Just a Memory (8 page)

"Christie and
I
," Carolyn corrected, giving her daughter a hug. "
I
had hot dogs."

"You did too?"

Carolyn heard Mac's soft chuckle.

"I'm sorry it took me longer tonight. Some work came up that I just had to finish," she said, skirting Terri's question. She looked at Mac over Terri's head and shook her head without Terri noticing. Mac seemed to understand she didn't want to talk about what had happened at the store. "I worked late and then I ate dinner with my new friend," she added, glancing up at Mac.

Terri turned to look at the man standing on the sidewalk. "Are you the friend my mom ate with?"

Mac nodded, but Carolyn didn't give him a chance to speak. She put her arm around Terri's shoulder. "This is my new friend, Mr. Macdonald," she said. "Come on. Let's all get in out of the cold."

Terri stepped into the front hall and proceeded to take her coat off. Carolyn turned to Mac who hadn't moved, but was watching Terri. "Would you like to come in and meet my daughter?"

Chapter Four

The strange look on Mac's face made Carolyn wish she'd said something about Terri earlier while they were eating pizza. She'd started to, but the subject changed and she never got around to mentioning it. Or had she avoided mentioning that she was a mother? Had she wanted to enjoy the time with Mac in a completely carefree manner, without the responsibilities they each bore coming into it?

She had to admit she hadn't tried very hard to tell him she had a child. He said he was in town temporarily. He would probably leave and never meet Terri. And Carolyn had enjoyed their time together. Just for a while, there in her tiny office with Mac, she had felt young and carefree again–able to enjoy the attentions of a handsome man without the real world intruding.

Was that wrong?

She drew her lower lip into her mouth and bit down on it. Mac stepped in past her, closed the inside door, and leaned against it. Terri hung her coat in the closet on the hook Carolyn had installed low enough for her to reach. She turned back to openly study Mac.

"Terri, Mr. Macdonald is the new Acting Chief of Police here in Lakehaven."

"Are you really a policeman?" Terri asked excitedly.

Mac glanced at Carolyn and then looked back at her daughter. "Ah, yes. I'm a policeman," he said as he hunkered down to be on a level with Terri.

"I've never met a policeman except one who came to school once."

Mac chuckled. "I think that's good."

"Do you carry a gun and everything?"

"When I need to," he answered after another quick glance at Carolyn.

"Are you arresting my mom? Is that why you're here?"

"No, honey, I'm just here to see that your mom got home safely."

Terri looked up at her mom with a surprised look on her face. Of course Terri knew nothing about the break-in, and Carolyn didn't want Mac's comments to make Terri worry about her when Carolyn was out and had to come home alone. She smiled reassuringly. "That's his way of saying he wanted to talk to me a little longer, that's all."

Terri turned back to Mac. "My mom gets herself home okay all the time."

Mac grinned. "I'm sure she does. You're a very pretty little girl, but I bet everyone tells you that."

Terri giggled. "Does everyone tell you you're handsome?" she asked earnestly.

Mac laughed out loud. "No, I can't remember anyone saying that."

"I think he's very handsome, don't you, Mommy?" Terri asked, turning to look up at Carolyn.

Carolyn looked from her to Mac and back again. She felt heat rising into her cheeks and wished she could end the conversation about Mac. She smiled, but didn't get a chance to speak before Mac did.

"Terri, may I ask how old you are?"

"I just turned seven on October tenth. You should have come to my party. It was fun."

"I'm sorry I missed it," Mac said. He rose to stand beside her.

Carolyn became aware of how tall and muscular he was. The entrance hall felt smaller than ever with the three of them standing there.

"Do you want to see my gerbils? Mom gave me the greatest cage. It's got a wheel that they run around and everything."

Suddenly, she wasn't comfortable with Terri giving Mac a tour of her bedroom. She suspected her own bedroom would be the next spot Terri would want to show him. No way was Carolyn ready for that.

"Maybe some other time, Terri," Carolyn urged. "Mr. Macdonald just came in to say hello, and it's time for you to get ready for bed now anyway. Tomorrow's a school day."

The child groaned. "I hope you'll come back soon," Terri told Mac. "I don't have a daddy. Do you have any kids?"

"No, honey. I don't," Mac said, grinning broadly. When Terri followed up her question with another one asking if he was married, he laughed. "No, I'm not. Are you?"

Terri giggled. "No. I'm too little. And my mom's not married either."

The temperature of Carolyn's cheeks rose sharply. "Bedtime, sweetie."

Terri's smile disappeared as she turned to Carolyn. "I'm going," she said dully. But her face brightened once more when she looked back at Mac. "He's nice, isn't he, Mommy?"

Carolyn smiled and put her hands on Terri's shoulders to turn her toward her bedroom. "Yes, Mr. Macdonald is a nice man, Terri. Now you scoot. Go get ready for your bath."

Terri said goodbye to Mac over her shoulder and scurried down the hall to do as she was told.

"Good night, Terri," Mac called after her. He shook his head and looked back at Carolyn. "Another ten years and she'll be a knockout."

"Don't remind me," she responded, rolling her eyes upward.

Mac smiled and then shook his head. "I haven't had much experience with a kid like her. The ones I've run into were mostly delinquents."

Carolyn didn't know what to say. She bit down on her lower lip.

"Well, I'll be going. Thanks for sharing my pizza."

"I'm the one who should thank you–for all your help at the shop." She leaned toward him and added in a whisper, "and for not mentioning to Terri what happened."

"No problem. So, what about going out for a real dinner?" he added, looking down the hall where Terri had disappeared.

"Well, I'll have to get a sitter," Carolyn said hesitantly.

"We'll go for something better than a cold pizza. You can tell me where the good restaurants are in the area."

"Are you taking my mommy out to dinner?" Terri asked from the hall where she appeared suddenly. She'd apparently made no progress toward getting ready for her bath except removing her shoes. Carolyn felt certain she'd been listening to her conversation with Mac.

"I will if she'd like to go."

"Oh, yes!" Terri said excitedly. "Mommy wants to go. I know she does. Don't you, Mommy?
Please!
"

"Whoa!" Carolyn told her. "I'd like to make up my own mind, thank you very much, Little Miss Social Secretary."

"Don't you
want
to go out with him, Mom? You
said
he's nice."

"Yes, he's very nice. Now you–"

"And I think he's handsome. Don't you?"

Carolyn looked at Mac to see he was enjoying every minute of the dialogue between Terri and her embarrassed mother. She groaned. "
Yes
, he's handsome," she said to Terri before she turned back to Mac. "I give up, Mac. I'd love to go to dinner with you, but can we decide when and where at another time?"

Mac lost his struggle for composure and laughed. "Sure, Carolyn. Bye, little one. Sweet dreams." Mac's gaze moved over Carolyn. "Sweet dreams to your mommy, too."

Carolyn returned his gaze and couldn't look away. "Thanks," she said, feeling butterfly wings fluttering in her stomach.

He was the one to break the tenuous bond between them by opening the door and stepping out on to the stoop. "Be sure to lock your door."

"I will," she promised. He nodded and walked toward his car. "Good night," she called out, realizing she didn't want their time together to end.

Terri called her good night and Mac waved before he climbed into his car. Carolyn closed the door and depressed the lock on the knob as well as hooking the chain lock.

"There. All set," she said to a grinning Terri. "Now scoot. There's just time for a quick bath for you before you have to jump into bed."

Terri skipped along, singing, "Mommy's got a da-ate! Mommy's got a da-ate!"

Shaking her head, Carolyn hung up her coat and followed her daughter down the hall to the bathroom. She took a deep breath and started running the warm water. She knew she was in for more urging from Terri to find her a daddy, a nice and handsome one like Mac.

For the first time since Richard's death, she was ready to give it serious thought.

Mac heard the lock of Carolyn's door snap into position. But damn it,
he
was the one who'd snapped. Here he was in this burg only three weeks and already he was getting involved with a woman. A woman with a kid, no less. What was he thinking? He was doing exactly what he knew he should
not
do.

When he'd touched her hair moments before, he discovered it was just as soft as he thought it would be. Men here aren't just nuts, he thought. They are downright stupid if they aren't interested in her.

Mac drove straight for the apartment he shared with Hines. He found Hines with his feet up on the steamer trunk that passed as a coffee table, a beer in his hand, and Monday night football on the television.

"There's pizza left in the fridge if you want some," Hines said, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"No, but a beer sounds good as soon as I change."

In jeans and a sweatshirt, Mac popped the top on a beer and stretched out at the other end of the couch while Hines filled him in on the progress of the game.

"You were slipping today, Hines," Mac said nonchalantly while still watching the game. "Funny how you didn't remember to tell me all the facts you gathered at the costume shop."

"Huh? Whatcha talking about, man?"

"The one
specific
detail that you left out of your report."

The sudden grin appearing on Hines's face told Mac that he knew what Mac was talking about. But he still feigned ignorance.

"You called her Mrs. and I
know
you meant to make me think she was married."

"You might have thought I was encouraging you to make a move on her. Instead, you managed that all on your own. So…how was your pizza supper with the nice Widow Blake? You appeared a bit uneasy at the pizza place while you waited for it to bake." Mac frowned and Hines raised his hand to defend against a forthcoming argument. "Not that Ellie and I weren't happy to have you sit at our table and annoy us while you waited."

"So what's with you, out with Ellie?"

"Oh, no, you don't. You can't change the subject, man. We were talking about your evening with the lovely Widow Blake."