“Well, hello there,” Pam greeted him. “You’re just the man I’ve been looking for.”
Mike regarded her with amusement. “You must not have been looking too hard. I’ve been around, mostly with your husband. You do still keep track of him, don’t you?”
She made a face. “Unfortunately, Jeff has forbidden me to come by the job sites.”
Mike quirked an eyebrow. “He forbade you? That must have gone over well.”
“He said I distract him. That made up for it.” She shrugged. “Besides, I let him give orders from time to time, when it’s not worth arguing over. It’s good for the marriage.”
Mike grinned. “I’ll keep that little pearl of wisdom in mind, should the occasion ever arise.”
“You should. It’s very sound advice. Now, let’s talk about when you’re going to bring Melanie to dinner. I know Jeff invited her.”
He should have guessed Pam was behind that invitation, even though Jeff had given the impression it was his own idea. In fact, since Jeff’s wife had seen him with Melanie weeks ago at the nursery, he was a little surprised it had taken her so long.
“And she said no,” he told her flatly. “I think we’ll leave it like that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll make too much of it.”
“I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Mike chuckled. “Darlin’, I’ve seen your best behavior. You could give Mike Wallace a run for his money when it comes to asking tough questions.”
“Do the two of you have something to hide?” she inquired, her expression innocent.
“Nothing,” Mike assured her.
“Then I don’t see the problem. Besides, if you want Melanie to stay here, she needs to make friends. Jeff and I are eager to do our part to make her feel welcome, so she won’t be quite so anxious to get back to Boston. She is still planning to go back, isn’t she?” Pam asked sweetly. “How does that make you feel?”
Obviously she’d done her homework. Mike wondered how much information Jeff had passed on to his wife and how much she’d gleaned on her own. Pam had sources all over town.
“I am not having this conversation with you,” he said tightly.
“I just want to help.”
“How gracious and utterly unselfish of you,” he said dryly.
She gave him a bland look. “We’re your friends. It’s the least we can do,” she said magnanimously.
“I’m still not bringing Melanie over.”
“How about if I invite her? Will you come, too?”
Mike saw the trap for what it was. “If she says yes, you bet I’ll be there, but only to make sure you don’t pester her to death.”
Pam grinned, a satisfied glint in her eyes. “I’ll call you with the details.”
“She won’t say yes.”
She gave him a pitying look. “Wanna bet?”
“Twenty bucks.”
“And you throw in the steaks,” she challenged. “Thick New York strip steaks for four.”
“Deal.”
Mike stood there as Pam walked away, her expression triumphant. What had he been thinking? He knew precisely how sneaky and persuasive Pam could be. He might as well buy the blasted steaks now.
“Do you know some pint-size steamroller named Pam?” Melanie asked when Mike called that evening. She was still reeling from her encounter with the stranger who’d appeared on her doorstep earlier and wouldn’t take no for an answer. While Jeff Clayborne had been friendly and persistent, his wife had taken persistence to an art form.
Mike groaned. “I was just calling to warn you she might call.”
“Well, she didn’t call. She came by.”
“And?”
“We’re having dinner there tomorrow night.”
“How did that happen? I thought you were made of sterner stuff.”
“Apparently,” she said, her tone wry. “I heard about the bet. That pretty much clinched it.”
“You wanted her to win?” he asked incredulously.
“No, I wanted to get to know the woman who could get you to agree to something so ridiculous. I think she might have some maneuvers I should know about.”
“You don’t really have to go,” he told her.
Melanie laughed at the hopeful note in his voice. “Nice try, but it’s too late. We’re going. Jessie’s invited, too, by the way.”
“Pam doesn’t miss a trick, does she?” he muttered.
“You should have known that. She’s your friend, after all.”
“I might have to reconsider that. What time?”
“Six. She said with the kids there, it would be better to make it an early night.”
“I’ll pick you up at quarter to six,” he said, sounding resigned.
“You could stay home,” Melanie said. “I actually only committed for myself. It’s up to you if you want to honor your bet.”
“Fat chance,” Mike responded.
She laughed. “That’s what Pam said you’d say.”
“Damn straight. I’m not leaving you alone with that woman for a minute. If she’s going to pry all your deep, dark secrets out of you, I want to be there.”
For the first time since she’d agreed to dinner, Melanie had serious second thoughts. She hadn’t been considering Pam’s actual mission when she’d caved in under pressure and accepted the woman’s invitation. She’d merely been curious to see the interaction between Mike and this woman who seemed to know him so well. Besides, once again, days had passed since he’d been by to see her. To her regret, she’d missed him. Seeing him with other people around seemed like a safe way to satisfy her longing for a glimpse of him.
“You, Jessie and I could go out for pizza instead,” she said wistfully. “In fact, I’ve been craving pizza for days now. One of those great big ones with everything on it.”
“Sounds great, but I’m not sure you’re prepared to have Pam hunt us down,” Mike replied. “It wouldn’t be pretty. Buck up, Melanie. I’m sure she’ll make the inquisition as painless as possible.”
“Maybe Jessie will be having a bad day tomorrow,” Melanie suggested, only partially in jest.
“You would use a little girl to wriggle off the hook?” he asked, feigning shock.
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “Yes, I would.” And she wouldn’t suffer a moment’s guilty conscience.
“So would I,” he admitted. “But my daughter loves going over there. Being around the Claybornes’ daughter, Lyssa, is good for Jessie. I won’t deny her that because the two of us are cowards.”
Melanie heaved a resigned sigh. “Okay, then, I’ll see you at five forty-five.”
She was about to hang up when Mike said, “Hey, Melanie, one more thing you should probably keep in mind.”
“What?”
“No touching. No kissing.”
She laughed. That was a given, especially if they intended to at least maintain the illusion in public that there was absolutely nothing between them. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“Wanna bet?”
She sobered at once at the mischievous tone in his voice. “I think you’ve done enough betting for one day, Mike, don’t you? How’s that working for you?”
How had he let himself get drawn into spending an entire evening with Melanie under the watchful gaze of his two best friends? Mike wondered. All too recently he’d crawled out of her bed and vowed once more to steer clear of her entirely because the complications were getting to be too much for him.
Worse, he’d agreed to bring Jessie along tonight, and his daughter was currently chattering like a little magpie, telling Melanie all about her best friend at school and the accident she’d had with a pot of paste that had necessitated getting her hair cut very, very short.
“I’m glad that didn’t happen to me,” Jessie said. “I’m never getting my hair cut.”
Melanie laughed. “You might reconsider that when it gets so long you’re sitting on it and it takes
hours and hours to dry.”
Jessie fell silent, her expression thoughtful as she studied Melanie. “Your hair’s long.”
“Not that long,” Melanie said. “Just long enough for me to braid it or pull it into a ponytail when I don’t have time to do anything else with it.”
“Daddy puts my hair into a ponytail sometimes, but it’s usually crooked,” Jessie said, sounding forlorn. “I never had a braid.”
Melanie chuckled. “Well, fixing hair requires a talent some men don’t have. That’s why they wear theirs so short.”
“Hey,” Mike protested. “I can do anything you can do.”
Melanie regarded him with amusement. “Is that one of those challenges you’re so fond of?”
The memory of another challenge, one she’d issued very recently, slammed into him and made the temperature in the car climb by several degrees. And he’d foolishly trumped her just last night with that no-kissing, no-touching nonsense. It promised to be a very long evening and with Jessie along, there would be no relief at the end of it.
“I think maybe we ought to call it quits when it comes to making challenges,” he said in a choked voice.
“What’s a challenge?” Jessie asked.
“It’s like a dare,” Melanie told her.
Jessie’s expression brightened. “Like when Kevin Reed dared me to climb to the top of the jungle gym?”
Mike felt his heart drop. “Please tell me you didn’t do it?”
Jessie gave him an unconcerned look. “Kevin’s dumb. I wouldn’t do anything he said.”
“Thank God,” Mike murmured fervently. “Maybe we should change the subject.”
Melanie regarded him knowingly. “Any particular topic you’d find a bit safer?”
“Yeah. Let’s decide how we’re going to get away from here tonight before dessert.”
“Daddy!” Jessie protested. “We have to stay for dessert. It’s the best part.”
“It certainly is,” Melanie agreed.
“But it’s usually accompanied by lots of questions everyone’s been too polite to ask up until then,” Mike reminded her.
Melanie frowned. “You have a point. However, it would be rude to try to duck out. We’ll just have to be evasive.”
“You did say you’d met Pam the steamroller, right?” he inquired.
“I can handle Pam, now that I’ve seen her in action,” Melanie foolishly insisted. “I’m prepared.”
“Ha!”
She gave him one of those superior female looks designed to make men feel like idiots. “Watch and learn.”
Mike barely contained a groan. This was one time he really didn’t want to be right, but he knew Pam. If she was tricky on her own, she was the queen of sneakiness when she had Jeff around for backup. He and Melanie were doomed, no question about it.
The front yard of the Clayborne house was littered with toys. Melanie had to weave her way through bicycles, wagons and an obviously pricey miniature convertible—to say nothing of basketballs and beachballs—to get to the front door, which was already standing open. Pam was waiting on the front steps.
“Sorry about the chaos,” she said, coming forward to give Melanie a hug as if they were old friends. To Mike, Pam offered a smug, told-you-so grin and a peck on the cheek. “The kids aren’t required to put everything away till they come in for the night and, believe me, they always wait till the very last minute.” She leaned down to scoop up Jessie. “How’s my girl?”
“I’m fine,” Jessie said, clinging to Pam’s neck. “Where’s Lyssa?”
“She’s in her room, expecting you. Wait till you see her new dollhouse. Go on up,” Pam said, setting her down at the foot of the stairs. “I’ll call you when the pizza gets here.”
“The kids are having pizza?” Melanie said wistfully.
“It’ll keep ’em out of our hair,” Pam said. “We can get to know each other.”
She grabbed Melanie’s hand as if she feared Melanie might bolt. “You can come in the kitchen and talk to me while I finish the salad. And Mike, Jeff’s out back waiting for those steaks.”
Mike nodded, then leaned down to whisper in Melanie’s ear as he passed. “Divide and conquer. Told you she was sneaky.”
“I heard that,” Pam said.
“I meant for you to,” he responded happily. “I want you to know we’re on to you.”
Melanie reluctantly followed Pam into a large, bright combination kitchen and family room with a huge island in the middle and windows all around. It was obvious that the family spent a lot of time here. There was a cozy built-in breakfast nook that was big enough for six, and at the opposite end a comfortable sofa sat in front of a fireplace. A giant-screen TV was angled toward the sofa, but could be seen from the kitchen, as well. It was a great setup for having the guys over for football. In the kitchen itself, there were professional-grade stainless-steel appliances that Melanie’s sister would envy.
“You must like to cook,” she said to Pam.
“Actually I hate it,” Pam responded. “But with five of us, I have to do it, so I figured I might as well create a space I’d enjoy.”
“You help Jeff with the nursery?”
Pam’s expression immediately brightened. “That’s how we met. I love plants. When I first came to town—right after I got out of college with a degree in horticulture—his dad hired me.”
“And it was love at first sight?” Melanie asked.
Pam laughed at her assessment. “Hardly. With my fancy degree, Jeff thought I was a know-it-all. He used to tell me book learning wasn’t nearly as important as practical experience. He’d grown up in the business and thought he’d seen just about everything. Then one very expensive garden died just days after he’d put it in, and he had no idea why.”
“Let me guess. You told him why.”
“Of course not,” Pam said airily. “I let him sweat. He worried and fretted and flatly refused to ask for my help, so I just kept on doing my job and keeping my mouth shut. After about a week the customer came in and started raising a ruckus about throwing all that money down the tubes. She threatened to go to another nursery if we didn’t fix the problem pronto. Jeff was about to offer her a refund, when I took pity on him and stepped in.”
“What did you say?”
“That she’d be making a huge mistake going to anyone else, because she’d just have the same problem all over again. I’m not sure who was more surprised, the customer or Jeff, but he caught on right away.”
“Did he know what you’d figured out?”
“Of course not,” Pam said with a grin. “But he told her that I was their resident expert, and I knew how to solve the problem.”
“Which you did and saved the day,” Melanie concluded.
“Pretty much. I’d seen some of the plants Jeff had dug out of the ground. Their root systems were being destroyed. We got rid of the little underground critters that were dining on them, and the next plants we put in thrived. That night Jeff asked to borrow a couple of my textbooks. We started having study dates and eventually concluded we made a pretty good team.”
She beamed at Melanie. “And here we are ten years later, happy as can be.”
“Sounds like a match made in heaven,” Melanie said, unable to keep the wistful note out of her voice.
“It is,” Pam agreed, then seized on the opening Melanie had inadvertently given her. “So what about you and Mike?”
“What about us?” Melanie responded evasively.
“What kind of match are you?”
“The impossible kind,” Melanie said at once.
“I know he has all sorts of baggage where his ex-wife is concerned,” Pam said, “but what about you?”
When Melanie said nothing, Pam added, “Am I being too personal?”
“Pretty much,” Melanie told her, hoping that would put an end to the subject.
“Sorry,” Pam apologized, though she didn’t sound particularly sincere. “How serious is this baggage of yours? An e
x-husband?”
Melanie chuckled despite herself. Pam obviously wasn’t a quitter. “No,” she told her. “No ex-husband.”
“Ex-boyfriend, then?”
“Something like that.”
Pam’s eyes widened. “Ex-girlfriend?”
“Heavens no!”
“Then what did you mean?”
Melanie thought about responding honestly but finally decided she didn’t know Pam well enough for that sort of personal exchange of information. “It’s not worth talking about,” she said eventually, and for the first time realized it really wasn’t. Jeremy was the one with the problem. That didn’t mean her issues would vanish overnight, but she was gaining some perspective, realizing the whole experience had taught her some home truths about her judgment skills.
Pam regarded her sympathetically. “I know I’m prying, but it’s only because I care about Mike.”
“So do I,” Melanie admitted softly. It was the first time she’d allowed herself to say even that much about her feelings for Mike.
“Then I don’t see the problem,” Pam said. “There’s obviously a powerful attraction at work here. Why not play it out?”
“Too much baggage on both sides,” Melanie said succinctly. Mike’s had made him reticent and gun-shy. Hers had made her aware of her own shortcomings. In such an environment it would be all but impossible for trust to flourish. It was not, she cautioned herself, a combination destined for happily-ever-after.
“But that’s old news,” Pam insisted. “You can both make a fresh start.”
“Maybe neither of us wants to,” Melanie responded.
“You’d rather wallow in your misery the way Mike has been doing ever since he and his wife split up?”
“I don’t want to wallow in it,” Melanie insisted. “But I do hope to learn something from it.”
“How will you know if you’ve learned anything if you don’t put yourself back into the game?” Pam demanded.
“I honestly don’t know,” Melanie admitted.
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