She nodded, unconcerned. "I have a kitten but it's bigger than Nonny."
"Peggy's Nonny."
"Yes, I know it's Peggy's Nonny," Suzy said in a voice usually reserved for infants.
Riley made a break and headed down the street at a dead run, Johnny on his heels.
"Out of bounds!" screamed Riley's sister. She rounded up the smaller children and herded them back into the yard. "Hey, Doc," she called, seeing him for the first time.
"Hello, Rosemary."
"Johnny'll be back in a minute. He'll tag my brother when he stops to open the door." She organized another game, and Suzy ran to join.
"Do you want to play, too?" Adam asked Peggy.
She shook her head and snuggled up against him. It made him think of keeping her, of sharing a family with Jane. But he had done everything wrong, and Jane didn't trust him. He had made love to her when he should have talked to her, and told her he loved her when he should have been asking her forgiveness.
Johnny sauntered back into the yard looking pleased with himself. Adam hoped Riley was none the worse for wear. He rose to meet the boy, planning to question him, just as Jane opened the back door.
"Hi," she said, looking happier than he had ever seen her. "I didn't know you were here."
"I've been watching the children play," he said.
"Aren't they wonderful?" Jane beamed. "Help me give them their cookies, then we have to send them home for dinner."
Adam noticed she carried the cookie tin. "You're giving them cookies now, then sending them home? For dinner?"
Jane laughed. "One cookie isn't going to make any difference. They've been running around for an hour. Almost time to go," she called.
Instead of heading home, the children shouted and ran toward her. They settled down a little as they waited for her to open the tin. She handed out the cookies one by one and the children drifted away.
"Where's Riley?" she asked Rosemary, who had waited until the smaller children had all gotten their treat
"Probably home crying."
"Oh, dear. Did he get hurt?"
"Naw, he's fine. He teased Johnny all afternoon, and Johnny chased him home."
"I did more than that," Johnny said. "I bloodied his nose."
Rosemary turned to grin at him. "Good for you. Believe me, Aunt Jane," she stated earnestly, "Riey was askin' for it. I was about ready to punch him myself."
"Well," Jane said, obviously uncertain how to handle the situation, "take a cookie for him, anyway."
"Oooh, sure." The girl grinned at Adam, making him certain the cookie would never make it home.
Adam set Peggy on her feet. She put her cookie in her pocket and sat down on the step to play with the kitten.
"Johnny." Adam motioned for the boy to come close.
"Nothin' doin'. If ya want to give me a beatin' ya gotta catch me first."
Rosemary had just left the yard when she turned back. "Here comes Mama," she whispered. "Let me handle her."
Rose Finley marched into view, a rolling pin in her hand. Riley was two steps behind her. A little blood crusted his face and a little more stained his shirt. He was smirking.
"That boy," she began before she spotted Adam. Evidently his presence made her reassess the situation. She took a less belligerent stance. "My Riley says this boy beat him up."
Jane stepped closer to Johnny. Adam stepped up to a spot somewhere between the two boys. And the two women.
"That's right, Ma," Riley said. "I come over to play with the other kids and Johnny called me names, and when I tried to stand up to him, he hit me."
Rosemary ran to her brother and wrapped her arms around him in a modified hammerlock. "Poor
little brother," she cooed. "That's not what happened, Mama. We were playing tag, and he fell down. He hit his nose on the ground. We would have helped him, but he ran home instead. You know how boys are. They gotta make everything sound more exciting."
Riley struggled, but she held him tighter. "Poor
little brother," she said through clinched teeth.
"They're both lyin'," Johnny said.
"Lyin'," mimicked Peggy from her seat on the back step.
"Suppose you tell us what happened," Adam said.
Johnny glared at him. "Suppose you take a-"
"Johnny." Jane issued the warning quietly, but it stopped the boy.
"Well sure, I'll tell you what happened. That little toad was lordin' over all them little kids 'cause he's bigger and faster. When it looked like he weren't gonna win, he runs home. Only I'm faster'n he expected and I caught him at his door. I only punched him once. That's all I had to."
Rosemary laughed. "Oh, Mama, you know how boys are."
Rose seemed torn. "I don't see how that scrawny boy could have hurt you too bad, Riley."
"Scrawny?" Johnny started forward, but Jane's arm kept him in his place.
"I'm sorry to have bothered you, Jane." Rose smiled sweetly. "Nice to see you again, Dr. Hart."
She turned. "Let's get you cleaned up."
"But, Ma. Ow!"-Riley glared at his sister.
"The idea," Rose muttered, leading her son away by the ear. "Tellin' me that boy beat you up."
Adam watched them go, then turned his attention to Johnny.
The boy gave him a wicked grin. "Now you gotta decide who you believe."
"You'd be better off if I believed Rosemary."
Johnny laughed. "Not the way I see it."
"Let's let it go for now," Jane said.
"You go on inside," Adam said: "Johnny and I'll have a little talk."
The glare Jane gave him rivaled any of Johnny's.
Adam smiled. She wasn't acting that much different than Rose. "Don't worry, I won't let him bloody my nose."
"Ain't your nose I'm worried about," Johnny said. "But I ain't hidin' behind no girl." He stepped away from Jane.
Jane turned and stalked off to the house. Adam heard her say something softly to Peggy before the door closed.
"Now she's mad at both of us," Adam observed.
"That bothers you more'n it bothers me."
"It ought to bother you, Johnny. She's ready to be your friend."
Johnny shrugged.
"Did you consider any way to settle your differences with Riley besides punching him in the nose?"
"Yeah," Johnny said, backing off half a step. "I considered hittin' him with a club, but I couldn't find none."
"Riley might decide to be your friend, too, if you let him."
"Now he can decide knowin' a little bit more about me." Adam understood how impossible it would be for Johnny to admit he had made a mistake. And what had happened didn't matter as much as what might happen in the future.
"Here's the situation," he began, catching the boy's shoulder before he could dodge away. "A family is coming to meet Peggy tomorrow. I know you don't want to see her go off without you, but I also know that you aren't interested in a family for yourself. I want you to think of what this could mean for Peggy. Your smart mouth and your belligerent attitude could ruin it for her."
He steered Johnny toward the back door. "Now tell me, what's Jane fixing for dinner?"
Chapter Thirteen
Jane looked down at the children sleeping in the little bed and thought her heart would burst. She hadn't had to argue at all to get Adam to leave them another night. She was so happy she could have kissed him.
Well, she thought, feeling her cheeks grow warm, that wasn't an image she should dwell on. She dwelled on it anyway: Adam standing here beside her, watching the children sleep; Adam making love to her again. She was every bit as foolish as her mother had been.
She turned down the lamp on the kitchen table and walked quietly to her own room. She mustn't think about Adam or she would get no sleep at all. She didn't want Adam saying the children had exhausted her.
No matter how well she slept, he was taking them away after breakfast. A family was coming to see Peggy sometime tomorrow. Though Jane had suggested they could see her at the boardinghouse as easily as next door, Adam had shook his head. He probably thought she would try to keep them from taking Peggy. Maybe she would.
She told herself that Peggy deserved both a father and a mother. Perhaps the family could open their hearts to a clever boy as well. It could be the best thing for both the children. Wasn't that what she wanted?
But the answer was no. She wanted Peggy. She had fallen in love with the little girl with the strange habits, and with her brother besides. How could she not love a boy who would go to such lengths to find his little sister?