Free Mad About The Man by Stella Cameron Page B

excuse would have been lack of opportunity—after this encounter the explanation was likely to be markedly different.
    "How was school, Mae?" Gaby sounded strangled.
    "Same as always. Do you have any animals at that house?"
    "Mae, it isn't polite to—"
    "Yes," Jacques said.
    Mae sighed hugely inside a sleeveless, red and white cotton dress. "Everybody does," she said with a dramatic flap of spindly arms. "Everybody but me."
    "You like animals?" He saw the possibility of a crack in the child's apparent dislike of him. There was nothing like empathy to win over a female.
    "I love animals." The scowl was redirected at Gaby. "Mom won't let me have any."
    "Mae, this isn't the time or place to discuss—"
    "When I was a boy I had all kinds of animals . What's your favorite?"
    Mae clasped her hands and considered. "I love dogs."
    "You're allergic to them," Gaby said in a voice that should have warned Mae to tread carefully.
    "I love cats, too."
    "You're allergic to cats. That's why we don't have dogs or cats. That and the fact that I don't think peo ple should have animals if they aren't around to look after them."
    "Cats can be left alone," Jacques told her, smiling benignly.
    "It doesn't matter. Mae's—"
    "Allergic to them," Jacques finished for her. "So you've said." He made sure his eyes said what he couldn't say aloud, that she should have told him she had a child. His next thought was about the father of that child. It came as an unpleasant surprise to discover he could dislike someone he'd never met.
    "Many people are allergic to dander," Gaby said. "Mae, Jacques makes candy."
    "He does?" Interest flickered in the girl's eyes. "I never knew men made candy. My grandma lives in Portland—the one in Oregon—and she makes fudge and salt-water taffy and sends it sometimes. When we visited one time she let me help. The kitchen got real hot. I like helping in kitchens. Could I come to your house and help?"
    "Mr. Ledan doesn't exactly—"
    "Sure you can come. I'll be sure we get to make some really unusual stuff." One of the positives about children was that they were generally uncomplicated—they could be bought.
    "Mr. Ledan doesn't actually make the candy himself," Gaby said. Her face no longer betrayed any thing of what she was thinking . "He owns big factories that mass-produce the stuff."
    "Stuff?" Jacques pretended affront. "Factories? Ledan's candies are made in kitchens, madam. And they are referred to as confectionery, not stuff. I'll arrange a special demonstration for you, Mae—in the kitchen at my house. Would you like that?"
    "Boy, yes. Wait till I tell the other kids."
    "You'll get to visit my dog, too." He saw Gaby prepare to protest and held up both hands. "Spike's not really long-haired and I'll make sure—"
    "No dog is short-haired enough," Gaby said and added, grudgingly, "but thank you, anyway."
    "I told Mary-Alice Healy I'm getting a pig."
    "You're not supposed to talk to Mary-Alice Healy. The last time you did the pair of you got into trouble for pulling hair and— What did you say?"
    "I told her I'm getting a pig," Mae told her mother in a very small voice.
    Jacques hid a grin.
    "Mae! Why did you tell a fib like that?"
    The girl displayed Gaby's talent for brilliant blushes. "I said it 'cause she's always braggin'. She's got a dog and a cat and her dad says she can have a pony when she's ten. So I said I'm gonna get a pig for my seven and a half birthday."
    "When's that?" Jacques asked innocently.
    "In a week."
    "Well, young lady," Gaby said. "We don't cele brate half-year birthdays around here. And you're just going to have to admit that you fibbed."
    Mae shook her head violently and pressed her lips together.
    "This is all I needed," Gaby muttered, and Jacques observed her speculatively. "We'll talk about the consequences of lying later, Mae."
    "Daddy would buy me a pig."
    "Mae," Gaby said warningly.
    "Who do you look like most?" Jacques asked Mae. "Your mom or your dad?"
    Mae glowered at Gaby. "My