With a Little T.L.C. (5 page)

“I guess I just didn't hear the phone,” he said vaguely.

“Haven't you heard? There's this handy little invention called an answering machine.”

He grinned. “I've heard of it, Ma.”

“I should hope so.” She snapped her fingers. “That reminds me of something else. Your niece's first birthday party is going to be here at the house in a few weeks. You will show up?”

He decided not to ask why a phone machine would make his mother think of Stephanie's birthday. One short year ago she'd come into this world and brightened their lives. Steve was a lucky man. A
family
man. Remembering that day brought him an image of Liz Anderson.

After his anger from their encounter had subsided, he'd realized that in all probability she hadn't been born cynical. Something had happened to make her that way. He intended to find out what that something was.

“I wouldn't miss my niece's birthday. You can count on me.”

“With a date?”

“Don't push it, Ma.”

 

At 4:32 a.m. Liz wheeled the isolette down the hall to the nursery. She was tired after a long night. Her mind flashed onto the conversation she'd had a few days before with Joe Marchetti. About employees not showing up for work. It had happened tonight. It was her job to plug up the holes in the schedule. Hence her being there when sane people were sleeping.

Sane adults, she amended. There were an awful lot of births in the wee hours of the morning. Like this sweet little girl, she thought smiling. A textbook delivery. Her mother was resting comfortably. The family pediatrician had checked out the new arrival who was now peacefully slumbering after her traumatic ordeal.

Liz wheeled her into the nursery and parked the isolette beside an empty one. She leaned over the tiny newborn and smiled again. “It doesn't seem fair, little one. For nine months life is good. Then, bam. You make your entrance into the world and your dignity is stripped away. I promise it gets better, princess.”

“Do you know that from personal experience?”

Liz whirled at the sound of the familiar deep voice. Joe. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I work here.” And until now working successfully at avoiding you, she silently added.

“I volunteer here,” he said.

She knew that too. For the last few weeks, he'd kept his promise and shown up for the 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. cuddler shift. Sometimes he worked more than once a week. She'd made a point of reading the volunteer sign-in sheet, just to check up on him.

“So I see. Why so early?” she asked, shaking her head. “Let me rephrase. It's not early. It's practically the middle of the night. Are you crazy?”

“I know this isn't the customary time,” was all he said.

“That's it?” She shook her head. “You have an annoying habit of not embellishing.”

He shrugged. “I'm a man of few words.”

Who apparently didn't need a lot of sleep, she thought. He confidently held the infant in his arms as he sat in the rocking chair. His cheeks and jaw were smudged with whiskers. His dark hair was rumpled as if he'd just rolled out of bed. A visual that did strange things to her insides.

“This isn't the shift you agreed to. Breaking the rules already, I see,” she teased, mildly surprised that she bore him no ill will. But it was darn near impossible to work up a good mad at a hunky guy holding a newborn baby.

“The night security officer let me in,” he offered.

“I'm not questioning your method. Just your timing. It's four in the morning. Shouldn't you be getting your beauty sleep?”

“No.” He met her gaze. “And since when do you work this shift?”

She'd just been thinking the average adult should be sleeping and only the batty ones were up and about. Apparently she and Joe both needed to take a sanity pill.

“I fill in where necessary,” she said with a shrug.

Two could play their cards close to the vest. He wasn't talking about why he was there so early. She sure as shootin' wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of revealing that she had done it a lot lately. Mostly to avoid watching him trifle with female hearts.

But even a cynic like herself couldn't help noticing that 4:30 a.m. wasn't the most favorable flirting time. The majority of the staff on this shift had specific reasons for working it. Primarily children. A two-income household could easily split child care responsibilities this way.

Joe shifted his position in the rocker. “The hospital is lucky to have someone so dedicated.”

The compliment warmed her. “Thanks. I think of it the other way around. I'm grateful to have them.” She angled her head toward the bundle he was holding. “She's a beauty isn't she?”

He glanced down and smiled, a tender look that tugged at Liz's heart. “Yeah,” he said.

“Boggles the mind, doesn't it? Life is a blank slate for this little girl. She has to learn to walk, talk—everything.”

Joe looked at her. “It's hard to believe that one short year ago my niece was about this size. Now she's walking.”

“Is she?” Liz was genuinely interested.

He nodded. “It's amazing how much ground she covers with her short, pudgy legs.”

“That's great.” Liz smiled a little wistfully. “The one drawback about this job is that we send the babies home and most we never see again. As the support group moms get a handle on things, they disappear, busy with their lives. I'd love to get periodic updates on the kids.”

Joe studied her for a moment. “So come to her birthday party.”

“What? Who?”

“My niece. It's this Saturday. At my folks because they've got the biggest house with the most toys—swimming pool, table tennis etcetera. And there's room for the whole family. It's going to be an outdoor thing in the backyard. Very informal.”

“I don't know—”

“My brothers will be there—”

“Ah, now I get it.”

“What?”

“You want to finish the job you started a year ago. Locking me in the broom closet. And that's supposed to make me want to come?”

He chuckled softly. “I promise there are no closets with locks anywhere on the premises.” He settled the baby more comfortably in his arms.

Liz remembered his brothers. All the Marchetti men were exceptionally good-looking. Although she thought Joe the most handsome. From a strictly observational point of view. They had made her laugh. And their love and loyalty and protectiveness on behalf of little sister Rosie was very appealing. A big devoted family. If nothing else, she wanted to see what that was like. Find out if such a thing really
existed. In her experience it was the stuff of fantasy and fairy tales.

“In that case, I'd be delighted to go,” she agreed.

He looked momentarily surprised, but recovered quickly and simply said, “Good.”

 

Several hours later Liz walked down the hall. It was time for the changing of the guard. The day shift nurses came on about fifteen minutes before starting work to take reports from the departing night personnel. The volunteer sign-in book was on the counter beside the timeclock. Joe was there, standing head and shoulders above several women surrounding him.

Liz felt her stomach knot. Just when she was beginning to believe that she'd been wrong about him, the sight of him and his acquired harem hit her between the eyes. And the worst part was that they were all women she liked and respected.

At least it explained why he'd been in the nursery during the night. This was the group of women that he hadn't scoped out yet. Catch the first shift just as they came on duty, while they were fresh. Even as that catty thought raced through her mind, she dismissed it. That was way too much effort for a playboy. But if that wasn't his angle, what was he doing there in the middle of the night?

As she drew closer, she spotted Samantha and heard her say, “I'm looking forward to the weekend. Almost every Saturday we have a weekly unwinding session.”

“It's cool,” said Jeannie Drummond. She was a plump brunette, fun and witty. “Just dinner. But there are always laughs. We pick a place where anyone who wants to can dance. You should join us, Joe.”

In her enthusiasm, perky blonde Tanya Quinn grabbed his arm. “Great idea. Come on, Joe. It'll be fun.”

As the conversation wafted over to Liz, her spirits deflated like a punctured balloon. She hadn't realized until that moment how much his invitation had pumped her. So much for meeting his family on Saturday, she thought. What philanderer in his right mind would pass up playboy heaven to go to a family gathering? Although she believed he was fond of his niece, it was a child's birthday party.

After searching so hard for it, she'd finally found confirmation for what she'd always believed to be his ulterior motive. Yet she took no satisfaction in being right. She felt angry—and sad.

“Sounds like you ladies know how to have a good time,” he said.

“We sure do,” Jeannie agreed. “Say you'll come. All work and no play, and all that—”

“Studies have proven that time off for the work force is necessary to recharge their batteries. You need to let your hair down,” he said.

“So we'll see you there?” Tanya asked.

He shook his head. “Sorry. I can't make it. But you ladies have a good time. See you next week.”

He extricated himself from Tanya's grip while Liz was—metaphorically speaking—lifting her chin off the floor. He had turned them down! Flat. If she hadn't heard with her own ears, she wouldn't have believed it.

She watched him toss the group a farewell wave. Then he walked toward her with a smile on his face that turned her legs to noodles and her heart to a bongo drum.

He stopped and looked down at her. “You're just the person I was looking for.”

“Oh?” A darned intelligent response, she thought. Especially when her mind had turned into oatmeal.

“I wanted to let you know that I'll call you and arrange to pick you up for the party at my folks.” He started moving again. “I'd do it now, but I'm late. Gotta get ready for work. Bye,” he said with a grin and a wave.

Then he was gone. Before her off-the-scale pulse returned to normal. Before she could say sorry I misjudged you. Or check his forehead for fever. He'd passed up an invitation from three women to see his family, and her!

She firmly shook her head. This wasn't about her. He was just giving her an opportunity to see his niece. And she wanted to see him interact with his family. Because that would give her some insight into what made Joe Marchetti tick. She could be wrong about him. And it was very important
not
to be wrong. She wasn't sure why, but she had to know if he was one of the good guys.

J
oe read the look of terror on Liz's face as she gaped at his parents' house and all the cars parked out front. He hadn't thought the spunky nurse was afraid of anything. Especially his family. Interesting to find this chink in her starched white cap. Sort of endearing—as if she needed him. Until now, she'd always acted as if she didn't need anyone. Particularly a man.

“The house really isn't as big as it looks. Sort of an optical illusion,” he said as they walked to the door.

“Okay.”

From the moment he'd plopped his volunteer form down on her desk, he'd been focused on improving her low opinion of him. Now that he'd managed to get her to spend some time in his company, he wasn't sure how he felt about it or what to do with her.

“Just stick close to me. I won't let anything happen to you,” he said.

“Okay.” But she continued to stare at the big house and yuppie cars.

As he looked down at her, the way the sun brought out the red highlights in her pixie cut hair and made the roses in her cheeks bloom, the idea of her
real
close to him hiked up his heart rate. He couldn't remember the last time, if ever, a woman had prompted such poetic thoughts in him.

His supportive words didn't seem to fill her with confidence, so he decided a win-one-for-the-Gipper speech was in order. “Don't be scared. I promise this won't hurt a bit.”

“That's my line. And more often than not I'm lying through my teeth.” Liz swallowed hard as she clutched the birthday-gift bag she held. “I thought you said this was a family party.”

“It is,” he agreed. “But you remember I have brothers.” He saw her nod. “They're all here.” He scanned the line of cars in a semicircle on the curved driveway. “Correction. They're all here but Nick.”

“It's a little overwhelming for someone who grew up an only child.”

“I can't imagine what that must have been like,” he said as they stepped onto the porch. “But I'd like to hear about it. I'd like to get to know you better.”

Liz shook her head. “No you wouldn't. Boring.”

“I doubt that,” he answered. Nothing about her was boring.

Especially the way she looked. He noted her white canvas tennis shoes and red T-shirt tucked into white shorts. When he'd finally gotten hold of her at work to find out where she lived, he'd told her to dress cool and casual because the party was going to be on the patio and the weather rumor was for a May heat wave.
The way that shirt outlined her breasts and disappeared into the small waistband of her white shorts accentuating her curvy hips—well it was more than a rumor that his temperature had climbed a degree or two higher in the blink of an eye and continued to shoot up.

Before he could dwell on that any longer, he opened the door and listened. “It's too quiet. They must be on the patio,” he said.

He led the way through the house. When he glanced over his shoulder and found her missing, he retraced his steps and found her admiring the family room.

“This room is bigger than the apartment I grew up in,” she said. “Do I need to leave a trail of crumbs to find my way out?”

“Just send up a flare and someone will rescue you.”

“Okay.” She shook her head in awe. “The furniture is beautiful. I love the floral sofas and that shade of beige carpet,” she said. “This house is wonderful.”

“Wait till you see the backyard.”

He grabbed her hand, just so he didn't lose her again, he told himself. Certainly not because he was trying to keep her close. But he felt pretty good when she didn't pull away. They walked through the dining room and kitchen, then out the back door onto the brick patio.

“Hi, everyone,” he said raising his hand in a wave.

“Joey.” His mother got up from the glass-topped patio table and walked over to them. She gave him a hug, then smiled warmly at Liz.

“Ma, this is my friend, Liz Anderson. She works at the hospital where Rosie had Stephanie.”

“I remember,” Flo said. “You're practically a legend in this family the way you took care of Joe.”

“It was nothing,” Liz said with a grin.

“Don't encourage her, Ma. Liz and I ran into each other and she said she never gets to see the babies when they go home so I invited her to the party.”

“Florence Marchetti,” his mother said smiling warmly as she shook Liz's hand.

“It's a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Marchetti,” Liz answered.

“Flo please. And that's Joe's father, Tom. There's the birthday girl digging in my garden,” she said ruefully.

Joe saw his niece with her father hovering close by, laughing as she filled her chubby fists with dirt and tossed it in the air.

“The last time I saw her,” Liz said, “she was so tiny. Just look at her now. All that dark hair. And those wonderful curls. She's adorable.”

“Please don't look at her until I get her cleaned up.” Rosie had opened the door behind them just in time to hear what Liz said. She came out with a washcloth in her hand. “Hi, Liz.” His sister's smile of greeting was genuinely friendly.

“Hi, Rosie,” Liz answered.

“Obviously you two need no introduction,” Joe said to his sister.

“She's one unforgettable nurse. It's not every day a woman her size can bounce you out of a hospital room. My hat's off to you.”

“You, too?” Joe said. “My whole family is turning against me.”

Ignoring him, Rosie said, “It's nice to see you again, Liz.”

“Same here,” Liz said laughing. “It looks as if we'll be seeing you in my neck of the hospital woods pretty soon.”

Ruefully, Rosie looked down at her rounded belly. “It can't be too soon for me. But I have four more weeks and the doctor seems to think I'm going all the way to term.”

“I hope I'm on duty when you come in.”

“Me, too.”

Joe hoped so too. Her dedication to mothers and babies meant that his little sister and the new baby would be in good hands. He pointed to the two ruffians playing paddle tennis. “You remember them. Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber. Alex and Luke.”

“Which is which?” Liz asked.

“Alex is taller,” Rosie said. “Excuse me. I need to figure out some way to convince my daughter that dirt isn't a toy and it needs to stay in Grandma's garden.” She looked ruefully at the washcloth in her hand. “And I think this will do more harm than good. We need a bath.”

“Good luck,” Liz said. “She's having such a wonderful time.”

Rosie sighed. “I may need your help, Uncle Joe. No one except her father can distract her as well as you.”

He grinned down at Liz. “I swear I didn't put her up to singing my praises.”

“Yeah. And I bet you've got oceanfront property for sale in Arizona,” she teased.

Joe knew she was kidding. At this particular moment. But only because Rosie's remark had obviously
been spontaneous. He knew she was still wary, but he had a plan. Before the day was over, she would know for a fact that he was a nice guy.

When his niece let out a piercing wail, he put his Liz problem on a back burner. For the next several minutes, he practically stood on his head to keep Stephanie happy and unaware that they were coaxing her away from dirt—mother nature's plaything. When he spotted Liz again, he noticed Alex and Luke had put their paddle tennis game aside to talk to her. He frowned at the threesome. She was laughing at something Alex had said.

If he had a jealous bone in his body he would be tempted to challenge either or both of them to paddles at twenty paces for the way they hovered around Liz. But one had to be emotionally engaged for the jealousy thing to happen. That was the furthest thing from his mind. Since he was convinced there was no such phenomenon as Ms. Right. And failure wasn't an option for him. He'd seen too many shattered dreams, too many friends who vowed never to say “I do” again because of a painful divorce, too many lives changed for the worse after a walk down the aisle. Nope. He believed that single plus single equaled serene.

He walked over to the threesome. “Are they behaving?” he asked Liz.

“Perfectly,” she said.

“That would be a first.” He hoped no one heard the edge in his voice.

No such luck he realized when Luke whistled. He didn't say anything, proving that he was a class act. But Joe didn't miss the questioning look in his brother's eyes. Not to mention a wry expression that
said he'd made his own assessment of what was going on.

Joe planned to set him straight when they were alone. Right now he tried to analyze his problem. He thought he'd just talked himself
out
of attitude. Not only that, he knew neither of his brothers would ever move in on a woman he'd brought. So what had made him take even a subtle verbal shot?

His only excuse was that he'd worked damn hard and long to even begin to thaw Liz out where he was concerned. She'd known his brothers all of ten minutes, not counting that time in Rosie's hospital room, and she acted like she would trust them with her firstborn. Why was she standoffish only with him?

He was about to steer her aside and ask when the kitchen door opened again and Nick arrived with his fiancée. Out walked his plan to prove to Liz that he was a straight arrow, a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. Joe couldn't wait for Liz to meet them. After the two lovebirds made their rounds of the family, he motioned his brother over to where he stood beside Liz.

Joe cleared his throat. “Liz Anderson, I'd like you to meet my brother Nick and his fiancée,
Abby.
”

Joe stared at Liz, waiting for her reaction. He wasn't disappointed. Her eyes opened wide and the color in her cheeks deepened to a becoming pink. Her smile faltered and when he met her gaze, she quickly looked away.

She shook hands with both of them. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same here,” Nick said, slipping his arm around Abby's waist. She briefly rested her blond head on his shoulder, snuggling into the embrace.

Lucky son of a gun, Joe couldn't help thinking. The
thought was brief, but the stab of envy was much longer and sharper. They made a terrific-looking couple. Nick's tall, dark good looks were an attractive counterpoint to Abby's petite, blond prettiness. Nick deserved someone as sweet and loyal as Abby. It had taken him quite a while to get over a particularly nasty rejection. When he had, he and Abby had fallen in love.

“In a few weeks, Abby's going to be my
sister,
” Joe said. He knew it was a low blow, but he couldn't help emphasizing the last word after she'd raked him over the coals.

Liz's full lips turned up slightly in a wan smile. “Is that so?”

Abby's blue eyes sparkled with happiness. “Can't be soon enough for me. Not only do I get the best guy in the world, but I also get to be a part of the best family in the world.” Her brow wrinkled thoughtfully. “Joe, did I thank you for helping me pick out Nick's wedding gift?”

He grinned. “Yup. Just now,” he said meeting Liz's sheepish gaze.

 

“Liz, this is adorable.” Rosie met her gaze after opening the gift she'd brought for the birthday girl who was more interested in the paper than the present. She held it up so everyone could see. “It's a wooden puzzle that spells out Stephanie's name.”

“I'm glad you like it,” Liz said.

After a dinner of barbecued steak, baked potatoes and a big Italian antipasto salad, the family had gathered underneath the brick patio for gift opening. Surrounded by a tricycle, an orange and yellow plastic car, and other toys too big to wrap, Rosie and Steve
had taken over the task of opening the waiting mound of gifts to speed up the process.

Liz sighed, wishing the lucky little girl would be able to remember this moment and how much this big family loved her. If only every child could know that feeling, it would make growing up as carefree as it should be. She couldn't help wishing that her own formative years had been more untroubled.

Liz sat on a loveseat-sized glider with Joe beside her. Since he'd found her with Alex and Luke, he hadn't left her side. As promised. He also hadn't rubbed it in that she'd been wrong to think the worst of him when Abby had called to remind him of the shopping trip. She felt lower than a snake's belly and didn't think the feeling would slither away until she told him she was sorry.

“It's time for cake,” Flo said.

She and Tom went into the house and brought out two—one for the adults and a cupcake with a candle in it for the birthday girl. Steve had put her in the highchair set up outside. When her grandpa set the cupcake on her tray, she tentatively touched a tiny finger to the icing. After tasting it, she went after the remainder with gusto.

Liz was completely charmed as the toddler squished her hands in the confection then rubbed it in her hair—to the accompaniment of groans by her parents.

When she had decimated the cupcake, Rosie said to her husband, “Bath time—again.”

Steve nodded and lifted her from the chair and the threesome disappeared inside.

Flo put her empty cake plate down on the table. “You know, I just had our home movies transferred
to video. Would you like to see them?” she said to Liz.

“I'd love to,” she answered truthfully.

She was curious to see what Joe looked like as a boy. Was he always the family charmer? Or had he acquired the talent at the onset of puberty and his attraction to the opposite sex? Not fair, she reminded herself. She'd been proven wrong about him and was deeply ashamed of herself for automatically assuming the worst—again.

The family filed into the house and Liz was about to fall into line.

Joe put a hand on her arm. “You don't really want to see movies, do you? That's more of a snooze than phenobarbital.”

“On the contrary, I would thoroughly enjoy watching the ‘little Joey' show,” she said with a grin.