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Tess glanced up from her computer and organized her face into a passable smile. Oblivious to the fact that she was trying to work, Alec Malone and Nick began to open paper bags and pull the tabs on soda cans. Tess bit down on her lip when Malone asked where she kept the plates. Before she could answer, Nick pointed to a cupboard above the sink. Tess rolled her eyes in exasperation. A full-blown invasion was taking place right beneath her nose and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
She didn’t realize Molly was standing in front of her until she detected a slight movement. The little girl’s smile was less enthusiastic now.
“Aren’t you hungry, Tess?” she asked. “We got you one with roasted vegetables and fatty cheese.” She held a paper bag in her small hand.
“Feta cheese,” corrected Nick.
“Whatever. Alec said you’d probably choose that one if you were there.”
And what’s that supposed to mean? That he’s got me all figured out? Or worse—that in his eyes I represent some kind of yuppy stereotype? The fact that his choice had been right on the mark made it even more galling.
Tess knew Molly was waiting for a response. The problem was, the only one she felt like making would be quite inappropriate. Like telling them all to leave.
“Maybe we should let Tess finish up there first, Molly. Why don’t you put her sandwich in the fridge for now? The three of us can take ours over to the couch,” Alec suggested.
Heat rose into Tess’s face. Now he was answering for her! She clicked out of her program and pushed the laptop aside. “It’s okay, Molly. I’d like that sandwich now, after all. We can eat here at the counter.”
Alec paused midway from the counter to the couch area. The look he flashed Tess told her he saw right through her effort to gain control. Still, he turned and headed for a stool at the counter.
Nick was less accommodating. “I wanted to watch TV,” he complained.
“Later, fella,” Alec said. “We can talk—get to know each other.”
Nick snorted. “What’s the point? We already know you, and she’s not going to be in our lives much longer anyway.”
“She has a name, so use it. As for the other point, we haven’t made any decisions yet.”
Silenced, Nick sullenly picked up his sandwich and began to eat.
Tess stared at the wrapped sandwich on the countertop in front of her. Her appetite took a nosedive. Nick’s retort stung, though she couldn’t explain why. It was true that she wasn’t going to be in their lives much longer and intellectually, she understood why he rejected the idea of getting to know her better. She herself felt much the same. What she couldn’t fathom was the niggling doubt in the back of her mind. The sense that, somehow, she’d made two children unhappy and now it was up to her to make things better. But how?
“Not hungry?”
She looked up to find Alec Malone staring at her. The expression in his eyes was softer now. Tess shook her head.
“Want a coffee?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Sure. I can make some.”
“No. I meant, would you like to go out for one? I noticed a place just around the corner.”
“But the kids—”
“Will be fine. Right, guys?”
Nick and Molly nodded, glancing at the same time from one to the other.
“Maybe Tess won’t mind if you eat at the couch—long as you’re careful.” He wrapped up the rest of his sandwich and got off the bar stool.
“What about your lunch?” Tess asked.
“Later. Right now, we need to talk.” He watched Nick and Molly settle themselves a few feet away on the couch. “Alone,” he added.
Although Tess knew he was taking charge again, she also knew he was right. And the talk had to be done away from the kids. “They won’t—”
“Run away again? Nah. But just to be sure…” He headed for the couch and leaned over to whisper something to Nick, then walked toward the door to wait for Tess.
She put her sandwich in the fridge and went to the bedroom to get her keys and wallet. Nick and Molly were both engrossed in the TV when she joined Alec at the door. She paused. “There’s frozen yogurt if you two want any dessert.”
Nick glanced up. “Any ice cream?”
“No, but…it’s strawberry yogurt.”
He gave a half shrug, as if that was better than nothing, then turned his attention to the television again.
“I like frozen yogurt,” Molly piped up. “Thanks, Tess.” She waved her fingers and resumed eating her sandwich.
Tess locked the door behind them and followed Alec to the elevator. His stiff, broad back looked ready for inspection. If it weren’t for his hair, thick and fringing slightly at the nape of his neck, she’d have pegged him for a military man. He didn’t say a word as they waited for the elevator. Either small talk wasn’t his style, or he was ticked off at her. His demeanor suggested the latter.
But as the elevator slid to the ground floor, he finally murmured, “The kids have been through a lot.”
“I can see that,” Tess said.
“Can you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, offended by the tone of his question.
“Just that from your manner, it seems you can only see how their unexpected appearance has impacted on you.”
Tess felt her blood pressure skyrocket. Or perhaps it was the elevator, lurching to a stop at the condo lobby. Speechless, she tagged behind him out the main door and onto the sidewalk.
“That’s the most unfair thing I’ve heard since—”
“Since what? Hearing your father was dead or finding out you had a brother and sister?”
Was her own face as red as his, she wondered? Was that why people were turning around to look at them? She strode ahead, making for the Starbucks around the corner. The familiarity of the place calmed her. This was her turf after all. She could be in charge again. By the time he caught up to her, she’d already placed her order at the counter.
She carried her cafe latte to her favorite table and watched him, secretly congratulating herself on avoiding a song and dance about who would pay. He was speaking pleasantly to the female counter clerk, laughing about something she’d said. Behaving as if he hadn’t been on the verge of exploding moments ago.
When he turned to walk toward her, Tess also realized for the first time how good-looking he was. Not her type, of course. Too athletic and rugged. But she noticed how the clerk’s eyes tracked him to where Tess was sitting, then shifted away in obvious disappointment as he took the seat across from her.
“First off,” he began once he’d set his mug of regular coffee down. “I apologize for what I said back there. I was out of line.”
Out of line? He must have been in the military.
“None of this is your fault—any more than it’s Nick or Molly’s.” His tawny eyes met hers briefly, then lowered to his coffee. He blew gently on the brew, sipped carefully and set it on the table.
Giving her time to come up with an opening line, she asked herself? Tess forced herself to outwait him, thinking she’d rather see where the talk was going to go.
“I can appreciate how your world’s kinda been flipped upside down the last twenty-four hours,” he said.
Kinda? I guess.
“Finding out your father’s dead and all.”
“As far as I’m concerned, my father died twenty-five years ago when he walked out of my life.”
His eyes flicked abruptly from the coffee mug to her face. “Sorry. I didn’t realize when I spoke with you yesterday that he’d basically abandoned you. I just assumed…you know…that your folks had divorced.”
“Well, they did eventually I suppose, because he went on to marry someone else.” She paused. “And don’t be sorry…please! I’ve managed to put all that out of my life.”
“Until yesterday.”
It was her turn to stare down at her coffee, still untouched.
After a moment, he said, “I guess that explains your reluctance to get involved.”
Reluctance? How does refusal sound?
He went on. “But unfortunately, the past has reared its ugly head, as the saying goes. Nick and Molly are your family now.”
Tess raised her head. “I haven’t had a family for several years, Mr. Malone. At least, not the family most people mean. My mother spent most of her life after my father left us in and out of psychiatric hospitals until her death. When I was fourteen my guardian applied for legal custody.”
“Call me Alec—please.” He reached across the table and placed his hand on hers.
Startled by the sudden contact, Tess quickly pulled hers away.
“Look, I’m sorry about what happened but it’s got nothing to do with Nick and Molly. They may not seem like family to you, but they’re your flesh and blood.”
“Half siblings,” she muttered.
“Half is more than enough,” he said, lowering his voice. “I think I should fill you in on some of what the kids have gone through these past few weeks. So, enjoy your latte and listen up.”
Not wanting to know, yet accepting that she needed to, Tess reached for her drink.
“I guess by now Walker has given you the details of the accident—hasn’t he?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to him directly yet. I just got the letter on Thursday and yesterday…”
Alec pursed his lips in disgust. “Yeah. The kids turned up on your doorstep. Walker could’ve handled the whole damn thing with a bit more sensitivity, but that’s not his style. Anyway, Richard and Gabriela—his wife—were killed when their car went off a mountain road outside Boulder. That was the end of March.”
“The twenty-eighth,” Tess said.
He nodded. “The police investigation didn’t turn up anything—you know, like drugs or alcohol—and concluded Richard had lost control of the car for some reason. Maybe to avoid an animal. It happened at night and it was snowing.”
Tess blew an audible sigh. She wished he’d get to the point, rather than dwell on an accident scene she’d rather not envision.
“Okay, sorry. I’m wandering. Bad habit of mine. Some trucker found the car the next morning and called the police. Apparently both kids had sleepovers that night and didn’t find out until afternoon, when police finally tracked them down. Boulder County Child Protective Services—where I work—got involved as soon as they learned there was no next of kin. Both kids went to the same foster home but that’s a temporary arrangement. I’ve done my damnedest to find a place that’ll take both of them, but so far haven’t been able to.” He hunched forward, wrapping two large hands around his half-empty mug of coffee.
“When I first met Nick and Molly, they still had that shocked appearance most trauma victims have. Ashen-faced with haunted eyes. They were passive, almost apathetic in their grief. Clutching one another and not really speaking to anyone else for the first week. Friends of the family and some neighbors made funeral arrangements on Walker’s instructions. He’s the family lawyer.”
An expression of such contempt crossed his face that Tess had to comment. “What is it between you and Jed Walker? On the phone yesterday you made some negative comment about him, too.”
“It’s a long story and it’s personal so I guess I’d better stick to the facts here. Until a week ago, Walker didn’t know you even existed.” He paused, adding, “Which means, of course, that you weren’t mentioned in the will.”
“I’d have been more than surprised if I had been.”
His eyes fixed on hers a moment longer before he continued. “Right. So when the kids learned about you, they saw you as a lifeline. Someone to keep them together.”
Dry-mouthed, Tess sipped the dregs of her latte and searched frantically for the response she knew he was waiting for. C’mon girl. Pretend you’re negotiating a price for an ad campaign. He’s a social worker from Colorado. How hard can it be to convince him the kids are better off where they are?
“You have to understand—”
“Oh, I do,” he interrupted. “For twenty-five years you’ve lived under the impression that Richard Wheaton was gone for good. In less than forty-eight hours you discover that not only has he just recently died, but he’s also left behind two children who happen to be your half brother and sister. Who also happen to be minors.”
Tess frowned. Was he implying she was legally bound? “I don’t think there’s a law, is there? That I have to take them in?”
Alec leaned back against his chair. Tess winced at the pitying look he flashed her.
“No,” he said, his voice so low she had to lean forward to hear. “I doubt it. Although I think there’s definitely a moral responsibility.”
“If they need money,” she rushed to say, “I can certainly help with that.”
He shook his head from side to side. The pitying look shifted to one of utter despair. As if, she thought, he’d given up on her.
“They have money, too. The estate is worth quite a lot. Another reason why they need family to supervise things, rather than some hotshot lawyer like Jed Walker.”
“Then…”
“They need a family, Tess. They need to feel part of something. Their whole lives have been blown apart. Molly’s only six years old.”
Tess stiffened. “I was barely eight when my father left. I know what it feels like.”
“But you had a mother.”
“A mentally ill mother. I practically raised myself.”
He blew out a mouthful of air and forked his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in thick clumps. “We’re getting off track here. The point of the matter is that unless you intervene—become their legal guardian—those two kids will be split up and could eventually lose each other completely. Molly has a good chance of being adopted, but Nick…few people are willing to take on a boy just entering his teens.”
Exactly what Nick had said, Tess realized. Still, she couldn’t let the fact influence her. The matter had to be settled. She straightened up, ready for the negotiation. “Look,” she began. “About six months ago I was promoted to Vice President of Marketing at the company where I work. It’s a demanding job. I work basically anywhere from ten to twelve hours a day. I take work home and spend most weekends working.”
She paused to let that register, but he didn’t look impressed. “I couldn’t physically be there for them, much less emotionally. Frankly, they’d be better off in a family context, even if an adoptive one.”
“Family context?” He sneered. “Sounds like something out of a sociology textbook.”
Tess felt her face heat up, but decided to play her next card. “I’d be willing to visit once or twice a year.”
“Wonderful. That should really keep the family context concept alive and kicking.”
