boy to open up. Being this well behaved wasn't natural.
Finally, he settled on the one thing they had in common. 'I know it's hard to settle into a new place where everything's different. It probably makes you miss your dad more.'
Blake shrugged again and continued to stare at his lap.
'My mom left when I was fifteen,' Kyle said. 'I had a hell, ah, a difficult time after she was gone. I missed her a lot.'
'I've heard that word before. Mom says it's bad, but grown-ups say it all the time.'
'Gee, thanks.'
Blake gave him a quick smile, then the corners of his mouth turned down. 'Did your mom die?'
'No. She just walked out.'
'Oh. Sometimes people talk about my dad leaving, but I know he's dead. He's not coming back. Ever.'
'I'm sorry.'
'He didn't like me much.' Blake hunched forward as soon as he spoke, as if he regretted the confession.
'Blake, your father loved you.' He was sure of it. Sandy wouldn't have stood for anything less.
'He was gone a lot.'
'Traveling on business?' He wouldn't have thought a professor would need to go away on business too often. Maybe there were big conferences on philosophy. Kyle grimaced. He'd rather be flogged and left out for ant bait than attend a convention where stuffy professors spent days discussing the lofty thoughts of some dead guy.
Blake shook his head. 'He'd go surfing or climb a mountain. Sometimes he took Lindsay. She liked to do that stuff with him. Dad got mad when I read too much, or played on the computer. He wanted me to be on a Little League team, but I didn't want to. He took me climbing with him once, but he made fun of me when I got scared.'
It was the longest speech he'd heard from Blake. His heart went out to the boy. But none of what he said made sense. Why would Thomas have been so mean to his son? So what if Blake wasn't the outdoor type? That didn't mean he wasn't a good kid. Maybe the boy had misunderstood his father.
He leaned back in his chair and knew he was kidding himself. If Blake thought his father was a selfish jerk, then the man had probably been one to the boy. Kyle knew he and his brothers had figured out what was going on with his parents long before anyone else suspected they knew. Children heard things and sensed the changes in a situation. So why had Thomas acted that way around Blake? Where was Sandy in all of this? He couldn't imagine her letting anyone hurt her son.
Kyle leaned close to Blake. 'You know, I've never been very good at video games. Is there a trick to it?'
'Yeah.' Blake grinned. 'You have to practice, and stuff, but there are some secrets. I could show you.'
'I'd like that.'
The boy stared at him for several seconds, then smiled. Kyle ruffled his hair and grinned back.
'Tomorrow?' Blake asked. 'I could bring the game by.'
'Check with your mom first. If she agrees, that would be great.' He glanced over his shoulder and saw the girls heading back, their arms filled with bags of popcorn. 'We better give them a hand before they spill everything,' he said, standing. Blake giggled. It was, Kyle thought, a very happy sound.
Kyle eased his car to a stop in front of Sandy's house. A quick glance at the clock told him it was 8:05, exactly. Before he figured out how he was going to handle Lindsay getting out of the car, Nichole was pushing against the front seat and ordering her sister to move. Lindsay got out grudgingly. She hadn't been that happy with him since he'd had Blake sit on one side of him and Nichole on the other at the theater. She'd claimed the movie had been juvenile and hadn't spoken in the restaurant afterward or on the way home.
Sandy stood on the porch. Kyle couldn't read her expression. He got out slowly and grabbed the plastic bag containing the milk and bread they'd picked up, then slammed the door shut and headed toward the stairs. The children crowded ahead of him.
Nichole reached her mother first. 'Mommy, Mommy, we had popcorn, then Kyle took us to dinner and I had spaghetti. I didn't spill very much and there was ice cream for dessert, but I was too full.' Her red curls danced as she told Sandy what had happened. Her small body quivered with excitement. She flung her arms around her mother's waist. 'I had the best time, and Lindsay was a brat only part of the time.'
'You better watch it,' Lindsay warned, glaring at her younger sister.
'I'm glad you had a good time, Nichole. Go on inside,' Sandy said, giving her daughter a little push. 'Did you have fun, Blake?' she asked as the boy approached.
Blake glanced back at Kyle and grinned. 'Yeah.' Then he ducked indoors.
Lindsay paused by her mother. 'It was a cartoon. Can you believe it? The children there were so immature. Nichole and Blake hardly know how to act in a restaurant. You really need to do something about them, Mother.'
'Maybe I'll do something about you, young lady,' Sandy said.
Lindsay sniffed, then turned to Kyle. 'Thank you for a lovely evening.'
He paused on the top stair, confused. 'It was…' Damn, he didn't know what to say. 'I'm glad you three kids could join me.'
Lindsay visibly flinched. 'I'm not a child, Kyle.'
Sandy saved him by taking the grocery bag from him and handing it to her daughter. 'Honey, put this away for me. I need to have a little talk with Kyle.'
Lindsay paused by the door as if she had something else to say, then she swept inside and let the screen bang shut behind her.
Kyle sat on the top stair and patted the wood. Sandy crossed the porch and perched next to him. She wasn't sitting very close. He could have fit a whole other person between them, but it was probably as good as it was going to get. She folded her arms over her chest. Was she protecting herself from him or holding something inside? Did he really want to know?
He stared at the sky. It was still only midsummer. The sun didn't set until close to nine. It had dipped below the trees. The temperature was lower, though the evening air was still warm and pleasant. He could smell the jasmine by the house. He had a bush blooming by his back door. He liked the sultry scent, although not as much as the fragrance of Sandy's shampoo. She was too tense to have soaked in a bath, so he figured she'd taken time for a quick shower and nothing else.
'Why are you mad?' he asked. 'We were on time. No one got hurt, or food poisoning, at least not yet.'
'How do you know I'm mad?' she asked.
'If your spine was any stiffer, we could use it for a flagpole.'
She surprised him by smiling. 'A flagpole?'
'Well, maybe not a flagpole, but something.'
Her smile faded. 'You were five minutes late.'
He glanced at her. 'You're kidding, right? You can't be mad about that.'
'I'm not.' She glanced at her folded arms and shrugged. 'Okay, I'm a little mad. But you're right, five minutes isn't very late.'
'Were you worried?'
'Maybe. No. Yes.'
'Why?' he asked. 'Were you seriously concerned that I'd let something bad happen to them?'
'Not exactly. I wasn't being that rational. You asked if you could take them to a movie and dinner, and I was so grateful to be without them for a few hours that I said yes. Then when you were gone, I got scared. I realized I don't know you. What if you have some secret past no one knows about? What if-' She glanced up at him. Her green eyes were dark and troubled. 'I overreacted, I guess. Probably because I'm so tired.'
'Aw, honey, everything was fine.'
'I see that now. It looks like everyone had a great time.'
She hunched over slightly, resting her forearms on her bare thighs. She'd changed clothes while he'd been gone. She wore a sleeveless shirt tucked into red shorts. He wanted to slide next to her and give her a big hug. Or maybe just hold her close. Sandy looked as if she needed a little holding. But he didn't move. For one thing, she would probably get all huffy and push him away. For another, he was assuming an awful lot.
Maybe she didn't want to be comforted by him. After all, she'd been the one so set on keeping them 'just friends.' Kyle grimaced. How many times had he said that exact line to a woman he was dumping? They must have
