Tempting Fate by Lisa Mondello Page B

house?
    But he did care. He wanted her to like what he'd done because he hoped that someday she and Kristen would be living there with him.
    "This is it." Kyle pointed to the custom two story home set back from the road.
    Lauren leaned forward in her seat and sighed. Kyle's home was exactly how she'd imagined it. Completely breathtaking. She recalled her first reaction when looking at the blueprints in his apartment and how he'd described the yard. The driveway started at the far end of the property and meandered back a few hundred feet to a three car garage. Clusters of white birch trees were scattered in the front yard as if they'd been purposely landscaped that way. Lauren closed her eyes and could just imagine the vivid colors of tiger lilies and garden phlox glowing against the white tree bark in summertime. It was an awesome effect. Opening her eyes again, she saw the blanket of white covering the ground, no doubt hiding any blemishes to the earth caused by the ongoing construction.
    From the outside, the house looked completed, but Kyle had mentioned it needing the finishing touches.
    "It's beautiful, Kyle." She felt breathless and was sure she sounded that way as well.
    Kyle smiled his pleasure as he parked his Jeep behind the van. "What's first, the grand tour or a ride down the hill on a Flexible Flyer?"
    "Call me a wimp, but I'll take the tour."
    * * *
    After an impressive review of the house, Kyle joined his father in the back yard to help the children apply the finishing touches to a snowman they'd been working on. Lauren and Judy stayed in the kitchen sipping the last of the hot chocolate from the thermos.
    "I don't know how you do it," Lauren said. "I'm always exhausted by the end of the day and I only have one child, you have four!"
    Judy laughed. "Some days it might as well be ten."
    "How do you do it?"
    "I really felt the work when Julie and Scotty were born. I'm sure Kyle has told you all my children are adopted."
    Lauren nodded.
    "The little ones were the only two that Will and I have raised since birth. The list for adopting a newborn in Massachusetts is long, so we had quite a wait. Zoey was four when she came to live with us. We adopted her a year later." Judy patted Lauren on the shoulder. "Brace yourself for the teenage years. You'll need all your strength and patience then, my dear."
    Lauren groaned inwardly. No one had to tell her how trying a teenager could be. All she had to do was remember her own adolescence.
    "I'm glad you came into my son's life." Judy propped herself against the island counter in the center of the kitchen and eyed Lauren. She'd seen the same look before, at dinner last weekend, but dismissed it as simple kindness. Now she recognized it as a warm affection towards her.
    She couldn't help but chuckle. "Kyle's a pretty tenacious guy."
    "That's my son for you. I admire that in him. It's helped him along in life. Although Zoey may not see that as the most admirable trait in her big brother." Judy began tossing the leftover paper plates from their afternoon picnic into a trash bag. "But where you're concerned, I'd have to say I approve."
    Heat crept from her toes to her cheeks as she remembered how Kyle had kissed her earlier. "We're, ah, just friends."
    Judy stopped in mid-motion and stared at Lauren. "Hmm. Well, whatever it is, I think you're good for him."
    She turned away from Judy's scrutiny and stared out the window, fixing her gaze on the snowman project. "He likes to help people. I don't think I had anything to do with that."
    Judy chuckled. "Ask Zoey and she'll tell you he likes to help a little too much, to the point of being downright meddlesome."
    Lauren felt a grin tug at her lips. She'd actually thought the same thing herself over the past week.
    “Unfortunately, people can easily take advantage of a generous heart.”
    Lauren snapped her gaze at Judy.
    “No, no. I don’t mean you, Lauren,” Judy said quickly.
    “You mean the woman he built this house for?”
    It