LITMIR.BIZ

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in some sort of clip contraption, but her smile was what caught him. Bright and radiant as the closest star, it raised his hopes and eased his guilt.

      She handed him a beer. “To celebrate. My old boss squeezed me in, read the papers in about ten minutes and told me I’d be a fool not to sign.” She clanked her beer bottle against Wyatt’s. “He’s read your comics, by the way. He called you a genius.”

       Wyatt scuffed his tennis shoe on the old gray porch planks. “I don’t know about genius.”

      “Oh, don’t go getting all modest on me now.”

      He laughed. “So you’re signing?”

      She handed the papers to him. “It’s already signed and notarized. My lawyer kept a copy and made a copy for me.”

      Wyatt took the papers, glanced down at her signature. “Good girl.” Then he clanked his bottle to hers again. “Congratulations. Someday you’re going to be the superstar this town talks about.”

      She fell into one of the big wicker chairs. “This town doesn’t care about superstars. We’re all about making ends meet.”

      He sat, too. It was the first time since he’d been home that she’d been totally relaxed with him. He took a swig of his beer, then said, “There’s no shame in that.”

      “I think about ninety percent of America lives that way.”

      The conversation died and he really wished it hadn’t. There was a peace about her, a calmness that he’d never seen before.

      “So you’re happy?”

      “I’m ecstatic. Within the next month I’ll have a van, an assistant and day care for the kids.” She turned to him. “Do you know how good it is for kids to socialize?”

      He didn’t. Not really. He knew very little about kids. What he knew was business and comics. So he shrugged. “I guess pretty important.”

      “Owen will have other boys to play with.”

      Though Wyatt got a stab of jealousy over that, he also knew he was leaving soon. With or without the jewelry, he couldn’t stay away from his work more than a month, five weeks tops.

      “That can’t be anything but good.”

      Another silence fell between them. After a few minutes she turned to face him. “I don’t know how to deal with someone who knows about my dad.”

      “Really?”

      “Yeah. I’ve been keeping the secret so long it feels odd that another person knows. It’s almost like who I am around you is different.”

      He laughed. “That’s funny, because I’ve been thinking the same thing since I came here.”

      “That I’m different?”

      “No. More that I can’t get my footing. In Florida I’m king of my company. Here, I know nothing about kids or cakes or weddings. Plus, I’m the guy you remember as a nerd.”

      “You’re so not a nerd.”

      “Geek then.”

      She shook her head. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?”

      He glanced down at his jeans, then back at her. “I wore jeans in high school.”

      “Yeah. But not so well.”

      He laughed.

      She smiled. “It’s like you’re the first person in my life to know the whole me. Past and present.”

      “And you’re the first person to know the whole me. Geek and sex god.”

      She laughed and rose from her seat. “Right.” Reaching for his empty beer bottle, she said, “Before that little display of conceit, I was going to ask if you wanted to help me van shop.”

      “I’d love to help you van shop.”

      “See? Old Wyatt wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

      “Old Wyatt?”

      “The geeky high school kid.”

      “Right.”

       “But older, wiser Wyatt can.”

      He chuckled. No one ever called him old, let alone wise.

      But he sort of liked it. Just as she had her fortes with kids and cakes, he had his expertise, too. “So you’re going to let me go with you?”

      “Yes.” She turned and started down the stairs. “And don’t go getting any big ideas about buying some tricked out supervan. I saw the clause in the agreement where you can raise the amount of the loan to accommodate expansion. I don’t want any more money. I have to grow the business in stages. We get a normal van. I hire a normal assistant. The kids go to local day care.”

      By the time she finished she was at the bottom of the steps. She turned to face him.

      He saluted her. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

      She laughed. “I also like your new sense of humor. Young Wyatt didn’t laugh much.”

      He leaned on the porch railing. Since they were being honest, it was time to admit the truth. “He was always too busy being nervous. Especially around you. You’re so beautiful you probably make most men nervous.”

      She shook her head as if she thought he was teasing, then pointed at the hedge. “I’ve gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

      “See you tomorrow.”

      He pushed away from the railing, smiling to himself. She was correct. He felt odd around her because she was the first, maybe the only person in his life to know both sides of him.

      But now he also knew her secret. Instead of that scaring him the way he knew it probably should, because her secret was dark and frightening and needed to be handled with care, he felt a swell of pride. She hadn’t told him her secret, but she clearly trusted him with it. He felt honored.

      “Hi, Mommy.”

      Missy opened her eyes and smiled down at the foot of the bed. Claire grinned at her. She never awoke after the kids. She couldn’t imagine why she’d slept so late. Except that being honest with Wyatt about her dad, and accepting the loan, had relaxed her. She didn’t have to pretend that everything was fine around him. She could be herself.

      “Hey, sweetie. Want some cereal?”

      Her daughter’s grin grew and she nodded.

      Missy rolled out of bed. Normally she was already in shorts and a T-shirt before she went to the kitchen. Today she was so far behind she didn’t have time to change. Still, she slept in pajama pants and a tank top. There was no reason to change or even to find a robe. She sleepily padded from her bedroom in the back corner of the downstairs into the kitchen. As she got cereal from the cupboard and Claire climbed onto a chair, Lainie and Owen ambled into the kitchen. They also climbed onto chairs.

      She’d barely gotten cocoa chunks cereal into three bowls and a pot of coffee on before there was a knock at her door. Without waiting for her to invite him in, Wyatt entered.

      “Are you here to mooch coffee?”

      He laughed. “No, but I wouldn’t say no if you’d offer me a cup.”

      She motioned for him to take a seat at the table, grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured some coffee into it for him.

      When she set it in front of him, his gaze touched on her tank top, then rippled down to her pajama pants. “I guess I’m early for the van shopping.”

      She stifled the warmth and pleasure that saturated her at his obvious interest. Saturday they’d decided against any kind of relationship because they wanted two different things. Yesterday, when she’d signed the line of credit papers, they’d cemented that. Even if he wanted

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