“That’s not true. Your mother and I couldn’t have been happier when we learned you were on the way. We always wanted to marry. Your arrival just made a wedding happen faster than we planned. And for that I’ll always be grateful.”
“But you should have waited till after you were married to have me.”
“If we waited, we would have had another child and missed out on this special birthday.” He handed the box to her, and she accepted it with shaking hands. “You going to look?”
She snapped open the lid. She fingered the sparkling diamonds a moment before saying, “My ears aren’t pierced, Daddy.”
“I thought I could do it.” He pinched her earlobe, and she moved to get out of his reach. A smile slowly turned up the corners of her mouth as she wiped tears from her cheeks.
“Are they real?”
“Of course.” He’d checked out the less expensive zircons, but Karen had always preferred the genuine article to a fake. She had waited until they could afford the real thing. He couldn’t do any less for their daughter. Besides, now with a guaranteed job, he no longer had to worry about money.
“So you and Em have thought about doing it?”
Hadn’t they finished with that subject? Roger got up and started for the door, still not comfortable having this discussion with his daughter. “No, it’s not going to happen.”
“It could if you got married.” Samantha glanced his way before focusing on the diamonds again.
He gripped the doorknob. “Marriage? That wouldn’t bother you?”
Samantha shrugged, but her mouth widened in a big grin.
“I’ll give it some thought,” he said as he closed the door behind him. At least she hadn’t seen the widening grin on his face that he couldn’t control. Knowing that Samantha approved felt good.
But his joy soon evaporated as he remembered who had caused all the anxiety in his home. How would he handle Millie? Roger had never realized how warped the woman had become. And to think she had wanted him to put his children in her care.
He walked down the stairs considering what he’d learned earlier that morning when he’d talked to Millie’s older sister, Joanne. The two planned to attend the relatives’ party on Sunday. According to Joanne, it might be the last time Millie would be able to visit them.
* * *
“I’M SORRY I acted so dumb last night,” Samantha said to Em after breakfast when they were alone in the kitchen. “I heard the coughing, too, but I knew it wasn’t Brad.” Unlike Em, who still thought of her son as Sammy, everyone else in the family had adjusted to calling him by his new name.
“So, you talked to your father?”
“Yep.” Samantha reached into the pocket of her cut-off jeans and pulled out the blue box. At least she no longer wore her father’s baggy shirts, and today sported a striped jersey, instead. “See what he gave me for my birthday?” She snapped open the box and displayed the diamond earrings. “Can you take me to the mall today to get my ears pierced so I can wear the earrings to my party?”
“Sure.”
Samantha moved the box around so that the diamonds would capture the light. The earrings sent shafts of rainbows around the room. “I want two holes in each ear, so I can use the hoops Sophia gave me.”
“Whoa, lady. Did your father agree to that?”
“Em,” she wailed. “What good is one dinky hole?”
“Maybe you should give the topic a rest for a while,” Em said as she placed the breakfast dishes in the sink. Neither she nor her mother liked using a dishwasher for small loads. “Your father needs some peace. Let him get used to the pierced look, then he’ll be more likely to consider more.”
“Okay. But I can only wait so long—” she paused and gave Em an impish grin “—before I get my tongue pierced.”
“You little...!” Em shouted as she snapped the dish towel in the girl’s direction.
Samantha sashayed away, shaking with riotous laughter. How good to hear that again. Her talk with her father had worked miracles. When the girl reached the hall, she waved and blew Em a kiss. “See ya later, alligator.”
“Happy Birthday, crocodile.”
“What’s all that noise?” Roger asked as he entered the kitchen from the patio.
“We made up. Thanks. I don’t know what you said, but she’s now a civilized human being again.”
“Did she like the earrings?” A smile lighted his face.
“Loved them. I’ll take her to the mall later to get her ears pierced—unless you want to do it.”
Roger grimaced. “No, I’ll stay and help Doris with the party decorations. Who had the idea of stringing Christmas lights?”
“Samantha.”
“I like it. The place will look festive. They can do for tomorrow as well when my parents come. Everything ready for today?”
“Pizzas and a giant sub are ordered and will be here around five. The cake’s in the fridge and the drinks are sitting on ice in the cooler.”
Roger came up behind Em and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her ear and pulled her closer. Em dropped her hands into the soapy suds and melted against him. “I’ve been noticing how well you fit in with my family,” he said in a husky voice.
“I’ve noticed that myself.” Em closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth spreading through her. She drew her hands out of the water and placed them over his.
“Oh, Em,” he whispered before kissing her neck.
“You helping her with the dishes?” Doris asked.
Both Em and Roger stiffened. “Yes, Mom, he is.” Immediately, she plopped her hands back in the water.
“Well, see that you don’t take long. I need some help outside.” Doris opened the patio door and stepped out.
Em turned around as he headed for the patio. And for the second time that day, a person she loved blew her a kiss.
* * *
AS FOUR O’CLOCK arrived, so did the guests. One by one the young adults entered the house in varying hair styles and hair colors, including fluorescent pink and neon blue. Most of them had pierced at least one body part. Roger stood by the door greeting his daughter’s friends, several he remembered, but he’d never met the new ones she’d made in high school.
Several times he shuddered inwardly, but he pasted a smile on his face. Why would any girl want to put a hole in the side of her nose?
He must have voiced the question because the petite girl with pink hair popped the gold dot off. “Isn’t it neat? It’s glued on, and the hair color washes out,” she said with a grin. “Samantha’s so lucky you let her pierce her ears. My parents won’t let me pierce anything.”
A month ago, he had felt the same way. Roger glanced over at his daughter, now sporting her new gold studs supplied when she got her ears pierced. She’d have to wait at least a month while her ears healed before she could use the diamonds. Whatever his misgivings had been, he now decided pierced ears weren’t so bad.
Em had been greeting the guests and so had Doris. Roger turned to greet the latest arrival.
His jaw almost dropped as a skinny young man several inches taller than he was reached for his hand. “I’m Jimmy Newhouser. Pleased to meet you, sir.”
“You’re a freshman?” Roger asked, trying to extract his hand from Jimmy’s grasp.
“Nah. Junior.” He looked past Roger and grinned. “Hey, Samantha.” He waved and headed toward the birthday girl.
A junior? Jimmy what’s-his-name looked more like a freshman in college. The fact that he was clean-cut, with no crazy hair coloring, tattoos or piercings, didn’t relieve Roger’s anxieties.
Other guests had brought brightly wrapped presents. Jimmy had his in a brown paper bag. Despite the boy’s polite manners, Roger made a mental note to follow the progress of that bag.
The party guests proceeded through the house to the backyard, where lawn chairs and tables lined the patio. Several people stripped out of street clothes to reveal bathing suits. Others jumped directly in the pool wearing all their clothes, including their shoes. A few athletes went over to the volleyball net and began hitting the ball. The brown bag lay under a chair.
“How’s it going?” Em asked him a while later, patting his arm.
“I counted 28. Didn’t you say she invited 20?”
“Some might be gatecrashers, but no one’s creating any problems.”
“So far.” He glanced toward the brown bag. It had disappeared and so had Jimmy. Roger looked around for his daughter. Sure enough, she had vanished, as well.
“Did you see where that tall kid went?”
With a frown, Em glanced at the house. “I saw him go inside.”
After a quick surveillance of the area, Roger headed for the kitchen. He should have taken Em’s advice and had a few more adults around to supervise. With Doris assigned to the house to make sure none of their possessions gained legs and walked out, he and Em had to cover the rest.
“You see Samantha come in with a tall kid?”
Doris moved away from the window and indicated with a quick nod the direction they had gone. “Said she needed to show him the bathroom. As though he couldn’t find it himself.” She took a sip of her drink before asking, “How’s it going? You holding up?”
With a chuckle, Roger leaned against the counter. “Is it that obvious?”
“You have been a little stressed over this party.”
“When did these kids grow up? The ones I know, I hardly recognize. And the hair styles. Do they usually look like this?”
“Halloween is just around the corner. I bet they just thought they’d start early.”
A giggle came from the hallway. Roger tensed. “I’d better go see what they’re up to.”
Jimmy stood over Samantha with one hand braced against the wall above her head. His daughter laughed, and pushed him away. Was she enjoying Jimmy’s attention or trying to escape?
About to reveal the contents of his brown bag, Jimmy stopped when Roger said, “Samantha, here you are. We’re all waiting for you to open your presents.” The two young adults separated just as the doorbell rang.
“The food’s arrived,” Roger shouted with an overabundance of enthusiasm. He opened the door to a young man with yellow hair that formed a dozen spikes across the top of his head. A gaily wrapped box peeked out from under his arm.
Samantha rushed to the door and grabbed Spike-head’s hand. “Come on. You don’t want to miss the party.” Before Roger could speak, he and Jimmy were left alone in the hall.
“Maybe you’d like to give me that,” Roger said, pointing to the brown bag Jimmy was placing behind his back.
“Ah, nah, I think not.” In his attempt to avoid Roger, Jimmy smacked into the wall. A crash, then a leaking bag, confirmed Roger’s assumption. Teenagers hadn’t changed much from his day.
“I’ll get you something to clean that up, and then you can call your parents for a ride home,” Roger said as he headed for the kitchen.
“I got my own car.”
Disbelieving, Roger stopped midstride. How old is he? Roger shuddered as he remembered how Em had fixated on him when he was so much older. He’d have to have a talk with this Jimmy and prevent any potential problems.
When he returned with a broom and damp mop, Jimmy had gone and only the wet bag and broken bottle of beer remained on the hall floor.
Although annoyed because of the time taken away from the party, Roger swept up the broken glass and then wiped down the floor with the damp mop. No sense in leaving the stench for someone else to take care of, especially since Doris had disappeared from the kitchen. Just after he returned the broom and mop to the utility closet, a phone rang.
Em’s portable phone sat on the kitchen counter, its red light blinking. He considered letting the call go to her answering machine then decided to answer it. After all, it could be something important related to the party.
“Hello,” he said, his thoughts distracted by the activity past the window. Samantha and Spike-head were laughing with a group of friends.
When no one answered his greeting, he returned his attention to the phone. “Hello,” he said again, adding vigor to his voice. If this was another telemarketer, he’d hang up and get back outside.
“Is Emmy Lou there?” a male voice asked.
The question startled Roger. He’d never heard anyone call Em by her given name. A telemarketer for sure, reading her name off some list.
“Sorry, we’re not interested in buying anything.” But before Roger could hang up, the man’s strident voice sounded clearly over the phone.
“Well, I’m not selling. Who the hell are you?”
Roger glared at the phone, held it several inches from his face and hollered, “Who the hell are you?”
A click on the other end told Roger he could get back to the party. And not a moment too soon. Through the window, he could see several people hoist Samantha over their shoulders and toss her into the pool.
* * *
THE MOON GLOWED above trees strung with various colored Christmas lights. A goodly portion of food and debris lay scattered over the grass and sidewalks. Roger would pick everything up tomorrow, once his energy returned. Everyone had left, and Samantha had retired to her bedroom to go over her birthday booty. Amy had taken her iPod home. Still interested in extending the party, Doris brought out her CD player and put in a recording of Frank Sinatra, music that was more to the adults’ liking.
“Who gave her that T-shirt?” Roger asked as he danced a slow dance with Em. Although he enjoyed the feel of her, her delicious smell, he could barely make his feet move in time to the music. Never had he spent a more harrowing day.
“Which one? She got several.”
“The one that says ‘I make good men go bad.’ I want it burned before she has a chance to wear it.”
Em laughed quietly near his ear. “You’ll have to give her some leeway sometime.”
“No way. Even when she turns fifty, she’ll always be my little girl.” He added a chuckle to Em’s soft laughter. “Maybe I’ll let her wear it then.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“HAVE YOU TALKED to your son about the birds and the bees?” Roger asked Harve. They were sitting in lawn chairs under the shade of a paloverde tree while they drank their beers. The rest of the birthday party, close to twenty assorted relatives, was watching one of the boys swat at the piñata.
“You lost your marbles? The kid’s only seven.”
“Forget it. I’ve been dealing with some crazy topics. It got me thinking.” Roger brushed away a few of the tree’s tiny leaves that had fallen on his slacks. After a long pause, he added, “I’m going to ask Em to marry me.”
“You’re what?” Harve straightened in his chair and leaned closer.
“You heard me. I’m asking Em to marry me. I bought her a ring before I left Seattle.”
“Are you crazy? What has it been—two, three months since you met?”
“I’ve known her since we were teenagers.”
“Yeah, and as I recall, you considered her a pain back then.”
“She grew up.”
“You love her?”
Placing the empty bottle on the ground, Roger leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs. “I don’t know. It’s different from Karen. It’s comfortable. I don’t feel pressured. Like this downsizing problem at work,” he said, turning to Harve. “I can talk to Em in a way that helps me solve my problems. With Karen, we talked, but I had to solve the problems on my own.”
“She’s divorced, you know.”
“Of course I know that.”
“Have you worked out a prenup?”
With a short laugh, Roger sat back in his chair. “I haven’t even found out yet if she’ll consider marrying me.”
“Think about it. For all you know, she’s got an agenda of her own. You’ve got to protect yourself and the kids, just in case.” Harve took a swig of his beer. “Doris is divorced, too, isn’t she?”
Roger looked at his brother-in-law and scowled. “You’re saying divorce runs in the family?”
“You want me to quote statistics?”
“I want you to tell me I’m doing the right thing.”
Harve stood. “If you need my approval, marrying her is definitely wrong. But, since you’re going to be a damn fool and do it anyway, I’ll draw up the prenuptial agreement. Don’t tie the knot till she signs it.” He raised the bottle in a salute before heading for the picnic table piled high with food.
Lost in thought, Roger remained under the tree. Were some families more prone to divorce? Most everyone else in his family had problems, but they’d worked them out over time. He’d never contemplate marriage while maintaining an easy way out in the back of his mind. Was that what Em did when she married? Had her divorce arrangements been formulated ahead of time?
If she felt that way, maybe he should consider a prenup. He didn’t want to jeopardize all that he’d worked for. More important, he didn’t want to put his children in the position of potentially losing another mother.
* * *
EM WATCHED THE party from the safety of the kitchen window. Karen’s mother was out there somewhere, and she didn’t want to risk running into her again. Grandma Millie had a way of looking through Em as though she didn’t exist.
On the other hand, Roger’s parents welcomed her as one of the family. Em knew most of the cousins, too, from when she had lived with Jodie. They all had families of their own, now, with children about the same age as Sammy.
Em closed her eyes and whacked her forehead. I’ve got to stop calling him that. “Brad,” she said aloud. “Brad, Brad, Brad.” Brad was enjoying himself, as well. To see him running around with all the children was wonderful. If only he’d continue to remain healthy.
Just Like Em Page 19
