Hungry for Love (48 page)

She really was sweet.  And so uncomplicated.  Kevin glanced at his watch.  It wasn
’
t that late.  Where else did he have to go
?
 
“
What the hell
,”
he said.

Bill sat in the den with the kids
,
relaxing after a nice dinner out.  Candy was on the floor with some papers
,
working hard on something for school
,
he assumed
,
because she was ignoring the movie that played on the TV
,
Toy Story
,
one of her favorites.  Will
,
atypically
,
sat on the couch
beside
Bill
,
not attempting to torture his sister or create any disturbances.  It was a pleasant family evening
,
something they really hadn
’
t had in a very long time.  Bill hadn
’
t realized how Chrissy
’
s absence would make such a difference.  Everyone was calm and relaxed and it felt pretty good.

He couldn
’
t resist asking Candy about her school project—maybe he could help. 
“
What are you working on there
,
Miss Tootsie Pie
?”

She looked up and said
,
“
A very important list.
”

“
Oh
,”
said Bill
,
“
Of what
?”

“
Well
,
Daddy
,
you might not know this
,
but I
’
m thinking it can work in our favor.
”

“
What can
?”

“
The travesty of divorce.
”

Will laughed and said
,
“
You mean the tragedy of divorce.
”

“
Whatever
,”
said Candy. 
“
If I spent all my time thinking about the right word like you do
,
I
’
d never get anything said.
”

“
There
’
s a blessing we
’
ll never see
,”
said Will.

Candy stuck her tongue out at her brother
,
then resumed speaking to Bill. 
“
Because of this travesty—um tragedy— whatever—there are a lot of single moms out there.  Or non moms.  Women
,
no husbands.  That
’
s where we come in.
”

“
We do
?”
asked Bill
,
smiling.

“
Look at you
,
Daddy.  I mean take a look.  Have you looked in the mirror lately
?”

Bill thought about himself trying to squeeze into a too-small tuxedo only a few days ago. 
“
I
’
ve looked
,”
he said.

“
So!  I mean you
’
re like Prince Charming
,
a total dreamboat
,
Mr. Right.  So we just have to make the most of that.
”

Bill laughed and reached down and scooped Candy up in his arms and hugged her. 
“
All little girls think their daddy is a dreamboat
,”
he said
,
“
It
’
s the rules.
”

“
C
’
mon
,
that
’
s not true.  Have you seen some of the daddies
?
  I have.  We
’
re talking garbage barge
,
not dream boat.
”

Bill turned his head to one side and gazed at his daughter
,
who was so much like her mother.  He smiled softly.

“
So here
’
s what I
’
m thinking
,”
Candy said
,
jumping down from Bill
’
s arms and grabbing her list from the floor. 
“
We make a list of all the women who are possibles.
”

“
We already had the impossible
,”
said Will.

Candy nodded sagely
,
“
Yes no more Miss Wrongs.  We don
’
t have forever and no point in wasting more time.
”

“
So you
’
re setting a deadline for me
?”
asked Bill. 
“
Oh
,
the pressure!
”

“
I
’
m just saying why waste time.  I can
’
t go off to college with you here all alone.  It wouldn
’
t feel right.
”

“
College
?”
asked Bill. 
“
You
’
re in second grade.
”

“
Gramma says the older you get the faster time goes by.  At your age it will probably feel like a week
,
maybe you have a month
,
I don
’
t know.  Do you really want to waste it joking around when you should be out there meeting a new wife
?”

“
Don
’
t worry
,
Dad
,”
said Will
,
smirking and pointing at his sister
,
“
Nobody will ever marry Candy so that weirdo can be here taking care of you forever.
”

“
How dare you
,”
shrieked Candy. 
“
I already have three boyfriends.  I could marry any one of them I wanted to.  I
’
m just taking my time.
”

“
Lucky them
,”
said Will.

“
You…you…you…
”
sputtered Candy
,
“
Thing Three!  You
’
re the worst Thing of all
,
greedy
,
selfish
,
monster.
”

Will laughed to see Candy so frustrated.

“
Yeah well you
’
re selfish
,
a total pig.  But I
’
m a girl and there are things girls need to know that only a mom can tell them.
”

“
What things
?”
asked Will.

“
I don
’
t know!  There
’
s no mom around here to tell me
,”
shouted Candy
,
“
That
’
s why this is such a big emergency.  You Thing!
”

Bill looked at his frustrated daughter and reached out and took her hand gently in his
,
 
“
Okay
,
so who
’
s on this list
?”