Bad Girls Don't

by Linz, Cathie

  Chapter Seven

  “Why do I have the impression that you weren’t singing my praises?” Nathan said as he cautiously entered the room.

  “Maybe because you’re paranoid?” Skye suggested.

  “Just because he’s paranoid, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t still talking about him,” Lulu said. “I have the T-shirt. Oh, wait, I traded it for this one.” She pointed to her chest. Don’t talk to me when I’m talking to myself.

  “So, to what do we owe the honor of your visit, Nate?” Sister Mary asked.

  At that point, Toni ran into the room with her favorite toy in hand—Ta, the orange tiger Angel had recently crocheted for her. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Nathan. “It’s the mean man! I thought you said he’d turn into a toad, Mommy. He bites,” the little girl told the room at large. “He told me so.”

  As Skye watched Nathan’s face turn red, she almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

  “Maybe I should come back later,” he muttered.

  “Why? There’s nothing you can’t say in front of my friends. Have you come here to continue your interrogation?” Skye demanded.

  “You didn’t by any chance bring handcuffs with you, did you?” Sue Ellen asked hopefully.

  “Or a whip?” Lulu said.

  Nathan’s eyes shot to Sister Mary, who waved away his visible concern. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “He is carrying a big gun,” Nancy noted with a grin.

  “Come on, give the guy a break, would you?” Algee came to Nathan’s defense. “Maybe we should all clear out and let him speak to Skye privately. Who knows, maybe he came to apologize to her for mistakenly believing a word that tacky accountant said about her.” Algee’s inflection clearly indicated that an apology was definitely in order and would be a very good idea. Hint, hint.

  Skye was actually impressed with how quickly Algee cleared the room. He offered to take Toni down to the comic-book store with him, but the little girl steadfastly refused to leave her mother’s side. Skye’s miniprotector eyed Nathan suspiciously.

  “So, did you come to apologize, Nathan?” Skye asked.

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  “And what manner might that be?”

  “I may have been a little rough on you last night.”

  “You think?”

  “You didn’t help matters any.”

  “Not a direction you want to take if you want this apology to fly,” she warned.

  Toni’s eyes widened. “Does he fly? Like those mean monkeys in The Wizard of Oz?”

  “No, he can’t fly,” Skye reassured her.

  “I brought something,” he stated gruffly.

  “Not handcuffs or a whip?”

  “No. It’s something for the kid. I didn’t mean to scare her.” His voice got even gruffer.

  “You can speak directly to her. She’s right here.”

  Skye saw him swallow, and a wave of emotion suddenly hit her. The raw emotion was coming from the uptight lawman. Toni wasn’t the one scared. Nathan was.

  But why? What did this mean? Did it have something to do with his wife? Did they have a kid of their own? Maybe she should have paid more attention when people had tried to tell her about him.

  Nathan surprised her by squatting so that he was eye-level with Toni. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.”

  Toni’s eyes darted up to her mother for direction before taking matters into her own little hands. “Do you promise not to be mean again?” she said sternly.

  Nathan nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Okay.” Toni patted his cheek. “You’re okay now. Just don’t be mean again or my mommy will really have to turn you into a toad.”

  Skye saw his Adam’s apple bobble as he rose to his feet. “Here.” He shoved a wrapped package into her arms before quickly exiting.

  So much pain, so tightly bound inside one man.

  “What’s in the package, Mommy?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to unwrap it to see.” As Skye tore off the paper, it occurred to her that she might have to unwrap Nathan’s defenses in order to see the man inside.

  “Show me, show me!” Toni jumped up and down with excitement.

  It was a book. Kitten’s First Full Moon, about a kitten who thought the moon was a bowl of milk, with wonderful black-and-white illustrations.

  Maybe there was more to the guy than met the eye. Not that what met the eye wasn’t mighty fine. That big gun and all.

  Later that afternoon, Angel stared down at the tarot cards spread out on the 1950s-style Formica kitchen table in Skye’s apartment. “These seem to indicate that you may be in for a rough patch coming up. With some danger.”

  “I’m in danger of smacking that guy,” Skye said.

  “What guy?”

  “Nathan.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s starting to seem complicated, and you know how I am about that.”

  “You’re a sucker for that.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Skye bit into an organic Winesap apple she’d gotten from the local farmer’s market. “Why couldn’t he just stay a pain in the butt? Why did he have to get Toni an adorable kitten book?”

  “He got her a book? When?”

  “Earlier this afternoon. When he stopped by.”

  “And that’s why you want to smack him?” Angel said. “Because you’re attracted to him?”

  Skye nodded.

  “Violence is never the answer to a problem. Although Adam made me want to smack him when we talked the other day,” Angel admitted.

  “You talked to Adam? Why?”

  “It was about Julia.”

  “What about her?”

  “He wants to meet up for dinner.”

  “The capitalist pig is after you.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “I thought I heard he’s separated from his wife.”

  “I don’t care if he is.”

  “Did you say you’d meet him?” Skye demanded.

  Angel nodded sheepishly.

  “What were you thinking? Never mind. I think Toni and I should go with you. That should keep his mind off sex with you.”

  “Now you’re sounding like Tyler.”

  “What does he think about this dinner idea?”

  “I haven’t exactly told him yet.”

  “Remember how much trouble you got into for lying before? About Julia’s biological father?”

  “I know. I believe in leading an honest life. Really, I do. But sometimes . . .”

  “Sometimes what?”

  “It’s hard. And stressful.”

  “That’s a sign that you should stay far away from Adam. I mean, you didn’t see the guy for thirty years.”

  “I know.”

  “Julia’s not even here, and still she’s able to make you miserable.”

  “This isn’t Julia’s fault. I know you two girls have some issues . . .”

  “More issues than Time magazine, as the saying goes. Although I prefer the irreverent satire of the Onion.”

  “You’re both just so different.”

  “Yeah. She’s uptight and impossible and I’m always right.”

  Angel smiled. “She came through for us when we were in a bind a few months ago. She let us stay with her all that time. I’m still living in her house.”

  “House-sitting while she’s off pretending to be a wild thing. As if she could ever really pull that act off.”

  “She looked pretty natural sitting on the back of that Harley, I must say. I was really surprised. But you didn’t see her, did you?”

  Skye shook her head.

  “Why not?” Angel studied Skye’s face. “Why didn’t you come see her off?”

  “I was busy.”

  Angel gave her a look.

  Skye tossed her apple in the garbage. “I didn’t want to, okay?”

  “You’re not jealous, are you?”

  “Of her and Luke? No way. We had zip ch
emistry.”

  “No, I meant of her father.”

  “You mean the fact that she has a billionaire father who’s alive, while my father is dead? No. I’d rather have had my dad any day.”

  “That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure.” Angel frowned. “There’s still tension in your voice whenever you speak about her.”

  “Because she drives me crazy.”

  “Julia says the same about you.”

  “I know she does. But she’s wrong. She always thinks she knows best.”

  “The curse of being an older sister, perhaps?”

  “I don’t know what caused it, but it is a curse, all right. And she’s so bossy and judgmental. Half the trouble I got into was just to piss her off.”

  “Well, she’s not around now, so you don’t have to do anything to get into trouble. Unless that’s why you’re creating sparks with the sheriff? To aggravate your sister?”

  “No. He’s able to aggravate me all on his own.”

  “I suspect you have the same effect on him.”

  “I also want to grab him and kiss him.”

  “He looks at you as if he’d like that too. With him doing some of the grabbing, as well. So what’s stopping you two from getting together?”

  Skye stared at Angel as if she’d just beamed down from another galaxy. “You’re kidding, right? Can you see me with a tight-assed authority figure like him?”

  “You said yourself that he’s complicated.”

  “So he’s a complicated tight-assed authority figure.”

  “That you’d really like to have sex with.”

  “Possibly.”

  “So, what do you plan on doing about it?”

  “Please.” Skye gave her mother a look. “Since when have I ever had a plan?”

  “True.” Angel enveloped her in a quick hug. “So you’re just going to see what happens? See where fate takes you?”

  “Or where I take fate. You know I like to lead rather than follow.”

  “I suspect Nathan feels the same way. About being a leader and not a follower.”

  “Yeah, I suspect the same thing.” Skye grinned. “Which should make things interesting, huh?”

  Angel spent the next day in Philadelphia, exploring some new co-ops and yarn shops before heading for the trendy seafood place Adam had selected. She and Adam arrived at the same time. At first glance, he didn’t seem any different than the last time she’d seen him, several months ago. His aura still had lots of red and brown going on. He still radiated power and confidence. His hazel eyes were different, though. She just wasn’t sure how.

  He ordered a hot appetizer called Dynamite, which combined baked shrimp, scallops, calamari, and shitake mushrooms with spicy mayo. She’d forgotten he liked spicy food as much as she did.

  “I read in the paper that your other daughter won a million dollars in the lottery. If she needs any financial advice, I can recommend someone,” Adam offered.

  “She’s bought a theater.”

  “She what?”

  “She bought a movie theater. The Tivoli. In Rock Creek.”

  “What made her do an idiotic thing like that?”

  “It’s not idiotic,” Angel protested.

  Adam narrowed his eyes at her. “Was this your idea?”

  “No, it was not.”

  “You don’t have to get all het up about it. My question was a valid one, given your business history.”

  “Hey, it’s not easy being a New Age entrepreneur. You’re never going to let me forget that, are you? Or forget the fact that I didn’t tell you about Julia right away.”

  “Right away? You waited thirty years!”

  “Is that why you invited me to dinner? Because you wanted to accuse me face-to-face?”

  “No.” Adam rubbed his hand across his face and, for a second, looked amazingly vulnerable. Unless she was imagining things? “I want to understand.”

  “Do you really, Adam?”

  “Yeah, I do.” He sounded distressed. “I missed all that baby stuff. Julia’s first walk, her first words. And I’ll never get it back.”

  “You could have more children.”

  “I already told you that I can’t.”

  When she’d let him know about Julia, he’d confessed to a medical condition that had subsequently made him sterile, but he hadn’t gone into any details and Angel hadn’t wanted to ask. “You could still adopt.”

  “Where did we go wrong?” His eyes turned melancholy.

  “We?”

  “You and me.”

  “As I recall, you cheated on me.”

  “You said you didn’t want an exclusive relationship. You were the one who made that statement, not me.”

  “I didn’t really mean it.”

  “How the hell was I supposed to know that?”

  “It was a long time ago, Adam. We’ve changed.”

  “You haven’t.” At her look, he added, “I mean it. You haven’t lost your zest for life.”

  “I appreciate the compliment.” She took a gulp of wine. Was he flirting with her? Was she responding? Or was it just another hot flash?

  “Did you really think I was such a monster that you had to hide my child from me?”

  “Oh, Adam, it’s not that simple. I was afraid you’d take her from me. And that you’d raise her to worship the dollar the way your family does. You come from an incredibly powerful family. I had no one.”

  “No family of your own?”

  Angel paused to take another gulp of wine, an even bigger one this time. “Not that I could count on.”

  “My family isn’t exactly the supportive warm-and-fuzzy kind of clan.”

  “I know. I remember you telling me that. But they’re powerful. You’re powerful. And I’m not. Or rather, I’m not in the same way. I have my own powers. Anyway, I figured I’d tell Julia about you when she got older and would be able to stand up to you. When she was an adult. Then the years went by, and . . . Anyway, I did finally tell her. And you.”

  “Sharing that kind of news at a book signing isn’t exactly the way I’d pictured it.”

  “Me either. But I figured it was my best chance to get close to you.”

  “You never thought to call me?”

  Angel rolled her eyes. “Please. As if I’d be able to get through to you. Anyway, it all worked out in the end. You and Julia seemed to be getting along without too much conflict.”

  “I hardly got to know her before she took off with that biker guy,” Adam complained.

  “Luke is a good man.”

  “He turned down a large chunk of money from me.”

  “So Julia told me. That was a dumb move, Adam.”

  “I had to make sure he was in love with her and not her money.”

  “She doesn’t have any money.”

  “As my only heir, she will have.”

  Angel stared at him in disbelief. “Surely you don’t think she’s going to run your empire, do you?”

  “Surely you don’t think she’s going to be happy staying in that small-town library when she gets back?”

  “It’s Julia’s life. Her choice. Not yours, not mine. We should stay out of it. That’s what parents do.”

  “I wouldn’t know. So what else are parents supposed to do?”

  “Love unconditionally.”

  “The way you love Skye? Even when she does something wacky, like buying a movie theater?”

  “I love both my daughters, equally and unconditionally.”

  “They aren’t much alike.”

  “No, they aren’t. But that doesn’t matter.”

  “And how do you do that? Love unconditionally.”

  Angel shrugged. “You just do it.”

  To her surprise, Adam leaned forward and took her hand in his. “I might need your help in showing me the way. Think you can do that?”

  He wanted her to help him become a better father. A better man. A better human being. How could she say no?

  Skye stood b
efore her belly-dancing students, wearing a short purple T-shirt and black leggings, her attention focused on her friend who’d just joined the class. “There’s a reason it’s called a shoulder punch and not a boob punch, Sue Ellen.”

  “Hold on a sec. My left boob just popped out of my lucky bra.” Sue Ellen fixed the situation. “Okay, now I’m good to go. Where were we?”

  “You were flashing us,” Fanny Abernathy said with a toothless grin. She’d forgotten to put in her bridge again. “Is that a new move? Want us all to do it?”

  “No, not really,” Skye said quickly. “Okay, now keep your posture straight and your chin up. Punch that shoulder, as if it were a fist.”

  “You mad at the sheriff again?” Fanny said. “Because you’re sure punching as if you’ve got it in for someone.”

  “He came to her apartment,” Sue Ellen told Fanny.

  The octogenarian nodded. “So I heard.”

  Skye focused on the lesson. “Use your abdominal muscles to push your hips back. Circle. And circle. Now arms overhead in the same direction as your hips. Beautiful arms. Fluid snake arms.”

  “Yuck.” Sue Ellen stopped in her tracks. “I hate snakes.”

  “I think they should just have at it and get it over with,” Nancy announced, joining in the conversation for the first time.

  “Who?” Sue Ellen furrowed her brows. “The snakes?”

  “No. Skye and the sheriff.”

  “Now move in the other direction.” Skye was determined not to get sidetracked. “Left, front, side, back. Sweep your arms over your head. Sweep and sweep.”

  “He’d sweep her off her feet if she’d let him.”

  “Maybe she’d rather sweep him off his feet.”

  Skye laughed. “Trust me, if I wanted Studly Do-Right in my bed, he wouldn’t know what hit him. But that’s not the case.”

  “Why not?” Nancy demanded, her hips rotating as directed.

  “Why are you so eager to get him in my bed?” Skye kept moving as well.

  “Well, let’s just say that he’s not the kind of guy you’d kick out for eating crackers in bed. Right, girls?”

  A chorus of affirmative cheers filled the room.

  To which Skye replied, “If you like him so much, then you go after him.”

  “I would if I were ten years younger,” Nancy said.

  “Me, too,” Fanny said with another gap-toothed grin.