eyes.
“Thank you, Rose,” he said. “For your compliments and the dinner. It was lovely but I do have to confess, it’s getting awfully close to my bedtime.”
“My goodness, you’re right!” June could easily imagine Rose making a big deal out of looking at her diamond-encrusted Rolex. “You simply must call me a car.”
June knew the exact layout of Charley’s kitchen, from a few too many spy missions with the binoculars. His phone was connected to the wall on the opposite side of the windows, so that meant he would have to face the other direction to place an order with the cab company. Even though the motion lights were as bright as the sun, June knew this would be her best chance to make a run for it.
Grabbing the smashed bucket under her arm, June darted across the yard. She paid no attention to the proper path, trampling goldenrods and jack-in-the-pulpits with every step. At the edge of the fence, she whispered, “Catch,” and threw the bucket over the fence. With a speed that would make a squirrel proud, she scrambled up the ladder and over the wall.
“Mother, what happened?” Kristine ripped off the camouflage sweater and straightened her shirt. Her eyes were wide and frightened. “Did he see you? I was snapping as loud as I could.”
“Of course he didn’t see me.” June worked to catch her breath. “But I will tell you this. Rose sounded desperate and Charley is not interested. I don’t think she’ll be moving in anytime soon.” And because June was happy she had accomplished her investigation without getting caught, she gave a little victory dance.
Kristine laughed, pulling her into a hug. “What on earth am I going to do with you?”
Twenty-seven
Mary Beth fell asleep at dinner. The restaurant they picked was a busy hamburger place and the food took forever. As they waited, Mary Beth scribbled on paper place mats with a packet of crayons and sipped at an apple juice. By the time her macaroni and cheese showed up, she took a couple bites then nodded off on the table.
“Being good can be very tiring,” Chloe said, rubbing the little girl’s back.
Once Mary Beth had nodded off, Chloe and Geoff spent the meal talking about intervention methods, so that she didn’t feel so guilty about missing her review. Chloe loved watching the way Geoff bit his lip and looked to the side, thinking hard about whatever question she asked him. The more she got to know him, she realized that the tweed jackets and ascots hid a shy, thoughtful man, not some scary powerhouse psychologist, like she’d once imagined.
After dinner, Geoff scooped his daughter into his arms with a fluid motion. “Would you like to come over for a little while?” he whispered.
Chloe thought of the stacks of work waiting for her at home. “I can’t. I still have so much to do . . .”
Geoff smiled, revealing three laugh lines in his left cheek. “That’s part of the fun. You can play hooky.” The wind rifled through his hair, making it—for a split second—as unkempt as Ben’s.
Chloe thought about going back to her apartment. There, she’d have to worry about whether or not she’d bump into Ben, since things were still so incredibly awkward between them. After such a relaxing afternoon, that prospect did not sound appealing at all. “Let’s do it.”
Geoff hailed a cab and it screeched to a halt. She admired the easy way he slid in with the weight of Mary Beth in his arms. “You’re pretty good at that.”
“Thank you.” Geoff looked down at Mary Beth’s sleeping face and smiled. “I might need some help once in a while but it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy being a father.”
Geoff’s building was all glass and metal and very sleek. The doorman was dressed in a gray uniform and smiled at Chloe as they walked in. As the elevator pinged to a stop on Geoff’s floor, Chloe noted the pale blue carpeting of the hallway and that, somehow, everything smelled like lavender.
“This is beautiful.” Geoff’s corner unit afforded a spectacular view of the city. “And so . . . clean.”
She had kind of expected his apartment to be in shambles, with toys and clothes thrown everywhere, but it was pristine. The decorations were very masculine, all black leather and silver accents. Chloe felt like she was in a high-end furniture display room, not the home of a four-year-old.
“I have a housekeeper.” Geoff headed toward the back hallway with Mary Beth