“Yes, I—”
“Hello?” Jennifer suddenly said. “Who is this?”
“It’s Nick. What happened to Missy?”
“I took the phone away from her. She’s too young to answer the phone.”
“That’s true. I just wondered what time you wanted me there for lunch. I don’t want to be late.”
“Twelve o’clock will be fine.”
She didn’t sound friendly, but he guessed that was his fault. “Fine, I’ll be there at twelve. And I really appreciate you doing this, Jen.”
“Okay.”
Definitely not friendly. Surely she’d been kissed before. Or…The thought struck him like a lightning bolt. Did she have a boyfriend? He didn’t think so. After all, her mother kept trying to fix her up with some rich stiff.
One thing was certain: it was time to talk about her past.
After hanging up the phone, he gathered a suit jacket and tie and a dress shirt on a hanger. And he chose a sweater he particularly liked, for a more casual look. He thought the sweater might be a better look, but he could get Jennifer to take a couple of pictures so he’d have a choice.
He found himself ready long before noon. Then he paced the living room of his apartment, waiting until it was time to go over to Jennifer’s. Fortunately, it was a nice-size living room and his aunt had excellent taste. She’d furnished it with a lot of leather, which he loved.
He checked his watch again.
Five minutes. He wanted to see Jennifer again. And he was dying to kiss her again. Therein lay the problem with having kissed her last night. He suddenly had a raging thirst for Jennifer Carpenter…when he should be working on his future.
Okay, time was up. His hunger for Jennifer would ease, just being around her, wouldn’t it?
He was pretty sure it couldn’t grow stronger. It was at hurricane level already.
Crossing the hall at exactly twelve o’clock, he knocked on the door.
Jennifer swung it open and he had to fight not to greet her with a kiss. It seemed so natural, so right.
“Hi, Nick. Come in.”
“I hope I’m not too early.”
“No, not at all. Here, let me take your— Oh, you brought two outfits?”
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I’m not sure what will look right.”
“Of course.”
Missy came running into the room. “Hi, Daddy!”
“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, swinging her up into his arms. She squealed with laughter.
“Missy, show some decorum!” Jennifer snapped.
Missy didn’t understand the word, in Nick’s opinion, but she did understand that tone of voice. She stiffened and then wiggled out of Nick’s hold.
“I’m sorry, Mommy, but I’m glad to see Daddy and—”
“No! I mean, he’s not your daddy. Why don’t you call him Nick?”
“But he said I could call him daddy.”
Afraid of losing a lot of ground, Nick knelt down beside Missy. “Mommy’s right, and I was wrong. That’s a special word that you need to save until you get a real daddy. If you call me Nick, it will be like we’re friends. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said solemnly.
He looked up at Jennifer, to see her struggling. He stood. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Mommy, it smells like something’s burning,” Steffi called from the kitchen. Jennifer turned and hurried to the kitchen.
Missy slid her little hand into Nick’s. “I liked calling you Daddy.”
“I know, honey, but it upsets Mommy. And if she decides it’s not good for me to visit, then we wouldn’t get to see each other.”
“Would she do that?” Missy asked in horror.
“I hope not.”
“Okay, I’ll call you Nick, but I’ll be thinking Daddy.”
Nick smiled. “Okay, that’s a deal.”
The two of them entered the kitchen to find Jennifer taking a dish of macaroni and cheese out of the oven. “Smells good, Jennifer.”
“I’m afraid it’s not fancy.”
“Fancy’s not necessary. Where did you learn to cook, by the way? After meeting your mother, I can’t see her slaving over a stove.”
Jennifer’s shoulders stiffened. Uh-oh, he’d made another mistake.
“My mother may not be the homemaker type, but she hired very good people to cook and clean. And I learned a lot from our cook.”
“You’re certainly an accomplished cook,” he said, adding a smile to get in her good graces.
“Lunch is ready. Please be seated.”
Obviously his smile hadn’t worked. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the place she’d indicated. To his surprise, Annie came over to greet him.
“Hi, Annie. How are you doing?”
“Fine.” She beamed at him.
“Tomorrow is Annie’s birthday,” Steffi announced.
“It is? And you’ll be six?”
Annie shook her head no and held up five fingers. Nick frowned. “I thought you said she was five?” he asked Jennifer.
She shrugged. “It was so close to her birthday, we aged her already. But tomorrow is the big day.”
“Well, congratulations, Annie. You’ll make a great five-year-old,” he assured her with a big smile. Annie nodded her head, still beaming at him.
“What are you getting for your birthday?”
Annie frowned and then turned to her mother.
“I think Nick means what do you want as a gift. You get a present on your birthday,” Jennifer explained.
“I do?” Annie’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I want a dolly!”
Jennifer bent down and kissed Annie’s cheek. “Then a dolly it shall be.”
Annie stared at Jennifer. “Really?” she asked in a whisper. “I get a dolly?”
“Really, sweetheart,” Jennifer promised.
Annie got in her chair and stared into space, a smile on her lips.
“I think she’s picturing her dolly. I don’t envy you in trying to pick the right one.” Even as he spoke, Nick was thinking about what he would get for Annie. He’d be doing some shopping this afternoon, he guessed.
“When do I have a birthday, Mommy?” Missy asked.
“You will be four next September, Missy,” Jennifer answered as she finished bringing the food to the table.
“Is that tomorrow, too?” Missy asked.
“No, honey, September is when school starts and the leaves on the trees begin to turn.”
“But I want a dolly, too!” Missy protested.
“Well, I think, since Annie has the first birthday, it would be all right if you got a small present, you and Steffi,” Jennifer said.
“Would it be fun if we went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for your birthday party, Annie?” Nick asked, hoping Jennifer would agree so he could help celebrate Annie’s birthday.
“What’s Chuck E. Cheese’s?” Annie asked.
“It’s a pizza place with lots of games for you to play after you eat pizza.”
“I like pizza,” Annie said, looking at Jennifer hopefully.
After drawing a deep breath, Jennifer said, “I guess we could do that. And I’ll bake a special cake for you, Annie.”
“I get a cake, too? And a dolly?” Annie asked, her eyes as big as saucers.
Jennifer hugged her again. “Yes, sweetie.”
“When’s my birthday?” Steffi asked.
“You had a birthday in March,” Jennifer said.
“But I didn’t have a cake or a dolly,” Steffi pointed out.
Jennifer looked at Nick and then gave up the struggle. “Okay, tomorrow, we’re going to celebrate all three birthdays because we’re starting off as a new family. But normally, you don’t get gifts just because your sister is having a birthday!” Jennifer was smiling the entire time she spoke.
“Good decision, Jen. We’re going to have a lot of fun tomorrow.”
“Oh, I’ll need to go shopping!”
> “After you take my portrait, I’ll take care of the girls so you can go.”
“Thank you, Nick. That would be great.”
But not as great as tomorrow would be, Nick thought, judging from Annie’s megawatt smile. Regardless of what presents she got tomorrow, the little girl had already received the best one—Jennifer Carpenter for a mother.
Chapter Seven
Jennifer had intended to put the girls down for their quiet time, but they all pleaded to watch her take Nick’s picture. She agreed reluctantly, but once they were in her home studio, she was glad she’d let the girls watch.
It was better not to be alone with Nick.
Not that she had objected to his kiss. It was pleasant. Pleasant? Asked an inner voice. More like world-shattering. Either way, she’d do well not to repeat it. Nor think about it, she reminded herself as the room suddenly turned warm.
Instead, she went into professional mode. “Which outfit shall we use first?” she asked.
“It doesn’t really matter.”
After thinking a moment, she said, “Let’s try a couple in your sports shirt. That way I can check the lights and film to be sure I have everything working.”
“Whatever you say, Jen. You’re the expert.”
After several minutes of fussing with her equipment, she looked through the lens at him. “Straighten your back and look toward the light on the right.”
He did as she asked and she took several shots. Then she asked him to look over his shoulder. When she repositioned him, he asked, “What do you think?”
“I think the camera loves you.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, with a wry grin.
“Of course not.” After a couple more pictures, she said, “Go put on your shirt and tie and jacket. We’ll take some formal pictures first.”
He took his clothes and went into the hall bathroom. When he emerged a couple of minutes later, he had tucked the crisp white shirt into his jeans, tied the tie around his neck and shrugged into the suit jacket. With his midnight hair, the navy-blue pinstripe provided a dark background against which his light eyes glittered.
Jennifer drew in a sharp breath. From the waist up, he looked like the head of a Fortune 500 company. The jeans he wore reminded her he wasn’t. She felt sure the portrait would be impressive, which would be good for her. It was easy to make a man like Nick look good. All she had to do was point the camera and click.
Which made her work even harder.
While she was taking the pictures, she talked to him, a technique she’d used with the girls, too. It tended to make the subject relax a little.
“Will your sisters come visit you here? I’d like to meet them.”
“I hope they will at Christmas. I’m not sure before then. They’re all busy with their own lives.”
“Of course. Will your girlfriend visit?”
“No girlfriend. At least not now.”
“Ah. But you’ve had one recently?”
“I was engaged once.”
“Turn to face me. What happened to her?”
“She didn’t like the idea of settling down. And, like your mother, she didn’t have a lot of respect for the job I did.”
Jennifer raised shocked eyes to stare at him. “I’m sorry. I know how that feels. Mother thinks I’m wasting my time taking photos.”
“She’s wrong, if the picture you took of the girls is any indication. But I haven’t noticed any patrons on your doorstep. Have you not had any work for a while?”
“I canceled what appointments I had for a couple of weeks because I figured I needed time with the girls more than I needed the work. After all, my picture of the girls will be hung in a gallery for the foster program, along with my name and business card. I figured by the time that happened, I’d have established a routine with the girls and have reassured them.”
“That picture should get you a lot of clients.”
“Thank you. I love that picture, too.”
Halfway through the session he’d changed into a sweater, pulled on over his shirt without a tie, which she discovered made him look even more delicious. She asked, “Exactly what is this picture for?”
“Um, to make people want to—to get to know me.”
“You’re not going to use it for online dating, are you?” she asked suddenly. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would even consider such a thing.
“No! Definitely not!”
“Oh, um, good. I was wondering if we should change the background. That’s why I asked.”
“To what?”
“I have a background that looks like a study. You know, books on a shelf. I think it would look good.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
Jennifer changed the background with Nick’s help. She turned to him and in the cramped quarters was no more than a breath away. “Thanks. You made it a lot easier.”
“Call me anytime,” he offered with a smile.
The urge to capture that smile on film filled her. “Sit down and keep smiling like that.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, but think whatever you were thinking when you smiled at me.”
Nick had no problem reproducing it, and the camera loved it. She snapped several pictures. Then she brought in what looked like the edge of a desk for him to sit on.
“Oh, yes,” she muttered as she took several pictures of him in that pose.
“Mommy, we’re going to go look at our picture books,” Steffi said a few minutes later.
“Okay, honey,” Jennifer muttered as she continued to look through the lens.
Half an hour later, she said, “Okay, I think I’ve taken every pose I can think of. Is there anything else you’d like?”
“Nope. I’ll admit this is more tiring than I would’ve thought. I’m ready to call it quits.”
“Okay. I’ve got some brownies for you and the girls to— Where did the girls go?”
Nick smiled. “They went to their room half an hour ago.”
Jennifer could feel her cheeks heating up. “Oh. Sorry. I get carried away when I photograph someone. I’m afraid I go into my own little world.”
“That just means you’re doing what you’re meant to do.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yeah. But I’ll know better when I see your work,” he teased. “Seriously, I have no doubt that you’re doing the right thing. It’s just fortunate that you had some help from your grandmother. It’s hard to get started in a creative kind of work and still support a family.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Now, where are those brownies? I’m starving.”
With a smile, she said, “Follow me.” She stopped by the girls’ bedroom to see if they wanted brownies, too, then all five of them went to the kitchen. Jennifer set a plate of brownies on the table and provided everyone with a small plate and a glass of lemonade.
“Heaven,” Nick said slowly after he took a bite.
“You love chocolate, too?” she asked with a smile.
“You bet. And I think they’ve proved that it’s good for you.”
“Well, in moderation, yes. Molière said moderation is the key to a healthy life.”
“Molière? You’re quoting a French playwright over brownies?”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of him?”
“What’s that, Mommy?” Missy asked.
“Oh, we were just talking about…what we think about life.”
“Oh.” Obviously not a subject that interested her, Jennifer thought. She tried another. “Do you like the brownies?”
All three girls gave them rave reviews.
Nick leaned across the table and whispered, “We’ll compare philosophies another time.”
Jennifer couldn’t believe how much she looked forward to it.
AT FIVE THE NEXT DAY, Nick knocked on Jennifer’s door. When she opened it, he asked, “Are we taking the cake and presents with us, or having them here after pizza?”
“I
thought we’d do cake and presents here.”
“Good. I like that idea. I’ll put my presents here, too.” He stepped to the side of the door and picked up a large stack of presents.
“Do you think there’s a remote possibility you overdid the present thing?” she teased.
“You said the other two girls should get presents, too, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but I meant from me.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I just followed along. Besides, I had a great time shopping. And I didn’t spend a lot of money.”
“Good. I don’t want them to get hooked on video games this early in their lives.”
“No, those should wait a year or two.”
She rolled her eyes. “At least.”
“Is that Dad—Nick, I mean?” Missy called as she reached the living room.
“Yes, it is.” Nick reached out to hug Missy lightly. “My, don’t you look nice.”
The other two girls came out also. “Wow, look at you two. Annie, you’re the prettiest birthday girl I’ve seen in ages!”
The little girl smiled and rubbed her peach-colored shirt. “Mommy bought me my outfit today because it’s my birthday.”
“Well, she did a good job. It looks great on you. And I think your sisters have new clothes, too.”
“Yes, we’re all birthday girls tonight,” Steffi explained with pride.
“That must be why I brought gifts for all of you.”
“You did?” Missy asked in excitement.
Annie’s eyes were huge as she stared at Nick. “More presents?” she asked, as if that couldn’t be possible.
“Yeah, more gifts. Birthdays are special, sweetheart,” he said, swinging Annie up into his arms. “So, are you ready for pizza?”
“Yes,” all three girls said at once.
“Jen?”
“Yes, I’m ready. I wish I had earplugs to take with me.”
Nick offered her a sympathetic smile. “It won’t be that bad, since it’s the middle of the week.”
“I hope you’re right.”
When they reached Chuck E. Cheese’s, they took the girls in and ordered the pizza and Coke for everyone. After they ate, the girls begged to play the games.
Missy found the ball pit and loved it. She dived in and then erupted into the air, sending the balls in every direction. Annie held back, holding Nick’s hand tightly. Steffi looked bored.
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