His Ordinary Life by Linda Winfree Read Free Book Online

your homework?”
    “Daddy.” One hand on her hip, Lyssa pouted at him. He suppressed a chuckle; she looked like his baby sister Tori when she was put out with Tick’s over-protectiveness. “I have to call Lauren.”
    “You have to do your homework.”
    With an aggravated huff, Lyssa flounced into her room. The door closed with a harsh click. Blake made a motion to close his, but Del stopped the door with his hand. “Why don’t you come outside with me?”
    Blake regarded him with suspicious eyes beneath lowered brows. “What for?”
    “To spend some time together.”
    “You mean, so you can question me some more.”
    Struggling to hold on to his patience, Del blew out a long breath. “Blake. Get a ball and come on outside with me.”
    Without waiting for an answer, he turned and strode back to the kitchen. Juggling the platter of steaks and the grill tongs, he went outside. His small act of faith reaped its reward a moment later when Blake appeared on the deck, tossing a stained baseball in the air and catching it. Hiding a smile, Del checked the coals and laid the steaks on the grate. A hiss and the enticing smell of searing meat rose into the warm air.
    He glanced toward the pool area, where Anna sat on a lounge, reading. He lifted a hand and Blake tossed him the ball. “Bet the pool is nice.”
    Blake shrugged and bounded down the deck steps to the small patch of grass comprising the back yard. “Mama and the girls like it.”
    “Yeah?” Del threw the ball, feeling the satisfying stretch in his biceps. He’d offered two or three times before to have a pool put in, and Barbara had always refused, saying it was one more thing she’d have to take care of. He couldn’t explain why her having this one installed right after he’d gone pricked so hard.
    “Yeah. Mama does laps. She says it’s good exercise.”
    “I’ll bet.” The ball smacked into Del’s hand, the bare skin of his palm stinging. Exercise hadn’t been his goal when he’d suggested they invest in a pool. Barbara’s college schedule had kept her from accompanying him to a sales conference, but the tropical pool at the resort hotel had inspired fantasies he still couldn’t shake. He smothered the images of droplets of water caressing the full curve of Barbara’s cleavage, their bodies moving together in a warm cradle of water.
    Blake jumped to catch Del’s wild throw. He palmed the ball a couple of times, his stance falsely casual. “What were you and Uncle Tick talking about?”
    So he hadn’t been as buried in geometry and Green Day as he’d appeared. “I was trying to get him to quit smoking. Hey, I gotta turn those steaks.”
    Blake trailed him up the deck steps, rolling the ball off his elbow and attempting to catch it. “He say anything about me?”
    “He asked about you.” Del paused, making a show of arranging the steaks. “He’s worried about you.”
    A disbelieving snort cut across the deck. “Sure he is.”
    Del lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t believe that?”
    “He’s too wrapped up in that department to worry about any of us. Besides, I heard Aunt Tori telling Grandma that she thought there was some woman who’d hurt him or something. He hasn’t been the same since he came home from Mississippi so maybe she’s right.” Blake bounced the ball off the floor with a hard thunk. “I ain’t never letting anyone get to me like that.”
    Yeah, you will, kid. Just wait. All it’s gonna take is one look from the right woman. “Your Uncle Tick cares about you.”
    “I’m not stupid.” Resentment darkened Blake’s tone. “I know that. But I also know we’re not his responsibilities.”
    Well, that certainly put him in his place. Refusing to rise to the challenge, Del closed the grill lid. “Come on. You can help me nuke a couple of potatoes and throw together a salad, and we’ll talk about something else.”
    His reluctance obvious, Blake followed him into the house. “I’m not telling you about last