“I
Erin leaned over and tickled her daughter one-handed. “Don’t act so high and mighty with me, miss. You are only four years old, and I’m still your mother.”
Christie wiggled closer and giggled. Their heads bent together. Erin put the book down and gathered the girl in her arms.
“You’re my best girl,” she said, then hugged her close.
“I love you, Mommy.”
“And I love you.”
Their affection was tangible. Parker could have watched them for hours. He felt the residual warmth of their caring and it helped heal him a little.
Suddenly Christie noticed him standing in the doorway. “Daddy!” she crowed, then grinned. “You’ve got a book on lelephants.”
“So I heard,” he said and stepped into the room.
Erin released Christie who scrambled to her feet and raced to him. He picked her up and swung her around the room. “What are you doing in here?” he asked.
“We’re helpin’.”
He settled her against his side. She slipped her legs around his waist and rested one arm on his shoulder. He leaned forward and they rubbed noses, a ritual she’d started a few days before.
“Looks like you’re making a mess,” he said.
Erin stood up and glanced around. “I can see why you’d think that, but trust me, the original plan was about helping. I thought we could get the library in order. Sort the books by type, then alphabetize them.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
He risked looking at her. In jeans and pink T-shirt she looked more like Christie’s baby-sitter than her mother. She met his gaze easily, as she had yesterday. He was the one who was nervous. Every time he looked at her, he relived their kiss and fought against the urge to do it again. Obviously she wasn’t having the same kind of trouble. Or maybe it had only been good for him.
He dismissed that thought as soon as it appeared. He might not have been with a woman in a long time, and before that he might not have slept with a long list of women, but he knew a sensual response when he felt one. Erin had clung to him with unmistakable desire.
He supposed he should be grateful she was acting so normal. Life would be difficult if she were mooning after him, or worse, angry. But he couldn’t quite make himself feel anything but annoyed that she was so calm.
“Parker, I have to do something with my time,” she said as she dusted off her behind. “I’m not used to playing the lady of the manor. Besides, I like looking at all the different books. This is an amazing collection.”
“I can’t take credit for it. Some were here when I bought the house and I picked up the rest at estate sales.”
“There’s even some books for me,” Christie said, plucking at his shirt to reclaim his attention. “You can read me one tonight.”
“I can’t wait.”
She gave him her best smile.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said, bouncing her in his arms.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s sunny outside. I thought we could walk along the beach and look at what the storm blew in.”
“That would be fun,” Christie said and clapped her hands together. “Can we, Mommy?”
“Sure.” Erin started out of the room. “I’ll go grab our sweaters then meet you two in the foyer.”
There were a few leaves and branches on the stairs down to the water. Parker went first and tested the way. Christie had insisted on climbing down on her own, although it took her nearly twice as long. Erin brought up the rear.
The breeze was stiff and cool. Sea gulls and some of the shore birds circled over the violent surf.
“We can’t stay too long,” Parker said, waving at the foamy water thundering onto the sand. “High tide today will cover the beach.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got about an hour and a half.”
Erin zipped up her blue sweatshirt, then adjusted the camera she’d hung around her neck. “That should be enough time to tire this one out.” She bent over and buttoned Christie’s jacket.
“I’m not tired,” the little girl said.
“With any luck, you’re going to be,” Erin said, then smiled at him. “It’s horrible when we get a couple of weeks of solid rain back home. She can’t go outside and she practically jumps off the wall. Kids have so much energy. Sometimes I get worn out just watching her.”
“Then we’re going to have to run it out of her,” Parker said. He pointed to a large twisted piece of wood that had washed on shore. It was about twenty-five feet away. “I’ll race you, Christie.”
“Okay, but I go first ‘coz you got longer legs.”
“All right, go!” he shouted.
She took off running. Her short legs pumped for all they were worth.
“You don’t have to do this,” Erin said, her hazel eyes bright with amusement.
“Why not? I’ve been cooped up, too.” He started jogging. “I’m going to catch you,” he called.
“No, you’re not!”
Christie reached the driftwood three steps ahead of him.
“I won, I won, I won,” she squealed, punctuating each “I won” with a little jump. Her small pink athletic shoes crunched on the sand but didn’t make an imprint. Her pigtails flapped up and down.
He picked her up, turned her around in midair and set her on his shoulders. She grabbed hold of his sweater.
“Go fast!” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.” He took off down the beach.
“Faster! Faster than anybody!”
He raced to the cliff, then back along the shore. Erin sat on the bottom step and loaded film into her camera.
“The wrong person is getting tired out,” she told him as he ran by for the third time.
“I know,” he said, his breathing heavy. He grabbed Christie and set her down. “Now it’s your turn to carry me.”
His daughter giggled at him. “Daddy, you’re silly.” She gave him a playful pat on the thigh, then turned and saw a small crab racing across the sand. “Come back, little crab. Come play with me.” She hurried after her new playmate.
He leaned against the stair railing and glanced after her. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember how small she is. She’s so bright and articulate, I expect her to be bigger.”
“And older,” Erin agreed. “Sometimes I think she’s secretly thirty-five and just her body is four. Other times, she’s a real baby and I wonder if she’ll ever grow up.”
“But most of the time you know you were lucky when you got her.”
Erin tilted her head and glanced up at him. “That’s very perceptive, Parker.”
“You think I don’t feel the same way?”
“I suppose you must. I’m glad you appreciate her.”
He placed one arm on the top of the railing and leaned toward her. “You took a big chance when you came to find me. I could have been a real jerk.” Not to say he wasn’t, but he was talking about his relationship with Christie, not Erin.
“I was worried at first,” she admitted. “Then I found this article tucked away in the back of a business magazine. It was on successful entrepreneurs who gave back. Some of them were very flashy about it, but a lot weren’t. There was a sidebar about some of the silent givers, I think they called them. You were listed there. I was impressed. I figured anyone who gave that much money to help kids get a decent education couldn’t be all bad.”
“Yeah, well.” He shifted uncomfortably. “It’s a tax write-off.”
