Finding Perfect

by Susan Mallery

  “Are you going to bid?” Dakota asked.

  “No, but I’m bringing popcorn. Talk about a show.”

  Pia sank into a chair and rubbed her temples. “I don’t get paid enough to do this.”

  “Probably not,” Dakota said cheerfully, “but at least it’s never boring.”

  “Right now, boring sounds really, really good.”

  RAOUL WALKED ONTO THE playground at the mountain school only to find himself surrounded by kids.

  “Come play with us.”

  “No, me.”

  “Can you help me throw harder?”

  “We want to jump rope. Will you hold the rope?”

  Raoul felt like the leader of a very short tribe. He raised his hands in the air. “I’m here to check on my main man. Then we’ll talk about playing.”

  There were a few grumbles, but the kids fell back, allowing him to walk over to Peter and his friends. The boy grinned when he saw Raoul and launched himself at him. Raoul caught him easily.

  “How are you doing?” he asked the boy. “All settled?”

  Peter had returned to his foster home the previous afternoon. Mrs. Dawson had done a thorough investigation and while she admitted the Folios weren’t her favorite family, she couldn’t remove a child based on a feeling. There had to be something closer to proof.

  The boy hung on to Raoul. “It’s okay. They’re being really nice. Don says he’s going to sue the school ’cause of my fall. But I don’t know who Sue is.”

  Raoul put down the boy and made a mental note to talk to Don about his plan. If he thought he could get some easy money out of the school district and keep it for himself, he was about to have a change in attitude.

  “I’ve been practicing throwing,” Peter continued happily.

  “Just throwing, right? No catching.”

  The kid sighed. “I know. Not until my arm is better.”

  “If you want to play football, you need to be strong all over. That means letting your arm heal.”

  “Will I be as big as you?”

  “I don’t know.” Raoul didn’t have any details about Peter’s real parents. He wondered if he could ask around and get some information. “Want to show me what you can do?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Peter ran over to the box of balls. Several other boys spotted what he was doing and followed. Raoul quickly organized them into groups and had them throwing back and forth to each other, like in a training camp.

  “Good,” he said, walking behind them, watching them throw. “Billy, straighten that arm. Your strength is in your shoulder, not your wrist. Nice, Trevor. Great follow-through.”

  He felt someone tug on his jacket and looked down to see a girl in glasses and pigtails staring up at him.

  “Can I throw, too?” she asked.

  The boy closest shook his head. “No girls. Go away.”

  The girl ignored him. “I want to learn.”

  “Girls play, too,” Raoul said, leading her to the end of the line. He motioned for Jackson to throw him a ball, then get in position to catch. “Why don’t you show me what you can do.”

  The girl took the ball, pushed up her glasses, then threw the baseball with enough power to make a pop when it hit the glove. Jackson winced.

  Raoul grinned. “You’ve got quite an arm there, young lady.”

  “I want to be able to hit my big brother in the head and knock him out. He’s always teasing me.”

  “Okay. I’m happy to help you with your throwing, but you have to promise never to aim at your brother’s head. The way you throw, you could hurt him really bad.”

  Her eyes widened. “He says I’m a weak, whiny girl.”

  “Probably because you’re better than him.”

  She beamed. “I never thought about that.”

  Dakota walked up. “Creating dissension between the sexes at such a young age?”

  “I’m not that young.”

  She laughed. “You know what I meant.”

  “I do.” He studied her, seeing that she looked rested and a lot less sad. “You’re feeling better.”

  “I am.

  “Good. Want to talk about what happened?”

  “No.”

  The bell rang, indicating that it was time to head back into class. The kids threw the balls and gloves into the box and raced past them. Peter looked back and waved.

  “You did good with him,” Dakota said.

  “He made it easy.”

  “You hold yourself back from most of the kids, but with him, you’re different.”

  They walked toward the main building. He wasn’t surprised she’d figured out the truth about him.

  “Old habit,” he said.

  “I’m sure there are a lot of reasons,” she said. “The fame, for one thing. You can’t know who’s interested in you for you or because they want something.”

  “Less of an issue now.”

  “Possibly. Plus I would guess there are just too many kids to help individually. You can’t be in more than one place at once. So you created the camp to help as many kids as you can. It has the added benefit of allowing you to keep your distance.”

  “You really feel the need to use your psychology degree, don’t you?”

  “Sometimes. It can be very flashy at parties.”

  He knew she was right about all of it. He did hold himself back. He’d been burned plenty of times in college and during his first few years in the NFL. Finally he’d learned the lesson that helping from a distance was a whole lot easier.

  Since things had gone bad with Caro, it was also smarter. Her betrayal had shaken him on many levels. She’d made him question his ability to read someone.

  “You don’t have to do anything at all,” Dakota said. “It’s not required.”

  “Sure it is. I was taught that if life gives you advantages, you give back.”

  “Your former coach?”

  “Uh-huh. If I wasn’t doing something, he’d come down here and kick my ass.”

  She smiled. “Cheap talk. You didn’t buy this camp for him. You bought it because you wanted to.”

  He shrugged. “Hawk can be the voice in my head, telling me what to do.”

  “My mom is that for me. I think it’s a good thing.”

  “Psychologically sound?” he asked.

  She laughed. “Definitely. I think it’s important to stay on the side of sanity.”

  “You’re the professional.” He held open the door to the main building.

  “How’s Pia doing?” she asked.

  “Good. Why?”

  “Aren’t Hawk and his wife coming to visit for a couple of days?”

  “Sure.”

  “Technically they don’t qualify as family, but emotionally, these are the in-laws. Don’t you think that’s going to make her nervous?”

  He hadn’t thought of it that way. “There’s nothing for her to worry about. They’ll like her.”

  Dakota’s expression turned pitying. “You’ve been married before. Do you really think that’s what she’s sitting around thinking?”

  His face fell. “Oh. Right. I should probably go talk to her, huh?”

  Dakota patted his arm. “Don’t take it personally. You can’t help it, just being a man and all.”

  PIA TOLD HERSELF THAT pacing counted as exercise and exercise was healthy. It’s not as if her body knew she was wearing a path in Raoul’s carpet rather than striding through the park or doing time on a treadmill. Life was about reframing, she told herself.

  “Would you relax?” Raoul walked into the living room and crossed to her. After putting his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in and kissed her. “They’re going to love you.”

  “Do you have proof? Because proof would be nice.”

  “They’ll love you,” he repeated.

  “Saying something over and over again doesn’t make it happen. No matter how many times I tell you I’m a giraffe, you’re not going to believe me.”

  He eyed her. “H
ave you had coffee today?”

  “No. This isn’t me hyped on caffeine. I’m doing this all myself.”

  “You should try breathing.”

  As if that would help. “What if I don’t want to meet them?” she asked. “I’m sure they’re very nice people, but this all seems so unnecessary. I’ll be taking up your visiting time. Why don’t you meet them by yourself and tell me about it. You can take pictures. It’ll be like I was there.”

  “I’d rather you were there.”

  “Think of the babies. All this stress can’t be good for them. I think I need to throw up.”

  “Relax,” he said softly, right before he kissed her.

  It was a good kiss, too, damn him. One that lingered and made her feel all melty inside.

  “That’s cheating,” she said when he straightened.

  “I prefer to think of it as getting the job done.”

  “It’s still cheating.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I’m going to marry you, Pia. Hawk and Nicole are my family, so they’ll be part of your life, as well. Why put off the inevitable?”

  “Because putting it off makes me feel better.” She heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Her stomach twisted. “I think they’re here.”

  He took her hand and led her to the front door, then stepped outside.

  A large four-door BMW pulled up. Pia wasn’t sure there was a name or number, mostly because she couldn’t tell one fancy car from the other. Okay, it was green, but that was the best she could do.

  As she thought seriously about throwing up, she watched a tall, good-looking man step out. Based on what she knew about Hawk, he had to be in his late forties, but he looked a lot younger. Then his wife got out of the car. She was a beautiful, elegant blonde. Despite the jeans and button-down shirt, she looked sophisticated—like the kind of woman who always knew what to say.

  Pia held in a whimper.

  “You made it,” Raoul said as he stepped off the porch. He walked to Hawk and the two men hugged. Nicole joined them. Raoul kissed her cheek. She held on to him for several seconds before letting go and stepping back.

  “Small-town life agrees with you,” she said. “You look good.”

  “Always,” Raoul said with a laugh. “Come meet Pia.”

  She’d agonized about what to wear, wanting to make a good impression without trying too hard. There was also the pregnancy to consider. Despite having puffy and bloated moments, she wasn’t really showing. In the end, she’d settled on a tunic-length forest green top over black jeans. As a tour of the town was on the agenda, she’d put on flats.

  “Hello,” she said, holding out her hand first to Hawk. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Didn’t you warn her?” Hawk asked as he ignored the outstretched hand. Instead he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into a bear hug. “Welcome to the family, Pia.” He swung her around a full 360 degrees before setting her on the ground.

  “Thanks,” she managed while doing her best to regain her footing.

  “You’ll scare the poor girl,” Nicole said, stepping close and hugging Pia more gently. “He’s just a big lug of a man. You’ll have to forgive him.”

  “Of course,” Pia said, feeling a little disoriented. She’d been worried about Raoul’s family judging her and being standoffish. Apparently that wasn’t going to be a problem.

  Nicole linked arms with her and they walked inside. “I understand you and Raoul are looking for a house. That’s so fun. Hawk and I have been in our place forever now. And as much as I love my children, I am, I confess, delighted to be away from them for a few days.”

  “Raoul said you drove down from Seattle.”

  “Yes, we’re going to Los Angeles.”

  “Road trip,” Hawk said, coming in with Raoul. “One of my former students is playing for USC. We’re going to catch a game, then drive home.”

  “I said let’s fly,” Nicole told Pia, her tone weary but her eyes bright with amusement. “We could have stopped in Sacramento and rented a car to come here. But no…”

  She released Pia’s arm. Hawk came up behind Nicole and slipped his arms around her waist. “Are you saying you haven’t enjoyed being in a hotel room with me for the past two nights?”

  “Hawk! The children.”

  Pia wanted to point out that she was twenty-eight and that Raoul was a few years older than her, but she didn’t. In a way it was kind of nice to have someone a little older than her worrying about her. It had been a lot of years since that had happened.

  Hawk kissed his wife. “Nicole, I hate to break it to you, but they’ve already had sex. They know what it is.”

  Pia hoped she wasn’t blushing.

  Raoul caught her eye and grinned. “See what I have to deal with?” Everyone laughed.

  They settled on the sofa and chairs in the living room and talked. Nicole brought Raoul up to date on what her kids were doing. Hawk and Raoul talked football. Pia mostly listened. After about half an hour, Raoul stood.

  “Let’s do a tour of town. Then we can have lunch.”

  “Want us to drive?” Hawk asked.

  Raoul shook his head. “We’ll walk. There’s not that much to see.”

  As they walked down the sidewalk, Pia noticed that Nicole kept pace with her while Hawk and Raoul seemed to be getting ahead of them. She recognized the separation of the sexes for what it was.

  “Why don’t you two meet us at the restaurant in an hour,” Nicole called. “Go talk about sports. I get enough of that at home.” The older woman smiled. “We can entertain ourselves until then.”

  Pia forced a smile and told herself that Nicole seemed really nice. Everything was going to be fine.

  They strolled down by the park, toward the lake. Pia pointed out Morgan’s Books, the store with the fabulous fudge and the entrance to her office. She noticed there were a lot more men out and about than usual, but she didn’t want to bring that up. Telling Nicole about Fool’s Gold’s sudden influx of men would probably scare her.

  They chatted about the weather, reality TV and how it would be a good thing if cropped pants never came back in style.

  Nicole pointed to the Starbucks. “Come on. I’d kill for a latte.”

  When they had their drinks—a mocha for Nicole and an herbal tea for Pia—they settled at a table by the window. Pia did her best not to acknowledge the men watching them.

  “Raoul mentioned you’re in charge of the festivals in town,” Nicole said. “Thanks for taking time off work to meet us.”

  “I wanted to,” Pia said, telling herself that now that she’d met Nicole, it wasn’t exactly a lie. “You’re his family.”

  “He’s been important to us for a long time.” She glanced out the window and sighed. “I love it here. What a great place to grow up.”

  “We do have less rain than Seattle.”

  “I think the Amazon jungle has less rain than Seattle,” Nicole joked. “I was worried about Raoul after his divorce. He couldn’t figure out what to do with himself. I thought he’d come back home, but this is better. He needs to make his own way. Hawk was lucky. When he left the NFL, he knew he wanted to coach high school football. Not everyone is so clear.”

  “You know about the camp Raoul bought?” Pia asked.

  “Uh-huh. It sounds great. And now there’s a school up there?”

  Pia explained about the fire. “It’s probably going to take a couple of years for the regular school to be repaired. They’re hoping to get the money quickly and get started, but who knows. Without the camp, the kids would have been shoved into already crowded schools.”

  “Raoul is hero material,” Nicole said with a smile. “He gets that from Hawk.”

  From what she’d heard, the couple had been together for a long time, yet they were still obviously in love. Pia felt a twinge of envy. Loving someone that long, being loved…it had to feel very safe and yet exciting at the same time. For a second she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to exp
erience that herself. To have love grow stronger every year.

  Longing filled her, a physical ache that made it difficult to breathe. She wasn’t going to get that with Raoul. Theirs was a practical arrangement. Perhaps, with time, they would grow to love each other, but it wouldn’t be the same, she thought sadly. The history of a courtship would never be there. The “falling in love” that made everything seem right in the world.

  Nicole leaned over and touched Pia’s left hand. “Beautiful ring.”

  “Thank you.” She pressed her lips together, telling herself not to say she hadn’t been expecting a ring at all—let alone one this amazing.

  “We’re happy Raoul’s found someone.”

  The statement made Pia nervous. She couldn’t tell if Nicole knew why they were getting married. Though she was willing to stay quiet on the whys of the engagement, she wasn’t willing to lie about the pregnancy.

  “Did Raoul tell you I was pregnant?” Pia asked.

  Nicole raised her eyebrows, then laughed. “No, he didn’t. How wonderful. Raoul’s finally having a child. Excellent.”

  She felt as if she’d just stepped into something sticky. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Nicole laughed. “Much like pregnancy itself, there’s no do-over. Sorry. Besides, I’m really happy. For what it’s worth, I was pregnant when Hawk and I got married.”

  “Yes, but it was probably his baby.”

  To give her credit, Nicole barely blinked. She picked up her mocha, took a sip and said, “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  PIA EXPLAINED ABOUT Crystal and Keith and the embryos. “I’m still not sure why she left them to me, but she did and they’re implanted and I’m pregnant.”

  “Triplets,” Nicole said. “I’m a twin and I had twins, so I know what that’s like. You’re going to have three. That’s a lot of diapers.”

  “I try not to think about it,” Pia admitted. Or feedings, or getting them all to sleep at the same time. In fact, she was pretty much in denial.

  “What did Raoul say when you told him what you wanted to do?” Nicole asked.

  She was assuming they’d been dating, Pia thought. That the embryos had added an extra dimension to an already ongoing relationship.