Shirley Jump – The Instant Family Man (страница 2)

Maddy’s lower lip quivered. “How long’s a little bit?”

Peyton glanced at Cassie. These were the days that made it hard. Explaining to Maddy that just because she walked out the door didn’t mean she was going to disappear forever. “Faster than you can watch Frozen.”

“And we’ll sing ‘Let it Go’ together, munchkin.” Cassie grinned at Maddy. “I’ll dub you honorary princess for the morning, too.”

“Okay,” Maddy said, though there wasn’t much enthusiasm in her voice. She dropped back onto her Barbie-riddled carpet space and went back to her dolls. Every couple of seconds, her gaze flicked to Peyton, and her shoulders tensed with worry.

Cassie and Peyton crossed to the other side of the bed and lowered their voices again. “You’re doing the right thing, Pey. That poor little thing needs family and you need help. And if that foolish man can’t be bothered to spend time with that precious gift from heaven...” Cassie cast a smile in Maddy’s direction. “I’d be glad to keep an eye on that little doll.”

“Thanks, but you have your hands full with that basketball team you gave birth to and everything else you’re doing. Besides, it’s his responsibility to do the right thing.” And the sooner Peyton got there to make sure Luke did that, the better. Peyton grabbed her purse, then darted over to plant a quick kiss on Maddy’s cheek. “See you in a little bit, sweetie. Be good for Cassie.”

“I will.” Maddy’s eyes were round and full, but she pressed her lips together and affected a brave front.

“A little bit,” Peyton said softly, ruffling Maddy’s curls. “I promise.”

At the door, Cassie drew Peyton into a tight, quick hug. “Good luck. And go easy on Luke. He’s a flirt, for sure, but he’s always been a nice guy and maybe he had a good reason for what he did.”

“The only good reason is being stuck in a cave for the past four years. Something I can arrange, if need be.” Peyton grinned.

“I hope you’re only half kidding,” Cassie called after her. Peyton just grinned again and slipped out the door.

But when she climbed into her car and started the engine, the frustration and worry she’d been feeling for weeks flared anew. Luke Barlow was the town’s most eligible bachelor for as long as anyone could remember—one of those charming, handsome, could-do-no-wrong playboys—but who had never had anything to do with his daughter. A daughter who had lost her mother, and desperately needed a caring father.

Peyton remembered those tearful conversations with Susannah, who said she told Luke about the baby the minute she’d taken the home pregnancy test. When he’d told her she was on her own, nineteen-year-old Susannah had left town, leaving behind her chaotic childhood home—the Reynolds parental storm mitigated too rarely by visits to grandma’s when they were little—determined to raise her baby alone. Peyton had followed soon after, switching colleges to be near her sister, and working part-time all through school, helping Susannah financially, emotionally—in all the ways Luke should have and never did.

How could anyone not want to be a part of Maddy’s life? From the second she had held her niece in her arms, Peyton had fallen in love. She’d spent every spare minute with Susannah and Maddy, even moving Susannah into her condo in Baltimore so she could be sure they had a solid roof over their heads and a full refrigerator. It had been odd at first, coming home to the responsibilities of a full house when she was barely a grown-up herself, but Peyton had found she liked having a pseudo-family. And though her relationship with her sister had been rocky at best—the two of them butting heads daily on Susannah’s refusal to give up her partying habits—the blooming bond with Maddy had been the highlight of Peyton’s days.

How long’s a little bit?

The heartbreaking words from her niece, so unsure and lost in the wake of her mother’s death, told Peyton that Maddy needed a father, now more than ever, and the days of Luke Barlow running around town, as footloose as a loose kite in the wind, were over.

Peyton double-checked the address, then drove the few miles across town to Luke’s house, located only a few blocks away from where the Barlow boys had grown up. She parked her car, strode up the walk, then pressed the doorbell, reminding herself to try to be calm, logical. To keep emotion out of it.

Uh, yeah, considering the riot in her gut right now, she had a better chance of being hit by a snowstorm.

The bell chimed, a dog barked, and then...nothing. Peyton waited in the hot North Carolina air, while the cicadas buzzed in the deep woods to the east side of the house.

Luke lived in a modest bungalow, which surprised her. A house smacked of dependability. A mortgage or a lease. Permanence. She would have never thought he would buy a house, much less live in one.

An old wooden swing much like the one Grandma Lucy had hung for Peyton when she was a little girl drifted in the breeze on ropes hanging from an oak tree just down the hill sloping away from the driveway. The painted white mailbox hoisted a bright red mail-to-take flag, while an audience of pansies waved in the shade underneath. The whole property seemed to beckon her back in time, to the days when life had been unfettered, uncomplicated.

She rang the bell again. Waited some more. The dog kept barking, but there was no movement from inside. A restored Mustang convertible sat in the driveway, like some throwback to the ’80s. Peyton shifted her weight, then pressed the bell one more time. If there was any justice in the world, Luke would have gotten bald and fat in the years since she’d last seen him.

The dog barked again, then shushed. A clatter of footsteps, and a moment later, the door was opened.

Luke Barlow stood on the other side, looking sleep-rumpled and scruffy with a five o’clock shadow dusting his chin. Her gut tensed, her breath caught. Definitely not bald or fat. At all. If anything, he looked better than he did when he was in high school, damn him.

“What can I do for you?” he said.

There wasn’t a hint of recognition in his eyes. She told herself she wasn’t disappointed. After all, she’d grown up a lot in the past five years, ditched the nerdy glasses and khaki pants for contacts and skirts. She’d let her hair grow long, made workouts a daily item on her to-do list and developed more curves than she’d had at graduation. When she was younger, she’d been the annoying little sister, while outgoing, flamboyant Susannah had always taken center stage. Now, though, she was an adult. A woman.

Hopefully, a woman to be reckoned with.

“I take it you don’t remember me,” she said. “I’m Peyton. Susannah Reynolds’s younger sister.”

Now recognition dawned in his eyes. His gaze swept over her, lit surprise in his features as he took in her dress, low heels, long hair. “Peyton? Peyton Reynolds? Holy hell, I haven’t seen you in years. What are you doing here?”

Luke’s deep Southern voice slid through her like honey drizzled over toast. Once upon a time, she’d had a crush on him. But that was a long time in the past, and a lot had happened in the years since. Except his damned voice still made parts of her warm.

She drew herself up. Calm, cool, collected, that was her. Maybe if she thought it enough, the words would be true. “I came by to...see you.”

She’d meant to say talk to you, but her eyes lit on Luke’s tall, trim frame, and the word stuttered into see. He was wearing a bathing suit, the dark blue trunks hanging low on his hips, exposing a defined, tan chest, with a scattering of dark hair running a tempting line down the center of his belly. Her gaze followed that line, then she caught herself and jerked her attention back to his face. Damn. What was wrong with her? She was no longer a silly schoolgirl with an unrequited teenage crush on the older captain of the football team.

He quirked a lopsided grin. Busted. “See me?”

“Talk to you.”

The dog took advantage of the open door and scampered onto the porch. Luke waved a hand at the dog. “Charlie, sit.”

The terrier glanced up at Luke, as if to say, Do I really have to? When Luke didn’t relent, the dog let out a sigh and plopped onto the porch. His tail swished against the wooden floor, hopeful, anxious. It took a second, but then Peyton remembered.

“Is that...” Peyton asked, as she leaned forward, peering at the lopsided brown ears, the big chocolate eyes, “...the same dog?”

A slow smile spread across Luke’s face. “You remember that?”

Oh, she remembered a lot of things about Luke. Some memories that made her heart trip, some that tripped her common-sense alarms. “I thought you said you were going to bring him to a shelter.”

Luke shared his smile with the dog, then shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a softy.”

Peyton’s doubts about bringing Luke into Maddy’s life eased a fraction. But only a fraction. Just because the man had kept the dog they’d rescued years ago didn’t make him a suitable parent. And if he wasn’t going to be a good father figure, she was damned well going to make sure he either signed over custody or at least paid child support. He owed Maddy that much, at a minimum. Susannah might have been easy on Luke, but her younger sister had no intentions of doing the same. She needed to keep all that in mind and not get distracted by feelings half a decade old.