On Any Given Sundae by Marilyn Brant

kids to bed and all?” he
asked.
    Tony laughed. “Look, Maria-Louisa does it all
by herself during the day. Every day. I’d give her the whole night
off three times a week if she asked for it. Once a month is
nothing.”
    Rob thought of the five children sound asleep
upstairs. Sammie, when Rob poked his head in on him an hour ago,
was actually snoring. And one of the triplets—Michael—was talking
to a PBS dragon in his sleep. It was kind of cute, he had to admit.
In a Family Channel sort of way.
    He got up to stretch his legs. “Hey, you feel
like cookies or ice cream or something? I can run out and pick up a
half-gallon or two for us.”
    “I’d love some, but aren’t you sick of that
sweet stuff after all the hours you spend scooping it up every
day?” Tony stared at him with one of his deep, penetrating gazes.
This question wasn’t intended to be literal.
    “Yes and no, Tony,” he admitted. “You know
how I like to talk to people, so that part of it has been fun. The
shop itself is running fine, and Elizabeth is so organized that we
have on hand anything we need days before we actually need it.”
    “Ah, yes. Elizabeth.”
    He groaned. “Oh, c’mon. Don’t start on me. I
can’t tell Mama the truth yet. That’s the part that hasn’t been
going so well. I mean, Elizabeth’s been awfully kind about helping
me fake this relationship, but soon Mama’s going to have to know
that it could never happen for real.”
    “Because?” Tony prompted.
    Man, let me count the ways . “Because
we’re not of the same type. She’s quiet and reserved and
straight-laced. A class act. I’m loud and extraverted and a little
on the wild side.”
    Tony indicated his agreement of that last
point.
    “She’s a brain who writes. I’m a jock who
does business. She wants to live out the rest of her life in
Wilmington Bay. I want to get the hell back to Chicago at the end
of the month, preferably sooner. She wants four kids, and I don’t
want any if I can help it—”
    “Whoa, big brother. Slow down.” Tony’s wide
eyes blinked at him. “You two talked about kids?”
    “Just theoretically.”
    “No, no, no . There’s no such thing
with women.” His brother crossed his arms. “Who brought it up? You
or her?”
    Rob thought back over their coffee shop
conversation a few weeks ago. “I did, I think.”
    Tony nodded. “Bad move, bro. You’ve got her
thinking and evaluating now. Plus, with all that playacting and
your lovey-dovey hand massaging… Don’t fool yourself, Rob. This may
be harder to break off than you think.”
    “Hey, I was totally open with my intentions.
I’ve never led her on with this in any way. She knows it’s a game.
I don’t think she’ll be heartbroken when it ends.”
    His brother laughed. “I don’t think she will
be either. I wasn’t talking about her. I was talking about you .”
    “What? That’s—that’s—”
    “Not nearly as crazy as you may believe,”
Tony finished for him, although that wouldn’t have been how he’d
have chosen to end the sentence.
    He and Frizzy Lizzy together? For real?
    He thought about her kindness to his family,
her understated prettiness, her sweet nature and the way she was
slowly relaxing around him. He remembered her soft, soft hands and
the attraction he’d felt for her that night of the coffee outing—an
emotion he’d worked hard to suppress because, well, because they
just didn’t mesh. They were too different. Right?
    A jolt of “So what?” smacked him in the
gut.
    So what if they had polar personalities?
    So what if she could spin rings around him
intellectually?
    So what if he did want to kiss her on the
lips, just once?
    Not that he’d admit any of these things to
Tony.
    “I’m going to get that ice cream now,” he
informed his brother. “Either suggest a flavor or I’ll have to pick
one for you.”
    Tony smirked. “Avoidance is the devil’s game.
Play it at your own risk.”
    Rob took several pointed strides in