“Use the stick, Maddie!” Piper called out. “No more face-licking before dinner!”
“Al-right.” It was clear that Maddie wasn’t too thrilled about her mom’s orders.
We watched as Maddie picked up the stick and began tossing it. She’d throw it a few feet, Mick grabbing it and bringing it over every time.
Piper shook her head and sighed. “God, the lawn’s so unkempt. I need to mow it like crazy.”
“I can do that,” I said without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ve got a riding mower I use for the backyard—it’d take ten minutes, tops, to handle this.”
I smiled, glancing down at the glass of wine in my hands. I could sense she appreciated my words, but they were a reminder of the enormity of what we had to discuss.
“I’ll think about it, thanks.” She took a breath, then pursed her lips, appearing as if she was trying to figure out where to begin.
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “Did you know that I lived here?”
“No!” The word shot out of her mouth. “No idea. It’s a long story, but this house sort of fell into my lap. I came by one time to take a tour of it, and as far as I knew no one was home at your place.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Been out of town for a while.”
“But I did have a little bit of an advantage. Britt and I were in the kitchen twenty minutes or so ago and I spotted you. God, it was so surreal.”
“Tell me about it. All these years I wondered what ever happened to you,” I told her.
“Well, we had a really nice time that night, but I hadn’t been ready for anything serious back when we’d hooked up. I mean, had you?”
“Not really. All the same, it’d been a hell of a thing to wake up expecting a steak dinner with a beautiful woman and instead finding that she’d slipped out.”
“You weren’t mad, were you?”
“No, not mad. I mean, I went and got the steak dinner anyway.” I followed this up with a smile.
I said nothing for a time, sipping my wine and watching Mick play with Maddie.
Piper turned to Maddie, who was having the time of her life laughing her head off while chasing Mick around the yard.
Piper leaned over, looking at my house. “OK, I have to admit that I’m a little curious—is there a…Mrs.Valentino at home?”
I laughed. “No, there’s no wife, no kids. Mick and me and that’s it.”
“Same for me,” she quickly said. “Just Maddie and me.”
That provided more evidence in making the case that Maddie was mine. All the same, it was circumstantial, and not nearly enough to come right out and ask her.
She cocked her head to the side, a small smile on her gorgeous lips.
“I have to admit that I’m a little surprised to hear you’re single. You’re handsome, charming, a doctor …kind of a catch if you ask me.”
“I could say the same thing to you. Can’t imagine men aren’t chasing your car down the street.”
Her fair cheeks turned a tinge of red. “Hey, you try to date when you’ve got a four-year-old to take care of.”
So, she was four. I was beginning to suspect more and more that my math was right.
“Tell me about your little girl,” I said. “After all, looks like she and Mick are going to be thick as thieves.”
Piper smiled, as if there weren’t a subject in the world that she liked more.
“She’s smart. And I don’t mean a little precocious, I mean she’ssmart. She’s already taught herself how to read, and she can add up to twenty. One of her preschool teachers thinks she should do a formal intelligence test when she’s five, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all.”
