Nick leaned forward and whispered to Jennifer. “You keep an eye on our little volcano, and I’ll see what the other girls want to do.”
Steffi found amusement in some video games, and Annie wandered over to Skee-Ball. She asked questions of Nick and gauged her tosses. Nick decided she had an analytical mind. He’d seen her use that mind in putting together the swing set. Here was a child after his own heart.
When they left two hours later, only because of the promise of cake and presents, Nick and Jennifer exchanged tired glances. But they’d also learned a bit about their little charges.
At Jennifer’s, she put candles in the cake and brought it into the living room where the three girls were lined up on the sofa, excitedly waiting. As she came in she began singing Happy Birthday to Annie. Nick joined in and then the two other little girls followed suit.
Jennifer set the cake on the coffee table. “Blow out the candles so your wish will come true, Annie,” she said, standing back.
Annie looked first at Jennifer and then Nick, as if she didn’t know what to do.
“Blow out the candles, Annie,” Nick encouraged. “Then we get to eat some cake. Blow hard!”
Annie finally leaned forward and blew.
Jennifer bent down and kissed her cheek. “Now make your wish, honey.” She picked up the cake and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll be right back with pieces of cake for everyone.”
While Jennifer was in the kitchen, Nick said, “Stay here. I’ve got to go get another piece of your present from my apartment.”
With a grin, he excused himself and hurried to his apartment. He hoped Annie would like his choice. He’d thought about a small tool kit, but he decided she was too young for that just yet.
He rolled a large flat circle into the living room just in time for cake.
As soon as Steffi was done, Nick asked, “Ready for your presents, Annie?”
“Yes,” Annie said softly.
He moved a pile of presents to the coffee table. “Oh, my, some of these have other names on them. Let’s see, there’s one for Steffi and one for Missy, too.”
Those two clapped their hands. He offered them the presents with their names on them. But the biggest pile was in front of Annie.
“Okay, Annie,” Jennifer said. “You go first. Open a present.”
Annie picked up a big one from Jennifer. She carefully untaped the paper and folded it back. Her sisters were telling her to rip the paper off, but she did it her own way. The paper parted to reveal a doll that looked a great deal like Annie with silky blond hair and rosy cheeks.
“Oh, she’s beautiful!” Annie said in a whisper. “Thank you, Jennifer.”
Jennifer helped her open the box and remove the doll. Annie wrapped her arms around her dolly and rocked back and forth.
“All right, Steffi, Missy, you can open your presents, too.”
Paper flew everywhere as the other two girls unwrapped their dolls also, which were not quite as large as Annie’s.
“Annie, I think those two are from your sisters,” Jennifer said, pointing to more gifts.
With awe in her eyes, Annie opened Steffi’s present. Nick didn’t know when the girls had had a chance to shop, but the gift from Steffi was a small coin purse that Annie loved. Then, as Jennifer insisted, she opened Missy’s present, a puzzle.
Nick’s present came next. Annie opened the first big box and pulled out some sticks of wood. “What is this?”
Nick rolled the flat piece of wood closer. “It’s part of your puzzle table. We have to attach the legs. Want to help?”
He pulled his toolbox forward and Annie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes.”
Jennifer and the other two, after opening puzzles from Nick, picked up the wrapping paper and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. By the time they’d done that, Annie and Nick had the legs attached to the table.
He looked at Jennifer. “I thought we could put this in the corner in their bedroom, so they’d have a place to put together puzzles and color.”
“That’s a very good idea, Nick…if it fits.”
“I’ll carry it in there,” he said, picking up the table. They all followed him. The table fit beautifully in the corner.
“I’ll have to get some chairs for them,” Jennifer said.
“Uh, I have those, too. They’re in my apartment. I didn’t know how to wrap them.” He left the room and came back a few minutes later with three little chairs and another box, wrapped in birthday paper.
“Here they are, Annie, and here’s one more present.”
“What is it?” Annie asked.
“Open it and see.” He stood back, pleased with the way his gift had worked out.
The last gift was a puzzle, a round one made for adults.
“I think you should take that one back, Nick. It’s too difficult for Annie.”
“I think she’ll like the challenge.”
Jennifer frowned at him. “I think I know my girls better than you.”
“I’ve known them almost as long. Annie is very analytical and loves a challenge.”
“Can you show me how to do it?” Annie asked softly, interrupting their argument.
“Sure, honey,” Nick said, and sat down in one of the little chairs. Opening the box, he turned it over and let the puzzle pieces rain down on the table. “Don’t let any of them hit the floor.”
Annie’s eyes were wide as she looked at the pile of pieces. “How do I do it?”
He showed her to turn the puzzle pieces over and then look for things that go together. He propped the box lid against the wall so she could look at it.
He looked up at Jennifer to find her glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. Girls, you’ll get to play with everything tomorrow. Now it’s bedtime. Go wash up and brush your teeth. Annie, you, too.”
The child reluctantly left the puzzle table and followed her sisters to the bathroom.
“Oh, Annie, tell Nick thank you for your presents,” she called.
Annie ran back in the bedroom and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Nick. I love my puzzle table.”
He hugged her back. “I’m glad, honey.”
He stood after Annie ran back to the bathroom. “Here’s your hat, what’s the hurry?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Look, Jennifer, I should’ve checked with you first, but I’d been in their room, and I thought the table would fit. I didn’t have enough time to ask you.”
“So you just assumed you could buy them whatever you wanted? That was too expensive!”
“I bet it cost less than that doll you bought her,” he said, not liking her rules.
Her cheeks turned red and she looked away from him. “I don’t think that’s the point. I’m their mother!”
He shook his head. “Sorry. But I don’t see how getting Annie a puzzle table is such a great sin!”
“These are my children, not yours. I make the decisions about them!”
“I bet you never learned to share when you were a kid! And things haven’t changed now!” He turned around and walked out of the apartment.
Annie and the other girls crept into the bedroom. “Is Nick mad at me?” Annie asked.
“No, sweetheart,” Jennifer hurriedly said. Sitting down on the bed, she took Annie in her lap. “We got in a silly adult argument, but he loves you. He loves all of you. We couldn’t ask for a better neighbor, could we?”
The girls all agreed. She helped them dress for bed and tucked them in. Adding good-night kisses, she was almost out the door when Annie asked for her dolly to sleep with her. The other girls made the same request.
Jennifer brought their dolls to them, gave them another round of good-night kisses and softly closed the door behind them.
She leaned against their door, feeling very foolish. Could her anger at Nick have been caused by jealousy? Was the price of his gift okay as long as Annie and the other
s liked her gift better?
She walked into the living room and paced back and forth. What should she do? She owed him an apology, if that were true, but he should’ve checked with her before he bought a piece of furniture for her place.
Even if it was perfect.
She started to go to the hall to knock on his door and apologize, but her temper hadn’t quite cooled. Maybe it would be better to wait until the morning. She could give a more gracious apology, she assured herself.
Ignoring the little voice that jeered her decision, she picked up a book she’d been reading and headed for her bedroom. She’d talk to Nick tomorrow.
Chapter Eight
Nick drank his first cup of coffee the next morning, going over his argument with Jennifer. She was right; he should’ve asked her first about buying a piece of furniture for Annie. He knew that. Maybe he should apologize.
On his second cup of coffee, he got stubborn. She was the one who picked the fight. She should apologize!
To avoid making a decision, he turned to his computer. He hadn’t really gotten down to serious work since his move. He checked his e-mail first. Finding an e-mail from his agent, he realized he hadn’t called and given him his new number, despite his promises. Immediately he picked up the phone.
“Hey, Jim, it’s Nick.”
“I’ve been waiting for your call. The publisher wanted to know how your book is coming. And the producers who bought your first book are interested in seeing it as soon as you’ve finished it. They might be interested in picking up the film option.”
“That’s great, Jim, but I’ve been settling in. I haven’t had time to get much done.”
“You have to strike while the iron is hot, Nick. You know that.”
“I’m sure I’ll have a draft done by the end of September. Will that be soon enough?”
“I’ll call them and get back to you.”
“Thanks.”
After hanging up the phone, Nick reread his proposal and found himself getting lost in the story he was creating. He began drafting the next chapter, and had no idea of the passage of time, getting lost in the action thriller.
When he heard a knock on his door, he was brought back to reality. Jennifer! Jumping up, he hurried to the front door and swung it open.
The woman at his threshold was attractive, but she wasn’t Jennifer.
“Yes?” he said.
“Hi, my name is April. I’m one of your neighbors from upstairs. Jennifer said you’d moved in while we were out of town, and I just wanted to introduce myself.”
“I’m Nick.” He shook her hand. “It’s nice of you to stop by, April.”
“May I come in? So we can get to know each other a little better?”
“Uh, sure, come in. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you. Yes, I would.”
He went to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee and brought them back into the living room.
April looked around. “Did you buy Grace’s furniture? I’m sure this is the sofa she had.”
“No, not really. She sublet the apartment to me because I’m her nephew.”
“I see. Where’d she move to?”
“She’s had some problems and gone to an assisted-living apartment.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
He smiled and nodded. Hoping to keep the visit short so he could get back to work, he didn’t ask any questions. After a couple of minutes, without having touched her coffee, April stood up to go.
He followed her to the door.
“Remember, I’m just upstairs. If you get…lonely, let me know.”
“Thanks, April, I will.”
After he closed the door on the flight attendant, he returned to his computer.
Not half an hour later, there was another knock. This was sure to be Jennifer.
He hurried to the door.
An attractive brunette stood there, a smile on her face and a plate in her hand.
“Hi, I’m Rachel. I’m one of your neighbors upstairs. I wanted to welcome you to our building.” She offered him the plate of homemade cookies.
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Rachel. Won’t you come in?”
He poured more coffee for Rachel and shared some cookies with her as he explained about being Grace’s nephew. Rachel asked what he did for a living and he told her he was a teacher.
Would he ever get over hearing Jim Barnes’s voice inside his head, telling him not to tell anyone he was a writer? “As soon as they hear your book is being made into a major motion picture, people will assume you’re rich. Women will be throwing themselves at you. Believe me, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Guard your secret as long as you can.” Hence, Nick was still a teacher.
“Oh, that’s great,” Rachel effused. “I read once that teachers shape the future. That’s a big responsibility.”
He smiled at her, but he realized she didn’t know much about teaching.
After fifteen minutes, she stood and he followed her to the door. At least he got some cookies out of this visit.
He returned to his computer…till another knock sounded at his door.
If this wasn’t Jennifer—
He swung open the door to a third stranger, another blonde, this time, but definitely not Jennifer.
The young woman seemed out of breath. “Hi, I’m Amy.”
“Let me guess. You live upstairs?”
“Yes,” she said with a giggle. “I would’ve come with Rachel or April, but I had some things I had to do first. Sorry, are we driving you crazy?”
He liked her sense of humor. “Not yet. I appreciate your friendliness.”
After her brief visit and yet another knock on his door five minutes later, Nick was ready to call a halt to all the friendliness. He went to the door with a frown on his face.
“Look, I’m—” He pulled his statement to an abrupt halt because this time it was Jennifer.
“I’m sorry to interrupt whatever you’re doing, but I wanted to apologize for last night,” she said, her cheeks red.
“Come on in. I need to apologize, too. I made some rude remarks to you.”
“I—I can’t. The girls— I mean, they’re working on their puzzles, but I don’t like to leave them alone.”
“Of course. Look, I was angry and I said things I shouldn’t have said. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“I believe I was rude first. I’m sorry. All this parenting stuff is new to me. I appreciate all you’ve done for the girls. You’ve made them feel more settled.”
Nick relaxed against the doorjamb. “That’s very generous of you, Jen. How about we kiss and make up?”
She stared at him, her eyes wide. “I don’t think—”
He didn’t wait for her agreement. He leaned forward and kissed those delectable lips again—finally.
For a few seconds, she participated in the kiss. Then she jerked away. “No! No, we need to stop doing that.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a mother now and—”
He couldn’t resist. He kissed her again. This time he wrapped his arms around her so she couldn’t run away.
JENNIFER ENJOYED THE FEEL of Nick’s arms around her, his lips on hers. It had been a while since she’d been kissed, a while since she’d dated. She’d been concentrating on her career.
Besides, she hadn’t found anyone who seemed to understand her as well as Nick did. He believed in her career and he agreed with her decision to adopt the girls. No one else, especially her mother, backed her on both those endeavors. It meant a lot to her.
But as he took the kiss deeper, she forced herself to pull away. “Nick, I can’t do this. As I was trying to say, I’m a mother now, and I have to be responsible.”
“Does ‘responsible’ mean no kissing? Because if that’s true, then I vote against responsible.” He smiled to encourage her.
She took a step away. “I just— I need to get back to the girls.”
“Can you get a baby-sitter for this evening?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to. I have to have her tomorrow night for the parenting class.”
“Get her for tonight and I’ll take you out for a steak dinner. Then I’ll baby-sit tomorrow night.”
“I don’t know… No, I don’t think so.” By now she’d backed all the way to her door. “I’ll talk to you later.” She opened the door and disappeared behind it. Then she leaned against the door till she caught her breath. Her heart still beat erratically and her lips still burned from his kisses.
Nick Barry was one potent male.
Shaking her head, she pushed away from the door and walked to the girls’ room. They were all sitting at the big table Nick had gotten them. Missy was coloring, under Steffi’s eye, while she was putting together a puzzle, one of the easier ones Nick had gotten them.
Annie, on the other hand, was working on the complex puzzle Nick had given her. She wasn’t even aware of Jennifer entering the room. Jennifer noted that she had almost finished the outer rim of the puzzle, needing only a couple of pieces to connect the circle.
“You’re doing a great job on your puzzle, Annie,” Jennifer said.
The other girls insisted she look at their work, too.
“Yes, you are all doing well. We need to remember to thank Nick again for the table. It certainly makes a wonderful area for all three of you.”
“Can we go thank him now?” Missy asked, jumping up.
“No, not now. He’s busy this morning. We’ll thank him later.”
Though Missy appeared disappointed, she returned to the table.
“I’m going to go put in some laundry. Do you have all your dirty clothes in the laundry basket in the bathroom?”
Steffi and Annie both assured her they did, but Missy jumped up again and ran to put some of her clothes in the basket.
While she was doing that, Jennifer stripped the girls’ beds of their sheets.
Once she got the laundry going, she headed for the kitchen to start lunch. While she prepared sandwiches for the four of them, she debated whether to hire someone to come in and help her keep the house tidy. It seemed she had no time to work on her photography now.
Daddy Next Door Page 9