quite precocious.”
“I was homeschooled, for the most part,” Last said. “We did go to public school for a few years, but more as a social exercise.” Now that he had her attention, he refused to let it go. “Can we start over?” he asked with a smile.
“I suppose,” she said reluctantly. “Although I try to discourage the children from talking to strangers. And certainly taking money from them is inappropriate.”
“You speak just like Mary Poppins,” Last said. “Very proper. Are you British?”
“Mary Poppins flew by parasol,” Amelia interrupted. “And Mr. Last flew by hang-glider, though not very well,” she finished thoughtfully. “It’s something in common.”
“I thought Mr. Jefferson did quite fine, except on the landing,” Curtis said. “They probably have lots in common.”
“Whew,” Last said, “these two are certainly trying to set you up. I’m sorry I’m not available, if for no other reason than to see what they’re up to.”
Poppy smiled sadly. “My sister passed away a year ago, and it is the children’s opinion that if they can marry me off, they will have a whole family. Like most children, having a whole family is their greatest wish.”
“No father?” Last asked quietly, watching as the children were sidetracked by a bird flying overhead.
Poppy shook her head. “No one knows where he is.”
“I know that routine,” he said with a sigh.
“Sorry?” Poppy said.
Last hadn’t seen his own father in years, though Mason kept up a diligent search. But Last wasn’t ready to go into that, not here and not with a woman as pretty as Poppy/Esmerelda. “Hey, let’s have lunch,” he said instead. “I want to hear more about this magician’s life you lead. Wasn’t it ‘the hottest female magician performing today’?”
Poppy blushed. “The children hear that every night from the announcer. Pay no attention to it.”
“How can I not?” He grinned at the kids as they turned their gazes back to him. “It’s true—at least the hot part. Now, magic, I don’t believe in.”
The children gasped. Poppy looked horrified.
“How do you think Mary Poppins flew?” Amelia demanded.
“Ropes and pulleys?” Last asked.
They all stared. Must be British, Last thought.
“Don’t you believe in firefly magic and baby turtles that run to the sea without ever knowing what the sea is?” Curtis demanded.
“Instinct,” Last said. “It’s all instinct, a very good thing to have.” Right now his was telling him that if he was smart, he’d be doing the cowboy-bachelor crawl away from this bunch.
Poppy drew herself up tall, which stretched her torso and raised her bikini top a bit, his practiced masculine eye noted. She had wonderfully taut skin, golden and plump with vitality.
“Magic is everything,” Poppy said. “It moves the world. It heightens your senses. It’s at the heart of your most fabulous moments.”
“Nope. Those happen when I’m drinking a cold beer, and there’s nothing magic about that except how fast I can make it disappear.” He grinned, pleased by his own humor.
“Mr. Jefferson!” Poppy said.
“Oops. Another lapse. I am sorry.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Neither I nor my eleven brothers are known for being role models.”
Poppy sniffed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Were you ever a child, Mr. Jefferson?”
“Most of my adult life,” he said cheerfully. “Although having a young daughter has certainly matured me.”
“I doubt the veracity of that,” Poppy said, “but I’ll have to take your word for it. If you’ll excuse us, we must decline your offer of luncheon. We have studies before tonight’s show.”
With the thought that he might not see Poppy again, he was suddenly in the mood to take in a show. What could it hurt? “Where will you be performing?”
“Goodbye,” she told him, walking away.
“Damn,” he said. “I’m not as smooth as I used to be.”
From the way she’d said it, he knew better than to follow her. But for some reason he followed her anyway.
POPPY WALKED AWAY FROM the handsome stranger wishing her charges were just a bit less in shopping-for-a-father mode. It wasn’t going to work. She had no desire for a permanent man, due to her lifestyle, and the children had no idea that marriage wasn’t always filled with glittery magic.
It was hard work, and right now her efforts needed to be focused on the children. Amelia was ten, Curtis eight, and there would be many changes in their lives in the teen years. She had to think only of them, and a man would make things in her once-free life even more complicated. Five months ago, she’d been a happily traveling gypsy with no greater care than daily performances. She liked the bohemian lifestyle. But she’d had to settle down a bit since she’d inherited the children. That kind of focus was hard enough without the further distraction of a man.
The children didn’t understand this. Amelia and Curtis only wanted a family, and were she in their circumstance, Poppy probably would have reacted the same way. But even if she was looking for marriage, the right man did not simply drop from the sky. Hunting for The One took effort and kissing lots of frogs.
She had an aversion to smooching frogs.
“You two must stop,” she said now to Amelia and Curtis. “Please try to be satisfied that, for now, we are a family. And a good one. We’re making it, aren’t we?” she asked, bending down to look in their faces.
They nodded slowly, not convinced.
“The judge said it would be better if we were placed in a two-parent home,” Amelia reminded her. “He said he’d examine our progress in a month.”
“He doesn’t like the fact that we travel with you in a circus,” Curtis said, his blue eyes round. “He said it wasn’t stable.”
“True,” Poppy agreed. “It’s something to consider.”
The judge certainly had been put off by her stage name and gypsy lifestyle. His suggested alternative was that the children live with Poppy’s parents. Though they were far past the age of wanting to be responsible for children, the judge knew her parents personally and felt more comfortable with the stability he thought they would give the children.
It would be better for everyone if she could find a way to settle down, Poppy knew. And she was trying. “I will try harder,” she said slowly. “I guess I could give marriage some consideration. But not to that man,” she said quickly, dimming their suddenly hopeful faces. “He’s just not for me.”
They nodded, accepting
