The Family Man (11 page)

Nothing. You deserve to suffer.

Yeah, that was new.

He knew only one way to get through the night. Luckily, he’d stocked up on beer just the day before. He feared it was going to take a good quantity to get Sara Greene out of his head.

Cold one in hand, he plunked down on the couch and flicked on the TV, channel surfed until he found one of the
Terminator
movies. Good, he was in the mood for some futuristic shooting and blowing up stuff.

When the phone rang some time later, he ignored it. At least he tried to. But the stupid thing kept ringing. He’d jerk the cord out of the wall, but that would require him to move. When the answering machine clicked on, he wished he’d made the effort.

Tana’s voice invaded his home, the bubble of numbness he was trying hard to create. “Hey, thought you might have forgotten the time for the cookout. We’re all here, food’s done, see ya.”

No, she wouldn’t.

Adam was about as friendly as a snake that had been poked with a stick. All the next day, it took way more effort than he liked to expend to not bite off the heads of everyone who came to the pier. He skipped his normal visit to the Beach Bum altogether and dreaded the questions that would arouse.

The bad mood accompanied him home for a second night and refused to unstick itself from him or let him rest. Though he was dog-tired, after a couple of hours of subpar sleep, he found himself roaming the house. He didn’t turn on the lights, didn’t want to illuminate the person he’d become.

A guy who ditched a nice woman without an explanation.

A man who refused to let go of the past.

One who was so damned scared of caring for someone again that he refused to acknowledge it was happening.

He dropped to the couch and sat staring at nothing in particular, his mind whirling.

Was it possible for him to set aside what had happened in Iraq and attempt an actual relationship with Sara? Part of his mind screamed yes, but it was the part dying to be with her right this very minute. Should he pay attention to it or to the part that told him to stay away, to protect himself?

He let his head drop back against the top of the couch and stared at the ceiling. For once, he wished someone or something would tell him what to do—because he sure didn’t know himself.

He woke up just before daybreak with a horrible crick in his neck. Served him right. As he sat and let sleep ebb, he realized that the idea of getting serious about Sara didn’t seem as bad this morning as it had the night before. He kept waiting for his common sense to smack him upside the head, but it didn’t. Not when he trudged to the bathroom. Not as he showered and dressed. Not as he walked out into the dawn of another day.

By the time he drove in to the parking lot of the Coffee Cottage, his mood lightened. He began to think of all the years of keeping his distance as a sentence that had to be paid, and maybe it was finally over. He was so stunned that he didn’t even notice Ruby until he almost ran into her. She stood in line staring at her phone. When she looked up and noticed him, he didn’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling.

At a loss for what to say, he glanced at the phone in her hands. “Twittering again?”

She didn’t smile. “Doubt you’d like what I’m saying.”

He let out a long sigh. “That I’m a big jerk.”

“Enormous.”

What was he supposed to say to that? She was right.

“You know, I told Sara to give you a chance. Now I feel like a fool.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.” He was surprised anyone would care enough about him to even make that scenario possible.

“She wasn’t the only one.”

He could still hear Tana’s voice on his answering machine even though he’d erased the message.

“Those girls see something in you. They’ve never latched on to someone Sara’s dated before.”

“They shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah, well, they did. Get over it.” Ruby moved to the front of the line and ordered her coffee before turning toward him again. “Despite your imitation of a weasel the other day, I still think there’s hope for you, too. Sara, however, is going to take more convincing.”

Ruby paid, grabbed her coffee cup and left without another word. Adam was left with the feeling that she wanted him to do that convincing.

Now to figure out how.

“T
HAT SHOULD DO IT
for now, Mr. Wainwright,” Sara said as she closed her notebook. “We’ll contact you if we have any more questions or if we learn anything.”

Mr. Wainwright, who owned a pawnshop on the outskirts of town and who’d been robbed to the tune of several thousand dollars, nodded and turned to start cleaning up the mess the burglars had left behind.

Sara stepped outside into the bright sunlight and shaded her eyes. She faltered when she saw Adam walking toward her from where her car was parked. What was he doing here?

And she had about five seconds to decide how she was going to react to him after he was a no-show at her cookout. Act like nothing had happened, thus not letting him know how much it had hurt her? Or giving him a piece of her mind, thus making her stupid feelings obvious?

“Hey,” he said as he reached her. “The guys at the station said I could find you here.”

“Oh.” Nonchalance, that sounded good.

He shifted from one foot to the other. “Listen, I’m just going to say it. I’m an idiot and an ass on top of that.”

“Very self-observant of you.” She started walking toward her car, and he fell into step beside her.

“I’m sorry I bailed on the cookout and didn’t call.”

She shrugged. “No problem.”

He wrapped his hand around her wrist and stopped walking, forcing her to stop, too.

“I’m not going to make excuses, but I am sorry if…I hurt anyone.” He said the last with an uncertain tone, like he wasn’t sure he should even utter the words.

“It’s a free country, Adam. You can come and go as you like.” It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known he’d bail at some point anyway. She’d just let her herself ignore that fact.

“Let me make it up to you,” he said.

“Not necessary.”

“Okay. Then let me take you out tonight just because I want to.”

That was all she could stand. She turned fully toward him. “You don’t owe me anything. I know you’re a play-the-field guy. Everyone knows that. No hard feelings.”

He caught her gaze and held it. “Right now, I don’t want to go out with someone else. I want to go out with you.”

No matter how hard she tried to prevent it, those words soaked into her, made hope flare to life again. She was an idiot for even considering continuing down this road. She needed to get out now while she could.

“Adam—”

“I’m just going to keep asking until you say yes, so you might as well cave now.”

He sounded so much like his flirty, fun self that a
laugh escaped her despite the warning alarms screaming against her eardrums.

She slipped her wrist out of his hand and crossed her arms. “What do you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Meaning, of course, that I don’t know yet.”

She laughed and shook her head.

“Just be ready at seven,” he said.

With a big smile, he turned and left before she could change her mind, come back to her senses.

She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of watching him leave, so she slipped into the driver’s seat of her car and sat, staring in the opposite direction. She was probably a fool for not walking away now while the hurt was still manageable, but she couldn’t.

She’d just deal with whatever pain there would be when the time came.

S
ARA FUMBLED THROUGH
her jewelry box, trying to find something to go with her blue-and-white sundress. Nerves made her dump half of the contents onto the top of her dresser. What was wrong with her? She’d been out with Adam before, had spent time with him on other occasions.

But not after she’d thought he’d left her life only to return again with apologies and pleas for another chance.

Tonight felt different, like they were taking a bigger step.

“You sure about this?” Tana asked from the open doorway.

“It’s just a date. I’m going in with my eyes wide open. Besides, I thought you liked Adam.”

“That was before he pulled the ‘disappearing dude’ act.”

Sara stopped her search for the right jewelry and looked at Tana. “He apologized, and I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. You know I believe people deserve second chances.”

“But not thirds?”

“Depends, but probably not.”

“Fine, he gets another chance. Here.” Tana extended a wrapped gift toward Sara.

“What’s this?” The girls had already given her their birthday gifts that morning over breakfast.

“Something I thought you could wear tonight. It didn’t arrive until today.”

Sara took the package wrapped in shiny blue paper very like the blue swirls in her dress. When she opened the box inside, a necklace and earrings that looked like white daisies sat on a bed of cotton.

“Oh, Tana, these are so pretty. Where did you get them?”

“The wonders of eBay.”

Sara met her daughter’s eyes, questioning.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t use your credit card. I made some money drawing stuff for people at school, and I gave it to Ruby. She used her credit card to order it.”

Sara ran her fingertips over the large daisy on the necklace. “Thank you. I love them.”

Sara slipped the earrings into her ears and allowed Tana to help fasten the necklace.

“Adam’s going to swallow his tongue,” Tana said as she stepped back and looked at Sara’s ensemble.

“Tana,” Sara gently scolded.

“Well, he is.” Something in the way she said those words sounded determined, like a plea to the universe. Tana grew quiet, more serious. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“Yeah, I know. You tell us that all the time, like you think we’re going to break if you don’t remind us on a daily basis.”

Shock prevented Sara from speaking. Is that what she’d communicated to her daughters?

“It’s okay. Lilly and I know you love us, and we love you. But it’s not the same as romance, is it?”

Sara looked down at her hands in her lap and had to admit the truth. “No. But I’ve never been really good at romance.”

“Because of your parents?”

Sara’s gaze went to Tana’s. “Did Ruby say something to you?”

“No.” Tana shrugged. “I just figured things out. Not hard to figure out your obsession with finding us the perfect dad must have something to do with yours.”

Sara shook her head back and forth slowly. “You’re like a wise old woman in a teenager’s body.”

“What did he do?”

Sara took a deep breath, realized that Tana was old enough to hear and maybe understand. “It wasn’t my dad. He was great. My mom left us when I was young. Dad did the best he could filling the gap.”

“But he wasn’t a mom.”

Sara gave Tana a sad smile. “No. I guess that’s why I’m so determined to be a good mom.”

“And why you watch all those old shows about perfect families?”

“Maybe. Mainly, it’s because those are the shows I watched with my dad. They’re comfort viewing.”

“Why did your mom leave?”

“I don’t know really.” Although her dad had always suspected there was another man in the picture.

Tana made a disgusted sound. “Does everyone have screwed-up parents?”

“It seems that way, doesn’t it? But there are good ones, too. That’s important to remember.” She turned toward Tana. “You, Lilly, me—we’ve all been through situations where parents let us down. That’s why I’ve wanted so much to make our family happy and full of love.”

“We’re happy. But this dad stuff—if he stops being a jerk, I’d rather have Adam than one of those dudes on the shows you watch. Nobody’s
that perfect. And if they were, I couldn’t stand them.” Tana wrinkled her nose, which made Sara laugh.

“Point taken.”

The sound of a car arriving in the driveway made Sara’s heart rate kick up.

Tana, who was closer to the window, looked outside. “Your
just-a-date
is here.”

Sara rolled her eyes at Tana as she headed for the door into the hall. She stopped and turned back toward her oldest. “You know that even Adam might not work out, right? I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high.”

“Whatever you say,” Tana said with a smug, know-it-all look on her face. She might as well have said she did, indeed, think Adam was the one for Sara.

As Sara headed out to meet Adam, she couldn’t deny she hoped Tana was right.

G
IDDINESS MADE IT
impossible for Sara to stop smiling. The feel of Adam’s gentle touch at the small of her back as they weaved their way among the blankets already spread across the grass of Lakeview Park made her skin tingle. He’d surprised her by his choice of movie night in the park for their date, but she had to admit he’d scored big romantic points for it.

They found a spot near the edge of the grassy area next to a palm tree. Adam spread their blanket
out while she held the picnic basket he’d brought along but hadn’t let her peek into.

Her stomach growled.

Adam grinned. “Glad to know you’re hungry.”

Sara’s face flushed. “Busy day. Didn’t have time to eat much.” Okay, so she’d been way more nervous than she should have been after seeing him and unable to eat more than a few bites here and there, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Busy, huh?” Drat the man for sounding like he knew the truth behind her fib.

They settled on the blanket, and Sara finally got to see what was inside the wicker basket. Adam pulled out minisandwiches of several different types, chopped vegetables with dip, chilled bottled water and brownies.

“You make this?”

“You’d better hope not,” he said. “I’m the king of takeout.”

“Oh, good to know I won’t get food poisoning.”

They ate as the movie screen started to flicker. When the title of the movie came up, she nearly choked on a tiny chicken salad sandwich.
The Perfect Man
starring Heather Locklear as a single mom and Hilary Duff as the teenage daughter trying to find her mom the perfect guy. Either Tana could pull strings with the tourism commission, or fate had an enormous sense of humor.

She’d seen the movie before, but watching it be
neath the stars with Adam, nibbling on picnic food, smelling the incoming sea breeze—it was easily the best birthday she’d ever had.

When they’d finished their sandwiches and veggies, Adam pulled something else from the recesses of the picnic basket. As she watched, he placed a candle in the top of one of the brownies, lit it and held it out to her.

“Happy birthday.”

“How did you know?”

“I have my ways.”

“I bet your ‘way’ happens to have white hair and live across the street from me.”

As she stared at the brownie, her heart swelled at the simple and thoughtful gesture. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips, only pulling back when she realized the flame was dangerously close to the front of her dress.

“Ack, I’m about to set myself on fire.” She lowered her head and blew out the candle, wishing, unrealistically, that this night would never end.