Home Field Advantage by Janice Kay Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

help but remember the scars that
symbolized the end of John's career.
    "There's Daddy
now!"
    Headphones off, John
proceeded to sum up the game with a few perceptive comments. At the end he
looked directly into the camera with a distinctly wicked smile.
    "If I may be allowed to
indulge myself for a moment, I'd like to say hi to Marian and Emma and the
kids."
    Struck dumb, Marian stared at
the television. As the other commentator tossed a joking remark back at John,
who looked unperturbed, Marian's cheeks blossomed with heat. He'd actually done
it!
    Emma got her voice back first.
"Hey, that was cool!"
    Marian started to laugh. She
couldn't help it. "Your dad is crazy.
    "I know." His
daughter looked smug. "But he's neat, isn't he?"
    Still laughing, Marian gave
Emma a hug. "Yeah, he's okay."
     
    *****
     
    On Monday morning, the first
thing she said to him was, "You actually did it!"
    Hands in his pockets, he
stood on the front porch, his grin disarmingly mischievous. "I couldn't
resist. You sounded so horrified."
    Marian just shook her head
and stepped aside to let him in. "I think Emma's all ready to go. The kids
are watching 'Sesame Street' while I clean up the kitchen."
    "You want some
help?"
    "I only require that if
you don't pay your bill."
    There it was again, that
slow, warm smile that crinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes and turned
Marian's insides to jelly. "In that case," he said provocatively,
"maybe I'll pretend that I forgot my checkbook."
    Marian decided not to react
to that. How could she? What would he think if he knew how bittersweet his
presence in her kitchen had been?
    Edging away, she called,
"Emma! Your father's here!"
    "Coward," he said
softly, but a whirlwind erupted out of the living room, distracting him.
    "Daddy!"
    "Hey, pumpkin!" He
swung his small daughter high into the air before enveloping her in a hug.
"I missed you."
    Marian knew she'd been
forgotten, and a lump formed in her throat. Was she jealous? Had her feelings
grown so out of control? No, it was more complicated than that. She was seeing
what she'd once imagined Mark would be like with his children. She was seeing a
love that excluded her, because she wasn't a part of it. She was only a
caretaker for Emma. For John, she was a reasonably attractive woman he enjoyed
bantering with. Neither John nor Emma could guess how the tenderness they felt
for each other increased the deep ache of loneliness in Marian's heart. Why it
did, she didn't totally understand herself.
    When father and daughter
turned toward her, she smiled casually. "I'll see you next Friday,
Emma?"
    John's eyes narrowed, but he
didn't comment directly. "Get your stuff, hon."
    As Emma danced away, John
crossed his arms and leaned lazily against the wall. "Have you thought any
more about Snowball and the goat?"
    Marian shook her head.
"I'm worrying more about myself and the kids right now. I have to find a
rental for us first."
    "If you need any
help..."
    "Thank you," she
said, not letting him finish. "But I'll find something."
    His gray eyes searched hers.
"I mean it, you know."
    "And I'm grateful,"
Marian said formally.
    "Don't be
stubborn."
    "My husband used to say
that stubborn was my middle name." She smiled at the little girl, who had
reappeared clutching her possessions. "Did you get your Barbie stuff?"
    "Yes, except I couldn't
find my Jewel Secrets necklace. But I'll find it next weekend."
    John handed Marian a check.
"See you Friday?"
    "Friday," she
confirmed.
    He paused on the doorstep.
"By the way, what'd you think of the game?"
    Taken by surprise, she said,
"It was exciting. Lots more exciting than baseball."
    Laughter glinted in his eyes.
"Trying to overwhelm me with faint praise?"
    Nothing she felt for him was
faint, except perhaps her pulse. "No," she said. "Really, I
enjoyed it."
    "Marian screamed at the
TV set," Emma said from just behind him.
    He raised one eybrow and
grinned, clearly enjoying Marian's blush. "Did she really?" he
murmured. "Good. That