pre-nephews-and-neighbor’s-dog state of tidiness.
She smiled a little, thinking of the boys and that huge beast, so mild-tempered and tolerant. And to think he’d frightened her, she chuckled softly, folding lawn chairs and stacking them neatly inside the garage door.
The back porch light glinted off a soda can. Picking it up, she was tempted to toss it over the fence to...well, just to do it. To get back at Scott Hammond for making her feel this way. Restless and unfocused. She put the can in a garbage bag with a stray napkin and tied a knot in the top of it.
Scott Hammond. Scotty. His name flirted with her mind as boldly and consistently as he teased her...
“Do you like children,” he’d asked her, straight out and direct, breathless from playing human tackle dummy with the boys. She’d just received a sloppy wet kiss for tying Jake’s shoe and the question had caught her off guard.
“Of course,” she said. “Sure. Most. Depends on the kid, I guess.”
“I have a daughter. She’s five.”
“Eric’s almost six,” she said, describing the extent of her intimate experience with five-year-olds. “I like kindergarten kids, and first-graders. They’re very eager to please.”
He nodded, watching her. Something he’d been doing all afternoon. Something that was really getting on her nerves. Was he memorizing her gestures and expressions? Studying her as if she were a research project? Why couldn’t he look at her when she wasn’t looking back? The way she watched him? He had wonderfully broad shoulders and the nicest backside she’d seen in years, with long, well-shaped legs and...Damned if she was going to stare though.
“She stays with me every other weekend,” he said.
“That must be hard,” she said, thinking of her own childhood without an active father. He’d given up his battle with her mother when she was seven and avoided all three of them whenever possible.
“It is,” he said, glancing at the back door as Howard came out of the house and started toward them again. “I hate it. I miss not having her around all the time. The worst part of it is, I think she’s handling the separation better than I am.”
Now she did stare a little. He was speaking so candidly, looked so vulnerable. It was information she could use against him, hurt him with if she wanted to—but he was trusting her not to.
“I believe women handle divorce better than men do,” Howard said, sitting down beside Gus to join the conversation. “I mean, in the overall scheme of things. It’s painful for everyone, but it’s been my observation that women tend to bounce back faster.”
Scotty shook his head. It was his experience that no one handled a divorce very well. “I meant Chloe. She doesn’t seem to mind the weekends, it’s just the way things are for her. I’m the one who knows things should be different. Wants them to be different. I resent the time I can’t be with her.”
“But that was another reason why you came back here, wasn’t it? To be closer to her?” Howard said, then, as if speaking for the entire town, he added, “We wondered what you’d do, when we heard Janis had moved back to Springfield.”
He shrugged, and for an instant she thought she saw shame in his eyes, shame and something else...extreme discomfort. Though he was the one who had brought the subject up, perhaps he hadn’t meant to discuss it with Howard. He said, “There wasn’t anything I could do.”
“How will you handle it now?” Howard asked, then chuckled. “When you’ve been single as long as I have, you come to know all the ins and outs of a divorce and visitation rights. I’m an authority on it, and I’ve never even been married.” He laughed.
Scotty gave him a small smile and seemed reluctant to answer. “Janis and I will meet in the middle, an hour drive for each of us, on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.”
“Your little girl doesn’t have allergies, does she?” Gus asked, having a
She smiled a little, thinking of the boys and that huge beast, so mild-tempered and tolerant. And to think he’d frightened her, she chuckled softly, folding lawn chairs and stacking them neatly inside the garage door.
The back porch light glinted off a soda can. Picking it up, she was tempted to toss it over the fence to...well, just to do it. To get back at Scott Hammond for making her feel this way. Restless and unfocused. She put the can in a garbage bag with a stray napkin and tied a knot in the top of it.
Scott Hammond. Scotty. His name flirted with her mind as boldly and consistently as he teased her...
“Do you like children,” he’d asked her, straight out and direct, breathless from playing human tackle dummy with the boys. She’d just received a sloppy wet kiss for tying Jake’s shoe and the question had caught her off guard.
“Of course,” she said. “Sure. Most. Depends on the kid, I guess.”
“I have a daughter. She’s five.”
“Eric’s almost six,” she said, describing the extent of her intimate experience with five-year-olds. “I like kindergarten kids, and first-graders. They’re very eager to please.”
He nodded, watching her. Something he’d been doing all afternoon. Something that was really getting on her nerves. Was he memorizing her gestures and expressions? Studying her as if she were a research project? Why couldn’t he look at her when she wasn’t looking back? The way she watched him? He had wonderfully broad shoulders and the nicest backside she’d seen in years, with long, well-shaped legs and...Damned if she was going to stare though.
“She stays with me every other weekend,” he said.
“That must be hard,” she said, thinking of her own childhood without an active father. He’d given up his battle with her mother when she was seven and avoided all three of them whenever possible.
“It is,” he said, glancing at the back door as Howard came out of the house and started toward them again. “I hate it. I miss not having her around all the time. The worst part of it is, I think she’s handling the separation better than I am.”
Now she did stare a little. He was speaking so candidly, looked so vulnerable. It was information she could use against him, hurt him with if she wanted to—but he was trusting her not to.
“I believe women handle divorce better than men do,” Howard said, sitting down beside Gus to join the conversation. “I mean, in the overall scheme of things. It’s painful for everyone, but it’s been my observation that women tend to bounce back faster.”
Scotty shook his head. It was his experience that no one handled a divorce very well. “I meant Chloe. She doesn’t seem to mind the weekends, it’s just the way things are for her. I’m the one who knows things should be different. Wants them to be different. I resent the time I can’t be with her.”
“But that was another reason why you came back here, wasn’t it? To be closer to her?” Howard said, then, as if speaking for the entire town, he added, “We wondered what you’d do, when we heard Janis had moved back to Springfield.”
He shrugged, and for an instant she thought she saw shame in his eyes, shame and something else...extreme discomfort. Though he was the one who had brought the subject up, perhaps he hadn’t meant to discuss it with Howard. He said, “There wasn’t anything I could do.”
“How will you handle it now?” Howard asked, then chuckled. “When you’ve been single as long as I have, you come to know all the ins and outs of a divorce and visitation rights. I’m an authority on it, and I’ve never even been married.” He laughed.
Scotty gave him a small smile and seemed reluctant to answer. “Janis and I will meet in the middle, an hour drive for each of us, on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.”
“Your little girl doesn’t have allergies, does she?” Gus asked, having a
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