Daddy Next Door (7 page)

Missy slid her little hand into Nick’s. “I liked calling you Daddy.”

“I know, honey, but it upsets Mommy. And if she decides it’s not good for me to visit, then we wouldn’t get to see each other.”

“Would she do that?” Missy asked in horror.

“I hope not.”

“Okay, I’ll call you Nick, but I’ll be thinking Daddy.”

Nick smiled. “Okay, that’s a deal.”

The two of them entered the kitchen to find Jennifer taking a dish of macaroni and cheese out of the oven. “Smells good, Jennifer.”

“I’m afraid it’s not fancy.”

“Fancy’s not necessary. Where did you learn to cook, by the way? After meeting your mother, I can’t see her slaving over a stove.”

Jennifer’s shoulders stiffened. Uh-oh, he’d made another mistake.

“My mother may not be the homemaker type, but she hired very good people to cook and clean. And I learned a lot from our cook.”

“You’re certainly an accomplished cook,” he said, adding a smile to get in her good graces.

“Lunch is ready. Please be seated.”

Obviously his smile hadn’t worked. He pulled out a
chair and sat down at the place she’d indicated. To his surprise, Annie came over to greet him.

“Hi, Annie. How are you doing?”

“Fine.” She beamed at him.

“Tomorrow is Annie’s birthday,” Steffi announced.

“It is? And you’ll be six?”

Annie shook her head no and held up five fingers. Nick frowned. “I thought you said she was five?” he asked Jennifer.

She shrugged. “It was so close to her birthday, we aged her already. But tomorrow is the big day.”

“Well, congratulations, Annie. You’ll make a great five-year-old,” he assured her with a big smile. Annie nodded her head, still beaming at him.

“What are you getting for your birthday?”

Annie frowned and then turned to her mother.

“I think Nick means what do you want as a gift. You get a present on your birthday,” Jennifer explained.

“I do?” Annie’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I want a dolly!”

Jennifer bent down and kissed Annie’s cheek. “Then a dolly it shall be.”

Annie stared at Jennifer. “Really?” she asked in a whisper. “I get a dolly?”

“Really, sweetheart,” Jennifer promised.

Annie got in her chair and stared into space, a smile on her lips.

“I think she’s picturing her dolly. I don’t envy you in trying to pick the right one.” Even as he spoke, Nick
was thinking about what he would get for Annie. He’d be doing some shopping this afternoon, he guessed.

“When do I have a birthday, Mommy?” Missy asked.

“You will be four next September, Missy,” Jennifer answered as she finished bringing the food to the table.

“Is that tomorrow, too?” Missy asked.

“No, honey, September is when school starts and the leaves on the trees begin to turn.”

“But I want a dolly, too!” Missy protested.

“Well, I think, since Annie has the first birthday, it would be all right if you got a small present, you and Steffi,” Jennifer said.

“Would it be fun if we went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for your birthday party, Annie?” Nick asked, hoping Jennifer would agree so he could help celebrate Annie’s birthday.

“What’s Chuck E. Cheese’s?” Annie asked.

“It’s a pizza place with lots of games for you to play after you eat pizza.”

“I like pizza,” Annie said, looking at Jennifer hopefully.

After drawing a deep breath, Jennifer said, “I guess we could do that. And I’ll bake a special cake for you, Annie.”

“I get a cake, too? And a dolly?” Annie asked, her eyes as big as saucers.

Jennifer hugged her again. “Yes, sweetie.”

“When’s my birthday?” Steffi asked.

“You had a birthday in March,” Jennifer said.

“But I didn’t have a cake or a dolly,” Steffi pointed out.

Jennifer looked at Nick and then gave up the struggle. “Okay, tomorrow, we’re going to celebrate all three birthdays because we’re starting off as a new family. But normally, you don’t get gifts just because your sister is having a birthday!” Jennifer was smiling the entire time she spoke.

“Good decision, Jen. We’re going to have a lot of fun tomorrow.”

“Oh, I’ll need to go shopping!”

“After you take my portrait, I’ll take care of the girls so you can go.”

“Thank you, Nick. That would be great.”

But not as great as tomorrow would be, Nick thought, judging from Annie’s megawatt smile. Regardless of what presents she got tomorrow, the little girl had already received the best one—Jennifer Carpenter for a mother.

Jennifer had intended to put the girls down for their quiet time, but they all pleaded to watch her take Nick’s picture. She agreed reluctantly, but once they were in her home studio, she was glad she’d let the girls watch.

It was better not to be alone with Nick.

Not that she had objected to his kiss. It was pleasant. Pleasant? Asked an inner voice. More like world-shattering. Either way, she’d do well not to repeat it. Nor think about it, she reminded herself as the room suddenly turned warm.

Instead, she went into professional mode. “Which outfit shall we use first?” she asked.

“It doesn’t really matter.”

After thinking a moment, she said, “Let’s try a couple in your sports shirt. That way I can check the lights and film to be sure I have everything working.”

“Whatever you say, Jen. You’re the expert.”

After several minutes of fussing with her equipment,
she looked through the lens at him. “Straighten your back and look toward the light on the right.”

He did as she asked and she took several shots. Then she asked him to look over his shoulder. When she repositioned him, he asked, “What do you think?”

“I think the camera loves you.”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, with a wry grin.

“Of course not.” After a couple more pictures, she said, “Go put on your shirt and tie and jacket. We’ll take some formal pictures first.”

He took his clothes and went into the hall bathroom. When he emerged a couple of minutes later, he had tucked the crisp white shirt into his jeans, tied the tie around his neck and shrugged into the suit jacket. With his midnight hair, the navy-blue pinstripe provided a dark background against which his light eyes glittered.

Jennifer drew in a sharp breath. From the waist up, he looked like the head of a Fortune 500 company. The jeans he wore reminded her he wasn’t. She felt sure the portrait would be impressive, which would be good for her. It was easy to make a man like Nick look good. All she had to do was point the camera and click.

Which made her work even harder.

While she was taking the pictures, she talked to him, a technique she’d used with the girls, too. It tended to make the subject relax a little.

“Will your sisters come visit you here? I’d like to meet them.”

“I hope they will at Christmas. I’m not sure before then. They’re all busy with their own lives.”

“Of course. Will your girlfriend visit?”

“No girlfriend. At least not now.”

“Ah. But you’ve had one recently?”

“I was engaged once.”

“Turn to face me. What happened to her?”

“She didn’t like the idea of settling down. And, like your mother, she didn’t have a lot of respect for the job I did.”

Jennifer raised shocked eyes to stare at him. “I’m sorry. I know how that feels. Mother thinks I’m wasting my time taking photos.”

“She’s wrong, if the picture you took of the girls is any indication. But I haven’t noticed any patrons on your doorstep. Have you not had any work for a while?”

“I canceled what appointments I had for a couple of weeks because I figured I needed time with the girls more than I needed the work. After all, my picture of the girls will be hung in a gallery for the foster program, along with my name and business card. I figured by the time that happened, I’d have established a routine with the girls and have reassured them.”

“That picture should get you a lot of clients.”

“Thank you. I love that picture, too.”

Halfway through the session he’d changed into a sweater, pulled on over his shirt without a tie, which she discovered made him look even more delicious. She asked, “Exactly what is this picture for?”

“Um, to make people want to—to get to know me.”

“You’re not going to use it for online dating, are you?” she asked suddenly. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would even consider such a thing.

“No! Definitely not!”

“Oh, um, good. I was wondering if we should change the background. That’s why I asked.”

“To what?”

“I have a background that looks like a study. You know, books on a shelf. I think it would look good.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Jennifer changed the background with Nick’s help. She turned to him and in the cramped quarters was no more than a breath away. “Thanks. You made it a lot easier.”

“Call me anytime,” he offered with a smile.

The urge to capture that smile on film filled her. “Sit down and keep smiling like that.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but think whatever you were thinking when you smiled at me.”

Nick had no problem reproducing it, and the camera loved it. She snapped several pictures. Then she brought in what looked like the edge of a desk for him to sit on.

“Oh, yes,” she muttered as she took several pictures of him in that pose.

“Mommy, we’re going to go look at our picture books,” Steffi said a few minutes later.

“Okay, honey,” Jennifer muttered as she continued to look through the lens.

Half an hour later, she said, “Okay, I think I’ve taken every pose I can think of. Is there anything else you’d like?”

“Nope. I’ll admit this is more tiring than I would’ve thought. I’m ready to call it quits.”

“Okay. I’ve got some brownies for you and the girls to— Where did the girls go?”

Nick smiled. “They went to their room half an hour ago.”

Jennifer could feel her cheeks heating up. “Oh. Sorry. I get carried away when I photograph someone. I’m afraid I go into my own little world.”

“That just means you’re doing what you’re meant to do.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yeah. But I’ll know better when I see your work,” he teased. “Seriously, I have no doubt that you’re doing the right thing. It’s just fortunate that you had some help from your grandmother. It’s hard to get started in a creative kind of work and still support a family.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Now, where are those brownies? I’m starving.”

With a smile, she said, “Follow me.” She stopped by the girls’ bedroom to see if they wanted brownies, too, then all five of them went to the kitchen. Jennifer set a plate of brownies on the table and provided everyone with a small plate and a glass of lemonade.

“Heaven,” Nick said slowly after he took a bite.

“You love chocolate, too?” she asked with a smile.

“You bet. And I think they’ve proved that it’s good for you.”

“Well, in moderation, yes. Molière said moderation is the key to a healthy life.”

“Molière? You’re quoting a French playwright over brownies?”

“Ah, so you’ve heard of him?”

“What’s that, Mommy?” Missy asked.

“Oh, we were just talking about…what we think about life.”

“Oh.” Obviously not a subject that interested her, Jennifer thought. She tried another. “Do you like the brownies?”

All three girls gave them rave reviews.

Nick leaned across the table and whispered, “We’ll compare philosophies another time.”

Jennifer couldn’t believe how much she looked forward to it.

A
T FIVE THE NEXT DAY
, Nick knocked on Jennifer’s door. When she opened it, he asked, “Are we taking the cake and presents with us, or having them here after pizza?”

“I thought we’d do cake and presents here.”

“Good. I like that idea. I’ll put my presents here, too.” He stepped to the side of the door and picked up a large stack of presents.

“Do you think there’s a remote possibility you overdid the present thing?” she teased.

“You said the other two girls should get presents, too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I meant from me.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I just followed along. Besides, I had a great time shopping. And I didn’t spend a lot of money.”

“Good. I don’t want them to get hooked on video games this early in their lives.”

“No, those should wait a year or two.”

She rolled her eyes. “At least.”

“Is that Dad—Nick, I mean?” Missy called as she reached the living room.

“Yes, it is.” Nick reached out to hug Missy lightly. “My, don’t you look nice.”

The other two girls came out also. “Wow, look at you two. Annie, you’re the prettiest birthday girl I’ve seen in ages!”

The little girl smiled and rubbed her peach-colored shirt. “Mommy bought me my outfit today because it’s my birthday.”

“Well, she did a good job. It looks great on you. And I think your sisters have new clothes, too.”

“Yes, we’re all birthday girls tonight,” Steffi explained with pride.

“That must be why I brought gifts for all of you.”

“You did?” Missy asked in excitement.

Annie’s eyes were huge as she stared at Nick. “More presents?” she asked, as if that couldn’t be possible.

“Yeah, more gifts. Birthdays are special, sweetheart,” he said, swinging Annie up into his arms. “So, are you ready for pizza?”

“Yes,” all three girls said at once.

“Jen?”

“Yes, I’m ready. I wish I had earplugs to take with me.”

Nick offered her a sympathetic smile. “It won’t be that bad, since it’s the middle of the week.”

“I hope you’re right.”

When they reached Chuck E. Cheese’s, they took the girls in and ordered the pizza and Coke for everyone. After they ate, the girls begged to play the games.

Missy found the ball pit and loved it. She dived in and then erupted into the air, sending the balls in every direction. Annie held back, holding Nick’s hand tightly. Steffi looked bored.

Nick leaned forward and whispered to Jennifer. “You keep an eye on our little volcano, and I’ll see what the other girls want to do.”

Steffi found amusement in some video games, and Annie wandered over to Skee-Ball. She asked questions of Nick and gauged her tosses. Nick decided she had an analytical mind. He’d seen her use that mind in putting together the swing set. Here was a child after his own heart.

When they left two hours later, only because of the promise of cake and presents, Nick and Jennifer ex
changed tired glances. But they’d also learned a bit about their little charges.

At Jennifer’s, she put candles in the cake and brought it into the living room where the three girls were lined up on the sofa, excitedly waiting. As she came in she began singing Happy Birthday to Annie. Nick joined in and then the two other little girls followed suit.

Jennifer set the cake on the coffee table. “Blow out the candles so your wish will come true, Annie,” she said, standing back.

Annie looked first at Jennifer and then Nick, as if she didn’t know what to do.

“Blow out the candles, Annie,” Nick encouraged. “Then we get to eat some cake. Blow hard!”

Annie finally leaned forward and blew.

Jennifer bent down and kissed her cheek. “Now make your wish, honey.” She picked up the cake and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll be right back with pieces of cake for everyone.”

While Jennifer was in the kitchen, Nick said, “Stay here. I’ve got to go get another piece of your present from my apartment.”

With a grin, he excused himself and hurried to his apartment. He hoped Annie would like his choice. He’d thought about a small tool kit, but he decided she was too young for that just yet.

He rolled a large flat circle into the living room just in time for cake.

As soon as Steffi was done, Nick asked, “Ready for your presents, Annie?”

“Yes,” Annie said softly.

He moved a pile of presents to the coffee table. “Oh, my, some of these have other names on them. Let’s see, there’s one for Steffi and one for Missy, too.”

Those two clapped their hands. He offered them the presents with their names on them. But the biggest pile was in front of Annie.

“Okay, Annie,” Jennifer said. “You go first. Open a present.”

Annie picked up a big one from Jennifer. She carefully untaped the paper and folded it back. Her sisters were telling her to rip the paper off, but she did it her own way. The paper parted to reveal a doll that looked a great deal like Annie with silky blond hair and rosy cheeks.

“Oh, she’s beautiful!” Annie said in a whisper. “Thank you, Jennifer.”

Jennifer helped her open the box and remove the doll. Annie wrapped her arms around her dolly and rocked back and forth.

“All right, Steffi, Missy, you can open your presents, too.”

Paper flew everywhere as the other two girls unwrapped their dolls also, which were not quite as large as Annie’s.

“Annie, I think those two are from your sisters,” Jennifer said, pointing to more gifts.

With awe in her eyes, Annie opened Steffi’s present.
Nick didn’t know when the girls had had a chance to shop, but the gift from Steffi was a small coin purse that Annie loved. Then, as Jennifer insisted, she opened Missy’s present, a puzzle.

Nick’s present came next. Annie opened the first big box and pulled out some sticks of wood. “What is this?”

Nick rolled the flat piece of wood closer. “It’s part of your puzzle table. We have to attach the legs. Want to help?”

He pulled his toolbox forward and Annie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes.”

Jennifer and the other two, after opening puzzles from Nick, picked up the wrapping paper and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. By the time they’d done that, Annie and Nick had the legs attached to the table.

He looked at Jennifer. “I thought we could put this in the corner in their bedroom, so they’d have a place to put together puzzles and color.”

“That’s a very good idea, Nick…if it fits.”

“I’ll carry it in there,” he said, picking up the table. They all followed him. The table fit beautifully in the corner.

“I’ll have to get some chairs for them,” Jennifer said.

“Uh, I have those, too. They’re in my apartment. I didn’t know how to wrap them.” He left the room and came back a few minutes later with three little chairs and another box, wrapped in birthday paper.

“Here they are, Annie, and here’s one more present.”

“What is it?” Annie asked.

“Open it and see.” He stood back, pleased with the way his gift had worked out.

The last gift was a puzzle, a round one made for adults.

“I think you should take that one back, Nick. It’s too difficult for Annie.”