Conall swore his mouth was still moving even as the Suburban backed out of the driveway. He had to admit to being mildly amused at Niall stuck living with a motor-mouth. Niall never was much of a talker himself.
The drive was mostly quiet, the kids having all lapsed into silence. Once Conall glanced at Lia and said, “You okay?” and she nodded.
At home, with a hand on her arm he stopped her from getting out with the others. “Thank you for coming.”
Her smile was unbelievably sweet. “You’re very welcome. We all had a good time, you know. You have a nice family.”
“Yeah.” The concept was new enough to him to take him aback. “I guess I do.”
She touched him this time, a quick squeeze on his bare forearm. “You’re lucky,” she said, her voice momentarily husky. And then she slipped out, slamming the door and hurrying toward the house.
He was left sitting behind the wheel, staring after her, feeling…hell. Dazed. Normally it took a pretty good punch to make his head swim. Frowning, he tried to figure out what she’d done or said and couldn’t put his finger on it.
He heard her talking to the babysitter as he went upstairs, but didn’t see her. Later, Brendan brought up a light supper for him and he told himself he was glad he wasn’t downstairs with everyone else, including his partner. He’d used up his social quotient for the day. He was irritated that he felt restless rather than relaxing into the pleasure of solitude.
Except for a couple of visits to the john, he didn’t leave the attic again until morning. He’d missed breakfast, it seemed, and ate a bowl of cold cereal at the kitchen counter. Muted explosions sounded from the living room, where the TV was already on. Sorrel’s bedroom door had been shut when Conall came down; he had no idea whether she was up.
The phone rang, and someone answered elsewhere in the house or outside. A moment later the front door opened and footsteps hurried in. Leaving his bowl in the sink, he stretched and then wandered out of the kitchen to see what was going on.
Lia, carrying Julia, was dashing for the stairs.
“Where’s Arturo?” Conall asked.
She spun to face him. “Oh. I left him with the boys. They can watch him for a few minutes. That was Julia and Arturo’s caseworker. He’s on his way to pick them up, so I need to hurry and pack their things.”
He loved the way her cheeks flushed. Lia wasn’t a very good liar. Her voice had hitched on the word caseworker, not so as most people would have noticed, but reading people’s motives and intentions and honesty was a life or death skill for him.
“Need help?” he asked.
“No.” She took a couple more steps, then stopped. “Unless…”
Even before she turned, he knew what she had in mind. Damn, he’d had to open his mouth.
The next thing he knew, he was left with an armful of baby girl while Lia dashed upstairs. What was he supposed to do with her?
She looked at him with equal alarm. When her face started to redden, he jiggled her. “Uh…what say we go back outside? You like it outside, don’t you?”
She was withholding judgment. The day was nice, he discovered the minute they stepped out. A hint of spring crispness in the air, a promise of warmth by midday. Conall thought of sitting down on the rocker, but the little girl’s suspicious stare convinced him she required greater distraction. Cows, he decided. Or maybe horses. Yeah, the pony was right beside the fence.
He carried Julia down the steps and jogged across the lawn. “Horsie,” he said. “No, el caballo. Actually, caballito. Sí?”
She didn’t care what the pony was called. Babbling happily but unintelligibly, she twisted in his arms and tried to lunge for the fat little beast, managing to grab a fistful of white mane when the pony stuck his head between fence rails.
“Bueno. Pet the pony. See?” He demonstrated, patting the neck.
Julia laughed and pulled hard. One of her hands separated from the mane, taking a few long strands of stiff hair with it. Conall winced and gently pried her other fist from the poor animal. He spread her fingers and ran her hand over the nose, and was surprised by an expression of rapt delight on her round face.