An Unexpected Partnership (HQR Special Edition)

by Teresa Southwick

  Tess had talked to Josh’s teacher and looked through previous tests to come up with study points for him to work on. While the kid agonized over literature, she brooded over Leo Wallace. It had been a week since his shocking revelation about his past. Seven days and nights spent under his roof while she looked at him in a completely different way.

  He was a man who deeply loved a little boy he’d thought was his. Now he was under court order not to see this child and she couldn’t imagine going through something like that. The poor man was entitled to a night of trying to forget.

  After that everything had gone back to normal—whatever that was. She was still quarantined from the bar. Workmen were sanding walls and putting in new baseboards, getting ready for paint. That meant sawdust and fumes in the air. When the painters did their thing and it dried, she was going home. Oddly enough she wasn’t all that anxious to leave. She was enjoying spending evenings with him—cooking, cleaning up the kitchen, watching TV (he was teaching her the basics of hockey) and just talking.

  Clearly she’d been lonely, maybe even before her grandfather had died. Feeling lonely for someone her age to spend time with. Oh, who was she kidding? She had friends her own age—girlfriends. She hadn’t spent time with a man in forever. That’s all this feeling was. Friendship. With a man, a very good-looking one, who happened to be the father of her baby. The guy whom she hadn’t liked very much and now found out she had been wrong about.

  “This is stupid.” Josh gave her a long-suffering and pitiful look.

  She found out in their very first session that this was a recurring theme. “What’s stupid?”

  “Why do I need to know about Shakespeare? He’s dead. For a long time now.”

  “I know. He was actually dead when I was in school. Back in prehistoric days,” she said wryly. “When we wrote our papers with a hammer and chisel, on a rock.”

  He gave her an eye roll. “You’re not that old.”

  “But by definition not that old means I am in fact old, though. Isn’t that what you’re saying?”

  “Yeah.” But he couldn’t hide a grin.

  “Romeo and Juliet is a classic. A tearjerker. The tragedy of star-crossed lovers.”

  “Because they were stupid,” Josh said. “I don’t get it. Why would a guy kill himself over a girl?”

  “Why do you think?” Tess almost told him but this should be a teachable moment. Even when he was rebelling against having to do work he hated.

  “Because he didn’t get the memo about her just being asleep and he thought she was dead. Stupid.” He shrugged. “Romeo killed himself because he loved her?”

  “Yes. And their families made it impossible for them to be together. And he didn’t want to go on without her,” Tess explained.

  “What gets me is if he’d waited five minutes, she’d have been awake.”

  “So there’s an argument for not making a hasty decision,” she said. “Think things through and hang in there because it will almost surely get better.”

  “Are you talking about me now?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Does it relate to your situation?” she asked.

  “Maybe.” He frowned for a moment.

  “The truth is I didn’t mean you. It was a note to myself.”

  “Why?”

  Because it had been a rough year with her grandfather’s illness and death. Financial problems with her business. Her unexpected pregnancy. Being off work. Worrying about money, especially with a baby on the way.

  She met his impossibly young gaze. “Sometimes things are just hard and it feels like you can’t catch a break.”

  He leaned back in the chair and stretched. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “The situation will get better. Sometimes doing nothing is best.”

  “That’s what I did in English.” He grinned.

  Tess laughed. “And how’s that working out for you?”

  “Not great,” he admitted.

  “So sometimes doing nothing isn’t an option.”

  “How do you know what to do?”

  “Experience helps. Maturity. And—” she paused for theatrical effect then added “—reading and understanding Shakespeare.”

  He groaned dramatically. “It’s so boring. I’d rather take Romeo’s poison.”

  “Are you trying to tell me it’s time for a break?” He had been working conscientiously since he’d arrived.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  “Okay. Are you hungry? Would you like a snack?”

  “I could eat.”

  She stood and walked to the refrigerator. Because teenage boys had notoriously voracious appetites she’d stocked up on food. “How about a sandwich? Maybe fruit and some chips?”

  “Yes. To all of it. I’m actually starving. And I have hockey practice in a little while.”

  Tess was dropping him at the rink because both of his parents were working. And they’d agreed not to take hockey away from Josh as long as he passed his classes. That was Leo’s doing. He’d gotten involved with a kid on the edge, crying out for help. Because he’d been that kid. The thought of him paying it forward gave her a warm feeling, along with that weird sensation in her tummy every time an image of him popped into her mind.

  She fixed Josh a ham sandwich on wheat bread, with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. After coring an apple and cutting it into slices, she put everything on a paper plate and brought it to him at the table, along with a bag of chips.

  “Would you like water or soda with that?”

  “Soda would be great.”

  She looked down at him, a lock of unruly hair falling over his forehead. She wanted to brush it back and wondered if that was her maternal instincts waking up. She hoped so. That would mean she had them, unlike her own mother, who had walked away and never looked back. From what he’d said, Leo would be a good dad. He didn’t seem to have any doubts, but Tess had no frame of reference for this.

  She grabbed a glass from the cupboard, put ice in it, then got a can of cola and poured it. After walking back to the table, she put it in front of Josh. He’d wolfed down the sandwich and was working on the apple.

  “Leo is so awesome,” he said.

  “He seems like a good guy,” she agreed.

  “He’s an awesome hockey player, too.” He started spouting hockey statistics, records that still stood in that particular professional sport. “I’m going to be a hockey player just like him someday.”

  “That means playing in college.” She remembered Leo talking about his trajectory to success.

  “Yeah.” Josh met her gaze warily. “You’re going to tell me how I have to get my grades up so I can go to a school with a hockey team.”

  “It’s like you can read my mind,” she said.

  “So, what’s the deal between you and Leo?”

  Apparently he’d decided on a quick change of subject, but the question caught her off guard. It shouldn’t have. She was living in Leo’s house with him, so she should expect curiosity. Along with the lack of a filter between the brain and mouth of a teenager. But the fact was she didn’t have an articulate answer at the ready.

  “I didn’t catch that, what with your mouth full. Would you mind repeating?” she asked, stalling.

  He chewed and swallowed. “I said—what’s with you and Leo? Why are you living here? Are you guys a thing?”

  “No,” she said, dealing with the last question first.

  But it wasn’t that simple. They weren’t dating, and never had. But there’d been sex—really wild, wonderful, quick and passionate sex. And she was carrying the baby to prove it. Her heart fluttered at the memory of being with him. More than once she’d thought about being with him again. In an actual bed.

  “If you’re not a thing, why are you staying here with him?” He took another apple slice and bit into
it.

  Just give him the facts. “I own a bar and Leo invested in it. He’s now my partner.” She sat across the table from him. “My apartment is above the bar and we’re doing some remodeling. I had to move out temporarily and Leo offered me a room.”

  “Why?”

  “So I didn’t have to sleep on the street,” she joked.

  “No, I meant why did you have to move out?”

  “Workmen were cutting wood. Sanding it. There’s sawdust and other stuff floating around in the air. Plus there will be painting soon. So none of it is good if you’re—”

  “What?” he asked when she stopped.

  She’d been about to say pregnant. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to hide it, but that time wasn’t now. The natural assumption would probably be that Leo was the father. But if she wasn’t prepared to respond about her current living arrangement, she most definitely didn’t want to talk about her condition.

  Josh had some serious hero worship going on, and Leo was an exceptional role model. But this was a delicate subject. With luck she would be back in her place soon and there she could deal with it in her world, not Leo’s.

  But Josh had asked a question and needed an answer. “It’s not good to be breathing that stuff in if you have pulmonary issues.”

  “That’s like asthma and stuff, right?”

  “And stuff,” she agreed. “Allergies.”

  “Do you have that?” Josh bit into a chip and met her gaze as he chewed.

  “No,” she said honestly. “But Leo felt it was healthier for me to move out while the renovation is happening. And he has lots of room here.”

  “He’s such an awesome dude.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  In more ways than she ever knew. She was teetering on the brink of a little hero worship of her own, and there was a problem with putting someone on a pedestal. The fall from said platform could be long and painful. And not just for the person on the pedestal. Whoever was feeling the awe could be in for a crash and burn, too.

  Just because Leo wasn’t a heartless bastard and was capable of genuine feelings didn’t mean he could have feelings for her. He was pretty up front with the fact that he didn’t plan on getting personal with her or having a relationship. For her own reasons she felt the same way.

  A little while ago she’d told Josh that sometimes it was best to do nothing. She and Leo were a perfect example of that.

  * * *

  Leo was at the skating rink, in his office overlooking the ice. He was standing at the window, watching Josh’s team gathering for practice. There were more parents than usual here with the kids—mostly moms, but dads, too. He knew something was going on that would affect this team and not in a good way. The adults were in groups, talking and looking very serious. The way a parent does when something negative is going to impact their child.

  He saw Josh walk in, lugging his bulky hockey bag. Then he spotted Tess, just a step or two behind. He swore he felt his spirits lift and sort of levitate at the sight of her. Dropping the kid off was what she’d agreed to and he was getting a ride home with one of the other players. But Leo hadn’t expected her to come inside.

  Every protective instinct he had said not to go down there and talk to her. It was hard enough to pretend he didn’t notice every sweet curve of her body when they were together under his roof. Nights were a spectacular challenge when he could picture her in a bed down the hall from his own. That should have been enough to keep him away.

  Apparently it wasn’t because the next thing he knew, he was heading downstairs, to where she was standing by the wall outside the ice.

  “Hey,” he said.

  She smiled a particularly sunny smile. “Hey, yourself.”

  “How did tutoring go?”

  “Oh, you know. Romeo and Juliet are dumb and English literature is boring.”

  He laughed. “I don’t even know why I asked. If he was excited about it, his grades would be better.”

  “Yeah. But he’s doing the work, which is the point. Someday he’ll realize the importance of being a well-rounded human being but that’s not today.”

  Leo watched the boys in their red-and-white jerseys burst through the opening in the half wall and onto the ice. School, family tension and all the bad stuff disappeared, and for the next hour it would be skating, teamwork and physical activity. “I was the same way at his age.”

  “He wants to be you when he grows up.”

  “God, I hope not. My life is a horrible warning.”

  “Not to him,” she protested.

  “If that’s the path he chooses, he’ll have to learn that hockey isn’t everything.” The pain of not seeing that certain little boy was with him every day. Wondering if he was happy. Did his biological dad love him enough? Did he even remember Leo?

  Tess looked out on the ice, her gaze following Josh as he skated around. “I told him he better make Romeo and Juliet his new best friends if he wants to get into college like you did.”

  “Maybe that will help him see a point to the boring stuff now.”

  “Hopefully.” She looked at the bleachers beyond the ice and at the facilities beyond the protective Plexiglas. “This is a nice place you have here. I planned to drop Josh off, not come inside. But I was curious.”

  “Would you like a tour?”

  “Since I’m not working,” she said wryly, “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  “Try to keep the enthusiasm under control,” he teased back. “It’s not like I’m asking you to watch grass grow.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “You should enjoy this time off. In about a week you’ll be busier than ever and back home.”

  The thought of that didn’t make him want to pump his arm in triumph. He must be more screwed up than he realized. Having her close put him on edge, and not having her around put him in a crap mood.

  “I look forward to being busy again,” she said. “So, are you going to give me the tour or not?”

  “Follow me.”

  He showed her everything, starting with his office, which she called his window on the world. They looked at the skate-rental desk, then the equipment and apparel store. In the locker room she took one look at all the hockey bags and declared that a platoon of squirrels had crawled in there and the smell had killed them en masse. In no uncertain terms she stated it wouldn’t kill him to invest in a truckload of air freshener.

  They ended up at the snack bar and he introduced her to Denise, who was working behind the counter.

  “What can I get you?” the teen asked them.

  “Coffee,” he said. “Tess?”

  “Hot chocolate.” Her look was bittersweet when she added, “I don’t think I’ve had it since I was a little girl and my grandfather made it for me.”

  “Anything to eat? Hot dog? Chili fries? Slice of pizza?” Denise asked him.

  “No, thanks,” he told her.

  When she set the hot drinks on the counter, Tess started to pull out her wallet.

  “It’s on the house.” Leo put his hand on hers, and a zap that felt a lot like static electricity zinged up his arm. It probably wasn’t that but he didn’t want to look too closely at why he’d felt it. Just another reminder that touching her was a no-no.

  “Thanks.” She took her cup and blew on the steam rising from it.

  “Let’s sit down over here. Unless you have plans.” She’d told him that before the night of her grandfather’s memorial, she hadn’t been with a man in a very long time. That didn’t stop him from feeling jealous about her with someone else in the future.

  He didn’t really believe Tess was lying, but it had happened to him once. Taking a chance on it not happening again was foolish.

  “I have no plans.” She picked a table and sat down on one of the chairs that faced the ice.
“I like your place. But I’m wondering where the income stream is.”

  Leo took the seat across from her, his back to the practice going on. “Multiple sources. The snack bar, skate rental and sharpening. Even the equipment and clothing stores are all supported by selling time on the ice.”

  “How so?”

  “There’s admission for public skating. The hockey program is a big portion of revenue. Playing on ice is different from roller hockey. It’s slippery.”

  “No kidding,” she said with a laugh.

  “Right. They have to learn to keep their balance.”

  “So the teams pay to practice.”

  “And play games.” He glanced over his shoulder at the team now playing and frowned for a moment. “Every team is important to the bottom line. We do community clinics and giveaways at local parks to increase awareness of the sport and the team programs we offer. And it’s not just business—it’s a public service, in a way.”

  She nodded. “Because of kids like Josh.”

  “Yes.”

  She took a sip of her now-cooled hot chocolate. “It’s also a safe environment with supervision, where kids can come and hang out.”

  “Yeah.”

  When his son was born—biology didn’t matter; that boy would always be his son—Leo had been so excited about all of the things he would share with the little guy. He would take him on the ice and teach him to skate. Throw a football. Play catch with a baseball. So many hopes and dreams blew up in his face when he found out about the lie.

  “I guess parental involvement is important,” she said.

  It was like she could read his mind. “Yes. Because of the expense, transportation and organization. Part of it is volunteer—coach, assistant coach, circulating information about practice and game times.”

  “That’s quite a commitment.”

  A reflection of parents who loved their children. He knew the joy of that once, but now it was mostly pain. “Yeah. Without them the program doesn’t work.”