Page 69 of Second Round

I bit back my anger. “Wendy, that’s ridiculous. Leo has a paid babysitter, she’s here too. Nobody dates a woman for daycarepurposes.”

She rolled her eyes at my naiveté. “Oh really? Single mothers aren’t exactly an eligible man’s first choice for girlfriends. And haven’t you heard about those perverts who date women to get at theirdaughters?”

“Um, Wendy, calm down.” This was so ridiculous that I was beyond anger now and tempted to laugh. Yet I couldn’t ignore the underlying insult: nobody would want to date me without a hiddenagenda.

And then the man himselfwalkedin.

“Hey, Jackie. I got off early.” Leo leaned in and did the double-cheek kissing thing, which I had finally mastered: right cheek first. With Charlotte here we’d fallen into an oddly domestic arrangement. Noelle brought Charlotte here each morning and left once Leo arrived. Then he stayed for dinner, and we did things with the kidsafterwards.

Wendy’s eyes were practically popping out of her head. Admittedly, Leo did look hot. He filled out business casual khakis with his strong thighs and muscular butt. And the sight of his broad chest in a polo shirt was raising the summer temperature in the hallway. Wendy made an unconscious fanningmotion.

“Uh, Wendy Harris. Leo Gauthier,”Isaid.

“Hello, Leo,” Wendy said. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard all about you from Jackie, ofcourse.”

More like she’d pried information from my son and then tried to confirm it with me. Leo greeted her politely and listened to her long explanation of how her husband’s company had done up his apartment. And how Wayne had given me the job even though I had zeroexperience.

“Ahhh, then I have you to thank for meeting Jackie,” Leo said. Which was only the perfect response. “And she did a wonderful job, so your husband can recognizetalent.”

That personal compliment made Wendy flush. “Well, I have to go now. You two enjoy yourself. It’s very cozy here. Like you’re one big happyfamily.”

I fought the urge to harm Wendy slowly and messily on her beloved beige Persian rug. While the situation looked domestic, it wasn’t really. I regularly reminded myself what Leo had said: he wasn’t the type to get serious andsettledown.

Thankfully, Wendy left. Leo went off to find Charlotte. And I went to finishcooking.

At dinner, Leo always sat in Brent’s chair, which felt weird. But Charlotte filled in anyconversationalgaps.

“Did you know that Hannah taught Minx atrick,Papa?”

“What trick is that, Hannah?” heasked.

“Oh, I can get her to stand on her hind legs to get atreat.”

“It’s stupendous,” Charlotte said. Leo and I smiled at each other across the table. “Can we get acattoo?”

“I told you, I can’t take care of a cat during the hockey season, I’m awaytoomuch.”

Charlotte looked up at me from under her blonde bangs, no doubt hoping that I would jump in and offer to feed any and all felines Leo owned. But it was really up to him. He wasn’t a pet kind of guy. Besides, I didn’t even know exactly where I’d belivingnext.

A sad silence followed. Then Hannah’s face lit up. “Oh, you know what you could do? You could foster a cat. They have cats that need extra care before they can be adopted. You could get a cat for the summer and lookafterit.”

“Oh, wow!” Again this adoring look came over Charlotte’s face, and Hannah beamed. My daughter thrived under all this admiration. “That is the best idea ever. Can we dothat,Papa?”

Leo’s forehead creased. “I don’t know. You’re spending a lot of time here, are you ready to stayhomenow?”

Charlotte squinted, clearly trying to figure out which option would give her a better chance to getacat.

“We could just go and have a look,” Hannah suggested. She was a devil in patterned leggings. Charlotte and Leo would never leave a shelter without a cat. “My friend’s mom is a volunteer at this place in Vancouver. We couldallgo.”

“Hannah, please. Don’t pressure Leo. A cat is a lot ofresponsibility.”

Unfortunately Minx was visible on the living room couch. She was lying on her back with four paws in the air and looked like as much responsibility as acushion.

“Please, Papa. We could just look.” Charlotte had turned up her full adorableness, her eyes were wide and liquid and her voice was sugar-sweet. Tristan was a ninja master of pleading, but he had nothingonher.

The normally calm, cool Leo seemed to be breaking. There was a brief silence before he cavedcompletely.

“Okay, we can take a look. But that doesn’t mean we’re gettingacat.”

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