My Heart Can't Tell You No (13 page)

“Not today, kiddo. Do it sometime when your mom’s here. Let her fish it out.” He caught her just before two towels became drenched.

“
Dad-dy
!” she objected insistently. The child had red hair like Joe’s mother, and a temper to match the fire of their Irish descent.

“No.”

“
Dad-dy
!”

“I said no. Now come over here and sit down so I can take a bath with Ollie.”

He stepped into the tub. The boy squealed with delight, then wrapped his arms around Joe’s neck. In all of Joe’s life, he didn’t think there would ever be a feeling that could compare with that of his own child in his arms. But suddenly the warmth of the tub water wasn’t the only wetness he felt, making Joe’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Ah, Ollie! Dammit!”

Joe got out of the tub, drained the water, then refilled it. This time he successfully bathed the baby, then started on himself as he held Oliver on his lap, most of the time dodging the splashes the boy’s tiny hands were sending up around them.

“Don’t eat that.” Joe took the washcloth and put it on the side of the tub but Oliver wasted no time reaching for it again.

“
Dad-dy
! Leg.” Felicia approached with razor in hand.

“Jesus Christ!” A surge of sudden fright swept through Joe at the sight of the sharp object before he could reach out and snatch it from her hand. “Don’t cry, it’s all right. Why don’t you sit in Ollie’s seat until I’m done, then we’ll go out and play.”

Felicia looked at him in confusion then plopped down. “Leg.”

He looked at her a moment before her meaning sunk in. She was waiting for him to shave his legs—probably to her mind he needed it badly. He laughed with a father’s pride at her intelligence. Somehow he managed to bathe, dry himself and Ollie, and get dressed between running after Felicia when she felt the urge to play with her latest fascination, the toilet. He had both children napping when the hour approached five and the front door finally opened.

“What are you doing here?” Lena asked through wide eyes, her disheveled appearance making Joe mildly curious. She never had a hair out of place if she could help it.

“Waiting for you to get home. I wasn’t going to let the kids here by themselves.”

“Where’s the sitter?”

“Sent her home. What took so long anyway? Five hours for one bag of groceries. Must have been Goddamn crowded.”

“Are you doubting me?”

“Well, let’s just say it seems you’re pretty good at omitting the whole story when you can benefit from it.”

“What are you talking about?” Her dry tone irritated him. He knew she didn’t give a damn about anything he had to say.

“Should I bring up the fact that you failed to invite the Bakers to our wedding reception?”

“I don’t remember. Why should I remember anything about that family?” She moved to the kitchen with the bag. “And just what you find so fascinating is beyond me. They’re nothing to you. Just a bunch of bores who had too many kids with too little money. And that uncle of theirs! He’s more destitute than the Bakers and has more kids! They’re the ones holding you back, I swear. If it weren’t for that ignorant idea you have about making ends meet on wages not fit for a bum, just to be a
man
like Jack Baker, maybe we’d have enough money to survive around here instead of living like a bunch of pigs.”

“Pigs?! What pigs do you know that have a maid come in once a week and a babysitter at the snap of their fingers. Jesus Christ, I never once saw Mom and Jack pay a babysitter to come in. They had this crazy notion to stick around their kids.”

“Yeah. Most bitches do,” Lena muttered under her breath.

“What?” Joe was speechless.

“Sarah Baker is like any other mutt you find in the streets. She was meant to have litter after litter. But thanks to Dr. Benjamin I’ll never have to worry about that! You’re so stupid you didn’t even know I don’t have the equipment to have any more children. God—it’s no wonder you never went back to college to pursue your football career. You’re too Goddamn stupid!”

“You what?!” His voice was close to a growl.

“Had my tubes cut and tied. Big deal.”

“You rotten . . . .” He had the strong urge to strangle her and put himself, as well as their children, out of their misery.

“You lay one finger on me, Joe, and you’ll be in jail so fast your head will spin. Remember? My father had the brains to go to college. He has the friends to do it!”

He was furious, but when he looked at the table, it turned to rage. Their groceries for that week consisted of shampoo and conditioner for
her
delicate hair, nail polish remover, two shades of lipstick and one small box of disposable diapers.

“What the hell do you call this?!” He picked up the nail polish remover and smashed it against a cabinet. “Where’s some milk and food for Felicia, or some formula for Ollie?”

“Oliver,” she corrected.

“Good God, you conceited little bitch, you’ll never change. Just once I’d like to think you care about your kids, if not me, instead of always yourself.”

“I picked up some diapers for Oliver.”

“What about Felicia? She should have been started to be trained by now. But I doubt you can tear yourself away from the mirror long enough to teach her.”

“I don’t see you killing yourself trying to train her.” Lena picked up her purse and moved to the door again. “Well you can start now. I’ll take the night off instead of you. You can miss that football game. God knows you avoided your own career, you can miss a game with kids you don’t even know.”

Joe gently kicked at Sarah Baker’s door; a baby in each arm made knocking impossible. The long trip with two bawling children was made worthwhile when he saw the expression that covered Sarah’s face as she opened the door. It was complete bliss at the sight of the babies, and he could see how her hands twitched to take one of them from his arms.

“
Help
?” he asked meekly, bringing a chuckle from Sarah as she took Oliver.

“You come down for the game tonight, Joey?” She walked into the living room and put the baby in an unsuspecting Jack Baker’s arms. His expression was much the same as his wife’s.

“Well, who do we have here?” Jack picked up the baby and looked into eyes that were staring at the source of the deep voice.

“I wouldn’t swear to it, but I’d bet that’s Ollie McNier,” Sarah told him, then put her hands out to the child still in Joe’s arms, but Felicia tucked her head against Joe’s neck.

“Go on. It’s Gramma Baker,” urged Joe.

She slowly turned to look at the woman again, then, seeing the welcoming smile, reached out and went into Sarah’s arms. Joe felt his heart swell. He knew the child didn’t have any choice but to go to the woman, just as Ollie couldn’t help staring at Jack with blatant curiosity. It must have been the same when he was a child and this couple stole his heart.

“I was planning on going to the game but Lena had different plans. Could you . . . .”

“Yes. We could,” Sarah answered before he could finish. “But go call John and his wife. Tell them to come up here, you have a surprise to show them.”

“Ilene?” Joe asked flatly.

“No. Not Ilene anymore. His new wife is Beth.”

Joe waited for John and his third wife to walk the short distance from their home to the house, wanting to inspect this new wife of John’s before leaving his children in their care.

“Where is everybody, Mom?” Joe asked as he drank a coffee and watched as Jack nuzzled his son’s cheeks and neck, bringing a gurgling laugh from the boy.

“Tom’s working and Maddie’s probably in town at the football game with Lew.”

At that moment John entered the house with a small brunette with hair to her waist. Their knowledge that Joe was watching from the living room didn’t show as John quickly reached out toward the girl’s bottom and made her jump with a shriek. Laughter burst from both of them as he tried again. This time they wrestled until they were on the floor.

“They at it
again
?” asked Jack. Joe was the only one with a clear view.

“If you mean are they wrestling on the floor, then yeah.”

The sound of Joe’s voice turned the girl’s head toward him. She looked slightly familiar, and, after some thought, he remembered that she had been two years behind them in high school.

“John—your friend’s in there,” the girl said quietly.

“So? He has his own wife to pin to the floor,” John told her.

“
John
!”

“Hi,” said John with an impish grin as they entered the room.

“Hi,” Joe returned.

“So, what’s your surprise.”

“John, look.” Beth wasted no time brushing past her husband, pausing between Sarah’s and Jack’s chairs as if she couldn’t make up her mind between the blond baby boy or the red-haired little girl. “Look at that red hair!” she cooed. It seemed the decision was made, but she turned back toward Oliver. “And those blue eyes.”

John didn’t hesitate taking Oliver out of his father’s arms. The decision was made for Beth, and she picked up Felicia. Joe had the idea that, as far as John and Beth were concerned, he was no longer there; their fascination with the children was complete. He had nothing to worry about. He could go to the game now and not have a care in the world about his children.

Joe moved steadily through the wave of people that flowed inside the gates of the football stadium. Air horns sounded throughout, and the enthusiasm of the crowd almost vibrated around him. His eyes scanned the bleachers until he finally saw Lew with Maddie. He hadn’t planned on meeting Maddie that night. As a matter of fact, he didn’t want to see her. Since their last time together, he had trouble getting her out of his mind, and the situations and times she came to mind still disturbed him. He looked up at her, seeing that, at sixteen, she was changing to a determined beauty. The heart-shaped face was turning into soft-cut features that would someday turn more than just
his
head.
Well,
at
least
they
would
be
with
Lew.
He felt easier at that thought.

As he climbed the bleachers he noticed Lew was involved in the kick-off about to take place. Maddie, on the other hand, looked agitated then turned to look at him and smiled shyly before dropping her gaze.

Throughout the first quarter and into much of the second, their attention was caught up in the game. Maddie would groan her disappointment when the home team made bad plays, and she would rise with the crowd for a better view during the good plays, either grabbing hold of Lew’s arm or Joe’s. The strength behind her absentminded pounces made Joe smile, and, when their team intercepted the ball and ran for a touchdown, he half expected her to grab the stranger in front of them and start shaking him with excitement. But instead, as the crowd roared around them, she merely smiled and sat back down.

“What’s this? No arm-breaker this time?” asked Lew.

“What?”

“Every other time, you’d grab either me or Joe. I don’t know about him, but my arm’s going to be black and blue by morning.”

“I did not,” she laughed.

“Joe, how’s your arm?”

“I’ll survive, but I’m glad I don’t have to go to work tomorrow,” he told him as Maddie glanced at him with embarrassment. Her behavior after that was much more subdued.

“Hey, Lyn, you staying up here for the rest of the game?” asked a boy with hair down past his shoulders as he and a small crowd of teens approached them.

“Yes,” Maddie answered.

“Come on, Lyn. Let’s go over to the dike and see what’s happening,” suggested one of the girls.

“No, I’m watching the game.”

Joe looked at the group that all dressed practically the same, and took in the aroma of jasmine and musk permeating from them. The long-haired boy wore the denims in the best condition, with only a rip at his knee. His shirt was opened, exposing a very muscular chest for his age of seventeen or eighteen; which meant he was used to hard work, or worked out a lot. Joe decided it was the latter as he seemed excessively concerned with keeping his hair tangle-free. The girl wore a halter with low-cut jeans that were patched at their seat. The remaining teens had patches on the knee as well, or they went with the holes exposed, even in the seat. Joe looked back at Maddie, her bibbed overalls, and her worn sneakered feet.

“Then let’s go out to my car,” the boy urged.

“Where’s Laural?” Maddie barely looked at the boy.

“I don’t know. Home, I guess. Who knows? Ever since your brother got married again, she turned into a real drag,” he told her, turning on his charm as he flipped his hair back over his shoulder. “Com on Lyn, let’s go to my car. I got the new Aerosmith tape. Come on.”