The Only Child. Carolyn McSparren

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      She’d give Logan breakfast here. He probably ate healthy junk, but if she did decide to go with him, she needed to finish the country ham before she left. She checked the freezer. Biscuits. There were always plenty of eggs. One overdose of cholesterol was unlikely to do irreparable harm to their arteries, and country ham beat bran flakes any day of the week.

      Not that he needed the extra energy. He’d become a different person since he’d found a direction, a focus, something to do. He’d turned into a cross between a dynamo and one of his blasted bulldozers. At the moment, she felt like a very small sapling standing directly in his path. He was going to mow her down any minute. He was obviously used to calling all the shots and making all the decisions. If this was the way he treated Zoe, no wonder they had problems.

      She knew darned well all his sexy innuendos were nothing but cheerful banter, but they really affected her. She shook herself and reached for Elvis. He eluded her and scampered down the hall. “Fickle cat!” she snapped.

      She called Sherry and poured out the whole story to her. “And the worst of it is, he refuses even to discuss the possibility with Zoe and Rick that Dulcy is alive,” Molly said. “He treats her like a child.”

      “He’s being an overprotective daddy,” Sherry said. “And, he’s never really gotten to know Rick. Do you know a plumber who doesn’t work twelve hours a day, six days a week? And Logan still goes gallivanting off for months at a stretch. Their orbits don’t match.” Sherry paused for a moment before going on, “Neither do their views of the world. I think Zoe may keep her two men apart a bit as well without realizing it. She demands Rick’s complete loyalty. I don’t think she’d be too happy if Rick and Logan suddenly started going fishing together.”

      “Maybe they should. Rick is the dearest, sweetest, most sensible man I know.”

      Sherry laughed. “He also has a scruffy beard and wears jeans to work. When Logan’s home, he prefers three-piece suits and red power ties. Besides, Rick became the most important person in Zoe’s life just when Logan wanted to become a full-time father to her. Bad timing.”

      Molly snorted. “I refuse to get involved in any more dysfunctional families. It’s taken me years to get over my own.” She hesitated. “On the other hand, Logan may act like a field marshal, but he’s so damned sad. I hate to abandon him.”

      Sherry laughed. “That’s my Molly—half of you wants to hide in your cave and make dolls, the other half keeps turning into Joan of Arc.”

      “And look what happened to her.”

      WHILE SHE WANTED for Logan to show up for breakfast, Molly called her daughter. “Anne, I’m going out of town,” Molly said. “I’ll have to renege on Elizabeth’s sleep-over Friday. Can the two of you look after the animals for a few days?”

      “Where are you going? Why? How long?” Anne asked. Then she caught her breath. “Mother, are you involved with that gray fox?”

      Molly heard the verbal quotation marks around that word involved. “Even if I were, and I’m not, I’m a grown woman. I’m sorry, Anne, I can’t tell you any more. I promise I’ll keep in touch.”

      Anne sighed. “Mom, you know we’ll look after the animals. It’s time Elizabeth started getting Maxie ready for the Thanksgiving horse show anyway. I’ll even make Phil take off on Saturday afternoon and come watch her ride.” She hesitated.

      Molly, who was used to her daughter’s silences, waited for her to continue.

      “It’s just that Phil and I worry about you, Mom. You’re out there all alone. The world’s not safe and neither are the people in it—not even the handsome foxes. I love you too much to want to see you hurt again. Sometimes I worry that you don’t think things out too clearly.”

      “Thank you, darling, for your vote of confidence,” Molly said. “But I’m tougher than you think and not nearly so naive. I can look after every part of my self, including my heart. Don’t worry. I’ll keep in touch while I’m gone and tell you everything when I get home. I’ll call Elizabeth this afternoon to apologize for finking out on her sleep-over.” She hesitated, then blurted out, “I love you all. I’m so glad I have you.”

      “Mom? Are you all right? You never talk like that.”

      “Maybe I should. ‘Bye, darling.”

      She hung up to Anne’s drawn-out “Mooooother” on the line.

      Next, she called Sherry to report her decision to go with Logan.

      “My God, Molly,” Sherry said. “You’re not seriously flying off into the wilds of Kansas with Logan MacMilan.” Sherry’s laughter echoed down the wires. Then her voice turned deadly serious. “Do you truly think you can find that child?”

      “We have to try. The difficulty is that we’re a pair of rank amateurs. Frankly, I don’t have the foggiest notion where to start.”

      “I wouldn’t either. But I’ll say some prayers for you. Trust you to wind up going searching with an incredibly attractive man. Nothing like that ever happens to me.”

      “When has it ever happened to me before? Besides, we’ll probably hate one another cordially by the end of the first day. Logan MacMillan isn’t my type,” Molly lied glibly, wishing it were true.

      “Then you are deaf, dumb and blind.”

      “What’s more to the point, I am definitely not his type.”

      “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”

      Molly stretched her bare feet in front of her and ran her hand through her hair again. “Okay, you said you’d known Sydney since college. Do I remind you of her?”

      Sherry chuckled. “Not in the least. Sydney cared more for externals and appearances than any human being I have ever met. She knew darned well Tiffany was a hellraiser, but all she could see was her future daughter-inlaw’s social standing and a wedding with twelve bridesmaids. Boy, did she get a rude awakening. Besides, Sydney was what the movie magazines used to call ‘divinely thin’“

      “That let’s me out. I have good reason to know that men Logan’s age go for women Anne’s age. He’ll probably treat me like a sister, or worse yet, an aunt. Frankly, I’m surprised some rich young widow hasn’t snapped him up before now.”

      “Logan keeps them at arm’s length. He is courtly, charming, available for dinner parties when he’s in town, pleasant and detached. I think he doesn’t want to risk losing anyone else of value to him, so he simply refuses to care for anybody again. Of course, that old Byronic ‘secret pain that only you, fair love, can assuage’ is a downright killer with the ladies. I’ve considered seducing him myself.”

      “Leo would kill you.”

      “Only if he found out. Unfortunately, I haven’t the skill for double-dealing that most women have.”

      “Meaning?”

      “I’d louse up my stories and get caught…Easier to stay faithful. Of course, you don’t have a heavy husband waiting in the wings with a shotgun. You and he are both unattached. Enjoy.”

      “Thanks СКАЧАТЬ