Kate Kelly - A Deliberate Father

“Yeah.” Jacob started to leave the room but turned back. “Nell?”

Finally they were going to get down to what was bothering her little man. “What is it, sweetie?”

“Dad called. You said to tell you if he did.”

Nell stopped short of slamming the cupboard door shut. The closer Tony got to his parole hearing the more often he phoned. She tried to intercept his calls, but he was their father and her lawyer had cautioned her to treat him with kid gloves until the adoption went through. Especially now, because of the complaints he’d lodged with Child Welfare.

Nell had never understood what her sister had seen in him. Tony had the uncanny ability to know within minutes of meeting someone exactly how to hurt that person the most. But he was careful whom he chose to abuse.

Jacob and Lacey were often sullen and withdrawn after talking to him, and no wonder. The man was poison. The day her sister died, she promised herself she would do whatever was necessary to keep her niece and nephew in her custody. That promise was turning out to be a lot harder to keep than she’d anticipated.

Nell threaded her fingers together as she prepared to pick through the minefield that existed between Jacob and Tony. “How is he?”

Her question was met with a shrug. “He said he wants to see Lacey and me.”

Why? She bit back the word before it popped out. “What did you say?”

“That I’d ask you.” His eyes grew red.

“Oh, honey.” She moved to hug him, but he jerked out of reach. Having been on the receiving end of Tony’s vindictive tirades many times, she knew how deep his words could cut. It hurt that there was nothing she could say to ease Jacob’s pain.

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Later, after everyone was gone, she’d try to get Jacob to talk about his father. She grabbed him, gave him a quick hug and a whispered “I love you,” then let him escape into his room while she answered the door.

JORDAN DELIVERED THE CARTONS of food to the kitchen and retreated to the living room when Melody elbowed him out of the way. Guess the smell of food had reached all the way down to her apartment. Whatever her “client” had needed, it hadn’t taken long to satisfy. Jacob had disappeared somewhere, smart fellow, and Lacey was serving Mrs. Trembley watered-down tea in teacups the size of his thumb.

He sat on the opposite end of the couch from Rodney and accepted a thimbleful of tea from Lacey. He’d anticipated this dinner to be more like a meeting, but everything felt way too cozy for his comfort. How was he supposed to calculate assets and ulterior motives when a little girl was serving him tea, for Pete’s sake?

Although Nell’s apparent fatigue had prompted him to offer to buy takeout, he’d realized on the way to the restaurant, it would also earn him brownie points with Nell and get supper over more quickly. He needed to see the books, ask her what the profit margin was, what kind of budget she worked with, and what shape the old house was in.

He wrinkled his nose and studied Rodney. The old man smelled musty, the same moth-eaten stink that was in Jordan’s room. As Jordan started to smile, Rodney smiled in return, giving him a glimpse of the man he used to be. That was why Nell refused to show him the room yesterday; Rodney had been living there. It also explained why he was staying with Mrs. Trembley. With his new insight, Jordan’s mind raced over everything that had happened in the past two days. He’d assumed these were normal people, but he should have known better; normal wasn’t Aunt Beulah’s style. He’d better check the basement and any outbuildings in case Miss Nellie had a whole colony of misfits squirreled away.

Nell peeked into the room. There were dark circles under her eyes, but she kept her tone upbeat. “Dinner is ready. It’s self-serve.”

Jordan’s appetite suddenly disappeared. Nell shouldn’t let people take advantage of her, bringing up two children alone was more than enough responsibility. He could help with that. Not the kids, but the taking advantage part. He was good at maneuvering people around to his point of view. Mrs. Trembley and Rodney wouldn’t know what hit them. As for Melody…

What was he thinking? He was the worst culprit of all. If Alex found a buyer tomorrow, Nell and the kids would have to go or start paying a much higher rent. He’d been working his butt off, hoping for a break since he was fifteen, and inheriting this house was as close as he was going to get.

Okay, maybe his mom’s life would have been better if someone had held out a helping hand. But no one had, at least not in time to save her, and he’d survived. Hell, he’d thrived. Nell and her children would, too. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to find a way around the whole mess.

He stood, rolled his head back and forth to ease his aching neck muscles. There was a solution to every problem. He just had to find it.

NELL WEARILY LIFTED HER HEAD from the couch when the door to the apartment creaked open. Tanner had left in his sparkly, expensive car two hours ago. Hopefully, he hadn’t returned already with more questions. She didn’t think he bought the story about Rodney staying with Mrs. T.

Melody slipped into the living room and beamed at her, her hands behind her back. “Guess what I have.”

Nell pulled herself upright. “A magic wand to make Tanner go away?”

“They do sell wands at work. And there’s this guy who comes into the store who’s into magic. I wonder if I—”

“Is that a cold beer?”

“Voilà.” Melody brandished a beer in her direction. “One for both of us. I thought you’d appreciate it after that excruciating supper. I was sitting on pins and needles waiting for Mrs. T. to start one of her tirades. And Jordan is so intense. Amazingly good-looking, but wow, the waves of energy he gives off.” She sat on a padded stool and opened her beer.

Nell took a long, appreciative swallow of hers. “Intense. That’s one way to describe him.”

“And hot,” Melody added.

“I wish he’d go be hot somewhere else.”

Melody wiggled her eyebrows. “He got to you, did he?”

“I’m tired, not dead. I think he even got Mrs. T. worked up. Did you see how much lipstick she layered on? How about you? Tanner do anything for you?” She held her breath, as if Melody’s answer were important. Which was silly, if Melody wanted to dally with Tanner, it wasn’t any of her business.

“He’s not my type.”

“Not mine, either.” Nell took another drink and put the bottle on the coffee table in front of her.

“Things are going to change, Nell. We knew that when Beulah died.”

“I know. I just didn’t expect…Tanner. He’s so take-charge. So focused.”

Melody smiled. “Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?”

“You think I’m bossy?”

Melody’s smile disappeared. “I’ve watched you fight hard to keep everything on an even keel the past two years. Which is understandable, considering what you and the kids have been through. But you can’t control the entire world. Sometimes you have to go with the flow.”

Nell pleated the bottom edge of her cotton blouse. “You think I should give up without a fight?”

“I think you should give Jordan a chance. Who knows, maybe something good could come out of this.”

“You’re trying to set me up with him.” Nell laughed at the absurd idea.

“All I’m saying is, why does change always have to be a bad thing? Why can’t you have fun with it?”

Nell smiled. Melody was a good-time girl who reminded Nell to laugh when life turned weird. She did silly things like buy them secondhand cocktail dresses and insist they dress up and go out for a drink, if only for an hour. Or slip her delicious romance novels that Nell read late at night instead of how-to books. She discussed Harry Potter for hours with Jacob and bought Lacey’s pink ballet outfit. Over the past two years, she’d slowly filled the hole left from the death of Nell’s sister. She liked that Melody made her look at things differently. Not that she was right about Tanner. Nothing was going to happen there.