Fair Play (7 page)

“Don’t fall out,” Scarlet sings from the back. Téa laughs and reaches over the seat to grab her foot. Scarlet squeals with laughter when Téa growls at her like a bear.

“You’re pretty good with kids, do you have any of your own?”

“Oh, God no. I’m barely supporting myself, I couldn’t be responsible for another life. I don’t even have a pet fish.”

“I wanna fish, Daddy,” Scarlet says in her overly loud preschool voice. Why do little kids feel it necessary to yell everything they say?

“Nope sorry, Letty. Daddy doesn’t have time to take care of a fish.”

“A puppy? I like puppies, or a kitty?”

“No, we aren’t home enough to have a pet.” 

Téa sucks in a breath between her teeth. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, this is a weekly request, it isn't you.”

She chats with Scarlet the rest of the drive to the pier and I let my eyes wander to her every chance I get.

Her fingers are long and delicate, tipped with perfect red polished nails. Her skin is silky with a hint of shimmer. Her left arm is covered with an elaborately detailed tattoo of a fire-breathing dragon. It winds around and ends with its head on her forearm and fire shooting over the back of her hand.

The tiny diamond in her nose glimmers every time the lights of an oncoming car hit it just right, and with her hair up, I notice a tattoo of a kaleidoscope of butterflies. They are placed strategically to look as if they are emerging from her hairline and flying down the side of her neck.

I wonder what other tattoos she has that I can’t see. There’s the chandelier on her back I saw when she bent over in the plane. If we hadn’t been in a public place with my four year old in the seat next to her I would have touched it, maybe even pushed her shirt up to see more of it.

“I think you missed your turn.”

“Shit, you’re right.” I was daydreaming about her tattoos instead of paying attention to the road. I make a U-turn on the road and drive back to the entrance of the pier’s parking area.

“Okay, let’s hurry, the sun is starting to come up. Look how pink the sky is, Scarlet.” Téa points out the back window closest to Scarlet, and they ooh and ahh while I unbuckle her from her booster seat.

I lift her out and stand her on the ground. She takes Téa’s hand and starts pulling her toward the water, still clutching her green costume.

I follow and watch in awe as my daughter interacts with this woman as if she’s known her all her life.

“I wanna go swimming,” Scarlet says, running for the water.

I take three long strides and scoop her up before she gets away from us.

“We don’t have our swimsuits, Letty, not today.”

She’s about to throw a hangry tantrum when Téa steps in.

“Do you like waffles?”

Scarlet stills in my arms and nods her head.

“Let’s take a couple of pictures, and then we can go have waffles with whipped cream and strawberries on top, okay?”

That’s all it takes, and Scarlet is the perfect child model for the next twenty minutes while Téa snaps pictures of us drenched in the pink sky of a gorgeous Myrtle Beach sunrise.

“Can I see that?” I ask, pointing at her camera. “I promise I won’t break it.”

“I’m the photographer, remember? I take the pictures, you pose for them.”

“I know, but I want one of you with Scarlet, so she never forgets this day.”

I’m a liar. I want one of her because she’s beautiful and wild and free, and I can’t imagine never getting to see her again after today.

She shades her eyes with her hand to get a better look at me. After she considers my request for a moment, she lifts the camera strap over her head and carefully hands me the camera.

“You know how to work that thing, Mr. Wood?” she asks

“No, can you teach me?”

“Let me put it on automatic.” She steps close to me, brushing against my chest, and flips a tiny switch on the top of the camera. She smells amazing, like spices and flowers mixed together. I don’t want her to move away, but she’s going to have to for me to get a picture of her.

“Okay, now just look at the screen and press this button down and hold it for a second.”

I cover her hand that is demonstrating how to take a picture, and she looks up at me with wide eyes.

“You're kind of amazing, and you smell good enough to eat.”

I just said that out loud, didn’t I? She stares at me for a moment and sucks her bottom lip in between her teeth, narrowing her eyes. 

“I think you need breakfast.”

“Look at me!” Scarlet sings as she steps too close for comfort toward the edge of the water.

Téa turns and takes off in a sprint to grab her before she gets wet. I raise the camera and start snapping pictures, one after another of the two of them skittering up and down the water’s edge, laughing as they try to outrun the waves.

Three things hit me simultaneously. First is a pang of regret that Scarlet and Mariah never got to have moments like this. Second is an undeniable attraction to this magnetic woman who is charming my daughter. Third is a sense of apprehension that this might be the only time I’ll get to spend with her. She’s only here on assignment for two weeks, and we are leaving for Hawaii on Tuesday. 

I want more moments like this. I want more Téa.

Téa

Scarlett looks a little green after eating a waffle the size of her head. She must have been starving the way she attacked that thing. I haven’t heard her speak since our food arrived.

“She’s a good eater,” I say, pointing my fork at the beautiful little girl with whipped cream on the corners of her mouth.

“Yeah usually, she hasn’t had had much of an appetite lately though, until this morning that is. It must be you.”

“Did I wear you out, Scarlet? I ask.

“No, more pictures.”

“See? It wasn’t me. She wants to take more pictures.” I say smugly from my side of the booth.

The bustle of cooks flipping pancakes and making bacon on the other side of the pass through can be heard throughout the small beachside restaurant.

It’s early so there aren’t many people here yet, just a spattering of fishermen and one family in the corner booth.

The smell of the ocean and breakfast mixed in the air is heavenly. I haven’t had anything this close to a home-cooked meal in months, and I’m taking full advantage of it.

“I didn’t mean you wore her out necessarily. It’s more like you’re filling a void.”

“Oh, yes I see. Is everything okay with that?” I say, trying to keep it vague enough that a four-year-old won’t recognize that we are talking about her missing nanny.

“No, we are looking for someone. It’s been hard. The women they have sent from the agency just don’t click with Scarlet. We’ll find the right one though won’t we?”

He gently pinches her round apple cheek, and she smiles with a mouth full of waffle and nods her head up and down.

“And you’re going on vacation Tuesday? That’s going to be rough finding someone before then.”

“I can handle vacationing alone. It’s our schedule at home that’s difficult. I have practice, and the team will start traveling soon again when the season starts. Scarlet has gymnastics and dance class. It’s all a lot to organize. We didn’t realize how good we had it, I guess.”

“So she traveled with you and Scarlet came along?”

“Yep, she goes where I go.”

“How about any of the other guys on the team? Do any of them travel with their family? Maybe they could help out until you find someone new.”

“No, all the guys are either party animals or married with wives at home who take care of the kids. There’s Ben, he’s my best friend, and he hangs out with us a lot, but he’s not the most responsible guy around, and he’s a little immature and impulsive too.”

“I love Ben,” Scarlet says, swallowing her food and joining the conversation.

“Ben’s a good guy,” he says and takes a drink of his coffee.

“I love Téa,” Scarlet says.

The three of us still and look around at each other, waiting to see how that comment settles. Nick seems taken aback and Scarlet apprehensive. I need to lighten the moment.

“You’re pretty cool too, Scarlet. I’m going to have to come to Myrtle Beach more often so I can have waffles for breakfast with you two.” I smile, and Nick relaxes.

“That reminds me, I wanted to talk to you about something before we get back to taking pictures.”

I stuff a bite of waffle and strawberry in my mouth and chew. I’ve never had a problem eating in front of guys. I order what I want and eat as much as I want, and if they don’t like it, they can take a walk.

I lift my eyebrows nonverbally, encouraging him to continue.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about that hotel you’re staying in. I’m sure by now you’ve looked up the history of the place.”

He pauses and I keep chewing, not interested in hearing him say I told you so.

“You mentioned that you’re checking out today, I hope it’s not because you’re going back to Chicago early.”

“No, I’m not going home. My friend invited me to stay with her and her husband. And since you implied that The Madison is as good as the American Horror Story hotel, I figured I should take her up on her offer.”

“You Googled,” I say.

“I certainly did not,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You definitely Googled.”

She rolls her eyes and sits back in the seat with a huff. 

  “How about coming to stay with us instead? We have plenty of room, and we will be leaving on vacation Tuesday, so you’ll have the whole place to yourself for the rest of your time here.”

Whoa, now that I wasn’t expecting. I thought he was going to razz me some more about staying at The Madison, not invite me to stay with him.

“Oh, I couldn’t impose on you like that. You’ve got enough going on with your nanny situation. I don’t want to add to your problems.”

“You’re not a problem at all.”

Scarlet sits up straighter in her seat and looks from Nick to me.

“You’ll stay with us?”

Her eyes are sparkling and full of hope. Oh my God, how am I supposed to say no to that. I look to Nick for help, and he lifts his coffee to his smirking lips and shrugs.

He knew he had a little weapon sitting next to him. He used her irresistible allure to suck me in. It’s not that he isn’t a good enough reason to accept the offer because he is, but he is still essentially a stranger.

Her big blue eyes seal the deal exactly the way he knew they would.

“You play dirty, don’t you?” I ask, directing the question at him.

“Whatever do you mean?” His eyes pop open wide with feigned innocence and insult.

“Please,” Scarlet says, dragging out the word, imploring me to stay with them.

“Okay, I’ll come under one condition.”

“Anything,” he says, all traces of playfulness gone, replaced with a serious tone. 

“You go about your day like I’m not there. I don’t want to disrupt your life.”

“Easy. Done.”

“You’re staying?” Scarlet asks, holding her breath. I’ve never seen a child get so excited.

“Yep.”

She lets out a screech that draws the attention of the few people who are in the restaurant.

“Letty honey, shush, mind your manners.”

She’s smiling from ear to ear and his words aren’t stern, as if he’s only saying them for the other patrons’ sake.

“Shall we go?”

I groan, “Yes, I’m stuffed. Let’s go work off some of these calories running around on the pier.”

Hours later, we pull up in front of a southern plantation home with columns, a wrap-around porch, and a lush sprawling green lawn that goes on forever.

“Oh my God, this is gorgeous. We have to take some pictures here, on the porch on the lawn.”

Nick pulls the car around the circle drive and I plaster my face against the window, craning my neck to see the balcony that mirrors the porch directly above it. He chuckles at my excitement, but he has no idea that his house is a photographer’s dream come true.

“Seriously, Nick, your house is a fantastic location for your family photo shoot. I can’t believe we were wasting our time on the beach when you had all of this at your disposal.”

“I’m glad you like it. I never thought about it but yeah, it would be a great place for pictures.”

I rip my eyes from the beauty of his home and look at him with my mouth hanging open.

“You never thought of having family photos done here? It’s your family home, what better place to have family pictures done?”

His chuckle turns into laughter. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ansel, I don’t think like a famous photographer.”

“Ansel Adams was my great grandpa,” I say, completely deadpanning. He stops laughing and eyes me with suspicion until I can’t hold my straight face any longer. I crumble into a fit of laughter and point my finger at him. “You were thinking about it, weren’t you? Admit it, you were doing the math in your head, weren’t you?”

He rolls his eyes, “You’re a jokester huh? I’ll have to remember that.”

“Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s just so beautiful here.”

“Thank you, I guess I do take it for granted sometimes. We are so busy running in and out and traveling all the time I don’t take time to really look around.”

I shake my head. “That’s a damn shame. Whoops, sorry.” I look back to see if Scarlet caught me swearing, and she’s out cold with her head lolled to one side and her mouth hanging open.

“She’s heard worse, believe me. Most of the guys on the team are pretty foul-mouthed, except for Ben. I should tell you about him since you’re going to be staying here for a while.”

“Is Ben your boyfriend?” Ninety-nine percent of that question is teasing, and the last one percent is genuine concern that Nick is the perfect catch for a guy named Ben and not myself.

“Ben plays defense for the Hawks. He’s my best friend and absolutely not my boyfriend. He’s like family to us and he’s around a lot. He’s different from the other guys on the team. He’s not interested in the wild party life and he doesn’t have any family or a steady girlfriend, so he hangs with us.”

“That’s cool. So, don’t leave my door open or grab a drink in my underwear in the middle of the night?”

He lowers his focus from my eyes to my mouth. My pulse rises, and I squirm under his gaze and pull my bottom lip in between my teeth.

“Sorry, too forward?” I ask.

“You should be careful what kind of ideas you put into my head, Ms. Brown.”

His tone says watch it lady, but his eyes say he wants nothing more than to see me wandering around his house at night in my panties and bra.

I watch him round the front of the car and open my door, deafened by the sound of my heart pounding in my chest.

“We can do some pictures around the house tomorrow. Scarlet will probably nap until it’s time for dinner. Let’s go inside, I’ll put her down and show you your room.”

Between opening his door and opening mine, he has managed to rein in the desire that was in his tone seconds ago.

Nicolas Wood is once again the friendly fatherly man I spent the day with. The dominant, smoky-eyed man that I pushed to the edge with my teasing words seconds ago is nowhere in sight.

I nod silently. No man has ever made me speechless, but Nick Wood has cut the lines of communication between my brain and my vocal cords with a few commanding words.

He scoops Scarlet from her seat with ease and leads me up the long brick path to the house. Two rows of trees line the path, and their intertwined branches form a canopy overhead that keeps the yard uncharacteristically cool for this time of year.

The warm summer air smells sweeter here than the salty air from the beach. Hot pink bougainvillea that matches the pink sunset crawls up the brick wall that runs the length of the property on the south, and the sound of a million locusts singing fills the air.

God, I could stay here forever. The only thing missing is the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore. If this house were on the beach, it would be outright heaven.

We climb the stairs to the porch and while he unlocks the door, I glance to my right at the row of mission rocking chairs. There are small cocktail tables every few chairs and enormous potted hydrangeas set in each corner.

I feel like I’ve walked into Terra from Gone With The Wind, but more beautiful.

Nick pushes open one of the incredible tall front doors, and I follow him inside to a wide-open foyer with a sweeping curved staircase. A chandelier bigger than my apartment in Chicago twinkles overhead, and a large round table sits in the center with an impressive vase overflowing with light pink hydrangeas and purple wisteria.

I’ve seen the homes of professional football players on MTV’s Cribs and I know they have money, lots of it. But this house is nothing like the ostentatious mansions that those players buy just so they can say they spent a couple million on a place to lay their head.

This is home that says I am classy and down to earth. You can almost feel the love that it took to make this house a home. It has character and history and a style long since forgotten.

Nick glances over his shoulder and catches me with my head tipped back, checking out the gorgeous chandelier.

“I’m going to lay her down. If you want to look around, be my guest. I didn’t see Ben’s car, but that doesn’t mean he’s not lurking around here somewhere, so be on the lookout.”

“Okay, I’m not going far though. I’m afraid I’ll get lost.”

“It’s not as big as you’d think. Have a look around and I’ll be right back.”

He heads up the stairs with Scarlet, and I look left at what was once the parlor and is now more of a family room than its formal predecessor.

Nick has done a nice job of updating the interior in a way that newer furnishings don’t seem odd or out of place.  There’s just the right amount of detail in the molding and the fixtures. Giant colorful period rugs cover the hardwood floors.

Without thinking, I take out my camera and start taking pictures of the vase full of flowers, the chandelier, and the large fireplace that is the focus of the office on the right of the foyer.

I follow the flow of rooms back to the kitchen, where it feels more modern with its updated appliances and large island. There are three sets of French doors that open to the back patio where a large pool sits, tempting me to slide into the water. The sun has almost set and the rest of the yard has been swallowed up by the dark, but I don’t think there is much out there to see past the pool.