by Pamela Bauer
Nick only half listened to the boys telling of their experience on the stalled amusement ride. His eyes were on Kika and the muscular athlete, who seemed to be getting friendlier by the minute. When they stopped at the ice cream booth, Nick felt an odd little pang of envy when the softball player bought her a cone. Nick could have been the one to buy her a treat.
“Come. We’re going to get ice cream,” he heard Annabelle state in her commanding voice.
“Maybe we should wait a bit,” Nick said, not wanting to follow Kika to the concession stand. His suggestion was met with a chorus of groans. “Don’t you want to go on some more rides?” he asked his sons.
When they assured him that all they wanted at the moment was ice cream, he had no choice but to give in. “All right. We’ll go.”
Just great, Nick thought. All he needed was to have his three kids and his mother-in-law in tow when he saw Kika Mancini again. Not that it would matter. She was interested in his daughter, not him.
For a brief time on the Ferris wheel he had started to think of her as a woman, not a talent scout. When she was sitting close to him it seemed a natural thing to do. Now that he had both feet back on the ground he realized that to think of Kika Mancini at all could only invite trouble.
* * *
“WHAT FLAVOR? CHOCOLATE OR vanilla?” Nick asked his children as he pulled his wallet from his pocket.
“Make sure you get the yogurt. It’s better for them,” Annabelle told him as he stepped up to the counter.
Overhearing his grandmother, Patrick tugged on Nick’s pant leg, “Dad, I don’t like yogurt. I want ice cream.”
“Two chocolate, one vanilla ice cream and one vanilla yogurt,” Nick told the young woman taking his order.
“Do you realize how much fat there is in that ice cream?” Annabelle asked in her loud voice.
“I don’t think one scoop is going to clog their arteries for life,” he murmured, hoping that Kika Mancini wasn’t overhearing their conversation. She and the ball player sat on a bench only a few yards away, a fact that was much more disturbing to Nick than his mother-in-law’s nutritional advice.
“The yogurt is produced locally—by Britt Marshack,” Annabelle told him. “And it’s made from low-fat goat’s milk.”
“The whole town is surrounded by dairy farms,” he retorted.
Annabelle pursed her lips as she whipped several napkins from the metal holder on the counter. She steered the boys over to a park bench and handed them their cones with the warning they were not to get any ice cream on their clothes.
“Aren’t you having one?” Annabelle asked as Nick lifted Melody onto the bench.
“I’ll help Melody with hers.” He plopped the bear down between him and his daughter.
“You never did say how she got that.” Annabelle’s attitude toward the stuffed animal obviously hadn’t changed.
“Did you win it, Dad?” Zachary asked curiously.
Aware of the fact that Kika sat within hearing distance, he said, “No, Kika Mancini gave it to Melody when we were stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel.”
Annabelle nearly choked on her vanilla yogurt. “You were on the Ferris wheel with her?”
Nick deliberately misunderstood her and said, “Melody’s old enough to go on a few amusement rides. She likes them, don’t you, Mel?” He ruffled his daughter’s curls.
Annabelle passed him a napkin. “She has ice cream on her ear.”
Nick could see where his daughter had grabbed at the cone with her fingers, then touched her head, leaving a trail of chocolate. She looked endearingly sweet.
“Is she trying to bribe you?” Annabelle asked.
“Who?”
“Ms. Mancini.”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not going to work.” He said the words loud enough so that Kika could hear. In fact, he was certain that she had heard, for she rose to her feet and walked toward them.
“Hello again,” she said, sounding as if she had forgotten that their last conversation had ended on less-than-friendly terms. She had an energy about her that wasn’t all that different from the exuberance his children displayed, Nick decided.
“Kika, wasn’t that cool, getting stuck on the Ferris wheel?” Zachary asked.
“It was pretty neat, Zach.” Her eyes dared Nick to contradict her statement.
So she was going to pretend that nothing had happened. It was fine with him.
“Did you enjoy the ice cream?” Nick asked.
“Actually, I had the yogurt,” Kika told him. “It was delicious.”
That brought a look of triumph to Annabelle’s face. She took the opportunity to explain to Kika how Britt Marshack had started Yes! Yogurt when her dairy farm was on the brink of financial disaster.
Not wanting to waste time listening to adults talk while there was so much activity at the carnival, Zach asked, “Can we go watch The Rocket? We’ll be right over there, where you can see us.” He pointed to a spot not more than a hundred feet away.
“You better finish your ice cream first,” Annabelle answered.
“If you wait just a few minutes, I’ll take you as soon as Melody’s finished,” Nick told his son.
“I can take them,” Kika offered. “I like watching The Rocket tumble, too.”
“Can she, Dad?” Zachary’s eyes lit up.
Had Annabelle’s expression not been so disapproving Nick might have told the boys to wait. Despite his intent to stay away from the beautiful talent scout he found himself saying to her, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No, I’d be happy to take them.” She placed a hand on each of their shoulders and said, “Steer me in the right direction, boys.”
“They’re going to get ice cream all over their clothes,” Annabelle warned as the three of them walked away.
“It’ll wash out,” Nick answered.
“I wouldn’t leave them with her too long. Before you know it she’ll be putting ideas in their heads and they’ll be telling you they want to be in movies,” Annabelle cautioned.
That was the last thing on Nick’s mind. Right now he needed to find a way to deal with the feelings he experienced every time Kika Mancini flashed those big brown eyes in his direction.
As he watched his sons go off with the casting director there was only one thought running through his head. He wished he were the one she had her arm around.
CHAPTER SIX
“DAD, CAN I go on The Rocket?”
Nick ignored Zachary’s request. Ever since he had found the boys standing beside Kika like a couple of cherubs, their hands linked with hers, he had been preoccupied with one thought—how perfectly at ease she was with them. It was a disturbing concept. Someone who disliked children had no business pretending she wanted to be with them.
Zachary repeated his request.
“I’m going to go, too,” Patrick boasted, only to have his brother squash his enthusiasm.
“You’re too little. See?” Zach pointed to a wooden cutout of a cartoon character next to the entrance. “It says if you don’t reach that mark you can’t ride without an adult.”
“Zach’s right. You can’t ride without me and I have to stay with Melody,” Nick told his son.
“I could take the boys,” Kika offered. “That is, if you think the three of us could fit in one seat?”
“You want to go with us?” Zachary’s eyes lit up. “Can she, Dad? Please?”
Nick propped his free hand—the one that wasn’t holding on to Melody—on his waist and faced Kika. “I thought you hated heights.”
“After what happened on the Ferris wheel, I’m cured.” She used her hands to emphasize her words.
Nick had a pretty darn good idea that she was lying. What was she up to, anyway? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to play into her hands.
“It’s not a good idea. You boys have been on enough rides for one day,” Nick told his sons, annoyed that Kika was making him look like the heavy.
“But
Dad, we’ve only been on the kiddie rides. The Rocket’s the coolest ride here. All my friends have been on it,” Zachary pleaded.
Nick was about to say no for the second time when Kika intervened on the boys’ behalf. “I really don’t mind taking them. Of course, if you’d rather go, I could stay down here with Melody.”
So that was it. She wanted him to go so she could stay on the ground with his daughter. She still hadn’t given up on the idea of Melody being in that commercial.
Nick glared at her. It would serve her right if he let her go on The Rocket. Maybe she needed to come unglued in front of his sons so they would quit gazing at her as if she were their fairy godmother.
Yet something inside him refused to let him give in to the temptation. Instead he said, “I’d like to say yes, but Grandma’s waiting for us. The fireworks are going to start in a few minutes.”
“But look how short the line is.” Zachary continued to plead his case. “If we went now we’d get right on.”
“I’ll buy the tickets—my treat,” Kika offered in what was clearly a challenge.
“Please say yes, Dad!” both boys begged. “Please!”
Nick knew he had lost. “All right, but this is your last ride.”
Kika gave him a smug grin as she pranced past him to the ticket kiosk. Instead of being angry, he found himself wanting to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He quickly pushed that thought out of his head.
A few minutes later she flashed three tickets under his nose. “Who’s going? You or me?”
“I’ll go,” he said, taking the tickets from her. Reluctantly, he relinquished Melody’s hand and gave Kika the white bear as well. As he climbed on board The Rocket, he tried not to notice how attractive Kika looked standing beside his daughter. It was useless. There was something about her that drew his attention.
“Our insides are going to get all shook up,” Patrick proclaimed as they climbed into the narrow confines of The Rocket’s seat.
Nick knew that his insides were already that way simply from being in the presence of one bouncy, vivacious blonde. He hoped that the tumbling and turning of The Rocket would toss his emotions into some sort of order, the way they had been before he had met her.
It didn’t happen. As soon as the ride was over and all three of them were back on the ground, Zachary asked, “Can Kika watch the fireworks with us?”
“I’m sure she has other things she wants to do,” Nick answered smoothly, stuffing the bear under his arm as he grabbed Melody by the hand.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t. I would love to come watch the fireworks. But if you don’t have room for me?” Kika gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look that put an extra kick in his heartbeat. She was flirting with him again and he liked it.
“Grandma brought two blankets and her lawn chair,” Zachary interjected.
Nick could imagine the look on Annabelle’s face if he were to bring Kika Mancini back with him. It didn’t matter. He wanted her to come along. “I guess that means we have plenty of room.”
“Great. I’d love to join you,” she said, giving all of them a big smile.
Just as Nick suspected, Annabelle was not delighted to see Kika. Fortunately, Zachary and Patrick launched into a detailed account of their trip on The Rocket, preventing their grandmother from saying anything but a polite hello. Nick wondered if Kika thought Annabelle was deliberately ignoring her.
He had a difficult time being angry with the older woman. He didn’t believe her attitude was intentional. She was just so busy barking out orders to her grandchildren to pull on sweatshirts and spread out the blanket that she had no time to socialize with Kika.
The sun had disappeared, taking with it the warmth that had motivated people to dress in shorts for the parade. With the night came a coolness that surprised Nick. He wondered if Kika was chilly in her white shorts.
His unasked question was answered moments later when she said, “I wonder if I should go back to my car and get my jacket.”
Nick was relieved to hear Annabelle say, “There’s an extra lap robe behind Patrick.”
Nick reached around his son and grabbed the red plaid woolen blanket. He shook it open, then draped it over Kika’s shoulders.
“What about you? Aren’t you cold?” she asked.
Cold? All he had to do was catch a glimpse of her bare legs and his blood ran hot. “I’m okay.”
“Maybe the kids want to share this?” Kika suggested, spreading her arms in a gesture that invited them to come sit beside her. Neither of the boys wanted to sit still. They had discovered a couple of friends from Adventure Club and were running around playing tag. Melody looked at Kika, but didn’t move toward her.
“Are you cold?” Nick asked his daughter.
She shook her head. Then she gave Kika the bear, which Kika pulled into the crook of her arm and cuddled beneath the blanket.
“Are you sure you don’t want to sit beside him?” Kika asked the little girl, but she shyly shook her head.
“Have you given him a name yet?” Kika asked.
Again she shook her head, but with a finger in her mouth, she inched closer. Finally she sat down on the blanket, a few feet away.
Just when it looked as if she might move closer to Kika, a large explosion split the air. The first of the fireworks had been ignited. Startled, Melody looked from her father to Kika, then burst into tears. Kika opened her arms, but Melody ran toward her grandmother.
Annabelle scooped her up, cuddling her in a tender embrace. She rocked her in her lap, speaking words of comfort in her ear. Kika could only look on with a sense of rejection. How foolish she had been to think anything had changed. She didn’t have what it took to be a mother.
The first burst of color brought the boys diving onto the blanket. They spoke nearly nonstop to Kika, asking her which colors she liked best and comparing the different patterns the fireworks left in the sky.
But it wasn’t the Miller boys’ attention she wanted. It was the affection of one small, two-year-old girl who, instead of running to Kika’s arms for comfort, had bolted like a scared rabbit.
Kika forced a brightness to her voice that she wasn’t feeling. She couldn’t think about what had happened with Melody Miller. Kika wasn’t supposed to be the object of the little girl’s affection. She couldn’t be. There was no room in her heart for that kind of feeling.
As the fireworks lit the nighttime sky, she pretended to be having a great time. She oohed and aahed with the boys and ignored the man to her left and the little girl to her right, two people who in a very short time had succeeded in unwinding her heartstrings.
Spending the day with the Millers, Kika had come dangerously close to forgetting the reason she was in Tyler. She needed to remind herself that she wasn’t one of the crowd. She was an outsider. It would be best if she stayed close to Annabelle Scanlon so she didn’t forget that.
She had a goal—to get Fancy’s Baby. She only hoped that Fancy’s Baby didn’t get her heart.
* * *
KIKA WASN’T THE only one feeling a bit put out that Melody had chosen her grandmother’s arms for comfort. As the last of the fireworks lit the sky, Nick wondered why his daughter wasn’t lying against his chest.
Normally, he would have gone over to Annabelle and lifted the little girl out of her arms. However, he wasn’t sure Melody wouldn’t have cried if he had, and it there was one thing he didn’t need Kika Mancini to see it was his less-than-perfect relationship with his daughter.
So at the end of the colorful display, instead of taking care of Melody, he took charge of folding the blankets and gathering up the supplies Annabelle had brought. As they started the walk home, he realized Kika would be going to her car in the dark.
“Where are you parked?” he asked.
She looked around a moment in confusion. “I think I’m thataway,” she answered, stabbing at the air with a finger.
“If you wait, I’ll make sure you find your car. But first I have to take t
he kids home,” he told her.
Patrick, who had become very sleepy all of a sudden, said, “Do we have to walk all the way home? I’m tired.”
Seeing the boys dragging their feet, Annabelle said, “Why don’t I take them back to my house? It’s closer.”
“Maybe that would be best. I can pick them up after I help Kika find her car. Is that all right with you guys?” Nick asked his sons.
To his surprise, there were no objections to his plan. So while Annabelle walked off with Melody and the boys, he went with Kika, two folded blankets in one arm, a lawn chair under the other.
“Is it a rental car?” Nick asked as they crossed Main Street.
“Umm-hmm. Another Corsica—only this one’s blue.”
He chuckled. “Probably the same one I had last week.”
“You’re not driving a rental car?”
“No, I bought a new one. Just got it yesterday.”
She motioned for him to take a right at the next corner. They found the Corsica parked next to the curb.
“Do you want me to give you a ride to Annabelle’s?” she asked, leaning against the door in a rather seductive pose.
The thought of being in the car with her was a tempting one for Nick. The longer he was in her company, the more he wanted to forget that she was not the kind of woman he should find attractive.
“Is that an invitation?”
“Yes. I’m inviting you to accept my offer of a ride. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“I see.”
“So would you like a ride or not?”
What he wanted was to take her to his home, where they could be alone together.
He quickly squelched those thoughts. He had three kids waiting to be picked up at his mother-in-law’s house.
“I’ll walk, thanks,” he said coolly.
“Fine. See ya.” She went to pull the door open, only to discover it was locked. She patted the pockets of her shorts, then turned around with a groan. “I don’t have the keys. I remember putting them in my pocket....” She bent over to peer through the glass. “Oh, no.”
“They’re inside?”
She nodded miserably. “On the seat. I must have missed my pocket.”