A Place Called Home (21 page)

Jennie pulled a face. “Don’t you listen to him,” she said. “We’re not in the van for one reason only, and that’s because he thinks I can’t buy anything bigger than a breadbox if we can’t haul it home. What? He thinks I don’t know about UPS?”

Thea gave a start as Mitch’s hand lightly wrapped itself around the nape of her neck and applied gentle pressure to get her to step back from the car.

“Trust me,” he said. “You don’t want to get involved in this.” Releasing her, he took her place at the window. “Have a good time,” he said. “Love you both. Don’t spend my inheritance.” He straightened, tapped the hood, and his father took his cue to put the car in reverse and back out of the driveway. Mitch waved at his mother who waved back gaily and blew kisses to the twins and Emilie. “That was close,” he told Thea. “They almost had you.”

Thea wasn’t entirely sure what Mitch’s parents had wanted her for but she knew he was right. “Then, thank you.”

“If you really understood, your thanks would be a lot warmer than that.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and gave her a nudge toward the house. “Inside. Before you freeze. C’mon, guys. Everyone in.”

Emilie and the boys needed no further encouragement. Case and Grant raced inside, Sunday school papers flapping in their hands. Emilie followed a little more slowly, holding Thea’s purse above her head like the Stanley Cup.

“What’s she doing?” Mitch asked.

“I promised to paint her nails the last time I was here,” Thea said. “And I never got around to it. I let her get the polish out of my car. I suppose she put it in my purse. We have time, don’t we?”

“Sure. I’m going to make them lunch first. You can do it then.”

Thea and Emilie retired to Emilie’s room for girl talk and a manicure while Mitch made sandwiches and the twins played cars on the carpet road map in the living room. Emilie flashed her neon pink fingertips for everyone to admire during lunch. She had a hard time eating and watching her nails at the same time. Each time she raised her sandwich she went a little cross-eyed.

The children piled into Thea’s Volvo as soon as the dishwasher was loaded. Thea pointed Mitch in the direction of the driver’s side door. “You know where you want to go,” she said. “There’s no sense in me driving.”

Mitch accepted the duty gratefully and slid behind the wheel. “Thanks,” he told her. “I appreciate this.”

Thea just smiled and leaned back, enjoying having someone else in the driver’s seat. They drove out of town to a strip of car dealers on the main throughway. At each location they spilled out of the car and began a search of the lot. Thea realized that Mitch had not been kidding when he said he was open to just about anything. They looked at American cars and foreign models, high-end and low-end in terms of cost and features. Thea showed the boys how to kick the tires while Mitch rolled his eyes; later she questioned salesmen as to why there were no cars in a color that matched Emilie’s nail polish. Each time Mitch caught the gist of their conversation he buried his head under the hood of the nearest showroom vehicle and investigated engine mounting.

The dealers closed early on Sunday so after the doors shut behind them at the Ford showroom, Mitch decided they should retire to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and discuss their favorites. The kids were willing to negotiate every aspect of the car purchase except one: they wanted a black car with smoked windows.

“We’ll look like drug dealers,” Mitch protested.

“Nuh-uh,” Emilie said. “Movie stars.”

“James Bond,” Case said.

Grant got to the point. “We can make faces and no one can see us.”

Thea bent her head, ignoring Mitch’s plea for help, and began constructing her fajita. She smiled to herself while Mitch argued a little longer, but she could tell he was doing it for show. He wanted the kids to think they had won a big point when the truth was he was so happy they didn’t want a yellow car that he could scarcely contain himself.

The kids did justice to their dinner, though Case drank too many Cokes and had to make an extra restroom run. They all passed on fried ice cream, sitting back in their chairs and examining their slightly distended bellies instead. Over their heads, Mitch and Thea exchanged amused glances, and without a word passing between them, mimicked their behavior.

We’re just like a real family.
The errant thought brought Thea upright and back to reality. She felt Mitch’s eyes on her, watching her, almost as if he were privy to what she was thinking. Her stomach turned over and for a moment she thought she might be sick.

“Excuse me,” she said, rising from the table. Without a word, she hurried to the restroom where she could look in the mirror and confront herself with the truth that she didn’t belong.

Chapter 7

Mitch called Thea late in the week and asked to meet her for lunch on Friday when he would be in town. He could sense her hesitation, that almost infinitesimal pause as she searched for a plausible excuse. Before she came up with one, he dangled the hook: “I’ve decided on a vehicle,” he said. Then he baited it. “I could use your help.”

She bit and he felt guilty for about a nanosecond. He still didn’t know what had gone wrong last Sunday, but he could almost pinpoint the moment when things tanked. He hadn’t missed the look of panic in her eyes as she jumped up from the table at the restaurant and disappeared into the restroom. The kids hadn’t thought there was anything odd about it, putting down the quick escape to a potty emergency. They were used to Grant waiting until the absolute last minute to announce he needed to go NOW, but Mitch doubted that Thea’s hasty retreat was prompted by anything so simple as a call of nature.

When she returned to them, he sensed the change. She participated in their conversation, even seemed to enjoy herself, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forcing herself in some way. She shied away from meeting his eyes, but when he caught her unexpectedly, the look he saw in hers was no longer panicked, but wounded and determined, the look of someone toughing it out. He did not have an opportunity to glimpse it again. Thea made sure of it.

He asked her to choose the restaurant and she picked a grill not far from her work. They purposely chose a late lunch in order to avoid the crowds and have a measure of privacy. Thea ordered a salad with oil and vinegar dressing; Mitch had a burger with everything. They merely shook their heads at what passed for each other’s idea of a good lunch.

With the pleasantries and orders behind them, Thea pressed the purpose of their meeting. “So what kind of car are you getting?”

“Black with smoked windows.”

She didn’t smile. The line of her mouth even thinned a little. “That’s a given.”

Mitch realized he was in serious trouble. Thea wasn’t simply tense; she had her shields up. “The Ford.”

Thea nodded. “The SUV.”

“Yeah. It fit us, the price is the going rate for one of those, it meets the kids’ requirements, and it’s not a minivan.”

“How can I help?”

“They don’t have the exact car that I want on the lot so it has to be driven in. I think they found one in Cleveland with a manual transmission. Apparently manual’s a big deal. Not many people want one.” He shook his head, mystified that people didn’t want to really
drive
their car. “The first chance I’ll have to pick it up is next Saturday, but I need a ride to the dealer. Mum and Dad are taking the kids that weekend—it’s been planned for a while now—and Amy and her husband aren’t available. I tried a couple of—”

“I get the idea that I was way down on the list.”

“No,” he said quickly. “Not exactly. I mean, you were, but that’s because I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Right. You didn’t want to bother me, but we’re having lunch together because you couldn’t possibly have asked me this on the phone. I think you better tell me what’s really going on, Mitchell.”

Mitchell? Oh, boy. “Have you been talking to my mother?”

Thea gave him an arch look. “No. But it’s tempting.”

He surrendered, holding up both hands, palms out. “I wanted to see you again. That’s all.”

His honesty almost disarmed her. Thea said levelly, “You might have simply said that.”

“Then you and I wouldn’t be having lunch now.” He lowered his hands. “You would have said no and I would be licking my wounds for a fifth time.”

“This isn’t a date.”

He ignored that. “Anyway, I really do need a ride to the dealer.”

“Mitch, you could have the dealer drive the car to your house. They’ll do that for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Mitch leaned back in his chair and studied her, his head cocked to the side. “So,” he said finally, “I can’t get a ride from you?”

“I’ll call the dealer for you and have them deliver the car.”

He shook his head. “Don’t bother.”

“It’s no bother. Driving out to your house and then backtracking to the dealer is a bother.”

“You have something planned for that Saturday?”

“That’s not the point. The fact is, I don’t. Joel’s off somewhere that week and I’m on my own.”

“Then why won’t you come out and spend it with me?”

Thea simply stared at him. He appeared perfectly serious. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said quietly. To punctuate her point, she raised her left hand.

Mitch’s eyes did not stray once to her engagement ring but remained steady on hers. “You kissed me back.”

Thea blinked first. “That’s not fair.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s fair. It’s a fact. Am I supposed to pretend it didn’t happen?”

“Can’t you?”

“Are you serious? Thea, why should I? There’s always been something between us. I’ve never understood why you won’t own up to it.”

“But I have: every time you asked me out and I said no.” Not wanting to be defensive, but hating that he thought she hadn’t been honest in her own fashion, Thea let the words lie there.

Mitch’s mouth pulled to one side as he mulled over her response. “
That’s
why you won’t go out with me? Because there
is
something there? What the hell kind of logic is that?”

“It’s Thea-logical.”

He couldn’t help himself; he laughed. “God, I walked into that one.” He shook his head in appreciation. “All right, so you’ve admitted to something in a backhanded kind of way. Where does that leave us?”

Before she could answer, the waiter approached with their orders. Thea thought her appetite had fled, but when the salad was placed in front of her, she realized the effect of Mitch’s company was exactly the opposite. She was starving. It was difficult not to look longingly at his burger and fries.

“Live dangerously,” he said, pushing his plate toward her. “Have a fry.”

So much for not giving herself away. Thea chose the plumpest, greasiest fry in the pile and bit into it. Her mouth rejoiced. It was all she could do not to close her eyes.

Watching her, Mitch found himself grinning. The only thing that would have made the moment better was if he had fed her the French fry himself. “More?” he asked when she’d finished.

She shook her head. “That took the edge off. Thanks.” Thea splashed oil and vinegar on her salad. “Have you thought about letting me help you financially?”

Mitch had his sandwich halfway to his mouth. “You really want to ruin this burger for me, don’t you?”

Thea waved at him to eat up and speared lettuce and a medallion of cucumber with her fork. “What if I pay the first half of your car loan?”

“What makes you so sure I got a loan?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Yeah, five years, but you could at least pretend I paid cash.”

She waggled her fork at him. “Now who’s not facing reality?” Thea got away with her pointed question because Mitch’s mouth was full of burger. “What if I pay the first two and a half years? Before you protest, consider that it’s not even half of your real cost. You still have insurance and maintenance. Did you put anything down?”

Mitch removed one hand from his sandwich to make a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Big goose egg.

“Okay, so you’re financing the whole thing. All the more reason I should help out.”

Mitch swallowed, put his sandwich back on his plate, and took a drink. “Come out next weekend.”

“Or what? You won’t take my money?”

“Something like that.”

Conscious of other diners, Thea leaned forward, her voice soft and insistent. “Where the hell is the logic in that?”

He considered the question. “Nope,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t have a snappy answer.”

“Be serious.”

“I am.”

Exasperated, Thea watched Mitch pick up his burger, take another bite, and chew with evident enjoyment. “The children aren’t even going to be there.”

“So? Didn’t you and I have a conversation about getting to know each other? I happen to think it’s important we do some of that away from the kids. Honestly, Thea, if I thought I could have just laid this out over the phone, I would have.” Yeah, right. “But I figured you were going to take some convincing and it needed to be done in person. What can it hurt to spend some time together?”

Her eyes narrowed briefly, gauging his sincerity. “Then I won’t have to fend off any smarmy seduction thing.”

“I resent the characterization of my seduction as a thing.”

“You’re making me crazy,” she whispered. “You know that?”

“You want to laugh. You know you do.”

“Hah! I want to choke you.”

“Who are you kidding? You’re afraid to get that close to me.”

Thea’s mouth snapped shut.

Mitch’s smile was smug.

They finished their lunch in silence.

She didn’t call him at any time during the next week but Mitch didn’t doubt that she would show up on Saturday. That’s what he told himself. The reason he kept getting up from his drafting board and going to the front window was because he needed to stretch his legs and give the muse a little workout. It was a bald lie, of course, but he had no problem with that.

By the time she arrived, Mitch had finished inking, scanning, and sending his work to his editor. The cartoon skewered a congressional committee’s prurient cross-examination of porn industry entrepreneurs. It had an ironic
ick
factor, and he thought it was probably good enough to get him some love-it/hate-it mail in the next few days. He considered blog-ging about it, but elected to keep a vigil by the window. When he saw Thea’s car, he rolled off the couch and stepped back so she couldn’t possibly suspect he had been looking for her. If someone was going to have the upper hand, he’d rather it was him.