Private Lives

He wondered why she didn’t ask why he needed it. He toasted the bread. “The oven is working,” he said, holding up the bread. He handed her the oven thermometer that he’d purchased in Lake George the previous day. “I’d keep the oven on and calibrate it. If it matches this gauge, it should be all right.” He walked out on the deck and called Jack. “Come on, boy.”

“Can’t you stay a little longer, Mr. Lightner?” Dudley asked.

“I’m sorry, Dudley. I’d like to, but I have some work to do at home.”

“Thanks so much, Brock. I, uh…I know you’d be insulted if I tried to pay you, but maybe if I cook a real nice dinner one evening…I mean…would you come?”

It didn’t occur to him to smile as he looked at her. “If I hadn’t installed your stove, you wouldn’t invite me to dinner?”

“I didn’t imply that. Please don’t make things difficult.”

He told himself to be patient, that she had every right to take her time with him as any smart woman would do. “That’s the way you made it sound. Look!” He slapped his right fist into his left palm several times. “The problem with us would be easily solved if we were alone. I don’t want to push you, but I think you know what I mean. I’ll be glad to have dinner here with you any time you ask me.” He lowered his voice. “And if Dudley wasn’t staring at me, you know what I’d do right now.” He hunkered in front of the boy, hugged him, picked up Jack’s leash and headed out the door.

“Mommie, if I can’t play with Jack, what about the guitar? You said you’d get me a guitar teacher. I finished my lessons and I don’t have anything to do.”

“I haven’t had time, honey, because I have to finish this book,” she said.

Brock turned around. “Does he have a guitar?”

She nodded. “My sister gave him a guitar that she’d used during her fling with folk singing. He sees people playing the guitar on TV and he wants to learn, but I haven’t had time to find a teacher for him and I don’t want him to strum. I want him to learn music.”

Did he want to do it? Brock thought. Before he could decide, Dudley said, “Can you help Mommie find a teacher for me, Mr. Lightner?”

“We’ll see.” He couldn’t offer unless he first discussed it with Allison. “I’ll call you,” he said, looking at her, “and let you know whether I can help.” He winked at her and left. Now if he’d only remembered her phone number correctly!

She hated wishy-washy people and Brock Lightner probably thought of her as precisely that. If anybody had asked whether she’d kiss him the way she had earlier that day, she would have denied it. She’d never kissed a man that way, had never wanted to. But she had wanted a lot more from Brock than a kiss and she’d foolishly let him know it.

Aware that the telephone was ringing, she went to look at the caller ID screen, saw that the caller was Brock and lifted the receiver.

“Hello, Brock.”

“Hi. I didn’t want to say this in Dudley’s presence, because I wanted you to have the option of saying no. I play the piano and the guitar, both of which I began studying when I was about Dudley’s age. I can teach him to play the guitar, provided he wants to learn, but if you’d rather I didn’t, I won’t hold it against you. So feel free to turn me down and find someone else to teach him. Before you answer, I want you to know that I won’t accept one penny for it.”

“You don’t leave me an option, Brock. If you aren’t his teacher and if Dudley knows you play the guitar, he’d want to know why you didn’t teach him. He’d learn well with you, because he trusts you and cares for you. But I couldn’t let you do it free of charge.”

“Are you talking to Mr. Lightner, Mommie? Did he say he’d find me a teacher? Mommie, can I please speak with Mr. Lightner?”

“No, darling. I’m speaking with him now.”

“I’d teach him at home,” Brock said, “so you needn’t worry about him. Think about it before you say no.”

“All right. I will. And thank you for offering to help.”

She hung up feeling uneasy. She’d seen nothing of Brock that would make her suspicious of him. She’d become paranoid about Lawrence and his threats of revenge, but she’d die if he stole Dudley from her and took him outside the United States to a country where women had little legal status. The man had the cunningness of a fox and nothing was beyond him. But somehow she couldn’t accept that Brock would be working with a man like Lawrence Sawyer.

“If he agrees to teach Dudley here while I’m at home, what can go wrong?” she asked herself. What indeed, other than that Dudley would develop an even stronger attachment to him. She had to risk it. Any teacher would have an influence on her child, and Brock’s influence had already eased some of her problems with the boy. Still…

She dialed her sister’s number. “I’m in a dreadful dilemma,” she told Ellen after they greeted each other.

“Oh. Mr. Wonderful getting to you already?”

“Mr. Wonderful, as you call him, got to me the minute I saw him. The problem is that he plays the guitar and offered to give Dudley lessons. But I’m not sure I want Dudley to become even more attached to Brock Lightner. He’s already nuts about the man and his dog. But I’m not convinced that this perfect Adonis isn’t up here at my ex’s behest, although he hasn’t given me a single reason to believe that. In fact, it’s just the opposite. But I know how devious my ex-husband can be and I don’t know what to do.”

“I gather he hasn’t made a move on you.”

Allison rested her left elbow on the table. “He made a move, but he didn’t have much choice. I was there and I wasn’t going anywhere.”

“I’m going up there and having a look at that specimen. I didn’t know you could even feel that kind of attraction. You’d better find out something about that man, ’cause from where I sit, you can forget about not going to bed with him.”

“Don’t joke, Ellen. I admit he’s stirred feelings in me, but when push comes to shove, Dudley is first with me. I’m not going to do anything that will make me lose him.”

“Hmm. Apart from sex, what do you think of the guy?” Ellen asked her.

“So far, all he’s done has made me think he’s a wonderful man. You know how Dudley can be. Well, Brock disciplined him about disobeying me a couple of times, but he did it in a gentle manner. Dudley has stopped misbehaving. He’s also become more considerate and helpful because Brock told him that boys are supposed to help their mothers.”

“Wait a minute. You said you weren’t going to have anything to do with that man. When did that change?”

“Long story, but you can imagine with some of Dudley’s antics.”

“My advice is go with your gut, sis. You can’t afford to be so paranoid that you ruin Dudley’s life and yours, too. The boy needs to be with people and if there aren’t any his age, being with a good role model will do a lot for him. Nobody can make me believe that you’d fall for another man like Lawrence.”

“No, I don’t think he’s a bad guy and I haven’t fallen for him.”

“I’m not the one who needs convincing. If the man helps Dudley learn to play the guitar at your place, what are you worried about?”

“You’re right. Thanks. I should call him. Bye.” She hung up, dialed Brock’s number and got a busy signal.

Brock knew that he could easily spare a couple of hours a week teaching Dudley to play the guitar. But Allison wouldn’t let the boy out of her sight and that meant being closer to her than he needed to be. He could still smell her scent two hours after he left her. She was starved for love and affection and she wanted him. But he couldn’t understand her reluctance and he definitely did not welcome it. Something was wrong and until he knew what it was, he’d tread carefully. As he thought about his relationship with Allison, the phone rang. He hoped he’d hear her voice.

“Lightner here.”

“Lightner here. How’s it going, man?” his older brother, Jason, said.

“Hey! What’s up, brother?”

“Plenty. I need a favor. I know you’ve retired from private investigating, but I need you as I never did before. I have a client who’s innocent and unless you help me, she’s going to have to pay a hefty price.”

“You’re so sure she’s innocent?”

“Absolutely. After practicing law for twelve years, I know when a client is lying and when she’s telling the truth.”

“I told Mom that I’d quit and I was going back to practicing law. What’s the problem?”

“My client’s married and she spurned the attention of a man on her staff, told him that he was harassing her and threatened to tell his wife if he didn’t stop it. Afraid that she might tell his wife, the man charged her—his boss—with sexual harassment. I need some background info on the man.”

He loved his brother, his closest friend and confidant, but he didn’t like going back on his word to his mother. “Tell you what. You explain it to Mom, call me back and tell me what she says. I’m not in the habit of lying to her.”

Seconds after he hung up, the phone rang and he saw Allison’s number on the caller ID screen. “Hi, Brock. I asked Dudley if he’d like you to be his guitar teacher and he’s so excited that he’s practically orbiting the earth. I’d appreciate it if you could give him lessons here.”