Toys and Baby Wishes

CHAPTER ONE

"What in blazes is going on here?"

Lexa Kittredge almost dropped the porcelain figurine she'd
lifted from Clare Flannigan's bookshelf.  Before she could answer, Clare
slipped from behind the desk she'd been dusting.

"Josh!  You're back!"  She pushed her blue glasses
farther up her nose.  "Lexa, this is my nephew, Josh Flannigan.  Josh,
meet Alexandra Kittredge."

Lexa only had time to nod before Clare rushed on, "So
how was Colorado, Josh?  You deserved that long vacation.  Anything exciting
happen?  Meet any bears?"

Lexa suppressed a smile, recognizing Clare's attempt to turn
the focus of the conversation on her nephew, rather than the disordered state
of her apartment.

"Aunt Clare, what's going on?"

His question was directed at Clare but his gaze was on
Lexa.  Suddenly she wished they'd opened a window.  She hadn't noticed it
before, but the heat in Clare's apartment was stifling.  Her sweatshirt was
sticking uncomfortably to her shoulders.  It wasn't supposed to be this hot in Pennsylvania in October, Indian summer or not.  Or did the sudden rise in temperature have
something to do with Josh Flannigan's piercing blue eyes, the same startling
blue as Clare's?

"I'm moving."

Josh's attention flew to his aunt.  "You're what?"

Clare climbed onto the step stool to remove books from the
top shelf of the bookcase.  "I'm moving.  Some friends and I have invested
in a lovely old house," she explained airily as if she did something like
this at least once a week.

Josh's fingers dashed through his shaggy black hair. 
"Have you taken leave of your senses?"

Lexa set the figurine back on the shelf and took a step
forward, deciding it might be time to help Clare explain the situation to her
nephew.  She offered her hand.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr.
Flannigan.  Clare's told me so much about you."

Josh's gaze switched back to her.  "And just who are
you?"

"Joshua, don't be rude!" Clare scolded.

He took Lexa's hand but also took the time to give her a
more thorough looking-over.  She didn't have to guess at what he saw. 
Sweatshirt and jeans.  Curly blonde hair that probably looked as if she'd just
escaped a stiff wind.  Shiny face.  "I'm a friend of Clare's."

He dropped her hand.  "Since when?"

"Josh..."

"It's all right, Clare.  About two months ago Clare
came to a workshop I was giving," Lexa explained.

"About?"  Josh looked at Clare as if she'd been
bitten by some strange bug.

"Senior citizens developing second careers."

"Oh, great.  Just what Clare needs when she's finally
retired."

"You don't know what I need."  Clare's tone
matched the fiery hue of her red hair.

"Mr. Flannigan, your aunt has acted very
responsibly."

"Where did you get the money?" Josh asked his
aunt.

"I had money saved."

Josh's hand slashed through the air.  "But that was
your nest egg.  I don't believe you've done something so...

impulsive."

Clare exploded. "It's about time I'm impulsive if I
want to be impulsive."

Lexa took a deep breath.  She had to do something to prevent
a full-blown fight.  "I've directed Clare to an experienced financial
advisor."

Josh shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Clare, you can't be serious about moving.  You've lived in this apartment
all your life.  I've lived here much of mine.  The rent's always been
reasonable, you don't have to worry about mowing grass or shoveling
snow."  He looked around the room at the chaos.  "My God!  I go away
for six weeks and when I come back, you're packing boxes."

Clare shrugged and took Lexa's place at the bookshelves. 
She reached to the top shelf for two volumes of poetry.  "I'm doing the
right thing.  Ask Lexa."

Acting as a buffer wasn't Lexa's favorite position.  She'd
had to do it too many times between her younger sister and their stepmother. 
But at least she'd had practice.  "I think you're doing what you want to
do.  That makes it right."

Striding toward Clare, Josh took the books from her hand and
dumped them into an open carton.  His denim jacket emphasized the width of his
shoulders, and the snug fitting jeans encased long legs and muscular thighs. 
He wasn't drop-dead handsome, but even with the beard stubble, he'd certainly
do.  Do for what?  Lexa asked herself, then pushed every possible answer out of
her head.

"I want to know where you got this crazy idea,"
Josh was saying.  "Do you know the work you're letting yourself in for? 
The hassles?"

Clare's eyes threw rebellious darts.  "What about the
joy?  The challenge?  The thrill of a new adventure?  Just because I'm over
sixty, Joshua Flannigan, is no reason to put me out to pasture.  I'm still
alive and kicking more than ever.  Thirty-five years of teaching English to
teenagers is not enough to wear me out or put me in a rocking chair."

She pointed her finger at him.  "You thought I'd be
happy retired, you thought I'd be happy living a life of leisure.  Well, if it
wasn't for the senior center this past year, I'd have gone crazy!  Lexa thinks
this is a magnificent idea and I expected more support from you."

Josh pushed his jacket flaps aside and stuffed his hands in
his back pockets as if he were considering the best way to reason with his
aunt.  "Don't you thing you're acting recklessly?"

Lexa squared her shoulders.  This was going to be more
difficult than she'd expected.  "Mr. Flannigan, your aunt came to talk to
me because she was bored, because she was feeling useless, because sitting here
by herself was making her feel ancient."

Josh's blue eyes were steady and concerned as they swung
back to Clare.  "Aunt Clare, all you have to do is call me.  I can spend
more time with you."

"What nonsense!"  Clare planted her hands on her
hips.  "You're thirty-four, You have your own life to live and so do
I."

Realizing her presence increased the tension, Lexa stepped
forward.  "Clare, it might be better if I wait in the other room."

"Don't let Josh chase you out."

Lexa crossed the room.  "He's not.  I think you two
need to hash this out on your own.  I'll take down the wall decorations in the
living room."

Josh moved aside to let Lexa pass, wondering how to keep his
aunt from making the biggest mistake of her life.  He cared about her too much
to let her put herself in financial jeopardy, let alone create more work for
herself than she needed.

Lexa's delicate perfume lingered, teasing him.  After weeks
of smelling only damp earth and woods, the scent affected him.  Or maybe it was
her seeming fragility--the big brown eyes, that fluffy blond hair.  She
certainly looked harmless.  So what was she doing meddling in Clare's life?

Josh turned toward his aunt, his black brows pulling
together in an effort to concentrate on her problem.  "Is a rambling old
house going to give you a new life?  I think it's going to give you headaches. 
Think of the money you'll waste on repairs.  Something always needs to be fixed
in old houses.  Who's going to pay for that?"

Clare's tone was defensive.  "Lexa says it doesn't need
many repairs.  The door frames need a fresh coat of paint.  That's all."

The last thing he wanted to do was dismiss or hurt Clare's
feelings.  She had given him a home since he was twelve and he loved her
dearly.  But the idea of her giving up her nest egg worried him.  If Alexandra
Kittredge had influenced Clare unduly, there'd be hell to pay.

"How does Lexa know what repairs this house
needs?" Josh asked, amazed at the confidence Clare was placing in a
stranger who could be a con artist, even if she didn't look like one.

"She knows the real estate agent.  She says he's honest
and would tell us if anything else was wrong.  My partners and I looked at the
whole place carefully."

Partners.  His aunt was involved over her head; he knew it. 
"You have no experience dealing with people who might be less than
honest.  A real estate agent has one thing on his mind--selling.  As for your
partners, who are they and what do they know?"

Clare's lips tightened.  "I do not have the time or
inclination to keep arguing with you.  I have to be packed in five days."

"Five days?  You mean the deal's closed...finished? 
You did this without consulting me?"

His aunt's voice was even, but silver sparks studded her
blue eyes.  "I'm an adult.  I don't have to consult you.  And how could I
anyway when you were off in no-man's land back-packing?"

"You could have waited.  You knew my timetable."

She gently clasped his arm.  "I'm doing this whether
you approve or not.  We had to move fast on the house.  Someone else wanted
it.  We settle on Friday and I intend to move in Saturday."

Whenever he argued with Clare, he felt as if he was running
against the wind.  She could be so bullheaded.  He wanted what was best for her
but he wasn't sure this was it.  "You're moving too fast; I don't like the
whole thing."

His aunt gave him a pat, then crossed to the desk and picked
up a can of furniture polish.  "I've made my decision, Josh.  You're not
going to change my mind so you might as well stop trying.  I have a lot to do
and not much time to do it.  If you're going to help, you're welcome to
stay."

Josh closed his eyes for a moment.  He was tired.  He had
driven the last seven hours, anxious to get home, anxious to see how the toy
stores were faring without him, anxious to find out what his aunt had been up
to.  No one had heard him knock, so he'd walked in.  He'd never expected this. 
The deal wouldn't be settled until Friday, so it could still fall through or be
cancelled.

"I'm going to talk to Ms. Kittredge."

"You're not going to bully her.  This was totally my
decision, no one else's."

"I want to know some details."

"So ask me!"

"You're too busy packing."

"Josh--"

"Aunt Clare," he parroted with the same wary
intonation.

Clare threw her hands up in surrender.  "Okay.  But
don't make her feel guilty or anything else.  She's been an extraordinary
help.  I wouldn't have been able to do this without her."

Josh believed that.  But why had she torn his aunt's life
apart?  He was determined to find out exactly what Lexa Kittredge had to do
with this whole mess, and what kind of influence she obviously held over his
aunt.

His footsteps were muffled by the carpet in the hallway.  But
when he entered the living room, Lexa turned toward him,  as if sensing he was
there.

She propped the painting she was holding against a sofa arm
and sat down next to it.  "Clare is sure about the plans she's made."

Josh's expression was grim.  "Are they her plans or
someone else's?"

Lexa stared up at him and didn't seem to take offense at his
protective concern.  "They're her plans."

There were smudges of blue under Lexa's eyes.  Did she stay
up late?  Did she live with someone?  He glanced at her hand.  No ring on her
finger.  He wondered how she spent her free time and whom she spent it with,
then immediately banished the thought.

He had to remind himself she could be manipulating his aunt
for some gain of her own.  His words were brisk.  "Convince me.  Convince
me that you had nothing to do with her pouring her life savings into an old
house, nothing to do with her turning her life topsy-turvy at her age.  She
said you've been advising her.  What gives you that right?"

"I have that right because I have the qualifications
and because I'm her friend.  I have been since the workshop."

He crossed his arms over his chest.  "I can't believe
she was interested in a second career.  She can't possibly want to work again. 
She has a teacher's pension and social security."