Building Dreams. Ginna Gray

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СКАЧАТЬ was boisterous and friendly as a puppy. And like a puppy, he was at that gangly stage where he seemed to be constantly tripping over his own feet. Filled with eagerness and boundless energy, Mike never walked; he loped. Nor did he merely sit down; he collapsed. As though he were held together by a single vital pin that someone had suddenly pulled, he would drop onto a chair or sofa like a sack of loose bones, sprawling out, long arms and legs draping over the furniture with all the rigidity of freshly cooked spaghetti.

      Observing him, Tess often had to bite back a smile. She found his awkwardness endearing and viewed his guileless abandon with amused indulgence.

      “If that kid ever grows into those feet of his and gets some meat on those bones he’s going to be one big son-of-a-gun someday,” Amanda commented on more than one occasion. “A big, good-looking son-of-a-gun. Just like his dad.”

      Though it galled her, Tess had to agree. In spite of his perpetual fierce look, Ryan was a strikingly handsome man, and Mike was the very image of him. Unlike Ryan, though, Mike had a happy disposition and a lively sense of humor.

      The boy had a penchant for telling jokes—bad jokes—the cornier and sillier the better. In Tess, who possessed a slightly skewed sense of humor herself, he found the perfect audience. He constantly barraged her and Amanda with awful puns and riddles and knock-knock jokes, and when a punch line drew groans, he clutched his sides and doubled over in a fit of laughter.

      Of Ryan, Tess saw very little, which did not surprise her. Despite his apology, she did not delude herself that they had parted friends. At best, they had achieved a cautious truce.

      Daily, she heard his comings and goings, and once she left the parking lot at the same time he entered it, but the only acknowledgment he gave her was a curt nod as they drove past one another. They didn’t exchange a word or come face-to-face until one evening about a week and a half later.

      Tess and Amanda were almost halfway down the stairs when Ryan, his twin brother and Mike came pounding up them. All three McCall men carried white, grease-spotted sacks that reeked of onions, charbroiled burgers and fries.

      “Hey, Tess! Amanda!” Mike called.

      Ryan’s head jerked up, annoyance flashing in his eyes.

      Reilly grinned. “Well, well. Good evening, pretty ladies.” His twinkling gaze slid warmly over Tess and zeroed in on Amanda. “This is a pleasant surprise.”

      Ryan didn’t look pleased. His mouth flattened and he nodded. Tess had the distinct feeling that he would have kept going if there had been room on the stairs to get around them.

      Her nerves fluttered. After ten days with no contact, to suddenly come face-to-face with the man was unsettling. She responded with a restrained, “Good evening.” Her polite smile encompassed both men briefly, then turned warm when her gaze focused on the boy.

      “Hi, Mike. How did your game go?” All afternoon he had bounced around her apartment, keyed up and nervous as a caged cat, fretting over the baseball game scheduled for that evening. The outcome of the contest was vital to Mike and his teammates, since the winner would advance to the play-offs.

      “We clobbered ’em, six to three,” he bragged, grinning from ear to ear.

      “Congratulations. That’s terrific.”

      “Hey! Way to go, sweetie,” Amanda drawled, ruffling his dark hair.

      “Yeah, it was a great game. We were just about to celebrate with double cheeseburgers and shakes.” Reilly hefted the four sacks he carried and looked expectantly at Amanda. “We’d be delighted to have you lovely ladies join us.”

      “Reilly.” Ryan practically growled his twin’s name, the low tone reverberating with warning.

      Reilly ignored him. He leaned closer to Amanda and gave her a heavy-lidded look. “Whaddaya say?”

      One of Amanda’s eyebrows arched. “No, thank you.”

      The frosty look and clipped tone had annihilated more than one man in the past; Reilly merely grinned wider. “C’mon, Mandy. You know you want to.”

      “Mr. McCall. My name is Amanda, not Mandy. And furthermore, I wouldn’t have dinner with you if you—”

      “What Amanda is trying to say is we’re busy tonight,” Tess put in hurriedly. “We’re on our way to class, and if we don’t hurry we’ll be late as it is.”

      “Class?”

      “Yeah, you know, Uncle Reilly,” Mike piped up. “Lamaze class. Amanda is Tess’s coach.”

      The statement drew a sharp look from Ryan. He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and said instead, “We won’t keep you, then.” He gave Mike a prod in the back. “Let’s go, son.”

      “’Night, Tess. ’Night, Amanda,” Mike said as he and his father squeezed past them and continued up the stairs.

      “Ryan’s right,” Reilly said. “We don’t want to make you late. We’ll just give you a rain check on dinner. You ladies have a nice class.” He winked and started after his brother and nephew, taking the stairs two at a time.

      “Hey, wait a minute! We didn’t ask for a rain check!” Amanda yelled after him, but Reilly merely laughed and kept going.

      Making a strangled sound, she whirled and stomped off down the stairs. Tess had the feeling that she had forgotten all about her.

      “Amanda! Amanda, wait for me!” she called, hurrying after her as fast as her ungainly body would allow.

      By the time she reached her friend’s car, Amanda was already behind the wheel, revving the engine. The instant Tess climbed inside and fastened her seat belt, Amanda rammed the floor shift into gear and sent the little red fireball of a car careening out of the parking lot.

      “The gall of the man! Of all the overbearing, egotistical, Neanderthal jerks!” she spat, taking a corner with a squeal of tires.

      “Amanda, for goodness sake. What are you getting so worked up about? Reilly merely asked you to dinner. It’s not as though he made an obscene suggestion.”

      Amanda shot her a blistering look. “His words may have been harmless, but believe me, his thoughts were obscene. Take my word for it, that man wants a lot more than a meal and conversation. I’ve met his kind before. The cretin.”

      Tess wanted to laugh, but she didn’t dare. She had never seen her friend in such a snit over a man before. Cool, unflappable and thoroughly sophisticated Amanda had been fending off passes and winding men around her little finger since she was a preschooler. She couldn’t remember a time when her friend hadn’t had a whole pack of males panting after her. Amanda never so much as turned a hair over any of them. She tolerated their fawning and salivating with a blasé, almost cynical amusement. Yet a few simple words and a teasing look from Reilly McCall had shattered her insouciance and sent her temper soaring.

      Studying her friend’s set profile, Tess pursed her lips. What an interesting reaction.

      Personally, she thought Reilly was charming. A bit of a flirt perhaps, and no doubt a rascal…but charming. It was just too bad that some of that charm and cheerfulness had not СКАЧАТЬ