Lee McClain - A Family For Easter

Fat chance of that, fat being the operative word.

“Look, Fiona.” He gulped his drink and wiped a napkin across his mouth. “I wouldn’t have sprung for this expensive dinner if I’d known...”

Fiona stood and grabbed her purse, thankful she’d driven there in her own car. “Henry, it’s been...interesting to meet you.”

“Hey! You can’t just leave in the middle of—”

“Actually, I can.” She fumbled for her wallet. Why had she thought, for one minute, that she should try a relationship again?

“Can I help you?” Their waitress, a college-aged girl Fiona knew slightly, touched her forearm. Her curious expression made Fiona’s stomach twist.

She swallowed and lifted her chin, her mother’s training once again coming to her aid. “Thanks, yes, Mia. Separate checks, please, and I’m sure this will cover mine.” She extracted two twenties and handed them to the waitress. Then she turned, keeping her eyes on the front door. If she didn’t look to the right or the left, she could avoid the pitying stares that were surely coming her way.

“Oh, Mrs. Farmingham,” Mia called after her, “that’s way too much. You just had an appetizer and salad, and you didn’t even order a drink!”

Let the world know I’m dieting, would you? “It’s fine, keep the change.”

“Just hang on a minute.” It sounded like Henry’s mouth was full. “How much was it?”

Father God, please just let me get home, and I’ll forget about dating and just be happy being a mom. I’ll delete my online profile. I’ll avoid the matchmakers at the Senior Towers. She hurried away from the sound of Henry’s bargaining with poor Mia, toward freedom.

Outside, the spring breeze cooled her cheeks. With just an hour of daylight left, the setting sun was nestled in the clouds, turning the sky pink and gold.

She took deep breaths of the rich, fragrant farm-town air and reminded herself that she’d been through far worse than a bad date and had survived.

Behind her, she heard the restaurant door opening and the sound of voices, including Henry’s calling for her to wait.

She quickened her pace and stumbled a little. Slow down. This is embarrassing enough without you falling on your face. She reached her SUV, and the sight of her kids’ car seats, the snack bags scattered across the floor, reminded her once again of her priorities.

Her kids were what was important. Not a man. Men ridiculed and cheated on women like her.

She was opening the door when Henry caught up with her. “Hey, come on, what did I say wrong?” He grabbed her arm. “I like big gals!”

Seriously bad pickup line, buddy. She jerked away and started to climb into the driver’s seat. Not as easy in a dress and heels as in her usual mom uniform of jeans and sneakers, but she managed.

He didn’t let go of her forearm, and his fingertips pushed deeper into her skin. “What are you waiting for?” he asked, leaning in, standing on tiptoe. “You’re not getting any younger, and in a cow town like this, you’re never going to meet anyone— Hey!” Suddenly, his hand was off her. There was a low rough exchange of words, and then Henry was gone.

In his place stood Eduardo Delgado, the sunset glowing golden behind him. “Everything okay, Fiona? I got worried when he followed you out.”

She let her head rest on the steering wheel for just a few seconds. “Thank you. I... He didn’t want to leave me alone.”

“He will now.” A smile tweaked up the corners of Eduardo’s mouth as he gestured toward Henry, sliding into a silver Jaguar and slamming the door behind himself. The car started with a powerful roar and then backed out too fast, tires squealing. A moment later, Henry was gone.

“Wow. What did you say to him?”

“I explained how we treat women here in Rescue River. He decided he didn’t fit in.”

A surprised chuckle escaped her. Eduardo without his kids was...different.

She wondered if he’d heard that comment about big gals. She hoped not. Not because she especially cared what Eduardo thought. It was just...mortifying. “Thanks for taking time out of your date to rescue me.”

“It’s no problem. My date was a bust, too.” His mouth twisted a little to one side as he leaned back against her open car door. He was a big man, his muscles visible even in his suit jacket. Which made sense, given the kind of work he did.

“Where is your date?” she asked, looking around the parking lot.

“She left. Bad match.”

Fiona lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re online dating, too.”

“No. No way. But I did some work at the Senior Towers, and...” He looked down at the ground, shaking his head as a grin tugged at the side of his mouth.

“You let the ladies get to you!” Fiona laughed outright. “Nonna D’Angelo, right? She’s relentless.”

“They triple-teamed me. Nonna and Miss Minnie and Lou Ann Miller. Apparently, their matchmaking business is taking off, and they needed more men to participate.”

“And you started at Chez La Ferme?”

“That’s how they do it. They worked with the restaurant to cut first-time couples a special deal.” He was studying her curiously. “How well did you know your date?”

“Not at all. This was our first meeting.” She wrinkled her nose. “And our last.”

They smiled at each other, that eye-rolling sympathetic smile of fellow sufferers.

Eduardo’s phone pinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket and studied the face of it. Then he spun away and raced toward the other side of the parking lot.

“What’s wrong?” She climbed out of the SUV.

“Fire at my place!” he called over his shoulder.

“Oh, no! What can I do to help?” She ran a few steps toward him, then stopped. If he needed her, she should take her own car.

“Sitter says kids are okay!” he called as he climbed into a truck with the logo Delgado Landscaping on the side.

An unrelated thought—I didn’t know he ran his own landscaping business in addition to working for Hinton Enterprises—distracted her. Par for the course. “Fiona brain,” her brother had called it. She shook her head, refocused in time to see Eduardo pulling out of the parking lot, his phone to his ear.

Fiona started her car and pulled out. She’d run home and check on the kids, get them into bed and see if the sitter could stay late. Then she’d go check on Eduardo. Even though he’d said his kids were fine, a fire could be devastating. They might need some help she could offer.

* * *

Eduardo slammed on the brakes in front of his rented duplex. No flames, but there were flashing lights, caustic smoke and men’s voices registered as he looked around, fixated on just one thing: finding his kids.

“Papa!” Sofia called.

Eduardo turned toward the voice. When he saw Sofia and Diego running toward him, he knelt, opened his arms and clutched them to him, his throat tight.

His children had been at risk. He could have lost them.

Through his own negligence, just like with their mother. He had no plans to get involved with someone else, so why had he left his children with a sitter so he could go on a silly date?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “They’ve had a scare, but they were never in danger,” said Lou Ann Miller, his babysitter. In her late seventies, she was sharper and more agile than a lot of people half her age.

Her words calmed him and he stood, keeping a hand on each child’s shoulder. “You’re all right, Lou Ann? What happened?”

“We’re all fine, and the fire seems to be contained to the bathroom,” she said. “But no thanks to a smoke alarm, and you really ought to talk to your landlord about that.”

“I was the one who smelled the smoke,” Diego announced.