“Then do what you have to do. Bud loves you enough to understand.”
“I hope so,” Riley said after a pause. “Because I’m going to keep digging until I find out what’s going on.”
Suddenly aware that she was sitting there holding his hand, Teresa tried to release him. He tightened his fingers around hers, turning to face her. “Thanks, Teresa. For stopping by, I mean.”
“I was concerned about you. When I heard Bud left town, I knew you would be upset. I just… Well, is there anything I can do?”
He glanced at their linked hands. “You’re being a friend. I appreciate that.”
She swallowed, feeling waves of warmth radiating from her hand throughout the rest of her body. The connection between them was beginning to feel a bit more than friendly—at least to her. Which made her feel the need to put some distance between them. “I suppose I’d better go. The kids will be home soon.”
On an impulse, she added, “I’m making chicken and dumplings for dinner. Would you like to join us?”
After a momentary hesitation, he nodded. ‘Yeah. I’d like that. Thanks.”
She was rather surprised that he had accepted. Apparently, he didn’t want to be alone with his worries tonight. She untangled her hand from his and stood, assuring herself again that she was only being neighborly. “We usually eat early, at around six.”
“I’ll be there.”
She found it more difficult to leave than she had expected. Riley always seemed so in-control and self-sufficient. Even when he’d been sick and she’d reacted with a somewhat maternal impulse to offer assistance, he had quickly convinced her that he didn’t need anyone to take care of him. Other than bringing him a bowl of her homemade chicken soup, she’d left him to recover on his own, and he’d seemed to prefer it that way.
It was different this time. For the first time since she’d met him, Riley seemed to be at a loss. Thoroughly shaken. Maybe he hadn’t realized quite how important Bud was in his life, how much he’d depended on always having his uncle there. His anchor. His family. Maybe Riley wasn’t quite the independent loner he liked to pretend to be.
“I’ll see you at six,” she said, and let herself out. She would use the time until she saw him again to remind herself that she had enough in her life to worry about without adding Riley O’Neal’s problems to the list.
Somehow Riley ended up spending the entire evening with Teresa and the kids. He didn’t intend to; he’d planned only to eat some of her chicken and dumplings and then return to his place. Keeping his cordless phone by his side in case his uncle tried to call, he found himself lingering over the meal, listening to the children chattering about their activities at school. They had both asked about Bud, but he’d simply told them that his uncle was away for a vacation, which seemed to satisfy them for now.
“We’re doing a program for Thanksgiving and I get to be a pilgrim lady,” Maggie informed him over dessert, which consisted of red Jell-O with sliced bananas suspended in it. “And we’re going to sing songs. And then everyone gets cookies and punch. You’re supposed to make cookies, Mommy.”
Teresa raised her eyebrows. “I am?”
Maggie nodded. “Mrs. Cooper sent a note. It’s in my backpack. And then we’re going to…”
Letting the happy young voice flow around him, Riley watched Teresa, who was listening to her daughter with a faint smile playing on her unpainted lips. She was the PTA mom again tonight, he mused, studying her simple ponytail and the loose-fitting, thin-wale brown corduroy jumper she wore over a beige knit top. Yet he could still picture her in the midnight-blue dress she had worn to the Chamber of Commerce dinner. And the way he’d first seen her, in enticingly snug jeans and a waitress’s apron.
She looked beautiful to him no matter what she wore.
As if she’d felt his gaze on her, she glanced his way. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he wondered if he was the only one who felt an arc of awareness between them. She moistened her lips in an apparently subconscious gesture that served only to move his attention to her mouth. He could still very clearly remember the way her lips had felt and tasted beneath his.
“Riley? Did you hear me?”
Dragging his attention away from Teresa, Riley looked at Maggie. “Sorry, Mags—what did you say?”
“Are you coming to my program?” she repeated patiently. “At school next week.”
“Oh, I—”
“Riley’s very busy, Maggie,” Teresa interceded quickly. “He can’t make any commitments right now. So don’t bug him tonight, okay?”
Having been relatively patient during Maggie’s turn to speak, Mark was ready to reclaim some attention for himself. “I’ve got to do a science project after dinner tonight, Riley. I’m supposed to mix colored water with cooking oil in a bottle and see what happens. Do you want to help?”
“Mark, I just said Riley’s busy,” Teresa repeated with a slight frown.
“I’m not too busy to help Mark with his science project,” Riley refuted gently. “It sounds like fun.”
She studied his face for a moment, then nodded. “You’re welcome to stay and help. We can always use an extra scientist.”
“I want to help, too,” Maggie insisted.