Handful of Heaven (10 page)

She looked shocked. “You do?”

Why on earth would she look so surprised? Even with the residual rainwater streaking down her face and her hair plastered down, she looked amazing. Her features were delicate, and for all the strength she exuded, there wasn’t much to her, but she was no frail beauty. She was feminine and soft and caring and it was not diminished by her capable get-things-done approach to life.

Didn’t she know how attractive that was to a man like him? Didn’t she know that she fascinated him? He resisted the urge to smooth a stray lock of chestnut hair that had tumbled across her cheek, and he realized with a breath-stealing punch to his chest that he wanted to get to know her better.

So he risked his pride and asked her. “Why not? You’re single. I’m single. You practically have dinner with me anyway as it is. You’re in the general proximity, right?”

“Well, yeah, I guess, but—” No longer so in charge and self-assured, she bit her bottom lip, as if unsure, showing her rare, vulnerable side. “With Amy ill, I can’t—”

“Amy doesn’t work Sunday evenings.” He hoped that was true; he thought it might be. “And you take one night off a week, don’t you?”

“Uh, I always take Sunday evenings off, but I work at home. It’s when I do the week’s books.”

As if an excuse was going to work with him. He’d climbed up on this roof in the middle of a Montana spring storm, and it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart or because he had nothing better to do. “You stop to eat supper, right?”

“Well, usually I bring the plate into my office—”

He laid his hand on hers to stop her, and the instant his fingers met hers, a spark snapped like static electricity. Maybe it was something in the air from the storm, or maybe it was something more, like a sign from above. But either way he could not deny the shock of tenderness that rushed into the empty places of his heart. “You can stop for an hour or two and have dinner with me. Or I’m going to tell your sister and your son and everyone you work with that you promised to go out to dinner with me and then broke your promise.”

“You wouldn’t!”

He wouldn’t, but he liked the way she didn’t quite believe him. Good, because he would never do anything to hurt her. But when a man was standing on the peak of a roof with hail getting bigger by the minute and what looked like a thunderstorm on the way, he used what leverage he could. “So, how about I pick you up at your place around six?”

“I—” She intended to argue, to turn him down flat, he could see it. But then something on the sidewalk below stopped her.

He saw her sister Amy walking arm in arm with her new husband, her head leaning on his shoulder. Her little boy hurried ahead to open the passenger door, and there was no mistaking the protective concern on Heath Murdock’s granite face as he settled his wife onto the front seat.

Paige shook her head, as if changing her mind on what she’d been about to say, and a lovely brightness swept across her face, turning her cheeks pink and her eyes full of what looked like hope. “If you’re so determined to come by and take me to dinner, is there any way I can stop you?”

“Absolutely not.” He saw clearly what she couldn’t say. Well, there was a lot he couldn’t say to her right now either.

He cared about her, and he leaned in close to gather her free hand with his. “Let’s get off this roof before lightning decides to barbecue us.”

“You know what they say about lightning striking twice?”

He remembered that night’s storm. The sparkle of humor in her beautiful blue eyes made him grin, and he felt happy inside, not superficially, but really happy in a way he hadn’t felt in so long…he couldn’t remember when.

While he’d promised himself he’d never do this again, never open his heart up to the kind of devastation Liz had brought him, he
had
to know if Paige was true all the way down deep.

He led the way down the roof and onto the outside stairwell, never once letting go of her.

“M
om, where’s Mr. Thornton?” Alex popped his head out of the diner’s back door, ignoring the golf-ball-sized hail that was driving into them both.

“He went back to his car, I imagine, on his way to church.” Bruised and battered and wet clear through from the weather, she tried to ignore the fact that her son might have very easily spotted Evan Thornton helping her off the roof. And holding her hand longer than necessary. Like all the way down the stairs.

She told herself Evan had been worried about her safety, after all, the steps were slick and coated with hail. But secretly it had been
nice
, something unexpected.

“What about you? You’ve got—” she glanced at the wall clock, “five minutes to make it to the ten o’clock service.”

“But the roof—”

“Is no place for you to be in a storm, young man, but church is. So go, but you drive carefully.”

“I know.” He rolled his eyes, giving her a grin and “The Eye,” thinking himself so charming.

Okay, he was. She was biased and, as she’d been since she’d first feasted her eyes on him, totally in love with him. She couldn’t help smoothing his wet bangs out of his eyes. “Think you can come back and bus tables for me?”

“Sure. But you know what?” He grabbed his sodden jacket from the hook. Uncaring of the dampness, he thrust his arms into the garment. “You could hire someone else. You know, ’cause you’re short-staffed.”

“When I find someone reliable, I will.” Reliable was a problem when the wage for starting help was the state’s minimum, and mostly kids wanted the job. “You’re reliable and even cheaper.”

His charming grin widened. “You know who’s even more reliable than me?”

“I hate to ask.”

“Beth. She works over at the drive-in, but she doesn’t get enough hours there. And plus, she’d make more here because of tips, right?”

Boy, he sure could pick a sensitive subject, couldn’t he? “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have your girlfriend work here. What if you two break up? You’d still have to bus when we’re shorthanded, and you’d have to see her—”

“It’s not like that, Mom.” He shocked her by smacking a kiss on her cheek. “Beth has to take care of her mom and sister. Her mom’s drinking is bad again.”

Paige felt a punch of sympathy hit her hard in the chest. She, too, knew what it was like for a teenager to have to carry adult responsibilities. “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”

“Think all you want. Then hire her.” Alex jingled his keys as he grabbed the doorknob. “Hire her, and I won’t say one word about you and Mr. Thornton.”

With a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows, he was gone, racing into the storm before she could haul him back and set him straight.

You and Mr. Thornton. Alex had said it as if she and Evan were a pair, a couple, who were
dating.
Oh, that boy so had it wrong.

Isn’t that what dinner with a man was, a date? a little voice inside her head asked. And didn’t that mean she was technically dating Evan Thornton?

It was one date. Just one.

She grabbed the cordless phone and dialed Amy’s number. While she waited for the call to connect, she grabbed a dishtowel and dried the rain from her face.

“Hello, Paige.” Amy sounded weak and shaky. “I suppose you know what I’m about to say.”

“You took a pregnancy test and it’s positive?”

“Yep. Since Heath is a doctor, I suppose the result is about as accurate as we’re going to get today.” She gave a watery sigh. “I’ve wanted this so badly, but I wasn’t like this with Weston.”

“Remember how sick I was with Alex?” Paige understood morning sickness all too well. But she’d always wanted another little baby. Even now, the pangs of it tugged at her, but that time in her life had gone the moment her husband had called it quits. “I know Heath is already taking excellent care of you. Congratulations, sweetie.”

“Th-thank you.” Amy sobbed, a result of happy tears.

It was a happiness Amy deserved. Paige had done her best to make sure her brother and younger sisters had a good life. It hadn’t been easy for a teenager to raise kids only slightly younger than she was, but everything she’d done, how hard she’d worked, how hard she’d championed them, was for this, a good and happy life for them.

“I’m taking you off the schedule,” Paige decided. “You stay home this week and take good care of yourself and my little niece or nephew.”

“Paige, that’s great of you, but we can’t afford it. Heath is still working that intern position and—”

“I wasn’t planning on taking you off the payroll. I just want you to take it easy. We’ll square up later, okay? First things first.”

“Oh.” More tears had her sniffing. “You are a great big sister. I don’t think there’s a better one on this planet.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure you could find about a billion. I’ll send one of the twins over with meals for the rest of the day. That way no one needs to worry about cooking, okay? Take it easy. Oh, that’s call-waiting. I have to go.”

After Amy’s grateful goodbye, Paige answered the other call. Probably a business call. It was. A reservation coming in for the brunch. She scribbled the Corey family’s name into the book, giving them the last available table.

At least business was picking up, she thought, as she went to look in on the twins. Brandilyn looked busy refilling coffee and passing out copies of the Sunday paper.

See? At least something was normal. It was going to be like any other Sunday. She’d concentrate on the cooking, hand over the dining room to Jodi when she arrived, and refuse to give a single thought to Evan Thornton…and their impending date.

Because it wasn’t a real date. Not really.

The congregation was standing for the last chorus of the opening hymn as Evan slipped into the back row. He looked like he’d been drowned and beaten, and he was thankful for an inconspicuous spot. The weather must have discouraged a lot of people from coming, so that meant he had plenty of room and he didn’t have to worry about dripping all over perfectly dry worshipers.

Just as the pastor was warming up to his sermon, the back door whispered open and Paige’s son sauntered down the aisle, dripping wet, and slipped into a pew next to several kids from the youth group.

That made him think of Cal. While the emptiness from missing his boys was still as sharp as ever, he didn’t feel quite so alone. And, remembering the way Paige’s hand had felt so right in his, he felt…hopeful for the future.

Someone slunk behind the last row and stopped behind him. “Dad, what happened to you?” whispered a familiar voice.

Cal! There the boy was, looking mighty proud of himself, and taller, wider through the shoulder. He’d grown over the last few months, a man and no longer the little boy Evan was so used to protecting. “Just a little rain,” he whispered back. “You didn’t tell me you were coming home.”

“I thought I’d surprise you, and then I couldn’t find you here. I was just about to come looking for you.”

“Sit and listen to the minister.” He was still the dad; he couldn’t help himself.

Cal gave him a sheepish grin, as if he were indulging his old man, slid over the arm of the pew and dropped onto the seat.

It wasn’t until the closing hymn that they could manage to talk again.

“Are you staying for brunch?” Evan whispered as the first verse rang around them.

“I’m starvin’. Thought I’d come home with you, well, after we eat, and use the washer and dryer. It’s a bummer to use the dorm machines. I never have enough quarters.”

“Sure you can use my machines, but it’ll cost you two bucks a load. That’s a bargain.”

“Ha ha. You’re hysterical, Dad. You know I came home to bum more money, right?”

“Right. I was a college kid once too, long ago.” He resisted the urge to grab his boy in a wrestling hold, mainly because they were in church and because Cal was no longer his boy.

No, he was nineteen years old. He was a man. But, Evan thought as he followed his son down the aisle and out of the church, he will always be my son. He was glad of that fact. Like his older brother, Cal was getting top grades, he made good decisions, was active in church and in sports and behaved well. Evan was proud of his sons, and glad he was in a position to help them get a better start in life than he’d had.

“I’ll meet you at the diner.” He left Cal next to his bright red Mustang, a present for graduating with a perfect G.P.A. The vehicle was polished and spotless beneath the layer of sloppy ice that had been obviously falling for a while.

Evan scraped his truck windshield and huddled shivering in the cab while the traffic jammed as it always did on the trek from the church parking lot to the main street. Through the dissipating fog on his windows as his defroster blew hot air, he could see across the town park to Paige’s diner.

How was he going to tell Cal about Paige? It was a date, just a date, but there was no way to minimize the significance of it. Evan had never dated while he’d been responsible for the boys; even if he’d had the inclination, he never would have had the time. More than that, though, the boys were not only hurt by the divorce, but they saw up close what their mother had done. The financial disaster was only part of it. Evan knew it was years before he managed to smile again. Longer still until he could laugh, but never had he been the same man.

How was he going to explain he wanted to take a chance again? He couldn’t even rationalize it to himself. Then again, it was only a first date. The first step toward a relationship, and it was too soon to tell how things would work out.

Maybe he would wait to tell his boys; after all, he thought as he found a parking spot along the curb, he didn’t expect them to tell him every time they went on a date.

The second he pushed through the diner’s front door and spotted Cal talking with Paige’s son, he knew the decision was out of his hands. The boys had known each other through sports, church and school, of course, and Evan tried to hold hope that the kids were talking about one of those subjects.

But as he approached, he noticed Alex’s gaze widen with an uh-oh! expression and water sloshed out of the pitcher he was carrying around.

“Hi there, Mr. Thornton,” Alex cleared his throat. “You, uh, want some coffee?”

“I do.” And those two words sent the boy hurrying off as if Evan had barked an order. He tried to ignore his son’s smirk. “After you surrender possession of my washer and dryer, are you gonna hang around for a while? Or are you heading back to the dorm?”

“I was gonna head straight back. I’ve got this killer chem test tomorrow, but—” That smirk turned troublesome. “I’ve decided to stay and help my dad get ready for his date.”

I should have known this would happen.

Evan was desperately grateful that Alex showed up with a pot of coffee. He was in such a hurry to figure out what to say to his son—and now to Paige’s—that he pushed the cup and saucer closer to Alex with a little too much power and the cup rocked toward the edge of the table.

Alex caught it. “Whoa, there. Don’t go breaking the dishes, Mr. Thornton, or my mom’ll call off the date.”

The boys thought that was hilarious by the looks they were exchanging.

“Just pour the coffee.” He tried to sound unaffected. They were teenaged boys. They could laugh. What did they know? He was a man; he could sit here and pretend nothing bothered him. At least Cal was taking the news well.

“Your mom won’t call off the date. I caught her looking at my dad through the window. She was smiling. Dad is a good catch. I’ve been worrying about him now that I’m out of the house. He needs someone to keep an eye on him.”

“Funny.” Evan was glad that Alex had the manners to stay quiet as he filled Cal’s cup and then backed away. “A chem test, you said?”

“That’s old news. This thing with Paige. How long have you been dating her? She’s old, but she’s pretty. Hey, she’s, like, as old as you!” As if proud of his brilliant deduction, Cal upended the sugar canister over his steaming cup of coffee and stirred.

“I feel so much better now.” Evan stood, taking his plate with him. “I’m not that old.”

“Of course not,” Cal concurred diplomatically. “But you’re, like, forty, Dad. Just roll with it. You don’t look all that bad.”

“I’m relieved to know that.” That was perspective, he thought remembering that when he’d been Cal’s age, how anyone older than thirty had seemed ancient. “I figure I’ll try to enjoy what life is left me before the rest of my looks go.”

“Ha ha, Dad.” Cal stepped into the buffet line behind him. “I’m just sayin’ you don’t need to feel like Mrs. McKaslin won’t think you’re, you know—”

“Old?” Evan asked wryly as he grabbed a pair of tongs and loaded up on link sausages. “That’s the last time I want to hear that word, boy.”

“Okay, I wasn’t gonna say it, though. I was gonna say ugly.”

“Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’m glad I can count on my son at a time like this.”

“You can count on me, Dad,” Cal shoved his plate at him. “And can I have lots of sausages?” He was already using his free hand to pilfer the piles of crispy bacon. “So, you got reservations for tonight?”

“I don’t need my son to help me plan my date.” Evan finished doling out sausages and moved onto the choices of hashed or butter-fried potatoes. He took some of both. “I know how to take a woman to dinner.”

“Dad, the last lady you dated was Mom. You’re out of practice. Times have changed.”

“What’s changed? You go to dinner, be polite, have conversation and take her home.”

“Not so much, Dad.” Apparently a dating expert, Cal took over the spoon and loaded diced potatoes next to his mountain of breakfast meat. “You’ve got to have this all figured out. You don’t want her to think this is no big deal.”

“Well, it’s a first date.” And a really big deal, Evan was beginning to realize and didn’t want to admit, even to himself. So he chose eggs Benedict over the Belgian waffles and tried not to think about it.

He waited while Cal took both choices, his plate nearly ready to collapse under the weight of all that food, and they headed back to their table together. “I was going to take her to that steak place in Bozeman that we like.”