She had to rechannel both their minds before the boys began to notice that their behavior seemed different. “Has your new man, Ted Hilton, gotten here yet?” she blurted out.
“Got here today,” Daniel said. He seemed as relieved by the distraction as she was. “He’s pleasant, sounds smart and seems to know his job. He’s already started setting up a budget for the construction. He’s gone through the donor lists, targeted the ones he has some connection to and has estimated what they might donate.”
“When do I get to meet him?”
“Soon, I hope. I suggested lunch tomorrow, but he has to meet with the architect.”
“Well, I’m anxious to see what he’s like,” she said. “I know you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but…”
“I wouldn’t look any horse in the mouth without protective gear.” His eyes twinkled, and the vestiges of a smile hovered at the corners of his mouth.
Even the hint of a smile was enough to send her reeling.
Jonathan, whose gaze had been ping-ponging from her to Daniel while they talked, suddenly dropped his fork, a rare occurrence during a meal for any of the boys, and was staring at Daniel with his mouth hanging open. “Do they bite?”
Now Daniel had the full attention of the younger boys. “Sometimes,” he said. “You and a horse can get to know and love each other, but some of them are skittish. Something scares them, they might throw you off, kick you or even bite you.” His eyes moved toward Lilah. “Treat ’em nice. That’s my advice about horses.”
She knew what he was saying. They’d gotten to know each other, and she had come to love him. Was he waiting for her to get scared and throw him off, kick him or even bite him?
“Kids at school, mainly the girls, ride horses and think it’s cool,” Will said.
Jason and Maury, who’d been talking, tuned in. “Girls and horses,” Maury said, shaking his head.
“Why do you think it’s girls who like to ride?” Nick said. “In the westerns on TV, it’s the cowboys riding the horses.”
“Because it was their transportation then,” Jason said, his smile so like Daniel’s that Lilah had to catch her breath. “Women rode them for fun. Now,” and he paused to beat his chest with his fists, “us guys have wheels, man. Who needs a horse?”
“Now the girls ride for fun and think you only need a car for transportation,” Maury said, shaking his head. “Especially the town girls, who drive out to where they ride the horses.”
“You got it,” Daniel said, openly laughing now. The conversation was off and running.
Lilah sat back and listened. She was perspiring. True, the old house didn’t have air-conditioning, but it had walls like a fortress, plus ceiling fans, so it rarely felt hot. It wasn’t even hot outside, only a balmy seventy-five degrees. She was being tortured by the heat within, so to speak.
Too many things tortured her, invading her dreams and her daydreams both. Her love for Daniel. Her dread that Bruce would find her. Her fierce protectiveness of Jonathan. Why couldn’t she just relax and admit that life was good right now, enjoy the moment and deal with the letdown when it happened?
Because she was so certain it would happen, and she had to be ready for it.
DANIEL WAS TRYING TO concentrate on his patient, a Yorkshire terrier so small you could miss him on the chair you were about to sit in, but he was distracted by noise in his backyard. A soccer game, sure, but louder than usual, with more shouting. He handed the Yorkie back to his owner with a comforting “Healthy as can be,” and sped to the scene.
Yes, it was a soccer game, but the difference was that this time Lilah was playing along with the boys. Jesse was acting as referee, and Jason, back from work on Ian’s farm, had joined in. They whooped and yelled as they raced across the grass, kicking and passing the ball with a fair amount of skill.
That didn’t surprise him. What surprised him was Lilah. She’d never played soccer with the boys before, and since they were stopping now and then to show her how to make a move, he quickly realized it was because she didn’t know how to. But she surely did look determined.
He had to give the boys credit. They seemed more interested in coaching her than in worrying about which team was winning.
“Shoot the ball, Mom,” Jonathan yelled. “Shoot it into the goal really hard.”
Lilah took aim and kicked, but she only grazed the ball, so it spun off to the side.
“I’ll never learn to play soccer,” she told them.
She was wearing navy shorts and a blue-flowered T-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and her cheeks were flushed with exertion. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
When she saw him, she held his gaze for a long moment. The way she looked right now, wild and reckless, struck a blow to his midsection. She’d come to mean so much to him in such a short time. How had he gotten so lucky?
She came toward him. “I stink at this game.”
“You have to focus on what you want. Then go after it.” Her eyes sparkled. He could tell she’d read his meaning. His gaze slid down to her lips. What wouldn’t he give to kiss her right now, in front of the boys, Jesse, the whole world? The desire was so strong, it was all he could do to hang on to what little self-control he had left.
Lilah blushed, as if she knew what he was thinking. Rather than looking away and breaking the spell, she met his gaze straight on. “Sounds like good advice. And what I want right now is to learn to kick.”
With some effort, he stepped back from her and pointed at the soccer ball. “Stand directly in front of it and kick it squarely in the center.”
She did as he said, and kicked the ball with such ferocity that it startled him. Again, she missed the net. “I’m hopeless,” she said.
“You’re…delightful,” he said so softly that only she could hear.
Her lips parted. The air around them seemed to crackle with attraction. He’d never felt this way about a woman before. His love was all-consuming.
“Watch out, you two,” Jesse yelled. “If you’re not playing, then move.”
He and Lilah had both stepped back a couple of feet when the ball flew into the air and headed directly toward them. Daniel moved out to intercept it, but before he could, Lilah ran forward and slammed it with her right knee.
The ball soared across the yard, flying into the makeshift goal so hard it knocked the net flat. For a second, they all stood still, amazed. Then Jonathan shouted, “You did it, Mom. You made a goal!”
The other boys began to cheer. Lilah held up her fingers in a V, smiled her thanks, then turned to Daniel. “Pure luck,” she said. “Who knows if I can ever do it again.”
“I do,” Daniel said, longing to hug her. It was pure luck that she’d fallen into his life. A woman like Lilah wouldn’t happen to him again. So he was going to keep her, no matter what it took.
THE SUPERMARKET HAD BECOME Lilah’s social club. She spent so much time and so much of Daniel’s money there that it was rare not to run into someone she knew. Ahead of her in the Baking Time aisle, she saw a dark-haired woman who looked very professional in a tan skirt and top with a white blazer.
“Dana,” she said, pleased to see her. “I didn’t know you had time for grocery shopping.”
At the sound of her name, the head of Child Services whirled, and seeing it was Lilah, gave her an oddly hesitant smile. “Now and then, my husband reads me the riot act and insists on food in the house.”
Lilah nodded. “Men are like that. They don’t understand eggs and toast for dinner.”
“And don’t tell me he should share the shopping, because we decided to get along with one car—which I have.”
It was just pleasant small talk, so why did Dana seem increasingly nervous?
“Lilah,” she said suddenly, “do you have a few minutes to talk to me this afternoon?”
“Of course.” Now she felt uneasy. “I’m going to the center volunteers’ meeting at three—can you make it?”
; “Unless there’s an emergency. Right now I have to run the groceries home.”
“Me, too.”
“What about two o’clock?”
“Sounds fine.”
Jesse came around the aisle with a second shopping cart. “Sale on spareribs,” he told them both, and pointed to a tall stack of plastic-wrapped packages that were kept in place by an equally tall stack of pork loin roasts on the bottom and chicken parts on the top.
“I’d better get some—if you’ve left any,” Dana said, smiling at him in the genuine way she’d smiled at Lilah in the few times they’d met before today, and whisked toward the meat section at the back of the store.
Lilah finished the shopping trip in a fog of worry. Dana was always so pleasant and kind. She doubted, somehow, that grocery shopping had made her lose her smile. Were there problems with the financial projections she’d given Dana? Something was certainly wrong.
She left Jesse with the job of putting away the groceries, telling him she needed to supply Dana with more information for the grant proposal, and almost sick with unease, she went back into town.
Dana was waiting with a pitcher of iced tea and a plate of cookies, but her eyes were worried and her mouth drooped at the corners.
“What’s wrong?” Lilah said quietly. “Just tell me.”
Dana sighed. “I got a letter this morning from the group of former foster children who intend to form a foundation to collect money for the center. Did Daniel tell you about them?”
“Yes. It’s very good of them to want to pay back. But?”
“They sent me a letter, telling me they’d received it from someone who claims your husband isn’t dead. That, in fact, Bruce Jamison was imprisoned for a fraud in which you participated fully, that might even have been your idea. According to the letter, he took the rap for you.”
Lilah was suddenly stifled by the air in Dana’s office. She could hardly breathe. Her worst fear had become a reality. Bruce had found her, and this was how he’d chosen to pay her back, by spreading rumors that would discredit her. If the valley residents believed those rumors, she’d have to leave the valley and start all over. Maybe he thought he could make her feel helpless enough to come back to him.
It wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t let him destroy her. He couldn’t make her feel helpless any more. She and Jonathan had lived on the edge for more than three years, and she’d never once thought of going back to Bruce. Tears of anger and frustration filled her eyes and threatened to pour down her cheeks. “May I read it?”
Dana handed her a copy of the letter. Was she afraid Lilah would grab the original and run? She read slowly, her anger building. It was worse than she’d imagined, pompous, sanctimonious, and she could hear Bruce’s voice in every line. It ended: “Jamison sinned, knew it, admitted it and paid for it. Ms. Jamison sinned, decided she didn’t want to face the consequences and turned Jamison in. Is this the sort of person who should be caring for children?”
She halted, and her heart almost stopped beating. Clearly, Bruce even knew she was working for Daniel. He knew about Daniel’s foster boys. She’d brought danger into all of their lives.
“I find this letter hard to believe,” Dana said. “We ran a criminal background check when Daniel first hired you. Everything was fine.”
“Have you discussed it with Daniel?” Was that her voice, so rasping and uneven?
“I’ll have to, of course, but I wanted to talk to you first. Are these accusations true?” Dana looked as sick as Lilah felt.
“It’s true that my former husband is alive. I lied about that because I’m afraid of him and didn’t want to do anything that might help him find me. It’s true that he’s been in prison. It’s also true that I turned him in. But I did not participate in his scam and would never have dreamed up a fraud of any kind.” She was shaking with anger.
“I couldn’t imagine you had,” Dana said. “But I have to know that you’re fit to be so involved with Daniel’s boys.” She paused. “And I also want to make sure you’re able to take care of Jonathan.”
Delivered sympathetically, it was still the worst threat Dana could possibly have made. “Will you let me tell Daniel about the letter?”
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Dana’s voice was soft now, gentle and understanding.
“I think so.”
“I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“I would never hurt him,” Lilah said, “but nothing in the world would make Bruce happier.”
“Tell me about him.”
Lilah sighed, getting control of her anger. “I was very young when I married Bruce. I’d grown up on the edge of poverty with parents who weren’t happy together, and when this attractive, obviously well-to-do young man arrived in Whittaker—that’s where I’m from—I saw him as my salvation. He moved me out of my parents’ run-down house into a beautiful old one that we restored, got me out of thrift-shop clothes and into nice ones, and for a while I was happy beyond belief.”
“I can understand that,” Dana said, nodding.
“But soon after Jonathan was born, he changed.” She felt sick, remembering how uneasy she’d been at the time. “He was tense, belligerent. He was in the construction business, and he’d decided to go on his own with a housing development in Whittaker. There was a beautiful property on the lake, where he was going to sell building sites and then proceed with construction. He said I should realize that he was worried about money—he had plenty of capital to make a down payment on the property, but he’d need to sell those sites to get loans for construction.”
A slight frown appeared on Dana’s forehead. Lilah didn’t know what she’d said to cause that frown, but she kept going.
“He said I’d have to do his bookkeeping, in order to save money. That was fine with me. I took a basic course in bookkeeping at the community college and then took over his financial records. But soon…”
“When money got tight, he took it out on you.”
“How did you know?” She’d felt so hot a few minutes ago, and now she began to shiver.
“It’s a familiar story in my profession,” Dana said. She leaned forward, and the gaze she fastened on Lilah was penetrating. “My guess is that first it was yelling, then pushing, and finally hitting.”
“You guessed right,” Lilah said shakily. “Jonathan…” she bit her lip, fighting back tears, “witnessed a couple of incidents. The first time he tried to get between me and Bruce, tried to protect me. He wasn’t even three yet. It broke my heart. No child should ever have that kind of experience.”
“It’s a credit to you that he’s such a well-adjusted child.”
“It’s a miracle,” Lilah said. “He’s everything to me.”
“When did you actually leave Bruce?”
“When he began selling the sites and we did have money, his attitude toward me didn’t change. It was as if he wanted me to be afraid of him. As I got madder at him, my eyes got sharper. He’s a great salesman and at last quite a lot of money was rolling in, but he wasn’t doing anything with it except stashing it away. No architects’ fees. No negotiations with contractors. No applications for loans to begin construction. It was pretty clear he was just accepting the money and had no intention of building the houses.
“When I confronted him, he…hurt me, threatened me, warned me to keep quiet. But I went to a lawyer, got his advice and then turned Bruce in.”
“That took a lot of courage.”
“I took Jonathan with me. I was scared to death that Bruce might—” She halted, feeling that fear again.
“I understand,” Dana said, and this time she spoke gently.
“I didn’t divorce him until after the trial. I didn’t want to have to testify against him. But after he was sentenced, I insisted on the divorce. No settlement, because all the money we had went to pay back investors.” She paused to square her chin. “It wasn’t quite enough. I made up the rest from our savings, cashed in our insurance policies, sold the house
, took a nursing job and kept just enough for Jonathan and me to scrape by.”
Dana winced. “Then he got out of prison and you ran.”
“Yes.” Did Dana believe her?
“I’ll have to think this over,” Dana said. “I believe you, but we still have to do some investigating.”
“Of course,” Lilah said. She’d been hoping Dana would absolve her on the spot, but apparently it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“You will tell Daniel.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’ll skip the meeting and tell him as soon as he has time to talk to me.”
Outside Dana’s office, still shaky, Lilah flipped open her cell phone and dialed Jesse. “Jesse, there’s something I have to do. How easy is dinner going to be? Yes, grill those ribs. Sounds great. Maybe we could grill the corn, too. Because I need to ask you a favor. Would you have time to go to the pool and keep an eye on Jonathan? He…he was a little sniffly this morning. I don’t want him get too tired.” She listened. “No, nothing’s wrong,” she lied. “It’s just a bad connection. And Jesse, is Daniel in the clinic or making farm calls?”
Daniel was at the volunteer meeting. She’d have to go now. It would be agony waiting for it to be over. How would he react? Would he be shocked, horrified, or would he hold her close and tell her he believed in her, that everything would be all right?
She was sick at heart. Bruce had figured out the right people to target with that letter full of lies. He had probably figured everything else out, too, including the kids’ schedules and their activities. She wished Jonathan were with her and not at the pool, but Jesse wouldn’t let any strange man, anyone, for that matter, take Jonathan away.
Shoulders squared, she walked to the church where the meeting was being held. On the way, she ran into Virginia Galloway, who spoke politely enough but gave her an odd look as she scurried on toward the church.
Lilah’s stomach cramped. Surely not…
She made her way down the stairs to the basement, a large room with a small stage at one end. The local pediatrician passed her on the stairs, giving her no more than a brief nod. At the bottom of the stairs, Sarah McNally, principal of the LaRocque Elementary School, turned away instead of speaking. Everyone turned away from her, until the mayor of Holman, a beautiful young woman from a political family, came directly toward her, gave her a sympathetic look and put an encouraging hand on her arm.
One of a Kind Dad Page 14