Micah pushed her pillow out of the way and grabbed the ringing phone.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” said the voice on the other end of the receiver.
“Hi. What time is it?” she asked, reaching for the clock.
“Seven-twenty.”
“I like getting wake-up calls from you.” Micah sat up in bed, pulling the sheet around her. “Are you coming over later?” She glanced out the window. “It will be raining soon.”
“I don't have to wait for the rain to start, do I?” Rob asked.
She laughed and assured him she wanted to see him, regardless of the weather.
“I have some news,” he offered, the tone of his voice suddenly serious.
“Good or bad?” She tucked a few curls behind her ear as she asked the needless question.
“Not good,” he replied. “Our rainy-day plans together must be postponed.”
“But, why? I thought you had the day off—”
“I do, but Liz's father-in-law was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night. She and Dan went up to Cleveland to be with him, and since Mom and Dad are out of town and they couldn't find a sitter at five o'clock in the morning, they dropped the kids off here. I have three sleeping children in my apartment.”
“Come anyway. Bring the kids. It will be fun, and it sounds like you might need help.”
“Truth is, I'm used to having one or even two of them around sometimes on the weekend. But I'm not too good with all three at once. Are you sure you wouldn't mind?”
“I'm a teacher, remember? Three children won't exactly be a challenge. And I can stay home from church this morning.”
“Heather's waking up. She just crawled off the couch and turned on the television.”
“I have plenty of stuff for sandwiches, and I think I have some grapes and cookies. We can eat lunch here.”
“I promised them French toast for breakfast, so I'd better go find the skillet.”
“Really? I didn't know you cooked.” Her teeth sank gently into her lower lip as she smiled. The more she learned about this man, the more she liked him.
“I don't much. But the kids are easily impressed. Anyway, they like to help crack the eggs,”
“Uncle Rob, I'm hungry.”
Micah laughed softly as she heard the little girl's voice in the background.
“Got to go. I'm being paged,” he said. “See you in a couple of hours…if you're sure.”
“I'm sure. Good luck with breakfast.”
“Thanks. I'll need it.”
Micah replaced the receiver slowly and got out of bed. She needed to check her cupboards to see if she had to make a quick run to the grocery store for anything before the arrival of her guests.
“We stay with Uncle Rob sometimes,” David said with a hint of pride in his young voice that brought a quick smile to Micah's face. “And he lets us stay up real late.”
A flash of lightning drew Micah's attention to the kitchen window. Her Sunday-afternoon plans for the three young strangers in her apartment were working out easily enough, despite the rain sliding down the windowpanes.
“That's on the weekend, David,” Rob interjected. “If you stay with me tonight, you'll have an early bedtime because it's a school night.”
Rob's comments brought no response as eight-year-old David busied himself setting up a game of Monopoly.
“Not like that.” The older boy, Nathan, objected to David's methods of distributing the money. “Haven't you ever played this game before?”
“You got any cookies?” Heather asked as she followed Micah around the kitchen watching sandwiches being assembled.
“Rob, look up in that top cabinet, please,” Micah said as she gently pulled the little girl's ponytail. “What's your favorite kind, honey?”
“Oatmeal,” Rob replied, glancing mischievously at Micah.
“I was speaking to the child,” Micah replied, faking a frown of displeasure.
“Chocolate chip!” Heather exclaimed. “Those are my favorites. Only Uncle Rob likes the oatmeal kind.”
Rob handed the package of cookies he found in the top cabinet to Micah.
“You'll be happy to know these are chocolate chip,” Micah said. “Uncle Rob is out of luck this time, Heather.”
“That's a matter of opinion,” came Rob's response. Micah handed one cookie to the little girl and glanced up at Rob with questioning eyes. Just as Rob leaned forward to kiss her, the boys had a difference of opinion themselves.
“It's my turn, dummy. I told you—”
“Hey, guys! No name-calling.” Rob's attention turned to the argument coming from the living room. “I think you need a referee in there,” he said, disappearing around the corner.
“Can I have another cookie?” Heather asked.
“Not right now, sweetheart. After lunch.” Micah looked at her small table and the four accompanying chairs. “Maybe we'll have an indoor picnic. Does that sound like fun?”
“Sure! How?” Heather asked.
“We'll spread out a sheet on the living-room floor and take all the food in there to eat.”
“Okay! I'll tell Uncle Rob.” Heather ran out of the kitchen. Micah walked into her bedroom and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser to pull out a sheet.
“Are you sure you want these wild hooligans eating on your living-room carpet?”
Rob's voice startled her, and she rose up quickly.
“They can't hurt anything,” she said. “I'll put this sheet down to cover the carpet and that will catch most of the crumbs.” She picked up the sheet.
“When you don't have enough chairs to seat the number of guests invited, you have living-room picnics.”
Heather came tagging along just moments behind her uncle. “Davy and Nathan are ready for the picnic.”
Rob and Micah both laughed, and Rob leaned over to pick up his dark-haired niece. “But the picnic is not quite ready for them, babe. Let's go help Micah finish getting everything ready.”
“She's pretty,” Heather said as she peeked at Micah over Rob's shoulder.
“She sure is,” Rob confirmed, carrying the child from the bedroom.
“And real nice, too,” Heather added with a shy smile.
“You're pretty and nice yourself, Heather,” Micah replied, and Heather buried her face in Rob's shoulder.
Rob turned to Micah when they entered the kitchen and kissed her lightly on the mouth.
“Yuck!” David had just stepped into the room. “Kissin!”
“In a few years, you'll like it,” Rob said, smiling as he sat Heather on the floor. But the look on David's face said he doubted his uncle's words.
“Now, Micah's been very nice having us over here for lunch, so let's cooperate with her.”
“That means ‘help me,’” Micah explained as Heather looked at Rob with a puzzled expression. “Cooperate is kind of a big word, isn't it?”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“You're welcome, Counselor,” Micah replied and picked up a couple of packages of fruit-flavored punch to pour into a pitcher on the counter. Counselor. That was the only flaw she had seen in him so far, and she refused to think about that today.
“Okay, move the board game. Nat, you missed a couple of pieces. Good… okay. Now, help me spread out this sheet. David, grab that corner. Nat, get the other one. Heather, hon, move out of the way.”
Micah added sugar to the drinks and listened to the conversation in the living room. Rain beat upon the roof and poured down the windowpanes partly hidden by yellow and white curtains. Stirring the punch, she watched the rain through the glass, knowing that when it was quiet, she could hear the drops hitting the leaves on the apple tree outside the living room window.
Then the kitchen was invaded by three miniature helpers.
The potato chips went to Heather, the plates and cups to David and the silverware and napkins to Nathan, and they all carried their assigned item to the picnic area.
“You take the sandwiches,” she said to Rob, “and I'll take the punch and the baked beans.”
Micah followed her guests into the living room and arranged everything in as orderly a fashion as possible, using her large coffee table as a buffet.
Nathan wandered over to the couch and practiced his karate chops on the cushions.
“No martial arts during lunch, Nat. Come on.” Rob steered him back to his seat on the floor.
“So, you like karate?” Micah asked, remembering Angela's concerns.
“Yep, sure do,” Nathan replied as he plopped down in his designated spot and began munching on a ham and cheese sandwich. “But Mom don't like me liking it.”
“You try to chop up tables and stuff,” David responded, shedding a little light on the subject.
“Maybe if you were more careful about what you practiced on, your mom wouldn't mind so much,” Rob commented.
“Can I have another cookie?” Heather asked.
Micah looked over at the plate containing a sandwich with only two small bites missing. “Eat at least half your sandwich, then you may.” And to Micah's amazement, the child complied without argument.
The picnic went smoothly and within a half hour or so, the boys were playing Monopoly again and Heather was watching a cartoon video she had brought with her on the VCR. Rob and Micah cleaned up the lunch dishes.
“They're good kids, Rob. Really,” Micah added while putting the leftovers in the refrigerator.
“Yes, they are. Whenever the boys spend the weekend with me, we enjoy the time together. Heather won't come with us most of the time because we usually go boating or fishing and she's afraid of the water.”
“That's too bad. She's missing a lot of fun.”
“When you accompany us, maybe we can talk her into coming along. With you there, she might not be so afraid.”
The phone rang.
“It's probably Angela,” Micah said. “Go ahead and answer it.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and listened to Rob's voice grow cold and impersonal with the party on the other end of the receiver.
“May I tell her who's calling?” Whoever it was, it certainly wasn't Angela.
“Scott,” Rob explained, handing the phone to her with a disapproving glance.
She hadn't heard from Scott in months. Hadn't wanted to. So why did he have to call now?
“Hello? Yes, hi, Scott. How have you been?”
“Is that Mommy?” Heather climbed down from the sofa and came running toward them.
“No,” Rob answered. “Your mom will call soon. Let's watch some more cartoons until she does.”
Scott had remembered that Micah liked stormy days. He had thought of her often. Law school wasn't going so well.
Micah spoke as politely as she could. Thanks, but no thanks. Yes. She was involved with someone else now. Scott wanted to see her anyway. Surely she wasn't so involved with someone that she wouldn't see anyone else. Her new relationship wasn't that serious, was it? Scott wanted to know.
Micah studied Rob's frowning expression where he sat on the couch with Heather cuddled up close to him. He glanced away from the television which had so captured his niece's attention and his eyes locked with Micah's for a brief, questioning moment.
“Yes,” Micah answered Scott's question. “It is serious.” Finally, wonderfully, dangerously serious.
She replaced the receiver and approached the couch, which now held not only Rob and Heather, but the other two kids, as well, while an old movie blared from the screen. The kids were so engrossed in the science fiction movie, they didn't notice when Micah leaned forward and kissed Rob on the cheek. His eyebrows rose as if to question her about the call, but she shook her head. “It wasn't important. Just a voice from the past,” she explained.
“And he'd better remain there,” Rob stated flatly.
“Shh!” three young voices chimed in.
Just a voice from the past. Micah shivered as she settled down into the space remaining on the couch cushions next to Heather. There were other voices from the past that, if they spoke, would not be so easily silenced.
The phone rang again shortly, and Nathan was off the couch in a moment's notice. “I'll get it.” Then he stopped and looked at Micah. “Can I?”
“Sure,” she answered and within seconds Nathan was talking to his mother on the other end of the line.
Rob asked Nathan for the phone. “Liz? Is everything all right? Sure…no problem. We'll be there soon. Bye.”
“Is her father-in-law okay?” Micah asked.
“Yes. They were allowed to see him for only a few minutes, but he looked good and his condition is stable.”
Micah glanced at Heather, who had fallen asleep on the couch. The boys, however, were as awake and lively as ever.
“Let's go, guys,” Rob said. “Your folks are home and waiting for you.”
“We want to finish the movie!” David responded. “We can't go now!”
Nathan asked, “Did they land on Mars yet?”
“Nope,” David replied. “But they're gonna in a second.”
Rob and Micah looked at each other, and Micah shrugged. “There's only about half an hour left of the show,” she offered. “Why don't we let them finish it?”
So they sat down and watched the spaceship land while Heather slept soundly through a much-needed nap.
Later, getting everyone loaded into Rob's car took a while, with last-minute drinks and trips to the bathroom.
“All right, in the car, everybody. It's only a twenty-minute ride to your parents’ home. You can drink and do whatever you need to do then!”
The kids thanked her for the picnic and good time they'd had without prompting from Rob, which both pleased and surprised their uncle.
“Be careful driving,” she whispered to Rob and kissed him lightly, which brought giggles from the passengers. “It's going to start raining again soon. I can feel it”
“Sure you don't want to ride to Liz and Dan's with us?”
“I'm sure. You go ahead, and I'll take care of a few things around here. You'll be back soon?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I will.”
She pulled her sweater around her shoulders as cold raindrops began to fall once again, and she waved goodbye to the three youngsters waving to her from the rear window of Rob's car. She laughed softly at the sight. The argument over the front seat had been so intense, Rob had ordered them all into the back.
Micah hurried into the apartment when the rain turned into a downpour. There were surprisingly few things to pick up, and the lunch dishes had already been taken care of, so she had time for a quick shower. Then she slipped into a clean pair of jeans and a soft, cream-colored shirt.
Rain-spattering footsteps splashing through the courtyard caused Micah to hurry to the door, opening it wide.
“Come in,” she called as Rob neared the entrance to her apartment. “The kids got home okay?”
He stepped inside the doorway, out of the drizzle and handed her a package. “Yes, and on the way there, I stopped at one of the one-hundred-flavor icecream stores.”
“A hundred flavors! Rob, I think there are really only thirty or so.”
“Whatever. It doesn't matter. If there were only two flavors, the kids would argue over it. I finally ended up buying a half gallon of some double-dutch chocolate or something like that for the boys to take home, and Heather wanted—”
“Mint chocolate chip?” Micah asked as she took Rob's rain-soaked jacket from him after setting the package on the floor.
Rob looked at her in obvious surprise. “How'd you know?”
“I've purchased ice-cream cones for dozens of kids at one time or another. She just looked like someone who might ask for the green minty kind.”
“Thank you,” Rob said quietly as Micah placed his jacket on a hanger and looked up at him. “I mean…for helping me with the kids, especially on such short notice.”
“You're welcome. So what's in the package?”
“What flavor of ice cream might you ask for, Miss Shepherd?”
“Depends on the mood I'm in,” she replied. “On a rainy day like this, I'd probably think something chocolate would be comforting.”
“Lucky guess on my part,” Rob said, pulling a half gallon of chocolate ice cream from the sack. “You'd better put this in the freezer before it melts.”
“Thank you.” Micah took the carton from his extended hands.
“Wait. There's something else in here for you.”
Rob pulled a square box about the size of a large telephone book from the bag. “There was an electronics store right next door to the ice-cream shop—”
“Electronics?”
“And they were having a sale on telephone answering machines.”
“Answering machines? Rob, they're expensive. I can't accept—”
“Yes, you can. I would have gladly given the price of this machine several times over these past ten days to be able to get an accurate message to you. Do me and our conflicting schedules a favor and accept it.”
Micah looked from the machine Rob was pulling from the cardboard box to the ice cream in her hands.
“Go ahead and put that away,” Rob said, nodding toward the ice cream. “I'll hook up this thing and we'll see how it works.”
She smiled and exited the living room. “Do you want any dinner?” she called from the kitchen. “I could make a pizza.”
“No, thanks. I'm not hungry.”
Micah pulled open the drawer underneath the kitchen sink and gathered up the few tools she kept in her apartment “Maybe you'll need these,” she offered as she placed them on the floor beside Rob.
“I don't think so. It's been so long since I've hooked one of these up, I can't remember exactly how to do this.”
Micah sat down, cross-legged on the floor next to him, and read over the operating directions as he worked. “This will be great, Rob. When someone calls, I can hear them talk. Then, if it's important, I can pick up the phone and talk to them.”
“And if you hear that Scott's voice again, you can let him talk to the machine,” he said in a low tone.
“He won't be calling again,” Micah assured him, trying to suppress a grin. A possessive streak was a quality she sometimes liked in a man.
“What I want to know is why he called in the first place.” Rob sat the machine rather noisily on the stand by the phone and reached into the box for the cassette tape. “Your relationship with him is obviously over. Isn't he aware of that?”
“I reminded him and told him I'm involved with someone.” Micah pushed some of her long curls back over her shoulder and pretended to concentrate on the instruction booklet in her hands. This conversation would be better ended, she knew.
“So that was it? He wasn't any more persistent than to simply say, ‘okay’?”
Rob was the one being persistent. Why did he ask these questions? She knew she would give him an honest answer, and he knew it, too.
“Well, no, he wanted to see me anyway, but—”
“How long has it been since you've dated him?” Rob slid the cassette tape into place and snapped shut the lid. Piercing blue eyes now focused on her, but Micah kept her eyes glued to the operation instructions she still held in her hands.
“I don't know. About a year, I suppose,” she answered. “Our breakup is not a date I keep on my calendar.”
“Is it over, Micah?” he asked.
She looked up into his frowning face. “I just said we stopped seeing each other over a year—”
“No, I mean the way you felt about him. Is it over?”
“Yes, of course it is,” Micah responded quickly. “I told him I was involved with you and that it's…”
Rob studied her wavering green gaze. “Serious.” He finished her sentence.
She nodded her head without speaking.
“It is, you know.” Rob touched her cheek lightly.
“I know,” she agreed in a whisper. “But there are things you don't know about me, Rob. Things—”
“Things that you're ready to tell me?” Rob interrupted. “I'm not going back to that old argument of yours. We're already involved, Micah, and until you're prepared to give me specific reasons why we can't remain together, I'm not going to discuss it.” He turned a couple of dials on the answering machine, and then said, “Here. Record a message to answer the calls.”
“Let me think of what I want to say before you turn it on.”
“Tell them you can't come to the phone, but you'll return the call as soon as possible. Be sure to tell them to leave their name and number.”
“Maybe I should ‘ask’ them to leave their information,” she said in response to his brisk orders.
“Ask them, tell them, whatever. Are you ready?”
She recorded a brief message and when she finished, they played it back.
“Sounds good,” Rob commented as he began to rewind the tape.
“Rob…” She touched his hand, bringing his action to a halt. “Thank you…for the answering machine and the ice cream.”
“For disrupting your peaceful day with two nephews and a niece in need of a sitter?”
She laughed. “That, too. I really think they had a pretty good time. Don't you?”
“Yes,” he answered, sliding over to sit closer to her on the living-room floor. “But it wasn't exactly the day I would have planned for us.”
“Me, neither,” she responded. “But we'll have other rainy days.” She glanced up at the nearby window and saw the rain continue to fall. She scrambled to her feet and opened the window, allowing the cool scent of rain to enter. “Shh.” She held her fingers to her lips as she sat down beside Rob again, close to the sofa so they could both lean back against it. She rested her head on his shoulder, and they sat quietly on the floor. “Hear the rain hitting the leaves on the apple tree?” she said.
Rob kissed the top of her head, his mouth moving against her soft hair. “Yes, hon, I hear it”
Micah nestled closer to him. “You couldn't have slept much last night. You didn't leave here until nearly two-thirty this morning, and didn't you say Angela brought the kids at 5:00 a.m.?”
“Uh-huh,” he confirmed as Micah turned her head enough to see if his eyes were still open. As she suspected, they were not.
“You'll be more comfortable on the couch,” she offered with a gentle nudge to his side. “You need to get some rest.”
“No, I—”
“Go on.” She patted a sofa cushion behind them.
“You're exhausted, Rob. You need to sleep.”
“Maybe for a little while,” he replied quietly.
Micah disappeared into the bedroom for a moment and returned with a multicolored afghan and tossed it over his sleeping form.
Then she retrieved her easel from the back room and set it up in the living room in front of the window. The church was taking form as the central focus of the painting, but the sky was what she was working on now. The few wispy clouds accented the beautiful blue sky.
A few minute's rest turned into a couple of hours, as Micah had suspected they would. The trial had been demanding, and Rob had looked very tired last night and all day today. Smiling, she continued with her work. She had never imagined herself pleased with a date who fell asleep on her living-room sofa. She must be falling in. She stopped, paintbrush in midair and gazed at the man asleep on her couch. So this was what love was like? Being happy just to have him in the same apartment with her, even sleeping? That, and the way she could feel as though he had touched her with only a gentle look? And when he kissed her…
Rob stirred, and Micah returned her concentration to the canvas.
“What are you doing?” he asked, sitting up slowly and running a hand through his disheveled hair.
“Working,” she replied. “I've been trying to finish this painting for weeks.”
“What time is it, anyway?” he asked, glancing down at his watch.
“Nine-fifteen.”
“Nine-fifteen? I've been asleep nearly two hours. Why didn't you wake me?”
“You were tired. I know you didn't get much rest last night,” Micah replied, “and I liked watching you sleep.”
He glanced at his watch again. “I've got to get home so I can look over a few notes for tomorrow.” Standing up, he smoothed some wrinkles from his clothes. “Some date, huh? I bring three kids here for you to supervise and feed, and then I fall asleep on your sofa.”
“It was rather unique,” she said quietly. But it had been a day she enjoyed.
Rob wasn't smiling, but that tenderness in his eyes couldn't be mistaken, and it always made her smile.
“Thank you, Micah, for the help with the kids…for answering your door at two in the morning…”
“You're welcome,” she responded. “I could still fix a pizza if you'd like to stay awhile.”
“No, I can't. I'll get a sandwich on the way home.” He pulled his jacket from the closet
“How about chocolate ice cream?” she offered, watching him slip into the lightweight, gray jacket. She suspected he disliked leaving as much as she hated letting him go.
“Maybe next time,” he replied. The weariness returned to his face as he stood by the door, ready to leave. “I don't know when I'll see you again. Who knows when this nightmare of a trial will end.”
“When it does, I'll be here,” she answered.
“And so will I,” he said and kissed her on the forehead before disappearing into the damp night air.
Micah closed the door and the window, shutting out the cool evening breeze. Walking to the sofa, she picked up the afghan to fold it into a neat square and return it to the closet, but the faint smell of his cologne lingered on it, bringing her action to a halt. Hugging it to her frame, the warmth brought tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Rob,” she whispered. Then she sank into the cushions, enjoying the warmth of his napping place. “What am I going to do with you?”