Lights Out (23 page)

“You could come if you wanted,” she said. Too soon, she thought immediately. His eyes changed and his smile became more fixed.

“I’ll think about it, and I’ll talk to Shane about it, too,” he said, standing up, putting his BlackBerry in his hip holster. “Thanks again for all of this, and for helping me with Shane and thinking to include him with you and your sisters.”

“It’s nothing. We like you. We like Shane.”

“We like you, too,” he said, walking out of her door.

But not as much as I like you, she thought, feeling thirteen again and hoping she hadn’t scared him away.

* * *

Joe unlocked his front door and stepped aside to let Shane, Taylor, and Ken pass. Ken was turning into a miniature version of her older sister with her hair in a version of afro puffs today. It didn’t quite work because her hair texture was different from Piper’s. She gave him a wink and a smile on her way in. Piper’s dad was going to have his hands full with that one, Joe thought.

Joe followed them in and dumped his gear on the floor.

“Homework first,” he said.

“Ah, Joe, I was just going to show Taylor my animals,” Shane said.

“Ten minutes, tops. Then to the kitchen table, all of you,” he said.

“Okay,” they said in unison and headed to Shane’s room.

Joe had purchased this home two years ago. Shane had been the impetus, but he realized soon after that the sense of permanence had been good for him, too. It was not a big home; the front door opened into one room, a living room on one side, a dining room on the other, which led to a hallway. If you took a right you were in the kitchen. A left took you to the three bedrooms—one of which he used as a study—and two baths.

He walked to his bedroom, changed his clothes, and walked back to the kitchen. He needed to cook. He wanted to show Piper that he was just as adept at the childcare business as she was. Okay, maybe not. She was one organized woman. And why did he need to show her anything, he asked himself.

He walked over to the refrigerator and found some chicken to grill, as well as rice and veggies. He was good to go.

Ten minutes later all three kids entered, walked over to the table, and put their backpacks on the floor, each pulling out a chair around the table. They sat down and started pulling out books.

“I hate math,” Ken said.

“Let me see. Fourth grade, multiplication and division?” Joe asked over his shoulder.

“Yep. I hate division,” she said.

“I’ll look at it with you. Give me a few minutes,” he said and went back to cooking.

After he got dinner started, he pulled up a chair next to Ken. “Let’s see what you got,” he said. He pulled his chair closer. “Which problems are you assigned?”

“This entire page.”

“All that, huh? Seems like a lot, but you’re smart, right? We can figure it out. Let me see you try and work the first one,” he said and watched her, figuring out where her problem lay.

He spent the evening helping Ken with her problems, keeping an eye on Shane and Taylor, both who seemed to know what was required and had gotten right to it. He monitored Ken as she worked through several other problems, slowly getting the hang of it.

“You finish up here and I’ll check your answers when you’re done. Call me if you need more help, okay?” he asked.

“Okay, and thanks, Joe,” she said, reaching out and cupping her hand to his cheek. “You’re a nice guy,” she said, smiling, dipping her head down, suddenly shy.

“So are you,” he said, once again thinking she would be a handful for MacArthur Knight. Good thing her dad was an ex-boxer.

“That smells good, Joe,” Kennedy said later. She was done, he guessed. She walked over to his side as he pulled the chicken from the grill.

“We’ll see what it tastes like,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Taylor and Shane.

They all sat down to eat, complimenting Joe in turn on his cooking skills. After dinner Taylor and Shane had reading to do. They wanted to read in Shane’s room and promised that they wouldn’t goof off. Growing tired of their begging, he eventually gave in.

He cleaned up the kitchen and walked down the hall to check on the threesome, peeking into Shane’s room, always shocked by the loud blue of his room and the clutter. Shane was seated at his desk, head in his book, Taylor on the floor next to him, Charlie, their lab, lying at her feet on his side while she absently rubbed his belly.

Ken was lying on Shane’s bed reading, too. They all looked up when he peeked in. He smiled and walked back into the living room to check it over and make sure it was clean.

What did it matter, anyway? Piper was more like Shane in the clutter department. Clean she did, but she was nowhere near as neat.

She wanted more from him. The invitation to meet her grandparents had thrown him. He’d been clueless, had thought she was satisfied with the addition of the sex component. It was as he’d thought it would be, but more, if he were honest.

He walked over to the front door, picked up his bag, and found a spot on the couch. After turning on the TV and muting it with the remote, he booted up his laptop. There was always work to be done.

* * *

Around eight Piper pulled into Joe’s drive. It was a nice home, at least from its outward appearance. It was nothing extravagant—it fit in with the other homes on his street.

She walked over to the front door and rang the doorbell.

“Hey,” he said, stepping back to allow her to enter. She took a deep breath of air; she always felt like she needed fortification when she was around him, especially now. This need to touch him was always present, growing the more time she spent around him. He followed her eyes as they moved over him.

“Hey,” she said, stepping in. “Thanks for taking the kids for me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.” She was acting all first-date nervous, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Her hands had to work hard to find space in those pockets. He smiled at that.

“Nice to be able to return the favor,” he said as she walked in.

“Where are the kids?” she asked, her eyes moving around the house, checking out his home. She hoped he wouldn’t notice. He did. It wasn’t what she expected. It was clean and mostly white with some beige and touches of brown thrown in. Seriously masculine.

The pictures were all of Shane. In many he was playing soccer or with their dog, but there were a couple of Joe and Shane together. A big-ass TV was mounted on the wall in front of the couch. Prints covered two of the walls. They were fairly large prints of landscapes, snow on the ground, a few barren trees. Okay, she wasn’t even going to guess what that said about Joe.

“How was training?” he asked.

“Not too bad. The usual college students—some good, some not, only time will tell. Nice place,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Guess I should get the girls,” she said.

“They’re in Shane’s room. Right this way,” he said, leading her down the hall. She followed. More white walls and wood flooring. Wow, she thought, Shane’s room didn’t belong to this house. It was the opposite from the rest of it. Navy blue walls greeted her, a shock to her system given the whiteness of the rest of his home.

“You go, Shane,” she whispered under her breath.

Two large bookshelves stood against the wall adjacent to his bed. Blue and red covers were pushed to the foot of the bed and lay next to a desk where Shane sat, head over his book. Books lay stacked on the floor. Some collection he had.

Three heads looked up at her as she entered the room.

“All of our homework is done. I know that’s what you’re going to ask,” said Ken, getting up from her reclining position on the bed. Charlie got up, too, walked over to Piper, waiting for a rub, taking a sniff. She rubbed him underneath his chin, watching Taylor stand and start to gather her books, putting them in her backpack.

“Thanks for picking them up,” Piper said.

“Yes, thanks Joe,” both girls said.

“Didn’t mind at all,” he said from his perch by the door, where he leaned against the frame and watched her.

“Thanks, Shane, for having them over,” Piper said.

“It was fun, and they’re coming over again tomorrow after school, right?” he said, looking between Piper and Joe.

“Yes,” she said, turning to Joe for confirmation.

“Yes.”

Joe, Shane, and Charlie followed Piper and her sisters out of the room. They walked them to the door, followed them to the car, watched them load up, and waved as they drove away.

“I like them,” Shane said.

“Me, too,” Joe added. Both males and Charlie turned and walked back inside their home.

* * *

“So how did it go?” Piper asked, driving them home.

“Fine,” Taylor said, not giving up much information. It was Kennedy she could depend on to talk. Kennedy gave full descriptions on just about any subject.

“Did you guys eat?” Piper asked, hoping to inspire Kennedy to talk.

“Yes. First Joe helped me with my homework, my math. He’s pretty good at explaining. Then he fed us. He can cook, too,” Kennedy replied.

“That’s good,” Piper said.

“I like him, Piper. He’s cute like Shane. They both have long hair. I like long hair on boys,” she said. Taylor rolled her eyes and Piper laughed.

What was I thinking? Piper asked herself. She owned two coffee shops, was responsible for the temporary care of two girls, and had two dogs to manage, and she’d somehow felt it was necessary to sign up to help with a field trip. Well, she’d actually signed up to drive, but driving had somehow morphed into actually planning the trip, calling the Humane Society, securing a list of items one could donate, reserving a place in a nearby local park to have a picnic following the trip, sending e-mails out to the parents, and, finally, gathering said donations in one place. Not too hard, just a little time-consuming, and more work than she’d anticipated.

She was currently standing outside of Taylor’s classroom, waiting on the arrival of the other four parents who’d signed up to drive today. People assumed most private schools were raking in the Benjamins; maybe some were, but not this one.

“Hi, Piper. Thanks for setting all this up,” Trudy said as she marched over to meet Piper. Trudy was Isaac’s mother. She was short and stocky, blonde hair cut short, and dressed for a day outdoors. Isaac actually had two mothers, Trudy and Sheila. Isaac had been with them since birth.

“No problem,” Piper replied.

“Do we have enough drivers?” Trudy asked.

“I think so. We need five. You and me are the first to arrive.” A few minutes later, two other parents joined them. Piper thanked them for volunteering and left to notify Mr. Marshall.

“How many do we have?” Mr. Marshall asked over the din of the kids in his classroom, who were sitting not so quietly while they waited for their car assignments.

Piper looked back over the group of parent drivers. Joe was here. He hadn’t been on her list at all. He smiled at her as he walked up to stand over with the other parent drivers.

“You driving?” she shouted, pointing to him.

“Yes.”

She turned back to Mr. Marshall. “We have five drivers.” She said, swallowing her surprise and delight at seeing him.

“Great. I’ll send out students in groups of five. I’ll ride with you if that’s okay,” Mr. Marshall said.

“Sure. No problem,” she said, groaning under her breath as she walked back to the parents to relay his instructions.

“Hey,” she said to Joe as she walked up to stand beside him. She’d mentioned the field trip to him at the beginning of the week when they’d gone over their schedules, but no way had she expected him to show up and help.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get away, and didn’t want to commit in case something came up.”

Five minutes later Piper pulled into the parking lot of the Humane Society. She had been the last of the caravan to arrive. All of the other cars with their parents and students had parked and were now emptying, moving toward the entrance, their hands stuffed with goods for the animals. Some had formed a line in front of the door, waiting for Mr. Marshall to lead them in.