How Sweet It Is by Bonnie Blythe Page B

Elaine kissed him on his cheek.
“Such a sweet boy. He’s the last of my four babies and the only one
still unattached.” She gave a theatrical sigh. “All this mother
needs is to see my boy happily settled with a good woman—”
    “Out, Mom,” Brad growled.
    She patted Delphine’s arm “After dinner,
remind me to show you the family photo albums. There are some
darling baby pictures of my son in the buff on a sheepskin
rug.”
    “Mom!”
    With a knowing wink at Delphine, she left the
room. From his red face, Delphine could tell Brad was embarrassed.
She felt sorry for him. Weren’t her own parents convinced Brad was
the hero come to sweep their daughter off her feet and solve all
their problems?
    Ridiculous .
    She and Brad were just two adults helping
each other at a temporary intersection of life. Then Delphine
remembered she had nothing to offer Brad in return. She ignored
that thought, mentally changing the subject.
    “Um, I didn’t know you had any
siblings.”
    Brad’s color returned to normal. He ushered
her from the den to the living room. “Yes. I have a brother who is
the oldest and two older sisters. I arrived six years later after
the last one, and have been told I was something of a
surprise.”
    Delphine looked at him, wondering what the
world would be like without him. Stifling the unaccountably bleak
feeling, she silently blessed all the surprise babies of the
world.
    In the living room, they found Mr. Larsen on
the leather chair which flanked the couch. He rose when he saw her
and shook her hand.
    “Good to see you again, Miss D’Arleux. Brad
tells me you have a business proposition to put before me. I’m
ready when you are.” He returned to his chair and looked at her
expectantly.
    Well, the man wastes no
time . Resisting the urge to wring her
hands, Delphine sat on the corner of the couch nearest Mr. Larsen
and opened the envelope. She glanced at Brad, who stood next to the
couch. He gave her an encouraging smile.
    Delphine took a breath and did her best to
sell her idea to Mr. Larsen—and to convince herself—that she had
hope for the future.
     
    ****
     
    Brad returned her home at ten o’clock.
Delphine shut the apartment door behind her and leaned against it
for a moment. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t ever remember having
such an enjoyable time.
    Brad had a great family. His parents had
welcomed her with such warmth, making her feel like an honored
guest, or a member of the family. For a heartbeat, she wished her
parents were more like—
    Delphine pushed away from the door, appalled
by such a disloyal thought. Her parents were warm and welcoming in
their way. They never failed to open their arms to visitors and
went out of their way to make everyone feel at home—however
temporary that home was.
    But to them, life was a merry game, often
regardless of the cost to anything or anyone. Dragging their
daughter through twelve schools in as many years had been described
as broadening her horizons. Living in their car between rentals had
been an adventure.
    Memories as a child of losing favorite toys
when her parents made nighttime escapes from apartments flickered
through her mind. Delphine would never forget that plush teddy bear
won during an elementary school game—snowy white with a blue satin
bow—which had been her prized possession. She’d always kept it in
the center of her perfectly made bed, except for nights when she
fell asleep with it pressed against her cheek.
    One night, she woke up on the back seat of
their old car, and sat up, shivering, to look out the window. Her
parents’ attempts to reassure her that everything was fine fell on
deaf ears when she realized that a small bag containing some of her
clothes was empty of that teddy bear. By then, she’d known begging
to be taken back to get what had been left behind would be futile.
Her tears had never worked in the past, and they wouldn’t then.
She’d eventually stopped bringing stuffed animals to bed