Playing for Keeps by Jamie Hill Page B

her breakfast when Rob came in the kitchen. "Hi," she said softly.
    " Hey." He didn't look at her, but gave Sophie a kiss on the top of her head, and reached for his keys.
    " You should probably eat something," Maddie said hesitantly.
    " No way." He made a face.
    " Toast?"
    " I've got to go. They knew I'd probably be late, but I didn't realize I'd be this late."
    " Sorry," Maddie said, not sure why she was apologizing. He was old enough to set his own alarm clock.
    He waved a hand . "See you tonight, munchkin. It's going to be later, since I didn't get up on time." He looked at Maddie. "Could you bring her home with you? I need to get this mess cleaned up." He motioned to the backyard.
    "Sure . We have to run by my place though, and get my mail."
    " Whatever. See you guys tonight." He opened the door.
    Sophie hollered , "Bye daddy!"
    Rob cringed at the loud yell and answered quietly , "Bye, Soph." He shut the door and left.
    Maddie chuckled. Hope they don't hammer too loudly on the job site for him today.
    Sophie finished her cereal. "Think the pool will be warm enough to swim tonight, Maddie?"
    " Maybe. Remind me to get my suit when we stop at my place, later."
    " Yep." They finished breakfast and got to the center, right on time. Maddie muddled through the morning without thinking about anything much, but on her lunch break she couldn't resist pulling the calendar off the wall and figuring out her monthly cycle. Her period was due in a few days; she'd probably dodged that bullet. She needed to remember to get her diaphragm from her duplex, just in case, to keep at Rob's. Not that it would have helped last night.
      She let her mind drift back over the evening 's highs and lows. Sophie was so great, and the child didn't even realize it. She had more tact in her little finger than her mother probably ever had in her entire body.
    Rob 's mother hadn't spoken one word to Maddie. His father had been forced to, but at least he seemed somewhat civil, to her face, anyway.
    Dionne. Jesus. Dionne was a piece of work. Why did there always have to be something to keep a perfect relationship from working out? Maddie could deal with the parents, she'd managed to deal with hers all these years, but Dionne was a whole different breed of animal. She had no idea how she was going to deal with the woman.
    The afternoon dragged endlessly. Sophie was cranky that she had to wait while Maddie cleaned at the center. Maddie agreed they both needed some comfort food and a swim. She phoned Rob from her place and asked if he had dinner planned. He hadn 't got that far yet, so Maddie offered to bring fast food.
    She and Sophie had their fries eaten before they got home, and both were in slightly better moods. They carried everything into the kitchen and dropped it on the table.
    "Hey munchkin," Rob gave Sophie a kiss and hug. "Jeez, you guys are late. I'm glad you brought dinner."
    Maddie looked at him. "I told you we had to stop by my place."
    Sophie added , "But first she had to clean every stupid thing in the classroom!"
    " Oh yeah?" Rob asked.
    " Every night." Maddie shrugged, and set out their food. "Let's eat, then we're going to swim."
    He sat down and helped Sophie organize her food. "Well, I'm sorry, Soph. I won't make you stay that late again. I just wanted to get the backyard cleaned up before you got home. It was a mess."
    Maddie rolled her eyes . He acted like she'd made Sophie do the cleaning instead of run around and play for an extra half hour. She sighed, and ate her food. After she cleaned up the dinner trash for all of them, she changed into her swimsuit. It was a purple bikini that made Rob smile at her appreciatively when she reappeared.
    " Holy cow," he remarked. "I like that." He reached out to grab her.
    " Thank you." She sidestepped his advance and called, "Need help Soph?"
    " Nope!" The child appeared in the little two piece suit they had gotten for her birthday.
    " Hey, that fits perfectly!" Maddie smiled at her. "Well come