“Do you moonlight as a valet?” he asked, as he gestured for her to precede him into the living room.
“I have three brothers,” she explained, looking around the big room. He’d hired someone to decorate when he’d first moved in, and it had turned out okay, if a little too beige for his taste.
He wondered suddenly what Kate thought of it. He had a feeling she wasn’t big on beige.
“Three brothers,” he repeated. “Older or younger?”
“One older, two younger,” she said, turning away from the window. “So, do you want to fill me in on the essentials? Emergency numbers, food preferences, bedtime?”
Jacob. Right. The reason she was here.
He took her into the kitchen and showed her around, pointing out the emergency numbers and other information on the refrigerator door.
“He’s a pretty quiet kid,” he said, using the phrases he always did when talking to a new babysitter. “He won’t give you any trouble, and he’ll probably spend most of the night in his room. Bedtime is nine o’clock, and he doesn’t have any food allergies. There’s frozen stuff in the freezer to microwave for dinner.”
Kate nodded. “Sounds good. Can you introduce me?”
“Sure.”
A minute later, he was knocking on his nephew’s door again.
“Come in,” came the subdued reply, and Ian led the way into the room.
“Jacob, this is my friend Kate Meredith.” He’d hesitated an instant before using the word friend, but figured it was better than former coworker.
“Hi, Jacob,” Kate said with a smile. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” Jacob said politely, turning in his desk chair to face her.
Unexpectedly, his eyes lit up. “Hey, the X-Men!”
His eyes were on Kate’s chest, and for one horrified instant Ian thought he was looking at her breasts. Then he realized it was the tee shirt that had caught Jacob’s eye.
Kate nodded. “Can you name the mutants?”
“Of course. Rogue, Wolverine, and Gambit.”
Kate’s eyebrows went up. “Impressive. Everyone knows Wolverine, and it’s fifty-fifty with Rogue, but Gambit’s usually a stumper.”
Jacob was grinning, something Ian didn’t see too often. “I named my cat Remeow LeBeau.”
Kate laughed out loud while Ian wondered what was so funny.
“I don’t get it,” he said after a moment.
It was Kate who explained. “Gambit’s one of the X-Men. His real name is Remy LeBeau. Get it? Remy, Remeow? It’s genius.”
Still feeling a little out of it, Ian nodded. “Very clever.”
“So where is Mr. LeBeau?” Kate asked. “Can I meet him?”
Jacob’s face clouded over. “This building doesn’t allow pets. When I moved here, I had to give him to my neighbors back home in White Plains. They send me pictures and stuff, though. Do you want to see one?”
“Sure.”
Ian frowned. One of the few times Jacob had shown any emotion in front of him was when he’d found out he couldn’t bring his cat to the city. He’d actually cried about it, and Ian had done his best to be comforting, although he probably wasn’t as sympathetic as someone who actually liked cats would have been.
He’d thought he hid his aversion pretty well, but maybe not. Jacob had never suggested showing him a picture of his pet.
Determined to seem interested now, he came up beside Kate to look at Jacob’s computer screen, which showed a big orange cat lounging on the back of a sofa.
“Oh, he’s beautiful,” Kate said. “I love orange cats. Mine’s a tuxedo.”
“Tuxedo cats are awesome. What’s his name?”
“Gallifrey.” Kate said the name with a note of challenge in her voice, as if to say, Let’s see if you can figure that one out.
Ian was glad the challenge wasn’t directed his way. The name Gallifrey meant nothing to him—but then, neither had Remeow LeBeau. These two were obviously engaging in some kind of geek-speak, and he didn’t have a decoder ring.
“Doctor Who’s home planet!” Jacob exclaimed. “That’s awesome.”
His nephew watched British television? Who knew?
Ian glanced at his watch. “I guess I should be going,” he said, even though he almost wished he could stay. It was rare to see Jacob this talkative.
Kate nodded. “I’ll walk you out.” She smiled at Jacob. “When I come back, we can talk about dinner, okay? Maybe you can help me pick something out.”
“Sure.”
As they walked through the living room, Ian said, “I have to tell you, Kate—I’ve never seen Jacob take to anyone that quickly. The truth is, I’ve been worried about him. I’m afraid he might have Asperger syndrome or something like that.”