Suddenly Sexy(54)

"What if he doesn't come back?" The question had bugged her all morning and had driven her to eat more chocolate than she should have. "He has a habit of leaving when things don't go his way."

"No, he has a habit of leaving when he wants a change. And I don't think he wants things to change."

"Not yet." Maddie sighed. "But if he doesn't come back I'll know he finds me boring and isn't interested in the nerd."

Linda clicked her tongue and rocked Ronan who was losing the battle to keep his eyes open. "You're not boring, Maddie. And stop with this nerd stuff. So what if he said it when he was seventeen. That was a hell of a long time ago. You've changed since then."

"Yeah right, I've got a great career and men fall over themselves to date me. No wait, I must have read that in Who magazine."

"Maddie, stop beating yourself up over this. You have changed." She leaned forward, holding Ronan to her, and lowered her voice. "Look, this is going to kill me, because I'm your sister and, well, it's my job to tease you, but you've turned into a gorgeous, sweet, fun woman who's great to be with." She sat back with a glare that defied Maddie to argue with her.

"So where are the men beating down my door?"

"They're not beating down your door because they don’t know where it is. You don't go out and meet anyone. You only know men from work and the occasional guy Pete's set you up with. And you intimidate most of them. You're smart, they're not and you let them know it."

"All of them?"

"Well, most. Sam's smart, just not bookish-smart like you."

"Sam Hennessy is not intimidated by me. He teased me for crying out loud."

"Boys tease girls they like."

"Not a seventeen year old Sam Hennessy. He didn't tease, he fu—" She broke off when Emily came up to them sobbing.

"Mummy, David won't thare."

"Okay, that's our cue to leave." Linda stood, clutching a sleeping Ronan to her. "Pick up your toys and go inside."

Emily and David whined for five minutes before giving in when Linda threatened no ice cream after dinner.

"Hey, Mad," said Linda as she followed the kids inside, "since you're not working, can you babysit tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, play with us, Auntie Mad," said David.

"Yeah, pway wiff uth, Auntie Mad."

"Now how can you refuse such little angels?" Linda said with an impish smile.

There were other paranormal creatures Maddie would've used to describe her niece and nephew but she refrained. "I was going to update my resume and draw up a job hunting schedule," she said. "I don't want to waste any more time."

"Oh, Maddie, lighten up. Enjoy the day with the kids, you'll love it. They're not this bad all the time."

"I know, but..."

Emily's bottom lip fell and she latched onto Maddie's leg. Emotional blackmail. It worked every time.

"Okay, I guess I can put off looking for work for another day."

"Good," Linda said. "You need a break. I can't remember the last holiday you had. And since you've got some savings, why don't you take a couple of weeks off and decide what you really want to do."

"I need those savings."

"What for?"

It was her contingency fund, in case something went wrong. She had no idea what considering she was insured for everything, but that wasn't the point.

"And I know what I want to do," she said. "I want to do what I've always done. Be a biochemist. It's why I studied all those years."

Linda sighed and herded Emily and David to the car. "Whatever. Just give it a few days and let the dust settle. By then Sam might be back and you two can sort things out."

Women like you and guys like me...

"I doubt it. He already made his stance clear."

But Linda didn't hear her because David whacked Emily and she screamed at the top of her lungs, waking up Ronan who joined in the chorus.

Maddie sighed. "And I thought my life was chaotic."

***

The following day, Linda took Ronan out with her to lunch and Maddie took Emily and David to the zoo. It was an experience she wouldn't soon forget. By three o'clock, she'd cleaned up David's vomit, taken Emily to the First Aid clinic to patch up her scraped knee, covered their eyes when confronted with mating monkeys and lost Emily—twice—in the dimly lit snake enclosure. She was exhausted, had ice cream in her hair, a sunburned nose and swollen feet.

She'd also had a blast. Everything from the skittish meerkats bobbing in and out of their holes at the slightest sound to the elephants and giraffes delighted the kids. For the first time in ages, possibly ever, Maddie saw the world through their eyes. Big, diverse and totally awesome. She wanted to pat the joey in the kangaroo's pouch, feed the lions, let the butterflies land on her shoulders then eat too much ice cream and run around in circles until she was sick. Never before had she done something just for the hell of it, just because it made her giddy with excitement and gave her a rush.