She shot him a questioning look.
“Stress,” he repeated.
“Sometimes I go for a run—if the weather’s good.”
“Never felt inclined to snap at people?”
She stiffened at the indulgent smile in his face.
“No. Why should I? Sometimes the orders I give out are a bit more…brusque.”
“Ah, well. I suppose when you’re at the top of the heap, there’s no objection to…orders.”
Tess found his grin irritating. Why was he always trying to bait her? What had she ever done to him? Self-pity surged through her. She knew what it felt like to be abandoned.
“What time will you be picking up the children tomorrow?”
The grin vanished. “I…uh…I thought maybe I’d come round early. Bring breakfast with me.”
“If you like,” she said and, turning her back to walk up the steps to the condo, heard him say good-night to Nick and Molly.
“I’ll see you two at breakfast, okay?”
“Aren’t you staying here, too, Alec? We were supposed to watch videos.”
For a tense second Tess froze on the steps, afraid one of the children would ask if he could, but fortunately Alec quickly said, “No, I’ve got a hotel room near the airport. And I think everyone’s far too tired for videos tonight, Molly.”
Relieved, Tess continued on inside, holding the door open while the children waved to Alec as he climbed into a taxi. Then they turned and walked, slump-shouldered with disappointment, toward Tess.
Once upstairs, Nick sullenly set to making up his bed on the couch. Molly didn’t ask to be tucked in, but lay silently staring up at Tess, her unblinking eyes tracking her every move until Tess switched off the light. She made for the bathroom and a hot shower, happy to have the day come to an end at last. She just wished she felt better about their leaving the next day.
CHAPTER FOUR
SOBS TORE INTO the quiet night, wrenching Tess from sleep. She sat up, disoriented, searching the darkness for a familiar landmark. She found one almost at once—the pale marine glow from her laptop monitor on the table beside her.
She’d fallen asleep in the easy chair opposite the couch. The draft of a report lay strewn on the floor at her feet and the shape now rising from the dark space occupied by the couch must be Nick.
They both hit the bedroom door at the same time. Tess had left one of the bedside lamps on when she’d said good-night to Molly and was glad she had. Otherwise, she and Nick could have crashed into the bed, frightening even more an already distraught Molly.
“I want my mommy and daddy,” she cried. She was sitting huddled in the center of the bed, wiping at her eyes with both fists.
Tess reached Molly’s side first and bent over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. But Molly pushed her arm away with a strength belying her delicate frame. “I want Nick,” she wailed, her voice pitching to near hysteria.
Nick crawled up the bed from the end where he’d been standing and pulled Molly against him. Tess stood back, watching brother and sister in a scene that must have occurred many times since their parents’ death.
“Shhh! It’s okay Molly. Just another bad dream. I’m here.”
“Don’t leave me, Nick. Promise you won’t leave me,” she sobbed, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder.
He lowered his face to the top of her head and murmured, “I won’t leave you, I promise.”
He was still comforting her, repeating those words over and over, when Tess left the room, softly closing the door behind them. She returned to the chair and sagged into it, covering her face with her hands. Thinking. Remembering again the day her father walked out, leaving her behind. Did she seriously think she could do the same?
AS SOON as he walked in the door, Alec sensed that a change had taken place. He couldn’t put his finger on it, because everyone seemed just as subdued as they’d been when he’d left last night. Molly didn’t rush to greet him and Nick was blasé about the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts Alec was holding, along with two large coffees and a bottle of orange juice.
Tess was tidying up things at the kitchen counter and, in spite of dark circles beneath her eyes, gave him what could have passed for a friendly greeting in the real world. A spark of indignation fired deep inside Alec as he wondered if her improved mood had anything to do with the fact that they’d all be out of her life in a few short hours. Or maybe he was ticked off because the greeting wasn’t quite as friendly as he’d have liked it. He dismissed the notion at once. Wanting to establish a warmer relationship with the woman was natural, given his objective of bringing her around to taking the kids. It was just that a small part of him—a part he was unable to ignore the more he was in Tess’s presence—wanted her to like him.
“Hi,” she said. “We had cereal, but it was first thing this morning.”
Alec set the purchases down on the counter and looked across the room at the two kids, huddled together on the couch. Molly was sucking her thumb and Nick looked as though he’d been up most of the night. He glanced back at Tess. Matter of fact, they all did.
“What’s happening here? You all look like zombies.”
Tess managed a wan smile. “We didn’t get much sleep.”
He frowned, but waited for her to continue.
“Molly had a nightmare and Nick spent a long time getting her back to sleep.”
Alec wondered what Molly would do when Nick wasn’t around. Resisting the thought, he shoved it aside at once. Part of him wanted to blame Tess, who stood there, calm and detached. As if she didn’t hold the solution to all their problems. But he knew that was unfair. She’d made a successful life for herself and, even though it wasn’t one he envied in any way, he couldn’t fault her for being reluctant to change it. Still…
“These look good,” Tess said, opening the box of doughnuts.
Alec bet she’d never tasted one. He watched her plop one on a plate, lick her fingers and pick up one of the coffees.
“Thanks for the treats,” she said and wandered to the easy chair. “Better get one before I eat them all,” she warned the kids. They stared at her with the same openmouthed surprise that Alec had. “I don’t always eat granola,” she said by way of explanation.
Molly was the first to bounce up and run to the counter. Alec second-guessed her request for juice and poured a glass. Nick was a bit slower rising to the bait, suspecting what the treats were all about, but eventually sauntered to the counter and deposited two doughnuts on his plate.
“Hey!” Molly gave a weak protest, not really minding.
“Growing boy,” Alec said and winked at Nick, provoking a semblance of a smile. He retrieved his own coffee and perched on a bar stool with it.
“No doughnut?” Tess commented.
“Have to watch my waistline,” he said, suppressing a grin at her chagrined expression. So, she’d taken one to be a good sport. Great show of unanimity, he thought, even if it was completely meaningless.
He sipped slowly on his coffee, trying not to be too obvious about his study of her. She was a ringer for Molly, but her skin coloring was paler. Molly had inherited her Italian mother’s olive tones while Nick, with his father’s paler skin and mother’s chestnut hair, was a different blend. He wondered if Tess’s iron will and fierce determination was from her father or her mother. Whatever, he just hoped she could