Fudgeballs And Other Sweets

by Lori Copeland

  “Who’s Duffer?”

  “That nice man in the white coat that serves our dinner every night.”

  Dave stiffened with resentment. Pharis was sending Megan to her room so he could—“Meggie, honey, where’s Mommy?”

  “Right here.”

  “Put her on.”

  “Okay. Mommy says she wants to talk to you, too. I love you, Daddy.”

  “Love you, too, sweetheart.” His lips thinned. They sent her to the stateroom early every night? “Yes, Nancy, I’m here. Where the hell did you think I’d be? I’ve been waiting to hear from you. It’s August. Do I have to remind you that August is my month to have Megan?”

  “Sorry, David—with the chaos of wedding arrangements and the—You just wouldn’t believe what we’ve been through, and now your Mr. Freeman shows up right in the middle of cocktails—”

  “Cut to the chase, Nancy. I don’t care about your chaos or your cocktails. I want Megan before school starts.”

  “Dave, we need to talk about Megan’s custody. Now that I’m married, I’ll be traveling more, and Jonathan says—” She stopped abruptly. “This is hardly the time or the place to discuss this. I’ll call you when I get back to the States.”

  “And when might that be?”

  “Sometime after Labor Day.”

  A muscle twitched in his jaw. “What about my time with Megan, Nancy? I have visitation rights and—”

  “I said I was sorry. I have to go. We’ll talk later.” The line went dead.

  He held the phone out, gritting his teeth, staring at it for a long moment before hanging up. “Damn her.”

  “Trouble?” Jenny walked into the kitchen carrying Dory.

  The baby reached for him, and he took her and held her tightly to his chest. “Nancy wants to talk to me about Megan’s custody.”

  Jenny took a glass from the cabinet and turned on the tap. “What about it?”

  “I don’t know. That’s the problem.” His features sobered. “If she thinks she’s going to keep Megan from me, she’s got another think coming. I’ll fight her with every cent I have.”

  “Dave.” Jenny touched his arm lightly. “Don’t borrow trouble.”

  She drank the glass of water and turned out the light as they left the kitchen. Settling onto the sofa, Dave held Dory as Jenny readied the baby for bed.

  The genuine concern in her eyes affected him. Why couldn’t Nancy have some of her compassion? Without thinking, he reached over and slipped his free arm around her neck, pulling her to him. He needed her and her strength. The gentle warmth of her breath fanned his lips.

  “Don’t borrow trouble,” she repeated, and they both knew she was talking about something entirely different this time.

  Princess suddenly woke from a dead sleep, sprang to his lap, sniffed Dory, then licked him on the cheek.

  He drew back and wiped his face on his sleeve. It wasn’t the kiss he’d anticipated. No wonder the dog got on his nerves. Checking his watch, he realized he’d overstayed his welcome. “It’s late. I need to be going.”

  Jenny got up to walk him to the door. “Did you call Loyal about the lease?”

  Frowning, he kissed Dory good-night, then handed her over. “I thought you did that.”

  “I called him, but I wasn’t sure about the length of the lease. I said you’d call him.” She adjusted the baby’s lightweight blanket.

  “Me?” He frowned. “Yeah, I can call him. What sort of lease did he offer?”

  “The standard five years.”

  “That would be all right, wouldn’t it?”

  “It would be for me.”

  “Okay, I’ll call him first thing in the morning and tell him to draw up a five-year lease.” He’d thought she was decisive. She seemed in control. Why was she leaving something as important as a lease up to him? Still, since she was inadvertently doing him a favor, he couldn’t complain.

  Pausing at the door, he thought about kissing her good-night but decided not to push his luck. Two aborted attempts didn’t bode well. The night had been enjoyable, easy, no pressure. Why not keep it that way?

  “Good night,” she whispered.

  “Good night.”

  As the door closed, he suddenly wished he wasn’t so prudent. What would a kiss have hurt?

  “LOYAL, draw up the standard lease on that floor space.” Through the window, Dave watched Jake wrestle with Princess. “Oh, yes, she wants it—I don’t know why she’s dragging her feet. Might be she doesn’t have her finances in order. I do know she’s been working on her books a lot lately—Jake! Get away from her!”

  Dave tapped on the window. “I gotta go, Loyal. Dog trouble again. Just put a hold on the property. If you need earnest money, I’ll send you a check myself. I can’t get away this afternoon, but I’ll drop it in the mail and collect from Jenny later.”

  He hung up, stepped outside and walked to where Jake was tied. “Good boy,” he said as he untangled the chain from the tree and gave him a dog bone. Jake thanked him by licking his hand. Dave patted him on the head. “Learn to leave the woman alone, and you’ll have it made.”

  Princess strutted around her area. “You stop vamping Jake,” Dave warned her, shaking his finger at her. He grinned when she licked his hand. Women.

  “Problems?” Jenny called from the door of her shop.

  Dave turned and smiled. “Just trying to prevent some,” he said, walking toward her. “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  “How are you and Dory today?”

  “We both slept like babies last night. Except for overindulging in Spaghetti Kasada, I’m great.”

  His gaze skimmed her tanned legs encased in white shorts. “I can see that. What are you doing for lunch?”

  “Lunch!” She laughed. “What’s lunch? I can’t remember the last time I took a lunch break.”

  “Then it’s high time you started. I thought Dory might enjoy an outing. Want to grab an ice-cream cone?”

  She looked as if she wanted to accept.

  “I don’t know, Dave. It’s been pretty hectic around here this morning.”

  “Come on. Mrs. Wilcox can handle things for an hour, and Peter could use an extra hour’s pay. Let’s do something crazy.”

  She shrugged, grinning. “Why not? Give me a sec to get the baby.”

  “Don’t forget the diaper bag,” he called to her retreating back.

  “Did you call Loyal?”

  “Called him.” It was settled. She was locked into a five-year lease.

  “OOH, DORY! Look at the pretty kite.” Jenny pointed to the sky, and Dory squealed with delight. “Oops! Watch it, Uncle Dave! You nearly lost it.”

  “Never! I’m a champion kite master. You want to take over?” He ran a short way along the shoreline, then backed up, pulling the kite in all directions.

  “No.” She settled on the blanket and yawned. “Looks too much like exercise to me. I try to avoid that sort of thing.” She pulled Dory’s bonnet over the baby’s head. Dory immediately yanked it off with a fussy squeal. What was she doing here? She had hours of work piled up, and poor Mrs. Wilcox would be inundated. She smiled at Dave trotting along the shoreline, flying the Alien.

  “We want ice cream, Dave,” she called.

  He nodded and began winding the kite string in. “In a minute!”

  When he returned, she was sitting cross-legged on the blanket in front of Dory, studying the baby’s tiny fingers.

  “Hello, ladies. Miss me?”

  “Something terrible.”

  Dropping on the blanket beside her, he gazed at Dory. “What are the two of you doing? Complaining about men?”

  “Certainly not. We like men, don’t we, Dory? I was just marveling over her perfect little fingernails, all rounded on the ends. ”

  “You’ll have to get her to give you the name of her nail tech.”

  Jenny grinned. “Babies are truly God’s miracles.”

  She watched him roll to his back and stare at the flawless blue sky, t
hankful that he seemed relaxed and at peace with the world. The picnic had done him a world of good. She was glad she had agreed to come along.

  “Want another piece of chicken?”

  “No, thanks.” She redid her ponytail, aware of his eyes on her. Was he interested in a relationship? Was it too soon for him? Did memories of one failed marriage color his perspective of another? She wrapped the band around her hair and formed a tight knot. “We want ice cream, huh, Dory?”

  The baby bucked and grinned.

  Ten minutes later he returned with three drippy cones. “Okay, sports fans, here it is.”

  “It’s about time,” she teased. “I was about to start whining.”

  A few short weeks ago, sitting on a blanket and eating ice cream with a man and a baby was the farthest thing from her mind. Yet here they were, lapping up strawberry ice cream as if they hadn’t a care in the world.

  Leaning on one elbow, she watched Dave spoon-feed Dory, more melting down her chin than down her throat. Licking her cone, she was reminded that this could have been her and Brian with their child. Brian. Suddenly she had trouble making the picture fit. No, Brian wouldn’t be spoon-feeding a baby. Brian would be off doing his own thing. He’d never had time for children. She always felt that would change once they married, but she knew now what a foolish concept that was. Children were high maintenance.

  Laughing, Dave glanced at her. “She loves this stuff. I can’t shovel it in fast enough.”

  Jenny pulled a baby wipe from the box and made a couple of swipes at Dory’s mouth, then put the baby’s sun bonnet in place. Dory twisted her head sideways and jerked the bonnet off again.

  “Oh, Mom,” Dave mocked, “quit it. What’s a little sunburn between friends?”

  She glanced up. “What’d you call me?”

  “Mom—Sorry, I was only kidding.”

  “No, I liked it. Mom.” She thought about it. “Yeah, has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

  Dave spooned more ice cream into Dory’s open mouth. “I’m sorry I said you weren’t qualified to care for a child. The way you’ve been with Dory, I think you’d make a wonderful mom.”

  She slapped her hand over her heart, mocking a near faint “Dave Kasada thinks I’d make a good mom?”

  He slung a spoonful of ice cream at her. It landed on her cheek and slid down the neck of her blouse.

  “Why, you…” She took what was left of her cone and smeared it across his face.

  He grabbed her arm and wrestled her to the blanket, leaning down to wipe his gooey face against hers. They had a friendly wrestling match before he pinned her, their lips only a breath apart. She could feel every contour of his body molded against hers and she liked it. Far too much. Dormant feelings suddenly sprang to life and frightened her.

  “Jenny—”

  Her mind protested the kiss that was about to take place, but her body and soul met the challenge eagerly. She felt his breath warm her cheek just before his lips closed over hers. Like in an old movie, music played, drums rolled, bombs exploded and a million bright lights flickered a myriad of colors.

  A long moment later, he pulled back and gazed into her eyes. “What the hell was that?”

  She closed her eyes, plagued with the sinking feeling she knew exactly what it was. She was falling in love—or something pretty darn close.

  In thirty-one years, she had never felt like this with a man. Breathless, giddy, wildly irrational. Dangerous territory. Involvement with him would only complicate her life. Besides, she knew nothing about him except he was a kite maker, a good father, antimarriage and possessed looks and charm that could make a grown woman cry. She had to get a grip. Dave was the first honest man she’d met. He shot straight from the hip, and she should do no less with him. She had to pull back, retreat before it was too late.

  She rolled from beneath him and sat up. “It’s getting late. I need to get back.”

  Disappointment crossed his face, but he complied.

  As she tried to tie Dory’s bonnet on, he caught her wrist. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

  “You didn’t.” She laughed, afraid she’d cry. “One kiss—big deal.” On top of everything else, she was becoming a gifted liar. It was a big deal. She wasn’t sure she could even stand up.

  He began gathering Dory’s toys and stuffing them in the diaper bag. “How about a real date some night? Dinner. Name your favorite restaurant.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “People will talk.”

  “So what? We’re of age.”

  “No, I mean talk talk. They’ll have us sleeping together and picking out our silverware pattern. You know how people are. Nothing against you personally, I just don’t have time right now for a relationship.” She picked Dory up and kissed her on the cheek.

  She could lie with the best of them.

  7

  “WANT TO HEAR a funny joke?” Dave asked.

  “How crude is it?” Jenny replied.

  “It’s not crude—it’s dumb.”

  “What?”

  “Haven’t you ever heard a dumb joke?”

  “How dumb?”

  “There was this guy and his dog watching a movie, and the dog was laughing so hard tears were rolling down his cheeks. A man next to them said, ‘Is that your dog laughing?’ The man said, ‘Yes, and I don’t understand it. He hated the book.’”

  Jenny looked at him strangely. “Well, that answered my question. Extremely dumb.” She groaned as they walked into Fudgeballs. “I can’t believe you think that’s funny.”

  “I didn’t say I thought it was funny. I asked if you wanted to hear it. Want to hear another one?”

  “Not today. One’s enough.” She laughed. She and Dave had had such a good time together. She was glad to have him as a friend and wasn’t going to wish for anything more.

  Dory was nodding on Dave’s shoulder, her tiny arm draped around his neck. The tip of her nose was pink from the fresh air and sunshine.

  Jenny’s smile faded when she saw Rob and Teensy standing behind the glass counter. Their appearance was so unexpected she felt her legs threaten to buckle.

  Rob smiled. “Hey, like, hello.”

  A knot formed in the pit of Jenny’s stomach. For a moment she thought she was going to be sick. “Rob. Teensy,” she managed to say.

  “They showed up not ten minutes after you left.” Mrs. Wilcox slid a pan of fudge into the display case. “I didn’t know exactly where you were, or I would’ve sent someone to get you.” Shuffling to the register, she speared receipts on a spindle.

  “It’s okay.” Jenny motioned for Dave to set Dory in the playpen. He gently settled the sleeping infant, looking to her for a reaction. What did he expect? For her to make a scene, start bawling and say it wasn’t fair for them to run off and leave the child with someone who was going to fall in love with her and not want to give her up?

  That’s what she wanted to do, but she kept quiet, swallowing her disappointment.

  Dory belonged with her parents. Jenny had known that all along. Their return was just so sudden, so unsettling.

  Teensy rushed around the counter to claim Dory. The infant raised a fuss as her mother showered her neck, face and chin with kisses. “Hi, baby. Mmm, kissee, kissee, kissee—did you miss Mommie?”

  Rob joined her. The knot in Jenny’s stomach tightened as she watched the display of family affection. She should be thrilled Rob and Teensy were back. Now she could get on with her plans. She wouldn’t have to worry about mixing formula in the middle of the night, strained carrots on her best blouse and teething. She should be overjoyed, so why wasn’t she? Instead, she felt like going on an eating binge.

  Dave somberly stood aside to allow the parents access to their daughter.

  “Hey, Dave.” Rob flashed a good-natured grin. “How’s it going?”

  “Good. How about you?”

  With his arm around Teensy’s waist, Rob gazed at her. “Awesome
, man. Really awesome.” ,

  Jenny finally found her voice, trying to keep a neutral tone. “I was worried about you. You left so suddenly.”

  “Sorry about that.” Teensy’s earthy kiss severed Rob’s response. The lovers engaged in a heated kiss that embarrassed Jenny. As the lip lock went on and on, she glanced at Dave, who discreetly looked the other way. Obviously, whatever problems the couple had encountered had been settled. If Dory hadn’t started crying, Jenny was prepared to go for the hose and break up the passionate embrace.

  “Ooh, is Mommie’s wittle angel fussy?” Teensy gathered an out-of-sorts Dory in her arms, smoothing tendrils of baby hair from the infant’s face. “Ooh, your nose is all pink. Have you been in the sun too long?”

  Jenny looked away. “She wouldn’t keep her hat on.”

  Customers were pouring into the shop. Jenny realized the reunion was blocking traffic. “I’ll take Dory into the back room and—”

  “Jenny?” Rob stopped her, his features sobering.

  Jenny glanced over her shoulder. “Yes?”

  “We, uh, can’t—We just stopped by to pick up Dory.”

  The knot in her stomach turned into a fist. A big, angry fist threatening to shut off her air supply.

  He shrugged, his eyes offering a silent apology. “We’re on our way to New York.”

  The news echoed like a gunshot. A hush fell over the room. Shoppers quietly selected purchases while keeping a guarded eye on the scene playing out before them. They couldn’t know how the announcement would affect her, yet instinct told her they knew something was amiss.

  “Oh?” Jenny tried to keep her response upbeat. “Going to spend a few days with your parents?”

  “No, going there to look for work.” He glanced at Teensy. “We’ve stayed in one place too long. It’s time to move on.”

  The pain grew. It was his right—their right. She had no reason to feel as if she was being victimized. Six weeks ago, Dory had been just a cute baby who belonged to the couple who worked for her. Why did it suddenly feel as if her child was being threatened?

  She looked to Dave for emotional support, praying he could help. He said nothing, but she could see he was warring with his emotions. They had allowed themselves to get too close, started thinking they were a family, acting like family, going on picnics and eating strawberry ice cream together. Flying kites.