For the Girls' Sake - By Janice Kay Johnson Page 0,66

it. "Thank you." She sounded—and felt—absurdly shy.

"A kiss might be appropriate." He wasn’t smiling, to suggest that he was kidding; he just stood there squarely less than a foot away and waited.

Did he mean it? Heat blossomed in her cheeks and her pulse sprinted. She’d known this was coming. She’d seen in his eyes that he was thinking about her that way. As a woman. She wanted him to. She’d just had no idea in the world how to hint that she wouldn’t mind if he did kiss her.

But did he have to leave it up to her?

Maybe he was trying to give her an out, if she really detested the idea. He was being a gentleman.

As stuffily as Miss Manners, Lynn admitted, "A kiss would be one polite way to thank you."

"Then?"

Taking a breath and hugging the flowers to her breast, she rose on tiptoe to give him a quick peck.

It didn’t work that way. He bent his head to meet her halfway. Their mouths touched and a shiver skidded down her spine. Somehow he came to be gripping her upper arms. The heavy scent of lilies rose from between them, thickening the air. His lips teased hers apart, then hardened. She heard a groan and the kiss deepened, but...

“Mommy!" Feet thundered down the short hall behind her.

Lynn jerked away, her heart hammering and her face so hot it must be the color of a lobster. "Yes? What is it?"

"Mommy, where’s flower blankie?" Shelly asked with a hint of anxiety.

The faded, warn flannel crib blanket was rarely far from Shelly.

Her mind cloudy, Lynn couldn’t look at Adam. "Did you take it to Adam’s house?"

Shelly’s brown eyes widened and her mouth formed an O. "I forgot it," she whispered, and then her face scrunched miserably as tears formed. "I want my flower blankie!" she wailed.

Lynn crouched to hug her. "It’s not in the bag?"

"This is all clothes," Adam said. "I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have checked."

"You know, your blanket is fine in your bedroom at Adam’s house. It’ll be waiting for you Sunday night."

"I want it now!" Shelly screamed. "Daddy can go get my blankie."

"Honey, it would take him all night." Lynn knew very well that reason wouldn’t forestall what was coming. But she had to try, didn’t she? "You can do without it for three days."

Sobbing, the three-year-old flung herself onto the floor and drummed her heels. Lynn sighed, remembering last night’s peace and quiet. Ah, well. She was glad Shelly was home, even if she was screaming and turning purple.

Rose never threw temper tantrums. She stood now halfway down the hall, her thumb in her mouth and her face a study in worry and perplexity.

It took Lynn half an hour to calm her distraught daughter. Adam and Rose settled in as Shelly sobbed, hiccuped, and finally burrowed in her mother’s arms for a few minutes of comfort and resignation.

"Do you feel better now?" Lynn asked. They were alone in the living room, cuddled in the depths of the new sofa.

Shelly nodded against her breast.

"Do you want to get ready for bed now?"

A sniff, and Shelly’s head bumped Lynn’s chest as she nodded again.

"Okay. Up we go."

On the way down the hall Lynn caught a glimpse of Adam and Rose sitting at the kitchen table sipping from mugs of cocoa with marshmallows floating atop. Fortunately, Shelly didn’t see.

Teeth brushed, in her nightgown, Shelly finally remembered that she shouldn’t be the only one who had to go to bed. "Where’s Rose?" she demanded.

"She’ll be along in a few minutes." Lynn ran the brush through her small daughter’s thick mink-brown hair, so unlike her own. "I bet she took a longer nap than you did today, huh?"

"She slept on the way. I wasn’t sleepy."

"I think she’ll be ready for bed pretty soon. Now, let’s tuck you in." She plopped Shelly down on the bed and kissed her. "I missed you, punkin."

Shelly’s eyes watered again. "I missed you, too. I wanted you to kiss me g’night. Only you weren’t there," she accused.

"No, but your daddy was." Lynn kissed the snub nose. "And it sounds as if you mostly had fun staying with Rose and Daddy."

They chatted about preschool, and Lynn felt an easing inside of some tension she hardly knew had been there. The possibility of losing Shelly terrified her still. What if she hadn’t been missed at all?

At Shelly’s sleepy request Lynn left on the lamp beside the bed and slipped quietly out. In the kitchen, Adam smiled at