Mommy For A Minute

He had to put the pad and pen in one hand and hold Ally in the other, but he eventually was ready to follow the woman. Standing behind her, he realized she was tall. Around five foot nine, he’d guess.

To his surprise, she was wearing a polo shirt and jeans. And well-fitted, too. The denim fit like a second skin, hugging her curves. Very un-lawyer-like, he noted. Of course, his impression of lawyers was tainted by personal experience. The lawyers he’d dated in the past had been picky and difficult, always wanting to win every argument.

After going down a hall, she opened a door and walked inside. Following her, he stepped into an empty room, quite spacious for a home office.

“Very nice.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s good that there aren’t already some built-ins. That will save me the time of ripping them out.”

“You have limited time?” she asked sharply.

“No, but you might. Most of my customers seem to think I can do my work overnight.” He challenged her with a direct look.

“I wouldn’t expect that, especially since you seem determined to hold your daughter at the same time. You did say she is your daughter, didn’t you?”

“Yes, she is. I’ll have child care worked out by tomorrow.” Though there was no sarcasm in her voice, he was perturbed anyway.

“I see.”

He began asking questions about the type of shelving she wanted. He wasn’t surprised to discover she knew exactly what she had in mind. Picturing this woman in a courtroom, he saw a confident, persuasive attorney who could argue any case. Sitting Ally down on the floor with an extra pencil and a piece of paper, he began drawing the room, hoping his interpretation of her ideas would come close to what she envisioned. With a tape measure, he made sure everything would fit.

“Can we do storage bins along the back wall?” she suggested. “They could form a credenza of sorts for my desk.”

He found himself in complete agreement. The office was taking shape in the drawing, becoming a pleasant place to work. There were windows across the back wall that came about four feet from the floor. A credenza under them would be a great utilization of the space.

“Daddy, I need another sheet of paper,” Ally called, distracting him.

“Okay, baby. Here you go.” He ripped off another sheet of paper and handed it to his child. Then he got involved in the picture he was creating.

He asked questions of the lawyer and she provided succinct answers every time. Working for someone who knew exactly what she wanted had its advantages. And lawyers were good at that, he’d admit. It was the personal stuff they had trouble with.

An hour later, he had a finished drawing of the room and showed it to the woman. She agreed that he’d captured exactly what she wanted.

“That’s perfect. You’re a wonderful artist, Mr. Mason. How long will it take to make the room look like that?”

“Three or four weeks. I can’t be sure.”

“Perfect. I have four weeks.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I have four weeks off work. I’ll be around to monitor your work. Then, when I go back to work, I’ll have my office ready.”

“I don’t need my work to be monitored, Miss McNabb. I’m quite capable of turning out good work without supervision.” He’d clenched his teeth, knowing he was facing a battle.

“Nevertheless, Mr. Mason, I’ll be here for the entire four weeks to keep an eye on the progress of your work.”

“You mean you’ll look at it each evening?”

“I mean I’ll look at it whenever I feel like looking at it. I won’t be working during those four weeks.”

“Why not?” he demanded.

Affronted, she straightened, and her chin rose a notice. “That’s none of your business!”

“Well, I think it is my business. It’s ridiculous to take your vacation to be sure the room turns out all right. Ask Judge Robinson!”

“What I do with my time has nothing to do with you!” She put her hands on her hips, her arms akimbo, and met his eyes with a challenge. “Will you do the job or won’t you?”

Jack accepted the challenge. “I’ll do the job, but I won’t have you peeking over my shoulder all the time!”

“Fine. When can you start?”

“Today. I’ll take the measurements I need and get the lumber right away.”

“Good.”

She seemed prepared to stalk out of the room until a little voice asked, “Isn’t my picture pretty?”

Jack felt a sense of disorientation when he looked at Ally, holding up a multicolored picture. How had she done that with the pencil he’d given her?

LAUREN LOOKED DOWN at the little girl. “Why, Ally, that’s beautiful. What a nice job you did.”

“Thank you. I drew a picture like Daddy, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. Let’s go put it on the refrigerator,” she suggested, reaching out a hand to the child.

“No!” Jack shouted.

Lauren turned around to stare at the man. Then she realized what she’d done. She’d treated Ally like one of her brothers and sisters, pretending to be the mother, as she had ever since she was twelve.

Jack took the picture from his child. “We’ll put it on our fridge at home, Ally. That’s where it belongs. Uh, where did you get the markers?”

Ally tucked the box of colored markers behind her and looked at Lauren.

“I gave them to her. I thought she would enjoy using them.” Lauren raised her chin again. Surely the man wouldn’t object to such kindness to his child.

“She’ll get the ink on herself. Ally, just use Daddy’s pen, okay?”

“But, Daddy—”

“Ally, do as I say, please.”

The child grudgingly took the markers from behind her back and gave them to Lauren. “Thank you,” she said politely.

“You’re welcome,” Lauren replied.