by Jacie Floyd
Checking him out in her rearview mirror, she admired the air of swagger the motorcycle provided. The jeans, leather jacket, and bike gave him a more manly aura than his previous khakis and button-down. He removed his helmet and jacket before putting his cell phone to his ear. The phone diminished the swagger-factor greatly.
She hadn’t tried to talk him out of coming with her. But now that it looked like a family reunion in progress, she wished she’d lost him along the way. No such luck.
Meetings between her mom and dad pretty much resembled a war zone these days. She didn’t relish the idea of introducing an innocent hostage into the mix.
Not that Gabe was all that innocent. He could be sweet, and hot—definitely hot—but his thought processes maneuvered on too many levels to suit her. Some of them cynical. Some of them calculating. Many of them complex. But the flinty look she detected in his eyes now and then indicated a lack of innocence and optimism.
Still, nobody deserved to be ambushed by the potshots of a feuding family. And these days, Molly couldn’t guarantee safe passage. Not all that long ago, she wouldn’t have given a second thought to dropping by with a friend. The last few months had changed that.
Handling both her parents at the same time required more diplomacy than she possessed. On the other hand, adding a stranger to the scene might put them on their best behavior. And since Gabe had his own motives for coming here with her, he could fend for himself. Climbing out of the VW, she crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.
Nudging the door closed, she returned Mr. Gillespie’s wave from two doors down as he finished mowing his lawn. Freshly cut grass scented the air as Molly gave herself a little pep talk in preparation of greeting her father.
She loved him. She did. Unfortunately, sometimes in the last few months, she needed to remind herself of that.
As she waited for Gabe to finish his call, her father exited the attached garage and strode jauntily toward her, golf clubs slung over his shoulder. His thick, blond, sliver-streaked hair gleamed in the porch light.
Even wielding the bag of Pings instead of a light saber or whip, he resembled Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Her dad was as handsome and charismatic as Harrison, any day.
“You’re a bit overdressed for playing through, aren’t you?” She eyed his dark suit and red power tie.
“The suit was for a meeting I had with the school superintendent this afternoon.” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled and stopped beside her. He dropped a kiss on her cheek and the clubs on the ground. “It seems like forever since I’ve seen you, Moll. You look beautiful.”
“It’s only been two weeks, Dad.” Pleased to see him, too, she fought the answering smile that tugged at her lips. She tried not to choose sides, but any overt friendliness with her father seemed disloyal to her mom. Especially here on Mom’s turf. “You didn’t upset Mom, did you?”
“Probably.” He cast a worried glance in the direction of the house. “It’s April, and that’s when my regular golf group starts playing. I needed my clubs. She found fault with that.”
Molly frowned. “And you couldn’t stop by for them when she wasn’t home, instead of rubbing her nose in the fact that you don’t live here anymore.”
“Whenever I try that, she accuses me of sneaking around. I came over for my digital camera one day while she was still at school, and you would‘ve thought I stole your grandmother’s silver candlesticks from the Federal case she made out of it.” He shook his head. “It seems like nothing I do pleases her. Or you.”
“Isn’t that the way it goes?” Molly expelled a dispirited sigh. “You’re the behavioral expert. This is uncharted territory for us. Nobody’s immune from acting out every divorce cliché in the book.”
“They’re clichés for a reason.” He tried to pull her into a hug, but she ducked away, feeling childish as she did it. And ignoring the hurt look he tried to cover.
“This is one of those times when I envy Steve for living hundreds of miles away,” she admitted.
“I’ve read the parents’ handbook. Hell, I wrote the parents handbook for the Cincinnati schools. I know kids are supposed to grow up and go out on their own, but I’m glad you stayed in town.” Her father caught her gaze and pinned her with a look. He’d always been good at that, damn it. “Having you around helps your mother, and I’d hate it if you lived someplace else.”
She surrendered to the moment and gave him a quick hug. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What about William? Isn’t he thinking of moving to DC?” One of her dad’s super talents was turning every conversation away from himself and onto others.
Before responding to the comment about her former fiancé, she looked around to check on Gabe’s whereabouts. Still several feet away, he leaned against his Harley, fiddling with whatever advanced gadget he used to get through the day. His crossed ankles revealed another pair of cartoon socks. Bright yellow this time. Tweety Bird, maybe?
She lowered her voice. “William accepted the transfer to Washington. He’s living there now, as far as I know. I haven’t heard from him since he asked for his ring back.” The swine.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” His face fell into lines of sympathy. “You told me the engagement was off, but I hoped you might work things out.”
She shrugged. After a month of consolation hot-fudge sundaes and late-night crying fests, she’d accepted his absence with a surprising lack of heartache. Most days she could hardly remember what he looked like, let alone what she’d loved about him. Or what had escalated their minor differences into irreconcilable ones. Had the Sleeping Lotus done that? “I know you liked him, but it’s definitely over between us.”
“It wasn’t about me and what I wanted. All I want is for you to be happy. You two seemed perfect together one day, and then, the next day, the engagement was off.” Oh, he was good all right. Her dad, the child psychologist. He excelled at appearing curious, at disguising questions as statements, at drawing others out with enigmatic or sympathetic comments. But Molly had fallen for his tactics too many times to be lured into an in-depth discussion about this particular topic.
Especially not with Gabe hovering nearby. Was it her imagination or had he inched closer?
“Blame it on some insidious relationship virus.” She decided to lay some groundwork for the revelation about the Sleeping Lotus. “Maybe there’s a nasty love-attacking-plague going around. Or worse, the Webber’s have been cursed.”
“With voodoo or something? Leave it to you to think so. That’s always been your specialty.” He chuckled, and his smile held steady even when his tone turned serious. “Call me if you need to talk. I’m still a good listener, you know. Or better yet, how about brunch on Sunday?”
“Just you and me, right?” She wanted to have a nice talk with him, but not about her love life and not if he intended to spring some candidate for stepmom on her. She’d never be ready for that.
“Right, Moll. Just you and me.”
With some private time together, she’d take the opportunity to warn him about the curse—not that he’d take the warning seriously—and then, she’d slip the conversation around to Way Number Seven from the marriage-counseling book.
Meanwhile, her mother ducked behind the drapes at the front window, peeking out at the group assembled on the driveway. Gabe had put away his phone and shuffled from foot to foot, maintaining a discreet distance. Molly gave her mom a friendly wave and motioned Gabe forward.
“A friend of yours?” Dad asked.
“Sort of.” Friend seemed like an exaggeration. They weren’t quite there yet.
“Introduce us.” He used the fatherly tone that didn’t leave much wiggle room.
“Of course.” Molly did the honors.
“How do you do, sir?” Gabe extended his hand in a first-date-meeting-the-father kind of handshake, although she didn’t know who he was trying to kid. Their little research get-together was nothing like a date. No wine. No roses. No c
andlelight. No sweet nothings.
“Pleasure to meet you.” Her father fell right into the prescribed role, subjecting Gabe to some serious sizing-up-the-suitor scrutiny.
Molly rolled her eyes. No matter how old she got, or how long she lived independently of him, he never seemed to get past the idea that she was his little girl in need of his protection.
She used to kind of like it. But not lately and definitely not today.
“Would you like to join us for brunch on Sunday?” her father asked Gabe. Knowing him well, she should have realized he’d make the offer.
“Sure.” Gabe ignored the glare Molly shot him. If he came along with them, he’d be sitting through another rehash on the Sleeping Lotus curse, and she didn’t want to hear any more of his skepticism. “When and where?”
“Molly can let you know. I’ll call her and set something up.” He hugged her long enough to whisper in her ear, “Good going, Moll. You really are handling the breakup well. I thought you were just putting up a good front.
“Da-ad!” Molly spluttered, but he was already heading toward the latest manifestation of his midlife crisis.
She started toward the house, but halted when Gabe remained behind, watching her father stick his golf clubs in the trunk.
“That car’s a beauty.” His tone bordered on religious reverence.
“Thanks.” Dad removed a handkerchief from his coat pocket and rubbed a non-existent smudge. “She handles like a dream.”
“I can imagine.” Gabe all but drooled. “What kind of engine?”
She hooked him by the elbow and tugged. “You can hear all about the Testosterone Dream Machine on Sunday. But if you want to meet Mom, come now, before I change my mind.” Really, what was it about men and their toys? “See you later, Dad.”
Molly led Gabe up the drive, through the garage, then into the house. As she closed the door behind them, Mom stepped into the kitchen with Penny at her heels. The golden retriever exhibited her usual tail-wagging welcome, but Mom looked like a different woman than she had the day before. Whatever had passed between her parents this evening, her mom seemed to have accepted it better than Molly or her dad expected.
Today, Mom looked more like her old self. Professional, intelligent, serene, with that classy ageless beauty the women from Bella on down had passed through the generations, stopping just short of Molly. She’d turned out cute as a button. More elfin than classic, her type was a cross between Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, while her mother resembled Grace Kelly.
“This is a nice surprise.” Mom glanced from Molly to Gabe. “Visits from my daughter two days in a row, during the middle of the week, and this time, with a guest in tow. Who do we have here, Molly?”
She recognized the matchmaking gleam in her mother’s eyes. “We have Gabe Shaw. Gabe, this is my mother, Ellen Webber.” Molly bent down to offer Penny the adoration the dog deserved. “And this is our family protector, Penny.”
“Hello, Gabe Shaw.” Her mom smiled, something she hadn’t done much of lately. For that alone, Molly wanted to kiss Gabe for joining them. “It’s like old times to have a friend of Molly’s here. Now, if you two raid the refrigerator and commandeer the stereo to play New Kids on the Block, it will seem like an eighties time warp.”
“God forbid.” Molly pretended to a horrified shudder. “The sooner we forget the eighties, the better off we’ll be. If the pictures of me with big, big bangs and the worst perm in the history of the world are any indication, that wasn’t my best decade.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gabe piped up as he bent over to make friends with Penny. “I kind of liked them.”
“Of course, you did.” Molly eyed him with pity. “That was probably when you got your first Nintendo.”
“How did you know? Is the Tech Nerd tattoo still visible on my forehead?”
“I guessed from that truckload of technology you drag around. It looks like you never go anywhere without your cell phone and your laptop. You’ve probably got a Bluetooth device hidden somewhere on you, and I’m picturing an iPad in your briefcase.” She poked him in the ribs. He looked cute, boyish, and playful when he blushed. “Am I right?”
“Hey!” He straightened his shoulders. “Some of us have embraced the technical advances of the twenty-first century.”
“Children, children.” Mom used her hands to form the letter T. “No more bickering or you’ll both end up in time-out.”
“No need.” Molly looked at him over her shoulder while she got glasses out of the cabinet. “We disagree frequently, but we haven’t come to blows yet.”
“And we won’t,” he promised. “Unless it’s about the Sleeping Lotus.”
“Ah, I should have guessed. You’re the owner of the other half.” Mom poured the iced tea.
They each took a glass, and Molly led the way to the family room. Mom sat in her wingback chair with Penny settling at her feet.
Molly took a spot at the opposite end of the couch from Gabe. She’d worked hard to keep from drooling over him at the library, so it was probably wise to continue putting as much space between them as possible.
“I am the other owner,” Gabe admitted as Molly took a closer look at his socks. Daffy Duck, not Tweety Bird. Cool. “It’s an interesting situation, isn’t it?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Mom agreed. “Do you have your half with you? I’d love to see the pieces together.” At Gabe’s surprised grin, she laughed. “For purely artistic and educational purposes, of course.”
“Of course.” His lips turned up into a smile. “However, my part is stored safely under lock and key. I may be paranoid, but all day I’ve felt like I was being followed.”
“You too?” Molly asked. “Have you seen someone sneaking around or acting suspicious? Have you heard anything unusual?”
“It’s more like a nervous twitch between my shoulder blades. Crazy, I know, but I thought I might have been followed on my way to the library tonight.” He stopped with his glass halfway to his mouth. “Have you seen or heard something that put you on edge?”
“No-oo.” She wasn’t totally convinced the sounds she’d heard outside her window had anything to do with the Lotus. “Probably just my imagination, but I’ve been jumpy ever since James sprang the big surprise about the Lotus on us.”
“Yeah, me too. Granddad says he’s keeping the news under wraps, but it wouldn’t shock me to find out he’s shown the carving around his bowling league. If it weren’t for the sexual connotation, he’d probably let my niece take it for show and tell. Come to think of it, I should probably keep the piece in my possession at all times, instead of leaving it at home.” He smiled at Molly’s mom. "Next time I come over, I’ll have it with me, for sure.”
“What do you mean, next time?” Molly crossed her arms and questioned the assumption that he’d be visiting again.
“Your mother would like to see the Sleeping Lotus,” he reminded her. “How can I refuse such a reasonable request?”
“Hah!” Dismayed that he’d accepted an invitation from her dad to join them for brunch, now Gabe was scheduling a follow-up visit to Mom. Molly wasn’t sure how much togetherness she could take, given the sexual tension that flared between them at the oddest moments. She’d erect as many barriers as she could to prevent being blindsided by the emotions or feelings that sneaky little statue provoked. “You’ve been unreasonable from the moment we met.”
“Have I?” From his end of the couch, he studied her. A definite challenge sparked deep in his hazel eyes. He stretched his arm out along the sofa back. Her mouth went dry. He suddenly seemed a lot closer than he had a moment before. “I’m ready to change that if you are.”
“How?” Immediately suspicious, Molly was all too aware of the slow heat igniting in the pit of her stomach.
“Let’s call a truce.” A beguiling smile put his darling dimple on display. “No point in arguing over the Sleeping Lotus until we’ve learned more.”
It went against the grain with her to i
gnore a problem. But in the end, the Sleeping Lotus might not pose a problem at all. Not if she donated Nonna’s half to a museum. But she had a feeling Mr. Moneygrubber sitting next to her would not consider that a satisfactory resolution for their joint treasure.
“Come on,” he cajoled, pulling her away from her thoughts, wrapping her in a zone of gentle persuasion that clouded her objections.
And she flat out caved. “Okay. Truce, for now.”
“Good.” His nod of satisfaction forced Molly to wonder if she’d agreed to something more permanent or more intimate than a temporary truce.
He moved toward her, and the little tug of reluctance that cautioned her against touching him was overruled with a raging desire to do just that.
She visualized hands touching hands. Big deal. But as his fingers curled around hers and their palms grazed, she realized it was a big deal. Every time he touched her was a big deal. The most casual of touches tempted her to jump him with a power that left her shaking.
Oh, no! The curse! She jerked her hand away from his. Her reaction was being spurred on by the carnal spell of the Lotus, but how could that be? The insidious thing wasn’t in the room. The separate parts weren’t anywhere near one another.
She rubbed her palm against the couch cushion, hoping to rub the attraction away. Glancing up at him again, she decided the maneuver had worked. The dimples were gone, the amber flecks in his eyes had receded, and he didn’t look quite as irresistible. He looked almost ordinary, in fact.
“Well, now that you’ve settled that between you, tell me what you’ve found out about how the Lotus came into our families.” Mom’s words sucked any remaining effervescence out of the moment.
Molly blushed, realizing she’d forgotten that her mom was in the room.
“Do you want to explain it?” Gabe asked. “Or should I?”
