to you?”
“Evidently, she’s not speaking to me. She mentioned it to Kendra. I think she’s really angry.”
“She might be a little upset right now, but she’ll get over it.”
“I don’t think so.” Adele opened a plastic bag of nuts and bolts.
“Why don’t you think so?”
Adele really didn’t want to tattle on Zach’s daughter. “You should talk to her about it.”
“I will, but why don’t you tell me what you know first.”
“She’s mad at me, so she doesn’t want to be friends with Kendra anymore.”
He took the bag from her and fished out a long screw. “I’ll talk to her about it tonight and see what I can do. Everything will work out.” He leaned over and squinted his eyes as he read the instructions. “Jesus, this thing is complicated.”
Adele took the little seat out of the packaging and ran her hand over the jungle-animal-print fabric. “This is just so cute,” she said. She pulled out the music box and wound it up. “Rock-a-Bye Baby” filled the room. “Doesn’t all this make you want a baby?”
He looked up from the instruction and scowled. “No.”
She laughed. “You already know how to put together the furniture. When I have a baby, I’m going to hire you.”
“‘When you have a baby?’” He reached for a curved bar. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those women whose clock is tickin’.”
She tilted her head to one side. “It’s less of a tick and more of a tap on the shoulder. I’ve always wanted kids, but being around Sherilyn has made me broody.”
“Broody?”
“Like I need to nest with a chick or two.”
“Two?”
“Didn’t you ever want more than one child?”
He shrugged. “Devon was an only child and wanted Tiffany to be an only child. That was fine with me.”
“Tiffany wants a little brother.”
“I know, but she wants a lot of things she doesn’t get.”
“She doesn’t want us to see each other.”
He fit the tubes together. “When Tiff and I get back from Austin after the first, I’m sure she’ll be over it.”
Adele wished she could share his optimism.
“We’ll take her and Kendra to a movie or something.”
It could work, or it could be disastrous. “Okay.”
“It’s a date.”
She shook her head. “No dates.” She liked Zach, and the last thing she needed was for the curse to rear its head.
“What is it with you and your aversion to dating?”
If she told him, he’d think she was crazy.
Zach handed Tiffany a box of Christmas ornaments and reached in it for a gold-foil star. Even though they would be in Austin on Christmas Day, they trimmed the tree together every year. Devon had hired a professional, but he and Tiffany liked to pick out a tree and do it themselves. “Why didn’t you mention that you saw me kiss Adele the other day after the game?”
Tiffany shrugged a shoulder but didn’t look up from the colored bulbs in her hands. “It was embarrassing. I’m surprised it wasn’t on the news. The whole city saw you make out with her.”
That was a bit of an exaggeration. Only half the city had been there, and by no stretch of the imagination could the kiss he’d given her be confused with making out. Looking back on it now, he probably should have waited until he’d gotten Adele alone. But at the time, he hadn’t known Tiffany had been watching. “I like Adele.”
“I hate her.”
“You hate her ’cause I like her.” He climbed up onto a chair. “Which is a stupid reason.” Sometimes, Tiffany was so much like Devon that it worried him. “I haven’t noticed Kendra around here practicing this week. I hope you’re not taking out your anger on your friend.”
Tiffany hung a few bulbs on the tree and pressed her lips together. She didn’t speak, but she really didn’t need to say anything. Zach knew her well enough to know what she was thinking. He reached out for the top of the tree and shoved the star on top. “Is this straight?”
She looked up and nodded.
“I’m sure you would never cut off your nose to spite your face, sugar bug,” he said as he climbed down.
“What do you mean?”
“Just that you’re smart enough not to let how you feel about Adele get in the way of helping Kendra out. You girls have some big competitions coming up.” He knew what Tiffany wanted to hear, but that wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to stop seeing Adele to make her happy. “I’d hate to see you lose because you’re mad.”
“I know what you’re doing.” She set down the box and picked up some tinsel. “I’ll be nice to Kendra ’cause I like her, and because we’re on the same dance team. But I don’t like her aunt, and I’m not going to be nice to her.”
Zach shook his head. That had gone better than he’d thought, worse than he’d hoped for. “You liked her until you found out I liked her, too. I never thought you’d be so ornery.”
“But Daddy”—two tears spilled over her lashes—“she took me shopping and talked about Momma, and I even gave her fashion advice about those stupid scrunchies she wears. And the whole time she only pretended to like me so she could see you.”
“Honey, I don’t think people have to pretend to like you.”
“Uh-huh.”
This wasn’t about Tiffany thinking people pretended to like her. That was the excuse she used. It was really about her not wanting any woman but Devon in their lives. He knew it, but he just didn’t know what to do about it.
He moved into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He and Tiffany were leaving in a few days to spend the Christmas holiday with his family in Austin. They’d be gone until after New Year’s. Maybe that’s what Tiffany needed. A break for a while. He’d told Adele that things would settle down when he and Tiffany returned. That she’d be over her anger, and he hoped he was right. He was more than ready for some postseason downtime and a little less drama.
No. A
Chapter 16
Christmas Day, the temperature outside Sherilyn’s hospital window was forty degrees. Brightly colored paper and bows littered the floor, and stacks of opened Christmas presents lay under and beside the little tree they had put up last week. Over cocoa and doughnuts, the three of them watched
Adele took photos of Sherilyn and Kendra wearing Santa hats. They gorged themselves on chocolate and candy canes, and she told her sister about how hard it had been to get all the pieces of the changing table and swing together, but she didn’t tell her about Zach. Not yet. Her feelings were too new and confusing, and besides, it couldn’t go on forever. She was leaving when Sherilyn had her baby. She was looking forward to living in her own home again, surrounded by her own stuff and going about her own routines. Now that she was fairly certain her bad-date curse was broken or had run its course, she wanted to get back to living her life, but the thought of dating, of being with anyone but Zach, felt wrong. Her heart shied away from the idea of another man’s arms around her.
In the past two days that he’d been in Austin, he hadn’t called. Of course he was busy with the holiday and his
