Damn. They were his family!
He hoped that things weren’t going to change drastically between them. He’d given Lisa plenty of opportunities to stop things, but she hadn’t. She was a willing partner—a very sensual one.
Going back into the bedroom, he put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.
“Hmm?”
“Lisa?” he whispered in her ear. “I think you’d better move to your bedroom.”
Her eyes shot open. “Huh? What?”
She wasn’t a morning person.
“You’re in my room. You might want to scoot to your room before Rose wakes up.”
“Yeah.” She looked under the sheet, obviously saw that she was naked and grunted. She put her hands over her face, rubbing her cheeks. He couldn’t read her reaction.
He put his hand on her waist. “Regrets?” he guessed.
She turned and smiled at him. “Uh...um...of course not.”
That didn’t sound too convincing.
Wrapping the sheet around herself, she got up, scooped up her clothes from the floor and padded down the hall.
He could hear her bedroom door shut.
In the cold light of day, he could tell that Lisa Phillips had regrets.
And that made him feel like a fool.
* * *
Regrets?
Lisa was unsure how to answer that, so she blurted out something so as not to hurt Sully’s feelings. It was too early in the morning to think, and she hadn’t had any coffee.
She slipped into the shower and let the warm water sluice over her. She ached in places that she didn’t know she had.
From the second he came into the house last night she couldn’t keep her hands off him.
Sully had been a sensitive and caring lover, and he admitted that he “liked” her. That was the only compliment that she’d received from a man in a couple of years. It had been a long draught without sex.
Was she attracted to Sully simply because he was here?
Or was it more than that?
Chapter Fifteen
Lisa slipped on jeans and a T-shirt and joined Sully in the kitchen. She felt as if she had a hangover, while he looked bright-eyed and cheery. Lucky him.
Rose walked into the room, wiping the sleep from her eyes. When she saw Sully, she broke out in a big smile and took off at a run to him. He scooped her up and lifted her over his head.
“How’s my little princess?”
“I’m good.”
He lowered her to the ground. “Do you have a kiss for me, Princess Rose?”
“Uh-huh.”
He pointed to his cheek, and she gave him a sweet kiss where he indicated. Then he pointed to his other cheek. Another kiss. Then his forehead. Kiss. He did that several more times and was rewarded each time by a giggling Rose.
Sully sure could make them both laugh.
Lisa wished she had his spontaneity, but she was getting there. Just yesterday, didn’t she buy those funky cowboy boots? Didn’t she let Rose stay up past her bedtime to see Sully ride? Didn’t she just register for cooking classes?
Her class, cleverly titled “Really Basic Cooking for Microwavers Anonymous,” would start in September, just when Rose would be eligible to attend nursery school.
Her cooking class was scheduled for three mornings per week. She wouldn’t even need a babysitter.
Lisa hadn’t forgotten that Sully promised to visit the nursery school. She should arrange that soon—maybe now while he was around.
* * *
While Lisa had cereal and Rose had oatmeal on the patio in the backyard, Sully tried to fire up the lawn mower.
Yeah, right.
He’d never seen such a temperamental engine in his life.
He was going to repair it or die trying. He’d fixed it once, and he was going to fix it again.
Finally, he got it to turn over—to the applause of the breakfast club on the patio.
Lisa held up a mug of coffee as a toast to him, or maybe she was offering him a cup. He climbed up onto the mower, put it in gear and drove it to the patio. As he bucked by on the mower, which was about to stall, he smoothly snatched the coffee cup from Lisa’s outstretched hand and mowed a wavy line on the backyard grass.
Rose put her hand over her milk-covered face and giggled. Lisa cupped her mouth with her hands and shouted, “Hey, Sully. Rick and Carol’s lawn probably never had to suffer a mowing pattern like that!”
He liked the squiggly pattern. It was different.
As he mowed, he thought about how he had made love with Lisa last night. He’d thought about it when he was in the shower, when he was scarfing down some toast with peanut butter, when he was working on the lawn mower and now.
She was always on his mind.
He looked at her sitting at the table. She was chatting away with Rose. That was one of the things he liked about her, how she talked to Rose. Lisa didn’t talk down to the little girl or use that singsong voice that mothers often do. Above all, Lisa listened to the little girl.
He’d even noticed that Lisa was loosening up. She’d probably never be the spur-of-the-moment type, but she was acting more relaxed in the situation that was thrust upon both of them.
Sully wondered if things would continue to be comfortable between them. He didn’t want to tiptoe around her just in case she made a big deal out of their making love.
He didn’t think it was a big deal. They were both consenting adults, mutually attracted, so they acted on their attraction.
Normally, Sully would make love to a woman, and he’d be gone in a couple of days. Very few women did he call and make an effort to see again. As a matter of fact, he could count them on three fingers.
With Lisa, he really couldn’t pack up and leave. They were living under the same roof. They’d had a rocky history, and they faced an uncertain future. All he knew was that the present was pretty good between them.
He never thought he’d say it, but he liked the mammoth Victorian. He even liked this Podunk town.
Which reminded him—he was going to ask Lisa if she’d like to accompany Rose and him on their “walk around” sometime today. Maybe they could have lunch at his favorite diner, and he could get a haircut. They could take Molly for a walk and go to the playground, too.
Yep, Brett Sullivan, the third-ranked bull rider in the world right now, hadn’t been interested in sticking around after the Connecticut event to party with the guys and the buckle bunnies until the wee hours of the morning.
Instead, he couldn’t wait to get home.
And now he was looking forward to a walk with his ladies to downtown Salmon Falls, just after he finished putting the last touches on his brother’s...no, his...brilliantly green lawn.
Life was good.
* * *
Lisa could hear the faint ringing of her cell phone inside the house, and she got up to answer it.
“Stay right here, Rose. Watch Molly and keep an eye on Uncle Sully so he doesn’t fall off.”
“Okay.”
She missed the phone call but waited until the caller could leave a message. Then she dialed the code for her voice mail.
“Lisa, this is Luann from JFW Aviation. I know this is short notice, but I really need you. I have a charter this weekend to Anaheim, California, that I need you to fly. Departure is Friday. Return is on Sunday. The man who booked the charter said that no one but you can pilot the plane. He’s very persuasive. Charming, actually. I think you’ll enjoy this one. Call me immediately so I can confirm with him.”
Lisa listened to Luann’s message three times.
Wasn’t Sully headed for Anaheim this weekend?
For a nanosecond Lisa wondered if Sully might be the one who was booking the
charter, but she quickly dismissed the thought because he was so mulish about not flying.
Besides, a charter from Albany to Anaheim, round-trip, would cost in the neighborhood of fifty-five thousand dollars.
Sully had that kind of money. He’d told her that he was a millionaire, but apparently he didn’t spend his money.
Would he spend that kind of money on a weekend?
Lisa could picture herself in the cockpit of a super mid-size, something like the Citation X. She could see the instruments, somewhat different than the wide-bodies. She could feel the vibration of the tires as she taxied. Then came takeoff—her favorite part of flying—when all the mighty thrust of the jet engines finally got the plane off the runway and into the air.
She didn’t know why she was dreaming about it. She couldn’t take the charter. Sully was off to Anaheim himself, and she needed to take care of Rose.
Her daydreams would have to wait awhile longer.
She picked up the phone to call Luann back when she was distracted by a scream.
Rose’s scream.
* * *
Sully jumped off the tractor and ran toward Rose. Lisa came running out of the back of the house onto the patio. The screen door hit the side of the house with a loud bang and stayed open.
He could see Rose was running along the side of the house, heading for the front yard and the traffic on the street.
“Rose, stop!” Sully yelled, but she’d had a head start.
Lisa ran next to him. “What?”
“Molly’s chasing a squirrel. Rose is chasing Molly.”
“Sully, she’s heading for the street!”
“Will she stop?” Sully asked.
“I don’t know!”
Why did the yard have to be so big?
They both raced after Rose. She was almost to the sidewalk. Sully caught up with her first and picked her up under his arm like a football.
He handed her off to Lisa.
“You know you shouldn’t go past the sidewalk and into the street, don’t you, Rose?” Sully asked.
“Molly! I want Molly!”
She couldn’t care less about the rules.
Molly, however, had crossed the street and was running like her fur was on fire. Rose was sobbing on Lisa’s jeans.
“I’ll catch her,” Sully said. He gave a sharp whistle, but it didn’t stop Molly. The dog was several houses down on the neighbor’s lawn.
He could hear Rose sobbing and calling the dog’s name. He heard Lisa tell her not to worry because Uncle Sully would find Molly.
His bum foot was throbbing, but he tried to ignore it. Thank goodness he was wearing sneakers instead of his cowboy boots so he could run faster.
Molly disappeared, so he stopped to catch his breath. When he did, he gave another sharp whistle. “Molly,” he yelled. “Come!”
Despite spending time with Molly at the house and in his motor home, he really didn’t know how well the dog was trained, but he vowed to start training her to at least come when she was called.
He began to jog, then picked up his pace. He spotted the black dog stretched out like a caterpillar.
When Sully caught up with Molly, he collapsed next to the dog and joined her in breathing heavily.
“Molly, Lisa is crying for you.”
Her ears twitched.
“Let’s go back.” Sully stood and Molly did the same. Sully took his belt off and slid it through Molly’s collar for a quick leash. “Sorry, pal, but you just lost your free-range privilege.”
Lisa and Rose were walking down the sidewalk to meet them. When Rose saw him with Molly, her face lit up. She said something to Lisa, who dropped her hand, then Rose started running up the sidewalk.
Sully had a death grip on Molly’s leash. They were too close to the road to trust the dog.
Rose caught up with them and immediately hugged the stuffing out of Molly. “Thank you, Uncle Sully, for bringing Molly back.”
“Don’t forget to thank your aunt Lisa. She helped, too.”
By then, Lisa had arrived and Rose thanked her.
He noticed how pale and zombielike Lisa looked. “Thanks, Sully,” she said, her lips barely moving.
He handed Rose the makeshift leash and told her to stay close. He took Lisa’s hand, and they followed Rose down the sidewalk.
“You look like you are in shock,” Sully said. “Do I need to throw a bucket of cold water on you?”
“Probably,” she said. “I’ll never forget Rose’s scream. It robbed me of ten years of my life. I thought that something had happened to her.”
“I could hear her scream over the noise of the mower. That had to be a lot of decibels! She can really hit the high notes.”
“I could use a drink right now.”
“What do we have in the house?” he asked.
“Apple juice and lime Kool-Aid. The apple juice is Rose’s, the green Kool-Aid is mine. And it’s strong stuff.”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “I’ll pour us both a stiff one when we get back.”
“Shaken, not stirred,” Lisa said.
Sully laughed, then he realized that walking hand in hand with Lisa, joking while Rose walked ahead with the dog, was so...domestic.
When they came closer to the Victorian with his motor home parked out front, he felt warm and fuzzy.
Fuzzy?
Brett Sullivan, the rolling stone, wanted to stop rolling. He wanted to mow the damn huge lawn. He wanted to weed the garden, plant tomatoes, watch things grow.
Watch Rose grow.
“Sully, just for grins, I have to ask you something.”
“Hit me with it.”
“Did you by any chance charter a flight to Anaheim this weekend with JFW Aviation and request me as pilot?”
“I did.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” She pulled her hand out of his and slipped it in the pocket of her jeans.
“I was going to tell you. I wanted to tell you over lunch at the diner during our walk around.”
“What diner? What walk around?”
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you about going on a walk around, either. To the Salmon Falls Diner in town—you, me and Rose.”
“But you don’t fly,” she said, getting back to the subject.
“I have to fly. I can’t stay away from home that long for three reasons. One, I don’t want to. Two, I’d like to think that you and Rose want me here. Three, Lawyer Randolph might think I’m interrupting our family bonding too much.”
“All good reasons,” Lisa said. “But it’ll cost you a fortune! And what about your fear of flying?”
“I figure you can get me through it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Sully, I’ll be flying the plane!”
“Oh, yeah. Good point.” They walked on the side of the house to the backyard. “We’re bringing Rose with us. Rose can help me.”
Lisa froze. “How can she help?”
“I’ll refrain from crying like a baby so as not to scare her.”
Lisa shook her head and grinned. “I see you have this all thought out...not!”
“We can discuss it over drinks on the veranda.” He slipped into his finest British accent, which he didn’t think was all that bad. “Let me serve you ladies. And I shall prepare a bowl of fine water from the garden hose for the wayward canine.”
“Sounds divine,” Lisa said.
“Coming right up.”
* * *
After drinks on the veranda, as Sully had said, they freshened up and walked to downtown Salmon Falls. Lisa loved the historic buildings and the way the variety of goods, services, crafts and restaurants with their different storefronts all blended in.
It
was a thriving place compared with other small towns.
Nothing was boarded up and there were no gaudy banners or signs, just a cute, tasteful town full of fountains, statues of war heroes, gazebos, trees and colorful flowers.
“You know, Sully, being here in downtown Salmon Falls always makes me wish that I had experienced small-town life. I’d have a bunch of friends from school that I could ride bikes on the sidewalk with. We’d get an ice cream cone, go to the movies and hang out on the benches in the town square. Maybe there’d be a band playing in the gazebo we could listen to. I would have gone to that beautiful library over there and would have read a book on that bench over there.” She pointed to the library with its three-story pillars and a bench by a copse of Canadian hemlocks. “Instead I lived in a commune in the middle of a field. No wonder Carol and Rick wanted Rose to grow up here.”
“I’ve traveled all over the United States on the circuits, and I have to agree with you. Salmon Falls has it all.” He steered Lisa to the park bench she’d pointed to.
Rose found a boy about her age, and they were swinging on the swings together, so they had some time to talk.
“You know, Lisa, this isn’t the first time you’ve brought up the commune. There must be some good things about it that you liked.”
“I’ll try to think of some positive things,” she said, then shook her head. “Nope. Nothing.”
“Come on. Think.”
“I got closer to my sister, Carol, although Carol loved commune life as much as I hated it.”
“What else?”
“I liked being outside all day long.”
“Good.”
“And I liked one particular teacher. I looked forward to him coming up in the rotation,” she said. “Sorry, Sully. That’s about it.”
“The experience made you what you are today.”
“Yes. And now this experience will enrich my life even more.” This time, she took Sully’s hand. “I can’t believe everything that’s happened to us in such a short time.”
“No kidding. Who would have thought?” He pulled her up from the park bench as Rose approached. “Would you ladies like to accompany me to Joe’s Barbershop?”
“Uh, no. We’ll sit here on the bench,” Lisa said. “Go. Get handsome for when you take us to the diner. We don’t go out with just any third-ranked bull rider.” She turned to Rose. “Right?”
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