In This Life
Page 13
Kathleen dug around in a small brown handbag, plucked out a business card, and handed it over.
KATHLEEN DOYLE
SHOEBOX BOOKKEEPING
Serving small businesses all over Hawk County.
Let me take care of your needs!
I had to stifle a snort over the last tagline. I might go to hell for thinking it, but I’d be glad to outline a few ways she could ‘take care’ of my needs.
“Are you laughing?” Kathleen asked.
I shoved her business card into my back pocket. “Nope. Just had to clear my throat.”
She played with a long red curl and eyed me. “So does two o’clock work for you?”
I had the feeling she was going to pester me until I agreed. Besides, I should take a look at the store and consider the options. My dad’s will had left me in charge of all managerial decisions and the store was something I’d have to deal with sooner or later.
“I’ll make it happen,” I said. “I’ll just clear my blistering social schedule.”
Kathleen smiled, a real smile, not a melancholy one. She might be bossy and occasionally condescending but this girl could compete with the sun. She was beautiful.
Emma sulked when her mother told her it was time to leave. “I wanna stay with Roxie.”
“It’s time for preschool, sweetie. Remember, it’s a special day. The class is getting a new goldfish.”
Emma crossed her arms and then I saw her resemblance to her mother. “But I wanna stay here.”
“Hey,” I said and the kid looked at me like she’d forgotten I existed. “You can come back and see Roxie anytime. I mean that, Emma.”
And I did. I’d be a cold-blooded creep if I wasn’t at all moved by a little girl who loved my dog.
Emma smiled. She kissed the dog on the top of her head and reached for Kathleen’s outstretched hand. Kathleen mouthed the words, “Thank you,” and I nodded.
“By the way,” Kathleen said before she closed the kitchen door behind her, “that white minivan parked in front of the house was Heather’s. There’s a car seat already in the back and the keys should be on the hook beside the front door.”
“Okay.”
“If you take Colin anywhere you’ll need to strap him into a car seat.”
Seriously? I was no baby specialist but for crying out loud l knew at least that much.
“Thanks, Kathleen,” I said, a little sarcastically.
She didn’t notice. “See you at two?”
“I’ll be there.”
She broke into another brilliant smile and waved at Colin. “Bye bye, beautiful baby boy,” she said in a voice that made her sound like she’d been sucking on helium.
Once the door was closed the room felt awful empty. Roxie whined and gave me a puzzled canine look, probably wondering what I’d done to drive her new best friend away.
“Forgot to feed you this morning, didn’t I?” I asked.
The bag of dog food I’d thrown in the truck before we left Oregon was almost gone. I poured the rest into a dish and set it on the floor. Roxie dove right in and my own stomach growled. There was a stack of casseroles in the fridge, all brought by well-meaning neighbors, but nothing sounded good right now. I needed to go grocery shopping today. I needed to do a lot of things.
Colin kicked his legs and waved his arms, hitting the fuzzy pink pig in the process.
“Well little guy,” I said, trying to sound half as cheerful as Kathleen and failing, “what should we do first?”
The kid made a weird face, turned bright red, and expelled an unmistakable sound; wet shit hitting a diaper.
“My fault for asking,” I said.
My brother grinned at me.
Being here felt strange, almost intrusive. I’d never been in the shop when it was empty. Chris had given me the alarm code and a key right before Colin was born. He said it was just a precaution, just in case something came up while he was busy at the hospital. He trusted his employees and one of them had been with him for over a decade, but he wanted another backup. Someone nearby, someone reliable.
“Someone who’s family.”
The last time I was here was only a little over a week ago when I dropped off the monthly financial reports and handed over the payroll checks. Chris emerged from the small stockroom and greeted me with a smile. He thanked me for agreeing to watch the baby so he and Heather could enjoy a night at the mountain cabin for their anniversary.
I felt a chill even though the place was far from cold. The carefully stocked shelves and bright displays were projecting a kind of post apocalyptic feel in the dim light so I found a switch and flipped on enough lights to erase the afternoon shadows. The inventory was eclectic, everything from gaudy roadside souvenirs to handmade fine art.
After a few minutes I checked my watch again. Nash was late. I wondered if he’d show up. Part of me hoped he wouldn’t. The store really did require some immediate management decisions. I hadn’t made that up. But dealing with Nash Ryan might not be an easy task. He still radiated defiance, the years having done little to blunt the natural rebelliousness that once fascinated me.
That was another thing. The infatuations of adolescence hadn’t faded completely. This morning I’d felt flustered and nervous under his gaze. It was a feeling I disliked, one I didn’t pursue. That wasn’t all due to Nash. I was thinking of my own mistakes, of realizing too late that a man who made me uneasy was the wrong choice.
As for Nash, he knew damn well how good he looked in the kitchen standing there in his boxers, a ripped monument of virility, silently daring me to check him out. I couldn’t help but comply. Moreover, I had a feeling he was well aware of it.
I sighed in the empty store. As usual, I was overanalyzing. In all likelihood Nash wasn’t trying to catch anyone’s attention, least of all mine. He was tired and struggling to keep up with his new responsibilities. I was the one who’d busted into his kitchen without calling this morning.
I’d been driving Emma to preschool and making a mental note to give Nash a call later on today when I detoured over to the oldest section of Hawk Valley. I couldn’t stop thinking about Colin. I needed to make sure he was all right after being placed in the care of a man who was obviously clueless about taking care of a baby. A man who’d always despised his father and had never shown the slightest interest in Colin’s existence.
That’s not fair, Kat.
I drummed my fingers on the metal bars of a postcard rack. Maybe it wasn’t fair. Heather had confided in me so that I knew the relationship between Chris and Nash had been strained, complicated. But I was willing to set fairness aside when it came to Colin’s best interests. If Nash proved to be an incompetent guardian then I was prepared to step in.
The door chime jarred me out of my brooding and Nash walked through the glass door, car seat in hand.
“He’s asleep,” Nash whispered and looked around for a place to set the baby down.
I beckoned and led him to Chris’s office in the back. Nash gently placed the car seat in the middle of his father’s old desk. He stopped and looked around for a second and I wondered what he was remembering. He must have been in this room a thousand times while growing up. But when he turned to follow me back to the store his face was impassive.
“Did the car ride knock him out?” I asked when we were out of earshot.
Nash nodded and leaned against the checkout counter. He gazed around the store but didn’t seem especially interested in anything he saw.
KATHLEEN DOYLE
SHOEBOX BOOKKEEPING
Serving small businesses all over Hawk County.
Let me take care of your needs!
I had to stifle a snort over the last tagline. I might go to hell for thinking it, but I’d be glad to outline a few ways she could ‘take care’ of my needs.
“Are you laughing?” Kathleen asked.
I shoved her business card into my back pocket. “Nope. Just had to clear my throat.”
She played with a long red curl and eyed me. “So does two o’clock work for you?”
I had the feeling she was going to pester me until I agreed. Besides, I should take a look at the store and consider the options. My dad’s will had left me in charge of all managerial decisions and the store was something I’d have to deal with sooner or later.
“I’ll make it happen,” I said. “I’ll just clear my blistering social schedule.”
Kathleen smiled, a real smile, not a melancholy one. She might be bossy and occasionally condescending but this girl could compete with the sun. She was beautiful.
Emma sulked when her mother told her it was time to leave. “I wanna stay with Roxie.”
“It’s time for preschool, sweetie. Remember, it’s a special day. The class is getting a new goldfish.”
Emma crossed her arms and then I saw her resemblance to her mother. “But I wanna stay here.”
“Hey,” I said and the kid looked at me like she’d forgotten I existed. “You can come back and see Roxie anytime. I mean that, Emma.”
And I did. I’d be a cold-blooded creep if I wasn’t at all moved by a little girl who loved my dog.
Emma smiled. She kissed the dog on the top of her head and reached for Kathleen’s outstretched hand. Kathleen mouthed the words, “Thank you,” and I nodded.
“By the way,” Kathleen said before she closed the kitchen door behind her, “that white minivan parked in front of the house was Heather’s. There’s a car seat already in the back and the keys should be on the hook beside the front door.”
“Okay.”
“If you take Colin anywhere you’ll need to strap him into a car seat.”
Seriously? I was no baby specialist but for crying out loud l knew at least that much.
“Thanks, Kathleen,” I said, a little sarcastically.
She didn’t notice. “See you at two?”
“I’ll be there.”
She broke into another brilliant smile and waved at Colin. “Bye bye, beautiful baby boy,” she said in a voice that made her sound like she’d been sucking on helium.
Once the door was closed the room felt awful empty. Roxie whined and gave me a puzzled canine look, probably wondering what I’d done to drive her new best friend away.
“Forgot to feed you this morning, didn’t I?” I asked.
The bag of dog food I’d thrown in the truck before we left Oregon was almost gone. I poured the rest into a dish and set it on the floor. Roxie dove right in and my own stomach growled. There was a stack of casseroles in the fridge, all brought by well-meaning neighbors, but nothing sounded good right now. I needed to go grocery shopping today. I needed to do a lot of things.
Colin kicked his legs and waved his arms, hitting the fuzzy pink pig in the process.
“Well little guy,” I said, trying to sound half as cheerful as Kathleen and failing, “what should we do first?”
The kid made a weird face, turned bright red, and expelled an unmistakable sound; wet shit hitting a diaper.
“My fault for asking,” I said.
My brother grinned at me.
Being here felt strange, almost intrusive. I’d never been in the shop when it was empty. Chris had given me the alarm code and a key right before Colin was born. He said it was just a precaution, just in case something came up while he was busy at the hospital. He trusted his employees and one of them had been with him for over a decade, but he wanted another backup. Someone nearby, someone reliable.
“Someone who’s family.”
The last time I was here was only a little over a week ago when I dropped off the monthly financial reports and handed over the payroll checks. Chris emerged from the small stockroom and greeted me with a smile. He thanked me for agreeing to watch the baby so he and Heather could enjoy a night at the mountain cabin for their anniversary.
I felt a chill even though the place was far from cold. The carefully stocked shelves and bright displays were projecting a kind of post apocalyptic feel in the dim light so I found a switch and flipped on enough lights to erase the afternoon shadows. The inventory was eclectic, everything from gaudy roadside souvenirs to handmade fine art.
After a few minutes I checked my watch again. Nash was late. I wondered if he’d show up. Part of me hoped he wouldn’t. The store really did require some immediate management decisions. I hadn’t made that up. But dealing with Nash Ryan might not be an easy task. He still radiated defiance, the years having done little to blunt the natural rebelliousness that once fascinated me.
That was another thing. The infatuations of adolescence hadn’t faded completely. This morning I’d felt flustered and nervous under his gaze. It was a feeling I disliked, one I didn’t pursue. That wasn’t all due to Nash. I was thinking of my own mistakes, of realizing too late that a man who made me uneasy was the wrong choice.
As for Nash, he knew damn well how good he looked in the kitchen standing there in his boxers, a ripped monument of virility, silently daring me to check him out. I couldn’t help but comply. Moreover, I had a feeling he was well aware of it.
I sighed in the empty store. As usual, I was overanalyzing. In all likelihood Nash wasn’t trying to catch anyone’s attention, least of all mine. He was tired and struggling to keep up with his new responsibilities. I was the one who’d busted into his kitchen without calling this morning.
I’d been driving Emma to preschool and making a mental note to give Nash a call later on today when I detoured over to the oldest section of Hawk Valley. I couldn’t stop thinking about Colin. I needed to make sure he was all right after being placed in the care of a man who was obviously clueless about taking care of a baby. A man who’d always despised his father and had never shown the slightest interest in Colin’s existence.
That’s not fair, Kat.
I drummed my fingers on the metal bars of a postcard rack. Maybe it wasn’t fair. Heather had confided in me so that I knew the relationship between Chris and Nash had been strained, complicated. But I was willing to set fairness aside when it came to Colin’s best interests. If Nash proved to be an incompetent guardian then I was prepared to step in.
The door chime jarred me out of my brooding and Nash walked through the glass door, car seat in hand.
“He’s asleep,” Nash whispered and looked around for a place to set the baby down.
I beckoned and led him to Chris’s office in the back. Nash gently placed the car seat in the middle of his father’s old desk. He stopped and looked around for a second and I wondered what he was remembering. He must have been in this room a thousand times while growing up. But when he turned to follow me back to the store his face was impassive.
“Did the car ride knock him out?” I asked when we were out of earshot.
Nash nodded and leaned against the checkout counter. He gazed around the store but didn’t seem especially interested in anything he saw.
