Overstuffed cream-colored couches faced each other. A table with a chess set on it sat to one side of the room. Opposite it there was a large-screen TV built into the wall, with bookshelves surrounding it. Comfortable-looking armchairs were placed throughout the room. The house gave her the feeling that a family had lived and loved here.
“What a wonderful room,” Laura Jo whispered.
“Thanks. It’s my favorite space.”
She turned, startled, to find Mark standing close. She had been so caught up in the room she hadn’t noticed him approach.
“I’ll turn the TV on for the kids then get started on those dogs. You don’t need to help. You’re welcome to stay with them.”
“No, I said I would help and I will. After all, I haven’t carried a dog around town all afternoon,” she said with a grin.
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?” He gave her a pained look.
She shook her head. “The visual is just too good to let go of.”
He picked up a remote and pushed a button. The TV came on. The kids had already found themselves a place on a sofa. After a few changes of channels he stopped. “I do believe this is ours.”
“You guys stay right here. Don’t go outside,” Laura Jo said.
Mark headed toward the open kitchen Laura Jo could see off to the left. She followed. It was a modern and up-to-date space that was almost as large as her entire apartment. She ran a hand across the granite of the large counter in the middle of the room with a sigh of pleasure. “I wish I had a place like this to cook. I bet you could make a perfect king cake on this top,” she murmured, more to herself than Mark.
“You’re welcome to come over anytime and use it. I get nowhere near the use out of it that I should.” Mark put his head in the refrigerator and came out with a package of hot dogs.
“Thanks for the offer. But I don’t really have time to do a lot of cooking.” She wished she did have. Even if she did, she wouldn’t be coming here to do it.
“That’s not what Allie led me to believe.” He picked through a drawer and found some tongs.
“I’d like to but I don’t think we’ll be getting that friendly.”
He came to stand across the counter from her. “Why not? You might find you like me if you’d give me a chance.”
“We’re from two different worlds now and I don’t see us going any further than we did today.”
“What do you mean by two different worlds? Our parents have been acquaintances for years. I don’t see that we are that different.”
Had she hurt his feelings? No, she couldn’t imagine that what she thought or felt mattered that much to him. But he had been nice to Allie and he deserved the truth. “I have nothing to do with that society stuff anymore.”
“I had no idea you were such a snob, or is it narrow-mindedness?”
“I’m not a snob and it has nothing to do with being narrow-minded and everything to do with knowing who the Clayborn family is and what they represent. I want no part of that world again.”
“Once again, I think I have been insulted. Do you know me or my family well enough to have that opinion? What have we done to you?” His tone had roughened with each sentence. “I think I deserve to hear you expound on that statement.”
“Well, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Mark’s brows came together over his nose.
“Instead, why don’t you tell me what has you living on this side of the bay when I know the other side is thought to be the correct one?”
He placed some hot dog buns on the counter. “I needed a place to stay when I moved back and no one was staying in the summer house. It’s no big mystery.”
“That’s right. I remember hearing talk that you were in a bad accident and left town afterwards.”
He winced. “Yeah, I left to do my fellowship in California.”
“Well, do tell. I am surprised. I would have never thought a Clayborn would live anywhere but Mobile.”
“And for your information, my brother and I both moved away. I came back because my father had a stroke and needs someone close.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your father.” And she was. It was tough to see someone suffer that way. She remembered Mr. Clayborn, Sr. being a larger-than-life man whom everyone noticed when he came into the room. Much like Mark. She admired Mark for giving up his life in California to return home to care for his father. In comparison, she lived in the same town and didn’t even speak to her parents.
“He had a bad stroke but he is recovering. Working every day is over for him but at least he’s alive.”
“Mommy,” Allie called. “I’m hungry.”
Mark shrugged. “I guess we’d better save this conversation for later. If you really want to help, why don’t you get the plates and things together while I get these hot dogs on the grill? The plates are in that cabinet—” he pointed to one to the right of the stove “—and the silverware is in that drawer.” He indicated the one right in front of her. “Condiments in the refrigerator. What few there are.” He went out the side door of the kitchen without another word.
What Mark didn’t realize was that she was through having any type of conversation about her past. Why she’d told him so much she had no idea.
CHAPTER THREE
MARK STARTED THE gas grill and adjusted the flame, before placing the hot dogs on the wire rack above it. He glanced back into the house through the window of the door. He could just see Laura Jo moving around.
She had a real chip on her shoulder about the world in which they had been raised. For a moment there he’d thought she might open up and tell him why but then she’d shut down. Why did it matter to him anyway?
Maybe it was because for some reason he liked the brash, independent and absolutely beautiful woman, especially when she laughed. He couldn’t get enough of that uninhibited embracing of life. Would she act that way in bed?
Whoa, that was not where he was headed. He didn’t really know her and what he did know about her was that she’d sooner sink her teeth into him than allow him to kiss her.
Just what was going on between her and her family? He knew of the Herrons. They were good people but Laura Jo had certainly had a falling out with them. She hadn’t even told Allie she had grandparents living in town. Who did that? It just didn’t make sense.
He’d enjoyed his afternoon with the children. It had been tough to drive with them in the car but he’d done it. He’d had a taste of what it would be like to have a child in his life and he rather liked it. In fact, he liked it too much.
Laura Jo made another trip by the door. He jerked around when she called from the doorway, “Hey, do you need a platter for those?”
“Yeah.” Why did he feel like he’d just been caught in someone else’s business? What was going on between her and her family wasn’t his problem.
“Where do I find it? I’ll bring it to you.”
She looked so appealing, framed by the door with the afternoon sun highlighting one side of her face. The urge to kiss her almost overwhelmed him. He’d like to prove that they weren’t different in the areas that mattered. He had to say something to get rid of her until he regained his equilibrium. “Cabinet below the plates.”
Laura Jo disappeared into the house again. A few minutes later she came out and stood beside him. Her head reached his shoulders. She was close enough that he smelled a hint of her floral shampoo but not near enough that they touched. He was aware of the fact that all he had to do was take a half step and her body would be next to his.
“You might want to turn those. They look like they’re burning.”
Great. He had been so focussed on her that he wasn’t thinking about what he was doing. “So now you’re going to come out here and start telling me how to cook my hot dogs. Do you like to be bossed?”
She took a step back. Her eyes turned serious. “No. I don’t. I’m sorry.” She moved to leave.
He caught her wrist. “Hey, I was just ki
dding. They’re just hot dogs.”
Laura Jo pulled her arm out of his grip. “I know. But I need to get us some drinks. I saw the glasses when I was looking for a bowl.” With that she was gone.
This was a woman better left alone. She had more hang-ups than he did and, heaven knew, he had plenty.
Twenty minutes later, Allie and Jeremy were picnicking, as they called it, in front of the TV so they could watch another parade. Mark had persuaded Laura Jo to join him on the deck. This was what he remembered it being like when he’d been a kid. He liked having people around. Being part of a family. Could he ever have that again?
He and Laura Jo ate in silence for a while, but not a comfortable one. Mark worked to come up with a subject they could discuss. Finally, he asked, “So you remembered me from years ago, so why don’t I remember you?”
She grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the only person you saw was Ann Maria Clark.”
He had the good grace to turn red. “Yeah, we were a hot item back then.”
“That you were. There was no reason you’d see a simple lady-in-waiting.”
His gaze met hers. Something about her tone made him think she might have liked him to notice her. “You were in her court?”
She nodded. “I was.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Well, it’s true.”
“We were that close all those years ago and it took a skinned knee at a parade for us to get to know each other.”
She fingered the hot dog. “Life can be strange like that.”
“That it can.”
“I thought you two would get married,” Laura Jo said, more as a statement of fact than someone fishing for information.
“That had been the plan but things changed.”
“That happens. Especially where people are concerned.” She sounded as if she was speaking about herself more than him.
It was time to change the subject. “Have you and Jeremy’s mom been friends for a long time?”
“No. We only met a few years ago.”
Well, at least he was getting more than a one-word answer.
“She works at the hospital?”
Laura Jo gave him a speculative look. “Are you interested in her?”
“I’m just trying to make conversation. Maybe learn a little more about you.”
Laura Jo placed her half-eaten hot dog on the plate in front of her. She looked at him from across the table for a second before saying, “We met at a group for mothers without partners. Her husband had died. We became friends, at first because we needed each other, then we found we liked each other.”
“So she was there when you needed someone.” He knew well what it was like to be alone and need someone to talk to. There had been no one when he’d arrived in LA. He had been lonely then and, come to think of it, he’d been lonely in Mobile at least up until the last week.
“Your parents weren’t around?”
“No. Hers had died. Mine…well, that’s another story. That’s why Marsha and I are trying to open a house for mothers who are on their own.”
“So how’s that going?”
“The city has agreed to sell us a house at a good price that would be perfect but we’re running out of time to raise the money.”
“Maybe I could be of some help. Atone for my car.”
“A check for three hundred thousand would be great.” She grinned at him as if she was making a joke but he could see hope in her eyes.
He winced. “That would be my car and at least one or two more.”
“I’ve seen you ride a bike.” She grinned.
He threw back his head and laughed. “You’d make me resort to that to get your house?’
“I’d do almost anything. This chance might not come again.”
She took a swallow of her drink as if her mouth had suddenly gone dry.
Why did that thought of her in bed, beneath him, pop into his head? He raised a brow.
Her eyes widened. A stricken look covered her face. “You know what I mean.”
“I have an idea. We could go to the Krewe of Orion dance together. See some of our old friends. There should be plenty of people there willing to donate. All you’d have to do is get one to agree to support you and then the others would line up to help out.”
“I don’t think so.”
“To going with me or that others would help?”
“To going.”
“Do you mind if I ask why?” He caught her gaze.
“That’s not my idea of a good time anymore.”
What had brought on that remark? He pushed his plate away. “Well, this is a first. A woman who doesn’t want to get dressed up and go to a party.”
“Not all women like that sort of stuff.”
“It’s just one night. Attending with me isn’t like going to the gallows.” He chuckled. “I promise.”
“It’s still no, thank you.” She pushed half of her leftover hot dog bun across the plate.
“Well, I guess you have other plans for the way you’re going to get the money for the house. I’m sorry, I need my car. However, I’ll make a donation to the cause.”
As if she was all of a sudden concerned about sounding rude, she said, “I do appreciate you trying to help. I’ll take you up on that.” She stood with plate in hand. “I guess I better get the kids home to bed. They have school tomorrow.”
Mark also gathered his plate and joined her as she walked into the house. They found Allie and Jeremy on the couch, Gus snoring between them.
“I’ll write that check and help you get them loaded,” Mark said as he took her plate and walked into the kitchen. While there he wrote a check. When he returned, Laura Jo already had Allie in her arms. He scooped Jeremy up and followed her out of the house. They worked together to get each child in and secured.
Digging in his front pocket, he pulled out the check and handed it to Laura Jo.
Laura Jo read it. Her eyes widened. She looked at him. “Thank you. This is very generous.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Also thanks for giving Allie today. I don’t have much of a chance to do things like this for her.”
“I didn’t just do it for Allie.” They walked around to the driver’s door and Laura Jo opened it.
“I know Jeremy also had a good time.”
“What about you?”
“Me?’
“Yeah. I was hoping you had a nice day, too.”
“I did.”
She acted as if it was a foreign idea that he might be interested in her having a good time. “Good. Maybe we could do it again sometime. Just you and me.”
“I’ve already told you. We have nothing in common.”
“Nonsense. We have a lot in common. Our childhoods, medicine, parades and laughter. That’s more than most people have.” When she’d been teasing him about Gus there had been an easiness between them. He wanted to see if she was putting up the front he believed she was. To make her act on her attraction to him. He was tired of being dismissed by her. “I bet if you tried, you could find something you like about me. Maybe this could help.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She only had time to gasp before his lips found hers. She didn’t react at first, which gave him time to taste her lips. Soft, warm and slightly parted. Then for the briefest of seconds she returned his kiss. His heart thumped against his ribs at the possibilities before her hands spread wide against his chest. She shoved him away, hard.
His hands fell to his sides.
“You had no right to do that,” she hissed.
“I can’t say that I’m sorry.”
She slid behind the steering wheel and before she could close the door he said, “Goodnight, Laura Jo.”
“It’s more like goodbye.” She slammed the door.
Not a chance. Mark watched her taillights disappear up his drive. They’d be seeing each other again if he had anything to say about it. She was the first wo
man he’d met who had him thinking about the possibilities of tomorrow, even when he shouldn’t.
It intrigued him that she put up such a fight not to have anything to do with him. That was except for the moments she’d melted in his arms. Could he get her to linger there long enough to forget whatever stood between them? Long enough to make her appreciate something they might both enjoy?
* * *
Laura Jo couldn’t remember the last time a man had kissed her, but it sure hadn’t been anything near as powerful as the brief one Mark had just given her. Her hands shook on the steering wheel. Why had he done it? Hadn’t she made it clear to him that she didn’t want to become involved with him? Had she been giving off a different signal?
It didn’t matter why. It couldn’t, wouldn’t happen again. There couldn’t be anything real between them anyway. When she did open up again to a man she would know him well. She wanted someone settled, who wouldn’t leave town at any moment. Someone who cared nothing for being involved in Mobile society. From what she knew about Mark so far, he had none of those qualities.
The lights of the cars flickered across the water as she traveled over the low bay causeway back to Mobile.
Thinking about and fretting over Mark was a waste of time. Laura Jo fingered the check he had given her. It was literally a raindrop in a pond to what she needed. She had to find some way to raise the money needed to buy the house. There was also Allie to see about and her job to keep. Mark Clayborn hadn’t been hers years ago and he wasn’t hers now.
Mark, she’d already learned, was a man with a strong sense of who he was. If she let him into her life he might try to control it, like her father and Phil had. She needed a partner, a father for Allie, someone sturdy and dependable. Until that happened it was her job to make decisions about her life and Allie’s. She would never again depend on a man or let him dictate to her.
Marsha was there to greet her when she pulled into the parking area of the apartment complex. She had to have been watching for them. Knowing Marsha, she’d want details of the afternoon and evening. When Laura Jo had called her earlier to inform her that they would be staying a little longer at Mark’s for supper, her speculative tone had made Laura Jo feel like she needed to justify her decision.
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