Pinky Promise (Riverbend Romance 2) (2 page)

“Our move here happened rather suddenly. I saw the ad, interviewed, and moved in just a few weeks.” He took a deep breath. It had been an absolute whirlwind, and he still couldn’t believe he’d done it. But moving out of Calgary had seemed necessary since Christmas. “There were some things I didn’t have time to plan out.”

“Oh?” Kelly swirled her tongue across the mottled brown surface of her cone. “Like what?”

Ian jerked his attention back to her eyes. “I went online and enrolled Sophie in school before we moved, but I didn’t take time to really examine the calendar. Imagine my surprise when I learned there was only one week of classes before spring break. I thought I’d have more time to figure it out.”

She glanced at the two little girls with their heads bent together at the other end of the picnic table. “So you don’t have daycare lined up for Sophie. Is that what you’re saying?”

He scratched his head and nodded. “Yeah. Can you recommend anyone? What are your plans for Elena?” He probably shouldn’t ask. No doubt Kelly had a relative who pitched in for her daughter.

“I’ve booked the week off as vacation time.”

“So you’re off on a Disney adventure cruise?” The girls were discussing which princess name was best for a horse of which color. A horse? Who was getting one of those? Maybe the other household. Certainly not him.

Kelly laughed with no humor. “Not so much. My mother kept her last year, but my grandmother’s health is failing, and Mom’s all but moved to Castlebrook to be at her side. I asked around, and the daycares were full. So I booked the week off work, and then my church decided to run a full-day program that week Elena would’ve qualified for. Of course my vacation time was already locked in. Bernie wouldn’t change it.”

Bernie. Wasn’t that the guy over in human resources? Ian frowned. “Do you want me to talk to him? Get it overturned?”

“No, thanks.” Kelly’s eyes narrowed at him. “I’m not looking for special favors.”

Ian felt a flush creep up his cheeks. “That’s not how I meant it.” He stopped before trying to explain further, because he’d likely dig a deeper hole. This dating someone in his department could get awkward. Whoa. Was he seriously considering that? Just because two little girls had formed an instantaneous friendship? Or — he glanced at Kelly, whose ice cream was now level with her cone while his was about to drip all over — or was he actually attracted to the young woman across from him? Whether he was or not didn’t matter. A relationship wasn’t an option. Was it?

“So.” Ian took a deep breath. “Which church has a program planned for spring break? I guess I’d better look into it.”

“River of Life, south of the highway.”

“I’ll give them a call.” This single-parenting gig never got easier. He couldn’t very well bring Sophie to the office every day if this didn’t pan out.

Kelly popped the tail end of the cone into her mouth. “Thanks for the ice cream. Elena? What do you say?”

The little girl turned to examine him. “Thank you, Sophie’s daddy.”

She wore blue ice cream everywhere. “You’re welcome, Elena.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out two packets with pre-moistened wipes, and tossed one to Kelly. “Looks like you could use one of these.”

Kelly gave him a strange look. “C’mere, baby girl. Let me wipe your face.”

Ian beckoned Sophie closer. “It’s amazing how far one scoop of ice cream can spread, considering I’m sure they ate most of it.”

Kelly smiled, keeping her grip on her child. “Elena and I are happy to have met you, but we’re heading home now.”

Elena’s eyes brimmed with tears. “But—”

How could Kelly stand up to that? Ian wasn’t sure he could.

“You’ll see Sophie again in school tomorrow, baby girl. Time to go.”

“Okay.” Elena’s lips trembled. “Goodbye, Sophie.”

Seemed like all of them were sad about the parting. All except maybe Kelly.
Get her phone number
. The thought was so strong the words nearly came out of his mouth as she turned away, her daughter’s hand in a firm grip. But they worked together and the two new best friends went to school together. He’d see Kelly again.

Chapter 2

“Kelly!” Her coworker, Vanessa, greeted her the next morning when she walked in the Public Works Department’s entrance to Town Hall. “They’ve called a staff meeting first thing.”

Sound casual. “Oh? What’s up?”

Vanessa leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Have you seen our new head? Girl, that man is a splendid specimen.”

“A
what?
” Not that Kelly hadn’t noticed. She chuckled. “Only you would use those words. So he’s not some graybeard here to put in the last few years before retirement?”

“Are you kidding me? Wait until you see him.” Her co-worker glanced around and whispered, “Dibs.”

Nice try. No way was Ian Vanessa’s type. “Aren’t we a being a tad bit possessive this morning? Over someone we just met?” Kelly eyed her friend. “If you’ve even met him in person yet.”

Vanessa shivered. “You’ll see.” She looked past Kelly’s shoulder and her eyes widened. “There he is now.”

Did she have to play this game? Either way, it was about to get embarrassing. She’d worked in this department for two years, keeping her head down, staying out of trouble, and doing her best for Elena. Surely no one could fire her for having met her new boss... and having their daughters hit it off. She groaned, earning her a worried look from her friend, before turning to glance over her shoulder.

“Kelly! Good to see you this morning.” Ian strode toward her, a cute smile creasing his face.

Vanessa’s elbow found her ribs. “You’ve already met?” she whispered. “I’m so gonna get even with you for this, girl. Letting me blather on.”

“Good morning.” Should she call him Mr...? Man, she couldn’t even remember his surname at the moment. Her mind totally blanked at the warmth in his brown eyes. A sharp elbow in her back jogged words out of her. “Have you met Vanessa yet? She works with me on the landscaping crew.”

Vanessa slid past Kelly and took Ian’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tomlinson. I’m sure things will run smoothly in Public Works with you in charge.”

Ian chuckled and quirked a grin at Kelly. “Well, I hope so. It will take a bit of time to settle in and get my bearings. I won’t keep everyone long for the meeting. I know you all have plenty to do.”

Yeah, she did. And it didn’t involve daydreaming about her new boss. Feet on the planet, head out of the clouds — that was the way to keep her and Elena grounded. She’d been doing just fine for seven years.

Thankfully, Ian turned to greet some of the other employees in their division and gestured everyone toward the lunchroom. That meant he wasn’t witness to Vanessa standing in front of her, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised. “When did you meet him?”

Kelly sighed. “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal of this. For all you know, he’s married.”

Vanessa leaned closer. “Is he? Then he sure shouldn’t be looking at you like that, girl.”

“No, he isn’t.” Not that Kelly knew his precise situation.

“Which is it?”

“He’s not married, but you didn’t know. You practically threw yourself at him.”

“Did not, girl. That’s just my way.” Vanessa winked. “But, you know, if he were interested, I wouldn’t turn him down.”

Nearly everyone had filed into the lunchroom by now. Kelly stepped around Vanessa, but her coworker held her arm in a tight grip. “Not so fast,” she said in a low voice. “How did you meet him?”

“When I picked up Elena after school yesterday. He has a little girl in the same class, and they hit it off.” Wowza, that had been more than hitting it off. “He was there to get his daughter. The girls introduced us all around.” No point in mentioning the ice cream.

“Well, isn’t that convenient.”

“Maybe it depends on your point of view.” Kelly removed her arm from Vanessa’s grasp. “Come on. Let’s get this meeting over with so we can transplant petunias.”

~*~

Ian had a hard time keeping his mind on learning the ropes of his new job all day. Town maps covered his wall, marked with various legends. A group of streets near downtown were due to be paved this summer and contractors needed to be confirmed.

His secretary, a middle-aged woman named Rhonda, walked him through his day with utmost patience and probably two packs of gum. All the minty fresh he could handle.

When she took her coffee break, he stayed in his office to look up the church’s number and made the call.

“River of Life, Jessica speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Jessica. I’ve just moved to town and understand you are running an all-day children’s program through spring break. My daughter is in first grade, and I’d like to enroll her.”

“Hmm.”

He heard a chair roll across a hard surface then a few clicks.
 

“We don’t have any openings for that age group. I’m sorry.”

“But—” Now what was he supposed to do? “I’m sorry to hear that. I was thrilled when a friend mentioned this to me as a possibility.”

“Most years we have more openings, but our youth pastor and a group of teens will be away on a missions trip next week, and that cuts our staff in half. Without the appropriate leadership ratio, we simply can’t add more children.”

“I understand.” And he did, but it still didn’t help him any. “Do you have any other suggestions? Anyone in the church run a private daycare that might have space, for instance?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know of anyone.”

Ian managed not to sigh deeply into the phone. It wasn’t Jessica’s problem. “Thank you for your time.”

“I hope to see you at River of Life on Sunday morning. Church starts at ten thirty, and we have a terrific children’s church for your daughter’s age group.”

“Thanks. I’ll consider it.” More than consider it, if that’s where Kelly and Elena attended, even though he felt a bit disgruntled at the moment. He set the receiver down, ending the call.

Back to square one.

The teenage girl next door was happy enough to come over mornings when he left for work to help Sophie get ready for school and walk her over on her way to the high school, but she wasn’t going to be around for spring break. Ian wondered if she was going on that missions trip.

It took little time to call the daycares registered with the town and be told they were full, as Kelly had said. Unlike her, he didn’t have any vacation time coming to simply stay home with his daughter. What did Kelly do with Elena over summer vacation?

Maybe he’d been overly hasty moving away from his parents. His network. He sank his head into his hands. “God? I’m sure you led me to Riverbend. Please don’t let my daughter suffer for this. Help me find a place for her with someone I can trust.”

Wait a minute.

He surged to his feet and strode over to the window. What would Kelly say? He definitely couldn’t ask her in front of the girls or she’d have no chance to make her own decision. But he knew where to find her, at least from 7:00 to 3:30.

~*~

“Splendid specimen headed this way,” Vanessa said in a low voice.

Kelly resisted the urge to glance up. She’d always found her coworker’s fixation on men amusing. Until today. “Otherwise known as our department head, or have you discovered a new splendid specimen in the last eight hours?”

A manly chuckle came to her ears. That was so not Vanessa.

Heat exploded up Kelly’s neck and across her face. No stinking way. Had she really said that out loud? And he’d overheard her? If the trowel in her gloved hand were a spade, she could dig a hole big enough to sink into in no time flat.

“Good afternoon, ladies.”

Definitely Ian.

She turned slowly, staring at the ground, fervently wishing — praying — this was a dream. But no. Brushed suede shoes stood on the gravel base of the greenhouse. Tan slacks with a brown leather belt. A beige and tan striped shirt, open at the collar. A mouth upturned in a grin. Brown eyes crinkled with amusement. “Hi.”

Off to the side, Vanessa’s eyes danced as she covered her mouth.

Ducking her head, Kelly shot daggers at her friend. Not that anything would suppress Vanessa.

“So, this is the Public Works Greenhouse.” Ian glanced around him. “Care to show me the operation?”

The man was perfectly groomed, and Kelly could be certain dirt smudges on her face matched those on the knees of her jeans. “I’m sure Vanessa would love to.”

He quirked a grin. “But you’re the team leader, according to the personnel lists.” He swept a hand toward the entrance, his gaze still locked on hers. “If you’d be so kind.”

There really wasn’t anything to explain. Weren’t the banks of seedlings evidence enough?

“I’ll be over in C,” Vanessa murmured, brushing past them.

That left her with Ian, a still-burning face, and an awkward silence. Did she have to look at him?

“Splendid specimen? Can’t say I’ve ever been called that before.”

Kelly’s humiliation was complete. “That’s what Vanessa calls half the men she sees. I was just mimicking her.” She scuffed the toe of her boot into the gravel.

His voice lowered. “I think you’re very pretty, too.”

The temperature on her face rose another ten degrees. “Uh, thanks.” What else was she supposed to say? Had he really come down to the greenhouses to flirt with her? During work hours? Wait, he’d asked for a tour. Good change of subject. She took a deep breath. “We have four greenhouses here, growing all the flowers for the baskets downtown and in beds at the various parks.”

When he didn’t reply, she snuck a glance up. Man, he was tall. And looking straight at her with a bemused expression.

“Kelly, I have something to ask you.”

No. Too soon. Way too soon.

“I called the church this morning, but they don’t have any spaces for kids Sophie’s age.”

Had she really thought he was going to ask her out? Well, he
had
said she was pretty and kept looking at her strangely. Time to get her head in the real direction he was going. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I double-checked with all the daycares, and none of them have room, either.”

She nodded, still caught in his gaze.

“I’m a wee bit stuck here, Kelly.” He hesitated, searching her face. “I know it seems very forward being as we just met, but is there any chance you could watch Sophie next week with Elena? I’m happy to pay you the going rate for child care.”