“What I’ve been looking for? Two children? Hardly.”
“Not just two children. Your brother and sister.” She paused. “A family.”
Tess set the receiver down as the others walked through the door. Mavis’s parting words were still screaming in her head. Perhaps she had wanted a family years ago, when she could have still benefited from one. But not anymore.
Alec must have sensed something when he saw her because the first thing he said was, “Everything all right?”
“Of course,” Tess replied and got up to take her laundry out of the dryer. Molly watched her open the door to the compact cupboard that contained her apartment-size combination washer and dryer.
“Cool,” she said. “I was wondering what was in that closet.”
Alec laughed. “Didn’t you think to look?”
“Oh, no,” Molly said. “It would have been rude.”
Tess smiled, her gaze meeting Alec’s for a few seconds longer than she’d expected. It was Nick’s snicker at Molly that brought her back to task.
“All right then,” she said, quickly changing the topic before Nick set off Molly. “Alec, why don’t you get some cold cuts and bread out for a lunch while I finish packing?”
She saw at once from his expression that he was pleased at the way she’d diverted a potential quarrel and gave herself a mental pat on the back. She’d had lots of experience at steering clear of hot topics and deflecting hostile attitudes in business dealings. How much more difficult could it be managing children?
TESS WAS FORCED to rethink that question once they were settling into seats on the plane. Both children wanted a window seat, which might have worked if all four were sitting together. But Tess was seated way at the back in the center while the others were in a row of three seats on the side. Fortunately, that left Alec to settle the seating dispute. She contentedly leafed through a magazine until a flight attendant came by after the plane had finished climbing to its cruise altitude and asked if she’d like to join her family.
Tess shot her a blank look before noticing that Alec was craning his head to the back of the plane.
“Your husband said you might like to join them and we’ve got a no-show in the row behind. I think with some rearranging we can seat two of you in one row and two behind. Would that be all right?”
“Uh, sure.” Tess followed the hostess to the front of the plane. As she took the seat next to Alec, Tess flushed when the hostess said, “We can’t have a family separated like that.”
Molly swiveled round to flash a quick grin at Tess before getting back to her crayons and coloring book while Nick, plugged in to the audio system, didn’t even notice she’d moved.
“When I found out there was a vacant seat in this row, I asked if you could move up. Hope you don’t mind.”
Tess, certain the reference to husband had been an assumption of the flight attendant’s, said, “No, no. I hate the claustrophobic feel of the center section anyway.”
“Me, too. My knees seem to be propping up my chin whenever I get stuck there.”
Conversation stopped there as drinks and snacks were served. Their seats were so close Tess figured she might as well have been sitting on his lap. His thigh pressed against hers and every time she went to lean on the armrest, his arm was already there. What bothered her the most, she hated to admit, was the unexpected tingling sensation that shot down her arm when her hand accidentally landed on top of his.
Until now, interaction between them had been confrontational and the almost intimate proximity was suddenly stifling. Tess had never been good at small talk so she was relieved when he didn’t seem bothered by the silence.
But when the snack trays were removed, he turned his head toward her and asked, “This may seem too personal, but is there a man in your life right now?”
Tess stared at him, not sure at first what he was saying. Then she felt heat rising up into her face. “You’re right, it is. Why do you ask?”
“Sorry to be blunt, but it may be important should you—” he lowered his voice “—decide to apply for legal guardianship.”
Her first reaction was to check if the children had heard. Then she hissed, “I hardly think this is the time or place to be having this conversation.”
He had the grace to redden. “You’re right. Sorry. I guess I’m just trying to find out if there’s any chance at all—”
“I made it clear why I was coming. To see that they’re settled.”
He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. After a moment, he turned to her and said, “We’ll be seeing a lot of one another over the next few days and it makes sense for us to be as amicable as possible with each other. Doesn’t it? Even if we’re both coming at this problem from totally different perspectives?”
“Fine…Alec.” Tess raised her tray and rummaged in her handbag for the paperback she’d brought to read on the plane. After reading the first sentence three times, she gave up. Swiveling her head back to him, she added, “For your information—not that it’s relevant—there is someone in my life and I was supposed to be going on a cruise with him this very week.”
“Oh…well…sorry, I guess this has altered your plans slightly.”
“Slightly,” she repeated with emphasis. The fact that she was misleading him nagged for only a second. And the arrival of Nick and Molly certainly had altered her plans! Plus, there was always the remote possibility that she and Doug might get back together again…someday.
“So this guy you’re seeing—what did he say when you told him about Nick and Molly?”
Tess stared down at the novel on her lap. “I haven’t told him yet. He’s been busy and we haven’t had a chance to talk.” She could feel his eyes boring through the side of her face, but didn’t have the courage to turn his way.
Finally he said, “Sounds as though your relationship might not be the type to accommodate a couple of youngsters.”
That really got to her. “What gives you the right to draw inferences about my personal life?”
“Sorry again. I just keep puttin’ my foot in, don’t I?”
If his grin was meant to disarm, it failed. “You’re no backwoods hick. Please don’t insult my intelligence by pretending to be.”
That got to him, she noticed with some triumph. Instant sobriety fell over his face like steel mesh. When his eyes flicked back to her, Tess saw by their expression that she’d pushed him further than she’d intended.
“My job is to ensure that those two kids are safe, healthy and reasonably happy. It’s a tall order, given their circumstances. If you can’t grasp the inarguable fact that you’re their best option here, then…I’m sorry.” His eyes swept over her, dismissively. As if she were some kind of strange and repulsive insect. “So,” he went on, “we’ll agree not to discuss this again until you’ve had a chance to check things out for yourself. Okay?”
Feeling suddenly graceless, she could only shrug, wondering how she always ended up faring so badly in their talks. He turned his head aside to peer out the window, then suddenly swung back to her.
“One last thing. I’m curious—did you have a chance to talk to Nick about your father?”
Blood roared into her head. Her tongue flapped uselessly against the palate of her dry mouth. Tess was certain her eyes were going to eject from their orbs.
But the expression in his own face was inscrutable. After the slightest pause, he murmured, “I didn’t think so,”