Page 118 of Big Bad Wolfe

“Oh!” Her eyes widened and she gathered the flowers to her, burying her face in the colorful blooms. “Mmm. What a beautiful bouquet!” She raised her head, gifted him with a grin brighter than the blooms. “Thank you.” Her voice lowered so only the two of them could hear. “I love you, Zane.”

An exhilarating head-rush hit him and he staggered to the table.

After breakfast, Jillian rose and dropped a kiss on top of Casey’s head. “Lynn and I have a zillion things to do before the gala tonight, so Zane is going to stay with you again today. I’ve got to run, I’m supposed to pick up Lynn in ten minutes!” With another quick kiss for Zane, she flew out.

Zane loaded the dishwasher and did a quick cleanup while keeping an eye through the window on Casey, who’d wandered out to the back deck. Then he joined the little boy outside.

Casey rejected Zane’s every idea for entertainment. He said no to playing catch, a squirt gun water fight, Frisbee, a walk on the beach, coloring, and Legos. He just perched on the edge of the chaise, scowling and restlessly kicking the outdoor end table next to it.

Zane felt his forehead. The kid didn’t seem unusually warm. His nose wasn’t running or stuffy, and he said his stomach or head didn’t hurt. Zane didn’t want to unnecessarily medicate him, so nixed giving him his allergy syrup.Please, don’t let it be another bout of the killer stomach bug.

Out of sheer desperation, he suggested aStar Warsmarathon and Casey reluctantly assented. Zane put in the first movie, but the child only halfway paid attention to it.

His concern grew. What if something was really wrong?

He tried to talk to Casey about what was bothering him while the child picked at his lunch, hardly eating any of it, and the little boy stunned him by turning red in the face and screaming at Zane to leave him alone.

Had the kid somehow sensed Zane and Jillian had grown much closer, and was upset about it?

Casey cycled through various stages of being cranky, mopey, and stubbornly defiant, sitting upright in his bed with his arms crossed and refusing to take his nap. Zane told him he had to stay in bed anyway for at least thirty minutes, which he did, and then stomped downstairs when the timer went off.

Frustrated, fighting for patience, and clinging to the shredded threads of his last nerve, Zane considered calling Jillian.

He was seriously tanking here.

What if he couldn’t live up to Jillian’s expectations? Couldn’t be the man she and Casey needed? He swallowed hard. Would he be the one to finally smash her illusions? Magic was easy to believe in when you were surrounded by candlelight, but in the reality of day…

Dammit, he wasn’t going to phone her over nothing. She was crazy busy and the gala was vital to the Center … and really, what could he say? We’re having a bad day? Okay, sure, everybody had ‘em. No reason to call in the damned cavalry.

What kind of father couldn’t manage his own son for an afternoon?

Even though the afternoon lasted a hundred years.

By the time Jillian breezed back in the door, Zane was so tense he could’ve opened a can of Budweiser with his butt-cheeks, and Casey was parked silent and sullen in front of the TV.

“Hi, guys,” she called out.

“Aunt Jelly!” Casey whimpered. He leapt up and ran to her, flung his arms around her and clung.

“Hey, little man.” She stroked his hair and gave Zane a puzzled look. “Everything all right?”

Zane pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. The entire day has been a friggin’ disaster.”

Jillian knelt in front of Casey. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to go out anymore! I want you to stay right here!”

“I’d like nothing better than to be with you all the time, sweetie, but you know that’s not possible.”

“I don’t want you to go away and … and … and never come back … like my mommy did!” The child erupted into heartbroken sobs.

Zane’s heart wrenched as he watched Jillian scoop up the wailing child and carry him to the rocking chair in one corner.

She sat down and cradled Casey in her lap, stroking his hair. “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s okay, Casey. That’s not going to happen.”

“I d-don’t want you to go out tonight.”

“Oh, sweetie, I have to. I have grownup things Ihaveto do. But Poppy and Loucinda are going to come and stay with you tonight.”

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