Just for Now Read Online Free Page A

obviously.”
    Jenna laughed. Harry’s room was painted a light blue. But
the walls were nearly obscured by maps and posters of animals taken from
wildlife magazines and the National Geographic , and low shelves held
collections of large and small animal figurines. She saw a farm set, a jungle
set, and plenty of dinosaurs. Another set of shelves held Legos, she was glad
to see. So Harry had more than one interest, after all.
    “And finally,” Finn told her, opening the door of the room
next to her own. “Guest room.”
    “Do you have a lot of company?” she asked. “Entertain a lot?
I should have asked that sooner. I don’t have much party planning experience,
but I could try.”
    He smiled ruefully. “Other than the occasional birthday
party for the kids, or my family coming up for a visit, I’m not much for that.
One of the benefits of being a single dad, I reckon. Nobody expects anything.”
    “Oh,” he realized. “I should say. I’m up the stairs here.”
He led the way up a carpeted set of stairs at the end of the hallway, and into
a large bedroom and ensuite bath set at the top of the house, with large
windows offering views over the neighboring houses and trees. “Not that you’ll
need to do anything with this. The cleaners come on Fridays, and they keep it
from getting too disgraceful.”
    “I’d say you’re very neat,” she told him. “Hard to imagine
this ever getting disgraceful.” Other than a book on the bedside table, the
room was almost painfully orderly.
    “I don’t like clutter,” he admitted. “I can live with the
kids’ things,” he went on hastily. “Toys, and that. Not rigid about it, I hope.
But I like my own space to be clear.”
    She nodded. Help the kids straighten up before he got home,
check. She wasn’t worried about the kitchen. She knew she’d be keeping that
clean.
    “Kitchen and laundry?” she asked now. “And we should talk
about what you like to eat.”
    “Had this all redone ages ago, the first year we lived here,”
he told her when they were standing in the huge, sunny kitchen, with a large
rectangular table set into the windowed nook at one end. “Nyree consulted.” He
smiled. “I should say, Nyree planned.”
    “Well, Nyree did a great job,” Jenna said. “Anyone could
cook well in this kitchen.”
    Nyree planned? she wondered. Not his wife? She viewed the
modern appliances and granite countertops with approval. “Now. Favorite foods?
Likes and dislikes?”
    “I like pretty much everything. Not too fond of Brussels
sprouts and cauliflower, but that’s about it as far as vegies. And any kind of
meat. I eat heaps of that, I should warn you.”
    “I can imagine. OK. I can work with that. What about the
kids?”
    “They’ll eat most things. Except what I cook.” He made a wry
face. “They’re not keen on my efforts. I’m not either, tell you the truth. We
end up at the pub a fair bit, when Nyree hasn’t cooked. Or eating leftovers.”
    “Cook extra the night before my day off,” she nodded. “Got
it.”
    “If you don’t mind. They’d thank you.”
    “All right, then,” she decided. “Now go do whatever it is
you need to do, and leave me to get on with it. Because it’s already one-thirty,
and I need to unpack, and then get started here. Tell me where the primary
school is, and when the kids get out, and I’ll pick them up.”
    “I’d appreciate it. I have some film from Saturday’s game
I’d like to look over before practice tomorrow. And I’ve got a bit behind,
being on my own with the kids. It’s five or six blocks away, is all.” He went
to the computer set up on a desk in the kitchen and pulled up a map of the
area. “Here. You can drive the Toyota.” He showed her where the keys hung on
the hook. “I usually take the Range Rover. School’s out at three.”
    “I’ll walk. Now, really. Go watch your film. Because I’m
going to need to open every cupboard here, and find my way around. And figure
out what I’m