The Daddy Project
Page 13
“From a woodworking elective I took in high school. There was just me and my mom in those days and she wasn’t well enough to work, so there was no money for me to go to college. My teacher told me about an apprenticeship program, which meant I could learn on the job and have an income. I love what I do, so it was definitely the best option for me.”
He had done his homework before he hired Ready Set Sold. The portfolio on their website confirmed that Sam was also extremely good at what she did. So was Kristi, and no doubt the third partner was every bit as accomplished.
“One of my girls just said she’d like to be a carpenter when she grows up.” He wanted what was best for his girls and as far as he was concerned, that was college. But after what Sam said about her career choice, maybe he needed to revise his assumptions about what having “the best” meant. “Martha’s impressed that you have so many tools.”
Sam laughed. “Kids do love tools. My son is three and a half, a little younger than your girls, I think, and he can’t get enough of them.”
“What’s his name?”
“William. We call him Will.”
“It must be hard, doing the work you do plus running a business and raising a child at the same time.”
“I don’t think any parent has an easy job, but I’m one of the lucky ones. My husband’s a writer, so he mostly works at home, and we have a live-in nanny who takes care of the whole family.”
After Heather died he considered hiring a nanny or a housekeeper, and in the end he’d ruled it out because he hadn’t wanted anyone else around. Relying on Alice and Fred to help with the girls when they were babies had been a mistake, but now that the girls were older he liked having them at the university’s day care. And he was content to look after the house himself, even though he wasn’t doing the greatest job. And then Kristi breezed in, and overnight all that had changed.
“It must be nice to have a creative outlet like this,” he said.
“Kristi’s the creative one in the business. She can walk into a home and immediately come up with a design that suits the client and still has broad appeal for prospective buyers. She tells me what she wants and I make it happen.”
“She does have a good eye for detail.” At the furniture store, he had liked everything she’d shown him. In fact she knew what would work for him and his family far better than he did.
“Kristi’s also done a wonderful job of raising a child on her own,” Sam said. “And Jenna’s a great kid. She looks after Will sometimes when our nanny has a day off. He adores her.”
Okay, he could be dense at times but he knew where this conversation was going.
“I can see that,” he said. Molly and Martha were already crazy about Kristi and her daughter. And unless he admitted he’d screwed up, Sam would continue to sing their praises. “I overreacted to something this afternoon. I owe them an apology.”
Sam used her hammer to knock the last stubborn shelf out of place, stuck it back in her tool belt and handed the board to him. “If you don’t mind taking these shelves out to the garage, I’ll get started on this wallpaper.” Judging by her satisfied smile, he’d said everything she wanted to hear and the conversation was over.
* * *
NATE’S GARAGE DOOR was open and Kristi could see him inside when she returned from the mall. There was no sign of the girls or Sam. A good thing, because it would give them a chance to talk in private.
She walked in, and his grim smile suggested he wanted to talk to her, too. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said. “Are those the bookshelves from your office?”
“They are. I thought I’d store them here till I figure out what to do with them. Sam helped me take them apart and now she’s inside pulling down the wallpaper.”
And probably grumbling about it, knowing Sam. “What are the girls doing?”
“Watching a DVD.”
“Good. I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk.”
“Me, too.” He separated a couple of white plastic lawn chairs and offered her one. They sat facing each other, sandwiched between his SUV and the workbench that ran the length of one wall.
“I’m really sorry about the way I reacted to Jenna putting makeup on the girls. She didn’t do anything wrong, and I was completely out of line. I hope you’ll tell her that.”
“Thank you, I will. But I think you should speak to her yourself.”
“I will. Tomorrow before we go to my family’s place.”
If she’ll agree to go. “I’ll be sure to tell her that when I get home.”
“Thanks. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to her…”
Poor guy. He really did feel badly about what had happened. “Well, she’s been begging me to buy her an iPhone,” she said, hoping to lighten his mood.
His eyebrows went up a notch.
Kristi laughed. “That was supposed to be a joke.”
That got her a smile, and he seemed to relax a little. “It would serve me right if it wasn’t.”
“Jenna’s feathers were a little ruffled but she’ll get over it. If you don’t mind me asking, and feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you do, what made you so angry? The girls have loads of dress-up clothes. I understand why parents don’t want little girls wearing makeup, but they were just playing and it washes off.”
He ran a hand through his hair, the way he did when he was carefully choosing his words. She resisted the urge to smooth it out for him. “It’s kind of a long story,” he said.
“I have time.”
“I told you about Heather’s mother, how she did everything she could to save Heather’s life.”
A knot formed in Kristi’s stomach as she wondered where this was going.
“Losing Heather was hard on everyone, but for Alice…” He sighed. “She didn’t cope well. She blamed me. Still does, I think.”
“What? Why? That’s crazy.”
“Not to her. If it wasn’t for the pregnancy, Heather would still be alive. And since I’m the one who got her pregnant, I’m the one who caused her death.”
“Oh, Nate. I understand that grief hits people hard, but you said your wife had already lost one kidney. Anything could have happened.”
“Yeah, well, Alice doesn’t see it that way.”
“How is she with Molly and Martha? Surely she doesn’t take it out on them.”
“Oh, no. Pretty much the opposite. She dotes on them and she’s constantly buying toys and clothes.”
Hence the overabundance of things in the girls’ bedroom.
“Her latest thing is wanting to enter them in a children’s beauty pageant.”
So that was it. The girls had been pretending to be beauty queens, and the disgust in his voice told her exactly what he thought of pageants. “And I gather that’s not what you want?”
“They’re four years old. What do they need with a beauty pageant?” He looked at her as though he couldn’t believe she had asked. “Would you have put your daughter in one? Did you?”
“No, of course not. I agree with you. Lots of parents think it’s the right thing to do for their kids, though.”
“Alice isn’t the parent here. She has no business pushing this on us.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Not a good idea? Clearly it was the worst idea Nate had ever heard. Kristi understood why he was reluctant to stand up to the woman, but
he had to do it.
She covered his hands with hers. “Again, this is none of my business, but your mother-in-law sounds like the kind of woman who doesn’t like to take no for an answer. So if you don’t tell her no, she sure isn’t going to hear it.”
“You’re right, of course. I’ve been hoping that if I let it slide, we would miss the entry deadline and then it wouldn’t be an issue.”
He was a smart man, so he couldn’t possibly believe that. And it was kind of sweet that he didn’t want to offend the girls’ grandmother, even though Kristi had a hunch he mostly wanted to avoid a confrontation. “If she doesn’t get her way with this, is she likely to back off? If she really believes the pageant is a good idea, she’ll just try again next year.”
He turned his hands over and curled his fingers around hers. “You’re right. She will, and if it’s not the pageant, she’ll come up with something else.”
“So you’re going to talk to her?”
He gave a reluctant nod. “I’m not looking forward to it but you’re right. I don’t have a choice.”
“Can I offer one more suggestion?” She didn’t want to seem like yet another person who was meddling in his life, but he could do with a little encouragement.
“Of course.”
“Don’t let this just be about the pageant. Make it about your family—you and your daughters. Your mother-in-law needs to know that you’re open to her suggestions, but in the end, you’re the one who makes the decisions about what’s best for them.”
She held her breath, not sure how he would react. For a few seconds he didn’t, then he squeezed her hands and gave her a smile that heated up her insides. “I don’t suppose you’d like to talk to her,” he said with a shallow laugh.
She laughed, too. “No way. I’m scared of her, and I haven’t even met her.”
Nate slid his hands up her arms, making her shiver a little. “That makes two of us. But I will do it.”
They sat, knee to knee, gazes locked. His hands stopped at her shoulders, and he pulled her closer as he leaned in. His kiss was easy and light, unexpected and welcome.
“Thank you.” The words against her lips were as soft as a whisper.
“You’re welcome.”
“I should go in and check on the girls.”
“And I should get back to work.”
Neither of them wanted to break the connection, though.
“It’s too bad this thing we’ve got going on here isn’t real,” he said. “We’d make a great team.”
She should be hearing alarm bells right now, but instead her heart was doing cartwheels in her chest. She wasn’t looking for a team, she was used to doing things for herself. So where were those damn bells, and why weren’t they ringing?
Chapter Nine
On Sunday morning, Nate put Gemmy in the backyard, strapped the girls into their car seats in the backseat of the SUV and drove to Kristi’s place. To his relief, she had accepted his apology and agreed to keep their “date” to his sister’s birthday brunch. Now he just needed to apologize to Jenna and they’d be good.
Kristi’s town house complex was well cared for and located in a good neighborhood. He easily found her unit and pulled into the space next to her minivan.
“Girls, I want you to stay buckled up and wait in the car, okay? I’ll ring the bell and let Kristi know we’re here, then I’ll come back and wait with you.
“No!” the girls chorused from the backseat.
“I want to see Jenna’s room!”
“I want to play with Herc!”
“There’s no time to play with Hercules this morning. You can play with him next time Kristi brings him to our place.” He got out and closed the door on any further protest.
Kristi’s front entrance was flanked by a pair of cedar planters filled with petunias that badly needed deadheading. He stuck a finger in the soil. And water. The painted metal Home Sweet Home sign on the front door was either old, or made to look old. Either way, it was a nice touch.
He pressed the button for the bell and Hercules started to bark. The yipping grew louder, and Nate could hear Kristi shushing the dog. She was all smiles when she opened the door, the overexcited little dog wriggling in her arms.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi. We’re running a little behind, but we’re almost ready.”
He’d been half expecting that. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Can you take your sister’s gift and this box of cupcakes out to your car?” She indicated the items sitting on the bench inside the narrow entryway. “Jenna?” she called upstairs. “Nate’s here. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll be down in a second,” she yelled back, but didn’t sound convincing.
“I’ll get this little guy settled in his crate and be right back.”
“No problem.” Nate stepped inside, picked up the items on the bench and took a hasty look around. The three wicker baskets lined up under the bench had name tags on them, one for each resident, including the dog.
Given what Kristi did for a living, he had expected her home to be ultraorganized, but the living room looked lived in. The white furniture was cozy and inviting. Everything else in the room, from the accent cushions to the prints on the walls, was splashed with color—pink and red and orange. The overall effect was bright and fresh and feminine, and it was Kristi to a tee.
Listen to you, he thought as he carried the gift and the cake box outside and stowed them securely in the back of his SUV. You’ve turned into a regular Martha Stewart.
His daughters’ excited voices filled the car. “Jenna!”
Kristi’s daughter stood in the doorway, wearing a pair of narrow-legged black jeans, a baggy white T-shirt with an indistinguishable black print on the front and a sullen expression. The long red scarf looped several times around her neck matched the red canvas runners on her feet. Her hair hung in two loose braids, and he’d swear she had on even more eye makeup than ever. She was not happy, and a guy didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out he was the source of her displeasure.
So much for Kristi saying she would talk to her and smooth things over. Or maybe there had been talking, just no smoothing. And right now, holding the car door open for the reluctant daughter of the woman he was fake dating, he didn’t care for either scenario.
“I hope you don’t mind riding in the back with the twins,” he said.
She shrugged and got in without making eye contact, then bestowed a bright smile on the girls. “Aw, look at you guys. I love your outfits.”
They had insisted on wearing the fussy, frilly dresses Alice and Fred had given them for their birthday.
“No fair!” Martha said. “I want Jenna beside me.”
“No! She’s aside me.” At least Molly left off her trademark nya-nya-nya-nya-nya.
“You can trade places on the way home,” Jenna said. “That way I get to sit beside both of you.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nate said.
Jenna ignored him and shut the door, not quite firmly enough for him to say she slammed it but darned close.
He should have apologized to her yesterday but she’d stormed out, and then by the time he’d cooled off, she was gone. Now she wasn’t going to make this easy for him, and who could blame her?
He was debating whether to go back inside or wait for Kristi by the car when she hurried out of the house and locked the door behind her.
“How was Jenna?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“Not happy.”
“I’m sorry about that. I’ll talk to her again.”
So, she had tried.
“I’ll talk to her.” At least he would try. “I need to apologize, and that’s not something you can do for me.”
Kristi looked unconvinced. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I was working on something for your girls’ bedroom and lost track of time.”
“No problem.” She was worth the wait. He opened the door for her, appreciating the graceful way she slid in.
He was lucky that things were okay between him and Kristi. Now he had to come up with a plan to win Jenna over.
* * *
AT HIS PARENTS’ PLACE, Britt met them at the front door and chaos reigned for several minutes. She gushed over everyone’s gifts, declaring “oh, you shouldn’t have” without being even a little bit convincing. Molly and Martha, excited to demonstrate the swirliness of their party dresses and shamelessly encouraged by their aunt, twirled until they fell into a giggling heap.
Kristi introduced Jenna, who was still giving him the cold shoulder but instantly warmed to his sister’s compliment on her T-shirt. Turns out the baggy garment with the indiscernible print on the front was, in fact, the work of a hip young Seattle designer, and everybody who was anybody either had one or wanted to have one.
“I’ll take these into the kitchen,” he said, carefully balancing the large plastic box filled with Kristi’s cupcakes.
“I can take them,” Kristi said.
“No, you stay here with my sister and the girls.” He followed the scent of coffee and bacon and his mother’s amazing pastry into the kitchen, deciding he’d go back out after introductions, birthday greetings, dress twirling and gushy compliments about everyone’s fashion sense dropped from earsplittingly loud to something a little more conversational.