by Pat Warren
“You’re terrific with those kids.”
“I enjoy them.” Hugging the books to her chest, she checked him out. He was wearing a white polo shirt over black chinos with gray jogging shoes. No jacket, no gun holster. “You’re out of uniform, Detective. What will you do if you spot one of the bad guys in black hats?”
He didn’t think he needed to tell her that he had a .38 in an ankle holster. “I’m off duty. Let someone else round up the bad guys tonight.”
She began walking toward the children’s section and he fell in step with her, his hands in his pockets. “And here I thought you were ever vigilant, never dropping your guard.”
She didn’t seem as tense as usual around him, but rather more relaxed. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” he commented, his voice teasing.
Tate stopped between two high bookcases, meeting his eyes, looking deep. “I don’t think I know you very well at all.”
“Would you like to get to know me better?” A leading question and maybe he shouldn’t have asked it, Nick thought. What if she said no?
She turned, replacing the books on the shelves. “There are those who say we never really know another person.”
“Do you believe that?”
Tate shrugged. “I believe that, more often than not, we see someone as we wish they were, blinded to who they really are, and then learn too late that we should have looked deeper.”
“And sometimes what you see is what you get.” He’d moved close to her so that when she turned again, she was so near that she had to look up to see into his eyes. “Case in point, me. I am exactly as I seem, a thirty-three-year-old guy from a good if somewhat overwhelming family, an ordinary man with no hidden agendas.” He kept his gaze fastened to hers, inviting her to probe his depths and see for herself.
Her voice was soft, low, almost intimate. “That’s too simplistic, Nick. And when I think of you, the word ordinary never comes to mind.”
“Do you think of me, Tate?”
She’d walked right into that one. Tate shoved the last book in place. “Sure. I wonder if you’re making progress on Maggie’s intruder. That is why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Sort of. I have a surprise for Josh. When are you finished here?”
“I’m through now. Storybook Hour is something I do on my own after hours. What’s the surprise?”
“I’m not telling. Go check out or whatever it is you have to do and let’s go pick up Josh.”
Still, she hesitated. “Usually, it’s better if you run things by the mother before surprising the boy.”
“You are the most distrustful person I’ve ever met. I promise you, this surprise won’t hurt Josh or you. And if you truly object with good reason, we can forget it.”
“All right. Give me five minutes and I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
It seemed as if he’d won Round One, barely.
“But Nick, where are we going?” Josh asked for at least the third time since he’d climbed into the back seat of Nick’s car. “How long before we get there?”
“It’s not too far from here.” Remembering how impatient boys of seven could be, he smiled at Josh’s unbridled enthu siasm. “Why don’t you count all the red cars you see? Helps to pass the time.”
In the passenger seat, Tate thought not for the first time how patient the man was with Josh. When kids began to whine and wheedle, it was hard to be tolerant. But then, Nick had all those nephews and nieces. Or was he just trying to impress her? Which led to the question, why was he trying to impress her?
He certainly knew how to get to her, she had to admit. First, she’d gone along to his father’s birthday somewhat impulsively, thinking Maggie and Josh deserved a night out, which they seldom had. And now, dangling a surprise for her son in front of her, she could scarcely say no. Oh, yes, the man knew how to get a woman to agree to things.
Tate stole a sideways glance at him, wondering why at his age he hadn’t married, or at the very least, had someone steady in his life. Maybe he had, but just hadn’t mentioned her. No, not that. She had a feeling that truth was a way of life for this man and he wouldn’t have danced with her the way he had last Friday if he was involved. That dance that had appeared nearly nightly in her restless dreams.
He was certainly attractive. Had his dangerous job scared off women who might have been interested? That was a very real possibility. She remembered the man on the ledge, the wild fear in his eyes as he’d leaped. How could an officer face that sort of thing every day and not be affected? Yet Nick seemed to take the darker aspects of his work in stride.
Eddie Farantino was in his front yard mowing his lawn when Nick pulled up in front of the beige stucco house. He honked twice and Eddie waved.
“This is just a house, Nick,” Josh commented, disappointed that they hadn’t gone to some fun event like the circus, which he’d heard was in town.
“Oh, but it’s a special house,” Nick told him, getting out. He noticed that Tate seemed hesitant, also. He led both of them up the front walk. “Eddie, meet my friends, Josh and Tate.”
“Hi, there. Come on inside.” Tall and reed thin, Eddie introduced them to his wife, Lola, who was his exact opposite, quite short and considerably overweight. Tate couldn’t help thinking of Jack Spratt and his wife, and found herself smiling at the private joke.
The minute Josh heard the yipping and yapping, he was no longer interested in the adults’ chitchat. He looked around, searching for the source of the noise, catching Eddie’s attention.
“You want to meet my dog?” he asked Josh, and just that fast opened the door to the kitchen.
A black-and-white curly-haired terrier mix came barreling through, so excited his whole body was shaking. He made straight for Josh, who went down on his knees to him as the dog began licking his face. The boy giggled and laughed, rubbing the small furry body. Everyone else disappeared for Josh as he played with the little terrier.
“I’d say they hit it off,” Lola remarked, beaming.
“He’s full grown, has all his shots, been neutered and he won’t get any bigger than he is right now,” Eddie explained, speaking to Tate. “Nick mentioned you could use a watchdog. This little guy’s not what you’d call a fierce watchdog, but he makes a lot of noise if a stranger comes around.”
Nick spoke to Tate as she watched her son laughing more than she’d seen in way too long. “I figured a small dog was better, so he won’t knock Maggie or Josh off balance. And if someone noses around at night, his yapping will wake you.”
Eddie chimed in. “I raise dogs so I know this pup’s okay. I heard your son has asthma, but terriers don’t shed. There’s still the dander that could bother him, but it would be minor compared to the pleasure of having his own dog.”
Tate had another concern. “How much do these dogs cost?”
Eddie shook his head. “All taken care of.”
Tate looked up at Nick, who didn’t flinch. “It’s for Josh,” he said quietly, then stooped down and reached a hand to pet the wiggling dog. “He’s really soft, isn’t he, Josh?”
“Yeah, he’s great.” He looked up at his mother with pleading eyes, but he didn’t say any more.
He didn’t have to. She could hardly deny him a pet when he hardly ever asked for anything, Tate thought. She’d settle up his cost with Nick later. “Then I guess it’s unanimous.”
“Terrific.” Eddie stepped into the kitchen for a moment, then returned with two plastic bowls, a bag of dog food and a ratty piece of blanket. “These are his. He teethed on this blanket and now sometimes sleeps with it.”
Josh had had a blanket that he’d dragged around for his first five years until Tate finally convinced him to put it away in the closet. However, she noticed that when he got upset, he took down his old blanket and slept with it. Why should the dog be different?
Bending down to his level, she ran a hand along his soft coat. “You’re sure frisky.”
“Do you think Maggie w
ill mind?” Nick asked.
“No, she loves animals.”
“What are you going to name him, Josh?” Lola wanted to know.
“Ralph,” the boy said immediately.
“Ralph?” Tate looked at Nick who also was fighting a grin. “Where did you get that name?”
“I just like it,” Josh insisted. “I always wanted a dog named Ralph.”
“All right then, Ralph it is,” Nick said, rising. He shook hands with Eddie. “Thanks a lot.”
“Hey, no problem.”
Outside, Nick settled Josh and Ralph in the back seat be fore getting behind the wheel. As they drove, Josh chattered away to the dog, soothing him when a turn had Ralph nearly toppling off the seat, telling him about his room and Maggie.
Listening, Tate felt her emotions twist. Such a simple thing, a dog, and look at the joy it gave her son. They’d moved around so much that she’d always felt a pet would be just one more thing to lug around, then uproot. Josh’s asthma wasn’t really bad, but she’d watch him to make sure the dog didn’t cause him breathing problems. Sometimes, small risks were worth the pleasure a dog gave a small boy.
Because of the mistake his mother had made.
She glanced over at Nick and saw he was smiling at Ralph’s back seat antics and Josh’s giggles. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He shifted his gaze to her, found those green eyes huge and glistening with unshed tears. Reaching over, he touched her hand briefly, then dragged his attention back to the traffic.
Seeing that her son was preoccupied with Ralph, Tate decided to ask a question that had been bothering her. “Why are you doing all this?”
Nick shrugged nonchalantly. “Because I want to.” He gestured with his head toward the back seat. “Isn’t it worth it to see how happy he is?”
“Look, Mom,” Josh called out.
Turning, Tate saw that Ralph had worn himself out and was lying with his head in Josh’s lap, dozing. Josh looked happy, so happy it choked her up. “I think he likes you,” she said softly.
“Nick,” Josh said, “thank you. Thank you so much.”
Nick looked at the boy in the rearview mirror. “You’re very welcome.” As a watchdog, Ralph might fall a bit short, but as a pal to Josh, he was a big hit.
Why, then, was Tate looking at him with puzzlement in her eyes. “What?” he asked.
“I’m trying to figure you out.”
“I told you, with some people, what you see is what you get. There is no deep, mysterious, hidden agenda here. I like Josh and I like his mother. Can you handle that?”
Could she? Tate wasn’t altogether sure. Since this highly unusual man had come into their lives, she’d had to shift her thinking. However, the past had taught her to be cautious. She wanted desperately to believe Nick Bennett was exactly as he seemed, but she just couldn’t. Not yet. He’d bear watching.
“We used to have one of these old gliders in our backyard years ago,” Nick commented as he gently rocked himself and Maggie in the twilight of evening. “I wonder whatever happened to it.”
“It’s a shame, but I don’t think they make them anymore,” Maggie said. “It’s such a fast-paced world that few people take time to just sit and swing or rock. A few years ago, I wanted to buy a rocking chair for my bedroom. You know, so I could sit and rock while I watch TV. I went to six stores and only found one, this padded thing with huge armrests. I wanted a simple wooden rocker, maple or the like, but apparently they’re not easy to find.”
They listened to a cricket’s serenade for a while and rocked in companionable silence. A nearly full moon illuminated the crimson bougainvillea climbing along Maggie’s tan stucco fence, the baby palm tree swaying in a gentle breeze. The unmistakable scent of jasmine perfumed the warm night air.
“Where do you live, Nick?” Maggie asked.
“I have a large wooded lot out Oracle Highway toward the Catalina Mountains where I’m building my house. Right now, I live in a mobile home on the lot until it’s finished. Trouble is, it’s slow going since I don’t have all that much time to put into it.” His dream house, the one he’d been working on for over a year. Slowly it was taking shape.
“I guess you could be there right now working, if you had a mind to,” Maggie guessed shrewdly.
Caught, Nick thought, thinking that Maggie was still sharp as a tack. “You’re right. Ask any red-blooded guy if he’d rather be hammering away or spend time with Tate and I know what his answer will be.” He saw her smile. “You’re not upset about the dog?”
“Ralph? Goodness, no. That boy needs to focus on something and the little terrier’s perfect. I’m just grateful he’s housebroken.”
Nick heard the back screen door slam shut and saw Tate come outside. She’d put Josh to bed and changed into tan slacks and a loose black top. Her hair brushed her shoulders as she walked barefoot toward them, causing his hands to ache with the desire to touch. “Josh settled in?”
“Boy and dog both curled up and asleep. Josh was still smiling.” Hands on her hips, Tate gazed up at the orange moon. “Isn’t that what we call a harvest moon? What’s it doing here in the middle of June?”
Slowly Maggie pushed to her feet. “We have such topsy-turvy weather in Arizona with its long growing season that even the moon’s confused. If you two will excuse me, I think I’ll turn in.” She turned to Nick, squeezed his shoulder. “You did a really nice thing today for that boy.” Then she gave Tate a hug and went into the house.
Nick patted the glider’s seat. “Come join me?”
She’d half thought he’d be gone by the time she settled Josh, but here he was, looking as outrageously appealing in moonlight as he did in bright sunshine. She sat down, careful not to get too close. “Tell me, Nick, do you do this much for every case you work on?” Tate knew she’d asked him that before, but his answer had been evasive and unsatisfactory. She wanted to know the real reason, to have him state it out loud.
Were they back to this subject again? “Not really.” He stretched one arm along the swing back.
“Why us, then?”
“Don’t you know?”
She stiffened. “Suppose you tell me.”
Nick frowned, his fingers lightly touching the ends of her hair. “Why can’t you simply accept that I happen to like the three of you and let it go at that?”
“With absolutely no strings attached? I find that hard to believe. No one’s that altruistic.”
“If you mean what do I get out of all this, there are benefits. I think Maggie’s a terrific, gutsy lady with a good sense of humor despite a not-so-happy life. Josh is a great kid who could use a little male attention and…”
“And you want to be the one to give it to him, is that it?”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
Suddenly she looked at him full face, needing to see his first, his gut reaction. “There is if you’re trying to get to me through my son.” She saw the flash of anger in his eyes that he quickly tamped down.
“Damn, but you have a low opinion of people, men particularly.”
“With good reason.”
“Yeah, I heard. Men have been trying to get you into bed since your teens. Is it so impossible for you to believe that there are men whose first thought when they meet an attractive woman isn’t just how quickly they can seduce her?”
Tate leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Let me tell you a little story. When I was sixteen and in high school, I had a best friend, Callie Hughes. We did everything together, went everywhere together, had sleepovers. Then one day, this new guy in town registered as a senior in our school. His name was Randy Owens. I was out sick with the flu for a week, but Callie met him and suddenly, they were going out together. She called to tell me she’d fallen madly in love, which girls at sixteen are prone to do.”
“So I’ve heard.” He’d thought she would go into her relationship with Josh’s father, but she had something else on her mind.
“Anyhow, I
went back to school and met Callie and Randy in the hallway, their arms around each other. Callie was gushing, but Randy had a funny look on his face. A look I’d seen before. Late that same afternoon, Randy accidentally bumped into me, or so he said. And he asked me out. I turned him down, telling him that since I could see how much he meant to Callie, I couldn’t do that. But he wouldn’t give up, kept following me around, showing up at my house, at my locker. Naturally, Callie found out.”
“I’ll bet I can guess what happened.”
“Probably. She was furious, saying I’d used my looks to lure Randy away from her, that I was deceitful and a whole lot more. The bottom line was she wanted nothing more to do with me, ever. I was crushed, because we’d been so close for years, and I’d done everything possible to get Randy to leave me alone and go back to her. Well, he did go back to her and they went together awhile, but then he dropped her. Callie still wouldn’t speak to me, but Randy came around and asked me out again, now that he was free. I told him to take a hike. He surely wasn’t worth the breakup of an old and dear friendship.”
“And the moral of this story is…?”
“That I learned a hard lesson. No matter how close you are to a friend, they can turn on you in a heartbeat, believing not what they know about you, but what they perceive happened. And that men are terribly fickle and unconcerned about a woman’s feelings.” She turned toward him. “So, yeah, I guess you could say that I don’t trust many people. That’s only one incident. There have been others. I find it easier not to get too close. That way I won’t have to deal with the inevitable split. I’ve learned that men don’t take rejection well.”
Nick studied her bare feet, the nails polished a conservative pink, as they slipped through the grass with the forward motion of the glider. “So you’re trying to say that you won’t allow yourself to get close to me because sooner or later I’ll try to seduce you and after I’ve had you, I’ll split? Is that the gist of it? Am I getting warm?”