A Little Surprise For The Boss

He cast a helpless glance at Terri. She was doing her best to remain smiling and composed. “This is Buck, Grandma,” she said. “And here’s his little girl.”

“Steve’s little girl.” She reached out and touched Quinn’s cheek. “My, but you’re a pretty thing. Come give your great-grandma a kiss.”

Buck could feel Quinn trembling next to him. But she stepped forward and feathered a kiss on the wrinkled cheek. Buck had never been more proud of his daughter.

The old woman fixed her cataract-blurred gaze on him. “So, why are you just standing there? Get me up and take me home.”

“Grandma—” Terri began, but she was interrupted by a polite tap on the already-open door. The aides, thank heaven, had arrived to get Harriet ready for bed.

“No—I’m going home!” the old woman protested as one of the young women started unbuttoning her sweater.

“It’ll be all right, Grandma. I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll talk then.” Terri kissed her grandmother, and the three of them made their exit down the hallway to the elevator.

“I’m sorry about the mix-up,” Terri said as they walked out the front door. “She does have good days...but I’m afraid the bad ones have become a lot more common. Lately, every time I come here, she breaks my heart.”

“But at least you keep coming. I’ve got to hand it to you, Terri. I had no idea she was so bad. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Terri shook her head. “All she wants is to go home. One of these days she will.”

Quinn, usually so chatty, had fallen silent. Buck hoped he could get her to talk on the way home. She needed to process what she’d seen and heard. But meanwhile, he needed to stall Terri a little longer so she wouldn’t interrupt the first part of his campaign to show her how valuable she was to him.

“Hey, how about ice cream sundaes?” he said. “The best ice cream parlor in town is right across the street!”

Quinn brightened. “Sounds yummy!”

“I really need to get back to my Jeep,” Terri said, moving on. “You two go ahead and get your sundaes. It’s a nice evening, and I could use the exercise of the walk back.”

“Oh, come on.” Buck caught her arm, his grip hard enough to stop her in her tracks. “Quinn’s here. Doesn’t that call for a party? We can drop you off when we’re finished.”

She sighed. “Okay. Ice cream does sound good.”

They entered the ice cream parlor, ordered hot fudge sundaes at the counter and found a booth. The place was done in pink-and-black ’50s decor with vintage rock and roll playing in the background. An elderly couple was holding hands at a corner table. The man was laughing, the woman tapping her toe to the beat. Quinn watched them a moment before she spoke.

“Do I have a grandma?” She showered her sundae with sprinkles from a canister on the table.

“Your mother’s mother lives in Florida,” Buck said. “She’s your grandma.”

“She doesn’t count. She and Mom are mad at each other. They don’t even send each other Christmas cards. What about your mother? How come I don’t know her?”

Buck had known that sooner or later she was bound to ask. But he’d never looked forward to answering. “She died when I was in the army, before I married your mother. She had lung cancer—from smoking.”

“What about your dad? He’d be my grandpa.”

“I never knew him. He went away before I was born.”

“And he never came back?”

“He never did. My mother raised me on her own. She was a waitress at the old truck stop out by the main highway. We were so poor we lived on the leftover food she brought home.” Buck didn’t tell her his parents had never married, or that his mother had done more than wait tables at that truck stop. Some truths were better kept in silence.

“If you were so poor, how did you get rich, Daddy?”

“Smart thinking, lots of hard work—and good helpers like Terri.”

“Is Terri rich, too?”

Buck glanced across the table at Terri. She was nibbling her sundae, avoiding his gaze. He paid her a good salary, but after what he’d seen tonight, he was pretty sure she spent most of her money on her grandmother’s care. When she didn’t answer Quinn’s question, he answered for her. “Terri’s not nearly as rich as she deserves to be.”

Guilt chewed at him, drawing blood. The old woman was Steve’s grandmother, too. If Steve had lived, Terri wouldn’t have had to shoulder the burden of her care alone. Nursing homes weren’t cheap, but for Buck the money would be pocket change. He’d call Canyon Shadows tomorrow and make some arrangements. Or maybe he ought to just buy the place. It was decently maintained and would likely be a good investment.

But what was he thinking? After a day like today, he was in no frame of mind for business decisions.

His gaze wandered back to Terri. She looked irresistible, with tendrils of windblown hair framing her face and a little smear of chocolate fudge on her upper lip. If they’d been alone he’d have been tempted to lean over and lick it off. He’d never had thoughts like this about her before—had always viewed her strictly as a friend. But now that he knew how good it could be between them...

The memory slammed him—Terri leaning over him, straddling his hips as he thrust deep. And this time he could visualize her face, eyes closed, lips sensually parted.

Damn!

The lady was off-limits for so many reasons. And she was driving him crazy.

* * *

After the ice cream sundaes, Terri had finally managed to convince Buck that she wanted to walk back to her Jeep. The distance wasn’t far—only about seven blocks—and she truly needed to clear her head. As the Hummer drove away, she blew a last kiss to Quinn and set out.

By now it was nearly dark, but Main Street was still busy, the shops and cafés doing a bustling business. The tiny white lights that adorned the sycamores along the boardwalk had come on, their glitter creating a festive atmosphere. But Terri’s mood was far from festive. From beginning to end, this had been the most emotional day in recent memory.

Quinn’s presence tonight had been a godsend. She had no idea what she’d have said to Buck, or what he might have said to her, if they’d found themselves alone together. From his flirting with the waitress at dinner, it was clear that he wasn’t interested in pursuing anything with Terri. She’d been foolish to even consider the possibility. Maybe she should just forget it had ever happened. Expect nothing—that was the only way to survive life with Buck.

Her thoughts shifted to their visit with her grandmother. Had it upset Buck to be mistaken for Steve? The two had been like brothers all their lives. Buck had been there in Iraq with their combat unit when Steve died. He’d never talked about it, and she’d never asked him, but Terri knew her brother’s death had affected him as deeply as it had her.

She could understand why he’d insisted on ice cream tonight. He’d wanted to blur the memory and end the evening on a happy note. But the conversation with Quinn had only opened more dark windows on the past.

Terri knew about Buck’s troubled childhood. And she knew how far his mother, a desperate but kindhearted woman, had gone to provide for her boy. Terri could only hope he had forgiven her.

Terri’s long legs covered the seven blocks back to Giovanni’s at a brisk pace. Through the deepening twilight, she could make out her Jeep at the far end of the parking lot. She felt for the keys, pulled them out of her purse and strode toward the vehicle.

Had Buck’s crew fixed her flat tire, or would she have to haul out the jack and the lug wrench and do it herself? No big deal—she’d changed tires before. And at least that way, she wouldn’t feel beholden to Buck. After this morning, she never wanted to feel obligated to him again. To use the old-fashioned expression, it would be too much like being paid for her favors.

She was a few yards away from the Jeep when the parking lot’s overhead lights flashed on. In the sudden glare Terri saw what the shadows had hidden.

The flat tire hadn’t just been changed. It had been replaced, along with the other three. Her ancient Jeep was now sporting four brand-new, top-of-the-line tires.

Terri stared at Buck’s gift. What had the man been thinking? He could certainly afford to replace her tires. But why had he done it, especially without asking her? Did he think he owed her some kind of reward for her...services? Or had he done it out of some twisted sense of guilt for taking her to bed in the first place?

Either way, she wasn’t going to let this stand.

* * *

“Daddy, why did Terri’s grandma call you Steve?”