by Linda Wisdom
“Lucie.” Ginna’s softly spoken word stopped the woman.
“Time to go,” Lucie said cheerfully.
“You knew I was dating your brother.” Ginna gathered up her brushes.
“Yes.”
“Yet you never told me.”
“I didn’t want things to be awkward. Look, it’s my fault,” she went on hurriedly. “When Zach was taking the trip, I told him to be selfish for once in his life. To be Zach, the man. Not Zach, the father. To give him the opportunity to be himself for a while. Then he didn’t know how to tell you about the twins. I think he’s already figured out just bringing them in here was not a good idea. If you’d rather talk to him privately, I’ll take the twins.”
Ginna’s stomach tightened. “No, they’re looking forward to this. Besides, I need to do this,” she said more to herself.
“I’m sorry.” Lucie looked upset.
“No, don’t be.” Ginna managed a smile. “It had to happen sooner or later. It may as well be now.”
Lucie nodded jerkily and made her escape.
Ginna went into the rear of the salon where she could take a few minutes to compose herself.
For a moment, tears threatened to fall.
He has children.
And here she’d intimated that children weren’t something she wanted in her life. He never said a word.
She felt like throwing up.
It took a few moments for her hand to stop shaking before she touched up her eyeshadow and lipstick.
“Look at it this way. He has kids. That takes the pressure off you.” Nora stood in the doorway. She shrugged. “All right, not exactly tactful, but I don’t think you want to hear any tact right now.”
Ginna’s retort was less than ladylike. Nora arched an eyebrow.
“I guess that didn’t make it better for you.”
“No,” Ginna snapped. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. You’re trying to make me feel better in your usual no-nonsense way and I’m ready to bite your head off.”
“When the head you really want to bite off is Zach’s,” Nora finished for her. “Trey thinks you’re cuter than Robby’s mom. From what he said about the woman, I’d say that’s a good thing. Don’t keep the guy feeling too miserable, okay?”
“I’ll think about it.” Ginna dropped the lipstick into her cosmetic case and zipped it shut.
When she walked out to the reception area, she was smiling at the trio waiting for her.
“I’ll warn you now. No anchovies,” she declared.
“Yuck!” Emma wrinkled her nose.
“Mushrooms are yucky too,” Trey told her as they walked outside.
“They’re better than those little fishes,” she said. She looked down when she found a small hand tucked inside hers. Emma looked up with a broad smile. Ginna couldn’t help but smile back.
“We’re going to one of those pizza places where the games are more popular than the food,” Zach warned. “The kids love it there.”
“Nothing new to me. I’ve gone there before and survived.”
“I know we need to talk,” he murmured.
Her gaze sliced through him like a laser.
“Oh, we will.”
ZACH WAS FINDING OUT what true misery was. And it wasn’t any fun.
It started out that afternoon with Emma insisting she had to have a grown-up haircut and why couldn’t she go where he went. He now knew he was stupid. He thought if he took the twins to where Ginna worked, she would meet them, see how special they were and so on. Which he knew she did.
His ears still smarted from Lucie’s lecture.
“I told you to tell her about the twins. Not rub them in her face!” she practically spat out the words as she kept her voice low so they wouldn’t be overheard.
“What was I supposed to do? Emma got it in her head today that she wanted a grown-up haircut,” he muttered. “I told her I’d call Tia to see if she could fit her in. Emma argues that Tia cuts little girls’ hair. She wanted to go where I go.”
Lucie shook her head, muttering about idiotic fathers who give in to their daughters. “You tell her Tia cuts her hair and Ginna cuts yours. You tell her Ginna couldn’t fit her in.”
“That’s lying,” he protested.
“And what have you been doing to Ginna?”
“Who told me to go to Hawaii and just be Zach, the man, not Zach, the dad?” he countered.
“Lovely, blame it on me. It doesn’t work that way, Zach.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I’d like to remind you that you’ve had plenty of opportunities to tell her the truth. Are you in love with her?”
He took a deep breath. Tension tightened his features. “Not exactly a good place to discuss this, Luce.”
She spared a quick glance toward the back of the salon. Ginna still hadn’t reappeared. Lucie picked up her purse and looped the strap over her shoulder as she stood up.
“All right, I’ll take partial responsibility because I did tell you to go there as some swinging bachelor. Which it seems you did a great job of portraying,” she said. “I’m out of here.” She headed for the door.
“Luce?”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder.
Suddenly something occurred to Zach that he desperately needed to know the answer to.
“Did you book Ginna’s trip, too?”
“I book a lot of trips, Zach,” was all she said as she pushed open the door and left. “It is what I do for a living.”
Suspicion reared its ugly head as he watched his sister walk down the sidewalk.
Apparently Lucie was even more devious than he thought.
THE PIZZA PLACE was everything it advertised. And more.
Bright lights, lots of noise, games of every description for a child and those with an inner child.
Emma and Trey were happy bouncing around in a room filled with multicolored plastic balls while Ginna and Zach sat at a bright purple table with even brighter red-painted chairs. Ginna wore an ankle-length dress patterned with swirls of reds, oranges, golds, purples and midnight blue.
Zach couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“I should have told you about the twins before now. I’m an idiot and I will do whatever is necessary to get back in your good graces,” he said slowly. “If I’d had any sense, I wouldn’t have listened to Lucie. I should have known better, since her past advice hasn’t always been the best.”
She was intrigued. “Such as?”
“I’d have to go back to high school, and it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.” He picked up his slice of pizza and munched on it. “Did Lucie book your trip?”
“Of course.” Ginna was surprised by his question. “When I told her I won my case and that I wanted to take a trip, she said she would handle everything for me.”
“Which, I have a sneaking suspicion, has to do with our somehow ending up with the same seat assignment,” he said softly.
Her expression changed as his words sunk in. “Wait a minute.”
Zach nodded. “Exactly.”
“Are you saying that Lucie set us up?”
“With Lucie, anything is possible. She’s been nagging me to date more,” he admitted. “She booked both our trips and we end up not only on the same flight, but the same seat. What does that say?”
“She thought I was depressed about seeing my ex-husband again,” she mused. “When all I really wanted to do was never see him again in this lifetime. So she decided to get us together.”
“Yep.” Zach looked at her hopefully. “Does this mean you’re no longer mad at me?”
“Oh, I’m mad,” Ginna replied in her soft lethal voice. Along with the anger sparking her eyes was a hint of sorrow, a sorrow that tore at Zach’s heart. “I can’t easily forgive you for what you kept from me. I think of all those times I talked about my nieces and nephew and yet you never said one damn word.” She shook her head. “It hurts, Zach. You’re lucky I don’t hold grudges.” She paused. The intensity in her voice
didn’t change, but the timbre did, sending chills up and down his spine as she said, “Can you imagine what a couple of inventive adults could do in that enclosure with all those plastic balls?”
Zach gulped.
She kept her voice low so they couldn’t be overheard as she told him just what she was thinking. After that, she moved on to a few other of the play areas in the restaurant. By the time she finished, Zach’s slice of pizza hung limply from his hand.
“Oh, you are good,” he said once he recovered his vocal chords.
She smiled. “A good thing to remember.”
“You’re not done torturing me, are you.”
“Oh, Zach, you don’t know what torture is.” She presented him with a pitying smile. “Torture for you will begin in about nine years when Emma gets her period and starts having cramps and PMS. Then she’ll start growing breasts and experiencing all those female problems. She’ll need bras, feminine hygiene products. She’ll have more interest in boys, will want to wear makeup.”
Zach winced with each word spoken.
“Okay, you’ve done an excellent job,” he groaned, putting down the pizza and burying his face in his hands. “I’m not going to survive this.”
Ginna leaned forward. “I could tell you stories that would curl your hair.”
“Oh, God!” His voice was muffled by his hands.
“Of course, I can’t say what will happen with Trey. As a member of the male sex, you’d know much better.”
“Daddy?” The objects of their conversation stood before them. Trey looked curious. “Your face is green.”
Ginna smiled.
“Zach, now that is torture,” she whispered, enunciating each word.
“Come shoot aliens with me!” Trey begged, pulling on his father’s arm.
“I’m off to shoot aliens,” Zach said, getting up.
“My hero. And the world will once again be safe for all mankind.” Ginna chuckled.
Zach looked over his shoulder as he walked away. His expression said he wasn’t sure if he was out of the woods yet.
Ginna wasn’t going to forgive him all that easily.
She turned to smile at Emma, who climbed up onto her chair and picked up her slice of pizza.
“I really like my hair,” she told Ginna with a big grin. “I feel grown-up now.”
“It’s important to feel grown-up,” Ginna replied. “I’m glad I could help.”
“Daddy said I can’t grow up until I’m thirty. Thirty is really really old,” she confided.
“Not to all of us,” Ginna said dryly. “Daddies are like that. My dad said I couldn’t date until I was forty.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “Wow. What did you do?”
She smiled. “I grew up, anyway. Emma, you’re four years old and you have your whole life ahead of you. What you should do for now is enjoy your last days of preschool and go on to enjoy your time in kindergarten.”
“Even Robby?” She wrinkled her nose in little-girl disgust. “He’s going to the same kindergarten.”
Ginna smiled. “Even Robby. You know, Emma, Robby could grow up to be a really neat guy.”
“I don’t think so,” she said with certainty. “He picks his nose.”
ZACH DIDN’T GET any more chances to talk to Ginna that night. As soon as they finished their pizza and the twins had played all the games they wanted, Ginna explained she had to get home to her dog. Which had Emma and Trey excitedly asking about Casper.
As he drove her back to the salon parking lot, she assured Emma she had the perfect hairstyle for a girl entering kindergarten and Trey would be the handsomest boy there.
For Zach, she offered a brief, faintly warm smile and a thank-you for dinner.
Emma and Trey were tired enough that they offered no argument when baths and bedtime arrived. As he tucked his daughter into bed, she reached up and gave him a tight hug.
“Thank you for letting me get a grown-up haircut, Daddy,” she whispered, kissing him on the cheek.
Damn, nothing felt better.
Zach wandered around the family room, tossing toys left on the floor into the basket that sat in the corner of the room. He kept hold of one of Emma’s stuffed rabbits as he dropped onto the couch, his legs splayed out in front of him.
Life was way too complicated, he decided. He was haunted by the pain in Ginna’s eyes. The memory tore him up inside.
He hadn’t expected what started out as a pleasant encounter on the plane to turn out to be one of the most incredible experiences of his life.
Maybe you should tell her that.
“Why don’t you put a sock in it?” he growled at his conscience.
It didn’t help when his gaze kept wandering in the direction of the telephone.
Would she talk to him? After the way she left him, he wouldn’t be surprised if she hung up on him. Of course, he wouldn’t know unless he called.
He stretched out his hand toward the phone, fingertips just barely touching the plastic back. He stretched a little more and grabbed hold of it.
He listened to the dial tone for a moment. Just to make sure the phone worked. He made careful deliberation as he tapped out each number.
It rang twice before he heard sounds of the other end being picked up.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
Silence.
“The kids really enjoyed tonight,” he began, then stopped. “That’s not why I called.”
More silence.
“Dammit, Ginna, I’m no good at this!” He felt frustration take over. “I thought you said you weren’t mad at me anymore.”
“I’m no longer mad, but I’m not going to make anything easier for you,” she said quietly. “Besides, you were the one who called me.”
“That’s because I wanted to properly apologize to you without arcade sounds in the background,” he said.
Still more silence.
“I’m waiting,” she finally said. “In fact, if you’re going to apologize, I suggest you do it in person. It would be more effective.”
He wasn’t sure if it would be more effective, as she put it. He had the good sense not to say so out loud.
“Delaney’s Diner down by the wharf. Be there tomorrow morning at nine,” was all she said before she hung up.
Zach hit the disconnect button.
“She can’t do much bodily harm in a public place,” he muttered.
ZACH REACHED the diner just a little bit before nine o’clock. The interior reflected the late fifties and sixties. Enlarged magazine advertisements from that era hung on the wall, and classic rock and roll came from a huge Wurlitzer jukebox. Set near the beach, the restaurant was popular with the ocean-loving crowd.
Zach was shown to a red-benched booth and given a brightly colored menu that featured meals named after popular fifties’ and sixties’ movies and fads. He sat facing the entrance. He hadn’t been here before, and he knew he’d have to bring the twins. They’d love the music and the energy.
He watched Ginna arrive. She noticed him right away and made her way to him, only stopping a few times to say hello to people she knew.
Her turquoise gingham capris, yellow tank top and matching gingham short-sleeved shirt fit the boisterous atmosphere. Yellow backless sandals finished the outfit.
She didn’t say anything as she looked at his turquoise polo shirt, which almost perfectly matched the turquoise in her outfit.
Her expression was blank as she sat down across from him. She accepted a menu.
“Hey there, Ginna, coffee?” A waitress stopped by the table.
“Hi, Rona. Yes, please.” She offered a bright smile.
Rona filled her cup and looked expectantly at Zach, who nodded.
“You know what you want?” Rona asked them.
“I’ll have the Beach Party special, my eggs scrambled and a large grapefruit juice,” Ginna said.
“Palm Springs Weekend for me,” Zach said after scanning the menu. “Eggs over easy, sourd
ough toast, orange juice.”
Rona nodded and scooted off.
“Helpings are big here,” Ginna warned him.
“Considering I barely had time for coffee this morning, big portions are a good idea,” he muttered. “Trey couldn’t find his backpack. Little did I know it hadn’t been taken out of the truck the day before.” He took a deep breath. “Here we go. Let me get this out. Then you can kill me any way you want to. I know you said you’re mad at me, but I also know I hurt you. I need to make things right. As I said, Lucie told me to take the trip as this guy with no responsibilities.” She arched an eyebrow. “Sometimes my sister isn’t known for her spectacular ideas. But I figured why not. I didn’t expect to…” He paused. “I didn’t expect to meet you.” He met her gaze head on. “I wasn’t looking forward to that trip. I figured I’d spend my time on the beach and then nursing a bad sunburn. Instead, I got on the plane and there was a gorgeous woman sitting in my seat.”
“My seat,” she corrected.
“Obviously Luce meant it for both of us and I intend to take that up with her,” he went on. “Plus, dammit, I was flattered this gorgeous woman was interested in me. I wasn’t seen as Emma and Trey’s dad. I was seen as this sexy guy.”
“I don’t recall saying you were sexy,” Ginna said.
“You thought it.” He wasn’t going to stop now. “That was the first time in four years I’ve been seen that way. I liked it.”
“Then might I suggest you thank your sister for her wonderful gesture.”
Zach smiled. “You’re right. I should. And I will. Even though she’ll never let me forget it.”
Ginna waved her hand in the air. “That’s what sisters are for.”
Rona stopped by with their glasses of juice. And soon enough, brought their food.
Ginna poured syrup over her pancakes and dug into her eggs scrambled with bits of ham and peppers.
“We’ve seen each other often since returning to Newport Beach,” Ginna said in a low voice. “Yet you still didn’t tell me about Emma and Trey.”
“Which is my fault, because the last thing I would do is disavow my kids.”
She held up a hand to stop him. “I believe you,” she said simply. “I was hurt and I wanted you to suffer. I think you’ve suffered enough.”
He exhaled a sigh of relief.