Ways in the Guardian: A Menage Romance Book Collection

by Barbara Downey

  “You look pretty, Mommy,” Darla said.

  “Thank you, darling, eat all your pasta and we’ll have some of Granny’s chicken bake tomorrow,” she said, kissing the top of Darla’s head.

  “Yay!” Darla yelled.

  Scarlett had long since learned that if she wanted her daughter to eat something different, she had to call it Granny’s because Darla had idolized her Granny. It was a magical word that always brought out the positive in her little girl and made Scarlett wish her mother could have seen Darla grow up. She would have told Scarlett not to dress up for Evan but to be herself; it was good enough back then. Only, then he’d left.

  When Sylvia walked in she cocked her head to the side and gave Scarlett the eye. Scarlett stuck her tongue out at her friend before saying goodbye to Darla. Her life was definitely complicated enough without adding Evan Collier to the mix. She grabbed her coat and wished it was newer but she’d been so busy that even if she did have the money for a new coat she wouldn’t be able to find the time to shop for it.

  “Don’t forget your homework, baby,” she called out before leaving Sylvia and her raised eyebrows.

  “Scarlett, get your head out of the clouds, girl,” she whispered as she drove the few blocks to the church hall.

  She was relieved when she arrived to find the place empty. She unloaded the food from the back of her car and unlocked the building. She had everything she needed to make lasagna soup and it wasn’t the lightest load. Several large tins of tomatoes weighed her down and she felt frumpy even with her prettiest sweater on.

  Within minutes, there was a knock at the door and when she opened it Evan stood on the step smiling. He had dressed more appropriately in jeans and a sweater but he still looked immaculate and his smile was way too alarming. She opened the door and he walked past her leaving the scent of musky aftershave for her to breathe. She didn’t recognize the brand but it was heavenly and made her want to snuggle her nose into his neck. She sighed at her own stupidity; men were definitely her weakness…or at least Evan was.

  “How can I help?”

  “Can you slice onions and garlic?” she asked.

  “Sure,” he replied, but he didn’t look very sure so she handed him a large knife and a handful of garlic bulbs.

  “Start with the garlic; it won’t make you cry,” she said and watched as he fumbled with the knife and garlic. “Want me to show you how?”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve never done this before,” he said and the blush that crept up his neck and onto his cheeks was cute as hell.

  “Cook?”

  She looked at his perfectly manicured hands and wondered what in the world he did for work because his hands looked like they hadn’t seen an honest day’s work in his life. The boy she knew had been sensitive but he’d still climbed trees and jumped off the swing at full speed. The man she was looking at now was pristine and she didn’t like it. She wanted to ruffle his hair and pull his sweater, so it looked like he’d worn it before. She wanted him to be her old friend, familiar and warm. He wasn’t her Evan though, he was a new Evan.

  “Watch and learn,” she said and showed him how to squash, peel, and chop the garlic.

  “Wow, you make it look easy,” he replied.

  “It is easy, Evan. It’s food; everybody needs to eat and everybody should be able to cook,” she said shaking her head at him.

  “I want to learn,” he said, and she shivered with the intensity of his gaze.

  In that moment she wanted to tell him who she was, scream out her name but she was frightened that he wouldn’t remember. She could handle anyone else’s rejection but she wasn’t sure she could handle his. It was bad enough that he didn’t remember her but if she told him and he still didn’t then she would feel so much worse. She stepped away and he picked up the knife once more. He could chop the rest; she’d done her bit.

  Scarlett switched the radio on and let the music fill the awkward silence. She was afraid that if she was left for much longer in the silence, he would hear her thoughts because they felt so loud in her head. It was bad enough that she could feel his presence even when she couldn’t see him. He unnerved her in so many ways. She was relieved when she heard Stu come in.

  *****

  The more time Evan spent in Scarlett’s company, the more he found himself drawn to her. She was beautiful and although he was used to beauty hers was different from the models he’d dated. There was something about her that felt like he was home: comfortable and safe but also exciting. She was exotic and powerful but in a tiny package. She didn’t seem to like him or at least she was trying to keep her distance but he didn’t want her to.

  “She doesn’t date so stop giving her the puppy dog eyes,” Stu whispered when they were cleaning up later that night.

  “Why doesn’t she date?”

  “I guess she finds it hard to trust people. Her husband cheated and beat on her,” Stu replied. “He’s dead now and it’s just her and her little girl.”

  “She has a child?” he asked, surprised.

  Evan had never dated anyone who had children. It had never come up in his social circles but the thought of dating a woman with a kid had scared him. Knowing she had a daughter had thrown him. His gaze slid down to her rounded hips which of course was when she turned around and gave him the eye. He blushed and turned away.

  “She’s been acting strange since you turned up, bro,” Stu said leaning in conspiratorially. “If you do start seeing her, treat her kindly. She works her ass off to take care of everyone; she’s a good woman.”

  “Strange, in what way?”

  “Nervous, closed off, preoccupied,” Stu replied.

  Evan didn’t know what to make of that but he had an idea that might help her and he definitely wanted to help. He could donate money to the charity that ran the place. All it would take was a quick internet search and an anonymous donation and she could maybe lighten her load. He tried to avoid getting caught watching her for the rest of the evening but he failed epically.

  “Would you like to get a coffee with me?” he asked as she turned off the lights.

  “I can’t,” she replied, giving him a look that he couldn’t decipher.

  “Maybe tomorrow?”

  “I won’t be here tomorrow and I have plans already,” she said.

  “Can I call you?” he asked, feeling increasingly further from his goal.

  “No,” she said but her voice was quiet.

  He watched her open her car, rub her face, and then drive off without glancing back. He had blown it and she had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in him. The best he could do now is to make her and her daughter’s life easier by injecting a little cash and that was something Evan had plenty of. It was impersonal but it could make a difference and not just to her but to the patrons who lined up eagerly to be fed each night.

  ****

  When Evan woke the next day, he was full of optimism. He took care of his most pressing concerns and then shelved the rest for another day. He had a great team who could take care of most of the business and that had previously freed him up to work on his playboy reputation but now he could be of actual use to someone.

  He did a Google search on the soup kitchen and found that it had been started by Scarlett’s mother and when he saw her name he felt familiarity wash over him. Hetty Robinson was a name that he associated with his past but he had buried so much of it because it was painful.

  There was a link on the website he found that allowed him to make an anonymous donation and he did so, generously. He quickly found that the soup kitchen wasn’t the only project the small charity was running with. It was no wonder that Scarlett had turned him down on his offer; she was running herself into the ground with her charitable deeds, along with a paid day job and a child. What was he thinking? She wasn’t one of his frivolous girls who wore designer everything and spent half their existence in salons.

  When his phone rang a short while later, he jumped, having been so absorbed
in his web search. He knew the area well because he’d grown up there and he had been poor; both with his parents and his grandmother had been poor but he hadn’t realized just how poverty had affected the neighborhoods: the schools, the businesses and the people.

  “Hello,” he said into the phone.

  “I can do lunch,” a sharp voice said.

  “Okay, where?” he replied.

  He knew her voice, it was distinctive, and he’d somehow managed to memorize every tone she used. Scarlett wanted to meet him for lunch at a small burger place in his old neighborhood. He jumped up and ran to the closet; his shirt and tie were too formal for lunch in a burger joint and this was his chance, probably his only chance, at making an impression.

  He was a bag of nerves but he parked outside his grandmother’s house and walked the short distance to the restaurant. There was no way he was going to rub his sports car in her face. He had just enough time to walk the few blocks there and he wanted to be five minutes early. There was nothing worse than showing up late to a restaurant and leaving a girl waiting.

  He waited outside in the crisp cold air and saw her as she exited what looked like a vet’s office. The fact that she was wearing scrubs told him that she worked there and his heart did a nervous flip. She really was the perfect citizen. With all his success and wealth, what had he given back to society? He was starting to feel a little inadequate around her.

  She looked beautiful in the dark green cotton utility clothes and her voluminous braids were tied with a silky green ribbon. The color set off her skin making her look a stunning picture with the winter sun streaming behind her. He had the feeling of déjà vu and when she smiled at him it melted away into the fluttering in his stomach before he could grasp its meaning.

  *****

  She was playing with fire and would probably get burned. Her life was busy enough as it was without adding the boy who’d haunted her dreams when she was a kid. And now he stood in front of the burger joint looking like the sexiest thing that had ever graced the pavement with the sun sparkling over him. She was a fool. He was grinning at her and it did nothing to calm her nerves. In fact, the tingling inside was making her sweat even though it was a cold day.

  “Hi,” he said shyly and the blush on his cheeks made that warmth spread lower in her tummy.

  “Hi,” she replied.

  They went inside and he ordered the biggest burger on the menu with all the trimmings. She went for her usual and one of the famous chocolate milkshakes that they’d both coveted as kids. He frowned when she ordered it and then called the waitress back to get one for himself. She wondered what was going on in his mind because he wasn’t sharing it.

  “This place has been here for years but I don’t think I ever came here,” he said but his face looked far away.

  “We could never afford to visit a place like this and those milkshakes were a big, fat tease,” she said.

  “You grew up not far from here?” he asked.

  “Evan, what the hell is wrong with you?” she said.

  He looked up sharpl,y turning pale in the soft lighting of the booth. His eyes were so blue they were lighter than the sky and she could drown in them if she wasn’t careful. He started to bite his lip and she remembered how he used to do that when he was worried and before she knew it good sense was out of the window and she had reached across and grabbed his hand.

  “I didn’t mean to snap Evan but, seriously, do you not remember me at all?”

  He was now frowning, but they were still hand-in-hand and when the food arrived, he didn’t even acknowledge it. She was starting to worry that maybe he had a brain injury or something and really had forgotten everything.

  “Evan Mandelson, what an honor to have you here,” the waitress said, lingering with her flirty smile.

  He looked up and gave her a confident grin and then looked back at the food. He might have been an enigma but what in the hell was the waitress talking about? Unless he’d taken his grandmother’s name which was something she’d never even considered. She let go of his hand and grabbed her knife and fork, willing the damn waitress to disappear.

  “I do recognize you, well, you’re familiar but I don’t know where from,” he said taking a huge chunk out of his burger.

  “I was your neighbor for the first ten years of your life but I also thought I was your best friend,” she replied.

  He dropped the burger and his head snapped up. She ignored him as he studied her because she only had an hour for lunch and she wasn’t planning on leaving any food on her plate. She heard a low rumble of laughter and forced herself not to look up.

  “I never forgot you, I just didn’t realize that you were her. She was skinny and bossy with different hair and Scarlett we were ten,” he said laughing. “How do you remember me?”

  “I loved you,” she moaned. “You were the stupid cute white boy with the yellow hair and a knack for making me laugh. You were my best friend and I could never forget you.”

  “I missed you when I left but I put it all behind me. My grandmother told me to move on; she said always look forward never back and it worked,” he said, remembering the pain but shutting it down before it could touch him.

  “So, what are you doing back?”

  “I felt like something was missing in my life and I started walking, I ended up at the church hall,” he said, shrugging. “You have a daughter, I hear.”

  “Stu has a big mouth,” she said. “Yes, she’s five years old.”

  “That’s cool, I don’t,” he said.

  “What do you do for a living?” she asked and he cringed as the waitress stepped up.

  “Evan Mandelson is our local self-made man,” she said with the flirty smile aimed directly at Evan.

  Scarlett glanced up at the waitress and noticed that there were fewer buttons done up on her tight uniform. She scowled at the woman until she was called to another table. Some things didn’t change in this town and the waitress, whose name was Susan, although her name tag had her down as Suzie, had always leaned towards the slutty side of the dress code. Her school uniform had been quite a sensation if Scarlett remembered it correctly.

  “I’m a software engineer, or at least I was. Now I’m the CEO and I don’t really dabble with the software anymore,” he replied, and she noticed that he’d nearly finished his burger and had just picked up the shake. “Damn, this is good.”

  “We always knew it would be,” she said, and he leaned over to squeeze her hand.

  Touching him felt better than looking at him and looking at him was pretty good. She was a sensible woman, and she knew that he was used to Suzie’s reaction. He was probably swamped with women. The cute little blond boy she’d grown up with was now a man and he was hot, obviously successful, and strangely having lunch with her in a downtown diner.

  “Why are you serving soup to people you left behind years ago?”

  “I need more from my life,” he replied. “Can I take you to dinner?”

  “No,” she said.

  “Please,” he said.

  “Nope,” she sucked her shake through the straw and he watched her lips with dedication.

  “Pretty please,” he said without taking his eyes off her lips.

  “Not this week,” she relented.

  “Yes!” he yelled doing an air-punch, and she laughed.

  *****

  Evan walked Scarlett back to work after the most enlightening lunch ever. How he could have buried Scarlett’s memory so deeply he had no idea but now that she was back in his life he wasn’t about to let her go. He had a new mission and his money and fancy cars were not going to be of any help to him. He waved goodbye to her and then walked away smiling. He was no longer bored with life. It had, quite suddenly, become very interesting.

  When he reached his car, the renovation team was standing in his grandmother’s garden and, after a quick chat, he had instructed them on exactly what he wanted them to do. He wanted the house livable and he wanted to rent it to a fam
ily who needed a good home. It wasn’t anything special but it was better than some of the properties he’d seen in the neighborhood and it was ten times better than the apartment he’d spent his first years in with his parents.

  His next trip was to the local real estate agent. By using the local amenities, he would bring money and business back into the area and because he had every intention of buying up some of the local empty, dilapidated properties for renovation it made sense to use a local firm. His accountant might not agree with what he was about to do but making money had become a soul-sucking exercise and spending it had been just as dull after the first couple of years. At least now he had a solid plan for his finances and maybe a chance to improve the lives of others, for once.

  The next few days were a blur of action but, throughout it all, he had one thought: Scarlett. He had no idea where to take her or what to do on their date but he knew she wouldn’t be blown away by expensive restaurants which meant he had to try harder than he’d ever tried before. When the day finally arrived, he was still at a loss for what to do and he was more nervous than he’d ever been in his life. She mattered more to him now that his memories of her as a child had tied together with the woman she was now. She was the prized goal and he had to earn her love.

  Scarlett was the one to make the plans when she telephoned him to let him know that she couldn’t go out because her daughter was sick. She assured him it was just a cold and then suggested a takeout at her place. He jumped at the chance and in a way it took the pressure off him to find the happy medium between cool date and extravagant turnoff.

  ****

  He arrived with flowers and kissed her on the cheek. He didn’t know what food she liked but when he produced the menu for a local Chinese takeaway she nodded and smiled. Her home was small and clean, homely but with less chintz than his aunt’s house. She liked modern clean lines and strong colors. Everywhere he looked there was evidence of her daughter and, instead of frightening him, it intrigued him. He was starting to match up his memories of Scarlett as a child with the stunning woman in front of him, a mother no less.