“Are you finished your homework, Marie?” Cassie watched the girl shift restlessly in her seat.
“Almost. I’ll be done before Nate phones later.”
“Well, don’t stay up all night talking to him. You will see him at school tomorrow, you know.” She smiled at the happy little grin that appeared on Marie’s face.
“I’ll try not to be too long, Cassie.”
The flush of pink in the girl’s cheeks gave her a glow of beauty. It was too bad people couldn’t see how kind and loving these two were, Cassie fumed. David and Marie had been subdued during the meal, barely speaking unless they were addressed first. It bothered Cassie.
They were afraid of a future over which they had no control, she realized. Worried that they would be separated after having spent so much time depending on each other. A permanent home, one they could rely on, would make such a difference in their young lives. And with so few people interested in raising teenagers, Cassie doubted anyone would create much fuss if she asked to keep the two on a permanent basis.
She studied Jeff as she ate, watching him speak to the teens. He was especially good with David, drawing the quiet boy out with each comment. He had a knack of treating David as if he were an equal. He listened to what he had to say with interest most people would only offer an adult. It was a manner Cassie had found sadly lacking in many of the homes that housed foster children.
“How about a Monopoly tournament after dinner?” she asked brightly.
David grinned at her, eyes shiny with mischief.
“You must be feeling lucky,” he teased. “Watch out, Jeff. She owned everybody last time. I’m lucky I’m not still paying back what I borrowed.”
They played for an hour before Marie’s soft voice broke into the silent concentration.
“You’d better get started on that science project,” she reminded David in a sisterly tone. “The proposal is due in a week and you haven’t done any research.”
“And you’d better go phone Nate before he dies from not hearing your voice.”
It was typical sibling banter and Cassie smiled as she heard it. David and Marie were not related at all but from their teasing demeanor no one would have guessed.
Marie left the room quietly, her long blond hair flowing behind like a cape, but not before she tapped David on the shoulder.
“Jealous?” she asked pertly.
Groaning, David stretched to his full five-foot-ten-inch height.
“You wish!” He carefully replaced the game pieces in the box and snapped it shut. “I hate science,” he muttered, before glancing shamefaced at Cassie. “Sorry, Cassie, but it’s so boring.”
“What kind of a project are you supposed to do?” It was Jeffs deep voice. Cassie stared at him in surprise.
“We can choose,” David replied, kicking his toe in the carpet. “That’s worse,” he confessed, “because I haven’t got a clue what he expects us to do.”
“I know a little about science,” Jeff murmured softly. “Could I look at your text? Maybe together we could come up with an idea that would get you started.”
“Cool” was all David could manage to answer.
Cassie smiled as they left the room, talking and gesticulating. She hadn’t expected Jeff to take such an interest in the boy. In fact, she recalled, he had spent several evenings doing things with both children this past week.
Well, since he had taken over the science problem, it left her free to start a project that had made her fingers itch for weeks. Cassie buried herself in the library for the next three hours, refusing to allow her mind to dwell on the marriage proposal she had just received. She’d always found her work the best panacea for solving personal problems.
Cassie was knee-deep in sketches of Bored Boris, the magical dragon, when she startled at the soft touch on her shoulder.
“Don’t do that,” she squeaked, holding a hand over her heart. “People my age have been known to keel over from a shock-induced heart attack.”
“That’s okay.” Jeff grinned. “I know both CPR and mouth-to-mouth. Want a demonstration?”
Cassie frowned at him reprovingly. “No! Thanks, anyway.”
She studied him closely. The immaculate shirt was unbuttoned allowing her glimpses of dark curling hairs that covered Jeff’s broad chest. His tie hung haphazardly out of one of his jacket pockets and his made-to-order jacket was slung carelessly over one shoulder.
The perfectly creased black trousers he’d sported earlier in the day were dusty and wrinkled. And that impeccably trimmed hair was tousled and disorderly, one black lock hanging over his left eye.
He looked smug, Cassie thought. As if he had swallowed a whole bowl of canaries. She stood in an attempt to bolster her bravado which was a little shaky after this afternoon.
“Well, did you come up with something?” she demanded, her low voice sharper than she had intended.
But Jeff merely stared at her curiously before answering.
“Depends,” he replied cryptically, head tipped to one side as he studied Boris. His dark eyes met hers. “Can we use that big empty room downstairs for a lab?”
“A lab,” she repeated, wondering what on earth they had concocted between them. “Why do you need a lab? It’s just a simple science project.”
Jeff stepped backward and pushed the door closed with his foot before speaking.
“That kid is very bright,” he told her seriously. “And mighty ambitious. But he hasn’t had much encouragement and he doesn’t know where or how to begin.” The muscled shoulders shrugged.
“I would have thought the teacher could have done a bit more explaining, but at any rate, I want to get him interested in some preliminary physics so that later on he won’t be overwhelmed by everything. He’s got a natural curiosity about things that hasn’t been stifled.”
Jeff studied her quizzically through those melting chocolate eyes. Cassie rushed into speech before he could say anything more.
“But what about when the house is sold and he can’t have his lab anymore?” She stood straight and tall in front of him, prepared to do battle for her child. “What about when you get tired of teaching him and want to go back to the playboy scene? What does David do then?”
Cassie could see the brown sheen change to black in Jeff’s darkening gaze. His eyes were like a sheet of the notorious black ice that covered Toronto highways in winter. You could sail along with no problems until you needed to put on the brakes. Then you were in big trouble.
When his hands tightened around her upper arms, Cassie was pretty sure this qualified as big trouble.
“Will you please get it through your head that I am not, nor have I ever been, a playboy.”
The words snarled out between lips so tightly pursed, Cassie wondered if they had ever been as softly caressing as she remembered.
“And this house only has to be vacated if you refuse to marry me.” His mouth was a straight line of disapproval. “I like the kid and I want to help him with this.” He stared down at her furiously.
“Or maybe you’re jealous because you wanted to do it?” he demanded suddenly.
Cassie tipped her head back and laughed. She fixed him with her own gaze.
“I’ll have you know that I hate anything to do with grade ten science projects.”