“You look . . . ” A faint pinkness crept under his tan.
“Gorgeous?” Eileen offered.
“Yep, kid. Exactly.” Although his grin was crooked and a little sheepish, I knew my answering flush wasn’t faint at all.
“Hmm . . . thank you.” I turned to fiddle with the place settings so I wouldn’t throttle my loving-but-misguided teenager.
She knew better! How many times in the past few weeks had I told her to stop trying to orchestrate a makeshift family? The poor man felt obligated to fulfill her every whim. Gee, Adam, it’d be fun if you’d bring a couple of the puppies over to say goodbye . . . stay for dinner . . . come for lunch . . . Mom says we need to call a tree service for that branch . . . and golly, Mom’s been wanting to paint these railings forever . . . ! My stomach wrenched against my ribs as I abruptly grasped that he might be hurting so much that he thinks he wants us, too.
“Are you alright?”
“Hmmm?” I finished refolding a napkin before I looked up. “Oh, sure! Just a little tired. Would you like some coffee?”
“She’s been having nightmares every night.”
“I’m fine!” So much for keeping my mom-mares from her.
“That doesn’t sound good. What about?”
“Yeah, Mom. Talking about things helps, you know . . . ”
Jesus. Gang up on me, why don’t y’all? “I thought you were going to show Adam how you flip pancakes . . . ?” I busied myself at the sink, running fresh water to refill the carafe, but the pause behind me let me know they were exchanging a look. How wonderful.
“Coffee would be great, thanks.” Adam joined me at the sink while Eileen adjusted the skillet on the burner. He leaned companionably against the counter, somehow managing to pick a spot close enough to show he cared, but giving me enough space so I wouldn’t feel hemmed in. Both my stomach and chest relaxed a bit, and when I reached for the coffee, he passed the canister to me with the same crinkly-eyed smile as the first time we’d met.
“Played any poker lately?”
“Nah . . . Phil’s been too busy to get the group together. He says Maureen’s driving him crazy with the new store.”
“There’s a lot to do before we open.”
“He says she’s having second thoughts.”
“Really?” I hadn’t picked up on that at all. What else had I missed? “It’s kinda late for that! We open in two weeks!”
“She decided she wants a baby. And you know Phil . . . ”
“He’ll give her whatever she wants.” Oh, Adam.
He turned away to select two coffee mugs, and—against my better judgment—I laid a hand on his arm before taking them.
“Watch this, Adam!” With a deft flick of the wrist, Eileen popped a pancake high enough in the air for a double flip and then caught it with the skillet.
“Impressive!” He glanced at me. “You taught her that?”
“Right. We know how coordinated I’m not. But her spatial reasoning is off the charts. Literally.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s me! First time, too!”
I couldn’t resist a proud-parent smirk. “It’s true. She’s good at everything.”
“I’m starting to realize that. She has special genes.”
His sweet compliment ballooned into the air as my blood pounded to my feet.
“Mom!”
“Mm’kay . . . ” My eyelids fluttered, and I swallowed to make my mouth work. “I’m fine. Just . . . ow . . . ?” My upper arms hurt and my eyes wouldn’t stay open to see why. My head lolled, but when I finally found my right arm, I noted it was encircled by a huge hand. Adam’s face ducked into view and he swooped me up like a child.
“Put me down . . . ” I struggled against his chest. “I’m fine. Put me d—”
“It’s okay! He’s just taking you to the couch.”
“But I’m f—”
“If you say you’re fine one more time, you’re going to the hospital.” His voice was tight, but once he’d laid me on the couch, he gently swept a lock of hair away from my mouth. My shiver was involuntary, and I tried to cover it up by hauling myself into a sitting position.
“You’re not taking me anywhere I don’t want to go!”
Eileen grasped my hand as she wriggled past Adam. “What’s wrong?!”
“Nothing, honey. Really. I’m just hungry, I guess. Low blood sugar . . . ”
“You’ve never fainted before!”
“I didn’t faint, honey. I am a little tired, and I guess it just hit me, but it’s not a big deal! I’m sorry I scared you . . . ” I risked looking at Adam, whose face was now an emotionless mask. “I’m sorry, really, but I just need to eat.”
“Eileen, would you give me a minute with your mother?”
She squinted at him before answering. “Sure, okay. I’ll go find Pebbles. She must be hungry.” She squinted at me next, then gave me a swift peck on the cheek before getting up. I avoided Adam’s opaque stare and watched her turn the stove off and move the skillet to a cool burner. She gave us another long, narrow-eyed look before letting the screen door close. She was squinting a lot lately. Maybe I needed to get her eyes checked.
“Lila.”
Jesus! What? I twisted back and recoiled. He was squatting in front of me now, his eyes level with mine just as Sal’s had been weeks ago. I glanced down and fidgeted with my shirt. The neckline was pulled off to one side and . . .
“Look at me.”
I groaned. “What, Adam? What? There’s nothingwrong with me.”
“Oh, I see.” He rocked back on his heels. “You’re having nightmares, not seeing your angels, someone threatened you to not ask questions or your daughter might be in danger—and we both know there were similarities between your pregnancy and Cara’s—but there’s nothing wrong with you.” I frowned and opened my mouth, but he wasn’t finished. “So it’s just me, is that it? Because I’m the schmuck whose wife ran out on him days before she was going to give birth to who-knows-what even though she has no family and no one to turn to other than her dead big brother’s best friend?”
Images of her girlish bedroom and the closet with only her clothes sputtered in front of what
