Age Before Beauty (24 page)

For a brief moment, Allie envied Joan. She was so happy lately, and she had so much enthusiasm for her church group and her mission trip. No, it went beyond enthusiasm. Joan seemed peaceful. Was it because of her relationship with God, as she claimed?

With a sigh, Allie pushed the thought away and opened the car door. An icy breeze made her gasp, and she clutched her briefcase to her chest to create a windscreen during her dash to the front porch. She opened the door just enough to slip inside and shut it quickly.

Eric sat on the couch with Joanie on his shoulder. He glanced up from the television and locked eyes with her. She searched his face for any hint of regret after their argument, but at the moment his eyes were as unreadable as his mother’s. He held her gaze for a moment and then looked back at the television.

Still mad, then. The apology that had half formed in the back of her mind during the party died unsaid.

In her usual chair, Betty looked up from her book. “Are you hungry? I could heat something up for you.”

“No, thanks.”

When Betty returned to her book, Allie tossed her purse and briefcase in the corner and stripped off her jacket. So Eric had decided to give her the silent treatment. There was nothing Allie hated worse, and he knew it. Her stomach churning, she crossed the room and stood between him and the television. His eyebrows arched as he looked up at her, but instead of saying any of the dozen things that came to mind, she silently held out her arms for her baby.

Joanie kicked her legs with excitement when Eric handed her over. Allie hugged her daughter tight and headed toward the nursery. At least one person in her family was happy to see her.

Eric grabbed his jacket and gloves when he saw Ken’s car pull up to the curb in front of the house Saturday morning. “I’m outta here,” he called toward the nursery.

Like Allie would care. She’d been sulky all morning, probably because he’d forgotten to tell her about helping Ken today with another load for their auction.

At least they were speaking this morning. Eric knew last night’s silence was as much his fault as hers, but when she came home from work, his mind had still been reeling over their fight, and Molly coming on to him. Besides, he was the injured party. She should have made the first move.

Allie came out of the nursery, hugging Joanie to her chest. Hurt lingered in her eyes, and he steeled himself against it. She had no right to look like that. He had done nothing wrong.

“When will you be home?” she asked.

He shrugged. “No idea. You?”

“I’ll probably be finished by three.” She shifted from foot to foot. “Um … don’t forget about the Sanderson Sister Sleepover.” She paused, then asked in a too-casual tone, “Do you have plans tonight?”

In other words,
You’re not planning to go over to Molly’s
house and fix anything, are you
?

How nice to be trusted. Fighting a wave of irritation, he shrugged into his jacket and turned toward the door. “No plans.”

“Eric.”

Her soft tone stopped him with his hand on the doorknob. The soft swish-swish of her slippers on the carpet as she crossed the room sounded loud in the silence. When she drew near, she raised up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“I love you,” she whispered.

For a moment he didn’t know how to respond. Then he wrapped both arms around her and drew her close. Joanie squirmed between them as he breathed in the musky scent of perfume that lingered in Allie’s hair. What an infuriating woman. She sure knew how to send his brain into a tailspin.

“I love you too.” His whisper was hoarse.

When she pulled away, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. A smile trembled on her lips. “That’s what matters.”

A knock sounded on the door beside them, and Allie stepped back while he swung it inward. Ken stood on the doorstep. He started to say something to Eric, then smiled when he caught sight of Allie.

“Good morning.”

She cupped a protective hand around Joanie’s head as cold air blew into the house. “Hi, Ken.”

The doctor grinned at her. “Joan sure is looking forward to tonight. It’s all she talked about last night.”

Allie’s gaze shifted toward Eric, and he saw her uncertainty. To be honest, he wished she would stay home tonight. With sudden longing, he realized they hadn’t spent a night at home alone in weeks, not since Mother arrived on their doorstep and Allie decided to do this business thing. But he’d learned a long time ago that the Sanderson sisters drew strength from each other. Maybe a night with her sisters was just what Allie needed.

“Since the girls are going to be tied up, you can come over to my place and watch the U. of L. game.” Ken grinned. “I traded shifts with another doctor at the hospital who didn’t realize what time the game came on. A couple of other guys will be there.”

Probably from his church. Eric started to make an excuse, but then he pictured his night at home without Allie. He and Mother sitting in front of the television yet again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d watched a game with a bunch of guys.

“Maybe I will.” Eric zipped his jacket up. “You ready to get going?”

Ken stepped back from the doorway and started down the steps. Then he stopped and swung around to face Allie again. “You are planning to come to the auction Tuesday night, aren’t you?”

Allie looked at Eric, her eyebrows high. “We haven’t talked about it.”

Ken’s glance slipped from Allie to Eric. “I really wish you would. Joan may not say so, but I know it means a lot to her to have you there. Tori too. Please tell her to try to come.”

That guy just didn’t give up. Eric leaned forward to place a goodbye kiss on his wife’s lips. When his face was shielded from Ken’s view, he rolled his eyes. A real smile touched the corners of her mouth, which lightened his mood considerably.

“See you later,” he said.

Allie leaned against the closed door. Eric’s kiss went a long way toward loosening the knots that had been lodged in her stomach since yesterday even if they hadn’t completely made up from their fight.

Had he kissed Molly? Had things gone that far between
them?

The knots tightened again, as did her grip on Joanie. She couldn’t think that way, or she’d become one of those jealous maniac wives who drove their husbands into the arms of other women by their possessive behavior. No, she just needed to focus on taking care of herself and Joanie, on making sure they would be okay no matter what. She was strong, independent, capable. Eric always said that’s what attracted him to her to begin with. Yet another reason to make her Varie Cose business succeed.

Betty appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Is Eric gone?”

Allie steeled her expression to hide her turmoil. She could take a lesson from her mother-in-law in keeping a straight face. She nodded.

“Good.” Betty stepped into the room and lowered herself into the chair Allie had begun to think of as hers. She sat primly, with her knees and ankles together, her hands folded in her lap. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Ooh, this sounded important. “Okay.” Allie sat on the couch, legs crossed Indian-style, and propped Joanie in her lap.

“Don called last night.”

Allie grinned. “Did his electricity get shut off?”

“Oh yes. He was quite angry about it. He had to pay a reconnect fee, and when I spoke with him at eight o’clock, they hadn’t restored the power yet. He had to eat a cold dinner in the dark.” A small, satisfied smile hovered around Betty’s lips.

“I guess he’s starting to realize how much you did around there.”

“Yes.” She examined her folded hands in her lap while the creases in her forehead deepened.

Joanie’s fists waved in the air. Allie leaned forward to grab a rattle off the coffee table and held it in front of her. “So,” she prompted, “did you talk to him about retiring?”

Betty nodded. “I told him I was tired of keeping house all the time, that I want to travel and see the world.”

Her lips snapped shut. Joanie’s rattle as she batted at the toy sounded loud in the silence that followed. Allie fought down a wave of impatience with her mother-in-law. Honestly, it’s a wonder Eric ever learned how to talk at all since his mother had never mastered the art.

“And?”

Betty looked up from her examination of her hands. “He told me I should go. Travel all I want if that would make me happy.”

“Did you say you didn’t want to go alone, that you wanted him to go with you?”

Betty shook her head. “I shouldn’t have to tell him that. He knows what we planned. We talked about it years ago.”

Allie struggled to keep the smile out of her voice. “Betty, maybe you need to talk to him more often than once every couple of decades. He probably has no idea that you’ve been counting the days until he retires. You might have to remind him of the stuff that’s important to you.”

“He should remember his promises.” Her chin rose. “I shouldn’t have to remind him.”

“We all need reminders every so often,” Allie said. “We get busy with our jobs and all the
stuff
that crops up in life, and we lose sight of what’s important.” She ran a finger over Joanie’s soft baby head. “We lose sight of what’s important,” she repeated quietly.

All the tasks that had taken her energy and focus lately cluttered her mind. So many things to do, urgent things. So easy to lose sight of what’s important.

She scooped Joanie up and hugged her tight. “Betty, do you want to leave Don? Throw away your marriage and move in with us?”

Betty’s gaze rested on Joanie, and her expression softened almost imperceptibly. “I would love to watch my granddaughter grow up.” Her eyes moved as she looked up into Allie’s face. “But no. I want my husband to retire so we can spend our last years doing all the things we planned.”

“Then I have an assignment for you.” Allie stood. “Before this day is over, you need to call Don and tell him what you want. All of it. Don’t hang up the phone until you’ve told him exactly what you want and what you expect him to do about it.”

For the first time ever, Allie saw an honest-to-goodness emotion on her mother-in-law’s face. Fright. Her droopy eyes went wide and she shook her head. “I can’t do that. I wouldn’t know what to say.”

This poor woman. Somebody needed to give her some communication tools. “Then write it out first and read it to him. But do it, Betty. Your marriage depends on it.”

As Allie headed for the nursery to change Joanie’s diaper, she had to bite back a bitter laugh. Who was she to be giving marriage advice?

21

Woof, Woof.
The deep bark of a big dog sounded through the door before Eric could even knock.

“Come on in, but don’t let the monster out,” Ken called from inside the house.

Eric knew the monster. Ken’s horse-sized mutt, Trigger, held a place of honor in Allie’s family ever since he pulled a Lassie and alerted Ken that Gram had fallen and broken her hip next door. That had been a couple of months ago, right before Joanie’s birth, and every Sunday when he came for dinner, Eric glimpsed the dog loping across Ken’s backyard. Gram always fixed a separate plate of goodies for her hero.

He opened the door cautiously. As soon as the crack was big enough, a gigantic nose pushed through, slobbery tongue at the ready. “Get back, Trigger.” He stuck his hand inside and got a grip on the dog’s collar before opening the door enough to slip inside.

Trigger allowed himself to be shoved backward, but Eric’s hand was slimy by the time he’d said a proper hello. He wiped it on his jeans as Ken came around the corner.

“Grab something to drink in the fridge,” Ken said. “Joan stocked up for us when she shopped for their sleepover.”

Eric had never been in Ken’s house. Not much furniture, but there wasn’t room. Ken had put a few folding chairs around the television, since the only other place to sit was the couch. Three steps took Eric across the living room and through a wide doorway into the kitchen. This place wasn’t as big as his and Allie’s, but seemed about the right size for a single guy. Of course, if that dog grew any bigger, Ken would need to upsize. As he opened the refrigerator, Trigger rushed up to shove his head inside and stepped on Eric’s foot. That dog weighed a ton! Eric hauled him backward by the collar when his nose started inspecting the contents on the top shelf.

“This is one huge dog.” He directed his voice toward the other room.

“Isn’t he?” Ken’s voice answered. “Trigger, come!” The dog obediently disappeared into the living room. At least he minded.

Eric scanned the contents of the fridge. Coke or Sprite. No beer, not that he’d expected to find any in the refrigerator of a religious nut. Eric remembered the games he’d watched with his college friends. Four of them rented a run-down old house near campus. On Saturdays the place overflowed with guys crowding around their tiny television set. Beer flowed freely back then, an absolute requirement for a day of football.

He grabbed a Coke and headed back to the living room as the front door opened and two guys came in.

“Twenty minutes to kickoff,” one of them announced as he stepped inside.

Ken turned from his corner entertainment center. “Watch the—” His voice cut off abruptly as Trigger, seeing an opening and an unwary guardian, darted outside. The second guy was nearly knocked off his feet as the animal dashed past.

Ken let out a sigh. “I’ll be right back. Gordy, Ryan, this is Eric.”

Eric shook their hands as the door closed behind Ken.

“So are you a doctor too?” Gordy collapsed onto one end of the couch.

Eric claimed the other end while Ryan wandered off toward the kitchen. “No, I’m Joan’s brother-in-law.”

“Oh yeah. I know Allie from way back. She used to come to church, but she was a few years ahead of us. I was a year ahead of Joan’s class.”

Ryan returned, a Sprite in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. “I didn’t know Allie well, either. Haven’t seen her in a couple of years. Where do you go to church now?”

A gulp of Coke burned Eric’s throat all the way down to his gut. Great. They hadn’t been here thirty seconds and already he was getting the third degree. “We don’t go to church.” He clipped the words short. Hopefully they’d get the message and drop it.