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“But I wanted to show those guys.” His eyes, even darker that his dad’s, took on a soulful, puppy dog despair.
Feeling a rush of compassion, Alexis reached out and ruffled his hair with affection. “Maybe you will. So…how long have you had your skateboard?”
Although still pouting, Cliff seemed to relax. After a moment, he moved closer, making an effort to match his step with hers while he chattered about the thrills of skateboarding.
As they arrived at the car, J.D. wiped his hands and glanced up. His bright gaze questioned, but he asked nothing about where she’d found the boy.
“Is it ready?” Alexis asked.
Cliff let his board clang to the asphalt and shot away.
“Nope. Needs more than just a new water hose. You should have it checked over thoroughly before you drive it.”
“Oh…” Disappointment washed over her. She’d have to arrange for a few rides until her car was running again. She couldn’t afford to trade this one in just yet. “What’s wrong with it now?”
“Don’t know for sure. But Bill, from the car repair over at Fifth and Main, most likely can tell you. Reckon you can get a loaner from him if you need to.”
“Oh, well. That will have to do, I guess.”
“I’m hungry,” Cliff complained, coming up to them. “You said we’d eat real soon.”
“You haven’t had breakfast?” Alexis asked.
“Nothing in the house but boring old cereal,” Cliff complained.
“Better than nothing, Cliff,” J.D. stated. “If you were really hungry, you’d eat it.”
Alexis glanced at her watch. Almost nine. Around them, the neighborhood activity had begun to pick up.
“Are you late in opening your shop?” she asked J.D. What did those initials stand for, anyway?
“Not really.” He picked up the last of his tools and slammed the hood closed. “Don’t open till ten most days in the off-season. Come summer, I’ll open at nine on Saturdays.”
The day yawned before her, long and empty. Oh, there were always household chores and laundry to do. School papers to grade. But she’d counted on driving to the outlying shopping center to find a new spring outfit, and now that she couldn’t do that, she felt she couldn’t stand to be indoors on such a fine spring day.
“Then, let me buy you two breakfast,” she offered impulsively. “It’s the least I can do to thank you.”
J.D.’s mouth tightened as he bent to his toolbox. He took out some cleaning gel and squirted a dollop into his palm. “That’s not necessary. Just helping you out.”
“I appreciate that, to be sure.” Alexis watched J.D. rub his palms together, then smooth the gel over his fingers. He took particular care around his nails, she noted.
“But I’m hungry, too,” she insisted. “And Cliff has worked up quite an appetite, I’ll bet.” She turned to the boy. “Do you like pancakes?”
“Uh-huh.” Cliff gave her a curious look, bright with anticipation.
“Then, how about the Pancake House in the old part of town? They offer steak and eggs, too. A hearty breakfast to last the day is always good. I’d say you earned it.”
She waited for J.D.’s answer, noticing the gleam in his eyes, and wondered what she’d let herself in for. But what could it hurt? It was only breakfast, and they all needed to eat. Besides, this was for Cliff as much as anything. If she could do something to make Cliff’s adjustment to his new environment easier, then she helped herself as well, right? He’d do better in class.
“Sounds okay by me,” J.D. said. He flashed a smile that sent her tummy into a wild, dancing dip. Oh, mercy… What had she gotten herself into?
There was no way she could back out now. She’d feel a fool. She’d simply make the best of it.
J.D. closed his toolbox and placed it in his truck. Then he held the door wide. “Hop in. After breakfast we can run by Bill’s place and see when he can work on the car.”
Whether the truck was ever meant to accommodate a small person, Alexis had no idea. The step up left her no dignity, she mused as she stared at it. But at least this time she was better prepared.
His hand came under her elbow, lifting her into the front seat. Cliff climbed in beside her, his thin body taking more space than she’d suspect. J.D. slid in under the wheel, his shoulder brushing hers as he turned the ignition key. A masculine fragrance tickled her nose, making her wonder what soap he used.
She tried to scoot closer to Cliff’s side of the bench seat, but there wasn’t much room.
“That’ll do it.”
That’s what she was afraid of….
“By the way…” she began, unable to help herself as he paused before pulling out on the street. “Just what does the J.D. stand for?”
This time his grin held a definite impish tilt. “Why, it’s James Dean, ma’am. After that fifties movie star best known for his rebel roles.”
Chapter Four
“Hi there, J.D.” The perky brunette waitress’s blue eyes lit in a coltish glance. The twenty-something young woman seemed vaguely familiar, but Alexis couldn’t place her.
Alexis wasn’t surprised at someone knowing her companion. She’d long ago discovered the truth of all small towns: those born and raised there seemed to know each other. Or about each other at least.
Neither was she surprised that J.D. had his female fans. She imagined he had quite a few—though at the moment he seemed not to notice.
“Hi yourself, Tina.” J.D. returned the smile with a casual nod.
Cliff spotted the video machines in the back corner and made a beeline toward them.
“You haven’t been around much lately.” With a flashing glance, Tina let him know how much she’d missed him.
Alexis listened to the murmurs of the busy restaurant and then intercepted a curious glance from a man sitting at the counter.
She bit at her lower lip, wondering who else noticed them. What had she expected? But if she’d realized J.D. was so well known here, she’d have suggested one of the new places out on the highway.
Just forget it, she told herself. Living with a bit of gossip is part of living in a small town.
Yet she’d have a lot of explaining to do eventually when her fellow teachers heard of this morning’s events. This is for a student…. she mentally practiced her excuse. The child just lost his mom. He needs some help adjusting to his new home…his new environment….
They were real reasons—not merely excuses—but it didn’t quite explain the social interaction in which she now found herself. Yet what else could she do? The child needed help. That had nothing to do with how attractive she found the father.
Alexis discreetly followed Cliff. The boy grabbed the joystick of the first machine, making the buzzing noises of an airplane.
“Been busy,” J.D. replied to Tina. “You can tell your dad I found the parts he wants for his old two-stroke engine. They’ll come in by next weekend.”
“Sure, J.D., I’ll tell him. D’you want your usual place at the counter?”
“Let’s have that back booth this morning, Tina. There’s three of us.”
Alexis glanced over her shoulder in time to catch Tina’s surprise. “Oh, sure, okay….”
So not everyone yet knew about Cliff coming to live with his dad.
“Dad, can I have some money?” Cliff called across the restaurant. A few heads turned their way in curiosity. J.D. nodded to one or two on his way to the back booth.
Well, the whole town would know now.
“I’ll get you some menus,” Tina said brightly.
I’ll bet Tina knows exactly what J.D. will order, Alexis mused, without looking at a menu.
“Come sit down, Cliff,” J.D. said. “Let’s order first.”
“That’s a good idea,” Alexis said. She put her hand on the boy’s shoulder to lightly guide him toward the back corner booth. “I’m starved and I hear the blueberry pancakes are wonderful here.”
Cliff slid into the booth next to his dad, leaning his head into his hand. He stared at Tina. “Are you my dad’s girlfriend?”
“Uh, no.” The young woman started, then blushed to the roots of her hair. “My boyfriend…he…isn’t from around here.”
“Cliff, can’t you keep your mouth shut?” J.D. said.
“I only asked. What’s wrong with that?”
Alexis immediately felt sorry for the girl. It seemed obvious to her that Tina had a crush on J.D. But was J.D. aware of that?
“That’s none of your business, Cliff.” J.D. narrowed his eyes and spoke firmly. “But for your information, her dad and I are good fishing buddies. That’s all.” He turned to the young waitress. “Sorry, Tina. Guess I have to teach my son some manners. Let’s order.”
Cliff lost interest. As Tina took their orders, he began to swing his foot, kicking the seat.
“Cliff!” J.D. said, his tone firm.
“What?”
“Stop kicking.”
The boy stopped, but only a moment passed before he grabbed the salt and pepper shakers to march them across the table with clacking noises. Without comment, Alexis reached across and took the shakers out of his hands. She gently set them aside.
A grateful flash from J.D.’s dark gaze sent a warm glow to her heart. Along with it came all kinds of other messages of awareness…his vulnerability being most prominent. Her fingertips itched to touch his hand in reassurance. As a parent, he seemed totally helpless. But surely any parent would know how difficult a special-needs child could be….
That was the major problem, though, she was beginning to understand. J.D. didn’t know, he hadn’t a clue. She opened her mouth to offer something to soothe him, but he’d slipped away somewhere in his thoughts.
You’re a washout, boy, came an old refrain inside J.D.’s head. Can’t you do anything right? An echo from too many yesterdays, painful and loud in the household where he’d grown up. His own father had shown little patience with a son who would rather spend time at an auto repair shop than school, home or studies.
He was still a washout, he guessed. Melanie had told him so often enough. As a husband. As a father.
He immediately cut off that line of thought. So he wasn’t good husband material. What did that matter? He didn’t have to be, since he had no intention of getting married again. And as a dad, it was up to him now, wasn’t it? And given time, he’d learn to deal with his son, learn to be a better father than he had had.
Tina filled their coffee cups, then left. J.D. leaned back and glanced at Alexis. She’d pulled off her ball cap, letting her ponytail dangle. He had the urge to finger it, to see if it was as soft as it looked. But this was his son’s teacher…and her sympathetic blue gaze held more than a little speculation.
He shifted uncomfortably to stare silently at the far wall. He didn’t know what to say next. This wasn’t like a date, now was it?
“I seem to remember seeing Tina at our church service,” Alexis said by way of conversation. “She sits with a girlfriend when the college kids are home on break.”
“Hmm,” J.D. answered.
“We have an active teen group. But there’s not many of Tina’s age around on a normal Sunday.”
He stirred his coffee, working on thinking about how much he had to do at his shop and not how Alexis’s hair reminded him of corn silk. Or how dumb she must think he was.
“I’ve heard that once kids graduate high school here, most of them leave either for college or to work in the larger cities,” she continued. “Not too much in this town by way of employment.”
J.D. secretly studied Alexis’s slim fingers. Ringless today. Light polish over short, well-shaped nails.
She made small talk to fill his silence, he knew. Something he wasn’t good at anytime, but especially not with this kind of woman. Nothing in common. Anyway, he’d never felt the need to constantly fill the air with the sound of his own voice. Unless he discussed engines, or fishing and the state of the lakes. Nah—small talk with women always felt too awkward.
Anyway, he preferred to simply look at a teacher; teachers had always given him a headache. He didn’t see a need to talk to one if a guy didn’t have to.
And looking at this one in particular was okay. Actually, a pure number ten on the pleasure scale. And if he forgot she was a teacher and thought of her merely as a female….
He liked the way her mouth moved when she talked. If she taught any of those extension classes the high school offered adults, he might just be tempted to take one.
He suddenly noticed Alexis’s blue gaze fastened on him expectantly. A softness, sweet beyond sweet potato pie, filled her gaze. A shaft of out-and-out pleasure shot through him as straight as a well-aimed dart. If he didn’t watch it, she’d send him into a tailspin of wants—and where would that get him? On the nowhere road. She was his son’s teacher. Nothing more.
Small talk…what was it she had said? About the jobs available in town?
“Seasonal stuff,” J.D. answered absently. “Most years are good, but not always steady.”
Cliff whistled tunelessly. Neither melodiously nor under his breath.
“Cliff.” J.D. let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his temple with his thumb. The kid would make a sphinx yelp in protest.
“Can I play the videos while we wait?”
“Sure, why not.” He felt weak for giving in to his son’s constant demands, but he’d had about enough of frazzled nerves for the morning. Beyond that, he and his son hadn’t yet made friends with each other.
More proof that, as a father, he was a dud….
He dug into his pocket and pulled out change, then counted out all the quarters he had. “Make that do.”
Cliff grabbed the coins and scooted out of the booth.
J.D. sat without speaking. He savored the next moment of quiet before a creeping awareness of guilt snaked up his consciousness. What kind of a father was he, to never want his son around? To feel no closeness to the boy?
And whose fault is that? You could have gone to California to see him. Could have sought joint custody. Could have demanded proof of Melanie’s claims that Cliff wasn’t yours….
That issue had been put to rest once and for all in Melanie’s last letter. The one she’d written as she lay dying. And there was always DNA testing these days. But he didn’t need it. Cliff was his, all right. He saw too much of himself in the boy to doubt it. No, the fault was his.
