It certainly wasn’t as if he was worried about reacting the way he had in the car last Friday. Not since he’d had five days to think about it and finally realized he’d misunderstood what had gone on. Granted, he’d had a definite... glandular reaction there for a moment But it hadn’t been to Norah—at least, not her specifically. It had been more an instinctive response to a female in general by his very healthy—and very deprived—libido. After all, he’d worked extra hours all spring so he could take time off to be with Chelsea over the summer. Then he’d had the fire and its aftermath to contend with. Between that and thus unexpected marriage, he really hadn’t had any time for romance in months, so it was no wonder his sex drive had shifted into gear on its own. The only surprise was that it hadn’t happened sooner.
Now that he stopped to think about it, that was probably the reason why he’d reacted so strongly when he discovered Boo had breasts during their wedding kiss. And why later that same day he’d been so taken by the beauty of her hair.
Yes. That had to be it. But now, thank God, he had a solution to his problem. While he didn’t expect his relationship with Norah to return to what it had been years ago or even weeks ago—how could it, when he was starting to really know her?—he had finally settled on the proper way to treat her.
From here on in, he was going to think of her as his younger sister. It was the perfect way for him to stop thinking of her as a real woman, while still allowing him to tease her—all big brothers teased their little sisters, after all—and to exercise the inexplicable urge to protect her that kept cropping up.
“Eli! Can we go or not?”
Chelsea’s impatient tone refocused his thoughts. He looked down at her, stifling a grin at her exasperated expression. “Why don’t we ask Norah if it’s all right with her first?” he asked mildly.
“Oh. That’s a good idea.” She turned toward the woman in question, who was in the process of getting her feet on the ground at that very moment. “Hey, Norah. Where do you want to eat?”
Norah appeared taken aback at being asked. “Why, I...I don’t know. I probably shouldn’t even go—”
“Why not?” Chelsea demanded.
“Well, I’m sure Mrs. Barnes fixed something for dinner.”
“I’m afraid I told her she could take the afternoon off,” Eli said blandly.
“You did?” She turned to stare at him. “Oh, but—”
“Don’t get yourself in a lather, Boo. I didn’t insult her or anything. I just told her she must be tired from cooking all week, and I thought she should take a break. I didn’t mention that eggplant and Cornish game hens and all the rest of that haute cuisine—” he gave a theatrical shiver for Chelsea’s sake “—gives me a headache, okay? She was happy about it, honest. I do have some charm.”
Something he couldn’t interpret flashed across her face. She glanced down, her lashes shielding her eyes. “Of course.”
“I want to go to the Loop,” Chelsea interjected. “Is that okay?”
“I guess it’s fine.”
Chelsea grinned. “All right! So what are we waiting for? Beat you to the car!” Like a streak, she took off across the yard, leaving the adults to follow in her wake.
Eli shook his head and fell m step with Norah as she started across the grass. “So...how was your day? You find that lost shipment of books?” Perfect question from a brother to a sister, he congratulated himself.
She looked momentarily flustered, as if she couldn’t quite believe he was interested. “Yes. We did”
“So where was it?”
“It went to a library in King’s Count, Idaho.”
“Ah, I see.”
Emerging from the trees, they started along a gravel path bordered on both sides by pink and white flowers. Norah wet her lips. “How...how was your day? Did you get Mrs. Jenkins’ car fixed?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t anything serious. Somebody didn’t gap the plugs right, and the timing was off.” He looked at her curiously. “How’d you know about that?”
Norah shrugged. “She came into the library with her daughter and mentioned it.”
“Huh.” Eli wondered why he felt surprised. After all, it was a very small town.
They came around the corner of the house. Up ahead, Chelsea was standing beside the car. At the sight of them, she waved her arm and crowed, “I won!”
“As if there was ever any doubt,” Eli muttered. The comment elicited a small smile from Norah. Unaccountably pleased with himself, he headed around the car to the driver’s door. “By the way,” he added over his shoulder as Norah waited for Chelsea to climb into the back seat. “I like your hair that way.”
In one of those instinctive gestures peculiar to women, she touched a hand to her hair. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He opened the door and climbed in, but not before he saw the pleasure bloom on her face.
“Isn’t this great?” Chelsea said, leaning forward into the vee between the Corvette’s bucket seats as he and Norah got settled.
“Well, it’s not as good as Christmas morning, but it’s not bad,” Eli informed her.
Chelsea gave him a playful sock on the arm. “I think it’s cool.”
Eli glanced sideways at her. “Yeah? Well, it’s not going to be anything if you don’t sit back and get your seat belt on.”
Her face fell. “But if I do that, I won’t be able to hear what you and Norah are saying.”
“You’ll survive,” he said drily, secretly amused at how quickly Norah got her own belt on, clearly unwilling to take a chance on a repeat of the other night.
“I bet you never had to wear a stupid old seat belt when you were a kid,” Chelsea grumbled as she dutifully slid back onto the abbreviated back seat and dug around for the straps.
“That’s true. But then, Uncle Leo was probably hoping something would happen so he wouldn’t have to put up with me,” he said easily, putting the car in gear and starting down the driveway. “Whereas I—” he reached back and gave her a little pinch “—want you to live to be a really old lady. Or at least long enough to realize how lucky you are that I’m your father.”
Chelsea made a rude sound. “Not.”
Their gazes met in the rearview mirror and they smiled at each other.
“What about you, Norah?” Chelsea asked. “Did you have to wear a seat belt when you were a kid?”
“We didn’t go out much, so it’s hard to remember. But I’m sure I did.”
Chelsea leaned as far forward as she could, resting a hand on Norah’s shoulder. “How come you didn’t go out?”
She shrugged, clearly self-conscious. “Lots of reasons. Grandfather didn’t like to leave the house. If he did have to go somewhere, he preferred to have someone drive him, and it usually wasn’t appropriate for me to tag along.”
Chelsea chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I don’t think I would’ve liked him very much.”
“Chelse,” Eh admonished.
“It’s all right,” Norah said softly. “He was difficult. But then, he’d lost his wife and son. I think, deep down, he was very sad.”
“Maybe,” Chelsea said, sounding unconvinced.
Eli slowed the car as he passed Bell’s Pharmacy and switched on the turn indicator. Personally, he agreed with his daughter and thought Norah was being overly generous regarding her grandfather’s domineering manner. But he had to admit he admired her loyalty. He took a right on Clark Street and turned into the drive-in.
Predictably, the place was very busy even though it was a weeknight. Cars filled many of the slots along both sides of a long, awning-topped concrete strip that was anchored in the center by the kitchen. Eli headed for one of the empty spaces, pulled in, then shut off the engine.
He watched as Norah looked around as if she’d never been there before, taking everything in—the menus attached to the speaker poles; the signs that said to turn on your lights for service; the waitress on in-line skates taking an order from a car nearby; the cooks who could be seen flip
ping burgers through the big plate-glass window. Behind the kitchen there was a grassy area complete with picnic tables, swings and other play equipment. Rock music blared from some unseen source.
“So.” Eli undid his seat belt and turned so he could see Chelsea. “You know what you want?”
“Of course.” She scooted forward, once more draping herself across the opening to the front seat. “A Loop burger, fries and a peanut butter milkshake.”
He grimaced. “I should’ve guessed. What about you?” he asked Norah.
“Oh. No.” She dragged her gaze from the colorful scene to study the menu, on which, not too surprisingly, hamburgers, shakes and fries figured prominently. Still, there was just enough variety that it took her a few minutes to make up her mind. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Eli turned on the lights. As advertised, one of the waitresses skated over, took their order and skated away.
“Oh, look!” Chelsea said, turning to look at the play area.
“It’s Josh and Tracy and some of the other guys!” She turned to Norah and confided, “They’re on my softball team. Eli and Joe—that’s Josh’s dad—are our coaches ’cuz nobody else would do it. This year, I’m the first baseman.” Her head swiveled toward her father. “Can I go play?”
“Sure. Just stay where I can see you, so I can call you when the food comes.”
“Okay!” Impatient to be on her way, she gave his seat a little push. “Hurry up. Tracy thinks she’s so-o-o cool. I can’t wait to tell her about my room.”
He opened his door, climbed out and tipped the seatback forward so she could squeeze out. “Slow down,” he cautioned as she bolted across the parking lot.
She checked her speed a tiny amount. “’Kay!”
Shaking his head, he got back inside the car.
Norah took a deep breath, abruptly aware that they were now alone without Chelsea to run interference. And sure enough, the second Eli shut the door, the car’s already-small interior seemed to shrink. Not only did he seem to take up most of the available space, but his scent filled Norah’s head, a tantalizing combination of clean clothes, clean hair and sun-warmed skin.
There was an uncomfortable silence. She cast about for something to say, hoping to distract her overly attentive senses. “Do you come here often?” she finally asked.
He shrugged. “Not nearly as much as I did when I was Chelsea’s age. Uncle Leo wasn’t big on home cooking, so I ate here a lot. Josh’s dad is Joe Rawlins. I don’t know if you remember, but his folks own this place.”
“Oh.” Norah hadn’t remembered that, though she did remember Joe. He’d been part of Eli’s group in high school, a big, tough, hard-looking boy who’d rarely spoken. If memory served, he’d been divorced from Josh’s mom and was now remarried.
“I don’t know why Mr. and Mrs. Rawlins put up with us. Between me and Joe, we must have eaten up all of their profit.”
“It sounds as if you were lucky to have them,” she said quietly. “I—I’m sorry about your uncle. It must’ve been hard.”
He hitched one shoulder dismissively. “It wasn’t that bad. At least I didn’t have somebody dictating my every move the way you did.”
She stared at him, taken aback. “What makes you say that?”
Just for an instant he looked uncomfortable. It quickly passed. “I don’t know,” he said dismissively. “I listen. And Chelsea said some things.”
“Oh.” She looked over to where the kids were industriously spinning a merry-go-round, their laughter carrying clearly in the evening air. “I didn’t realize—I mean, we talk, but...” She sighed, then allowed herself a slight, rueful smile. “How foolish of me. Of course she’s figured out that my childhood was...unconventional. She’s a very perceptive child.”
“Yeah. Too much, sometimes. She has a way of using your weaknesses against you to get you to do what she thinks is best—whether you agree or not,” he said ruefully.
The look on his face was impossible to resist as their gazes met in an unexpected moment of understanding. Norah smiled tentatively and said, “Yes, I... I have noticed that.” She regarded Eli curiously. “You don’t mind?”
“I don’t want to spoil her, but I don’t mind letting her order the world the way she wants every once in a while. Her first few years were tough. Her mother wasn’t well, and Chelsea paid the price.”
“But she had you,” she protested.
He shook his head. “Nope. ’Fraid not.”
“Oh. Were...were you estranged?”
“Something like that.”
Norah bit her lip, puzzled by the discrepancy between his matter-of-fact tone and the shadow she could see in his eyes. “At least Chelsea has you now,” she found herself saying, feeling an inexplicable need to reassure him. “That’s the important thing. And you’re very good with her.”
“Thanks.” His mouth quirked in a sudden, rueful smile.
“But the truth is, most of the time I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”
Norah glanced over to the play area, where Chelsea was now on the swing, her smile growing wider as she pumped her legs and went higher and higher. The sight of her bolstered Norah’s courage. “Whatever you’re doing, it seems to be working. She’s a wonderful child. And...and you’re a wonderful father.”
Clearly startled, he turned to look at her.
Realizing what she’d said, she flushed. Fortunately, before he could say anything, one of the waitresses, this one a redhead with a spectacular figure that was barely covered by the short little apron she wore over spandex shorts and a tube top, skated over. “Hey, Eli,” she said cheerfully, hooking the food-laden tray she was carrying over the window ledge. “I thought it was you.”
“Hey, Mel. What are you doing sporting skates tonight?”
She ducked down so she could see inside. “Somebody called in sick. Typical.” She shrugged. “How are you?”
“Fine.”
“We’ve missed seeing you and Chelsea the past few weeks.”
“I’ve been busy,” he answered easily.
“So we heard.” She glanced curiously over at Norah. “Is this your wife?” Not waiting for an answer, she smiled and said, “Hi, I’m Melanie Rawlins. I think you went to school with my husband, Joe.”
“Oh. Oh, yes.” Norah tried to hide her surprise that this pretty, vivacious woman was Joe’s wife. “I’m...Norah.”
Melanie’s smile warmed. “Yes, I know. Joe says you’re the town librarian?”
She nodded.
“I’m afraid the library is one of the places I haven’t made it to yet. But then, I’m not much of a reader. Maybe you can recommend something for me to read.”
“I’d be glad to.”
“Good. As small as this place is, I still haven’t made that many friends. The four of us will have to go out some time. Lord knows, I’d love an excuse to get dressed up for a change.”
“You...you might consider attending the library fund-raiser, then,” Norah suggested helpfully. “Of course, it might be too formal...”
Melanie’s eyes lit with interest. “That sounds great Are you guys going?”
“Oh, no. That is—” Norah glanced helplessly over at Eli, not knowing what to say.
“We haven’t decided yet,” he said blandly.
“Oh.” Melanie looked momentarily puzzled, then shrugged. “We can discuss it at the game on Sunday.” She turned to Eli. “You are going to be there, aren’t you? I mean, Joe’s really tried with you gone, but you know how he is. He gets that serious look on his face and scares the kids half to death.”
Eli nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”
“Great.” The beeper hooked to her apron went off. She grimaced and turned it off, then looked at them with a good-natured smile. “Guess I’ve got an order up. You guys enjoy your food. I’ll tell Chelsea it’s time to eat.” She took a step away, then stopped and looked back into the car, her expression warm as her gaze sought Norah’s. “I really hope you’ll come to the gam
e. It’s fun rooting for the kids, and it’ll give us a chance to get to know each other, while the guys are doing their thing.” With a wink, she left.
Eli looked over at Norah, frowning as he saw the wistful look on her face as she watched Melanie skate away. After a second, however, she shook it off, turning to him with nothing more than a hesitant smile. “She seems very nice,” she said softly.
“Yeah, she is.” Although as much as he liked her, she could be a real busybody sometimes.
“And she’s obviously very fond of you and Chelsea.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” But she was also fond of stirring things up. “Listen, about the game—”
“It’s all right,” she said quickly. “I know she was only being polite.”
“Is that what you think?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. I don’t expect you to take me. Or...or include me in your social life. It would only complicate things later. Besides—” she managed another tentative smile “—think what it would do to your image.”
He pursed his lips. He knew she was right, but not about the image part. He didn’t give a damn what people thought, but he agreed that socializing as a married couple would complicate things. And yet, the idea of her sitting home alone suddenly didn’t sit right, either Still, he could see she was sincere.
He glanced down at his hands, frowning as he saw the faint line of axle grease that still rimmed his fingernails, and took his time before he spoke. Finally he said quietly, “I’m sorry you don’t want to come. It would really mean a lot to Chelsea to have you there, but I guess I can understand your reluctance.”
“My reluctance?” Her voice suddenly changed, going from subdued to concerned in an instant. “Oh, no, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not. Reluctant, that is. It’s just—”
“You mean you’ll go?”
“Well, yes, if you’re really sure—”
“Great. We’re agreed then.” He turned toward the tray, picked up an order of fries and some napkins and handed them to her. “Here. We might as well start before it gets cold.”
The Notorious Groom (Desire) Page 9