by Amy Jarecki
Amanda’s eyes softened as they trained along the gorgeous dress. “I don’t know, Momma. This pisses me off.”
Ryan held up the cape and shoes. “We thought of everything. Look at this and we got matching jewelry too. If you don’t go, you won’t only be hurting Matt, you’ll be hurting me. I helped him buy this stuff just for you. Jeez.”
Rebecca stepped forward. “Why don’t you have your shower and try the dress on? We’ll take it from there. You can look at Matt as your escort to a wonderful ball, and this will be your chance to astound all your friends and their fathers. Gosh, I’ve never had a dress like this in my life.”
Rebecca sensed Amanda softening. She grabbed the dress and held it up. “Okay, I’ll try it on after my shower, but I’m not going if it doesn’t fit.”
“It’ll fit,” Ryan said.
Rebecca wandered downstairs to talk to Matt. She found him waiting on the couch, corsage in hand, jacket draped over a chair. “She’s going to have a shower.”
“Great.” Matt set the flower on the table. “Hey, I was going to take her to dinner, but if she’d be more comfortable with all of us, you and Ryan should come along too.”
“No, you two will be all dressed up. I think you should have the evening you planned.” She shook her head and chuckled. “I still can’t believe that you went to all that trouble.”
Matt’s white teeth flashed and his eyebrows arched twice. “I didn’t do it just for her.”
“Oh?”
He grasped one of her curls and gently pulled is straight. “I want things between us to be more relaxed. Between all of us.”
Rebecca paused and stared at Matt while she forgot to breathe. Then she looked at the floor as her entire body caught fire. “Sounds like you’re planning to hang around,” she said so quietly that it was almost a whisper.
Matt stepped up and reached for her hand. Holding it to his lips, he kissed the back of her knuckles as if her skin were as delicate as a rose petal. “Yes, milady. I’m not going anywhere.”
Rebecca held her hand in his for a moment and savored the tingling sensation. She then slipped it behind her back, terrified she might betray her true emotions. “I’d better check on her.”
Wrapped in a terry cloth robe, with a towel twisted over her head, Amanda stood in front of the mirror applying makeup.
Rebecca poked her head in Amanda’s bathroom. “Did you try on the dress?”
“I thought I’d put on my makeup first.”
“So you’re going then?”
“I guess. If it fits.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I need you to fix my hair.”
“Okay, when you finish with your makeup, put the dress on. It’ll only take a moment and then I’ll do your hair.” Rebecca could hear Matt talking with Ryan while she sat on Amanda’s bed and waited.
Amanda had a very nice figure with pert, youthful breasts and curvaceous hips like her mother’s. She slid into the mermaid dress and Rebecca’s breath caught at the transformation from bathrobe wearing teen to statuesque glamour girl. “Oh my, maybe you’re right. You shouldn’t go. You look far too grown up.”
Amanda slowly turned a circle in front of the mirror. For the first time that evening, Amanda giggled. “It is pretty, isn’t it?”
“Pretty doesn’t even begin to describe.” Rebecca admired how the gown hugged her daughter in the right spots, flattering her small waist and accenting her bust. A tear threatened to show itself and Rebecca cleared her throat willing it back. “So, what’s the word? Do you want to go to my room and fix your hair?”
“Yes. Definitely. I would go to the dance with the devil in this dress.”
“Good thing you don’t have to do that.” It amazed her how a dress could completely transform her daughter’s attitude.
Amanda sat at Rebecca’s bathroom vanity in front of a large mirror. With her expert grooming skills, Rebecca worked with two curling irons while Amanda helped her hold them. She pulled Amanda’s thick locks up and piled them strategically on her head, making them cascade down her back like a bouquet of wisteria.
With her hair styled, Rebecca placed the pecan rhinestone tiara on her head and fastened the side combs so securely that it wouldn’t fall off even if hit by a tornado. By the time Rebecca stood back to admire her work, Amanda could have passed for a runway model.
Rebecca dashed to her closet to find her camera as Amanda clasped the pecan rhinestone necklace in place and donned the earrings, draping the velvet cape over her arm. Rebecca had Matt and Ryan stand at the bottom of the stairs to watch Amanda descend, while she snapped pictures. Amanda glowed, showered with compliments, and Matt reached out his hand to assist her with the last few steps. He placed his arm around her and they stood and smiled for a couple clicks of the camera.
Matt fastened an ivory rose corsage tied with a golden bow to her wrist. “I hope you’re ready to light up the town.”
“I think I am. Thank you for the dress and everything.”
Rebecca smiled, relieved that Amanda had softened and given in. Matt surely would have walked out of her life if Amanda had refused. She prayed Amanda would have a good time and Matt’s unbelievably wonderful idea would help break down the wall that Amanda threw up the day he came to buy Patches.
***
Matt took Amanda to the Mikado Japanese restaurant where patrons sit around a hot grill and watch the chefs put on a show with their speed and sharp knives. He thought it would be nice to partake in the fun of the display rather than spend the whole meal trying to make small talk with a teenaged girl. This would allow them to talk or not and still enjoy themselves.
“Pretty young lady,” the chef commented as they sat.
“Do you like Japanese?” Matt asked.
“I don’t know.”
“The chicken teriyaki is always a safe bet if you’re not sure.”
They both ordered per Matt’s suggestion and the waiter brought a pot of tea while the chef made a display of sharpening his knives and chopped two chicken breasts.
As they watched, Amanda rubbed her hands together. “Wow, it’s hot.”
“Yeah, I thought that would be nice for you since your shoulders are bare.”
“Really, you thought about that?”
Matt poured a cup of tea for Amanda and then one for himself. “Sure. After all, it’s January.”
“Yes it is. Only five months till graduation.”
“That’s right. Eighteen and off to college in the spring.”
Amanda sipped her tea. “Yep, a legal adult.”
Matt grinned. “Now that’s a scary thought.”
“Why?”
“I know your mom will miss you terribly when you head off to college. That’s the hard part for all parents.”
Amanda looked at her hands, folded in her lap. “I guess I’ll miss her too.”
Matt refilled her teacup. “She’ll be lonely.”
Amanda shrugged. “Yeah, but she’ll have Ryan.”
“Sure, but only for a couple of years, and then he’ll be off to college like you.”
Amanda grew quiet and fixated on her tea. “I never really thought about Ryan’s leaving.”
“It’s hard to think that far into the future, especially when you’re standing on the edge of adulthood.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
The chef challenged Matt with a piece of chicken on a spatula, and he nodded his head while the chicken soared through the air straight into Matt’s mouth. Matt shot her a cheeky grin, chewing the hot meat.
Amanda giggled and sat up. “Hey, me too. I’m hungry.” A piece of chicken flew her way. She strained to catch it, but it missed and dropped to the floor. “Oops.”
“You try one more?” the chef asked.
“Okay, one more.” Amanda opened her mouth and focused on the morsel. This time she stretched out and caught the chicken, chewing voraciously.
Matt thought she once again looked like the teen he knew, not qui
te the sophisticated lady in her designer gown.
When their food was served, Matt decided to go for the jugular. “So, do you want your mom to be happy?”
“What kind of question is that?” Amanda knitted her eyebrows. “Of course I want her to be happy.”
Matt held up his fork. “So do I.”
“Well that’s one thing we have in common.” Amanda’s sarcasm made an appearance.
“Yes it is.” He smiled inwardly. Matt knew he had planted a seed. They had discussed the fact that in a couple of years Rebecca would have a completely empty nest and that would make her sad. Amanda admitted that she wanted her mother to be happy. He knew that eventually she would connect the dots.
***
His chest puffed up like a daddy rooster, Matt strolled into the Country Club with Amanda on his arm. The activity in the dimly lit room slowed while eyes flashed their way. Matt watched as heads bent together to gossip about Amanda’s “surrogate-father.”
“Amanda? What are you doing here?” A pretty blonde girl in a yellow taffeta gown rustled up to them.
Amanda waggled her eyebrows with a coy grin. “Sort of a Cinderella thing, except without the prince.”
The girl held out her hand with a friendly smile. “I’m Alexis.”
Matt gallantly leaned forward and kissed the back of it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Alexis. I’m Matt, and you look very nice tonight.”
Alexis blushed and rubbed her hand. “Ooo. Mr. Charming is it?”
Alexis introduced them to her father and they offered seats at their table, sprouting a centerpiece of balloons with the colors of a rainbow. The dance floor already gyrated with fathers and daughters, accented by the kaleidoscope of light from the disco ball above.
Hands down, Amanda was the most beautiful girl at the dance—had the most spectacular dress too. Matt leaned back and enjoyed watching all of Amanda’s friends surround her, dying to know what was going on. They stole glances at him with curious eyes. He figured Amanda had complained that he had bought Patches and expressed her disapproval of his hanging around her mom.
Matt, a master at good first impressions—excepting Amanda’s case—beamed and asked questions of everyone, showing keen interest. He learned a long time ago, that if you ask a person five questions and get them talking about themselves, you are well on your way to cementing a friendship.
Amanda pulled out her phone and asked Alexis to take pictures while she posed with Matt on her arm. She seemed relaxed and initially danced with him, but her friends also said they wanted a chance to spin around the floor with the mysterious and handsome older man. Matt commented on how nice everyone looked, how great it was that Amanda could come and how lucky he was to be the one to accompany her.
He had danced with nearly every girl in the hall when Amanda tapped him on the shoulder. “Ahem. I think it’s my turn. I’ve danced with the old fogies enough.”
Matt couldn’t hold back his grin as he put one hand on her waist and held out her right hand for a slow dance. “So, I’m not an old fogy?”
“No, well, sort of, but you’re different.”
“How so?”
Amanda looked at the ceiling. “I don’t know. Why do you ask so many questions?”
Matt spun her in a circle. “Just trying to understand. I know it’s been hard for you to like me.”
“Yes. Well, it’s not exactly you I don’t like.”
He knit his brows. “Okay. Can I ask one more question?”
“Only one and that’s it.”
“All right. What is it you don’t like?”
Amanda performed her trademark eye roll. “I thought that’s what you’d ask.”
Matt’s feet stopped for an instant. “I want to know.”
She looked down and frowned. “I can’t bear the thought of Mom…”
Matt stopped again, this time taking his left hand and lifting her chin so she looked straight at him. “It’s okay. I won’t get mad, just tell me.”
“I miss Daddy so much. Dad—you know—was everything to me. I was fifteen when God took him away and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Momma too.”
Matt pulled the handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed a tear that escaped from her eye. “I think I understand. If things change, you’re afraid you’ll lose the family, sort of like it was when your father passed?”
“Yes,” Amanda whispered, studying her feet. “Promise me you’ll just be friends.”
His fingers pressed into her back as he brushed her cheek with his leading hand. “Tell you what. I promise I’ll never take your mother away from you.”
As if on cue, the music picked up and Matt twirled Amanda in a spin. “Enough talk. We’re here to light it up.”
Matt decided to be careful to keep all conversation light for the rest of the evening. He knew better than to push Amanda too hard. She was only just beginning to come around.
***
Rebecca waited, watching TV when they returned with laughter at a respectable eleven o’clock. “Looks like you two had a great time.”
“It was amazing.” Amanda held up her cell phone. “I’m going to run up and post my pictures on Instagram right now.”
“Just a minute.” Matt reached for her hand, planting a light peck on the back of it. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, young lady. You were the belle of the ball.”
Amanda paused. “Thanks, Matt. You’re not so bad I guess.”
Rebecca sighed as Amanda climbed the stairs. “It looks like your mission was accomplished.”
“We’ll see. We had a good time and she knows that I’m not a horrible monster. I’m afraid I may have made things worse between us when we packed up the motor home in Bloomsburg.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. She was mad you didn’t come back for her and refused to start packing up. I might have been a little hard on her.”
“She probably needed that. Sometimes Mandy has a difficult time realizing that the world doesn’t center on her.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a common problem with teenagers.”
Rebecca led him to the kitchen. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
“Love one.”
Matt massaged Rebecca’s shoulders as she poured two glasses of cabernet. His tender touch made her knees feel like Jell-O. She wanted to relax into the kneading and let it take her to another level of consciousness but she could not allow her guard to let down enough. She turned around. “That felt really nice.”
Matt leaned forward, his eyes dipping to her mouth while his lips grew nearer. With a spike of her heartbeat, warm lips covered hers, pressing, urgent, and searching. Rebecca leaned into him, returning his kisses equally. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pulled him against her, his warm body electrifying every nerve. Her breasts screamed for more as he pressed his hard body against her. Trembling, she squeezed him closer, kissing deeper, unable to control the rocking motion of her hips—side to side in opposition to his.
“Matt,” she managed in a husky voice, pulling her mouth away.
“Mm?”
She fought to still her ragged breath. “This kissing friends thing is harder than I thought.”
Matt sighed and gazed into her eyes. “Yeah. I don’t want to stop.”
“But I’ve got kids upstairs and you know Amanda’s still awake.”
Matt pulled back and gazed into her eyes with those captivating baby blues. “I know, maybe I should go.”
Rebecca rested her forehead against his chest. “Let’s sit and drink our wine. I want to hear about your evening. You’ve got to tell me all about buying that dress and how you got Ryan to go with you. I’ve been chuckling to myself all night.”
Chapter Twenty
With only two weeks until Westminster, Matt showed up every afternoon to work with the Lhasa Apso and the Shih Tzu. Rebecca hoped to be able to show as many client dogs as possible herself, but there were always conflicts and Matt would need to stand in. Both R
ebecca and Amanda coached him on the conformation and intricacies of showing each dog. He thought learning to show another breed would be easy after spending so much time with Patches. Wrong. He took notes on the attributes the judges would look for and studied them nightly.
On a Saturday, Rebecca groomed a Papillion in the studio while Amanda worked on showing the Shih Tzu with Matt. Hey, at least she was willing to work with him now. They’d made big strides in his eyes. “Watch his tail and make sure it arches over his back. If it doesn’t, stop and fix it, then start over.”
Matt bent down and flicked the tail. “Good dog. Show me your tail.”
Amanda studied Matt’s movement as he took the dog around the ring. “Nice, now put him on the table.”
Matt picked up the dog while Amanda pulled out a slicker brush. “You should have a brush or a comb on you, because his coat will need attention every time you stop.”
“I can put a comb in my pocket. Let’s use that.”
Amanda swapped the brush for a steel-toothed comb and ran it over the dog. Matt thought it already looked good, but she paid attention to the long facial hair, the tail and the body. “You see? A few quick strokes with the comb and it makes his fur fluff right up.”
“Sure, but that hardly makes a difference.”
“The judge will notice it when the dog moves. If the fur has just been combed, it’ll flutter. Let me show you.” Amanda put the Shih Tzu on the mat and walked him in a circle around Matt.
“He does look nice.”
“Three things to focus on with a Shih Tzu—attitude, tail and coat. Conformation is not as important when you’re moving because their coat’s so long it hides problems as long as the dog has a smooth gait. Just make sure the paws are straight forward when you stack him.”
“Got it.”
Matt took the lead and executed an L pattern. After working with Patches, he struggled to match his stride to the faster gait of the Shih Tzu. True, it was nice to take longer strides, but the gait fell awkwardly between Matt’s normal, man-sized strides and the one he used to show Patches. Rebecca asked him to show the Shih Tzu in the Toy Dog Show and he would have to be able to switch from one dog to the next.
