Instant Daddy (11 page)

“No, Jessie, you aren’t fine.”

Jessie took another sip of tea, set it on the table and faked a yawn. “Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

Her mom shook her head. “Save that hogwash for somebody who doesn’t know you.”

“Hogwash? I’ve never heard you use that word before.” Jessie forced a laugh. “You worry too much, Mom.”

“Worrying is part of my job description. So is knowing when something is wrong with my daughter. And I’m very good at both.”

“Well, this time, your barometer is off.”

“So how is Peter?”

“Peter?” Jessie gave her mother a serious frown. How did Peter get into this conversation again?

“You talk to him on the phone every night. You must know how he is.”

He was lonely. Jessie heard it in his voice, in his silences. And she felt responsible for it. Because if he hadn’t left Jake with her, he wouldn’t be lonely, would he? “Peter’s great. He’s very encouraged because his friend with ALS seems to be responding to the experimental drug Peter developed.”

“That’s wonderful.” Her mom sighed. “I know you too well, Jess, not to sense your excitement when he calls. I haven’t heard you sound like that since Neil.”

“Mother.” Jessie closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “There’s nothing between Peter and me but Jake.”

Her dad walked into the kitchen.

Jessie held her breath, hoping he hadn’t overheard.
She never stood a chance when her parents ganged up on her.

He met her eyes. “Nothing between you and Peter except Jake?”

Jessie let out her breath.

“Your mother and I are getting older, Jess, but we can’t miss the obvious. Peter looks at you like you’re the best thing since plum pudding. I haven’t forgotten looking at your mother that way.” He looked at her mother now, a twinkle in his eye.

Her mom’s eyes crinkled in a satisfied little smile.

“Not everybody is as lucky as you two, Dad. And you don’t have to worry about Peter. I’ve told you before—I don’t want a man in my life.” It was time to end this chat. “I’m going to turn in. I’m beat.” She started to get up.

“Not so fast,” her dad said in his voice of authority.

She sat back down. You’d think she was still twelve.

“When you and Neil broke off your engagement, you wouldn’t talk to us about it, so your mother and I backed off to give you time to heal.”

“I know how disappointed you were.”

“Good heavens.” Her mother sounded surprised. “We liked Neil, of course. But you’ve never disappointed us, Jess. We were sorry for your loss is all. And sorry it happened while you were still recovering from the accident.”

“Thank God Jake brought you back to us,” her dad said. “But you can’t tell me you’re not turning down every interested man who asks you out. And it’s not healthy. It’s time to move on, put the past completely behind you.”

“I’ve done that, Dad.” She had, hadn’t she?

He shook his head. “You obviously haven’t.”

Her mom set her cup on the table. “Maybe we could help you more if you’d tell us what’s wrong.”

“I’m doing just fine, Mom. And you both help more than you know.”

Dad patted her hand. “When you were little, we used to watch you put every last one of your dolls to bed before you went to sleep. And you’re a wonderful mother to Jake. We know how important having a family is to you, sweetheart.”

“Yes,” she whispered, unable to trust her voice.

“Well, how do you plan to have the family you’ve always wanted if you don’t put Neil behind you and find somebody else?”

She had trouble breathing. Her dad didn’t know he’d plunged a knife into her heart.

He cleared his throat. “Peter’s a good man. It couldn’t have been an easy decision for him to put his son’s needs first. But I couldn’t respect him more for making it.”

She narrowed her eyes, fearing where her dad was headed. “I know.”

“I’m feeling much better about Peter than I did at first, too, dear.” Her mom smiled.

“Are you both forgetting he and
Clarissa
had a baby together?”

“Of course not. And I know that might be hard for you to get past. But Dad’s right. Peter is proving himself to be an honorable man, and God sent him here for a reason. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you and Peter ended up giving Jake a united family?”

“What?” She couldn’t believe her ears. Wasn’t fighting her feelings for Peter hard enough? The last thing she needed was a cheering section. One more thing to
drive herself crazy about. She pushed herself up from the table. “It’s never going to happen, Mom.”

Turning, she marched out of the room before either of her parents could stop her.

P
eter stood in the crowded shop admiring the shiny black bike he’d just purchased. Aluminum frame and rims, trigger shift, linear pull brakes. Who knew if he needed all that, but he figured buying quality usually worked out in the end. Anyway, it was a great-looking bike, it fit him and the store would install a child’s seat on the back while he waited. “I need a similar woman’s bike, too.” Buying a bike for Jessie was even more exciting than buying one for himself. “She’s about five-six. I’m not sure about her torso length, though.”

“Can she come in to have the bike fitted?” the salesman asked.

“Afraid not. She lives out of town, and I want to take the bike with me.” It would be a lot of fun riding together this weekend on that great bike trail that ran around Rainbow Lake.

“A medium torso length should work. The info you learned when we fit yours should help you figure out if the bike fits her properly. And when she’s in town, have her bring it in and we can make adjustments.”

“Great.”

“Color preference?”

Jessie’s clear blue eyes came to mind. She often wore blue, too. Scanning the bikes taking up most of the room, Peter smiled and pointed to just the thing. “How about that pretty blue one over there?”

“Perfect.”

“And I need those helmets we talked about.” Peter took the paper from his pocket with head sizes jotted on it. Jessie’s mother had been more than happy to help him out when he’d called earlier. He handed the paper to the salesman.

The salesman nodded. “I’m sure I have these sizes in stock. We’ll have you set in no time.” Turning on his heel, he grasped the handlebars of Peter’s new bike. “We’ll install that child’s seat. And just so you know, we always deflate the tires a little to make a softer ride for the kid. They sit right over the axle and feel the bumps more than the adult rider will. We want biking to be a great experience for everybody.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He wheeled the bike into the back room.

Peter couldn’t help grinning. He hoped Jessie and Jake got half the pleasure out of biking as he did buying the bikes for them. He couldn’t wait to show them.

He sighed a satisfied sigh. He didn’t know what happened between Jessie and Neil to bring them to break their engagement, but why should it affect Peter’s relationship with her? After all, Neil was part of her past, wasn’t he? He had nothing to do with the here and now.

Peter was here and now. And he’d meant every word he’d said in his email to her. He wanted to win her trust and earn the privilege of being Jake’s dad. After the
terrific time they’d had together last weekend, he was beginning to think he was well on his way.

Because no getting around it…he liked her. He liked who he was when he was with her. Talking to her on the phone at Jake’s bedtime was the best part of his day. So why wouldn’t he want to be with her as much as he possibly could?

After closing the diner, Jessie pulled on her paint-spattered jeans and old pink T-shirt and threw open the windows in her little apartment over the diner. Breathing in the scent of fresh paint, she turned up the volume on her CD player and set to work painting her bedroom walls dusky periwinkle. She’d taken the color from the floral pattern in a vintage tablecloth she’d found at a flea market and planned to use to sew curtains for the two small windows in the room.

Her little sanctuary was beginning to come together. If all went well, she’d finish the bedroom tonight. The rest would have to wait until next week because Peter would be in town this weekend.

She bit her lip and forbade the anticipation that set her nerves on edge. He’d had to cancel at the last minute last weekend. Some problem came up at work. But he planned to be here tomorrow night. She’d organized Jake’s scrapbooks to show him.

And things seemed to be going well. All she had to do was keep things the way they were and maintain a level head about her son’s good-looking daddy and everything would be fine. Listening to her music, Jessie finished painting one wall and began the second, pausing to swipe tears from her eyes at the last strains of “Over the Rainbow.”

A noise behind her made her whirl around. She almost jumped out of her skin.

Peter filled the doorway, tall and powerful, his handsome face glowing with emotion.

Undoubtedly emotion brought on by her CD. Her heart sang just seeing him again. She smiled in spite of the sudden lack of air in the room. “This music is so pure, I always respond to it, too.”

He searched her eyes as if he didn’t understand her comment.

“The music,” she explained.

Holding her gaze, he took a step closer. “Jessie…it’s not the music….”

“No?”

He shook his head.

She felt tension stretching between them like a rubber band about to snap. Still, she couldn’t look away.

Blowing out a breath, he turned, ducked to avoid bumping his head on the sloped ceiling, then walked over and picked up the CD cover.

She attempted to get her bearings. What just happened? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was it was something powerful. Something that, if left unchecked, would blow the status quo right out of the water.

“Did you know your downstairs door is unlocked?” he asked huskily.

“Yes.”

“You should lock it when you’re working alone at night.”

Was he concerned about her? “We have no crime rate in Noah’s Crossing, Peter.”

“No point in inviting one.” He laid the CD cover down, his gaze scanning the room. “So this is your work in progress?”

Good. He was aiming for light. Even if her bedroom did feel too small. “It’s Thursday. I mean… What are you doing here?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been almost two weeks—a very long two weeks.”

She saw the strain and exhaustion in his face. A twinge of guilt reminded her that he worked superhuman hours all week, then had to drive four hours to see his son because she didn’t want to move to Madison. Another factor in maintaining the status quo? “Jake’s been asking about you.”

He grinned his crooked grin. “Yeah?”

Her heart melted at his wistful tone. “Several times a day.”

His grin broadened.

He had the most captivating smile, one mostly reserved for Jake, even the mention of him. She couldn’t help smiling back.

“I’ve missed him.” He held her gaze for a long moment. “And I’ve missed you, Jessie.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” The words were out before she could stop them.

“Yeah?” He smiled.

She squinted, willing him not to pursue her comment further.

“I brought a couple surprises with me.”

Letting out a grateful breath, she raised an eyebrow. “A
couple
surprises?”

“You’ll have to come down to my car to see one of them.” He motioned to the half-painted wall. “But go ahead, finish painting that wall before it dries.”

She hesitated. What would he do while she painted? Watch her? “I’ll finish it later.”

“You sure?”

She nodded, capped the paint can, tucked the roller in a plastic bag to keep it moist and tied it with a twist tie.

“Slick trick,” he commented. “Does it work?”

“Like a dream.” She felt like she was in a dream. And she needed to snap out of it.

“How about giving me a tour of your place first?”

She studied him a moment to determine if he was kidding.

“Please?” He sounded sincere enough.

She loved showing off her little place to whoever was interested. “Well…this room will be my bedroom.”

“Pretty blue.”

“Periwinkle.” She self-consciously walked past him into the hall.

“Tell me what you’ve done,” he urged.

“I stripped layers and layers of wallpaper off the walls and primed and painted everything.”

He looked up. “Ceilings, too?”

“Absolutely.” Pushing open the door, she led Peter into Jake’s room with its cloud ceiling, woodland murals and imaginary creatures flying and scampering everywhere.

Peter’s glance swept the room, his lips quirking in a smile. “This is fantastic.”

“I did
his
room first. It was so much fun.”

“He must love playing here.”

“I’ve shown it to him, but I don’t let him play here with all the dust and paint fumes in the air.”

Peter shook his head. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“You’ll develop kind of a sixth sense about him, too.”

“You think I will?” he asked eagerly.

“Of course.” She gave him a smile of encouragement. Her heart seemed to swell every time he said or did something that so clearly demonstrated his love for Jake. Before she could get all syrupy, she led the way to her favorite room—the kitchen. “The room’s just big enough to hold a future table in front of the double windows. The vase you bought at the auction will be the perfect centerpiece.”

“I’m glad you got it.”

“Aunt Lou said you gave her the money, and I want to pay you for it.”

“Absolutely not. The money was my donation to the fundraiser.” His tone was final. “And the vase is a gift.”

A gift sounded personal. She shook her head.

“Not accepting my gift would be rude. Besides, if you don’t accept it, what will I do with a fancy antique vase with flowers painted all over it?”

Jessie reconsidered. “Well…if you put it that way…thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” Peter ran his hand over the detailed mosaic backsplash. “You didn’t do this, did you?”

“I did. It was fun, but it took more time than I expected.”

“It’s beautiful, Jessie.”

“Thank you.” He really did seem impressed.

“You’re a woman of many talents.”

His praise felt so good. She was pleased the complicated pattern she’d designed turned out well. And she was even more pleased Peter appreciated the things she’d done.

In the postage-stamp-size bathroom he admired the original pedestal sink and black-and-white tile floor.
And in the living room, the colorful, lead glass panel topping the windows garnered his praise.

“That’s it,” she said proudly.

He looked genuinely impressed. “The place has a lot of character. You’re working miracles with it.”

“Thank you.” She hadn’t felt so strong and capable for a very long time.

He grinned. “Thanks for the tour. I look forward to seeing the place finished.”

“It will be a while. Sanding and refinishing the floors will be a big project.”

“I’d be glad to help out on weekends after we put Jake to bed.”

Jessie bit her lip. “Thanks, but I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Why not? I’m sure I wouldn’t meet your high standards. I’ve never done this kind of work. But if you want heavy lifting or something that doesn’t take any finesse, I’m your man.”

A vision popped into her mind of him lifting a heavy piece of furniture, muscles bulging. She swallowed against a bevy of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

“You want to go to my car to see the surprise now?”

She nodded, grateful for a change of venue. Fresh air and wide-open spaces would do her good. She watched him duck low to avoid the scaffolding over the steps, then followed him down the stairs and outside to his SUV parked at the curb.

He strode to the rear of the vehicle, pulled open the tailgate doors and reached inside. He lifted out a shiny, black bike complete with child’s seat on the back and looked at her, excitement in his eyes. “Don’t worry. I bought helmets. Jake loves to go fast on swings and slides, so I figure he’ll love bike riding.”

She smiled at his enthusiasm. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“Will you have time tomorrow to go for a ride?”

“I don’t have a bike.”

“Good. Then I won’t have to return this.” He reached in the back of his vehicle and dragged out a blue women’s bike. “It’s not exactly periwinkle, but you often wear blue so I figure you must like it.”

He’d even thought about her favorite color. But what was he thinking? Expensive gifts definitely crossed the line. “It’s beautiful, but it’s too expensive, Peter. I can’t—”

He raised his hand to stop her. “Please don’t put a price tag on my surprise. All I want to know is if it’s a hit.”

She frowned and tried to figure out how best to handle this.

“Consider it a gift to Jake and me. We want you to go with us.”

“I suppose…if you put it that way…” She gave him a hesitant thumbs-up.

“Great.” He lifted the bikes back into the SUV, slammed the doors and strode to the passenger door where he took out a large, leather case. “Let’s go inside. We need light for you to see these.”

“What is it?”

“I took your advice and hired a decorator. This case contains a few computer-generated preliminary sketches I picked up on my way out of town. I’m anxious to see them.”

“You don’t waste time,” she said in surprise.

“Sleeping on the floor in the middle of nothing will do that to a guy.” He strode to the side door that led to her apartment.

She hurried to keep up.

He pulled open the door and waited for her to lead the way up the stairs. Ducking under the scaffolding, she reached the upstairs hall and strode into the cleanly swept living room. She sat down on the old pine floor. “We can spread out the drawings here.”

He lowered himself beside her, opened the case and removed the drawings.

Sitting so close she could feel his warmth probably wasn’t the best idea. Reluctantly, she scooched over.

He smoothed out a drawing in front of them. “A basic sketch of the great room with the open kitchen on the end.”

She peered at the rich woods, soaring beamed ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows and drew in a breath of admiration. “This is gorgeous, Peter.”

“I like the architecture. But the condo is empty and cold.”

“The woods make it warmer than I envisioned when you talked about it.” Ideas began flashing through her mind of more ways to warm it up. “A warm color paint will help, and you can use furniture placement to divide it into cozy living areas.”

“I like the sound of that.” He spread another sketch over the first one. “This seems to be what the decorator came up with for that area.”

Jessie peered at the heavy draperies, pretentious furnishings and overdone architectural enhancements. “This doesn’t look anything like you, Peter.” She looked up at him. “Did you tell the decorator what you had in mind?”