Local Hero (16 page)

Her heart was still pumping hard and fast against his. “I think I figured it out.”

“I wish we could be together tonight, but there's Rad.”

“I know how you feel about me staying here with Rad in the next room. Hester . . .” He ran his hands up her arms to rest them on her shoulders. “Why not be honest with him, tell him we care about each other and want to be together?”

“Mitch, he's only a baby.”

“No, he's not. No, wait,” he continued before she could speak again. “I'm not saying we should make it seem casual or careless, but that we should let Radley know how we feel about each other, and when two grown people feel this strongly about each other, they need to show it.”

It seemed so simple when he said it, so logical, so natural. Gathering her thoughts, she stepped back. “Mitch, Rad loves you, and he loves with the innocence and lack of restriction of a child.”

“I love him, too.”

She looked into his eyes and nodded. “Yes, I think you do, and if it's true, I hope you'll understand. I'm afraid that if I bring Radley into this at this point, he'll come to depend on you even more than he already does. He'd come to look at you as . . .”

“As a father,” Mitch finished. “You don't want a father in his life, do you, Hester?”

“That's not fair.” Her eyes, usually so calm and clear, turned to smoke.

“Maybe not, but if I were you, I'd give it some hard thought.”

“There's no reason to say cruel things because I won't have sex with you when my son's sleeping in the next room.”

He caught her by the shirt so fast she could only stare. She'd seen him annoyed, pushed close to the edge, but never furious. “Damn you, do you think that's all I'm talking about? If all I wanted was sex, I could go downstairs and pick up the phone. Sex is easy, Hester. All it takes is two people and a little spare time.”

“I'm sorry.” She closed her eyes, knowing she'd never said or done anything in her life she'd been more ashamed of. “That was stupid, Mitch; I just keep feeling as though my back's against the wall. I need some time, please.”

“So do I. But the time I need is with you.” He dropped his hands and stuck them in his pockets. “I'm pressuring you. I know it, and I'm not going to stop, because I believe in us.”

“I wish I could, also, honestly I do, but there's too much at stake for me.”

And for himself, Mitch thought, but was calm enough now to hold off. “We'll let it ride for a while. Are you and Rad up to hitting a few arcades in Times Square tonight?”

“Sure. He'd love it.” She stepped toward him again. “So would I.”

“You say that now, but you won't after I humiliate you with my superior skill.”

“I love you.”

He let out a long breath, fighting back the urge to grab her again and refuse to let go. “You going to let me know when you're comfortable with that?”

“You'll be the first.”

He picked up the card Radley had made him. “Tell Rad I'll see him later.”

“I will.” He was halfway to the door when she started after him. “Mitch, why don't you come to dinner tomorrow? I'll fix a pot roast.”

He tilted his head. “The kind with the little potatoes and carrots all around?”

“Sure.”

“And biscuits?”

She smiled. “If you want.”

“Sounds great, but I'm tied up.”

“Oh.” She struggled with the need to ask how but reminded herself she didn't have the right.

Mitch smiled, selfishly pleased to see her disappointment. “Can I have a rain check?”

“Sure.” She tried to answer the smile. “I guess Radley told you about his birthday next week,” she said when Mitch reached the door.

“Only five or six times.” He paused, his hand on the knob.

“He's having a party next Saturday afternoon. I know he'd like you to come if you can.”

“I'll be there. Look, why don't we take off about seven? I'll bring the quarters.”

“We'll be ready.” He wasn't going to kiss her goodbye, she thought. “Mitch, I—”

“I almost forgot.” Casually he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a small box.

“What is it?”

“It's Valentine's Day, isn't it?” He put it in her hand. “So this is a Valentine's Day present.”

“A Valentine's Day present,” she repeated dumbly.

“Yeah, tradition, remember? I thought about candy, but I figured you'd spend a whole lot of time making sure Radley didn't eat too much of it. But look, if you'd rather have candy, I'll just take this back and—”

“No.” She pulled the box out of his reach, then laughed. “I don't even know what it is.”

“You'd probably find out if you open the box.”

Flipping the lid, she saw the thin gold chain that held a heart no bigger than her thumbnail. It glittered with the diamonds that formed it. “Oh, Mitch, it's gorgeous.”

“Something told me it'd be a bigger hit with you than candy. Candy would have made you think about oral hygiene.”

“I'm not that bad,” she countered, then lifted the heart out of the box. “Mitch, it's really beautiful, I love it, but it's too—”

“Conventional, I know,” he interrupted as he took it from her. “But I'm just that kind of guy.”

“You are?”

“Just turn around and let me hook it for you.”

She obeyed, lifting one hand up under her hair. “I do love it, but I don't expect you to buy me expensive presents.”

“Um-hmm.” His brows were drawn together as he worked the clasp. “I didn't expect bacon and eggs, but you seemed to get a kick out of fixing them.” The clasp secured, he turned her around to face him. “I get a kick out of seeing you wear my heart around your neck.”

“Thank you.” She touched a finger to the heart. “I didn't buy you any candy, either, but maybe I can give you something else.”

She was smiling when she kissed him, gently, teasingly, with a power that surprised them both. It took only an instant, an instant to be lost, to need, to imagine. His back was to the door as he moved his hands from her face to her hair to her shoulders, then to her hips to mold her even more truly against him. The fire burned, hot and fast, so that even when she drew away he felt singed by it. With his eyes on hers, Mitch let out a very long, very slow breath.

“I guess those kids will be coming back.”

“Any minute.”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed her lightly on the brow before he turned and opened the door. “See you later.”

He would go down to get Taz, Mitch thought as he started down the hall. Then he was going for a walk. A long one.

***

True to his word Mitch's pockets were filled with quarters. The arcades were packed with people and echoed with the pings and whistles and machine-gun sound effects of the games. Hester stood to the side as Mitch and Radley used their combined talents to save the world from intergalactic wars.

“Nice shooting, Corporal.” Mitch slapped the boy's shoulder as a Phaser II rocket disintegrated in a flash of colored light.

“It's your turn.” Radley relinquished the controls to his superior officer. “Watch out for the sensor missiles.”

“Don't worry. I'm a veteran.”

“We're going to beat the high score.” Radley tore his eyes away from the screen long enough to look at his mother. “Then we can put our initials up. Isn't this a neat place? It's got everything.”

Everything, Hester thought, including some seamy-looking characters in leather and tattoos. The machine behind her let out a high-pitched scream. “Just stay close, okay?”

“Okay, Corporal, we're only seven hundred points away from the high score. Keep your eyes peeled for nuclear satellites.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Radley clenched his jaw and took the controls.

“Good reflexes,” Mitch said to Hester as he watched Radley control his ship with one hand and fire surface-to-air missiles with the other.

“Josh has one of those home video games. Rad loves to go over and play things like this.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as Radley's ship barely missed annihilation. “I can never figure out how he can tell what's going on. Oh, look, he's passed the high score.”

They continued to watch in tense silence as Radley fought bravely to the last man. As a finale, the screen exploded in brilliant fireworks of sound and light.

“A new record.” Mitch hoisted Radley in the air. “This calls for a field promotion. Sergeant, inscribe your initials.”

“But you got more points than I did.”

“Who's counting? Go ahead.”

Face flushed with pride, Radley clicked the button that ran through the alphabet. R.A.W.
A
for Allan, Mitch thought, and said nothing.

“My initials spell
raw
, and backward they spell
war
—pretty neat, huh?”

“Pretty neat,” Mitch agreed. “Want to give it a shot, Hester?”

“No, thanks. I'll just watch.”

“Mom doesn't like to play,” Radley confided. “Her palms sweat.”

“Your palms sweat?” Mitch repeated with a grin.

Hester sent a telling look in Radley's direction. “It's the pressure. I can't take being responsible for the fate of the world. I know it's a game,” she said before Mitch could respond. “But I get, well, caught up.”

“You're terrific, Mrs. Wallace.” He kissed her as Radley looked on and considered.

It made him feel funny to see Mitch kiss his mother. He wasn't sure if it was a good funny or a bad funny. Then Mitch dropped a hand to his shoulder. It always made Radley feel nice when Mitch put his hand there.

“Okay, what'll it be next, the Amazon jungles, medieval times, a search for the killer shark?”

“I like the one with the ninja. I saw a ninja movie at Josh's once—well, almost did. Josh's mom turned it off because one of the women was taking her clothes off and stuff.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mitch stifled a laugh as Hester's mouth dropped open. “What was the name?”

“Never mind.” Hester gripped Radley's hand. “I'm sure Josh's parents just made a mistake.”

“Josh's father thought it was about throwing stars and kung fu. Josh's mom got mad and made him take it back to the video place and get something else. But I still like ninjas.”

“Let's see if we can find a free machine.” Mitch fell into step beside Hester. “I don't think he was marked for life.”

“I'd still like to know what ‘and stuff' means.”

“Me, too.” He swung an arm around her shoulders to steer her through a clutch of teenagers. “Maybe we could rent it.”

“I'll pass, thanks.”

“You don't want to see
Naked Ninjas from Nagasaki?
” When she turned around to stare at him, Mitch held out both hands, palms up. “I made it up. I swear.”

“Hmmm.”

“Here's one. Can I play this one?”

Mitch continued to grin at Hester as he dug out quarters.

The time passed so that Hester almost stopped hearing the noise from both machines and people. To placate Radley she played a few of the less intense games, ones that didn't deal with world domination or universal destruction. But for the most part she watched him, pleased to see him enjoying what was for him a real night on the town.

They must look like a family, she thought as Radley and Mitch bent over the controls in a head-to-head duel. She wished she still believed in such things. But to her, families and lifetime commitments were as fanciful as the machines that spewed out color and light around them.

Day to day, Hester thought with a little sigh. That was all she could afford to believe in now. In a few hours she would tuck Radley in bed and go to her room alone. That was the only way to make sure they were both safe. She heard Mitch laugh and shout encouragement to Radley, and looked away. It was the only way, she told herself again. No matter how much she wanted or was tempted to believe again, she couldn't risk it.

“How about the pinball machines?” Mitch suggested.

“They're okay.” Though they rang with wild colors and lights, Radley didn't find them terribly exciting. “Mom likes them though.”

“Are you any good?”

Hester pushed aside her uneasy thoughts. “Not bad.”

“Care to go one-on-one?” He jingled the quarters in his pockets.

Though she'd never considered herself highly competitive, she was swayed by his smug look. “All right.”

She'd always had a touch for pinball, a light enough, quick enough touch to have beaten her brother nine times out of ten. Though these machines were electronic and more sophisticated than the ones she'd played in her youth, she didn't doubt she could make a good showing.

“I could give you a handicap,” Mitch suggested as he pushed coins into the slot.

“Funny, I was just going to say the same thing to you.” With a smile, Hester took the controls.

It had something to do with black magic and white knights. Hester tuned out the sounds and concentrated on keeping the ball in play. Her timing was sharp. Mitch stood behind her with his hands tucked in his back pockets and nodded as she sent the ball spinning.

He liked the way she leaned into the machine, her lips slightly parted, her eyes narrowed and alert. Now and then she would catch her tongue between her teeth and push her body forward as if to follow the ball on its quick, erratic course.

The little silver ball rammed into rubber, sending bells ringing and lights flashing. By the time her first ball dropped, she'd already racked up an impressive score.

“Not bad for an amateur,” Mitch commented with a wink at Radley.

“I'm just warming up.” With a smile, she stepped back.

Radley watched the progress of the ball as Mitch took control. But he had to stand on his toes to get the full effect. It was pretty neat when the ball got hung up in the top of the machine where the bumpers sent it vibrating back and forth in a blur. He glanced behind him at the rows of other machines and wished he' d thought to ask for another quarter before they'd started to play. But if he couldn't play, he could watch. He edged away to get a closer look at a nearby game.