Mark added his armload to the growing pile on the deck.
“Okay, Allie, I want you and Jeremy to pick out a winning combination. They give prizes for the funniest dog, best dressed, most spirited and some more I don’t remember. Let’s try to win a prize,” Mark said, as he joined them on the planks of the wooden deck and held Gus. “I’ll hold him while you dress him.”
Laura Jo scooted back in the lounge to watch. It was a February day but the sun was shining. It wasn’t long until her eyes closed.
She didn’t know how long she’d been out before Mark’s voice above her said, “You’d better be careful or you’ll get burned. Even the winter sun in the south can get you.”
“Thanks. I’m well aware of that. Remember, I’ve lived here all my life.”
“That’s right, a Herron.”
“Who is a Herron, Mommy?”
“They’re a family I used to know.”
Mark’s brows rose.
“Now, let me see what ya’ll have done to Gus while I was napping,” Laura Jo said quickly, before he could ask any more questions in front of Allie.
* * *
Mark didn’t question further, seeing that Laura Jo didn’t want to talk about her family in front of Allie. But he would be asking later. Allie didn’t even know who her grandparents were? There was a deep, dark secret there that he was very interested in finding out about. Why hadn’t he recognized Laura Jo? Probably because she had been too young to take his notice. His mouth drew into a line. More likely, he had been so focused on his world he hadn’t looked outside it.
“My, doesn’t Gus look, uh…festive?”
Mark couldn’t help but grin at Laura Jo’s description. Festive was a good word for it, along with silly. His dog wore a purple, gold and green feather boa wrapped around his neck. A dog vest of the same colors was on his body, bands on his ankles and a bow on the end of his tail. This being the one thing Allie had insisted he needed. Mark was amazed the Gus was as agreeable as he was about that.
Allie pronounced him “Perfect.”
“I think we should be going if we want to make the start time.”
“Start time?” Laura Jo asked.
“For the Mystic Mutts parade.”
“I don’t think—”
“We can’t miss it. Isn’t that right, Allie and Jeremy?”
“Right,” both children said in unison.
Great. Now she was being ganged up on.
“Come on, Mommy. We have to take Gus,” Allie pleaded.
Laura Jo glared at Mark. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”
Allie and Jeremy danced around her. “Yay.”
* * *
“Let me get Gus’s leash and we’ll be all set.” Mark went inside and returned with a lead.
As they rounded the house and headed toward the cars he looked at Laura Jo’s. It was too small for all of them.
“I don’t think we can all get in my car,” Laura Jo said from beside him.
Mark stopped and looked at hers again. “I guess I should drive.”
“You don’t sound like you really want to do that. We could take two cars but I’m sure parking will be tight.”
Mark’s lips drew into a tight line. The thought of being responsible for Laura Jo and the kids gave him a sick feeling. Children had never ridden in his car. Since the accident he’d made it a practice not to drive with others in the car if he could help it. Often he hired a driver when he went out on a date. Unable to come up with another plan, he said, “Then we’ll go in my car. Please make sure the children are securely buckled in.”
Laura Jo gave him an odd look before she secured Allie and Jeremy in the backseat. Gus found a spot between them and Allie placed an arm around him. Laura Jo joined him in the front. Mark looked back to check if the children were buckled in.
“Is there a problem?” Laura Jo asked.
If he kept this up he would make them all think he was crazy. He eased his grip on the steering wheel and let the blood flow back into his knuckles. “No. I was just double-checking they were okay.”
Laura Jo shook her head as she ran a hand across the leather of the seat. “Worried about having kids in your fancy car?”
“No.”
“Nice,” she murmured.
“Like my car?”
“Yes,” she said, more primly than the situation warranted, as she placed her hand in her lap.
He grinned. At least this subject took his mind off having a carload of passengers. “It’s okay to say what you think.”
“I wouldn’t think it’s very practical. The cost of a car like this could help a lot of people in need.”
“I help people in need all the time. I also give to charities so I don’t feel guilty about owning this car.” Taking a fortify breath, he started it and pulled away from the house. At the end of the drive, he turned onto the road leading into town.
“I’m just not impressed by fancy cars and houses. People with those think they can tell you what to do, how you need to live. Even look down on others.”
He glanced at her. “That’s an interesting statement. Care to give me some background?”
“No, not really.”
“Well, you just insulted me and my family and yours as well, and you won’t even do me the courtesy of telling me why?”
“I’m sorry I insulted you. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain.” She looked out the side window.
Yes, he was definitely going to find out what gave her such a sour view of people with money. He’d always prided himself on the amount he gave to charities. He had nothing to be ashamed of where that was concerned. Standing beside someone he loved when there was a disaster was where he failed.
A few minutes later he pulled the car into a tight space a couple of blocks from the parade route. It was the only spot he could find after circling the area. How had he gotten through the short drive without breaking into a sweat? Amazingly, talking to Laura Jo had made him forget his anxiety over driving. “This is the best I can do. We’ll have to walk some.”
Laura Jo saw to getting the children out. He leashed Gus and then gave him over to Allie. The girl beamed.
“I checked the paper this morning and the start of the parade is at the corner of Section and Third Street.”
They weaved their way through the already growing crowd. As the number of people increased, Mark took Gus’s leash from Allie and made sure that space was made for the dog, children and Laura Jo. A few times he touched her waist to direct her through a gap in the crowd. At the first occurrence she stiffened and glanced back at him. When he did it again she seemed to take it in her stride.
Mark was pleased when his little party arrived at the starting line without a loss of personnel. He looked at Laura Jo. “Why don’t you wait here with the kids while I check in?”
“We’ll be right over here near the brick wall.” She took Gus’s lead and led Allie and Jeremy to the spot she’d indicated.
“I’ll be right back.”
“You hope.” She smiled.
It was the first genuine one he’d seen her give. It caught him off guard. It took him a second to respond. “Yeah.”
Fifteen minutes later he had Gus, Allie and Jeremy signed in for the parade. He found Laura Jo and the kids waiting right where she’d said they would be. She had her head down, listening to something that Jeremy was saying. The angle of her head indicated she was keeping an eye on her daughter at the same time. Once again he was impressed by her mothering skills. The women he’d gone out with had never shown any interest in being mothers. He’d always thought he’d like to be a father, but he wouldn’t let that happen. What if he ran out on them, like he had Mike, when the going got tough? He couldn’t take that chance.
There was nothing flashy or pretentious about Laura Jo. More like what you saw was what you got. He’d grown up within the finely drawn lines of what was expected by the tight-knit Mobile society. He hadn’t met many women who’d seemed to
live life on their own terms. Even in California the women he’d dated had always worn a false front, literally and physically.
Laura Jo’s face was devoid of makeup and she wore a simple blouse and jeans with flats. She reminded him of a girl just out of high school. That was until she opened her mouth, then she left no doubt she was a grown woman who could defend herself and her child. Nothing about her indicated she had been raised in one of local society’s finest families.
Allie said something and Laura Jo turned her head. Both mother and child had similar coloring. Pretty in an early-spring-leaves-unfolding sort of way. Easy on the eye. Why would any man leave the two of them?
If he ever had a chance to have something as good in his life as they were, he’d hold on to them and never let them out of his sight. He sighed. What he saw between Laura Jo and Allie wasn’t meant for him. It wasn’t his to have. He’d taken that chance from Mike and he had no right to have it himself. What they had he couldn’t be trusted with.
“Hey, there’s Dr. Clayborn,” Allie called.
Mark grinned as he joined them. He ruffled Allie’s hair. “That’s Mark to you. Dr. Clayborn sounds like a mouthful for such a little girl.”
Allie drew herself up straight. “I’m a big girl.”
Mark went down on one knee, bringing himself to eye level with Allie. “I apologize. Yes, you are a big girl. Big enough to walk with Gus in the parade?”
“Really, you’re going to let me take Gus in the parade?”
“Yes, and Jeremy, too. But I have to come along with you.”
She turned to Laura Jo. “Mommy, I’m going to get to be in the parade.”
“I heard, honey, but I don’t know.”
“I’ll be right there with them the entire time.” Mark reassured Laura Jo.
The look of hesitation on her face gave him the idea that she didn’t often trust Allie’s care to anyone but her friend Marsha.
He reached for Gus’s leash and she handed it to him. The nylon was warm from her clasp. “She’ll be perfectly safe. We’ll meet you and Jeremy at the car when it’s over. The parade route isn’t long.”
“I guess it’ll be okay.” She looked at Allie. “You and Jeremy do just what Mark tells you to do.” Laura Jo pinned Mark with a look. “And you turn up with my daughter and Jeremy at the end of the parade.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a smile and a little salute. “I’ll take good care of them, I promise. Let’s go, kids. We need to get in line.”
Laura Jo watched as Mark took her daughter’s much smaller hand in his larger one and Jeremy’s in his other one. Gus walked at Allie’s heels as they were swallowed up by the crowd.
What was it about Mark that made her trust him with the most precious person in her life? She’d never allowed anyone but Marsha that privilege. Maybe it was the way he’d care for Allie’s knee, or his devotion to the grandfather and later the girl he’d cared for. Somehow Mark had convinced her in a few short meetings that he could be trusted. Now that she was a mother she better understood how her parents had felt when she had insisted on going off with someone they hadn’t trusted.
Alone, she made her way through the crowd to the curb of a street about halfway along the parade route. Taking a seat on the curb, she waited until the parade approached. For this parade there would be no bands involved. All the music would come from music boxes pulled in carts by children. The floats would be decorated wagons and dogs of all shapes and sizes.
Twenty minutes later the first of the parade members came into view. Not far behind them were Allie, Jeremy and Mark. Laura Jo stood as they approached. She’d never seen a larger smile on Allie’s face. Mark and Jeremy were grinning also. Gus was lumbering behind them, looking bored but festive. Allie held his leash proudly.
She screamed and waved as they came by. Allie and Jeremy waved enthusiastically back at her. Mark acknowledged her also. As they came closer he stepped over to Laura Jo and said, “The kids are having a blast.”
Laura Jo smiled.
* * *
An hour later Laura Jo stood waiting outside Mark’s car. Anxiousness was building with every minute that passed. Something had to have gone wrong. Mark and the children should have been there by now. Had something happened to one of the kids? She shouldn’t have let them out of her sight. Was this how her parents had felt when she’d run off with Phil?
He had been a master of manipulation. Before they’d got married he’d made her believe he had a good job and he would take care of her. “Don’t worry about what your parents think, I’ll take care of you,” he would say. The worst thing was that he’d made her believe he’d loved her.
Had she let Mark do the same thing? Persuade her to let the kids be in the parade. Had she made a poor character judgment call again? This time with her daughter? Her palms dampened. She’d promised herself to be careful. Now look what was happening. She headed in the direction of where the parade had ended, and soon recognized Mark’s tall figure coming in her way. He pulled a wagon on which Gus, Allie and Jeremy rode. With relief filling her chest, she ran toward them.
Mark was red-faced. Jeremy wore a smile. Allie looked pleased with herself as she held Gus’s head in her lap. The dog was wearing a crown.
“Where have ya’ll been? I was getting worried.” Laura Jo stopped beside them.
“Mommy, we won first place for the slowest dog in the parade.” Allie beamed.
Laura Jo gave her a hug. “That’s wonderful, honey.”
“Sorry we made you worry. I should have given you my cell number. Gus also got slower after the parade. I carried him halfway here until I saw a kid with a wagon. I had to give him fifty dollars for it so I could haul Gus back.”
At the sound of disgust in Mark’s voice Laura Jo couldn’t help but laugh. His look of complete exasperation and her sense of relief made the situation even more humorous.
“I’m glad someone thinks it’s funny.” Mark chuckled.
Laura Jo had to admit he was a good sport and he’d certainly made her daughter happy. Every time she tried to stop laughing she’d think of Mark begging a boy for his wagon and she’d burst out in laughter again. It had been a long time since she’d laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
“If you think you can stop laughing at me for a few minutes, we can load up this freeloader…” he gave the dog a revolted look “…and get him home.”
“Had a workout, did you?” Laura Jo asked, trying to suppress the giggles that kept bubbling up.
“Yeah. No good deed goes unpunished.”
“Whose idea was it to be in the parade?”
“Okay, it was mine.”
Laura Jo burst into another round of snickers.
“Mommy, are you all right?” Allie looked at her in wonder.
“Oh, honey. I’m fine. I’m just glad you had a good time.” She looked over the top of her head and grinned at Mark. Had it really been that long since Allie had seen her laugh?
Mark scooped Gus up in his arms. “If you’ll get the door, I’ll get this prima donna in the car.”
Laura Jo’s snort escaped as she opened the door. Allie climbed in next to the dog then Jeremy clambered in. Laura Jo saw they were buckled in. Mark put the wagon in the trunk and slapped the lid down harder than necessary.
“So you plan on being in another parade anytime soon?” she asked him, as she took her place in the front seat.
Mark sneered at her as he started the car. Laura Jo’s smile grew. Before they left the parking spot, he twisted to study the children. As he turned the first corner, she looked back to find both of the children asleep. Most of the people at their end of the parade had left already, which made it easy for him to maneuver out of town and back to his home.
As they drove down the drive, Laura Jo said, “Thanks for going to so much trouble for Allie. She had the time of her life.”
“You’re welcome. Despite Gus being in slow motion, I enjoyed it. I’ve been a part of a number of parades in m
y time but never one like today’s.”
Laura Jo grinned. Something she seemed to have been doing more of lately. “Well, I appreciate it. I’ll get the kids loaded up and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Laura Jo sighed and looked back at her daughter. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I bet they are hungry. They’ve had a busy day. I’ve got some hot dogs I could put on the grill,” Mark suggested, as he pulled the car to a stop.
“You’ve already done enough. I think we had better go.” Laura Jo didn’t want to like him any more than she already did, and she was afraid she might if she stayed around Mark much longer. The picture of him pulling the dog and Allie and Jeremy put a warm spot in her heart. He wasn’t the self-centered man she’d believed he might be.
“Can’t I play with Gus a little while longer?” Allie pleaded.
“Face it, you’re not going to win this one.” Mark grinned.
“You’re sure about this?” Laura Jo realized she’d lost again.
“Yeah. It’ll be nice to have company for a meal.”
“Okay,” she said to Mark, then turned and looked at Allie. “We’ll stay for a little while longer but when I say it’s time to go, we go without any argument, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Allie said, and Jeremy, who had awoken, nodded in agreement.
Laura Jo opened the door for Allie while Mark did the same for Jeremy and Gus.
“If you both give your mom and me just a few minutes, we’ll have the hot dogs ready. Why don’t you guys watch the parade on TV? Look for us.”
“Do you think they’ll have it running already?” Laura Jo asked.
“They should. When I told friends on the West Coast that we had Mardi Gras parades on TV they were amazed.” Mark turned to the kids again. “I’ll turn the TV on and we’ll give it a look.”
They all followed Mark through the front door of the house. Laura Jo studied the interior. The foyer had an easy, casual feel to it but every piece of furniture was placed so that it reminded her of a home decorating magazine. From the entrance, it opened into a large space with an exterior glass wall that gave the room a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of the deck area and the bay. Full ceiling-to-floor green-checked curtains were pushed back to either side of the windowed area. The late-afternoon sunlight streamed into the room, giving it an inviting glow.
The Doctor's Redemption Page 4
