Out of Her League (31 page)

His voice was gruff, but she smiled as if she knew what he felt, and patted his arm. Then she got out of the car, but before she shut the door, she leaned back in.

“
Thanks for the kiss,
”
she whispered.

As he watched her walk inside, his fury dissipated just a bit.

Someone tapped on the driver
’
s window. Joe glanced to his left. Twin noses squashed against the glass.

“
Can we drive your car?
”

Evie
resisted
the
urge
to slam open the front door and start screaming. That situation was the one she
’
d hoped to avoid by leaving Joe in the car. She
’d pur
posely left the twins out there, too. They wouldn
’
t let Joe out of their sight. For some reason they were attached to the man.

Evie paused with her hand on the doorknob, blew a sharp breath upward to get her bangs out of her eyes, shook off the remnants of Joe
’
s kiss, and went
inside to...
Grr
. She didn
’
t even want to think about it.

A flick of the light switch illuminated the living room. Evie sent a quick thank-you heavenward that things weren
’
t as bad as she
’
d feared. Adam and Toni were sitting on the couch, blinking at her. Close as they could get, true, but though their lips might be red, all their clothes were on. Small favors, she would take.

“
Toni, your dad
’
s waiting in the car. You
’
d better go.
”

“
Sure.
”
She hesitated, as if she
’
d kiss Adam goodbye. Then glanced at Evie and stood. As she walked past, Evie couldn
’
t seem to stop staring at the girl
’
s face. She glowed; that was the only word for it.

The door shut, and Evie sighed before turning back to Adam. He did not glow. He glowered.
Great
.

She
’
d just opened her mouth to begin, when the whirlwind came and hit the back of her legs. She was so used to the twins
’
brand of physical affection that she barely stumbled anymore, even from a sneak attack. Frontal assaults were a piece of cake.

“
Start the shower,
”
she ordered, hugging one to each side.

“
It
’
s late. We
’
re tired. Shower tomorrow.
”

“
I
’
m tired. You
’
re filthy. Shower now.
”
Evie pointed down the hall.
“
Hut, two, three, four.
”

They marched, mumbling and grumbling all the way.

“
We need to talk,
”
she told Adam.
“
After I get those two to bed.
”

He didn
’
t ans
wer, and she peered at him, sur
prised to find a belligerent look on his face. The expression was completely foreign to her.

“
Maybe we should talk now,
”
she ventured.

“
Don
’
t bother. I know what you
’
re going to say.
”

“
Really? Excellent, because I have no idea.
”

“
You don
’
t have to lecture me on responsibility,
Mom. I know all about it.
”

“
You do? Then why did you send your brothers out in the rain?
”

“
It
’
s eighty degrees out and this is Oak Grove, Iowa—nowhere center of the universe. They were fine.
”

“
Lucky for you.
”

“
I
’
m sick of them!
”
he shouted.

Evie
’
s eyes widened. Adam never raised his voice. He rarely got angry, unless the twins poked him one time too many. And he never, ever argued with her. To be h
onest, his good behavior was un
nerving, and sometimes she
’
d wished for
a rebel
lion—just a tiny one—to show he was growing up all right. Well, she
’
d gotten her wish. Now, was she a mouse or a mom?

Evie straightened her back and met Adam
’
s eyes.
“
I can
’
t say that I blame you. The two of them can be a real pain. But you handle them well most of the time. I
’
m proud of you.
”

“
I don
’
t want to be responsible all the time. I
don
’
t want to be their sitter. I don
’
t want to be their dad.
”

Evie winced. Was that what he thought?

“
I just want to be me. I want to be a kid for a change.
”

“
I thought you were.
”

“
I haven
’
t been a kid since those two were born and Dad died.
”

Evie couldn
’
t breathe. Here it was—everything she
’
d been wondering about, all she
’
d been afraid of, out in the open. Did she have the courage to hear it?

“
So you want to make up for all the years you were responsible by ... what? Acting irresponsible, like your father?
”

“
You hate him, don
’
t you?
”

“
How can I hate him? He
’
s gone.
”

“
You never looked at him the way you look at Scalotta. And he
’
s worse than Dad ever was.
”

Well, that wasn
’
t true, but she wasn
’
t going to argue worse and better on the idiot-scale.

“
Is that what this is about? Joe?
”

“
Are you going to try for the same mistake twice, Mom? Fall for
a guy who
’
s no good for you? He
’
ll hurt you, and you
’
ll cry.
”

“
Heck, I want to cry now,
”
she mumbled.
“
I
’
m serious!
”

“
I know.
”
She sighed.
“
You are, and I
’
m sorry. Don
’
t worry about me, Adam. I know what I
’m do
ing.
”

“
Do you?
”

“
Don
’
t I always?
”

“
You
’
d like us to believe that, wouldn
’
t you?
”

“
Of course. I gather you haven
’
t fallen for my act?
”

He snorted.

She took that as an insult but decided to let it pass. One problem at a time.
“You’re right. Some
times I have no clue what I
’
m doing. I can only try. You
do
deserve time to be a kid, but I don
’
t want you to make my mistake. With Toni.
”

He shot her a look filled with such derision, that Evie
’
s eyes burned with the advent of tears.
“
So she can end up hating me, like you hate Dad? So I can ruin her life, like Dad ruined yours?
”

Evie forced her next words past the lump in her throat.
“
Your dad didn
’
t ruin my life.
”

“
No, I did.
”

Before she could deny it, he got up and left the room. Evie heard his bedroom door close, then lock.

“
Well, that went well,
”
Evie murmured, and then she cried.

Toni
sat
in
the
car
with that dreamy look on her face, and Joe had no idea where to begin.

“
So, ah ... what were you guys doing?
”

Her smile turned to a scowl.
“
Same thing you and Mrs. Vaughn were doing.
”

“
Having dinner?
”

“
Yeah, right, Joe. Adam and I
saw
you two in the kitchen. You weren
’
t cooking—pasta, anyway.
”

Joe sighed.
What now?

“
You like her.
”

The words weren
’
t a question, but Joe answered nonetheless.
“
Sure. Is that a problem?
”

“
Not for me. But you
’
d better think about what you
’
re doing.
”

“
Huh?
”

“
You said you wanted to stay in Oak Grove, that you wanted to get married again.
”

“
So?
”

“
Mrs. Vaughn is not someone you want to play with. People like her and respect her. They might think you
’
re cool now, but I
’
d hate to be you if you hurt her.
”

“
I
’
m not going to hurt her.
”

“
No? How do you plan to stop that?
”

Joe was still trying to figure out how they
’
d ended up talking about him and not her. He was really no good at this.

“
How do you think I
’
ll hurt her?
”

“
You planning on marrying her?
”

Joe scowled. He hadn
’
t thought that far.

“
What
are
you planning, Wildman?
”

He concentrated on the road while he tried to think of a way to explain what he needed to to his daughter. How could he say that he wanted a fifties kind of wife like his mom, the kind who would stay at home, have kids, when he didn
’
t want that for his little girl? He wanted her to go to college, have a career. Then, if she absolutely had to, she could be a wife and a mommy. Joe shuddered at the thought.

“
Well?
”
she persisted.
“
I
’
ve seen how you look at her. You never looked at Mom like that.
”

Joe flushed. T
hat was true, much to his embar
rassment.
“
We
’
ve already talked about your mom and me.
”

“
You guys made a mistake.
”

“
We weren
’
t responsible. It
’
s embarr
assing to ad
mit, especially to you, but we weren
’
t thinking about anyone but ourselves—not each other, and certainly not you. In fact, I think we should discuss respon
sibility right now.
”