“You probably would have tried to make it, anyway,” her father said with resignation.
“Maybe,” Lucy agreed ruefully. “I wouldn't have liked the thought of not being with everyone for Christmas. As it was, I missed the big Christmas Eve shindig.”
“Sounds like you had an interesting time where you were.”
“It was definitely interesting. Everyone was so nice. I really enjoyed watching the children find their gifts from Santa Claus.” She had told her family all about Tyler and Tricia and the lengths the adults had gone to so the children would have a special Christmas.
“You were just darned lucky you had a safe place to stay. Could have been stranded alone in your car. Or the guy in the house could have been a dangerous nutcase. Anything could have happened to you.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Lucy said, tolerating his lecturing because she knew he really did worry about her. “I promise I'll be more careful in the future, but this time everything worked out fine.”
“And now you're humoring me.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Should've spanked you more when you were a kid,” he muttered.
Not believing a word of it, she laughed and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder as affectionately as a kitten. The major might intimidate most other people, but Lucy knew that where she was concerned, at least, the man was a marshmallow.
“So this guy who took you in-you going to be seeing him again?”
She wasn't particularly surprised by the question. Her father had always had a sixth sense about her. It had been particularly spooky when she was a teenager hundreds of miles away from him and somehow he had still known everything she was up to, but she had gotten accustomed to it since then. “Yes, I'll see him again.”
“Too early to get serious. Two days isn't long enough to get to know someone.”
“Are you telling me you don't believe in love at first sight?” Her gently mocking tone was deliberate, since she had heard the story about her father meeting her mother and immediately saying to himself, “Here is the woman I'm going to marry.”
The Major had the grace to flush a little. “I didn't say that,” he answered gruffly. “Are you telling me you already fancy yourself in love with this man?”
“All I'm saying is that I like him quite a lot, and I hope to have a chance to get to know him better. Maybe you'll meet him before long. I think you would like him, too, even though he's a little…well, different.”
This time it was her father who chuckled. “I wouldn't have expected anyone who caught your interest to be anything but different.”
That made her lift an eyebrow. “I'm trying to decide if that's a compliment or an insult.”
Patting her hand again, he led her onto a new pathway. “I'll let you think about it for a while. And, by the way, I do want to meet this Banner guy. Sooner, rather than later, if things start getting serious.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Apparently satisfied that he had made his point, Les changed the subject to family matters, and Lucy willingly went along.
She had said all she intended to say about Banner. More than he would have liked, probably, considering how obsessively private he was. But nothing had changed about her interest in seeing him again.
Chapter Eleven
It was funny the way thoughts of Lucy popped into Banner's mind at random moments that seemed to have no connection to her. Even five days after she had left, on December thirtieth, he still found himself thinking of her frequently, hoping she had made the remainder of the trip safely, wondering if she was enjoying her visit with her family.
Wondering if she thought of him even half as often as he thought of her.
Probably not, he decided as he ran a length of white pine through his planer. After all, she had plenty of other people now to distract her and divert her. If she had spoken of him at all, it had probably been to describe him as an oddball who lived alone with a scraggly dog and had been grudgingly gracious enough to allow a few stranded travelers to stay with him for a couple of days, though he had done little to entertain them while they were there.
Maybe he could have been a little friendlier. A little more social. Or maybe…
But no. He'd been himself, pretty much. And while Lucy might have found him a novelty while she was here, he wouldn't be surprised if the novelty had already worn off.
The planer whined shrilly as he fed another board into it, though the high-decibel sound was muted by the hearing protectors he wore along with safety glasses. Banner protected himself as assiduously in the workshop as he did in all the other areas of his life.
A tap on his shoulder made him jump and nearly drop the board he'd just planed smooth. Turning off the machine, he spun with a glare. “Damn it, Lucy, don't sneak up on me in the workshop. I could have taken a hand off or something.”
She somehow managed to smile and look penitent at the same time. “Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.”
“The machinery I work with is dangerous. You could get hurt yourself if you aren't careful. From now on, when you come out here, make sure I see you come in so I can turn off anything…”
He fell silent as it occurred to him what he was saying. From now on? What made him think Lucy would be coming back into his workshop on a regular basis?
For that matter, what was she doing here
“Uh. Hi,” he said, pulling the hearing protectors off his head and tossing them aside.
Her musical laughter was a much more pleasant sound than the machine he had just silenced. “Hi, yourself. And I promise I'll be more careful from now on.”
Making it sound as if she planned to visit his workshop regularly. He cleared his throat. “I wasn't expecting to see you.”
“You said I should drop by again-is this a bad time?”
He couldn't imagine a bad time to see Lucy-but he would keep that thought to himself. “Let's go inside,” he suggested. “I'll make you some tea.”
“I'll take you up on that.” She turned to precede him out of the workshop.
She looked great, he couldn't help noticing as he followed her across the backyard to his house. She wore her black parka with the emerald knit cap and an emerald scarf. Jeans and sneakers completed what he could see of her outfit. Not exactly fancy dress, but he liked the way it looked on her. He suspected she would carry off sequins and diamonds with the same sort of carefree panache.
The thought of her dressed in her doctoral robe and sash made him scowl. Hardly a fitting match to his flannel shirt and worn jeans-but that was no revelation to him.
Hulk was at his food bowl when they entered the kitchen. The dog looked up from his kibble, spotted Lucy and ambled over to greet her, his feathery tail lazily sweeping the air as she removed her scarf and jacket and tossed them over a chair.
Admiring the way her cream-colored sweater emphasized her slender curves, Banner murmured, “He's excited to see you.”
Patting the dog's head, which she didn't even have to bend down to accomplish, Lucy looked around with a smile. “He shows it about as well as you do.”
Was she actually comparing him to his dog again? Just to prove that he was at least somewhat more demonstrative than his four-legged roomie, he reached out to tug her into his arms. “Maybe I can do a bit better.”
Her smile deepened. “I'm sure you can.”
His mouth was on hers almost before she finished speaking.
He had fantasized about kissing her again ever since the last time. Had dreamed of doing so again ever since she had driven away. And he had wondered if he would ever have another chance to hold her.
Without releasing her, he finally lifted his head a couple of inches. “I wasn't sure you would come back.”
