WindSwept Narrows: #4 Alice Branch Read online

  By the time he wandered into the kitchen, coffee and toast were done, Matthew was dressed and happily chattering about his cereal and Alice sliced apples for his snack.

  His gaze went from the smart, short heels, over the fitted skirt and pale blue blouse and short cut jacket. The long blond hair was neatly woven into a braid down her back. Her purse, a couple pieces of paper and a small tote that he discovered had fruit and a protein drink it were waiting next to the front door.

  “I am off,” She announced, stopping in front of him, straightening his tie and giving him the once over. “You clean up nicely,” she kissed him. “See you later.” She took Matthew’s hand and kissed his cheek. “Be good today, okay? And have fun. Bye…”

  Nick wasn’t prepared for the wide, dark eyes that turned to him.

  “Matthew…what’s wrong?”

  “Why is Alice leaving?”

  “She’s going to work, Matt…you know about work. I go to work and you play at the daycare,” Nick got him into his jacket, lifting him and his travel pack with the freshly sliced apples. “We’ll see her tonight.”

  “She’s coming back,” Matthew declared, his father’s words appearing to comfort him. “She’s not going to leave us.”

  “Yeah, buddy…she’s coming back.”

  ****

  Alice put the key into the lock and quickly entered the code Nick had sent her, setting the bags on the kitchen cabinet before going to change her clothes. She understood what it was like to step into wonderland, she realized, looking around at the new home she had agreed to share with Nick and Matthew. And yet, it didn’t feel strange. It felt like home. And she liked the feeling a great deal.

  She hung her suit up, started a load of laundry and quickly straightened up Matthew’s room before heading for the kitchen. She heard the car door a short time later and peered out the little window.

  “It’s her car,” Matthew said excitedly, squirming to be let down. “Is she gonna stay with us?”

  Nick sat on the top step to the porch, tugging Matthew to sit with him.

  “We need to have a little guy talk here…”

  “Is it about Alice?” Matthew looked up attentively.

  “We’ve never had anyone live with us before, Matt.”

  “Alice is different…she’s special.”

  “She is very special….”

  “I’ll try and be good…do you think that’ll help her like us more?”

  “Well…what do you think Alice would say to that?” Nick heard the door behind him open.

  Alice dropped to her heels between them.

  “I think…” she began softly. “Alice would say…it’s perfectly alright to be bad now and then, but never be mean. We all make mistakes. The secret is to try and not make the same mistake again…and always say you’re sorry if you truly are…you must always have fun and laugh and do your very best never to hurt people.”

  “Hi, Alice,” Matthew grinned up at her.

  “Hi, Matthew. Did you have a good day?”

  “It was fun,” he announced with a nod. “Oh! We bought you a present!”

  “You did? How very sweet of you,” she looked around.

  “But we need your car keys,” Matthew said seriously. “And no peeking ‘til we’re done.”

  “Absolutely not. I shall never peek,” she promised solemnly, dangling the keys over Nick’s shoulder. “So how are my two favorite guys on the whole planet tonight?”

  “The whole planet?”

  “Hmm…you rank up there…” She teased with a smile. “If you would get the things out of my car for me…”

  Nick grabbed her hand, staring at the bruise on her upper arm. “What happened?”

  “Oh…I think I was holding too tight to the carton coming down the stairs…”

  “Alice, I told you I would…”

  “No lectures…nope…” She stood up and offered her palm to Matthew. “We will begin dinner while you change and empty the car, please.”

  “I think a lecture now and then is good for you,” Nick countered with a growl, stopping when she turned.

  “Wait here a moment, Matthew, please,” Alice went back to Nick, dropping to her heels and peering into his eyes. “We have a rule as a couple…no matter how angry we are…” She held up one finger for silence. “And it’s bound to happen…but no matter…you will always kiss me good bye in the morning and hello in the evening. Hello, Nick,” she said before kissing him softly, sensuously. “I missed you today.” She whispered before striding back to Matthew.

  “Well…hell…just take all the steam out…evil, smart and she cheats…” Nick grumbled, climbing to his feet and going to see what she brought over in her car.

  Alice just smiled and kept walking, lifting Matthew to one of the high stools. “So how was your day?”

  “I had a accident,” he said quietly, looking down at the counter.

  “An accident?” She opened his pack and found his clothes in a plastic bag. Alice put her hands on his little face and lifted it. “It’s okay, Matthew. Sometimes we get mixed up with playing so much we forget…” she kissed him and winked. “A run through the washer and everything’s as good as new,” she dropped them into the laundry and returned to him. “Did you eat your apples?”

  “Yep…they were yummy…”

  “So…dinner…mac and chicken…spaghetti…or crackers, cheese and ham,” she laid the choices out on the counter for him. Alice almost laughed at his face, the choice before him something new and fascinating. Imagine allowing a child to be part of their own life, she thought with a smile. He pointed to the crackers. “Excellent choice…but you must eat the ham and cheese before the pudding.”

  “Okay,” he said quickly, nodding and bouncing in the seat while she opened the package and presented it to him. “What are you cookin’?”

  “A very nice Caesar salad for me and your daddy with chicken.”

  “Can I taste?”

  “Of course…when it’s ready. Do you like salad?” She laughed at the shaking head. “But a taste would be good…it’s okay if you don’t like it, Matthew.”

  Nick stared at the little boy playing happily on the floor by the fireplace, the large plates of salad set out for them when he finished bringing things in from the car. The house smelled like something was grilled…and there was a candle on the table.

  “Matt…I need you outside to show Alice her present,” Nick laughed as he scrambled to his feet, running to jump into his arms. He reached for her hand, leading them onto the porch.

  Alice looked at her car, trying to figure out their present and grinning when she realized what it was. Nick had installed a car seat in her back seat. She went to the other side, opened the passenger door and watched and listened, smiling at him across the seat.

  “I called the daycare today and had them add your name to his file,” Nick said as they went back inside, Matthew running back to his toys while the adults settled at the table. “I’m not happy with them…but…”

  “We can try the one at Northstar,” Alice suggested, sipping the wine he had poured for them. “It’s not very crowded at all and I know the people working there. Jack has already moved a lot of people into his location.”

  “How was your first day?” Nick looked at their salad. “Matt didn’t eat this…”

  “Of course not…he’s a child…”

  “I had ham and cheese and crackers and pudding,” Matthew told him from the floor.

  “Two different dinners?”

  “Children have different palates than we do, Nick,” Alice said simply. “I think when you try and force them to adopt adult tastes before they’re ready, you end up with a headache and no one is happy.”

  “How’d you get so kid smart?”

  “I’m not sure I am,” she said with a laugh. “They’re short people, but they are different in small ways…I guess maybe I learned from my own childhood. I…my parents are very different than yours. I think the environment I grew up i
n is vastly different. It was more of a…a commune type community. I didn’t so much have relatives, as very close friends of my parents as aunts and uncles. I was lucky, I think.”

  “How’d you know I liked Caesar salad?”

  “We ate together at the ball, remember?” Alice laughed. “It’s all simply about observing, Nick. Nothing magical…”

  “I’m not so sure…” He returned skeptically, turning them to her new position and location, their laughter and talk going easily and comfortably until Nick took Matthew in to the tub while Alice cleaned up and headed for their bedroom. He found her there hanging clothes and frowning. “Problem?”

  “We need a dresser…I need a dresser…I don’t have any furniture. I sold it all when I moved…I thought…” She looked into the open carton. “The apartment came furnished…”

  “I have some stuff in the garage or we can go shopping,” Nick told her with a shrug. “Matt wants to tell you good night.”

  Alice nodded and went down the hall.

  ****

  Alice took a break during the day, visiting the new daycare and talking with the women she knew, asking questions and happy with the answers. She stopped on her way home to pick up Matthew, grinning when he saw her and took off running, jumping happily into her arms. She gathered his things and told the woman he wouldn’t be there in the morning.

  “So how was your day?”

  “Sasha got in trouble…but not me,” he added hastily, turning, holding the little car she gave him and running it over the barrier holding him in place.

  “Why did Sasha get into trouble?” Alice asked absently, driving them to her apartment.

  “She took off all her clothes again,” he answered as if it were an every day occurrence.

  “Oh…I suppose that would be a problem,” Alice said with a grin.

  “How does she pee?”

  Her eyes shot to the mirror, looking at Matthew curiously. “Sasha?” She guessed carefully.

  “Yea…how does she pee?”

  Alice considered the question for a long minute. “She sits down…”

  “But she doesn’t have anything to pee with,” he said with a little frown.

  “Oh…well…she’s a girl, Matthew…girls are different than boys,” she cleared her throat and searched her brain frantically for the right words. “I don’t look like your daddy…true…”

  “Yeah…”

  “And Sasha is a little girl…her…pee bits are different than yours.”

  “’Cause she’s a girl,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Yes.” Alice waited, holding her breath.

  “Where we goin’?”

  “My apartment,” she said with a long exhale, grateful for short attention spans.

  “Daddy said no,” Matthew recalled simply.

  “Well…we won’t tell daddy,” Alice answered sweetly.

  Chapter Nine

  Nick entered the house shortly after five, looking around expectantly. Matthew was at the table, quietly eating something with tiny meatballs and round pasta.

  “Where’s Alice?”

  Matthew lifted his hand and pointed to the patio.

  This couldn’t be good, Nick thought. “So how was your day?”

  “Sasha has girl bits and I have boy parts,” he stated with a little nod.

  Nick froze in place, one eye closing. “Okay, Hunter…you’re an executive…you’ve been taught to prioritize,” he looked toward the woman perched on the stone wall, the winds whipping her hair around her. “Who told you that, Matt?”

  “Alice.”

  “Okay…good…then we’re good…at least you’re not finding that part out on your own yet…we’ll discuss that more when you turn thirteen,” Nick said with a long breath. “Do we know why Alice is outside?”

  “She said she was gonna throw her phone in the ocean.”

  “That is definitely not good…you stay there while I see if I can talk Alice off the edge, okay?”

  “Yep…”

  Nick pulled his tie free and tossed it and his jacket to the back of a chair. He frowned at the wind whipping about as he stepped onto the deck. His hands came out slowly on her shoulders.

  “Hi…” He leaned over, kissing her softly.

  “Hi…”

  “It’s freezing out here, Alice…”

  “Hadn’t noticed,” she answered with a shrug.

  “Come inside and talk to me…Matt said you were tossing your phone into the ocean,” he mentioned casually. “He…uh…also said something about the difference between girls and boys…know anything about that?”

  “Evidently Sasha likes to take all her clothes off at daycare…it gets her in trouble,” Alice said quietly.

  “Ahh…I’ve been waiting for something along those lines…”

  “Matthew wanted to know how does she pee…”

  “Oh…okay…not quite along those lines…” Nick said with a nod. “And the phone?”

  “I decided against the phone. I like this phone.”

  Nick got her inside, his palms running over her bare arms. “Why are you mad at your phone?”

  Alice sighed, her hands running over her face. “It isn’t the phone…it’s…”

  “Honey…I can’t help if I don’t know what the problem is…” Nick watched her fingers moving over the surface of the phone before handing it to him.

  Alice Carol,

  Your father and I have received a most disturbing email from a woman working at the University of Washington. She said you have utterly corrupted her son and assumed control of him and her grandson. She further goes on to tell me that you are…well, we will not go into that at the moment. Please let me know what is going on, dear. Love, mum.

  Nick closed his eyes, closed the mail box she had opened and set the phone on the table. He carried the plate Matthew had been using into the kitchen, sniffing appreciably.

  “I’m corrupted and controlled? Wow…makes me sounds good…”

  “Fortunately, my mother knows me quite well…” Alice went into the kitchen and came out with a cloth. “Hey…you’re supposed to eat the spaghetti…c’mere, cutie…” He tipped his face up from the toys for her with a cheesy grin. “Now you’re cute again…”

  “Alice…how about I call your parents and…and make an attempt to apologize and explain?”

  “Not now, Nick,” Alice shook her head. “I need to think a bit…are you hungry? We have Spaghetti and a nice salad…”

  “Starving…I’m going to change…”

  “There’s stuff in the car to get out,” Matthew said from the floor. “But we didn’t go to the ‘partment.”

  “Hmm…” Nick looked from the suddenly distracted Alice to the playing child. “Right…I’ll take care of it for you…”

  Alice dropped to her heels in the morning, helping Matthew with his jacket as Nick came down the hall, adjusting his suit jacket and tie. She leaned closer to the little boy.

  “Give your father a big hug and tell him to have a great day! We must get going,” she said, gathering his pack, the snack she had prepared and her tote with purse.

  Nick lifted him in his arms. “What’s going on?”

  Alice winked at him and went to take Matthew’s arms while Nick held on to the feet. “No…he’s going with me today…”

  “Nope…you can’t take him…”

  Giggles burst out until Alice let go, kissing Nick and taking the little boy. “We’re test driving the new play care today, remember? See you later…”

  “Be good…both of you!” He called out after he helped her get him buckled into the seat. It was an odd feeling to wave as his son rode off without him. He found the fresh coffee and toast waiting for him on the counter. He still hadn’t figured out how she got so much done and made it look so easy. He was going with the magic theory.

  “What’re we doin’?” Matthew perched on the wall around the fireplace like she told him, watching her.

  “We…are making a cozy family room�
�” Alice took the drawers from the desk and set them on the floor. Palms rubbed over the seat of her jeans, eyes studying the four simple stairs to the second level. “So…you…stay there…and let me do this part first…”

  “Okay,” Matthew sat cross legged with his book in his lap, looking up now and then at the low rumblings. He climbed down when the desk was on the next floor, Alice leaning over it breathing. “Alice?”

  “It’s good…you can bring your book up here,” she told him, carefully tugging the desk over the hardwood halfway into the position she wanted it. The whole west wall was a mass of double paned windows, with an outdoor awning that could be closed when it was too intensely sunny outside. She had the ceiling fan on and forgot how much you sweat when you moved furniture.

  Alice was half way to where she wanted the desk when the bellow filled the house.

  “Alice!” Nick instantly noticed the big empty spot, dark eyes doing a quick scan of the room.

  She snatched up Matthew and crawled beneath the large desk, her hand on his mouth against the giggles.

  “Shhh…”

  “I know you’re here…the car is outside…”

  “Uh-oh,” Matthew said softly, holding tight to her neck, their cheeks against one another. “We’re in trouble.”

  “That does appear to be a trouble voice,” she agreed quietly.

  “Matthew!” Nick called loudly, listening for the faint giggle. He moved quietly up the wide stairs, saw the desk and cursed softly. He dropped to his heels, peering at the pair cuddled under the desk. “Want to come out of there?”

  Alice wrinkled up her nose. “Not while you have that face on…”

  “And what face might that be, my sweet Alice,” Nick smiled that feral smile that told her she wasn’t getting out of this one easily.

  “I prefer not to discuss it,” she answered loftily, releasing Matthew and watching him hug his dad.

  “Been busy, pal?”

  “We’re making a family room…for you an’ me an’ Alice,” he announced, holding onto the rail and going down the stairs carefully.