Karen Templeton - Playing For Keeps

“I’ve got no problem with that,” Dale said, and she felt defeat settle in for the night as the kids jumped up and down and yelled, “Yaaay!”

“But only if it’s okay,” Dale said, his gaze fixed on her in a way that no man’s gaze had been fixed on her in many moons, and Bobby said, “Of course it’s okay, she always makes too much food for these things anyway,” and suddenly the air was filled with the acrid scent of conspiracy.

She didn’t know what, and she sure as hell didn’t know why, but whatever was going on here, she somehow got the feeling Dale’s motives for accepting this invitation went beyond a penchant for cake and ice cream. Because of that many-moons-gaze thing and all.

The man wants to get into your pants, birdbrain.

She sucked in a breath, braced for the wave of outrage. She should feel…insulted. Denigrated. Incensed.

What she felt was…wet.

Karleen would be beside herself.

“Of course it’s okay if you come. To the party,” she hastily added.

“But…what about Jose?”

Five heads turned to the little man as if just remembering his presence.

“No, is okay,” he said, waving, his grin revealing the hole where his front tooth should have been. “My wife, she expects me home soon.”

So that was that.

A few minutes later, after all the bolts and fastenings had been checked and Dale had gone, promising to return in forty-five minutes or so, Joanna turned to her ex-husband and uttered a single, loaded word.

“Why?”

Bobby shrugged. “Once I told the boys who he was, they naturally asked him to stay for the party. You know how you’ve always told the kids to feel free to invite their friends to come over. I guess Matt and Ry figured this fell into that category. It’s no big deal, right?”

But it was a big deal. For reasons she could hardly go into with her ex-husband. Because she wanted to jump Dale McConnaughy’s bones and she didn’t like wanting to jump Dale McConnaughy’s bones and the whole situation was making her very crabby.

“No, it’s no big deal,” she said, turning to go back inside the house just as she heard her parents coming in through the front door, Karleen complimenting Glynnie on an outfit Karleen had probably sold her. “So where’s Tori?”

“Bathroom, probably. Listen…” Bobby glanced behind him, then lowered his voice. “I know this is really crappy of me to ask, but do you think you could, like, be extra nice to her tonight?”

“And here I’d been so looking forward to making her miserable. Honestly, Bobby—when have I not been nice to Tori?”

“I know, I know…it’s just she’s kinda feeling a little sensitive right now, and she thinks…well, she’s not real sure how she fits in, you know?”

“And somehow, it’s my responsibility to make sure she does?”

“Dammit, Jo. Couldn’t you just say ‘sure, Bobby’ for once and not make everything such an issue?”

“But torturing you is the only fun I have these days.”

“Jeez.”

“Bobby. I like Tori. In fact, I probably like her better than I do you. And I’d never intentionally do anything to upset her or make her feel like she doesn’t belong. And yes, I’ll go out of my way this evening to be ‘extra’ nice to her. But if by ‘fitting in,’ you mean she’d rather I wasn’t in the picture at all…sorry, bub, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about that. We were married. We have kids. We’re still part of each other’s lives. Them’s the facts. So if she’s feeling insecure about your relationship—”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Bobby said as Tori entered the kitchen, looking a little wan, very pretty and painfully young. Like Johnson-era Cher, but without the edge. “You want something to drink?”

“Some juice or water or something, maybe?”

Joanna waited a moment—it wasn’t as if Bobby didn’t know where things were—then gave up and went to the fridge herself. From outside, one of the kids screamed, “Daaaad!” and he left. Terrific.

“So,” Joanna said. “We’ve got apple, orange or cranberry-grape.”

“Orange, I guess. I read that folic acid is good for the baby?”

“Yeah. It is,” Joanna said, chalking up the prick to her heart as something not worth considering. After all, she thought as she poured the young woman a large glass of juice, even if she felt a smidgen of envy because Tori was pregnant, that was Bobby’s child she was carrying.

Jo handed Tori the juice. “So…congratulations. On the baby.”

Tori regarded her warily over the rim of her glass, then nodded. “Thanks.”

“How are you feeling?”

That got another should-I-trust-her? glance. “Fine, I guess.” She sat at the dining table, twisting the glass around and around with the fingers of her right hand. “I just had no idea I’d be so tired all the time. It’s like if I sit still for more than five minutes, I pass out. Work’s been a real bear. And I can hardly get any studying done.”

Jo leaned back against the counter next to the stove. “It’ll pass. The tiredness. Until the last month, which makes up for the previous eight.”

The grimace tightened. “Gee, thanks.”

Joanna smiled. “It’ll be worth it, though. Trust me—”

“You’re being nice to me because Bobby told you to, aren’t you?”

Of the many, many things Joanna could have said, the truth won out. “No. Even though he did. But I’m only telling you so you know he cares about you enough to make an idiot of himself.”

The corners of Tori’s mouth turned up before she took another sip of juice. “He can be sorta clueless sometimes, I guess.”

Oh, honey, I could tell you stories….

“You know we’re getting married, right?”

“Yes,” Joanna said, biting her tongue to keep from mentioning that Bobby had a habit of marrying the girls he got pregnant.

“Does that…does that bother you?”

“That he’s going to marry you? No. Am I concerned about his taking on more responsibility? I won’t lie and say I’m not.”

“You mean, that this baby might divert his attention from his other kids.”

Joanna shrugged, then said, since she couldn’t stand Tori’s suddenly stricken expression, “I swear, I do not have a problem with Bobby’s starting a new family. Not in theory, anyway. But it’s not going to be easy, his trying to juggle all of this—”

“He’s not stupid, you know.”

Ah, but Tori’s defense was admirable. Naive, but admirable. “Never said he was. And I honestly think, most of the time, he wants to do his best. I’m just not sure he’s ever figured out how.” She hesitated, then gently added, “All I’m saying is, be prepared to take on the bulk of the load for keeping things going. Because Bobby is one of those men who just can’t.”

“Then you really don’t love him anymore?”

Merciful heavens. Joanna didn’t know they made them this insecure.

“Let’s put it this way,” she said. “We had this big dog once, when I was a kid. In many ways, Dozer was a great dog, friendly and lovable and cuddly, but we finally had to get rid of him because no matter what we did, we couldn’t housebreak him, or stop him from jumping up on people. But he went to a good home, and even though I’ll always think of him fondly, no way did I want to live with him again.”

Tori frowned.

“But hey,” Joanna said, “we heard the people we gave him to worked wonders.”

The young woman seemed to consider this for a bit, then extended her left hand. “Did you see my engagement ring? I just got it last night.”

Her stomach jolting, Joanna leaned forward to dutifully admire the solitaire. It wasn’t a huge ring, maybe a half carat. But even a half carat—set in platinum, no less—wasn’t cheap, a knowledge gleaned from years of drooling over display cases. And in its facets, her new roof shimmered like a mirage.