One Big Happy Family

by Andrea Edwards

  Kevin rubbed his face with his hands. Why did that woman have to come here? He’d just about wiped her out of his mind.

  “Shall I tell her you’re indisposed?”

  A vision of shorts and a soft T-shirt filled his mind; shapely legs that could lead a man to the ends of the earth and full breasts that would push him over the edge. He could not believe how attracted he was to this woman. Maybe the storm had something to do with it. He’d heard that low-pressure weather systems had strange effects on people and animals.

  “No.” Kevin leaned on his desk and sighed. “Show her in, Cindy.”

  For the first time in his career with Michiana Savings, Kevin wished it were a bigger institution. Then he would just give her application to someone else. He didn’t need that woman in his life. Maybe he would be lucky, though, and learn she’d come to cancel it in person.

  Cindy held the door open and Samantha Scott came through, her blue eyes tentative and wary. She’d changed her clothes—a prim-and-proper white blouse covered her top half, and the worn shorts that had clung so sweetly were gone. In their place was a soft blue skirt that swirled enticingly around those legs, clinging for a moment, then falling free as she stepped farther into the room.

  Kevin was slowly getting the feeling that it didn’t matter what Miss Scott wore. She would still have the same unsettling effect on him. There was something wrong, here. Maybe he’d taken too many antihistamines for his mosquito bites. He put a businesslike frown on his face.

  He would be okay. All he had to do was keep her on the other side of the desk and beyond arm’s reach. “I got the impression earlier that you wanted to cancel your loan application,” he said.

  “I made a mistake,” she replied.

  Her hands were clutching her purse. The look in her eyes was pure bravado, and about as thick as the sheer hose that gave a slight sheen to her legs. One more bark from him and it would be gone. But he could never resist helping a poor little kitten.

  “Sit down.” He sighed, waving to the chair in front of his desk.

  She took it quickly. “It was all a mistake,” she said. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “Someone you disliked?”

  Her eyes flashed as a grin split her lips. “Someone I was prepared to dislike,” she admitted in a low, confiding murmur.

  “I see.” He clenched his teeth, wishing that he’d never let her into his office. Her application said that she had just turned twenty-seven. He was almost forty. That meant he’d been in junior high when she’d been born. He was too old to be attracted to her.

  “I thought you were someone my sister had sent,” Sam went on. Her eyes, framed in sheepishness and glittering with laughter, drew a reluctant smile from his heart.

  “So it’s your sister you dislike.” He tried looking at a spot beyond her left shoulder but his treacherous eyes wouldn’t obey.

  “Oh, no.” She looked genuinely shocked. “I love her. I love both of my sisters and my brothers, too. And they love me. That’s why they’re always trying to help.”

  He began to see more than just those legs. She looked young but she was handling a difficult situation with more maturity than your average twentysomething. “You love them, but you don’t always want their help.”

  Sam ran her fingers through her short brown hair, tempting him to…Tempting him to listen very carefully to her words.

  “Fiona had just left when you came upstairs.”

  “Fiona?”

  “She’s my oldest sister.”

  Her hands fluttered in a most delightful way. Like two hummingbirds dancing. Kevin squinted and forced himself to look into her eyes. Not that it helped all that much.

  “She’d been telling me about some part-time plumber and wouldn’t listen when I told her that I had everything under control. Then the next thing I knew, you turned up. It fit her pattern perfectly.”

  She leaned forward then, without really coming all that close. Not nearly close enough. But, just to be safe, Kevin pushed his chair back from his desk.

  “I’m so sorry for everything I said,” Sam assured him. “If I had known you weren’t Fiona’s plumber, I would never have treated you that way.”

  “I have to admit most people don’t treat their bankers like that.”

  Worry came back to shadow those eyes, turning the calm blue into stormy gray. “I don’t, either,” she said quickly. “That’s why I came to explain. I didn’t want you to be mad at me and turn down the loan.”

  Kevin got to his feet—he had to do something before the adrenaline ate out his insides—and went to the window to study the dark August storm washing the parking lot. What he saw was Sam’s reflection in the window.

  She shifted her position and recrossed her legs. Not that that showed him anything. Her skirt had demurely covered those shapely legs. But his collar felt tight and he had to swallow hard before he could speak. He needed to get this thing over with.

  “We’re a bit more businesslike than that, here.” He cleared his throat once more to rid himself of his unbusinesslike desires, then turned to face her, irritation with himself riding high. “We have to base our decisions on fact, nothing else. While your outburst surprised me, it’ll be the building’s condition and your potential for making money with it that will determine our ultimate decision.”

  She was on her feet now. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that,” she said. “Because the place is great—well, it’s going to be great. And soon.”

  He forced a frown onto his face. “Even with pipes held together with rust and mineral deposits?”

  “I just said that to get rid of you,” she replied, waving away her negative comments. Her eyes had lost their worry and replaced it with an infectious gleam. “You really need to see the place for yourself.”

  “I tried to.”

  A beautiful rose color filled her cheeks but his rough tone seemed to have no effect on her enthusiasm.

  “When can you come again? I’ll take you on the grand tour and show you what a terrific investment our bed-and-breakfast is.”

  He returned to his desk and sat down, flipping through the calendar. He should avoid this, a little voice whispered. But the words were coming out of his mouth before he had a chance to think through a more businesslike course of action.

  “How about tomorrow morning?” he was saying. Best to get this wrapped up and over with fast. The attraction was probably just a fluke and would be gone by tomorrow, anyway.

  Sam sat down in her chair. “Tomorrow’s Saturday,” she said.

  “So?”

  She shrugged. “I just thought you’d be busy. You know, doing stuff with your family.”

  “I usually schedule work on Saturday mornings,” he told her. “It’s more convenient for a lot of our customers.”

  “Okay, then,” she said with a grin. “Tomorrow’s fine. I’ll be waiting.”

  “Around ten?”

  “Super.”

  She stood. Instead of leaving, though, she came around the desk and extended her hand. He stood his ground.

  “Thanks for being so understanding about all this.”

  “No problem,” Kevin said. He shook her hand firmly, Just like he would shake the hand of any business client. Sure, her touch was smooth as silk, warm and soft as a kitten’s breath, but he was totally unaffected. There was no need to reassign this application. He could handle it. No sweat. “See you tomorrow, then.”

  She flashed him a smile as she left. It was only after the door had closed and Kevin had flopped back into his chair, that he realized he’d been holding his breath. He let it out slowly, feeling like a balloon deflating.

  He’d been attracted to other women since Debbie’s death. Hell, he wasn’t dead. But this thing was different. It had come on before he’d had a chance to blink. Like one of those snow squalls that blew in off the lake.

  Then, for the first time, he relaxed and smiled. Those squalls came in quick but they disappeared just as fast.
By tomorrow he would have everything under control. Samantha Scott would be just another loan applicant.

  Kevin stared at the papers on his desk. The pile of loan applications seemed to mock him and he pushed them impatiently away. It was almost six. Maybe he would just grab a movie at the video rental and a pizza at Ruelli’s. A cold shower wouldn’t hurt, either.

  Sam was thrilled that she’d gotten everything straightened out with Mr. Delaney. She felt such a surge of confidence; she knew she could be a success at anything. He wasn’t convinced the inn would be a good investment; she knew that. But he was willing to listen with an open mind, and that was enough to make her want to celebrate.

  But with whom? Her dad had a dinner meeting at his senior citizens’ club tonight, leaving only Toby. And the cat’s idea of a great evening was a can of tuna, followed by a snooze on top of the refrigerator.

  Sam started back toward the parking lot. Rain was great in April; it put everyone in a spring mood. It was nice in May when you were planting your garden. But by August, a downpour was torture, adding to the humidity, making the area feel like a rain forest. She stopped in front of a video store and looked at the posters in the window. A movie might be fun, or at least a way to not feel so alone.

  The store was packed. Everyone in town seemed to have the same idea. But most of the crowd was around the newrelease rack, so Sam moved over to the classics section. Only one other person was there…a tall, dark-haired man in a blue—

  Sam considered running. Turning around and tiptoeing out the door. But the Scott girls never snuck away from anything.

  “So, Mr. Delaney. We meet again.”

  Kevin turned toward her. “Miss Scott.” Surprise raced across his face, then an indefinable mixture of emotions—something that sent answering shock waves along her spine.

  She’d forgotten the effect he had on her when they were close. “Sam,” she corrected him, then dragged her eyes from his with difficulty. “Looks like we both have the same plans for our evening.”

  “Rescuing fair damsels from distress?” he asked as he picked up the tag for Red River.

  “Fighting for what’s ours,” she said decisively, and took the tag for Gone with the Wind.

  “I never could see the appeal of that movie,” Kevin remarked.

  He seemed ready to start an argument, which was fine with her. It was probably the best way to keep her silly heart in line. The last thing she wanted at this stage in her life was to feel weak-kneed over some man. Especially one her brothers’ age who acted as know-it-all as they did!

  “I never could see the appeal of John Wayne,” she said as she started toward the counter.

  “You don’t like the Duke?” Kevin walked with her. “You’ve got to be kidding. Everybody loves the Duke.”

  “Not me. He’s a male chauvinist of the highest degree.”

  “He can’t help that. His movies reflected the attitudes of the times.”

  “And I can’t help it that he sets my teeth on edge. You ever see The Quiet Man? He literally drags Maureen O’Hara over the hillside because he ‘knows what’s best’ for her.” Sam was getting riled now—with herself, mostly—but the subject was convenient.

  “Maybe that was a woman’s idea of romance back when it was made.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” She handed her tag to the clerk and dug into her purse for her membership card.

  “Isn’t there a scene in Gone with the Wind where Rhett carries Scarlett up to their bedroom, against her will?”

  “So it has a flaw or two. I never said it was perfect.”

  “I think it’s the most romantic movie I’ve ever seen,” a new voice said. Sam looked up to find the clerk was back with the movie and a dreamy expression on her face.

  Sam shoved her money at the girl, then signed the rental paper. “Well, I think a man should respect a woman’s intelligence, not play caveman.”

  “You’ve never dreamed of being carried off by a knight in shining armor?” Kevin asked.

  Sam felt her cheeks turn fiery. “Never,” she replied. “I think that caveman act is something a man thought up.”

  “Maybe,” Kevin said, reaching in with his membership card as Sam reached in for her movie.

  Their hands brushed and warmth flooded over Sam. Warning bells went off in her mind, but her eyes flew to his. The flame was back, but this time more potent, more dangerous. The room became stifling and breath hard to come by. Sam would be glad to see August and its damn humidity go. She grabbed her movie.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Delaney,” she said, and turned to flee.

  But before she was out the door, he had gotten his movie and was next to her. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said roughly. “It’s dark out and even a little burg like South Bend can be dangerous at night.”

  But where did the danger lie? “It’s really not necessary,” she told him. “I’m just parked in the city lot in the next block.”

  “It’s on my way,” he said and stepped out into the rain with her. “I was stopping at Ruelli’s to get a pizza.”

  The idea of a pizza was tempting, but Fiona’s casserole was waiting. And although Sam didn’t really want it, she couldn’t ignore the fact that Fiona had gone to a lot of trouble for her. It would be like rejecting a Christmas present.

  Sam jumped instead on Kevin’s words. “Ruelli’s is on Division.”

  He shrugged. “So I circle the block. I’m not like you, with someone at home waiting for me.”

  “Actually, I’m on my own this evening,” she admitted, shaking the damp hair from her forehead. “The only one at home now is Toby, our cat.”

  His laugh was reluctant. “That would be your plumbing assistant. I believe I met him this afternoon.”

  Sam refused to blanch at the reminder of the afternoon’s encounter. “Yes, and you should feel quite honored. He rarely hangs around when strangers appear.”

  “Maybe he could sense my cats, Duke and Duchess.”

  Sam groaned. “Don’t tell me. John Wayne’s influence again?”

  But rather than laugh with her, Kevin’s voice grew distant. “No, my wife named them. She thought they seemed so snooty when they were kittens, like royalty.”

  “I didn’t realize you were married,” Sam said.

  He looked at her with a smile that glittered almost too brightly in his eyes, like raindrops catching the neon lights—all reflected light and none from inside. “I’m not anymore.” He paused to clear his throat. “Debbie died two years ago.”

  “I’m sorry. She must have been so young.”

  He shrugged, but it seemed too practiced to be anything but a facade. “Life isn’t fair sometimes.”

  Sam stared down at the wet sidewalk. Suddenly the space between them was filled with pit traps and bramble bushes so that she didn’t know which way to turn without causing him more pain.

  He took a deep breath and let it out. “So what about you? I know you’re single, but do you have a man on the hook—one you’re just waiting to reel in?” A careful detachment coated his voice.

  “Hardly,” she said. “I’m not into caveman stuff on either side.”

  “I forgot. You’re too independent for all that nonsense.”

  “Well, there are things I have to do before I settle down,” she agreed. “I need to try my wings for a while before I get tied down to a man.”

  “Marriage doesn’t have to tie you down.”

  “Any relationship will, if it’s worth anything,” she said. They stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change. “When you love someone, you want to consider their feelings. You can’t just rush headlong into things. At least, if the relationship is meaningful, you shouldn’t.”

  “So making the inn a roaring success is your number-one priority.”

  Sam wasn’t so sure that was true, or that she wanted to open that Pandora’s box to a man she barely knew. “Is that so strange?”

  “No. As your banker, I find it admirable
.”

  The light changed and they started across the intersection. “The inn’s been a dream of my dad’s for years. He and Mom always talked about starting one once all us kids were grown up. But then Mom died and he didn’t seem to have an interest in anything anymore.”

  “Until you brought it up again.”

  She sensed something in his voice to take exception with. “And what’s the matter with that?”

  “Nothing,” he said quickly.

  Too quickly. “Why’d you say it like that, then?”

  He shoved his hands into his pockets. “It’s just that you said you want to try your wings before settling down, but here you are chasing someone else’s dream for them.”

  “I am not!” she cried.

  “Are you following your own dream?” he asked.

  What was this? Someone else telling her how to lead her life? “Maybe I think my father’s happiness is more important right now,” she snapped. “My own plans can wait a bit.”

  “Maybe it’s safer to complain about not having your own life than it is to fight for it.”

  “I was not complaining!” she insisted. “I was merely making small talk. But maybe you’ve spent too much time counting money and don’t understand these little nuances in conversation.”

  Luckily they’d reached the parking lot and Sam was almost free. “I don’t want to complain,” she mocked. “But I’d better get my car before I have to put another quarter in the meter.”

  Without another word, she hurried between the parked cars, darting down the middle aisle to her car. What an idiot she was! She shouldn’t have been sucked in by her crazy heart. He wasn’t something special just because her breath caught when he was near. She fumbled with the lock of her car door as the steady drizzle formed little rivers on her cheeks.

  “Sam.” Kevin was there behind her, breathing hard.

  She stiffened her resolve enough so that she could turn and face him. In the dim streetlight, his eyes looked almost worried. But then she was probably reading that wrong.

  “Sam, I’m sorry. All that came out badly.”

  “All what?” she said breathlessly, then thought she might be carrying it a bit too far. “Oh, you mean about living someone else’s dream? Heavens, I’d already forgotten about it.”