Iris Read online

  “The hotel staff.”

  “Staff? Wasn’t there any friend or family available?”

  “I don’t know. I assume they had friends but probably not on vacation with them. As for his family, they’re very continental. Businesses around the globe. Lots of travel. For all I know they were harder to reach than as I was.”

  “How many siblings does he have?”

  “I hate to keep saying I don’t know—”

  “But you don’t know.” She rolled her eyes at him.

  He tapped the tip of his nose with his finger. “I know he has at least one or two sisters. Maybe a brother. Or it could have been a brother-in-law. The wedding was a bit of a blur to begin with and frankly, less than thrilled with her new spouse, I may have had a bit much to drink.”

  “Yeah, that’ll do it.”

  “According to the solicitor, both Richard and Adele gave explicit instructions for the children to be cared for by me. The estate is mired in international legalities, but I’m guessing Adele knew that I wouldn’t need interim money to take care of them.”

  “Not so middle class after all,” she teased.

  He had to laugh at that one. She was right. He might be a middle class boy at heart, but his bank account was most definitely not. “I suppose eventually I expect to speak with Richard’s family, it just hasn’t been a priority. Maybe if the children had asked about them I’d have made more of an effort, but I just wanted to get my feet under me first.”

  “Can’t blame you for that.” She blew out a heavy sigh, and he could see the hurt in her eyes.

  Another reason he found her so blasted attractive. A blind man could see she had a heart for those around her. Whether the love and respect for an aging grandparent or teasing cousin or family friend. She cared. But the heavy sigh? He didn’t know if that was for his sister, the kids, him, or something else totally unrelated to him.

  “What about your dad and grandfather?” Carefully stepping around him, she set the poker back in place. “How are they taking things?”

  “Good question. I’ve spoken with both. I think we’re all in shock still. More worried about the kids than ourselves. I considered going to Florida but once the postcard showed up we all agreed that if Adele and Richard had booked a trip here it might be better for the kids than to be surrounded by grieving men they barely know.”

  “So they don’t have any closer relationship with your side of the family than with Richard’s?”

  He shook his head. “I think that was starting to change, but no.”

  “I don’t understand that.” She dropped into the sofa and grabbed the cushion again. “I couldn’t fathom not having my grandparents, or my aunts, or cousins. I mean, maybe not so many.” She laughed. “But having them and not really knowing them?”

  He collapsed into the sofa beside her. “We don’t get to choose who we’re related to. The way Emily has taken to you and your grandmother, I’m betting she’d rather be related to you guys than me.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short.” Her hand landed on his arm and much to his surprise, unlike the cookie incident, she didn’t pull away.

  “So,” he drew in a slow deep breath, “if I’m supposed to be able to handle all this, what do you suggest I do about the hoarding?”

  Iris swallowed hard. “Probably the same thing you have been. Show him love. Show him stability. Sympathy. And things should change. He won’t feel so out of control.”

  “Out of control.” Right now he felt like he was in a whirlpool getting sucked underwater. Because like it or not, his self restraint was pretty much gone. Leaning closer, he did his best to read in her eyes if his next move would be welcome or send him packing. He hoped he’d gotten it right. Another inch and his lips met hers. Soft, sweet, and then she leaned forward and his heart did a somersault. He wasn’t sure who moved first. Whose arm wrapped around who. But he could feel her heart beat against his and didn’t want to ever let go.

  The fire crackled. A log snapped. And reluctantly, he loosened his hold on her waist as she pulled away. Thankful her hands remained resting on his shoulders.

  “Should I apologize?” he asked softly.

  A glimmer of a smile teased at one side of her mouth. “For what?”

  He shook his head and taking one hand into his, rubbed the back of hers with his thumb. “The best damn kiss I’ve ever had.”

  “For the record.”

  He nodded.

  “Ditto.”

  “Then,” he glanced at their joined hands then up to her eyes, “it’s safe to say, we can do it again?”

  The sound of giggling children carried from outside the door.

  Straightening her spine, Iris inched back to her side of the sofa. “I sure hope so.”

  Waiting for the front door to burst open and children and friends to cascade in, one thing came to mind: he should have jumped in the lake much sooner.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You can do it!” Gavin cheered.

  “Go Uncle Eric!” Emily shouted over her little brother.

  It had taken two days after the boat incident before Lucy stopped fussing enough for Eric to go jogging on the trails. After a visit from Cole one day, Eric was invited to join him at the gym to work out with some of his firefighting buddies. No surprise to anyone the guys got along like fire and oxygen. Next thing Iris knew, training had shifted from jogging to bicycles. Since Cole and his partner had a couple of days off between shifts, the three men had progressed to doing the five mile bike rides together.

  Then things got serious. After a friendly round of cards one night, casual male bonding had shifted into multiple boasts of who was in better shape and who had the tougher job. Firemen or deep sea divers.

  What should have been another simple marathon on bikes this morning had morphed into a full on triathlon with the cheering squad tagging along behind in the General’s Jeep.

  From ahead, Eric raised his arm with a thumbs up. The three men were jogging along at a steady pace, none making any effort to pull out in front. Though Iris suspected they were merely pacing themselves. Once they hit the lake for the swim, someone was bound to come out ahead.

  “Why isn’t Uncle Eric running any faster?” Gavin asked from the back seat.

  Emily rolled her eyes at her brother, shook her head, and blew out an exaggerated huff. The kid either had been watching too much TV or had a natural dramatic flair. “Because he doesn’t want to make them look bad. Uncle Eric is a nice guy.”

  A nice guy was hitting the nail on the head, Iris thought. Smart too. And easy on the eyes. Well, they were all easy on the eyes, but she was partial to the one with the whiskey brown eyes, wavy chestnut hair, and killer smile.

  From the passenger seat, Lily put her pinkies in the corners of her mouth and let go an ear piercing whistle. Without looking back, Cole gave a fist pump. The man knew his whistles.

  “They’re nuts, you know that, right?” Lily leaned back in her seat, grinning from ear to ear.

  “But you love him anyway.” Iris smiled at her cousin. The woman practically glowed.

  “Show ‘em how it’s done, Payton!” Cindy leaned forward between her sister and cousin. “Can’t let the poor guy feel left out.”

  “It was nice of you to tag along to cheer him on,” Lily said over her shoulder.

  “It only seemed fair. Eric has the two kids and Iris by default.”

  “Default?”

  “Whatever you want to call it. And Payton didn’t have anyone. I figure this is the least I can do to support our local firefighters.”

  “Doesn’t hurt that this particular local firefighter is built like a brick house.” Lily giggled like a school girl.

  Cindy rolled her eyes. “Don’t go all romantic on me. As nice as all of Cole’s buddies are, I prefer brain over brawn.”

  “Hey!” Lily twisted in her seat. “Cole has plenty of brain.”

  “So does Payton,” Cindy agreed, “but you have to admit there’s a lot of br
awn in that testosterone filled mega-chest.”

  No one could argue that with Cindy. Payton could easily portray the Hulk if he wanted. Not an ounce of fat on the guy, he was all muscle.

  “How much further do they have?” Lily asked.

  Iris glanced at her odometer. “One more mile.”

  “So far so good,” Cindy added.

  Her cousin Cindy was one of the many reasons Iris couldn’t imagine not having family. The woman had a heart of gold when it came to animals, was always there for family and even though she didn’t technically have a horse in this race, she’d given up her day off to support a friend. Iris was damn lucky when it came to her family.

  Cheers sounded from the shoreline below. The guys were winding around Hart House and down hill to the crowd waiting with water, wet suits and plenty of encouragement.

  “Good grief.” Iris glanced at her wrist watch. “What is everyone doing here at this hour?”

  A table had been set up with drinks and fruit and Lucy was at the helm with Aunt Virginia, ready to rehydrate the troops. Ralph and Floyd were with the General yacking away, waving American flags. Car doors slammed behind them and Iris spotted Callie hurrying down the hill with a couple of girls from the volleyball team.

  “I’m surprised the whole town isn’t showing up.” Cindy waved at her sister and hopped out of the car as soon as Iris shifted into park. “Who are you rooting for?”

  “All of them,” Callie answered, hurrying down the hill.

  Emily and Gavin ran to catch up to Lily in the front. “Miss Lucy said we could help hand out the fruit.”

  “Yeah,” Gavin smiled up at her. “We helped her cut it up last night.”

  “Only a little,” Emily corrected. “Miss Lucy and Grams cut the big pieces first and we got to use the plastic knives to cut them up smaller.”

  “That was very nice of you,” Poppy said coming up on the rear.

  Iris loved that the kids had relaxed so much in the days since the fight over Cheetah on the water that they’d actually begun calling her grandmother Grams. After all, why not? Everyone else did. They’d also begun to use Uncle Eric more regularly verses merely speaking without a name. And this morning, for the first time since Cheetah was washed and dried and fluffed, Gavin willingly left him in the cabin. What a difference in such a short while.

  “Can we run ahead?” Emily asked.

  Iris nodded. “Go on, but not too fast.”

  “Right.” Cindy laughed. “Like that ever worked with any of us.”

  “Hey, I have to try. It’s an adult’s job.”

  “I don’t know,” Lily shrugged, “four adults here and you were the only one to pull the mom card.”

  Mom card? Was that what she’d done. No. She’d been a nanny for years, it was the nanny card. Old habits hard to break, and that sort of thing. But her cousin was right about one thing, she wasn’t on the job here, and she wasn’t their mom. She wasn’t really anything, except unemployed.

  The kids reached the table at nearly the same time as the three men. A bunch of high fives abounded, but Eric was the only one to lose time by hugging each of the kids before shimmying into the wet suit and running after the other two men into the water. Her heart did a little jig. Who was she kidding. She wasn’t merely adulting, she loved those kids. And good or bad, she loved the man that came with them. Oh, boy.

  ***

  Water was easy for Eric. Swimming to the buoy and back put him ahead of the others without any effort. Pacing himself always won the battle. Whether he was up against a rig in the North Sea, Australia, or a couple of firemen on a mission. What he wasn’t used to was a welcoming committee on the shore.

  He was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed this many people when he’d rushed into the lake. Had Nadine and Katie been here? Lucy and the kids were once again at their post with bottles of spring water in hand. Just the sight of the half pints gave him an energy boost.

  “Here you go!” Emily held out the bottle, a grin taking over her face. “The General says you have to hurry.”

  “Here they come!” Gavin pointed to the water behind him.

  Eric ruffled Gavin’s curly hair. “Thanks, sport.” Jogging up hill, he waved to Nadine and Katie as the two women whistled and cheered.

  At the ready by the bikes, Iris stood with her cousins. Unzipping his suit as he approached, he climbed out of it, handed it off to Iris’s waiting hand, and reached for the handlebars.

  “We’ll follow behind you.” She smiled.

  He resisted the urge to pull her in for a quick kiss and nodded. “Thanks.”

  Tipping her chin toward the lake, she waved him on. “You’d better hurry. Here they come.”

  “That’s what Gavin said.” He smiled and climbing onto the bike, foot on the pedal, took off up the rest of the hill. Minutes later, the three men were cycling across Hart land, the Jeep with Iris, the kids and her two cousins following behind.

  How things had changed in such a short time. When he’d first brought the children to his home he couldn’t fathom anything ever being normal again. Actually, Eric couldn’t fathom life with two children as normal either. Already, he couldn’t fathom life without them. In only a few weeks everything about his new family seemed perfectly normal, and so did everything about the lake. Well, the cabin was a tad on the tight side, but still, growing up should be all about playing Jacks, and finger painting, and rock hunting, and fishing, and swimming in the creek, and a million other things that big city kids missed out on.

  Adults missed out on a lot too. Like late night card games, and checkers at the barber shop, and workouts with new friends, or impromptu triathlons with firemen. Speaking of which, Payton’s front tire edged up closer to him.

  “Not on your life, buddy,” he muttered to the wind, leaning forward, and pushing a little harder. The time had come to hold the lead. Over his shoulder he could hear the kids cheering him on. Lily had a whistle that could probably be heard halfway across the county and Cindy must have been a cheerleader in school, but the sweet sound of Gavin reassuring him that he could do this beat the others out hands down. He could do this. In the grand scheme of things, a little friendly competition wasn’t that big a deal but in the eyes of his nephew and niece, he was the better man and he had no intention of disappointing them.

  Winding around the last section of road, he cycled back to Hart House. This time Eric was positive there were more people milling about. From the main entrance folks were lined up, waving flags and cheering as though he and the others had returned from war and not a short two wheeled ride.

  He could almost feel the breath of the rider behind him. Sneaking a peek over his shoulder, he could see Payton and Cole neck and neck, and less than a bike length or two behind. Ahead, the General and Mrs. Hart held the ribbon across the main road onto Hart Land. He could do this. Pumping faster than he had all day, he turned onto the property, whirled past the trail of cheering people and ripped through the massive red ribbon. Gavin’s gleeful cheers could be heard loud and clear.

  “Job well done.” The General came up beside him and slapped him on the back.

  Ralph came rushing over. “I’ll take charge of the bike.”

  “Here you go.” A few short steps behind Ralph, Lucy came running up holding a water bottle for him, and two more for Cole and Payton.

  “Rematch,” Cole and Payton echoed.

  “Any time.” Eric laughed. “More than happy to teach you boys a lesson.”

  “Oh, them’s fighting words,” Cole teased.

  “Now now boys. Put the measuring sticks away.” Grams shook her head, and Eric almost spit his water out. Had those words actually come out of Mrs. Hart’s mouth? The woman was the picture of eccentric charm; he’d have expected a comment like that from Lucy or the General, not from the General’s wife.

  Doors slammed and the entourage that had followed them on the road poured out onto the beach.

  “You won.” Gavin bounced in place. “Does this mean we get
extra ice cream now?”

  Eric almost roared with laughter. The kid had a one track mind when it came to ice cream. “You’ll have to ask Miss Lucy, but I’m guessing the answer will be yes.”

  “Ask me what?” Lucy returned from the folding table with more bottled water in hand.

  “For extra ice cream tonight,” Eric explained.

  “Of course.” Lucy nodded, and before anyone could say much more, she waved a thumb over her shoulder. “You have company also.”

  Lifting his gaze toward the house, a tall lean woman in crisp pleated slacks and a long sleeve button down shirt, who looked like she’d fallen off the cover of a major fashion magazine, came his way.

  Eric squinted against the sun. He was pretty sure the woman was stunning. He also felt confident that she was staring straight at him, and not at anyone else in the area.

  “Roberta Hughes.” She extended her hand. “We finally get to meet again.”

  Again? Eric knew he was gaping. Except for the long lashes and carefully applied makeup, he was staring at a female version of Richard. Bloody hell. What did she want?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Iris resisted the urge to tell Eric to close his mouth or he’d catch flies. It took a few seconds for him to snap his jaw on his own and mumble, “Hello.”

  “You are not an easy man to reach.” She turned to Iris and her cousins, extending a hand to each. “How do you do? I’m Gavin and Emily’s aunt.”

  “How do you do,” Iris answered first. “Iris Colby.”

  In turn, each of her cousins introduced themselves as more people came up ignoring the overdressed female, slapping Eric on the back, shaking his hand, followed by Cole and Payton.

  Payton practically knocked Eric off his feet when his beefy hand landed on Eric’s shoulder. “Good job! If you ever want a second career, we can always use a good man at the station.”

  “Station?” Roberta’s gaze not-so-subtle traveled from head to toe and back. A twinkle appeared in her eye.