Chapter 4

	Mikki stepped inside, tossed her keys on the kitchen counter, and slid the pizza
box in beside them.  She glanced at her answering machine and noticed it blinking.
Later, she thought. She was hungry, and La Contessa’s made a pizza to die for.  She
opened the box,  and let the aroma of tomato and seasonings wash through her as she
took a deep breath, then grabbed a big piece of pizza and took a generous bite.  She
closed her eyes and savored it, and sighed, lost in the flavour. Walking into the living
room, she kicked off her shoes and dropped down on the couch with her feet up.
	The last day of school.  Another year finished -- successfully, she smiled to
herself.  Her students had all done well, especially little Molly Cartwright, who had started
the year so timid that she had hardly spoken a word. The  same Molly Cartwright who
had chattered easily with her classmates as they’d gathered up their belongings for the
last time earlier that day, and who had run back into the classroom to give Mikki a big
hug and cheery farewell for the summer, before running back to join her friends.
	Then of course, there was Timmy Sullivan, who had defiantly refused to share
anything back in September.  He was tough, and he intended to prove it.  Mikki had
been concerned about him, knowing all too well that some children never grow out of the
playground bully persona. Timmy was different, thank goodness. She smiled to herself
as she remembered how he had insisted on being the turkey in the Thanksgiving play,
even though Mikki had made up the list of characters and someone else was designated
to that role.  Mikki had taken him aside and explained that one did not always get exactly
what one wanted every time, but that each and every role was important to the success
of the play.  He should be happy to do his part, no matter how small it was, and make it
the best contribution he could give.  He had stomped off, still pouting, leaving Mikki
frowning behind him, but when the day of the play arrived and Timmy prepared to go on
stage -- as a tree -- he had announced to her that even though he had really wanted to
be the turkey, he was going to be the best tree in the whole play.
	Mikki tucked the last bite of pizza into her mouth and smiled. It had been a good
year. After school she had stayed and tidied up her classroom, gathering together the
last of her personal belongings, said her good-bye’s to her colleges, and headed home.
She’d wondered it she would ever get used to this part of teaching, the part where she
left the building knowing that she would not be back again for two months, and that when
she did come back it would be to a whole new classroom of faces.
	After dropping her things off and changing into shorts and a tank top, she had
decided she was too tired to cook, and had gone out in search of fast food.  She had
decided on pizza as she had driven past La Contessa’s and now she was glad she had.
Licking the last traces of sauce from her fingers, she headed for the kitchen for a second
piece.  As she rounded the corner she was greeted by the blinking light of her answering
machine reminding her that she still had not checked her messages yet.
	There was a  short message from Max, something about a book she had
borrowed; one from Joey, sounding like she had just finished running the minute mile,
canceling their lunch the following day; and a hang up.  She shrugged, biting into the
second slice of pizza. Whoever had called would call back if they really wanted to talk to
her, she thought, as she made her way back to the living-room.
	She had just settled down again when there was a knock on the door.  Thinking it
was probably Max returning her book, she hopped off the couch, pizza in hand, and
headed for the door.  When she opened it,  however, her jaw dropped.  There, large as
life --no, larger than life, she thought -- wearing jeans and a tight black T-shirt and
looking at her with those hypnotic dark eyes of his, was the most gorgeous man she had
ever seen in her life. She knew this without a doubt, because she had seen him before,
and as soon as she saw him, her knees felt weak, just as they had the first time he had
locked eyes with her over the school fence.

	
	
	Furious with himself that it even mattered, Reese had tossed the pale mauve
sheets of note paper back in the drawer where he had taken them from.  No address.
No phone number.  How did the woman expect him to contact her? She was interested
in -- what was it again?-- long term relationship/marriage-- for goodness sake, you would
d think she would have let him know where to find her.  He had raked his hand through
his hair and reminded himself that there had, in fact, been some kind of return address
on the envelope that the second letter had been in, which had long since gone in the
garbage.  He had racked his brain trying to remember what it had said, but to no avail. 
He hadn’t really paid much attention to it in the first place.  Feeling like he was at a dead
end, he pulled out the phone book and flipped through the pages ‘til he found the “J”. 
Seventeen Johnson’s, he’d thought, and four of them were M’s. Just his luck!  With a
heavy sigh, he had picked up the phone and tried the first one.  No, the lady politely
informed him, he must have the wrong number, there was no Mikki Johnson living there. 
At the second number there was no answer, and at the third, there was a recorded
message telling him Mark and Tina are unable to come to the phone at the moment. 
Pushing down the button on the phone, he had then tried the last M Johnson. 
Immediately he had recognized the crackling sound that indicated another recorded
message, and had been about to hang up in defeat when the voice stopped him in his
tracks.
	“Hi, you’ve reached Mikki. You know what to do. Leave me a message and I’ll
get back to you soon. Bye”
	He had stood there for what had seemed like hours, but had in fact been only
seconds, then glanced at the address listed in the phone book.  Now, as he stood face
to face with her in her doorway, just itching to reach out and scoop the pizza sauce from
the corner of her mouth with his finger, he was beginning to question his wisdom in
coming here at all.
	“For Me?” He asked, hiding his nervousness behind a smile that, had he but
known it,  made her knees feel like they were going to fold up under her. She stared at
him, confused, while he struggled with his willpower.  There she stood, in a moss green
tank top that accentuated her auburn hair and green eyes, and he made a mental note
that green was his new favourite colour.  The soft fabric also accentuated her shapely
breasts and slim waist, he noted, and below that, her faded denim shorts effectively left
no further doubt as to what her legs looked like.  Long, slender and gorgeous, and
ending with bare feet.  He swallowed hard, reminding himself that he had absolutely no
right to wonder what she looked like without the shorts and tank top, and hastily brought
his eyes back to her face -- and that damn smudge of sauce that still called out to him
from the corner of her lips.  This time, however, he found himself wondering what it
would be like to kiss it away instead of using his fingers.
	“The pizza.” he said, bringing himself back out of his thoughts, and pointing to the
slice of pepperoni and cheese she held in her hand.
	“Oh.” she said, in a weak voice, and clamped her mouth shut as she realized she
was staring at him.  Suddenly spurred into nervous action, she looked around for
someplace to put down the half eaten pizza, finally scurrying into the kitchen and tossing
it back into the box.  On the way back to the door she grabbed a napkin and Reese
watched as she wiped the tempting smudge of sauce from her face.  He wondered why
he felt like he’d just lost his best friend, then she smiled nervously at him and his heart
did a flip.
	“Can I help you?” She was asking him, as he came back down to earth.
	“Reese Kincaide.” he said, holding his hand out to her, expecting her expression
to light up with recognition.  Instead, she eyed it hesitantly, then offered him her own, 
When he took it, he felt a tingle run right up his arm and pulled his hand away before he
found himself unable to let go.  Feelings like he was experiencing were unfamiliar ground
for him, and he wasn’t liking them one bit, but it was too late to turn around and leave
now without looking like a fool.
	“Mr. Kincaide.” she nodded politely. “From the school. Did you ever find that
person you were looking for?” 
	A strange grin spread over his lips as he looked at her. “Umm -- yes, I believe I
have.”
	“Well -- good.” She said, her brow wrinkled as she tried to make sense out of his
choice of words.  She didn’t know what else to say, other than asking him point blank
what he was doing standing at her door. For several days she hadn’t been able to get
those penetrating dark eyes out of her mind, but she had never thought she would ever
see him again.  Now those eyes were staring right at her.
	As they stood there in a strained silence, it suddenly occurred to him that she
had no idea who he was.  If she had written to him, if she had sent him her picture, surly
his name would mean something to her? Instead, she stood there shifting nervously in
her apartment, while he still stood in the hallway outside, thinking he’d just made
possibly the biggest mistake of his life.  Maybe it wasn’t her? Maybe there were two Mikki
Johnsons and the one who had written to him -- well, to Monica actually -- wasn’t the
same one?  Maybe he was looking into the eyes of the wrong woman?
	That thought brought his mind back to the picture he had become so familiar with
over the past few days.  Who was he kidding anyway? There was no way there were
two of them.  He would know those green eyes anywhere.
		“Reese Kincaide -- from the newspaper.” He said, lifting one eyebrow
hopefully, but there was still no look of recognition on her face. Instead she simply stood
there, looking at him with those green eyes, wondering why he was there.
	“Newspaper?” She asked, then her eyes narrowed slightly. “Did Joey send you?”
	“Joey?” it was his turn to look confused, and she grinned and shrugged.
	“Joey’s a friend of mine from the newspaper. She’s got this thing about finding
me a man. She even put an ad in the personals a few weeks ago--against my wishes, I
might add.  I’m sorry, I just wondered if she had sent you over here. It’s the kind of thing
she would do.”
	“An ad, you say.” He grinned nervously. “Get any replies?”
	She laughed. “Yeah, but I didn’t read them.” She lifted her eyes to his again and
smiled, her shoulders more relaxed now. “So what can I do for you anyway Mr.
Kincaide? I’m afraid, as you can see,  I don’t have a yard that needs landscaping.”  She
held out her arms in a sweeping motion, indicating her small apartment.
	Damn Aunt Monica! Suddenly everything began to fall into place, with a big thud
in his brain.  Of all the personal ads she could have chosen to reply to, she had had to
pick this one.  The woman hadn’t even placed the ad herself!  He didn’t know who had
been sending letters back to Monica. Probably this Joey person, he thought.  He only
knew two things -- that he had come here to apologize to this woman for his aunt’s
meddling, and she didn’t even know a thing about it; and that he was standing there
feeling like a complete fool.  How was he going to explain what he was doing here now,
let alone how he had found out where she lived? More to the point, his inner voice
whispered, why had it mattered to him so much in the first place?  he shook that thought
off and ignored it, and returned his attention to the girl in front of him, lifting his brow
sheepishly as he looked at her.
	“I’m sorry, I -- umm -- acted on impulse. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.  I
--umm -- was just wondering if you’d like to join me for a burger or something, but...” he
glanced towards the door where she had disappeared with the pizza earlier. “...I see
you’ve already eaten, so maybe I’ll just be on my way.”
	She looked at him eyes wide in surprise. “You’re here because you wanted to
invite me out for something to eat?” She asked, incredulously, and he chuckled.
	“Yeah. Surprised?”
	“Well, umm, yes, as a matter of fact. I don’t even know you. How did you find out
where I lived?”
	He should have known the question would come up sooner or later. It had been
obvious that she hadn’t known that someone had replied to one of those letters from the
personal ad.  If he wasn’t going to embarrass her by spilling the beans about it, how was
he going to explain how he had found her? He couldn’t even explain to himself why he
had wanted to, he reminded himself.
	“Guess it was just luck.” He said, giving her a smile that set her knees knocking
yet again. “But I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll be on my way now. I’m really
sorry to have bothered you.”
	She nodded dumbly, and he nodded in return and turned away from the door.
	“Bye then.” He said hesitantly, realizing that once he left the building it was quite
likely he wouldn’t be looking into those green eyes ever again, except for in her picture.
	“Bye.” she echoed, stepping forward and resting a hand on the door.  He took a
step, nodded again, and she began to close the door between them.  When he heard
the quiet, yet firm click as the door closed, he let out his breath and swore to himself.
	Damn Aunt Monica anyway! What had she gone and done to his heart now? He
hated it when she stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong, absolutely hated when she
tried to play cupid, and right at this moment, he hated to think that this time she just
might have succeeded. But a lot of good it was going to do him. This girl was doing
strange things to him that he had never experienced before and refused to even try to
explain, and she had just closed the door on any chance of a future that would satisfy
Aunt Monica -- or himself.
	“Kincaide?”
	He stopped halfway down the hall and turned to face her. She stood halfway in
the hallway, leaning out with one hand on the doorjamb to steady herself, and he held
his breath at the sight.  She smiled nervously, as if she still wasn’t sure why she had
called him back.
	“Umm -- there’s lots of pizza left.” she said cautiously. “Care to help me finish it?”
	He realized he was still holding his breath when he let out a heavy sigh. With a
warm smile, he turned and walked wordlessly back towards her.

	Max rounded the corner heading towards Mikki’s apartment and nearly stopped
dead in her tracks.  At the other end of the hallway, where normally she would have
seen her friend’s closed door, there appeared the most gorgeous hunk of man she had
ever seen.  He leaned casually against the doorjamb for a few seconds as if lingering
over a good-bye, then as the door closed behind him he headed down the hall towards
her, smiling to himself and whistling softly as he walked.
	“Afternoon.” he said politely, tipping his head as he passed her, and Max thought
she must be dreaming, he must be an apparition conjured up by her mind.  She would
have been positively love-struck had it not been for the fact that she had just seen him
coming out of Mikki’s apartment.  Mikki, who swore she did not need a man in her life! 
Max looked back over her shoulder and watched him shove his hands into the pockets
of his jeans as he sauntered down the hall. She decided that he looked just as good
from the back as he had from the front! As soon as he disappeared from view, she
leaped into action and raced down the hall, bursting into Mikki’s apartment.
	“Who was that deliriously gorgeous hunk I just saw leaving here, Miss
I-don’t-need-a-man-in-my-life?” She demanded.
	Mikki glared playfully at her friend.  “Don’t you ever knock?”
	“Not when the sky is falling -- or in this case, when the most gorgeous guy I’ve
ever seen walks out of your apartment.”
	Mikki rolled her eyes at her friend, but couldn’t hide her smile. “Can I offer you a
coffee or would you prefer a Pepsi?”
	Max plunked herself on a chair at Mikki’s kitchen table. “Coffee.” She said.  “And
don’t change the subject. Are you going to tell me or not?”
	“Tell you what?” Mikki asked innocently, pouring her friend a cup of coffee.
	Max groaned. “Mikki! Who is he?”
	Mikki giggled. “He’s just a friend, Max.  Someone I met at school the other day.”
	“A friend?” Max raised her brow, “By that you mean he hasn’t kissed you yet I
guess.”
	“No, he hasn’t kissed me!” Mikki exclaimed, then added, “And besides, what
business is it of yours anyway?”
	Max eyed her over the rim of her coffee cup, with a wry grin. “But you want him
to.” It was more a statement than a question, and Mikki glared back at her.
	“Maxine McGreggor! Whether I do or do not want any man to kiss me is, I repeat, 
entirely my own business!”
	“Uhu.” Max nodded as she took a sip of coffee without taking her eyes off of her
friend’s face, but it was clear she neither believed her friend, nor was she about to let the
subject die.  “But we’re not talking about any man, are we Mikki, we’re talking about that
man.”
	There was a glint in Mikki’s eyes as she looked at her friend.  “So, what you are
telling me then Max, is that, if I did want him to kiss me, you would approve?”
	“Definitely!” Max stared at her wide eyed and nodded.
	Mikki grinned wider. “So, you would agree then, that when it comes to men, I can
indeed look after myself, without the aid of my meddling, match-making friends?”
	The point Mikki was making hit right between the eyes, and Max sighed and
conceded defeat. It was true, neither she nor Joey could ever have come up with a guy
to compare to this tall dark and handsome stranger.  She had never met anyone who
had knocked the breath out of her like he had, and if she hadn’t seen him leaving Mikki’s
apartment with her own two eyes, she would have  probably  chased after him down the
hall and made a fool of herself trying to get to meet him. “So, does this man have a
name?” She asked as she brought her coffee cup to her lips.
	“Reese Kincaide.” 
	Max choked on her coffee, sputtering it back into her cup and coughing
profusely. “Did you say Kincaide? Reese Kincaide?”
	Mikki stared at her. “Reese Kincaide.” she confirmed, nodding. “What’s the
matter with you Max? Have you heard of him?”
	Max sputtered again. “I --well, I -- ummm....”
	“He has Kincaide Landscaping over on the west side of town.” Mikki offered.
	“Yeah,” Max said slowly, setting her cup down and pushing it aside. “Kincaide
Landscaping. Yeah, that’s it.”
	Mikki shook her head at her friend’s strange behaviour, and chuckled.  “Max,
sometimes I wonder about you.”
	Max grinned. “What are best friends for, huh?” She stood up and headed for the
door. “Gotta run!”