Page 32 of The Playboy and the Widow
She brewed herself a cup of tea and sat with her feet up, reading. In another two weeks school would be out, and then Joan and Katie would find even more excuses to put off going to bed. If it were up to those two ruffians, Diana knew they’d loiter around until midnight. Only Diana wouldn’t let them. In some ways she was eager to spend the summer with the girls, and in other ways she dreaded three long months of total togetherness. Her parents had insisted on having them fly to Wichita and had even paid for their airline tickets. Diana was looking forward to those two weeks as a welcome reprieve. She missed seeing her family and in the past had briefly toyed with the idea of moving back to her hometown. That had been her original intention after Stan had died. Her parents had planned to come and help her with the move, but Diana had hedged, uncertain. Now she was convinced she’d made the right decision to stay in the Seattle area. With the loss of their father, the girls had already experienced enough upheaval in their young lives. A move so soon afterward wouldn’t have been good for any of them. Although Diana dearly loved her family, she did better when they weren’t hovering close by.
Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. She paused and checked the time. It was only a few minutes past nine, but she rarely received company this late.
Setting aside her book and her tea, she answered the door. “Cliff.”
“Hi.” His ready smile was filled with charm. “Did you win the election?”
Diana was more than a little surprised to see him. After their telephone conversation a couple of days before, she hadn’t known what to think. She stepped aside so he could come in. “Win the election?” she repeated, not following his line of thought.
“Yes, you told me you were up for PTA secretary.”
“Oh, yes. I was running unopposed, so there wasn’t much chance I’d lose.”
“Is that Cliff?” Katie, dressed in her pink flannel nightgown, appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Hi, Katie.” Cliff raised his hand to greet the youngster, his smile only a little forced. He preferred to spend time with Diana alone tonight.
“Katie, you’re supposed to be asleep.”
“Can I give Cliff his lure?”
“Okay.” Diana knew it would do little good to argue. While shopping in a local store the day before, Katie had found a similar fishing lure, and they’d bought it as a replacement for Cliff’s. At the time, Diana had wondered if there would be an opportunity to see Cliff again. He had asked to see her on Saturday, but she half expected him to cancel. She wasn’t sure where their relationship was headed. He seemed determined to see her again, but she hadn’t heard a word from him since their abrupt telephone conversation a few days earlier.
Katie flew down the stairs and raced into the kitchen. “Mom, where’d you put it?”
“In the junk drawer.”
As if by magic an exasperated Katie reappeared, hands on her hips. “Mom,” she said with a meaningful sigh, “all the drawers are filled with junk.”
Rather than answer, Diana stepped into the kitchen and retrieved the fishing lure for her daughter.
Katie eagerly ripped it from Diana’s fingers and hurried back to Cliff, who was sitting in the living room. “Here’s another lucky lure,” she said, her eyes as round as grapefruits. “I’m real sorry I lost yours.”
Cliff’s gaze sought Diana’s as he accepted the lure. “I told you not to fret over it.”
“But you got real angry, and I felt bad because I wasn’t supposed to get into your fishing gear and I did. Mom’s making me pay for it out of my allowance.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” Cliff directed the comment to Diana.
Before Diana could respond, Katie broke in. “But I have to!” she declared earnestly. “Otherwise I won’t learn a lesson—at least that’s what Mom said.”
“Moms know what’s best,” Cliff managed to murmur, looking uncomfortable.
Katie brightened. “Besides, I thought that if I bought you another lucky lure, then you’d take Joan and me out in your sailboat again. Next time I promise I won’t get into your fishing box.” As though to emphasize her point, she spit on the tips of her fingers and dutifully crossed her heart.
Before Cliff realized Katie’s intention, the little girl hurled her arms around his neck and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek.
Diana smiled at his shocked look. “Tell Cliff good-night, honey.”
Without argument, Katie paused long enough to give her mother another hug and kiss, then dutifully traipsed back upstairs.
“It seems women have a way of throwing themselves into your arms,” Diana teased once Katie had left the room. She hoped to lighten the mood. She didn’t know why Cliff had come, especially when he looked as though he’d rather be anyplace else in the world than with her.
“I sincerely hope the trait runs in this family,” Cliff teased back. He held out his arms to her, then complained with a low groan when Diana chose to ignore his offer.
Cliff wasn’t exactly sure what was going on with him. After their last adventure on the sailboat, he’d decided that although he enjoyed Joan and Katie, he preferred to keep the kids out of the dating picture. It was Diana who interested him. In fact, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She wasn’t as beautiful as other women he’d seen. Her hips were a tad too wide, but where physical attributes had seemed important in the past, they didn’t seem to matter with her.
