Wish on the Moon (3 page)

"You lived in a house large enough to be a
castle."

She stared at his long black lashes rather
than into his probing eyes. She knew nothing about him. He seemed
to know a lot about her. "Oh, but it didn't have turrets or moats.
And in my castles only happy things happened."

"We learn too soon life isn't like that.
Maybe reading kids fairytales is a bad idea. It sets them up for
disappointment."

There it was again. The sad note that drew
her, made her want to touch him to give him solace. She tapped his
book. "Adults need escape. Children need it more."

His blue eyes were penetrating. "But I know
the difference between fantasy and reality. They don't."

"That's a parent's job--to kindly teach the
difference."

Mitch thought about her reply, then glanced
at Mandy. "Are you going to take her to see Ray? We can probably
get special permission."

"No."

Mitch's jaw tensed into a stiff line. "Why
not?"

She'd met fire with fire before, but with
Mitch it seemed she was doing it every other sentence. "If he's in
critical care, he's hooked up to monitors, an IV. Right?"

"Yes. Oxygen, too."

"I won't scare her like that. She gets
nightmares from watching monster cartoons."

Mitch twisted in his seat to face her more
directly. "He's her grandfather. He needs to see her. It might make
a difference."

He couldn't make her squirm or back down.
"After surgery will be soon enough."

"And what if he doesn't make it?"

"I won't think that way."

He grunted. "Isn't that a naive
attitude?"

"It's an optimistic attitude. The last time I
saw my father, he wasn't overweight, he didn't smoke, and he drank
on a few social occasions. Has any of that changed?"

"He's not careful about what he eats. He
fired his cook last year so he eats out a lot."

Mitch's reply was quick. He knew her father's
habits well. How much time did he spend with him? Why did it
matter? Was she jealous? No. Simply curious. "Does he have a
housekeeper?"

"A cleaning lady comes twice a week."

"I'll have to hire someone. He'll need help
when he comes home."

"We could take care of him."

She wondered if Mitch had seriously
considered that option. If he cared about her father enough to take
care of him, he must love him. "Dad doesn't even know I'm coming.
He might want me to turn right around and go back if our last
encounter is any indication. Besides, if you took care of him, the
business would suffer, wouldn't it?"

Mitch hooked onto the first part of her
response. "And if he doesn't want you to turn around?"

"I have two weeks. After that, I go back to
my life in Independence."

"And George?"

The look in Mitch's eyes said he thought she
was a callous, ungrateful child. But she couldn't expect her father
to be any different today than he was six years ago. Now, her
independence not only directed her life, but Mandy's too.

Her head bobbed up. "Yes. And Anne." Laura
suddenly thought of a glitch. "Are you going to stay with Mandy
while I see Dad?"

He shook his head vigorously. "You can't walk
in there unannounced. You'll shock the sheets off of him. I need to
prepare him."

"But I can't take Mandy--"

"My mother will stay with her."

Mitch's unilateral decision reminded her of
her father's rules and regulations, curfews and standards. "I don't
want to leave her with a stranger."

"We can only see Ray for twenty minutes. You
won't be away from her that long."

Laura had always been so careful to consider
Mandy's needs first, but Mitch made sense. She remembered the last
time she'd put her daughter's need before her husband's wants.
They'd argued. He'd gone sailing...

A flight attendant asked if they'd like
anything to drink. Mandy asked for a soda, her eyes wide and
pleading. "Please?"

Mitch chuckled. "Who can say 'no' to that
face?"

Laura sighed. "Okay, honey. This time."

After the attendant served them, Mitch
touched Laura's hand. "Don't worry about Mandy staying with Mom.
She loves kids."

His fingers on the top of her hand sent heat
up her arm. Her eyes met his in surprise, and she witnessed his own
flash of sexual awareness. He jerked his hand away and picked up
his drink.

"Mr. Riley's drinking cola too," Mandy piped
up, easing the sudden tension.

"I'm surprised you didn't order something
stronger," Laura remarked, wondering out loud. He seemed like a
Scotch man to her, like her dad.

"A glass of wine with dinner is as strong as
it gets."

"Why?" She peered at him over the rim of her
glass.

His eyes darkened with a deep emotion. "I
have my reasons."

Did his reasons have something to do with the
sadness in him? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Mitch said quietly, "Alcohol killed my
father."

She wanted to stroke his cheek, the one with
the scar, and comfort him. But she wasn't that foolish. She glanced
at Mandy as her daughter picked up a crayon and colored an elephant
blue.

Laura's mother had died when she was eleven.
"I know how it feels to lose a parent."

"But I don't know how it feels to walk out on
one."

Laura took a sip of her soda to stall her
temper. "Maybe you don't know the whole story."

"I know Ray Applegate is a good man. He
didn't deserve the kick in the teeth you delivered. I met him five
years ago and he was the saddest man I've ever seen. Even though
you created chaos when you were around, you were his life. You
walked away and left him with nothing."

Over and over again, she'd analyzed what she
could have done differently. She regretted her wild behavior as a
teenager. That had changed when she'd gone to school at eighteen.
She'd found her purpose and her niche. At twenty she'd known
exactly what she wanted. But her father couldn't accept her
independence or her making her own decisions and choices. He'd
erased her from his life and wouldn't answer her letters.

Laura angrily tapped the ice cube in her
glass, making it spin. "My father is a traditional, strict,
inflexible man."

Mitch lowered his voice. "That doesn't mean
you had to cut him out of your life. Do you know the joy Mandy
could give him?"

She met his gaze boldly. "I don't have to
defend myself to you or anyone. I stopped doing that when I grew
up."

"I'm not sure you're there yet," he
muttered.

"Do you have a patent on maturity? You know
how it's done right?"

"I know by your age it should be done."

"You don't know me, Mr. Riley."

He raised his glass to her in a toast. "Maybe
we'll have to rectify that."

The gleam in his eye said he didn't want to
know her at all, but he'd play with the pretense so he could keep
her under his thumb.

CHAPTER TWO

The lump in Laura's throat wouldn't disappear
with any amount of swallowing. Mandy clutched her mother's hand as
they walked up the brick path to the front door of her childhood
home and Puffball meowed from her carrier. Laura paused in front of
the double cherry door that was only one of many entrances into the
Old English style estate. She'd always loved the Tudor house with
its multi-colored stone, gables, and chocolate brown shutters. Her
grandfather had built it for her grandmother.

Memories flooded through her mind faster than
she could count them. She'd spent twenty years in this house. So
why did she feel like such a stranger to it now? The answer was
simple. She'd left this life behind six years ago.

Mandy must have sensed something. "What's
wrong, Mommy?"

Laura shrugged off her melancholy. "Nothing,
honey. This is where I grew up. I'm wondering if you'll like the
house as much as I did."

Mitch came up behind them with their
suitcases. He set them down and unlocked the door.

"How long have you had a key?" Her father had
never given a key to anyone not in the family. She'd brought hers
along for that reason.

Mitch picked up the suitcases and looked at
her intently. "Since Ray and I became partners and we opened the
second store in Harrisburg. I have an apartment there, but I stay
here when I'm in town."

Her father and Mitch were definitely more
like father and son than business partners. "You don't stay with
your mother?"

Mitch crossed the threshold into the foyer
and waited until she and Mandy stepped inside before answering.
"She lives in a one bedroom apartment. It's easier and more
convenient for me to stay here." As if he felt he should explain
further, he added, "I'm a night owl. When I stay with her and work
late, she waits up or hovers. She loses sleep. I don't get the work
done. Your father goes his way, I go mine, and we don't interfere
with each other."

Laura set the cat carrier on the floor. At
one point in her life she'd desperately wanted her father to
interfere, to show her he loved her. But when she'd asserted her
freedom to become an adult, he'd interfered in the wrong way--not
out of love, but because he'd wanted her to fulfill his dreams for
her. He'd tried to manipulate her.

A bit wistfully, she said, "It sounds as if
you and Dad get along well together."

Mitch studied her carefully. "We do."

His tone carried a warning that she'd better
not try to meddle. Impatient with his "I'm in control" attitude,
she walked into the living room. The marble fireplace, the rose
Queen Anne chairs, and the Stiffel lamps were arranged exactly as
she remembered them...as if no time had passed at all. Through the
living room's French doors, she could see the dining room with its
crystal chandelier and mahogany table. Mirroring light from the
adjacent sunroom's stately paned windows, the gloss on the table
was still unmarred and perfect.

Whenever they ate at that table, Laura feared
she'd spill her milk or hurt the finish in some way. Her mother had
always acted as a buffer between her and her dad, convincing him to
treat Laura as a child rather than a small adult.

Mandy let go of Laura's hand and released
Puffball from her carrier. The cat sniffed the new atmosphere, then
regally strolled toward the sunroom with its rattan furniture and
bright yellow striped cushions. Mandy ran after her.

Mitch said, "I'll take your suitcases up to
your rooms later. I'd better go get Puffball a litter box and food
and pick Mom up so we can get to the hospital."

Mitch had called his mother from the airport
and she'd agreed to stay with Mandy. He'd also called the hospital
to find that Ray was still stable.

Laura unbuttoned her poncho and threw it over
a wing chair. "I'll give Mandy a tour and try and get her
settled."

Mitch watched Mandy scramble after Puffball
as the feline jumped from the settee to the back of a chair so she
could look out the window. "There's milk in the refrigerator and a
package of Oreo cookies in the cabinet over the microwave."

Laura felt like smiling for the first time
since she entered the house. "You have a passion for them, too?
Mandy and I are addicted. We eat a package a week. With lots of
carrot and celery sticks in between, of course."

When Mitch grinned, the angles of his face
gentled, his eyes twinkled. "Maybe I'd better pick up another pack.
Unfortunately, I eat more than my share. I'll leave you and Mandy
to the carrot sticks."

Her eyes skimmed his lean physique. There
wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere. She'd like to see what he looked
like in jeans--relaxed, happy, having fun. "Oreos must agree with
you." She couldn't hide the appreciation in her voice.

His grin evaporated and he appraised her for
a long moment. "You'll only be here two weeks, Laura. Don't count
me among your trophies."

Her mouth dropped open. She quickly closed
it. "That wasn't a come-on, it was an observation. I'd think you'd
be experienced enough to know the difference."

In two steps, he was standing in front of
her, his blue eyes dark with annoyance and a fire he was attempting
to quell. "I'm experienced enough to know trouble can be wrapped in
an attractive package."

She wished she was five inches taller so he
couldn't physically intimidate her. "Nothing I say will change your
mind about me. But I'm not going to watch every word while I'm
here. That might be your style. It's not mine."

"Cautious versus reckless?" he taunted.

"No, cold versus warm." She turned toward the
sunroom.

Mitch's words stopped her as efficiently as
his hand could have. "Just because the prodigal daughter has
returned doesn't mean all is forgiven."

Heat suffused her cheeks. "You won't be the
one to decide."

"No, Ray will." Mitch strode to the foyer and
out the door.

Tears pricked Laura's eyes. What a
homecoming!

***

When Mitch parked his Buick in Ray
Applegate's driveway an hour later and switched off the ignition,
his mother made no move to get out. "Carey called while you were
gone. He's coming home for a few weeks."

Mitch sighed heavily. Just what he needed
right now--Laura's male counterpart. "Is he in trouble again?"

Nora Riley averted her eyes. "I don't think
so. He wants to talk to you about something."

"He wants money again." Mitch's tone was as
resigned as he was to his brother's escapades.

Nora grew defensive. "He didn't say
that."

They had traveled this route many times
before. "Mom, why else would he come? We go for months without
hearing from him. He comes home when he's in trouble or needs
something."

Her head tilted. Mitch could see his own
stubbornness and determination came from this woman, not his
father. "Carey is my firstborn. He's done many deeds I'm not proud
of, but I'll always love him. Just as I'll always love you."