Family Ties (4 page)

Bonnie’s narrow eyes and pouting lips just screamed sullen. “Everything’s under control.”

“Good.” Andie found a smile. “Then I suppose it’s all right if just this once we stretch the school night rule.”

“Great,” Bonnie mumbled. She turned to leave. “Call me when supper’s ready and I’ll set the table.”

“Okay.” Andie gave Jamie a reassuring pat on the head then looked around for Chloe. It was only when she couldn’t see the little girl that she realized Billy hadn’t come in for more cookies.

And Chloe was no where to be found.

***

Gray’s phone rang at two minutes after six.

He had just stepped out of the shower and was gelling up to shave when he heard it ring. He took a deep breath, grimaced at his reflection in the mirror, then exhaled deep and slow. The day had started far too early with a nightmare he’d counted on never having again. That had been followed by a truckload of supplies that hadn’t been delivered. Then a steel brace had tried to move his right jaw into his left cheek. Now, his mother was calling.

Could things get any worse?

His mother was nothing if not predictable. She always called at this time of day, and had a panic attack if he didn’t answer, convinced that something dreadful had happened to him. She didn’t seem to realize he was thirty-eight years old and had lived on his own for a long time.

Since she’d keep calling until he answered, he might as well get it over with. He grabbed a towel to dry his hands, then strode past the empty night table beside his bed. He’d have to get another phone if he stayed here much longer. Running to the living room to answer a call was a nuisance.

He wrapped the towel around his waist as he hurried down the hall, and snatched up the phone. “Hello?”

His mother’s voice floated back at him, sharp and, as always, edged with concern. “Grayson? Is that you?”

“Yes, Ma, it’s me. How are you?”

“I’m fine. What about you? What’s wrong? What took you so long to answer? I was starting to worry.”

Gray ran his hand through his hair and dropped his chin against his chest. Would she ever learn? Why did she put herself through this all the time? “I was in the shower.”

“You know I only call after dinner.”

He took a deep breath, tamping down his rising anger. Some things never changed. “I know, Ma. But I’ve been busy. It’s been a long day.”

“If you’d come home, Grayson, you wouldn’t have to work so hard. You know your father and I would be delighted to help you out.”

And keep me chained to your side forever? “I know. But it’s better this way.”

“Better for who?”

She was getting whiney and he was too tired to put up with it tonight, so he cut her off before she got wound up and he said something he’d regret. She deserved his respect, even if she nearly drove him around the bend. “How’s Pops?”

“Your father’s fine. He’s watching the news.”

Like every other night. They ate in front of the television watching game shows and then she cleaned while Pops watched the news. If she was going to call, she always waited until moments after six, a habit left over from the past when discounted long distance rates kicked in after dinner. “That’s good.”

“Why do you insist on working so hard, dear? You don’t have to, you know. Your dad and I aren’t rich, but...”

Gray mouthed the words right along with her. “We certainly have enough to help you out if you came home to live.” Which would never happen – not as long as he had a say in his future. He loved his mother, but she’d missed his coming of age. She had no idea he was no longer the scared little boy who always needed to know his mommy was nearby.

“I like my life. Besides, you and Pops need this time for each other. You should take a cruise or something.”

“As if we’d ever do that.”

Clunk.

The noise in his kitchen caught Gray’s attention. His mother went right on talking while he listened for the noise.

Clunk.

There it was - the soft sound of a cupboard door closing. Keeping the phone against his ear, Gray sneaked across the carpet in the living room to the linoleum he’d recently replaced in the kitchen.

A blonde moppet looked up at him from behind a cupboard door. A moppet with big eyes. And a bigger mouth. “Youse got no clothes on,” she accused. “I’m going to tell.”

“Holy Crap.” Gray muttered. He grabbed the towel, anchoring it firmly around his waist, almost forgetting about the phone pressed against his ear. “What are you doing in here?”

His mother’s voice shot back at him. “Who are you talking to? Who’s there?”

Gray stepped back out of the girl’s line of sight. His mother on the phone and a kid in the kitchen. What else could go wrong today? “No one.”

“You shouldn’t lie to your mother. Have you got company? Who are you talking to?”

Gray stared at the phone in disbelief. She wondered why he wouldn’t come home. Cripes, if she’d only listen to herself, she’d figure it out. “A little blond kid who just broke into my house,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Never mind.” Two females were two too many for him, especially when they came from the generations before and after him. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“But Grayson, I—”

“Bye.” He clicked off the phone and dropped it into a chair, while he scrambled for the kid’s name. She was one of that crowd from next door. What
was
her name? He’d heard it yesterday. What to hell was it? “Listen, uh, little girl, what are you doing in my kitchen?”

Bouncing curls and a big smile peeped around the wall. “Why’se you got no clothes on?”

Gray twisted the ends of the towel tighter. “Because I just got out of the shower.” Discretion being the better part of valor, he decided to make a run for his room. God only knew what would happen to a man wrapped in a towel caught with a little girl in his house. He sprinted to his room.

“I asked you what you’re doing in my house, little girl,” he shouted down the hall as he pulled open a dresser drawer.

“Looking for food. I’m hungwy.”

“You’re not supposed to come into my house without permission.” Grabbing the first pair of briefs he touched, he realized he could solve one problem relatively simply. “You’d better leave, right now.” He pulled on his briefs and snatched a pair of jeans out of the cupboard. Before he could step into them, he heard little footsteps padding down the hall. Swearing under his breath, he slapped the towel back into place. “Where the heck is your mother anyway?”

The little girl blinked a couple of times, then, to his surprise, her eyes filled. “I…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” What the heck was that lady thinking, leaving a little kid like this home alone? “Well, uh, we’ll figure out something. How about if you go wait in the other room while I put some clothes on?”

“Can I shut my eyes?” she asked, placing chubby fingers over her eyes.

“I don’t believe this,” Gray muttered. He was being held hostage by a six-year-old break-and-enter expert. “Fine, cover your eyes. And keep them covered.” Holding the towel in one hand and his jeans in the other, he turned his back to the closet then stepped into his pants. “No peeking.”

“I won’t. I already seen you.”

Wonderful. He’d been scoped out by a six-year old terror who was growing up to be a thief. He pulled up his fly, trying to tamp down his irritation, although he had to admit it was kind of funny. More so if it happened to somebody else.

“My bwothers’ shorts have cars and dinosaurs on them. How come yours don’t?”

“They don’t make them in my size.” Gray shot back. “How do you know what mine look like anyway? I told you to keep your eyes covered.”

She blinked in round-eyed innocence. “But you had your back to the door, so I couldn’t help but see.”

“That’s just fantastic.” Gray’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Where in hell was her mother? Didn’t she know better than to let a kid like this wander into a stranger’s house? That woman had a lot to answer for, and she was going to be giving him answers in the next thirty seconds if he had his way.

He never brought anyone home with him, not even full-grown, fully agreeable blondes. His home was off-limits to women. It was even more restricted to little girls. He stomped into shoes. “Come on. Let’s, uh, go over to your house and see if your mother’s there yet.”

“But I came for a snack.”

“I don’t have any.”

“You don’t have anything to eat?”

“No.” Gray clasped the back of her head as gently as he could. He had to get her out of here before another disaster overtook him.

“You better come to our house, then”. She ducked out of reach, snuck one of her soft little hands into his and took the lead. “We has food but it’s healthy.” The wrinkle in her nose showed exactly what she thought of that. “Andie will feed you.”

“I don’t want food. I want you to go home.” He held her hand as lightly as he dared and let her lead him down the hallway.

They hadn’t reached the front door when someone started banging away on it. “I bet that’s for you,” Gray muttered as he pulled it open

Sure enough, Andie Bowen stood on the other side, with Jamie huddled up beside her right hip. There was no pony tail today – instead her dark hair curled down to her shoulders. Her smile was missing as well, replaced with a furrow-browed, pursed lip, worried expression. “I’m sorry to bother you--” she started, then stopped as her gaze fell on the little girl still clutching his hand. “Chloe! There you are.” She dropped to her knees, running both hands over the little girl’s face to make sure she was okay. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”

Chloe appeared unaffected by all this attention. “I’ve been visiting the man.” She looked up at Gray so there could be no doubt about her destination.

“She just wandered in all by herself,” Gray offered. “She told me you weren’t at home.”

“Of course I was at home.” Andie’s cheeks reddened as she rose to a stand. “I turned around for a minute and she’d slipped out of the house.”

No doubt. Gray frowned his disapproval. Didn’t she understand what happened to kids who weren’t carefully supervised? Didn’t she watch the news?

“He had no clothes on.”

Gray groaned and rolled his eyes. Just what he needed - a peeping tom who could get him thrown into jail.

Andie started from the child back up to him. “What?” She barely came to his chin, but he had the distinct sensation of a mama bear who was going to protect her little one.

He raised his hands, palms out, in self-defense. “Look, it isn’t what you’re thinking.”

“Oh?” Her voice was sharp enough to cause him serious damage. “Why don’t you tell me how it was?”

Gray spent a moment collecting his thoughts while he counted to ten. There was no point adding to her fire, although her tone, and accusatory stance ticked him off. He was the one who’d had his privacy violated. “I was in the shower –.”

“The shower? And where exactly was Chloe?”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and began counting again. Of course this wasn’t going to be simple. “I’m getting to that.” Ready to begin yelling, he noticed the quiet kid, her little guy pressed against her, twisting her pant leg in his hand.

He lowered his voice to calm. “Look, it’s no big deal. I ran out of the bathroom to answer the phone. While I was talking, I heard a noise in the kitchen and took a look. Guess who I found going through my cupboards?”

Andie frowned down at the little girl. “Oh Chloe, you didn’t come into Mr. Mills house uninvited did you?”

Chloe nodded. “I had to. I was hungwy.”

Andie hunkered down to talk to her daughter eye to eye. “Honey, we have food at home.”

“I know but… but it was too loud there. You and Bonnie were fighting.”

“No, we were arguing.” She pulled the little girl into a hug. “It’s okay. Bonnie and I still love each other.”

Gray studied the scene with great curiosity while piecing together the evidence. “I’m a little fuzzy about what’s going on here. This girl, uh, Chloe, she told me that she didn’t know where you were.”

“No,” said Chloe. “I know where Andie was. She was at home.”

“But you said you didn’t know where your mother…” The penny finally dropped. “Wait a second. Aren’t you Chloe’s mother?”

Andie looked up at him. “No, I—”

“No she’s not,” Chloe interjected. “My mom went away.”

“Oh.” Gray found himself squatting down beside the blond haired cherub. “That’s very sad.”

The child nodded her head in agreement but didn’t seem too disturbed.

Andie did though. She released Chloe and rose to a stand. “Look, Mr. Mills, if you have questions, maybe we could talk about them another time, assuming they’re any of your business.” The woman’s voice could go from warm to frigid in a heartbeat. This time, it dripped sleet. For some reason, he’d stepped on territory where she didn’t want him. “Come on Chloe.”

Gray focused back on the little girl. “And now you live with Andie?”

Chloe nodded. “I’ve lived lots of places. She looked up at the ceiling then back at him. “But I like this home best.”