Mistletoe Magic (19 page)

As soon as she saw them Louise approached, holding a bottle of antacid tablets in her hand. “Do you know what these kids have done, Rafe? I was in the entryway downstairs when Hank finished calling you. I overheard the end of the phone conversation. They aren’t sick!”

“What do you mean, they’re not sick?” Rafe asked.

“They were talking when I came upstairs. They wanted to pretend they had food poisoning so you’d come home. This is too much!”

Gretta appeared then, clutching a doll tightly against her pajama top and crying. “She took us to that place and made us eat mushrooms!” she said accusingly, pointing at Melissa.

“And it didn’t hurt you one bit, did it? Do you want to admit that?” Louise asked, showing Gretta the bottle she held. “Or shall I make you take more of this medicine?”

At the threat Gretta wailed louder and Rafe went to pick her up. “There, there,” he crooned. “Settle down. Everything’s okay.”

“Everything is not okay!” exclaimed Louise. “They should be punished.”

Melissa agreed. Looking at Rafe, however, she noticed his concern as he quieted the child. Wasn’t he angry? Hank and Gretta had accused her of causing them to get food poisoning!

“I’ll take care of the kids,” he told Louise. “You can get back to bed. Is Hank upstairs?” When his mother nodded yes, he headed up to the third floor, carrying his daughter against his shoulder.

“Really!” Louise looked at Melissa. “Those two children have been terrible. I know they’ve frightened you with their lies. I’m sorry I wasn’t upstairs to stop them from calling you.”

“You aren’t to blame,” Melissa said comfortingly, reaching out to touch Louise’s arm. “You can’t be around every second.”

“I thought Hank was intelligent and old enough to be more responsible.”

“He’s definitely intelligent,” Melissa agreed, thinking about all the brilliant schemes the boy had successfully implemented to keep his father and her apart. If Louise only knew!

“Hank needs guidance,” said Louise before going back downstairs.

When Rafe returned from his kids’ rooms Melissa was sitting at the kitchen table. He went directly to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of juice. “Want some?” he asked her, pouring a glass.

“No thanks. How are the kids?”

“Fine. No fever, no spasms. Louise was right, they weren’t sick.” He smiled tiredly.

Melissa tried to smile too. “So what are you going to do? Did you reprimand them? They gave us a terrible scare.”

“I was so relieved they were all right, I didn’t have the heart to punish them. I’ll have to talk to them later.”

Feeling thoroughly aggrieved, she said, “But they’ve been terrible, Rafe. Do you realize they accused me of causing them to get sick?”

“I know. If they hadn’t been so lonely, left in the house by themselves—”

“That’s no excuse!” Melissa interrupted him sharply. “And they weren’t alone. Louise was downstairs all the time.”

“Well, what do you want me to do, spank them?” he asked defensively.

Incredulous, Melissa could say nothing for a moment. Once again Hank had ruined an evening they planned to spend together and had been positively vindictive about it. Didn’t Rafe care about her feelings?

Finally she found her voice. “I don’t care whether or not you physically punish them, but you certainly ought to tell them how badly they’ve behaved. They owe me an apology, Rafe.”

“I don’t think they meant it personally, Melissa. They wanted their dad home, that’s all. They don’t have their mother anymore.”

Melissa almost screamed. Was Rafe really so dense? “They did mean it personally! They wanted their dad to be home so he couldn’t be with
me
. How long are you going to use the divorce to excuse them?” She stood up to face him, drawing herself up to her full, if diminutive, height. “Hank’s used everything in his power to keep us apart. He’s spied and schemed. First, it was a tape recorder. The night before going to California, Hank put one under the couch so he could hear what we were talking about. I found it and turned it off.”

“A tape recorder?”

Not stopping to clarify the matter, Melissa went on, “There’s a lot more, Rafe. Your son is no angel. He’s managed to impose himself on several of our dates. Remember the art show he attended with us and the French movie? He even sabotaged your computer records so we couldn’t go out at all. Then he volunteered to aid you in putting them back together. And you rewarded him for it!”

“You’re being ridiculous. Hank wouldn’t do that,” Rafe said, scowling.

“How blind can you be?” She glared at him. “He didn’t give you my phone message and deliberately let me think you were out with another woman. How can you let him manipulate you this way?”

“You’re exaggerating.” His tone was adamant. “I’ve got two really great kids who also happen to be normal.”

“I’m not exaggerating, Rafe. And I don’t mean to say Hank isn’t a good kid underneath. But he desperately needs to be found out. You may think you’re helping your children by being indulgent, but they need discipline and guidance.”

Rafe’s angry dark eyes seemed to throw off sparks. “Now, wait a minute. You’re making serious accusations here. I’m the parent and I know my own kids. Don’t tell me how to raise them! Being a teacher for a few years doesn’t make you an expert. My kids just need time to adjust.”

“How much time?” Undeterred by his anger, she addressed him intently. “You and Nicole divorced more than a year ago. We’ve been having these problems for almost three months. Tonight you asked me to stay in New York, to commit myself. You said we should discuss problems. Well, Hank and Gretta are a problem if we’re ever to get—have a long-term relationship,” she stated, not daring to mention the word “marriage.”

“I told you there were problems in going out with a divorced man who has a family.”

“I expect there to be problems, but I also expect you to try to deal with them!”

“I deal with them as best I can. Children don’t disappear, you know. They aren’t portable or fleeting like the other things in your transient lifestyle.”

Feeling her face flame with indignation, Melissa tried to control her trembling voice. “I’m neither transient nor irresponsible. I’m not suggesting you put Hank and Gretta in an orphanage. I simply think you should discipline them so they’ll grow up to be mature and responsible adults—and we can be happier.”

“Happier? How can we be, the way you feel about my kids? Life isn’t like one of your fairy tales, Melissa. We’re the adults, not Hank and Gretta, and we have to work toward making our happy endings come about. We need to have maturity and insight to deal with children on a day-to-day basis. I don’t know if you’re ready for that. Isn’t it a little immature to be jealous of two kids?”

She couldn’t stand it one minute longer. Her anger spilled out in a torrent. “You blind, arrogant fool!” she shouted. “Who are you to accuse me of immaturity or irresponsibility? You refuse to see what’s going on right under your nose. Your children are spoiled rotten! What kind of parent does that make you?”

She raced for the door, but before she could descend the stairs he grabbed her by the arm. “Wait a minute,” he insisted, his eyes flashing. “We’re not through with this! You can’t leave in the middle—”

“Are you ready to admit you might be wrong about your precious kids?”

“No!”

Melissa jerked away from him. “Then I’m taking my irresponsible self right out of your life, Rafe. Good-bye!” Running blindly down the stairs, she almost ran into a startled Louise at the bottom of the flight.

Ignoring her humiliation, Melissa rushed past Louise out into the cold New York night, heading toward a busier street to hail a taxi. She brushed at the tears running down her cheeks. Already feeling guilty for her uncharacteristic outburst of rage, she couldn’t help but remember Rafe’s telling her to be open and to discuss her feelings and doubts. That obviously didn’t include his kids!

Chapter Ten

“I still haven’t found a place to live that I both like and can afford, even though the pay for this promotions job is really good,” Melissa complained while walking into Haldan-Northrop after a celebratory lunch. “I can’t stand the thought of sharing my living space with rodents.”

“Don’t give up hope, my girl. Sometimes there’s a rainbow at the end of the chase,” Clarence replied.

Not wanting to think about rainbows lest they remind her of that last evening with Rafe, Melissa ignored Clarence’s heartening comment and led the way past the makeup counter onto the escalator. The sights and sounds of the elegant store were comfortingly familiar, yet she was definitely unsettled as the feeling of loss she’d been trying to repress engulfed her.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t find something I like soon,” Melissa said in a desperate attempt to get her mind off of the man she loved. “I’ve got only three weeks left.”

“You can always stay at my place until you can find one of your own,” Terry offered.

“I can stay with other friends,” Clarence added. “It’s no problem, I assure you.”

Knowing Clarence was down on his luck again and had been sleeping on Terry’s sofa for the last month, Melissa couldn’t accept, but neither could she hurt their feelings by refusing outright. “Thanks. I’ll think about it, but maybe I should go home to Pennsylvania and take that teaching job this fall. I have another few weeks to make the decision,” she said bravely, trying to keep her voice from breaking when she added, “Maybe I’m fated to leave New York…and Rafe.”

“Santa goofed again, the old reprobate. I always hate it when Christmas presents break,” Clarence grumbled. “Are you sure the damage is irreparable?”

“Even if Rafe realizes he’s wrong about me and the way he spoils his kids things wouldn’t work out. Hank and Gretta hate me.” Even so, Melissa felt an anticipatory quiver in her stomach as she almost tripped off the moving stairs because she was busy thinking about seeing Rafe shortly. “I’d never be happy causing a rift between the kids and their father. It’s bad enough I’m miserable. I don’t want to make them all miserable as well.”

“Personally, my girl, I think you’ll be sorry if you don’t persist. I doubt your relationship with the children would remain grim forever. Believe me, it’s no fun living your entire life alone because you made one foolish mistake and gave up too easily.” Before Melissa could ask Clarence if he was speaking from personal experience, his glance strayed over her shoulder and his eyes lit with a naughty twinkle. “Ahh, my favorite secretary.” Off he went.

Terry took Melissa’s hands in his own and squeezed them reassuringly. “Remember, you have friends if you need a sympathetic ear, Melissa. And the offer for the place to stay is from the heart. You’re welcome anytime.”

“Oh, Terry!” Melissa wrapped her arms around her slender friend and hugged him tightly. “You’re a dear. Thanks.”

After kissing him on his freckled cheek, she headed for the dressing room. Secretly pleased that Rafe had been commissioned to do the publicity layout that would advertise her storytelling hours in newspaper ads and posters to be distributed around the store, Melissa prepared herself with special care.

Her sparkling white costume was almost luminous, studded as it was with tiny crystals and silver bugle beads. Gauzelike beaded wings flowed from the shoulders. Donning it, she thought about how much playing a storytelling fairy for Haldan-Northrop pleased her. Though commercial—she drew kids into the toy department while moms shopped in the rest of the store—her work here was as satisfying as her library job. She was inspiring kids to read by making it fun. That was the important thing. Being a storytelling fairy was a far cry from the odd jobs she’d taken during the past months.

After twisting sprays of crystal drops into her golden tresses, Melissa picked up her silver wand and glanced into the mirror one last time to make sure her appearance was appropriately magical. Not bad. Unable to avoid the inevitable confrontation with the man she loved, she wondered what Rafe would think.

Would he be so happy to see her he’d want to take her in his arms and kiss her?

Would she let him?

Did he still love her?

Taking a deep breath, she decided to find out for herself. It went against her upbringing—not to mention her positive nature—to hold hard feelings against anyone. Though there were certain problems over which she had no control, and though she might want more from him, the least she could do was offer Rafe her friendship, even if it killed her. With that thought Melissa headed for the toy department.

Rafe banged a tripod in place so hard a few of the adults delivering their kids stared at him curiously before turning away. Feeling a flush creep across his face, he wondered what the hell was the matter with him. Why was he so grumpy just because he saw Melissa kissing Terry? He had no claims on her. The fact had been made very clear to him when she’d chosen to walk out of his life two weeks before and hadn’t called to apologize since.

Yet, in his mind’s eye, he saw her honest blue eyes, her cupid’s bow mouth turned up into a sweet smile that dimpled her cheek, her petite body that fit so perfectly with his own.

Truthful with himself, Rafe knew he’d been looking forward to seeing Melissa, had had some vague hope she’d be glad to see him, that she’d want to be with him once more. How foolish could he be? She wasn’t exactly pining for male company. He should have known Terry would move in at the first opportunity.