have you learned any way of dealing with Jack’s stubbornness?”
“I’m afraid not. The good news is that he comes to his senses sooner or later. There’s just no hurrying him along. How bad was he?”
“On a scale of one to ten, he was about an eight.”
“And his apartment?” Corky asked. “Did it still look like a bomb had gone off in it?” Seeing her hesitation, Corky added, “You don’t have to lie, believe me, nothing can be as bad as his room used to be when he was a teenager. Funny how he always knew where everything was, though. He’s really not a total slob, and I raised him to be quite a good cook. You should try his Irish stew sometime.”
“I don’t know about that...” Kayla muttered.
“So what did he do to upset you today?”
Kayla couldn’t exactly tell her that Jack had kissed her as if she were the only woman in the world for him and that she’d kissed him back with the same heated intensity. So she focused on his other misdemeanors instead. “I hired a cleaning service to stop by his place but he refused to let them in. And I got a parking ticket for double-parking in front of his building to drop off this stupid imported beer he likes.”
“Ah, blame the beer on my husband, Sean. He got Jack going on that Irish brand of ale.”
“Mommy, Mommy!” Ashley yelled from outside the office. “I’s here. Look!” She waved a large piece of paper, half-crumpled in her excitement. “I got stars!”
“So you did, sweetie.” Kayla leaned down to give her daughter a big hug before smoothing out Ashley’s artwork. “Let me see.”
“It’s a monster. Like that mean man who walks with trees. I bet he kilt those trees. Put a spell on them. Made them fly through the wall.”
“Those aren’t trees, they’re called crutches and the man was using them because he broke his leg.”
“How come he broke his leg?”
“It was an accident.”
“Like the time I spilt my milk all over?”
“Something like that.”
“I don’ like him,” Ashley declared. “Hugs don’ like him, neither.” She lifted her ever-present teddy bear as if to prove her point.
“Is my son Jack the monster Ashley has been talking about for the past two days?” Corky asked.
“There was a slight misunderstanding when we first arrived,” Kayla replied. “He thought I was trying to break in.... Anyway, it all worked out in the end.”
“Jack never has been very good with little ones,” Corky admitted regretfully. “He never stops by the day care center when the kids are here. I’m not sure why he avoids children, perhaps they remind him of a time when he was young and vulnerable.”
“I’s hungry now, Mommy,” Ashley announced. “Hugs is hungry, too. Hugs wants choclotts for dinner.”
“Hugs has to eat what we eat and we don’t eat chocolate for dinner,” Kayla stated. “We’re having spaghetti.”
“I want mine naked,” Ashley said.
“She doesn’t like spaghetti sauce,” Kayla explained for Corky’s benefit.
“An’ I don’ like the monster man, neither!” Ashley declared.
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