression.

  "I'm sorry, Zachariah. I was wrong to say that."

  "Don't let the past rule your life, Tess. Then he really does have a lot of control over you."

  She took a deep breath. "What are we having for dinner?"

  He blinked as if he were trying to understand what was going on inside her mind. "Dinner?" He glanced at the barbecue. "Ah, hot dogs and steaks."

  "An interesting combination. Not quite the caliber of steak and lobster."

  "Too much trouble to prepare and too many questions from the kids."

  "That's true. I could just hear Katie commenting about the lobsters still being alive when you cook them, the sound they make when they hit the boiling water."

  "Not a pretty way to go."

  Even though the air was cool, his nearness generated a heat in her that rivaled the fire he was charcoaling the steaks over. The lower half of his body was thrust up against hers, his hands holding her steady, his eyes drinking her in as if he were dehydrated and needed her for life. That intensity again, Tess thought, experiencing it sweeping over her like a raging waterfall. The sounds of the children faded from her consciousness, and her whole being focused on Zachariah.

  "The really smart thing to have done was hire a babysitter to stay with the kids at your place while we enjoyed a quiet dinner here." He brushed the curls from her forehead and bent to kiss it.

  Not smart at all, Tess thought at the same time she hoped his mouth would move lower to cover hers. She hated the war battling inside herself, the conflict of emotions every time she was near Zachariah. Why couldn't she resist him?

  "Do you think it's too late to change our plans?" he asked, pulling back slightly, his gaze fastened onto her lips.

  "Yes! She swallowed hard, a constriction in her throat. She stared at the sexy curve of his mouth and couldn't say a word.

  "Dad!"

  Tess heard Lance's insistent voice pierce her dazed mind. She wrenched her gaze from Zachariah's mouth and looked toward his son, suddenly aware of the children playing around them.

  "Dad, the fire."

  Zachariah moved quickly, dumping a glass of water that he had near the grill on the fire. Smoke billowed upward. "I hope you like your steaks slightly charred."

  "Slightly?" Tess asked with a shaky laugh that mirrored the trembling of her body.

  "Well, maybe a little more than slightly." Zachariah flipped the steaks over to reveal a blackened surface. "Will you get the rest of the food? At least the salad and baked potatoes should be all right." He placed the hot dogs on the grill.

  "Glad to." Tess welcomed the opportunity to do something other than stand there and watch Zachariah. She needed something to do to take her mind off the man. He had a way of working himself into her heart as if he meant to heal her past hurts.

  By the time the dinner was ready to eat, Tess had gathered her fragile composure about her and was prepared to fend off his emotional advances. The fact that she was weak around him scared her more than she cared to admit.

  "Hold it," Zachariah said as he put the plate with the meat in the middle of the table. "We're not a bunch of wild heathens." He pushed Lance's hand back and picked up the fork, spearing a steak with it. "Now, our guests first. Tess, is this okay?"

  She pressed her lips together to keep from grinning as she nodded. "Perfect."

&nb
sp; "But it's black, Mommie," Katie said.

  "Just the way I like it." Tess cut into her steak and put the bite in her mouth, smiling as if it were the best piece of meat she had ever tasted.

  "Your car didn't sound too good when you pulled up tonight," Zachariah said after everyone was served.

  Tess took a long sip of her iced tea. "It's sputtering."

  "Aren't you supposed to go to Oklahoma City next week?"

  "Yeah, can you work miracles again?"