Once in a Blue Moon (49 page)

He watched her. No
reaction. Couldn’t she at least face him when he spoke to her? If
she understood what he was trying to do for her...he sighed.
“Emily, I didn’t tell you this, but two weeks ago I gave Jeff my
new history text book to read. I’m hoping to get a chance to talk
to him alone.”

He glanced up at her,
but she still didn’t look at him. “I’m hoping he’ll put in a good
word about me to the board members.” He shrugged. “Perhaps it’ll
influence the board’s decision about my application for
tenure.”

When she lifted her
head to stare at him, he shrugged. “You know how standoffish Jeff
is. I figured, possibly, if I asked him for a recommendation in a
social setting instead of at the University...then maybe he’d say
yes.” He shrugged again and cleared his throat. “Anyway, it’s worth
a shot.”

Face blank, she nodded,
then moved to walk out of the room.

Mouth
falling open, Sam watched her go. He spills his soul, tells her his
plans and...nothing! “
Hello
!” Sam’s fists clenched. “Did
you hear what I said? You
do
want to stay in Utah, don’t you? You
do
want to continue to
live near your mother, don’t you?”

She stopped in the
doorway to glance back at him. “Did you want to talk about
something?”

He
made a sound of disgust. “Never mind. I just thought you’d be
a
bit
more
excited about my getting tenure.”

“That would be very
nice for you.”

Nice
for
him?
He
watched as she headed toward Jared’s room. Closing his eyes, he
gritted his teeth, then followed.

Didn’t she care about anything anymore? This was their future
he was discussing.
Emily
was the one who wanted to live in Salt Lake City
forever, and
Emily
was the one who wanted to stay in this house, and
Emily
was the one with a
mother in the same city. Was it too much to ask for a little
enthusiasm? He brushed a hand over his face. What he wouldn’t give
for ten extra minutes and a cigarette.

Following her down the
hall, he heard her talking softly to Jared. “Sweetheart, I know you
don’t need a baby-sitter, but we probably won’t be home until one
o’clock or so. I’ll feel better knowing you aren’t alone in the
house, all right?”

“But Mom, I’m almost
twelve. It’s so dumb. If my friends knew I had to have someone over
to baby-sit--”

Sam stepped into the
room. The kid had no right to complain. Not after what he’d done.
“And whose fault is that young man? If you could act like a
responsible person rather than a hooligan then you wouldn’t need a
babysitter, would you? After what happened, you’re lucky a
babysitter and forty hours of community service are all you have
coming.”

Sam rubbed one hand
over his face. “Come on Emily, we don’t have time for this.” He
started to leave the room, but when he caught sight of Jared’s blue
eyes, so like his mother’s, glaring at him, it set him off again.
He’d get respect from his own child if from no one else.

“Do you know how
humiliating it was for me to be called down to the police station?
To be told my son had been throwing snowballs at cars? To find out
you’d broken a car window like some common vandal? If that’s what
you do for fun over your Christmas vacation then you deserve to be
watched twenty-four hours a day.” Sam realized he was pointing his
finger to emphasize each word and, inhaling, lowered his hand.

“Like you were a saint
when you were a kid, Dad.” Jared turned his back to sit at his
desk, blond head bent, shoulders hunched.

Sam stepped closer to
glare down at Jared. “Well, if I wasn’t, at least I was smart
enough not to get caught.”

Emily stepped between
them. “Sam--”

He spoke over her
shoulder. “And I still want to know who you were with. Why you
think you have to protect someone who gladly let you take the rap
for the broken window is beyond me.”

“Sam, just drop it.”
Emily glared at him, her arms crossed and her face tight.

Like mother, like son.
Sam was the bad guy as usual. “I’m just trying to discipline our
son. You’re too easy on him. He needs to learn there are
consequences to bad behavior, and you need to stop
interfering.”

“Sam.
I said
drop it.”

Frowning, he glanced
from Emily’s set face to Jared’s bent head, then ran a hand through
his hair. “What do you two want from me?”

Jared turned in his
chair, his eyes condemning. When had Jared started looking at him
like that? What had happened to the little boy who used to worship
him? Perhaps Jared was just turning into a teenager a bit early.
Emily really needed to spend more time with him. Keep him out of
trouble. Sam rubbed his throbbing temples. As soon as he got
tenure, maybe he’d have to do it himself.

The doorbell rang and
Sam let out an exasperated sigh.

“That must be your
mother.” He glanced at his watch. Twelve minutes until eight. “And
she’s late. Come on, we need to go.” He grabbed Emily’s elbow and
gave a tug. When she resisted, he scowled at her, then turned and
left the bedroom.

He hurried down the
stairs to open the front door, wincing as frigid air blew into the
entryway. Alice, his elegantly clad mother-in-law stood on the
porch, which explained the drop in temperature. She didn’t resemble
anyone’s idea of a baby-sitter. Or a grandmother either, for that
matter. His lip curled. After two divorces and one husband buried,
she wasn’t hurting financially. She could afford to look as if
she’d just stepped out of a salon.

Her make-up was
perfectly applied, as usual. Short red hair, slightly curled, swept
away from her face, emphasizing the chilling stare she fixed on
him. As always, she surveyed him like he was a bug in need of
squashing.

“Hi, Mom.” Her eyes
flickered, and he smirked. She hated him calling her that. He
stepped aside and gestured with a hand. “Please, come in.”

“Thank you.” Raising
her chin, she eyed him coldly. “Your tuxedo is too tight.”

Witch
. As she swept past, her clean,
slightly tropical scent, floated by. “Mm. Nice perfume, have you
got a hot date later?” He hit his forehead with his palm. “Oh, no,
I remember now. You were free to baby-sit because you had nothing
to do on New Year’s Eve.” He bared his teeth in a mock smile. “If
you’d like, I could set you up with one of the professors at the
University.” He winked. “We have a couple of old timers without
spouses.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I
hope they don’t have anything good to eat at the party, Sam.” She
slowly smiled. “It looks as if your outfit might explode if you
take even one bite of food.”

Emily came down and
shot him a glare before hugging Alice. Sam’s jaw tightened. Now
what did he do? “Can we leave?” Emily and her mother both ignored
him as they moved up the stairs.

Sam waited about thirty
seconds. “Emily! Time to go! What are you doing? It’s not like
Jared and his grandma have never met. Let’s go!”

No
response. Muttering under his breath, Sam stomped back up the
stairs and into Jared’s room. Predictably Jared’s grandmother was
fussing over him, one hand on his slim shoulder, as she praised a
drawing she held in the other. His mouth tightened. Jared hadn’t
shown
him
the
picture.

“Emily,
now
would be nice.” Stalking forward, he gave her arm a sharp
jerk.

She winced. “Sam, that
hurt!”

His breath stilled in
his chest as sudden nausea clogged his throat. He swallowed, then
sucked in air. He’d never hurt her before. He opened his mouth to
apologize, but the three glares burning into his face stopped him
and he closed his mouth tightly.

Why should he
apologize? If she hadn’t disappeared up the stairs, he wouldn’t
have come after her and it wouldn’t have happened. As she frowned
at him and rubbed her arm, he glowered right back, willing his
queasy stomach to settle. Not his fault. He would not
apologize.

Tapping his watch with
one finger, he scowled at Emily. “It’s now five minutes until
eight. In this weather it’ll take twenty minutes to get to my
boss’s house. The party starts at eight which means we’re
late.”

Alice
sniffed and he shot the interfering hag a glare, which she
returned. He jerked back to Emily. “For reasons I have already
explained to you, I want the chance to talk to my boss alone.” He
jerked his thumb toward the door. “If you could
please
move your butt
out
to the car, maybe we
could get there before the party ends.”

He
heard his mother-in-law gasp, but before she could say anything,
Jared lunged forward, fists clenched.
“Leave her alone!”

An unwanted flash of
memory assaulted Sam and he recalled the protective defense he’d
felt toward his own mother when he was a boy. He shoved the memory
away. He didn’t have time for this.

Emily held up both
hands to stop anyone from saying anything else. “We’re leaving
now.” She leaned forward and kissed Jared’s cheek. “Love you, Baby.
Be good for Grandma.”

Straightening, she
walked past Sam, not even glancing in his direction. As he moved
into the hall he tried to take her elbow, but she jerked away,
hurried down the stairs, grabbed her coat and raced out the front
door.

With a sigh, Sam
followed, moving more slowly. Jerking her arm had been a mistake.
But why couldn’t he ever get any cooperation around here? Why was
everything always his fault?

Buttoning his long
overcoat he closed the door and caught up with Emily, stopping
beside her on the sidewalk. She pulled up the hood on her coat to
block the lightly falling snow, but otherwise, didn’t move.

“What are you waiting
for?” He followed her gaze to where an unfamiliar car was parked in
the driveway. Parked directly behind his car in the garage,
blocking them in. He inhaled cold air and gestured toward the car.
“What is this?”

When
she didn’t answer, he stepped forward and threw both hands in the
air. “What
is
this?”

Jerking his head to the side, he spotted Alice’s BMW across
the street, sitting under a blazing street light, snow already
dusting its frame. He scanned the road and his mouth fell open.
There were cars lining both sides of the street. He turned back to
Emily.
“Who’s car is this?”

Emily crossed her arms
and said nothing.

He heard voices and
strode forward, in front of the car and past the garage until he
could see the neighbor’s front porch. The neighbor’s dog barked
wildly through the six-foot wood fence, and startled, Sam jumped,
then smacked the wood. Someone needed to put that dog out of its
misery. He watched as their neighbor, Kendra Wakely, greeted a
young couple on their well-lit porch.

Emily came up beside
him. “I told Matt and Kendra their guests could park here.” She
glanced at him and shrugged. “I thought we’d be gone before they
arrived. Let’s just take my car.”

He looked at her car,
covered in snow, parked off to the side of the driveway, and
snorted. “I don’t want to show up at my boss’s fancy house in your
piece-of-crap Plymouth.”

“Fine,” she said, her
voice tight. “Let’s just stay home then, okay? That would be fine
with me, because with the way you’re acting tonight, I don’t feel
like going to a party anyway.”

“The
way
I’m
acting?”
The dog barked again, and Sam glowered at the fence, then pulled
Emily back toward the house. “
You’re
the one slowing us down,
making us late.”

She
jerked her arm away from him. Again. His head pounded viciously. He
pointed to the car in the driveway. “
You’re
the one letting people park
in our driveway, and
I
get the blame for acting badly?” Sam blew out a harsh breath
and tried to calm down. “Anyway, it’s not like we can miss
it.”

Emily brushed snow off
her coat sleeves. “Perhaps you should go without me.”

His lips tightened as
he glared at the insidious car parked in his driveway. He would
love to leave her home. But Jeff really liked Emily, and Sam needed
her in his corner tonight. Besides, Jeff would want to know why
he’d come alone, and the last thing Sam wanted was give the
impression things were bad at home. Not with tenure on the
line.

He
turned back to her. She was giving him the blank stare again and
his lip twisted. Maybe they should stay home. Going might be a sure
way to prove to his boss that things
were
bad at home. But then he’d lose
his big chance to talk to Jeff with a drink in his hand.

“So, shall I stay
home?”

“No. I need you to come
with me.”

“Fine.” She blew out a
breath and the cold air changed to mist between them. “Do we need
to ask someone to move their car?” She gestured toward the Wakely’s
house. “If so, I want to make one thing clear. Just leave Matt
alone, okay?”

His
mouth dropped open. “Leave
Matt
alone? Why don’t you ever worry about Matt
leaving
me
alone?
How about a little wifely support?”

She crossed her arms,
pursed her lips and stared fixedly at the streetlight two houses
down.

Sam gritted his teeth.
They’d never get out of here at this rate. Shoving his hands into
his overcoat, he glared toward the neighbor’s house. If he asked
Matt to have the car moved, their big-mouth neighbor would no doubt
start an argument, and that would take too much time. Besides, Sam
would get the blame for it. He grimaced. Some day he needed to kick
Matt’s skinny butt, once and for all.