Forever Fall (8 page)

“You hope.” Luc kept his gloating voice quiet enough so it wouldn’t carry to Catherine, but loud enough so Mandy would hear him.

Mandy glared at him. The sanctimonious jerk thought he’d already won the war, but this was one small battle. However, though outwardly calm, she had to admit that Shannon’s unprecedented enthusiasm had put a tiny crack in her certainty of success.

And, despite Luc’s pronouncement that Mandy was
hoping
for success, she knew that, for her,
hope
didn’t play into this. Complete success was an absolute must, and nothing less would do.

Mandy pulled a carton of eggs from the refrigerator and placed them on the counter beside the rest of the breakfast makings. She’d set the table in the bay window overlooking the deck for three and poured each of them a glass of orange juice. As soon as Luc and Shannon came down, she would begin cooking
 . . . .
Correction,
they
would begin cooking.

Last evening, Shannon had taken a sandwich to her room so she could spend time with Joey. Luc had loaded a tray with his supper and carried it into the family room to catch the Yankee game on TV. That left Mandy in the kitchen eating alone and trying to quell her anger at their desertion by reading a book. She’d made up her mind that would not happen again. If this situation was to emulate family life, then they needed to start acting like one.

She’d already announced to both Luc and Shannon as they’d headed off to bed the previous evening that they would be eating breakfast like a normal family
 . . .
together
 . . .
at the kitchen table. If this experiment was to work, they had to show Shannon how taking care of an infant could interfere with her life—both social and family.

While she waited for Luc and Shannon, she poured herself a cup of coffee and wandered out on the deck. The invigorating, crisp morning air held a distinct hint of the cold weather to come. She shivered and stepped into a puddle of sunlight. Fall was definitely in the air. But she knew that in a few weeks they’d have a spate of warm weather.

She sipped her coffee, and visions of her childhood and running through the fields on a warm Indian Summer day raced through her mind. Without warning, those pleasant memories were shoved aside by recollections of the mornings when her mother was too hung over to make breakfast for her little girl before she went to school. At the age of seven, Mandy would wrestle a carton of milk from the fridge and pour it over a bowl of cold cereal only to find the milk had soured. She soon learned that saying anything to her mother only brought on one of her endless tirades about how much better her life would have been if she hadn’t been saddled with a kid she never wanted.

On more mornings than Mandy could count she’d gone to school without anything to eat. Perhaps that’s why breakfast was now her favorite meal of the day.

The door to the deck opened, and she turned to find Luc standing behind her, a mug of steaming coffee clutched in his hand. His hair was still damp from his shower, and he wore snug jeans and a lemon yellow, long-sleeved shirt that accentuated the muscles hidden beneath the fabric. Before she could get a handle on her emotions, her heartbeat sped up, and her hands shook, despite being wrapped around a hot coffee cup.

“Morning,” he drawled. His sleepy, smoky voice brought a new shiver coursing over her, but definitely not from the chilly weather.

Keeping his gaze on the expanse of blue water beyond the shore, he took a few steps forward, bringing him beside her and way too close for comfort. She felt the heat emanating from his body.

Startled by and unprepared for his sudden and unexpected appearance and her reaction, she swallowed repeatedly to dislodge the thick knot of crazy emotions that had settled in her throat. That being unsuccessful, she took a swig of her coffee and cleared her throat.

“Morning.” She moved casually away and leaned on the railing, also training her gaze on the lake.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

“Yes, it is.”

“I didn’t mean the lake.”

Mandy’s head snapped around to face him. He was staring at her, his dark eyes warm and
 . . .
inviting. Then he blinked and turned away, and she had to wonder if she’d seen anything there at all.

“I was referring to the changing color of the trees,” he said quickly. “In a few weeks they’ll be breathtaking.”

Luc could have bitten off his own tongue. The words had passed his lips before his brain went into gear. He could blame it on not being fully awake yet, but that would be a lie. With the breeze ruffling her hair, and her face washed in morning sunlight, Mandy was beautiful, no question about it. But he had never intended to voice his thoughts out loud.

“I thought we were having breakfast.” A sleepy Shannon clad in pink pajamas stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes.

“We are,” Mandy abruptly announced and hurried into the house.

Luc followed, trying not to look at the way her hips swayed or how her hair caressed her shoulders as she walked. Man, he had to get a grip. They still had twelve days to go. How would he manage it if he kept this up? Yes, Mandy was drop-dead gorgeous. Yes, she brought his libido to life like few other women had in recent memory . . . maybe never. Yes, she represented a temptation that went beyond anything he’d come up against before. That didn’t mean he had to give in to the fantasies running through his head. He had a way of life he treasured to protect. And he couldn’t do that if he didn’t stay clear-minded and focused.

Luc took a seat at the table and picked up the newspaper lying folded beside his orange juice glass. He set his coffee cup aside and opened the paper to the sports section. He’d just started reading when the paper flew from his grasp.

“Breakfast is a family project. That means we all pitch in. You can cook this,” Mandy announced, laying the newspaper on the counter and then handing him the bacon and a fork. “You do know how to cook bacon, right?”

“Have you forgotten that I live alone?” he countered, taking the package from her. “If I don’t cook, I don’t eat.” He rose and went to the stove.

“You can toast these.” Mandy handed Shannon the package of English muffins.

Shannon dragged her body from the chair and ambled to the toaster. She mumbled something incoherent and slid a muffin from the package. When she tried to stuff the uncut muffin into the toaster slot, Mandy stopped her.

“You have to split them in two. Haven’t you ever done this before?”

“No. The cook makes breakfast at our house.”

Luc’s heart dropped. If she couldn’t toast a muffin, how was she going to care for the
robo
baby?

“Well, for the next twelve days,
we
do the cooking, so get used to it.” Mandy showed Shannon how to use the fork to break the muffin into two halves and handed them back to her.

When breakfast was cooked and on the table, they all took their seats. Half way through the meal, a high-pitched cry came from upstairs. Shannon glanced at her unfinished breakfast, then at Mandy.

Luc waited.

Mandy continued eating.

Shannon jumped up from the table. “Don’t throw that out. I’ll be back after I see to Joey,” she called over her shoulder.

She headed toward the back stairs, and to Luc’s surprise, she didn’t seem at all upset about leaving a hot breakfast behind. He glanced at Mandy, who had a serious, thoughtful expression on her face as she watched Shannon climb the stairs.

“Worried?”

Mandy started. “What? Oh, no, I’m not worried.”

He didn’t believe her.

“I have to go into town to drop off some paperwork at my office. Do you want me to pick anything up for you?”

Hmm. Changing the subject. She was worried.

He shook his head. “Nothing I can think of, thanks.”

A short time later, after they’d finished eating, Mandy began cleaning away the dishes. Luc grabbed the butter and put it in the fridge.

Just then, the phone rang. Luc, being closer, grabbed it. “Hello.”

“May I speak to Luc Michaels?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“This is Luc Michaels.”

“This is Tom Fenway at Tanner’s Garage. Mr. Tanner asked me to let you know the part for your car came in early, and it’s ready for you to pick up anytime now.”

“Thanks. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and turned to Mandy. “Can I hitch a ride into town with you? My car’s ready earlier than expected.”

Mandy had hoped to escape Luc’s mesmerizing presence for a few hours, but it looked like she could hang up that hope. However, a sudden idea came to her. “Sure. Let me finish cleaning up here, and I’ll be ready to leave. Can you tell Shannon?”

“Tell me what?”

They both turned to find Shannon, who stood just inside the door fully dressed and holding a pajama-clad Joey.

“We have to go to town for a few hours,” Mandy explained.

“Can I go with you? It won’t take a second to get Joey ready to leave.” The eagerness in the girl’s voice was more than evident.

“Sure,” Luc said.

“That’s not possible,” Mandy said, feeling like the big rain cloud that had washed out the church picnic.

“Why?”

To her surprise, it was Luc who asked the question and not Shannon. “We don’t have a car seat for him. Without it, we’d be putting Joey’s safety at risk, and Shannon will earn demerits.”

The eagerness vanished from Shannon’s face. The crushed expression that replaced it signaled the first signs of regret that she was saddled with Joey’s care.

“Can’t we just strap him in with a seatbelt? Or Shannon could hold him on her lap and put the belt around both of them.”

Mandy shook her head. “State law says he must have a car seat.”

She didn’t miss the sympathetic look Luc cast at Shannon.

As they pulled out
of the driveway, Luc settled back in the seat. “Was that necessary?”

Mandy glanced at him. “What?”

“Not allowing her to come with us just because there’s no seat for the
robo
baby?”

Slightly miffed that he still referred to Joey as
the robo baby
, Mandy tightened her hands on the steering wheel and held back her retort. “If we don’t think of Joey as a real child, Shannon won’t be getting the benefits of the full experience of being responsible for an infant.”

Luc raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not sabotaging this whole thing in your favor?”

Mandy pulled to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes. She turned on him like an angry dog. “I resent your insinuation that I would do anything to swing this in my favor. I’m doing everything I can to be fair. That doesn’t mean that I’ll cut corners for Shannon to make this easier. That would defeat the whole purpose of this test. She has to understand that having a newborn baby to care for is going to put limitations on her life, both physically and socially. Otherwise, there’s no point in even continuing with the test.” She turned away, slammed the car into drive and pulled back on the road. “And I would appreciate it if you stopped calling Joey
robo baby,
especially in front of Shannon.”

After Mandy’s tirade, checking his torso for blood entered Luc’s mind. For a little thing she sure had a temper. He made a mental note to be more circumspect in the way that he teased her from now on.

For the remainder of the ride, he refrained from talking to Mandy, who suddenly seemed bent on getting to town as quickly as possible. As the car jostled and bumped over potholes, Luc occupied himself with looking at the scenery that whizzed past the passenger side window. As they neared the outskirts of Carson, Mandy slowed down. Evidently their NASCAR racing speed to get here had burned out her anger.

Instead of heading for Main Street, where Tanner’s Garage was located, she turned onto a side street. They crossed a set of railroad tracks, and as they drove on, the neighborhood deteriorated rapidly. Gone were the neat houses with flowers blooming around their foundations. Green lawns were replaced by bare earth cluttered with discarded cars and other junk. Fences lay broken, and gates hung on one hinge, if they hung at all. Broken windows in the houses had been covered with pieces of cardboard or stuffed with dirty rags. Poverty obviously reigned supreme here.