by Arlene James
Darren slapped his hands together with obvious relish. “Okay. Drawings are due at practice day after tomorrow. I’ll see about getting us a trailer and speak to my designer. Coach Charly can take a look at her schedule and let us know when we can work on our float. We’ve got just ten days to get it ready. Any questions?” No one spoke, so Darren leaned down and laid his hand palm up, saying, “All right, then.”
As the kids scampered off, Darren turned to Charly with a broad smile.
“This ought to be fun.”
“Yeah,” she agreed weakly.
Fun. That was exactly what troubled her. Everything Darren Rudd did was fun—innocent, disarming fun. And she was the only one who couldn’t seem to just relax and enjoy it. Even Ponce seemed able to enjoy the moment, so long as Darren’s attention wasn’t too pointedly focused on her. She, on the other hand, often felt as if she was sliding down a particularly slippery slope—right into Darren Rudd’s waiting arms. She tried to tell herself that she was being foolish. No man could make any woman fall in love with him against her will. She was quite sure that wasn’t even his intention! Yet, somehow it seemed to be happening, and she just didn’t know what to do about it.
Some fun. Oh, yeah, like hugging a boa constrictor that had picked you out as lunch. The problem was that she didn’t think she would mind Darren Rudd wrapping himself around her.
Charly saw the last of the team members off and wandered through the house, a hand idly massaging the back of her neck. She had pretty much written off the float when she’d seen the pictures that the kids had produced at practice just over a week ago. Not one of them was workable in her opinion. For one thing the concept of limited space was lost on the average five-year-old mind. Besides that, she didn’t see how she and Darren and one or two moms could put together anything more than a couple of posters in the time they would have to work. Yet, despite her misgivings, the thing out in her garage was really taking shape.
Somehow Darren had turned the batch of wild scribblings that the kids had brought them into a solid plan that seemed to convince each and every member of the team that his or her idea had won out. A day later a large, flat-bed trailer and a heap of supplies had appeared in her driveway. The next evening Darren had shown up with about half the kids and a stack of pizzas.
In truth it was Darren and one or two of the parents who were doing all of the work. Charly spent most of her time corralling the kids, who more often than not wound up in Ponce’s bedroom, the den or the backyard. To her delight, Ponce, Kental and Calvin had become fast friends. As a result, Ponce seemed so happy that it made her want to cry. He was no longer the solemn little boy who had broken her heart when she’d first met him. Lately he talked a mile a minute.
A sound from the garage caught her attention. Had someone stayed behind? She’d put the garage door down earlier, so it couldn’t be someone who’d walked in off the street. Quickly she moved through the kitchen and down the short back hall to the door that opened into the garage. Very cautiously she pushed the door open and stuck her head into the garage. The overhead light was on, but she couldn’t remember whether or not she’d turned it off earlier. Something metal plinked against the garage floor then, and Charly jumped a yard. The next instant a voice grumbled about substandard bolts, and she realized who her remaining guest was.
Crouching at the front of the trailer, she bent her head near the floor and looked beneath the trailer bed. “I thought you left.”
Darren turned his head toward her, arms raised. “I did, but after I dropped off everyone I came back to fix this stupid ramp cage.”
The fixture that was supposed to hold the ramp in place when it was stored beneath the trailer had fallen down earlier in the evening, and Darren had said then that he would fix it. Charly just hadn’t expected him to fix it tonight.
“Can’t it wait?” she asked with barely concealed irritation.
“I’ve got it now,” he said with a grunt, cranking his wrist. Laying his wrench on his flat stomach, he shoved himself out from under the trailer, saying, “Just needed a new nut. The threads were worn on the old one. I picked one up while I was out.” Sitting up, he wiped his hands on the thighs of his jeans and smiled at her. “Couldn’t have the thing falling down during the parade, now could we?”
“No, indeed,” she agreed, pushing up to her feet. He twisted, grabbed the side rail on the trailer and hauled himself up, tucking the wrench into his back pocket.
“Besides, I’ve always believed that the best time to do something is right now. Otherwise, something else comes up and you forget. This was a safety issue. Had to be done now.”
She couldn’t argue with that, so she folded her arms and asked, “When did you slip back in?”
“When you were walking Kental out front to meet his father. I thought you saw me.”
She shook her head. He looked down, then turned suddenly toward the trailer. “I ought to have a word with the fellow I bought this thing from. That ramp cage is supposed to be welded in place.”
Charly had to close her mouth in order to say, “You bought this trailer?”
He seemed surprised at her rather censorial tone. “Well, sure. We couldn’t very well nail stuff to a rented one.”
“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far? It’s Little League soccer, for pity’s sake. How can you possibly afford this on a regular salary?”
“I never said my salary was my only source of income,” he told her quietly.
Charly blinked at that, feeling rather ridiculous. It wasn’t any of her business how the man spent his money or where it came from!
He pretended to study the float, finally announcing, “I predict that we’ll have the best-looking float in the parade.”
She nodded and rubbed her arms.
“I wanted the kids to have something they could really be proud of,” he said softly.
Now she felt like a heel. After swallowing she said, “I didn’t mean to sound critical.”
He grinned. “Believe me, I couldn’t have bought a tenth of the pleasure for twice the cost.” He looked at her then and said, “Thank you. If you hadn’t walked into that particular shop on that particular day, I’d have missed all this.” She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “No, I mean it. You nudged me into something I’d never have done on my own.”
“Oh, I don’t believe that. You’re much too generous, a well waiting to be tapped. Someone sometime would have engaged you in a similar project.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. Because it wasn’t the project, you know. I couldn’t have cared less about kids’ soccer at the time. I did it for you.”
She was stunned, flabbergasted. Thrilled. It must have shown. He smiled and lifted a hand to the back of his neck, admitting, “Hasn’t turned out quite how I expected. Instead of me getting next to you, the kids have gotten next to me. I really enjoy the time I spend with them. It’s worth every cent I’ve spent.” He dropped his hand and added, “But I’ll admit to a certain disappointment where you’re concerned.”
Charly closed her eyes. “Darren, I…I don’t know what to do with you.”
He turned to face her. Stepping closer, he suggested silkily, “I’d be glad to make a suggestion.”
Once again she laughed, but softly and without amusement. Why now? she cried inwardly. Why couldn’t she have met him years ago, before David even? Then again, would she ever have met Ponce if she’d met Darren first? After all, it had been that ticking biological clock, the unfulfilled need to be a mother, that had driven her to apply for foster parenthood. Closing her eyes, she said, “Darren, please understand, i-if circumstances were different…”
“If Ponce was yours,” he said softly, urgently, stepping very close now, “then would you…”
She looked up, her heart beating pronouncedly. “Would I what?”
“Would you let me do this?” he whispered, sliding his hand into her hair at the back of her head. She couldn’t speak, her gaze trapped by his,
her whole being held in some kind of thrall. He bent his head, and his mouth settled over hers as gently as a feather floating on the air. She could not keep her eyes open or prevent her body from swaying toward him. Then his arms came around her and pulled her against him, his mouth suddenly devouring hers. The world did a slow flip, turning upside down and spinning lazily in place.
Charly held on to the only thing she could find, Darren. Without even knowing that her arms had encircled him, she clutched at the back of his shirt. His feet tangled with hers, their knees knocking together. His hand slid down to her buttocks, spread across them and pressed her closer, until they stood belly to belly. The world righted itself with a clunk. Suddenly they were both exactly where they should be, the ground solid beneath their feet, bodies fitted together perfectly. She’d have laughed with sheer delight if her mouth hadn’t been full of his probing tongue.
“Are y’all makin’ a baby?”
Just like that, it all blew apart. What had seemed so right an instant before was suddenly revealed as a horrible mistake. Charly didn’t even remember wrenching free of Darren, but somehow she was staring down at her frowning son. “Ponce!”
It was Darren who answered the boy’s question. Going down on his haunches, he placed a hand on the boy’s slender shoulder. “No, Ponce, we’re not making a baby. Why would you think that?”
He shrugged away Darren’s hand. “My old mom, she said that was how I got here, so I shouldn’t complain if I saw her doing it. Then she sent me to my room.”
Charly put her hands over her face. What had she done? Darren, on the other hand, said gently, “Charly and I were just kissing, Ponce. Kissing does not make babies. It sometimes leads to it, but it takes a lot more than a kiss to make a baby.”
“Do you want to make a baby with my mom?” Ponce asked bluntly. Darren opened his mouth, but Charly quickly intervened.
“No one’s making any babies around here, and I think you and I need to have a little talk.” She made herself look to Darren, who rose silently beside her. “Good night. I—I’ll call you.”
His mouth flattened into a tight line, but he nodded. “All right.”
“P-please don’t, uh, come over o-or call until I do.”
He bit his lips, and she could see that he was struggling not to argue with her, but in the end he simply nodded and began to ease away. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”
She couldn’t look at him any longer. “Thank you.”
He looked at the boy. “Good night, Ponce.”
Ponce looked away, murmuring, “’Night.”
He paused a moment longer before finally turning and hitting the button to lift the garage door. Darren hung his head as the door cranked up. Then he walked swiftly away. Grabbing Ponce’s hand, Charly hurried over to put down the door, then turned toward the house.
“It wasn’t what it seemed, Ponce,” she told him softly. “I’m not going away with Darren.”
“Is he coming here, then?”
“No. No, honey. He’s not coming here. I mean, he’s not coming here to live or anything like that.”
Ponce looked up at her, his face troubled. “I’m good to you, ain’t I?”
“Good to me? I—I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“My old mom,” he whispered, “said I wasn’t no good to her, that she needed a man.”
Charly swallowed her gasp and pulled him close, cradling his head in her palm. “Sweetie, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I think your old mom was all mixed up in her head. Some women think they can’t be happy unless they have a man around, any man, but the truth is that unless it’s the right man, she’s better off without him. But that has nothing to do with you. A real mom puts her child first, nothing is more important to her than his well-being and happiness.”
“What about a dad?” Ponce wanted to know.
“The same,” Charly assured him. “A real dad just wants what’s best for his son or daughter.”
“I never had a dad,” he said.
You’ve never had a mother until now, she thought. “Lots of kids only have one parent, Ponce,” she told him gently. “They grow up just fine.”
He nodded, and put his arms around her legs in a strong hug.
Smiling softly, she cupped his small shoulder blades and pressed him to her, but inside her heart was breaking for a little boy who had never been loved before, for the mother who had not known how to love him, the father who had thrown away his chance to do so. She would not be so foolish. She would not wish for anything that would not have brought this boy into her life. No, she wasn’t sorry that she hadn’t met Darren Rudd long ago, that they had not fallen in love, married and brought their own children into this world, for then she would not have reached out and found Ponce.
“I love you, son,” she said quietly. “I love you.”
Chapter Six
“Hi, it’s Charly.”
“Thank goodness,” he said with a long sigh. “I was afraid I wouldn’t hear from you for days and days.”
Charly lowered the telephone receiver and took a deep breath. This shouldn’t be so difficult. It wasn’t difficult. She wouldn’t let it be difficult. Lifting the receiver to her ear once more, she said smoothly, “I thought the sooner we discussed this the better for everyone concerned.”
“Something tells me I’m not going to want to hear this over the telephone,” he stated. “Can’t we meet? Say tomorrow about six?”
Charly closed her eyes, wanting to refuse, knowing that she’d feel like a genuine heel if she did. After all, if someone in whom she was interested was going to tell her to take a hike, she’d rather it was done in person. “All right. Where should I meet you?”
“Ah, I have a place at 712 Ridge. That’s not too far from you, just a block off Midway.”
“A place?” she asked uncertainly.
“A commercial property. Uh, would you rather come here?”
To his apartment? “No. That’s not a good idea.”
“Okay. Well, do you have a suggestion, then? I just thought we’d meet in the parking lot over on Ridge, if that’s all right.”
“The parking lot is fine,” she said quickly.
“All right. See you tomorrow, then.”
“Tomorrow,” she confirmed and hung up, sure she’d made a mistake, just not certain what it was.
After tomorrow, though, the ground rules would be set in stone. She’d tell him, in no uncertain terms, that if he ever kissed her or pursued her in any fashion, she would walk away and leave the team to him. In fact, she really ought to do it, anyway. He was the real coach; it was more his team than hers. Ponce would still get to play, and she wouldn’t have to see Darren except on game day. She’d miss the other kids, sure, but she’d have more time to concentrate on work and other projects. It was the perfect solution. She should definitely resign as coach of the soccer team and stay away from Darren Rudd. So why did the very idea make her want to weep?
The small, pink brick building at 712 Ridge was surrounded by a fenced parking lot. Apparently, it was being used by a limo rental service, as the only vehicle in the secure parking lot was a long, black limousine with darkly tinted windows. Charly eased her midsize sedan through the gate and into a space. Before she even killed the engine, the right rear door opened on the limo and Darren leaned out.
“Charly,” he called, waving her over. Puzzled, she got out of her car, routinely pocketed the keys and locked the doors, then walked back to the limo.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I thought we were going to talk.”
“In a limo?”
“Why not? It’s comfortable.” With that he slid over. She either had to get in or walk away. She got in. He was sitting in the far corner. “Have you eaten? Because, I’m starved.”
“Uh, no, but—”
“Might as well talk over dinner, then. How’s Mexican? I’m in the mood for Mexican.”
“Uh.”
He leaned over and pushed a button on the console. “Pat, let’s try Sala’s.”
“Yes, sir.”
The limo engine rumbled to life. The door locks depressed, and they started to move. Charly whacked a hand against the leather seat. “What is going on?”
He looked mildly surprised. “Look, you don’t have to eat, if you don’t want to,” he said, “but I’m hungry.”
“What’s with the limo?” she demanded.
“I keep it parked here. It’s safe, so don’t worry about your car.”
She couldn’t believe this guy! “You own this limo?”
“What? You don’t think I can afford it?” he asked with dry sarcasm.
Charly threw up a hand. “I don’t know. I don’t care!”
“If you must know,” Darren said, folding his arms, “I bought it from a friend who was in the limo rental biz until he had a major heart attack. Actually, I bought the building and the lot from him, and he threw in the limo as an extra.”
In other words, he had bailed the fellow out, Charly surmised, and the idea made her like him all the more. Not good. Seizing the first semiderogatory remark she could find, she mumbled, “What are you, made of money?”
He chuckled. “Flesh and bone like every other red-blooded male.” He relaxed his arms and added softly, “All too human, I’m afraid.”
She turned her head, gazing blindly out the window. This would be so much easier if he wasn’t such a nice man. “You’re making this into a date,” she said softly.
“Oh, no,” he replied. “If this was a date, we’d both be dressed to kill and I’d be plying you with champagne.”
Looking at him was pure reflex, though why was a puzzle. She already knew that he was wearing chinos and a polo shirt, just as she knew that she wore jeans, loafers and a nubby cardigan sweater over a plaid shirt, and yet she glanced down at herself, too. “That’s your idea of a date?” she muttered, tugging her sweater closed in front. “Dressed to kill and champagne?”
“Sure, if you throw in dinner and dancing, concert or the theater. Why, what’s yours?”
“Mexican food and Margaritas,” she snapped.
