This Time Forever (36 page)

“It wasn’t for nothing. He learned something, I’ll bet. All the same, I’m in no hurry to get another car. It can wait.”

“Oh, but you have to have a new car in order to pick him up,” Damon said quickly. To her delight, his face flushed. “I know it might sound rather snobbish, but he is only fifteen, and appearances are important to him. Besides, he’s worked really hard to make amends.”

“So what do you suggest?” Mickelle was impressed that he cared about his son’s feelings enough to analyze them.

“I still want you to get the other car, but I wanted to know if you’d consider keeping this one for a few months, even if you don’t use it much. You don’t have to if you feel it’s a problem.”

“It’s no problem. Really.” Mickelle slammed the door and bent to examine the fender. “He did a great job.”

“Yeah, too bad I can’t frame it.” They both laughed.

“It’s clean, too. He didn’t have to wash it.”

“We wanted to.”

“Thank you.” Mickelle stood, blinking away sudden tears. “So when do I go look at the Geo?” She began to walk toward the front porch, keeping her face averted.

Damon followed her. “I’d hoped today, but apparently Kirk’s brother is out of town somewhere. How about Monday evening? I know that’s normally family night, but we can make it quick.”

“Hey, throw in an ice cream and a soccer game, and that
is
family night,” Mickelle answered with a laugh, glad that her voice was normal.

Damon laughed with her. “We can go when I come to pick up the kids. I’ll see if I can get off early, although we do have an important potential client coming in from New York. I shouldn’t be any later than six.” His step faltered. “Oh, I forgot I was supposed to take Belle in for her cast.”

“I can do it,” Mickelle offered.

“Extra stuff wasn’t really part of our . . .”

She faced him. “Am I going to be her sitter or not? There’s no reason I can’t take her to the doctor for her cast. One thing’s certain: she can’t go to school until the real cast is on. She could hurt that arm again. And she’ll be at my house anyway, right?”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You could meet us at the doctor’s office, if you want, but if you can’t get away, she’ll be fine. When you come home, she’ll have all sorts of things to tell you.”

“Thank you, Mickelle,” he said seriously. Then his face cracked into a wide grin. “Looks like my son ran into you just in time.”

Mickelle laughed. “Nonsense. Rebekka would have taken her.”

“Yeah, but right now she’s needed at work even more than I am.”

“Then Brionney would have helped you out. There’s also the fact that if Tanner hadn’t run into me, Belle would never have climbed on my fence.”

He shrugged. “Yours, the neighbor’s. She’d find a way. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Not if Belle doesn’t.”

“I think she’d prefer you to Rebekka.”

They climbed the steps and entered the house. All the children were in the kitchen, gathered around Tanner, who held a DS in his hands.

“How are you, Belle?” Mickelle asked.

The girl turned from the game. “My arm hurt all night, but Daddy stayed with me and told me stories.”

“How’s it feeling now?”

“Better. Except when someone hits it.” Her eyes drifted back to the game.

Mickelle glanced at Damon with sympathy. “Tough night, huh?”

“I didn’t mind. It gave me time to be with her.”

Mickelle wished her attitude was more like his. When she had to change Jeremy’s bed in the night, as she often did when he awoke wet, she often had far less charitable thoughts.

But last night, there had been no accident according to Jeremy. She stifled the urge to go into his room and check, just to be sure.

“Well, kids,” Damon declared, “we’ve delivered the car. Hadn’t we better get going? Don’t you have chores or homework or something?”

“Aw,” the children chorused.

Jeremy looked at Damon. “Do you really have an inside pool
and
an outside one?”

“We do.”

“Cool. Could we come over and swim?”

“Jeremy,” Mickelle warned.

“I know how to swim like a fish,” Jeremy went on, ignoring her.

“Daddy doesn’t let us swim alone,” Belle said. “He has to watch us.”

“Belle can’t swim with her arm,” Mickelle added. She already knew where this conversation was leading. Perhaps Riley’s death had made her more cautious, but there was no way she would let either of her children go swimming without her.

“I don’t mind,” Belle said. “I can just put my feet in.”

Damon looked at Mickelle for a long moment without speaking. Then he said to Bryan and Jeremy, “You know, I’d love to have you boys over to swim sometime, but today I promised to help Rebekka move her things.” He placed a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “How about next week? If your mother says it’s all right.”

“Well, I . . .” Mickelle hesitated. How could she say no? This man was trusting her with Belle every day. But she couldn’t say yes, either. What if he didn’t watch them closely enough? What if she lost Bryan or Jeremy?

Again Damon’s eyes met Mickelle’s, where he seemed to read her unspoken fear. “And your mom could come, too,” he said, speaking to Jeremy but still looking at her.

“Cool,” Jeremy said. “Mom’s a good swimmer.” He sighed. “But I wish we could go today.”

Damon glanced at his watch. “I do have time for a short game of basketball. Isn’t that a hoop you have out there?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to play. My dad and Bryan played sometimes. Dad was really good.” Jeremy suddenly frowned and looked at his hands. “He said I was too little to play.”

Mickelle’s heart ached at the sadness in Jeremy’s voice. Riley had told him that he was too small to play, but only because he didn’t want to take the time to teach him. He had played with Bryan because he’d already learned the rules at school.

“Well, you must have grown up in the past few months,” Damon said, “because you look exactly the right size to me. I may not know much about soccer like your mom, but I do know basketball.”

“There’s a ball in the shed!” Jeremy was out the door in an instant.

“I’ll move the car,” Mickelle said.

Not even Pokémon could compete with basketball, and soon the three boys and Damon were playing basketball in the driveway, while Mickelle kept Belle company on the sidelines.

“Do you mind if I take you back to the doctor on Monday?” Mickelle asked her. “While your dad’s at work, I mean.”

The little girl shrugged. “I don’t mind. But can I go to school afterwards? I want everyone to sign my cast.”

“Sure. In fact, tonight I’ll buy a special pen for you to take.”

“Can I have a whole bunch of colors?”

Mickelle gave her shoulders a squeeze, careful of her arm. “I think I can manage that.”

“Cool.” Belle echoed Jeremy’s favorite word.

She noticed that Belle’s hair didn’t look as though it had been combed that morning. “Would you like me to put a braid in your hair?” she asked.

“Sure,” Belle agreed. “I combed it when Daddy told me to, but it was hard with only one hand.”

“Let’s go into the house for a moment. I’ll bet I can find an elastic.”

The boys played a full hour before Damon finally announced that he had to leave. Jeremy ran up to Mickelle, who was back outside with Belle. “Did you see me play, Mom? Did you see me? I’m
not
too little. Damon was right!” He didn’t wait for an answer, but ran back to where Bryan was still shooting baskets.

“Rebekka’s probably wondering what happened to us,” Damon told Mickelle. “We left her at Jess and Bri’s hours ago.”

“So that’s how you got my car here . . . and the Lexus. I was wondering.”

“Bekka drove the Lexus here, and I drove your station wagon. Then we took her to your sister’s, unloaded some of her boxes, and returned here. I told her I’d pick her up as soon as you saw the car and we talked about Monday night.”

“You could use my station wagon if you need more space for moving Rebekka,” she volunteered.

“That’s okay. Jesse’s coming over with his truck.”

Mickelle walked Damon to his car, wishing she could ask how his date with Rebekka had gone last night. Did he love her? Why should she even care?

Because I want to take care of Belle,
she told herself.

“Thank you,” she said quietly when they reached the curb. Tanner and Belle were inside the Lexus, out of earshot. “For playing basketball, I mean.”

“You’ve got two great boys there.”

Mickelle smiled her response. She wanted to tell him how much the game had meant to Jeremy, and probably to Bryan as well. Their grandfather and uncles had tried to make time for them, but she still worried that they would grow up feeling the lack of a father in the home. Now she had agreed to watch Belle, without thinking how having Damon around, even for a few minutes each day, might benefit her boys. Perhaps the Lord had been responsible for their meeting, however unusual the circumstances. Jeremy especially seemed taken with the man.

She found this impossible to explain without seeming too forward, or appearing as though she expected more than Damon might be willing to give.

Again he seemed to read her thoughts. “Belle needs someone like you,” he said. “And I’m glad to play ball with your boys.”

A clear exchange. They both had something the other needed, and both were willing to accept the responsibility. She could live with that.

“It’ll be good having a girl around,” she said with a smile.

“See you Monday morning then, when I drop off Belle.” His grin sent a chill down her spine, and a sweet yearning began in her stomach. She nodded and waved as they drove away.

In the driveway, Bryan and Jeremy were still playing basketball. Mickelle stole the ball away from Bryan and sent it into the hoop.

“Wow, Mom, you’re good,” Jeremy said.

She shrugged. “A lucky shot.”

“How come you never played with Dad?” Bryan asked suddenly, his eyebrows drawn.

“We used to play when you were small. But . . .” She trailed off, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t enjoyed playing with Riley. “Damon’s a pretty nice guy, isn’t he?” she said instead.

“He’s great!” Jeremy exclaimed.

“He’s okay,” Bryan admitted. He let the basketball drop onto the cement. “I don’t feel like playing anymore.”

* * * * *

Later that evening, Mickelle decided to go to Wal-Mart with Jeremy. Bryan refused to accompany them, not understanding why she insisted on driving the Snail instead of the Mercedes. “That’s only to pick up Tanner,” she explained. “Now that our car is fixed, we need to use that for our business.”

“Damon wouldn’t mind,” Jeremy said.

He probably wouldn’t, but Mickelle wasn’t willing to face the embarrassment if she ran into him unexpectedly. She wondered if multimillionaires even shopped at Wal-Mart.

Once outside, she saw that dark clouds had blown in, threatening rain. She hated driving in the rain, but she wanted to keep her promise about the colored pens to Belle.

Fortunately, the rain held off. At Wal-Mart, she found a pack of thin colored markers she felt would do the job. She balked a little at the price, but reminded herself that she was now employed. Damon was paying her a monthly salary that amounted to nearly ten dollars an hour for the time she would actually be watching the children. It was almost too good to be true, and her conscience made her protest the wage, but he had assured her he paid much more than that for a full-time nanny. Since she would be on call much of the day, he felt it was only fair that she receive an appropriate wage.

On the way home, it started to rain. Mickelle flipped on the windshield wipers and instinctively leaned forward. To her surprise, the windshield cleared. She leaned back against the seat, marveling at being able to see the road in spite of the rain.

“He changed the wipers,” she said.

“Who?”

Mickelle had nearly forgotten that Jeremy was with her. “Damon. He must have changed the wipers. Or Tanner. See? They work.”

When they drove up to the house, Mickelle didn’t turn off the engine, but stared at the wipers swishing back and forth against the window. He had changed them for her! Without her having to ask!

“Mom, aren’t we going in?” asked Jeremy. “You’re wasting gas.”

But Damon had filled the tank, too. Mickelle could barely see past the tears in her eyes.
Too bad I don’t have wipers for my eyes.

She was so touched at Damon’s thoughtfulness that her heart swelled with the desire to do something for him. She thought of his broad chest, his striking amber eyes, his kind face. Such a wonderful man! If this incredible feeling came from being cared for by him, how would it feel to be loved by him?

Desperately, she tried to squelch her enthusiasm. There was danger in getting too close to Damon. After all, how well did she really know him? What if his outward show of kindness was a farce, as Riley’s had been?

Damon was a powerful man with undeniable magnetism—someone who would demand complete devotion. Once in love with such a man, it wouldn’t be easy for Mickelle to maintain the sense of herself that she had regained since Riley’s death. Surely her freedom, her self-worth, and her children were more important than having a man around to change the wiper blades. She couldn’t let her emotions carry her away. She simply wouldn’t put her future into the hands of another man—no matter what.

Of course, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. Perhaps even good friends. She would do something nice for him, but that was as far as it would go.

She began to smile at her own foolishness. Damon had simply done her a favor. He had no hidden agenda where she was concerned. She was going to watch his children, nothing more. Besides, he was obviously in love with Rebekka.

“Mom, are you okay?” Jeremy asked.

She turned off the car, seeing that the rain had already let up. “Yes, Jeremy. I’m just fine.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Sunday afternoon, Mickelle made pumpkin cookies. The pumpkins from the garden weren’t ripe, so she used some she had frozen from last year. She was in a great mood. The day was beautiful and warm, church had been moving, and best of all, Jeremy hadn’t wet the bed again. Two days in a row that she hadn’t washed his sheets! Until now, she hadn’t realized how much his wetting had bothered her, and how much work it had been.