Where Azaleas Bloom by Sherryl Woods

nearly choked on a sip of coffee. She and her best friend
were speculating over his motives? What sort of romantic ideas had he unleashed
in those two? And how was he supposed to respond?
    He settled for at least a half truth. “Your mom and I have been
friends for a long time. We’ve known each other most of our lives,”
    Lexie’s eyes lit up. “Did you ever date?” she inquired, her
curiosity obviously fanned.
    Only in his dreams, Mitch thought, suddenly trying to contain
his amusement at the determined cross-examination. “No.”
    “Did you want to?” she persisted. “I mean, I know my mom fell
for my dad when they were pretty young, but what about you? Did you want to ask
her out?”
    “I considered it,” he said. Knowing full well that she’d turn
him down had deterred him. No adolescent kid risked certain rejection.
    “Why didn’t you?”
    “As you said, your mom was crazy about your dad. We all knew
it.”
    Lexie gave him a look that was entirely too world-weary for a
girl her age. “She’s not anymore.”
    Thank heaven Lynn came into the kitchen before he had to think
of a response to that. She studied her daughter with a narrowed gaze.
    “What was that about?”
    “Just trying to figure things out,” Lexie said cheerfully.
“Gotta run. Mandy and I are going to the library, and then we have that
babysitting certification class. We might go shopping or have lunch after
that.”
    “You need money?” Lynn asked.
    Lexie immediately shook her head. “Mandy’s got it,” she called
over her shoulder as she took off for her room.
    Mitch saw the defeated look on Lynn’s face before she could
cover it. “She’s an intuitive kid,” he said.
    “To me that’s another way of saying she’s growing up entirely
too fast. Do you know she’s turned down an allowance from me ever since Ed left?
Now she’s taking this babysitting class, hoping I’ll let her take a few
jobs.”
    “All kids need a little spending money of their own.”
    “They do,” Lynn agreed. “That’s not why she wants it. She wants
to help with the bills around here.” She shook her head. “I’ve already told her
that’s not her responsibility. Any money she makes will go into savings or she
can spend it on herself.”
    “It’s clear that she’s very protective of you. You should have
heard her just now.”
    Lynn regarded him with alarm. “What did she say?”
    “Settle down,” he said. “She asked a few questions, that’s all.
Dropped a few hints.”
    “About what?”
    “My intentions. Your availability,” he told her, grinning now
that the uncomfortable moments were behind him.
    Lynn groaned. “She didn’t! Are you kidding me?”
    “She did.”
    “I am so, so sorry.”
    “Don’t be. I’m glad to know that somebody else has your
back.”
    Lynn looked thoroughly disconcerted by the conversation, so
Mitch let it drop. “Actually, I stopped by to see if you’d had any problems with
the billing. I’m sorry I didn’t get by here yesterday.”
    “It took a while, but they all got done. I dropped them in the
mail late yesterday afternoon. Now, as long as nobody comes over here screaming
about being overcharged because I put a decimal point in the wrong place, I
think I have that under control.” She finally turned away from the sink and
faced him. “So, how did it go last night? With Nate and the fiancée? Are you
still worried?”
    “Not half as much as I was. She looks like she ought to be in
high school, but she’s twenty-three and getting a master’s in May, then studying
to be a chemical engineer.”
    “Wow!”
    Mitch chuckled. “I know. Intimidates the heck out of me, but,
surprisingly, Nate just thinks she’s amazing. He’s content to have her be the
brains in the family, likely even the major breadwinner, as far as I can tell.”
He frowned. “Should I be worried about that, do you think? Should he be showing
more ambition?”
    “I imagine every couple figures out the kind of