A Bid for Love

by Rachel Ann Nunes

They bid Larry goodbye at the hospital doors and piled into Jared’s four-door rental car. Sandy sat in her own car seat, retrieved from her father’s van, while two of the other children had to share a seat belt, but soon they were happily eating hamburgers at the fast-food restaurant Larry had recommended. Everyone also had a shake and a dessert. Cassi was surprised at how voracious the children were. By the time they left the restaurant, she was nearly fifty dollars poorer and the children so full they could barely walk.

  The next stop was the store, where Scotty insisted on pushing the grocery cart. Cassi carried Sandy in one arm and with the other filled the basket with chips and candy, muttering, “I hope Renae doesn’t kill me.”

  Jared laughed. “It isn’t every day that you have a new baby brother.”

  “Especially one named Jared, right?” Cassi mocked. Their eyes locked, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She looked away, burying her face in Sandy’s blond hair, fighting emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. Why was she so attracted to this man? Given her lack of romantic success, it wasn’t likely he felt the same. “Let’s get some yogurt and fruit for breakfast,” she said to no one in particular, shifting the toddler in her arms. Sandy’s eyes drooped as she rested her head against Cassi’s shoulder.

  Cassi risked a glance at Jared and saw that he was still watching her, his expression veiled. What was he thinking?

  There was no time to dwell on the matter. A warm flood washed down her dress, soaking into the thin rayon material almost instantly.

  Sandy’s eyes jerked open. “Pee pee. Oh, noooo. Baby wet!”

  Sure enough, both Sandy and Cassi were soaked.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Cassi looked down at her dress, shaking her head in disbelief. Sandy looked up, waiting for her reaction. Apparently, her parents didn’t appreciate it when she had an accident. People in the supermarket paused momentarily as they passed, trying to hide their smiles. Only the mothers nodded sympathetically.

  Moments ticked by, and no one said a word. A small grin played around Jared’s mouth, but he didn’t know Cassi well enough to let it show completely. Like the others, he waited to see how she would react.

  “Ah-oh.” Sandy twisted and pointed down at Cassi’s dress.

  Cassi threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, Sandy. It’s okay. You were asleep. You could hardly stop yourself. But boy do we stink!”

  “Cassi stinky,” Sandy said, a smile creeping over her small face.

  “You should have taken her to the bathroom at the restaurant,” Scotty offered. “She drank a whole soda. Dad says it goes right through her like water.”

  “I have to go to the bathroom too,” Janet said.

  Cassi shoved her wallet into Jared’s hands and reached down to grab Janet’s hand. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

  After she left, Jared laughed, loud and long.

  “What’s so funny?” Scotty asked.

  “She took it pretty well. The first time one of my nephews did that to me, I blew my top. Of course, I was only about seventeen then. I soon got used to it. Let’s see,” He looked up in the air, pretending to count. “I think it’s happened to me eight times now, and I don’t even have children.”

  “Yuck!” Andrea said.

  “Yeah. And the last time I didn’t even flinch,” Jared added. Scotty and Andrea nodded, properly impressed.

  “Come on now. Let’s go get Cassi some yogurt and some fruit.” The children followed after Jared obediently.

  They were putting the groceries into the trunk of the car when Cassi and the girls came out of the store carrying small stacks of paper toweling. As they passed a black sedan near the store’s entrance, Janet tried to peer inside the darkened windows, but Cassi pulled her along. Jared stared at the car. Hadn’t he seen it at the restaurant?

  “Well, we’re here,” Cassi said. If nothing else, she and Sandy were wetter than before from the attempt at washing.

  “What are those for?” Jared asked, pointing at the towels.

  Cassi looked at him, chagrined. “To put on the seat so Sandy doesn’t get it wet. After we were in the bathroom, I realized I should have come out here for her change of clothes, but . . .” She shrugged as her voice trailed off.

  “It’s not cold, and in my experience, most kids don’t really care about being wet unless they’re cold.”

  “That’s what I was hoping.” Cassi looked down at her dress and then back to Jared. “I’ll give us both a bath when we get to the hotel.”

  As their eyes met, a tingle ran through Jared’s body. With a brief flash, he remembered how long the drive to the hospital had seemed after receiving the note about Renae, and how relieved Cassi had looked when he arrived. Her face had been pale and her hair disheveled—just the way he liked it. The Cassi he was getting to know fascinated him. When she had teased him in the store about babies named Jared and he had looked into her eyes, there had been a connection between them. Then she had looked away with some hidden emotion in those dark eyes, just as she did now.

  Why? Was this a game? Jared wanted to make her look at him, but he didn’t dare push.

  “Come on,” he said brusquely. He hated not being able to control his feelings, and being unsure that he even wanted to control them made the situation more strained.

  He opened the door and watched Cassi strap Sandy into her car seat. The other kids piled in and fastened their own belts. Jared waited to shut Cassi’s door before going around the car to his own seat. They were silent nearly all the way back to the hotel. The children were sleepy, and both adults were intent on their private thoughts.

  I’ve been independent so long, Jared thought. Maybe I’m afraid of caring about someone. Jared didn’t like to admit fear. He wondered if the look Cassi had given him in the store reflected her own fear of caring. He glanced sideways at her, hoping it was remotely possible.

  Feeling his gaze, she turned toward him. “Larry mentioned that you’d been at the hospital twice today. May I ask why?”

  Jared swallowed the sudden lump that came to his throat at the question. “A good friend of mine died this morning.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s why you were late to the auction.”

  “And why you got the Mother and Baby.”

  Cassi smiled. “I might have gotten it anyway.”

  “Maybe.” She appeared so content that Jared didn’t want to bring up the possibility of buying it from her—yet.

  Jared drove back to the hotel in a roundabout fashion, and not only because he enjoyed Cassi’s company. At each turn, he checked his rearview mirror to see if the black sedan from the store still followed them. It did. Anxiety rose in his chest, and he forced himself to drive casually. Could this sedan have anything to do with the warning note he had received? Was the Buddha the “it” the note had mentioned?

  “Is something wrong?” Cassi asked.

  “No,” he said.

  Jared was relieved to see that the black sedan didn’t follow them into the hotel parking garage. He warily searched the area before opening the doors for Cassi and the children. Janet had fallen asleep, but she awakened as he opened the door. He picked her up.

  “What about the food?” Scotty asked. “There’s too many bags for me to carry alone.”

  “Leave it all,” Jared said. “I’ll come back for it.” His real reason was that he wanted to search for the black sedan.

  Once inside the hotel, Andrea’s eyes grew wide. “It’s so big!”

  “Escavator,” Janet said sleepily from Jared’s arms. “I wanna ride the escavator.”

  “You mean escalator,” Scotty said. “But there isn’t one.”

  “But there’s an elevator,” Cassi said. She was loaded with the diaper bag and little Sandy, who was now wide awake.

  “Goodie!” Janet clapped her hands.

  That led to ten minutes of riding the elevator, with each child pressing his favorite number on the panel. Jared was amazed to find that each child claimed at least four favorite n
umbers.

  “Whee!” Janet and Sandy squealed each time the elevator plunged to the bottom. They seemed never to tire of the game. When people got on the elevator with them, the children were remarkably well behaved.

  “Which floor do you want?” Scotty would ask. Then the child whose turn it was would push the appropriate button.

  “Such cute children you have,” an older lady said to them. “What a lovely family.”

  Jared only nodded, but to his surprise Cassi glanced at him wickedly and turned to the woman. “Thank you,” she said sweetly. “We’d like at least two more. We love children.”

  Jared nearly laughed aloud, and he quickly shook his head at Andrea, who had opened her mouth to correct the lady’s assumption.

  The woman nodded. “That’s good. There aren’t many people who’re unselfish enough to have many children these days. But they’re such a blessing, especially when you’re my age. Why, only the other day three of my children . . .” The lady rattled on while Cassi nodded in agreement. When the lady left and the door safely shut again, they burst out laughing.

  “Are you always this impulsive?” Jared asked. He’d enjoyed the charade more than he cared to admit.

  Cassi’s smile vanished. “I’m afraid so,” she said regretfully. Her eyes looked far away, as if remembering something from long ago—something painful. Jared wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her.

  “It was fun,” he said, breaking the tension. “Who’s turn is it next?”

  “Mine,” Cassi said, reaching around the children to push the button to her floor. “It’s time to get ready for bed. And I may be almost dry, but I don’t smell too great.”

  “Stinky Cassi,” Sandy agreed.

  “Awww,” the other children said together, their faces falling. “We don’t want to go to bed.”

  Jared grinned. “But this’ll be the best part. You can settle in while I go get the goodies from the car.”

  “Then we can watch TV, can’t we Cassi? You said so at the hospital.” Andrea looked up at Cassi with pleading eyes.

  “Of course. A promise is a promise.”

  Jared tried to catch Cassi’s eye, but she refused to look at him. He knew something he’d said had saddened her, but he couldn’t think what. He filed the thought away. Perhaps someday he would ask her.

  The fact that Jared was thinking of Cassi in future terms made him blink in amazement. What was he thinking? He had only two more days in Los Angeles and then it would be back to New York with the Buddha. Cassi would be out of his life forever.

  Thinking of the Buddha made him remember Laranda and her anxiousness to buy the ugly statue. It wasn’t the cost; he had spent several million on various objects before, and she had never seemed to care. No, there was something odd about the Buddha, something Jared would make it a point to discover, whether or not she confided in him. Meanwhile, he wondered what Laranda would say when he told her he wasn’t flying home tomorrow as planned, but staying for Trudy’s funeral. She wouldn’t be happy, but she would at least understand. He hoped. As soon as he got the children settled, he would call her.

  The elevator opened and the children filed out. The long, deserted hallway stretched before them.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Cassi ordered. “Remember our deal at the hospital? I get a head start.” The children laughed.

  “What’s she talking about?” Jared whispered to Andrea.

  “It’s a race. She promised us.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Our room is number five-oh-two, the second to the last on the left,” Cassi said, pointing until everyone understood which door. “Whoever wins gets to have first choice of where to sleep.” She turned to Jared rather stiffly. “Would you like to be the referee?”

  “No way,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to win this race.”

  Cassi’s dark eyes widened in surprise. “You are?” He almost laughed at her hesitant smile.

  “Me too! Carry me, Jared. I want to win!” Janet shouted, bouncing up and down beside him. Jared picked her up.

  “Okay then, Scotty,” Cassi said. “You give the count. No fair going early.” She slipped off her high heels and put them inside Sandy’s diaper bag. Then she picked up both the little girl and the bag and walked down the hall a short way. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “On your mark, get set, go!” said Scotty. In a flash, he and Andrea were running down the hall. Cassi in her bare feet was ahead of them, with Jared and Janet slightly behind.

  “Go, Jared, go!” urged Janet, kicking his sides in her excitement. Jared ran faster, pulling ahead of the children and Cassi. He noticed that Cassi kept looking back at Scotty and Andrea, whose little faces were red with exertion as they ran. Scotty pulled ahead of Cassi, and Jared slowed slightly until he was neck and neck with the boy. At the very end, Jared slowed even more to let Scotty pull slightly ahead.

  “I won! I won!” the boy shouted. Jared stopped, only to have Andrea barrel into him, knocking him sideways and in front of Cassi, who tripped over him.

  They all tumbled to the floor in a mass of tangled arms and legs. Jared saw Cassi struggling to keep Sandy from hitting the floor and her dress from creeping up any further than it already had. She succeeded, but not before he had noticed that her legs could easily rival Laranda’s.

  A cough drew their attention, and they looked up to see an older couple staring down at them. “My word!” said the woman with a disapproving frown on her face. “Humph!” She turned and stalked down the hall.

  The old man shrugged and winked at them. “Pay her no mind. We did crazier things than that when we were young. Enjoy yourselves.” He chuckled to himself and followed his wife’s stiff back down the hall.

  Jared jumped to his feet and reached to help Cassi stand. “That was great.”

  She smiled at him. “It was.” She found her keys and opened the door.

  “I knew I could win,” Scotty said.

  “Next time I’m gonna win,” Andrea retorted.

  “Hey, go see what cartoons are on.” Cassi waved them insides. “We have the Disney channel.” The children whooped and ran to the television set.

  Jared set Janet inside the door. “I’ll be right back with the groceries. And Sandy’s car seat.”

  “Thanks. Hopefully we’ll all be clean before you get back.” She wrinkled her nose and looked down at her disheveled dress. “I hope dry cleaning gets out—”

  “Oh, it does. Believe me, I know. Just ask Scotty and Andrea.” He gave her another smile and went down the hall.

  Before going to the car, he stopped in his room one floor below to change his clothes. Tossing his phone onto the nightstand by the bed he began removing his suit.

  “I’ve got to call Laranda,” he said aloud, and then promptly forgot both her and the phone.

  As he dressed in jeans and a casual button-down shirt, he noticed that it was nearly nine o’clock. He began to whistle, remembering the race and how he had landed close enough to Cassi to smell her subtle perfume. She was as appealing up close as far away.

  He was nearly out the door before he remembered to get a T-shirt for Scotty. He knew the children didn’t have pajamas with them, and Scotty surely wouldn’t want to use anything of Cassi’s or his mother’s. Still whistling, he picked out one of his favorite shirts, the color of midnight blue.

  His heart felt light as he retrieved the snacks from the car. To his relief, there was no trace of the mysterious black sedan.

  It was all in my imagination, he thought as he made his way back to Cassi’s room. When he arrived, she and Sandy were still in the bathroom. The other children were spread out on the floor in front of the TV in a mound of blankets and pillows from the beds.

  “Here. Sleep in this, if you want.” Jared threw the shirt at Scotty.

  “Thanks.” Scotty pointed to his sisters, who were already wearing obviously feminine T-shirts, one a bright yellow, the other the color of peaches. “Cassi’s white one was dirty.”
He bent his head to study the fighter jet on Jared’s shirt. “Wow, this is cool.”

  Jared smiled. “Keep it. It’s from New York. I’ll get another one.”

  “Gee, thanks! I love it.” His smile nearly covered his whole face.

  Jared turned from the boy and set the groceries on the table, the kids crowding around to choose their favorite snacks. Over their heads he could see two double beds, and he wondered idly which one was Cassi’s.

  As he helped the children, the bathroom door clicked open and Cassi herself emerged with a towel-covered Sandy in her arms. Cassi was clad in faded jeans and a copper-colored T-shirt that set off the highlights in her hair. Little tendrils of hair around her face were wet, but still curly. Jared wondered if those were the places she had added gel to in his absence. The idea of her caring so much about her hair wasn’t as bothersome as it had once been.

  Cassi set the baby down and reached for the diaper bag. “Come here, Sandy. Let’s put a diaper on so you can go to bed.” Cassi motioned to her, but the little girl ran to Jared and hid behind him. He picked her up.

  “You said the dreaded B word,” he said with a laugh.

  Cassi groaned. “Come on, Sandy.” Her voice was tired. Jared noticed that she wasn’t wearing makeup and looked younger now than she had before.

  “Here, I’ll do it.” He held up a hand to catch the disposable diaper as she threw it to him.

  “Might as well. I’ve never done it before.” Jared didn’t consider himself an expert, but he had changed a few diapers. His sisters took great delight in teaching him exactly where the tabs should go. Diapering was an art in itself, but it was easily mastered if you knew a few tricks.

  “Do you want some chips?” he asked Sandy. She nodded, and he took her to the table to choose her spoils. She picked a candy bar and a handful of Doritos.

  “Now you just lie down right here,” Jared said, laying her on the soft carpet, “and I’ll put your diaper on. Then we won’t sleep. We’ll watch TV.” Sandy lay calmly on the carpet chewing her chips as Jared diapered her.

  “What a great idea,” Cassi said, sinking onto the couch behind him.