Kelly scrubbed a hand over her face. “What in blazes were you kids doing up here?” she demanded.
“Kel, they've had a fright,” Alex said, moving the boys towards the window.
“We all have!” Kelly said.
* * *
Kelly had already started on the boys before Alex got in through the window. They were wide-eyed as their aunt stood over them with her hands on her hips.
“Right, young man. I want an answer, and I want it now. What. Were. You. Trying. To.
Do
?” she asked Aaron.
“They were only sitting on the roof,” Alex said. “I know that was silly, but they're boys. They just do things sometimes. Just because they can. They don't have to have a reason. They’ve had a big fright—I'm sure they won't do it again.”
“Are you serious?” Kelly asked. “He could have been badly hurt or
worse
!”
“I know. I know. Aaron, you shouldn't have been out on the roof, honey. It's dangerous,” Alex said. “Thom, you should have stopped your brother.”
Thom looked at his mother with eyes filled with betrayal. He burst into tears, ran into his own room, and slammed the door.
Kelly leaned against the wall and blew out a frustrated breath. This was all so wrong. Her sister was so oblivious to everything that went on here, but she had to be careful with the way she handled this. If Alex got her back up, she'd toss her out and refuse to go out at all. She was starting to think that the bossy neighbor was exactly what her sister needed. What they all needed. A little bit of order around here could save lives. “Why doesn't Aaron go have a rest in his room for a while, and I'll have Rick talk to him later.”
“Okay. That's a good idea,” Alex said. “Go to your room, Aaron.”
“Okay,” Aaron said, slipping into his room quietly and without argument for once.
Kelly followed him. At her sister's confused look, she smiled. “Locking the window,” she said. “Can't be too careful in this crazy house.”
* * *
“I was going to do that,” Alex said when she came down the stairs to find Kelly emptying the dishwasher. Her hair had been tamed into soft, shiny curls that dripped over her shoulders and down her back. Her face was glowing with just a hint of makeup and lip gloss. The blue dress that Kelly had brought over with her hugged her curves in all the right places.
“Wow,” Kelly said. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Alex said. “I mean it, Kel, I didn't get you over here to clean my house.”
“I know. I don't mind,” Kelly said with a smile.
“Thanks. Are you sure this dress doesn't make me look fat?” she asked.
“What the hell are you talking about woman?” Kelly asked. “You look great.”
“My ass?” Alex said. “It's like massive.” Visions of last night once again flashed through her mind. She wasn't only asking Kel how big her ass looked in the dress, she wondering what kind of view Jay had had when she was over his knee. Of course, Kelly didn't know that.
“Oh, stop,” Kelly said. “You're a woman. You're not meant to have a flat ass. Your ass is just fine.”
“I feel like it's sticking out in the back.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “I'm telling you, you look great in that dress.”
“Okay. I guess I trust you,” Alex said, trying to turn herself inside out like a dog chasing his tail so she could get a better look at herself.
“Are you sure you don't want me to cook you two and the boys something?” Alex asked.
“I already have a casserole in the oven.”
“The boys don't like…” she started.
Kelly put her hand up to stop her. “They only pull that crap with you and maybe Mom. They'll eat what they're given, and they'll like it,” Kelly said. “The little devils are lucky we're feeding them at all after the crap they pulled this afternoon.”
“You don't not feed your children to discipline them,” Alex said with a grin. She knew her sister wasn't serious.
“Oh?” Kelly said with a chuckle. “Just exactly what
do
you do to discipline your kids?”
“I talk to them. Reason with them.”
“That seems to work well.”
“Very droll,” Alex said. “You wait and see when it's your turn, it's not that easy.”
“I know, hon,” Kelly said trying to repair the mood. “Let's talk about this tomorrow.”
“Are you staying for the night?”
“Yep. That way, you can make any decision you want to make,” she said pointedly. “Don't worry about the boys. We'll look after them.”
* * *
“Whoa. You look lovely,” Jay said when his date opened her door.
“Thank you,” she said with a grin.
“You're welcome,” he said. He held out his arm and smiled when she took it.
“So which restaurant are we going to?”
“The Italian place in town. I thought we'd just stay local,” Jay said. “Not flashy but nice, and the food's good.”
Alex sighed. “Gianni's?”
“Yeah. That's the one.”
“Oh, good,” she said with a smile that she hoped reached her eyes. She and the kids used to go there a lot. It was hard to go out with kids, and it was one of the only places that didn't make her feel like her kids should be put in a cage.
“So.” Jay said after they'd ordered. “What did you get up to this afternoon?”
“Not a lot,” she said. “Got ready, chatted with my sister.”
“She seems nice, and the boys seem very fond of her.”
“They are. She and Rick really stepped up after… my husband died,” she said falteringly.
“You can talk about him, you know,” he said. “He was your husband and the boys' father.”
“I know. It just seems a little odd to talk to
you
about him,” she said.
“Oh?” Jay said. “I'm a good listener.”
“I'm sure you are,” she said. “There just isn't a lot to say. He was my husband, and I loved him.”
“And he was very different than me,” Jay added quietly.
“Very,” she said, mulling over the question. She never could have imagined Steve spanking her like Jay had. Still, she was starting to wonder what she'd been missing in that regard. “Not better, not worse, just different.”
“I'll take that,” he said. “So, tell me about yourself.”
“Not a lot to tell,” she said. “I'm a mom.”
“So, do you work?”
“No. I have the kids to take care of,” she said. “I haven't worked since Thom was born.”
“What did you do before then?”
“I was in school,” she said. “I was doing interior design.”
“Really?” he said. “You can give me a few pointers on my house then. I was planning on doing some work on it.”
“Oh, I'd love that!” Alex said jumping at the chance. “I have lots of ideas.”
* * *
When Thom didn't answer their knock, Rick turned the handle gently, and he and Kelly walked in. The obviously still angry little boy was lying on his bed, bouncing a ball off the wall.
“What's up?” Rick asked.
“Nuthin’,” he answered.
“Pretty miserable look for nothing,” Kelly said.
Thom shrugged.
“What happened out there, Thom?” Rick asked.
“Wasn't my fault,” he said a little guiltily. “He got too close to the edge.”
“Oh?” Kelly asked. “You know neither of you should have been out there in the first place, don't you?”
He nodded. “I know. We were watching Jay move the ladder out the window.”
“The ladder?” Rick asked.
“The ladder that we had against the fence so's we could get to the pool.”
Rick's eyes widened. “You climbed over the fence to the next door neighbor’s pool?”
“All the time,” Thom said. “But there wasn't a next door neighbor then. Now there's Jay.”
Rick had heard about Jay. “That wasn't safe.”
“That's what Jay said.”
“Which is why he was moving it?”
“Uh huh,” Thom said. “When Jay went inside, Aaron wanted to see if we could jump from the roof to the pool. So we climbed out the window, but we were just s'posed to look.”
“And that's when he fell?”
“Yep. I told him it was too far, but he never listens. Mom always makes me watch him, and she blames me when he does dumb stuff, but it's not my fault.”
“Why'd he go so close to the edge do you think?”
“I dunno. He thinks he's some kind of superhero, I guess.”
“So, he was trying to jump from the roof into Jay's pool?” Rick asked, trying to get what happened straight.
“No. He was seeing how far it was to see if he
could
jump when no one was around. I told him to get away from the edge, but he called me a chicken and he leaned right over, and then he slipped.”
“It's okay, Thom,” Kelly said.
“It isn't your fault that Aaron fell,” Rick said. “But, you shouldn't have been out there at all. Should you? You know, you need to talk to your Mom. Tell her what happened.”
Thom shrugged again. “Am I getting punished?”
“Well, you did spend the afternoon in your room,” Rick said. “No dessert tonight.”
“You know what?” Kelly said. “I could do with some help with dinner. Why don't we let Rick go and talk to Aaron?”
“Okay,” Thom said, brightening. He felt better now that there was some kind of end to it and at least someone had heard his side.
* * *
Rick took himself to Aaron's room with a sigh. He loved these kids, especially since he and Kel didn't have any of their own yet. He just wished that every time he got to spend time with them he didn't have to play the ogre. It'd be nice to play the fun uncle for a change.
“Come in,” Aaron said to his knock.
He was sitting on his floor building some sort of spaceship with Legos. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” Rick said. “I hear you had a busy day today.”
“Sort of,” Aaron said eyeing his uncle out of the corner of his eye.
“Nearly fell off the roof?” Rick said.
Aaron nodded. “It was an accident,” he said. “I slipped.”
“Hmm,” Rick said. “Are you supposed to be out on the roof at all?”
“No,” Aaron said sheepishly.
“Well, then I'd say slipping was an accident, but being out on the roof was a bad decision.”
“I guess,” Aaron said.
“Nope, no guessing. You shouldn't have been on the roof at
all,
and you definitely shouldn't have been anywhere near the edge.”
“Thom was there too.”
“I've already spoken to Thom. Thom is responsible for Thom.
You
are responsible for
you
.”
Aaron pouted.
“None of that,” Rick said. “You need to stop ignoring the rules and start doing as you’re told.”
“Okay.”
“You could have been seriously hurt.”
“But I wasn't.”
“But you could have been,” Rick said. “No dessert tonight, and I want you to bring down your Legos when you come down to dinner. I’m putting them away here for three days.”
“That's not fair!” he whined.
Rick held up his hand. “Bring down your Legos, or I'll come up and take them and something else, and I'll take them all to my house for a week.”
“Okay,” Aaron said grumpily.
* * *
Not able to eat anymore of her pasta, Alex sipped her wine.
“So, you liked the book?” Jay asked.
“I did,” she answered. “I'm a sucker for a good romance.”
Jay smiled. “We all want to live happily ever after.”
“Life doesn't always end that way.”
“No,” Jay said. “Not always, but when we believe there's a chance it can end that way, we have hope.”
“I had what I thought was my happy ever after once. It broke my heart when Steve died. I don't know if I can risk going through that again.”
Jay leant across the table and took her hand. “I can understand you being scared,” he said. “But what
if
? What if there was a chance that you could be happy again?”
“Of course I want the chance to be happy,” she said. It was hard to try and think rationally when the mere touch of his fingertips was creating such a physical reaction in her. That was the same hand that had bounced off her bottom the night before.
And
he'd threatened to do it again. She really should invest in some new underwear, but what kind? A pretty, lacy pair? A sexy thong maybe, although that wouldn't offer much protection. A thick pair of boy shorts possibly, with something cute emblazoned across the back.
“I'm glad,” Jay said. “So do I. Question is, do you want it badly enough to take a chance?”
Alex blushed furiously. “What exactly are you asking me?” she dared with a grin.
“I want to see more of you,” he said.
Alex giggled. The thong then maybe, she thought, although she knew that wasn't what he meant.
“I know we've only just met, but sometimes you just know when something is special. I can't explain it.”
“I would have thought that an author wouldn't have any trouble expressing himself,” she said with a smile.
It was Jay's turn to blush. “All I know is that from the minute I set eyes on you, I had this feeling. This is special, Alex, I know it is.”
Jay stopped talking while the waiter placed their desserts on the table and poured coffee. He was grateful for the breather. It was really hard to try and explain the way he felt.
“Thank you,” Jay said to the waiter and then turned again to Alex. “You know how I came to buy that house? My car broke down, and I had to wait to get it towed. I just happened to notice the 'For Sale' sign. It was an open house, and I thought I may as well take a look while I was waiting.”
“Really,” she said. She didn't really believe in divine intervention or anything, she didn't think, but there was no explaining the goose bumps that prickled up her arms.
“Yeah. I fell in love with it.”
“Oh, I can see why!” she said with a sarcastic giggle.
“Yes. Miss Smarty-Pants,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “You making fun of my house?”
“I'm joking. Wait 'til you hear my ideas. I honestly think it has a lot of potential.”
“What about us?” he asked. “Do you think we have potential?”
“Maybe. I'd like to think so. I know I feel something too,” she said finally. “You don't think it's all happening a little fast?”