by Gina Wilkins
“That smells heavenly,” she said from the doorway, just as he set the two plates on the kitchen table. She held the baby, who was clinging to her shirt with one chubby hand and had the other crammed into his mouth.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Tom said, nodding toward her well-filled plate.
“Starved.”
“Coffee? Orange juice?”
“Both, please.”
He nodded. “I’ll get them for you. You want me to bring the carrier in here for the baby? You can’t eat and hold him, can you?”
“Actually, I can,” she answered with a smile that bespoke experience. “But I’ll get the carrier while you pour our drinks.”
She set the plastic seat on the table within her reach, strapped Kenny in, and handed him a colorful teething toy, which went immediately into the baby’s mouth. “He’s getting a tooth, I think,” Leslie explained, reaching for her fork.
Tom concentrated on his breakfast. For some reason, he found himself avoiding looking at the baby. He couldn’t explain it, exactly, but something about little Kenny made him uncomfortable.
He usually liked babies, enjoyed watching their funny faces, their wide-eyed fascination with everything around them, their innocence and candor. But this baby... well, for some reason it almost scared him. And that was ridiculous, of course. What harm could a tiny infant cause him?
Suddenly aware of the silence between him and Leslie, he cleared his throat and tried to think of something to say. Even he was aware of how strangely he was acting. Leslie must be wondering what on earth was wrong with him. Quiet was not an adjective that had been applied to him very often.
“Mom came through pretty well last night, didn’t she?” he asked. “Didn’t even look surprised to see you here.”
“I’ve always said your mother was a treasure,” Leslie remarked. “But I’m very sorry that we—that I put her in such an awkward position.”
“Knowing Mom, she’s just itching to find out what’s going on. I’m surprised she hasn’t already called. She’ll want to know what to say to Steve during lunch, of course.”
Abruptly, Leslie put down her fork. Her face was troubled, her eyes shadowed.
“This isn’t going to work,” she said flatly. “It was a really stupid idea, a foolishly impulsive mistake on my part. It was just that... well, I panicked in Chicago and I ran, and somehow I ended up here. I should never have done this to you or to your mother, and I can’t expect you to get involved in my problems, so as soon as I’ve showered and dressed, Kenny and I will be leaving. Just forget what I asked, okay? And please accept my apology for intruding on you the way I did.”
Keeping his voice very calm to counteract the mounting distress in hers, Tom asked politely, “And just where will you go?”
As he’d expected, she had no immediate answer.
Tom had already figured out that she’d literally had no one else to turn to when she’d come to him. And, while it wasn’t exactly flattering that she’d seen him as a last resort, he had no intention of sending her away without doing whatever he could to help her.
Even had there not been a complex history between them, even if the feelings he’d had for her had died—which they had not—even if she were a total stranger, for that matter, it simply wasn’t in his nature to turn away someone who needed him. Maybe he was out of the rescue business these days, but old habits died hard. And it felt good to be needed again.
“We’ll go to my mother’s place for the meeting with Steve,” he said before Leslie could come up with another plan. “If we see that it’s necessary to let him go on thinking we’re engaged, then that’s what we’ll do for now. If nothing else, it will let him know that you aren’t alone in this, that it won’t be as easy as he’d thought for him to take Kenny away from you.”
Leslie looked at the quietly babbling baby. “For the past few months, Kenny’s been my whole life. He brought such joy to Crystal in her last weeks, and such comfort to me after her death. I never thought it was possible to feel this way about a child, but I love him so much it hurts.”
Tom felt his brows dip into a frown, and he immediately blanked his expression. So that was part of the problem, he thought with a flash of rueful self-analysis. He was more than a little jealous of the baby.
Leslie was prepared to do anything to keep Kenny. Yet she’d been all too willing to walk away from Tom eighteen months ago.
Annoyed with himself for his pettiness, he nodded a bit curtly. “You’re not going to lose him, Les. After all you’ve done for him and his mother, no judge in his right mind would call you an unfit guardian. Steve doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He and his sister weren’t even speaking.”
“He has a home. A successful business. Money. Influential friends.”
Tom refused to let the fear in her eyes shake his confident tone. “You have friends, too,” he said, holding her gaze with his own. “And we’re going to help you.”
He watched her take a deep breath, watched the fear recede, though he knew it hadn’t entirely disappeared. She blinked rapidly a few times, obviously fighting tears, then swallowed.
“Thank you,” she said finally, her voice not entirely steady.
“I haven’t done anything yet,” he said with a faint smile.
“You’ve done more than you know,” she answered, entirely serious.
He didn’t want her gratitude. He frowned and changed the subject. “Who gets the first shower?”
He tried not to think of the times they’d showered together. Or to wonder if they would ever do so again. He told himself that it was totally inappropriate for him to be thinking along those lines this morning. Leslie didn’t need a lover now; she needed a friend. So that was what he would be.
“You go ahead,” Leslie urged, her expression unreadable. “I’ll clean up the kitchen, then give Kenny a bath in the sink. He usually takes a nap after his bath, so I can shower then.”
“Fine. I won’t take long. Er, if Mom calls...”
“I’ll talk to her,” Leslie said. “I’ll tell her the entire story, and if she has any hesitation about being a part of this, I’ll track Steve down and set up a private meeting with him somewhere else.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Tom predicted with a wry smile. “Mom won’t have a qualm about helping us out.”
In fact, he thought as he headed for the shower, his mother was probably going to throw herself into this battle with full steam. For one thing, she was as bad as Tom about not being able to turn away anyone in trouble. For another, she’d always been fond of Leslie, and had made no secret of her disappointment when Tom and Leslie had gone their separate ways. She was probably delighted with the engagement announcement, even though she surely suspected that it wasn’t authentic. Tom wouldn’t be at all surprised if she was eagerly hoping that it would become a fact.
The telephone rang less than five minutes after Leslie heard the shower start running. She had just finished cleaning the kitchen and had been gathering towels, diapers and clean clothing for Kenny. Setting the bath supplies aside, she took a deep breath and reached for the telephone, anticipating her embarrassment when she had to explain to Tom’s mother that she’d arrived out of the blue on Tom’s doorstep and practically begged him to marry her.
She was painfully aware that Tom still hadn’t given her an answer.
“Hello,” she said, lifting the telephone receiver to her ear.
There was a pause of sorts, and then a man said, “Oh, sorry. I guess I have the wrong number.”
“Zach?” Leslie asked tentatively, thinking she recognized the voice.
“Yeah?” He sounded surprised to hear his name.
“Hi. It’s Leslie. Leslie Harden.”
There was a definite pause this time. “Leslie?” he asked finally. “This is a surprise.”
She’d bet it was. Actually, Zach had never seemed all that fond of her. But, then, the coolness had been mutual. She’d thought Zach somewhat cocky, a bit con
ceited, and all too reckless with his life and Tom’s when they’d encouraged each other to pursue ever more dangerous challenges. Rock climbing, rafting, parachuting, car racing, bungee jumping—Zach and Tom had tried them all just in the few months Leslie and Tom were together. And Leslie had worried every time, though she’d tried to hide her fears, knowing that Tom and Zach would only laugh them off.
She’d never tried to come between Tom and Zach, of course. She’d had no right. And besides, her own bond with Crystal had made her fully understand what a special, closer-than-kin friendship was worth.
“How long have you been in town?” Zach asked.
“I arrived last night.”
“Tom didn’t mention that he was expecting you.”
“Didn’t he?” She left it at that, deciding that Tom could explain her presence to his friends in his own way.
“So, how have you been?”
“Fine, thanks. Oh, and congratulations. Tom said you’re married.”
“Yeah. Kim and I have been married for eight months now.”
Leslie couldn’t help wondering about the woman who’d captured the heart of former local heartbreaker Zach McCain.
“Er, is Tom there?”
“He’s in the shower. Would you like for me to take a message?”
“Just tell him I called, okay? I’ll talk to him later.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“Thanks.”
She was preparing to hang up the phone, when Zach said, “Leslie?”
She brought the phone back to her ear. “Yes?”
“The last year’s been pretty hard on Tom. I’d hate to see him hurt again.”
The words were uttered in a half-embarrassed growl. Leslie wouldn’t have been more startled if he’d shouted them at her.
What was going on around here? What had happened to take the laughter out of Tom, to make Zach act so worried and protective? Neither of them was behaving at all as Leslie had known them.
Zach hung up before she could think of anything to say in response to his less-than-subtle warning.
Thoughtful and more than a little concerned, Leslie hung up the phone, noted that Zach had called, then turned to gather the baby’s bath things again. It was obvious that she wasn’t the only one who’d had problems since she and Tom had separated, she mused. If only she knew what had gone wrong for Tom.
Leaving the baby sleeping in his portable crib, Leslie took her time in the shower. The hot water felt wonderful against the tension knots in her neck. And maybe she was using the time to avoid Tom for a while.
When she could delay no longer, she dried and styled her hair and reapplied her makeup, then spent a few minutes trying to decide what to wear for this luncheon-showdown at Nina’s apartment. She finally decided on a not-too-dressy, not-too-casual ensemble, a peacock-blue tunic sweater over black slacks, accessorized with a simple gold chain and the diamond stud earrings she habitually wore.
When she emerged from the guest bedroom, Tom was on the telephone in the living room, his back turned toward her, so that he wasn’t immediately aware of her entrance.
“No, Mom, I haven’t told her yet,” he was saying as she entered. “I don’t know why, but it just hasn’t seemed like the right time. There’s no need to go into it at lunch, okay? Let’s just concentrate on what’s best for the baby for now.”
Leslie frowned, wondering what he was hiding from her.
Was it something to do with another woman? she asked herself in sudden dismay. Had Tom fallen in love with someone after Leslie had moved away? Maybe he’d had his heart broken. Maybe that was what Zach had meant when he’d said that Tom had been hurt enough. Maybe Tom was still in love with that someone else.
Still unaware of her presence behind him, Tom hung up the phone and crossed the room to pick up the coffee mug he’d left on an end table. Watching him walk, focusing on that uncomfortable-looking limp, Leslie bit her lip. She’d assumed that he’d simply twisted an ankle or something, that the injury had been recent, but the limp looked no better today than it had last night. Just when had he hurt himself? And how badly? She realized that he’d been notably evasive each time she’d mentioned it.
She wished she had the nerve to just come out and ask him what was wrong, but she supposed she’d infringed on his privacy enough during the past twenty-four hours. “That was your mom?” she asked, instead.
Tom jerked, almost spilling his coffee, and swore beneath his breath.
“I’m sorry,” Leslie said, taking a quick step toward him. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” She hadn’t realized he’d been so deeply lost in his thoughts.
He swiped at his gray-, white-, and-maroon-striped shirt with one hand, checked to make sure no coffee stains spotted his gray chinos, then shrugged. “No harm done. Guess I was daydreaming. And yeah, that was Mom.”
“You explained everything?”
He nodded. “She said to tell you that you did the right thing to come to us for help. She’ll back us up with whatever we choose to say to Pendleton. I told you she would want to help.”
Leslie was touched. “That’s very kind of her.”
“She always liked you.” Tom set his mug down. “She told us to come on over whenever we’re ready. If we get there before Pendleton, we’ll have a chance to get our stories straight before he shows up.”
Leslie glanced at her watch. “Kenny should be waking from his nap soon.”
“We’ll leave when he wakes up, then. Would you like some coffee or anything?”
She shook her head, hating the stilted politeness they’d fallen into. “I’m fine, thank you.”
Tom took a seat on the couch. Leslie perched on a chair, trying to think of some way to break the silence without prying.
“What’s Zach’s wife like?” she asked finally, seizing on what seemed to be a safe enough topic. “Do you like her?”
“Kim? Yes, I like her,” Tom replied with a smile that seemed genuine. “You’d probably be surprised to meet her. She’s a bit shy, even a little timid, but a lot of fun once you get to know her. Just passed her CPA exam a few months ago. She’s working for a firm downtown now. Seems to really enjoy it.”
“Zach McCain married a shy, timid accountant?” Leslie repeated blankly, wondering if Tom was putting her on.
He chuckled, looking more like the man Leslie remembered so well. “It’s true,” he assured her. “Kim’s not nearly as timid as she used to be, but she’s still no daredevil. Zach’s been trying for ages to get her to go skydiving, but she keeps telling him hell will freeze over first. It’s an interesting battle of wills, but my money’s on Kim. Once she really sets her mind to something, not even Zach can change it.”
“I would have expected Zach to end up with someone just like him,” Leslie admitted. “Someone fearless and adventurous. And drop-dead gorgeous, of course, to match him.”
Tom’s smile was wry. “Kim’s very pretty, but I’m not sure she’d qualify as ‘drop-dead gorgeous.’ Zach’s crazy about her. He never worked as hard at anything in his life as he did when he was trying to persuade Kim to give him a chance with her. She thought they were too different to make it work, but he finally convinced her otherwise.”
Leslie mused ruefully that she’d bet it was the first time in his life Zach had been forced to work for any woman’s attention. Women had been chasing after him since he’d reached puberty. It must have been good for his slightly overinflated ego to encounter one who hadn’t been so eagerly available.
“Obviously you and Zach are still close,” she commented, remembering that Tom had said he’d spent last evening with Zach and Kim and thinking that it was nice for Tom’s sake that Zach’s marriage hadn’t interfered with the longtime friendship.
Tom’s hesitation was just long enough for Leslie to notice. “Yeah,” he said, not quite meeting her eyes. “We’re still good friends.”
Taken aback, she tried to read his expression, but he’d shuttered it again. Something was definitel
y wrong here. Something that had affected Tom’s personality, and even his friendship with Zach. And she was growing increasingly concerned.
For the first time in months, Leslie found herself worrying more about someone else’s problems than her own.
Nina Lowery held little Kenny in her lap while her son and Leslie explained all the details of the custody battle and the reasons Leslie had come to Tom for help.
“You poor dear,” Nina said to Leslie. “I can’t imagine how difficult these past months have been for you.”
Leslie’s throat tightened around a sudden lump. She hadn’t realized until now quite how lonely she’d been during the past months. She hadn’t made many friends in Chicago, and had had little time for any social life after Crystal had moved in with her, needing so much time and attention. The law firm where she’d worked had been fast-track and cutthroat, coworkers seen as competition rather than allies. It was an attitude that had been encouraged by the senior partners and accepted within the lower ranks. Leslie had known almost from the beginning that she’d made a mistake taking the position there, but she’d desperately needed her salary during Crystal’s illness.
No one there had looked at her as Nina was now, and expressed genuine sympathy. No one had unquestioningly offered any help she needed, as Tom had when he’d opened his home to her and Kenny.
When she’d had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to, it had seemed utterly natural for her to come here. And now she fully understood why.
Kenny babbled and kicked his feet, instantly reclaiming Nina’s attention. “What a little darling you are,” she crooned, tickling the baby’s tummy through his one-piece, blue-and-white-striped playsuit. “A perfect little angel, aren’t you?”
Tom chuckled. “Just show Mom a baby and she turns to mush,” he commented fondly.
“I’m crazy about babies,” Nina agreed, and kissed Kenny’s bobbing head. She glanced at Leslie. “And I can see that you love this child very much.”