"Please, Lilah. I hate to impose on you twice in one day, but you know how important this evening is to me.
"It's not that I won't. I really can't. One of my former patients is having a birthday party. I promised to be there. It'll break her heart if I renege."
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped and she gave her sister a wan smile. For all Lilah's flamboyance, she was dedicated to her physical therapy patients. "By all means, you must go. Well, I guess that's — "
"I'll stay with the kids."
The words were softly spoken, but they had an impact on everyone in the kitchen. Lilah gave Thad an approving once-over. Elizabeth held his stare, her lips parting in surprise. The children rushed toward him, nearly knocking him down with their exuberance.
"That'll be neat, Thad."
"Can we give Baby a bath? Mom doesn't like for us to, 'cause it gets water all over the bathroom floor."
"Will you play games with us?"
"Can we stay up late?"
"Do you know how to make pizza?"
He responded to all their questions, but didn't take his eyes off Elizabeth.
Lilah stepped in, assuming the role of diplomat for the first time in her life. No one had to spell out to her that her sister and Thad Randolph needed a moment or two alone. "Come on, kids. I've got to get to my birthday party. Help me carry those clothes from upstairs."
"Are you gonna stay with us, Thad?" Megan asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I'm staying."
Matt and she whooped with glee before following their aunt Lilah from the room. Elizabeth and Thad continued to stare at each other. Finally she said, "Are you sure you don't mind, Thad?"
His eyes told her that he minded a helluva lot. Not staying with the children. But the idea of her going out on a "big date" didn't sit well with him. However, his voice was controlled when he said, "I owe you a favor, don't I?"
"I'll appreciate it very much."
He nodded, looking like a man who had a tenuous hold on his temper. "Go on." He hitched his head toward the upstairs. "Finish combing your hair so you'll be ready when he gets here."
"My hair is combed."
His jaw went slack. "It's supposed to look like that?"
The tangled curls shook with indignation. "It's got mousse and spritz on it."
"What's moosensprits?"
Before she could dress down his ignorance of hair fashion, the doorbell rang. "That'll be him." She spun around and shoved open the swinging door, wishing that Thad would have enough common courtesy to stay hidden in the kitchen. But if wishes came true, she wouldn't be in this predicament.
She answered the door on Adam's second ring. His broad smile was as guileless as the eye of a hurricane, which was apropos since he was the center of a storm and didn't even know it.
"Hello, Adam. Come in."
"Sorry I'm late. I missed the house the first time and had to drive around the block before — "
He broke off when he spotted Thad, who was leaning against the arched doorway of the dining room. Ankles crossed, arms casually folded across his chest, his air was that of a prospector who had staked the first claim. Up until fifteen minutes ago, he'd never set foot under her roof, but he looked well at home now.
Elizabeth cleared her throat uneasily as the two men appraised each other. "Adam, this is my neighbor, Thad Randolph."
Adam stepped forward. Thad indolently pushed himself away from the wall. They shook hands obligatorily.
"Thad's helping me out tonight with my children. My sitter canceled at the last minute, so…" Elizabeth shrugged, hoping her date got the gist of the situation and would fill in the blanks for himself.
"Oh, I see, well, good. Thanks, Randolph."
The smile that could melt a block of ice at twenty paces didn't faze Thad, who replied stonily, "You're welcome."
Adam extended Elizabeth a bouquet of roses. "These are for you."
She took them from him. "Thank you. They're… they're lovely."
At that moment, her children came charging down the stairs. Like cartoon characters they braked and stacked together when they saw that Adam Cavanaugh had arrived. They approached him with the appropriate deference. Elizabeth made the introductions.
"Hello, Mr Cavanaugh," Megan said politely.
"Hello, Mr Cavanaugh," Matt echoed.
Elizabeth breathed a profound sigh of relief. Her little darlings had come through.
"Those flowers are just like the ones Thad brought Mom. You must'a bought 'em at the same place."
"I could have killed him."
Now, it was easy to laugh at what Matt had said a few hours earlier. But when it had happened, it hadn't been very funny. Elizabeth had hoped the ground would open up and swallow her.
Adam smiled at her over their candlelit table. "I knew it made you uncomfortable, but I saw the humor in it." He twirled his brandy snifter. "Can't say the same for Mr Randolph. He didn't crack a smile."
"Oh, don't mind him," Elizabeth said with a negligent wave of her hand. "Sometimes he comes across as being austere. Actually he's very nice. And great with my children."
"Only with your children?"
She lowered her eyes quickly. "We, Thad and I, are just good friends." And weren't they? Why, then, had she felt so guilty about being swept down the front walk to Adam's sleek foreign car parked at the curb and leaving Thad behind to baby-sit for her? There was no reason on earth why she should feel bad about it. He had volunteered to baby-sit, hadn't he? She hadn't twisted his arm.
Adam was enough of a gentleman to let the subject drop before it got too personal and signaled the hovering waiter to refill their coffee cups. Adam was a gentleman about everything. Elizabeth had feared that after such an inauspicious beginning, the evening would turn out to be a total disaster. She had to credit him with turning it around. He'd been affable and charming about the whole thing.
"I thought we'd check out the competition tonight," he had told her when they were en route to one of the city's posh restaurants. "I've thought about hiring this chef away from here and installing him in one of my hotels. Let's give him a secret audition."
Dinner had been a success. He had ordered the wine according to her entrée selection. The appetizers had been tasty, the sauces superb, the vegetables crisp, the dessert sumptuous. Adam directed the conversation to a variety of topics, which she also found interesting. He invited her to join him on the dance floor and they moved together well.
When he complimented her on her talent, she explained, "I took dancing until I graduated from high school. I loved it."
"What about your sister?"
The animosity that had crackled between Lilah and Adam the first time they met in Fantasy had rekindled when he noticed her coming down the stairs of Elizabeth's house. They had exchanged civil hellos, but their mutual dislike was palpable.
"Lilah didn't like dancing," Elizabeth told him now. "She was more into sports."
"Football and ice hockey, no doubt."
Elizabeth laughed. "Not quite. Tennis, softball, track. She was always more competitive than I, and somewhat of a tomboy."
"That I can believe," he had said under his breath as he led her back to their table.
Now, as they finished their coffee, Elizabeth wondered how this relaxed evening would end. She didn't have long to wonder. While they waited for the parking valet to bring his car around, Adam curled his hand around her upper arm.
"Is there any reason for you to rush home?"
Her insides had been warmed by the expensive vintage wine, the delicious food, the rich dessert. Her senses were pleasantly humming, like the strings of a violin beneath a gifted maestro's touch. Her escort was as handsome as a movie idol and was smiling at her with an unmistakable hint of intrigue. She felt beautiful, light-headed, and light-hearted. For once in her life, she longed to be reckless, to be swept headlong into a madcap love affair.