“So you’re never going to fall in love again?” Allison asked, unable to keep her curiosity from taking over.
“Probably not.”
Okay, wow—
Rosie let out a squawk. “No, no, Nicky, my fries.”
“I want more,” Nicky whined, trying to nab a few of the fries Rosie had put on her plate next to her burger. “You have too many.”
“My food!” Rosie screeched, jerking her plate away.
“I want more fries,” Nicky wailed. Big tears formed in his eyes.
“Here, Nicky, you can have the rest of mine,” Allison said, moving the fries on her plate to his. “I’m done.”
Sam gave Allison a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“I have lots of fries now,” Nicky said to Rosie. He held up his plate. “See, Ro-ro?”
Rosie shoved out her bottom lip. “I want more.”
Sam put the remainder of his fries on Rosie’s plate. “This is the last of them, so that’s it.” On a heavy breath, he ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, well, it looks like the troops are getting restless.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, wow. It’s seven-thirty and we’ve all had a long day. We need to get home.” He mouthed the word bedtime to Allison.
They finished eating and then cleaned up, but the kids were clearly beat.
Rosie rubbed her eyes. “I’m tired, Daddy.”
“Me, too.” Nicky held up his arms. “You carry me, Daddy.”
“All right.” Sam picked Nicky up and held him high on his right side. “Although you’re kinda heavy after all those fries.”
“You want me to carry you?” Allison asked Rosie.
“Okay,” Rosie said. “Piggyback?”
Allison held out her arms. “Let’s stick with regular carrying right now, all right?”
“’Kay,” Rosie said as Allison lifted her. Rosie put her arms around Allison’s neck and laid her head down on her shoulder. “You smell nice, Miss Allison.”
“Well, thank you, Rosie.” Rosie’s hug felt wonderful, all warm and cozy, and once again, Allison felt a pang that these kids weren’t hers. They would always hold a special place in her heart, though. She’d make sure of it.
Sam led the way through the store and out the door to his SUV. Allison followed, murmuring under her breath to Rosie, and heard Sam softly talking to Nicky. The situation had a warm contentedness enveloping Allison like a fuzzy blanket, and she wondered why.
Then it hit her; it was such a simple thing, the act of carrying a sleepy kid to the car with another adult, but the actions seemed so intimate, so…bonding.
Sam unlocked the car, his dark head bent, his arms holding Nicky close, and sharp longing hit her full force, right in the heart, taking her breath away. This is what it would be like if she and Sam were a couple. A team.
Allison almost dropped Rosie. Whoa. Slow down. She could not let her warm fuzzy thoughts take over. Sure, Sam had been her Prince Charming in high school. But that was then and this was now, and she certainly wasn’t that idealistic girl anymore. She was a no-nonsense businesswoman, and her focus was on Happy Endings, on making herself a success, on proving herself after ten years of flitting from this to that.
She had to remember what she wanted in her life right now. And it couldn’t be Sam and the twins as anything other than friends. That was what he wanted, too. All the more reason to keep her attention where it belonged and her heart safely tucked away.
*
Both kids had conked out by the time Sam had the SUV in the garage, so he coaxed them from their car seats and carried them into the dark house at the same time, one in each arm. Moving efficiently, he headed straight for the room they shared upstairs next to the master bedroom.
He laid them down and then made quick work of getting them into their pajamas. Within minutes they were tucked into their twin beds, both surrounded by their favorite stuffed animals.
He bent and kissed Nicky’s head. “Good night, buddy. I love you.”
Nicky just snuffled and turned over.
Sam moved to Rosie’s bed and bent and kissed her forehead. “Night-night, Rosie-roo.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Night-night, Daddy.” A pause. “Are we going to go see Miss Allison tomorrow?”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Um…there’s no Story Time tomorrow, so probably not.” Mild disappointment moved through him and he frowned inwardly. What was that all about?
“Maybe we can go and play with the socks puppies.” Rosie held up a hand and moved her fingers as if she had a puppet.
“Miss Allison owns the bookstore, and she has to work.” And so did he. Which reminded him, he still needed to find someone to watch the twins tomorrow. Great.
“But she likes us, and we like her, so we can go see her all the time, right?”
Her child’s logic made him smile. “Well, sure, mostly. But she has to work, so we can’t expect her to drop everything to play with you guys, right?”
“So she should come over here,” Rosie said on a yawn. “And bring the socks puppies with her.”
Sam wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but he didn’t exactly want to get into a discussion with Rosie about his reasons, so he just said, “We’ll see.” The kids were still too young to know that that answer meant he was hedging.
“Okay, Daddy,” she said, turning over. “I’m going to sleep right now.”
He rose. “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
He left the room, making sure the night-light was on, and then headed downstairs. The house was dark and seemed chilled, so he went to the thermostat and pressed Warm twice. Operating on autopilot, he went into the kitchen, turned on a light and got a drink of water while he stood looking out the window over the sink. The sun had set and the yard was dark, and he was sure he’d hear the leaves rustling in the wind if he went out back. Fall was coming and the holidays weren’t far behind.
All at once a sense of hollow loneliness swept through him like a cold wind, making the space under his breastbone ache. A lot of the time while he was at home, he had no one to talk to, no one to sit on the couch with. No one to hold. And he had his empty bed waiting when he turned in. He grimaced.
He was lonely. What single parent wasn’t?
His thoughts swung to Allison. When he’d walked into the Kids’ Korner and seen her on those beanbag chairs with the twins, reading stories, well, something warm and fuzzy had dissolved inside him. And when she’d helped him carry the twins to the car? Man, it had felt good to have someone helping him. Maybe that’s what had him feeling so melancholy; her being part of his “team” would be brief. No way around that.
Whatever the case, he had to stop letting glimpses of an impossible life get to him. What good would that do, except to drive him nuts? So the kids could spend time with Allison—he wouldn’t deprive them of that—but he had to keep himself personally detached.
He finished his water, washed the glass and set it on the drain board. Time to find some day care for tomorrow. Maybe Dad was feeling better and could help him out. He picked up the phone and called.
Ten minutes later Sam had had part of his problem solved—Dad could watch the kids during the day, but had a commitment in the late afternoon and couldn’t help out during practice.
Dad confirmed that Lori was still out of town, so Sam called the neighbor girl, Shawna, on the off chance that she’d be available. No go; she had a PSAT study class after school, which he realized many of the younger teenagers around were probably attending, though not the members of his team because they were all juniors and seniors.
Great. He was back in the same spot he’d been in today—needing a sitter during practice. He shook his head and muttered under his breath, “Thanks a lot, Teresa.” His thoughts came around to Allison again. He tapped his fingers on the counter. Calling her and asking for another favor just didn’t sit right with him, though she’d said she’d help out anytime, and he believ
ed her. That was the kind of gal she was, giving and helpful.
But it wasn’t as if he had a lot of other options; it wasn’t fair to cancel practice because his ex-wife was an undependable flake. So he’d call Allison in the morning and hope she could help out. The kids would be thrilled if she agreed. And he’d be nothing more than grateful.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Allison had already been at work for two hours when the phone rang. “Happy Endings Bookstore. This is Allison. How may I help you?”
“Hey, Allison, it’s Sam.”
Her tummy went all pretzely. “Oh, um, Sam.” She cleared her throat and tightened her grip on the phone handset. “Hi. What’s up?”
He paused. “Listen, I’m in a bind again, and I hate to ask, but is your offer to watch the twins during practice today still open?”
“Of course it is.” No chore there; she loved spending time with Rosie and Nicky.
“Well, great. My dad’s watching them today while I’m at work, so is it okay if I bring them by at about four-thirty?”
“That’ll be fine.” Then she remembered something. “I’m having my first creative-writing workshop for teens at three-thirty, but we should be wrapping up by four-thirty or so.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember you told me about those.” He paused, then said, “I think I mentioned that some of the guys on the team might benefit from that kind of class. One kid in particular.”
“Well, tell them there’s pizza afterward, and teenage girls will be in attendance, too. My sister Amy is coming and bringing some of her friends.”
He chuckled. “Girls and pizza. Sounds like you’ve got their number.”
“Not me, Amy. She thought of it because she’s boy crazy and wanted to make things more fun for her and her friends. I agreed because it’ll bring in more participants.”
“Hard to believe we were ever that age, isn’t it?”
“They do seem really young.”
“And carefree. No responsibilities.”
“True.” Although as a teen Allison had always been responsible for her younger siblings while her parents worked.
“Well, thanks, I owe you. In fact, I owe you twice.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Oh, yes, I do, and I intend to pay you back.” A moment’s silence filled the line. “In fact, why don’t you just let me actually pay you for watching the twins. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not, Sam. We’re friends, and friends help friends.”
“I owe you, Allison, and I won’t ever forget that. If you ever need a favor, just ask.”
Something occurred to her. “Well, since you mentioned it…”
“What?” he said.
She held back, not sure she should actually ask Sam for help.
“Do you need a favor or something?” he asked. “Because if you do, please just ask. I’ll feel better if I can repay you in some way for all your help with the twins.”
“Okay. One of the things the kids from the writing workshop are going to do is man a literacy booth at the harvest festival a week from Saturday. I could use some help with the actual building of the booth sometime between now and then.”
“Just name the place and time, and I’m your man,” Sam replied. “I even have the tools.”
Her man. Her tummy fell. “Um…actually, what I really need is your muscles,” she said, then realized the implications of her statement. “I mean…what I meant to say is, I need your, um, strength. You know, for the lifting and stuff.” Talk about a blubbering idiot. What was she, twelve?
He laughed. “I knew what you meant, and my muscles are perfectly willing to do any heavy lifting. It’s the least I can do.”
They said goodbye and Allison hung up. She rubbed her damp hand on her pant leg and wondered if she were crazy to ask Sam to help with the literacy booth. Well, at least this way they’d be even, and he wouldn’t feel indebted to her.
Why didn’t that make her feel any better?
*
Allison opened the door to Happy Endings. Sam and two very tall teenage boys stood there on the sidewalk, the same two young men whom she’d seen talking to Sam at the Everything the other night. They all wore sweats and huge basketball shoes. But Sam was the only one who made her heartbeat go funky.
“Hey, guys,” she said, sounding normal, thank goodness. “Glad you could stop by.” She waved them in.
Sam made the introductions. “Rory and Scott, this is the bookstore’s owner, Allison True.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” they both said.
She closed the door and turned, and then looked up—way up. “Wow, you boys are tall.” Her gaze bounced to Sam. “Even taller than you.”
“Yeah, we get that a lot,” Rory said.
“Rory is the starting center on the team,” Sam added.
“What do your parents feed you?” she asked.
“Anything, as long as there’s lots of it,” Scott replied, swiping his longish blond hair out of his face. He wasn’t quite as tall as Sam but was to her untrained eye a bit huskier.
“I remember those days.” Sam shook his head. “I was a literal bottomless pit when I was these guys’ age.”
“I do seem to recall you ate a lot,” Allison remarked. “And I also remember your dad was quite a good cook.”
“He still is.”
“Did you really know Coach when he was our age?” Rory asked.
“You bet I did.” She’d wished desperately back then to know him even better.
Scott leaned in with a grin. “What was he like?”
She blinked. “Um, well…he was popular, and a great basketball player—the star center, actually, just like you, Rory. And he was a nice guy, too.” He had never been a mean older brother and had never teased or tormented Lori. In fact, Allison recalled that he’d been pretty protective of his sister and had made it clear that he had her back. Allison had always liked that about him.
“Did he have a girlfriend?” Rory snickered, and then nudged Scott.
Yes. And it hadn’t been Allison, much to her disappointment. “Pretty sure he did,” she said vaguely, thinking they’d think it was weird if she rattled off a name right off the top of her head. “I seem to remember she was the head cheerleader.” Actually, she remembered everything about Kristy Wainright—she’d been blond, pretty, bubbly and the girl every guy at Bygones High wanted to date. And the girl nerdy little Allison had desperately wanted to be.
Sam shot her a desperate look. “Yes, she was.”
“How long did you guys date?” Scott asked Sam.
“Most of our senior year, until I went off to college.”
The way Allison had heard the story, Kristy, a junior, had been devastated when Sam broke it off before he’d left for school, but not for long. She’d gotten pregnant her senior year, dropped out and married the father, then divorced him five years and two more kids later. As far as Allison knew, she’d moved away and no longer lived in Bygones.
“I’d like to date the head cheerleader,” Rory said. “But she doesn’t even know I exist.”
Allison knew that feeling. Sam hadn’t been aware of her as anything but Lori’s friend, either. She opened her mouth to respond, then noticed Sam giving her a significant look, as if to say, “Rescue me.” Obviously he wasn’t comfortable with the subject matter.
Cluing in, she crooked a finger over her shoulder. “Hey, guys. Some of the other kids are still here, and there’s still plenty of pizza left, so go on through and I’ll be back in a bit to talk to you two about the workshop, all right?”
“Great, I’m starving,” Rory said, rubbing his hands together. “Pizza sounds good.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Scott said, adjusting his backpack. “I could eat a horse right about now.”
“Well, go on and have at it,” Allison said. “And tell Amy that I’ll be back in a minute and take the twins off her hands.”
Sam held back. “Let’s hold back for a few minutes and let them socialize a bit before we swoop in with talk of creative writing.”
“Good idea.” Allison looked at Sam. “Guess we got off track a little there.”
“No big deal. I just feel funny talking about my dating history with the boys.”
“Understood.” She should have figured that out sooner. “But no surprise they were interested, seeing as how we’re ancient to them. As far as they’re concerned, we have one foot in the grave at this point.”
“No kidding. I had to work a little harder to block shots at practice today,” he said ruefully, shaking his head. “I got schooled by a bunch of teenagers.”
“Oh, I doubt that.” She waved a hand in the air. “You had mad court skills back in high school.”
Sam’s brows went up. “You remember that?”
Oh, yes. She recalled everything about him. “I went to all the games.” Because he was playing, though she wouldn’t tell him that. “With Lori,” she belatedly added.
“Oh, okay.” He grinned. “I thought maybe you went just to watch me.”
Obviously he was teasing. But this comment was completely accurate. “Yeah, that was it,” she teased back. What better way to deflect the truth than to throw his joke back at him? “I just had to see number twenty-two in action.”
“You remember my number, too?”
Whoopsie. “I…guess I do,” she retorted, trying to sound casual, even though that number was branded in her brain; she’d once covered an entire page of notebook paper in 22s during a particularly boring math class. Yeah, she’d had it bad for Sam Franklin. That thought had her moving toward the front counter.
Sam followed. “Wow. You’ve got some memory.”
Suddenly it seemed a bit silly to be skirting the truth about something that happened when they were teenagers. That was long past and had no relevance now. Plus, it bordered on deceitful, and that wasn’t her intention.
“Well, I may have had some…admiration for you.” She felt her face heat, so she looked away, pretending to peruse some paperwork; who would have guessed she would ever share that secret with him?
“Really?”
Storybook Romance (9781460320433) Page 8
