“Like that will do anything.”
Lisa grimaced as Dylan screamed for Roxy to get off her butt and get in the car.
“Well, at least she heard him,” Nick said.
“Along with the rest of the neighborhood. Nick, you better check Roxy’s face before you take her to school. I’d rather she didn’t look like a hooker while we’re babysitting.”
“Ah, kids. Aren’t they great? Do you want me to get you anything while I’m out?”
“No, I think we’re okay. We still have plenty of Tylenol. Maybe that will help her stomachache.” Lisa stood up. “I’ll be right back, Mary Bea. I’m going to get you some more medicine, all right?”
Mary Bea nodded, then closed her eyes against what looked like another wave of pain. It broke Lisa’s heart to see her so uncomfortable, but she didn’t know what else to do.
Nick followed her into the hall. “You okay?”
“I am. I’m not so sure about Mary Bea.” She paused, noting the lines of concern under his tired eyes. “What if I do the wrong thing, Nick?”
“You won’t.” He stroked the side of her cheek. “Mary Bea is a healthy child with a simple case of the flu.”
“You’re right. I just wish Maggie was here. Or that she’d at least call.”
“I don’t get it,” Nick said. “She’s never gone off and left the kids like this. And why isn’t she back by now?” His eyes narrowed speculatively. “You know something, don’t you?”
Lisa pushed him toward the stairs. “I’ll tell you when you get back. The kids are waiting.”
“Now you’ve got me worried.” ;,
“It’s nothing, really. Don’t worry.” She smiled reassuringly when he looked unconvinced. “Maggie is just going through—”
“Uncle Nick, come on, we’re going to be late,” Dylan) interrupted with a shout.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“Nick, if you have to go to work, it’s fine.” Actually, it wasn’t, but she was trying to act confident, hoping her act would turn into reality.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes,” he said, then jogged down the stairs.
Lisa felt relief at his words, but it vanished as Mary Bea stumbled out of her bedroom with panic in her eyes and a hand over her mouth. Lisa swept her into her arms and rushed to the bathroom, but Mary Bea threw up before they got there, all over Lisa’s slippers, her bathrobe and the bathroom floor.
“I’m sorry,” Mary Bea said, sobbing.
“It’s okay.” Lisa grabbed a towel and wiped Mary Bea’s face, then set her down. “Do you feel better now?”
Mary Bea nodded but couldn’t help a shiver as her bare feet touched the cool tiles of the bathroom floor.
Lisa gave her a commiserating smile. “How about a bath, honey? We can put in some bubbles.”
“Okay.”
Lisa reached over and turned on the tub. She added bubbles to the rushing water, then pulled Mary Bea’s nightgown over her head. After getting Mary Bea into the tub, Lisa wiped the floor with a towel and a sponge and tossed her bathrobe and slippers into the growing pile of dirty laundry. “I’m going to throw these things in the washer,” she said to Mary Bea as she turned off the water. “Will you be all right for a minute?”
Mary Bea nodded, her attention focused on the red fire engine boat floating in a pile of bubbles.
After convincing herself that Mary Bea couldn’t possibly drown in the barely filled tub, at least not in the next two minutes, Lisa dashed down to the laundry room and threw everything in. Then she ran back upstairs, checked on Mary Bea and hurried into her own room to change into some jeans and a sweatshirt. She ran a brush through her hair, and went back into the bathroom.
Thankfully, Mary Bea looked a little better now. Lisa hoped it would last. She finished cleaning the bathroom with disinfectant while Mary Bea played with her boat. Then she knelt down on the floor next to the tub and swirled her hand in the water.
She’d pictured moments like this a thousand times, when she’d been pregnant with Robin, when she’d given Robin baths in the kitchen sink. The familiar ache settled into her heart, but it didn’t feel as sharp as it used to feel.
“Do I have to wash my hair?” Mary Bea asked.
Lisa shook her head. “Not if you don’t want to.”
“I hate it when the soap gets in my eyes.”
“So do I.” Lisa tickled her under her chin, and Mary Bea giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Nick asked, as he came through the doorway and surveyed the scene. He tried to make his voice sound light, but there was a catch in his throat at the sight of Lisa and Mary Bea, looking so much like mother and daughter.
Lisa was great with kids. He couldn’t believe she was planning to live the rest of her life without ever having another baby. Not that he didn’t understand why. He knew the fear of losing another child, the risk of taking another chance. But someday, he wanted to be a father again. He wanted to have moments like this that were his.
“She’s just a giggly girl,” Lisa said, tickling Mary Bea again.
“I threw up on Aunt Lisa,” Mary Bea said proudly.
Nick smiled at Lisa. “I guess I made the right decision in taking Dylan and Roxy to school.”
“I guess you did.” Lisa pulled the plunger out of the tub. “Come on, honey, let’s get you back into bed before your fingers begin to look like raisins.” While the water drained from the tub, Lisa wrapped Mary Bea in a warm, fluffy towel.
“I’ll take her to her room,” Nick said, picking Mary Bea up. She threw her little arms around his neck and pressed her cheek against his face. He almost couldn’t stand the poignancy of her simple touch. He looked up and saw Lisa watching him.
“You look good together,” she said.
“It feels good. There’s something about a child’s hug that’s better than anything else.”
“Yeah,” she said softly.
“I better get this munch king dressed.” He took Mary Beainto her room before Lisa could say anything else, before she could see the moisture in his eyes. Lisa had always hated emotion, the vulnerability of tears, the nakedness of grief. Maybe that’s why they’d never been able to really share the worst moment of their lives.
Nick sighed, then got back to the business at hand. He put Mary Bea in a long T-shirt and tucked her into bed with a pile of books and her favorite stuffed animals. Then he went downstairs, to find Lisa in the kitchen cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
Wearing old jeans and an oversize sweatshirt, Lisa was hardly a glamour girl. He should not have been attracted to her, but he was, which annoyed him. He had to stop wanting her. There was no point. She’d made it clear she was going back to L.A.” to Raymond.
“So where is my sister?” Nick demanded.
Lisa looked at him in surprise. “What did I do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you snapping at me?”
“I asked a simple question.”
“I don’t know where Maggie is.”
“You have an idea,” he persisted. “Is there any coffee left? I could use some caffeine.”
“Among other things,” Lisa said, as she poured him a cup and handed it to him. “You used to be cheerful in the morning.”
“You used to be my wife in the morning.”
“What does that mean?” she asked in astonishment.
Hell, he had no idea what it meant or why he’d said it. Although it probably had something to do with the fact that he was dying to kiss her, maybe work his hands up under her sweatshirt and let his fingers curve around her breasts.
Lisa must have read his mind, because she caught her breath and turned around so her back was to him. She began washing the dishes, but her hands were shaky as she rinsed each plate and set it in the dishwasher.
“Sorry.” Nick walked over and turned off the faucet. “I don’t know where that came from. “Lisa took in a breath. “Just one look, and I forget everything.”
“You do?”
“I’ll admit that no one has ever gotten to me quite the way you do.”
“Good.”
She gave him a reluctant smile. “Why don’t you go to work, so I can have some peace?”
“That’s probably a good idea. But first tell me what you know about Maggie.”
Lisa wiped her hands dry on a kitchen towel. “Maggie received a letter from a woman a few weeks ago. Actually, the letter was addressed to Keith. Maggie had never heard of the woman, and the note suggested there was a personal relationship between this woman and Keith.”
“So what?”
“So, Maggie thinks Keith might have been having an affair.”
“That’s ridiculous. Keith wouldn’t have cheated on Maggie,” he said automatically.
“That’s what I told her. But…”
“What else?”
“Keith took out extra life insurance two months before he died.”
“Because he worried about the future. The guy planned out his life to the last detail. He left nothing to chance.” Nick thought about the man who had been his brother-in-law for fourteen years. Never in all that time had Keith ever given Nick a reason to suspect he was anything but what he was—a nice guy.
“He also withdrew eight thousand dollars from their bank account the day before he died,” Lisa added. “Maggie has no idea where the cash went.”
Nick felt uneasy despite his faith in Keith. “Maybe it was lost in the fire.”
“Yes, except why would Keith be walking around with eight thousand dollars in cash?”
Nick began to pace. Something wasn’t right. No wonder Maggie had begun to fall apart. “Why didn’t Maggie tell me?”
“I think she deliberately forced herself to forget about the money and the insurance, but when the letter came, it stirred everything up. You should have seen her on Friday, Nick. She was beside herself. The house was a mess. The kids were running wild, and she was stricken with anxiety. I’ve never seen her like that.”
Nick felt guilty that he hadn’t noticed, that he’d been so preoccupied with the baby fair that he hadn’t checked on Maggie in days.
“It’s not your fault,” Lisa said gently, reading his mind once again.
His gaze flew to hers. “You don’t think so?”
She shook her head. “You love Maggie, and you’d do anything for her. But she’s a grown woman now. She has to take care of herself. We all do.”
“Family takes care of family,” he corrected.
“You’re right, but I don’t think that Maggie is in trouble. She just needed to get away. I’m sure she’ll come back happy and well-rested.”
Nick started as the phone rang. “That better be her.” He grabbed the receiver. “Hello.”
“Nick?” Maggie’s tentative voice sent a mix of relief and anger through him.
“Where the hell are you? Why did you just—”
“Is Lisa there?” she interrupted.
“Of course she’s here. Where else would she be?”
“I’d like to talk to her,” Maggie said with annoyance, which only made him more angry.
“Well, I’d like to talk to you. Where are you and when are you coming home?”
“I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
Nick ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “What does that mean? You make it sound like you have to do something. What on earth requires you to be away from your kids?”
“I have something to do, Nick,” she said briskly, “Something that could be very important for my children. How dare you imply that I’m letting them down? Lisa’s there. You’re there. I even spoke to Silvia yesterday. She told me everything was fine, that the kids were happy. Was she wrong?”
“That’s not the point.” He lowered his voice, trying to hold on to his temper, but sometimes his little sister drove him crazy. “Maggie, what are you doing?”
There was a long silence from her end. “I think Keith’s alive, Nick.”
Nick almost dropped the phone. “Excuse me?”
“I think he faked his death,” she said with more energy in her voice than he’d heard in a long time. “It makes sense.”
“No, it doesn’t. Explain.”
“It’s a long story, Nick, but I have to find him. I can’t come home until I do. I’m sorry if watching the kids is an imposition, but
dammit
, I’ve never asked anything of you or of Lisa. Surely one of you can help me out. I won’t feel guilty about this. I just won’t.”
Nick couldn’t focus on what she was saying. All he could hear were the words I think Keith is alive. “Maggie, are you out of your mind?” he asked, finally finding his voice. “Keith is not alive. He died almost a year ago.”
“That’s what he wanted everyone to think,” she shouted.
“Come home, Maggie. We’ll get you a shrink. We’ll talk all this out.”
“I am not crazy, and I am not coming home until I find Keith.”
Before Nick could say another word, the dial tone rang in his ear.
“She’s nuts.” He shook his head in bewilderment as he put the phone back on the hook. Keith was not alive.
“Nick, what’s going on?” Lisa asked, her eyes worried.
“Maggie thinks her husband is alive, that it was all a big misunderstanding.”
“Oh, dear. Did she say where she was? When she’s coming home?”
“She said she isn’t coming home until she finds Keith.” Nick flopped down in a chair at the kitchen table. Lisa crossed the room and sat next to him. “Nick, why didn’t you tell her about Mary Bea?”
His head jerked up at her simple question. “Damn, I forgot. How could I forget? Oh, hell. She rattled me, Lisa. I wasn’t thinking. I should have been thinking.” He slammed the table with his fist and stood up. “I should have told her Mary Bea was sick. She would have come home then.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” he yelled at her. He took a deep breath. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you. I’m the one. I screwed up.”
Lisa got up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Nick, I think Mary Bea is better, and I’m sure Maggie will call back. She’s called every day so far.”
“You’re right.” He latched on to that thought like a drowning man clinging to the side of a lifeboat. “She’ll call back. Then I’ll be calm, and I’ll tell her that Mary Bea needs her, and she has to come home.”
“And you won’t tell her she needs a shrink.”
“Right.” Nick looked into Lisa’s eyes, and although he saw understanding, he still wished he hadn’t messed up. There had to be a way to fix things. But how? “Wait a second. I can push that star button,” he said, snapping his finger. “It will call Maggie back.”
Before he could take a step toward the phone, it rang. They both dashed for it, but Nick grabbed it. “Maggie. Maggie, I’m sorry. Don’t hang up.”