New Year, New Love
Page 13
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Temporary jobs for the time being.” He glanced at her quickly, then away again. “Actually, this is a good thing. It’ll give me a chance to focus on what’s really important, like my relationship with Tracy.”
As opposed to any relationship Sharon might have imagined developing between them. Apparently, she’d read more into their kiss than he had. One kiss, she told herself sternly, in the throes of a hangover didn’t mean anything. And she’d obviously been a fool to think it did.
She stuffed her hands into her pockets and turned toward the house. “I’d better go back. I’m in the middle of fixing breakfast. Just bring me the receipt for the snowblower when you’re finished.” She took a step away, and tossed the next line over her shoulder. “And thanks again for the help.”
To her dismay, Gabe looked at her then. Really looked at her. “Sharon, about what happened the other day—”
She cut him off. “There’s no need to explain.” She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She knew from her experience with Nick that explanations meant nothing. It didn’t matter why he didn’t want to be with her, it only mattered that he didn’t. “It was a fluke. You were hungover. I understand.”
Without waiting for an answer, she hurried through the garage and closed the door firmly between them.
Inside, she tried to buy a few minutes to compose herself before she had to face Emilee and Christa. She wiped her feet on the mat and slipped out of her jacket. But as she started to hang it on the hook, the girls plowed into the doorway.
“Is it Gabe?” Christa asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Maybe we should invite him to have breakfast with us,” Emilee suggested. “I mean, since he’s doing the walks and everything.”
“Don’t bother. He’s not staying.” Sharon forced herself to sound nonchalant, even though her heart felt like lead and her lips like clay. “In fact, someone else will be working on the basement from now on.”
Christa’s smile collapsed in disappointment. “Why?”
“Because he has other jobs to do.” Sharon motioned for them to let her through the door. “What’s all the fuss about Gabe, anyway?”
Emilee stepped aside to let her pass. “I don’t know. He’s nice, I guess.”
“He’s a contractor I hired to work on the basement,” Sharon said, more as a reminder to herself than the girls. “That’s all he is.”
“Yeah, but—”
“But nothing.” Sharon sent each of them the sternest scowl she could manage. “For heaven’s sake. What’s gotten into you two? You need to get dressed, Emilee. Christa, I’d like you to set the table. And I’d like both of you to help me rearrange the living-room furniture this morning.”
Emilee stared at her, unmoving. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing’s the matter. I just want to clean the house. It certainly needs it.”
“Yeah, but you only rearrange furniture when something’s upset you,” Christa said.
“Nothing’s upset me,” Sharon snapped. “I’m fine. I just want to clean the house.”
“Okay,” Emilee said slowly. “But Matt called while you were outside. He invited Christa and me to go tubing.”
“Tubing?” No. She didn’t want to be alone to think. She grasped at the only excuse she could find. “It’s freezing outside.”
“It’s not that bad,” Christa argued. “Besides, we’re just going over to the school. If we get cold, we can be home in five minutes.”
“I need your help around the house this morning.”
Christa pulled three glasses from the cupboard and carried them to the table. “Can’t we help when we get home?”
Sharon started to shake her head again, then stopped herself. What kind of mother was she? How could she use her children like that? If she told them the truth, they’d stay, but that was out of the question. “All right. I suppose you can go—as long as you’re careful and you promise to help when you get home.”
Grinning, Christa dropped onto a chair and leaned her elbows on the table. “Do you want to come along?”
“Tubing with you and Matt?” Sharon started to shake her head, then thought better of it. “It’s been a long time since I—”
“Come on, Mom. Emilee and Jason will be there. And so will Brittany and Tyler.”
“That’s a great idea,” Emilee said from the bottom of the stairs. “Come with us.”
Getting out in the fresh air just might help. A little exercise might release some of this heartache. At least, it would help her stop thinking about Gabe. Besides, it had been a long time since she’d done anything like this with the girls. Maybe she should go along. Maybe she should concentrate on her own daughters and work on whatever had made Emilee fake that sprained ankle. She didn’t want a repeat of that. And she had promised herself she’d start living. Okay, so she’d fling herself down a hill instead of into Gabe’s arms.
“Maybe I will give it a try.”
Emilee’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. “You will?”
Christa ducked her head. “You’ll love it. I know you will.”
“You won’t be sorry,” Emilee promised. “We’ll have a great time.” She hurried up the stairs to change.
They both seemed unusually pleased, and Sharon couldn’t figure out why for a minute or two. But, as she carried the eggs to the table, she realized they could probably sense that something was wrong. And they thought tubing would help her feel better.
She smiled softly and brushed a kiss to the top of Christa’s head. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“For what?”
“For worrying about me.” Sharon moved to her seat and settled a napkin on her lap. “I’m lucky to have daughters like you and Emilee, but there’s really nothing to worry about. As long as I know you two love me, I don’t need anything else.”
She reminded herself sternly that she’d been telling herself this for years. And she’d been doing fine. So why did she feel she was lying to her daughters today?
AS SHARON TRUDGED uphill behind Emilee and Christa an hour later, she had second thoughts. Tubing? What had gotten into her? She’d never enjoyed careening out of control down a hillside. She must be more desperate than she thought.
Well, she’d try to have a good time, no matter what it took. She wouldn’t allow a single thought about Gabe or the persistent ache in her heart to ruin the morning for the girls.
She recognized Matt and Jason immediately, and Brittany—short and more petite than Emilee and Christa. The stocky young man standing at her side must be Tyler.
She didn’t recognize the stick of a boy who tossed armfuls of powdered snow at everyone or the tall man standing to one side of the kids. “Who else is here?”
Emilee glanced at the top of the hill. “That’s Matt’s dad and his little brother.”
Sharon studied the group a little closer. “Is Matt’s mother here, too?”
“Uh-uh,” Christa told her. “Matt’s parents are divorced.”
Matt and Jason spied them coming and loped downhill toward Christa and Emilee. Sharon trudged through the powder behind them, breathless. When she reached the top of the slope at last, Christa grabbed her hand and tugged her toward Matt’s dad without even giving her a chance to catch her breath.
“Mom, this is Matt’s dad. Bob Cummings.”
Déjà vu. They might have been in that stuffy little office-supply store again. Except that Matt’s father didn’t look shy, he didn’t blush and he didn’t turn away from Sharon’s gaze.
He smiled slowly and studied her for so long and with such intensity, she had to force herself to stand still. Finally, he held out a hand sheathed in a bulky glove. “Nice to meet you.”
She shook his hand briefly. At least, she intended for the contact to be brief. Apparently, Bob didn’t. She tugged her hand away, nearly losing her own glove in the process. Somehow, she managed to keep her smile in place—an artificial one, but a smile nonetheless. “I
t’s nice to meet you, too.”
Christa grinned. “You two have a lot in common, you know.”
“Oh?” Bob perked up. “Do you like collecting coins, too?”
Sharon shook her head slowly. “No.”
“Do you bowl?” Bob looked hopeful. “No. Sorry.”
“You’re both divorced,” Christa announced.
Sharon studied her daughter’s wide grin. That’s what Christa thought they had in common? Divorce?
Bob stepped a little closer. “How long has it been for you?”
“How long has what been?”
“How long have you been divorced?”
“Oh.” She stomped her feet, trying to get them warm again. “Five years.”
“It’s just been six months for me.” Bob sighed and looked out over the slope. “I’m still not used to it.”
“It comes with time,” she assured him.
“Six months,” he said again, rocking back on his heels.
Sharon worked up a sympathetic smile and took a step away. The last thing in the world she wanted was to stand outside in bitterly cold weather discussing the sordid details of his divorce.
She looked around for Christa or Emilee, but they’d already started downhill on one of the bulging inner tubes. Jason, Brittany and Tyler huddled at the top of the slope a few feet away. Matt’s brother tossed an armful of snow straight into Sharon’s face, brayed a laugh and raced away.
Bob didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t get to see a lot of the boys anymore. Two weekends a month, that’s all.”
Apparently, he didn’t believe in disciplining his son on those weekends. Sharon wiped her face, scooped snow out of the neck of her coat and took another few steps toward the kids.
Bob matched her pace. “I really wanted a joint-custody agreement. I think that would have been more fair, if you know what I mean. Just because Donna’s their mother, that doesn’t mean she should have them all the time.”
“Yes, well, nothing about divorce is fair, really. Everyone loses. Especially the children.” She watched Emilee and Christa reach the bottom of the hill and roll off the tube.
Bob’s son raced up from behind and threw more snow down the back of her neck. Bob smiled indulgently, as if he thought the kid’s antics were cute.
Sharon put some more distance between them.
Bob trailed after her as if they were stuck together. “You know,” he said, nodding toward the bottom of the hill, “Matt really likes Christa.”
“Christa likes him, too,” Sharon assured him. “We all do. He’s a good kid.”
Bob rubbed his skinny face with one gloved hand. “No, I mean he really likes her.”
Sharon gaped at him. She wasn’t about to discuss her daughter’s feelings with Bob. “They’re very young,” she said hesitantly.
Bob squinted into the sun with his whole face, watching as another inner tube reached the bottom of the slope and kids toppled into the snow. “I’d like to see Matt end up with someone like Christa.”
“They’re still in high school.”
“Matt’s mother and I met in high school.”
And look how that ended, Sharon wanted to say. “Christa isn’t ready to be in a serious relationship with anyone,” she said instead. “She still has to finish high school. And she’s planning to go to college, of course.”
“College? Really?” He sounded shocked.
“Of course. Matt’s planning to go, isn’t he?”
Bob shrugged. “Yes. Of course. But I didn’t realize Christa was thinking of going.”
“She is, thank goodness. It’s so hard to make a decent living these days without an education, and by the time these kids hit the workforce, it will be even harder.”
Bob’s lips tightened. “You may be right. Of course, it isn’t as important for girls as it is for boys.”
Sharon’s mouth fell open—literally. She stared at him for a long moment, trying to convince herself he wasn’t serious. He couldn’t be serious.
He didn’t even crack a smile.
“You don’t mean that,” she said hopefully.
“It’s true. Men are traditionally the breadwinners.”
“Except in families where men aren’t around to win the bread,” she reminded him. “Or where the man can’t earn enough. Or where the woman wants a career.”
Bob studied her as if she’d just crawled out from beneath a rock. “You’re one of those, aren’t you?”
“One of what?”
“You’re a feminist, right?”
She’d never heard that label attached to her before, and hearing it now almost made her laugh. Almost. “I just believe that everyone—men and women alike—have the right to choose the lifestyle that works best for them.”
Bob folded his arms and gazed out toward the horizon. “If you ask me, that’s what’s wrong with women today.” He turned his gaze to her. “In fact, that’s what’s wrong with our whole economy.”
Sharon felt as if she’d stepped into a time warp. “You think that because women are doing something besides having babies and cleaning house they’re destroying the economy?”
“You can argue with me if you want, but you can’t deny that we’ve got a real unemployment problem in this country.”
“Yes, but that’s because machines and computers do the things people used to do. Like lighting street lamps and directing traffic and…and a million other things.”
“It’s because women are taking jobs away from men.” His icy gaze sent a chill up her spine. “And that’s not the only problem. They’re so busy trying to wear the pants in the family, they don’t pay attention to their children anymore.”
“I don’t suppose it’s ever occurred to you that fathers should pay attention to the children, too.”
His scowl darkened. His son threw more snow on her. “I knew it. I knew it. You’re some sort of bra-burning, card-carrying feminist.”
“Bra-burning?” Sharon laughed. The sound echoed across the empty field and made Christa, Emilee and their friends turn to look at them. “You’re about forty-five years behind the times, aren’t you?”
“All I know,” Bob said, propping his hands on his hips, “is that women like you are slowly destroying this country.”
Sharon took a steadying breath, but it didn’t do a thing to calm her. She had a thousand arguments she could have hit him with, but she recognized that nothing she could say would change his mind. And he definitely wasn’t worth ruining the morning for the kids.
She held up both hands as a signal for him to stay put. “I’ll tell you what, Bob. Since we obviously disagree completely, why don’t you stay on this side of the hill and I’ll stand over there.” She gestured toward the far side of the slope. “That way, we don’t have to speak to each other.”
“Suits me.” He flicked an angry glare at her. “I just wish they’d warned me about you.”
No more than Sharon wished somebody had warned her about him. She pivoted away, caught his son in the act of scooping up another armful of snow and leveled him with a glance. “Don’t even think about it.”
The kid hesitated, glanced at his father, and dropped the snow to the ground. Smart choice.
Seething, Sharon crossed the top of the hill. Tyler chased a squealing Brittany with a handful of snow. Christa and Matt climbed the hill together backward, shouting encouragement to Emilee and Jason who flew down the slope on the second inner tube.
Sure, at their age having boys around was fun. But what happened to guys when they grew up? She couldn’t think of one fun thing about the conversation she’d just had with Bob. As for Gabe, he wasn’t interested in having fun—not with her, at any rate.
Adelle’s prediction that Sharon would end up old and alone echoed in her memory. But right now, right at this moment, spending the rest of her life alone didn’t sound bad at all.
EMILEE GRIPPED A MUG of cocoa in both hands and shifted uncomfortably to make more room in the crowded corner booth.
“The question is, what did your dad say to my mom?”
He shrugged and dropped his arm onto Christa’s shoulder. “Whatever it was, they sure didn’t get along.”
That was an understatement. Emilee leaned her head against the back of the booth and stared at the framed pictures on the opposite wall. Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson. Lots of other people she didn’t recognize. Usually, she liked coming to the Sock Hop. Tonight, the loud jukebox, the crowds, the cluttered walls, the gum-popping waitress who’d served them all made her nervous.
She hadn’t expected that finding a man for her mother would be this hard. She certainly hadn’t expected her mom to fight with every man they found.
Christa scooped chili with a fry and popped it into her mouth. “I thought Mom would like Matt’s dad.”
“I thought she’d like Mr. Taylor at the school, too,” Emilee reminded her.
Matt wedged several fries into his mouth, dripping chili on the table in the process. “Maybe she really doesn’t want to meet men.”
That was the stupidest thing Emilee had ever heard. “Of course she does. She just doesn’t know she does.”
Christa laced her hands together on the table. “She didn’t like Steve’s dad. She didn’t like Mr. Taylor. And she didn’t like Mr. Cummings—”
“We’re not giving up,” Emilee warned. “The Valentine’s Day dance is in two weeks, and I’m not leaving her home alone while we both go out.”
Matt stopped chewing and stared at her. “What if you don’t find someone before Valentine’s Day?”
“Well, then, Christa and I will just stay home.”
His eyes flew wide. “You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Well… Because.” He glanced at Christa and turned a deep shade of red. “Because I want Christa to go to the dance with me.”
Christa beamed. “You do?”
“Well… Yeah.”
“She can’t go,” Emilee said decisively. “Not unless we find someone for Mom before then.”