No. No way. She was suspicious now, of everything and everybody. She was much too sophisticated to let anyone pull the wool over her eyes as her husband had. She wouldn’t think of it. Not right now.
The screen door banged shut as she reentered the house.
Jack’s deep voice had shifted to serious and studious. “We’ll let this set overnight and then try it. It might just work long enough for you to try it on a tree limb or Highway 95.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Abby instructed, unable to believe he’d just said something like that to an eight-year-old.
“Relax. Nick and I had a talk about the proper places to run these things. He’s decided he doesn’t want to take any more chances with this one. Especially since he won’t get it back again if he does.”
She relaxed. “Good.” So he was one step ahead of her and maybe had handled the rule of where to play with the remote-control car better than she had.
Jack got up and walked around to Katie. He took her hands, one at a time, and brushed the cookie crumbs from them. He led her into the living room. Abby pretended to be busy selecting something from a cupboard, but her ears were tuned in.
“Mind if Katie watches cartoons with you?”
“Nope.” Ben’s tone was one of complete disinterest.
“She likes the Smurfs.”
“They’re dumb.”
“The Jetsons.”
“Stupid.”
“Turtles?”
“They’re okay.”
Jack came back into the kitchen.
Nick was on his feet instantly. “Want to see the wagon I’m working on? It’s pretty old.”
“Lead the way.” He turned toward Abby. “Just give me a holler if Katie gets restless.”
Abby nodded.
Alone in the kitchen, Abby crept to the doorway and peeped into the living room. Katie was sitting next to Ben, looking up at him. Ben was perched on the arm of the sofa, swinging one leg over the side. His gaze would wander from the television to the little girl beside him without moving his head.
In a few minutes, Katie slid from the couch and walked around the room, looking at everything. Ben’s baseball mitt was lying on the coffee table, and Katie poked at it. Abby watched Ben start to make a move and then decide against it. Katie went around to the wing-back chair and pulled his brightly colored book bag onto the floor. She plopped down and played with the zipper. Ben said nothing, but he kept a wary eye on her.
Abby knew, deep down in her heart, that Katie would be good for Ben. She would draw his attention away from himself and his sadness. She would force him to interact simply by existing in the same space.
And Jack would do the same for her. Even if he was never aware of it.
What were his needs? A substitute mother for his daughter was obvious. But there was more. She felt it.
Okay, so hiring him as a nanny seemed the best thing to do. It still felt weird and way out of character for her. Getting beyond that would be half the battle. Change was needed. And she needed help to expand and explore. She’d turned so sour on life for so long, she desperately needed someone to push her back into it.
Jack and Nick returned to the house, Nick jumping around and jabbering. Katie ran into the kitchen at the sound of her dad’s voice. Ben nonchalantly followed a few seconds later.
“A good coat of red paint and it will be as good as new.”
“I hope it holds together.”
“Mom,” Nick groaned, “I told you I know what I’m doing. Even Jack says it’s sturdy. Stop worrying.”
“It’s a mother’s job to worry,” Jack defended her.
Nick moaned again.
“It’s time for us to go. Nice to have met you Nick, Ben. Hope I’ll be seeing you soon. And thank you for the cookies, Mrs. Roberts. I haven’t had anything that tasted that good since…Well, I haven’t had anything that’s tasted that good at all. Say goodbye, Katie.”
She kicked her little legs and wiggled her fingers.
Ben peeled away from the wall and darted back into the living room.
Nick turned to join his brother. “See ya, Jack, and thanks for working on stuff with me.”
“Anytime, buddy.”
Jack paused as Abby was walking him toward the front door and looked at her over Katie’s curly head. “Nice kids. Real nice kids.”
“Thank you. And your daughter is beautiful.”
Jack grinned. “Sure is. She’s low maintenance, too.”
It would be a big step for all of them. Regrets were something she wanted nothing to do with anymore. Not when it came to the well-being of Nick and Ben. She had to be positive. She hauled the huge oak door open.
Automatically she put her hand on his arm and again found it hard and supporting. “You must know how much I want to be sure this is the right thing to do.”
He nodded.
She laughed. “No guarantees, I guess.”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Glancing out the open door and back to her again, his face was serious. His mouth broke into that nice grin she found she watched for already. “I guess I could simply call you and ask you out to dinner,” he suggested.
His eyes were clear and direct. And saw too much. If she chose to go in this direction, she’d just have to make sure it wasn’t too much of an enjoyment. Business. She instilled the word in her brain. Strictly business.
“I’ll call you.” Abby waved goodbye to Katie.
“Or I’ll call you.”
Heat coiled in her stomach, sank and whispered lower. As she closed the door, she felt the instant absence of something nice.
Abby walked back into the living room. The kids were deeply involved in a hushed conversation.
Nick could contain himself no longer. “Hey, Mom. Jack said he had a real live log cabin up in the mountains. He used to go there and fish. Stayed there all by himself even when he was little. Did you see he fixed my car?” He held it tightly and then moved to place it in a safe spot on the counter as he followed his mom back into the kitchen.
“Lunch, Ben,” she called. Nick was already at the table.
Abby set a heaping plate of diagonally cut peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches in front of all of them. Fresh, cold milk was poured into amber glass tumblers. A bowl of rippled potato chips and a plate of freshly baked cookies finished the scene.
Abby leaned over and tweaked Nick’s nose. “You liked Mr. Murdock, huh?”
Nick, sandwich fisted and mouth full by now, looked at Ben and nodded in wide-eyed, solemn agreement. Ben looked away. “Yeah, he sure wasn’t like the rest of those guys. Jack’s okay, Ben. You just don’t want him around ’cause he’s not Dad.”
That struck a chord. “Nah,” Ben argued instantly.
“Uh-huh,” contested Nick.
Ben shoved Nick, and Nick shoved Ben back.
Nick knew what buttons to press to get to Ben. “Quit being a baby!”
Ben launched