The Bonus Mum. Jennifer Greene

Even about things like bears? And she’s a girl.”

      “I noticed that.”

      Her head whipped toward him again. There was nothing suggestive in his tone. Just in his eyes. There was just something there that sparked a sizzle in her pulse...and Rosemary was too darned practical to feel sizzles—in her pulse or anywhere else.

      “I think it’s time we got out of this nice lady’s hair.”

      “But she likes us, Dad. She said so.”

      “Of course she likes you. You’re the angels of the universe. But we’re still giving Rosemary her life back and going home. It’s already dark.”

      “You sure didn’t call us angels when we put the red and green in our hair. Even though we told you and told you and told you it’d wash out. And everybody does it.”

      The adults barely exchanged another word—they had no chance. Rosemary was amused—and surprised—by the violent silence when she closed the door after them. She was used to silence. Or she should be. She was happy living alone.

      Or that’s what she’d been telling herself for six months now.

      Maybe she’d been telling herself that her whole life. If you’re waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re waiting for a spit in the wind. It has to start on the inside. Being content with who you are.

      Rosemary always thought she was. Content within herself. Until last June, and since then she couldn’t seem to fit in her own skin.

      She turned away from the window, fed the fire and turned her attention back to things that mattered. Another cream puff, for starters.

      And what a hunk of a man that Whit was. Maybe she could have a hot, steamy dream about him tonight. He was the kind of guy that looked all sexy and dangerous when he was sweaty.

      Not that Rosemary was attracted to sweat and oiled shoulders and bad boys.

      But losing a wife and raising two young girls alone—that was a tough road. Tougher than her own problems, by far.

      Which was probably why she couldn’t get him off her mind.

      Chapter Two

      Whit opened the refrigerator and stared at it blankly. He’d bought a truckful of groceries. The fridge was full. He just couldn’t seem to find anything to eat.

      At least anything that didn’t involve cooking and dishes and cleaning up.

      “What are you hungry for, you two?” He called out to the living room, and then wondered why he’d asked.

      The answer came in joyous unison. “Mac and cheese. From the box.”

      Followed by, “And don’t burn it this time, Dad.”

      He still had two boxes, thank God. All the green stuff he’d bought was going to waste. But the sugary cereals, the mac and cheese and the ice cream—after two days, he was nearly out of those. He could probably feed the kids on five bucks a day—if they had their way. Instead he’d spent better than $500 on stuff that was good for them.

      Why wasn’t that in the parenting rule book, huh? That short of putting an eleven-year-old in a coma, there was no way to get anything fresh and green down them without a war that involved pouting, door slamming, dramatic tragic looks, claims of being misunderstood, claims of being adopted, claims of child abuse...and...that torture could go on for hours. Sometimes days.

      He scrounged for a pan, and filled it with water. Read the directions on the mac and cheese box for the millionth time. When he turned around, Lilly was leaning on the blue-and-white tile counter.

      It was a trick, since he knew she hadn’t come in to help. He was in trouble. He just didn’t know over what. And the truth—which Lilly possibly knew—was that he’d do anything she asked. Anything.

      He was terrified of both daughters, but Lilly more than Pepper. Lilly had stopped talking after her mom died. She’d just lain there, in that hospital bed next to her sister, but where Pepper would cry and shriek, Lilly just carried that silent look in her eyes. Grief too deep to understand, grief that made her go still, as if in any motion, no matter how tiny, could tip her over the edge. She couldn’t take more.

      Eventually Lilly started talking again, but it went on and on, that grief of hers. She answered questions, and talked about things like school and dinner, but it was months before she volunteered anything. Months before that unbearably sharp grief started to fade. Months before he won a real smile—and he’d done everything but stand on his head and grovel, to bring her beautiful smile back.

      “What?” he said, when she kept leaning there, looking at him, kind of rolling her shoulders.

      “Nothing. I was just thinking....”

      That was the other problem with Lilly. Pepper, thankfully, said anything that was on her mind. It came out like froth; he never had to work to figure out where her head was. But Lilly was the thinker, the one who stored hurts on the inside, the one who never said anything he could anticipate. Nothing in the universe could make him feel as helpless as Lilly.

      And he’d have to kill anyone who dared cause her any grief again.

      “Didn’t you think she was pretty?” She asked him as if his answer was of no consequence, while idly scratching the back of one knee with a slipper.

      “The lady?”

      “Rosemary, Dad. You heard her name. And yeah. Didn’t you think she was pretty?”

      “Sure.”

      Lilly rolled her eyes. It was a default response when Whit did something inadequate on an eleven-year-old’s terms. “Something’s wrong with her.”

      “Like what?”

      “I don’t know. But she’s pretty. And she’s spending Christmas all by herself. And she’s working, she showed us some stuff on orchids. But you’d think it was July or June or something. There’s no tree or presents. No stuff. No lights.”

      “Maybe she’s of some other religion.”

      “You mean like Buddhist or Muslim or something? No. It’s not that.”

      “How do you know?”

      “Because I know.” Another default answer, usually accompanied by, “I’m a girl and I know. You wouldn’t understand.”

      “Maybe she’s Jewish?”

      “Dad. We know five Jewish people. And they do Christmas with presents and trees just like we do. Except that they get to do their Hanukkah holiday, too, so they get even more presents. In fact, I was thinking about turning Jewish.”

      “Were you?”

      “Hey, people fight wars all the time over religion. I think they should stop fighting wars and concentrate more on giving presents. Especially presents for their kids.” Possibly out of boredom, she plucked a raw carrot from the glass of carrots and celery on the counter. It was the first time he’d seen her eat anything nutritious since they’d come up here. “But back to Rosemary. The thing is...she’s our neighbor. In fact, as far as I can tell, she’s our only neighbor up here. At least the only one we know about. So maybe we should do some Christmas stuff with her, so she’s not alone.”

      “Honey, she may be alone by choice. She may not want company or neighbors around.”

      “Well, then, why were her eyes sad?”

      The water started to swirl and bubble. He dumped in the dry pasta, asked Lilly to get some milk and butter from the fridge and called Pepper to set the table. Then he did what he always did when he needed a diversion. He called dibs on the TV as of eight o’clock.

      That immediately raised the decibel level in the great room to rock concert levels...and for sure, diverted Lilly.

      But