“What about carting her around? She can’t drive. You’re going to have to hire someone.”
“I know.” He’d already spent some time on the phone, but professional day care for preteens was sadly lacking. “The nannies all want to work with little kids and babies. I have a few people checking. They’re supposed to get back to me.”
His grandfather picked up his coffee mug. “Tanya’s a bitch.”
“Tell me about it.”
After Francesca had left the previous evening, Sam had called his grandfather to tell him what had happened. Gabriel had been furious at the deception, but not surprised. He’d shown up bright and early to examine his great- granddaughter, but Kelly had yet to make an appearance.
“At least the kid isn’t an idiot,” Gabriel said. “It took brains for her to travel all this way herself. You should be proud.”
“Uh-huh.” Sam was trying not to say much until Gabriel had met Kelly. Maybe she would be better this morning. Maybe last night’s demands and attitude had been more about being tired than anything else.
Unlikely, he thought grimly. Very unlikely.
“Whatever happens, I’m taking responsibility for her,” he said.
“You make me sound like a dog you brought home,” Kelly said as she breezed in the kitchen. “Do I get my own leash and water bowl, too?”
So much for a good night’s sleep improving things, Sam told himself.
“Good morning,” he said. “Gabriel, this is my daughter, Kelly. Kelly, this is your great-grandfather Gabriel.”
The old man looked her over. Sam saw she’d pulled on the same low-rise jeans and yet another abbreviated T-shirt. This one was green, tight, and proclaimed “Girls Rule.” She was barefoot. Her toes were painted, her skin pale.
Kelly tucked several curls behind her ears as she walked past them and headed for the refrigerator. “Whatever. So is there anything for breakfast?”
Sam’s temper boiled, but before he could say anything, Gabriel pounded his cane on the tiled kitchen floor. Kelly jumped.
“What?” she demanded.
“You should lock this one up until she learns some manners,” he said.
Kelly planted her hands on her hips. “We’re not in that century anymore.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t say she was a smart-mouth, Sam. She got that from her mother.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “Are we done? Can I eat now?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Can you?”
Kelly stared at him as if he’d started speaking Russian.
Sam sighed. “May I eat now,” he told her. “Can is ability. May is permission.”
“Oh. You’re one of those.” She turned back to the refrigerator and muttered something about “weird old men.”
“You have a lot of freckles,” Gabriel said.
“Gee, thanks,” Kelly said. “Because until this moment I hadn’t been sure. I kept scrubbing my face, but they wouldn’t come off. Freckles. Who knew?”
Gabriel scowled. “Can we send her back?”
I wish, Sam thought. “We all need time to adjust.”
Kelly shut the refrigerator. “I’d rather be back in New York. Tell you what, Grandpa. Just set me up in an apartment and I’ll be fine. I’ll go to school, then my ballet classes, and you won’t even have to remember that you ever met me.”
Gabriel grumbled something under his breath. Sam wondered if he was doing the math to figure out how much it would cost him.
“You’re not going back to New York,” Sam told her. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours. Why don’t we back off for a few days.”
Kelly scowled. “Tell him to back off.” She walked to the pantry. “What did the ballet teacher say when you spoke with her?”
“I haven’t.”
Kelly turned on him. “What? I asked you to do one thing. Just one. Not twenty, not even five. And you couldn’t do it. Why? Is this just to torture me or do you have a reason?”
“I’ve been busy.”
“With things that are important to you. Not with things that are important to me.”
Sam gripped his coffee mug so tightly, he thought he might snap it in two. His first instinct was to send Kelly to her room and ground her for life. Not that he knew what terms would be considered grounding. Locking her up sounded pretty damn good, though.
He thought about telling her she’d just lost her chance at ever attending a ballet class, but quickly reconsidered. Getting her out of the house for a few hours a day could be a blessing for both of them.
He sucked in a breath. “You know that DVD player you wanted?” he asked. “You can forget it until you learn to speak politely and respectfully.”
She stared at him. “You are so kidding.”
“Not even close, kid.”
“Whatever. I’ll buy it myself.”
That’s right. The credit card, compliments of his mother’s estate. He would have to take care of that next.
“When are you calling the ballet teacher?” she asked through gritted teeth. “I want you to do it now.”
“I will get to it when it’s convenient for me. You can hurry the process along by being civil or you can wait. Your choice.”
She glared at him. “You’re not the boss of me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I absolutely am. I know you’ve been through hell, and I’m sorry about that. However, your circumstances don’t give you the right to mouth off.”
Kelly looked at him as if he were dog crap on her shoes. “If you’re so worried about what I say, then you shouldn’t swear in front of me. Or do the rules only apply to me? Don’t you have to be civil, too?”
With that she turned on her heel and left the room.
Sam clutched his mug, not sure if he was going to drink the contents or throw it across the room.
“She’s a handful,” Gabriel said.
“Tell me about it.”
“I guess locking her up would be against the law,” Sam said.
Francesca wasn’t completely sure he was kidding. “You know it would be. And it wouldn’t solve any problems.”
“Maybe it would. You could report me and the state would take her away.”
“Is that what you want?”
He shook his head. “No. What I want is for this to be easier.”
“It’s only day one,” she reminded him.
It was mid-afternoon. She’d arrived about an hour before to find Kelly eating lunch by herself and Sam holed up in his office. Neither of them seemed to be speaking to the other, and Kelly had barely acknowledged her.
She and Sam were out on the deck, enjoying the warm afternoon, with a soft ocean breeze blowing over them. He was holding her hand, which made her want to talk about tangled sheets instead of his daughter. But that wasn’t an option right now. Which was really too bad.
“It’s been a long day,” he told her, then explained what had happened that morning when Gabriel had been over to meet Kelly.
Francesca winced. “Okay, so we won’t describe her as shy or timid. What did your grandfather say?”
“Nothing I can repeat in mixed company. He wasn’t a fan of my ex-wife’s, either, and to his mind, Kelly is too much like her.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you handled the situation really well. If she wants a DVD player, that gives you something to hold over her head.” She glanced at him and smiled. “I mean that figuratively, not literally.”
“I know. I’m not interested in hurting her. What I would like instead is to deal with a regular child instead of Teen-zilla.”
