Where the Heart Lies
Page 7
“She probably got pulled in to help with something.” Liam held the door for her. “C’mon, I’ll buy you guys a hot dog while you wait for her. If I know Penny, she won’t be kept away from the food for long.”
Alicia laughed. “You guys do like to give each other a hard time, don’t you?”
“One of the great joys of my life.” He followed her into the school and pointed to a door on her left. “You and Jason have a seat. Gemma and I can get the hot dogs.”
As she sat gratefully, Alicia relaxed, happy to have the break and also not to have to try to manage food, drinks and a stroller. She located the raffle tables at the back of the cafeteria. Laden with dozens of gift baskets and other items, the tables were surrounded by crowds of kids and adults alike, all busy jotting names and phone numbers on small slips of white paper. She spotted Amy helping out behind one table and waved, but the girl was too busy taking money and making change to notice. She couldn’t see the basket of books she’d donated, but she hoped it was garnering some interest.
Gemma trotted up holding a paper plate of food. Alicia looked over her head and saw Liam talking to a nicely dressed, attractive woman with a young girl by her side. Liam finished paying for the hot dogs, nodded politely to the woman and walked past her, skillfully carrying a tray with two plates and three drinks. The woman kept watching as he crossed the cafeteria to Alicia’s side and she fought against a blush. Her gaze met the other woman’s and Alicia summoned a friendly smile.
“Did she follow me?” Liam asked as he sat next to her.
“Who?” Alicia tried not to look over his shoulder.
“Sandra.” Liam sank a little further down in his seat. “She’s relentless. She just got divorced and I can’t even go jogging without running into her.”
Alicia fought to keep her expression sober. “Oh come on. You’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not!” Liam pretended to hide his face. “There’s a saying around here. A woman may lose a couple hundred unwanted pounds in a divorce, but she’ll be looking to put it back on soon.”
Alicia’s eyes widened and when she saw the twinkle in his eye, she threw her head back and laughed. She realized it had been a long time since she’d had an opportunity to really enjoy a joke. “Oh, thanks!” She choked as she sobered. “I needed that.” For the first time, she looked around with the idea that she might actually have fun that evening.
“You’ve got a nice laugh.” Liam took a bite of hot dog and a drink of soda. “You should use it more often.”
“Maybe so.” Alicia smiled. Their eyes met, and she no longer cared if Penny or Lauran or anyone else thought Liam had ulterior motives. She liked him. He’s funny and kind and easy to be around. Why wouldn’t I like him? He wants to be my friend and I could really use one of those. However, she couldn’t blame an attractive divorcee for setting her sights on him. At that moment, she noticed Penny plowing her way toward them. “Uh-oh, I might be in trouble.”
Liam followed her gaze. “Nope. Probably me. I tend to get on Pen’s last nerve.” He shrugged, indicating it didn’t really matter. “Hey, Penny!” He waved a jovial greeting. “Go grab a hot dog and join us.”
Penny ignored him, focusing instead on Alicia. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling and getting no answer for the past half hour.”
Alicia reached in the back of the stroller for her phone. “I don’t—”
“You know there’s no reception to speak of in here, Pen.” Liam stood, offering her his seat. “Let me get you some food. You’re so grumpy, your blood sugar must be low.”
Penny opened her mouth as if to reply, then shook her head and looked back at Alicia. “Sorry, when he’s right, he’s right. I shouldn’t take out my frustration on you guys. I guess you couldn’t find me and decided to come on in?”
“Sort of.” Alicia looked at her friend with concern. “What’s up? Are you okay?”
“I will be when this thing is over.” Penny shook her head. “You’d think the PTA of this school would handle it, wouldn’t you? Instead the high school ends up getting dragged into it every year and it’s a huge headache for everybody concerned. I mean, come on, I did my time when Amy went to school here.”
“Amy doesn’t seem to mind.” Alicia pointed to Penny’s daughter, and her friend’s face relaxed.
“Amy loves this thing. She did when she went to school here and she’s never stopped. She’d help out even if she wasn’t asked. But really, Mark’s bagging goldfish for the goldfish walk because there aren’t enough volunteers and if I get called down to the haunted house one more time because they’ve blown a fuse, they won’t need the tape-recorded screams!”
Alicia suspected Penny enjoyed the “stress” of being needed, but she nodded sympathetically. Liam arrived with another plate of food. “Here you go, Pretty Pen, but I’m afraid you’ll have to eat it without me.”
“Where are you headed?” Penny took a bite of hot dog without thanking him.
“Dunking booth. Didn’t your daughter tell you she roped me into it?”
Penny shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him. “She probably figured I’d spend all my money dunking you if she did.”
“Come give it a try.” He grinned. “You throw like a girl.”
“Ha!” Penny frowned at his retreating back. “Hope I get a chance to dunk him.” She turned her attention to Alicia. “So you two met up here?”
“We didn’t ‘meet up.’” Alicia watched Gemma as she talked to another little girl and admired her necklace. The mother caught her eye with an amused look. Alicia gave her a friendly look and turned her attention back to Penny. “‘Meeting up’ sounds so sleazy. What do you think is going on, anyway?”
“Nothing.” Penny shrugged. “I didn’t mean it that way at all.”
“How did you mean it?”
“I was simply inquiring as to the set of circumstances that led you to be here with a man whose motives are questionable at best.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. But really, why would his motives be questionable?” Alicia looked sharply at her friend.
“Penny!” Both women looked up at the well-dressed woman Liam had tried to avoid earlier.
“Sandra.” Penny didn’t look overjoyed to see the woman.
“It’s so good of you to come, honey. I’ve heard your adorable husband and daughter have been simply irreplaceable tonight.”
“That’s true.” Penny sipped her soda. “But speaking of replacing things, Sandra, you guys in the PTA might want to look at getting the gym rewired before next year. The smoke machine is tripping the breaker every fifteen minutes.”
“Oh those breakers!” Sandra laughed and waved a hand in front of her face as if to fend off gnats. She turned her attention to Alicia. “I guess I can’t count on Penny to introduce us. I’m Sandra Benning, the president of the PTA.”
Alicia regarded the other woman with interest. “Alicia Galloway.”
“Galloway?” Sandra looked puzzled. “Where do I know that name?”
“It’s common enough around here, Sandra.” Penny rolled her eyes.
“No, somebody was telling me something or other about a Galloway who’d just moved here. Widow of a local war hero or something?”
“That’s me.” Alicia winced. She didn’t like thinking of Ty as a topic of discussion in the rounds of gossip circulating the town.
“Oh honey, how tragic.” Sandra sat in Gemma’s vacated seat, reaching out to take Alicia’s hands in hers. “How perfectly awful to lose your husband that way!” Her eyes looked both sympathetic and voracious, as if she were some sort of friendly cannibal.
“Yeah, it was.” Alicia drew her hands away as Jason chortled in his stroller. She forced a tight grimace to her mouth in an attempt to hide her emotions.
At that moment, Gemma’s new fri
end left, waving over her shoulder as her mother led her away, and Gemma turned to find her seat occupied. She frowned. “Mommy, that lady’s in my seat.”
Penny choked. Alicia stood. “That’s okay, baby, we’re leaving anyway.” She waved at Sandra. “Nice to meet you.” She tried to sound like she meant it but could tell from the other woman’s stunned expression that she hadn’t quite managed it.
“Hold up!” Penny stuffed the last of her hot dog in her mouth and caught up to Alicia at the raffle tables. “That was too funny. Let me guess, she spotted Liam with you earlier.”
“She did.” Alicia shook her head. “What’s wrong with the people in this town? They’re either warning me not to go near Liam because he has ulterior motives or glaring at me when I have a chance encounter with him because they’ve got ulterior motives.”
Penny winced and held up her hands. “Okay, okay. I get the message. You’re a big girl. And maybe worse things could happen to you than having Liam looking out for you. Maybe.”
“Right. Thanks.” Alicia ran her eye over the raffle table in front of her. “Wow, nice stuff here.” Gemma found a basket of stuffed animals so Alicia bought some raffle tickets and filled them out. They worked their way around the tables together and encountered Amy taking two tickets for the basket of books Alicia had donated.
“Hey!” Amy greeted them. “I’m so glad you made it, Mrs. Galloway. Your books have been a big hit.”
“I’m glad.” Alicia nodded at the crowd. “Looks like you’re doing pretty well.”
“It’s going great. Actually, I’m just about to finish up my shift. I wondered if Gemma would like to go play some of the games with me. That way you and Mom can take your time here and come find us when you’re ready.”
“Are you sure?” Alicia knew her daughter was ready to go on to the games.
“Sure!” Amy ducked under a couple of other women working at the table and was at her side as if by magic. “It lets me be a kid again.” She held out a hand to Gemma. “Wanna go have some fun?”
“Yeah!” Gemma grabbed her hand and the two took off.
Alicia watched them go, thinking how nice it was the two had become fast friends so quickly. She bent to pull a bottle out of the diaper bag for Jason. Penny had been sidetracked by an acquaintance and Alicia was in no hurry, so she moved the stroller over to the edge of the crowd, backing all the way up to the wall beside the entrance. Squatting down to keep Jason company while he sucked contentedly on the bottle, she reflected with some regret that he soon wouldn’t want to breastfeed at all. She wondered if she’d remember the last time when it happened. She didn’t remember the last time she’d breastfed Gemma. Not the actual occasion, anyway, just a general date. Probably she hadn’t meant for it to be the last time, but maybe a bottle or some Cheerios had been easier the next time her baby cried in hunger…
Lost in the bittersweet memories, she caught her own name in the sea of voices around her. She started and sat up straighter.
“You’re kidding me.” A woman’s voice floated through the entrance. The speaker probably stood just on the other side of the wall. “Ty Galloway’s wife?”
“Yes! Here, with Liam Addison no less.” Alicia frowned, recognizing Sandra’s voice.
“Wow, she moves fast, doesn’t she? And going from a hero like Ty to Liam Addison.”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
Alicia pictured the two women shaking their heads. She stood as Penny approached. “Hey.” Penny waved. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Want to go see some of the rest of the school?”
“Yeah.” Alicia pushed the stroller determinedly through the exit and gave the people on the other side a hard look. Sure enough, Sandra and another woman stood by the door, expressions changing from gossipy to guilty in an instant as they saw Alicia. Flashing them a smile through gritted teeth, Alicia steered the stroller down the hall.
Anger and defiance combined to give Alicia an odd energy and she barely listened to Penny’s chatter. Spotting a large group of people on the playground, she steered Penny that way. She could hear laughter and cheering. Penny looked around. “Oh, this must be the dunking booth. Maybe I’ll take that shot at Liam after all.”
“Looks like you’ll have to wait your turn.” Alicia pointed to the line, which contained more moms than kids. “Is he really that unpopular?”
“Ha!” Penny snorted over her shoulder as she turned toward the crowd. “There’s a fine line between unpopular and lusted after.”
Alicia maneuvered the stroller to a better vantage point to watch the action. Liam, who had, in fact, changed into a white T-shirt and gym shorts, gently ribbed a kid with glasses and a determined expression. Alicia found herself crossing her fingers as he threw the ball and it fell short.
“Oh, too bad, kiddo!” Liam chuckled. “Hey, give him another chance. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”
Alicia noted Liam had been dunked a few times. His shirt clung to him and his hair sparkled with water droplets. At that moment, the kid with glasses threw the ball remarkably straight, hitting the target on the bull’s-eye. Liam went down with a splash to cheers from the crowd. Alicia laughed as the kid gave his friend a high five and they walked away.
“He does look good, doesn’t he?” A woman asked from beside her. Her voice sounded more admiring than lustful. “Not my type, but still.”
Alicia turned to find the mother whose daughter had struck up a friendship with Gemma in the cafeteria. “Hi!” She smiled, a little surprised.
“Sorry.” The other woman looked sheepish. “It’s a small town and I’ve lived here all my life, so I’m pretty comfy with starting a conversation cold.” She held out a hand. “I’m Lulu Banks.”
“Nice to meet you.” Alicia noted the other woman had a pleasant grip, her hand cool and strong. “Alicia Galloway.”
Lulu nodded. “Sorry again, but I know. You’re the talk of the fair.”
“Great.” Alicia frowned, looking back at Liam. “Fame. Just what I’ve always wanted.”
“Don’t worry, the furor will die down eventually.” Lulu nodded at the dunking booth. “Especially if you’re no competition there.”
“In the dunking booth?” Alicia snorted.
“For the man in the dunking booth.” Lulu raised her eyebrows and leaned closer, although she didn’t really lower her voice. “I noticed Sandra cornered you earlier. She’s had her eye on him for a while.”
“You know Sandra?”
“Everybody knows Sandra. She’s sort of infamous. And she was after Liam before her divorce was final.”
Alicia nodded. “That adds up. What I can’t figure out is why everybody figures either I’m after Liam or he’s after me.” She paused. “Also, I was under the impression he wasn’t around much? He’s in Chapel Hill pretty much all the time, right?”
“Chapel Hill is a short and pleasant drive away. But actually, until recently, he was here just about every weekend, especially since he bought the bar. He and Sandra were a little bit of an item after her separation, but he wised up pretty quick. She’s in Chapel Hill a lot for her job, though, so who knows?”
“Who knows?” Alicia sighed, suddenly tired. She turned to Lulu. “Listen, our girls certainly hit it off earlier. Maybe we can get them together at the park sometime.”
“Sure.” Lulu nodded. “Stella will be in kindergarten next year. Your daughter too?”
Alicia nodded. “I can’t wait. She’s in preschool five days a week now, but that’s just the mornings, and she’s got way more energy than that.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Stella’s been ready for kindergarten for a year now. She needs the other kids and I’m not really sure what to do with her this summer. I own a little business downtown and that keeps me busy. I hate to leave her with a sitter for too long at a time, though.”
Lulu nodded. “That would be great. I’m sure Stella would love it.”
Alicia pulled one of her business cards out of her purse. It still had all her old information on it since she hadn’t gotten around to having new ones made up for the bookstore, but she’d scratched out most of the old stuff on a few and written her cell number and email in. “Give me a call. We’ll work it all out.”
“I’ll do that.” Lulu pointed to the dunking booth line. “Looks like Penny’s up.”
Alicia looked back and saw Penny winding up like a Major League pitcher. The ball went flying through the air and hit the target, evidently without enough force, however, because it didn’t kick the mechanism that would dunk Liam.
“Ha ha! Karma’s on my side now, babe!” Liam cheered as if he’d won the lottery.
“I demand a retry!” Penny stomped her foot. “He must be cheating somehow.”
“Give her another ball, no way can she hit the target twice in a row.”
At the resulting cheers, the attendant gave Penny another ball, which she tossed with an equal amount of theatrics but which flew wide.
“Told you!” Liam jeered. “Penny’s never been able to hit the same target twice in a row.”
As the two traded insults to the delight of the crowd, Sandra appeared with towels and approached the dunking booth. Alicia felt a sudden resurgence of her earlier energy, along with a little mischievous gleam. She looked at Lulu and nodded at the stroller. “Could you watch him for a minute?”
Lulu raised her eyebrows. “Why? What are you going to do?”
“Just fetch the balls for my friend.” Alicia jogged over behind the dunking booth.
Sandra had reached the booth and was trying to get Liam’s attention by holding up a towel. Liam was either ignoring her or having too much fun with Penny to pay attention. Alicia slipped behind the booth. She could see the metal arm holding the target in place. She picked up one of the balls and turned as Penny cheered. Liam glanced down and met her gaze. Alicia saw his puzzled expression change to laughter just as she tossed the ball from three feet away and hit the target squarely. She might have been wrong, but he seemed to make a larger than normal splash this time, and she was rewarded by a shriek of dismay from the other side of the booth.