the seat. She arrowed David and Maddie a suspicious glance. “Sorry about her,” she apologized. “This is her first time traveling without our mom.”
“I like how your hair sticks up,” Katy said boldly to David. She tugged at her own hair, trying to make it spike like his.
“Sit down,” Rebecca repeated. “Or I’m gonna tell Dad on you when we get to Paris.”
Katy wrinkled her nose. “Do you think that stupid Trixie will be there?”
“Probably, she’s his girlfriend now.”
Katy blew a raspberry.
“Come on, sit down,” Rebecca begged.
“You’re not the boss of me.” Katy tossed her head.
Gosh, Maddie thought, if she had a dollar for every time she’d heard that line she’d own Bill Gates.
David leaned forward and spoke softly to the little girl. “The plane’s about to take off, Katy, and you don’t want to get thrown out of your seat. I’d hate to see you skin your knee. Why don’t you sit down and put on the seat belt until we’re airborne?”
“Okay,” Katy said easily, turned around and plunked down. Rebecca shot him a grateful glance.
David looked over at Maddie. He was still grinning. She realized she had never seen him looking relaxed.
“Cute kid,” he said.
“You’re good with her.”
“She likes male attention. Sounds like she doesn’t get enough of daddy’s time.”
“That sounds familiar,” Maddie muttered and it came out harsher than she intended.
“Strike a nerve?”
She shrugged. She wasn’t about to tell him about her daddy issues. It was none of his damned business.
David let it go and nodded at the back of the girls’ seats. “I’m guessing their names could just have easily been Maddie and Cassie.”
“They’re not twins.”
“You two don’t act like twins anyway.”
“I know. Cassie is fun and sexy and charming and I’m stodgy and anxious and overly cautious.”
“I never said that.”
“I’m sure, like everyone else, you prefer her company to mine.” Maddie knew she sounded like she was feeling sorry for herself, and maybe she was a little. Her life had been spent not only in her sister’s shadow but being there to catch Cassie when her escapades went awry. Just once, she would like to have her own limelight, her own adventures.
“No,” David said. “I don’t think that. I think Cassie is flighty and irresponsible and self-centered.”
“Hey, no bad-mouthing my twin. She’s not self- centered. She just doesn’t stop and think how her actions affect others.”
“Isn’t that what it means to be self-centered?”
“You don’t understand her.”
“So help me to understand.”
Maddie told him then, about Cassie’s accident and how it had shaped both of their lives. She told him about her vow to God.
“Cassie was in a coma for three months and in a rehab hospital for six months after that. She had to learn how to walk all over again.”
“The accident on the pond wasn’t your fault,” he said.
“Yes it was. My mother told me to watch her.”
“How come your mother always put you in charge? How come she wasn’t the one watching Cassie?”
Maddie shrugged. “Mama is as scatterbrained as my sister. They’re two peas in a pod. They’re so caught up in having fun and being creative they forget about the mundane but essential things in life.”
“Like?”
“For instance, Mom was famous for her odd-ball breakfasts, especially after Dad left. Cold pizza. A can of beans. Whatever was in the cupboard. If we were lucky, she would throw eggs in a plastic bowl, nuke them and call them scrambled. Of course, they exploded and guess who had to clean egg gunk off the inside of the microwave.”
“Yuck.”
“Could have been worse. At least she took the eggs out of the shells first.”
“I can just see an industrious young Maddie scrubbing off egg plaster. I bet you wore rubber gloves and an apron.”
“How did you know?”
“It fits.” He smiled and she felt herself relenting toward him. Okay the guy
“I like how your hair sticks up,” Katy said boldly to David. She tugged at her own hair, trying to make it spike like his.
“Sit down,” Rebecca repeated. “Or I’m gonna tell Dad on you when we get to Paris.”
Katy wrinkled her nose. “Do you think that stupid Trixie will be there?”
“Probably, she’s his girlfriend now.”
Katy blew a raspberry.
“Come on, sit down,” Rebecca begged.
“You’re not the boss of me.” Katy tossed her head.
Gosh, Maddie thought, if she had a dollar for every time she’d heard that line she’d own Bill Gates.
David leaned forward and spoke softly to the little girl. “The plane’s about to take off, Katy, and you don’t want to get thrown out of your seat. I’d hate to see you skin your knee. Why don’t you sit down and put on the seat belt until we’re airborne?”
“Okay,” Katy said easily, turned around and plunked down. Rebecca shot him a grateful glance.
David looked over at Maddie. He was still grinning. She realized she had never seen him looking relaxed.
“Cute kid,” he said.
“You’re good with her.”
“She likes male attention. Sounds like she doesn’t get enough of daddy’s time.”
“That sounds familiar,” Maddie muttered and it came out harsher than she intended.
“Strike a nerve?”
She shrugged. She wasn’t about to tell him about her daddy issues. It was none of his damned business.
David let it go and nodded at the back of the girls’ seats. “I’m guessing their names could just have easily been Maddie and Cassie.”
“They’re not twins.”
“You two don’t act like twins anyway.”
“I know. Cassie is fun and sexy and charming and I’m stodgy and anxious and overly cautious.”
“I never said that.”
“I’m sure, like everyone else, you prefer her company to mine.” Maddie knew she sounded like she was feeling sorry for herself, and maybe she was a little. Her life had been spent not only in her sister’s shadow but being there to catch Cassie when her escapades went awry. Just once, she would like to have her own limelight, her own adventures.
“No,” David said. “I don’t think that. I think Cassie is flighty and irresponsible and self-centered.”
“Hey, no bad-mouthing my twin. She’s not self- centered. She just doesn’t stop and think how her actions affect others.”
“Isn’t that what it means to be self-centered?”
“You don’t understand her.”
“So help me to understand.”
Maddie told him then, about Cassie’s accident and how it had shaped both of their lives. She told him about her vow to God.
“Cassie was in a coma for three months and in a rehab hospital for six months after that. She had to learn how to walk all over again.”
“The accident on the pond wasn’t your fault,” he said.
“Yes it was. My mother told me to watch her.”
“How come your mother always put you in charge? How come she wasn’t the one watching Cassie?”
Maddie shrugged. “Mama is as scatterbrained as my sister. They’re two peas in a pod. They’re so caught up in having fun and being creative they forget about the mundane but essential things in life.”
“Like?”
“For instance, Mom was famous for her odd-ball breakfasts, especially after Dad left. Cold pizza. A can of beans. Whatever was in the cupboard. If we were lucky, she would throw eggs in a plastic bowl, nuke them and call them scrambled. Of course, they exploded and guess who had to clean egg gunk off the inside of the microwave.”
“Yuck.”
“Could have been worse. At least she took the eggs out of the shells first.”
“I can just see an industrious young Maddie scrubbing off egg plaster. I bet you wore rubber gloves and an apron.”
“How did you know?”
“It fits.” He smiled and she felt herself relenting toward him. Okay the guy
Similar Books
