Waking Hearts (10 page)

“I’ll drop him off at four thirty. Give him time to clean up before supper.”

“Thanks.” She licked her lips, bringing his eyes right to her mouth. “Did you want— I mean, if you’re gonna be working with him all day, you’re welcome to join us for dinner so you don’t have to cook.”

He leaned forward in the doorway and saw her eyes go right to his arms again.

Yeah, he was gonna be using that to his advantage regularly.

“That sounds good,” he said. “I’ll drop him off. We can eat and I’ll drive you to work.”

“Oh.” She stopped walking again. “You don’t have to do that.”

“We’re driving from the same place, Allie. Seems a little foolish to take two cars.”

“Right.” She nodded. “Okay, sure.”

“Great.” He banged the side of the barn. “I’ll see you at four thirty then. Better get to work.”

He watched her until she drove away, giving him a cute little wave while she crawled out of the driveway, trying not to kick up dust. Ollie picked up a wrench and turned to see Kevin frowning at him.

“What?”

“Were you hitting on my mom?”

How did he answer that question?

Ollie turned toward the old pickup, determined to get some work done on it if he wasn’t working on the Charger.

“Your mom and I are friends, Kev.” This was true. He also had intentions that Kevin didn’t need to think about, but he would always be Allie’s friend.

“Yeah, she’s friends with Sean and Alex and Caleb too.”

“Exactly.”

“But she doesn’t blush like that around any of them.”

Ollie frowned. “Kevin…”

“I’m just saying.” Kevin turned and started pulling dust from the corner with the wide broom. “If she didn’t have four kids, you’d probably ask her out.”

“Hey!” Ollie tried to control the spike of temper. “Turn around if you’re gonna say something like that. And don’t mutter.”

Kevin turned around, his mouth tight. “She’s still really pretty, even with four kids. And she’s nice.”

“Your mom’s way more than pretty. She’s beautiful.”

“But she’s just your friend.”

Ollie tossed the rag he’d picked up onto the rolling tray. “One, there’s nothing
just
about being a friend. I’ve been your mom’s friend since she was younger than you. That’s not something I take lightly.”

Kevin looked off to the corner. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“And two—since I wasn’t finished—her life is a little complicated right now. She’s got a lot on her plate.”

“Yeah, she does,” Kevin said. “She works, like, twice as hard as everyone else’s mom I know. But you know, you being around and maybe taking her out every now and then so she’s not working all the time, that’s probably too
complicated
, right?”

What the hell?

Ollie’s anger must have shown on his face, because Kevin looked embarrassed. “I’m just saying I think she likes you, and I’m pretty sure—”

“Your mom’s and my relationship is not your business, Kevin.”

“So you and my mom have a relationship?”

Ollie crossed his arms and glared at the teenager. “Do you think this floor is gonna sweep itself?”

Kevin started sweeping, but he still had a scowl. “If you like a girl, you should ask her out. Then you both know what’s up. If you just mess around with her, that’s like playing a game and that’s not cool.”

“Who told you that?”

“Dude… seriously?
You
did. Last year when I was waiting around to ask Kristy Mackenzie to the homecoming dance.”

Shit. He did remember saying that.

“Get back to work.”

Kevin picked up the dustpan and started collecting the pile he’d gathered. “Uncle Alex says you haven’t gone out with anyone since my Mom and Dad split up.”

“Kid, do you want me to teach you how to fix your car in this century or do you want to keep pissing me off?”

“BEAR pile!”

Christopher and Loralie leapt on him from over the back of the couch as Ollie and Kevin were playing a football game on the Xbox. The two kids tumbled over his shoulders, Chris falling between Kevin and Ollie while Loralie snuggled under his right arm and made herself at home.

“Dude!” Mark yelled. “Stop it. You’re messing up the game.”

“You’re not even playing, Marky. You’re just watching,” Christopher, who was seven and completely uninterested in video games, complained.

Kevin reached over and smacked Christopher on the back of the head. “Stop calling him Marky. I told you.”

“Oh my gosh,” Mark hissed out. “Just stop. You’re so annoying.”

“Well, you’re stupid,” Chris said.

“And you’re a fart-face.”

“Mo-om! Marky said I’m a fart—mmfph.”

Kevin slapped one hand over Chris’s mouth, still attempting to play with the other. “Dude, be quiet. We only have ten minutes before Ollie and Mom have to go to work.”

Loralie giggled and covered her mouth when Ollie looked down at her.

“Fart-face,” she lisped through two missing front teeth.

“Don’t say fart-face,” Ollie said, making her giggle again.

Chris broke into more giggles behind Kevin’s hand, his little body shaking.

“But you just said it!”

Even Mark couldn’t keep from smiling. “Dude,” he said. “Just be cool or we won’t be able to play.”

“Yeah, Ollie,” Kevin said, letting his younger brother go. “You should be a good example. Don’t say fart-face.”

Which sent Mark, Chris, and Loralie back into fits of giggles. Even Ollie couldn’t keep from smiling.

Especially when Allie came in from the kitchen, leaned over the back of the couch, and said in a loud whisper, “Ollie, did one of my kids say fart-face again?”

He busted up laughing, as much at the uncontrollable giggles surrounding him as the serious look on her face.

Mark said, “Dude, just stop saying it. I can’t stop laughing.”

Chris gasped. “I can’t either, dude.”

“They can have whole conversations in ‘dude,’” Allie said, still leaning over his shoulder.

Ollie was tempted to call “bear pile” and tug her onto his lap.

“Fluency in ‘dude’”—he turned his head so their lips were only inches away from each other—“is a gift of all seven- and ten-year-old boys.”

He saw her eyes flicker down to his mouth, and he wanted more than anything to have the right—the simple right—to lean over and kiss her. Tuck her hair behind her ear and whisper something silly to make her laugh. Her eyes never left his mouth, even when the kids started jabbering again.

Kevin said, “Just don’t say fart-face, whatever you do.”

Allie busted up laughing. She might have even snorted.

Ollie couldn’t remember when he’d had a better time. He hated—absolutely hated—that he had to leave for work. He looked at Allie, who nodded and headed toward her room, probably to change.

Ollie stood, holding on to Loralie when she clung to his neck. “We gotta go, guys.”

“Nooooo!” Chris wailed dramatically, clutching Ollie’s leg.

“Do you work all the nights, Ollie?” Loralie asked.

“Yeah,” Mark said, glancing at Ollie from the corner of his eye when Kevin tossed him the spare controller. “You should come back on a night you’re not working and hang out. We could play Xbox again.”

Ollie tried not to react as his heart lurched in his chest. “That’s up to your mom.”

Allie ran back in the living room, slipping on her shoes by the door. “Okay, guys. Not too late. Kev, you know where the ice cream is.”

“Ice cream!” Chris screamed.

Mark covered his ears. “Dude!”

Loralie ran a tiny hand down Ollie’s beard. “Your hair is curly like mine.”

“But not as pretty.” He blew a raspberry on her cheek and handed her over to Allie, who kissed her and handed her over to Kevin who was already nodding as Allie gave him instructions about the younger kids.

Amazingly, they were in the car with five minutes to spare.

Ollie looked over his shoulder at the glowing lights of the house. “How do you
do
that?”

Allie was texting on her phone. “Do what?”

“Juggle the madness.”

“Well,” she said, “the madness doesn’t come all at once. It slowly builds until you don’t remember when there
wasn’t
madness.”

“Like the story about boiling a frog?”

“Exactly. How to boil a fox: add one child every three years until her brain is entirely gone.”

Ollie chuckled and pulled out of the drive. “Dinner was fun.”

“The kids enjoyed having you over.”

“Just the kids?” He glanced sideways at her.

She was smiling a little. “I did too.”

“Good.”

She leaned back and closed her eyes. Ollie watched her in the oncoming lights as he headed toward the bar. He wanted to bypass work and take her to his place. Roll her onto his king-sized bed and let her sleep.

For a while.

“Maybe another time.”

“What?”

He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud. “Uh, maybe I can come over another time when I don’t have to work. Play video games with the boys again.”

“They’d love that.”

“Also, what are you doing after church tomorrow?”

“Nothing much, I don’t think.” She was texting on her phone again.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, just letting my dad know that the kids are with Kevin and I’m at work. He’ll go by later.”

“Tell him he might see Elijah and Paul around too.”

Allie frowned. “Your younger cousins?”

Ollie nodded. “Pop put them on alternating nights hanging around your place until we figure out what’s going on with Joe.”

“You don’t have to do that, Ollie. Those boys are just in high school.”

“Do you remember how big I was at their age?”

“Not much smaller than now,” she muttered. “Still, I don’t think—”

“Pop isn’t going to argue with you on this one. He’s worried about you and the kids, so his boys are going to be there. They’re both smart, and they’re not impulsive. Plus they know I’m only a few miles away. I only told you so you don’t worry if you see them hanging around.”

“What about church tomorrow? Why were you asking?”

They were just pulling into the Cave. Ollie parked in his spot by the back door, happy to see the lot already filling.

“We need to go up and talk to Old Quinn. If we catch him Sunday afternoon, Sean will be there too.”

“About the boys Kevin fought with?”

How much to tell her without spilling the information Kevin asked him to keep private?

“About that. But also because I think some of the snakes might know something about Joe.”

Allie sighed. “Why is this not surprising?”

“We need to ask. Old Quinn doesn’t like me much—”

“You have filed charges against more than one of his nephews.”

“Only when they break furniture or faces at my bar. But if I bring you, he’ll talk.”

Allie grinned. “Because he loves me.”

“Everybody loves you, Allie-girl.”

Her smile fell, but she rallied as she opened her door. “Not everyone. I better get in, or Tracey’s gonna put me on lunch shift again.”

Ollie nodded. “I’ll be right in. Gonna… call Sean about tomorrow.”

Man, he could be stupid sometimes.

“Everybody loves you…”

Clearly not. The person who was supposed to love her the most had up and left.

Nice reminder, asshole.

Ollie didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He had teenage kids telling him off and hormones jumping like he was still in high school. He wanted Allie. And her kids. The whole damn package. But he didn’t know how to tell her, and he didn’t really know whether she was flirting with him to flex newly single muscles or whether it meant something more.

“Stop thinking.” He finally pushed open the door. “The drinks won’t pour themselves.”

Chapter Seven

AN HOUR AFTER CHURCH, ALLIE had gotten her four kids situated at Cathy and Thomas Crowe’s house, where Jena, Caleb, and their brood were also hanging out. Ollie had picked her up there and was driving them up into the canyon and over to the old Quinn place where Sean had been staying.

“You talked to Sean last night, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, he said he needed to work today, so he’d be around.”

Sean was a freelance photographer who had roamed the world until only last year. He’d also been one of the last of her friends to see her ex-husband.

“What’s he working on?”

Ollie frowned. “I don’t know. Editing, he said? I think he’s helping a friend out, doing the digital editing for a shoot while she’s out on location.”

“She, huh?” Allie grinned. “So is this a friend, or a
girl
friend?”