A Matter of Honesty (4 page)

back to the motel to see if anything of hers had been salvaged. All her belongings were

gone but now, thanks to Steve, she had the means to replace them. Yet all the things

she had to remind her of the good times with her parents were gone.

A short time later she headed downstairs. She planned to stop by the bank and

hopefully a few stores that hadn‘t been too badly affected by the storm would be open

so she could get some errands done. A phone rang in the seat next to her the instant

she slid into the car, causing her to jump. She smiled when she saw the name on the

caller ID.

“Good morning, Steve.”

“Good morning to you too. Did you sleep okay?”

“I slept better than okay.”

“Good. Just to let you know you are using your cell phone.”

“But I don‘t need a cell phone.”

“This coming from a person who was trapped under a tree less than twenty-four hours ago, and really could have used a phone.”

Lauryn laughed. “I probably wouldn‘t have been able to get to it or use it if I‘d

had one, anyway.”

“Hmm, you have a point there. If you need to use it when you‘re driving,

connect it to the cell phone holder on the dash.”

Lauryn spotted the holder. “Okay. Hang on a second so that I can set the phone

in it now.”

Surprisingly it only took her one try to get it right. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can. Where are you headed?”

She pulled up to a red stoplight. “To the bank to put the money you paid me in

my account. Then I‘m going to head to the mall, and maybe to the grocery store.”

“Sounds like you have a busy morning planned.”

“I do, but I will be back at the house around one o‘clock.”

She turned down the street leading to the bank, taking in all of the debris still

littering the street. Her heart squeezed painfully. There was so much destruction.

“Okay take your time, get everything you need, and don‘t spend anything on the

house. I have a separate budget for that. This is your money, so spend it on you, and

only you. I have a feeling it‘s been a while since you have. I don‘t want to hold you up,

so have fun and I‘ll see you later.”

After her tour of the kitchen yesterday and the interesting food selections, a

trip to the grocery store was on her priority list, separate budget or not. She would

just leave him a receipt on the counter if he wanted to reimburse her. However, she

had no plans to tell him or he might want to have a long, drawn-out discussion about

it. “Okay…and Steve.”

“Yes, Lauryn?”

“Thank you.”

She could hear the smile in his voice when he responded. “You‘re welcome,

Lauryn.”

Steve disconnected the call as his good friend and business partner Dillon came

back into the kitchen with Ariel in his arms, Hannah trailing behind them. Hannah

ran and jumped into his lap. He‘d brought her with him this morning because her

school was closed owing to the tornado damage. They wanted to repair the school

today in time to have it open tomorrow. He‘d come over to his friend‘s house early to

discuss store business. Even though he had more money than he could ever spend in

his lifetime, he wanted to work—needed to work.

The store had sustained minor damage, mainly broken glass, and they were

going to open a little later, once the cleanup was finished. The tornado had never

touched down by the store, but strong winds had definitely done some structural

damage.

Dillon sat down across from Steve, settling Ariel on his lap. She was barely

there a moment before hopping down, leaving the kitchen with Hannah hot on her

heels. Dillon spoke, bringing Steve out of his thoughts. “So, Johanna tells me you hired

the woman that you saved the other morning.”

Steve sighed. He had been waiting for this conversation since he‘d first walked

in the door. “Yes, I did.”

“She‘s very pretty.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but it‘s more than that. She‘s a lovely person and

she‘ll take good care of Hannah.”

“Does Hannah like her?”

Steve nodded thinking about the interaction between the two of them

yesterday. “She seems to.”

Dillon studied him intensely for a moment and Steve knew what was coming.

“Does Lauryn know you‘re a millionaire?”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

Steve stood up and walked over to the coffee pot to refill his cup. “Yes, but not

yet. If I do, I think it will scare her off.”

“Well, when she finds out later she‘s going to be upset you didn‘t tell her right

off.”

Steve knew that Dillon was right but he would wait a little longer. Until he felt

more secure about revealing his well-kept secret. “I‘ll deal with that if it happens.”

Steve walked back over to the table and sat down. “When will the repair guys be

finished with the windows?”

“They say noon.”

“Good, that gives me time to run Hannah to the house, then meet you at the

store by one-thirty?”

Dillon nodded. “Fine with me. I doubt we‘ll have much business today.

Tornadoes have been sighted in Moore and Oklahoma City. They could be heading

back this way,”

Steve groaned. “I hope not. We barely had time to recuperate from the last one.”

“Tell me about it. So, what do you have planned for this morning?”

Steve took a sip of his coffee. “Nothing much, really. I‘m just going to keep

Hannah busy until Lauryn takes care of everything she needs, and then we can get

busy assessing everything at the store.”

Johanna walked into the room rubbing her slightly rounded stomach. “I

thought you said the damage wasn‘t bad.”

Dillon walked over and kissed Johanna, placing his hand on her stomach. Steve

felt a pang in his chest at the sight. Having a beautiful wife to come home to and a

houseful of kids was something he looked forward to one day. He wondered if Lauryn

would look any more beautiful than she did now if she were pregnant. Whoa, that

was a visualization he shouldn‘t be having about a woman he‘d just met. Not to

mention a woman who probably wasn‘t even thinking the same thing, at her age. He

heard his friend reassuring his wife.

“It isn‘t bad. The store‘s still standing, but there‘s some cleaning that has to be

done. It won‘t take long. I‘ll be home before dark.”

Steve stepped forward, placing his hand on Dillon‘s shoulder. “I‘ll see to it.”

Johanna stretched upward, and Steve leaned down to meet her halfway so she

could kiss his cheek. “Make sure you do.”

“Well guys, Hannah and I have to get going. We‘re going to the movies to see a

kid flick.”

“Sounds like fun.”

Steve gave Johanna a wry look. “Oh, it will be. I just hope I can survive the

attack of the Hannah.”

Lauryn hung up the last shirt and collapsed on the bed, exhausted from all the

shopping. Starting over from scratch had been fun. She had even managed not to

spend a lot of money. The room was starting to feel a lot like it was hers. Right now

she was still trying to decide if she would be a live-in sitter and housekeeper, but she

wasn‘t going to stress over it. There was time for her to make her final decision

regarding her living arrangements.

Steve and Hannah were due in a little under an hour. She‘d nap until then so

she‘d have the energy to keep up with Hannah. What seemed like only minutes later

Lauryn heard a knock on the bedroom door. Waking slowly she called out, “Yes?”

Steve‘s voice traveled through the door. “Just wanted to let you know Hannah

and I are here.”

She yawned. “Okay, I‘ll be down in a moment.”

“We came back a little early, so take your time.”

Going downstairs, she found Hannah in the living room watching television,

and sat down beside her. “Hi.”

Hannah replied shyly. “Hi.”

“What are you watching?”

“Sesame Street.”

Silence fell between them and Steve entered the room. His step faltered as he

saw her, and Lauryn‘s heart skipped a beat. Lord, the man was handsome.

He recovered first. “Hi.”

Lauryn cheeks warmed at her runaway thoughts. “Hello.”

“Did you get everything you needed today?”

She nodded. “I got everything I needed as well as a few things I didn‘t.”

“Really? I can‘t imagine you being an excessive shopper.”

“I‘m not, but it‘s different when you‘re starting over.”

He looked down at his watch. “Well, I‘m glad you got everything done today. I

have to get to the store but I should be home by seven. If I see that I‘m running late, I‘ll

give you a call.”

“Okay. If I have to put Hannah to bed, what time do you normally do so?”

“I‘ll be home unless something wild happens. I promise. But she‘s normally in

bed by nine. No later than nine-thirty.”

“Okay.”

Steve walked over and picked Hannah up, throwing her up into the air in the

process. Hannah squealed with happiness before clasping Steve around the neck.

“Daddy has to get to work, but be a good girl for Lauryn.”

She nodded her head very sincerely. “Okay.”

He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, Hannah.”

She returned his kiss. ‗I love you too, Daddy.”

Looking for a way to break the ice Lauryn knelt down to Hannah‘s level. “Are

you hungry?”

Hannah nodded. “Well then, let‘s make lunch.”

She stood and held out her hand. Hannah took it and allowed Lauryn to lead

the way to the kitchen.

Hannah tugged her hand. “What are we going to make?”

Lauryn smiled. “What would you like to make?”

Hannah‘s face scrunched up while she thought about it. Suddenly her face lit

up. “Peanut butter and jelly.”

Lauryn wrinkled her nose. “I noticed a lot of peanut butter and jelly around

here, but maybe we can try something different.”

“Like what?”

Lauryn pulled a chair from the kitchen table and slid it up to the counter for

Hannah to stand on.

“Stand right here and I‘ll show you. Yesterday when you took me on a tour, and

today when I was putting away the few groceries I bought, I thought about a few

things to make a really neat snack. Now, the first thing we need to do is wash our

hands, then turn on the oven. Now let‘s separate the bagels before we place them on

the cookie sheet.”

While Hannah did as instructed, Lauryn reached over and opened up a small jar

of pizza sauce.

“What do I do now?”

Lauryn picked up two spoons. “We‘re going to place our toppings on the

bagels.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I found lots of cheese, some mushrooms, green olives, and black olives.”

Hannah made a face. “No green olives. I don‘t like those but Daddy does.”

Lauryn smiled, making note of the information for future purposes. “Okay then,

everything except green olives it is.”

Lauryn‘s mouth was watering by the time the bagels were ready. She was

almost embarrassed when her stomach grumbled, but she hadn‘t eaten since

breakfast.

She sent Hannah off to the playroom while she loaded the dishwasher, then

headed for the playroom herself, thinking about what she would make for dinner.

Having no idea when Steve would actually be in from work, she would aim to have

dinner ready by seven o‘clock, his estimated time of arrival. If he showed later, he

could reheat it.

Lauryn joined Hannah on the playroom floor and picked up one of the extra

dolls. “What are you playing?”

“Dress up. I‘m changing all of their clothes.”

Lauryn reached for a doll. “Do you mind if I help?”

Hannah shook her head. “No. After I finish changing them I‘m going to put

them down for a nap.”

“Are you going to lie down and take a nap with them?”

Hannah‘s body answered the question before she could reply by yawning and

rubbing her eyes. “Yes. Daddy says I‘m cranky when I don‘t have a nap.”

Lauryn leaned in closer to Hannah. “I‘ll tell you a secret.”

Hannah‘s eyes widened before she leaned in closer to Lauryn and whispered.

“Okay.”

“I get cranky if I don‘t have a nap too.”

“Really?”

Lauryn nodded and she watched as Hannah began to contemplate something.

“Are we going to take a nap together?”

“Sure. I may not sleep as long as you do, because I had a short nap earlier.”

Hannah thought it over briefly. “Well, I‘m ready to take my nap now.”

“Where would you like to lie down?”

“In your room with you. Daddy normally takes a nap with me in here. I get to

sleep on his chest, but I think I may be too heavy for you.”

Lauryn laughed. “You might be right.”

They headed up the stairs to Lauryn‘s room. Lauryn held back the covers for

Hannah to climb in and then went around to the other side of the bed and slid in.

Her heart gave a hard thump as Hannah scooted closer to her and she in turn

draped her arm around Hannah. Hannah was definitely a well-mannered child. Steve

had done an excellent job in raising her. She was definitely going to enjoy her job of

caretaker for Hannah. Now if she could only concentrate on not enjoying taking care

of Steve as much. She was doing all she could to keep their relationship professional,

but she had a feeling that Steve was as attracted to her as she was to him.

Noticing that Hannah had grown quiet, Lauryn glanced down at her and