Desperately Seeking Dad by Marta Perry Page A

neutral tone that she didn’t know what to make of his mood. “I came over to apologize.” It was better just to blurt it out. “I said things I shouldn’t have this afternoon, and I wouldn’t want you to…”
    The sentence died out. The problem was that she really did think she knew why he reacted to Davey as he did. She just didn’t have the right to say so.
    â€œForget it.” He stepped back, opening the door wider. “Come in. You don’t have to stand out there in the cold.”
    â€œI shouldn’t. I left Emilie with Kate, and I wouldn’t want to impose.” And going into his house felt like stepping too far into his life.
    He moved under the light. “I’ll bet Kate is having the time of her life. If you come back too soon, she’ll be disappointed.” He gestured. “Come in, please. We can’t talk with you hovering on the doorstep.”
    He was probably right about Kate. She stepped into the tiny hallway, and he closed the door behind her.
    â€œIn here.” He ushered her through an archway on the right. “Make yourself comfortable. I have coffee brewing.”
    Before she could protest, he’d vanished through the door at the back of the hall. She shrugged, turned to the archway, and stopped in surprise. Whatever she’d expected of Mitch’s house, it wasn’t this.
    Pale yellow walls and warm wooden wainscoting set off a living room that might have appeared in a country living magazine. The room was brightened with chintz; braided rugs accented the wide-paneled wooden floors. A fire burned cheerfully in the brick fireplace. It certainly didn’t look like any bachelor’s apartment she’d ever imagined.
    She crossed slowly to the fireplace. It took a moment to realize what was missing. There were no family pictures. Mitch had a family-oriented room without any hint of family. In fact, only one photo graced the mantel. She moved closer, holding out her hands to the blaze, and looked at it.
    Mitch, Brett and Alex. She should have expected that. They couldn’t have been much more than high school age in the picture, but she recognized each of them at first glance. The photo had been taken outdoors, with the three of them lined up on a log.
    â€œLooking at the three monkeys?” China mugs rattled on a tray as Mitch came in with the coffee. He put the tray on the coffee table and came to stand next to her.
    Too close, that was all she could think. He stoodtoo close for her peace of mind. He was dressed as casually as she’d ever seen him, in jeans and a cream sweater that made his skin glow. She couldn’t breathe without inhaling the faint musky scent of his after-shave lotion.
    She forced herself to concentrate on his words. “Why three monkeys? You mean like ‘hear no evil’?”
    â€œSomething like that. It’s what Brett always calls that picture.”
    Something almost sad touched his eyes as he looked at it, and she found herself wanting to know why. “You were pretty young there, weren’t you?”
    â€œTeenagers.” He shrugged. “Thought we had the world by the tail, like most kids that age.”
    He gestured toward the couch, and she sat, then wished she’d taken the chair instead. He left a foot between them when he sat beside her, but it was still too close.
    Businesslike, she reminded herself. You want to get things back on a nice, businesslike basis.
    Then he smiled at her over his coffee mug, and her heart thumped out of rhythm. They were alone together. Maybe she should have brought the baby, as a sort of buffer between her and Mitch.
    â€œI really am sorry.” She hurried into speech, because it seemed safer than sitting in silence.
    â€œForget it.”
    â€œHave you?”
    â€œNo,” he replied.
    She met his gaze, startled, and he gave her a rueful smile.
    â€œI decided I’d better not forget it, because I think