The Sassy One

Page 14

She leaned toward him and lightly touched his arm. “Give yourself a break. Right now you don’t feel anything, and that’s not so bad. You’ll start processing the information over time, and with that will come emotion.”
He glanced at her and smiled. “That’s your degree talking.”
“Sure, but I have to use it every now and then or it gets dusty.”
“Okay, Ms. Psychologist. What’s my next move? Is it mentally healthy for me to run for the hills?”
“Probably not. As for what’s next, you’re going to have to play that by ear. You and Kelly need to get to know each other. That will take time.”
“Time, huh? Want to give me a ballpark of how long it’s going to take?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Me, either. About any of it.” His smile faded. “The bitch took money.”
It took Francesca a second to figure out who he meant. “Tanya?”
He nodded. “My mother paid her off to keep Kelly a secret. Two hundred and fifty thousand up front, five thousand a month, plus expenses.”
Francesca felt her mouth drop open. She consciously pressed her lips together. “But why would she want to get rid of her own grandchild?”
“You’d have to know my mother to understand that.” He took another drink. “Lily Reese liked to rule her kingdom, and she would use any means to keep her subjects in line. My father died when I was pretty young. I don’t remember him much. When Lily was around, her word was law. When she was gone, which was most of the time, I lived with my paternal grandfather. Gabriel.”
“The one you hired Elena for.”
“Right. He was sane and normal. Two claims my mother couldn’t make. God, they fought. He threatened to sue for custody more than once, but she got right back in his face. She was more than willing to take him on. She had money, power, and was fearless.”
The tone of his voice told her he didn’t mean the words as a compliment.
“By the time I was ten, I had already learned to mistrust everything she said. She lied because she liked to. Because it worked. As I got older, I was sent away to prep school. I spent holidays with Gabriel. After college I escaped to Europe, where I met Tanya.” He raised his glass. “A Miss California runner-up, well traveled, but not rich. She wanted money, I wanted…” He shrugged. “We met, I fell in love, or so I thought, and we got married two months later. My mother was furious.”
“Didn’t she like Tanya?”
“They loathed each other because they were so much alike. In one of those humorous twists of fate, I’d traveled all the way to France only to find the one woman exactly like my mother.” He glanced at her. “You could write a paper about me.”
She winced. “People fall for partners just like one of their parents all the time. If that parent is a good, loving person, the relationship works.”
“If the new wife is lying and manipulative, it doesn’t,” he said. “It took me three months to figure out my mistake. By then my mother was already campaigning for the marriage to end. I was torn between my own happiness and doing what she wanted. Rebelling against that kept me in the marriage another six months. Then I ended it. All Tanya wanted was a big settlement. There were no broken hearts on either side.”
He told the story easily, as if it no longer mattered. As it had been twelve years ago, Francesca didn’t doubt Sam was long recovered. He’d moved on. Until Kelly had arrived, literally at his door, bringing the past back to life.
“So when she found out Tanya was pregnant, she paid her off to keep her away from you,” she said.
He nodded. “If I’d known she was pregnant, I would have put the divorce on hold, at least until the baby was born.” He frowned. “A baby. I still can’t believe it.”
“She’s not a baby anymore.”
“You have that right.” He straightened. “So what do I do with her? Are you sure she’s not old enough to be left alone while I’m at work?”
Francesca shook her head. “She’s certainly capable of taking care of herself for a few hours, but I wouldn’t leave her in the house by herself all day. She’s into ballet. That gives you a place to start.”
“That’s right. She mentioned a school or a class. That will fill some time. Then what?”
“Then you get to know her.”
“But what does she eat? How much? What about clothes? She wants a DVD player. Should I buy her one?”
She held up a hand. “You can’t solve all the problems at once. Having a child dropped in your lap with no warning is going to offer some logistical challenges. Take them one at a time.”
He grinned. “Logistical challenges? Is that the professional term for this?”
“Yes, and I hope you appreciate that I’m volunteering all this information for free. I’m a highly paid professional.” She smiled. “Well, I will be in about eighteen months.”
He shifted so he was facing her. After setting his glass on the coffee table, he stretched out his arm along the back of the sofa and touched her shoulder.
“You’re being great. I appreciate it.”
“I told you, I don’t mind helping.”
What she didn’t tell him was the way he’d handled the entire situation had made her like him more. He wasn’t just a pretty face and great in bed. He could have gone ballistic when Kelly showed up. Instead he’d remained relatively calm. Despite the shock he had to be feeling, he was planning things through, worrying about his daughter, and not blaming anyone.
He leaned forward and kissed her. His mouth was warm, firm, and tender, but not passionate. Francesca understood. Having an unexpected child show up had a way of changing the flow of a date.
“I don’t have much going on over the next few days,” she told him. “I should be working on the outline for my dissertation, but I’m practicing creative avoidance instead. Would you like me to come over tomorrow morning and help out with things?”
He hesitated. “You have no idea how much I want to say yes. But this isn’t your problem.”
“You’re right. It’s yours. So? Do you really want to do this all on your own?”
“No way. But we had that definition of great sex and no complications.”
“I’ll make an exception this one time.” She looked into his eyes. “I mean it, Sam.”
“Then I’ll stop pushing back and say thank you.” He glanced at his watch, then shook his head. “I can’t make any arrangements tonight, so I guess I won’t be going into work tomorrow.” He touched her face. “If you wouldn’t mind coming over, that would be great. At least then there will be two of us on the side of the grown-ups. You think that will make things even?”
Francesca thought about Kelly’s precocious sophistication. “She’ll probably still outthink us, but at least we can band together.”
He chuckled. “You’re terrific. Thanks for all of this.”
His words made her feel warm inside. Sort of melty and squishy. Good thing she’d sworn off romantic entanglements years ago, or she could be in real danger here.
She rose. “I’m going to head home. We’re both going to need our rest for tomorrow.”
He stood. “When we face the terror of the preteen?”
“Exactly. Just remember. You’re the adult.”
“Oh, I know that. Kelly’s the one we have to convince.”
“You sure she’s not dead?” Gabriel asked as he leaned back in the kitchen chair. “It’s after nine. Maybe you should check on her.”
Sam didn’t think Kelly had passed away in the night. He doubted he’d been lucky enough that she’d run away. Of course, her leaving would be only a temporary reprieve. He would be forced to find her and drag her back. Not exactly how he wanted to start his day.
“I’ll give her another half hour, then go check on her.”
Gabriel shrugged. “She’s your daughter.”
Sam still hadn’t made peace with that concept. A child. It didn’t seem right. Not after all this time. And from what he’d seen of Kelly, she wasn’t exactly the kid he would have chosen.
“What are you going to do with her?” his grandfather asked.
Sam glanced out the large window over the sink. “Hell if I know. Get her settled. She wants to take some ballet classes.”
“What about carting her around? She can’t drive. You’re going to have to hire someone.”
“I know.” He’d already spent some time on the phone, but professional day care for preteens was sadly lacking. “The nannies all want to work with little kids and babies. I have a few people checking. They’re supposed to get back to me.”
His grandfather picked up his coffee mug. “Tanya’s a bitch.”
“Tell me about it.”
After Francesca had left the previous evening, Sam had called his grandfather to tell him what had happened. Gabriel had been furious at the deception, but not surprised. He’d shown up bright and early to examine his great-granddaughter, but Kelly had yet to make an appearance.
“At least the kid isn’t an idiot,” Gabriel said. “It took brains for her to travel all this way herself. You should be proud.”
“Uh-huh.” Sam was trying not to say much until Gabriel had met Kelly. Maybe she would be better this morning. Maybe last night’s demands and attitude had been more about being tired than anything else.
Unlikely, he thought grimly. Very unlikely.
“Whatever happens, I’m taking responsibility for her,” he said.
“You make me sound like a dog you brought home,” Kelly said as she breezed in the kitchen. “Do I get my own leash and water bowl, too?”
So much for a good night’s sleep improving things, Sam told himself.
“Good morning,” he said. “Gabriel, this is my daughter, Kelly. Kelly, this is your great-grandfather Gabriel.”
The old man looked her over. Sam saw she’d pulled on the same low-rise jeans and yet another abbreviated T-shirt. This one was green, tight, and proclaimed “Girls Rule.” She was barefoot. Her toes were painted, her skin pale.
Kelly tucked several curls behind her ears as she walked past them and headed for the refrigerator. “Whatever. So is there anything for breakfast?”
Sam’s temper boiled, but before he could say anything, Gabriel pounded his cane on the tiled kitchen floor. Kelly jumped.
“What?” she demanded.
“You should lock this one up until she learns some manners,” he said.
Kelly planted her hands on her hips. “We’re not in that century anymore.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t say she was a smart-mouth, Sam. She got that from her mother.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “Are we done? Can I eat now?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Can you?”
Kelly stared at him as if he’d started speaking Russian.
Sam sighed. “May I eat now,” he told her. “Can is ability. May is permission.”
“Oh. You’re one of those.” She turned back to the refrigerator and muttered something about “weird old men.”
“You have a lot of freckles,” Gabriel said.
“Gee, thanks,” Kelly said. “Because until this moment I hadn’t been sure. I kept scrubbing my face, but they wouldn’t come off. Freckles. Who knew?”
Gabriel scowled. “Can we send her back?”
I wish, Sam thought. “We all need time to adjust.”
Kelly shut the refrigerator. “I’d rather be back in New York. Tell you what, Grandpa. Just set me up in an apartment and I’ll be fine. I’ll go to school, then my ballet classes, and you won’t even have to remember that you ever met me.”