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قديم 11-09-07, 09:57 PM   المشاركة رقم: 11
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معدل التقييم: KATE عضو بحاجه الى تحسين وضعه
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Chapter Eight

The knock against Jack's door was surprisingly urgent. He'd just arrived home, had been changing and checking email before going to Risa's, so it shouldn'd be her. Why come over when she expected him in fifteen minutes?

Bang, bang, bang!

Uneasy, he opened the door. "Jason!"

The little boy stood in the hall, brown eyes frantic. "I thought I should get you. Aunt Risa's crying."

Panic gripped him. "Is she all right? Is Grace?"

"Everyone's fine—'cept Yertle. He went to heaven, but that's okay. He can keep my daddy company. Daddy would probably like a pet. And since I have the aquarium already, maybe Mom will let me get another turtle. Or fish. Or—"

The door to 7-H swung open and Risa charged into the hallway, Grace in her arms, Natalie following behind with a thumb in her mouth.

"Jason Matthew Griggs!" Risa's tone was that parental combination of relief and rage. "Sweetie, never, never leave the apartment without asking me! Do you have any idea how worried..."

She lifted her head, casting Jack an apologetic glance. Jason had been right about the crying, her golden eyes were indeed red-rimmed. "I'm so sorry. I was, um, in the restroom, only gone a minute. They were watching a video. Jason, it's not safe for you to leave the apartment. Most strangers are nice people like Jack, but when I think about—"

Jason's lower lip quivered, and Risa was white as a sheet, probably stricken by all the sinister possibilities she didn't want to mention to the kids.

Natalie popped her thumb out of mouth. "Hi, Mr. Jack."

"Hi, beautiful. You know, kids, I've never noticed before, but there's kind of a funny smell in the hall. Maybe it's from Pierpont the poodle." Natalie giggled, and he continued, "Why don't we all go into Risa's apartment where it doesn't smell funny and sort this out?"

Once they were inside, standing in the white carpeted space between Risa's living room and the breakfast bar that separated her kitchen from the rest of the apartment, Risa focused on the kids. She knelt in front of Jason, careful to hold Grace far enough away that the infant's tiny grasping hands couldn't tug her brother's hair. "It's been a tough day so I won't send you to your room, just promise me you'll never do anything like that again."

"I promise," the little boy mumbled.

"Good. Then maybe we can order a pizza and play video games tonight," Risa said, straightening. "I'm going to look for my delivery coupons."

The kids were all smiles as they resumed watching their movie, and Jack followed his red-eyed hostess into the kitchen.

He noticed her hands trembled as she shuffled through discount offers. "Yertle shuffled off his mortal coil?"

"I have a turtle in my freezer next to the frozen peas." Then she burst into tears.

"You okay?" He felt like an imbecile; people who were wailing and trying to muffle it with a dish towel were not okay.

"Fine." She lowered the towel. "Incompetent, but fine. I buy milk formula for a lactose-intolerant baby, I lose one of my charges, I get the kids a pet and the thing's dead inside a week. It could've at least had the decency to kick the bucket before the ridiculous vet bill, which cost more than the turtle and all its housing in the first place. Apparently, the little guy had pneumonia. The vet pumped him full of expensive antibiotics, and assured me as I was writing out the monstrous check that the turtle would show signs of improvement by tonight."

Jack bit down on his lip, struggling not to see any morbid humor in the situation.

"He didn't even last the entire drive home!" A small giggle tore out of her. "Oh, heavens, I shouldn't be laughing. That's just wrong."

"You seriously have a turtle next to your peas?"

"In a sealed baggie. The kids wanted to properly bury him, but since I don't have a yard, we're preserving him till Janine gets back. I was worried she'd be mad I bought them a pet. Now I'm worried what she'll think when she finds out I killed it in a matter of days."

"Risa, it wasn't your fault—all turtles meet their Maker eventually. And the kids are coping."

She rolled her shoulders, and he recognized the action as someone trying to relieve tension. His fingers itched to massage her tight muscles, to offer comfort it wasn't his place to give. He bounced Grace at his hip, watching her adorable baby grin because it was safer than watching her more-than-adorable babysitter.

"I guess that after losing their father," Risa said, "they have some perspective on the turtle. Nat told me she was glad Yertle wasn't sick anymore, and Jason thinks the idea of having a funeral is cool. I suspect he plans to tell his class about it next week for circle time. He mentioned that an actual funeral would be much cooler than the time Mikey Baxter flushed a goldfish."

Jack shifted his weight, rearranging Grace in his arms. "Um, I understand being upset about Yertle and worrying you let the kids down, but..."

"I wasn't bawling over the turtle. It's just been a very long day."

He noticed her hand—the bare left finger—at the same time she blurted, "Phillip and I broke up."

Broke up? Shock numbed him. He plunked into one of the kitchen chairs before he either lost his balance or dropped Grace. His first impulse was to be jubilant, but Risa had been crying. "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry."

She sniffed. "No, it's okay. It was my doing. Phillip was just the wrong man for me."

Yes! "I see."

Narrowing her eyes, she said, "I suppose you do. You and Janine both saw, hinted, tried to get me to see it. Phillip's a nice man, but it wouldn't be right for me to marry him"

"Did he take it okay?" Though Jack hadn't personally known her that long, he'd feel her absence like a void if she weren't in his life.

"He did, actually, but I've been too much of a coward to call my step-father. Lord knows how he'll take it, which is probably why I'm such a mess. It was one of my mother's last wishes that he and I get along, be a family."

Jack thought that she deserved some time around a real family, one that griped and fought and made up, without its members worrying that they weren't allowed to make mistakes. If she was free of her engagement to Phillip, free to pursue a life in which love played a part, she should have a closer look at how unconditional affection worked.

"Are you and the kids busy Saturday?" he heard himself ask.



"Are we there yet?" Risa asked teasingly.

Jack smirked. "Isn't that supposed to be the kids' line?"

The children were being angels. Jason and Natalie had been playing the Alphabet Game and Grace was zonked out in her car seat. It was Risa who was edgy, wondering what Jack's family would make of her, wondering how he'd described her. His neurotic neighbor who had a habit of staring at his mouth and getting distracted?

"Um, Risa?" He tapped the control panel above the steering wheel—she'd suggested he drive the van since he knew the way. "When was the last time the engine was serviced?"

She laughed. "Because of the light saying something's wrong with the engine? The engine's fine. Somethinf shorted with the light, is all."

"Good to know. I didn't want to break Janine's van. Seemed rude, since I've never even met her."

"I'll have to introdece the two of you. Janine would love you." What woman wouldn't? Gorgeous, funny guy with no know vices and he adored kids. Fow that she thought about it, Risa couldn't imagine why ha was divorced. Why would a wife have let him go? "So...tell me who everyone is again. I'll never keep your family straight."

"That's okay, I have two brothers and two sisters and stopped being able to tell them apart years ago. I just call all the girls 'gorgeous' and the men 'bro'."

"Liar. I know how close you are to your family."

"Yeah, we're close." But something about the way Jack bit the words off more sharply than normal made her think that there was something wrong. Was he fighting with one of his siblings?

"Everything okay? You sound..."

He sighed. "I should just tell you since it will probably come up today. The joke in the family has always been 'Wolfes Mate for life.' I'm the first one in four generations to get a divorce. It's...awkward at times."

Her heart squeezed. "Oh, Jack, that has to be tough. I know what it's like to be in your own home and feel like you stand out or don't belong somehow."

"Thanks. It's nice to have empathy and not just pity. I know they mean well, but they started feeling sorry for me even before the marriage, so the div—"

"What? Why?"

His handsome face colored, then became deliberately neutral as he pointed toward an exit sign. "Good news, everynne, we're almost there!"



Risa couldn't remember ever feeling so blissfully *******, and it wasn't just because of Mrs. Wolfe's sinfully delicious chocolate pie The entire day had been like a fairy-tale...or at least, her version of one, dreamt up in the Judge's spacious but unwelcoming home. There were no people alive more welcoming than the Wolfes, as far as Risa was concerned.

Jason and Natalie had fit right in, accepted into the clan's various children, and Jack's siblings had been delightfully entertaining, the way they affectionately ribbed one another and showed honest interest in what Risa did for a living. It was easy to see how Jack had become such a wonderful man, coming from warm, funny people like these.

She watched him now, from her folding lawn chair, as he stood on the beach, holding a sparkler for Natalie. "He is so good with kids."

Jack's youngest sister, pregnant and practically glowing even in the falling dusk, nodded with a wistful sigh. "Just one of life's weird ironies, isn't it? That a man like that can't father—"

"Sasha Marie!" This from Angela, accompanied by a smack on the back of the head.

"Hey! Be gentle with the pregnant lady," Sasha complained.

Angela, having survived pregnancies of her own, wasn't that easily chastised. "I think we've probably talked Risa's ear off enough, don't you? Let's go see if Mom needs any help loading stuff up for the night."

Though it took some effort to pull herself out of her chair, Sasha toddled after her sister. Risa wasn't an idiot, though, and could piece together the rest of Sasha's words. Jack had said his family felt sorry for him—because he couldn't have children? Surely that wasn't why his wife had left? There were other options available to couples who couldn’t conceive, but very few men like Jack.

Almost as if he could feel his gaze on her, Jack looked up, smiling at her in a way that made her heart somersault and her sun-warmed skin heat even more. She returned the grin with one of her own, shy, but not trying to hide what she felt. She didn't know if she could trust it yet, these emotions that were more instinct than pragmatism, but at least she was free to find out now. With that thought drifting through her mind like a [محذوف][محذوف][محذوف][محذوف][محذوف][محذوف][محذوف]ing breeze, she rose, walking toward him.

He straightened, too. The last of the sparklers had exhausted itself, and he left the kids to try to spot the first stars of the evening, meeting Risa halfway on the beach, out of earshot of anyone else.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi yourself." She felt like a girl at her first dance, hoping the boy she liked would ask her for a turn around the floor. If he didn't, would she have the guts to ask him?

"I hope you had a good day," he said.

"The best. Thank you for sharing this—them—with me."

Pleasure etched itself in his boyish expression, his obvious delight that she liked his family. "You're welcome. I'm just glad it was at the beach, where Mom couldn't pull out twelve albums' worth of naked baby pictures."

She swallowed, feeling strangely free and bold with the wind off the water rippling her hair and the sand cool and smooth beneath her bare feet. "I can think of worse fates than seeing you naked."

His eyebrows shot up. "Well...I...well."

A laugh rippled out of her. "And here I thought you were too much of a smart aleck to ever be at a loss for words."

"I suppose it's only fair that I return the favor." He took a step closer, bending his head so that she could clearly see the mischievous expression that had replaced the shock. "Although maybe it's not technically putting you at a loss for words, I can think of a few ways to keep you from calling me names."

"I take back the 'smart aleck,'" she said, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

"Too late." His lips brushed against hers. "Besides, I am a smart aleck. I'm also...a very...good...kisser."

It might have been bragging, except that, in reality, he was a great kisser.

 
 

 

عرض البوم صور KATE  
قديم 11-09-07, 10:01 PM   المشاركة رقم: 12
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التسجيل: Apr 2007
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معدل التقييم: KATE عضو بحاجه الى تحسين وضعه
نقاط التقييم: 10

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البلدSaudiArabia
 
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Chapter Nine

"Oooooh Aunt Risa's kissing Mr. Jack!" Jason's announcement had the same effect as a bucket of cold water being thrown over the kissing couple.

Except, Risa thought sourly, the splash from a bucket of water might not have echoed up the beach and drawn the attention of Jack's entire family. She sprang back, which was a bad idea since the kiss had left her shaky and unbalanced. To add to the sudden awkwardness of the moment, she almost landed on her butt in the sand.

Jack helped steady her, his hands skimming her bare arms. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She cast a worried glance over her shoulder, hearing snatches of murmured conversation and seeing Jack's mother barreling toward them.

"Better let me head her off," he suggested with a crooked grin. "Unless you specifically told anyone differently today, they all think you're still engaged. If you'd been anyone else, they would have made polite conversation by asking about wedding plans earlier, but they refrained out of deference to my feelings...Angela told everyone I might be smitten with you."

"Yeah?" Her toes curled at the idea of big strong Jack smitten.

He brushed his hand over her cheek, his affectionate gaze needing no words. Then he went to deal with his mom, leaving her to deal with Natalie and Jason.

"Are you gonna marry Mr. Jack?" Jason asked. "That would be so cool! Could I be the ring-bearer? Mikey Baxter got to be the ring-bearer in his cousin's wedding."

Risa fervently wished the Baxters would move to Alaska. "No, Jason, I—"

"Can we tell Mommy?" Natalie looked delighted to have something interesting to share with their returning mother.

Time for a quick subject change! "Speaking of your Mommy, we should head back, get your stuff packed up and change out of these sandy clothes before we pick her up." Risa figured the kids would sleep on the way to the airport, especially after the fun they'd had playing in the fresh air today. "Let's go get Grace from Jack's dad and tell everyone thank you for the nice time."


They managed to say all their goodbyes without too much clumsiness, and Risa tried not to acknowledge the sly smiles sent her way. Angela was the only one to speak her mind, whispering as she hugged Risa, "He's been through too much bad--he deserves someone terrific like you."

The comment left Risa with conflicting feelings as she and Jack loaded the kids into the van. On the one hand, so much acceptance in one day left her grateful and touched. On the other, she wasn't sure where a single kiss would lead. And underlying her emotions was a profound sadness that Jack should have endured heartbreak. Why did rotten things have to happen to people like Janine or Jack or Maggie? Life could be so unfair.

Then again, recalling today's easy, sunlit laughter, topped off with that storybook kiss, she decided that sometimes life was pretty freaking spectacular.



When the elevator doors parted at the seventh floor, Risa and Jack exchanged hushed glances. Jason had fallen asleep mid-piggy-back ride, with Jack supporting the child with one hand so he didn't slide off, and Grace was dozing in the baby sling across Jack's wide, muscular chest. Risa carried an equally unconscious Natalie.

"It's silly to load them back up twenty minutes from now," Jack whispered as they walked toward 7-H. "Why don't I just stay at your place with them while you get their mom?"

It sounded like a perfect idea to Risa, but she wondered how Janine would feel about a stranger keeping her children. She unlocked the door, considering. "I—Janine!"

Her friend unfolded herself from the couch, turning off whatever she'd been watching on the television. "I missed you!" She cast Jack a speculative admiring glance before turning back to Risa. "They cancelled the last flight of the evening and notified passengers that they could catch an earlier one or wait until morning. I came back early and caught a cab. I take it you didn't get the messages on your cell phone?"

Risa felt her face flaming. What kind of babysitter didn't check her voice mail? "I—this evening was so...I had other things on my mind, but I hope you don't think I'm terribly irresponsible. The kids—"

"Look in good hands to me," Janine said with a soft smile. "I missed them terribly."

Grace had already wakened to the sound of her mother's voice and began an excited baby babble that stirred Jason.

"Mommy!" he squealed, no doubt damaging Jack's hearing.

Jack slid the little boy down, then unfastened the sling as Jason told his mother what a fabulous week he'd had.

"We had pizza, and Jack showed me how to play this new racing game, and Aunt Risa helped me with my spelling words, and Natalie and I got to swim today, and Aunt Risa might be getting married to Mr. Jack."

Janine laughed, casting the adults an apologetic smile. "Kids make fanciful assumptions. Jason, honey, Aunt Risa is marrying Phillip—you remember him?"

Risa cleared her throat. "Um, actually..."

"You two have a lot to talk about," Jack said, looking torn between amusement and panic. "I'll just show myself out. Ms. Griggs, it was lovely to have met you. You have three amazing children."

Risa glared in the direction of the door, which he closed behind him, stalling until she had to meet Janine's gaze.

"So that's the hunky neighbor, huh? He does live up to description."

Sitting down on the couch, a slowly waking Natalie cuddled against her, Risa invited, "Tell me all about your vacation!"

"It was wonderful and relaxing and you are the best friend in the world for sending me on it, but honestly, sipping mai-tais by the pool doesn't actually make for the most entertaining anecdotes. I'm more interested in how Jason concluded you'll be marrying Mr. Jack."

"I'm not really marrying him!"

Janine grinned broadly. "Any chance I can have him, then?"



Jack was on his way toward her apartment when Risa's door suddenly opened, nearly giving him a heart attack. He quickly bent down, as if retrieving the morning paper.

She stopped in her tracks. "Oh. Hi. I was just coming over to see you."

Her words, the sweetly hesitant way she said them, washed over him like the bright warmth of a sunbeam. "Really? I was just...coming over to see you, too. I thought maybe you'd like to go out for breakfast or something." If the kiss on the beach yesterday was any indication of things to come, he voted strongly for 'or something.' He didn't want to rush her into anything, but he badly wanted to taste her again.

"Breakfast sounds nice, as long as you let me buy. I wanted to thank you for all the help this week."

"Is that why you were coming over? Just to say thanks?"

Peering up at him through her lashes, she shook her head. "Not just. There were...other reasons. After all, I promised to sit for a painting, unless you were kidding about that."

"I never joke about my art," he said in an exaggerated tone of self-importance. It had the desired effect of making her laugh.

"Well, then. I suppose something like that would take several sittings. We might have to spend, I don't know, hours together. Days, maybe."

How would she feel about years? Jack blinked, realizing it was the first thought he'd had about the long-term future since Amy had left. It panicked him a little, the acknowledgement that he was falling for Risa. The realization that he could be hurt again. He was glad when she spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

"So, anywhere in particular you'd like to eat?"

"Nope, I'm not picky." Anywhere Risa was sounded good to him.



It had been such a perfect day that Risa had to remind herself she didn't believe in fairy-tales. Sitting in the sunlight that spilled through Jack's balcony door while he sketched her in preparation for a later portrait, she'd talked to him about her job, her mother, her favorite movies, her weird idiosyncrasies she normally didn't share with anyone but Janine. She couldn't decide which was better—the hours of easy conversation they'd shared, or just staring at him, watching the way he looked when he was concentrating, being able to stare unchecked at his eyes, the tiny indention of a not-quite dimple next to that full mouth.

She could admit to herself now that she'd occasionally regarded her mother's romantic decisions with a kind of gentle scorn. Though she'd adored her mother, Risa had vowed to make more logical choices. It had been simple to say, since she'd never known what falling in love felt like. Now, it was easier to understand Maggie's feelings, the pull of a man who made you feel this special—not that this was love already! Was it?

"Risa?" Jack set aside the sketch pad he'd held. "Everything all right? You went pale all of the sudden."

"I...I think I should go." She stood. "I really got behind on work this week, and I should take care of some things before returning to the office tomorrow."

He stood in her way, arms crossed over his chest. "You're scared."

"What?"

"You have a very expressive face. Is it because of us?" He moved closer, pulling her into a loose embrace. He'd kissed her earlier, when they'd come back to his apartment, and while it had been thrilling, she'd been relieved he hadn't pushed for more. "I thought things were going perfectly."

"Exactly. And that's what terrifies me." She didn't bother to deny it. "I told you about my mother's history."

"Her mistakes aren't yours, Risa."

"No, I make my own. You saw how my engagement crashed and burned in record time. I just need to think things through. You've already been through so much with the divorce and...everything, the last thing I want is to add to any pain."

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, 'and everything?'"

"Nothing. Just, one of your sisters mentioned—"

"That I can't have kids?" He swore. "They had no right to tell you that."

"I know. That's why I wasn't going to mention it. If it helps, I don't think she meant to. Jack, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want your pity." His arms dropped away from her. "I'm fine with it."

She snorted. "That was believable."

"Well, what did you want me to say, 'poor me?' I've accepted my role as Uncle Jack."

"What do you mean accepted your role? Don't you want kids?" Just because he was single now didn't mean he always would be, or that he didn't have options.

He shot her a dark glare. "I can't see how it's any of my neighbor's business, but yeah, I wanted kids. Which was why we—my wife and I—filed for adoption. Instead of sticking it out through the process, though, she decided she'd rather have her own children, with someone who wasn't defective and could give them to her."

Risa winced at being downgraded to nothing more than a neighbor, winced again when he said defective. "Jack, it was her loss."

"Somehow, it didn't feel that way when I had to withdraw the application for the baby we'd already seen pictures of, or when I had to move out of my home, one we'd rebuilt together. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to be alone now. You're not the only one who has work to get done before Monday."

Her feet were like lead weights she could barely move toward the door, but how could she argue her way into staying when she'd been the one who said she needed to leave? Truthfully, she did have lots of work to do. But, as important as Perfect Placement had always been to her, there was a new person in her life who meant more.

 
 

 

عرض البوم صور KATE  
قديم 11-09-07, 10:07 PM   المشاركة رقم: 13
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التسجيل: Apr 2007
العضوية: 27220
المشاركات: 14
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معدل التقييم: KATE عضو بحاجه الى تحسين وضعه
نقاط التقييم: 10

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البلدSaudiArabia
 
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افتراضي

 




Chapter Ten

Risa's Monday sucked. First she'd overslept, causing her to rush. When she'd reached the lobby, she'd realized she'd left her briefcase upstairs. She hit the button to take the elevator bacj up. as the doors parted, Jack had stepped into the lobby and she'd felt her entire world stop. Their gazes had locked for a millisecond before he'd nodded crisply and walked away, and then she'd felt like her world had shattered. Between her preoccupation with him and her getting behind last week, work wasn't going smoodhly, and Janine's announcement that the Judge was holdhng on line three did nothing to calm Risa's mood.

Her step-father never called, she thought as rhe picked up the receiver. Obviously Phillip had told him about the breakup. Thomas Winters was probably understandably indignant that she hadn't told him herself, but she'd managed to find excuses to put it off, what with her babysitting and falling hopelessly for her next door neighbor.

"H-hello?"

"Clarise, this is your step-father. I'm on my cell phone and in your area. Are you free for lunch?"

She had no idea, but since she'd never defied the man in her life, a quick, "Sure" rolled off her tongue.

"Good, I'll pick you up in five minutes." He disconnected.

Running a hand through her already disheveled hair, Risa told herself she might as well get their confrontation over on a bad day. No sense ruining a good day with it.

"That was brief," Janine said from the doorway of the office.

"He's on his way here. To take me to lunch. Probably to ask how I could let a catch like Phillip get away."

"Phillip was not the catch for you. You just tell him that."

Risa bit her lip. Did she know who the catch for her was? Yesterday afternoon, she'd been sitting in Jack's apartment all dreamy and moon-eyed over him. Ten minutes later, he'd politely thrown her out. Maybe romance just wasn't her thing.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but Jason gets that same expression when I remind him he has a spelling test coming up."

"I was thinking about men."

"Oh, well that will definitely do it, then."

"Janine, you should've seen the way he looked at me this morning!" Since Risa had already shared the humiliation of Jack dismissing her like they were perfect strangers, she trusted her friend could follow the segue. "Honestly, Phillip took our breakup with more warmth than that."

"A sure sign that you and Phillip weren't actually in love," Janine said as the outer door opened.

"The Judge!" As in, "here comes the..."

"Be brave," Janine mouthed before turning. "Good afternoon, Judge Winters. Risa's expecting you."



Once they were in the Judge's sedan, Risa shot her step-father a pained look. "I feel like I’m thirteen, trying to get up the nerve to tell you about a bad grade."

The man's bushy white eyebrows crept upward in an expression of austere surprise. "I don't recall you ever getting any bad ones."

"A few B's. They weren't A's, and that's what you wanted."

"Certainly I wanted to encourage you to do your best. And look at you now, a competent businesswoman, so you see, it's good that I pushed."

Sure. But would a little more encouragement have hurt? "I suppose you've talked to Phillip," she said as the Judge turned the car out of the parking lot. Somehow, being in the car where they could both look at the road and not at each other made the conversation easier. Marginally.

"I did. But I'd like to hear your version of events."



She had the insane urge to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. "There's not much to tell. I realized I didn't love him, and so I told him I couldn't marry him. You don't have to tell me, sir, that Phillip is a good man, a successful one who would have made an excellent provider, but—"

He made a sudden left, swerving the car into the parking lot of a bank that had closed a few weeks' earlier because a new branch was opening a block over.

"Why are we stopping here?" she asked, staring around the abandoned lot.

"Clarise, are you of the opinion that I don't value love as an important ingredient in a union?"

"Oh. Well, no, I suppose not."

"You suppose not? Why do you think I married Maggie, God rest her soul, if not for love? If Phillip Donavan wasn't the man for you, and you know that in your heart, you don't have to justify it to me."

It was gruff, but it was approval, and it blossomed inside her like the first rose of spring. "Thank you. Sir. That means a lot to me."

He looked surprised by this. "Indeed? I'm glad we had this talk then. Truthfully, I know it would have made Maggie happy if we'd talked more, been closer, but it was hard, you being the spittin' image of a woman I'd loved and lost. And me knowing nothing about parenting. But we did the best we could, didn't we, Clarise?"

After a moment, she nodded, even managing a smile to soothe the rare note of uncertainty in his voice. It was too late to ever go back and have the childhood she'd longed for, but maybe a fresh start wasn't out of the question.



"Here." Jack thrust the bag into his sister's arms and was already turning to go when he added, "Thanks for letting me borrow them."

"And hello to you, too," Angela said, frowning as she tightened her grip on the video game equipment. "Care to come in for a cup of coffee?"

"I need to get back to work," he mumbled, wishing it weren't a bright, shining May afternoon. The gaily chirping birds were giving him a heck of a headache.

"You know, you were in a lot better mood when I saw you two days ago."

Irritation blazed through him, reversing his direction so that he marched back onto Angie's front porch. "Was it you who told Risa about me?"

His sister sighed. "So that's what's got you as grumpy as a bear with a thorn in its butt? It wasn't me who told her, no, but—"

"Never mind. It's not important."

"She's obviously important," Angela said. "Another ten minutes without kids interrupting, you guys might have been horizontal in the surf."

"Get your mind out of the gutter. It's not like that with Risa."

"How is it, then?"

He opened his mouth, closed it. Raked a hand over his unshaven jaw. Had Risa noticed this morning that he hadn't shaved? He wished he'd looked slicker when he'd seen her. Polished was her type, like Phillip. No, Phillip obviously wasn't her type, or she wouldn't have dumped him, and what do you care, anyway?

"Jack?"

Great. He was having silent arguments with himself and his sister was staring at him like she was going to call for the butterfly nets to come take him away. "I'm fine."

"You were a much better liar as a kid. Want to come in for that coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks." Driving back to work this distracted was like asking for an accident. Maybe the caffeine would clear his head.

"So." His sister pulled down two mugs. "We were talking about Risa."

"Not much left to say. She just broke off an engagement, Ange. She's not ready for anything."

"She's not, or you're not? Don't think your family hasn't noticed your lack of dates since the divorce."

"Well, what do you want me to do, Angela, marry another woman who tells me that she's fine with circumstances I can't control, then changes her mind a few years later?"

"Jack. You can't throw your life away because one woman couldn't keep her word. That's just stupid, and Mama will be the first to tell you she didn't raise any fools."

After a moment, he grinned. "You've always been such a bossy know-it-all."

"Darn straight. And now that I'm old and married, I've got wisdom, too, so take my advice—talk to Risa. You look miserable."

"Yeah, but relationships bring the potential to become even more miserable."

She stirred sugar into her cup, pushed his across the kitchen island. "Love brings the potential for lots of things, little brother, you just gotta be open to them."

"Love? I didn't say love. I said relationship, and even that is premature. I've known Risa less than a month."

Angela shrugged. "Greg and I knew each other all through high school and all through college before he proposed; Mom and Dad eloped after two weeks and are still going strong. I don't think there's a right way or wrong way to do it. The trick is, you actually do it instead of chicken out. If you don't talk to her, I'm telling all our siblings that you're a pansy."



With his sister's pansy accusation ringing in his ears, Jack decided to make a grand gesture. Something that, best case would strike Risa as romantic and dramatic—especially since Phillip didn't seem like the type who ever demonstrated she was worth a little drama and effort—and worst case, Jack's actions would at least make her laugh and break the ice. What he wanted to say would be a lot less terrifying and awkward if she was smiling at him.

So, he hoisted himself over to Risa's balcony and knocked on the glass sliding door. Although it was still fairly early in the evening, he'd heard her come home about half an hour ago. Now, he saw her wandering toward him, wearing work clothes and a puzzled expression.

She was laughing, but appeared understandably confused, when she unlocked the door. "Jack?"

"Can I come inside? I'm parboiling out hepe."

"Well of course you are." She moved aside. "It's May and you're waaring...flannel?"

"Pajamas my nephew Tyler gave me last Christmas. I'm doing a recreation here, but I dreg the line at weird facial goop."

For a moment, she frowned, then beadization dawned in her eyes. "The apricot facial mask. From when I landed on your balcony in my pj's."

"Right, the night we met. Risa, I don't know if you're aware /f how much you've changed my life since then."

"Oh." She swallowed nervously. "You mean in a good way, right?"

He grinned. "Yeah. Occasionally maddening, but good."

"Maddening? Hey!"

"Well, you try installing firewall tests for a billion dollar corporation with your gorgeous next door neighbor occupying all your thoughts."

"I'm not gorgeous," she said self-consciously, "but I know a little something about not being able to think of anything but your neighbor."

He cupped her cheeks in his hands. "Say what you like, I see gorgeous. I also see the woman who's inspired me with the courage to face life again. After you told me a little about your mother, I thought you were avoiding the risks that come with love. But I was hiding from those risks myself. Not being able to have kids of my own has always been painful, but I was using that as an excuse not to consider any more long-term relationships. I rationalized it, but really I was just being a. . .well, to use my older sister's term, a pansy."

Risa laughed. "Oh, Jack, that's not how I see you at all. And you were right about my not wanting to take risks. Maybe I just hadn't met someone worth the risks before."

"And now?"



She stood on her tip-toes, kissing him gently, thanking him for this silly stunt, for bringing so much laughter and emotion into her life. For freeing that emotion within her. She felt as if she and Janine were closer than ever before and maybe even she and the Judge could build a real relationship now.

When they broke apart, Jack leaned his forehead to hers. "One of the things Amy said when she left was that she wasn't sure she could ever truly love someone else's child as her own. After watching you with those three kids this week, I know that would never be true of you. You have a lot of love inside you, Risa Alexander."

Tears stung her eyes. "Thank you. That's a really beautiful thing to say."

"If you don't already have plans for the evening, I could hang around and say some other great stuff."

She laughed. "All right, but expect to be interrupted frequently." To prove her point, she kissed him again, reveling in the jolts of electricity that shot all the way to her toes, the excited dip in her stomach that made her feel as if she were about to shoot over a hill on the best roller coaster of her life

Funny, she'd always wanted to feel like she belonged—had even founded a business devoted to helping others fit somewhere professionally—and here, in Jack's arms, she finally knew just where she wanted to be.

THE END

 
 

 

عرض البوم صور KATE  
قديم 11-09-07, 10:11 PM   المشاركة رقم: 14
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معدل التقييم: KATE عضو بحاجه الى تحسين وضعه
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THE END

Hope U enjoy reading it.

KATE

 
 

 

عرض البوم صور KATE  
قديم 12-09-07, 07:25 AM   المشاركة رقم: 15
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معدل التقييم: المصلاويه عضو بحاجه الى تحسين وضعه
نقاط التقييم: 10

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شكرا القصه حلوه وبأنتظار المزيد

 
 

 

عرض البوم صور المصلاويه  
 

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