Daddy Of The House by Diana Whitney

Author:Diana Whitney [Diana Whitney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459280731
Publisher: Harlequin

Chapter Eight

“Don’t worry about it, Jay,” Bethany told her glum ex-husband as he emptied the untouched contents of five dinner plates into the casserole dish. “It’s the thought that counts, and besides, soup and tuna sandwiches comprise a very nutritious meal.”

Jay looked like a beaten man. “Yeah, but you had to fix it. The idea was to have a nice dinner all ready when you came home.”

“I know.” She patted his arm. “It was very sweet of you.”

“That’s me,” he grumbled, carrying the remains of the disgusting casserole to the trash container. “Sweet.”

Bethany frowned. “Wait, don’t dump it in there. It’ll smell up the entire kitchen. Use the garbage disposal.”

He paused, staring into the trash with a sheepish expression. “I, uh, heard that kitchen scraps aren’t good for septic tanks. The fat clogs them up, or something.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“You know, around.” Swallowing hard, Jay quickly dumped the greasy casserole contents into the trash before Bethany could protest, then he quickly removed the plastic trash liner and shuffled backward toward the kitchen door. “I’ll take this outside to the garbage, so you won’t have to worry about the, ah, smell.”

Bethany laid the sponge on the counter, crossed her arms and watched Jay practically slither out the back door. He was behaving rather oddly, she thought, although she couldn’t understand why. The house was immaculate, the floors had never been cleaner and, despite her fears, Jay had obviously managed far better than she’d dreamed possible. She’d expected him to gloat about his success. Instead, he’d seemed unduly embarrassed by her praise, which she had to confess had been grudgingly offered.

Bethany had never doubted Jay’s ability to protect and care for his children. He was undeniably a wonderful father, compensating for a lack of hands-on experience in mundane, day-to-day child rearing with an abundance of patience, love and unerring parental instinct.

Maintaining a household, however, was another matter entirely. Once, when Bethany had been felled by the flu, Jay had tossed in a load of laundry and ended up with an entire drawer full of passion-pink underwear. On another occasion, a not-too-clever attempt at carrying a dish drainer stacked with clean china had resulted in six smashed glasses, three shattered dinner plates and four cracked bowls.

There were other such examples, more than Bethany cared to remember. When it came to household chores, Jay had always been a walking disaster. Bethany had no reason to believe that today would have been any different.

But it had been different. The house had been polished and thoroughly scrubbed, Nathan was safe, clean and happy, and with the exception of a certain inedible casserole, the household had apparently been run with incredible expertise despite her absence. Or perhaps, she thought unhappily, because of it.

Not that she’d wanted to find her home in ruins, of course, but discovering that her ex-husband was a more effective housekeeper than Bethany was herself had done little to bolster her quavering self-esteem.

Issuing a nervous sigh, Bethany finished stacking the dinner dishes by

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