Authors: Debra Clopton
They went first to the boys' room. Phillip saw that Nathan had constructed a barrier of pillows between his side of the bed and Tucker's, for good reason, apparently. Tucker sprawled over his half of the bed, an arm flung over the pillows so that one hand rested against Nathan's forehead. One of Tucker's legs dangled off the bed. Phillip made a mental note to see that the boys' bunk beds were moved into the room.
Nathan shifted from beneath his brother's hand and opened his eyes. He smiled wanly at his mom, frowned at Phillip, then his face froze like ice as his grandmother trilled her fingers in a little wave. He abruptly rolled over, giving her his back. Alexandra folded her arms irritably. Phillip resisted the urge to pat the boy in approval.
Carissa went around the bed adjusting Tucker's limbs, straightening the covers and whispering in Nathan's ear before leading the way out of the room. Alexandra followed and, as usual, Phillip turned to bring up the rear. To his shock, Nathan suddenly shot upright in the bed, reached across his sleeping brother and snagged Phillip by the back pocket of his pants. Too stunned to do anything more than look down in surprise, Phillip stared openmouthed.
“Don't let her take Grace,” Nathan pleaded in a whisper. “Please. Hide her if you got to.”
Phillip blinked and let a hand fall on the boy's thin shoulder. “Don't worry. Grace isn't going anywhere. Your mother would never allow it.”
“She might not be able to stop it. We got no money.”
“She's not by herself,” Phillip assured the boy. “She has all of us Chatams behind her now. Your family will not be broken up. I promise.”
Nathan looked vastly relieved, but as he sank back onto his pillow, his arms folding behind his head, some of his old contrariness reasserted itself. “You don't really got anything to say about it, though, do you?”
“Then why did you ask me for my help?” Phillip countered quietly, turning away. He glanced at Tucker, amazed to find the boy still sleeping peacefully. Even in sleep, he looked like the charming little scamp that he was. “Don't worry,” he said to Nathan before slipping from the room.
By the time Phillip made his way to Grace's room, Alexandra was sitting on the side of the bed with the girl in her lap. Either she had not been asleep, either, or had awakened easily. Carissa seemed none too happy about the situation, but Grace appeared pleased enough to see her grandmother, whom she called Lexi.
Alexandra made a great fuss, hugging Grace and petting her hair. She talked about buying pretty dresses and dolls. Once she asked, “Would you like that, sweetheart?”
Grace smiled and nodded enthusiastically, but Phillip had the feeling that Grace was indulging her grandmother rather than the other way around.
After a few minutes, Carissa walked forward and held out her arms, saying, “It's time you were asleep, young lady.”
Grace went immediately and without argument to her mom, smiled down at her grandmother and chirped, “Good night, Lexi.”
Alexandra rose, dabbed at her eyes and burbled, “Good night, my darling.”
She hurried from the room as Carissa tucked Grace into bed. Phillip stayed long enough to drop a kiss onto Grace's forehead before following them both into the sitting room. Alexandra stood with her hands over her face as if hiding tears, but Phillip noticed that when she dropped them, her makeup still looked perfect and her eyes were dry. She smoothed the hem of her knit top and swayed over to Phillip, doing her best to appear sad.
“I'm sorry that the Chatams have been dragged into all this,” she said. “I'd have prevented it if I could have.”
Phillip drew his brows together. “The Chatams haven't been dragged into anything. My aunts are always eager to help when they can.”
“Oh, I'm sure that's true,” Alexandra hastened to say, “but it wasn't necessary in this case.”
“No? You said yourself that you don't have room for Carissa and the children.”
“Well, not all of them,” Alexandra hedged, “but we'd gladly do what we can. I mean, family should help family. Don't you agree?”
“Of course.”
“And family should go to family first.”
“Which is exactly what Carissa did,” he pointed out, “by going to her father and then her uncle.”
Alexandra ignored that, saying with some exasperation, “If she'd let me provide a home for Grace and Tucker, this whole thing would have been far easier.”
“For whom?” Phillip had to ask. “Not for Carissa, and not for the children, either.”
“Just because my daughter is stubborn and unforgiving,” Alexandra began hotly, but Phillip was having none of that.
“You say âstubborn.' I say âdetermined,' and thank God for it, because from what I can tell, she's made it this far on sheer determination and not much else.”
“You don't understand,” Alexandra insisted, shaking her head. “She's never forgiven me for following my heart, no matter how many times I've tried to explain. My daughter
is
stubborn and unforgiving. And Nathan is just like her.”
“I don't pretend to know what's between you and your daughter,” Phillip stated firmly, feeling his temper spike, “but Nathan is a child, a little boy who has lost way too much already. All Nathan is guilty of is doing his best to help his mom, who hasn't exactly had it easy the past several years.”
Alexandra waved that away. “I've been dealing with Carissa and Nathan all that time. I've tried and tried with both of them. I really have, and it's gotten me nowhere. Neither of them cares whether I'm happy or not.”
“Carissa is your daughter. Nathan is your grandson,” Phillip lectured. “That entitles them to unconditional love from you. They are not here to feed your emotional needs. It's the other way around. That doesn't mean you have to support bad behavior from either one of them, but you don't get to sweep Grace and Tucker off to some fairy-tale life and relegate Nathan and Carissa to a life of misery without them. Carissa and her children are a family. You have no right to interfere with that.”
“I have more right than you do!” Alexandra retorted.
“Maybe so,” he conceded, “but Carissa's got me in her corner, just the same, and all the rest of the Chatams will line up right behind us. Mark my word. And for what it's worth, lady, in my opinion, Carissa and Nathan each are worth a hundred of you because at least they are honest about what they feel and why.”
Alexandra squared her shoulders, let out a huff, spun on her heels and marched out of the room, saying grandly, “I'll be back.”
Growling, Phillip executed his own about-face and nearly bowled over Carissa, who stood there staring at him as though he'd grown a third eye. Embarrassed, Phillip cleared his throat. She swept past him and went to the sofa. Dropping down on the cushion, she put her head in her hands. Phillip followed warily. She suddenly looked up, sniffed and glanced away.
“Are you crying?”
Shrugging, she shook her head. “I never know whether to laugh or cry where my mother is concerned.”
“Ah.”
She scooted over a few inches. He took it as an invitation to sit down and lowered himself gingerly to the sofa beside her. Carissa clasped her hands together and stretched them out in front of her.
“My mother left my dad for another man,” Carissa explained. “She needed âexcitement,' someone with âstyle.' Apparently being faithful and hardworking rules out those things in her world.”
“So she left him for Leander.”
Carissa looked up in surprise. “Oh, my, no. Leander is husband number four, maybe number five or even six. There are long periods when we don't see or hear from her at all, so who knows?”
“I see.”
“This thing with Grace really got serious after she married Leander, maybe three and a half years ago.”
“I'd guess that he wants children and she can't give them to him,” Phillip ventured.
“You may be right about that,” Carissa mused. Sighing, she passed a hand across her forehead and confessed, “What scares me is that I might eventually have to let her take in my children because I won't be able to provide for them myself.”
“That's not going to happen.”
“If I can't make a home for them on my own, she might be able to make a court case,” Carissa pointed out in an agonized whisper.
Phillip smiled supportively. “I doubt it, but if she should try, I'm sure that my brother, Asher, will represent you. He's an attorney, you know.”
Carissa threw up her hands at that, scoffing. “How can I afford an attorney when I can't even afford an apartment?”
“Now, now.” Phillip looped his arm around her, pulling her close to his side in an effort to calm and comfort her. “There's no sense in borrowing trouble. Has your mother said anything about bringing a court case?”
“No,” Carissa admitted in a small voice, relaxing against him and laying her head on his shoulder.
Phillip smiled and resisted the urge to kiss the top of her head.
“Well, then. We won't worry about it. But we will be prepared in case she starts trouble. I'll speak to my brother about it. Okay?”
She hesitated for several long seconds, but then she nodded. “Okay.”
He folded her a little tighter. “Everything's going to be fine. You'll see.”
“You don't know that,” Carissa argued, but he had the feeling that it was just for form's sake.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he repeated, fighting to keep a chuckle from breaking into his tone. Alexandra was right about one thing. This woman was nothing if not stubborn. Right now, that didn't seem like such a bad thing to him.
Carissa said nothing for a long while, but then her hand drifted up to brush his chest, and she turned up her face, whispering, “Thank you.”
He didn't realize that she meant to kiss him until she did it, her lips pressing lightly against his. His heart swelled, and without thinking, he angled his head, drawing her nearerâuntil he caught movement from the corner of his eye and froze. Instinctively, he lifted his head and looked in that direction.
Nathan peeped out of the hallway entrance.
Taking her cue from Phillip, Carissa straightened, turning her attention in the direction of the hallway, but Nathan had already jerked back out of sight.
Phillip wisely let his arms fall away and a moment later folded his hands over his knees.
“Well,” he said lightly, “we've all had an emotionally trying evening. I'll let you get some rest.”
“Yes, thank you.” She sounded tired and...disappointed? Embarrassed, perhaps, but not disappointed, surely. Getting slowly to her feet, she added, “And thank you for what you said to my mother, too.”
Ah. That explained the kiss, then. Gratitude, not attraction. If anyone was disappointed, it was him, but he tried not to let it show.
“No problem.”
Shooting another glance at the empty hall doorway, he left her and went in search of his aunties. He'd meant what he'd said about Carissa having the Chatams behind her. Asher would most definitely help, and the aunts, too, but Phillip would leave nothing to chance. He wanted the entire weight of the Chatam influence behind Carissa and her children, whether she needed it or not. Just in case.
Chapter Ten
P
irouetting in the center of the floor, Grace bumped into Tucker, who promptly circled her throat with his forearm.
“Now I got a hostage.”
“No fair!” Nathan bawled. “Mountain lions don't take hostages.”
Carissa covered the mouthpiece of the telephone headset with one hand and gestured sternly toward the bedroom with the other. She knew it was unfair to ask them to play only in their rooms, but she dared not work in the master bedroom and let them play here in the sitting room unsupervised. They'd already knocked over the lamp once. Thankfully, it hadn't broken. Besides, the bed did not make a comfortable workspace, especially when she was frustrated because she hadn't closed a sale all morning.
Tucker made a growling sound, showing his displeasure, while Grace sighed then plopped down among her coloring books and dolls to begin gathering them. Nathan, as usual, started to argue.
“Aw, Mo-o-om. It's no fun in there.”
Carissa held up a finger and made the keystrokes necessary to activate the microphone in her headset via her laptop. “That's right, sir. Twenty-four-hour-a-day access by telephone and online. If you're at your computer, you can go to our website now and see the levels of service available. I'll be happy to send the link and wait for you to connect.” Glaring at Nathan, she typed in the email address and routed the link. While her client made the connection, she muted her end of the connection again and shook her finger at the children.
“I am sick and tired of telling you three to calm down.”
“We want to go out,” Nathan whined.
“I can't go outside now. I have to work.”
“We can go out by ourselves. We won't get into trouble.”
Before she could do more than roll her eyes at that, a knock sounded on the suite door, and Tucker scampered to answer it. Odelia and Phillip entered the room. Odelia wore a huge cardinal-red hat and a white dress with a pleated skirt and big red polka dots. White, feathered balls swung from her earlobes. Phillip wore his usual cargo shorts and T-shirt, along with a wide grin.
As the children watched, fascinated, Odelia tugged on a pair of white, lacy gloves, announcing grandly, “We've come to take the children to the park.”
Tucker literally crowed at that news, while Grace leaped up and clapped, pirouetting in midair. Carissa could have cried with relief.
“Oh, thank you, but are you sure? It isn't too much trouble?”
“No, no. It's all planned,” Phillip said with the wave of a hand. “A Saturday in the park will be fun for all of us. Hilda is packing a picnic basket, and Kent is bringing around the car. We'll have them home before the hottest part of the day.”
“In time for a cool swim,” Odelia put in.
Carissa closed her eyes in gratitude then held up a hand for quiet as her client came back on the line. “Yes, that's correct. Seven ninety-nine a month includes automatic backup and storage of everything that appears on your desktop.” She nodded and went on. “You just fill out the online form. I'll send you a confirmation email with telephone numbers. I suggest you make a note of them. Click on the link to activate the account, and the icon will appear on your desktop. You can find the telephone numbers there, too, but if your computer is on the blink, you'll want those numbers handy elsewhere.” After another moment she was able to say, “Thank you. We appreciate your business.” Finally, a sale.
She ended the call and addressed Odelia. “I'm sorry, but that's the first sale I've made today. I couldn't put him on hold again.”
“No need to apologize. You're working. We'll just get out of your way.”
“Come on, kids,” Phillip said, lifting an arm.
“Everyone have their shoes?” Carissa asked.
While Tucker and Grace hurried to find their discarded shoes, Nathan hopped out of reach, shouting, “I'm not going! I'm not going!” With that, he bolted for the bedroom.
Stunned, Carissa sat frozen.
Now what? Hadn't he just begged to go out?
She stared helplessly at Phillip, who said pointedly, “He saw us last night.”
Carissa shook her head. “I don't understand. Saw us?”
Phillip gusted out a sigh and shot a glance at Odelia, muttering, “On the couch.”
Carissa recalled the kiss, her cheeks heating. She quickly looked away, her hand going to her throat.
“That...that was my fault.” She shoved aside the laptop and got to her feet, tearing off the headset and dropping it to the sofa cushion as she started forward. “I'll explain it to him. When he knows what his grandmother attemptedâ”
Phillip stopped her in midstride, his hands clasping her upper arms. “Are you sure that's wise?”
“You're right. Nathan already carries a heavy enough load as it is, and that's my fault, too. He's tried to replace his father with the younger children, and I've let him, even though I've known all along that it's too much responsibility for a boy his age.”
“Let's not place blame,” Phillip said, his voice wrapping around her like a warm blanket. “I'm sure you've done what you thought was best.”
“Perhaps Phillip should speak to Nathan, dear,” Odelia suggested gently.
“Me?” Phillip queried.
“Man-to-man, so to speak,” Odelia said.
“Oh. Well, if you think that'll help.”
Carissa hesitated, one hand going to the back of her neck. “Uh, IâI'm not sure that's... I mean, I doubt he'll be receptive.”
Phillip shrugged. “Won't hurt to try.”
Carissa sucked in a deep breath then let it out again. “Go ahead.”
What was the worst that could happen? Nathan would dig in his heels and refuse to go to the park with his brother and sister. It would serve him right, and she could still get some work done. Maybe she'd have an opportunity to speak with her eldest son in private, too.
Folding her hands, she smiled lamely at Odelia Chatam Monroe and sent up a silent prayer.
* * *
Phillip gathered his courage as he marched toward the bedroom. He didn't knock on Nathan's doorâwhy give the boy another chance to reject him?âjust opened it and stepped inside.
Nathan didn't waste any time beating around the bush. Phillip had barely closed the door before the boy rolled into a sitting position on the side of the bed and demanded, “Are you going to marry my mom?”
The question took Phillip by surprise, but a moment's reflection lessened the shock of it. Of course Nathan would view every man who came into Carissa's life as a potential husband. Phillip himself had already known that, which meant that he should have been able to give Nathan the firm denial that he so obviously wanted.
What he actually said was “I doubt it.”
That
was more stunning than the question itself.
Nathan glared and asked, “How come?”
Phillip searched for an answer. “For one thing, people who get married should be in love.”
“And you're not in love with my mom?”
Oh, boy. He'd walked straight into that one. After gasping like a fish out of water for several seconds, he did the only thing he could: he answered honestly.
“I don't know.”
“Why not? On account of us kids?”
“No. I'll admit that I've never thought of myself as husband or father material, but if I was going to be someone's father, I would be honored to be yours.”
Nathan thought that over some then shook his head. “Grace and Tucker maybe, but not me. I know you don't like me.”
“That's not true. I have a lot of respect for you, Nathan.”
“Like I'd believe
you
about anything,” Nathan sneered.
“I don't like the way you act sometimes,” Phillip admitted. “But you stepped in to help your mom after your dad died, even though, after her, you're the one who misses him most. I'm not sure I'd have done that myself. I'm more like Tucker, franklyâall fun and games.”
Nathan narrowed his eyes behind the lenses of his glasses then looked away. “Tucker's okay most of the time,” he muttered.
Phillip hid a smile. If Tucker was okay, then he, Phillip, must be okay, too, in his way.
“Put your shoes on,” he said. “Let's go to the park.”
Making a great show of his reluctance, Nathan slowly got off the bed, went to the closet and found a pair of shoes. He stomped his feet into them without untying the strings and dragged himself toward the door. As he stood next to Phillip, he looked up and asked, “My mom's pretty, isn't she?”
Phillip's breath caught. Did this kid actually
want
him to marry his mom?
“Your mom's beautiful,” Phillip told him flatly. “But I'm not sure she really likes me very much.”
Screwing up his face, Nathan gave his head the barest of shakes, as if to say that Phillip was too stupid to live. “She likes you.”
Phillip tilted his head, studying Nathan like a bug. “What makes you think so?”
“She kissed you, didn't she?”
Phillip's heart skipped a beat, but he kept his expression blank. “She did, but maybe not for the reason you think.”
Nathan rolled his eyes, yanked open the door and marched out, as if to his doom. Phillip stood there a moment longer, wondering if Nathan knew something he didn't or if wishful thinking was about to get him in way, way over his head.
By the time he entered the sitting room, Odelia and Carissa had herded the children to the door. Phillip joined them there, and they all quickly took their leave of Carissa. Phillip ignored her curious looks, uncertain himself what had really happened with Nathan. True to his nature, he simply put the matter out of mind.
Phillip was used to an active lifestyle, but in the space of the next few hours, the children wore out him and the other two adults supervising them. Phillip wound up chasing Nathan and Tucker all over the park while Odelia and Kent took turns pushing Grace on the swings and the merry-go-round. She obligingly matched her pace to theirs, making Phillip muse that Grace often seemed to be a happy adult in a child's body, while too many adults behaved like spoiled children. Nathan and Tucker, on the other hand, were active little boys. They went from driving on imaginary roads to fighting imaginary battles to riding imaginary dinosaurs, and all of it involved running, jumping, climbing, hiding and making loud noises. Phillip had his hands full making sure they didn't get lost or hurt. He was ready to tie them to the picnic-table bench by the time they all sat down to eat lunch.
Thankfully, Hilda had packed such a hearty meal, crammed with all their favorites, that the children stuffed themselves. Afterward they could barely keep their eyes open. Odelia spread a blanket in the shade of a tree, and even Nathan dozed for a few minutes, but then he and Tucker were up and off again. Odelia and Kent looked positively exhausted by the time they got the picnic basket repacked and the children loaded back into the car. Even Odelia's hat was drooping.
On the way home, Kent asked the children how they liked living at Chatam House. Tucker and Grace had only good things to say, but Nathan shrugged and grumbled, “It'd be okay if I had my own bed.”
Phillip decided then to get those bunk beds moved into the master suite ASAP.
Hypatia and Magnolia agreed to watch the children swim in the pool while Phillip, Odelia and Kent went upstairs to clean up and, in Kent and Odelia's case, nap. Phillip was expected at his brother's for an early dinner, and he'd promised to pick up Dallas on the way. After delivering the children back to the suite in their wet bathing suits and towels, he asked Carissa for a report on her day and was pleased that she was pleased.
“I know you engineered this outing,” she said, “and I thank you.”
“Well, if it helps you work...”
“Yes,” she said, “the more money I make, the sooner we'll be out on our own.” That wasn't his point, but he let it stand. “This will all be so much easier once school starts again,” she went on. “We'll be in our own place, and even Grace will be out of the house half days.”
“That will be helpful,” Phillip commented idly, thinking how to broach the subject of the bunk beds. “Listen, I know you don't want to get too comfortable here, but Nathan really wants his own bed. Would you mind if I set up the bunk beds?”
She seemed troubled by the prospect. “Oh, I'd hoped to avoid that.”
“I think it really would help.”
“It would give the boys more room to play,” she considered.
Phillip took that as consent and promised to take care of it then hurried off to pick up Dallas.
They arrived at Asher and Ellie's sprawling, modern, blond-brick house just as their sister Petra and her husband, Dale, did. Dale was in the construction business with his father, and Petra had taken over the day-to-day operation of the office. Phillip still couldn't get used to seeing his once-quite-sophisticated sister in jeans and casual tops, but he loved the fact that she always seemed to be smiling. Petra had a soft look about her now, a warmth, that he'd never suspected was part of her personality. Dale seemed his usual easygoing self, nodding as Phillip asked to borrow a truck again in order to move a set of bunk beds from storage to Chatam House.
“I'll do you one better,” Dale said. “I'll help you move them later tonight.”
Phillip grinned, and they shook hands on it. “Can't pass up that deal.”
Asher let them in and led them to the living room, his two-month-old daughter cradled in the crook of one arm. She didn't stay there for long. First Dallas, then Petra snatched her up. When Ellie called from the kitchen, Petra passed the baby to Dale as casually as if she was passing him a puppy or a pillow, and Dale took her just as easily, cradling her tiny head in his palm and making a bed for her of his forearms. She kicked and cooed and generally seemed to be trying to join in the conversation as the men chatted about golf and baseball and Asher's passion, soccer. Then, suddenly, for no apparent reason, she screwed up her little face and screamed. Horrified, Phillip couldn't believe it when both Asher and Dale began to laugh.