Huntington Family Series

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  He was picking her up when the doorbell rang. Blake froze, wondering who it might be. A dread settled in his heart.

  Sure enough, he opened the door to find Paula standing there, one hand on her slender hip and the other reaching out to bang on the door. “Oh, you’re home,” she said.

  She hadn’t changed in the half year since she’d taken Kevin from him. Her tiny figure was still tiny, her heart-shaped face was still unlined and childlike, her once-dark hair was still bleached in the way that he disliked, and her blue eyes, so much like Kevin’s, were still as large and sleepy. The sleepy aspect, he knew, came from whatever she was on, but other than this, she had none of the telltale marks of a drug and alcohol user. Most of her friends appeared old, but she remained eternally young. He wondered when her lifestyle would finally catch up to her.

  “You’re late,” he said, opening the door wider to let her in. The stale smell of cigarette smoke wafted inside.

  “I was here earlier, but you were gone.”

  He looked at her, wondering if she was telling the truth. Sometimes it was hard for him to tell. “We were at church.”

  She focused on Mara in his arms. “Hello, sweetie,” she cooed. “Mama came to see you. You look so pretty. Come here, come on. Mommy’s missed you terribly!” Mara held out her arms, smiling ear-to-ear so Blake relinquished her to Paula. “Where’s Kevin?” Paula asked, her eyes searching the room behind him.

  “Changing his clothes. I told you we had church.”

  “You could have waited a few minutes for me.” Paula hugged Mara tightly to her chest and then relaxed her hold as the child started to struggle.

  Blake made his voice hard. “We waited an hour.”

  “Oh.” Paula glanced up at him, her sleepy eyes empty of expression. “Well, I must have missed you.” She laughed. “It’s this darn weather,” she said, choosing her words carefully for Blake’s sake. “It’s so cold I can’t seem to get anywhere on time.”

  Blake had actually thought the weather was rather nice, seeing as it was already November. “That reminds me,” he said, walking with Paula to the love seat. “Your mother and I were talking about what to do for Thanksgiving. She wanted to know your plans.”

  She made a face. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make the trip down there right now. I’m sort of busy. Besides, I really don’t want to spend any time with my mother. All she does is preach at me.” She made a show of playing with Mara, who giggled with delight. There was an obvious affection between them, and in that moment, Blake could well imagine her as she might have been had she chosen another path. A strange longing in her behalf swelled in his chest. Couldn’t she see what she was missing? If only she could catch a glimpse of how things could be!

  “I can come over on Tuesday night,” Paula said.

  Blake shook his head. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?” Paula frowned, and even then her face was unlined. “You said I could see them whenever I wanted.” Tears gathered in her eyes.

  “Because I have school, that’s why.”

  “Can’t you miss a class?”

  He shook his head. “Not this one. I’m nearing the end, Paula, and it’s a three-hour class. Missing one is like missing a whole week.”

  “Well . . .” She patted down Mara’s dress before brightening suddenly. “I can stay with them while you go.”

  “You know I can’t do that. If they found out, they’d take the children away.”

  Her lips drew into a pout. “They won’t find out. Honestly, Blake, you act like it’s their right to take away my kids.”

  Blake didn’t reply.

  Her face flushed with anger. “I can’t believe you think that I’m not a fit—”

  “Hi, Kevin,” Blake interrupted her. “Looks who’s here. Your mom.”

  Paula turned and held out one arm, the other still securely around Mara. “Oh, baby! I’ve missed you! Come here on the couch and give Mommy a hug.”

  Kevin hugged his mother tightly.

  “I missed you so much,” she said.

  “I missed you, too,” Kevin answered.

  Paula shot Blake a triumphant glance. “I bought you some peanut butter crackers, but I left them home. I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time, I promise.”

  Blake wondered how many times Kevin had heard that excuse. For himself, he knew he’d heard it enough times to last his entire life.

  “Okay. But I’m not going there, am I, Mommy? I want to stay with Uncle Blake for a while.”

  Blake didn’t stay to see how Paula took that statement. He went into the kitchen and began ladling soup into bowls.

  “You’re going to stay here a few more days,” he heard Paula tell Kevin. “Maybe a few weeks. But I’ll have you come back really soon. You and me and Mara will all be together again. You’ll have a nice room just like you do here. Does that sound fun?”

  “Yes,” Kevin agreed. “You wanna see my bug bracelet? It’s magic.”

  “Time to eat, Kevin,” Blake called. “Want some soup, Paula?”

  She followed Kevin to the table. “No, thanks,” she said, making a face. “Looks like you cut up seaweed or something.”

  “Nope, spinach. Well, if you don’t want some, you can at least feed it to Mara. I blended some up for her.” He wasn’t surprised that Paula refused his offer of soup. She never ate enough. He’d worried about that during her pregnancies, but each child had been miraculously healthy. Paula had at least stopped smoking while she was pregnant.

  “Do you have a bib?” Paula asked.

  “Yes, but on second thought, let’s change her clothes. I don’t want that dress stained.”

  Paula laughed. “You sound like a mother.” Kevin’s snort of amusement sent spinach soup from his spoon onto the table.

  Blake ignored them. “Prayer first, bud. Will you say it? Then I’ll go get a change of outfit for Mara.”

  During the prayer he began to worry that Paula would take off with the children while he was in the bedroom. How cynical and suspicious he’d become! Still, better safe than sorry.

  “Paula, why don’t you go get her changed?” he said when Kevin was finished. “I want to eat my soup while it’s still warm. Her clothes are in Kevin’s room in the top drawer of the dresser. There’s also some in the dryer.”

  Paula was only too happy to play mommy. When she was gone, Kevin wrinkled his nose. “Her smells funny.”

  “That’s because she smokes,” Blake answered, betting that Kevin had grown accustomed to a smokeless environment over the past week. “And you’re right, it does smell funny.”

  Kevin nodded sagely and dug into his soup.

  A short time later, Paula came from the hallway carrying Mara. “Blake, I just remembered something. Some friends and I are having a birthday party on Saturday for a friend of ours. They’re bringing their families, and I want the kids there. I’d like to spend more time with them. Is that okay?”

  “What time?” he asked.

  “At one.”

  “Where? I’ll need the address.”

  “I could just pick them up.”

  He stared at her in frustration. Didn’t she get it? Was her brain so fried that she didn’t understand that the state had custody of her children? “I’ll drive,” he said shortly.

  “I’m not exactly sure of the address right this minute, but I’ll call and give it to you later.”

  “Okay.” Blake took the ladle and helped himself to more spinach soup.

  Paula stayed exactly one hour and then, promising to see them on Saturday, whisked out of the kitchen and vanished into the darkening night.

  Blake glanced at the clock and saw that he had twenty minutes to get to Amanda’s sister’s house. Her name was Kerrianne Huntington Price, and he wondered if she was anything like Amanda in person. He had been so impressed with her on the phone that he’d hired her on the spot.

  “We have to get ready to meet your new baby-sitter,” he said.

  Kevin looked up from t
he floor where he was playing with a puzzle. “Can I carry the soup?”

  “Soup?”

  “Yeah, for Amanda.”

  Blake sighed and went to find a container.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Amanda’s day had not been going well. During her church meetings, she kept thinking about Blake and what a wonderful time they’d had the previous evening. Wonderful, that is, until it was time for her to leave and there had been all that awkwardness at the door. Had something she said upset him? She thought so, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. She didn’t even remember what she had said because she’d been too busy trying to stop the pounding in her heart. Not even Tanner had evoked such emotion! She didn’t know how much more of it she could take.

  Not that it mattered. He wasn’t likely to call her again.

  She sighed and went to her CD player, punching a button. She ordinarily didn’t listen to any music on Sundays unless it was related to the gospel in some way, but every now and then she made exceptions for Josh Groban. Sometimes listening to his exceptional voice was all she needed to forget something that was bothering her.

  Like how much she wanted to see Blake and the children.

  Josh Groban’s voice filled the living room. She listened to the first song, not in the least disturbed that she couldn’t understand a word. Her favorite song was next. “Gira Con Me Questa Notte”—which she learned meant “Wanders with Me Tonight”—and she turned up the sound to a near ear-shattering level. The sound reverberated off the walls and seemed to enter inside her very being, carrying her away. Good thing she didn’t live in an apartment building, or she’d bring in complaints from the neighbors for sure, despite the sweeping beauty of the music.

  She sat on the plaid couch, closing her eyes and letting her body sway to the soaring strains. The song ended and the next began. Beginning to feel a trifle hot with all the emotion and swaying she was putting into the music, she decided to open the door and stand on the cement porch for a while and stare out over the valley below. It was dark enough that the wonderful array of lights would complete the beautiful music.

  Pulling open the door, she stepped out into the night—right into the arms of Blake Simmons. Her eyes opened wide as she tried to backpedal, tripping over the step into the house and losing her slippers in the process. She would have fallen hard on her backside had it not been for Blake’s quick hands on her arms. He pulled her upright, holding tightly to her. A tingling sensation raced into her skin, through her veins, and lodged somewhere in her heart. He let her go almost immediately—way too soon, in her opinion.

  “I—uh—I—” she stammered. Her rapid breath made clouds of white in front of her face.

  He said something, but the music blasting from the house was too loud to make out his words. She shut the door behind her.

  “You surprised me,” she gathered her wits enough to say. He looked far too handsome in his suit and tie. Distinguished. Except that his brown hair was mussed as usual.

  “I knocked, but there was no answer.” His grin was uncertain.

  Amanda felt heat seep into her face. “I didn’t hear. I was listening to some music.”

  His glance toward the door was amused. “Yeah, I noticed.”

  Silence fell between them. Amanda thought she would be content to stand here and stare at him all night, never mind the cold that penetrated her short-sleeved Sunday dress. She didn’t even try to put back on her house slippers, though her feet clearly felt the cold cement.

  “We brought you some soup,” Blake said at last, motioning beside him. For the first time, Amanda noticed Kevin standing there holding a clear plastic container. The substance inside looked very dark.

  “It’s spinach soup with beans.” Kevin held the container up to her.

  “Oh, thank you.” Amanda accepted the offering.

  “Kevin insisted on bringing it over,” Blake said, leaving her no doubt as to his opinion on the matter. She wished she could fling it back in his face.

  Kevin grinned. “It’s real good.”

  “I appreciate it, Kevin. I really do.” At least she had no doubts as to where she stood with the four-year-old. “You are a very sweet boy.” Kevin stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat and beamed.

  “Well, we’d better go.” Blake thumbed at his truck which sat in her driveway, the doors open. “We left Mara strapped in her seat. We’re going to meet your sister.” He was already down the steps and walking toward the truck by the time he finished speaking. Kevin ran after him.

  Amanda didn’t have time to respond before they were in the truck and backing down the drive. A wild urge to follow them in her own car to Kerrianne’s arose in her mind, leaving just as quickly. No—she couldn’t.

  She watched the truck disappear down the street before turning slowly and going inside her house. Heat from the container of soup warmed her hand, though the rest of her was freezing, especially her feet. The music went on, rising in ever more beautiful crescendos. She barely noticed, except to realize that the music wouldn’t allow her to think. Still holding the warm container, she went to the CD player and plunged the room into abrupt silence.

  Looking at the dark soup, she noticed, as Kevin had promised, that there were beans on the bottom, swirling around as she tilted the container.

  Yuck, she thought. There’s no way I’m eating this slop, and what’s more, if Blake thinks he’s impressing me with his cooking skills, he is sadly mistaken.

  Or was that his intention? Maybe he was trying to scare her off.

  What was it with her? She wanted only to be friends, yet she was peeved at him for not pursuing her. Or was she peeved because he had shown interest?

  Nothing made sense.

  Feeling suddenly very sad and alone, Amanda set the soup container on her table and went to find her tennis shoes and her long dress coat. Maybe a brisk walk in the moonlight would clear her head so she could think straight.

  She walked for at least twenty minutes, and though her emotions toward Blake were still undecided, she felt much calmer. For one thing, she’d decided the soup was nothing more than Kevin’s idea, one Blake had likely agreed to reluctantly—not because he was angry at her but because he hadn’t wanted her to read anything into the offering.

  Well, she wouldn’t. She would pour the soup down the drain and forget it.

  As she stood at the kitchen sink getting ready to do just that, she decided she had better at least taste it in case Kevin asked—provided she ever saw him again. She took a spoon, dipped it in, stirred it, and sipped.

  “Mmm.” Her eyes opened wide. It was good! Shaking her head in disbelief, she took another taste, dumped the soup into a bowl, and put it in the microwave. Warmed up, it proved even tastier.

  She was tipping the bowl to get every last bit on her spoon when the phone rang. Swallowing, she ran for the phone lying on the table beside her couch.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Manda.”

  “Kerrianne—hi.” Amanda was immediately curious, wondering how the meeting between Kerrianne and Blake had gone. Calm down, she told herself. She couldn’t ask outright, unless she wanted to raise her sister’s suspicions. She’d have to let it come out naturally in the conversation. “How’s it going?”

  “How’s it going? How’s it going? Is that all you have to say?” Kerrianne’s voice came too loudly through the phone. “You didn’t tell me he was so handsome!”

  Amanda bit her lip. “Who?” she forced herself to ask.

  “Who? Blake Simmons, that’s who. The guy is gorgeous. So handsome! Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I guess I didn’t notice.”

  “I can’t see how you didn’t. I did. And he’s nice, too. Definitely devoted to those children. He’s even interesting to talk to. You should have heard the conversation about education that he and Adam got into. He sounds very smart. I can’t believe you haven’t noticed that, either.”

  “Well, no.” Though now that she thought abo
ut it, Blake did seem to speak intelligently about everything that came up. Then again, had they talked about anything but children? She admitted to herself that she was too busy worrying about where their relationship was headed to pay much mind to their conversation.

  “Well, I did. In fact, the moment after he left, I thought, ‘Too bad he’s only a repairman, or he’d be perfect for Manda.’”

  Amanda felt an uneasy chill run up her spine. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Just that you rather like your male friends to . . . well, be educated.”

  “Is that wrong? It’s nice to have them understand something of the world. But that doesn’t mean I look down on people who haven’t gone to college. There are a lot of smart people who’ve never gone to college.” Again, Amanda thought of her grandfather and his farm.

  “What I mean is that you don’t see his job to be important.”

  Amanda was offended. “His job is important! Without appliances, how would people live?” Even as she spoke, she knew her defense was lame. She pulled her feet onto the couch and scowled at the carpet.

  “Yeah, but it’s not teaching or working in an office.”

  “Are you saying I judge men by their jobs?” Amanda demanded.

  “Well, not exactly. Maybe you just aren’t attracted to men without jobs that require formal education.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Come on. I know you and Tanner really hit it off, but the fact that he was an executive in his father’s company didn’t hurt matters at all. And that’s at least one of the reasons Gerry could never measure up. Oh, I know you said you didn’t love him, but why didn’t you love him? He was attentive, strong in the Church, good-looking, and obviously gone on you. But he was a construction worker who didn’t give a darn if he knew what was going on in, say, an education bill, or if he knew the proper way to address a letter.”