Mom In The Middle

But from Shorty’s observations, it would take even more to earn Abby’s. To quote Shorty, his daughter was “madder than a wet hen.” Twenty-four hours earlier she’d learned Guy’s identity from the store manager instead of from him directly. When he’d mentioned the situation to his sister on their nightly call, she’d burst into snorts of laughter.

He could just imagine Casey wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes as she administered a dose of sibling wisdom.

“I adore you, big bro, but in some areas you’re pretty dense, which is why Dad’s going to give me your job one day.” Her chuckle carried over the phone line. “Just because your five sisters think you hung the moon, it doesn’t naturally follow that every woman will love you like we do.”

He shook off the memory of the wisecrack. He didn’t expect every woman to love him, but something about Abby Cramer made him want to be liked, at least a little bit.

The front door creaked open, a signal that she was home much earlier than the day before. Guy made a mental note to oil the hinge, and then quickly changed his mind. Until she’d forgiven his failure to disclose, he probably needed a warning sign that she was in the house.

“Hey, Daddy,” she called.

“In the kitchen, baby girl.”

Guy lifted the stepladder, carried it through the entry leading to the darkened garage and pulled the door closed behind him. He’d noted earlier that the fluorescent ceiling bulbs were burned out, the overhead door opener was broken and the ventilation was insufficient for the cans of paint stacked on the ancient cinder-block shelves.

“What’s he doing here again today, Dad?”

Abby’s voice carried through the hollow-core door. Guy grimaced at the question that sounded more like an accusation.

“He came back to help me hang the ceiling fan.” Guy smiled as Shorty defended his presence.

“Looks to me like he did more than help. You let him take over another one of our projects.”

“That’s not quite true. I gave all the instructions and handed him the parts and he managed the rest without too much difficulty. He has apprentice potential, but not much.”

“Well, nothing’s wrong with the apprentice you already have, Daddy. Me.”

Guy heard the possessiveness in Abby’s voice, recognized it as the same tone Casey took with their father when she was vying with her older siblings for a share of his attention. Guy’s natural reaction when Casey got that way was to tell her to suck it up and wait her turn. Somehow he didn’t think that was the correct approach with Abby, an only child who’d probably never had to compete for her father’s time.

He heard the rumbling of Shorty’s lowered voice and stepped closer to the door. Eavesdropping. Casey would call him a jerk and pinch him till he yelped.

“Honey, you have zero time for all the repairs and improvements this house needs and I thought it would be nice if your mama came home to find some of those things finished. I wouldn’t admit it to him just yet, but he seems like a nice enough Christian fella. If he wants to help an old man out, what’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t you see what he’s up to, Daddy? That horse’s behind is just doing all this to stay on our good side so we won’t sue his store over Mama’s accident.”

“So what if he is. He’ll find out soon enough that we’re not that kind of people. Besides, as much as I love Dillon, it’s nice to have some conversation with a guy who’s not wearing a drool bib. Now, come hug your old man and tell me what you’re doing home so early.”

Guy stamped hard on the wooden step and rattled the loose knob to announce his approach. The brown eyes that greeted him were…different. Her mother’s eyes. Stern. Abby had actually called him a horse’s behind! Worse yet, she seemed determined to remain angry with him, something he’d rarely experienced, and couldn’t accept.

“How do you like the fan?” He used the cajoling tone that never failed to work with his sisters.

She turned her face toward the slowly rotating blades, giving him a moment to appreciate her clear skin, the natural blush of her cheeks that were round, like her son’s.

Abby studied the new fixture. Except for the twinkling piece of stained glass dangling from the end of the chain, it looked just like the picture on the box.

“Not bad,” she muttered. Not exactly praise for a job well done but it was the best she intended to give under the circumstances. Abby knew she’d never be able to speak her mind with her father sitting there like this interloper’s begrudging champion.

“Dad, would you mind getting me a change of clothes for Dillon?” She needed to get him out of the room. “That little pair of denim overalls and a clean T-shirt would be nice.”

“Where is he? Is anything wrong?”

“Everything’s fine,” she assured her father. “The day care called and he got fruit punch down the front of his shirt today. I thought I’d pick you up first then we’d change Dillon at the day care and go to the hospital before dinner.”

“Sure. That’ll be a nice surprise for Sarah.”

“Speaking of nice surprises,” she turned to Guy. “That certainly was a breathtaking arrangement the store sent yesterday, and I noticed you personally signed the card. Of course, you hardly know our family, or you’d understand we’re simple folks. The five-dollar bouquet we took her made my mother just as happy.”

“Abby’s right. My bride has always appreciated small pleasures. A good thing since that’s about all we’ve been able to afford most of our lives. So she was tickled pink by that big crystal vase of flowers.” Her father held out his hand. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Guy accepted the grip. “Absolutely. We need to get started on that list if you want everything shipshape before Mrs. Reagan comes home.”

“I’ll just get Dillon’s things together, then.”

When her daddy was out of earshot, Abby turned to Guy, no longer putting on a happy face.

“You can drop the helpful hardware man act. I’m on to you.”

“Meaning?” He leveled wide, innocent eyes on her that she bet worked like a charm with the adoring females in his life.

“Meaning, I know you’re not just an H&H employee, you’re the owner. And you’re not just worried about my family, you’re covering for your own.”

“Guilty as charged on all counts.” He nodded.

The speech she’d practiced on the drive home flew out the window on the breeze from the new fan.

“That’s right. My family owns the stores and it’s my job to protect our investment.”

“So you admit all this help you’ve been offering is just an act.”

“No way.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me who you were when we first met?”

“I didn’t really think it was important to give you my résumé when your mother was lying on the floor of my store.”

Ouch, he had her there.

“Besides my parents have raised us to keep our personal business private, so it’s not like I have OWNER on the license plate of my company car. The employees know who I am, it’s not necessary for every customer to know, too.”

She still had reason for her righteous indignation. Didn’t she?

“But your customers should know your promise to take care of my mother’s medical needs was just PR. She believed you when you said everything would be covered by Hearth and Home or she’d never have agreed to that expensive private ambulance service.”

“Abby.” He lowered his chin; his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry I’ve given you the impression that I’m a dishonest person, but I assure you I didn’t lie about the medical coverage. You don’t need to worry about the bills. I give you my word on that.” He held his hand out as he’d done with her father a couple of minutes earlier.

She felt like a day-old balloon with a pinprick, as all the air seeped out of her argument that he was up to no good. She accepted his hand. A man’s grip, warm and solid and strong. A very different touch than she’d ever felt holding hands with Phillip.

“I apologize,” she said simply, lost for the proper words after impugning his integrity.

“Apology accepted.” He let her off the hook but held on to her hand. “And please accept mine for not introducing myself properly. Dad’s taught us to keep a low profile with customers, but it was never my intention to hide my identity.”

“I see.” She nodded and eased her hand out of his warm grip. “Now what’s all this about a list?” She changed the subject.

He fished an index card covered in her father’s handwriting from his back pocket.

“Shorty and I wrote up a list of all the repairs you two have been planning to make. I really need to get out of the new store manager’s way and let her run things on her own, so I have some time on my hands before I have to turn over the quality phase of the project to my kid sister, Casey. Believe it or not I really enjoy your dad’s company. He reminds me a lot of one of my uncles and I’d like to help take care of these repairs, if you don’t disapprove.”

Abby glanced at the list, all things she had good intentions of doing one day. Her heart sank just a bit at the thought of missing out on spending this time with her father. The MS was so unpredictable. He could be able one day and bedridden the next. She’d already found out what it was to forever lose precious time with a man she’d loved. She didn’t want to waste a single day of the allotment she had left with her father.

God was unpredictable. She never knew when He would strike.

“These are all things my daddy and I wanted to do together.” She pouted, knowing she probably sounded like a brat.

“Even better. If you have any free time to join us, just grab a hammer and help out.”

Now that things were going his way again, his engaging blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and Abby began to understand why the women in his family had spoiled this guy rotten.

Chapter Four

“So, I can have everything wrapped up and be in Austin next week. It’s almost time to start the handoff, you know.” Casey’s voice buzzed across the phone line reminding Guy of their time line.

Not that he needed reminding.

He looked at the calendar above his desk. As usual, the Warden, as the Hardy clan called Casey, was in control and ahead of schedule. She couldn’t let a deadline slip. Ooooh noooo. How was it possible that the baby sister he loved more than life could leave him warmhearted and clenched-fisted at the same time? She’d been breathing down his neck since they were kids, competing with him at every turn, determined to best him at his own game.

His parents had never had to challenge their only son. That was Casey’s personal mission.

He’d joined the swim team and she’d taken up high diving. He’d gotten voted most likely to succeed; she’d been elected class president. He’d gotten some assistance at the local community college; she’d earned a full scholarship to the University of Iowa. The board had offered him an executive position after seven years; she’d won her title after five.

But he had the plum, the job she’d wanted. When the board had voted on expansion, Guy’s business degrees and years of experience had made him their first choice. Casey had taken it remarkably well, then had promptly set a course to study world-class quality processes. He knew it was just a matter of time before she proposed a new security structure that would shake up the way they did business. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it would be as much to nip at Guy’s heels and impress their father as it was to improve corporate work processes.

His youngest sister thrived on competition. Guy sympathized for any man who fell for her quick wit and easy smile. The combination masked the sharpshooter nature and workaholic tendency that would undoubtedly intimidate the poor guy who found himself in love with Rebecca Thelma Casey Hardy one day.

He picked up his cup of ice, rattled a cube into his mouth and chewed with gusto.

“Alexander Theodore Guy Hardy, stop crunching ice in my ear. Are you even listening to me?”

“You’ve given me this lecture so many times I can recite it in my sleep. Gimme a second here, I’m looking at my schedule.”

Scanning the calendar, he grabbed an orange marker off his desk and drew a dotted line through the next four weeks and circled Mother’s Day. At best Sarah Reagan would be out of rehab by that time. He and Shorty had crossed a small project off their list every few days. Now it was time to tackle the big stuff that would make the decades-old, drab little home more accessible for Shorty’s old wheelchair and the walker Sarah would undoubtedly need for a while.

“Thanks for being ready to move things up but I don’t need you that soon,” he muttered into the handset cradled between his ear and shoulder. “In fact, I’m thinking of pushing my departure date out a bit.”

Casey was silent. A bad sign. Guy hurried on.

“I’m enjoying the weather here. I might take a few days off and do some fishing.”

“Where?” She snorted, an unflattering sound that had always annoyed their mother. “Since when does any game fish besides a trout or a red appeal to a salt-water snob like you? Aren’t you all hot to get to Galveston to try out the new waders I gave you for your birthday?”

“Hey, there’s some decent-size largemouth in Lake Travis. Thought I’d spend a week checking out the local honey holes.”

“Then I should come on down early to keep an eye on things while you’re away.”

“Casey, give it a rest.” He knew she wouldn’t be placated easily. Well, he wasn’t prepared to give her all the details, just enough to make her back off. “I need to hang around until the woman who broke her hip in the store is out of the rehab hospital and back on her feet. It just wouldn’t be right for me to leave before this situation is settled.”

“It figures.” He could hear the disapproval in her voice. “You’ve found another cause. Dr. Guy has a new patient to save.” While his other sisters praised his willingness to give his time to help people in need, Casey saw it as a weakness. A veil over the voids in his own life. Sometimes he thought she might be onto something. But mostly he realized it was just one more of her tactics to goad him into a challenge.

“This cause is probably in her seventies and she found me, remember?” he reminded Casey, knowing she already had the details noted and memorized.

“Meanwhile I’m just supposed to cool my heels, I suppose?”

“Why don’t you call the gaggle and scare up a shopping trip?” He referred to the term their mother used for her five daughters. “I’m sure there must be yet another navy-blue Brooks Brothers suit out there reserved for you, Warden. But why don’t you try a departure from the Iowa Department of Corrections uniform for a change?”

“Very funny, but it so happens I’ve lost a few pounds and could use some new clothes. Maybe I will see what the girls are up to.”

“That’s the spirit. Part with some of that obscene salary the company is paying you.”

“Mind your own business.” It was the same answer she gave him every time he suggested that she enjoy life a bit and put some of the small fortune she was earning to good use. Heaven forbid she should do anything fun or philanthropic.

“It was just a suggestion, corkscrew,” he poked her sore spot.

“That’s it. This conversation has come to an end.”

He smiled, mission accomplished. “Talk to you tomorrow night. I love you, Thelma.”

“Love you too, Theodore.”

Guy dropped the phone in the cradle, folded his hands behind his head and propped his feet against the edge of an open desk drawer in the Heart and Home security office. He pushed the toes of his boots and rocked back in his leather chair to stare at the ceiling.

What he’d said was accurate. Mostly. He couldn’t leave town until Sarah and Shorty’s situation had improved. They were nice folks who needed a break and as a man learning to have a closer walk with the Lord, Guy had a responsibility to lend a helping hand.

But there was more. He wanted to do the same for their daughter, the real person in need from what he could tell. So far that had been next to impossible. He’d seen very little of Abby the past two weeks. Judging by what Shorty said, she put in a lot of hours between her teaching position and the volunteer work she did at their church. What little free time she had was devoted to her son and parents. Guy did what he could to help by staying out from under her feet and cleaning up after their repair efforts. This weekend that might be difficult since he and Shorty planned to get started on the new deck and wheelchair ramp.

Guy suspected Abby would likely be around the house. Surely she’d be taking a little downtime. He dropped his boots to the floor, rolled the chair back and pushed to his feet. Just in case, he’d make a few peace offerings to leave around the house.

There was no denying it. Abby wasn’t cutting the mustard in some area of life. She wasn’t just out of God’s favor. He was punishing her. What other reason could there be for all the troubles that had heaped upon her for the past two years?

Uncharacteristically grumpy on a sunny weekend morning, she stooped to pull a pair of jeans from the dryer. She smoothed and folded them atop the laundry-room counter, then placed them neatly on the stack.

“Oh, cut the pity party, Abigail,” Abby mimicked her mother’s stern voice as she reached into the warm appliance and drew out another item.

A nylon jersey had turned inside out during the wash. She flipped the maroon shirt so its right side was visible and hugged it to her body. She buried her face in the soft fading fabric, and swallowed down the sadness that threatened.

Phillip’s high-school football jersey. She wore it on nights when sleep was elusive. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and recognized a stirring of the anger she would forever feel at his decision to sign up for active duty. It still stung all these months later. How could he put himself in harm’s way in the name of duty to his country when she’d needed him so? When she’d been carrying their first child?

She pressed her face into the jersey and inhaled again. Her shoulders sagged with disappointment. Just like Phillip, his scent on the shirt was gone forever.

She should put it in a trunk and save it for Dillon along with the team photos of Phillip, the big number 30 on his chest. Some day Dillon would want to hear all about his daddy and Abby would be ready to tell her son everything about the shy young man who’d been her best friend for as long as she could remember.

She brushed the silky cloth against her cheek and exhaled a sigh. It was still too soon to lock her reminders of Phillip away in a box. She couldn’t do it. Not yet.

The thwack of wood striking wood resounded through the laundry-room window that led to the backyard. Abby laid the shirt gently on the counter and swept the curtain back, revealing the scene outside. A white pickup with an H&H sign on the door was backed into the yard, tailgate down. A load of lumber jutted from the bed.

Guy slid the planks out two at a time and tossed them into a pile by the driveway. The orange T-shirt was tight across his broad shoulders as he worked. He turned, swiped the back of a leather-gloved hand across his forehead. He was attractive, she had to admit it. But not in the youthful way Phillip had been. This man was at least fifteen years older, a slim version of Garth Brooks with his almost-shaved haircut and close-clipped goatee.

He bent to grasp two more boards, tipping his head to expose his crown. Abby felt a smile twist the corners of her mouth. Listening to her father replay the work done around their house by Guy Hardy for almost two weeks was wearing thin. Just like his hair. The discovery coaxed a chuckle that got her over the emotional moment. She turned back to her laundry, tossed the folded load into a plastic hamper and carried it across the oak floor into her bedroom.

As she did every weekend, she tucked clean clothes into drawers and opened her closet to hang her few dresses. Today she indulged her nostalgic mood a bit longer, taking a moment to admire the trophies on her top shelf. She trailed fingertips over a shiny engraved surface.

Barrel Racing Champion, High School Women’s Division.

Those were better days, long gone. She pressed the door closed on her memories and turned back to the hallway and her list of chores.

As she passed Dillon’s room, a quick glance confirmed he was still enjoying his morning nap, snuggled with Cookie Monster for company. Envious of his carefree slumber, she crept past his crib decorated with Sesame Street characters, flipped on the radio monitor and hooked it to the waistband of her favorite cutoff jeans. She pulled the door closed and headed for the dishes that perpetually waited in the kitchen. Through the sheer curtains above the sink, the men outside were visible.

Her daddy actually smiled, tilted his head back, clearly enjoying a private joke with his newfound helper. Abby tried to make out the words they exchanged. Even as she identified the feeling in the pit of her stomach, she knew it was unfair. Resentment. She resented the common ground the two had found. If her daddy regaled her with one more tale of their shared accomplishments, she’d cut loose with a scream that would send the neighbor’s dog running for cover.

She squashed the thought, knowing she should be grateful. Each time her dad most needed a distraction, Guy seemed to show up. But somehow that didn’t set well with her.

She turned both taps on full force and slipped her hands into bright yellow latex gloves. A squirt of lemon-scented soap produced a mound of bubbles. Some sprung free, floated above the water and danced on the gentle breeze from the fan overhead. The one Guy had hung.

A loud sigh escaped as Abby dragged the back of her forearm across her face to move sweat-dampened curls out of her eyes. Several heavy thumps on the steps outside preceded the creak of the garage door as it opened into the kitchen. She didn’t look up from her sudsy work.

“Good morning, Abby.” His friendly greeting seemed hesitant, as if he worried about intruding.

Good, he needed to respect her space. It was Saturday, the only day she had to be home alone with her men. She was busy, and she acknowledged again, bummed. Not at all in the mood for an interruption.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized. “I see you’re busy.”

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. Had she actually muttered that last thought out loud or was mind reading another one of his talents? Either way, it was creepy, which only seemed to agitate already sensitive nerves.

“Shorty would like a refill and I offered to get it for him.”

She turned to see Guy holding out her dad’s favorite mug.

“Mom would have cut his caffeine off hours ago, but I don’t see what it can hurt.” She angled her head toward the percolator where a red light blinked indicating the pot was still hot.

Guy leaned in the door, and set the mug on a nearby countertop. He tugged off his boots before stepping foot inside the kitchen, white crew socks peeking beneath his snug jeans.

“Backyard’s a little muddy after yesterday’s rain,” he explained.

She should appreciate his courtesy, but she clung to her martyrdom like a security blanket, turned her eyes back to the suds.

“Where’s Junior?”

“Napping. And it’s Dillon. He’s not named after his father,” she corrected, more sharply than necessary, sounding for all the world like her mother.

“Sorry,” Guy apologized. “It’s just the tag we use for the firstborn. Some days my oldest sister actually prefers Junior to her given name. It’s quite a mouthful.”

“And her name would be…?” She took the bait.

“Martha Elizabeth Meg Hardy-Waverly.”

“I agree. That is a mouthful.”

“My folks come from big families where it’s customary to pay tribute by recycling names. So all of us got saddled with a heavy load. The good news is we only tend to hear them back home.”

“And back home is…?” Abby waited, wondering why in the world she was encouraging a conversation she didn’t want.