Pretend Mom (6 page)

Go away, her mind screamed. "I think I
can manage."

His hand touched hers as he reached for
some dirt, and she jolted as though he'd shot her. Their eyes met,
and she got to her feet. Usually in control of her emotions, she
didn't understand this electricity between her and Mike, and the
way it disconcerted her. Every time he touched her it caused
sparks. Had it been there before? Had she ever reacted to him this
way? Who was she fooling? She realized it had always been there,
deep down, some primitive emotion she couldn't define.

"I saw Kevin today," he said quietly as
he rose.

"Did you? How nice." Why couldn't he
let it alone just for one afternoon? Every time she'd seen him
lately she'd reacted, but his constant reminders of Kevin always
seemed to ruin the moment.

"Reverend Lewis wanted me to ask you if
you'd sing a solo in church, next Sunday."

"Are you trying to be cute?"

"Hardly." His eyes penetrated hers.
"Just because you sing rock doesn't mean you can't sing spiritual,
does it?"

"Why didn't he just come over and ask
me himself?"

"He probably would, but he's got a
funeral this afternoon and is pretty tied up."

"Is he sure the congregation would
appreciate my singing in church?"

"You've run into Mrs. Butie, haven't
you?"

"How'd you know?"

"Town gossip."

"It doesn't matter. I guess I'm out of
the habit of paying attention to gossips. But I didn't come here to
wreak havoc on anyone."

"Dixie, he asked because you used to
sing solos in church a lot. You're still a member there. Everyone
pretty much expects you to. You're a singing sensation. Unless
you're afraid to for some reason."

"Of course I'm not afraid. I just don't
see the point. But just to prove to you that I'm not afraid, I'll
do it. I'll be there, next Sunday."

"I'll tell him." He sighed heavily, as
though he'd lost some battle. "Dixie—I'm as sorry about that night
as you are."

She moved away, pretending an
indifference to the subject. "What does that night have to do with
my singing in church? Does the whole town know about
it?"

"Of course not. I just thought we
should talk about it."

"I really see no point in discussing
it. It was a long time ago. I was young, and foolish, it's over. No
real harm done. Surely even the great Mike Dalton has done
something he wasn't too proud of?"

"I think there was harm done. And yes,
I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. Look, I shouldn't have
interfered. I know that now. I should have walked away. Stayed out
of it. I knew how you felt about Kevin—Audrey told me. But dammit,
you were just a kid, still wet behind the ears. And
Kevin—"

"Was mortified."

"I didn't say that. He was still a
little green back then himself."

"When I saw his face, I wasn't sure
what to do. Like he was afraid I was going to jump his bones or
something. What a scandal that would have been, huh?"

"The town would have hung him if he'd
have touched you. I would have hung him."

"You? You hated me!"

"You're wrong, I never hated you Dixie.
I knew why you were there. You wanted to talk or be with Kevin. I
should have stayed the hell out of it. Let you two hash it out,
then."

"It doesn't matter, that was a long
time ago." Not wanting to rehash that whole business about her and
Kevin, Dixie changed the subject. "So, where's Amanda?"

Mike's look of surprise delighted her.
"I have a housekeeper who looks after her in the day time. I'm sure
you remember her, Ms. Ferris. I hired her to take care of Amanda
and the house for me. Besides, when Emily said there was trouble, I
thought it best not to bring Amanda with me."

"Oh, I wish you had. She's lovely, and
could easily help Mom forget about Uncle Paul. Must take after her
mother." Dixie smiled.

"A little."

Dixie's raised her head and their eyes
met on the same level for the first time. Her mouth flew open and
his eyes glided to it like a bird looking for a perch.

She sucked in a breath as though it
were her last. Mike was going to kiss her again and in her heart
she wanted him to, just to compare it to the first kiss—the one at
the airport. It had jolted her mindless, and she wanted to know
why. His head bent, and she thought she tiptoed just a bit—until
she heard a voice. Mike pulled away slowly, his eyes never leaving
hers.

Garbled emotions ran rampant, making
Dixie feel remarkably clumsy. What was wrong with her? This was
Mike, Kevin's brother. A man she'd vowed never to tangle with. Yet,
she wanted him to kiss her, wanted it as much as he did.

"Out here, Mom," she called her face
flushing as she turned her attention back to the chore of
gardening. Ignore it. Things get blown out of proportion by not
ignoring them. The kiss was probably just a fleeting thought,
brought on by his apology, she told herself.

"There you are. I hope you aren't
overdoing it, Dixie. Oh, hello, Mike, I'm so glad you stopped by.
Paul was over earlier and upsetting Dixie, I'm afraid. I just
didn't know what to do about him. I never dreamed he would come
here and disturb her with his problems. I admit, I can't handle
him, never could. He just barged right in and somehow managed to
take over. I suppose Dixie has already told you all the insulting
things he accused her of?" Emily prattled.

Dixie turned about long enough to cast
Emily a questioning look.

Mike caught the interplay and a slow,
burning smile spread across his handsome face. "No, actually, I'm
afraid we didn't get to the heart of the matter."

Cute, really cute, Dixie thought,
shooting him a disapproving look.

At least Emily had no idea about what
had almost taken place a moment before she arrived in the garden.
Dixie still couldn't believe she was about to kiss Mike. He was
definitely off limits. She knew that deep down Mike hadn't approved
of her love for Kevin, only she didn't know why. What had she ever
done to earn his disapproval?

"He had his nerve, I'll tell you. Why,
do you know he came over here to accuse Dixie of being here for the
sole purpose of reading the Will? She's never even mentioned such a
thing since her father died. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed that
I haven't mentioned it to her. When she explained to Paul that
there was only a handwritten Will, Paul didn't believe it. Poor
Paul, he's always wanted this house. But he's never had the nerve
to come out and ask me about it, and I never had the nerve to
mention it either. He as much as said he plans to do everything he
can to rectify the situation in his favor."

Mike listened closely, occasionally
glancing down at Dixie's bowed head. She deliberately ignored him.
Dixie simply reasoned this wasn't Mike's problem, even if Emily had
come to rely on him.

"Now don't worry, Emily." Mike directed
her toward the house. "I'll do some checking with Amos Fletcher. He
should know if there are any legal actions Paul can bring. I
honestly don't think there's anything to worry about."

"It's just that the Will wasn't drawn
up by a lawyer or anything. That has me a little worried. At the
time it seemed the thing to do, but now, I don't know. And if I
lose the house, I'll need to start thinking about another place,
somewhere. Although I'm not sure I could handle another mortgage
payment."

"Don't fret. A handwritten Will is
actually the best kind, I'm told." Mike smiled at her. "Paul's
bluffing."

They seemed to have forgotten Dixie for
the moment and she was silently glad. She needed time to assimilate
what had just transpired between her and Mike. Perhaps she was
being swayed by his kindness to her and her family, which could
account for it. She was a soft touch. Truth is, she wanted that
kiss if only to satisfy her own curiosity.

Nevertheless, she was home to help her
mom and the boys, not get involved with another man. She'd made a
fool of herself over his brother. She wasn't foolish enough to try
it with him.

Mike was probably right about her uncle
though. However, Dixie knew her uncle was full of duplicity,
capable of upsetting Emily's utopia with mere words. She needed
reinforcements.

So, this was why her mom had called her
to come home. She couldn't blame her, this was important. If Uncle
Paul succeeded, Emily and the boys would be homeless. No, she'd
never let that happen, even if it meant supporting them by herself.
She needed to reassure Emily that she could take care of them, no
matter what the outcome.

At least Mike had managed to expunge
Emily's fears before he left. And at the back door he paused and
smiled recklessly at Dixie. "Take care of yourself, sweetheart.
I'll see you later."

He winked and was gone before she had a
chance to tell him not to call her sweetheart. Not that it meant
anything.

After toiling about the new rose bush
for a while, pulling weeds from the area, Dixie went inside, washed
her hands and went upstairs to take a shower. Gardening was a dirty
sport, she decided with a laugh.

She was taking herself much too
seriously. From now on she wanted to have a little fun while she
was home. The house looked deserted by the time she came downstairs
again. She found a note from Emily on the refrigerator when she
went to get a Coke. Dressed in her thick cotton robe and rabbit
slippers, she plopped in her father's favorite chair to read the
newspaper, propping her feet on the end table. God, how long had it
been since she'd read a paper?

Before long she was pushing aside the
paper and closing her eyes. She hadn't been this relaxed in years.
She wouldn't go to sleep—she'd just rest a while.

Sometime later, something shook her arm
and she shot up with a grunt.

"He, sis, don't you think it's about
time we had a little fun, don't you think? You are on vacation so
you should enjoy it. Don't you think? Have you called any of your
old friends yet?"

Dixie relaxed and smiled contentedly at
Tom who stood by the arm of the chair, staring down at her with
concern. "Now that sounds like a marvelous idea. I'll try to get
hold of Carol. I haven't seen her since I've been back, and we used
to have a ball. We've got a lot of catching up to do, I
suppose."

"Carol Ramsey?" Will strolled into the
room with his hands in his jeans pockets, and his face screwed
up.

"Yes, Carol."

"She doesn't live here anymore. She
married John Tucker Jr. a while back, and they moved to Dallas last
month. Didn't she write you?"

Dixie slumped back into the chair. Had
she written? There had to be a ton of mail at the apartment, but
Dixie seldom had the time to relax and read mail.

"She probably did. I'm afraid by the
time I get around to reading my mail, it's six months old or more.
I'll bet most of my old friends are married and gone by now. Did
Carol have a big wedding?"

Tom scratched his head, a red strand
falling forward as he did so. "Yeah, I think so. I don't pay
attention to those things, much. Mom went. She can tell you all
about it. And you know Mom—she never misses a wedding. Cries at
every one of them. I don't know what she sees in weddings, they're
all the same."

Dixie smiled lazily up at her brother.
"Maybe you will some day when you have one of your own. And she
married old man Tucker's boy, huh? He used to be such a snob. Carol
couldn't' stand him in high school. I guess that just goes to show
you. You never know. Well … there's always Ann …"

Will glanced up again, shook his head.
"Nope … Ann Williams ran off with the sheriff's son two years ago
and no one has heard from either one of them."

Dixie giggled and swatted him in the
face with the paper. "Go on, get out of here. I can't imagine Ann
running off with anyone. But then, on second thought, why not?
Everyone used to say she'd never find a man. Good for
Ann."

"Don't nobody do nothing in this town
without the rest of us knowin' it."

"I suppose not," Dixie murmured softly.
No one but her. Maybe she owed Mike something after all. He managed
to keep a secret for seven years.

Will moved closer, eyed Dixie carefully
then asked seriously, "We're going' frog giggin' tonight, wanna
go?"

Dixie eyed him back, then broke into a
big grin. "Now that's the first interesting invitation I've had
since I got back. How could I refuse? My two favorite men in the
world. I haven't been frog giggin' with you guys in years. I only
wish Ed were here for this auspicious occasion."

A serious couple of faces stared down
at her, then back at each other. "Are you gonna marry this Ed guy,
sis?"

The slight breaks in Will's voice made
a squeaking sound, and he turned cherry pie red. Bashfully, he hung
his head and thrust his hands back into his pockets.

Dixie didn't acknowledge the squeak. "I
don't know, really. I haven't given it much thought. He's asked me.
I'm not sure how I feel about him, though. Life without him would
seem funny, I'm sure of that. But, I came home to relax and think
about things. Actually, I'm in no hurry to get married. I might not
even get married. I mean, I'm kinda used to being on my own. I used
to think when I did get married, I'd settle down here. And start a
family, first thing. But that was a long time ago," she added
wistfully.