The Second Family. Janice Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ TURNED off the television as soon as they entered the condo. He took one look at them and slumped back into the couch cushions. Guessing, Alec figured, that no decision had been made. Or no deal, as Tess would have put it. He felt sick at the thought of breaking the news to the kids, but then realized at once that he wasn’t going to give up so easily. Their return flight to Denver wasn’t until four o’clock the next day. He still had a little more than twenty-four hours to convince Tess Wheaton it was in her best interests to basically rearrange her whole life.

      Yeah, right. In spite of her damn good looks, she was definitely no pushover. Not as soft inside as she appeared on the out. And no wonder, given the childhood snapshot she’d shown him. Still, that was no excuse for shirking one’s duty to family. That was something he himself had finally learned, after a rocky adolescence and reality-checking career in the armed forces. The one thing you could count on at the end of a long hard day—whether your job was slugging it out in a factory or dropping bombs for NATO—was family. So maybe Tess Wheaton didn’t know that yet, but there was no reason why she couldn’t learn.

      “Okay, guys,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as hollow as it felt. “Ready to hit the arcades?” He saw Tess frown, not knowing what he meant. Maybe afraid she’d have to get involved in yet another project. Just itching to turn that laptop back on again. He felt a surge of anger, but stifled it. That wasn’t the way he’d win the battle.

      “Before we went out for coffee,” he explained, “I told Nick I’d take him and Molly to play some games.”

      She looked blank.

      “You know,” Alec explained. “Computer games. Shoot-outs and all that.”

      “Oh, those things,” she said, dismissing them with a slight upturning of lip.

      For a second, Alec wondered if he was on the right track with his idea to get her back to Colorado. She didn’t know kids at all. Except for the offer of frozen strawberry yogurt, she’d struck out completely. And even that had been more of a walk than a real hit. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for the role of surrogate parent. She definitely didn’t look the part. Her slender, tall frame, jet hair and dramatic green eyes suggested a fashion model rather than the shrewd businesswoman she must be to make the executive echelon at her age.

      Nick was on his feet and halfway to the door before Alec had a chance to remind him about returning his empty plate to the kitchen area. He went back to the couch and got Molly’s half-eaten sandwich and pop can, too. Eager to please, Alec realized. Wanting to get something out of the trip to Chicago, even if only a couple of hours in a games arcade. Before he had to go back to Boulder and face a bloody awful future. Resentment against Tess flowed through him. I’m not giving up yet.

      “Coming, Molly?” Alec asked.

      She was sprawled against the cushions. Her face, usually rosy-cheeked, was pale against the navy-blue-and-white-striped fabric. “I’m tired,” she said.

      Alec glanced across at Tess, hovering near the kitchen counter. He passed her what he hoped was a meaningful look and finally she got it.

      “Molly can stay and have a nap on my bed, if she wants.”

      Generous of you. “Okay, Molly, catch forty winks. When we get back, there’s dinner out and maybe a movie.”

      The small face broke into a heartbreaking smile. How could Tess not be moved by that wattage, he asked himself? But when he turned his head her way, he saw that she was raising the lid on her laptop. Alec sighed. Twenty-four hours. He hoped he was up to the job.

      “WHAT ARE forty winks, Tess?” Molly asked as soon as the door closed behind Nick and Alec.

      Tess pressed the On button of her computer. “It’s an old expression, meaning to take a short nap. People don’t say it very much anymore.”

      “Except Alec,” giggled Molly. “He says lots of funny things.”

      “I bet,” murmured Tess as she clicked open her file. Then she looked across the room. “I thought you were sleepy.”

      “Aren’t you going to tuck me in?”

      “For a nap?”

      Molly struggled up and perched on the edge of the couch. “Someone always tucked me in whenever I got into bed.” Her voice trembled.

      Tess had a sudden flash who that someone must have been. Her mother or father. Personally, she couldn’t recall either one of her parents doing that for her. But Mavis had, when she’d moved in with her. For at least the whole first year. “All right,” she said, minimizing the window on the laptop screen. “Tuck-in time!”

      Molly giggled again. “Is that like nap time?”

      Tess shrugged. “I guess.”

      “You say funny things, too. Like Alec.”

      That name overrode the mild pleasure at being called funny. Tess motioned toward the bedroom. “C’mon, then.”

      Molly followed her into the bedroom and was on the bed before Tess had the comforter pulled back. When the small dark head hit the pillow, Tess said, “Okay, how does tuck-in go?”

      Molly grinned. “You really don’t know anything about kids, do you?”

      “Who said that?”

      “Alec did, at the sub place. He said we had to give you some time and space ’cause you didn’t know anything about kids.”

      Tess sniffed. “Huh. And I suppose he’s an expert, having a hundred of them at home himself.”

      Molly’s laugh rang out. “He’s not even married, silly!”

      “That’s not surprising,” Tess muttered under her breath. “So now you’re tucked in, I’ll go do some work.”

      “Wait!” Molly’s smile disappeared. “You’re not finished yet.”

      “I’m not?”

      A shake of raven curls. “Nope. First you kiss me, then you sit for a few minutes until I feel sleepy.”

      Okay, Tess. You can do this. Shouldn’t take more than another five minutes.

      She sat on the side of the bed and leaned over to kiss Molly on the cheek. The girl’s eyelids fluttered as she popped a thumb into her mouth. She must have taken in Tess’s expression for she pulled it out long enough to say, “It’s okay. I’m giving it up later, when things are back to normal.”

      Tess couldn’t help but smile. “A good idea,” she murmured.

      Molly nodded. She withdrew the thumb again. “It was Alec’s. He said as long as I’m not sucking it when I’m walking down the aisle, I’ll be okay. I don’t know what he means but if he says it’s okay—”

      “It must be,” Tess agreed. In spite of the reminder that Alec was, once again, proven to be such a superhero, she had to admit he obviously knew more about kids than she did.

      The thumb was returned and Molly closed her eyes. Tess stared down at the heart-shaped face, small and delicate against the oversized СКАЧАТЬ