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“You don’t want to go out with him?” Olivia asked with her eyes narrowing.
“Of course not. When would I even have time?” She dropped her arm around Olivia’s shoulders. “I’ve got a life daughter, dear. I’ve got you and Anthony and Michael. What more do I need?”
“You still miss Daddy, don’t you?”
As always, when her kids asked a question like that, Angela paid complete attention. Dropping down to Olivia’s eye level she admitted, “I miss what we once had. I miss another adult in the house to talk to…someone I’m connected with in a special way. But I can’t control what your dad does. I wish he’d visit with all of you more, but he’s trying to get a new business up and running, and that keeps him busy.” At least that was the excuse Jerome was giving. It was also his excuse for not sending timely child support payments.
“I miss Daddy, but I don’t miss you and him arguing about him never being there.”
Kids saw and heard everything and she had to remind herself of that every day. “Things are just different now. We’re a different kind of family. And that’s okay.”
“So…” Olivia drawled. “Don’t you want to go to the movies or something with Coach Moore?”
“No,” Angela returned, straightening. “That’s not on the agenda. As I said, he’s going to be Anthony’s friend. Then maybe your brother won’t be so miserable all the time.”
“Yeah. Then maybe he’ll stay out of my room.”
Ten minutes later they were inside the van, drinking hot chocolate and munching on chocolate chip cookies. David had encouraged Olivia to take the front seat beside her mom while he sat in back of Angela and Anthony sat beside him. Of his own accord, Michael had crawled into the van’s third seat. They’d left the door open a bit on Anthony’s side.
“Your mom makes great cookies,” David commented.
“Some moms don’t bake at all,” Olivia remarked over her shoulder, sounding shocked, as if that was inconceivable.
Suddenly one of Anthony’s friends was standing at the van door.
“Hi, Simon,” Angela greeted him. Simon was in Anthony’s class and also had played Little League with him.
Simon pointed to David. “My dad says he played for the NFL.”
Anthony cut a sideways glance to David. “You didn’t tell me that. Is that true?”
Angela was all ears herself.
“I was drafted by the NFL and I went to training camp, but I never got a chance to play. I was in a car accident that messed up my leg.”
“That was rotten luck,” Simon stated emphatically. “My dad says you’re a great coach, now, though. The Raiders won almost all their games.”
“Your dad must be a football fan.”
“He’s always in front of the TV watching sports of some kind. Mom doesn’t like it. That’s why she said we’re gonna cut down a Christmas tree tomorrow, and he has to go along.”
“That’d be neat to cut down a Christmas tree,” Anthony said wistfully.
Angela saw David studying her son. Then he said, “I’m great with a saw. If you and your mom want to pick out a tree, I could cut it down for you.”
“Can we do that, Mom?” Anthony asked, excited.
Angela loved seeing that sparkle in her son’s eyes. She’d missed it the past few weeks. If cutting down a Christmas tree would help put a smile on his face, she’d freeze off her toes and fingers again tomorrow. She was also willing to try to put her reactions to David into deep freeze, too. “If Coach Moore’s willing to saw it for us, I guess we can.”
“That’s a plan, then,” David stated. “Why don’t I meet you at the Christmas tree farm around two?”
“Two will be fine.” Angela told herself she was just looking forward to the outing because it was something Anthony wanted to do for a change. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that David would be along.
After Simon had taken off for his family’s car, David opened the door on her side of the van. “I’d better be shoving off.”
“Wait,” she called, before she thought better of it.
Already out of the van, David closed the door and stood before her window.
When she pressed the button, it rolled down a bit. “Thank you,” she said softly, meaning it. “Are you sure you want to go tomorrow?”
“I’m sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve cut down a Christmas tree. I’ll see you at two.”
With a wave, he headed off toward his SUV, and Angela couldn’t help staring after him. He was three years younger than she was, a bachelor and way too intriguing. Reluctantly, and with a sigh, she came back to reality. She was a single mom with responsibilities and no spare time. This outing tomorrow was for her children’s sake, and she wouldn’t forget that.
After Anthony closed his side of the van, she switched on the ignition. “Buckle up.”
As the kids fastened their seat belts, she did the same, all the while remembering the feel of David’s body around hers as they’d sped down the hill. For those few moments, she’d felt young and free and alive again.
With another sigh she backed out of the parking place and started for home.
As Olivia, Michael and Anthony ran from tree to tree, squabbling about which one would be perfect in their living room, David asked Angela, “Do they ever agree?”
She laughed. “Once in a great while. I’m just so glad to see Anthony is a part of this today. He’s actually excited about something. He’s been moping around for so long, I was afraid he’d forgotten how to have fun.”
To his surprise, David was having fun, too. He usually related to kids one-on-one, not in a family setting. This was different. But there was no other way to reach out to Anthony and have him reach back.
As spokesman, Anthony ran over to them and pointed to a Douglas fir. “That’s the one we want.”
Michael complained, “I like the one over there.”
“It’s not as tall,” Olivia berated him. “We want a tall tree.”
Out of the blue, as if he’d been thinking about it all day, Anthony asked David, “I know you don’t play in the NFL, but do you know guys who do? I mean, you went to their training camp and all.”
“I’ve kept in contact with a few. Do you know Duke Smith of the Redskins?”
“Wow! Duke Smith! Yeah, I watch him on TV.” Anthony looked at the tree and then back at David. “Maybe you’d like to help us put up the tree. Whaddya think, Mom? Can he?”
“And he can stay for supper,” Olivia piped up.
Angela looked flabbergasted by her daughter’s invitation.
If he helped with the tree, David knew more questions about football were going to come up. He also knew something else might come up that he should probably tell Angela about. It was the incident that had started him mentoring in the first place. Yet all of it was personal, and he and Angela weren’t on that level yet.
When he was silent, Angela recovered her composure and asked, “Do you have other plans? You probably cherish your free time on weekends.”
“I do. But I haven’t helped put up a Christmas tree in years. Are you sure you want me there?” he asked Anthony, looking straight at him.
The boy met his eyes this time. “Yeah. Last year Mom tried to do it herself and the whole thing fell over the next day. It was a mess.”
When Angela laughed self-consciously, David could have kissed her. She was so cute when she blushed. “Your son is a practical kid.”
“He doesn’t want more of his favorite ornaments to break. I can’t say I blame him.”
“At least they picked a straight tree.” He grinned, as he took his saw from the sled they’d brought along to transport the tree.
After David cut down the fir and arranged it on the sled, Anthony asked if he could pull it, and Michael insisted on helping. David motioned down the trail to the barn where the proprietor of the farm was bagging the trees so they were easier to take home. All the kids started down the hill, cooperating for a change.
“That won’t last long,” Angela said with a smile.
David knew Olivia’s invitation had taken Angela aback. “I don’t have to stay for supper. I know you weren’t prepared for that.”
For a few moments, she looked over the rows and rows of fir trees, as if debating with herself. Then she said, “All the kids want you there. I think they’re starved for a father figure. The question is, do you want to be that? Mentoring Anthony is one thing. Having two other kids pile on is another.”
“You’ve got great kids. I’m a novelty right now. Hopefully Anthony and I can form a friendship that will help him. But if your other two kids want to be part of that, I don’t mind. I intend to give Anthony alone time, though, because I think that’s what he needs.”
“You’re right about that. He and Jerome never spent a lot of time together, but whenever he could, Anthony tagged along with his dad.”
“We could just stop for a pizza on the way home,” David suggested, not wanting to put her to any bother.
“Pizza’s okay once in a while, but I try to get them to eat wholesome food whenever I can. I have leftover roast beef in the fridge. I’m thinking of hot roast beef sandwiches, if that’s okay.”
“That sounds fine. You really do try to be Super mom, don’t you?”
She bristled a bit. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“No. Not if it doesn’t wear you out.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “It does. But as long as I can do it, I’m going to try.”
They could hear the kids chattering as they trudged down the trail. They could see them. But David knew the trees blocked the kids’ view of them. No one else had followed them into these rows of trees, and it almost felt as if they were alone in the middle of nowhere.
Angela was looking up at him with those big, blue eyes. He’d taken off his gloves after he’d cut down the tree so he could rope it to the sled. Now he was glad he had. Her swingy hair brushed against her cheek, and he pushed it back, letting his thumb linger on the softness of her skin. Her eyes grew bluer and wider, and he saw the same desire there that he was feeling. They were both wondering—wondering what a kiss would be like…wondering if a fire would start…wondering if the earth would move.
He rarely acted on impulse anymore. But now, desire drove him to seize the moment, answer some of his questions, discover if the chemistry he was feeling was real. When he bent his head, she raised her chin. His lips covered hers.
Did the kiss last for an instant? Or maybe an hour?
There was no time as heat exploded in his body…as he pushed his tongue into her mouth…as she responded quickly and fiercely.
When her children’s laughter soared up the hill to them, he broke away and stepped back, feeling turned inside out.
That was impossible. The kiss had begun and was over in a few seconds. How could he be so fully aroused? How could he want to lay her down in the pine needles and the patches of snow and take the passion she seemed willing to give?
He’d thought his questions would be answered after a kiss, but there were only more of them. “I shouldn’t have done that. The way Anthony is feeling right now, if he senses anything going on between us, he’d never let me become his friend.”
“You’re right,” she murmured. “And I’m not looking for…for…for an involvement. I don’t have time. I don’t have the energy. Men cause me nothing but disappointment.” She brought her hand to her lips when she realized she’d said out loud what she was thinking.
“I’ll try not to disappoint you where Anthony’s concerned,” he vowed solemnly. “Come on. We’d better catch up.”
She didn’t argue, and he knew she didn’t want to linger, either. She’d obviously been hurt, maybe by someone other than her ex-husband. They both had scars that would keep anything from developing except a hot affair.
And it would be hot. That sample kiss had told him that.
But he had to put Anthony first.
He’d make sure he stayed away from Angela Schumacher. That was the only reasonable thing to do.
Chapter Three
Later Sunday evening when the doorbell rang, Angela was still reeling from David’s kiss at the Christmas tree farm. It had practically knocked her boots off, yet she’d acted as if nothing had happened and he’d left after a quick supper. Now, for a change, all three kids were watching the same program on TV while she tidied up the empty ornament boxes.
When she opened her front door, she found Rebecca Peters. Rebecca was the newest neighbor on Danbury Way and Angela had liked her immediately. She was one of the most stylish women around, with gold highlights in her dark-brown hair, blue eyes and a very fashion-forward wardrobe.
She, too, had found romance.
“I thought you and Joe were away for the weekend.”
“We didn’t go. Joe couldn’t find somebody to cover for him at the clinic.” Joe Hudson was a veterinarian and took his responsibility for his furry friends seriously.
“But…” Rebecca drawled, holding out her hand to Angela.
“It’s beautiful!” Angela stared at the simply exquisite solitaire on Rebecca’s finger, then gave her friend a huge hug. “This is wonderful. When are you getting married?”
Taking Rebecca by the hand, Angela tugged her toward the kitchen. “We’ll have a cup of tea and you can tell me all about it.”
Rebecca laughed as she followed Angela into the wine-and-spruce-green kitchen with its island in the middle, eat-on counter along one wall and numerous birch cabinets.
After another look at Rebecca’s diamond under the brighter kitchen lights, Angela said, “I knew this would happen sooner rather than later.”
“Me, too,” Rebecca confided with a shy smile. “I love him to death. Since he had to go to the clinic, I told him I was going to come over and tell you our good news.”
While Angela put on the tea kettle, Rebecca wiggled her hand under the recessed lighting. “We’ll probably be planning the wedding for spring. I want the works—from wedding gown to flower girl.”
They chatted for a few minutes about the type of gown Rebecca might choose, about colors she liked for her attendants, about possibilities for facilities for receptions.
The teakettle whistled, and Angela brought it over to the counter where she poured water into two mugs.
Adding the teabags, Rebecca admitted, “I really came over here to find out who that hunky man was in your driveway this afternoon.”
“You weren’t too busy to notice someone in my driveway?” Angela teased.
Although Rebecca’s cheeks turned a little pinker, she admitted, “Joe and I can’t spend all our time in bed.”
Both women laughed. Then Angela sobered up quickly when she thought about David. He was going to pick up Anthony on Friday to take him to the movies. They’d settled that much. Actually, there wasn’t anything else to settle, she told herself firmly.
“He’s going to be Anthony’s Big Brother, although Anthony still isn’t sure he really wants one. We all went sledding yesterday, and then this afternoon we found a Christmas tree.”
