Cathie Linz - Husband Needed

“This is Ernie, your doorman. I just thought you might be interested in knowing that a traffic officer is stopped farther down the street and is issuing parking tickets.”

“Why the hell would I care?”

“Because your visitor double-parked her minivan in front of the building.”

“Did you double-park out front?” Jack asked Kayla.

“Yes! I was only going to stay a minute, drop off your beer and beer nuts. I’ve got to go!”

“Wait! You’ll come back, right?” Seeing her hesitation, Jack said, “You’re not really going to quit, are you? You didn’t seem like the type to give up easily.”

“I don’t aim on giving up...anything,” Kayla quietly informed him before closing the door in his face.

By the time Kayla went to pick up her daughter at the day care center that evening, she felt as if she’d been run over by a truck. She hadn’t been fast enough to avoid getting a parking ticket at Jack’s, and her day had continued to go downhill from there. The Shellburgers’ dry cleaning had gotten lost and it had taken her an hour at the cleaners to retrieve it. A simple exchange at the shoe store for Sally Galanter had also turned into a fiasco.

And then there was The Kiss—the one Kayla was determined to wipe from her mind. No amount of determination could completely erase the steamy memories, however.

Still, it helped when Kayla walked into the day care center and switched into “Mommy” mode.

But she’d no sooner stepped into the building when her beeper went off. Checking it, she recognized Diane’s number. Unfortunately Kayla’s cellular phone battery had just gone out on her not an hour before, forcing her to ask the day care owner, Corky O’Malley, if she could use her phone.

“Sure,” Corky cheerfully replied. Her short dark hair was generously peppered with white, creating a salt-and-pepper look that reminded Kayla of her own mother. There the similarity ended, however. Corky was much more loving and giving than Kayla’s mother had ever been. “Come on back and use the phone in my office. It’s quieter there.”

“Thanks.” Kayla quickly called Diane and reported in, assuring her that she had indeed found the missing dry cleaning.

“Rough day?” Corky asked sympathetically once Kayla had hung up.

“You could say that. There’s one client in particular who is the most demanding man I’ve ever met. You wouldn’t believe...”

Kayla’s voice faded away as she stared in amazement at the framed photo on Corky’s desk. She’d never used Corky’s phone before, but she had certainly seen the man in that photo before. He’d been kissing her senseless not three hours ago.

“What wouldn’t I believe?” Corky prompted her.

“Who is that in the picture, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I don’t mind at all,” Corky replied. “That’s my son, Jack.”

“Jack Elliott?”

“Why, yes. Do you know him?”

“But your name is O’Malley,” Kayla stuttered before gathering her wits. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. It’s really none of my business.”

“We adopted Jack when he was thirteen. He claimed that Jack O’Malley sounded like the name of a bar, so he kept Elliott. Actually, I think the truth was that Jack felt it would be disloyal to his natural parents to discard their name since they’d only died a few years before. Not that he’d ever say that. Ah, but he’s a stubborn one, is our Jack.”

“You can say that again,” Kayla muttered.

“So you do know him. Oh, my!” Corky grinned. “Could Jack be that impossible client you were referring to?”

Kayla thought about denying it before guiltily nodding. “I’m afraid so.”

“Don’t feel bad about it, dear. I’ve said worse about him myself. I tried to help him right after he broke his leg, but he was like a bear. I’m his mother and I couldn’t cope with him when I went over there. He said I fussed too much. Are you the surprise my brother Ralph said he was getting for Jack?”

“Yes, I am. I gather Ralph has gotten surprises for Jack before,” she said before blushing, wondering if his mom knew about the exotic dancer Ralph had sent over.

Apparently Corky did, because she grinned before saying, “Ralph thinks very highly of Jack. So do L Don’t get me wrong, I love him dearly. He’s courageous, loyal, caring. He likes helping others and is always the first to face any challenge. In fact, the word impossible is not in Jack’s vocabulary. But he does have a few faults.”

“He seems very popular with women.”

Corky nodded. “He always has been, ever since he was in junior high school. They flock around him like bees to honey. He’s played the field for so long that I wonder if he’ll ever settle down. Not that he wouldn’t make a good husband. He would. I just want him to be happy.”

“This is just so weird, your being his mom and running Ashley’s day care center.”

“It’s a small world, hmm?”

“So have you learned any way of dealing with Jack’s stubbornness?”

“I’m afraid not. The good news is that he comes to his senses sooner or later. There’s just no hurrying him along. How bad was he?”

“On a scale of one to ten, he was about an eight.”

“And his apartment?” Corky asked. “Did it still look like a bomb had gone off in it?” Seeing her hesitation, Corky added, “You don’t have to lie, believe me, nothing can be as bad as his room used to be when he was a teenager. Funny how he always knew where everything was, though. He’s really not a total slob, and I raised him to be quite a good cook. You should try his Irish stew sometime.”

“I don’t know about that...” Kayla muttered.

“So what did he do to upset you today?”

Kayla couldn’t exactly tell her that Jack had kissed her as if she were the only woman in the world for him and that she’d kissed him back with the same heated intensity. So she focused on his other misdemeanors instead. “I hired a cleaning service to stop by his place but he refused to let them in. And I got a parking ticket for double-parking in front of his building to drop off this stupid imported beer he likes.”

“Ah, blame the beer on my husband, Sean. He got Jack going on that Irish brand of ale.”

“Mommy, Mommy!” Ashley yelled from outside the office. “I’s here. Look!” She waved a large piece of paper, half-crumpled in her excitement. “I got stars!”

“So you did, sweetie.” Kayla leaned down to give her daughter a big hug before smoothing out Ashley’s artwork. “Let me see.”

“It’s a monster. Like that mean man who walks with trees. I bet he kilt those trees. Put a spell on them. Made them fly through the wall.”

“Those aren’t trees, they’re called crutches and the man was using them because he broke his leg.”

“How come he broke his leg?”

“It was an accident.”

“Like the time I spilt my milk all over?”

“Something like that.”

“I don’ like him,” Ashley declared. “Hugs don’ like him, neither.” She lifted her ever-present teddy bear as if to prove her point.

“Is my son Jack the monster Ashley has been talking about for the past two days?” Corky asked.

“There was a slight misunderstanding when we first arrived,” Kayla replied. “He thought I was trying to break in.... Anyway, it all worked out in the end.”

“Jack never has been very good with little ones,” Corky admitted regretfully. “He never stops by the day care center when the kids are here. I’m not sure why he avoids children, perhaps they remind him of a time when he was young and vulnerable.”

“I’s hungry now, Mommy,” Ashley announced. “Hugs is hungry, too. Hugs wants choclotts for dinner.”