What Makes a Family

by Debbie Macomber

  Dark wool pants and a wheat-colored Irish cableknit sweater had seemed the perfect solution. Or so Joanna had thought until Kristen looked at her and frowned.

  “Mom, tonight is important.”

  “We’re going to the Pink Palace, not the Spokane House.”

  “I know, but Mr. Lund is so nice.” Her daughter’s gaze fell on the bouquet of pink roses on the dining-room table, and she reverently stroked a bloom. Tanner had arranged for the flowers to be delivered to Nicole and Kristen the night of the talent show. “You can’t wear slacks to dinner with the man who sent me my first real flowers,” she announced in tones of finality.

  Joanna hesitated. “I’m sure this is what Mr. Lund expects,” she said with far more confidence than she felt.

  “You think so?”

  She hoped so! She smiled, praying that her air of certainty would be enough to appease her sceptical daughter. Still, she had to agree with Kristen: Tanner was nice. More than nice—that was such a weak word. With every meeting, Joanna’s estimation of the man grew. He’d called on Friday to thank her for minding Nicole, who’d gone straight home from school on Thursday afternoon since her father was back, and mentioned he was looking forward to Saturday. He was thoughtful, sensitive, personable, and a wonderful father. Not to mention one of the best-looking men she’d ever met. It was unfortunate, really, that she wasn’t looking for a husband, because Tanner Lund could easily be a prime candidate.

  The word husband bounced in Joanna’s mind like a ricocheting bullet. She blamed her mother for that. What she’d told her was true—Joanna was finished with marriage, finished with love. Davey had taught her how difficult it was for most men to remain faithful, and Joanna had no intention of repeating those painful lessons. Besides, if a man ever did become part of her life again, it would be someone on her own social and economic level. Not like Tanner Lund. But that didn’t mean she was completely blind to male charms. On the contrary, she saw handsome men every day, worked with several, and had even dated a few. However, it was Tanner Lund she found herself thinking about lately, and that bothered Joanna. It bothered her a lot.

  The best thing to do was nip this near relationship in the bud. She’d go to dinner with him this once, but only this once, and that would be the end of it.

  “They’re here!” The drape swished back into place as Kristen bolted away from the large picture window.

  Calmly Joanna opened the hall closet and retrieved their winter coats. She might appear outwardly composed, but her fingers were shaking. The prospect of seeing Tanner left her trembling, and that fact drained away what little confidence she’d managed to accumulate over the past couple of days.

  Both Tanner and Nicole came to the front door. Kristen held out her hands, and Nicole gripped them eagerly. Soon the two were jumping up and down like pogo sticks gone berserk.

  “I can tell we’re in for a fun evening,” Tanner muttered under his breath.

  He looked wonderful, Joanna admitted grudgingly. The kind of man every woman dreams about—well, almost every woman. Joanna longed to think of herself as immune to the handsome Mr. Lund. Unfortunately she wasn’t.

  Since their last meeting, she’d tried to figure out when her feelings for Tanner had changed. The roses had done it, she decided. Ordering them for Kristen and Nicole had been so thoughtful, and the girls had been ecstatic at the gesture.

  When they’d finished lip-synching their song, they’d bowed before the auditorium full of appreciative parents. Then the school principal, Mr. Holliday, had stood at their side and presented them each with a beautiful bouquet of long-stemmed pink roses. Flowers Tanner had wired because he couldn’t be there to watch their act.

  “Are you ready?” Tanner asked, holding open the door for Joanna.

  She nodded. “I think so.”

  Although it was early, a line had already begun to form outside the Pink Palace when they arrived. The minute they pulled into the parking lot, they were accosted by a loud, vibrating rock-and-roll song that might have been an old Jerry Lee Lewis number.

  “It looks like we’ll have to wait,” Joanna commented. “That lineup’s getting longer by the minute.”

  “I had my secretary make reservations,” Tanner told her. “I heard this place really grooves on a Saturday night.”

  “Grooves!” Nicole repeated, smothering her giggles behind her cupped palm. Kristen laughed with her.

  Turner leaned his head close to Joanna’s. “It’s difficult to reason with a generation that grew up without Janis and Jimi!”

  Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were a bit before Joanna’s time, too, but she knew what he meant.

  The Pink Palace was exactly as Joanna remembered. The popular ice-cream parlor was decorated in a fifties theme, with old-fashioned circular booths and outdated jukeboxes. The waitresses wore billowing pink skirts with a French poodle design and roller-skated between tables, taking and delivering orders. Once inside, Joanna, Tanner and the girls were seated almost immediately and handed huge menus. Neither girl bothered to read through the selections, having made their choices in the car. They’d both decided on cheeseburgers and banana splits.

  By the time the waitress, chewing on a thick wad of bubble gum, skated to a stop at their table, Joanna had made her selection, too.

  “A cheeseburger and a banana split,” she said, grinning at the girls.

  “Same here,” Tanner said, “and coffee, please.”

  “I’ll have a cup, too,” Joanna added.

  The teenager wrote down their order and glided toward the kitchen.

  Joanna opened her purse and brought out a small wad of cotton wool.

  “What’s that for?” Tanner wanted to know when she pulled it apart into four fluffy balls and handed two of them to him, keeping the other pair for herself.

  She pointed to her ears. “The last time I was here, I was haunted for days by a ringing in my ears that sounded suspiciously like an old Elvis tune.”

  Tanner chuckled and leaned across the table to shout, “It does get a bit loud, doesn’t it?”

  Kristen and Nicole looked from one parent to the other then shouted together, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!”

  Joanna raised her hand. “Guilty as charged.”

  Tanner nodded and shared a smile with Joanna. The smile did funny things to her stomach, and Joanna pressed her hands over her abdomen in a futile effort to quell her growing awareness of Tanner. A warning light flashed in her mind, spelling out danger.

  Joanna wasn’t sure what had come over her, but whatever it was, she didn’t like it.

  Their meal arrived, and for a while, at least, Joanna could direct her attention to that. The food was better than she remembered. The cheeseburgers were juicy and tender and the banana splits divine. She promised herself she’d eat cottage cheese and fruit every day at lunch for the next week to balance all the extra calories from this one meal.

  While Joanna and Tanner exchanged only the occasional remark, the girls chattered happily throughout dinner. When the waitress skated away with the last of their empty plates, Tanner suggested a movie.

  “Great idea!” Nicole cried, enthusiastically seconded by Kristen.

  “What do you think, Joanna?” asked Tanner.

  She started to say that the evening had been full enough—until she found two eager young faces looking hopefully at her. She couldn’t finish her sentence; it just wasn’t in her to dash their good time.

  “Sure,” she managed instead, trying to insert a bit of excitement into her voice.

  “Teen Massacre is showing at the mall,” Nicole said, shooting a glance in her father’s direction. “Donny Rosenburg saw it and claims it scared him out of his wits, but then Donny doesn’t have many.”

  Kristen laughed and nodded, apparently well-acquainted with the witless Donny.

  Without the least bit of hesitation, Tanner shook his head. “No way, Nicole.”

  “Come on, Dad, everyone’s seen it. The only reason it
got an adult rating is because of the blood and gore, and I’ve seen that lots of times.”

  “Discussion is closed.” He spoke without raising his voice, but the authority behind his words was enough to convince Joanna she’d turn up the loser if she ever crossed Tanner Lund. Still, she knew she wouldn’t hesitate if she felt he was wrong, but in this case she agreed with him completely.

  Nicole’s lower lip jutted out rebelliously, and for a minute Joanna thought the girl might try to argue her case. But she wasn’t surprised when Nicole yielded without further argument.

  Deciding which movie to see involved some real negotiating. The girls had definite ideas of what was acceptable, as did Tanner and Joanna. Like Tanner, Joanna wasn’t about to allow her daughter to see a movie with an adult rating, even if it was “only because of the blood and gore.”

  They finally compromised on a comedy that starred a popular teen idol. The girls thought that would be “all right,” but they made it clear that Teen Massacre was their first choice.

  Half an hour later they were inside the theater, and Tanner asked, “Anyone for popcorn?”

  “Me,” Kristen said.

  “Me, too, and could we both have a Coke and chocolate-covered raisins, too?” Nicole asked.

  Tanner rolled his eyes and, grinning, glanced toward Joanna. “What about you?”

  “Nothing.” She didn’t know where the girls were going to put all this food, but she knew where it would end up if she were to consume it. Her hips! She sometimes suspected that junk food didn’t even pass through her stomach, but attached itself directly to her hip bones.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Tanner returned a moment later with three large boxes of popcorn and other assorted treats.

  As soon as they’d emptied Tanner’s arms of all but one box of popcorn, the girls started into the auditorium.

  “Hey, you two, wait for us,” Joanna called after them, bewildered by the way they’d hurried off without waiting for her and Tanner.

  Kristen and Nicole stopped abruptly and turned around, a look of pure horror on their young faces.

  “You’re not going to sit with us, are you, Mom?” Kristen wailed. “You just can’t!”

  “Why not?” This was news to Joanna. Sure, it had been a while since she’d gone to a movie with her daughter, but Kristen had always sat with her in the past.

  “Someone might see us,” her daughter went on to explain, in tones of exaggerated patience. “No one sits with their parents any more. Not even woosies.”

  “Woosies?”

  “Sort of like nerds, only worse!” Kristen said.

  “Sitting with us is obviously a social embarrassment to be avoided at all costs,” Tanner muttered.

  “Can we go now, Mom?” Kristen pleaded. “I don’t want to miss the previews.”

  Joanna nodded, still a little stunned. She enjoyed going out to a movie now and again, usually accompanied by her daughter and often several of Kristen’s friends. Until tonight, no one had openly objected to sitting in the same row with her. However, now that Joanna thought about it, Kristen hadn’t been interested in going to the movies for the past couple of months.

  “I guess this is what happens when they hit sixth grade,” Tanner said, holding the auditorium door for Joanna.

  She walked down the center aisle and paused by an empty row near the back, checking with Tanner before she entered. Neither of them sat down, though, until they’d located the girls. Kristen and Nicole were three rows from the front and had slid down so far that their eyes were level with the seats ahead of them.

  “Ah, the joys of fatherhood,” Tanner commented, after they’d taken their places. “Not to mention motherhood.”

  Joanna still felt a little taken aback by what had happened. She thought she had a close relationship with Kristen, and yet her daughter had never said a word about not wanting to be anywhere near her in a movie theatre. She knew this might sound like a trivial concern to some, but she couldn’t help worrying that the solid foundation she’d spent a decade reinforcing had started to crumble.

  “Joanna?”

  She turned to Tanner and tried to smile, but the attempt was unconvincing.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Joanna fluttered her hand weakly, unable to find her voice. “Nothing.” That came out sounding as though she might burst into tears any second.

  “Is it Kristen?”

  She nodded wildly.

  “Because she didn’t want to sit with us?”

  Her hair bounced against her shoulders as she nodded again.

  “The girls wanting to be by themselves bothers you?”

  “No…yes. I don’t know what I’m feeling. She’s growing up, Tanner, and I guess it just hit me right between the eyes.”

  “It happened to me last week,” Tanner said thoughtfully. “I found Nicole wearing a pair of tights. Hell, I didn’t even know they made them for girls her age.”

  “They do, believe it or not,” Joanna informed him. “Kristen did the same thing.”

  He shook his head as though he couldn’t quite grasp the concept. “But they’re only eleven.”

  “Going on sixteen.”

  “Has Kristen tried pasting on those fake fingernails yet?” Tanner shuddered in exaggerated disgust.

  Joanna covered her mouth with one hand to hold back an attack of giggles. “Those press-on things turned up every place imaginable for weeks afterward.”

  Tanner turned sideways in his seat. “What about makeup?” he asked urgently.

  “I caught her trying to sneak out of the house one morning last month. She was wearing the brightest eye shadow I’ve ever seen in my life. Tanner, I swear if she’d been standing on a shore, she could have guided lost ships into port.”

  He smiled, then dropped his gaze, looking uncomfortable. “So you do let her wear makeup?”

  “I’m holding off as long as I can,” Joanna admitted. “At the very least, she’ll have to wait until seventh grade. That was when my mother let me. I don’t think it’s so unreasonable to expect Kristen to wait until junior high.”

  Tanner relaxed against the back of his seat and nodded a couple of times. “I’m glad to hear that. Nicole’s been after me to ‘wake up and smell the coffee,’ as she puts it, for the past six months. Hell, I didn’t know who to ask about these things. It really isn’t something I’m comfortable discussing with my secretary.”

  “What about her mother?”

  His eyes hardened. “She only sees Nicole when it’s convenient, and it hasn’t been for the past three years.”

  “I…I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “You weren’t. Carmen and I didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. She’s got a new life now and apparently doesn’t want any reminders of the past—not that I totally blame her. We made each other miserable. Frankly, Joanna, my feelings about getting married again are the same as yours. One failed marriage was enough for me.”

  The theatre lights dimmed then, and the sound track started. Tanner leaned back and crossed his long legs, balancing one ankle on the opposite knee.

  Joanna settled back, too, grateful that the movie they’d selected was a comedy. Her emotions were riding too close to the surface this evening. She could see herself bursting into tears at the slightest hint of sadness—for that matter, joy. Bambi traipsing through the woods would have done her in just then.

  Joanna was so caught up in her thoughts that when Tanner and the others around her let out a boisterous laugh, she’d completely missed whatever had been so hilarious.

  Without thinking, she reached over and grabbed a handful of Tanner’s popcorn. She discovered that the crunchiness and the buttery, salty flavor suited her mood. Tanner held the box on the arm between them to make sharing easier.

  The next time Joanna sent her fingers digging, they encountered Tanner’s. “Sorry,” she murmured, pulling her hand free.

  “No problem,” he answered, tilting th
e box her way.

  Joanna munched steadily. Before she knew it, the popcorn was gone and her fingers were laced with Tanner’s, her hand firmly clasped in his.

  The minute he reached for her hand, Joanna lost track of what was happening on the screen. Holding hands seemed such an innocent gesture, something teenagers did. He certainly didn’t mean anything by it, Joanna told herself. It was just that her emotions were so confused lately, and she wasn’t even sure why.

  She liked Tanner, Joanna realized anew, liked him very much. And she thoroughly enjoyed Nicole. For the first time since her divorce, she could imagine getting involved with another man, and the thought frightened her. All right, it terrified her. This man belonged to a different world. Besides, she wasn’t ready. Good grief, six years should have given her ample time to heal, but she’d been too afraid to lift the bandage.

  When the movie was over, Tanner drove them home. The girls were tired, but managed to carry on a lively backseat conversation. The front seat was a different story. Neither Tanner nor Joanna had much to say.

  “Would you like to come in for coffee?” Joanna asked when Tanner pulled into her driveway, although she was silently wishing he’d decline. Her nerves continued to clamor from the hand holding, and she wanted some time alone to organize her thoughts.

  “Can we, Dad? Please?” Nicole begged. “Kristen and I want to watch the Saturday Night videos together.”

  “You’re sure?” Tanner looked at Joanna, his brow creased with concern.

  She couldn’t answer. She wasn’t sure of anything just then. “Of course,” she forced herself to say. “It’ll only take a minute or two to brew a pot.”

  “All right, then,” Tanner said, and the girls let out whoops of delight.

  Occasionally Joanna wondered if their daughters would ever get tired of one another’s company. Probably, although they hadn’t shown any signs of it yet. As far as she knew, the two girls had never had a serious disagreement.

  Kristen and Nicole disappeared as soon as they got into the house. Within seconds, the television could be heard blaring rock music, which had recently become a familiar sound in the small one-storey house.