Looking for Miracles (11 page)

He’d never be the businessman his father was. Even at six he had recognized that his dad liked things about the wheeling and dealing of the business world that just bored him silly. Playing in the creek was more exciting. Training his first puppy kept his attention ten times longer than math at
school. And those feelings hadn’t ever really changed.

“I know, Mom. And maybe you’re right.” Mike looked at the two of them at the table.

“So you don’t mind? I know it’s not what we agreed on originally, but I’d really like to try this.” Lori stood and shifted Mikayla higher on her shoulder. “I want to do everything I can to help out around here. And to get back on my feet as quickly as possible. I owe you so much.”

“No, I don’t mind. Not that I believe that you’d turn around and go back to your original plan if I did.”

Lori had a beautiful smile. That dimple in her left cheek got impossibly deep when she was happiest, making Mike want to touch that sweet spot. Or kiss it. Whoa, where was that coming from?

“You know me too well already, Mike. You’re right, I wouldn’t back down. But it is important that you approve. Especially if we’re going to be in the office together every day.”

Oh, this was going to be a challenge. Not only evenings now with Lori and Tyler sharing the kitchen table, and their lives. But now most of his day would be spent with the attractive young widow on the premises, as well. Mike could tell his answering smile was weak. “It will be great, like
Mom said.” The funny part was, he believed it. He was a fool for putting himself in this tempting woman’s company for that many hours a day, but he couldn’t think of anyplace he’d rather be.

Chapter Ten

I
t had only taken one weekend to get Tyler registered for preschool at Faith Community Church just two blocks from the office. Lori envisioned walking the short distance to have lunch with him once the weather got a little better. Right now she was willing to stay in the warm office and keep Mikayla sheltered in her corner near the radiator. It was a cozy spot for both of them.

Tyler hadn’t fussed much this morning at being left at the preschool. Lori was all set for first-day jitters, or even some waterworks, but Tyler surprised her. He was friendly with his teacher, thrilled to see all the art supplies in the room and all the other kids. When he discovered the classroom also had guinea pigs, he could hardly conceal his readiness
to get on with his day…without Lori as a distraction.

“I’ll be back before one,” Lori told him.

Tyler shifted from foot to foot, nearly dancing in impatience. “Okay. Have a good day,” he said, giving her a quick hug and taking off with his new friend Jake to meet the class pets.

“That took a long time,” she told his new teacher.

Emily was young and pretty, and she laughed. “Be glad he’s well-adjusted. Some of them don’t let go of their parents for days.”

“I guess. It would have been nice to be a little missed,” Lori said wistfully. She shifted Mikayla and the heavy infant seat. “At least he’ll be glad to see me by the time I get back.”

“I hope so.” Emily giggled again. It was a nice sound, and Lori felt good leaving Tyler here among the friendly people and the bright classrooms, with cutouts of Noah and all the animals marching around his room and the walls painted a sunny yellow. “But today is painting with chocolate pudding, so don’t be surprised if he’s not real anxious to go home.”

“Great. I get to take second place to pudding,” Lori said, trying not to sound dejected. “At least I’ve got this one to keep me company. Come on, Kayla, let’s go to work.”

Work. It was a fascinating concept. By the time she got to the office and stood contemplating the door, someone had gotten there ahead of her. The blinds were up, and when she stepped into the office she could hear coffee perking.

“I’m here. Sorry it took me a few minutes, but it is Tyler’s first day…” She looked around for familiar faces. Nobody was in the front room to greet her. Lori wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting from the offices at Martin Properties. Maybe something grander than she got in the town’s small business district. It was pretty much an office like any other. Gloria used her finesse on things at home. Here, things were pretty standard.

Martin Properties took up the ground floor of a brick building that fronted Elm Street, four buildings down from the place where Elm intersected with Main. There was a large store window in front, plastered with several posters advertising church rummage sales and the high school basketball season, parts of the fabric of life in a small town. It made Lori feel at home to walk into the place.

There were no curtains or drapes on the big front window. A bamboo shade was pulled down when no one was there, and whoever came in first raised it. That kept the office out of plain view when the premises weren’t occupied. Lori imagined that was to hide the fact that there were three or four relatively
new computer terminals in the front office, and not much of an alarm system.

File cabinets took up a large portion of one wall of the office. The cabinets, and the rest of the furniture, were office-standard green metal, with a couple of the desks and chairs being slightly scarred oak. There was a bookshelf over in one corner, where she figured Mike’s desk must be. He didn’t strike her as the kind who wanted his own office. Michael would want to be out in the mainstream where he could see what was going on.

Lori also suspected that being out in the front office got him more company and distraction. Gloria’s office had a door on it, with frosted glass in the panes set in the door. That didn’t surprise her, either. Gloria wasn’t someone who wanted to be disturbed constantly.

The door was cracked open a bit now, and Lori suspected that Mike and his mom were both back there getting ready for the day. She looked around and spotted her corner near the front. There was a portable crib there, the blue canvas and mesh sides a match for the one that Mike’s mom insisted they had to have when the Harpers moved into the little rental house. Trust Gloria to think of the nicer details. Mikayla would be as comfortable here as she was at home.

Lori got Mikayla out of her fluffy snowsuit and
smoothed down her squiff of pale hair. She put her in the crib on her stomach where she could practice her newfound skill of pushing up off the ground with her arms and lifting her head. No attempt lasted very long yet, but she was working on it.

Lori marveled at what an easy baby her daughter was. She didn’t fuss unless she was wet or hungry. Even now when she had begun to be awake for longer periods, she was content to chew on a fist and watch the world go by most of the time. That was a definite, ongoing miracle. She shuddered to think what she’d do right now with a colicky baby.

Patting Mikayla on the back, she was rewarded with a gurgle. It made her laugh a little herself as she headed to the office in back. “You two in there?” she called, opening the door a little more.

“Everybody who got in on time,” Mike teased. “I had to make my own coffee.”

Gloria wrinkled her nose. “Do not listen to him, Lori. He makes his own coffee every morning. And he will continue to make his own coffee. Which you might want to test a bit before drinking yourself, I might add. It tends to be so strong, you barely need a full cup.”

Mike huffed in mock indignation. “Thanks, Mom. Take all the wind out of my sails. Tyler all set at Noah’s Ark?”

“Definitely. They have guinea pigs and chocolate
pudding. He won’t notice if I don’t come back before dark.”

“Great.” Mike’s smile looked even more attractive than usual this morning. It was different seeing him in twill pants and a shirt and tie instead of the jeans and T-shirts he favored at home. He didn’t look quite as comfortable with a tie on, but Lori had to admit he looked sharp.

“Why is it so great if Tyler doesn’t want me to come get him?” Lori put her hands on her hips.

“We might want to keep you here a while. It being your first day and all. Maybe even take the new hire out to lunch,” Mike said.

“Oh, we’re not going to start that. I have a daughter here to keep me company, and a lot of work to learn and then do. No lunches out for a while. Besides, I brought a perfectly good bag lunch from home.”

Mike looked at his mother. “This woman is a grind. No wonder you hired her.”

Gloria rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing that somebody is, Michael. Things do have to get done around here. It’s almost tax season, and you know what that means as far as paperwork…”

Mike raised his hands. “Do I hear the baby crying?”

Lori dashed out of Gloria’s office. Mikayla was still happy in the crib. “No. Was that just an attempt
to get us off your back?” she asked Mike as he trailed her.

Mike shrugged. “Could be. But I do have extremely good hearing.”

Gloria blew out an impatient puff of air that Lori could hear from the outer office. “That he does. I think it’s all the practice of listening for that fire-and-rescue beeper so hard every day.”

Mike didn’t say a word. He simply went to the still-perking coffeepot, deftly poured himself a cup before anything could spatter and went to his desk. He might not have been talking, but he did whistle. His cheerful tune seemed to be “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.” Lori stifled giggles and went to her own desk to get ready for the day.

Her lovely bag lunch didn’t look as tempting by the time she was ready to eat it. By noon she might have been ready for a break from the desk, just as a reward for all the work she’d done. Still, she had to stick to her guns. No sense in letting Mike think he’d won on the first day. Besides, she didn’t have lunch money to speak of, and if she went out, he’d end up buying anyway. She really didn’t need to owe Mike Martin anything else.

Working at the desk felt good. Mikayla was her usual sunny self, letting Lori get through much more of the paperwork than she’d hoped. The nicest thing was that she was much more proficient
with the computer in the office than she’d expected. Things might have changed in the years since she had worked with office programs, but they had been logical changes, at least for her.

Telling Mike that when he came back from lunch was a mistake. “You’re kidding. That all makes sense to you?” His brow wrinkled in consternation. “Even that new spreadsheet program?”

“Well, that one is a little complicated,” Lori admitted. “I’ve got questions for your mom, or somebody, about it.”

Mike looked relieved. “Good. You couldn’t get that far ahead of me in one day. Less than one full day. It just wouldn’t be right.”

“I didn’t expect to get ahead of you in anything. That wasn’t my goal. The only thing I want to do is get to the point where I know the basics again as well as I did when I worked in an office regularly.”

“For being here less than a day, I’d say you’re meeting goals fairly well.” Mike still looked like a kid watching somebody cruise off on his bike.

“Hey, I’m thrilled. Want to show me what I don’t know about the spreadsheet stuff?”

Mike pulled up a rolling chair from the next vacant desk. “If you think I can do that. What’s the problem?”

He’d removed his coat when he came in the office
after lunch. When he rolled his chair up close to her, Lori could smell the outdoors about him somehow, the cold crisp air of the Missouri winter caught in his dark hair.

With Mike at her shoulder she was reminded of the difference in their height. Even sitting in similar office chairs, he was probably a head taller than she was. And even though it wasn’t two in the afternoon yet, he needed a fresh shave.

Or at least, for some people he would have. Lori had to admit she found the slightly rough look of his dark beard appealing. It might have clashed a bit with his tailored shirt and tie, but it looked very masculine. She could imagine the prickle of his chin beneath her fingertips. The thought made her shiver.

“Am I too close?” His eyes showed concern.

“No. Yes. Let’s just say I’m not used to this much, uh, male company.”

“So don’t think of me as male company. Think of me as a computer tutor.”

“That will take some doing,” Lori muttered. Mike hadn’t moved any farther away, and it was all she could do to think, period. The whole situation seemed to amuse him.

“Now, what was it that you wanted to know about this program?” He reached a hand over her
desk and clicked the computer mouse, bringing a spreadsheet onto the screen. “Looks okay to me.”

“Then we’re in more trouble than I thought. I’m stuck on how to plug in functions I know you’re going to need on interest figures.” Lori could feel her fingers tingle. “Here, let me show you…” She reached for the mouse to highlight the columns she needed. Mike didn’t move his hand, so she just put hers on top of his larger one. For somebody who had just come from outside he had warm hands. It startled her for a moment and she lost her train of thought.

“Where was I?” He leaned in even closer to her and she could feel the warmth of him now along most of her back as he studied the screen along with her.

His voice rumbled in her ear. “I think it was your interest. I mean, interest in figures. No, I mean the interest figures. On the spreadsheet.” He leaned his forehead down to her shoulder, and Lori’s heart skipped a beat. It felt so good to have him there, leaning on her. “Am I making much sense?”

“Not much. But I don’t mind.” Had she really said that out loud? “I don’t think I’m making much sense, either. Maybe I should have gone out for lunch, or just a walk to clear my head.”

“Yeah, sitting in one spot too long will do that to a body.” His voice was softer and even closer
again. “You want to take a quick stroll around the block? I’ll sit here and watch in case Squeaky wakes up.”

“Squeaky. Oh, that’s just special.” Lori turned to talk to him. He was so very close. Whatever she was going to say next stilled on her lips, which were mere inches from his face.

How did she get herself into this situation? All she wanted was help with a computer program. Now the program was the farthest thing from her mind. The closest thing to her mind, and her body, was going to get her into plenty of trouble if she didn’t move immediately.