Chapter 5

	Reese whistled his way down the hall towards Mikki’s apartment.  Work had
been keeping him busy the last weeks, but finally he had a Saturday afternoon free, and
he was looking forward to spending the time with Mikki.  It surprised even himself, but he
had plans.  It had been a long time since he’d actually made plans for time spent with a
woman. More recently, he’d just picked and event, or a restaurant, selected an escort
from Aunt Monica’s list, and hoped for at best a civilized evening.  He’d more or less
become accustomed to being the subject of matchmaking over the past few years, and
it meant that there was never a major event in his life that he was without a date for, but
he didn’t usually spend time thinking about how to spend a day off with a particular
woman. Today, however, was different.  He had a picnic lunch in the truck, and he’d
plotted out a scenic drive in the country.  He was looking forward to spending the
afternoon in the outdoors with the most beautiful woman he’d met in a long time, maybe
even ever.  It irked him slightly to think that Aunt Monica had had something to do with it,
but he wasn’t going to let that spoil the time he and Mikki could spend together getting to
know one another.  The thing that surprised him most of all was, he really wanted to get
to know her better.
	He tapped lightly on the door to her apartment, humming an Alan Jackson song
quietly to himself, and leaned against the wall to wait for her to answer.  When the door
opened, he flashed her his killer smile. Instead of being met by her smiling face,
however,  she looked at him with a worried expression and glanced behind her
nervously.  As Reese leaned forward and looked inside, he saw the face of a little girl,
perhaps six or seven years old, beaming back at him across Mikki’s living room.
	“I’m so sorry.  I have to look after Kelly this afternoon.” Mikki blurted out, moving
her hands about in the air as if she didn’t know what to do with them.  She looked back
at the little girl, then leaned forward to whisper the rest of her explanation to him.
	“Kelly lives across the hall. Their baby-sitter took sick at the last minute, and her
mom couldn’t find anyone to replace her.  She was stuck and couldn’t get anyone else. 
I tried to call you, but I just got the machine.”  She chewed on her lower lip nervously,
and looked at him with those big green eyes in a way that made Reese feel all funny
inside for a reason he couldn’t understand.
	Reese sighed. He’d left his place early and swung by a job-site to make sure the
work was finished the way he wanted it.  In spite of feeling a little let down, which
surprised him completely, he stood up straight and smiled at her. It wasn’t the first time
he’d had to improvise in his life, and it probably wasn’t going to be the last time either. 
He’d come here to spend time with Mikki, and he was darned if he was going to let a little
imp get in the way of that. He’d just have to change his plans, that’s all.
	“Well....” he looked behind Mikki at the little girl, who was still smiling like the
Cheshire cat from where she sat on the living room floor.  “We’ll just have to take her
with us then!”
	His words caught the little girl’s attention, and she eyed him curiously from across
the room. Mikki looked at him, eyes wide. “With us? Where?” she said in a low voice.
	Reese leaned in close to Mikki and spoke close to her ear. “I passed a midway
on the way over here. What do you say we all hop in the truck and head on over there?
My treat. I’m sure Kelly would enjoy that?”
	“Where we goin’?” Kelly chirped, ears perked, trying to hear what they were
saying.  By the look on her face it was clear she knew they were talking about her and
wanted to know what secrets they were keeping.
	Mikki smiled at Reese, glad of his quick thinking. She had hated the thought of
backing out on him at the last minute, and she had really been looking forward to
spending the afternoon with him. She turned a bright smile towards the little girl.
	“Mr. Kincaide was wondering if you would like to go to the midway?”
	Kelly jumped to her feet with a squeal that made Reese flinch, then ran at him,
throwing her arms fully around him while at the same time leaping up and down
continually and babbling a string of incomprehensible words without taking a single
breath. When she eventually detached herself from him, she spun around and threw
herself at Mikki with as much exuberance as she’d had for him.  He lifted his brow and
looked over the little girl’s head at Mikki’s laughing face.
	“It doesn’t look to me like she wants to go.” he said, feigning a frown.
	“No.” Mikki agreed, playing along with Reese’s joke. “I think you’re right, she
doesn’t appear to be interested at all.”
	Kelly shot accusing looks from one to the other, in shock. “Oh yes, yes, YES!
Pleasepleaseplease can we go? I do want to go,  I do, I DO!”
	Mikki laughed, unable to keep up the game any longer.  “All right.” she said.  “We
can go.”
	Kelly shrieked again and gave Mikki a hug that nearly cut her breath off, then tore
off into the hallway.  Seconds later she was back, looking at the two of them with a hint
of agitation on her face, since neither one of them had moved yet.
	“Can we go now?” she asked impatiently.
	“Is she always as calm as this?” Reese asked, sarcastically, laughter glinting in
his eyes.
	Mikki shook her head and rolled her eyes. “No. Sometimes she’s worse.”
	“What have I got myself into!” he groaned, in mock fear, then he bowed slightly
as he waved his hand down the hallway.  “What better way could a man spend his day,
than in the company of the two most beautiful women in the building!” He winked at
Kelly, who bubbled over with giggles. “After you ladies, your chariot awaits.”
	Kelly appeared to be the happiest little girl in town, eagerly tugging on Mikki’s
hand as they made their way onto the midway grounds.  Reese took advantage of this
to take hold of Mikki’s other hand, as if trying to steady her, and the three of them made
their way into the crowd.  To the un-knowing eye, they looked just like a happy family. 
	In fact, as they climbed in to a seat on the ferris wheel, the attendant offered
them a jovial smile as he helped Kelly into the seat between them and latched the bar
across their laps.
	“There you go young lady, safe and sound there between Mommy and Daddy.
Enjoy your ride!”
	Reese gave Mikki a side glance. He wondered why the attendant’s innocent
comment had made him feel like there was something missing in his life. He had never
been one to worry about whether or not he was married or single, or whether he ever
had children or not, but now, it felt so right that they sat there with a child between them,
and that people thought they were a family.  The fact that it felt so right, however, 
scared him half to death, and he wondered what effect the comment was having on her.
	The wheel jerked into motion, breaking into his thoughts, then stopped as the
next seat was loaded. Kelly bounced impatiently, swinging the seat a little. “I wanna go
up! I wanna go UP!”
	Mikki laughed. “We’ll get there, Dear, just be patient.”
	Kelly grinned as the wheel moved again, then groaned when it stopped once
more. “Can’t we go? Why do we have to let so many people on? Oh look! I can see Mr.
Kincaide’s truck over there in the parking lot!”  They were now half way to the top, and
Kelly was delighted to be able to see so much farther than she could on the ground. “I
wonder if we can see our building from the very top?”
	The wheel turned again,  finally staying in motion, and Kelly clapped in delight. As
they rounded the crest to the top, she squealed as she pointed out landmarks she
recognized.  Mikki smiled,  feeling the cool air on her face that wasn’t noticeable on the
ground. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful to see things from so high up.  She felt like
a bird with the breeze blowing in her face. She leaned in close to Kelly and pointed out
different things to the little girl, and Reese smiled as he watched the two of them.  Mikki
was in her element with children, of that he was certain, and he felt like he could watch
her all day.
	As the day wore on, Reese found himself watching Mikki more and more.  Her
face was lit up with the brightest smile as she watched Kelly on the rides, and her
laughter went all the way to her eyes when she waved at the excited little girl waving
back at them.  As they walked, she left her hand in his, comfortably swinging between
them as if it belonged there.  He bought them hot dogs and cotton candy, and even
played a game or two, winning stuffed toys for both Kelly and Mikki at the baseball throw.
	“You’ve got ketchup on the end of your nose.” he said, smiling at her and leaning
in to rub it off, as they sat on a bench waiting for Kelly to return. Mikki was sitting with the
toys on her lap, and Reese thought she looked as beautiful like that as any woman
could look. Their eyes locked together as his finger gently brushed the offending red
smudge from her nose, recalling the night he had gone to her apartment and how he
had wanted to wipe the smudge of pizza sauce from her lips.   Then his eyes wandered
lower to her lips.  
	He wanted to kiss her. There was no doubt about it, he wanted to lean over and
kiss her, right there in the middle of the bustling crowd at the midway.  He didn’t care
how many people were around, or who saw them, he just wanted to kiss her like it was
the most natural thing for them to do.  As he thought about it, his hand slid gently along
her cheek to brush the hair from her face, and his eyes sought hers once again. Inch by
inch he leaned forward, testing to see if she would object, but when she didn’t move, he
leaned in a little closer.
	“That was FUN!” Kelly’s excited voice broke into his thoughts and he pulled up
straight, turning to face her, forcing himself to smile.  He envied her her energy as she
bounced around them, but he thought her timing could have definitely been better.  He
glanced at Mikki, but she had turned away and was devoting all her attention to Kelly,
effectively keeping her face averted. Perhaps she wasn’t as disappointed as he was, he
sighed.  Perhaps she was glad Kelly had appeared and interrupted them?
	“Where to next, young lady?” he asked, standing up and ruffling Kelly’s hair. 
Kelly placed herself between them this time, grabbed each of their hands and dragged
them along, swinging their arms as she chattered cheerily between them.  The afternoon
dragged on into early evening, until finally the adults had had enough walking. Although
Kelly refused to admit she was tired, she rested her head against Mikki as they drove
her home, and for a few minutes was sound asleep.  Reese glanced sideways while he
was stopped at a red light and smiled. Something about the sight of Mikki and the little
girl tugged at him somewhere inside, but he didn’t know why.  
	“I think this is the first time she’s been quiet since I met her.” he said, smiling at
Mikki.
	“You know, I think you’re right.”  Mikki laughed softly and brushed the hair off the
tired girl’s face.  Kelly stirred slightly and curled up even closer against her.  “I think we
wore her out.”
	Reese chuckled. “Well, one thing I know for certain, she wore me out!”
	“Me too!” Mikki laughed, and Reese made a mental note that her laughter made
him feel happy.
	As if on cue, Kelly lifted her head and opened her eyes as Reese pulled the truck
up outside their building.  She stretched, yawned, and climbed out of the truck after
Mikki.	Reese followed behind, arms loaded with all the stuffed animals he had won for
them, which he dumped in a pile on Mikki’s couch once they got into the apartment.
	“Thanks Mr. Kincaide!” Kelly sang, as she bounced around the room, and Reese
could do nothing but smile back at her. 
	“Think nothing of it.” he said, looking from girl to woman. The little girl had won his
heart, of that he had no doubt.  What he wasn’t sure about, was what the woman had
done to it.  He looked at Mikki, not really wanting to leave, but having no particular
reason to stay longer.  Feeling a little lost, he made his way towards the door.   “Well, I
--guess it’s time I left you two ladies and headed home. It’s been a pleasure.” He
accentuated his words with a bow, directed at Kelly , who wrinkled her nose up at him
and giggled.
	As Mikki walked him to the door, Kelly skipped into the other room, and Reese
took the opportunity to reach out and brush his hand across Mikki’s cheek. “I had a lot of
fun today.” he said. 
	“Me too.” Mikki smiled, her voice soft and sweet. Reese let his fingers uncurl and
slide behind her neck, his eyes on her lips momentarily.  He glanced over her shoulder
for any sign of Kelly, but there was none, and slowly he leaned forward to kiss Mikki
goodbye.
	“Mikki...” The girl’s voice called from the other room, heralding her return just
before she showed up in the doorway.  Reese sighed, his lips not quite at their
destination, and dropped his hand to his side. Foiled again. With a smile, and a quick
wave, he said goodbye and left the apartment.  He would have to wait until the next time
he saw her to figure out just what it was about being with her that confused him so.

	He had to wait nearly a week, until finally the opportunity to see her presented
itself once again.  Work was keeping him busier than he liked but finally he had a free
night that he didn’t feel completely exhausted.  They were going to catch a movie, but
first, he had given her the nickel tour of both the house and the shop. He’d been
surprised at how glad he had been that she had liked the place.  Watching her reaction
as he had pointed out the renovations he had done, and detailed the plans he had for
finishing the house, he couldn’t stop smiling.  The more she liked it, the more important it
seemed to be to him that she did like it. 
	Now, as she waited for him, Mikki wandered around Reese’s living-room
humming to herself while he looked in his refrigerator to see what he could find to offer
her to drink.  They still had some time to spare before the movie, and she was glad to
spend it in his company in this lovely old house.  Having refused her help, insisting that
he was the host and she was the guest, Reese had disappeared into the kitchen.  Mikki
casually glanced at the stack of magazines that lay on the table beside the couch.
	“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” She asked, when she heard a
metallic clanging sound from the next room.  She heard a muffled curse, followed by
Reese’s voice assuring her she needn’t trouble herself, and smiled at his independence.
When she picked up a magazine, however, her smile froze on her lips, and the blood
drained from her face as she stared down at the face in the photograph on the table. Her
face.
	“Sorry it took me a while Mikki, I...”
	She turned slowly to look at him, and his expression changed when he spotted
the picture in her hand, and the pale look on her face.
	“Where’d you get this?” She asked, her voice hushed yet accusing.
	“Mikki, I can explain that.” He said, looking at her with a worried expression.
	She looked back at the picture and slowly turned it over in trembling fingers.
There, in her own handwriting, was her name slanted across the back of it, and suddenly
she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
	“Don’t bother.” She said flatly, tossing the picture back on the table and heading
towards the door. “I think I understand it all too clearly now.”
	It all made sense now, how he’d shown up at her door out of the blue.  How silly
she had been to think that he had just shown up there!  He never had explained how he
had known where she lived. And here she’d thought he’d been interested in her simply
for herself! She knew exactly where that picture had come from.  It was the one she’d
given Joey at Christmas, and now here it was in Reese’s house. It didn’t take a genius to
figure out what had gone on. How could she have been so stupid? Joey was probably
having a good laugh at her expense, right now, wherever she had disappeared to!
	“Mikki.” He looked at her helplessly. “Just let me explain.”
	She shot him a piercing glance. “Save your breath Reese! You and Joey really
had me going there for a while.  Well I guess the joke’s on me, isn’t it? Her scheme
almost worked, sending you to show up at my door out of nowhere, with no explanation
of how you got there. You sure had me fooled. Did she send you to the school that day
too? I bet there never was anybody to see at that house, was there Reese?” She looked
at him and the hurt expression on her face chewed at his insides. He wanted to tell her
she was all wrong, it hadn’t happened that way, but he didn’t really know how to
convince her. As it was, he’d been less than truthful with her about how he had found
her. Would she accept the truth any better than what she assumed had happened. 
	“Mikki, please.” He pleaded with her, but she just shook her head and walked
towards the door.
	“No Reese, the game’s over. I hope you had fun while it lasted. Now if you’ll
excuse me, I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow. I have to leave at seven for a
three hour drive to my sister’s bridal shower in Silverside, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be on
my way.”
	Mikki kept her composure until she pulled up in front of her apartment, but the
safety of being home seemed to open the floodgates.  With eyes full of tears she
slammed the car door and ran into the building to her apartment. She would feel better
once she was inside, she told herself, in the comfort of her own bed. Then she would
have so much to think about the next day on her way to her sister’s that she would have
no time to think about Reese Kincaide. She was just glad she hadn’t let things go too far.
	Reese paced the floor for a long time after Mikki left.  His first instinct had been to
run after her and drag her back into the house and explain everything to her, but he
knew she needed time to herself first. Besides, he had to figure out how to tell her
everything that had happened and why. Lord only knew, he wasn’t even sure himself. All
he was certain of was that he had just let her walk out of his life and done nothing to stop
her, and he didn’t like it one bit. The next thing he had done was to crack open a bottle
of Jack Daniels and share a few shots with his sorrows.
	The next morning he rolled off the couch, where he had ended up sleeping fitfully
for only a few hours of the night, and dragged himself to the coffee pot. As his brain
slowly cleared from the fog of the night before, he swore under his breath and glanced at
his watch. If he left now, he just might make it before she left for Silverside. He downed
the rest of his coffee in one gulp and headed for the door.

	Mikki stowed her packages in the back seat of her car and climbed into the
driver’s seat. She hadn’t slept much, and her face seemed etched in a permanent frown.
All she could think about was grabbing a black coffee at the nearest coffee shop and
hitting the road. She wasn’t going to let Reese Kincaide spoil her day with her sister!
	She slipped the key in the ignition and turned. The car sputtered, clanked,
rumbled, and screeched.  She tried again. Again, it made a number of animated sounds,
not unlike a child trying to convince its mother that it really was too sick to go to school,
but it did not start.
	“No!” She pleaded. “Please no!” Again she twisted the key but the car stubbornly
refused to start.  This was all she needed, she thought, as tears began to sting at the
back of her eyes.  She had to get to the shower, she was the Maid of Honour! She just
had to be there today!  What could possibly be wrong with her car? It had worked fine
the night before when she had driven it home from Reese’s.
	Suddenly she let out a groan and pounded her fist on the steering wheel.  There
was no way she could get anyone to look at it at this time of day, let alone fix it in time to
make it to the shower. She pounded the wheel again and let the tears flow, swearing
under her breath. She leaned forward to rest her weary head on the wheel, and cried.
	That was where Reese found her a few minutes later, forehead against the
wheel, fingers gripping it tightly, shoulders shaking with sobs.  When he opened the door
and crouched down beside her, she looked at him and groaned, wondering how one day
could go so completely wrong before it had even really started.
	“Mikki?” He said, in a low husky voice. “It’s not that bad, really. I can explain
everything.”
	She looked at him and started to shake at the hopelessness of the whole
situation. “Oh Reese, it’s worse than bad. My car won’t start and there’s no mechanic in
town open this early.  Even if there was, there’s no way they could find out what’s wrong
with it and fix it in time.  I’ll never make it to Silverside for my sister’s shower now. I’m her
Maid of Honour and I can’t even get there! On top of that, I’m a pathetic mess, and I
haven’t slept all night, -- and now you’re here!”
	He stared at her as she rattled on non-stop. Her words penetrated his brain but
all he could think about was how he wanted to reach in and brush those tears from her
face, then drag her into his arms and hold her ‘til she stopped crying.  That was probably
a bad idea, however, considering  it was obvious by her final statement that she thought
he was the straw that broke the camel’s back.   Instead, he crouched motionless and
spoke in a simple low voice.
	“I’ll drive you there.”
	A couple more sobs shook her before his words sunk in and she turned her head
slowly to look at him.
	“You’ll what?” she looked at him with wide dewy eyes and he swallowed hard to
keep from pulling her into his arms.
	“I said I’ll drive you to your sister’s.”	He repeated. Man, this might be the worst
thing to suggest right now, he told himself, but he simply was not going to leave her
there sobbing in her broken down car when he was perfectly capable of taking her to her
sister’s in his truck. 
	She said nothing, just stared at him incredulously, until at last she came to her
senses. “Reese, I can’t ask you to do that!” She shook her head.
	“You didn’t ask.” he reminded her, sticking to his guns.  “I offered.”
	She stared at him. After the events of the night before, she was amazed that he
could look at her in the eyes, let alone offer to help her, and even more amazed that she
was beginning to think that accepting his offer wasn’t such a bad idea, even if it was the
only idea either one of them had come up with so far. And -- what was he doing there at
this hour of the morning anyway? And furthermore, why did he look such a mess?
	He grinned at her and shrugged, and Mikki blushed as she realized she had
spoken her last thought out loud. “I didn’t get much sleep.” He said, looking at his watch.
“You said three hours?  Let me go by the shop and drop off a few things, make a few
calls to my men, and we’ll still be there by eleven. Is that time enough?”
	He stood up and held out his hand, waiting for her to follow. Dumbly she nodded
and climbed out of the car. He retrieved her packages from the back seat and put them
in his truck while she collected her purse and made sure the car was locked.
	They drove back to Reese’s shop in silence. Once there, she waited in the truck
while he unloaded several sacks of earth from inside the cap he had on the back of the
truck, and called Jake, his right-hand-man, with instructions for the day’s work while he
was gone.  As an afterthought, he grabbed a sleeping bag and camp mattress and
pillow and threw them in the back, thinking that while Mikki was at the shower it would
probably do him good to catch some shut-eye so he wouldn’t be a total disaster for the
drive back.