'Good.' She glanced at the clock. 'Now put my purse away and help me to the bathroom. Penny will be here any minute.'
TWENTY MINUTES LATER Lori opened the door to find an attractive woman holding a baby on the wide porch. The woman seemed tense and apprehensive.
'Penny Jackson,' the woman said with a tight smile. 'Not Buchanan. Which I'm sure Gloria hates. For a woman who was a pioneer in her day, she has some very particular ideas about the rest of the world. Not that I care. I don't care. Except she's Cal's grandmother and my grandmother-in-law, so even though I don't want to care, I actually do.'
She paused, sucked in a breath and seemed to relax. 'You're probably thinking you don't want to let the insane inside. I totally get that.'
Lori grinned. 'I'm a professional. The insane don't scare me.'
'Good to know. What about mean old ladies?'
'I'm fearless.'
'I wish I was.'
'You will be. I'm Lori Johnston, Gloria's day nurse,' she said as she stepped back. 'Come on in.'
'Do I have to?' Penny asked, but she stepped inside. 'I'm married to Cal, Gloria's oldest grandson, which you might have figured out from my senseless rant. This is Allison.'
Lori stepped close to smile at the baby, ignoring the audible ticking of her biological clock. All she had to do was see a small child and her body sent up hard to ignore get-pregnant-now messages.
'She's beautiful,' she said honestly, gazing down at the sleeping baby.
Allison was all pink skin and pale wisps of hair. She smelled like powder and vanilla and her mouth was that perfect rosebud shape women spent the rest of their lives trying to duplicate.
'I think so,' Penny told her. 'You should see Cal. He's crazy about her. I know some men are freaked out about babies, but he's not. He wants to be a part of everything. He's even crabby that I'm breast-feeding because it means he can't help.' She sighed. 'He's a great guy.'
Lori felt a flicker of envy. Not because she was the least bit interested in Penny's husband but because she was stupid enough to want a great guy for herself. Which wasn't likely to happen. She had never been in love. Not even once. Obviously there was something wrong with her.
Her lack of love wasn't all one-sided- after all, no one had ever been in love with her, either. Although she wasn't sure if that made the situation better or worse.
Lori grabbed the large diaper bag hanging from Penny's shoulder.
'I'll put this in the kitchen for you,' she said. 'Would you like anything while you're visiting Gloria? Tea? Decaf? A sandwich?'
Penny sighed heavily. 'I want to say a speedy escape, but I have a reputation for being tough. Difficult even. I once stabbed a man. It was an accident, but still. I refuse to be afraid of one small old woman.'
Lori felt her eyes widen. 'You stabbed someone?'
Penny shrugged. 'Assuming I survive this, I'll give you the details.' She raised her head and thrust out her chin. 'Okay. I'm braced.'
'You don't need to be braced,' Lori told her. 'You'll do fine. Gloria has changed.'
'So I've heard, but as I've yet to see any flying pigs, I'm reserving judgment.'
Lori resisted the need to say, 'You'll see.' Instead she led the way into Gloria's temporary quarters.
'Penny's here,' she said as she stepped aside to let in Cal's wife and the baby.
Gloria raised her bed and smiled welcomingly. 'Penny! How delightful to see you. Thank you so much for coming. I know you must be busy, between taking care of Allison and cooking those delicious meals at the restaurant.'
Penny came to a stop and stared at Lori, then looked back at Gloria.
'Come here,' Gloria said, coaxingly. 'Oh, what a beautiful little girl. So precious. She's perfect and she looks just like you.'
Lori did her best not to look smug as she stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her.
AN HOUR LATER Cal arrived with Reid on his heels. Both men carried large takeout bags from the Downtown Sports Bar. Lori knew that was where Reid supposedly worked, although he hadn't been going in much. Not that she blamed him. The whole world wanted to talk about how lousy he was in bed or find out if he wasn't. Under those circumstances, she supposed that laying low made sense.
'Your wife and daughter are already here,' Lori said as she took the bags from Cal. 'I'll get this ready to serve. Do you want to eat in Gloria's room or the dining room?'
Cal glanced back at Reid who tilted his head toward the study, where Penny and Allison were still entertaining Gloria.
Cal looked doubtful. 'I want to be in the mood to eat.'
'You will be,' Reid told him. 'Trust me. Go on. Say hello. Give it five minutes. If she bugs you, we'll eat out here.'
'You're setting me up. I can feel it.'
'Would I do that to you?' Reid asked, looking innocent.
'In a heartbeat.' Cal disappeared down the hall.
Reid followed Lori into the kitchen.
'How's it going with Penny?' he asked.
'I haven't heard any screaming, so that's a good thing.'
'It is.'
He began unpacking the bags. She did the same, trying not to say anything as she opened containers of chicken wings and various sauces, spinach-and-artichoke dip with chips, fried shrimp, potato skins and taquitos.
Behind her, she heard a low chuckle. She turned to find Reid grinning at her.
'Say it,' he told her. 'You're dying to yell at me about the food, aren't you?'
'I have no idea what you're talking about.'
'Liar.'
He was standing close enough for her to see the various shades of brown and gold that made up his irises. His lips curved into a smile that made her insides get all squishy. Suddenly nothing about the food bothered her. Instead she wanted to press up against him and have a second go-round of that kissing action.
Several things prevented her from acting on any impulses. For one thing, except for the brief greeting at her house, he'd never tried to kiss her again, which wasn't a good sign. For another, they weren't alone in the house. But the real reason was she was terrified of being rejected.
Reid was the kind of man who took what he wanted. She was right there, practically begging. His lack of response was answer enough.
'You hate the food,' he said.
It took her a second to figure out what he was talking about. 'I'm sure it's fine.'
'It's not healthy.'
'I'm not going to be eating it.'
The right side of his smile curved up a little more. 'Come on, Lori. Give in. You want to yell and I'm willing to listen. You might even get through to me. Look at all that fat, those empty calories. Not a vegetable in sight. Well, except the spinach and artichokes. So that's something, right?'
Thoughts of kissing faded as indignation flared inside of her. She knew that he was baiting her and didn't mind in the least. A loud argument about his disgusting eating habits might make her forget how much it hurt to want someone who didn't want her back.
'You're a grown man, not some teenager,' she said. 'You know better. Worse, you've been a professional athlete. I know you've been educated on what is best for your body. If you expect any kind of peak performance,
