A Forever Thing (22 page)

“It hurt when I jerked my shirt on. The doctor said there were
no internal problems, and my insurance would probably balk at
paying for another scan.”

He took her arm and backed her up two steps. “Sit down, and let
me check the bandage.”

He heaved a sigh of relief when he found it intact and no bleeding. “It looks all right. You do need a hair washing. It’s pretty
greasy,” he said.

“How romantic!”

“Do you want me to be romantic?” he asked.

“No, sir! I just want my hair washed,” she lied, feeling a blush
rush up her neck.

“Then why did you say that?” he persisted.

“Even a good friend doesn’t tell a lady that her hair is greasy,”
she improvised.

He looked at her for a moment, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Your good friends should always be honest. Kate or Sophie wouldn’t
tell you if your hair was greasy?”

She had to agree with a nod. “Kate would. Sophie would tiptoe
around it and ask if I needed to buy shampoo.”

“I’m more like Kate. Your hair is a fright. Let’s get it washed
and put back up in horse tails,” he said.

She carefully removed one of the elastics. “Get your terminology right. They are pigtails.”

“You want to do this bent over the tub or the sink?” he asked.

“The tub,” she said, leaning over to adjust the water to the right
temperature and dropping to her knees, bending her head to one
side over the edge of the tub. Theron took the plastic wrapper off a
glass and began the job of very gently pouring water through one
side of her hair, holding one hand at the edge of the bandage to
keep it dry.

Not one of the men Fancy dated had ever washed her hair. His
fingers were magic, working the shampoo into her hair and rinsing it. He used a towel on each side, being careful not to touch the
wound as he dried it. The sparks that danced around the room left
no doubt that Fancy Lynn Sawyer wanted more than a friendship
with Theron Warren.

His breath caught in his chest. It would be so easy to kiss her
slender neck, to run the back of his hand down her jawline, to get
lost in those big blue eyes. His mind ran in circles, but finally he
admitted that he’d fallen for Fancy Lynn Sawyer. Now what did he
do about it?

By the time they’d finished with the second side of her hair,
Tina had joined them. She held on to her doll with one arm and the
bear with the other. “Go outside and play?”

Theron took her by the hand and led her to the window, where
he pulled open the drapes. “Still raining, ladybug. Want to watch
cartoons?”

“I’m Cinderella, Daddy,” she said seriously.

He bit back a grin. “Then do you want to watch cartoons, princess?”

She had come a long way in a few days. He was no longer “New
Daddy.” The New had gone by the wayside.

“Yes, yes, yes.” She smiled.

He flipped through channels until he came to one she liked. She
laid her toys down on a bed, crawled up into the middle of it, and
sat cross-legged to watch the show. Theron went back to the bathroom door to see what was taking Fancy so long.

She had the blow dryer from the wall working on the pigtails.
Once they were dry, she brushed them out again, and they hung in
huge curls to her shoulders.

“Mighty cute hairdo.” He brushed past her and went to sit on
the edge of the tub. “What were you thinking about anyway? Your
mind was off in la-la land.”

She scrambled for something to say that wouldn’t incriminate
her. Theron Warren would fall backward into the tub with acute
cardiac arrest if she opened her mouth and blurted out that she’d
been envisioning what their children would look like.

“I was off in neverland. I forgot to put my phone on the new
charger, so it’ll be another hour before I can call my mother. I
know she’s worried. We usually talk at least once a day.”

“At thirty you’re still Momma’s little girl?”

“Don’t make fun of me. She’s all the family I have other than
Kate and Sophie.”

He grabbed his chest. “I’m so hurt. We’ve lived together for practically a week now, and you didn’t include me?”

“We’ve lived together for a few days, and the jury is still out on
what you are in my life,” she told him.

“What’s your momma going to think about your living with
me?” he joked.

“What’s yours going to think?”

“Who’s going to tell her?”

“I’ll tell your momma,” Tina said from the doorway.

Fancy hugged her. “You smell good.” She lifted a section of her
own hair up to her nose and took a deep breath. “Me too.”

“My two girls both smell wonderful. But I don’t. So if you will
scoot out, I’d like to take advantage of this big tub,” Theron said.

It wasn’t until Fancy and Tina were on the bed channel surfing
for something to watch that she realized what Theron had said.

My two girls.

It was only because they’d been thrown together for days, she
concluded. When they were back in Albany, things would get back
to normal.

Tina pointed toward the television. “Doggies.”

“It’s a rerun of Homeward Bound. You’ll like it.” Fancy laid the
remote control on the bedside table and stretched out on her stomach, elbows on the bed, head in hands, to watch the movie with
Tina. The child looked at her for a few minutes and then lay down
the exact same way.

“What’s this?” Theron asked when he came out of the bathroom.

“Shh,” they both said at the same time.

Fancy regarded him out of the corner of her eye. He had a towel
around his neck. Water droplets still clung to his dark hair. His
dark green T-shirt matched his eyes perfectly. He sat on the edge of
the bed and dried his hair with a few rough tumbles, then combed
it with his fingertips. He pulled his legs up and rolled up the hems
of his green and burgundy plaid flannel pajama pants. He was so
handsome that it took her breath away, and whatever that shaving
lotion was, it smelled like heaven. How could she ever have thought
he looked like a boy? There was nothing boyish about him. He was
definitely all man.

Pillows propped behind him against the headboard, he turned
his attention to the television. Something about cats and dogs,
but at least they were real creatures and not something computer
generated. He laughed at the big dog sniffing through a suitcase
and tearing up a shirt. Fancy would have a cussing fit if a dog did
that.

“What is this movie?” he asked.

“It’s called Homeward Bound. You’ve never seen it?” Fancy
whispered.

He shook his head.

“Keep watching. It’s one of my favorites.”

He laughed at all the right places, held Tina when she worried
that the cat was truly drowned, and almost clapped with her when
it survived after all. But mostly he watched Fancy. Even in childish pigtails she was gorgeous.

Tina sighed as the credits rolled. “I want a cat like that one.”

“We don’t have one exactly like that, but there’s lots of yellow
ones and gray ones,” Theron assured her.

She changed the subject abruptly when her stomach growled.
“I’m hungry.”

“Guess that means we all get dressed, or else I go find some fast
food and bring it back,” Theron said.

“Chinese?” Fancy suggested. “But something less spicy for
Tina. Maybe a hamburger or chicken nuggets.”

“Chinese, it is,” Theron said. “What do you like?”

“Anything but garlic chicken,” Fancy said. “Get a couple of
things, and we’ll share.”

He picked up his jeans on the way to the bathroom. Seconds
later he was back out, putting on his shoes. “Chicken or hamburger,
Tina?”

“Both. We can share”

“Good Lord, your influence on her is …” He stumbled for the
right words.

“At least it’s about sharing,” Fancy said quickly. “That’s a good
trait, isn’t it?”

“Don’t get testy with me. I wasn’t going to say anything derogatory.”

“I don’t want any … dogatory. That sounds yucky,” Tina said.

Theron left with a grin on his face.

Tell me one more time that you are all right. Good grief, Fancy
Lynn, I raise you for thirty years without a single stitch or accident, and… ,” Gwen fussed.

Fancy held the phone out from her ear. “It’s okay, Momma. The
doctor even did a scan. Can you believe that? Must have been a
really slow day at their hospital.”

“Don’t tease me or try to put me at ease. Do I need to fly to Texas
to take care of you?” Gwen asked.

“No, Theron washed my hair today, and I’m sure I can get Kate
or Sophie to help me when I get home.”

“Tell me more about this Theron. Is he good-looking?”

“Very. He’s thirty-one, and he’s been married once, briefly, and
he’s got a little girl he didn’t know he had until four days ago. Her
name is Tina, and she’s a sweetheart.”

“How old?”

“Three.”

“That’s a wonderful age. Where are you all right now?”

“We’re at a nice motel in Decatur, and Theron’s gone to buy us
supper. Tina and I just watched Homeward Bound, and now she’s
involved with her doll and new teddy bear. She’s `reading’ them
the new books we bought her.”

“You’re already attached to her. I can hear it in your voice. Be
careful you don’t get the man and the child all mixed up together,”
Gwen said.

“I love her. I tolerate him.”

“Call me when you get home, and no hanky-panky in front of
baby.”

“Momma!”

Gwen laughed and hung up before she could say anything else.

She called Kate next.

“Girl, where are you? We’re thawing out. Are you at home? I’ll
come over this evening,” Kate said.

“I’m in Decatur in a motel with Theron and Tina, his daughter.
We’ll be home tomorrow,” Fancy said.

“You’re in a motel? Oh, boy! But I’ve got a shift tomorrow.
Can’t come until Sunday, then,” Kate said. “So, are you in love?”

“I am not. But I did have to go to the hospital for this bump on
my head.” She went on to give Kate a short version of the accident.

“He saved your life, and you’re not in love? He could be your
knight in shining whatever, you know. Don’t slam the door in the
face of opportunity.”

“It’s you who wants a shining whatever. I want a forever thing,
remember?” Fancy said.

“Chinese and McDonald’s!” Theron called from the doorway as
he carried in two enormous bags of food.

“Gotta go. Food is here,” Fancy said.

“Sounds like a forever thing just walked in,” Kate said.

“Don’t hold your breath. You never did look good in that shade
of blue.” Fancy flipped the phone shut.

Theron unloaded the food onto the table in front of the windows, and they watched the rain as they ate. “So your phone is up
and running? Mind if I use it to call my folks?”

“Not a bit,” she said. The sweet-and-sour chicken was scrumptious, the rice cooked just right, and the steamed vegetables were
wonderful.

Tina pointed toward the rice. “What is that?”

“Try it,” Fancy said.

She opened her mouth, and Fancy put a forkful in. Tina chewed
and nodded at the same time. “More.”

Fancy piled some onto one of the paper plates the restaurant had
provided, and Tina ate every single grain.

“You know,” Theron said thoughtfully, “Tina is the image of my
sister when she was young, except for the coloring. Melissa has
lighter hair, and her eyes are green. Still, I think I should have DNA testing done to be sure. I don’t want Maria to have a leg to stand on
if she ever comes back around with ideas of taking Tina away”

“You mean, so she can’t say she’s someone else’s child?” Fancy
asked.

“It’s just a formality. But I want to be sure of my legal rights
here.”

“What’s ‘mality?” Tina piped up. “Can I have some of it too?”

“It’s this stuff right here.” Fancy put a piece of broccoli and a
snow pea onto her plate.

She tucked in her chin and looked up from under her dark eyebrows and lashes. Finally, after she’d studied the two vegetables
and watched Fancy eat the same thing, she gingerly picked up the
broccoli and put it into her mouth. “It’s yucky. I don’t like ‘mality.”

“Then you won’t have to eat any more of it, but you were brave
to try it,” Fancy said.

Tina went back to her hamburger and apple.

Fancy pointed to the cell phone on the nightstand. “Go ahead
and make the call. Talk as long as you like. I’ve got lots of minutes
on it”

Theron called his parents, and what Fancy got from the onesided conversation was that he’d like to give Tina a few weeks to
get settled before he sprang all the relatives on her. Then he phoned
his ex-mother-in-law, and the conversation was so terse that Fancy
got nothing from it. Most of the time he listened, interjecting an
occasional “uh-huh,” or “thank you for that.”

When he finished, he laid the phone down and stretched out on
the bed, staring at the ceiling. Fancy’s sweet tooth kicked into overdrive when she saw Tina eating her chocolate-chip cookie, and she
remembered the vending machine down the hallway.