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The smile she flashed him said she already knew that. “I’ll hang out here and get measurements. You may or may not see her in church, but my guess is a big, fat no.”
“I concur. Come on, Josh.” He turned, opened the screen door and picked up one of the cutest little boys ever to walk the face of the planet. “Lisa, Josh. Josh, Lisa.”
“Hey, Josh.” She smiled at him, gave Emma’s shoulder a quick squeeze, then paused when an older woman charged through the door looking ready to do battle with anyone in her way. Lisa wisely shifted left.
“You’re going to leave Becky here? To miss church? That’s not right, Alex, and you know it.”
“Better than having a meltdown in church,” he replied as he fastened Josh into the car seat. “And no reason to mess up everyone’s Sunday. You sure you don’t mind staying, Lisa?”
“I was going to be here anyway. It’s fine.”
Emma climbed into the back seat. “See you later, Lisa! Sorry about all the drama.”
Lisa laughed. “Oh, honey, I was eight once. I invented drama. You go. Be good. Pray. Sing. Cut your father some slack.”
“Nancy, are you coming with us or heading back to your motel?” Alex directed a no-other-options look to the older woman.
She pressed her lips together, clearly displeased by her limited choices, then shrugged, moved to her car, climbed in and slammed the door shut.
Ouch.
She pulled out, turned left and headed for Route 19.
Alex backed out, and turned right toward Jamison.
Becky stared, mouth open, her gaze taking in the family car heading into the commercial center of the village, the stranger in her yard and her grandmother’s car growing fainter by the minute.
Lisa scored a point for the element of surprise, opened her no-line steno pad and started sketching the house layout. It took only a few moments before a small, impudent voice demanded, “Who are you?”
Lisa ignored her.
“I said, who are you?”
Lisa sketched swiftly, letting her gaze wander the home’s exterior. “Great brickwork,” she murmured, hoping her voice would ease the child’s ire. “And those shutters... Marvelous.”
“You like our house?”
Becky’s voice softened. Curiosity replaced anger in her gaze, her stature. “It’s lovely,” Lisa replied. “I remember noticing this house when I was about your age. They had the most beautiful gardens ever. Mrs. Ramsey knew everything there was to know about flowers and shrubs and trees. She even had a toad garden.”
Becky frowned, but drew closer. “A what?”
“A toad garden,” Lisa replied, eyes down, continuing her outline.
“What’s that?”
Lisa glanced at her watch. “Well, I’d be glad to tell you but aren’t you supposed to be at church with your family?”
Becky flushed, then sighed. “Yes.”
“I believe a deal can be struck, Becky Steele.” Lisa stuck out her hand. “I’m Lisa Fitzgerald from Gardens & Greens. Your dad and Emma came to see us about fixing these gardens.”
Becky nodded, excited. “We’re coming to see you tomorrow!”
Lisa sent her a doubtful look. “Do you think your father will bring you after this morning?”
The girl scowled, remorseful. “Probably not.”
“But,” Lisa went on, as if she had nothing better to do than drive disobedient little girls around, “if you go to church now and behave yourself...”
Becky gulped, shrugged and nodded.
“Maybe your dad will let you live.”
A smile blossomed on the little girl’s face. A small smile, one that said she might have discovered a kindred spirit in Lisa and liked the revelation.
“Shall I drive you over? You won’t be more than a minute or two late and if you promise to slip in quietly...”
“I will!”
“Good.” Lisa closed the steno pad with a satisfied nod. “I’ll explain about the toad garden when you get back.”
“Oh, thank you!” Becky turned, ready to go, then stopped. “Wait. Do I look okay?”
“Here.” Lisa straightened the girl’s red bow under a slightly mangled collar. “Much better.” Becky’s patent leather shoes bore smudges from toe-dragging along the sidewalk, but right now, having the kid turn her behavior around was clutch. Lisa climbed in, thrust the car into gear and drove through Jamison. She pulled up outside Good Shepherd and watched as Becky bounded up the steps. At the top, the girl turned and called out, “See you after church!” in a voice loud enough to interrupt the five concurrent services neighboring the Park Round.
Lisa put a finger to her lips.
Becky clapped a guilty but cute hand to an “oops!” mouth, then tiptoed through the door. All Lisa could do was pray she’d done the right thing.
Guilt swamped her as she turned down McCallister Street.
She’d flirted with Alex. Teased him. Acted as if everything was normal in her world.
It wasn’t, and between fighting cancer, being dumped then divorced, her brother’s wedding and her mother’s illness, she’d spent the last few years out of the dating loop, intentionally.
Alex Steele tempted her back into the mix, but how did a woman casually divulge that she no longer had natural breasts?
Awkward.
And the possible subsequent rejection?
That didn’t make the short list, ever again. Evan’s leaving had wounded more than her heart. It grieved her womanly soul, because part of her couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t signed on for damaged goods, a woman scarred and rebuilt. He’d vocalized his fears, that he couldn’t live with a ticking time bomb.
Lisa shared those fears with one major difference: she had no choice but to live with the threat of recurrence. She’d taken upper level statistics, she understood the theory of likelihood, but she’d lost that game once already.
No history of breast cancer on either side of the family: CHECK.
No detectable genetic markers making her a likely candidate: CHECK.
No behavioral choices that made her more susceptible to breast cancer: CHECK.
She got it anyway. Lisa swallowed a sigh.
She was doing fine on her own. Working, creatively running a great business and filling some of the void her mother’s death had left. Maggie Fitzgerald had been an avid volunteer, running school and 4-H programs. Lisa and Adam had the childhood blue ribbons to prove it.
But beyond that?
Lisa was better off keeping things with Alex Steele “business casual.” Safer for everyone, all around.
Chapter Three
“Hard at work, I see.” Alex softened the wry observation with a smile when he found Lisa lounging on his backyard swing after church. “Examining critical vantage points, I’m sure.”
He moved toward her, bearing gifts in the form of twenty-ounce to-go cups from the village café.
Lisa waved her sketch pad in protest. “Good landscape development needs to be considered from all angles and heights, including sitting. Is that coffee? Please say yes.”
He nodded. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like...”
“Cream, sugar, shot of caramel or chocolate.”
“The fact that you like frou-frou coffee is disadvantageous but I guessed correctly.” He settled into the swing alongside her as he handed her the cup. “And I bought a third one, plain, just in case. These days, guys need to cover all the bases.”
She made a face at him. “My coffee is not girly. It’s just delicious. And on a bad day I take an extra shot of espresso. Keeps me out of jail.”
“You understand I’m an experienced investigator, don’t you?” He made a warning face over the rim of his cup. “Anything you say may be used against you.”
She laughed. “Charges vary depending on the occasion. Where’s Emma?”
Alex waved his free hand toward the house. “I sent them to get changed. Which means their church clothes will add to yesterday’s clutter.”
“Because you were shopping for garden advice.”
He accepted that, bemused. “I won’t pretend I’m good at keeping up with things when I’m in and out. It’s easy on my days off. When I’m working we fall drastically behind.”
“Pay ’em.”
“What?” He turned more fully her way, confused.
Lisa lifted her gaze to the house. “Give them a generous allowance to take care of things. Josh is little, but Becky and Emma are old enough to understand responsibility, right?”
Usually he balked, affronted, when someone told him how to raise the kids, but something in how Lisa said it made him more open to the idea.
Or maybe because it was Lisa saying it... He’d examine that more fully later.
“An allowance. I tried that last year. Didn’t work.”
“For how long?”
He cringed, knowing he’d caved too soon. “A couple of weeks.”
Her expression called him out. Her eyes crinkled. He took a deep swallow of coffee and sighed. “How come you know so much about kids if you don’t have any, Lisa?”
“Times change. Kids don’t. My mother was good at setting the bar high but reachable. My brother and I learned to work and earn at a young age.”
“Adam’s a good guy.” That’s as much as he’d say because he realized yesterday that her brother was also a trooper, same area, different barracks. He’d heard nothing but good concerning the younger Fitzgerald. Solid cops employed a firm separation of work vs. home rule, but he’d have been foolish not to notice Adam Fitzgerald’s work ethic, his high “answered calls” rate. “Your mom paid you to work?”
“From early on. Of course that’s normal on a farm, but it taught us to respect time and money. If the kids have a list of chores, they can check them off each day and collect their pay at the end of the week. If things aren’t checked off, no money.”
It made perfect sense. And he had solid follow-through at work. Why was his follow-through more difficult at home?
Because he hated being the bad guy all the time.
Still, Lisa made a good point. A list, a visual... Becky and Emma might respond well to that. He nodded and sipped his coffee, feeling more at peace than he had two hours ago. A quiet church service...a few compliments on his children’s behavior from some sweet old folks...and now, coffee with Lisa.
He felt almost serene.
The back door opened and the kids streamed out, shouting their joy. Serenity gave way to mayhem, but in a fun way.
“Lisa, you’re still here!”
“Hey, Lisa, I was good! Will you tell me about the toad garden now?”
“Dad, can I have another donut?”
Josh’s face wore the white sugar remnants of his first donut from Seb Walker’s pastry case, and possibly the second if the telltale streak of chocolate meant anything. “I’m going to bet you had enough for now, bud. Let’s get you washed up, then you can play.”
“Lisa, were you able to sketch the garden?” Emma’s bright voice reminded Alex that Lisa had come to work. Even so, having her waiting in the backyard, looking spring-morning fresh when he first rounded the corner of the old brick house, made his heart surge with delight.
He tossed Josh over his shoulder, hauled him inside and scrubbed him clean. He put the donuts up high because Josh wasn’t above helping himself to a second brunch, then went back outside with the preschooler. This might be Emma’s project, but Lisa made it clear that the whole family needed to be on board.
Therefore, sitting in on her session with Emma should be considered a requirement. And that made his Sunday morning that much brighter.
* * *
Lisa needed to leave, ASAP. Before Alex came back with his adorable son, before Becky won her heart by trying so hard to be like her big sister, before Emma grasped her hand one more time.
She needed to leave while she could still control the temptation within, the urge to test the waters with Alex and his beautiful family.
Billboard-size warnings blazed in her head. She’d faced the dragon of cancer head on, out of necessity. She wasn’t a warrior or a hero. She had done what was required to live, but in this weathered yard she was surrounded by the reality of early loss. Three motherless kids. A widowed father. An empty seat at the table. A yawning gap in the car.
Inviting male attention was too risky. She needed to embrace that reality. She gave Emma’s shoulder a quick squeeze and moved toward the road.
“We’re all set? Already?”
The surprise in Alex’s tone stopped her. She turned and planted a smile on her face as he came through the back door. “You snooze, you lose.”
He didn’t feign the look of disappointment, but when she glanced at her watch, he nodded, understanding. “Duty calls.”
