Tea and Destiny (17 page)

“I was thinking about the Coconut Grove Art Festival,” Hank said. “How does that sound?”

“Art, yuck,” Paul protested.

“It’s outdoors,” Hank countered. “There will be music and lots of food.”

“I guess that’d be okay,” Paul relented.

“Sounds terrific to me,” Tracy said.

“Then in the afternoon, Liz and Todd have invited us over to their house for a barbecue.”

Ann gazed at him, surprised. “When did this happen?”

“I talked to them earlier in the week.”

“I see,” she said stiffly as they arrived at the house. Fortunately the kids took off for bed before the argument she anticipated could explode.

“What’s wrong?” Hank asked the minute they were alone. He took her hand and idly drew provocative circles on her sensitive palm.

“Nothing,” she snapped, trying to tug her hand away. He held tight. “Why should anything be wrong?”

“I haven’t the vaguest idea, but something obviously is.”

“Liz and Todd are my friends,” she began, only to go silent at the justifiably amazed expression on Hank’s face.

“They’re my friends, too,” he reminded her gently, effectively dashing her anger. He kissed her palm, his
tongue hot and moist against her flesh. “Todd is my partner. Now what’s this really all about?”

She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. That was a dumb thing to say. I guess it just threw me that all these plans were made without my knowledge.”

Hank drew her down on the sofa beside him and settled her against the curve of his shoulder. “Annie, you’ve been sick all week. I didn’t want to bother you with the details. Besides, I wanted to make the plans. I wanted this to be a real vacation for you. If I know you, you’d have filled the little time we have with trips to bookstores to pick up the latest psychology books.”

She managed a feeble grin. “I still plan to do exactly that,” she retorted with a teasing defiance. “And I’ve promised Tracy a shopping trip for a new outfit. Maybe we’ll take it after we leave Liz and Todd’s.”

Hank shook his head adamantly. “I’ve planned for your shopping trip. We’ll stop at the mall on the way home on Monday.”

“Monday? Hank, the kids have school on Monday. I have patients.”

“The kids do not have school. It’s the President’s Day holiday. As for you, you only had one appointment on your calendar and I was able to get the receptionist over at Dolphin Reach to rearrange it.”

“Dammit, Hank, you had no right,” she said, pulling away from him. He was taking over her life, managing it with the same precision that he brought to his building projects. She couldn’t allow it. “We’re going back on Sunday.”

“Annie, calm down. Why should we waste a day?”

He sounded incredibly patient. “Don’t you patronize me, you muscle-bound cretin,” she snapped back. “I will
not calm down. And we’ll go back on Sunday because I say so.”

“Muscle-bound cretin? I like that,” he said, chuckling. “If you really want to insist on going back on Sunday and disappointing the kids, then we’ll go back on Sunday.”

The ease with which he twisted things around to make her the bad guy exasperated her. His refusal to take offense only infuriated her more. She was really spoiling for a good fight and he was turning agreeable on her. She’d hoped a royal battle would take away this tension that was building inside her. Maybe it would take her mind off her desire to be in Hank’s arms, in his bed.

“Damn you, Hank.”

He shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. There you go again. You’re swearing.”

“Oh, go to hell.”

“Annie, Annie, the children.”

“The kids are all in bed,” she mumbled, defeated by his teasing.

“And that makes it okay? I’m surprised at you, Annie.”

“You are the most impossible…”

“Lovable?”

“
Impossible
man I have ever met.”

“But you love me.”

“I do not love you.”

He pulled her into his lap and kissed her thoroughly. When she could gather her senses, she opened her eyes and met his satisfied smirk. “Liar,” he whispered softly, then claimed her lips again. This time she didn’t even
pretend to struggle. She only sighed and whispered, mostly to herself, “If I am, then God help me.”

The Coconut Grove Art Festival was not an event Ann would have expected Hank to enjoy. In fact, she had thought that even she would find the traffic jams irritating, the huge crowds tiresome and the art little more than junk. She was wrong on all counts. First of all, they were able to walk from his house, avoiding the bumper-to-bumper lines of cars. Once there, Hank clung firmly to her hand and tugged her from one display to another with all the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store.

“Come on, Annie,” he urged more than once. “You have to see this.”

He pulled her to a booth filled with huge oil paintings. She studied the landscapes painted in the Everglades. They captured the barren vastness, but none of the majesty.

“Sorry. I don’t like them,” she said, keeping her voice low and turning away from the artist who sat nearby.

“Why not?”

“There’s no emotion in them. The Everglades are unique, special. In these paintings, they look ordinary.”

He stepped back and looked more closely. “You may have a point. You have a good eye.”

She opened her mouth, but he touched a finger to her lips. “Don’t you dare say you only know what you like.”

She laughed. “I was not going to say that. I was going to tell you that I used to write an art column for my college paper.”

“Oh,” he said meekly.

His humble deference lasted another thirty seconds before he was touting the virtues of another craftsman a few booths away. “Look at this jewelry. What do you think?”

“It’s lovely,” she said distractedly, barely looking at the bold silver pieces that she normally would have loved.

“You’re not even looking.”

“Where are the kids?”

“Across the street, three booths down.”

She looked in the direction in which he’d pointed. They were all there, every one of them. She counted just to be sure.

“I’m not going to let them get lost, Annie,” he said quietly, tilting her chin up so he could look directly into her eyes. “I promise.”

“Okay, so I get a little crazy.”

“You’re a mother.”

“Yes. I am.” She said it as though she was trying to make a point, but with Hank staring tenderly into her eyes, she lost track of the message she’d had in mind.

Just then they were joined by the kids. “Can we get some ice cream?” Paul pleaded.

“I want ’ade,” Melissa said.

Hank turned deliberately to Jason. “You know where the food booths are, son?”

“I saw ’em.”

“Then you make sure that everyone stays together,” he said, handing over some money. “Meet us on the corner in a half hour.”

Jason seemed startled by the gesture. Ann caught a fleeting look of pride in his eyes before he hid it
behind his usual moody mask. “Come on, guys,” he said, sounding put-upon.

“I’m not sure that was such a good idea,” she said worriedly. “Shouldn’t we go with them?”

“Tracy’s with them, too, and he has to learn that we do trust him.”

“But you don’t,” she countered. “You’ve said all along that he was heading for trouble.”

“I know and I still think that’s possible, but we’ve got to do everything we can to head it off. I thought the job would help, but it hasn’t.”

“I think it has. He won’t let you see it, but he seems more self-confident. The responsibility has been good for him.”

“Annie, he’s not accepting the responsibility,” he blurted, then immediately looked as though he wished he could retract the words. Ann’s heart sank.

“At least not the way I’d hoped he would,” he amended hurriedly.

“What do you mean?”

Hank sighed. “Let’s talk about this later.”

“We’ll talk about it now.”

“Annie…”

She finally lost patience and snapped, “Hank, just tell me. What’s wrong?”

“He hasn’t been coming in to work.”

“Why on earth not? What does he say about it?”

“Ted says he’s had an excuse every time. Not terribly legitimate ones, but he has been calling in, which I suppose is something.”

“Haven’t you confronted him about it?”

“No. He reports to Ted. For the time being, I’m staying out of it. If he gets fired as a result of his
behavior, it may do him good to realize that there are consequences.”

“Dammit, Hank, you should have told me about this. I would have talked to him.”

“A boss doesn’t go running to Mother when an employee acts up. Besides, I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Well, I am upset.”

“Exactly.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. The crowds continued to mill around them, but as far as Ann was concerned it was just the two of them—and Jason.

She sighed. What would it have been like to have met Hank at a time in her life when she was totally free of responsibilities, when she would have been free to get to know him without all the pressures they faced now? Well, she thought with a pragmatic shrug, there was no point in wondering about that. As Hank liked to remind her, this was the hand they’d been dealt. They either had to fold or play it out. Since Hank seemed unlikely to drop out, she wouldn’t, either.

“We are not going to let this spoil this vacation,” he insisted now. “We have three days up here…”

“Two.”

“Whatever. There will be plenty of time after that to decide what to do about Jason. For now we are all going to enjoy ourselves. Understand?”

“Just like that?” she said with a skeptical snap of her fingers.

His eyes twinkled with amusement. “Just like that.”

“Well, since you seem to be in charge, then I suppose we’ll just have to follow orders.” She caught the glint of satisfaction in his eyes and hastily amended, “For the moment.”

“Your submissiveness is duly noted.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” she said dryly as the kids caught up with them.

“Oh, I intend to,” he said, his gaze locking with hers.

After another hour of browsing, Hank declared it was time to move on to Liz and Todd’s.

“Yes, captain,” she said, giving him a jaunty salute.

He leaned down to whisper, “Watch it, lady. You can be court-martialed for that kind of disrespect to an officer.”

“And the punishment?”

He slid his hand up her side until it rested just below the curve of her breast. “I have several things in mind,” he said, his expression very serious. Ann’s heart thumped unsteadily.

“Shall I enumerate?” he asked huskily.

Caught up by the expression in his eyes and the rasp in his voice, she could only shake her head. Hank responded with another of those slow, deliberate winks, then blithely walked off, leading the family back to the van. Ann had to jerk herself out of the sensual torpor he’d left her in.

At Liz and Todd’s she was hardly aware of the food or the activity that swirled around them. She responded to Liz’s curious questions with what she hoped were rational answers, but she couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than Hank as he played touch football with the whole gang on the front lawn. Even David had been persuaded to join in and after an initial hesitation, he was now wholeheartedly engaged in the competition. Just more evidence of Hank’s magic, she thought.

“Interesting,” Liz observed, sitting down beside her on the grass.

“Hmm.” She blinked and turned to her friend. “What?”

“You seem awfully absorbed in the game.”

“Hmm.”

“Or is it one of the players you’re attracted to?”

“Hmm.”

“Ann!” Liz said in exasperation.

She dragged her attention away from the sight of Hank in jeans and T-shirt sprawled on the ground under a whole gang of giggling children. They were tickling him, which she didn’t recall as a traditional tactic in the game. Still, he seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly. She caught herself smiling.

“Ann!”

She dragged her attention back to Liz. “What?”

“What’s going on between you and Hank?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, really. I find that difficult to believe. He’s a very attractive man. You’ve been living under the same roof for weeks now. Surely there are sparks of some kind.”

Sparks?
There was a veritable forest fire. She was not ready to admit it.

“You know for a psychologist who touts the healing virtues of communication, you’re awfully quiet. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?”

She turned a baleful look on Liz. “And you, my friend, are treading on thin ice.”

Liz chuckled as she got to her feet. “Gee, you seem to be in about the same state Hank was in when he was here for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I can’t tell you how glad I am that it’s all working out.”

“Working out? Nothing is working out,” she said adamantly as Liz went back inside. Ann strode
purposefully after her. She had to straighten her out before she got some crazy notion in her head. “Did you hear me? Nothing is working out. Do not gloat. Do not get your hopes up. Nothing is working out.”

“Hmm,” Liz said.

The noncommittal reply set Ann’s teeth on edge. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Liz returned her gaze innocently. “I think you’ve just said it all.”

“Oh, go to hell,” she snapped, just in time for Hank to hear her. He pulled her into a casual hug.

“There she goes again,” he said to Liz. “Has she always had this tendency to swear when she gets upset?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen her upset before.”

“Interesting,” he commented, never taking his eyes from hers. “Very interesting.”

“Leave me alone,” she growled.

He shook his head. “Come with me.”

“Where?” she asked suspiciously.

“Do you have to question every little thing? Just come.”

Something in his voice told her not to argue. With a last look back at Liz, who was grinning broadly, she went with Hank. Outside, he led her to the van and urged her inside.

“Hank, we can’t leave,” she protested even as a sweet tension began to build inside her.

“Oh, yes, we can.”

“The kids…”

“Will be just fine. Liz is a teacher. She’s used to handling more kids than this.”