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“And?” Stormy said, splitting her attention between Sandy, and Tyler’s hand, which was surreptitiously moving up her leg.
“I’ll tell you one thing—if he had kids and was in a custody battle, they’d sure use his work record against him.”
Tyler’s hand stopped moving on Stormy’s thigh. “What do you mean? He has an excellent employment record.”
“On the job, maybe,” Sandy said. “But as a family man? Uh-uh. He changed jobs twice in one year, both times during school terms. And all his other job changes were during the school year, too. A family-court judge would look closely at that. I mean, you don’t just jerk kids out of school year in and year out if you can help it. It’s awful for them.”
“Sandy’s right,” Stormy said as the waitress put salads and breadsticks before them. “I’ve been searching for a place to live, but the only one I liked so far and could afford would’ve meant Liane had to change schools. It’s too late in the school year to do that to her.” She turned to Tyler. “Is Foley married? Does he have children?”
“He is, and he does.”
Stormy frowned. “But does this open up any new possibilities?”
“I don’t know,” Tyler admitted. “But I’ll look into it first thing in the morning.”
“If anything works out in your favor,” said Sandy, her voice a parody of innocence, “can we increase my share of the business to thirty percent?”
Stormy thrust her hand across the table. “If I get out of this mess, we’ll be full partners!”
Grinning, Sandy shook Stormy’s out-thrust hand. “Terrific! But I want it in writing.”
At the nearby table, Liane yelped. “Tommy spilled his drink all over me!”
“You look like you peed your pants!” Davie laughed.
Stormy and Noreen rushed to the table and began shushing and wiping and chiding.
Sandy continued to talk to Tyler. “Don’t look so glum. You’ll only have to be seen in public with them one more time.”
Curious, Stormy kept one ear tuned to the conversation at theadulttable while trying to calm down and embarrassed Liane, who was certain someone she knew would walk in and think she’d peed her pants.
“In public once more? How so?” Tyler asked Sandy pleasantly, tearing off a bit of breadstick and placing it in his mouth.
“You know—ring bearers and flower girls. After that, you’re home free.”
Tyler choked.
“Hey!” Sandy called. “Does anyone know the Heimlich maneuver?”
“She’s a witch,”Tyler complained. “All your friends are witches, even the ones only this high,” he added, throwing out an arm to measure two feet from the floor.
“Sandy is as sweet as she can be,” Stormy countered, kneeling on the floor beside the sofa where Tyler lay. They were in the downstairs family room, where she’d left Tyler to recuperate while she put Liane to bed. Without Nina and Tully and the boys, the house was exceptionally quiet. “How’s your throat? Did the tea help?”
“I could’ve died.”
“Of embarrassment, that’s all.”
At Sandy’s shout, the waitress had left off mopping up the spilled drink, jerked Tyler out of his seat, performed the Heimlich, and gone back to serving her other customers. The entire episode had taken about thirty-two seconds. Tyler left her a generous tip, to which she’d said he could choke in her station any day of the week.
“What was that you and Sandy were talking about,rings and flowers?”
“Nothing.”
Stormy kissed his eyelids. “Feel better now?”
He snaked an arm around her waist. “Maybe. Do that again. Or I might not live until morning.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help you through the night— I want to know what you find out about Foley.”
