LITMIR.BIZ

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      He felt a hand on his arm and looked at Thea. “What?”

      “It might be best to let her go.”

      “But I have to know.”

      Thea’s brown eyes were warm with sympathy. “And she’ll just continue to stonewall you if you charge after her.”

      “So? I’ll wear her down.”

      Thea shook her head. “Not in her present state of mind, you won’t. You can talk, but you can’t force her to reveal anything.”

      When she removed her hand from his arm, he missed the warmth of her fingers. “Do you have a suggestion?”

      “Yes.”

      “Care to share?”

      She nodded. “Give her some space. Let her calm down. You might want to do the same.”

      “I am calm.”

      “Oh?” Thea blinked up at him and then she smiled.

      “What’s so funny?” he asked.

      “You’re stretched so tight, if you were a rubber band and let go, you’d put someone’s eye out.”

      He released a long breath. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.” He stared at the doorway where his daughter had stood moments before. “But I don’t get it. What was all that about ignoring her for eighteen years?”

      “I don’t know,” Thea said.

      “Maybe this is payback.”

      “For what? Being a good father?”

      He looked at her. “For how I felt when I first found out my wife was pregnant again. But when I saw Kendra for the first time…” He searched for words to express the power of his emotions and couldn’t find any. “It was love at first sight,” he finally said.

      “Have you ever told her that?”

      “I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

      “Under the circumstances, she might have some unresolved feelings,” Thea suggested. “Some girls confuse sex and love.”

      “Are you saying she’s looking for love in all the wrong places because she thinks I don’t care about her?”

      “I have no idea.” She sighed. “I’m just the caterer. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I’m not sure there’s a parallel, but she contacted me to do her graduation party. And she didn’t tell you she was doing the party on that scale. I’m no shrink, but it’s obvious to me that she’s sending you some kind of message.”

      “Can you decode it?”

      “With my magic garlic press? Or maybe the decoder in my secret slotted spoon?” she asked, one corner of her full mouth tilting up.

      “Okay. Stupid question. But you’re a woman. Do you have any thoughts about what she’s trying to say?”

      “Yes.”

      When she didn’t say anything further he added, “Any you’d care to share?”

      “Do you really want me to? After all, I’ve never had any children,” she said pointedly.

      “Okay. I deserve that for patronizing you. But I’m desperate. Lady, I need all the help I can get. If you’ve got any ideas, I’m listening.”

      “Okay.” She nodded. “I suggest you give her some time. When she’s ready to talk, you listen to her.”

      “That’s it?”

      She nodded, then said, “And one more thing.”

      “Yes?”

      “Think about having the party, and not just an average backyard barbecue. Give some thought to doing it the way she wants it,” she added.

      “Because you need the gig?”

      She shook her head. “I don’t need the job badly enough to take advantage of your situation. If one job was that important, I wouldn’t be looking to take on a bigger house and mortgage.”

      “Okay. Then why should I think about doing the shindig her way?”

      “Because my impression is that she’s basically a good kid. And this was important enough to her to go behind your back.”

      “So you’re saying I should reward her bad behavior?”

      She thought for a moment and then said, “Think of it as hearing her cry for help. If she knows you’re listening instead of lecturing, she’s more likely to tell you what you want to know.”

      “How can I just listen when I need to make her understand that if she’s not careful, she could ruin her life?”

      “If I could answer that question, I’d be a financially independent woman.” Thea shrugged and smiled a little sadly. “Goodbye, Scott. Good luck,” she added.

      It was odd, but when he’d found her in his kitchen, he’d been irritated. Watching her leave irritated him even more. And the implications of that didn’t sweeten his temper.

      Chapter Three

      The following morning Thea parked her car in front of her office, then went to let herself in. She found the door was unlocked, which meant her workaholic partner was already there.

      “Connie?” she called out, setting her purse and briefcase on her desk.

      “Back here,” came the reply.

      She’d been best friends with Connie Howard since the seventh grade. They’d gone through everything together—their weddings, the birth of her friend’s two children and the death of Thea’s husband. She would have gotten through it without Connie, but probably not with her sanity intact.

      Thea walked through the doorway separating the front office from the kitchen/work area in the back. She’d leased this space when her business outgrew her condo. Sometimes she cooked for a job at home, but mostly she and Connie prepared food here.

      They’d furnished this office with a top-of-the-line double oven, a microwave/convection oven, a large side-by-side refrigerator and the best set of pots and pans their budget allowed. The drawers and cupboards were stuffed with the latest gizmos to make a cook’s heart go pitter-patter.

      Connie was industriously wiping down the counter-tops. As Thea approached, her tall, redheaded friend glanced over her shoulder. “Hi, T.”

      “Hi, yourself. It’s only eight-thirty. What are you doing here so early?”

      “It’s not that early. Besides, I had a day off.” She faced Thea and put her hands on her boyishly slim hips. “So how did your appointments go yesterday?”

      The image of Scott Matthews instantly popped into her head. Not surprising, since thoughts of him hadn’t been far from her mind since leaving his place yesterday. She’d wondered whether his daughter was going to have a baby. Some appointment.

      “I took deposits for several parties,” she said vaguely.

      Connie’s green-eyed gaze narrowed on her. “And?”

      “And nothing.”

      “Don’t blow me off, T. You’ve got a funny look on your face.”

      Thea sat on one of the tall stools outside the U-shaped work space and looked at her friend. “One of my appointments got a little weird. The initial contact was made by a teenager who didn’t have parental permission for a catered graduation party.”

      “Bummer.”

      “Yeah,” Thea said, sighing with what felt like regret. And she wasn’t sure why. Like she’d told Scott—it wasn’t as if they needed the

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