"Um... sure. Why not?"
Chapter 7
"'Why not?' Did I honestly say 'why not?"' Alexa muttered hanging up the phone. Good grief. Let me call one of my sisters and get a list of all the reasons why I have no business going anywhere with Mark. Starting with the fact that he's the low-down rotten bastard who cheated on me."
But much as she wanted to hate him, she didn't.
"What's wrong with me? Hormones?" She looked at her belly as if expecting to see some visual proof of the menacing little secretions pulsing through her body.
She unclenched her grip on a red-and-white felt Santa decoration and sighed. The truth was each December she found it harder and harder to muster the appropriate level of holiday spirit necessary for working with young children. As much as she loved watching her charges discover the marvels of the season, something was missing. She wanted to shop, decorate and bake for her own family.
She tossed Santa back into the box and patted her tummy. "Maybe next year. But, today, I'm playing hooky. Liz said exercise was a must for pre-prenatal mothers, so..." She hurried into her room to change clothes. A couple of layers. Extra socks. Sunscreen—even the winter sun could burn in this part of the country. Stretchy workout gloves that she'd bought last year when Grace had been on a self-improvement kick.
Her bike was in the shed at the back of the lot. She kept her fingers crossed that the tires weren't flat. "A little low, but not bad," she said as she wheeled it into the yard.
She used a rag to dust off the seat then pushed it through the side gate to the covered carport where her compact sedan sat. She didn't have a bike lock, and even in a nice neighborhood like this, it wasn't a good idea to leave things sitting around.
"Water bottle, lip gloss, energy bars... " She was making a mental list of items to retrieve from her kitchen when she spotted Luca whiz past on his bicycle.
Putting two fingers between her lips, she whistled. The little boy jammed on the brakes and turned around. "Hey." She motioned him closer. "Would you do me a favor and watch my bike while I run inside. I need a couple of things."
"Sure. Where are you riding to?" Can I come?
He didn't say the words out loud, but Alexa heard them in his tone. Poor kid. Forced to grow up too fast when his mother got sick and his dad had to do everything.
"Braden and his dad are taking me with them. I don't know what kind of vehicle Mr. Gaylord drives. If there's room for a fourth bike, do you want to come with us?"
His shoulders lifted and fell in a careless gesture, but Alexa could see the interest in his eyes. She sincerely hoped Mark wouldn't mind having another child along.
She'd just barely returned with her sack of goodies when a Dodge pickup ruck pulled into her driveway. The four-door vehicle looked plenty large to accommodate another bike. Please say yes, Mark, she thought, hurrying to meet him.
"Hi, Mark. You're fast. I think my tires could use a little air, but my cousin, Gregor, has a pump, doesn't he, Luca?"
Luca nodded.
Mark greeted Alexa and smiled a greeting at the boy beside her. "Great. I've been meaning to buy one, but we don't ride as often as we should and it seems to slip my mind between times." He paused and then said, "Luca, would you like to come with us? If your dad says it's okay, of course."
Alexa's heart did a trippy little dance that reminded her of when she and Mark had first met. He always did the right thing when it came to kids.
"Okay," Luca said. "He won't care. He's doing laundry and watching football."
Mark took the knapsack Alexa was carrying and wheeled her bike toward the truck. "We should hurry. It gets dark so early this time of year."
Alexa and Braden followed Mark and Luca across the street. Sure enough, Gregor was happy to see his son doing something constructive, although he did pull Alexa aside while Luca and Mark retrieved the hand pump and said, "Is that who I think it is?"
She nodded. "Probably. Mark and I were engaged once. A long time ago."
"That's what I thought. And now...?”
"Now his son,” she put a hand on Braden's shoulder, "is coming to the Hippo after school. He and Luca have been getting to know each other." Not completely true. Neither boy had made any effort to spend time together, but they crossed paths every day. "This will be fun for both of them."
"Sure," Greg said. "Better than having him moping around here all day. He could have gone to the ranch with Dad and Gemilla, but he didn't have his homework done." Greg's father, Alexa's uncle, Claude, had moved in with Greg's brother a few months earlier. All of the children loved spending time at the small ranch west of town where Claude raised Shetland ponies. "But I checked Luca's homework last night. He said he only had math, and he completed that before I let him play his video game."
Mark and Luca had returned. Luca looked down as his father explained, "Extra-credit reading. He had a book report to write, and he just finished it a few minutes ago. Right, son?”
Luca nodded.
Alexa understood. Her cousin's son was as smart as a whip, but he had a slight learning disability that made reading difficult for him. He could do the work, but it took time, and like most kids his age preferred play over schoolwork.
"Great. You got it done. That means you can go with us. Shall we?"
Mark quickly secured Luca's bike beside Alexa's and they were off, heading west. The first leg of their journey wound past high-end housing developments and golf courses that had a Southern California look to them. But once the houses stopped, the desert took over.
"So close and yet I get out here so seldom," Alexa said with a sigh. She was enjoying the view from the comfortable passenger seat of the four-wheel-drive truck.
"I know what you mean. I bought an annual pass to Red Rocks thinking that would make me come out more often. Just hasn't happened, has it, Bray? When was the last time we were here?"
The lack of a reply seemed to change the tension level in the cab of the truck. Country music was playing on the satellite radio, but the volume wasn't loud enough to fill the void.
Alexa turned in her seat so she could see the two boys in the back. "How 'bout a game of roadside hangman?"
The word game made Luca sit up straighter and look around. A natural competitor, he seemed intent on being the first one to spot something that started with the letter H.
"Hole," he said, pointing to a divot scooped out of a hillside by a big yellow backhoe.
"Very good. Let's see who gets the letter A."
Nobody spoke for a minute then Mark said, "Alligator." Alexa, Luca and Braden looked at each other dubiously. "Yeah, right," Alexa said, speaking for all of them.
"No, seriously. See that hunk of tire on the side of the road? Truck drivers call them gators. Short for alligator." Alexa looked at Braden. "Do we believe him?" The child nodded.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Mark has the second letter. But the next is a toughie—N."
She scanned the road ahead and pointed. "Not as hard as I thought. There's the word Nevada. On the sign. Right there. You saw it, right?"
Mark groaned. "Yeah, I saw it, but I think that's cheating. What do you guys say?"
She saw the boys look at each other and make some kind of silent agreement. "She can have it," Luca said.
"What's next?" Alexa spelled out H-A-N-G...
They drove in silence for a few miles then a small voice said, “Gr-green."
Mark's chin turned to look at her, his eyes wide. "Braden?" he mouthed.
Alexa looked at the boy directly behind his father. "Green? What did you see that's green, Braden? I missed it."
The child looked down as if embarrassed by his outburst. "That spiky plant back there," Luca supplied pointing over his shoulder. "I can't remember the name. I saw it, too, but I didn't think about the color. That was smart, Braden."
Moisture welled up in her eyes and she quickly turned back around. She didn't want to make either child feel awkward. "Excellent," she said, her throat tight. "You gu
ys are really terrific at this game, but I think we should quit now because here's the entrance to the park. We can do the last letters on the way home, okay?"
Besides, any answer now would be an anticlimax. Braden had spoken. But more than that, he'd participated. That was something to shout about.
Not that she did, of course, but fifteen minutes later— once the boys were far enough ahead of her and Mark to be out of earshot—she said, 'That was so cool."
"I know, except I almost drove off the road."
"I've noticed him watching more actively all week. He doesn't actually participate in the games the other children are playing, but his gaze lingers, and sometimes he'll lean closer to Maya when she's showing him something. She's pretty much adopted him as her pet project."
"She's a cutie. Looks a lot like her aunt."
Alexa blushed, but she was sure the chilly wind had added enough color to her cheeks to cover it. "Maya's mother wants to move her to a preschool that's closer to their new home, but Maya isn't having anything to do with that. She's a very determined little girl." She shrugged. "Which could be a good thing for Braden."
"How do you mean?”
"Well, he's used to having teachers working with him, asking things of him, but Maya is different. She treats him like her equal, even though he never says a word. Most of the time she answers for him, as if she's reading his mind."
Mark swerved slightly. "Can she do that? Read his mind? I mean, she's got the right blood for it."
Alexa made a flip-flop motion with her hand. "She's an intuitive little girl, there's no question of that, but we've never seen any real psychic abilities. Not like Grace and Mom."
"Grace?"
She told him the story of Grace's precognition that someone was going to be shot and how she put herself in harm's way to protect Nikolai—her "prince."
"I heard a little bit of that story from Zeke, but he's not exactly a gossip.”
"You know he's dating my mother, right?"
"Uh-huh. How does the family feel about that?"
"For the most part, we like him, and we're glad Mom's moving on with her life, but..."
"He's a gadjo cop. Like me."
She frowned. Was that bitterness she heard in his use of the word for "non-Romani"? Mark's job had only been part of the reason her father had been so against his marrying Alexa. Kingston had worried about what effect Mark's unhappy childhood would have on his ability to be a good husband and father. At the time, Alexa had taken Mark's side without reservation, but after their breakup she'd seen that maybe her father had been right.
"Deep down I think Mark knew he could never live up to your expectations, Alexa," her father had said, trying to comfort her. "You’re better off without him."
Anger and hurt had reinforced that sentiment, and for years, her private mantra had been: "I'm better off without him." And Dad was right. Wasn’t he?
Alexa put the question from her mind. "Actually, Grace is marrying a cop. He's part Rom, but he's not exactly jumping for joy about that. So, I don't think Zeke's bloodline is the problem."
"But you still have reservations. I can sense your hesitation. What don't you like about him? Zeke's a helluva guy. I'd trust him with my life."
"It's not that I don't like him, but he's been single a long time. His children live in another state and he hasn't had a lot to do with them over the years. I'm not sure he's ready for all the...um...baggage Mom brings to the equation. Four daughters. One new son-in-law and two more in the wings. Plus the Romani clan, in general. We're a handful."
He chuckled. 'That you are, but to be honest, I never felt more included in any group than when we were together. Except where your dad was concerned." He cleared his throat and added, "Regardless, I was real sorry to hear about his passing. The Gypsy King was one of a kind."
She nodded but didn't say anything. She couldn't. She still missed her father more than she could express. And being in Red Rocks was like playing in Kingston's own personal backyard—the memories were everywhere.
"The boys seem to be getting along well," Mark said, nodding with his chin at the two specks ahead of them.
"Fresh air and exercise are like superglue for kids. Bonds them together."
"Even when one doesn't talk?"
"He can ride. Fast. That speaks volumes."
He smiled and looked at her. "I really like you, Alexa. The person you've become. I always knew you'd be an amazing woman—you were when I met you, but now you're even more."
"And less," she teased, poking her belly.
His gaze lingered. "Yes, you've changed in a lot of ways. I have to admit I miss your long hair, but this style suits you—very cheerful and fun."
"Really?" She sat up and dashed her fingers through the wind-tossed locks. "I was going for suave and sexy. Just kidding," she quickly added at his surprised look. "No fuss is the best thing where kids are concerned. Some days, you wind up with paint, modeling clay, sand, frosting and glue in your hair. Preschool can be a war zone."
"Sounds like it. By the way, I um...might be having some time off in the near future, and I wondered if your parent volunteers include dads?"
“Of course, but since Braden only comes after school, there's not as much opportunity for formal—”
He cut her off. "I didn't mean just the hours that Bray is there. I asked his teacher about helping out in the classroom, and she wasn’t wild about the idea. Said the kids get distracted by the presence of a parent—particularly a male parent—in the room. But I'd really like to learn more about working with kids. I think it would be good for both of us— me and Braden."
Both of us. Alexa didn't want to admit that her first thought had been her and Mark.
"Well, I can always use the help, but I've never had a parent offer to give up his vacation to work at my school." Mark looked ahead--probably to make sure Braden wasn't close enough to hear, because what he said made her slam on the brakes. "I'm not talking vacation, Alexa. They've reopened the case on Tracey's death. A new source has come forward who claims I rigged a bomb that killed Tracey."
"No." Her knees shook and she squeezed the bike grips harder to stay upright. “That's impossible. You wouldn't do something like that.”
He’d already stopped, too. And even though they were out in the open, he walked his bike closer and said in a low voice, “Thanks. Your conviction does my heart good. But the fact is the fire was intense—meth labs in and of themselves are extremely volatile. I wasn't involved in the investigation—in fact, I was off on six weeks of personal leave while I took care of Braden, but I heard through the grapevine that the original investigation failed to turn up any kind of trigger device. This allegation wouldn't have been taken seriously if the guy hadn't named names. Mine. And Tracey's."
Alex tossed her head. “That sounds a little too convenient, doesn’t it? Do you need a lawyer? My new brother-in-law--”
He cut her off. “Not yet, but thanks. Right now, I’m just trying to get all my ducks in a row in case the investigation goes south.”
She couldn’t tell if he was being perfectly honest or just telling her what he thought she wanted to hear. Mark always did play his cards pretty close to the chest. “Well, if you have some time off and need to fill it, you're more than welcome at the Hippo. And if there's anything I can do where Braden is concerned, don’t hesitate to ask.”
"You could adopt him.”
Mark’s casual rejoiner bounced about in her brain like a pin ball. She shook her head and stared at him. “I must have misunderstood. I thought you said I should adopt your son.”
“I shouldn't have just blurted that out. I apologize. That was stupid."
"Why did you say it?”
“The thought never entered my mind until my ex-mother-in-law called this morning. I didn’t have anything to do with Tracey’s death and I’m confident that my innocence will come out in the investigation, but I was a cop before I became an arson investigator and I know that sometimes the facts c
an lead to the wrong conclusion. So, if, by some fluke, I get arrested, I need to have a plan set up that keeps Braden out of Odessa's hands.”
Odessa. Why do I know that name? Some story Tracey told me shortly after I met her about her mom trying to make a buck off her pretty baby girl. An icy shiver when down her back.
He nodded toward the trail. “We should catch up with the boys.”
She glanced at her watch. “They'll realize we're not behind them and be back here any second. I want to know what you meant. Is there a chance you're going to jail?"
"I'm a suspect, but I'm not a murderer. I don't expect to be arrested. But anything could happen. And I just realized this morning that I haven't made any plans contingency for Braden, if something happened to me."
That didn’t sound like the Mark she knew in the least. "Tracey’s mother...that’s this Odessa person you mentioned?”
"Yes, but he'd be better off taking his chances as a ward of the court than with Odessa."
She swallowed. "Do you say that because you dislike her or because she’s...?”
"A whack job. She screwed up her daughter, and I'm not about to let her get her hands on my son. I don't trust her, Alexa. You, I trust. You would always look after him with Braden's best interests at heart. Of course, I have no right to ask you this, but you'd be my first choice as my son's guardian. If it comes down to that."
Chapter 8
If it comes down to that.
The phrase haunted Alexa. She'd managed to keep from overreacting too badly when Mark had first made his suggestion. But, the idea hadn’t been far from her thoughts the rest of the afternoon, and had even followed her home as she'd put away her bike, heated up some leftover soup and settled into a hot bath.
She'd agreed to let Mark's son come to her after-school program. How could he possibly have made such a quantum leap in our relationship? We’re strangers. Barely even friends any more.
I like you, he'd said.
Much as she hated to admit it, she liked him, too. A part of her still wanted to fan the flame of her outrage, but too much time had passed to nurse that fire to life. She'd changed. Maybe she'd seen too many instances where hurt feelings led to furious battles that left wounded children struggling to pick up the pieces. Kids like Braden.
A Match Made In Vegas Page 7
