Mysterious (20 page)

The social worker assured Jason that Mrs. McCormick was well qualified in rearing foster children with special problems, and had already achieved some positive results with Charleen. After several conversations with the Child Welfare Department and Mrs. McCormick, Jason had agreed to go to Mountain View and get to know his daughter before attempting to take her back to Texas with him.

After a hectic week of tying up loose ends and turning his construction business over to his brother-in-law, Sam, Jason had hopped the first available plane to Virginia.

“Jason,” Riki said, “I would like you to meet Charleen. She turned six in March. She doesn’t talk much right now, but one day she will.”

Riki’s voice cracked. She couldn’t help it. Jason’s expression was one of hope and eager anticipation, but he couldn’t express what he was feeling. It might set Charlie back. All the past few months’ progress would be for nothing.

Jason’s arms ached from not moving. All he wanted was to hold his daughter. The fear was back in her eyes --his eyes-- and he had put it there. He knew he had to go slowly, but it hurt. God, did it hurt. He turned to Riki for help.

She read the appeal in his eyes. “Charlie, why don’t you show Mr. Nesbit Tiny?”

Charlie glanced from Riki to Jason, then pushed the Great Dane forward.

“Mr. Nesbit,” Riki said, “meet Tiny. Tiny follows Charlie everywhere. They have become quite inseparable these last few months. Tiny even sleeps at the foot of Charlie’s bed. Right, Charlie?”

Charlie scratched behind the dog’s ear, looked once more at Jason, and shyly slid to the back of the pack.

“Okay,” Riki said, trying to make light of the emotional moment, “now that you have met the whole bunch, do you want to run?”

“Who, me?” Jason asked innocently.

“If you had any sense you would.”

“Doesn’t say much for you.”

“Who, me?” At his raised eyebrows, she gasped and stared at him in mock horror. “Oh my lord, you’ll guess my mission on this planet if I’m not careful.”

“What’s your mission?” he whispered, after glancing around to make sure he wasn’t overheard.

“They sent me down here to figure out why earthlings have children when they’re aggravating, overbearing, and demanding.” She wiggled her eyebrows like Groucho Marx.

He couldn’t help but go along with the joke. “Did you figure it out yet?”

“Of course. Don’t I look like a higher form of intelligent life?” She stared down her nose at him, never giving it a thought that she was covered in mud from head to toe.

He grinned, wishing he could get a good look at her. The only thing he knew for sure was her eyes were emerald green. “What’s the secret?”

“The sex is great.” After delivering that bomb, she said, “Fall in troops. Baths for everyone, except Charlie. Charlie, would you mind keeping Mr. Nesbit company in the front parlor while the rest of us get cleaned up?”

Jason was stunned. He would never have expected a reply like that. He was still staring after her and the kids when he noticed Charlie and Tiny waiting patiently for him. He gave himself a shake, smiled at Charlie, and followed her inside.

The inside of the house was gorgeous, belying the fact that the outside was falling down. He guessed the interior was being restored to its original state. Not all the work was done, and he guessed that could take years. The house was clean though cluttered, with toys and books lying around. There wasn’t any dirt, but you could tell children lived and played there.

Jason followed Charlie and Tiny into the front parlor. Most of the room was done, except the fireplace. He sat on the Victorian love seat. Charlie, after dusting off the seat of her pants, sat in a wing chair with Tiny curled up at her feet. Jason glanced at the dog and wondered about the relationship. Would he have to take the dog back to Texas too? It looked that way. He guessed it was Riki’s dog, and hoped she would sell it. But was it safe for Charlie to cling to the Great Dane? It had to outweigh her by ninety pounds at least. Who had named it Tiny, for cripesake?

Riki probably. He never liked girls being called by a boy’s name. It always seemed masculine. Now he had a daughter going by the name of Charlie, being raised by a woman named Riki. Yet there was no way that Riki was masculine. He’d had a very good look at her derriere as she marched the troops in. No, she certainly wasn’t masculine.

Once more, Jason had to drag his wandering thoughts away from Riki. He glanced at Charlie and started to get nervous. He didn’t know where to begin with his own daughter. He read her T-shirt and asked, “I see you’re the bat boy. Do you like it?”

Charlie simply stared at him, and he decided there was something weird about having your own eyes gaze at you. He took a deep breath. “Does Tiny always follow you around?” He caught the faintest glimmer of laughter in her eyes before she looked down at Tiny. When she returned her gaze to his, the emotion was gone. Her eyes were empty as before. Jason was trying to figure out why she was covering up her emotions when the noise of children banging down the stairs caught his attention.

One of the twins came running into the room at full speed with the other right on his heels, screaming, “Give me back my shirt.”

“It’s mine, you nerd.”

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

Jason wondered if he should intervene before they came to blows. He didn’t notice Pete and Jake enter the room.

“Dammit,” Pete said, “are you guys shouting or is this thing on the blink again?” He tapped his right ear.

“They are shouting, as usual,” Jake said. “You better not let Mom hear you cuss like that. You remember what happened the last time.” He chuckled.

“Mom, Mom, Pete’s cussing again.” Andrew, who had slipped into the room unnoticed, started clapping his hands, a gleeful expression on his face.

“Give me my shirt.”

“It isn’t yours.”

“Is too.”

“Damn, stop shouting.”

“Mom, Mom, Pete cussed again.”

“Shut up, Andrew.”

Jason stared at the boys, wondering what he should do in this madhouse. He glanced at Charlie to see her reaction. He wasn’t totally positive, but he believed a smile was beginning to form at the corners of her mouth. He was still looking at her when a naked body flew by.

“Billy-Jo,” Riki called from upstairs, “get back here. You are going to catch pneumonia.”

“Potty, potty,” Billy-Jo said, beaming.

“Does that mean she has to go?” Jason asked. He knew absolutely nothing about potty training.

“Naw,” Travis or Trevor said. “It means we all have to clap.”

Everyone except Charlie began clapping. Billy-Jo walked over to Charlie, stuck a thumb in her mouth, and waited. After a moment, Charlie patted her on top of her head and clapped.

It was the first time Jason had seen her show any emotion, and his heart seemed to clench. How long would it take her to show some emotion toward him?

Riki entered the room carrying clothes. “Billy-Jo, you are going to have to curb this desire to walk around the house naked within the next couple of years.”

She proceeded to dress Billy-Jo, and Jason couldn’t help staring at her. This was the mud ball from the back porch? If it weren’t for her voice and the emerald eyes, he wouldn’t believe it. She was the most adorable package of womanhood he had ever seen squeezed into jeans and a polo shirt. She wasn’t a classic beauty. She wasn’t tall and skinny. She was perfect. If she was five four she was lucky, and she wasn’t the least bit plump. She was a woman, soft and cuddly, her curves just where they should be, especially her derriere. Jason had always had a soft spot for that part of a woman’s anatomy. And if he kept watching, it wouldn’t be soft for long.

He shifted his gaze to safer territory. Her auburn hair tumbled below her shoulders, and the sun pouring in the window highlighted the red. She had a healthy complexion, the kind that said she spent a lot of time outdoors. His glance slid to her mouth-- perfect, sensual, exciting, kissable.

Riki glanced up and smiled. Jason felt his heart skip two beats, then it started in on double time.

“Mom,” Andrew said, “Pete was saying curses again.”

“Andrew, what have I told you about tattling?” Riki frowned at her son, then glanced at Pete. “Do you want to be punished again?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then you better not let me hear that kind of language again.” She stood up. “Okay, gang. I want all the dirty clothes out by the washer. You can go out to play, but this time keep out of the mud. Andrew, you stay in the yard. Billy-Jo, you can help Mommy with dinner. Mr. Nesbit, would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?”

“Okay, and the name’s Jason.”

“Only if you call me Riki.”

She led the way into a huge kitchen that had just about every modern convenience. There was a dishwasher, a microwave, and an assortment of small appliances that Jason didn’t recognize. A large pine picnic table sat in the middle of the room, with benches on either side and a chair at each end. Jason sat on one of the benches. Billy-Jo climbed up next to him and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

“Here, Mom,” Travis, or was that Trevor, said as he laid muddy jeans on top of the washer. The rest of the gang filed in and deposited their dirty clothes.

“Cookies are on the counter,” Riki said, “but only take two. Dinner won’t be that much longer.”

Jason noticed that not one of the kids took more than two cookies. When Charlie entered the room with Tiny, she took two cookies as well. She put one in her mouth and fed the other to Tiny.

Riki chuckled. “He’s going to get as fat as an elephant if you keep feeding him cookies, Charlie.”

Charlie glanced up at Riki. Jason guessed that was her way of showing she had heard and understood. He watched as she turned and left with Tiny.

Riki was measuring coffee into the drip coffee brewer when Billy-Jo said, “Cook, cook.”

“In a minute, darlin’. Let Mommy finish here first.”

“Would you like me to get them for you?” Jason asked. At Billy-Jo’s nod he got two cookies for her and handed them to her.

“You just made a friend for life,” Riki said as she set a cup of milk in front of Billy-Jo.

“I wish they were all that easy,” he muttered.

“I know it must be hard on you, but I believe this is the best way.” Riki smiled, trying to ease the strain.

“Okay, you’re the boss. What now?”

She handed him his coffee, then sat down across from him. “First, dinner. You are joining us, of course. The couple who live next door went away a few days ago. They’ve gone to stay with their daughter, who is going to have a baby any day now. They’ll be gone for two weeks or so. Anyway, I usually watch their house for them whenever they’re away. I explained the situation here and they agreed to allow you to sleep in their guest room while you’re here. You can join us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can virtually live here, except you have to sleep there.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do I have to sleep over there?”

Riki didn’t like that gleam in his eyes. “Because it wouldn’t be proper for you to sleep here.”

“Why? Do you attack strange men in the middle of the night?” Jason couldn’t help himself. She was actually blushing. He hadn’t seen a girl blush since high school.

“Of course not!” Riki was more angry at herself for getting flustered than at Jason for teasing her.
He must think you’re a real country bumpkin
, she told herself, blushing and stumbling over your own tongue. “Look, Jason, I’m in the process of trying to adopt Jake and Pete, and something I don’t need is gossip.”

“Why not Charlie or the others?”

“I always knew Charlie had a father somewhere. Even though it took so long to find you, I never got my hopes up. If you were dead and there was no family, I would have applied to adopt her too. As for the others, I don’t have to adopt them.”

“Thanks for wishing me dead, and why don’t you have to adopt the others?”

“They’re mine.”

He raised his brows. “All of them?”

She stiffened her shoulders. “There are only four.”

“Whoa, Mama Bear, I have nothing against four kids. It’s just that you don’t look like you had four.”

“Right now I’m the mother of seven. Any complaints?”

“Not a one. I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t a good mother or anything. It’s just that you don’t look like my idea of a mother of seven.” He leered comically at her and proceeded to check out her body.

Riki could feel the blush starting at her neck. She quickly put her coffee cup down and stood. “Let’s go next door, and I’ll show you around.” Grabbing Billy-Jo’s hand, she headed for the back door.

. . .

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