Darlene Gardner - A Time To Forgive

“She hates it.”

He sighed because he’d expected the answer. “I’m not completely oblivious to what’s going on with her. One of the teachers there told me she wasn’t mixing well with the other students.”

“Then you won’t be surprised that she wants you to make other arrangements for her.”

“I’m ahead of you on that. I already got the names of the day-care centers in the area that can pick her up after school.”

“That’s great.”

“No, it’s not. All of them were full. Since I can’t get off work at three o’clock every day, she’s stuck. I don’t have anywhere else for her to go.”

“Maybe the mother of one of her friends will take her.”

“As far as I know, she hasn’t made any real friends.” He thought of the way Jaye had smiled at Abby and called her by her first name. “Except you.”

“Unfortunately that also doesn’t help you,” she said, “because I can’t take her.”

“Why not?” Now that the solution had occurred to him, it seemed perfect. “I’d pay you.”

“It’s not a matter of money. I give private lessons after school four days a week. A child would be bored to tears.”

“Not a child who loves music,” he argued.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” Abby said slowly.

“You don’t want me, either, do you, Abby?” The small voice came from the staircase. Jaye sat frozen in place on one of the middle steps, looking small and vulnerable. And very, very sad.

“It’s not that, honey,” Abby tried to reassure her. “I’m just afraid you wouldn’t like being here while I was giving lessons.”

The misery in Jaye’s expression ebbed, but only slightly. “I wouldn’t be bored. I could watch TV or play games on your computer.”

“Or, better yet, read and do homework,” Connor added. To Abby, he said, “What do you say? Are you willing to give it a shot?”

A part of him knew he was being unfair to Abby by putting her on the spot, but a bigger part wanted her to agree. Because then not only would Jaye get to see Abby more often, he would, too.

Jaye held her body tautly, with her shoulders hunched, as though expecting a blow. It couldn’t be more clear that she expected to be rejected.

Abby realized it, too. Connor could tell by the way her mouth softened while she regarded the child.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s give it a try.”

“Do you mean it?” Jaye’s voice held a mixture of hope and suspicion.

“I mean it,” Abby said. “I’m only at your school one day a week, but the rest of the time I’m across the street at the middle school. I’ll collect you at three and bring you here. Your uncle can pick you up when he gets off work.”

Jaye’s face creased into a rare smile. She jumped to her feet and scampered the rest of the way down the stairs, not stopping until she flung her arms around Abby’s waist.

Abby stroked the girl’s hair, exchanging a look with Connor above Jaye’s head.

He smiled at her, more sure than ever that she was a woman he wanted in both of their lives.

JAYE HELD THE EMPTY BOX of brownie mix, little lines of concentration appearing on her forehead as she read the directions on the back. “It says we should add two eggs.”

Abby opened the refrigerator door, retrieved the eggs from the tray and put them down on the counter next to the mixing bowl. “You know how to crack them, right?”

The girl’s eyes rounded. “Of course. I added the right amount of oil and water, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. In fact, you’re a natural in the kitchen. Want to tell me how you got to be that way?”

“My mom taught me some stuff,” Jaye mumbled.

Abby would have liked to pursue the subject, but the girl picked up an egg and kept talking.

“You tap gently on the edge of the bowl,” Jaye said, explaining to Abby the fine points of cracking an egg. The girl’s tongue stuck out slightly as she focused on the task. “Then you let the egg guts slide inside it.”

“Egg guts,” Abby repeated. “You do have a way with words as well as brownies.”

Jaye giggled, something that had been happening more as the first week of their new arrangement wore on. It was Friday, the fifth day they’d been together but the only one in which Abby hadn’t taught lessons.

So far, the arrangement had worked far better than Abby had expected. Because of Jaye’s penchant for attracting attention, she’d feared that the girl would disrupt her lessons.

But Jaye proved adept at entertaining herself. She usually chose to stay in the room where Abby gave lessons, but even that caused no problems.

Connor Smith was the one causing a problem.

He was just so…sexy.

Abby wasn’t sure when she’d started to associate that description with him, but now that she had she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

She noticed small things about him, such as the way he gave her his undivided attention, as though nothing were more important than what she had to say.

She found herself appreciating the simple act of breathing because of the clean, male way he smelled.

And his mouth… His mouth was sheer masculine perfection. More than once, she’d daydreamed about how it would feel to kiss him.

Not that kissing him would be smart, considering how she felt about his work-centered lifestyle.

Besides, despite his invitation to take her to dinner, which he hadn’t repeated, she was relatively certain he had a girlfriend. Relatively certain, but not positive.

“Should I pour the batter into the pan now?” Jaye asked. “I already sprayed it with cooking spray.”

Abby brought her attention back to the girl. “Go ahead.”

Jaye poured, assigning the task the same attention she’d given everything else. When she finished scraping the batter from the mixing bowl into the pan, she carefully set the pan into the preheated oven.

“One more hour,” Jaye announced.

Abby tilted her head quizzically. “Are you sure? I thought the brownies only took forty minutes to bake.”

“I meant one more hour until Uncle Connor comes to get me.” Jaye thrust out her lower lip. “I wish I could stay here with you tonight.”

“Your uncle hasn’t seen you much this week. I’m sure he wants to spend some time with you.”

Jaye made a face. “He’d probably rather go on a date.”

There couldn’t have been a more perfect opening to find out if Connor was involved with anyone. “Is your uncle still seeing that woman who used to pick you up from after-school care?”

Jaye made a face. “I didn’t like her. She was mean to me. She wanted me to move out so she could move in. But she’s gone.”

It was news to Abby that Connor had been dating someone seriously enough to contemplate living with her. It was probably also none of her business. Except now that she was spending so much time with Jaye, anything involving the girl was sort of her business. Or so she told herself.

“Is he dating anyone new?”

“I don’t think so.” Jaye pointed to the clock, which showed that it was nearly five o’clock. “Would it be okay if I watched Nickelodeon? There’s a funny show on at five o’clock that I like.”

“Go ahead,” Abby said.

Jaye was still watching television forty minutes later when the oven timer beeped, signaling that it was time to take the brownies out of the oven. Fifteen minutes after that, when they’d cooled enough for Abby to cut them, the television was still on.

The telephone rang. Half expecting it to be Connor saying he’d be late, Abby picked it up, ignoring the sudden racing of her heart.

“Hello.” Her voice sounded slightly breathless.

“Hey, girlfriend. What’s happening?”