Kitabı oku: «Daddy on Demand / Déjà You: Daddy on Demand / Déjà You», sayfa 2

Sabrina kept her chin raised, though fully aware that in dusty and tattered jeans, an oversize T-shirt recently used while painting her apartment and scruffy sneakers, she resembled a bag lady, not an executive’s assistant. Seconds away from long-repressed tears, she summoned the last of her dignity and declared, “I promise you, Mr. Masters, I will pay you back every cent of what you gave Mrs. Finch, but now, please leave me alone.”

Collin followed her out of the building. “At the risk of you slinging that cowhide version of a bowling ball at me, may I ask what you’re going to do without a place to stay, clothes to change into and money? I’ll wager you don’t even have enough cash in that purse to buy yourself a hot dog.”

Not even change to feed a parking meter—if she had a car.

Standing in the shadow of the ancient building, surrounded by the towering glass-and-steel high-rises that was today’s Dallas, and its future, Sabrina didn’t need a stronger sign that her future lay in his hands. It was an amber day full of glittering leaves and enough wind to finish pulling her hair out of her loose ponytail. She quickly rewound the elastic band around the honey-gold mass and tried to come up with a game plan. There was little she could do for the rest of the dust and grime after a day’s work of supervising restocking shelves—and doing plenty of that labor herself—at Bargain Bonanza’s main warehouse. Every morning as she dressed, ignoring aches and exhaustion, she had to remind herself that she was a “manager,” and that would look good on her résumé. But with the economy what it was, she wondered when she would be able to risk hunting for a job that actually used her brains more than her questionable brawn.

Collin ventured closer and studied her face. “You’ve grown very quiet. Do I need to worry about catching you in a dead faint? When did you last eat?”

“I guess sometime around…” She remembered buying some vending-machine sandwich that she’d heated in the break room’s microwave. Then she’d been called to some delivery paperwork problem in the warehouse. When she returned, a cashier trainee, who regularly snatched up any and all snacks or leftovers, was devouring her sandwich. One look at his grease-covered lips around her ham-and-cheese melt had killed Sabrina’s appetite.

“There’s a great bistro near where I live,” Collin said, carefully directing her to his black Mercedes parked directly in front of the building. “It’s open until people quit ordering, but should be relatively quiet at this hour.” He added almost gently, “I’ll bet they can make anything you could want.”

Humiliated by the reflection that she saw in his car’s window, Sabrina tried her best to make him leave by being her least gracious. Casting him a sidelong look, she countered, “And what do you want?”

Holding up an index finger to beg her patience, Collin got her seated inside, then trotted around the front of the glistening mechanical indulgence, and climbed in behind the camel brown steering wheel. “Right now a triple Scotch would be sheer bliss.”

“No one asked you to write that check. What happened, did that Wynne, Wooster, what’s his name that you hired after dumping me make a pass at you?”

“Geoffrey Wygant is an excellent assistant and you’ll be happy to know is in a twenty-year relationship with his partner, Duke.”

The last Duke she’d known was a rottweiler on a farm neighboring her parents’ place in Wisconsin. Homesickness mixed with her shame and she shook her head with abject misery. “Excuse me. I shouldn’t have said that. I was just—”

“Dealing with shock and low blood sugar.” Collin spun the Mercedes into traffic and turned a sharp right at the next corner. “Geoff happened to be the first applicant since you who could spell as well as the kids on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Most impressive is that he possesses an unbeatable knack for matching clients to restaurants.”

So much for her favorite bathtub fantasy where Collin Masters admitted his mistake and came with flowers and the keys to a white Porsche to beg her to come back. No matter how many magazines she read or how much Internet surfing of dating Web sites she tried at her brothers’ prodding, Sabrina could never compete with such experience and élan. She choked on a bitter laugh and ended up coughing.

“I’m serious.”

“It’s not that,” she wheezed for the second time. “I think I’ve lost the ability to breathe and think at the same time. Congratulations,” she added, hoping she sounded sincere. “Truly. I wish you a long and happy working relationship.” But that meant that she was back to square one regarding the reason for his intrusion into her miserable life.

As though reading her mind, Collin said abruptly, “Okay, to keep you from jumping out into traffic, I’ll answer your question about why I’m here. Cassidy is being deployed.”

“Oh, no!”

And here she thought things couldn’t get any worse. Not only did she like his sister, she had come to understand how close Collin was to his only sibling. This had to be his worst nightmare come true. At least she could work through her situation. What if…?

“I’m so sorry,” she added quickly.

“Thanks.”

Collin pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and handed the vehicle over to an eager valet. There wasn’t time to talk again until they were seated in a quiet corner booth by the bar and they’d ordered drinks. “Everything is excellent here, but if you’re really hungry—and you look like you could use four, even seven courses—the prime rib would turn an acorn-loving squirrel into a carnivore.”

She was about to insist that he add the cost to her IOU, then recognized how petty that would appear, so she nodded. “Thank you. Then the prime rib it is.” Her mouth watered just saying the words. Thank goodness the waitress had already brought a loaf of bread and whipped butter with herbs and promised to quickly bring Collin’s salad choices for them. Then she saw the condition of her hands.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go wash up a bit.”

“Of course. Wait a minute—you aren’t going to sneak out on me, are you?”

Did he really think she had suddenly thought of anywhere else to go, or could afford to turn down such a dinner? Struggling not to forgive him completely, she gestured to her condition. “I’ve been rummaging my way through a super warehouse since dawn. Even if you had managed to transpose my head onto someone in a Girls Gone Wild video and it got back to my family in Wisconsin, I don’t think I would be upset enough to turn down this meal.”

“I’ll keep that I mind for the future should I need additional leverage.”

Trying not to smile, Sabrina made a hasty retreat for the ladies’ lounge. She sucked in her breath when she saw her appearance in the mirror behind the sink. The view under those lights was worse than she anticipated. Not one for the made-up look, the mascara and lip gloss she had put on first thing this morning had long worn off by sweat and nervous lip gnawing. As for her hair…all she could say for it was that it was relatively clean. She quickly grabbed a brush from her purse and gave her shoulder-length mop an energetic workout until the results were closer to a glossy if limp cape. Rinsing her face, she touched up her lashes and lips, but resisted anything else. It would seem too obvious to do more. Besides, she was trying to save him from losing his appetite, nothing else. Nothing at all.

“So how is Cassie taking this?” she asked slipping back into the booth.

Collin was already half through his Scotch. “Oh, she’s the stiff-upper-lip sort. You know she’s besotted about flying up in the skies with pigeons, ducks and whatnot. This is the downside of that.”

“But the babies…”

“It’s been a few months since you’ve seen pictures.” He immediately reached for his billfold and flipped it open to a photo of the girls in miniature versions of Mommy’s flight suit standing in the doorway of their mother’s Pave Hawk surrounded by the grinning crew.

“Oh—how darling! They look more and more like her.”

“Well, Gena adores inheriting the curls to where she screams if someone comes near her with scissors, so Cass is rethinking the blessing in that. On the other hand if Addie keeps demanding hers be cut off, Cass has threatened to have what’s left of the mop mowed into a Mohawk.”

Sabrina smiled and took a sip of her wine. “So who is Cassidy entrusting them to while she’s gone? That has to be the world’s hardest decision.”

“It is.” Collin spun his glass between his hands repeatedly. “I’m glad you feel the same way I do.”

“Excuse me?” Something about his fixation on his drink and the fidgeting had Sabrina drawing a conclusion that sent her stomach into doing new flip-flops. “Oh, my—not you!”

“That was flattering. Who else would you expect?”

Granted they were all the other had relative-wise, but there had to be other options. “Didn’t you once say during a phone call to some client that your idea of a perfect Sunday was sleeping until noon and having girlfriends wearing panties labeled Monday through Saturday?”

“I’m in advertising, Ms. Sinclair. I say things to make clients feel better about themselves, their product and their ideas. The better they feel, the more lucrative the account, which—might I remind you—made it possible to pay you handsomely until you quit.”

“We’re talking about your own flesh and blood.”

Collin continued to work his glass like a worry stone. “Some adjustments will have to be made, of course. In fact, considering your passionate opinions, you’ll undoubtedly approve of Cassidy’s recommendations.”

“I’m almost willing to bet my next paycheck that I will.”

Laughing mirthlessly, Collin replied, “It’s you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Cass demanded that I hire you to help me. To move in with us.”

If the wineglass had been between her fingers, Sabrina would have snapped it into orbit. “She didn’t.“

“She’s been a fan of yours from day one. Surely you sensed that?”

“She was nice to me and I appreciated that. You’d be surprised how many of your snooty callers aren’t capable of being civil to anyone they deem lesser than themselves.”

Frowning, Collin replied, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Frustration just made her all the hungrier and Sabrina beheaded the loaf of bread with one strong whack of the serrated knife. “Because I assumed by the way they acted that they were more valuable to you than I was. Tell Cassie thanks, but she’s wrong. I’m not cut out for the job.”

Clearing his throat, Collin continued. “She thinks of you as remarkably levelheaded and reliable. Hindsight being what it is, I can’t argue there.”

What had he objected to? That she was too sunny and glass-half-full for his cynical self? Considering the condition of the world these days, people like her were in short supply. But since he’d just performed a knight-in-shining-armor rescue, she bit back the impulse to tell him as much.

“Please thank Cassidy for me,” Sabrina said spreading butter onto her bread. “Tell her that she’ll be in my thoughts and prayers, but I couldn’t possibly accept.”

“You could, but you won’t.”

She leveled her gaze on him. “Can’t.” But seeing anxiety in his eyes, she immediately undermined herself by asking, “When does she leave?”

“Before Thanksgiving if not sooner. There’s some training courses she’s compelled to take. I don’t suppose you’d at least be willing to go shopping with me after we eat and help me pick out bunk beds and girly things like sheets and towels and whatever will make the second guest room seem less of the white space than it currently is?”

“Me? I can’t see that I’d be much help to you.”

“Remember the phone call I asked you to make when Addison felt jilted after her mother was unavoidably scheduled for an overnight flight and was late getting home? You had Addie convinced that there’d been an FAA computer glitch shutting down the entire southern part of the U.S. Not even Santa could have gotten through had it been Christmas Eve. Frankly, I should have put you into the company’s intern program then and there.”

“So why didn’t you? I was qualified. I have my degree.”

“Because…I don’t remember.”

“Liar.”

Collin reached for his glass, found it empty and sighed. “So I am. What if I promise to tell after Cass comes back?”

Sabrina took a sip of her wine, but decided she would leave it unfinished. If she was feeling halfway tempted by his offer, that was proof the drink was going straight to her head.

“What you just did for me back at Mrs. Finch’s,” she began, “that was kind and generous, but you can’t just crush a person’s dreams, then in the second you find yourself in a bind, expect me to forget the offense.”

“Nor should you. This would be a good time to talk salary.”

As he did, Sabrina grew increasingly conflicted. What he offered would not only guarantee that she could pay him back in a matter of weeks, but she could also save for a new place before his sister’s return. She doubted many nannies saw that kind of income unless they worked for one of Hollywood’s elite.

“What haven’t I said that would explain why I’m not getting some positive response from you?” Collin asked when she remained silent.

Their attentive waitress brought Collin another drink and Sabrina waited for her to leave before summoning the courage to speak the rest of her mind. “All right,” she began. “If I take this job, I’d like to know the truth about why I lost my position. Not later. Now.”

Collin slumped against the high-backed booth. “I see utter and complete failure in my future—and a likely trip to the E.R.”

“I’ve never committed bodily harm in my life.”

“Trust me, there’s a first time for everything.”

So it was worse than she thought? What could she possibly have done?

Looking everywhere but at her, he continued, “Okay. I want a promise that you won’t file legal action, or let what I say impair your decision.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“The girls really need you and, therefore, I promise to act the perfect gentleman throughout.”

“Maybe being a full decade younger than you makes you think that I lack the ability to meet your standards in maturity—”

“Okay, so I’m laughable in that vein and should have stopped while I was ahead.”

“But if I accept a job, professionalism is guaranteed,” she said, folding her hands primly before her.

Collin had been slowly shaking his head since she began speaking and didn’t stop when she did.

“What is your problem?” she snapped.

“The truth is…the only reason I did what I did was…I found you too tempting to be around.”

Sabrina couldn’t believe her ears. “You didn’t just say that?”

“Speaking that once in one’s lifetime should be sufficient punishment. Sort of like dousing charcoal with lighter fluid.”

“But you made my life hell and ruined any chance I had for advancement by shoving me into a cellar where you knew I would have to quit.”

“Guilty.”

Instead of calling him the few choice names that flashed neon bright in her mind, Sabrina grabbed her purse and began to wriggle out of the booth.

“Wait! You promised.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t slug you with this bag. I just wish I had known sooner what a lowlife you can be.”

“A coward when it comes to serious relationships and commitment, maybe, but I take exception to ‘lowlife.’ I once bent the entire frame on my car to avoid squashing a teensy squirrel. And remember how you cooed that I have current photos of my nieces in my billfold?” Collin urged her back into the booth. “Sabrina, does it matter at all that I have hated myself every day since?”

“No. You’d say anything to be rescued from having to care for those children on your own.” But inside, Sabrina’s heart was pounding. Like the most repressed lonely heart, her mind had locked in on one phrase: “I found you too tempting to be around.”

What was wrong with her? She hadn’t fallen for him or his so-called charisma, and knew exactly what an incorrigible flirt he was. Most of all she didn’t need a man in her life to feel fulfilled.

Raising her chin, she looked him straight in the eye. “If you’d been direct and honest with me, we could have saved each other a great deal of humiliation and embarrassment. Under further consideration, I’ll take the job—not only to help Cassidy with her babies, but also to make my point. As far as I’m concerned, you are entirely resistible.”

Chapter Two

“They’re too young for bunk beds.”

Rushing ahead of Sabrina to hold open the door to the furniture store for her, Collin thought of several replies he could make. So far on the drive from the restaurant to here, she had criticized or rejected ninety percent of his ideas for changing the third bedroom in his condo. While willing to take the heat for the offense that put him at the top of the food chain in her opinion, he was about to send out a “systems overload!” alert.

“You don’t know my sister’s kids,” he said with increased emphasis. “They’re three going on graduate school.”

“Three means their bones are still soft, and many a child that age sleeps restlessly or wakes in the middle of the night needing the bathroom, or in this case, missing her mommy. A fall from the top bunk could be dangerous, even fatal.”

“Why didn’t Cassie say anything about that? I’m sure I mentioned the idea to her. I think.” Collin rubbed his forehead as doubt set in. The truth was it seemed like a month since his sister had sent his comfortable existence into chaos and panic, and no, he didn’t remember anything they’d discussed regarding the kids other than the fact that she would be gone for four months.

“She must have a million and two things on her mind,” Sabrina said stopping in the doorway. “As a woman and mother, she’s used to multitasking, but she could have missed that one thing.” Then looking beyond him into the store, her expression changed. “Oh, I am not dressed for this or prepared for them.”

Glancing over his shoulder Collin spotted three eager salespeople standing beyond the store’s foyer watching them. “You’re fine. Besides, they don’t care, they’re just anxious to make a commission.” Once she did enter, Collin came up behind her and whispered in her ear. “Anyway, exactly what experience in child care do you have, Ms. Expert on Bunk Beds? I suppose you babysat during high school. That’s not exactly a degree in pediatrics or child psychology.”

“I fell out of my plain, old, twin-size bed at four and almost lost my eye when I knocked my face on the edge of the night table.” Sabrina indicated the scar below her right eye. “See?”

Collin peered down at her high-cheek-boned face and milkmaid complexion. “See what? Your skin is flawless.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t admit it now just to be disagreeable. I didn’t even wear makeup today because I knew I’d get dusty and go crazy feeling my skin get all yucky.”

Amused at her irritability, Collin opened the second door of the glass-encased entryway. “You’re welcome.”

Sighing, Sabrina passed him. “Thank you for the compliment—and the door.”

This woman was more self-deprecating and modest than he had remembered, and Collin filed away that tidbit of new information. “You really fell out of bed? So this whirling dervish persona has been a lifelong thing?”

“I have three older brothers. I was always being left behind and hated it. I had to learn to speed up if I didn’t want to be left out of things.”

Brothers, thought Collin, all older and probably protective where baby sister was concerned. More reasons to keep his thoughts in check—and his hands to himself.

“Bet you didn’t have to try too hard to be included. But back to the bed problem…don’t they make those beds that can stand alone while the kids are young, yet can be stacked as they grow up?”

“I suspect you can ask her,” Sabrina said of the woman who was approaching them. “Oh, I wish you’d have let me stay in the car.”

“Darling, you look fine,” Collin declared in a normal street voice. “Anyone with a clue as to what kind of day you’ve had with trying to prepare the condo and talking colors with painters and whatnot will commiserate completely. Ah, the cavalry,” he added beaming at the saleswoman who was within hearing distance.

“Good evening. I’m Brenda. What can I do to help you?”

“We need a bedroom suite for twin girls.”

As he hoped, the woman turned to Sabrina and dropped her gaze to her tummy. “Oh, how lovely for you. Congratulations!”

Sensing Sabrina was about to correct her, he quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Thank you very much. Um…we’re receiving a ton of baby things already and thought we’d skip the crib part and prepare for the toddler-to-teen stage. Do you by chance have white bunk beds we can keep separated until the girls are old enough to cope with the height thing?”

“Of course, sir. Let me show you—and how insightful of you to already be cognizant of child safety. You’d be surprised at how many first-time parents overlook that in their excitement to create the perfect room for their new family.”

“Isn’t he wonderful?” Sabrina slid him an adoring smile, all the while twisting his pinky until he was forced to release his grip on her hand.

“Remind me not to underestimate your strength again.”

“Pardon?” the saleswoman asked.

Collin cleared his throat. “I was just telling Sabrina to be careful maneuvering around all of this furniture. She’s refused to quit her warehouse managerial job yet and I fear doing way too much and staying on her feet too long.”

The saleswoman nodded knowingly. “You do look amazingly small for carrying twins. If you don’t mind my asking, how far along are you?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be showing at all if I hadn’t indulged in dessert tonight,” Sabrina replied through gritted teeth. “Stop exaggerating, Collin, dear, and let’s get this done or I’ll go wait in the car, hugging the barf bag.”

Despite the woman’s worried look, he laughed uncomfortably, “Don’t frighten the poor woman with all of these beautiful furnishings, darling.”

Sabrina grabbed his sleeve and held him back until he found himself gazing into her flushed face and blazing eyes. He’d never seen her closer to eruption—or more provocative.

“Call me ‘darling’ one more time and so help me, I will get sick,” she whispered fiercely.

“Whatever you say…dear.”

It was forty-five minutes later when they finally exited the store. By then Sabrina was certain she’d sweated through her clothes. Collin had taken some secret glee in making it seem that the furniture was for their children and she could have, should have taken one of several opportunities to correct the situation—and make him look the fool. Now she was the fool for not exposing him, she thought, shivering as they walked to his Mercedes.

It had been a lovely Indian Autumn day in Dallas, but the nights held the bite of fast-approaching winter. Also fatigue from her relentless schedule lately didn’t help.

“Sorry, why don’t you take my jacket?” Collin asked, starting to remove it.

But that would leave him in shirtsleeves. As annoyed as she was with him, she couldn’t do that to him. “Thank you, but if you’ll turn up the heater once we’re in the car, that should be fine.” Besides, the idea of being surrounded by his masculine scent the whole drive to his home was more than she wanted to bear.

“Consider it done, but we’ll head to a mall next and get you some warmer clothes.”

Groaning inwardly at the mere idea of another stop, Sabrina replied, “I appreciate the gesture, but if you’ll give me an advance on my salary, I’ll do it tomorrow after work.”

“You can’t return to that place. Besides, they’re delivering the beds and dressers tomorrow. Plus you need to be on the phone warning your credit card companies, your bank and the DMV of potential identity theft.”

Stopping midstep, Sabrina covered her face with her hands. The mess her life was in rushed back at her with the devastating results of a tornado. She should never have accepted his offer. Bothering her parents in Wisconsin was out of the question; they still worked their two-hundred-acre farm, but she should have called her oldest brother Sayer, who plucked up businesses and property in trouble like some people haunted garage sales. The problem was that he would have sent her a one-way ticket home and she would never be let off a leash for the rest of her unmarried life. Her brother Seger didn’t need the burden any more than her parents did, what with a second child on the way and his construction business suffering due to the economy. As for Sam, well, he was Sam—sweet, devoted to their parents, and denying himself a life to keep the family farm intact. No, she’d done the right thing to handle this herself regardless of the headaches involved. Only how could she fulfill new commitments when she hadn’t completed the old ones?

“What?” Collin asked hovering beside her. “I’m just trying to be helpful. You’re usually the pragmatic one. How can the idea offend you? Consider it part of the package.”

No longer the trusting ingenue she’d been when she first ventured beyond the safe haven of her family and college, she dropped her hands and surmounted a strong defense. “Why? So you can continue embarrassing me in front of salespeople? Did you hear that woman back there? She thought I looked pregnant.”

“No she didn’t, she said—”

“I was there, Collin, I know what she said!”

His lips twitching, he replied, “Well, your mood does make you act like you’re…with child.”

Throwing back her head, Sabrina screamed into the night.

“Fine, fine.” Glancing around with chagrin, Collin urged her to the car. “Home we go. I’m sure there’s an unopened package of pajamas from a Christmas past that I can offer you. If not, will a Dallas Cowboys’ jersey signed by all of the cheerleaders do?”

Sabrina yanked the car door out of his grasp and slammed it, almost knocking him off balance.

As Collin climbed into the driver’s side, she said in a defeated tone, “Thank you for the offer. On second thought, it would be wiser to purchase a few items tonight. Because I really need to go into work in the morning and give notice.”

“How can you do that? I told you—”

“I remember the furniture and the calls, okay? There’s just the small technicality that this is still my employer.”

“Who worked you like a slave because they were saving money by having you do management and the work of two others.”

Sabrina almost regretted telling him as much as she had about conditions at the place during dinner. “That’s beside the point. I owe them two weeks’ notice if I’m going to ask for a referral down the road.”

“I’ll give you a referral—as my assistant. This way you don’t need them.”

“That’s not ethical.”

“Let me tell you something—if you were going to be fired, they wouldn’t think twice about showing you to the door without notice. That’s what the severance check is for. It clears their conscience.”

He was probably right, but it just wasn’t the way she was brought up, or the way she wanted to think the world was. She had asked her boss, the district manager, to allow her to hire one or two more people, but he’d point-blank told her it wasn’t going to happen.

“I’ll think about it,” she told Collin.

It was close to an hour later when, empty-handed, she returned to the car. She gave him a look through the passenger window that warned him not to utter a word until she spoke. He leaned over and pushed open the door.

“Can you please come inside?” she asked, sounding even more defeated that she had earlier.

“What’s happened now? Don’t tell me that they wouldn’t accept the credit card. There’s no balance on the account. I rarely use it.”

“Thanks. So that’s why they think I stole it. Either you come in and assure them that I didn’t, or I will sleep in an orange jumpsuit in a holding cell tonight.”

It was when she motioned over her shoulder with her thumb that he saw the security guard that had accompanied her and was standing watching them.

“Good grief.” Collin hurried out of the car and locked it with his remote. “We definitely have to talk to your obstetrician about those hormones, darling.”

Passing an openmouthed Sabrina, he went to assure the security guard.

At least this time it was only an additional fifteen minutes of humiliation for Sabrina to endure, but enough was enough. “Please can we just go somewhere that I can get to sleep?” she asked him.

Collin got them back to the high rise. Conversation was kept to a minimum because she didn’t trust herself to speak without having a total meltdown. All she could think was what had she gotten herself into? What had she done to deserve all of this?

As he escorted her into the lobby, they were greeted by the night security guard.

“Evening, Mr. Masters.” When he spotted Sabrina, his gaze darted back to Collin. “Sir? Everything okay?”

With formal politeness, Collin announced, “This is Nanny Sabrina. Ms. Sinclair. Sabrina, this is Sonny Birdsong, not only the best security guard in the city but, if you start your day in a bad mood, his whistling will make you think you’re in an Audubon wildlife sanctuary.”

Chest swelling from that praise, Sonny nodded. “Welcome, ma’am. If I can be of any assistance while you’re toting the little ones, don’t hesitate. I must admit, I’m looking forward to having a few more young faces around.”

“You’re very kind…Sonny. So you’re updated about what’s about to happen? Will I need to sign in with every going and coming? What are your regulations?”

“If I could take a copy of your driver’s license, that would be perfect for now.”

Immediately digging into her purse, Sabrina crossed over to the counter to make that available to him. Thanking him when he returned it to her, she added, “Are there city buses in this part of town or do residents rely on cabs? The reason I ask is that I was hoping to take the twins on short field trips appropriate to their ages.”