His mother’s behavior, Max realized, was beginning to make sense. She wanted her children to accept Hank, and in return, she was trying extra hard to accept all of their partners...except for Kari. His mother still seemed to have an aversion to Kari.
“You can’t have a boyfriend,” Jill told Mom. “You already have too much on your plate with your grandchildren and all of the fundraisers you’re involved in.”
“Grow up,” Nicole told Jill. “Besides, it’s too late. She’s already sleeping with the man.”
Embarrassed, his mother dropped her napkin onto the table, pushed out her chair, and headed for the guestroom.
“Wonderful dinner as usual,” Fred said, reaching for another piece of garlic toast. With his free hand, Fred grabbed hold of Jill’s elbow before she could use it in his side.
“I think it’s wonderful Mom found someone,” Sally said. “Maybe they’ll move in together and she’ll be happy for once.”
Nicole shook her head. “That’s never going to happen.”
“Love can happen twice,” Sally disagreed. “You and Mom just need to open up yourselves to the possibility.”
Max looked at his watch, wondering if this dinner would ever end.
“Mom is too set in her ways,” Jill added. “She thinks Dad would be disappointed if she ever found love again.”
“Is he alive?” Molly asked, reminding Max that his daughter was sitting amidst all the drama, probably traumatized for life.
“Okay,” Max said, jumping out of his seat. “Come on, Molly. Time for me to take you back to your mom’s house.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“I know. But I promised your mom I would have you home by seven o’clock.” He gestured toward the other room. “Come on. Let’s get your things.”
CHAPTER 16
Fifteen minutes into the drive, Max decided he was going to get Molly to talk to him if it killed him. “So,” he said. “You’re going to be a starter on the basketball team, huh?”
Molly nodded.
He kept his eyes on the road as he spoke. “Who’s on the team?”
“Nobody you know.”
“Try me.”
“Holly Morisey.”
“Ah, the name sounds familiar...but go on, give me another.”
She eyed him suspiciously before she said, “Amanda Lyons.”
“She’s the short brunette, which would make her point guard, right?”
“Wrong. She’s the tallest girl on the team. She’ll be playing center. I’m the point guard.”
“I knew that.”
Not even a smile. The kid wasn’t budging. At least she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt again. Not that he had anything against dresses and frilly tops, he just didn’t want her to dress up for his sake. He wanted his daughter to be herself when she was around him. “Listen, Molly,” he said. “I was hoping you and I would get a chance to talk during our visit, but you were at the house for a week and we hardly got anytime alone.”
She stared out the window.
“I hope you know how much I want for us to get to know one another. I realize you’re upset with me and your mom right now, but I’m hoping you won’t stay mad forever. I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better. You’re probably disappointed I wasn’t around all those years. I know I am.”
A fleeting glance from Molly gave him the courage to keep talking. “Just so you know...if I had ever received a letter saying I had a daughter, nothing in this world could have kept me from her...from you.” Sirens sounded in the distance. “You don’t have to say anything right now. I just want you to know I’m glad you’re my daughter.”
The remaining twenty minutes of the ride were spent listening to the radio. He pulled in front of Kari’s house and parked next to the curb. He shut off the ignition, then looked at Molly and waited for a few seconds before he realized it wasn’t going to happen. He needed to give her more time.
Molly got out of the car first. Another car pulled up behind him as he retrieved Molly’s bags from the trunk.
“Hey, Richard,” Molly said as she hitched the straps of one of her bags over her shoulder and headed for the house.
The realtor was all decked out in a suit and tie. If Max didn’t know better, he’d guess the man was here to close a deal.
“Let me help,” Richard said, grabbing the other bag. Max shut the trunk and the two of them followed Molly to the house. A sweet smelling scent overpowered all else, causing Max to wonder what kind of animal Richard was trying to attract. The poor guy needed to rethink his choice of cologne.
Molly was already inside the house by the time Max and Richard got to the door. Richard followed Max into the family room, a cozy room with wood floors, a braided rug and lots of well-used furniture.
Kari came down the stairs wearing a red dress with thin straps and lacey trim edging a low neckline. The dress stopped just above the knee, revealing long legs and killer high heeled shoes that were the same red as the dress. Dark curly hair bounced off of her shoulders as she made her way to the landing.
Max wasn’t sure whose jaw dropped further, his or Richard’s.
Kari only had eyes for her daughter. “Molly, honey, gosh I missed you.” She hugged her daughter tight while Molly stood stiff and unbending. Molly headed up the stairs the moment her mother released her.
“What do you say to your father,” Kari said to Molly before she could escape.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Max watched her go. “She’s a tough nut to crack.”
But nobody was paying any attention to him.
Kari gave Richard a sorrowful look. “Lindsay’s not here and I can’t leave her alone. I’m sorry.”
“What about him?” Richard asked, pointing at Max.
Max raised a brow. “What about me?”
“We have dinner reservations at Ginza Sushi-ko. It’s almost impossible to get reservations,” Richard said. “Would you mind sticking around and babysitting for a few hours?”
“She’s my daughter. Of course I’ll watch her.”
“You did say she was staying for the weekend,” Kari said as she squeezed between him and the table to reach her purse.
“I guess we’ll need to learn how to communicate better in the future.”
“Apparently.” She straightened, her face inches from his, her tantalizing red lips beckoning. “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”
Instinct told him this was a test. He could feel it in his bones. She wanted him to stop her. Hell, he wanted to stop her. And yet, he reasoned, she hadn’t known he and Molly were coming home, which told him she desired Richard’s company. She actually wanted to go out with the bean pole. He cocked his head. Despite the long neck and beady eyes, Richard wasn’t bad looking.
His stomach lurched. It made perfect sense that she would date other men. He’d hardly spoken two words to her since he’d found out about Molly. He didn’t want her to go, but he couldn’t stop her either. If she wanted to date every Tom, Dick and Harry in Los Angeles, then so be it.
“You two go and have fun,” he said. He grabbed the remote from the top of the television then plopped down on the couch and made himself comfortable. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”
He had no idea what was going through that head of hers, but Kari seemed off balance. She had to know he still had feelings for her. He’d made that clear when he took her to the Los Angeles hills and told her he was falling in love with her. Did she think he could just snap his fingers and stop caring? Did she think he would start calling numbers out of his little black book the moment he found out he had a daughter?
Apparently he might as well have. She certainly seemed to be doing a good job of moving on with no regard to his feelings for her.
“Richard,” she said. “Could you wait in the car and give me a moment with Max? I’ll be right there.”
The look on Richard’s face worried him. The guy couldn’t keep his eyes off of Kari. Max had a sudden urge
to tell Kari she shouldn’t go—not because of Molly, but because of him. Hell, the harder he tried to stay away from her, the more he wanted her. He’d been fooling himself.
Richard hesitated, but he finally walked out the door and headed for his car. Kari turned to Max. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Max casually propped his hands behind his head and leaned back into the mounds of pillows. “Why, do I look like I mind?”
“Well, as a matter of fact you do.”
“It’s your imagination, sweetheart, because I’m perfectly fine. I guess I just got the wrong impression about the two of us.”
She gave him a look that reminded him an awful lot of the look he used to get from his sixth grade teacher. “The last time I saw you, Max, you accused me of deliberately trying to catch you in my tangled web of deceit.”
“I merely asked a question. I didn’t mean it as an accusation.”
“But now suddenly,” she said as if he hadn’t just spoken, “you’re acting as if we have something between us.”
He popped to his feet then, and came to stand before her. She smelled like jasmine. “I do seem to recall you straddling me recently,” he said into her ear, “moaning as I nuzzled your neck and you reciprocated by—”
“Stop it.” She pushed him away. “You’re the one who insisted we work together, the one who dragged me up into the hills to seduce me, the one who refuses to believe I tried to contact you about Molly years ago. You’re the one who’s afraid to trust me...afraid of commitment.”
He swallowed his frustration, mostly because she was right. She’d never led him on. And yet, he still wasn’t sure what to believe when it came to Molly. “I’ll see you when you get home.”
“Goodbye, Max.”
He didn’t like the sound of finality in her voice. He stiffened. “I expect you to be at my house first thing in the morning. I want to finish the training and get it over with. Then we’re done. Do you understand?”
She lifted her chin. “Perfectly. In fact, I won’t be returning, Max. I already signed the papers clearing you. You’re a fast learner. You don’t need me. You’re free to do whatever you want.” Head held high, she walked out the door and out of his life for the second time.
A cool breeze came in before the door clicked shut. Surprise gripped him as he realized how wrong Kari was. He was an incredibly slow learner because he didn’t want to let her go...and yet he hadn’t stopped her. He still had no idea how to tell her how much he cared, and that he really did love her. He was a fool.
#
Max stirred, and then rolled to his side when something jabbed at his shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
Max opened his eyes. The television was on and Lindsay was hovering over him. At first he thought he was having a nightmare, but then he remembered he was in Kari’s house. “What time is it?”
“It’s eleven thirty.”
“In the morning?”
She smiled. “At night.”
He sat up. “I must be getting old.”
“Aren’t we all? Where is everyone?”
“Molly’s upstairs asleep and Kari is out with her new boyfriend.”
Lindsay wrinkled her nose. “Are you talking about Richard?”
“Why, how many boyfriends does she have?”
“Apparently zero.” The expression on her face served only to confuse him further. “Richard is not her boyfriend. He’s had reservations at this la-de-da restaurant for months, before you were even in the picture.”
“She’s not dating him?”
She laughed. “He’s a friend.”
Max sat on the edge of the couch, rubbing his face. “I think his feelings for her run a little deeper.”
“Maybe so, but why would you care? You don’t have feelings for Kari, do you?”
“Of course I do. She’s the mother of my child.”
“Oh, well, of course...the mother of your child.”
Her sarcasm did not escape him.
“Max,” Lindsay said, plunking a hand on her hip. “I’m going to do you a favor and put you out of your misery...and that’s not something I usually like to do.”
He waited.
“Kari likes you...a lot.”
“Then why is she out with another man?”
Lindsay took hold of the remote and shut off the television. Then she went to the door and held it open for him. “Because he asked her out to dinner and she likes to eat.”
Max stood.
Lindsay sighed and added, “Richard is a diversion, a means to help her get her mind off of you.”
“If that’s true, why hasn’t she told me how she feels?”
“Because unfortunately, she’s just as stubborn and pigheaded as you. If you ask me, the two of you are a match made in heaven.”
#
Kari’s heels clicked against pavement as she made her way across the parking lot and toward the practice field. Three days had passed since Kari had last seen Max. Dozens of fans stood around the sidelines, hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite NFL players. Although Max wasn’t the tallest man on the field, he easily stood out from all the other players.
Kari looked back over her shoulder at Richard who waited for her in the car.
He waved.
As she neared the sidelines, she watched Max break out of a drill and head her way. A dozen kids and their mother’s pushed and elbowed her out of their way as he approached.
Max signed notebooks and shirts and various other items before he gestured at Kari, telling her to come forward. “Sorry kids,” he said, “but I have to talk to someone and then finish my drills.” He lifted the ropes for Kari to come through.
She ignored the looks of envy as she weaved through the crowd, ducking under the ropes to get to him. Max took her arm and ushered her away from his zealous fans. “What’s going on? Is Molly okay?”
“She’s fine.” With his pads and full gear he was intimidating as all hell, but she inhaled and reminded herself that it was only Max under all that padding. “Sorry to bother you,” she said. “I didn’t think you would be allowed onto the field today.”
“The coach talked to Dr. Stone this morning for clearance. I told him you had already signed the papers.”
“Oh. Then I guess I didn’t need to bring these.” She felt ridiculously overdressed in her fitted cream colored suit and matching heels that kept sinking into the turf. She reached inside her briefcase, pulled out a stack of bound papers, then held them out for him. “Everything has checked out fine, Max. Your blood work looks good. Your cholesterol numbers are all normal. You’re in great shape. I think you can forget all about the family curse and start planning your future.”
A tick set in his jaw.
She thought he’d be pleased.
He looked past her to her car. “Is that Richard?”
She followed the direction of his gaze. “Yes. He found Molly and me the perfect home. We’re off to look at the house now. If I like it, we’ll go to his office and make an offer.”
“Moving, huh?”
“It’s time. Molly and I need a place of our own.”
“Where are you moving to?”
“If we like the house...South Gate.”
His brow creased. “I don’t think I like the idea of my daughter living in that particular neighborhood.”
She wasn’t in the mood to argue with him. “Well, I just wanted to give you these papers in person and tell you despite everything we’ve been through, it was a pleasure working with you.” She held out her free hand for him to shake. She might as well be eighteen again because nothing had changed. Max still managed to make every nerve in her body zap and zing.
He scowled and pretended not to notice her hand. “I want to take Molly to the lake this weekend,” he said. “My family will be there. Molly wanted me to ask you to come along, so what do you think?”
Kari bit into her bottom lip. “I can’t go, Max.”
“The entire
Dutton clan will be there. Bring Lindsay with you. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know...”
He looked past her. “You’re not dating that pencil neck, are you?”
“He’s not a pencil neck. He’s a very sweet man.”
“So, you are dating the guy?”
“Not unless you count two dinners and a show as dating.”
“You went to dinner with him again?”
“Do you always have to answer a question with a question?”
“Do you?”
She sighed. “Here,” she said, trying to give him the papers again.
“Where do you expect me to put those?”
She took a closer look, starting at his cleats and working her way up well-muscled thighs and extremely hard abs, across a thick chest and neck, stopping at his square jaw and firm lips. “I see what you mean.” She tucked the papers back into her briefcase.
“I’ll get them from you this Friday when I pick you and Molly up at the house,” he said. “Eight o’clock in the morning. I want to get an early start. We’ll be staying a couple of nights, so make sure you pack enough clothes.”
She started to protest.
“The truth is,” he said, “I’m having some trouble connecting with Molly and I could use your help.”
Kari pursed her lips.
“I think we both owe it to our daughter.”
“I’ll go,” she said, “for Molly.”
“Why else?”
“Yes,” she said, “why else?”
“And don’t forget about the opening game next week,” he continued in a cheerful voice. “Just do me one big favor and don’t bring your realtor as your guest.”
She rolled her eyes.
“If you’re real lucky, I’ll get another pass into the locker room.”
“Lucky me,” she said.
His smile made his blue eyes twinkle.
“I better go.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“If you really want to make points with Molly, call her later and tell her to invite a friend to the lake.”
“Thanks,” he said, giving her a long hard look she couldn’t define. “I’ll do that.”
Taming Mad Max Page 19
