Can't Walk Away

by Sandy James

  Little miss. The only time her father called her that was when he intended to scold her.

  “I didn’t know he’d be visiting when I asked you to babysit.” Savannah shifted a squirming Caroline in her arms since her daughter was intent upon staring at Brad, even if it meant crawling over her mother’s shoulder to do so. “Brad, this wiggle worm is my Caroline.”

  He made a point of giving her hand a shake, which set the girl to giggling. “How old are you, Caroline?”

  “This many!” She held up five fingers.

  After gently tucking Caroline’s thumb against her palm, Savannah smiled at her daughter. “You’re this many.”

  Caroline put her thumb back. “Gramma said I’d be this many soon.”

  “How soon?” Brad asked as he kept grinning at Caroline.

  Caroline returned the smile as she shrugged hard enough that Savannah almost dropped her.

  “Six weeks, Miss Caroline,” Mary said as she joined them in the foyer. As though she knew exactly how much trouble Savannah was having holding on to her daughter, Mary took Caroline and set her against her hip. “Hello. I’m Mary Wolf.”

  Brad inclined his head in greeting. “Now I see where Savannah gets her good looks.”

  Paul chuckled. “Don’t try to make brownie points with either of ’em. The women in this family are immune to compliments.” Flipping his hand in invitation, he led everyone into the living room. After he sat in his favorite place—the worn recliner—he waited until everyone else found a place to park themselves. “Might I ask how you know my daughter, Mr. Maxwell? Where’d you meet? How’d you come to be her date tonight?”

  Resisting the urge to let out a groan, Savannah fired a frown at her father. “Daddy, we weren’t on a date.”

  “If you weren’t on a date, what exactly were you doing?” He narrowed his eyes at Brad. “Just what are your intensions toward my daughter?”

  “Dad…”

  “It’s my right to know,” he insisted. “What with all the trouble you had with Michael—”

  “Dad! Stop!” She narrowed her eyes. “Brad is my boss, okay? He owns Words and Music and he hired me to sing. Those are his intensions.”

  Mary, who’d sat on the arm of the recliner, cocked her head. “Your boss, eh? Can’t say I ever went to the trouble to drag any of my bosses home to meet my family. So tell me, Brad…are you wanting to date our Savannah?”

  “Mom! Stop!” Hands fisted against her thighs, Savannah took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This was exactly what she’d feared, but it wasn’t as if she could—or would—tell her parents to go home. All she could do was hope Brad would find some reason to leave. Quickly.

  Caroline had plopped herself on the sofa, right between Savannah and Brad. She kept staring at him as if he were the strangest thing she’d ever seen. No wonder. The only male adult in her life was her grandfather. Over the years since Michael had abandoned her, Savannah had gone on a date or two, but never once had she let any of those dates near her daughter.

  What had she been thinking? Just because Brad had opened up a little about his life didn’t mean she had to drag him home and share everything she’d always tried to protect. No wonder her parents were grilling him.

  You know why you brought him home. He’s…special.

  Shut up, stupid heart. You get me in too much trouble.

  As though he knew Caroline was staring at him, Brad turned his head and smiled down at her. “Are those your books?” he asked as he nodded toward the stack of books Caroline kept on her play table.

  Her whole face lit with a grin in response. “Yeah.”

  “You like Where the Wild Things Are?”

  Caroline began to bounce with excitement. “It’s my favorite!”

  “Mine, too,” he said. “Do you wish Max had stayed with the wild things?”

  She picked up his hand and held it fast, still smiling at him as she nodded. “Wanna read it?”

  “Not now, Caroline. Brad isn’t staying long,” Savannah explained, hoping to spare Brad an ordeal. One book was never enough for her daughter, and although she was pleased that Caroline loved reading, Brad sure didn’t need to lock himself into an extended session of children’s books.

  The poor man had to wish he could leave tire marks getting away from them all. Her father was drilling him on his “intentions.” Her mother eyed him as though she was ready to measure him for his wedding tux. And her daughter was clearly enamored with him.

  “I’m sure he needs to be going soon. Right, Brad?” Savannah was sorely tempted to take his hand away from Caroline and drag him to the door. “It was nice of you to make sure I got home safely.”

  “So that’s what this is all about.” Her father slapped his hands against the armrests. “You having engine problems again? I wish you’d let me buy you something nicer. You’re just as stubborn as your mother.”

  Her mother patted his shoulder. “Thank you, dear.”

  “It wasn’t a compliment, woman.”

  “Sure, it was.” She patted him again.

  Cheeks burning, Savannah bowed her head and started rubbing her forehead, hoping to relieve the headache that had suddenly appeared. “Dad, no. I told you, the car’s fine.”

  Caroline crooked her finger at Brad until he leaned closer. “I wanna tell you somethin’,” she whispered.

  “Go ahead,” he whispered back.

  “I got a ghost under my bed.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “Can you come scare it away, Brad? Please?”

  “Mr. Maxwell,” Savannah corrected.

  “She can call me Brad,” he countered as he let go of Caroline’s hand and stood. “I don’t mind.” Then he held his hand out to her in invitation. “I’d be quite happy to chase away your ghost. I’m great at ghost removal.”

  “You are?” Caroline, eyes as big as saucers, took his hand and hopped off the sofa.

  “Yes, ma’am, I am.” He extended his free hand toward Savannah. “Would you care to help us with some ghost-busting?”

  Anything to get away from the Wolf Inquisition. “Absolutely.”

  “Hang on there a minute, little miss,” her father said. “I’d like to have a word with you first.”

  Since she had no intention of being grilled about Brad, she shook her head.

  Her father got to his feet and hitched up his pants. “I insist.”

  Caroline dragged Brad to the stairs, then thankfully the two of them were gone.

  “Dad…”

  “I like this one,” her father announced. “Respectful. Good financial prospects.”

  Her mother was more subtle. “Has he asked for a date?”

  Savannah nodded.

  “Well, good!” her mother said. “Just let us know when you need a babysitter.”

  She frowned at them. “You’re both making too much outta this.”

  “We are, are we?” her father asked.

  Her mother matched her frown for frown. “Tell me this, darlin’…Why? Why bring him here?”

  “Honestly? I don’t have a clue.” And now she wished she had thought a bit more about introducing Brad to her family. All it had done was complicate things, and that was exactly what she didn’t need. Complications. “Look, I don’t know where it’s going. Okay? We did some recording and…well…I…” She threw up her hands. “Like I said, I haven’t a clue. Just don’t make more out of it than it is, okay?”

  Her father nodded and strode to the coat tree. He held her mother’s jacket so she could slip into it before donning his own.

  Relieved they were going, Savannah was anxious to see exactly what Caroline had shown Brad. No doubt her daughter’s room was in its typical state of chaos. Considering where he lived, he probably thought this place was pathetic.

  “Thanks for watching Caroline,” she said as she gave each parent a quick hug.

  Her mother’s face lit with a sly smile. “Like I said, just let us know when you’re going on a date with Brad.
We’ll be glad to babysit.”

  Instead of giving her mother the satisfaction of knowing she was right, Savannah said nothing. Once her parents were out the door, she hurried up the stairs.

  * * *

  Brad flipped on the light when they got to what he assumed was Caroline’s room.

  Pretty typical for a girl. Lots of pink and plenty of toys, which were scattered around as though she’d tried to play with them all at the same time.

  Caroline tugged on his hand and pointed. “It’s under my bed.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He makes sounds. He’s gonna get me.”

  He squeezed her small hand. “I won’t let him get you.” After turning her loose, he knelt on the floor next to her twin bed. Then he lifted the dust ruffle and tried to see what exactly was scaring her. He came face to face with two feral eyes. “You don’t have a ghost under here, pumpkin. But you do have a guest.”

  “A guest?” The floor creaked as she took a few steps closer.

  Unsure whether the cat was friendly, he resisted the urge to scoop it up and show Caroline what was making the noise under her bed. The animal was staring at Brad as though sizing him up, which was exactly what he was doing to the cat. “Do you have any pets?”

  “Pets?”

  The question had come from Savannah. “Yeah,” he replied. “Like a cat?”

  Braving the possibility of being clawed, he slid his hand under the cat and dragged it closer. When the animal didn’t fight him, he pulled it out from under the bed. He held the cat to his chest and stroked it, hoping he’d won its trust. A purr assured him he had.

  “Mr. Whiskers!” Caroline ran to Brad’s side and scratched the yellow tabby’s head.

  Savannah took the cat from Brad and set him on the floor. The tabby trotted out the door, tail twitching. “He’s never hidden under there before. He tends to hide out in my room. Thanks for fishing him out.”

  “My pleasure. Just glad he wasn’t a ghost.”

  “Caroline,” Savannah said, a note of censure in her voice, “you need to thank Brad for getting Mr. Whiskers for you.”

  “Thanks.” After her muttered appreciation, the little girl went skipping out of her room. “Mr. Whiskers?” she sang from the hallway. “Come play with me!”

  “And that,” Savannah said, “is why he hides in my bedroom.”

  Brad waited a few moments to be sure Caroline was out of earshot. “I’ll bet she’s a handful.”

  With a chuckle, Savannah began to gather up the toys strewn across the wooden floor. “And then some.”

  While there were so many questions he wanted to ask, he figured a date would give them a better chance to get to know each other. After her agony over her parents asking him questions, he didn’t think she was in the mood to tell him much about herself.

  Since she seemed intent on picking up toys—and all but ignoring him—he started to help. He hadn’t so much as grabbed a teddy bear when she tossed the toys she was holding into a wooden toy box and snatched the bear from his hand.

  “You don’t need to be doing that.” She set the toy on the small bed and then folded her arms under her breasts. “You should probably be going.”

  “Are you anxious to get rid of me?”

  She’d been staring at her shoes. His question made her head pop up. “No! I mean…you’ve got to have much better things to do than hang around here.”

  “There isn’t anything I wanna do as much as spend time with you.”

  Her gaze left his. “I never should’ve brought you here. I’m sorry about my parents.”

  “They’re only looking out for you,” he said.

  “I know, but…they come on a little too strong.”

  “I didn’t mind,” he insisted. In fact, he found their asking about his intentions not only quaint but wise.

  Two steps put him right in front of her, and he laid his hands on her shoulders. “I really didn’t mind, Savannah.”

  She glanced up, giving him her full attention. “Thanks for being so great with Caroline and my parents.”

  He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the way her blue eyes affected him. The worry he saw there now made him want to gather her into his arms. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For sharing your life with me.” He brushed a quick kiss over her lips, wanting more but willing to wait.

  Long moments passed before Savannah cocked her head. “So we’re really going to do this?”

  Brad quirked a tawny brow. “This?”

  “This…relationship stuff.”

  “Yes, Savannah, we’re really going to do this. How about we start with that date—except it’ll be you, me, and Caroline?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Chaos,” Brad muttered to himself. “Absolute chaos.”

  When he’d suggested that they bring Caroline on their first date, Brad had figured they’d do something like go to a movie—some kid flick—and then take the munchkin to a babysitter. Then he and Savannah could hit a nice restaurant. After all, why would Caroline want to spend so much time with him? She barely knew him.

  He’d been dead wrong.

  As he surveyed the crowd of kids at Planet Pizza, he couldn’t help but shake his head. There were so many children that he could hardly keep track of Caroline’s frenzied flight around the play area. He glanced at the bracelet on his wrist. The costumed employee had snapped one on each of them when they’d entered the restaurant. That gave him “claim” to Caroline should she get separated from them. All she had to do was find an employee, who would immediately page her first name and tell her “parent” to come retrieve her.

  Yes, it was that crowded. But he was actually okay with it, and he enjoyed seeing how thrilled Caroline had been when they arrived.

  His gaze finally found her as she surfaced from beneath the colorful balls in the huge pit. Brad had never seen the likes of it before. Kids swam through the sea of red, blue, yellow, and green plastic balls as though they were in a pool. When her head popped up in the middle, she let out a loud laugh as though she were having the time of her life.

  Savannah came to stand at his side. “Finally found her, huh?”

  He nodded.

  “Thanks for bringing us here.” She looked around the restaurant. “I know you probably had something else in mind when you asked where she wanted to go.”

  “I didn’t even know this place existed,” he admitted. “Does she come here often?”

  “God, no. I can’t handle the noise. We haven’t been here since she went to a birthday party a few months ago, although she’s begging to come again for her birthday.”

  “When she’ll be this many.” Brad held up five fingers, and was happy to hear her chuckle in response.

  Caroline had crawled out of the ball pit and was sliding her feet back into her shoes. Flushed and grinning from ear to ear, she sprinted back over to them. “I want pizza now!”

  Savannah held out one of the small pagers many restaurants used to alert a customer. “Already ordered it. As soon as this lights up, it’s ready.”

  “Where do we sit?” Brad had no idea where they’d find a place to have a meal. He couldn’t see anything but video games, skeeball alleys, and far too many other things for kids to do he didn’t even recognize. Places like this probably didn’t exist when he’d been a kid. If they had, he’d never heard of them.

  Grabbing his hand, Caroline started dragging him away. “Tables are back here.”

  He let her lead him, although he kept glancing back to be sure Savannah was following. It wasn’t as if he hung around a lot of kids, but Caroline seemed not to know or care about his lack of experience. From the moment he’d picked them up, she’d been stayed close to his side. She’d even asked her mother if she could ride “shotgun,” and he’d laughed.

  Since when did four-year-olds know what shotgun was?

  Savannah had insisted kids her age belonged in their booster seat and in the back, not the f
ront.

  Caroline sure didn’t talk how he thought a little kid would. Hell, the girl could string words into sentences that went on just about forever. When did she even have a chance to take a breath? So far, she’d told him about her school, her teacher, her favorite books, what happened on the last episode of something called Word Girl, and the fact that her cat liked to lick her fingers after she ate because she always forgot to wash her hands.

  “Which table, Mama?” she asked Savannah.

  “Number twelve.” Savannah pointed toward the left side of the room.

  That’s when Brad saw the numbers posted on each table. “What kind of pizza?”

  “Popperoni!” Caroline replied over her shoulder as she skipped toward their table. “Mushrooms are too gross.”

  “Popperoni?” he said softly to Savannah. “Cute.”

  “Good stuff,” she replied. “Because mushrooms are gross.”

  “Sit by me, Brad.” Caroline patted the seat on the bench she’d taken.

  He obliged her, finding it interesting that she wanted so badly to spend time with him. When he got Savannah alone, he was going to find out more about her daughter. The assumption was that Michael Hart was the father and that he’d run out on Caroline the same way he’d run out on her mother.

  Had Caroline even met the man?

  His guess was that Savannah protected her, which meant the child had never known a father. Was her grandfather the only man in her life? An older guy…That would explain her utter fascination with Brad right now.

  After the waitress, who was dressed like an astronaut in a silver suit, dropped off their pizza, Brad spent most of his time listening as Caroline filled the time with happy chatter between her wolfing down bites of her food and big swallows of her drink. Only when she asked her mother if she could go back to the ball pit and skipped away did he finally feel as if he was no longer caught in a hurricane.

  “Do all kids talk that much?” he asked.

  Savannah frowned. “Sorry. She can be a chatterbox.”

  “Please don’t take that wrong. I love listening to her. She’s got so much to say. I just don’t have much experience with kids.” He let his eyes wander the big room. “Judging from the noise level in here, I’m guessing they like to talk a lot.”