around here today, you never know what or who will show up at this door.â
âDonât worry, I know who Dannyâs, Sarahâs, and Casperâs fathers are, and itâs nobody rich or famous. None of them will ever come here. Each of those men are aware that mama had his child, but it doesnât matter to them.â
âAll three guys know they have kids by Romina and donât care?â Flynt frowned. âWhat sort of lowlife goes around fathering and abandoning children?â
âA selfish, irresponsible lowlife, thatâs who,â Angelica said bitterly.
âAnd your mother managed to find three of them?â Flynt watched Angelica put the glasses away. Her movements were graceful, precise. âRomina has a real talent for picking men.â
Angelica whirled to confront him. Though censure was missing from his tone, she expected to see it reflected on his face. She found him looking at her, his expression curious but not judgmental.
âMama has a talent for trusting the wrong men,â Angelica acknowledged with a wistful sigh. âI know this will probably sound like an over-used cliché, but my mother has a heart of gold and the men sheâs chosen have pretty much smashed it. Finally, she was galvanized to help other women. It was a gradual process and sheââ
Angelica abruptly lapsed into silence. Flynt Corrigan had been an FBI agent, she reminded herself, a professional investigator whoâd made his living interrogating people. She had to proceed with caution around him. Butit was hard to remember that because he was so easy to talk to. So easy to confide in.
It was mystifying. Angelica was thoroughly bemused. Sheâd never been the open, trusting type who shared secrets and sought advice; from an early age, she had found it best to keep her thoughts and feelings to herself. Yet here she was, chatting away about mamaâs men with Flynt as if they were long-time confidantes, just like sheâd done with Mara, who was her best friend, fellow nurse, former foster sister and current roommate.
Of course, the feelings Flynt evoked in her were definitely not the comradely ones Mara inspired. Angelica noticed that Flynt was watching her, and her heart began to beat erratically. Needles of sexual excitement pricked her, and she was suddenly, sharply aware of how quickly sheâd shifted from being mentally attuned to him to this aching sensual awareness of him.
âWhy hasnât your mother told the kids who their dads are?â Flynt asked.
Angelica dragged her eyes away from him, wishing that they were talking about something else, not this subject that had caused so much pain.
She swallowed hard. âThereâs no deep dark secret why mama hasnât told the kids who their dads are. My brother Danny knows, but heâs old enough to deal with it. Sarah and Casper arenât. Mama doesnât want them to know their fathersâ names because sheâs afraid the kids might try to contact their fathers and be hurt when theyâre rejected by them, which they definitely would be.â
âHelp!â Casper came running into the kitchen with an armful of dishes. âI ate ice cream and spaghetti andpie and chocolate pudding in my room, and this gunk got crusted on, and now thereâs roaches in my room and mamaâs gonna kill me.â He dumped the dirty dishes onto the counter and ran out the back door without pausing to take a breath.
Flynt joined Angelica at the counter and picked up one of Casperâs discarded bowls. âItâs encrusted with gunk, all right,â he said lightly. âIâm surprised that any self-respecting roach would go near this.â
Angelica began to fill the sink with detergent once again. âMama is something of a neat freak. Gunk and roaches arenât going to improve her relationship with Casper.â She took two of the bowls and submerged them in the sink of
Christine Zolendz, Frankie Sutton, Okaycreations