Her smile widened when he replied with same answer she had wanted to say. Her leg sawyed back and forth and her fingers pulled at a frayed string at the end of her shirt. “How’s Riki?”
“Mad at me because she wanted to sleep in the big bed.”
Alexis laughed. “Here?”
“Yes, I’m assuming that’s what she was talking about. How was work?”
“Busy, how about you?”
“Busy, and you’ll never guess what I did this evening.”
“What?”
“I made a house call for an elderly man with dementia.”
Alexis released a heartfelt smile, knowing that he had never made a house call in Chicago. “How did that go?”
“It was different, but it made me feel good to do it.”
“Thank you for the roses, they’re beautiful.”
“You’re welcome.”
Cory had to break the awkward silence. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” She wanted to ask him why the hell he didn’t just come over, but for whatever reason, she didn’t. She couldn’t make herself be that open just yet.
“I would love to meet you for lunch tomorrow, but I don’t think I’ll get the time. My weekend rendezvous caused me to get behind on all of my paperwork.”
“Yeah, I had a lot to do, too. I’m all caught up. How about you?”
“Getting there. Can I come over tomorrow after work?”
“You can come right now,” she joked, sort of.
“Don’t tempt me.”
“Yes. I would love for you to come over tomorrow. I’ll be home around six, maybe earlier.”
“Goodnight, Alexis.”
“Goodnight, Cory.”
Alexis woke with the same smile she’d fallen asleep with, ran the trail along the river, and had breakfast with her parents. Both Walt and Lola mentioned the happy mood, and the glowing in her skin. She blushed when Lola told her that love looked good on her. How could she be in a bad mood? Cory was coming over after work. That set her tone for the entire day. Normally, she spent her morning in front of a computer screen, sending prints to the photo lab the old-fashioned way, but not that day. She wanted to be behind the camera. That’s when she decided to pick Riki up and take her to lunch. Riki would love to go to April’s, she might even let her get a milkshake.
“I’m out of here for a while. You okay?” Alexis questioned Bernie.
Bernie looked up from a magazine, biting the top off a banana. “Yeah, bring me a cheeseburger.”
“Okay, Mia Martin should be here any second for a passport photo. That should be it until two.”
“Oh, and bring me some deep fried mushrooms.”
Alexis rolled her eyes and dialed Cory’s cell phone and then the office when he didn’t answer.
“Hey, Jackie. It’s Lex. Can I talk to Cory? It’ll only take a sec.”
“He’s with a patient. Can I take a message?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll talk to him later.” Cory wouldn’t mind. Maybe they would stop by and bring him some lunch, too. Making an illegal U-turn, Alexis drove through Cory’s neighborhood and right to his front door. She wondered about the well-kept yard, and whether or not he maintained it himself. He didn’t really strike her as the kind of guy that did much manual labor. She snickered while thinking the poor guy probably didn’t even know how to change his own oil. Maybe she’d teach him.
The happy smile Alexis had worn all day instantly fell away when Beth Regal answered the door. Riki left her corner and ran to Alexis with tears flowing down her little cheeks.
“What’s the matter, baby?” Alexis questioned. She scooped her up, instantly feeling irate at Beth. She was three for God’s sake.
“She was in the corner being punished,” Beth said in the grouchy tone Alexis remembered from when she was a kid. Alexis invited herself in, causing Beth to back up.
“Me not wike a peas,” Riki whimpered while her litter fingers swiped tears from her eyes.
“She wouldn’t eat her lunch,” Beth informed her with crossed arms and lowered eyebrows.
“That’s okay. I came to take her out for lunch. Where’s her shoes?” Alexis asked, her blood boiling in anger. For real? She made her stand in the corner for not eating peas?
“I don’t think so. Mr. Baker never gave me permission to let her leave with anyone,” she replied with more attitude than Paige had sometimes. That could be a lot.
Alexis retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the office, shaking with anger. “Oh, I can call him. Hi Jackie, this is Alexis again. Is Cory still busy?” Alexis glared at Beth while she spoke, holding Riki on her hip.
“I’m sorry, Lex. He is. He should be about finished, though. I can have him call you.”
“Could you please go and see if he can come to the phone for two seconds? It’s really important.” Alexis waited for about a minute, pointing a death glare right at Beth.
“Lex, what’s wrong?” Cory answered, alarmed.
“Everything’s fine, Cory. I’m just calling to let you know that I just fired your babysitter.”
Silence held briefly in the air. “You…you fired my babysitter?”
“Yes, I fired your babysitter and I don’t care if that’s not okay. I did it anyway.”
“Um, okay… And where might my daughter be?” he questioned, amused.
“I have her. I’m taking her with me.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you in a little bit. I’ve got to go, I’m super busy right now.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
Alexis hung up and shifted Riki’s weight. “You can go. I’ll lock up.” She snapped at the hateful woman. Beth didn’t know what to say. She didn’t say one word. She snatched up her purse and her ugly jacket, stormed out, and slammed the door behind her.
“Her mad,” Riki suspected with a nod. Alexis’s smile immediately returned. How could it not? Alexis set her on the island separating the kitchen from the living room and agreed.
“Yes, she is mad, but that’s okay. You don’t have to stay with that old bag anymore.”
“Me will stay wif you.”
Alexis stuck two fingers in her ribs and Riki giggled, music to her ears. “Do you know what you’re doing to me, little girl? The same thing your daddy is doing,” she replied as she answered her own question. Alexis set her to the floor and looked around. “Can you go find you shoes?” Riki ran off and Alexis walked around, unable to control the urge to be nosy.
Cory’s house was small, but clean. Beth probably did that. Riki’s room was also neat and kept. The toddler bed explained why she wanted to sleep in the queen-sized bed at her house. At the end of the hall was a rather large bathroom. Alexis wasn’t expecting that. The urge to pick up the towel and dirty clothes three feet away from the hamper was too strong to ignore. She gathered them up and tossed them into the basket.
“Me find a shoes,” Riki called as she fell to her butt from…well, from nothing. She just fell.
Alexis laughed and picked her up. “Three-second rule. I think we better find shoes that cover your toes.”
“Me wike em.”
“I like them, too, but your toes will freeze off. We’ll put these in your bag and you can wear them when we get to my house.”
“And me show Misser Dog.”
“Yes, he’ll love them.”
Cory’s bed was unmade as well, but she did resist that impulse. After packing a few things for Riki, Alexis held her hand and walked her out. She could only hope that the town cop didn’t pull her over. She was only going a couple of blocks, but she was sure he wouldn’t agree with Riki not being in a car seat. She didn’t like it, either, but she didn’t really have a choice.
After a very long lunch with Riki, Cory stopped by the studio. Riki looked up from her job and ran to her dad when he tapped three knuckles to the wood and then entered.
“Hi, baby,” he said with his lips kissing her head. She instantly squirmed to get down.
“Me hav
e a do work,” she explained while getting back to her very important job.
Cory laughed and Alexis explained that she had driven her crazy wanting to work, too. Paige cut out a bagful of colored squares and Riki placed the correct colors in clear sandwich bags. “I asked her if she could help me work today and she has been as busy as a beaver, helping me out ever since.”
“Uh-uh and me have a get paid, too,” Riki chimed in without looking up from her tedious job at hand.
“Come here,” Cory coaxed with a big smile. Alexis was more than happy to fall into his arms. She missed him.
“What was that for?” she asked on his lips after five quick pecks.
“I’m trying like hell not to kiss you how I really want to in front of my daughter.
“How’s that working out for you?” She grinned.
“Not worth a damn.”
Cory let go of her hand and sat in the chair across from her desk. “So, Miss fire my babysitter. What do you propose we do with my daughter now while I work?”
“You’re a horrible person.”
“What?! Why? You fired her.”
“She’s an awful woman. That’s why you’re a horrible person. I wouldn’t leave Mr. Dog with that wench.”
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you make it sound.”
“It is. She punished her for not liking peas.”
“Okay, but you still didn’t answer my question. I hope you have a plan, I don’t really have a job where I can take her with me, and neither do you.”
“I’m going to run over to Sam’s—my sister—on my way home. She keeps Emily during the week for my niece. I’m hoping she’ll do it. Riki loved playing with her, and Sam is always doing something with her. She would love it out there. I’m pretty sure she’ll do it. How much do you pay?”
Cory laughed amused. “Two fifty a week, if that is not enough we can discuss it.”
Alexis’s eyes popped in surprise. “Two fifty a week?!” she asked, surprised. “I’ll do it for that.”
He laughed. “You’re hired, but I do require some fringe benefits on the side.”
“I’m afraid I have to charge extra for that.”
“I would pay extra for that.”
“I would pay you for that,” Alexis retorted with a grin.
“I’m sure we can work something out. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.”
“I don’t have a car seat. Can I stop and get yours?”
“Yes. You can. I’ll leave it unlocked.” Cory stood and kissed her with just a little tongue, leaving her wanting more. Riki said she was too busy working to kiss him and he left them with a very pleased smile.
Alexis gave up working way earlier than she should have. Riki was done and she wanted to go outside. They left before three in the afternoon and spent a good hour at Sam’s house. The two sisters sat on the porch steps while Riki and Emily buried treasure in the sandbox. Sam was delighted to keep Riki. She thought it would be good for both girls.
“You’re a lot nicer with Cory around now,” Sam admitted while she leaned back on one elbow.
Alexis looked back with a frown. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Lex, just that you appear to be very happy, that’s all,” Sam explained.
“But you said I was nicer. What the hell does that even mean? Are you saying I wasn’t nice before?”
“No, like you seem, I don’t know, free. Like a burden has been lifted, and I think getting it in has loosened you up a bit. You shouldn’t be responsible all the time.”
“Getting what in?—Oh my God. Never mind. We’re not going there.” That was the sucky part about having all of your siblings older than you. They all seemed like mother hens to Alexis, and Sam was no different. Seventeen years was a big age difference. “Come on Riki, let’s get out of here.”
“What, Lex? You think I don’t know what’s causing that glow? I know exactly what it is, and believe me, it’s not something the rest of us haven’t caught on to yet.”
“I’m not talking about your sex life, either. Let’s go, Rick?”
“We’ll see. Let’s wait and see how you act around him drunk Saturday night.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“I’m not. I’m very happy that you’re finally getting laid. It suits you.”
“I’ll talk to you later. I’m not sure if I will bring her or Cory will, but I feel so much better with her being here with you than that bitch Regal.”
“She already called Dad and told him how rude you were to her. He’s probably going to chew you a new one.”
“I don’t care. Who makes a three-year-old stand in the corner for not eating peas? I’ll take an ass chewing for her.”
“I think you’re in love with her, too.”
“I am. I don’t think I’ve ever been so mad in my life. I think I could have punched her in the face and not felt one bit of remorse.”
“Yup, you’re in love.”
Riki threw a tantrum, wanting to stay and play with “Emwy.” Explaining to her that she would come back in the morning was the same as telling her she’d be coming back next year. Alexis bribed her with chewing gum.
“Don’t swallow it,” she kept telling her through the rearview mirror.
“Me chew it up.”
“Okay, keep chewing it.”
Riki’s head started bobbing by the time Alexis pulled into her own drive. It was late for a nap, but she did want to grab a shower and do a drive-by on her legs before Cory got there. Maybe a short nap wouldn’t hurt.
“Where’s your gum?”
“In me belwy,” Riki told her matter of fact like, pointing one finger at her belly.
Alexis rolled her eyes and lifted her from the car seat. Why did little kids do that? “You weren’t supposed to swallow it, remember? You were supposed to chew it.”
“Me chewed it all up.”
Riki fell asleep on the floor with Mr. Dog while watching cartoons on Nickelodeon. That gave Alexis enough time to shower and make herself look nice for Cory. She woke Riki thirty minutes into her late nap. That didn’t go over well. She woke being one crabby little girl. Sitting her at the table with a box of old crayons and some blank paper helped for a little bit. She was fine until Alexis grabbed the permanent marker from her hand. She already had it long enough to color three circles up her right arm.
“Pwease,” she whined. “Me will wite it on a paper.”
“No, you can’t have this marker. It’s for big people. We’ll get you some markers for little girls.”
“A morrow?”
“Not tomorrow. You’re going to play with Emily tomorrow.”
Alexis had been in the middle of setting the table when Cory came in, dressed in jeans and a black tee shirt. He picked Riki up first, but then she remembered the toys in the den and was off to find them. Alexis was thankful for her better mood.
“You smell good,” Alexis confessed when Cory embraced her.
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about you today?”
“Hmm, I don’t know, tell me.”
“Once,” he joked. “How many times did you think about me?”
“All day,” she admitted while wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him like he’d wanted to earlier. The intimacy between the two of them was new for Alexis, and she sort of loved it. She loved his arms around her waist, holding her close to his body, she loved her arms around his neck, and she loved the way their mouths danced in unison with a kiss that lasted longer than she’d meant for it to.
“Damn, you don’t have to beg for it. I’ll give it to you.”
“Shut up. Go get Riki, it’s time to eat. Wash her hands, she was looking for something under the porch.”
“What?” Cory questioned.
“You don’t want to know.”
“What?” Cory questioned again with a curious frown, watching Alexis set the table.
“Dog poop.”
“Wh
y?”
“Didn’t ask. I wasn’t encouraging that one.”
“Smart thinking.”
Alexis loved this. Like really, really loved it. Who would have thought she would find this much joy in eating cheeseburgers and french fries with a family—her family. Alexis explained the Sam situation. “It’s a little out of your way, but not too bad from here, more if you’re at your house in town. I don’t open tomorrow so I’ll take her in the morning.”
“You don’t have to do that, Lex.”
“Why? Because it makes more sense for you to wake her up at seven? I want to or I would have never fired Cruella De Vil.”
“You’re a mean girl.”
“Me a mean grill, too. Me belwy too full,” she added.
“You eat your broccoli first, you didn’t even touch it,” Alexis coaxed while pushing broccoli into a pile with her fork.
“Me not wike it.”
“You didn’t try it.”
“Lex,” Cory said, wanting her attention.
“What?” she questioned with a frown.
Cory tilted his head and smiled. “Me not wike it, either.”
“Seriously? Neither one of you eat broccoli?”
“I tasted it. It’s in my napkin,” Cory confessed.
“Oh my God. Go bathe Riki.”
“Let’s clean up first. Come on, I’ll help you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to. I learned this thing in a S-E-X class once,” Cory explained. He spelled out the word he didn’t want Riki to repeat. “I learned that a man gets more action in the bedroom if he dries the dishes, or something like that.”
Alexis laughed and leaned into him. “I’m pretty sure you’re okay there. You don’t have to worry about the action in there. You can go bathe Riki.”
“I want to help. I love flirting with you while we wash the dishes together. You should get a dishwasher.”
“Well that was a contradiction. How’re you going to flirt with me if I get a dishwasher?”
“They hum on the spin cycle,” Cory teased with a flirtatious kiss to her neck, backing her against the sink.
“Will you behave? You’re not much help,” Alexis accused while her hands pushed his teeth away from her neck.
The chair squealed across the hardwood. “Me helpa you, Wexis.”