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Pippa laughed. “You know you’re my number one hottie babe, but this guy right here is some totally serious eye candy.” She winked playfully and I decided, then and there, that I liked her.
“Thanks?”
“Don’t feel bad, Miss Pippa. Uncle Trey is a model, he’s used to women ogling the goodies, as Momma used to say.”
“Former model,” I corrected my niece with a groan. I wished she hadn’t said that, because once people found out what I did for a living, they tended to treat me like I was an idiot. “These days I’m a dad to this little girl with the big vocabulary.” My sister Martina had died when a sleepy truck driver crossed the double yellow lines, turning me into a father overnight. Keri was ten going on twenty, but the little girl had a big heart and I loved her from the moment I’d held her in my arms not long after she came into the world.
Everyone stared at me awkwardly and I felt like I’d been transported back to all those years of standing in my underwear while others judged me. I held up a hand in apology. “Again, sorry for the intrusion. I should finish unloading the truck. Nice to meet you Pippa. Ryan.”
Pippa reached a hand out to my chest and I froze, wondering if she was one of those women who thought she could touch me because she liked what she saw. “Why the rush? You must be hungry after lugging around all those boxes. Stay for lunch since I can’t.”
I was hungry, but Valona wasn’t fond of me and I refused to intrude. “It’s all right, I have sandwich fixings in the fridge.” Grateful Pippa wasn’t taking advantage, my shoulders relaxed.
“Nonsense, Val made her famous tamale casserole and it’s to die for. Since I’m not staying she can load it up with jalapeno peppers, and you won’t want to miss it.”
Every word Pippa spoke hit me right in my stomach, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten all day. But it was clear she didn’t want me around, so I took another step back. “Sounds great, but I don’t want to intrude, really.” She was kind enough to let Keri stay and that was enough.
“It’s no intrusion,” Valona insisted with a strained smile. “You’re welcome to join us if you have time.”
“We have time,” Keri offered. “Uncle Trey has lots of muscles and there’s not much left in the truck.”
“Thanks kid,” I muttered and turned to Valona, watching her green eyes to see if she really was inviting me to stay.
“No problem,” Keri offered while the twins cheered.
“We’ll be upstairs,” one of the twins offered. I couldn’t tell them apart yet even though the girls were as different as night and day, and before I could clarify they ran up the stairs.
“And we’re off to Dark Horse to make sure everything is good for a Jack & Jill party tonight.” Pippa looped her arm through Ryan’s and took off as well, leaving me alone with my beautiful neighbor.
I took advantage of the privacy to give her an out. “I can stay until your friend is gone. I know she put you on the spot.” It was strange, having a woman dislike me so openly. Not that I thought I was a gift to women, but I couldn’t think of any way I might have offended her.
For the first time since I met her, Valona flashed a smile. It was relaxed and genuine, and it was stunning, it lit up her entire face. “That’s just Pippa, a natural born meddler, but I meant what I said. You can stay for lunch, I have more than enough.”
“I’d love to stay, actually. Tamale casserole sounds wonderful.”
“Kitchen is this way. Have a seat.” She didn’t turn around, but I decided to take her at her word.
“Can I help?”
Valona turned to me with surprise in her sage green eyes. “You know your way around a kitchen?”
I nodded. “I’ve been doing this fatherhood thing for about six months now so I do all right, and I make a mean bowl of Ramen noodles.”
“A model who eats Ramen noodles? You must have been popular.”
I laughed and shook my head. “It’s cheap and delicious, and during the early years that’s all I cared about.”
Valona turned to me, curiosity burning her up. “So you really are a model?”
“I was, yes. Now I’m the guardian of a ten year old on the verge of twenty-five.”
Valona laughed as she pulled cheese and black olives from the stainless steel fridge. “You stopped for Keri?”
“Yes and no. After my sister passed away and I found out she’d put me in charge of her daughter, I brought Keri to LA with me, thinking I could model during the day and daddy at night.”
“Didn’t work out?”
I shrugged and thought back to those days that seemed like a lifetime ago. “Keri is capable and resilient, but she just didn’t fit in at all. Not in public or private school, and I didn’t want her to grow up constantly unhappy and dissatisfied with herself. She’s so confident, more than I was at her age, and I want to preserve that.”
