Part 15 (2/2)
She choked a laugh and he felt wild with happiness. Since she didn't want thewords, he rolled her on top of him and kissed her forehead.
”How about a morning quickie?” he proposed with a grin.
”Hmm?”She rubbed against him and he groaned.
”Notthat quick, sweetheart,” he begged, earning himself another laugh to addto his h.o.a.rd.
”Jimmy was always an early riser,” she reminded him before nipping his chinwith her teeth.
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled to his side. The sheet grabbed athim, and he jerked free. She giggled, and he wanted to shout.
”Not funny, Victoria,” he scolded before covering her mouth with his.
Chapter 10 Since Grady would be commuting to the city from the cottage for at least partof their stay, it seemed logical to take both vehicles.Ria led the way, withGrady and Jimmy following in the truck.
One of two lakes created by damming the Tippecanoe River, Lake Freeman wasthirty-five miles northwest. Sunday-morning traffic was light, and the day wa.s.sunny and clear. On one memorable occasion, when Grady had come off the nights.h.i.+ft hot-wired with too much energy and eager to make love to his bride, heand the Charger had managed the drive in eighteen minutes flat. Even in thetruck that had the pickup of a tank, he'd figured twenty-five max once he gotthe sucker up to speed.
WithRia driving the van as though it had bald tires and iffy brakes, theywere working on forty minutes and counting. It was making him crazy. Everyfive miles or so he reminded himself that he was a patient man.
Besides, any morning that he woke withRia wrapped around him like a softblanket on a cold night was a darned good day, no matter what the weather waslike.
”Pretty day, isn't it, son?”
Jimmy answered with a grunt. Belted into the seat next to the pa.s.senger door,he was playing a computer game he'd picked out in the Discount Mart wherethey'd stopped on the way in order to supplement the meager supply of clothingGrady had picked up for him in California.
Grady hated computer games. Forty minutes of electronic beeps and screamingriffs was his personal limit.
”You like rock and roll, Jimbo?”
Shoulders hunched as his fingers flew over the b.u.t.tons, Jimmy spared him animpatient look. ”S'okay,” he muttered, returning his attention to the small screen.
Biting off a sigh, Grady grabbed a ca.s.sette from the well in the console andshoved it home. His spirits rose even higher as the soul-stirring beat ofChuck Berry in his prime throbbed through the speakers.
It was a good betRia would be listening to one of those cla.s.sical tapes sheliked so much. Mozart probably. Something with lots of violins and no realbeat. In the early days of their marriage, she'd talked him into driving up toChicago to attend a concert.
Not only had he been forced to wear a suit and a tie, but he'd also had tocram his oversize body into a seat designed for a midget for three endlesshours. Worst of all, in spite of his best efforts, he'd fallen asleep afterthe intermission and ended up d.a.m.n near snapping his head off when she'djabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.
Ticked big-time, she hadn't spoken to him all the way back to the city. Eventhough he'd managed to coax her into making love when they'd gotten home, ithad taken him weeks to get back in her good graces.
But d.a.m.n, she'd looked like every man's fantasy in that slinky black dress.He'd lost count of the number of guys he'd had to warn off with a look. He leta smile play over his mouth at the thought of making love to her again.
Tonight, if he had his way.
”She hates me, doesn't she?”
Not sure that he'd heard right, Grady glanced the boy's way. Jimmy hadstopped playing his game and instead was simply staring at the screen. Theshoulders that had been hunched in concentration a few minutes earlier were now stiff.
With a snap of his wrist, Grady turned off the music before asking quietly,”Are you talking about your mom?”
When the boy continued to stare, he added more softly, ”Do you meanRia ?”
Jimmy looked at him long enough to bob his head. ”She hates me 'cause Iwanted to ride with you.” This time Grady heard the faint tremor in Jimmy'svoice and groaned to himself.
Grady waited for the oncoming car to whiz past, then flicked a quick glanceat his son.
”Jim, I doubt there's anything you could do in this lifetime that would makeyour mother-or me for that matter-hate you.”
Jimmy didn't look convinced. If anything, he looked more uptight.
d.a.m.n, he didn't have enough experience for this, Grady thought as he searchedback through his childhood for guidance. Some profound words of wisdom his dadmight have tossed at him at some point in his benighted childhood. But he cameup blank.
So he did what painful experience had taught him to do. He simply told theboy the truth.
”When you were born and your mom held you in her arms for the first time, shelooked at you with so much love I thought my heart was going to pound throughmy chest. The two of you together...” Grady felt his throat close up, and he hadto take a breath. ”Sometimes, when I'd come home late, I'd find her in yourroom sitting by your crib, watching you sleep.” He risked a grin. ”She seemedto think it was better than TV, though from what I saw you didn't do a lotthen but sleep and belch.”
That had Jimmy's interest, which both scared and encouraged him. Don't blowthis one, hotshot, he told himself, as he slowed to followRia's van throughthe last of the small towns between Lafayette and the turnoff to the lake.
”This is just a guess, but I think Mom's afraid you've forgotten how to loveher back.” He risked a quick look the boy's way and caught the look ofconfusion pa.s.s over the pinched features.
”If she's my mom and you're my dad, how come I don't remember you?”
Grady drew a breath and sent up an urgent prayer that Dr. Roth came throughfor them with McCurry, because he was way out of his depth here.
”It's complicated, like most things having to do with life,” he hedged.
”That's what grown-ups always say.”
Grady marveled at how much disgust a six-year-old could pack into a few words. ”You're right, son. I'm stonewalling here because I figure you deservea dad who has all the answers, and to tell you the truth, I've got darn few.”He cleared his throat and laid it all out. ”Maybe I don't show it like Momdoes, but I'm pretty scared you won't love me, either.”
That had the boy staring at him as though he'd suddenly grown another head.”Lance said only wimps get scared,” he said in a voice that he tried to makecynical.
”Lance is wrong, Jim. Everyone gets scared.”
That shook the boy big-time. Grady saw it in his eyes and figured he'd blowna chance to make progress. d.a.m.n.
”Way I see it, you're smart enough to figure out what's true and what's not.It might take a while, but sooner or later you'll work it through.”
When Jimmy lapsed into silence, Grady wanted to pound something.
”This is your room, sweetheart.”
Riaopened the door and stepped back to give Jimmy a good look at the brightyellow-and-blue bedroom. Two sets of bunk beds lined opposite walls. There wasan identical room on the other side of the hall. Two more bedrooms opened offthe far end of the central hall, the larger of the two serving as the masterbedroom. The smaller, where Manda had once slept, had been converted intoSarah's sewing room.
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