by Patty Blount
“Good night, Olivia,” he said softly.
She didn’t respond and that was okay. Tomorrow was another day. Tomorrow, he’d apologize to Amelia Blake. He’d taken a chunk out of her—and her friend, he remembered with a wince. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes when he’d snapped at her—and hated that he’d caused it. She was…
Hell. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was. Sure was pretty, though. All that auburn hair that turned to fire in the sunlight…the curves he couldn’t help but notice in her jeans…huge brown eyes that instantly turned hot when she was pissed…full lips that reminded him of peaches, of all things.
He left the girls’ bedroom and collapsed next to Kim on the sofa. She was watching some sitcom he’d never seen before. “Should we see if there’s a decent movie on?”
She shrugged, but said nothing.
He grabbed the remote, scrolled through the channel guide. “See anything you want to watch?”
Another shrug.
“Kimmy, conversation works best when more than one person does all the talking.”
“I’m allowed to talk now?”
Gabe opened his mouth, then shut it. He tried again. “Okay. I guess I deserved that. Yes, you’re allowed to talk.”
“Livvie thinks all stepmothers are evil.”
“And where did she get this from?”
“From Zoe at school. Her mom got married again and Zoe got a stepbrother and stepsister. They take Zoe’s stuff without asking and her mom always takes their side instead of Zoe’s. She wants to go live with her dad now.”
Gabe stared at his daughter in shock. “And you think I’d do that, too? Thanks a lot.”
Kimberly made a sound of frustration. “That’s just it, Daddy! Zoe didn’t think her mom would do it either, but she is.”
“And how do you know all this? You don’t even go to that school.”
Kimberly lifted one shoulder again. “Liv and I talk. After Maddie falls asleep. You know…”
Yeah. He did know. Sighing heavily, he scratched the back of his neck. “Kimmy, Cocoa-Pop, listen to me. I’m not looking to get married again. I don’t even want to date anybody. So it’s kind of silly to get this mad over stuff that’s not a problem. What is a problem is one of my daughters ran down a busy street, forcing me to go after her and leave my other daughters by themselves. That’s why I’m so mad.”
Kimberly thought that over but shook her head. “No, Daddy. You got mad as soon as Maddie said she wanted to be Lia’s friend. Actually, you’ve been mad since Lia moved in and it’s not fair.”
She went to her room, softly shut the door, leaving him alone with nothing but the echo of her words.
He got up, moved to the living room window and cranked it open, the fresh night air doing nothing to calm him. It’s not that he was mad. He was…frustrated. He…well, damn it, he was attracted to Amelia Blake and just what the hell was wrong with that, anyway? He was a grown-ass man. He was allowed to look at attractive people, wasn’t he? Jeez, he hadn’t even glanced at a member of the opposite sex since he met Janey and now one lived right next door and—
Holy hell.
She lived right next door.
He scrubbed a hand over his face and ground his teeth together. There was no harm looking at Lia or flirting with her, especially since she looked and flirted right back. If things…took off from there, then he’d talk to the girls.
*
“There. That’s that.” Lia lifted her hair off her neck and rubbed where a single tight knot had formed.
“I’m spent,” Vivian announced and flopped down to the sofa the three women had just muscled into place. “Is there any more wine?”
“Yes, there’s another bottle.” Roseann extended a hand to help her up.
Lia cranked open a window and fanned her face, then retrieved the last of the wine. “You guys are the best.”
“Damn right we are.” Viv thrust a fist in the air. “Fill me up.” She held out her glass.
“Wine’s not gonna help. We need massages,” Lia grumbled.
“Wait, I think there’s a delivery service for that,” Roseann said and Vivian perked up.
“Massages? Really?”
“No, not really.”
“Cruel, Roseann. Bitchy and cruel.” Vivian lifted her head to glare at Roseann. “As soon as I can move, I’m going to kick your ass.”
Lia laughed. It was awesome having both of her best friends here to help. They’d repositioned her sofa, the one piece of furniture Jared hadn’t fought over.
“You know, I’ve always hated these lamps,” Lia admitted.
“You do?” Roseann asked, lifting her head from the back of the sofa.
“Yeah. I don’t know why I wanted them.”
“Because Jared picked them out. Obviously.” Viv sneered at them. “They are pretty hideous.”
“How much do you hate them, Lia?”
Carefully, Lia studied the tall white porcelain monstrosities that featured a bunch of naked and dancing cherubim.
“Um, all the way.”
With her eyes pinned on Lia’s, Roseann slowly extended a hand and pushed the lamp to the floor, grinning savagely when it shattered.
“Oh my God, Ro!” Vivian jumped while Lia merely sat there, gaping.
“What? She said she hates them.” Roseann angled her head at Lia. “Why don’t you kill its mate?”
“Kill the—For heaven’s sake.” Lia pressed her lips together.
“Come on. You know you want to. You can buy new ones. I’ll buy them, in fact.”
She could, couldn’t she? Smiling slowly, Lia considered that. She slowly extended a hand and shoved the other lamp to the floor where it too shattered into a few hundred pieces.
“Oh my God, you’re right. That felt ah-mazing.” Lia shut her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of having murdered something Jared picked out. “Is this what cats feel like?”
“Told ya.”
She gave it a minute. “So…who’s cleaning this up?”
The sound of a heavy fist on her back door quieted all three of them.
“Lia!” Bang, bang, bang. “Lia! Are you okay?”
Lia rushed to the back door, flung it open to reveal a wild Gabriel holding a—a hammer?
He stood there, eyes scanning the room for threats while all three of them gaped at him.
“Well. Hello, again, Super Man.”
He ignored Roseann, locked eyes with Lia. “You okay? I heard glass shatter.”
Heard the—Oh. She slapped a hand to her mouth. She’d forgotten the windows were open. “Oh my God, I am so sorry. We were just—Oh, Gabriel. I am really, really sorry. We had a small mishap.”
He was still gripping the hammer like it was Thor’s. With his jaw clenched and chest heaving, he said, “Uh-huh.”
“It’s okay, Gabriel. Everything’s okay. I’ll tape it all up in cardboard and mark glass on it so you won’t cut yourself when you put the trash out.”
After a minute, he lowered the hammer, dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. He suddenly noticed Roseann and Vivian. “Oh. Company. Right.”
“I’m Roseann. We met before. And this is Vivian.”
He winced and managed a small smile. “I’m sorry about before. I was in the middle of a tantrum.” He shifted the hammer to his left hand so he could extend his right.
“Your daughter did seem upset,” Roseann remarked, shaking his hand.
“Not her. Me.” He flashed that awkward smile that seemed to make Lia’s pulse skip.
“Um, how about a glass of wine? You might need it more than we do.” Vivian took the bottle from the coffee table but Gabe waved her off.
“No. Thanks. I left my girls alone.”
“We’re sorry for scaring you,” Lia said.
“Okay, then. Good night.”
Gabriel went out the back door and Lia shut and locked it after him. Then, she closed the living room windows, too.
“Well. That was, er, interesting.” Rosea
nn sipped her wine.
“Interesting? Not the word I’d use.” Vivian shook her head. “The way he charged in here, hammer swinging? That was freaking hot.”
“Hammer…swinging?” Roseann burst into gut-busting laughter but Lia ignored them both.
She felt absolutely horrible, indulging in childish stunts like breaking lamps. She’d never even considered how the sound of smashing glass might frighten the other tenants. She could almost hear her mother’s voice, scolding her. “Of course you didn’t, Lia. You never think before you act.”
She’d seen Gabriel’s face earlier when Maddie had scared him, seen the pure terror in his eyes and known she was responsible for it. And now, she’d done it again. She fetched the broom and dustpan from their closet in the kitchen and began sweeping up the mess, listening to Vivian and Roseann giggle about Gabriel’s hammer. More than once, Roseann teased her about Superintendent/Tenant games, but Lia refused to play along. She would never do anything to put that look of pure helpless terror in Gabriel’s eyes again.
Chapter Nine
On Saturday morning, Gabe awoke before the girls and thought about mixing up pancakes. He’d had a restless night, dreaming of Madison running straight into an oncoming car and dreaming of Amelia Blake holding him, moving underneath him only to shift to her holding his daughter on her lap.
It was extremely unsettling and he kept jolting awake over and over again and refused, just flat-out refused to admit it was lust more than fear that disturbed his dreams. By three in the morning, he’d finally gotten out of bed to watch Maddie sleep for a few minutes, just to prove to himself it was fear.
Today would be a bagel morning instead of pancakes. He took his coffee to the sofa, flipped on the TV.
“Good morning, Ducky.” He grinned as Madison joined him.
“Morning, Daddy.” She peered up at him through a mess of tangled brown hair. “How come your face didn’t get soft today?”
Gabe’s lips twitched. “Uh, well, I guess it’s because I didn’t sleep enough. It’s okay. When I shave later, I’ll put some lotion on it. Go get dressed. We’re going to the bagel store for breakfast today.”
“Ooo. Can I get a rainbow bagel?”
“Sure, if they have any.”
“Daddy,” Maddie said, jumping on the sofa. “The bagel store’s right near the pizza store and I promise I won’t run away this time. I’ll hold on to Emmy’s stroller and Kimby’s hand and Olivia’s, too.”
“You’d need three hands for that, dummy.” Olivia wandered in, yawning.
“Liv. Stop calling your sister a dummy,” Gabe snapped. Jeez, it wasn’t even eight a.m. yet and already, the bickering had begun.
“Sorry,” Olivia said without any conviction.
Gabe took a sip of coffee, padded on bare feet to the girls’ room to liberate Emmy from her crib. Kimberly was still sound asleep.
“Dad-dee! Morning time, Dad-dee.”
“Morning, E-Rex. Let’s do that diaper, okay?”
“’Kay, Dad-dee.”
Emmy dropped like a log to Maddie’s bed. “You’re getting too big for diapers, Emmy. It’s almost time for the potty.”
She looked at him with wide blue eyes. “I go on potty?”
“Sure.”
“’Kay!”
And she took off like a bullet. He caught up to her in time to prevent her from falling in. “Easy, E-Rex. Hold on. Look what I got for you.” He sifted through the toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, and soap bars stored under the sink, found the potty ring they’d used for Madison, fitted it onto the toilet and lifted her on top. “How’s that?”
Giggling, Emmy kicked her legs. “I on da potty.”
“Yes, you are. Can you do pee-pee here instead of in your diaper?”
She pushed and strained and a second later, gasped when the sound of tinkling reached her ears.
“Yay!” Gabe applauded. “High five.”
“Yay!” Emmy clapped, too, and then slapped his palm. “I tell Maddie.”
He caught her when she leaped off the toilet. “First, wash your hands. Then tell Maddie.” She did and took off, squealing.
“Dad! Emmy’s naked!”
Gabe dropped his head into his hands for a moment then hurried to the living room, whistling for everyone’s attention. “Okay, everybody get dressed. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.” He went to his own room to do just that, closing the door firmly behind him. He tugged on jeans, a dark blue shirt that boasted I make cute kids and rooted through his drawers for a pair of socks. In the next room, he heard raised voices again and decided against breaking it up.
Instead, he busied himself making his bed, straightening up his bedroom. He threw his pajamas into the laundry basket, headed for the girls’ room to find three angry faces at the bottom of the bunk beds.
He’d designed and made those beds himself.
Instead of a ladder, he’d fashioned a staircase that opened into drawers. On the opposite end, he’d built in a small desk. Olivia’s bed jutted out from beneath Kim’s at a right angle. The bunk beds took up one entire corner of the girls’ room. On the other wall, he’d squished in Emmy’s crib and Maddie’s single bed plus the dresser he’d refinished. He’d put up shelves all over the room and there still wasn’t enough space for everything. The desk was never used for homework. It had become an extension of the dresser, holding clothes.
His thoughts wandered back to his plans for creating space where there wasn’t any, his engineer’s brain looking for opportunities to utilize every wasted inch. It was time to stop planning and start building.
Kim was still asleep. He stepped up on the bed. “Kim. We’re going for bagels.”
“Daddy, please let me sleep. I’m really tired.”
“What about breakfast?”
“Just bring me back a plain bagel, okay?” She rolled over, shut her eyes.
“Sure thing, Cocoa-Pop. Okay, Maddie. Find clothes.” He pulled a shirt over Emmy’s head that matched his. Hers said Cute Kid. Just to be safe, he added extra clothes to the backpack and the toilet seat ring. He turned to hair next. Olivia’s ponytail, Emmy’s Velcro clip and Maddie…well, Maddie had another huge snarl. Gabe pulled hers into a ponytail, too.
When Maddie saw Emmy’s shirt, she had to find hers, as well. Olivia didn’t care one way or the other and soon, they were ready to leave.
Outside, the weather was gorgeous. There was a crisp breeze, but it was still bright and sunny. He put on sunglasses and as they passed Lia’s kitchen door, he stopped and knocked twice.
It took a minute, but Lia unfastened the deadbolt and opened the door. All that fiery hair was scraped back in a bun and he thought that was a crime. She was dressed in those jeans that raised his heart rate, and a flowy T-shirt that rippled in the breeze.
She took his breath away.
He cleared his throat. “We’re doing bagels for breakfast today. Would you like to join us? I think all of us, but especially me, owe you an apology for yesterday.”
Maddie nodded once. “I’m very sorry I didn’t listen to my daddy, Lia.”
Lia’s smile spread wide and then faded when Olivia rolled her eyes. Gabe opened his mouth to scold her and then shut it. He’d get to the bottom of Liv’s behavior later.
Lia flashed another smile at his shirt. “Can’t argue with that. You do make cute kids.”
“I got one too! See?” Maddie showed Lia her coordinating shirt.
“I see. How about you, Olivia?”
The girl shrugged. “I’m done being cute.”
Okay, then. “Where’s Kimberly?”
“Still sleeping,” Gabe replied as Lia stepped out and locked her door. They started walking. Gabe lifted Emmy’s stroller down the courtyard steps and smiled as Maddie kept her word, walking calmly with one hand holding the stroller. Olivia walked on the other side, shuffling through leaves. Lia walked beside Maddie and Gabe found himself sneaking glances at her.
“Daddy, can we do nail polish tonight if I
’m really good?”
“Sure, Ducky. We can.”
“Can Lia do nail polish, too? Please?”
“If she wants.”
“Dad-dee, bird!” Emmy pointed at a pigeon that swooped down in front of them to snatch a muffin paper that had fallen from a trash can on the corner where they waited for the green light.
“Yes, Emmy. That’s a pigeon.”
The light turned green and Gabe shifted his hand to Maddie’s. Just in case.
“Daddy, is it okay if I skip soccer today?” Olivia asked when they reached the opposite curb.
He glanced at her, found her looking down at her feet, a tiny frown marring her forehead. “Well, first tell me why.”
She shrugged. “Just don’t feel like it.”
“I got that. But why? Did you not sleep well?”
Olivia sighed. “I…well…I just don’t want to.”
“Livvie, your team might be upset if you don’t show up. They might be tired and just don’t want to play, either, but they’ll show up. If you don’t, how do you think it’ll make them feel?”
Maddie gasped. “Oh, I know! They’ll feel really sad. Right, Daddy? Right, right?”
“Exactly, Maddie.”
But Olivia only rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll play. But can you just leave Emmy home with Kim?”
Gabe stopped walking. All the girls turned to look at him. He studied his second-born child for a long moment and then crouched down so he was at eye level. “Olivia Grace, I love you.” He waited a beat until her dark eyes lifted to his, told him all that he needed to know. “I love you and if it feels like I don’t, then I’m sorry for it and I’ll do better. If you want to spend time with me, just the two of us, we can do that. But maybe not during your game time, because Maddie’s right. It wouldn’t be fair to your teammates.”
She looked down, twirled the end of her ponytail and bit her lip, but then, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll play.”
He gave that ponytail a playful tug and was about to stand up when she shocked him by flinging herself at him in a hug so strong, it took his breath away. Over her head, he saw Lia bite her lip and look away, and figured this was awkward, but there was no way he was letting go. Olivia was not a hug-and-kiss fan. Of the four girls, she was the one most often embarrassed by his antics, like the pink polish on his nails, or hugs in public places—like the middle of Bell Boulevard on a Saturday morning. She was the quietest, the most curious of the quartet, too. He should have known something was up with her after last night’s outburst.
