The Back-Up Plan by Debra Webb

I—”
    “Aunt Patty, look who came to see my new room!”
    Donna stared in disbelief at her daughter descending the stairs atop Hank Bradley’s shoulders, a fistful of his thick hair in each hand. Holding on to the door helped Donna to maintain an upright position, otherwise she would probably have been flat on the floor about now.
    “Mr. Bradley.” A wide smile splitting her face, Patty met Hank at the bottom of the stairs and extracted Melissa from his broad shoulders. “Fancy meeting you here.” She looked from Hank to Donna and beamed with pure satisfaction. “I hear we won our first game last night.”
    “That’s a fact,” he said proudly as he combed his fingers through his mussed hair. “I came by to discuss Chip Stevens with Dr. Jacobs.” His eyes darted briefly to Donna. “Melissa gave me the grand tour of her new room.” His lips flowed into a charming smile as naturally as breathing.
    “Chip Stevens,” Donna mumbled. He hadn’t said anything about him.
    Patty shot her a questioning glance. “He’s okay, isn’t he?” she asked, her suspicious expression momentarily shifting to concern.
    “Yeah, he’s fine,” Hank answered. “His family doctor saw him yesterday and said pretty much the same thing Dr. Jacobs did.” He slanted Donna another quick look.
    “Good.” Patty reached for Melissa’s hand. “Are you ready, young lady?” Melissa nodded, already urging Patty toward the door. “My girls are in the car, so we’d better get moving.”
    “Have a good time,” Donna managed, still clutching the door for support. She dropped a quick peck on the top of Melissa’s sweet head as she passed.
    Good-byes exchanged, Patty’s questioning gaze lingered on Donna a second or two longer before she was pulled out the door by Melissa.
    Donna shut the door behind them and steeled herself as she faced her daughter’s teacher. “What’s this about Chip Stevens?”
    “I thought we were having coffee.”
    Donna glanced at the white bag she clutched. She’d completely forgotten about that. Coffee. Sure, why not? She had always been a glutton for punishment. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse anyway. “Have a seat, Mr. Bradley.” Donna thrust the bag at him and nodded toward the living room. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
    “Black works for me.”
    While Melissa’s teacher examined the collage of family pictures on the hall table, Donna made a beeline for the kitchen. She shook her head as she considered that she had definitely lost any good sense she ever commanded. No matter how Melissa begged, she shouldn’t have let him in. Chip Stevens was fine; Hank Bradley had said so himself. They had nothing else to discuss.
    She grabbed another cup and plopped it on the counter, the clatter making her jump. Why couldn’t she and Bradley simply have a normal parent-teacher relationship? Why oh why did he have to turn her inside out? Donna pressed her palms against the cool counter. She willed her heart rate to slow. Okay, girl, take a deep breath. You can do this. She reached for the coffeepot, her hand steadier now, and poured his cup full.
    “Yellow, huh?”
    She almost dropped the pot when she whirled around to find him standing in the middle of her kitchen. He made a strange face—not quite a frown, but something on that order—as he inspected the can of yellow paint.
    “Great color.” His odd expression mellowed as the corners of his mouth kicked upwards once more.
    “I’m glad you approve.” She extended the cup of coffee in his direction. The paint on her brush was drying. Darn it, she was supposed to be in here transforming her kitchen not fielding ridiculous urges just because he was in the room.
    “Thanks.” He took the cup and, without waiting to be asked, sat down at the table.
    Resigned to her fate, Donna poured herself another cup though she didn’t really want one. She sure didn’t need more caffeine but the cup would give her something to do with her hands. She