“Dinner is served,” Diana said, trying to sound cheerful. No matter what happened later, the truth of the matter was, her father and Charlie were sitting at the same table. And Nick had made her a little table and chairs that looked exactly like the furniture her father had made her twenty years before. This new set would bring her more sweet memories. In fact, she thought as she gazed at Nick, they already had.
No one made any move to start. “Help yourselves,” Diana said, picking up the plate of steaming fajita chicken and passing it on to Nick. She gave the bowl of guacamole to her father, who put some on his plate and passed it to Patricia. She sniffed the guacamole, looked at Diana, made a face that bordered on disgust, then passed it to Charlie without taking any.
Diana counted slowly to ten. She didn’t want to say anything she’d later regret to Nick’s mother. Finally, in her very kindest, most understanding tone, she said, “I know it looks green, Patricia, I can call you Patricia, yes?” Without waiting for permission she went on, “But I promise that’s avocado, and not mold. We bought it from !Otra, Otra!. You should have seen Jessica yesterday. She plastered the guacamole all over her face, giving herself the first ever avocado facial.”
Patricia’s eyes started to water, and she dabbed the tears away with her.
Diana looked at Nick, feeling helpless. “What did I say?”
Nick shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“It’s nothing you said,” Patricia assured her. “I’m sure it’s wonderful. I have a reaction to jalapeño peppers. Not a bad reaction, just a little sensitivity. I grew out of the bad, bad reaction when I was a teenager.”
Nick helped himself to a generous portion of salsa. “When we were growing up, we never ate Mexican food. My mom’s ‘sensitivity’ is a little more than that. Try a raging allergy. When she gets around jalapeño peppers, her eyes water, and her nose runs. One time she ate something that had jalapeño peppers in it, by mistake. She ended up in the hospital because her throat started to close up.”
“I didn’t know about your allergies, Patricia. If I had, I wouldn’t be serving this meal. But the truth is, you all were supposed to come tomorrow night. This is all I had in the house.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m used to it. But how did Jessica react when she plastered the guacamole on her face?” Most places put some jalapeño peppers in it.
“The same as always, screaming, crying, carrying on. Just like she does when I get near her. Why?” Nick asked.
“Because in my family, this jalapeño pepper allergy skips a generation. None of my children had the allergy, but I bet Jessica has it.”
Nick swore, then pounded his hand so hard on the table a glass tipped over spilling ice and water, and chips bounced out of the baskets and scattered. “Are you telling us there’s a chance Jessica may have this allergy to jalapeños, too?” His blue eyes turned to thundercloud gray.
“That’s what I just told you.” Patricia acted all self-righteous.
“Damn. I don’t believe this. Did Cathy know about this?”
“She knew I was allergic.”
“Mom, all of us kids knew that But did she know that the allergy skipped generations?”
Patricia shrugged. “I doubt it”
“Why didn’t you tell us while we were growing up?”
“It’s not something I thought was really important at the time. What was I going to say? ‘Pick up your dirty socks,’ and then add, ‘Oh, and by the way, any children you may have will be allergic to jalapeño peppers.’ Do you really think you would have cared?”
“We might have,” Nick said.
“Nicholas,” Patricia said in a condescending motherlike tone. “The last thing children will ever want to think about is that at some time in their future, their kids will be allergic to jalapeño peppers. Kids can’t think past today, let alone tomorrow.”
Nick leaned his chair against the wall, balancing on the two back legs. He ran his fingers through his hair in a jerky motion. “I can’t believe this. Wait until Cathy hears about this.”
“Why? It’s certainly not a big deal.”
“Oh, it’s a big deal all right. You know, my sister has a wicked sense of humor. She was getting back at you, Mom. I know she was.”
“For what?” Patricia asked. “I never did anything to her.”
“Not much you didn’t Throwing her out of the house, and your lives when she needed you most Shunning her. Pretending she and Jessica didn’t exist No wonder she did what she did.”
“And what did she do?” Patricia asked.
Nick laughed disparagingly. “Cathy is one smart kid. I always knew that, I just never knew how smart. Or how devious.” When he told his sister about this, he knew she would probably have a breakdown. She had without even knowing it, put Jessica in danger. If it hadn’t been for Diana insisting on inviting their parents to dinner, they might not have found out either, until it was too late.
He looked across the table at his mother. “Are you going to see Cathy when she gets back?”
She nodded ever so slightly, but it was a nod. “I think what she did was wrong. Terribly wrong. Those are my morals and I’ll stick to them until I die.” Patricia brushed her finger across Jessica’s cheek. “But I want to see the baby.”
Nick rubbed his hand on his neck, then sniffed his palm. The Nicholas X aftershave and cologne were still there, still strong. He stood, went to the other side of the table and held open his arms. “Mom,” he said. “Come here.” His mother walked right into them. She hugged him and kissed him, and came away from the embrace with watery eyes and a runny nose.
“Don’t cry, Patricia,” Diana said. “This is a happy time.”
“I’m not crying. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“I know exactly what’s wrong,” Nick said. “You, mother, have just been subjected to Cathy’s revenge.”
“By hugging you? Don’t be silly.”
“By hugging me when I’m wearing Nicholas X.”
“I don’t understand. What’s Nicholas X?”
Nick told his parents about the cologne, soap, shaving cream and aftershave Cathy had created for him. “She told me the base ingredient is jalapeño oil. It smells good.”
“It sure does,” Diana seconded. “It makes me want to smell his neck and lick—oops. Sorry.”
Patricia straightened her shoulders. “What are you saying, Nick? That she purposely made the toiletries with jalapeño oil so that you would wear it, and then my eyes would water? But what about Jessica?”
“She didn’t know about skipping generations, did she? You never told her that it went from grandparents to grandchildren, so she had no idea that when she was trying to get revenge on you, she was putting her own daughter in danger.” The knowledge that all this time Jessica had been sniffing him, and getting sick made him feel like the worst kind of uncle. And he wasn’t even to blame for any of this. Still, he should have figured it all out. Damn.
Diana reached out for him. “It’s not your fault, Nick. Really it’s not.”
“It could have been a bad situation.”
“There’s one good thing though,” Diana said quietly. “She doesn’t hate you. She never hated you. She was hurting.”
“What I don’t understand is this,” Patricia said. “I’ve seen you many times since Jessica was born, and I’ve hugged you. How come my eyes never teared up before today?”
“What you and Dad did to Cathy and Jessica is unconscionable. You’ll have to live with that for the rest of your lives. Cathy had her fun when she created the stuff she did for me. It smells good, and I like it. But when I came to see you, I didn’t wear it. I wasn’t going to punish you for what you did to them, Mom. That’s between you, Cathy, Jessica and your conscience.”
Nick saw Jessica’s shiny green face, with tears running down her cheeks. “Dad, take the guacamole away from Jessica, please. She’s giving herself another avocado bath.”
Diana ran over to Jessica and untied her f
rom the high chair. “That’s okay, Mr. Logan. I’ll take care of her.”
Both his parents looked stricken, as they should have. He felt like dog meat himself.
“I’m going to take a shower and wash this stuff off. Come on, Diana. Bring Jessica. While I’m in the shower, you can use the bathtub and give her a bath.” At her questioning look, he added “It’s a big bathroom. The shower is in a separate room. You’ll have privacy and so will I.” Nick winked at Diana. “No wandering eyes.”
“Why I never! What kind of woman do you think I am?” she asked in righteous indignation. Then in a softer voice, she added, “Can you leave the shower door open?”
“Your wish is my command. Come on.” Nick waved to the stunned guests, who were also covered with food thrown at them by Jessica and could use a shower themselves.
When they were alone, Nick had offered to share his shower with Diana, and although she seemed tempted, she had opted to dunk Jessica in the whirlpool bath where the currents could do the dirty work.
Nick’s world had about tilted upside down with the realization that Jessica had probably been having an allergic reaction to him since she’d been born.
As the hot water from the dual showerheads sprayed over his body and the heat of the water warmed him, all thoughts went back to Diana and a total reevaluation of what his future might now be.
Diana. The way she tossed back her dark hair. The way she looked at him with a mixture of shyness and desire streaming together in her big brown eyes. Her sweetness, her goodness and her generosity.
She had saved his family. She may have even saved Jessica’s life. He’d explain that to her, too. He knew how keen she was on discovering something that would save the world. As far as he was concerned, saving a life, Jessica’s life, was like saving the world.
Diana. Everything about her bewitched him, captivated him, allured him to her. He wanted to hurry and finish the shower so he could be with her. He had never felt so good, so complete as he did when he was with her.
Nick also knew there was one more person he wanted to get to know. Jessica. Now that she wouldn’t be constantly screaming at him, they had a lot of catching up to do.
Nick scrubbed himself twice, and washed his hair twice, too, using the unscented soap and shampoo Diana had given him. If Jessica could smell anything on him after this, that nose of hers would put a bloodhound to shame.
Nick turned off the shower, and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist. While he had hoped Diana would be in his bedroom waiting for him, he knew it probably wouldn’t happen. Not while their parents were in the house. What he hadn’t expected to see in his bedroom were his parents, Harry and Sheila, and Diana, sitting on every available surface, facing the bathroom door, waiting for him to come out
“Are you all having a slumber party?” Nick asked, tightening the burgundy towel around his waist
“Is that any way to dress in front of girls?” Harry bellowed.
“I didn’t know I was going to have girls, or any company in my own bedroom.” He turned to Diana. “A guy could hope though.”
“They all came after me.” Diana shrugged. “Protecting me from climbing into the shower with you.”
“I’m sorry they succeeded.” Nick crossed his arms and glared at the rest of his audience. “Sorry to have kept you all waiting. You can leave now.”
“No,” came a chorus of voices. “We’ll stay.”
Nick heard the familiar ripping sound. The same sound he had heard yesterday when he had discovered his shredded Sports Illustrated magazines. “Where’s Jessica?”
“She’s over there on the other side of the bed reading your copies of Architectural Digest.”
Nick rushed over to rescue his magazines. Jessica sat in front of the nightstand. The top drawer was pulled open. Two boxes of condoms, forty-eight in each box, had been ripped apart and the contents lay scattered around her. Some packages were opened and flesh colored condoms were spread out across the floor in various lengths of unwinding. Others were still sealed in their foil packages. Jessica had pulled one condom over her little foot, up to her ankle. The rest was left dangling. The cardboard boxes they had come in were torn into tiny pieces and that, too, had been scattered.
Diana followed behind Nick. “My, my,” she said. “Expecting company, are you?”
Sheila followed behind Diana. “Diana, dear. I have a whole new respect for you.” She picked a sealed package off the floor and looked at it “Extra large.” She slid her glance sideways and downward toward Nick in awe.
“I know. That’s still a little tight.” Nick shrugged. The smile on his face not at all humble.
“Diana’s a lucky girl,” Sheila said. Then she walked by Harry and slapped him on the back. “Peanut”
“What?” he bellowed. “What did I do?”
“Nothing,” Sheila cursed. “Absolutely nothing.”
Harry and Charlie went over to where Jessica sat surrounded by the condoms. Charlie, like a proud father, puffed out his chest
Harry, like a deranged father, began to yell, “I do not care how many tables and chairs he makes you, I’ve changed my mind. I will not have my daughter living in sin, do you hear me? I will not. Diana, pack your bags, and get home. You’re leaving for Duke in the morning.”
“Nick,” Charlie used a cajoling tone. “You make sure you don’t marry that girl. Anyone who needs that much sex will wear you out before your time. Do you want to look old like me?”
Nick’s mother raised her eyebrow. “Wishful thinking on his part,” she said. “The old peacock.”
Diana pulled one condom out of Jessica’s grasp, and peeled another off her arm where Jessica had rolled it up like a rubber glove. Jessica gnawed a third foil package, and Diana pulled that one out of her mouth. “Yuck.”
Jessica started to screech, missing her newfound toys.
“I’m sorry Nick,” Diana said, sounding like she was at the end of her rope. “I came out from bathing Jessica and they were all in here waiting for me. They insisted I couldn’t be here alone. I sat Jessica down in the corner, thinking she’d be safe there.”
“It’s all right, Diana. No harm’s done. I’m going to throw some clothes on.”
“Nick,” Diana softly called.
He turned to look at her.
“What were you going to do with all of these?” She waved her hand over the condom-strewn floor.
He gave her a lascivious grin. “When we’re living in sin, and actually living the sin, you won’t have to ask.”
The smile on her face encouraged him. He bolted from the room, heading back to his dressing area, where he could throw on some jeans. He was only sorry he couldn’t pull Diana, and a handful of condoms in with him.
13
NICK CARRIED Jessica from his bedroom to the kitchen. For the first time since she’d been born, Jessica sat quietly in his arms. The little girl he held now was the sweet, docile baby, full of smiles and charm that he had always wished she’d been with him. This was the kind of baby that made a man want to have children of his own.
Diana walked next to him, smiling at him and talking little nonsense sentences to Jessica. Diana was the one person responsible for Jessica’s future well-being. He only hoped he could find a way to thank her.
“She looks great in your arms,” Diana said.
“Who? Jessica?” Nick knew she looked stupendous.
“Of course Jessica. She adores you.”
“Nah. She doesn’t” She loved him to pieces that’s what she did. “You’re just saying that”
“Sure she does.”
“Yeah,” he said, and he knew there was a sappy grin plastered on his face. “I have you to thank.”
“Actually, I think it was more teamwork.”
It would be like Diana to share the glory. Only he knew if there were a trophy to be given, it would be hers.
“Can I hold her?” his mother asked when they were gathered in the kitchen again.
&nbs
p; He gave Jessica to her grandma, and found himself pretty reluctant to do so. For the first time, he understood what a nesting instinct felt like. He glanced over at Diana as she gathered up ingredients for some dessert she was going to make. When he thought of babies, the only one he thought of having them with was her. The woman made him feel good, he liked being around her.
More than that, there were things about her that he loved, if love were a possibility. He loved the way she looked, that was a given. He loved the way her heart and spirit were generous. The way she thought about everyone else, and wanted to help them. Diana was a special woman, and he didn’t want to lose her.
Was is possible that he loved her?
Nick watched her smile at Harry, then give Jessica a kiss on her cheek. She tossed her ponytail back over her shoulder, and said something to his father that made Charlie laugh. Then she looked at him, and this time the smile was different, warmer, more special.
Yes, he knew without a doubt, what he felt for Diana was love.
Diana had everyone gather around the kitchen stove. “I was going to fix this tomorrow night when you were all here, but since you’re here now, we might as well enjoy it.”
She collected the ingredients for her soon-to-be-famous flaming dessert. “Now bear with me. I’m making most of this up, since I don’t actually have a recipe.”
They all agreed they wouldn’t hold her to any failures.
“What I have here are bananas which I am going to slice up. Then in this skillet I’ll heat butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.”
“Smells delightful, dear,” Patricia said.
“Thanks.” Diana grinned at her while handing Jessica a piece of sliced banana to eat. “Now, I’ll put the bananas inside this mixture, and heat them up, too.” When the butter and sugar started to splatter, she said, “Rum time.” She poured the rum into the mixture, too. “Where are the matches? I thought they were right here.”
“Oh-oh,” Harry squawked, “Get the extinguisher. Hurry, she’s looking for a match.”
Kidnapped / I Got You Babe Page 32
