Storybook Romance (9781460320433)

by Manley, Lissa

“Yes. I wanted to ask how things are going with you and Mayor Langston.” The mayor was Allison’s main contact, and host of sorts, from the SOS Committee. He owned the Hometown Grocery, which was run by his wife, Helen, and he was somewhat of a bookworm himself, which was why he had been assigned to be her host. Allison guessed he was in his mid-to late-fifties.

  “Oh, things are going really well with him. In fact, he just stopped by yesterday afternoon, and he was very pleased with the plans you and I have made for the creative-writing workshops.”

  “Perfect. Glad to hear that’s all working out.” Coraline put the book on the counter. “There’s something else I wanted to discuss with you.”

  “Yes?” As a founding member of the SOS Committee and a longtime resident of Bygones, Coraline had a vested interest in ensuring the committee’s plan was successful.

  Coraline leaned in. “I just wanted to know if you’re still in love with Sam Franklin.”

  Allison felt her jaw go so slack she was surprised it wasn’t resting on the counter. “Wh-what?” She hadn’t told anybody she’d loved Sam, not even Lori.

  “Are you still in love with Sam?” Coraline repeated.

  The change of subject had thrown Allison, but she recovered in a moment. “No,” she managed to say in all truthfulness. She’d put those feelings behind long ago, and that’s where they would stay.

  Coraline peered at her. “But you were in love with him in high school, right?”

  Lying wasn’t an option, so Allison said, “Yes, I was. But that was ages ago.” She fiddled with a bag. “How did you know?”

  “Oh, it was as obvious as the nose on my face.” Coraline turned her lips up into a small smile. “I guess you could say I have a nose for these kinds of things.” She chuckled.

  “Wow.” Allison shook her head. “I thought I was pretty good at hiding my feelings.”

  “Oh, you were. But when you changed your schedule every year to be in the same classes as Sam, I had an inkling there might be a pretty strong crush going on.”

  Allison’s face warmed. “I thought I was being so clever.”

  “You were. I’m just cleverer…and I did the same thing in college years ago when I wanted to be in the same classes as my dearly departed Jasper.”

  “Ah. That explains it.” Allison picked up the book. “I’m relieved to know my feelings weren’t common knowledge.”

  “I’m assuming Sam never knew?” Coraline asked.

  Allison scanned the bar code on the gardening book. “No way. I would have been mortified if he had found out.”

  “Because he didn’t feel the same way?”

  “Right.” Allison had just been his sister’s pesky, nerdy friend, not dating material as far as Sam was concerned. She’d never felt worthy of him. “He was always dating someone prettier, more outgoing. I didn’t stand a chance.”

  “Unrequited love is tricky, isn’t it?” Coraline pulled her wallet out of her purse. “Kind of an odd mix of wanting the other person to know and, well, not.”

  “Exactly, especially when you’re a gawky teenage girl with no self-confidence.” Allison looked at the total. “That’ll be seventeen ninety-nine.”

  Coraline handed Allison a twenty. “I always suspected you left town because of heartbreak.”

  Allison blinked. Was there no end to Coraline’s dead-on observations? She had an uncanny eye for details, and a taste for matchmaking, it seemed. “Partly.” Allison made change as she went on. “I was devastated when he left town for college.” She handed the money to Coraline. “The other part involved a job at a large bookstore in Kansas City.” And escaping her parents. But she wouldn’t say that.

  “But now you’re back, and Sam is single.” Coraline tucked her wallet back into her purse. “Maybe a second chance is possible?”

  “No, it’s not,” Allison replied quickly and firmly.

  “After all he went through with his wife’s betrayal, Sam needs a good Christian woman, and so do those darling twins of his.”

  Unexpected longing spread through Allison like a burst dam, but she recovered quickly and set those feelings aside. What else could she do? “I agree, but it won’t be me.” Allison put the book in a bag and handed it to Coraline.

  “Why not?”

  “Because my focus is on running this bookstore, not on finding a man.”

  “Well, yes, I can see why that’d be true. It’s very important that all the new businesses here on Main Street do well.” Coraline cocked her head to the side. “But even successful businesswomen have men in their lives.”

  “This is the biggest opportunity of my life.” Allison straightened some paperwork on the counter. “I can’t risk it by losing focus or mooning over Sam.”

  “Don’t you think you might get lonely?”

  “With so much to do here and all the people I see when they come in, no, I don’t expect so.” Maybe down the line, when she’d made this store a success, she could focus a little more on romance. But not for a long while. Her priorities were clear, her prize within sight.

  “We shall see, my dear.” Coraline put her purse in the crook of her arm. “I’ll pray about it for you, all right?”

  “All right.” A thought occurred to Allison. “Um…I would appreciate it if you could keep all this to yourself. The last thing I want to do is make Sam uncomfortable when he brings the twins back for Story Time.” Or to be embarrassed herself if he ever found out about how she’d adored him from afar for so many years.

  “I promise I won’t say anything.”

  “Thank you.”

  Coraline left the store and Allison let out a sigh of relief. Who would have guessed that Coraline had deduced the truth years ago? She was obviously a very wise, intuitive woman.

  But she wasn’t right about Allison being the Christian woman for Sam. In order to have the life she wanted, she was going to keep Sam in the father-of-Nicky-and-Rosie department and focus strictly on herself. And Happy Endings, of course.

  *

  With his last nerve dying a noisy death, Sam herded the twins from the car to the Everything, a gas station/convenience store/grill in town that served burgers, fries and nuked frozen pizza. The place was owned and run by Elwood and Velma Dill, who were self-proclaimed hippies in their early fifties. Elwood was a member of the SOS Committee, and both he and his wife had really become more involved in the community since Randall Manufacturing had closed its doors.

  After a long day at work wrangling teenagers and an afternoon spent wrangling the twins, Sam was just too tired to get a meal together. Sometimes it was more work to eat out with the kids. But after the afternoon he’d had at home—which had involved a stray tube of bright red lipstick Teresa had left behind and two rolls of toilet paper unwound all over the house by one mischievous little boy—they all needed a change of scene.

  Besides, it was a lovely Indian summer evening, and they should enjoy the nice weather while they could. Soon enough it would be too cold to eat outside. Who knew how Sam would entertain the kids then? Just the thought of being cooped up with them on his own spread little rivers of panic through him. Last winter had been rough, what with his split from Teresa fresh in his mind and his trial-by-fire single parenthood.

  “Look, Daddy.” Rosie pulled on his hand. “There’s the nice story lady.”

  Sure enough, Allison was sitting at one of the picnic tables set up outside. Another young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair, whom Sam had seen working at the bookstore yesterday, sat across from Allison. The other gal looked familiar, as if he’d seen her around town or something, but he couldn’t quite place her.

  The sun had begun to set, and the early-evening light glinted off Allison’s hair, highlighting it with streaks of gold that perfectly matched the gold-hued coat she wore with a pair of black pants. His heart gave a little blip.

  “Yes, there she is,” he said, willing himself to ignore the disconcerting effect she had on him.

  “Hi, story lady!” Nicky called.
“We are here!”

  Allison looked their way and froze for just a second. Then her face broke into a big smile. She waved. “Hey, you guys!”

  Sam gave a return wave and then let the kids go. They both went scurrying toward Allison, waving as if she were a race-car driver and a fairy princess all wrapped up in one wonderful person.

  He followed at a slower pace, trying to look all cool and collected—casual—despite the fact that she hadn’t been far from his mind since Story Time yesterday. Her interaction with the twins had had a big impact on him. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get the picture of her with Rosie out of his mind.

  He was a bit in awe of Allison, actually, and that wasn’t comfortable; given the female role models he’d had, he hadn’t been amazed by any woman for a long time, and the emotion felt foreign and awkward. Guess he’d have to adjust; he should be good at that by now.

  Nicky and Rosie were obviously taken with Allison, too. They both hopped around her table, excitedly greeting her as if they were long-lost best friends.

  Sam consciously relaxed, then smiled as he drew near. “Well, look here. My kids’ favorite person in the whole world.”

  Allison blushed. “Aw, that’s sweet.”

  “It’s true,” Rosie said, patting Allison’s arm. “You are the bestest story lady ever!”

  “She does tell a mean story,” the other woman said. She held out her hand with a grin. “Vivian Duncan. I work at the bookstore part-time. I used to work at the library until budget cuts happened.” Randall Manufacturing closing had had far-reaching effects on just about everything in town, but especially on town-supported services, like the library, police force and school district.

  Sam shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Sam Franklin.”

  Allison blinked. “Oh, where are my manners? I thought you two knew each other.”

  “Unless it’s involved with the high school, I don’t get out much.” Again, maybe his social life needed to be reworked, although finding the time for any kind of socializing would be a challenge.

  “We’ve never crossed paths, then, even though I’ve lived in town for quite a while.” Viv raised a hand to shield her face from the setting sun. “You guys want to join us?”

  Nicky and Rosie squealed. “Yes! We want to!” They both jumped in place.

  Sam put a hand on his kids’ shoulders and pressed lightly to encourage them to calm down. “Oh, wow, I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Oh, you’re not intruding one bit.” With a tilt of her head, Viv looked at Allison. “Right, story lady?”

  “Right you are, Viv,” Allison said, gesturing to the huge pizza with just two slices missing, which sat in the middle of the table. “We ordered a whole pizza, so we’ve got plenty.” The pizzas weren’t exactly gourmet. But anything Sam didn’t have to make was extra tasty.

  “I love pizza,” Nicky announced. “I want some.”

  “Me, too,” Rosie added. “The cheesy cheese is good.”

  “Guys, we can’t eat all their food,” Sam said.

  “Are you kidding?” Allison said. “There’s plenty.” She smiled at Sam. “Unless you want to add some fries…?”

  “Yeah, fries.” Nicky rubbed his tummy. “My favorite.”

  “Well, then, fries it is, if you love them so much,” Allison said, then quickly clamped her mouth closed, as if she’d spoken out of turn. “If Dad says it’s okay, of course.”

  “I love them, too, so it’s fine,” Sam said, unable to say no to his kids. And, really, socializing with a couple of adults sounded good for someone whose day was usually filled with teenagers at work and toddlers at home. Sometimes his brain was mush by dinnertime.

  “Great,” Allison answered. “Sam, why don’t you go order some, and these two kidlets can stay here with us.”

  “Okay.” Sam headed to the order window within earshot to order the fries and some water for him and the twins. There was a short line, so he waited, arms crossed over his chest, and surreptitiously observed the two women and two kids.

  Vivian scooted over and patted the bench next to her. “Who wants to sit next to me?”

  “I will.” Rosie ran over next to Viv, then pointed at Viv’s wrist. “Can I look at your bracelet?”

  “Sure,” Viv said, slipping the bangle off her wrist. “Here you go.” She handed it to Rosie.

  Rosie eyed it as if it were a priceless piece of jewelry. Sam quirked an eyebrow. His daughter, the jewelry queen. She was a girlie girl for sure. He wondered how he was going to deal with that in the future as a single dad; just the thought of what was to come scared him silly. Dating? Teen angst? Just kill me now.

  “Well, then, Mr. Nicky, I guess you’re stuck with me.” Allison moved over. “How about we sit next to each other and you can tell me what you liked most about Mike and Mary Anne.”

  “Okay,” Nicky said. “That was a good story.”

  She reached out and lifted Nicky onto the bench to sit next to her. Her arm stayed around his little shoulders and she bent her head near to listen to him while he chattered on about the story, his face glowing.

  As he waited to order, Sam watched as Allison set paper plates in front of each child with her free hand—multitasking at its finest—and then added a slice of pizza. She even managed to get a napkin on both kids’ laps, although Sam knew it wouldn’t stay on Nicky’s for long; his rambunctious son was usually up and running around the dinner table too much to keep anything on his lap.

  Viv and Rosie chatted about Viv’s bracelet, and while Viv was obviously a really nice young woman, Sam’s eyes kept returning to Allison, to the way the setting sun gilded her cheeks and made her blue eyes glow like a beautiful Caribbean sea. He found himself fascinated with the way she interacted with Nicky, as if he were the most wonderful, interesting little boy in the world, which, of course, he was.

  He ordered from Velma, then waited by the window for the food. Once again his gaze was drawn to Allison, who was now playing thumb war with Nicky. Nicky’s laughter rang out as he “won” the round, and then he begged Allison to play another match. With a patient smile, Allison obliged.

  “Hey, Coach Franklin.”

  Sam turned. Rory Liston and Scott Martin, two members of the basketball team, stood there, soft drinks in hand. The Everything was something of a teen hangout. “Hey, guys.”

  “You bring your kids here for dinner?” Rory asked, shoving his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

  “Yeah, they love going out to eat,” Sam replied.

  “I love the burgers here,” Scott said. “Fries are pretty good, too.” Scott wasn’t as tall as Rory and was a bit huskier. He wore his blond hair in a buzz cut, and he always wore a baseball cap, backward most of the time.

  “Yeah,” Rory said, jabbing an elbow in Scott’s side. “You always eat all of them.” The two boys had grown up together and were as close as brothers.

  “You’re the one who needs all the grease in them,” Scott said. Rory was a tall kid and as skinny as a beanpole.

  “He’ll fill out eventually,” Sam said. “I was pretty lean in my youth, too.”

  “Yeah, my dad said he was as skinny as me when he was my age,” Rory said. “And he’s all muscle now.” Rory’s dad, Vern, had been on the Bygones police force for years, but had lost his job recently due to budget cuts brought on when Randall Manufacturing had closed its doors. Sam had a feeling Rory was struggling with more than just his falling grades, which was one of the reasons Sam hoped Rory would be willing to attend Allison’s creative-writing workshops.

  “Coach, your order’s ready,” Velma said. She had a colorful scarf wrapped around her neck and some kind of feather thingies hanging in her long hair, which she had pulled back at her nape.

  “Great.” Sam picked up the fries and drinks. “Thanks, Velma.” He turned his gaze to the two boys. “You two stay out of trouble, all right?”

  Both Rory and Scott nodded. “Sure thing, Coach.”

  Man, he never go
t tired of being called Coach. He loved working with kids, influencing them to make good choices. “See you at practice tomorrow after school.” Sam carried the order back to the table and set it down. “Fry alert,” he announced.

  With happy squeals, the kids dug in.

  Sam scrunched in next to Allison, his leg lightly touching hers under the small table that was obviously designed for four regular-size people and not four plus one six-foot-three-inch man. She didn’t try to scoot away, so he tried not to let her proximity get to him. However, obviously Allison wasn’t a kid anymore; she was an attractive woman. He’d have to have ice water in his veins not to notice that.

  Nicky and Rosie kept eating the fries with gusto, holding up each one before they ate it to compare the length; it was a game they played in search of the longest one.

  Sam helped himself to a slice of pizza, having to touch Allison’s arm in the process, and his breathing hitched just a bit at the contact. To cover up his reaction, he started munching on his pizza.

  “Do you ever feed them?” Allison said with a slanted eyebrow, her eyes on the fry-eating machines.

  “Once in a while, when I remember,” he quipped before he popped a fry in his mouth.

  “These are yummy,” Rosie said, dipping a fry in ketchup, then gobbling it up.

  “Okay, I have to try one of these delish fries,” Allison said, picking one up. She held it up. “Okay, kids, with ketchup or without?”

  “With!” Nicky and Rosie said in unison.

  Allison dipped and then made a big show of eating.

  “Sam, you might have to get another order,” Viv said.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” he replied. He eyed the pizza. “Doesn’t look like they’re interested in that right now.” He got up and ordered some more fries.

  The lively conversation kept up while everyone ate, and Sam found himself very conscious of the woman sitting next to him. Allison laughed and joked around with the kids, and had them both giggling with her stories about Sam when he was a teenager.

  Toward the end of the meal, she gently wiped Nicky’s pizza hands and ketchup-ringed mouth with a napkin. Sam watched, impressed; her motherly streak with someone else’s children was something to behold.