What's Life Without the Sprinkles? (7 page)

Zoe raised an eyebrow, and they shared a look. Yeah, she remembered being a mouthy ten-year-old, too.

So her mother’s curse had come through with flying colors. She may have given birth to herself in male form and would have to endure the kind of teenager she had been. Sucked for her.

“Dinner’s ready. Let’s sit down and have a nice meal without the attitude, Justin. I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“You’re never in the mood for anything anymore. You probably won’t even take me to the batting cages like you said. Nate would take me, if you’d let him.”

“It’s not Nate’s job to watch you and keep you occupied all the time. He should be allowed to have a life of his own every once in a while, you know.” Although that life could seriously change for the better, in her opinion, if his mission changed to trying to keep her happy. And if she could just figure out how to let him know she was interested, maybe that would be a possibility. But how do you tell the man who has seen you at your worst that you want him to think you’re sexy? Especially when she couldn’t even remember how to flirt properly?

She had been horrified to remember earlier that she had once even breastfed in front of him. There was no hope for her.

“Yeah, but Nate likes to spend time with me. And he’d spend even more if you’d stop going out on those stupid dates and just hang out with him and me.”

For one insane second she almost asked if Nate had said anything about wanting to see more of her. Fortunately, she stopped herself before she’d even opened her mouth. “Just eat.”

He munched and crunched his way through dinner, then got up as soon as he’d shoveled the last spoonful of peas into his mouth. “I’m going to play some video games.”

“Is your homework done?”

“Yes, Mom. Yeesh.” He tromped back down the hall much the way he’d come up it less than twenty minutes ago.

“Am I really that naggy of a mom?” Claudia asked, sitting with her elbow cocked on the table.

“Oh, sweetie, you remember what it was like at that age. I think the more important question is whether or not Nate has given Justin a reason to think your dates are dorky. Aside from them actually being dorky.”

“I don’t want to go there right now. I had a terrible afternoon trying to remember at least one time I’d been sexy in front of Nate over the last ten years. And the definitive answer was never. Other than going out on dates with other men and him seeing me when I came back in my flats from some date with a shorty, he hasn’t seen me dressed up in forever. No wonder he thought I had something in my eye. I’m a failure as a woman.”

“You are not! I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.” Zoe shoved back her chair and whisked plates off the table, going so far as to take Claudia’s plate even though she was still trying to eat her chicken.

“Hey, do you mind bringing that back? I don’t inhale my food the way you and the monster do.”

Zoe at least had the grace to blush. “Sorry.”

Plate back on the table in front of her, Claudia pushed it away, realizing that her appetite had vanished. “I’m just being dumb, anyway. There’s no way a guy like Nate would want me when he has so many other women available to him. I have so much baggage I need my own valet.”

“Don’t say that, either. Everyone has something.” Zoe moved toward the sink and Claudia couldn’t see her face, but something in her voice was wrong.

“What’s up? Are we back to the lawyer?”

“No, we’re not back to the lawyer because I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Come on. It would give me something to think about other than the disaster my love life has turned into.” Claudia got up and nudged Zoe over to the sink to fill it with water while she finished clearing the dishes of her completely uninspired meal.

“I just think men should be a little less like dogs, is all. And this guy is a major hound.”

“But I thought you hadn’t met him before today. I haven’t even heard of him before this afternoon.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of him, all right, and none of it good.” Zoe threw a spatula into the dishwater and had suds splashing onto the front of her shirt and Claudia’s. “Crap. Look at that. He even made me ruin my best T-shirt.”

“Zoe, that T-shirt is older than Justin. I highly doubt you could ruin it at this point. And why are you so down on him?”

Zoe seemed to struggle with something internally. Then her shoulders slumped, and she sank her chin to her chest.

Tucking a finger under Zoe’s chin, Claudia lifted her sister’s face. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“It’s not a big deal. Let’s just say that it sucks to find a man you would give all capital letters to and make him a MAN in your mind, and he turns out to have given something a little more substantial to five women in the last five weeks.”

“Oh.” Claudia let that process through her brain and got the rest of the dishes from the table, allowing Zoe to elaborate if she wanted to.

Apparently she wanted to. “Here’s the thing. I’ve had this client I was just talking to May about today. I was bitching because he’s sent five pretty big bouquets to five different women, one a week. I told her what an absolute beast he is and that I was really tempted to attach my own little note to the flowers telling the ladies to beware because they weren’t the only one or even two.” She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead to move some hair that had fallen forward. “Then I go into Uncle Al’s office thinking I’m going to see my favorite guy, and instead come face to face with a serious hunk o’ male who is totally drool worthy. I’m spinning fantasies—until I hear his name and realize it’s the flower dog.”

Claudia tried hard not to laugh. This wasn’t funny, except that many things came easy to Zoe, and a little shake-up wasn’t going to be the end of the world for her. “How can you know for sure it was him?”

Zoe slapped a hand into the water and grabbed more silverware to wash. “I can’t wait to see you fall, and I mean seriously fall, for Nate. I am so going to enjoy the ride. And the reason I know is that no one else in town has a name like Dexter Zegray.”

“That is true, I guess. Hmmm, Zoe Zegray. Has a nice ring to it.”

Zoe slapped the water again, but this time she hit Claudia in the chest with the warm soapy water and the fight was on.

Later that night, though, Claudia couldn’t help thinking about whether “Claudia West” also had a nice ring to it. She’d known Nate forever and yet had never written his and her names inside a heart in a notebook at school. Never wrote “Mrs. Claudia West” with a heart dotting the I. Never put their initials with the plus sign between. Never even considered him a real male. He had always just been her best friend. Why did she have to go and get all hormonal and lusty? What if she ruined everything?

Indecision was riding her back like a nasty monkey. Sure, she’d doubted herself time and again about what she was doing, if she was raising Justin right, what to wear to dinner. But she hadn’t had this male/female indecision in a very long time. The old Claudia would have just gone for it, but she found this Claudia was more gun shy than she’d thought.

Finally, she fell asleep, only to dream of Nate in completely inappropriate places, doing decadent things. It started her morning off—right up until the point when she saw him working on the shop and could barely meet his eyes.

****

Nate whistled tunelessly as he removed a stack of mail from the odd-shaped box standing in front of his house Friday afternoon. He’d put in a hard day at Decadence, getting things blocked out and set up for the build-out Claudia wanted. He’d tried to catch her eye at the store in the morning, but she looked really busy and he hadn’t pursued it. She had a lot on her mind with Peter here, and he didn’t need her right away. He’d catch her tomorrow. He hoped she and Justin were getting along decently and the boy wasn’t giving her any problems. He’d tried talking to Justin when the kid had walked by him on his way home from school, but as soon as he’d asked what was bothering the little guy, Justin had clammed up. Nate knew he’d wheedle it out of him eventually, maybe at dinner with Claudia next week. Or Claudia would tell him. Either way, he’d told Justin that his phone was always on. He and Justin hadn’t ever talked about Peter, his biological father, but with the guy back in town and Justin’s general moodiness of late, Nate had no doubt it would explode at some point. And he’d be there for him. Just like he was for Claudia, though she, too, had been acting weird lately. Must be all the stress, he thought.

A recent gag gift from his cousin, the mailbox made him laugh every time he saw it. Today was no exception as he took a good look at it and tried to push any concerns to the back of his mind. It was perfect. No one else in his circle of friends had an oversized replica of an Xbox Game System to hold mail.

“Hey there, sonny,” a familiar masculine voice rumbled from behind him, and Nathan jumped. His next-door neighbor, Fred, erupted with his trademark laugh and continued, “I caught you off guard. Sorry about that, my boy.”

Nate turned and beheld Fred in all his glory. There really wasn’t another word for it. And smiled. No one Nate had ever met could compete with the outfits Fred managed to put together. Today it was a pair of green polyester slacks and a flamingo pink polo shirt.

“Well, it’s a fine, beautiful day, isn’t it?” Fred said, and his flash of blinding white teeth was proof positive of the wizardry of dentures.

“Yes, sir, it is,” Nate replied. “And how are you feeling today?”

“Good as gold. Good as gold,” Fred said. “Got myself a new girlfriend down at the club, and we’re stepping out tonight. Me and my Edna.”

Nate stifled a chuckle. Fred Watson didn’t look a day over eighty-five, and he led a more social life than Nate did at the ripe old age of twenty-eight. But Nate had hopes that might change. And soon. There was a girl down at the bank he’d been thinking about asking out. Yeah, he had to remember the girl down at the bank and forget his wacky notions about Claudia flirting with him when she was probably just trying to handle this Peter situation as best she could.

“So, is this one a keeper, Fred?” Nate asked. If he remembered correctly, this was Fred’s sixth girlfriend in the last eight months. Fred Watson, the aging Lothario, was an inspiration.

The dentures flashed again in a wide smile. “Well, now, son,” Fred’s voice dropped, as if he were imparting a secret. “They’re all keepers. Even if it’s only for a short time.” And then he laughed uproariously at his own wit, his many chins jiggling merrily. “By the way, boy, when are you going to get a girl for yourself?” Fred asked as he peered at Nate from under bushy white eyebrows. “Got yourself this big house and don’t have no family to share it with. Seems a shame to let that backyard of yours go to waste with just your flowers and your patio furniture.”

Since Fred brought up Nate’s lack of female companionship every time the two talked, Nate smiled again, devilishly this time, shrugged a shoulder, and gave his standard answer. “That’s why I’m here, Fred. I’m going to find myself a beautiful ski bunny or corn-fed girl and raise a whole passel of kids.”

Hands folded over his round stomach, his neighbor laughed jovially, and his belly shook for long moments. Then Fred rearranged his face into a look of mock severity, his blue eyes still twinkling with mirth. “Gotta decide between one or the other, my boy. Can’t have both, I don’t think. Though times may be different. But see that you start soon, sonny. You’re not getting any younger, you know.” With that bit of sage advice, Fred began walking up the length of his driveway.

The words, coming from someone who was old enough to be his grandfather, really got Nate in the gut. For all he knew, Fred would get married for the third time before he could even manage to walk down the aisle once.

“Have a great time on your date this evening, Fred,” Nate called as he watched the man who had been “advising” him since he was a snot-nosed kid running around with his friends on their skateboards. When this house had gone up for sale, Nate had been skeptical about living next to the old man, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life. “Keep an eye out for the ski bunnies for me.”

“I always keep an eye out for the ski bunnies,” Fred returned.

Nate saluted as Fred made his way back to his house, calling over his shoulder that he needed to get ready for his red-hot date at 4:30.

Fred was going to be right on time by Nate’s watch. And that also meant Nate had the whole evening stretched out in front of him.

Logan had a date with some girl, and Claudia had never picked up her phone when he tried to call this afternoon about Peter. His few close friends were on a slow-pitch baseball team together, and tonight was practice. He’d been asked to join but had turned them down because he’d wanted to be available if Justin needed him.

Okay, that was a little pathetic. Sure, he loved the little guy, but he didn’t need to be a doormat. This kind of thing had only happened over the last year or so, when Justin had started freaking Claudia out. It was right after they had moved out of Claudia’s mom’s house and into their own apartment with Zoe.

Fortunately, the phone chose that moment to ring. At this point he’d gladly talk to a telemarketer to get his thoughts off the path they were strolling down.

But he didn’t get there in time to answer. That just might have been divine intervention.

Because it wasn’t a telemarketer. It was his mom. “Sweetie,” she said in her harsh smoker’s voice. “Call your mama and your grandma when you get a chance. We have something we want you to do for us. You know how your grandma is, so call right away or the biddy won’t get off my back.” It sounded like she turned away from the phone; her voice got muffled and distant. “Yes, I called you an old biddy. Please don’t tell me you’re going to be ornery in your old age. Christ!” Now back to him. “Yeah, yeah, love from me and the old bat. Oops.” Then she laughed and hung up.

What a family. No wonder he’d never been in any huge hurry to invite anyone into it. Claudia and her whole crew from Zoe to May to Claudia’s parents were there by default since they’d been around forever, but inviting someone new in was always something to think long and hard about. They’d have to deal with his mom and his grandma, who he was pretty sure was Fred’s age, but, since every year her age went down a number or three, he could never be sure.