Package Deal (13 page)

“Watch out. I’m feeling cranky,” she warned. “I just locked my keys in the car.” She dropped into her chair. “I thought the trip would never end. Looks like today might not be much of an improvement. I swear I’m taking a bus next time.”

“Next time?” He raised one eyebrow in question. “Where are you going now?”

“Nowhere. But when I do, I’m taking a bus.”

“What about your keys?”

“They’ll be there when I get ready to leave. I’ll figure out what to do then.”

“Okay,” he said, rolling his chair across the aisle separating their desks. “Don’t worry about it—”

“Not worried.” She cut him off. “I’m too tired to care right now.”

He grinned, revealing an overbite. “I was just going to tell you it happens all the time around here. Call maintenance. They’ll open the car in a jiffy.”

He didn’t just say “in a jiffy” did
he
?
My grandmother used to say “in a jiffy,” and he doesn’t look much older than me.
She fought a grin. “Thanks for the insider information.”

Kelly stayed busy until early afternoon, poring over the newspaper’s archives and searching the Internet for information on the endangered manatee. She wasn’t surprised to find they looked nothing like cows, but rather a tusk-less walrus. Packing up her things, she signed off the computer, and went to look for the maintenance department where she found an elderly gentleman willing to help her. Armed with a coat hanger, he unlocked her car door with ease.

She headed for the local library, somewhere fewer people bothered to go nowadays due to the Internet. As a journalist, she spent long hours, every day, in front of a computer monitor. Kelly loved libraries, loved the quiet stillness synonymous with “library.” Today she hoped to enjoy a bit of that peace and quiet—compared to the newsroom—and find some archived magazines with photos of manatees. By three-thirty, content with the knowledge she’d accumulated, she left the library and picked Lacy up from school. After a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies to fuel their stomachs and fill the empty refrigerator, they grabbed hamburgers at Steak ‘n’ Shake, a local burger place. They ate in the living room, watching reruns, unfortunately the only thing on TV without cable. She made a mental note to call the cable company in the morning to get the Disney Channel turned on.

She expected the movers any minute, and in desperate need of a few minutes rest, Kelly crashed on the floor, limbs spread out, a pillow tucked under her weary head. Exhausted, her flesh sagged into the carpet and her breathing slowed. Upon entering the house, she’d noticed the insecticide odor, but now, with her face so close to the floor, it smelled strong.

Stacks of boxes, bags, and games from the car surrounded her, all requiring rearranging before the movers arrived.
Later
. She dreaded the arrival of the van. She was too tired to lift a finger. Unless the movers knew how to revive a comatose patient, they were in big trouble. They would just have to move her stuff in around her, because if they showed up now, she wasn't budging.

“Thank you, God,” she mumbled, feeling consciousness slip away in spite of the animated and slightly annoying voices on TV.

Settling down beside her mother, Lacy opened a puzzle and sorted the pieces, spreading them out in front of her. She poked Kelly on the arm. “Mom,
wanna
help?”

Kelly replied without opening her eyes. “Dead people can’t do puzzles, honey.”

Lacy got up and stood over her, straddling Kelly’s waist. “Mommy?”

Kelly didn’t answer, so Lacy leaned over and pressed her face up close to Kelly’s. Not so gently, she lifted one of Kelly’s eyelids.

“Are you in there, Mom?”

Kelly’s eyes flew open, startling Lacy into excited laughter. Kelly grabbed her and tickled her until she crumpled to the floor, crying with delight and begging her to stop. Kelly pulled her into her arms and kissed her on the forehead.

“Where do you get all your energy, sweetie?”

Lacy patted her tummy. “From ice cream.”

“Really? Then I’m in desperate need of a large bowl of ice cream.”

“Me, too.” Lacy jumped up, tugging on Kelly
.

With an exaggerated groan, Kelly stood and gave Lacy a kiss on the head, wishing she could absorb some of her daughter’s energy through osmosis.

“You finish your puzzle, while I scoop the ice cream. First I’m going to open some of these windows and air out this place. The bug spray smells horrible.”

Lacy pinched her nostrils together, and her face scrunched up in disgust. “Yeah, it’s stinky. I hope the bugs don’t like it.”

So did Kelly.

After she opened several windows and a nice cross-breeze blew through the house, Kelly returned to the kitchen, took the ice cream carton from the freezer, and rummaged in the grocery bags for a package of paper bowls. She dropped the scoop when Lacy screamed and dashed into the living room in three long strides. To her relief, Lacy remained whole.

“What have I told you about screaming, young lady?” Kelly pressed her hand to her pounding heart. “You scared me to death.”

“Skunk’s lost!”

“Lost? Lacy, there’s no furniture. There’s nothing for him to get lost behind except bags and boxes.”

Kelly was soon chewing on her own words. The rodent darted out from between two boxes and scurried up the hallway toward the bedrooms. After chasing him for fifteen minutes, Kelly stopped, hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath.

“Man these things have moves the NFL pros only dream of,” she wheezed. “Which explains why they invented the darn traps in the first place.
 
I’m bushed, Lace.”

“Come on, Mommy,” Lacy yelled. “He’s getting away!”

The chase was on again. Despite her legs being twice as long as her six-year-old daughter’s, Kelly had no more success trapping Skunk than Lacy did. Both of them were pooped, but Skunk had gotten his second wind.

The doorbell rang, and Kelly rolled her eyes. “Murphy’s law.”

Chapter Fourteen

T
he movers had finally arrived, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Kelly took a deep breath and prepared for the hard labor to follow, thinking a week in Siberia would be preferable to unpacking twenty-seven years of indispensable junk tonight. Disheartened and weary, she shuffled across the room and answered the door. To her surprise, Steve McCarthy gave her a big smile.

Her hand flew to her messy hair. “Hey, Steve! I thought you were the movers.”

Despite the “harmless” kiss, she’d convinced herself—after talking with Jill—it might be a bad idea to see him again until she decided if she wanted to take the risk.

“What a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Hi, Pearson! Welcome back. I dropped by to see if everything’s okay with the house. I remembered you were a snacker and brought some ice cream.” He held up a grocery bag.

Kelly grinned, fighting an uncontrollable rush of pleasure at the sight of him. She found it weird, yet somehow comforting, the way he used her last name, as if they’d known each other for years, grown up together. Jill did it, too, sometimes.

“Thanks for the concern,” she told him, adding, “
McCarthy
.”

Steve’s incredible green eyes twinkled.

“I was just fixing ice cream.”

The door standing open, Steve peered around the small living room. “Looks a little different without the trash. Still think it’s cute?”

Kelly knew he was just being nice. The room was crammed with
her
trash. Self-conscious about her appearance, she brushed at the wrinkles in her blouse. “I love it. No furniture yet, as you can see. The van hasn’t arrived. Matter of fact, I’m expecting them any minute.”

“Mommy, Mommy! Hurry!” Lacy’s
voice
was
shrill with panic.
“He’s under the dishwasher now!”

“Big emergency,” Kelly explained. “We’ve got a rodent on the loose.”

Alarmed, Steve responded, “In the house? They didn’t exterminate before you moved in?”

“Yes, they did. Can’t you smell it? The insecticide smells awful.”

Steve sniffed the air. “Yeah, but they should have checked for rodents, too.”

“Oh, the loose rodent is a pet rat," Kelly added.

Steve’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kelly said. “That I’m weird, since most females are terrified of anything with four legs, buck teeth, and a long pink tail.”

“You read my mind.”

“Actually—”

Lacy’s squeal bounced off the walls, startling Steve and Kelly. Leaving Steve dangling just inside the front door, Kelly swung around and charged back into the kitchen.

“Come on in,” she called over her shoulder.

Kelly dropped down on her knees, her backside thrust into the air. She couldn’t see under the dishwasher. It was dark, and she worried a water bug might evacuate right up her nose.

“Need some help?” Steve offered from the doorway.

She looked up and caught him dragging his gaze from her rear end. She laughed to herself, feeling flattered.
Men. They’re so predictable.

Lacy popped up from where she crouched on the floor beside Kelly. “Can you get Skunk out, mister?” she asked in a high, distressed voice, her eyes entreating.

Kelly sat back on her heels. “Lacy, this is Mr. McCarthy. He’s the nice man who helped me find this house.”

Placing the bag on the counter, Steve offered Lacy his hand. “Hi, Lacy.”

When she accepted, Kelly didn’t miss the pleased expression on her daughter’s face. Lacy took to people with ease, but there was something deeper going on here. Kelly could see it. Like herself, her daughter was captivated by the tall, handsome, green-eyed stranger.

“Will you help us get Skunk? He’s really scared. He doesn’t know his way around this house.”

“Well, let’s see what we can do.”

He dropped down onto his knees beside Kelly. Lacy copied him. He pried off the lower front panel of the dishwasher, and all three of them pressed ears to the floor and peered into the narrow space. Skunk, sitting back on his haunches cleaning dust balls off his back, twisted around and stared at them, completely unaffected by the whole affair.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Steve said. “Lacy, you sit right here.” He moved her in front of the dishwasher. “Put one leg on this side and the other leg over on this other side. When he runs out, grab him. Think you can you do that?”

Lacy nodded, looking pleased Steve trusted her with the rescue task.

He winked at Kelly and whispered, “You play back up.”

Kelly caught on and positioned herself behind Lacy, poised and ready for action.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

The sound of the front door creaking open then slamming shut a few moments later drew mystified looks from mother and daughter. Steve returned swinging a crowbar and a flashlight. Kelly eyed the equipment skeptically.

Lacy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to hurt Skunk, are you, mister?”

“Mr. McCarthy,” Kelly reminded her.

He bent over, meeting Lacy at eye level. “Absolutely not. I promise.”