WHEN HE ARRIVED, the house was silent. His heart started a funny, heavy pounding as he moved through the living room toward the definitely empty kitchen.
Where were they?
Granted, he hadn’t been around much. Okay, not at all, but they had to be here. Panicked, he ran. “Melissa! Carly!”
Then, in the hallway, he suddenly heard it. Laughter. They were outside, in the back yard, sitting under the shade of a large elm tree, both looking happy and content.
The sun hit Carly’s dark hair and her thick glasses, which nearly blinded him with the glare. Her heavy makeup was firmly in place. And those clothes…she wore a ton of them. A long, shapeless, flowery sundress, a sweater, her usual boots. No skin showed beneath her chin.
It didn’t matter.
The feel of her warm, lush curves, the taste of her sweet, sexy mouth were permanently imprinted on his brain.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He didn’t understand that. She wasn’t beautiful, not by a long shot. But when she smiled at Melissa, her entire face lit up.
And Sean’s heart took a tumble.
Melissa had something smeared across her face, and even as he watched, she shoved what looked like a cookie in her mouth, leaving even more of a mess on her face. “Yum,” she said around a mouthful.
“Well, you can thank yourself,” Carly told her with a smile. “You did all the mixing.”
“No fire,” Melissa said with obvious glee.
“No fire,” Carly agreed dryly. “I’ve stayed clear of the toaster, thank you very much.”
“Uncle Sean!” Melissa cried, catching sight of him.
The little pixie rose to her feet, shoved the last of her cookie in her mouth and sprinted for him.
By now, Sean knew what was coming. He spared a thought for the shirt he wore. His favorite. He thought of the chocolate that was going to hit it and probably stain it, and with a resigned sigh, he opened his arms.
She leaped right into them with such faith he found his arms tightening around her in a hug he hadn’t known he needed to give.
“Nice day?” he asked her, burying his face in her sun-warmed hair because she smelled like summer, like cookies, like one-hundred-percent kid.
Nodding, she did her best to smear chocolate all over him. “We made cookies, but we were real careful, Uncle Sean. No fire.”
Sean glanced over her head and met Carly’s eyes. She wasn’t smiling, just watching him. He watched her back.
“And then we walked around the block,” Melissa continued happily. “We laughed at Mrs. Trykowski’s cat cuz she chased a squirrel up a tree and got scared. And stuck. Then I was hot. Really hot, Uncle Sean, so that’s why I did it. That’s why I went swimming.”
Sean’s heart stopped. “Swimming?”
“Uh-huh. Water’s warm.”
Hard to talk when there sat a lump in his throat the size of a regulation football. “You aren’t supposed to go in the pool without me, Melissa. Remember?”
Melissa lifted her head, looking both contrite and thrilled at the same time. “I remember. But I forgot. And I scared Carly and she jumped in.”
Sean stared at Carly. “But she doesn’t know how to swim.”
“Oh, yes, she does,” Melissa told him. “She swam right to me, really fast. Then when I told her I could swim, she cried
Carly swallowed hard, her gaze never leaving Sean’s. “Right, Melissa.”
Slowly, because his heart was still thundering in his ears, Sean set Melissa down and continued to stare at Carly. “You told me you couldn’t swim.”
“I know.”
She knew. Damn, but he’d done it again, fallen sucker to another woman who lied. “Melissa, why don’t you go pick out some stories for me to read to you?”
“But you always say you’re too busy to read to me.”
He winced. What kind of an uncle was he that he hadn’t made any time for his niece? “I’m sorry about that. I was wrong. Go pick a few out. Take your time.”
Melissa clapped, then skipped to the house.
Carly rose, probably hoping to escape, as well.
“Wait,” he said.
She looked toward the house. “I thought I should help her-”
“She’s fine.”
“Then I should-”
“Stay,” he said, putting a hand on her arm. An electric current seemed to run through them, and annoyed that now, even now, she could still get to him, he dropped his hand.
She crossed her arms and stepped back.
A defensive pose. Sean’s heart twisted. “Let’s get this straight, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You can’t cook, though you said you could. But you
“Yes.” Her voice was a mere whisper, and she was studying the tops of her boots, apparently fascinated.
“Carly…” He let out a disparaging sound, struggling with temper, wanting even now to give her a chance to explain herself.
She didn’t take it.
“Is there something wrong?” he prompted, willing her to give him something, anything. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No!”
“What, then? What do I need to know that you haven’t told me?”
“Nothing.”
Frustrated, he turned away, staring blindly at the pool, thinking he should let it go. But he couldn’t seem to do that. After Tina, he’d started swimming laps to relieve stress.
Suddenly, he had a whole lot more stress to relieve. “I can’t do this again,” he said grimly.
“What?”
“Never mind.” He wasn’t about to admit he’d been this stupid twice in his life. “Look, you don’t want to trust me, fine. But I’m trusting you with Melissa, and I’d like more references. Can you do that?”
She swallowed hard, her only sign she’d heard him. “Yes.”
Heart heavy, he headed inside.
“Sean?” she called, making him stop and look at her. “I’d never hurt Melissa.”
“I know.”
“Can I stay? For the few days there are left?”
Her eyes were eager. Hopeful. And dammit, that made him ache. “You can stay,” he said quietly, wondering why her relieved smile reached him when he didn’t want to be reached, not by her.
6
SHE WASN’T a princess in disguise, she was a chicken.
Late last night, long after Melissa had fallen asleep and Sean’s light had finally gone off, long after Carlyne had snorted in disgust over the television news, which was still claiming she was either in a hospital suffering
