“We’ll behave like guests whether you are here or not,” she assured him. “Don’t worry. Everything will be in one piece when you get back, I promise. Have a safe trip.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time someone said that to me.”
She turned away quickly, sensing something in the situation that could pull them across the line they’d drawn between them.
David left early the next day, and while he was gone the boys settled into a routine of outdoor play, naps and quiet time. Melissa finished two articles and put them in the mail to her magazine editor. She liked to write two months ahead on her assignments, which gave her some leeway to research her book. There were moments when the uncertainty of the boys’ future worried her, but she firmly lectured herself: “Let go and let God.” Everything was in His hands. Lord, give me patience, she prayed, and then added with a chuckle, “And, please, give it to me right now.”
Inga seemed happy to have her company when she popped in the kitchen for a cup of tea. The housekeeper liked to chat, and Melissa’s curiosity was satisfied by some of the stories Inga told her about David, his parents and their hope that he would be governor someday.
David leaned back in his seat as the governor’s private plane climbed into the air and headed northeast. They were scheduled to arrive in Denver about four o’clock, and the cabin was filled with tired members of the governor’s staff. They had been on the go for two days, and David had a briefcase filled with more work when he got back. Not tonight, he thought, anticipating getting home before dark for a change.
“David, I’m handling the reservations for next week’s fund-raiser,” Stella Day said as she stopped beside his seat with a pencil and pad in her hand. “We need to know how many tables to reserve for the governor’s staff. I’m putting you down for two places.”
“Two?” David raised an eyebrow, but he knew what was coming. His unattached status was never overlooked when it came to these political affairs.
“The governor wants you to escort the daughter of one of the speakers. Not bad-looking, I hear. Should be more of a pleasure than a chore,” Stella promised.
“Sorry, I’ve already asked someone,” he lied, deciding that when he showed up alone, he could say the lady had been indisposed. “You’ll have to find another escort to do the honors.”
“Who is she?”
“You don’t know her.”
Stella studied him. “You’re lying, David.”
“Am I?” he asked with a challenging smile.
She let out an exasperated breath. “You know how important these contacts are. An eligible bachelor like you should venture out of that shell you’ve put around yourself and start dating. I could give you a list of charming eligible women a mile long. Why don’t you let yourself go? Get out and do some socializing?”
“I don’t have time,” David said flatly.
“Make time,” Stella told him, and walked away sighing.
He knew he’d have to attend the elegant affair, which was to be held at one of Denver’s fashionable hotels. Stella was right: it wouldn’t sit well if he showed up alone when the governor wanted him to escort another lady. David didn’t know when the idea struck him to ask Melissa to be his date, but almost immediately he dismissed it. Of course she’d refuse. She’d hesitated even to move into his house until he’d made it clear that he would hardly be around. Still, the prospect of spending an evening with her kept nagging at him. He didn’t doubt for a moment that she would be a delightful dinner partner and could hold her own conversationally with anyone at the table.
By the time the plane landed and he drove home, he had decided to wait a few days before mentioning the social affair. In the meantime, he’d try to get more involved with the boys, a sure way to win her approval.
His good intentions were almost immediately reduced to ashes, when he came into a small utility room off the garage and nearly tripped over a mangy, flea-bitten, stray dog. The mutt was as startled as David. He lurched up on skinny legs, peered at him with round dark eyes through a tangle of dirty brown hair, and backed away from David, barking and growling.
Eric and Richie came bursting through a door that led to the back hall. “Scruffy! Scruffy!” Falling to their knees beside the straggly, long-haired dog, they engulfed him in a protective hug and glared up at David.
As Melissa hurried into the room, David demanded in a sharp tone, “Explain this, please.”
She moistened her lips. “I’ll try. Boys, go outside with the dog for a little while.”
“He’s ours,” Richie yelled at David.
“We adopted him,” Eric added fervently. “He’s like us. He ain’t got a home.”
Melissa didn’t look at David as she scooted the boys and the dog into the backyard. She knew that her weakness over the stray dog was going to create friction all the way around. Obviously, David was going to put his foot down about keeping the mutt, and the boys didn’t need one more heartbreak in their young lives. She silently prayed for the right words as she went back inside the house to face a glowering David.
He was in the kitchen with Inga, and she was talking to him about dinner. “I baked some stuffed pork chops and potatoes, just in case you made it home in time to eat. The kind of meals you have at those political junkets of yours don’t fill up a man the way they should.”
“Actually I’m not all that hungry,” he said, allowing a wave of weariness to sweep over him. It had been an exhausting trip and all he wanted was to come home to some peace and quiet. He had already decided to put off the confrontation about the dog until later when his nerves weren’t so raw. He liked to handle problems in a detached way, and he felt anything but detached about keeping a mangy stray dog—boys, or no boys!
“Why don’t you go upstairs and freshen up,” Inga coaxed like a mother hen. “I can set the dining room table for you and Melissa, and feed Eric and Richie in the kitchen. Both of you look as if you could use some quiet time. And you need to settle this dog thing, ya?”
David allowed himself a weak smile. “Ya.”
“Good. Now, out of my kitchen, both of you. Dinner in half an hour.”
David and Melissa exchanged smiles as Inga banished them from her kitchen.
When David came downstairs, he was surprised to see Melissa already seated at the dining room table. She had changed into a simple pink dress revealing her tanned arms and shoulders, and her raven-dark hair glistened in the soft light from an overhead chandelier. She looked lovely. Pleasure sluiced through him and his evening took a brighter turn as he looked at her.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said quickly, taking a chair opposite her.
“You didn’t. I was trying to get the boys settled in the kitchen, and Inga ordered me out.” Melissa laughed.
“Inga insisted they eat with her and Hans tonight. She put Hans at the table between them, so I guess everything’s under control.”
“We can always hope,” he said dryly, and then quickly changed the subject. He wasn’t ready to spoil the evening so soon. The subject of the dog could wait a while, but there was no “question” in his mind about it—the dog had to go.
“How is the writing coming?” he asked politely.
As they talked for a few minutes about her current assignment, she realized what a polished dinner companion he was. He kept the conversation moving, asking questions and listening to her answers with a soft smile on his face.
As he leaned toward her, his slightly damp hair was burnished by the light’s glow into shades of golden