The Accidental Encore Page 5

  “Panty liners?” Leah asked.

  Allie handed the box back. “I’ll bring some when I come Tuesday. They’re just a lot thinner.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “So, have any of your friends started their periods?”

  “My friend Marcy has, but she doesn’t like to talk about it.” Leah picked at the fingernail polish on her thumb. “I’m not sure about anyone else.”

  “You know, I started my period when I was thirteen. When I was twelve, some of my friends had already started and I couldn’t wait to start. I used to see their stuff in the bathroom and I thought I would feel grown up when I got my period.”

  “Did you?” she asked. “Feel grown up?”

  Ms. Allie pursed her lips. “A little, I guess. But then I started getting cramps and it wasn’t so fun anymore.”

  Leah felt a little sick. “Cramps?”

  “Muscle cramps. Do you know what happens in your body when you get your period?”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay.” She put her arm around Leah and led her back into the room. Leah watched as she slipped out of her shoes and sat down on the bed for what looked like girl talk. “We women have a uterus, right?”

  Leah nodded. She knew from health class that the uterus was where the baby grew.

  “The uterus lining swells with blood in preparation for a baby. When a baby doesn’t happen, it breaks down the lining and discharges the blood. That’s why you get—Oh, my.” Allie glanced down at her watch. “I need to make a quick call.” She hopped off the bed and grabbed her purse. “I’ll be right back.”

  She stepped into the hallway and Leah inched close to the door to hear what and who she spoke to, but then felt bad about eavesdropping and took a seat on the bed to wait. She was picking at a loose string on her comforter when Ms. Allie walked back in.

  “Now, where were we?” she asked and sat back down on the bed.

  “You were telling me about how the lining breaks down.”

  “Yes, that’s how you get your period. Sometimes, for most people, the process causes your uterus, which is a muscle, to cramp.”

  “Like a leg cramp?”

  Allie laughed. “Not that acute, but similar. Menstrual cramps are more subtle.”

  “By subtle, do you mean not that bad?”

  “Menstrual cramps are not as quick or painful as leg cramps. They’re more annoying than anything. And you might not even get them.”

  Leah couldn’t imagine getting a cramp in her uterus, but figured Ms. Allie knew what she was talking about. Leah had never known anyone as beautiful or womanly as Allie. “Okay. Thanks for explaining all this to me. My dad went over the basics, but he was pretty quick and he didn’t say anything about cramps.”

  “If you ever have any questions, Leah, you can ask me. I know what it’s like not to have someone to talk to.”

  “You didn’t have a mom, either?”

  “I did. I do, but we’ve never been all that close.”

  “I think if my mom was alive, she’d go through all this stuff with me.”

  Ms. Allie’s eyes darted over to the window where the moon glowed bright over the trees. “My mom was…not really there all the time.”

  “What do you mean? She didn’t live with you?”

  “My parents got divorced when I was eleven. I got bounced back and forth between my parents’ houses. My mom was upset about the divorce and I didn’t feel comfortable burdening her with my problems.”

  “I thought that’s what moms were for. I don’t think she would have thought of you as a burden.”

  Allie gave Leah a smile that also looked like a frown. “She probably didn’t, but I was young and it just seemed like she wouldn’t have cared. I should have asked her.” She reached over and patted Leah’s knee. “You’ll have a stepmom when Carolyn moves in.”

  Leah’s stomach tightened. She didn’t think of Carolyn as a stepmom. She didn’t think of Carolyn at all. “I guess.”

  “Are you excited about having a woman around the house?”

  Leah shrugged and looked away. She didn’t want to lie to Allie, but she didn’t want to admit she was dreading Carolyn living in their house and taking her dad’s attention away. “Sort of.”

  “My dad remarried a few years after my parents split up, so I had a stepmom. Of course, I also had my real mom, so it wasn’t quite the same.”

  “I still have my real mom.”

  “I know you do, sweetie.”

  “My dad talks about her all the time. I know I was only four when she died, but I feel like I know her. I feel like she lives here, too.”

  “She doesn’t have to move out just because Carolyn is moving in.”

  Leah got up to pace when she couldn’t sit still. “He already took her picture down from his nightstand.” She turned to face Allie. “How could he do that? They didn’t get divorced. She died. She didn’t want to leave us, but God needed her in heaven.”

  Ms. Allie pivoted on the bed to face Leah where she stood by her desk. “Do you think your mom would want your dad to be alone for the rest of his life?”

  “He’s not alone. He has me.”

  “I know he has you, but you won’t live here forever. You’ll go off to college and start your own life.”

  She’d never thought about it that way. “But that’s not for a long time.”

  “It’ll happen before you know it, and your mom’s been gone for what? Eight years? That’s a long time for your dad to live without love.”

  “But why now? Why can’t he wait until I’m almost gone?”

  Ms. Allie stood up and put her hands on Leah’s shoulders. “Because love happens when you least expect it. It doesn’t run on a timeline. You can’t snap your fingers and magically be in love. Believe me, I wish it was that easy.”

  “So much is changing, Ms. Allie. I don’t want all this change.”

  “Change is scary, but that doesn’t make it bad. I spent years hating my stepmom and she really is a nice woman. I could have saved myself a whole lot of grief if I’d just accepted the fact that she was there to stay. And your period, well, like it or not, that’s here to stay, too.”

  Chapter 9

  Allie breathed a sigh of relief as she closed Leah’s door. She’d walked a young girl through the most frightening aspect of puberty and, even more distressing, the introduction of a stepmother. She hoped she’d advised the girl properly as she made her way along the hall toward the stairs.

  Allie felt pretty good about her period advice. That was pretty cut and dried, but what did she know about welcoming a stepmother into a family? She’d been a bitch to Suzanne when her dad had remarried and their strained relationship still endured. She’d tried to encourage Leah to have an open mind about Carolyn when hers had been so firmly shut that she’d never considered letting Suzanne become a real member of the family.

  When Craig appeared at the base of the stairs wearing a soft cotton t-shirt and jeans, Allie brought a hand to her chest. She’d been so deep in thought, she’d forgotten he was waiting downstairs.

  “How’d it go?” he asked with a voice edged in tension.

  She shrugged, stepped over the dog, and moved past him into the kitchen. “Could I have a glass of water, please? I’m parched.”

  “You’re parched,” he grumbled as he retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “So what happened?”

  “She’d taken care of it. Mark bought some supplies and she knew what to do. I answered a couple of questions and that was pretty much that.”

  “Why the hell did it take so long? You were up there forever.”

  Allie set the water bottle on the counter after taking a long sip. “This is a big event in a girl’s life. I couldn’t leave without making sure she felt okay.”

  “So how does she feel?”

  Allie didn’t mistake the sarcasm in his voice. “She feels weird and confused and more than a little anxious about Carolyn coming to live here.”

&nb
sp; “Carolyn?” He brought those big hands to his waist and shot out his hip. “How did starting her period morph into talking about Carolyn?”

  “She’s conflicted. She loves her mother desperately. Starting her period was a milestone she was supposed to share with her mom or, at the very least, her dad. My being here in their place brought up some questions. I told her about when I started my period and that I had a stepmom and then one thing led to another.”

  “I didn’t ask you to come over to counsel her on dealing with Carolyn. The next time you talk to her, I’d appreciate you sticking to the subject.”

  “Well, excuse me for not turning my back on a young girl in need. What did you expect me to do? Walk out when she started asking questions? She’s very anxious about having a stepmother. I was only trying to help.”

  “Mark wants to handle things his way. Believe me, I’ve tried to talk to him, but he seems convinced Carolyn and Leah will hit it off once they’re all together. I know you thought you were doing the right thing, but damn it, that’s not why I called you over here.”

  Allie was tempted to pour the water over his head. “You know what? I had plans tonight that I cancelled because your niece needed me—or someone, anyone but you—and this is the thanks I get?”

  “You cancelled your date?” His voice had changed completely and he dropped his hands from his hips. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  She waved a hand in front of her face. She’d felt more than a little relieved to have an excuse not to go. “I didn’t even know the guy.”

  Craig’s head dipped and it took Allie a minute to realize he was giving her the once over. “First date?” he asked.

  She straightened her back and stuck her chin in the air. “Yes.”

  “You’re wearing that?”

  She looked down at her black sheath dress. “Why?” she asked. “What’s wrong with this?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “What?” she asked. “Your nothing means something.”

  “No, it doesn’t. Not really.” He turned his back and tossed an empty beer bottle into the trash.

  “Look, do you have any idea how hard it is to dress for a date when you don’t know who you’re going out with and where you’re going?”

  “Why don’t you know where you’re going? He’s not picking you up, is he?”

  The shock on his face almost made her smile. Almost. “No, of course he’s not picking me up, but I’ve never heard of the restaurant and they don’t have a website.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “The Stack House. It’s in Decatur.”

  “Decatur? Why the hell are you going all the way to Decatur?”

  How did she let herself get into this conversation? “I don’t date men around here.”

  “Why not?” he asked. From the look on his face, she could tell he was truly baffled.

  “For a bevy of reasons.” When he simply stared at her with his brows raised, she huffed out a breath and explained. “First of all, I work around here. The last thing I want to do is run into a family I teach when I’m on a date. Second, I also don’t want to run into someone all over town after our date doesn’t go so well. And lastly, one time, someone recognized me from my online profile when I was out with a friend. He used it as an opportunity to talk to me and it was humiliating and uncomfortable. So if I date where I don’t work and live, chances of that happening are pretty slim.”

  “Interesting. You’ve done a lot of this? Online dating?”

  Allie huffed. “More than I care to admit. But you haven’t answered my question. What’s wrong with this outfit?”

  “You really want me to answer that?”

  She took a swallow of water and wondered if she really did want to know his thoughts. What the hell, she thought. It might be an interesting peek into the male mind. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”

  Craig flashed a cocky smile that only made him more attractive. “He’s not going to listen to a word you say.”

  “Why not?”

  He gestured with his hand to her dress. “He’s going to spend all of his time and attention trying to look at your face instead of your girls.”

  “My girls?” she sputtered and slapped a hand to her chest. “You did not just call them my girls.”

  “Okay. Your rack?” he offered. “Your tits? Your breasts?”

  “Chest,” she said. “If you must refer to them at all, chest seems slightly more appropriate.”

  “Whatever. He’s going to hone in on your chest and hear or see nothing else.”

  “No, you would. Most men, thank the Lord, are not you.”

  “Fine, don’t believe me, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “You’re an ass.”

  “No, I’m just honest. And you can’t get pissed off at me for being honest.”

  “You wanna bet?” She turned and grabbed her wrap and purse from the counter.

  “Leaving so soon?” he asked. “Leah and I were going to watch a movie if you’re interested in joining us.”

  She gave him her most annoyed expression. “And risk you staring at my girls all night long? Tempting, but I don’t think so.”

  “Suit yourself.” He stepped in front of her to open the door. If only his mouth was as well-mannered as his hands. “I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

  “I’m counting the days.” She turned around before stepping off the porch and placed a hand on his chest. Damn if it wasn’t rock hard. “Call me if Leah starts to freak out about her cycle. I mean it, Craig. I don’t want her going through this alone.”

  “What am I, chopped liver?”

  “If you were anything more, you wouldn’t have called me in the first place.”

  ***

  It was the smell of popcorn that brought Leah out of her room. The girl couldn’t resist popcorn. What kid could?

  “I ordered that movie you wanted to watch,” Craig said. “The one with the teenagers who turn into wolves or something.”

  Leah smiled and grabbed the bowl of popcorn off his lap before plopping on the couch. Blackjack moved down to sit in front of her. “Thanks, Uncle Craig.”

  He shrugged as if it was no big deal, but he couldn’t stand to see her red-rimmed eyes. He’d have done anything to make her smile. “There wasn’t much else on anyway.”

  “No,” she said. “I mean for calling Allie.”

  He stretched his arm across the back of the couch and pulled her hair. “I was a little out of my league with that one.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “What are you sorry about? It’s your dad I’m mad at. He should have warned me.”

  When she smiled at him, his heart squeezed in his chest. His little Leah was becoming a woman and looking so much like her mother it made him ache. “I think he’ll be relieved he wasn’t here.”

  Craig took a deep breath and decided to dive into something he shouldn’t get anywhere near. Damn Allie for making him feel responsible for talking to Leah about Carolyn. “I doubt it, but if he were here, you would’ve had Carolyn to help.”

  Leah averted her eyes and stuffed a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “I guess,” she mumbled.

  Craig wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and told himself to man up. He’d helped to raise the girl; the least he could do was ease Carolyn’s entry into her life. “How do you feel about her living here with you and your dad?”

  She shrugged and put the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. “I don’t know.”

  She didn’t want to talk about it. Of course she didn’t want to talk about. Craig didn’t want to talk about it either. But ever since Allie told him how conflicted she was about Carolyn, he couldn’t sit by and let the train wreck he knew was coming just arrive at her doorstep. “You know, it would be weird for any woman to move in here after you and your dad have been alone for so long.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And your dad and Carolyn have
been dating for a long time. She makes him happy.”

  “I know that.”

  “But you don’t know her very well.”

  Leah sandwiched her hands between her legs and sighed. “She never came here, or when she did, it was only for a night or two. She’s like a stranger.”

  “That was your dad’s doing, Leah. He didn’t want you to get attached to Carolyn if things between them didn’t work out.”

  “Well, things worked out, and now I’m supposed to live with a woman I barely know.”

  “Can I remind you of something before you go and get all mad at Carolyn?”

  She batted Mark’s blue eyes in his direction. Damn the girl was going to slay the boys someday. “She doesn’t know you either. If I had to guess, I’d bet she’s as nervous as you are about living here with you.”

  “Why would she be nervous about me? I’m just a kid.”

  “After what happened tonight, I’d have to say that’s not true.” Craig watched as her face turned three shades of red. “And there isn’t anyone your dad loves more than you.”

  “Except her.”

  “No, Leah. He loves you both, but you come first. You always have. So from where I’m sitting, I’d have to say you’ve got the advantage.”

  Leah looked at him with a glint in her eye. “You really think so?”

  “I didn’t tell you that so you’d boss her around.”

  “I know. You told me so I’d feel better, and I do.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  He put his hand over her face and pushed her to the other side of the couch. She giggled as she pulled the throw from the back of the couch around her shoulders. “Are we going to watch this movie or what?”

  Chapter 10

  Melissa pinched Ben’s toe as she reached for the phone. She’d finally gotten Henry down for a late afternoon nap and she couldn’t wait another second to talk to Allie.

  “I tried to call you earlier,” Melissa said when Allie answered. “But you weren’t home. Big plans this weekend?”

  “I went for a run this morning before church,” Allie explained. “I’m glad I did since the sky opened up during the service. I’ve been kinda holed up today being lazy.”