The Daddy Project

by Lee McKenzie

  “Geez, you don’t have to bite my head off. And since when is Nate a client? You guys are dating.”

  Calm down. It isn’t fair to take this out on Jenna. “We’re not dating. We’ve had a couple of casual…things. That’s all. And I won’t be working there tomorrow anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m starting another project in the morning. Sam will finish up at Nate’s.” Which wasn’t completely true. Or even remotely true. She didn’t have another job lined up, and she had yet to talk to Sam about finishing this one. The part about her not working there was true, though. No way could she face him. Besides, a clean break was always best. Like tearing off a Band-Aid. It might hurt like hell at first, but not as much as prolonging the agony.

  Jenna wasn’t buying any of it. “You and Nate did have a fight.”

  Kristi turned back to the sink. “No, we didn’t.” They hadn’t known each other long enough to fight.

  Her phone buzzed and Jenna grabbed it off the counter.

  “Don’t answer that!”

  “It’s Nate,” Jenna said.

  Of course it was. He’d already left one message, now he most likely wanted to know why she hadn’t called back. She reached for the phone and Jenna put it in her hand.

  Kristi turned it off and tossed it aside.

  “Why didn’t you answer it?”

  “I’m busy. I’ll call him later.”

  “Right. ’Cause you’re not upset, and you guys didn’t have a fight, and you’re just busy.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to my room. Come on, Herc.” She scooped the dog out of his basket and disappeared upstairs.

  Once Kristi heard footsteps overhead, she quickly picked up her phone and checked her voice messages.

  “Kristi, it’s Nate. Again. Sorry to bother you. I want to make sure you’re okay, and I want to tell you I had another talk with Alice. And this time she finally got the message.”

  “Daddy, I can’t find my skipping rope.”

  “I’m on the phone, Molly. I’ll help you look for it in a minute. Kristi? Hi, sorry about that. Anyway, give me a call when you get a chance. We should talk.”

  Kristi saved the message, then absently counted the rows of cupcakes cooking on the rack before they were blurred by tears. Then she opened a drawer, dropped her phone inside and closed it. Whatever she did, she would not call and tell him the skipping rope was in the toy box in the playhouse.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kristi dragged herself out of bed on Monday morning, feeling like hell. Looking like it, too, she confirmed as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing her teeth. She pulled a robe over the T-shirt and boxers she’d worn to bed and went downstairs. Hercules scampered out of Jenna’s room and followed, barking excitedly until she shooed him onto the patio.

  She filled the kettle and put it on to boil, then checked her phone for messages. There weren’t any. After two attempts to reach her, Nate had apparently given up.

  “Can you blame him?”

  She was tempted to replay the two he’d left yesterday, just to hear the sound of his voice, but she knew better. Instead she perused the assortment of teas in her cupboard and decided on a nice soothing cup of chamomile.

  She was sitting with her fingers curled around the cup, staring at the four shadow boxes she’d made for Nate, when Jenna straggled down the stairs.

  “Morning, Mom.” She opened the fridge, poured herself a glass of orange juice and brought it to the table. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you still moping from yesterday?”

  “I wasn’t moping yesterday.”

  “Yes, you were, and you never do ‘nothing.’ You’re always baking or sewing or working on some project on your laptop.”

  Kristi sipped her tea, which wasn’t nearly calming enough. “I’m taking a day off.”

  “You said you were starting a new job today.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  Jenna sat across the table, gulped half the glass of juice before setting it in front of her, and leaned on her elbows. “Okay, spill. You’ve been grumpy as an old bear ever since you had dinner with Nate. What happened?”

  “Nothing ‘happened.’ We just decided…I decided…that it’s not going to work out.”

  “That’s a bunch of crap.”

  A challenge sparkled in Jenna’s eyes, but Kristi was too exhausted to take the bait.

  “You like him, right? And he’s totally crazy about you, so what’s the problem?”

  Kristi sighed. The role reversal caught her by surprise, but that didn’t mean she owed her daughter an explanation. She was doing this for her, after all, but she was too young to understand why.

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Seriously, Mom? You think I don’t know what’s going on here? It’s like I said to Nate—”

  Jenna talked to Nate? About this? And he didn’t say anything? “When did you talk to him?”

  “At the brunch thing when we were putting away the salads.”

  That’s when he’d apologized for overreacting about putting makeup on Molly and Martha. She had no idea they’d talked about anything else. “What did you say to him?”

  Jenna drained her juice glass. “I told him you hardly ever go on dates because you think that if you do, you’ll be setting a bad example for me.”

  “Where did you get that idea? And why would you say that to Nate?”

  Jenna grinned. “Mom, I’m fourteen. I’m not a little kid. I hear you talking to Grandma and Aunt Wanda when they try to set you up with blind dates.”

  Kristi wondered what else her daughter knew, and decided there were some things she’d be better off not knowing.

  “I turn down most of those dates because I’m just not interested....”

  Her daughter laughed and shook her head. “I also know you’re worried that I’ll end up pregnant like you did, being a single mom like you were.”

  This was all bordering on too much information, especially this morning. Lack of sleep was making her head hurt and her eyes itch. She was in no mood for a teenage pep talk.

  “I’m not a bad kid, Mom.” She got up and put her glass in the dishwasher. “I know all about sex and where babies come from…and how not to make one.”

  And now Kristi’s head was ready to explode. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you—”

  “I know.” Jenna was actually smirking now. “And I already know about this stuff, everybody does, and I’m not going to let it happen to me. I’m a good kid, I get good grades and just ’cause me and Abbie are hanging out with Matt and Jordan doesn’t mean we’re going to have sex with them. We’re not ready for that.”

  Kristi got up and hugged her. Some of the all-aloneness she’d been feeling was replaced with a little relief and a whole lot of pride. Her daughter was a good kid, and maybe she worried more than she needed to.

  “So, you know what this means, right?” Jenna asked.

  With the sleeve of her bathrobe, Kristi dabbed the moisture from the corners of her eyes. “What does this mean?”

  Jenna picked up the phone and handed it to her. “You can answer all those messages he left. I’ll even go up to my room, give you some privacy.”

  Was Jenna right? Was it time she gave someone a chance? Tore down that fortress Sam had talked about? Maybe she should call him. Her heart thumped in her chest and her mouth went dry, and then
the shadow boxes lined up on the sideboard caught her eye. Forget the phone. She had a better idea.

  * * *

  AFTER A LOUSY night of tossing and turning, Nate was in no mood to cope with anything, especially not two rambunctious girls clamoring to go swimming, to read a book about hippopotamuses, to put the tent back in the family room. He rarely asked for favors but while he waited for the coffeepot to do its thing, he called his mother and asked her to take the girls, using his work at the university and the final work on the house as an excuse.

  He still didn’t know what would happen this morning and that had him on edge. Would Kristi show up as though nothing had happened? Send someone else to wrap up the last things that needed to be done? He sure wasn’t going to try calling again. If she needed time, he’d give her time. Even if it killed him.

  From the kitchen, he walked through the dining room and into the living room. Except for the major pieces of furniture, these two rooms had been stripped bare and given a thorough floor-to-ceiling cleaning. Today they were to be staged. Kristi said they were her favorite rooms. When he and Heather bought the house, these had been his favorite rooms, too. And for some reason he had closed the doors and all but forgotten about them, as he’d done with other parts of his life. And then Kristi had come along and quite literally thrown the doors open.

  Through the living room window, he watched Sam’s truck pull up and park in front of the house. She didn’t get out, though. She was on her cell phone, so he stood and watched and waited.

  His patience was rewarded. Kristi’s van pulled up behind Sam. In case they could see him from the street, and not wanting to be caught spying on them, he hustled back into the kitchen. Gemmy was sprawled on the family room carpet but the sound of the doorbell would have her up and running, so he opened the patio door and coaxed her outside.

  The minutes ticked by. What were they doing out there? As he debated going to investigate, the bell rang. He rushed to the door, couldn’t help himself, but he opened it slowly and did a terrible job of feigning surprise.

  Kristi stood alone with the purple cupcake-printed purse slung over one shoulder and a big blue shopping bag in the other hand. After worrying this moment would never come, he wanted to pull her into his arms and not let her go for a very long time.

  Play it cool, he told himself. “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  “You didn’t answer my calls. I thought you might not come.”

  “I almost didn’t.”

  “Is Sam coming in?”

  “Ah, no. She forgot to pick to the…widgets she needs to fix the…thingamajig.” She couldn’t keep a straight face and he laughed with her, grateful she’d found a way to break the ice and get rid of Sam so they could be alone.

  “I asked her to give us a few minutes.”

  Good call. “Come in.”

  She stepped into the foyer and closed the door. “Where are the girls?”

  “Spending the day with my mother.”

  “Good, because we should talk.”

  “Let’s go in and sit down.”

  She set both bags on the family room floor and sat on the sofa. He joined her, thinking the last time they sat on it together was that day in the furniture store. She didn’t say anything, and the only way he knew to start this conversation was to take the direct approach.

  “Why did you leave yesterday? I was worried about you.”

  She folded her hands in her lap and stared down at them. “I’m sorry. I sort of freaked out.”

  “About us?”

  “Yes. No. I mean, mostly about me. I’ve had this thing about setting a good example for Jenna.” She glanced up at him. “She might have mentioned it?”

  He covered her hands with one of his, and she didn’t push him away. “She did.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’m pretty sure she shared that in confidence and I didn’t want to risk losing her trust. For all I knew, she was testing me.”

  Kristi smiled at that. “It’s what teenagers do. And it turns out they’re a lot smarter than we…I…give them credit for.”

  She told him about the conversation she’d had with Jenna that morning and while she did, he thought of ways he might thank the girl. She had hinted that her friends would think a pool party would be the coolest thing ever. Well, Jenna. Prepare to be cool.

  “So to summarize,” he said, “you think you need to set a good example, and she thinks you don’t.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Any chance you’ll agree with her?”

  She unfolded her hands and intertwined her fingers with his. A hopeful sign…he hoped.

  “I want to, I’d like to, but…”

  All he could do was hold his breath and wait.

  “I need to take this slowly. The other night…” Her color deepened. “That was not slow.”

  She was right. If she’d said no, that it was too soon to take their relationship into the bedroom, it might have killed him but he would have stopped.

  “I hope you didn’t feel pressured.”

  “No! No, not at all. But we both have kids to think about, and even though Jenna says I don’t need to worry about her, I do. You and I just met, and if she knew we were already sleeping together… Well, that’s not the message I want to send.”

  She was right about this, too, and he was reminded of his mother’s words of wisdom. Blended families are a big adjustment. They take work, and patience. It was too soon to talk about them being a family, but he needed to put the rest of her advice into practice.

  “Listen, the last thing I want to do is send the wrong message to Jenna, or Molly and Martha. What if we slow things down, give them a chance to get on board with this? No more sleepovers until they get used to us being a couple.”

  “You’d be willing to do that?”

  “For them, yes.” For you, anything. He wanted to be in her and Jenna’s lives, and he needed them in his and the twins’. He’d do whatever it took.

  To demonstrate just slow it could be, he slid his hands up her arms and gently eased her in for a kiss, just a light touch of his lips to hers. As he pulled back, her eyelids fluttered open and her smile told him everything he needed to know. Well, almost everything. “I still have one question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “What’s in the bag you brought with you?”

  Her smile widened. “A housewarming present. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  She stood and picked up the blue shopping bag, extending her other hand to him. He took it and let her lead him to the breakfast bar. She set the bag on the counter and after they’d each taken a stool, she pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in plain brown paper. “I made this for your office. I hope you like it.”

  He tore the paper away and stared at the framed photo-booth strips until the lump in his throat subsided enough for him to speak. “I… Wow… I don’t know what to say.”

  “If you don’t like it—”

  “No, I love it, thank you.”

  “I’m glad. I made two more for the girls, and one that you might want to have in your office at the university.”

  He liked that she would create something so personal. To him, it felt the opposite of taking things slowly, and he loved that. He loved her. And he thanked her the best way he could, with a kiss that let her know there was nothing wrong with speeding things up once in a while.

  Chapter Fifteen />
  The summer had flown by and it had been pretty close to perfect in Kristi’s opinion. Nate had decided not to sell his home after all, and she and Jenna had spent many happy hours there with him and the twins. Jenna was teaching Molly and Martha how to swim. Kristi was rediscovering the joy of having young children in her life again, and her biological clock was ticking a little less loudly. She’d learned the best example to set for Jenna was being in a healthy, committed relationship. And Nate, the same great dad he’d always been, was more confident and even more patient than ever. Nate had found the nerve to have that talk with his mother-in-law, so Kristi worked up the courage to have the talk with her daughter.

  Today they were at the mall, all five of them, shopping for school clothes. Kristi was surprised that Jenna had agreed to tag along, and even more surprised that her daughter was cheerfully accompanying them from store to store, and not begging to go off on her own. Whatever the reason, Kristi didn’t intend to question her behavior. She was too happy, strolling hand in hand with Nate, listening to Jenna’s running commentary on outfits worn by other shoppers and keeping a close watch on Molly and Martha. This felt like a real family, as real as it got.

  “Daddy, there’s the photo booth,” Martha said.

  Molly hopped up and down. “Let’s take our pictures.”

  Nate looked down at her. “You don’t mind?”

  Kristi smiled up at him. “You know I don’t. Go ahead. Jenna and I will wait here for you.”

  Nate handed coins to the girls, who fed them into the slot, then he followed them into the booth and pulled the curtain closed. A couple of minutes later they appeared, the girls giggling over the new strip. Nate smiled and waved her over.

  Kristi shook her head. She hated being photographed.

  “Oh, Mom,” Jenna prodded her. “Go have your picture taken. It’ll be cute.”

  “Cute? Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter.”