Point of Attraction (17 page)

“
Her
April?” April asked. “Sounds
like you own me.”

“You got it,” Cassie confirmed as she
leaned into April with a nudge.

Georgie noticed the small twitch in
Lucy’s eyes at Cassie and April’s introduction, but let it slide.
“Everyone know everyone?” she asked.

Nick cleared his throat politely, and
Georgie smiled. “I was saving you for last. This is Nick Underwood,
Prince Of The Insane, but Cassie and I would have him no other
way.”

“And you thought your intro was bad,”
he told April.

For a heartbeat, no one said anything
until Steven broke the silence. “Well, let’s get this to-do going.
I’ll get the barbecue started.” He went through the laundry room
and out to the patio with Lucy at his side. Georgie caught the
young woman’s quick backward glance.

“Georgie Girl,” Nick murmured, bringing
her out of her deep thought. “Can I take a shower?”

“Sure,” Georgie told him. “I’ll get you
some towels.”

They went down the hall. Nick did a
quick step into the living room where he pulled out a small satchel
from behind the couch then hurried to catch up with her, minus his
jacket. When she gave him two large towels, he whispered, “You
dodged the bullet on that one, Georgie Girl.”

“Try not to drown,” she told
him.

“Don’t let me forget my jacket. It’s
behind the couch. And you’d better go save Mason. Paula has her
cross-hairs out and Dudley Do-Right is dead center.”

“And you’re going to go hide in the
shower?”

“Damn right, Georgie Girl, damn right.”
He closed the door with a smile.

Georgie sighed and made her way to the
kitchen, and like before, the voices reached her. She listened,
thinking Nick was right. She was an eavesdropper.

“So you’re a writer?” Paula was asking
Mason while unpacking the groceries.

“Writer-wanna-be,” he answered. “Your
mom’s the writer.”

Georgie almost spoke up, but Paula went
on. “Yes, she is. And when you’re not a
writer-wanna-be?”

“Oh, such subtlety, Counselor,” Steven
said, popping in from outside through the laundry room. “You want
to know something, flat out ask the man.”

Georgie moved closer to where she could
see them, but unless they turned, they could not see
her.

Paula had the good grace to blush
before returning to her unpacking, but it was Steven that now held
Georgie’s concern. Something had happened out on the patio. The
earlier spark was now gone from his voice and mood. As Lucy stepped
in, he gave her a sharp look, then softened it
immediately.

So she hadn’t imagined it, Georgie
thought. Great. Couldn’t life just leave this family alone? Bite
your tongue, Georgie. Bite your tongue.

April was in the corner seat at the
table, letting the whole thing unwind while Cassie, like always,
stood near by ready to defend whomever might have need. Ryan was
also in a corner, but against the counter and near
Paula.

“Steven, you can be so, so...” Paula
turned around to face her brother, but Georgie stepped out.
“Mom.”

“What’s going on?” Georgie asked, with
as much bubbly as she could muster and went to stand by Mason. “I
know my children, who have been the pride of their dad’s and my
life, would never be rude to a guest in this house.”

“We were just...” Paula tried to
explain.

“We?” Steven laughed, waving a
defensive finger. “No, no, no, dear sister. You are all alone on
this one.”

“She’s your mom too,
Turkey.”

“Paula,” Georgie started out, wanting
her daughter to stop, but when she felt Mason’s hand on her
shoulder, she was the one who stopped. That she had taken Mason’s
lead on this did not go unnoticed by those around her.

He then motioned a gentle,
but firm, offering that they all stop, making her think of the
stereotype
police negotiator
of films. Georgie caught sight of a shoe tip in
the hall. Nick. And she breathed in relief, certain he was going to
come in and help, but the shoe disappeared. Ryan too did not enter
the confrontation. Rightly so, she realized. This was about the
Gainsworths. A moment later Georgie heard the shower come
on.

“I think I can put some issues to rest
here,” Mason said. “My name is Mason Madison
Montgomery...”

“Three Ms?” Cassie asked.

“Cassie, sit down.” April’s voice was
calm as she tugged at Cassie’s sleeve, but Cassie merely brushed
aside the urging grasp.

“I’m in your mother’s writing class,”
Mason went on. “When I am not in class, I’m writing. When I’m not
writing, I am serving and protecting the fine citizens of
Portland.”

“You’re a policeman?” Steven asked,
half laughing. “Go get him, sis.”

“But I want you to know,” Mason quickly
added, “I would like very much, and I hope you’re all okay with it,
to date your mother.”

Georgie felt her lips part in
awe.

“Where it goes from there,” he added,
“will be between her and me.”

“But you’re married,” Paula said,
pointing to his hand.

“Paula!” Georgie scolded, but once more
Mason’s hand lay gentle on her shoulder.

“You can take off the ring,” Paula went
on in a softer tone, “but the stain is still there.”

“Oh, man,” Steven said.

Though Georgie heard a mixture of
disappointment and pain in her son’s voice, all she could do was
stare at Mason’s hand, at the pale ring on the finger where the sun
had been kept out. Mason too was looking down at it.

“I guess I forgot to put it back on
this morning,” he said.

Instinctively, Georgie’s
thumb felt for her own rings and realized she’d never put them back
on after looking at them this morning. Daisy had distracted her, as
had Paula’s phone call.
Or... had it been
Sam
? The thought lay comfortably on her
mind.

“My wife died four years ago,” Mason
said.

Time lay suspended, accenting Paula’s
soft, “Oh.”

Georgie’s heart thumped against her
ribs. Steven walked to his sister’s side and hugged her. It was
times like this that her heart swelled with pride at the job Sam
had done in teaching Steven the rites to being a man, the older
brother, the pillar Georgie and Paula had needed when Sam
died.

“Be happy for her, Counselor,” Steven
murmured.

Georgie heard Paula take a deep shaky
breath a moment before she side-stepped her brother and came to
Mason.

“It’s not you, Mr. Montgomery. It would
be anyone standing where you are now. I knew it might happen one
day.” She shrugged and raised her eyebrows with a touch of
innocence Georgie hadn’t seen in her daughter for a long time. “I
just thought it would be some time tomorrow, not today. You
know?”

Mason offered Paula a nod and a smile.
“I think I do. You can drop the Mr. and call me Mason, if you want,
or not.”

Paula blinked, her face a multitude of
emotions, then slowly extended her hand.

Nick walked into the kitchen with a
grin, hair still dripping. That was one quick shower, Georgie
thought as he rubbed the towel over his head, then tossed it into
the hamper just inside the laundry room door.

“Did I miss anything?” he asked,
running his fingers through his hair to comb it, and Georgie had to
admit, he had his innocent look perfected.

“No,” Paula said. “Just me being a
brat.”

Nick hugged her and said, “Well,
Counselor, so long as you don’t do that in the courtroom, you’re
all right.”

“Okay,” Steven said, regaining some of
his lighter mood. “Let’s say we get back to partying? And Mom,
what’s Daisy’s fascination with the back fence? Hope you don’t have
a coyote up there. It was big, whatever it was. Lucy and I heard it
scurry off.”

Nick’s head snapped up, eyes narrowed,
then quickly corrected himself, but not before Georgie noticed, and
when she looked up at Mason, she saw he too had noticed.

“They normally don’t come down this
far,” Nick said. “But neighbor dogs might do a little roaming.” He
went into the living room and came out slipping into his jacket. He
motioned Mason to follow, then looked to Steven. “Come on. I’ll
show you how to really cook a chicken.”

“Oh, like you do a lot of barbecuing,”
Steven said.

“At least when I barbecue, I cook real
meat.”

“Red meat’s not good for you, Uncle
Nick.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nick grumbled.
“Come on, let’s see what you’ve got going out here.”

Mason walked out after the
two men and Lucy, taking with him the room’s heat and Georgie
rubbed her arms as she watched them go out the door. She then went
to the sink to look out the window. Mason stood by Nick as he poked
and basted the cooking dinner while laughing with Steven. Lucy
stood nearby. There was something about the way she stood, arms
wrapped about herself...
aloneness, lonely
and alone
. After a moment Mason and Nick
made their way to the left corner of the yard, where Daisy still
paced, her attention set on the trees and wild ivy growing up the
slope. The men’s walk was a slow meander, now and then glancing at
each other.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

Georgie strained to hear the men even
though she knew she’d have to open the window to do so. They leaned
into each other, Nick’s arm indicating the area to the left of the
property. He must be talking about the road curving up the
foothill.

“Mom?”

“What? Oh. Paula, you have nothing to
be sorry about,” Georgie said, feeling guilty at her lack of
attention, but she kept glancing at the two men.

“He seems nice,” Paula said.

The sadness in Paula’s voice jolted
Georgie. Grief shadowed those beautiful features, her hazel eyes
afraid to meet hers, and Georgie hugged her daughter with a
whisper, “Yes, he is. I know he’s not Daddy, but he is
nice.”

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

Paula was reaching to the wide
windowsill above the sink, and picked up Georgie’s wedding rings.
“You took off your rings too.”

Georgie took them, held them between
her fingers. “I slipped them off this morning to look at them for
just a minute.” She looked into Paula’s eyes, cupped her face in
her hands and sighed. “And I think your Dad, decided it was time to
leave them off.” With a smile, she placed the engagement ring on
Paula’s finger. “Your Dad would want you to have it. I’ll save the
wedding band for Steven for whatever he wants to do with it.” She
slipped the gold band into her pant pocket then looked to Paula.
“If it’s okay with you.”

Paula’s arms wrapped around her, and
she whispered in a shaky voice. “Yeah. Of course it’s
okay.”

Georgie glanced over at Cassie. April
gave her a thumbs up while Cassie brushed fingertips to the corner
of her eyes then came to hug them.

“You guys,” she murmured with an extra
pat to each, then went back to April’s side.

Steven and Lucy came in, together yet
not, and Georgie knew they were merely doing their best to get
through the evening. She imagined they were going to have a long
talk afterward, and decided to wait before giving her son the gold
band in her pocket. He didn’t need to deal with this tonight. The
time would show itself.

“Chicken won’t be long,” he said, while
giving his sister a stern hug. “Hope all is going well in
here.”

“It’s going good,” Paula smiled back,
then went to Ryan for a quick embrace.

“That’s my girl,” Ryan said, pressing
Paula’s head to his chest with a gentle pat.

Mason and Nick entered, both smiling,
but Georgie thought their grins pasted caricatures over worried
faces. Questions itched to be asked, but she swallowed them. This
evening would be a long one and there was no way to hurry it. She
would just have to wait it out.

“Well, we’d better start the salad,”
Georgie said, bending down to pull out a large bowl.

“Mom?” Paula asked. “What’s wrong with
your neck? Looks like scratch marks.”

Steven walked over to have
his look, touching the marks. “Mom? Those
are
scratches.”

Georgie slid her hand over her neck,
pushing aside her children’s hands. She had been so nervous about
Mason meeting her children she had forgotten all about the
scratches.

Chapter fifteen

Though the welts were gone, Georgie
could still feel the scraped skin; the area still tender to the
touch. Great. How was she going to explain it?

“I don’t know about anyone else,” Nick
said, “but I’m hungry. You want to know more about those scratches,
you’d better feed me.”