Lindsey yelled something else that Meg couldn’t hear.
“Who is it?” Meg asked, coming out of her bedroom and hurrying downstairs.
“I already told you it’s Steve,” Lindsey said indifferently as she passed her leaving the kitchen.
Meg glanced at her watch and reached for the phone. “Hello.”
“Hi,” he said, sounding discouraged. “I ran into a problem and it looks like I’m going to be late.”
“What kind of problem?” It was already later than her normal dinnertime, and Meg was hungry.
“I’m not sure yet. Sandy Janick phoned and apparently she’s got a flat tire ….”
“Listen,” Meg said with feigned cheerfulness, “why don’t we cancel dinner for this evening? It sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”
“Yes, but … “
“I’m hungry right now. It’s no big deal—we’ll have dinner another night.”
Steve hesitated. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.” She was trembling so badly it was difficult to remain standing. Steve and Sandy. She suspected Nancy had arranged the flat tire, but if Steve couldn’t see through that, then it was obvious he didn’t want to. “It’s not a problem,” Meg insisted.
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
“Sure …. That would be great.” She barely heard the rest of the conversation. He kept talking and Meg hoped she made the appropriate responses. She must have, because a couple of minutes later he hung up.
Closing her eyes, Meg exhaled and replaced the receiver.
“Mom?”
Meg turned to face her daughter.
“Is everything okay?”
She nodded, unable to chase away the burning pain that attacked the pit of her stomach and radiated out.
“Then how come you’re so pale?”
“I’m fine, honey. Steve and I won’t be going out to dinner after all.” She tried to sound as if nothing was amiss, but her entire world seemed to be collapsing around her. “Why don’t we get a pizza? Do you want to call? Order whatever you want. Okay?”
She was overreacting and knew it. If Steve was doing something underhanded, he wouldn’t tell her he was meeting Sandy Janick. He’d do the same things Dave had done. He’d lie and cheat.
“I’m going to change my clothes,” Meg said, heading blindly for the stairs.
She half expected Lindsey to follow her and announce that she’d been right all along, that Steve wasn’t to be trusted. But to Meg’s astonishment, her daughter said nothing.
“I knew if anyone could help Sandy with her flat tire it would be you,” Nancy said, smiling benevolently at her older brother.
Steve glanced at his watch, frustrated and angry with his sister—and himself. She’d done it again. She’d manipulated him into doing something he didn’t want to do. Instead of spending the evening with Meg, he’d been trapped into helping these two out of a fix.
Leave it to his sister. Not only had Nancy and Sandy managed to get a flat, but they’d been on the Mercer Island floating bridge in the middle of rush-hour traffic. Steve had to arrange for a tow truck and then meet them at his shop. From there, they’d all ended up back at the house, and Sandy had made it clear that she was looking for a little male companionship. There was a time Steve would’ve jumped at the chance to console the attractive widow. But no longer.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help,” Sandy told him now. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked pointedly at his watch. It was just after nine, still early enough to steal away and visit Meg. Lindsey would disapprove, but that couldn’t be avoided.
The girl was proving to be more of a problem than Steve had expected. She was downright stubborn and unwilling to give him the slightest bit of credit. Well, she was dealing with a pro, and Steve wasn’t about to give up on either of the Remington women. Not without a fight.
“You’re leaving?” Nancy asked as Steve marched to the front door.
“Yes,” he said. “Is that a problem?”
“I guess not.” His sister wore a downtrodden look, as if he’d disappointed her.
“I have to be going, too,” Sandy Janick said. “Again, thank you.”
Steve walked her to the door and said a polite goodbye, hoping it really was goodbye. He wished her well, but wasn’t interested in becoming her knight in shining armor. Not when there was another damsel whose interest he coveted.
He closed the door as he went to retrieve his car keys from the hall table and grab his jacket.
Nancy got up and followed him as he prepared to leave. “Where are you going?” she asked.
Steve glared at his sister. “What makes you think it’s any of your business?”
“Because I have a feeling that you’re off to see that … that floozy.”
“Floozy? What on earth have you been reading?” Shaking his head, he muttered, “Meg isn’t a floozy or a woman of ill repute or a hussy or any other silly term you want to call her. She’s a single mother and a businesswoman. She owns a bookstore. She—”
“That’s not what she told me.”
“Listen. I’m thirty-eight years old and I won’t have my little sister running my love life. Now, I helped you and your friend, but I had to break a dinner date with Meg to do it.”
“Then I’m glad Sandy got that flat tire,” she said defiantly.
Steve had had enough. “Stay out of my life, Nancy. I’m warning you.”
His sister raised her head dramatically, as if she’d come to some momentous decision. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m really sorry, Steve.”
“What do you mean, you can’t?”
“I can’t stand idly by and watch the brother I’ve always loved and admired make a complete fool of himself. Especially over a woman like that.”
Steve’s patience was gone. Vanished. But before he could say a word, Nancy threw herself in front of him.
“I won’t let you do this!” she said, stretching her arms across the door.
The phone rang just then, and Steve knew he’d been saved by the bell. Nancy flew across the room to answer it.
Hoping to make a clean getaway, Steve opened the door and dashed outside. As he’d suspected, Nancy tore out after him.
“It’s for you,” she called from the front porch.
Steve was already in his car and he wasn’t going to be waylaid by his sister a second time.
“Tell whoever it is I’ll call back.”
“It’s a woman.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lindsey,” she called at the top of her voice. “And she wants to talk to you.”
Eight
The last person Steve expected to hear from was Meg’s standoffish teenage daughter. He climbed out of his car and ran up the porch steps. He walked directly past his sister and without saying a word went straight to the phone.
“Lindsey? What’s the problem?” he asked. He was in no mood for games and he wanted her to know it.
“Are you alone?” Lindsey asked him.
Steve noticed that her voice was lower than usual. He assumed that meant Meg wasn’t aware of her daughter’s call.
“My sister’s here,” he answered. Nancy stood with her arms folded, frowning at him with unconcealed disapproval.
“Anyone else?” Lindsey asked, then added snidely, “Especially someone named Sandy.”
It sounded as if Lindsey was jealous on her mother’s behalf, which was ridiculous. The kid would be glad of an excuse to get rid of him. “No. Sandy left a few minutes ago.”
“So you were with her,” she accused.
In light of the confrontation he’d just had with his sister, Steve’s hold on his patience was already strained. “Is there a reason for your call?” he asked bluntly.
“Of course,” Lindsey muttered with an undignified huff. “I want to know what you said that upset my mother.”
“What I said?” Steve didn’t unders
tand.
“After you called, she told me to order pizza for dinner and then she said I could have anything on it I wanted. She knows I like anchovies and she can’t stand ‘em. Then,” Lindsey said, after a short pause, “the pizza came and she looked at me like she didn’t have a clue where it came from. Something’s wrong and I want you to tell me what it is.”
“I have no idea.”
“Mom’s just not herself.” Another pause, a longer one this time. “You’d better come over and talk to her.”
An invitation from the veritable dragon of a daughter herself? This was a stroke of luck. “You sure you can trust me?” he couldn’t resist asking.
“Not really,” she said with feeling. “But I don’t think I have a choice. My mom likes you although I can’t figure out why.”
The kid was a definite hazard to his ego, but Steve decided to let the comment pass.
“You think your mother’s upset because I broke our dinner date?” he asked. “Well, I’ve got news for you—she’s the one who called it off. She said it was no big deal.”
“And you believed her?”
“Shouldn’t I?”
Steve could picture the girl rolling her eyes. “Either you aren’t as smart as you look, or you’ve been in prison for so long you don’t know anything about women.”
Steve didn’t find either possibility flattering. “All I did was phone to tell her I was going to be late. What’s so awful about that?”
“You were late because you were meeting another woman!”
“Wrong,” Steve protested. “I was helping another woman. Actually two women, one of whom was my sister.”
“Don’t you get it? My dad left my mother because of another woman. He made up all these lies about where he was and what he was doing so he could be with her.”
“And you’re worried that your mother assumes I’m doing the same thing? Lindsey, isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”
“Yes … no. I don’t know,” she said. “All I know is you canceled—”
“She canceled.”
“Your dinner date because you were meeting another woman—”
“Helping another woman and my sister.”
“Whatever. All I know is that Mom hasn’t been the same since, and if you care about her the way you keep saying … “
“I do.”
“Then I suggest you get over here, and fast.” The line was abruptly disconnected.
Steve stared at the receiver, then replaced it, shaking his head as he did.
“What’s wrong with Meg?” Nancy asked.
Steve shrugged. “Darned if I know. No one ever told me falling in love was so complicated.” Having said that, he marched out the door.
Nancy ran after him. “You’re in love with her?”
“I sure am.”
A huge smile lit up his sister’s face. Steve stood next to his car, wondering if he was seeing things. A smile was the last reaction he would’ve expected from Nancy.
He muttered to himself on the short drive to Meg’s house. He didn’t stop muttering—about women and daughters and sisters—until he rang the doorbell.
The door was opened two seconds later by Lindsey. “It took you long enough,” she said.
“Lindsey, who is it?” Meg asked, stepping out from the kitchen. She’d apparently been putting away dishes, because she had a plate and a coffee mug in her hand. “Steve,” she whispered, “what are you doing here?”
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“Not really,” Lindsey answered for her mother. “She nibbled on a slice of pizza, but that was only so I wouldn’t bug her. I ordered her favorite kind, too.” She paused and grimaced. “Vegetarian. Even though I like anchovies and pepperoni.”
“Weren’t you hungry?” Steve asked, silencing Lindsey with a look.
Meg raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Not really. What about you? Did you get anything to eat?”
“Nope.”
“There’s leftover pizza if you’re interested.”
“I’m interested,” he said, moving toward her. Lindsey was right—Meg seemed upset.
“You’re not going to eat, are you?” Lindsey demanded.
“Why not?” Steve asked.
The girl sighed loudly. “What my mother needs here is reassurance. If you had a romantic thought in that empty space between your ears, you’d take her in your arms and … and kiss her.”
All Steve could do was stand there and stare. This was the same annoying girl who’d been a source of constant irritation from the moment they’d met. Something had changed, and he didn’t know what or why.
“Lindsey?” Meg obviously had the same questions as Steve.
“What?” Lindsey asked. “Oh, you want to know why I changed my mind. Well, I’ve been thinking. If Steve really meant what he said about being friends, then I guess I’m willing to meet him halfway.” This was said as if it had come at great personal sacrifice. She turned to Steve. “Actually, I can’t see any way around it. It’s clear to me that my mother’s fallen in love with you.”
“Lindsey!”
Steve enjoyed the way Meg’s blush colored her pale cheeks.
“And it’s equally clear to me that Steve feels the same, especially if he was willing to put up with all my insults. Frankly, I can’t see fighting it any longer. What’s the point? And really, I can’t keep a constant eye on you two. I do have my own life.”
Lindsey’s change of heart was welcome news to Steve. The kid held the all-important key to Meg’s heart. He’d never win her love, if he didn’t gain Lindsey’s approval first.
“Don’t get the idea I like any of this,” Lindsey added—to salvage her pride, he guessed. “But I can learn to live with it.”
“Great,” Steve said, offering her his hand. “Let’s shake on it.”
Lindsey studied his hand as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to touch him. But once she did, her shake was firm and confident.
“You’re nothing like you were supposed to be,” she muttered under her breath.
“I apologize for being such a disappointment,” he said out of the corner of his mouth.
“Can’t do anything about that now. Mom’s crazy about you.”
“I think she’s pretty terrific, too.”
Lindsey sighed. “So I noticed.”
“What are you two talking about?” Meg asked.
“Nothing,” Lindsey answered with exaggerated innocence. She looked at Steve and winked.
He returned her wink, pleased to be on solid ground with the girl. “Did someone say something about pizza?”
“I did,” Meg told him. “Come into the kitchen and I’ll microwave the leftovers.”
“Mother,” Lindsey groaned. “I thought I could count on you to be a little more romantic. Or do I have to do everything myself?”
“What did I do wrong now?”
“Couldn’t you make Steve something special?”
Meg took a moment to think this over. “I’ve got chicken I could make into a salad. If he doesn’t like that, there’s always peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.”
“I’d rather have the pizza,” Steve interjected. He didn’t want Meg wasting her time preparing a meal, all in the name of some romantic fantasy. He wanted her to talk—and to listen.
Before Lindsey could protest, Steve followed Meg into the kitchen. “Do you know what that was about?”
Meg smiled and opened the refrigerator. “Nope.” She took out the pizza box and set it on the counter.
Steve climbed onto the stool. “So what happened earlier?” he asked.
Meg hesitated, separating a piece of the pizza. “I suppose Lindsey called you?”
“Yes, but I was already on my way over here.”
He saw that she avoided his eyes, as she made busy-work of setting two huge slices of pizza on a plate and heating them in the microwave. “After your phone call, I had kind of a panic attack.”
“About?” he prompted.
&nbs
p; “You … Us.”
“And?”
“And I worked it out myself. I felt pretty foolish afterward. I realized you aren’t the same kind of man Dave was … is. If you call to say you’re helping another woman, then that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
“You thought I was seeing someone else?” Lindsey had implied as much, but he hadn’t taken it seriously.
“I feel silly now,” she said, setting the sizzling pizza slices in front of him. She propped her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her palms. “It was as if the craziness of my marriage was back. You see, at one time I tried to believe Dave. He’d make up the most outrageous stories to account for the huge periods of time he was away from home, and like a naive idiot, I’d believe him.” She paused. “I guess because I wanted to. But Dave’s not my problem anymore.”
“A leopard doesn’t change his spots,” Steve said, finishing off the first slice. “If Dave cheated on you, he’ll cheat on his present wife, too. It stands to reason.”
“I know. From what Lindsey said after her last visit to California, Dave’s marriage is on shaky ground. I’m sorry for him and for his wife.”
Steve offered Meg the second slice, which she declined. He’d just taken a bite when the low strains of soulful violin music drifted toward them. Steve glanced at Meg and she shrugged, perplexed.
Lindsey appeared in the kitchen, looking thoroughly disgusted. “You two need my help, don’t you?”
“Help?” Steve repeated. “With what?”
“Romance.” She walked into the room and took Steve’s hand and then her mother’s. She led them both into the living room. The furniture had been pushed to one side and the lights turned down low. Two crystal glasses and a bottle of red wine sat on the coffee table, ready to be put to good use.
“Now, I’ll disappear into my room for a while,” she said, “and you two can do all the things I’ve read about in novels.”
Steve and Meg stared blankly at each other.
“Don’t tell me you need help with that, too!”
“We can take it from here,” Steve was quick to assure her.
“I should hope so,” Lindsey muttered. With an air of superiority she headed up the stairs.
The music was sultry. Inviting. Once Lindsey was out of sight, Steve held his arms open to Meg. “Shall we dance?”