Fair Catch by Cindy Roland Anderson Read Free Book Online

and really all he could see were ankles and bare feet. He was just about to propel the little boy forward and then make a hasty retreat to his house, when Cade shouted, “Mommy!”
    Ellie abruptly turned around and gripped the towel tight. Her wet hair hung in ringlets, covering her bare shoulders. Her face flamed with color when she saw Nick, making her even more attractive.
    “Oh. My. Heck.” She glanced down at her towel and then looked up again, her eyes reflecting mortification. “I…You…”
    She stammered and Nick bit back a smile. Somehow he knew laughing wouldn’t go over too well. Remembering his mother had raised a gentleman, he turned his back. “He just came in to my house. Sorry.”
    There was silence and Nick almost turned around again to see if she still stood there. Then she spoke to her son.
    “Cade. Please come home right now.” Surprisingly, the tone of her voice sounded calm and in full control.
    “Okay,” the little boy replied.
    More silence ensued. Was it safe to turn around?
    “Mommy,” Cade said in his little voice. “Why are you wearing a towel?”
    Nick choked back a laugh.
    * * *
    Why indeed ? Ellie asked herself mockingly. Because she was a mother and when a mother thought her child was in danger, all sense of propriety went out the window.
    She thought about thanking Nick—for returning Cade and turning his back—but she changed her mind when she saw his shoulders shaking. He was laughing at her!
    Clutching Cade’s hand, she rushed back inside the house and marched up the stairs. “Cade Thomas Garrett, don’t ever leave this house again while I’m in the shower.” Now that he was safe, her anger stemmed more from her embarrassment.
    His little mouth turned down into a frown. “But I just wanted to say hi to Nick.”
    She knelt down and softened her voice. “Cade, you scared mommy when I couldn’t find you. It was wrong for you to leave without asking me for permission.”
    “I’m sorry, Mommy. Do I have to have a time out?”
    Well, now that he brought it up… “Yes. I want you to sit right here while I finish getting ready.” Discipline had never been one of her strong points. She rarely raised her voice and she had never spanked her child.
    “Can I go in your room and watch SpongeBob?”
    He looked so repentant, but she couldn’t have Cade pull that kind of stunt again. “No, sweetie.” His bottom lip quivered and his blue eyes were bright with unshed tears, tugging at her heart. “But you can run and get one of your Transformers to play with while you’re in time out.” What a pushover. She never could stick to a punishment. But then again, he was missing his favorite show.
    Thirty minutes later, Ellie dressed in a pair of jeans and the only decent shirt that was clean—a plain blue tee that fit a little too snugly. She really needed to add sit-ups to her exercise regimen. As she applied lip-gloss, she seriously considered moving back to Boulder. This just hadn’t been her day. First, the welcome-to-the-neighborhood scene gone awry from this morning. Second, the indecent exposure debacle.
    She was buying a very thick bathrobe on Monday. If Cade did something like that again, at least she wouldn’t be so exposed. In reality, her neighbor hadn’t seen much. The towel was big and her hair had covered her back and shoulders. But still…
    It would be so embarrassing to see him again, and she would see him in approximately five minutes—that is if she could ever get the guts to actually leave her house. Technically, Ellie had been ready for a while now, but she lingered in the bathroom because her hair wouldn’t do what she wanted it to do and her makeup seemed a little overdone.
    Cade came to the bathroom door and let out a big sigh. “I’m hungry. When can we go to Betsy’s?”
    She quickly tried to think of more delay tactics. Maybe she could feign a headache and just send Cade over. It might work. Her stomach growled loudly in protest. “I just