It Had To Be You (16 page)

“
Yeah. I gotta ask you
something.”

“
All right.”

“
Remember that kid Tommy I met at the
park the other day?”

“
Uh-huh.” The back of her neck began to
prickle.

“
He just called and asked if I could go
bowling with him and his dad.”

“
Do you like to bowl, Josh?” She’d
never taken him to an alley.

“
Grandpa takes me sometimes, remember?
It’s fun. Can we go?”

Lela stilled, but her heart rate escalated.
“We?”

“
Yeah, you and me. He said I could come
alone, but I don’t want to. I want you to be there with
me.”

“
Oh, honey, that’s not convenient for
me.”

“
Why? You don’t have to work today.
You’re only doing errands. Please, Mom.”

Sophia’s expression was puzzled. Lela rolled
her eyes.

“
Mo-om!”

“
All right, I’ll go. I’ll call his dad
for the arrangements.”

“
Thanks. I really like
Tommy.”

“
Why, honey?”

“
I dunno. I do.”

“
I’m glad. I’ll be home
soon.”

When she clicked off, Lela buried her face in
her hands. “You won’t believe this.”

“
I got the gist of it.” Sophia’s tone
was dry.

“
I guess my son and I have a date with
Beck and Tommy.”

“
You poor thing.”

Lela nodded. But in truth, though she knew
the decision they’d made to stay apart was the right one, she
couldn’t quell the spark of excitement at seeing Beck again.

o0o

Beck swung the bowling ball back with the
grace of a natural athlete and sent it spinning down the lane. The
big, black sphere smacked into the pins, leveling them all.

“
Way to go, Dad!”

Though Beck was enduring the tortures of the
damned at being around Lela, his heart was full as Tommy raced up
to him and gave him a high five. “Thanks, son.” He smiled back at
Josh—shy little Josh who’d insisted his mother accompany them.
“Your turn, Josh.”

The boy had been up three times and gotten
gutter balls. Beck had suggested they use bumpers, but Tommy had
objected. When his son saw Josh’s glum face as he approached the
ball return, he whispered to his dad, “Can we still get the
bumpers? I feel bad for Josh.”

“
Let’s try one more thing
first.”

Lugging the lightest ball they could find,
Josh approached the lane. Pins crashed in the background, and
people laughed and cheered, but Josh was grim. Beck said, “Want
some help, Josh?”

Josh shrugged.

“
Tell you what, set the ball down by
Tommy and stand just back of the line.”

Like a good little soldier, Josh obeyed.

“
Can I show you how to
swing?”

“
I guess.”

Gently, he moved Josh by the shoulders so he
was facing the pins and adjusted his stance. Then Beck placed his
hand alongside the boy’s and swung it back, then forward. He
repeated the process.

Josh’s face lightened and his body lost some
of its rigidity. “I can do that.”

“
The other thing to try is throwing the
ball on that arrow right in the middle of the lane.”

“
Down there”—he pointed to a second
arrow—”or at the line?”

“
Either, but I’d aim for the second
one. I think that’s easier.”

“
Okay.”

Crossing to the side to get the ball from
Tommy, Beck caught a glimpse of Lela’s face. The profound approval
there made him swallow hard and quickly avert his gaze. For once,
he didn’t feel like a total loser in the family department.

“
Here you are.” He handed the ball to
Josh. “Try what I showed you.”

Josh approached the alley gingerly, but he
followed directions and concentrated hard as, with a thunk, he sent
his ball down the lane. It rolled slow, slower, but straight on.
Finally it hit. Pins!

“
Holy cow, I got five.” He pivoted
around and did a little hop up and down. “Mom, I got
five.”

“
I see, buddy. That is so cool. You’re
gonna beat me.”

Tommy suggested, “Maybe my dad can help you,
too, Mrs. Allen. Can you, Dad?”

“
I guess.” He mimicked Josh, but he
knew his voice was hoarse.

He didn’t watch Lela approach him in her
plain, brown jeans and simple, tan T-shirt, which were anything but
plain and simple on her. He tried not to inhale whatever-the-hell
scent she was wearing as she lined up next to him. He ignored the
throatiness in her voice as she said, “All right, Beck, have at
me.”

Sidling close, he leaned into her, much as he
had Josh. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I couldn’t do anything about
all this.”

She sighed and peered up at him with huge,
brown eyes. “You know what, fuck it! We’re here; let’s have fun.
We’ll deal with the rest later.”

So he let his chin touch her hair—it was down
soft and sexy. Aloud, he said, “All right, Miz Lela. Now, swing
your arm back like this.” His other hand went to her waist. And
stuck there.

She whispered, “What are you doing?”

“
Well, you said to have
fun.”

She chuckled. And managed a four-point
gain.

When they finished their set, Tommy averaged
100, Beck 187, Josh a respectable 54. Lela managed a 75.

“
Dad,” Tommy asked as they exchanged
their bowling shoes for their own, “Can me and Josh go play
Monsters?”

“
What’s Monsters?” This from
Lela.

“
A video game. They got a sweet game
room here, Mrs. Allen.”

Beck explained, “Tommy’s been to this bowling
alley for birthday parties.”

“
Josh, do you want to go?” Lela
asked.

“
If Tommy’ll help me.”

“
Then okay.” To Beck she said, “Let’s
sit where we can see the room.”

A table happened to be free across from the
game section. Beck bought Cokes and popcorn, the kids ate a bit,
then took off for their fun. Though the alley was crowded, Beck
pretended he and Lela were alone in the cavernous space.

She stared over at him, as he did her.

After a while, he said, “It feels good just
to look at you.”

“
I know. Same for me.” She sipped from
her soda and shifted in her seat. Because he’d stretched out with
his legs in front of him, her foot came into contact with
his.

“
Sorry.” Slowly, he moved both his feet
and trapped one of hers between them. He watched to see what she’d
do. She didn’t squirm away. And her eyes looked like melted
chocolate.

When she reached for popcorn, he stayed her
hand. And linked a couple of fingers with his.

Her breath hitched. “Beck.”

He held on loosely to her, but her touch
burned him like a brand. “This is some predicament we’ve gotten
ourselves into, isn’t it?”

“
The kids?”

“
That, too.”

“
I’d be upset, because, you know, of me
and you…” He squeezed her fingers. “…if Tommy wasn’t so
happy.”

“
Josh, too.” She rolled her eyes. “I
have a confession to make.”

He scowled. Now what? “Oh?”

“
I can bowl better than I
did.”

“
Pretending for your son?”

“
Uh-huh. And because we got to…touch.”
She shook her head, sending a few tendrils of it into her eyes. “We
just can’t seem to avoid each other.”

“
What are we going to do, Lee? I want
to be with you.”

“
So do I. With you.”

“
All the time…” they said
simultaneously.

He heaved a sigh; she frowned. But never once
did he let of her hand.

o0o

Lela knew she should feel bad because she and
Beck had gone back on their decision to stay away from each other,
but whenever they were together, he filled up a hole inside her
despite the circumstances. It was hard to regret that. So she let
his feet imprison one of hers, let his fingers capture hers. No one
could see their hands touching, because they were obscured by the
popcorn, or their feet caressing, because the table precluded it;
the dual connection made her heart skip beats. Once again, she
allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to make love with
him if just this tiny contact captivated her so much.

“
Penny for your thoughts.”

Again she shook her head. “X-rated.”

“
Jesus. Me, too. Doesn’t it make you
wonder what it would be—” Her phone rang, cutting off his
confirmation that they were indeed on the same
wavelength.

To prevent him from voicing the thought, she
snatched her cell out of her purse. “Hello.”

“
Lela, I’m glad I caught you.”
Christian’s smooth baritone came across the line—and did nothing
for her.

“
Oh, hi.”

“
One of my surgeries got canceled and I
wondered if you wanted to go out on the boat tonight.”

Oh, God. “I can’t. There’s no one to look
after Josh.”

“
Bring him.”

She shifted her body again, but Beck wouldn’t
let go of her hand. “I’m not ready to do that yet. I thought we
discussed this.”

“
I could bring Kayla.”

“
No. Thanks, though. Some other
time.”

“
I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but
I understand. We’ll try it again when things are different.” Before
he disconnected, he said, “Think of me, at least.”

When she clicked off and dared to look at
Beck, his eyes burned with green fire. Hell, she was…aroused by his
jealousy.

“
It was your doctor friend, wasn’t it?”
Beck asked in a gravelly voice.

She nodded.

“
You said no to a date?”

Another nod.

“
Why?”

“
Because it’s too soon for him to meet
Josh.”

He arched a brow. An arrogant one. Could the
guy be any sexier?

“
I know.” She sighed heavily. “We’re
here with both our boys. Sometimes this thing between us takes on a
life of its own.”

“
Lela.” Now his voice turned soft and
coaxing. The verbal caress mesmerized her. “Maybe…”

Once more, her phone rang.

“
I’ll check the caller ID first to see
if I have to answer this.” She looked at her phone. “It’s Len’s
father.” Again she clicked into the cell. “Hi, Joe. Is everything
all right?”

“
No, Lela, it isn’t. Can you come over
here now? Without Josh.”

Panic skittered up her spine. “Why, what
happened?”

“
I think Lennie tried to kill himself
today.” Her ex-father-in-law practically choked on the
words.

“
Oh, my God! Is he all
right?”

“
Unhurt, but far from all right. He’s
asking for you.”

“
Oh, Joe, I don’t know.…”

“
This is my boy, Lela.
Please.”

“
All right, I’ll come. I have to make
arrangements for Josh. I’ll be over after I do that.”

When she put the phone away, her hand
trembled.

Beck’s brow was furrowed, his eyes full of
concern. “Honey, what happened?”

Somehow she got out the words.

“
But he’s not hurt?”

She nodded.

“
What did he do?”

“
Joe didn’t say. Len wants to talk to
me. Joe asked me to come right over.”

“
It’s a crisis, Lela. You know you have
to go.”

“
Yes, you’re right. I don’t know what I
was thinking to object.” She glanced toward the video room. “I have
to find child care for Josh first.”

“
I can watch him.”

“
What?”

“
He can come to my house with us. Tommy
would love it.”

“
Oh, Beck, that’s sweet of you, but he
wouldn’t stay at Eddie’s party the other night. He probably won’t
go with you.”

“
Then we’ll take him to your house.
He’ll be more apt to stay there with me in his own surroundings.
It’ll be better because it’s after seven and you might be gone till
bedtime.”

She studied him closely. “You are a really
nice guy. Damn you.” At his questioning expression, she added, “It
only makes you more attractive.”

The room was dim when Len woke up. He laid in
the bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to remember what had
happened. But his mind was fuzzy. He recalled sitting in the car,
talking to Josh.… Oh, fuck. Lela had had a date. Then he’d taken
the Glock out of the glove compartment.

Had he eaten it? Was he in hell? He scanned
the room. No, he was in the house where he’d grown up. And he
didn’t hurt any place. Must be he hadn’t done anything to
himself.

Too bad, shithead. Why don’t you just end
this misery?

He closed his eyes. The last thing he
remembered was stopping at a liquor store and downing a pint of
vodka in the parking lot. He didn’t know what had happened after
that.

Smart guy you are, Allen.

A knock on the door. He didn’t want to see
anybody. “Go away,” he barked.

The door creaked open. He rolled to his side
so he was facing the windows.

Soft footsteps. Then, “Len, it’s Lela.”

He swallowed hard. “Go away.”