frightening little boys, especially not a child under his protection.
'Are we going home?' Allen asked. 'Do we have to tell Mother what happened? She'll just worry.'
'We aren't going home,' Ashe said. 'I think you and Deborah and I should go somewhere for burgers and fries and then do something fun together this afternoon. How does that sound to you, Allen?'
'Sounds great to me.' Allen looked at Deborah. 'Can I really play hooky for the rest of the day?'
'You bet you can.' Deborah stood. Allen jumped up beside her. 'We'll go get Allen checked out of school and wait for you in the office.'
'I'll only be a few minutes.' Ashe picked up the telephone and dialed the police department. 'Allen, I know you don't want to worry your mother, but we'll have to tell her what happened when we go home.'
Allen nodded. Deborah ushered him out of the principal's office, thankful that Ashe McLaughlin was taking charge of the situation, thankful that she hadn't had to face this alone. The thought that they had come together like a family—a mother, a father and their child—flashed through Deborah's mind. She couldn't allow herself the indulgence of such thoughts. Thinking of the three of them as a family could be dangerous.
'I can't eat another bite.' Ashe shoved a French fry into Deborah's mouth. She slapped his hand away.
'I want one of those sundaes, don't you, Ashe?' Allen read the list of desserts off the wall sign behind the counter. 'I want caramel with nuts.'
'That's my favorite, too.' Ashe slid out from behind the booth. 'I'll order us both one. What do you want, Deborah?'
'Nothing! I've eaten enough for a couple of meals.'
'Ah, she's just worried she'll get fat,' Allen said. 'She used to be sort of plump a long time ago. Hey, you already know that. You knew Deborah even before I did.'
'So I did.' Ashe sauntered off to order their desserts, coming back with two caramel sundaes and a small chocolate ice-cream cone, which he handed to Deborah.
'Chocolate used to be your favorite,' he said.
'It still is,' she admitted, taking the cone and napkin he handed her. During the last months of her pregnancy, she had craved chocolate ice cream. Maybe that was the reason Allen hated the stuff. She'd gorged him on it before he'd been born.
She didn't realize she'd been sitting there smiling, a dazed look in her eyes until Ashe waved his hand in front of her face.
'Where did you go?' he asked. 'You're a million miles away.'
'Just thinking about chocolate ice cream,' she said.
'Well, you'd better eat it before it melts.' Allen lifted a spoonful of his sundae to his mouth. 'Thanks for getting extra nuts, Ashe.'
'Nothing's too good for us, pal.' Ashe didn't think he'd ever felt about a kid the way he felt about Allen. He didn't understand it, couldn't explain it, but he felt connected to Allen Vaughn. Maybe it was because of his past history with the family, his respect for Miss Carol, his friendship with Deborah. Whatever the cause, he found himself wondering what it would be like to have a child of his own, a boy like Allen.
'Now who's gathering moss?' Deborah wondered what Ashe was thinking. The man was such a mystery to her. Once she'd thought she knew him, but she'd been wrong. He'd never been the man she thought he was.
'What can folks do on a weekday afternoon around here for fun?' Ashe asked. 'How about a movie?'
'No matinees except on the weekend,' Deborah said.
'What about miniature golf?' Allen wiped his mouth with his paper napkin. 'I think it's still open every afternoon until Thanksgiving.'
'How about it, Deborah, are you game for a round of golf?' Ashe smiled at her and she returned his smile. 'You should do that more often, you know.'
'What?' she asked.
'Smile like that. A guy would agree to anything you wanted if you smiled at him like that.' The warmth of her smile brought back memories of the way she'd smiled at him, lying in his arms in the moonlight, down by the river. He had never forgotten that beautiful smile or the way it had made him feel just looking at her.
'Aw, are you getting all mushy?' Allen shook his head. 'Save all that love talk for when you're alone with her. I'm too young to hear stuff like that.'
'Allen!' Deborah rolled her eyes heavenward.
'Eat your sundae,' Ashe said. 'And I'll keep in mind that you aren't old enough to learn from a master just yet. But in a few more years, you'll be begging me to share my secrets of seduction with you.'
'Ashe! Of all things to say to a ten-year-old.'
'Ah, lay off Ashe.' Allen spoke with his mouth half full of sundae. He swallowed. 'You just don't understand guy stuff.'
'Oh, well, excuse me.' Grinning, Deborah licked the dripping ice cream from around the edge of her cone. She glanced over at Ashe, who watched her intently, his vision focused on her mouth. She licked a circle around the chocolate ice cream, all the while watching Ashe watch her. This was a grown-up game she was playing, a subtle sexual game that Allen wouldn't notice. But Ashe noticed. He knew precisely what she was doing and why.
His jaw tightened. His eyes shone with the intensity of their gaze, fixed on her mouth, on her tongue. He gripped the edge of the table with one hand and laid his tightly clenched fist beside his half-eaten sundae.
She was arousing him and she knew it. She liked the sense of power he gave her by his display of desire. If they were alone, instead of sitting in a fast-food restaurant with Allen, she wasn't sure she'd have the nerve to tempt Ashe.
'Are you any good at playing miniature golf?' Allen tossed his plastic spoon into his empty sundae bowl. 'Hey, Ashe, are you listening to me?'
'What did you say, pal?'
'Are you good at playing miniature golf?' Allen repeated. 'Deborah and Mother play real golf and they take me along. They're teaching me how to play. But right now, I still like miniature golf better.'
'I can't say I've ever played miniature golf before,' Ashe said. 'Today you'll have to be my teacher.'
'I like that idea. I don't think I've ever taught anybody anything before.' Allen beamed with pleasure.
Deborah relaxed and finished off her ice-cream cone, thinking how easily a child can adapt, how quickly Allen had gone from a frightened, worried little boy into a secure, happy kid looking forward to a new experience.
Would he adapt so easily if someday she told him the truth—that she was his mother and Ashe was his father?
'Straight upstairs and into the bathtub for you, young man.' Deborah gave Allen a gentle push up the stairs, then dropped down on the bottom step. When Allen dashed off, galloping up the stairs and down the hall, Ashe propped his foot on the step beside Deborah and leaned over, kissing the tip of her nose.
She stared up at him, bewilderment in her eyes. 'What was that for?'
'For being so cute. Your hair is an absolute mess.' He twirled a loose strand around his index finger. 'Your shoes are ruined and you've got chocolate stains on your blouse.'
They both glanced down to the dark circle on the silk that lay over the rise of her left breast. 'I need to get out of this blouse and soak it before the stain sets in any worse than it already has.'
Ashe released her hair, ran his finger down the side of her neck and over into the V of her blouse. 'Need any help?'
Carol Vaughn cleared her throat. Ashe straightened. Deborah looked up at her mother who walked from the living room into the hallway.
'Is Allen all right?' Carol asked. 'He didn't seem upset.'
'He's practically forgotten about what happened,' Deborah said. 'Thanks to Ashe. We've eaten hamburgers and fries twice today, played God only knows how many rounds of miniature golf, went to see that ridiculous dog movie and bought Allen a brand-new computer game.'
'Should we take Allen out of school until the trial is over?' Carol asked.
'No, that would only make matters worse for him.' Getting up, Deborah walked over to her mother and placed her arm around her frail shoulders. 'I think Ashe should act as Allen's bodyguard from now on instead of mine.'
'Oh, Deborah, no. Do you think Allen really is in danger?'
