Her Mr. Right? Page 5

He inhaled the honeysuckle scent surrounding her and right away noticed her change of clothes to jeans and a powder-blue T-shirt with a sleeping cat on the front. Printed under the white feline, the print said Don’t wake me unless there’s an emergency.

  When she spied him reading her T-shirt, she explained, “I always keep a duffel bag in my car with a change. It comes in handy.” Monitoring what her niece and nephew were doing, she warned gently, “Don’t pull on Grandpa’s arm.”

  “I smell pizza,” the little boy said and came over to stand in front of Neil. “Who are you?”

  Neil hadn’t been around children much, but he appreciated forthrightness in anyone. He crouched down to the little boy’s level, pizza boxes and all. “I’m Neil Kane. I’m working at the hospital right now with your aunt, and I brought supper.”

  The supper part of the explanation intrigued Isobel’s nephew most. “Mom only lets us order pizza one time a week.” He held up his index finger and stared at the boxes with longing. “I like pepperoni. Did you bring pepperoni?”

  Neil laughed and stood. “Yes, I did. Your grandfather said that was your favorite.”

  “Can we eat now?” the boy pushed.

  Isobel ruffled her nephew’s hair. “Why don’t you tell Mr. Kane your name first.”

  “My name is Johnny, after Grandpa.” He pointed to his sister. “And her name is Meg. Now can we eat?”

  “You get the napkins. I’ll get the silverware. Neil, can you set those on the table?”

  Isobel was a manager, no doubt about that.

  After they were all seated at the table and Isobel’s father had rolled his pizza so he could eat it one-handed, she asked him, “How did physical therapy go today?”

  “They’re trying to turn me into a muscle man. I just want to be able to use my arm again.”

  “You’re doing exercises with repetitions now?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” Isobel’s dad studied his grandchildren happily munching their pizza and then turned to Isobel and Neil.

  “This was a good idea, Iz.”

  “It was Neil’s,” she admitted, looking up at him, a slight flush on her cheeks.

  Was she feeling the heat, too? Had she been fantasizing about a kiss between them? Maybe more?

  As if maybe, just maybe, the same thoughts were running through her mind, she broke eye contact and concentrated on cutting her pizza into little pieces.

  “Do you always eat it like that?” Neil asked her.

  “I’m only having one piece and it will stretch it out.”

  “My daughter believes she needs to lose weight,” John explained. “What do you think, Neil?”

  “Dad!” Isobel protested, sounding horrified he’d bring up the subject at the table.

  “I think Isobel’s perfect the way she is,” Neil said, meaning it.

  John Suarez cocked his head and with a twinkle in his eye, asked, “How long are you going to be in Walnut River?”

  “As long as it takes to finish my investigation. Probably about three weeks.”

  “That’s a shame. Do you think you’ll ever consider settling down some day?”

  “Dad!” Isobel protested again.

  “I don’t know, Mr. Suarez. I’ve been doing this job for a long time. Traveling is a big part of it.”

  “Life changes. Needs change,” Isobel’s dad advised sagely. “Have you ever been serious about someone? Just wanted to be where they were?”

  This time when Neil glanced at Isobel, she didn’t protest, she just looked mortified. She murmured, “Dad doesn’t respect boundaries.”

  “Boundaries, schmoundaries,” her dad muttered. “Maybe it’s a question you’ve wanted to ask him and didn’t have the guts.”

  Isobel looked as if she wanted to throw her napkin at her father. But instead, she put it in her lap, her lips tight together. She was probably biting her tongue.

  Meg and Johnny seemed oblivious to the conversation as they stole pieces of pepperoni from each other’s slices of pizza.

  Neil knew he could joke off the question. However, if Isobel had wanted to ask it and was too shy to, he might as well give her the answer. “I was married once, but traveling was hard on the relationship.”

  “That’s why you split?” John pressed.

  “Not entirely. But it was a major stumbling block. My ex-wife and I were naive to think we would stay close when we were miles apart most of the week.”

  Isobel’s father finished another roll of pizza and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Naive…Or maybe the two of you didn’t want to be close.”

  “All right, Dad.” Isobel stood. “Meg, Johnny, if you’re finished playing with each other’s pizza, why don’t you wash up? We could set out the dominoes on the coffee table and we’ll all play a game.” She looked at Neil. “Unless you need to leave.”

  He was still trying to digest the fact that Isobel’s father had gotten to the bottom of the problem with his marriage with such clarity. “No, I don’t have to leave yet.” Then he turned to John. “How long were you married?”

  “When Brenna died, we’d been married forty-one years. We weren’t apart even one night, not even when she had our babies. I remember they tried to keep me out of the labor room with Isobel, but I wouldn’t let them. I told them Brenna was my wife and I was staying. When she got sick—” He shook his head as if the memories hurt him deeply to remember. “I stayed in that hospital room every night. My doctor got me special permission because he understood. When you love someone, you walk through hell for them. Getting a crick in my neck sleeping on one of those hospital chairs was nothing compared to the comfort of holding her hand.” He sighed. “But I don’t think young people understand that kind of love anymore.”

  “You and Mom had something special. Jacob, Deb and I knew that,” Isobel remarked in a quiet voice.

  “Then why can’t the three of you find it?” her father demanded. “Jacob runs off here and there as if he’s searching for something and he doesn’t even know what it is. Debbie…Debbie divorced her husband after his affair. They didn’t even try to work it out.”

  “Dad, you don’t know—”

  “What else Ron did to her,” he finished as if he’d heard it all before. “Maybe I don’t. She won’t talk about it with me. And then there’s you. You work, work, work. I think that’s the reason you and Tim broke up, though you’ll never tell me the truth about that, either.”

  The tension and strain of having dirty laundry shaken out in front of Neil made Isobel’s body taut. Beside her, Neil could feel it. Then she took a very big breath, seemed to somehow relax her muscles, and said to her father without any anger at all, “I know you must have a good reason for wanting to talk about all this in front of Neil, but it’s making me uncomfortable and it’s probably making him uncomfortable, too. Can we just relax the rest of the night? Play a little dominoes and talk about anything that isn’t serious?”

  John waved at his daughter. “That’s her assertive, socialworker’s side coming out. I hate feeling like I’m being handled,” he grumbled. Then he smiled at his middle child. “All right, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  “I don’t want you to keep your mouth shut, Dad, but I would imagine that you and Neil can find a hundred topics more fascinating, especially since you both watch the History Channel.”

  Neil couldn’t help but chuckle. When he looked over at John, the older man gave him a wink. “My daughter does have a point.”

  Isobel wasn’t simply a caring daughter. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman who could turn him on with just the hint of a smile.

  But this attraction could go nowhere. When he left, he’d go back to his life and she’d stay in hers.

  End of story.

  An hour later, when Isobel’s sister and her older son came home, Neil was making a quarter disappear for Johnny. The little boy had gotten tired of dominoes.

  After Chad and Neil were introduced, Neil asked him, “So do the Sox have a chance at the pennant thi
s year?”

  Chad had reddish-brown hair like Isobel and the same brown eyes. He gave Neil a crooked smile. “As good a chance as last year. You follow baseball?”

  “Since I was eight.”

  “You play sports in school?” Chad asked.

  “Basketball.”

  “What did you play?”

  “Center,” Neil answered. “How about you?”

  “Point guard.”

  “So you’re busy all year.”

  “Mom wants to see me busy so I stay out of trouble.”

  His mother didn’t deny it. Debbie was taller and thinner than Isobel, but had the same dark-brown eyes. Her hair wasn’t as curly and it was more brown than red but the resemblance was there.

  Chad spotted the pizza box. “Was there any left over?”

  Neil nodded. “It’s in the refrigerator.”

  Johnny came running over and tugged on his brother’s arm. “He can make a quarter disappear.”

  Chad gave his brother’s shoulder a little bump. “You can make quarters disappear when you go to the candy machine in the mall.”

  “Not like that,” Johnny protested. “Show him,” he demanded.

  Neil suddenly realized how much he was enjoying the evening, how long it had been since he’d spent time with a real family. During investigations he usually felt isolated. Each meeting was a confrontation and he spent every night by himself. Looking around at this close family, he realized how tired he was of the whole routine. His gaze fell on Isobel. She was sitting on the sofa with Meg and tying her niece’s shoe. She held the little foot in her hand so gently, smiled so tenderly at Meg, that Neil actually felt his heart lurch.

  What was happening to him?

  Whatever it was, it unsettled him. Didn’t he have the life he wanted? Hadn’t he decided an intimate relationship only brought pain and disappointment?

  Yet whenever he looked at Isobel, he had a yearning inside that told him that maybe the life he’d been leading wasn’t fulfilling enough.

  Disconcerted by his thoughts, his life, an investigation that seemed to be going nowhere fast, he checked his watch. “I’d better be going. I still have some work I want to do tonight.”

  “Thanks for bringing me over here,” John said, “and for the pizza. Don’t be a stranger. I could use a little company now and then.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Neil told the older man.

  Isobel crossed to him and walked him to the door. He’d discarded his suit coat long ago, tugged down his tie, rolled up his shirtsleeves. She was taking him in, just as he was taking her in. The chatter of her family behind them in the kitchen reminded him they weren’t alone.

  “You have a nice family.”

  “They liked you. I could tell.”

  “That’s because I know how to make quarters disappear.”

  Isobel laughed. “I think they like you for more than magic tricks.”

  “You’re fortunate to be able to be around people who care about you.”

  “Sometimes they annoy me,” she admitted with a sly grin.

  “But most of the time I know they love me. I’m sorry you don’t have that kind of support.”

  Neil shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to it. I’m basically a loner so I don’t miss it.”

  Isobel tilted her head and studied him. “I think you’ve convinced yourself of that, but I don’t know if it’s true.”

  He wasn’t going to delve into his personal history or give her a glimpse into his family’s dynamics. They hardly knew each other. Yet in some ways he felt Isobel knew him better than most people did.

  He reached out and brushed a few curls away from her cheek, his fingers burning from the contact. Touching Isobel was such a temptation!

  He caught the spark of desire in her eyes and fell back on the investigation that was always between them. “I still have some questions for you, but my next few days are booked solid. I’ll call your office at the end of the week and we can set up another appointment.”

  He found himself not wanting to leave Isobel and that was absolutely crazy. Also, out of the question. He always left. That’s how he lived his life.

  Alone.

  As soon as Neil drove away, Isobel touched her cheek where his fingers had grazed her skin. She could still feel the tingling heat of his touch.

  Debbie opened the screen door and stepped outside. “Your taste in men has improved. This one is not only good-looking, but he seems to like family.”

  “My taste in men had nothing to do with Neil being here. We were having a meeting and he offered to help out.”

  “He wouldn’t have offered if he wasn’t interested.”

  “In me?” Isobel laughed. “I doubt that. We’re on opposite sides of an investigation.”

  “He looked at you as if he’s interested. I was watching.”

  She and Debbie didn’t have many secrets. “The truth is—I don’t know if I can trust him. He might just want to get more information out of me.”

  “You have good radar, Izzy. What’s it telling you?”

  “My radar usually isn’t compromised by an—”

  “Attraction?” Debbie smiled. “You like him.”

  “Even if I did, that doesn’t matter. He’ll be leaving in a few weeks. You know I’m not the type to live in the moment.”

  “Maybe living in the moment wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It might even be fun. Think about it, Iz…having fun. If you’re given the chance, maybe you should try it.”

  Isobel didn’t want to have fun now and exchange that for heartache later.

  But when she thought of Neil’s touch and the exciting golden light in his eyes, she was afraid he could convince her otherwise.

  Chapter Four

  As West MacGregor hurried down the hall to his mother’s room on Tuesday afternoon, one of the nurses waved to him. Tami had a nice smile and was always friendly. With her divorce final now, maybe he should ask her out. He straightened the knot on his tie. Unlike many men, he felt comfortable in a suit and tie. His professional attire defined him, gave him purpose and his place in the world. As an accountant at Walnut River General, his services were necessary to the running of the hospital. Tami was one of the people here who respected his position.

  His position.

  He’d led his life on the straight and narrow—his mother had taught him well. His father had split before he’d entered first grade. His mom’s secretarial skills and her promotion to executive secretary to the vice president of an engineering firm had supported them well enough for her to buy a small house and even give West money toward college. He owed her. He owed her for raising him right. He owed her for making sure he had a place to go after school when she had to work. He owed her for just being there whether it was for his school concert or parents’ day at college. She’d been a wonderful mother, giving him everything she possibly could, and he wasn’t going to let her down now when she needed him most.

  That’s why being a corporate spy didn’t bother him as much as it should.

  West glanced down at the brochures for rehab facilities in his hand, then thought about the “other” pamphlet in his desk at home, along with the information packet about Fair Meadows. Fair Meadows had everything his mother would need when she could no longer stay alone. They could be at that point in four to six months, maybe a year if they were lucky.

  After she’d recuperated from her first hip operation, he’d taken her to Boston for an evaluation. He’d wanted the best doctors in the Alzheimer’s field looking after her. He also hadn’t wanted hospital scuttlebutt talking about it, her or them. Driving her to Boston had enabled him to do what he was doing now without throwing any suspicion on himself.

  He wasn’t doing anything illegal, exactly. He was just feeding information that was a bit skewed to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, as a favor for Northeastern HealthCare. The conglomerate was funding his mother’s care until she needed to be admitted to Fair Meadows. Not only was he
receiving a lump sum for whatever his mother might need, but the head honcho at Northeastern HealthCare had promised to find a room for her at Fair Meadows when she needed it. The facility’s waiting list was a mile long.

  West really had no choice but to help NHC. His salary wasn’t enough to cover long-term care, and he would not let his mother become a ward of the state in some second-rate nursing home where she’d be miserable and he’d worry daily about her care. She deserved more than that, and he was going to see that she got it.

  As West approached his mother’s room, he heard voices coming from inside and recognized Isobel Suarez’s. He liked Isobel—he really did. They had the same consideration for family. But he’d caught her talking to Neil Kane more than once and that worried him. Not because they were talking, but because they’d looked friendly while they were talking. If everyone treated Kane like the enemy, it would take him longer to get to the bottom of the information West had fed his office. He’d find most of the allegations groundless, though a few could be considered in the gray area. But the longer Kane’s investigation took, the more headway Northeastern HealthCare could make in staging their takeover.

  West strode into his mother’s room determinedly cheerful as he always tried to be when he was with her.

  She spotted him and her blue eyes danced a little, the way they used to. “Here’s West now. Maybe he remembers that trip I took to Puerto Rico with Lily and Mary.”

  The trip to Puerto Rico. West had heard about that often but it had taken place before he was born.

  Instead of walking down that road of conversation, he nodded to Isobel, smiled and suggested, “How about considering taking a trip when you’re finished with rehab? You always wanted to visit Las Vegas. We can play the slots and go to shows.”

  “Could we really do that?”

  “I have vacation time and it would be a great incentive for you to get better fast.”

  Isobel was taking in their conversation. “So you like to play the slot machines?” she teased his mother.

  “West took me to Atlantic City a few times. I won a two-hundred-dollar jackpot once.”