by Lori Wilde
Before Michael could comment, Benjamin nodded his head toward the far corner of the main room. “There is something I’m curious about. Tell me about that lovely lady.”
Huh? Confused, Michael looked across the room. A group of women sat talking. If memory served him, they were in charge of publicity for the fundraiser.
“Who?”
“The beautiful one in the blue dress.”
Elmira. Michael should have known. Both Tommy and Al had already treated him to long dissertations on the charms of Elmira Ross. Dottie claimed all men were besotted with Elmira, even without benefit of her magical car.
But for Benjamin to be interested was truly amazing. He’d just moved here, and he was already thinking about his social life.
“Her name is Elmira Ross,” Michael said, not sure he liked being a matchmaker for his boss’ father-in-law. “She’s a very nice lady.”
“Married?”
Michael shifted, really uncomfortable with this conversation. He liked Elmira. He felt like a high school freshman. “Widowed.”
“Would you mind introducing me?” Benjamin asked.
Michael glanced at Nathan, who had a broad grin on his face. “Yes, please introduce us.”
Even expecting the request, it caught Michael off guard. No doubt about it. The center had a strange effect on men. They arrived as perfectly sane but quickly turned into slobbering piles of mush.
Knowing protest would do him no good, Michael led the way across the room. Benjamin Montgomery had guts; he’d give him that. He was about to flirt with Elmira under the very watchful eyes of Dottie and the rest of the ladies.
The man had solid-gold guts.
After introducing Benjamin to the ladies, Michael stepped back and watched the older man in action. He didn’t know Benjamin’s history, but it quickly became obvious that he hadn’t lost the knack of talking to women. Although polite to all of the women, Benjamin managed to convey to Elmira that she held a special interest for him. He asked her questions and listened to her answers with just the right degree of attentiveness. And when he asked his final, go-for-broke question, even Michael held his breath.
“A date?” Elmira’s voice rose a tiny bit. “You want to take me out to dinner?”
“Say yes,” Dottie hissed. “Or I’ll never speak to you again.”
Intrigued, Michael watched the scene before him. He glanced at Nathan, who simply shrugged.
An attractive pink tinge settled on Elmira’s cheeks. Michael glanced at Benjamin Montgomery. Beguiled. He was definitely beguiled. Elmira was still a heartbreaker.
“I’d like to, but I’m afraid I’m too old for you,” Elmira finally said.
Benjamin moved closer. “No, you’re not. Please reconsider.”
Good manners told Michael to move away, to give these people privacy. But he just couldn’t. Natural curiosity forced him to hold his ground until he knew what happened.
“Oh, dear.” Elmira looked at Dottie. Then at Michael. And finally at Benjamin. When she smiled, Michael knew Benjamin had won.
“I’d love to go.”
Michael felt like giving the older man a high five. He didn’t even know Benjamin, but he did know the people at the center. They had a way of getting to people. Heaven knew, these people got to him.
And Casey got to him, too.
Two hours later, Michael knew something was wrong. Casey should have been back by now. Glancing at his watch, he realized she’d never have time to pick up Elmira’s birthday cake. He still had some time before his meeting at four, so he grabbed his coat and headed off to the bakery.
When he got back and Casey still wasn’t there, he realized the council meeting must be going badly. Casey never missed a birthday party, and she wouldn’t start now with Elmira’s. He looked at his watch again.
Damn, if he didn’t hurry, he’d miss his meeting. Maybe he could just leave the cake, and the seniors could hold the party themselves. Casey should be here soon.
“Do you think we should start bringing out the plates?” Dottie asked him.
“Actually, I have a meeting—”
Tommy patted him on the back. “That’s okay. We can handle this. You head off to your meeting.”
Michael glanced around, uncertain what to do. “It is an important meeting,” he said lamely.
“You know, we don’t need a babysitter,” Dottie said. “We can be left alone.”
Stunned, Michael turned to stare at her. “I don’t think of myself as a babysitter. I know you don’t need me to stay.”
Tommy nodded. “That’s right. So what’s the problem?”
The problem? Michael looked from Tommy to Dottie, then to Elmira. Something tugged at him, pulled on emotions he didn’t even know he had. He wanted to sing “Happy Birthday” to Elmira, listen to Dottie tease her about her age, and then also listen to Tommy and Al come to her defense. He wanted to stay and be part of the fun and the warmth. Looking at Elmira, he knew he wanted her to know she was special to him.
“The problem is, I want to stay,” he admitted, tossing his jacket on the back of a chair. “Let me make a quick phone call, then I’ll rustle up some balloons.” He grinned at Elmira. “Can’t forget the balloons, now can we?”
She’d done it. Was she hot stuff or what? Casey grinned as she locked her car and headed across the parking lot to the center. There had been several times this afternoon when she’d thought the council would turn her down, but somehow, she’d managed to slam-dunk the presentation.
And now she felt terrific. She could hardly wait to tell the seniors. And Michael.
Shoving open the door to the center, she was all set to share the great news when she noticed the scene before her and stumbled to a stop. Cake. Party plates. Balloons.
Oh, no. She’d forgotten Elmira’s birthday party.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. From the look of things, the party was over. Most of the seniors were gone. Only a few remained, and they were picking up. How could she forget something so important? Elmira was like a member of her own family. Casey loved her. Images of her own birthday parties as a child hit her. Her parents, always so wrapped up in their jobs, would arrive just as the party ended. If they arrived at all.
She was a horse’s patootie. Glancing around, she saw Michael walk out of her office talking to Elmira. When he noticed her, he smiled and waved her over.
“Elmira, I’m so very sorry,” she said when she reached the older woman’s side. “The meeting ran late, and I didn’t dare leave until they agreed to Big Band Night. Please forgive me.”
Elmira patted her arm. “That’s okay, dear. No harm done. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
With a final wave, Elmira walked out. From her distracted attitude, Casey didn’t believe for a second that the older woman forgave her. With a mental kick to herself, she turned to Michael. “Thanks for staying.”
“No problem. I stayed because I wanted to. So how did everything go this afternoon?”
Casey picked up one of the balloons. “They agreed to our plans. Finally.”
“Great.” He frowned. “You okay?”
No.
“Sure. Well, I know you need to get back to your office,” she said, her voice overly bright even to her own ears. “And I need to work out some last-minute details.”
Casey thought he would argue with her, but eventually, he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, yes.” Then she walked into her office, quietly shutting the door. How in the world had she forgotten? She hadn’t just been late. She’d gotten so caught up in the meeting that she’d completely forgotten about Elmira’s birthday party.
Right now, she felt like pond scum. No, it was worse than that—she was so low, she was whatever pond scum despised.
11
Michael felt like a fool as he climbed the stairs to Casey’s apartment. Only a fool would rush through an important meeting so he could go check on a...a what? What was Casey to him?
A friend?
No. She was right. Friends didn’t kiss the way they did. No, Casey was a woman who made him feel like he was riding a roller coaster. Dealing with her was both exhilarating and terrifying.
But today, something strange had happened. He’d worried about her. She seemed so unhappy when he’d left her at the center. Worrying about someone was a brand-spanking-new experience for him.
An uncomfortable experience that made it difficult for him to concentrate on his meeting. Was this what people with families felt all the time? That they should be somewhere else? It was like being dragged in two different directions by wild horses—not exactly a sensation he wanted to duplicate on a regular basis.
But, fool or not, he had to make certain Casey was all right. So he’d come to see for himself that she was fine. He tapped lightly on her door and waited, uncertain of what to expect.
When she opened the door and he saw her face, he knew he’d been right. She was upset. Her eyes were red-rimmed. His heart twisted when he realized she’d been crying.
“Mind if I come in?” Michael asked.
Casey stood staring at him as if he’d dropped from the sky. Finally, she moved aside so he could enter.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Michael didn’t answer right away, wanting to first gauge her mood. So instead, he moved into the living room, noticing how it reflected Casey’s personality. Two brightly flowered, overstuffed couches filled the small room.
Flowers tumbled out of an eclectic assortment of vases, giving the room a cozy feel, and books lined several long shelves. Casey had created a warm room, an inviting room. A room just like her.
Michael turned to face Casey. “I came to make sure you’re okay. You seemed upset this afternoon.”
Casey nibbled on her bottom lip, and Michael sensed she wanted to talk about it. Deciding to make it easier, he said, “You feel bad about missing the party, right?”
Wordlessly, Casey nodded, the gleam in her eyes telling him she wasn’t far from tears again. “I can’t believe I missed it.”
He gently took her hand in his. Warmth tingled through his fingers. He led her over to one of the couches and sat, pulling her down next to him. When she settled deep into the cushions, he turned to face her.
“You had to go to the council meeting. Elmira understands that,” he said emphatically. The unhappiness he saw on her face tugged at him. His need to console her was making him damn nervous. He didn’t need a metal detector to know he was smack-dab in the middle of an emotional minefield when it came to this woman. She stirred up all sorts of foreign feelings, and to a man like him, a man who made a point of never getting seriously involved, feelings were the bogeyman. Something scary enough to make him turn tail and run.
But right now, he didn’t feel like running. He also didn’t want to put a name to these new feelings. Hey, just because he cared about Casey didn’t mean he’d totally lost his mind. Just maybe misplaced it temporarily.
Casey sighed. “Being at the party was important to me.”
Michael shifted closer to her on the sofa. He didn’t even try to be coy. He boldly slipped his arm behind her and gathered her to his side. Dipping his head, he said softly, “And why is that?”
He half expected Casey to refuse to explain, or to at least move out of the circle of his arms. But she did neither. If anything, she snuggled deeper against him.
“Birthdays are special to me.”
Brushing a stray strand of hair off her forehead, he asked, “Now why is that?”
She looked faintly self-conscious. “It’s silly, really.”
“Tell me,” he prompted, wanting to understand.
“I wanted Elmira to know I care,” Casey said.
“She does. She understood. You had to secure the funding for the center.” He frowned, sensing there was something more here. “What’s really bothering you?”
With a shake of her head, Casey said, “Never mind. I told you it was silly.”
“I won’t think it’s silly,” he said, his gaze never leaving her face. “Well, not unless you tell me you’ve always secretly wanted to be a clown because you admire their wardrobes.”
Casey gave him a faint smile, and he felt some of the tightness around his heart ease.
She shot him a brief glance, then blurted, “See, my parents missed almost every birthday party I ever had. They always had the nanny throw them, and they rarely showed up. They only cared about work.”
Silently, Michael willed her to go on.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she finally added. “But the more parties they missed, the more I wanted them there.”
Michael was half-afraid he knew the answer to the question hovering on his lips. Since there was no sense avoiding the inevitable, he bit the bullet and asked, “Why weren’t your parents there?”
She gave him a rueful smile. “They were always working. Always too busy to spend any time with me. So they missed birthday parties, holidays, and even Christmas. My father was a true-blue corporate shark. My mother traveled for her job and was rarely home.”
Ouch. Michael pushed away memories of how he’d spent Christmas last year at his desk, eating vending-machine cuisine. Hey, he could spend Christmas by himself if he wanted to. He didn’t have a family waiting on him.
But in a way, Casey’s parents had been as selfish as Michael’s old man had been. None of them made a place in their lives for their children.
As he’d come to realize, priorities are important.
This little history lesson sure explained Casey’s attitude toward him. She thought that as soon as something important came up at the office, he’d bail on her quicker than a gigolo after the check cleared.
Which, of course, was exactly what he planned on doing after the fundraiser.
He pushed aside that anvil-sized block of guilt and focused instead on Casey. Hoping to put a positive spin on this, he asked, “So your parents were into their jobs?”
“That’s all they cared about. All they ever thought about.”
“And that still bothers you,” he said.
“Not really.” At his dubious look, she added, “Only in as much as I don’t want that kind of obsession in my life. I don’t ever want to be that kind of person. To me, life’s about more than the next deadline, the next promotion.” She shot him an apologetic look. “No offense.”
At any other time, Michael would have complimented her on the swift verbal blow to his chin, but he let it slip by. Sure, in his book, working hard was important, but he wasn’t so callous that he couldn’t understand how long days at the office would strike a child as not caring.
“Your parents probably worked hard so they could make a good life for their family.”
She shook her head. “It was more than that. Both of them felt their job was always their first priority. Their jobs were their whole world, and it didn’t seem to matter if they disappointed me. I’m still not sure why they even had a child because neither of them wanted to spend time with me. I vowed when I was young to not be that type of person.”
This conversation was hitting a little too close to home for Michael, so he decided to fandango it in a new direction. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about Elmira. She’s an adult and knows you wanted to be at the party.”
He sensed Casey wanted to believe him but didn’t.
“It doesn’t matter what your age is,” she said. “You can still have your feelings hurt.”
There were those scary feelings, raising their evil little heads again. Up until a week or so ago, he’d pretty much been able to steer around those bugaboos. But feelings for Casey had brought him here tonight, and feelings for Casey prompted him to say, “Why don’t you call Elmira and talk to her?”
Casey studied him. “Do you really think I should?”
Like he was an expert on the polite thing to do. Still, he said, “Yes.” He shifted away and picked up the portable phone from the
end table. “Do you know her number?”
Casey nodded. “Elmira and I sometimes talk in the evenings.”
Michael stood and moved across the room while Casey made her call. In a couple of minutes, he knew from the happy tone in Casey’s voice that Elmira wasn’t upset. With a smile on his face, Michael wandered into the kitchen.
And found ducks. A lot of ducks. Flocks of ducks. Ducks on the wallpaper. Ducks on the dishtowels.
Ducks on the oval throw rug on the floor in front of the stove. On one white counter, a large ceramic duck held an assortment of cooking utensils. Then, perched on the side of the sink was another duck with a large blue sponge in its mouth.
Holy...duck.
“You were right,” Casey announced from the doorway. “She wasn’t upset. She said she knew the meeting was important.”
Michael turned toward her, thrilled to see a genuine smile on her face. “Great.”
“Actually, she was giddy when I talked to her.” Casey leaned against the oak table in the corner of the kitchen. “Apparently, she’s getting ready for a date with your boss’ father-in-law.”
“Oh, yeah, they hit it off while you were at your meeting.” He moved toward the door, suddenly uncertain what to say. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
“Thanks.” She shifted a duck spoon holder around on the table. “Any chance I could convince you to stay for dinner? I’d like to thank you for...tonight.” She smiled. “I can’t promise anything fancy, so you’d have to settle for potluck.”
Of course, a smart man would leave before he got himself in trouble. But then again, a smart man wouldn’t have come here in the first place. Hadn’t he already decided he was a fool? No sense being a fool with an empty stomach. “Potluck? Exactly what does that mean?”
Casey tossed a duck-covered dishtowel at him, which he caught with one hand. “It means you’re lucky you’re getting fed at all.”
With a grin, Michael placed the towel on the counter. He liked the sparkle in Casey’s eyes, the happiness in her smile. There was no sense kidding himself—he wasn’t going to be leaving for a while.
