Love Will Find a Way (14 page)

"I'd like to be around to make it easier for you.” Robert's fingers once again reached for her hand. “Maybe we can see each other now and then."

This time she didn't pull her hand away. “You do see me. You're seeing me now. I thought we had agreed to be friends."

"I want you to be a part of my life again.” He squeezed her hand.

"I am a part of your life.” The pity in his eyes made her flinch. “We have two sons and a long history."

"Then we can see each other from time to time?"

Her better judgment told her that she should sever her relationship with Robert here and now. She found herself saying, “I suppose we owe that much to Kevin and Larry."

"I want your friendship not because of our sons, but because we still share so much and have so much in common.” There was strangeness in his voice, a shifting nuance that made her frown.

Emily wanted to ask what there was left for them to share. That would be inviting another rebuff. She'd had enough of rejection to last a lifetime. “We could do that.” Pride demanded that she qualify her statement. “But only as friends."

The corners of Robert's mouth turned up in a smile. “Who says we can't start over? This is our new beginning."

Emily pushed her chair back and stood. “We should lay down a few ground rules. You're not to come here again without calling first and don't expect me to go with you to visit your parents again."

She read in his expression the intent to argue. Then he dropped his gaze. “They will be disappointed."

"They'll adjust.” Emily studied his downcast face. The past year must have been hell for him. He'd lost Susan. Now he was, out of sheer loneliness, asking to see his wife, correction, his ex-wife from time to time, whatever the hell that meant. And she, fool that she was, could not find the strength to refuse him. “There's one other stipulation. I'd rather we kept our seeing each other between the two of us. I don't want Larry to get his hopes up and I don't think Kevin would be at all pleased if he knew we were seeing each other."

"Perhaps you're right. Kevin still refuses to speak to me.” Robert ran his fingers through his hair. “Have you seen him lately? How is he?"

"He's fine. He was here for dinner earlier in the week. Stacy and her sisters were with him. I wanted to tell him I was selling the house before the ad appeared in the newspaper. I was afraid he would object, but he thought it was an excellent idea."

"Would it have made any difference if he had objected?” A note of belligerence had found its way into Robert's voice.

"I wouldn't want to upset my family.” Emily pushed her chair under the table.

"What about Larry? How does he feel?"

"He thinks it's a good idea.” She walked toward the living room.

Robert followed her. “If they had objected, would you have changed your mind?"

She sat down on the couch. “I might have."

He came down beside her. “But it doesn't matter to you that I object?"

"You're not a part of my family. You don't have that right."

His face fell. “I guess I don't. But I feel compelled to tell you that I think you're making a mistake. Just from a practical standpoint have you thought about how difficult this will be for you?"

"I've thought it through very carefully. I'm going to sell most of the furniture, especially the antiques. You have several boxes stored in the shed. I hope you can make arrangements to take them elsewhere. That only leaves my personal belongings and the things in the attic. Most of what's up there is junk. Kevin says Goodwill will be glad to come and haul it away."

Robert questioned, “May I have a look through what's in the attic before you toss it all out?"

Emily protested, “There's nothing up there but junk."

"Just the same, I'd like to look."

What could she say? What was up there was as much his as it was hers. “If that's what you want, go ahead. I'd like you to do it as soon as possible. The moment this place sells, I'm out of here."

Robert asked, “Have you found another place yet?"

Emily didn't want to discuss her plans with Robert. She mustn't let him become an important part of her life again. There was a better than average chance that in the near future he would reconcile with Susan and be gone once more. “It's late. I think you should go now."

She saw the hurt in his eyes as he stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I asked out of concern."

"I don't need your concern. Just because we've agreed not to disagree, doesn't mean you can pry into my personal life."

His anger surfaced swiftly. “What's personal about finding a new house for God's sake?"

Emily tried to smile. “I can manage on my own."

"I was not implying...” Robert paused, then snapped, “Forget I asked."

They had been together less than two hours, and already they were arguing. Common sense told Emily that she should recant and tell Robert she didn't want to see him again. She couldn't bring herself to do that. Her voice softened. “You really should go. It's very late and you wouldn't want to wear out your welcome."

Robert moved toward the door. “I'll call you sometime next week. We can set a time for me to come get the rest of my things and go through that junk in the attic.” He opened the door. “Lock up after I leave."

Emily considered telling him she could take care of herself. Some innate feminine instinct stopped her. “I'll do that.” She watched him walk down the drive and get into his car before she shut and locked the door.

Chapter 7

Emily dumped her packages onto the couch and sank down beside them. “This has to be the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees.” She watched as Kim and Amy exchanged amused glances and then burst into happy giggles.

Kim ran her fingers over her hair. “Thank you, Emily, for the new hair style. Now everyone can tell me from Amy."

Well, that was certainly true. “I hope your father will approve.” After a moment's consideration, Emily added. “Maybe we should have asked him first."

"He won't mind,” Amy assured her. “And I love my new style."

Emily hoped Dennis would approve. When she had offered to treat the twins to a trip to the beauty salon in the mall, she had no idea that Kim would decide to have her long hair cut into a short, very stylish wedge, and that Amy would opt for a frizzy, flyaway freedom perm. When the girls had asked what they could have done, Emily had foolishly said, “Don't change the color, past that the sky's the limit.” They had certainly taken her at her word. Over the chiming of the grandfather clock in the hall, Emily said, “We'll know soon enough what he thinks. He should be here any minute."

Amy patted the top of Boo's sleek head. “May we take Boo for a walk?"

Emily wondered if the twins were reluctant to face their father. She felt a little apprehensive herself. “Maybe that would be a good idea. Why don't you go out the back way?"

The twins found Boo's leash and led him toward the back door. “We won't be gone long,” Kim called as they hurried outside.

Emily laid her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Maybe she had overstepped the bounds of her friendship with Dennis. If she had, she hoped he would forgive her. She didn't want to lose his good will and she certainly didn't want to do anything to cause problems for the twins. The more she was around Kim and Amy, the more she found herself drawn to these two bright, vivacious children.

The sound of the doorbell made Emily jump to her feet. The Reverend was here. She took a deep breath, mentally crossed her fingers and opened the front door.

Dennis stood on the other side, holding his hat in his hand and frowning. “I'm a little behind schedule. I was held up by a minor emergency. Are the girls ready to go?"

"They've taken Boo for a walk.” Emily stepped back. “Won't you come in?"

Dennis came through the foyer. His eyes swept quickly around the large living room. “I didn't know you collected antiques."

Emily extended her hand toward a chair. “I don't. Would you like to sit down?” She sat back down on the couch. “Robert was the collector. I prefer something a little less staid and a little more modern."

Dennis pushed aside packages and sat in a chair. “But you settled for antiques. Was there no room for compromise?"

Emily admitted, “I guess there wasn't.” She had never thought about it before, but Robert had never asked her opinion about how the house should be furnished. Maybe she should have told him when he began to buy antiques that she preferred something more modern and less fragile. But she hadn't, and that was water under the bridge now.

Dennis laid his hat on the coffee table. “I saw your realtor's sign outside. Don't tell me you're going to sell this lovely place."

Emily smiled. “I already have, at least, I'm in the process. A buyer has put up escrow money. After the deal is closed, I have thirty days to get out of here and I haven't even begun to look for another place to live."

"What kind of place are you looking for?"

"A smaller house in a good neighborhood,” Emily answered. “And it definitely has to be one story. I'm tired of climbing stairs."

Dennis leaned back and crossed his legs. “There's a house two doors down from the parsonage that fits that description to perfection."

"I'll have to look into that.” As concerned as Emily was about a house, she was more worried now about what Dennis would say when he learned about the twins’ little escapade at the beauty salon.

An uneasy silence settled between them as Emily waited for Dennis to ask about her shopping expedition with Kim and Amy. When it became evident that he wasn't going to do that, she ventured, “I enjoyed taking the twins shopping."

Dennis tented his fingers and looked over them. “That's nice. They're very fond of you. I'm sure they had a grand time, too."

"I like them so much. I never had a daughter and I always wanted one.” Why had she said that and to Dennis of all people? “I treated Kim and Amy to a trip to the beauty salon in the mall. I hope that's okay."

Dennis chuckled, “They must have loved that."

Emily tensed. “They did, but I don't know what you're going to say about the results."

"Don't tell me my daughters now have shaved heads or orange hair.” Dennis's handsome face relaxed in a wide grin.

"Oh, no, nothing that drastic.” Dennis didn't seem upset. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. “Kim had her hair cut. Amy now has a very curly perm. I'm afraid things got a little out of hand. I hope I didn't overstep some unseen boundary by letting them do this without your permission."

Dennis's smile blossomed into a belly laugh. “Don't look so anxious. I know my twins. You drew parameters and they pushed them to the limits, maybe a little farther."

Emily was greatly relieved. “You know them well. I very foolishly said, ‘don't change your color, past that, the sky is the limit.’ They took me at my word. I was afraid you might be angry."

Dennis managed to look sufficiently shocked. “I'm not a tyrant. I don't dictate to my daughters how they should style their hair any more than I would have thought of telling my wife how to decorate and furnish our home."

The inference was that Robert was a tyrant. Emily was set to refute that assumption when she realized that in some ways, Robert had been dictatorial and unyielding. “You're a very understanding father. It's no wonder your twins are so outgoing and well-adjusted."

"Someday I may need them to be understanding of me; what better way to teach them tolerance and understanding than by example?” Without so much as a change in his voice, he added, “Your ex-husband must be a very selfish man."

Emily wanted to tell him that he had overstepped some invisible boundary. That would be unkind, considering how well he had taken her news about his twins’ new hairstyles. “I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. He wasn't.” She corrected herself, “Isn't."

"It wasn't just what you said. Kevin is very antagonistic toward his father. Most of my conclusions come from what he's said.” He smiled at her. “Kevin speaks very highly of his mother. I'm beginning to understand why."

The twins chose that moment to come bounding into the room with Boo at their heels. They sang out hellos to Dennis and then began to regale him with episodes from their day with Emily.

Dennis smiled and nodded as they pulled packages from shopping bags to show him their loot from the shopping trip.

"Slow down, girls,” Dennis admonished. “And try talking one at a time.” From across the room, his eyes locked into Emily's bemused gaze. “You put up with this all day? You deserve a medal."

"I loved every minute of it.” Suddenly, Emily knew that she didn't want the twins and Dennis to leave, not yet anyway. “Why don't you stay for dinner? That is, if you don't mind taking pot luck."

In concert, the twins began to plead, “Please, Dad. Can we, Dad?"

For a moment Dennis looked as if he might refuse, then he smiled and relented. “We'd love that, wouldn't we girls?"

From a culinary perspective, the dinner wasn't much. Emily and her guests dined on hot dogs and tossed salad, with soft ice cream for desert. From the standpoint of sheer enjoyment, it was a huge success. The conversation between the twins and their father was relaxed and cheerful. Dennis did have a way of drawing out the reticent Amy and at the same time curbing some of Kim's untamed exuberance.

After dinner, Kim and Amy insisted on doing the dishes. “You old people go on into the living room and relax,” Kim said, with a wave of her hand. “Amy and I can take care of the kitchen."

Dennis raised an eyebrow, “Old people?"

"Kim didn't mean old, as in years.” Amy came to her sister's rescue. “She meant old as in wise."

Kim apologized, “Sorry about that."

Dennis offered Emily his arm and said with mock formality. “Shall we retire to the living room?"

Emily took his arm and walked with him to the living room. “Amy's such a diplomat. Has she always been like that?"

Dennis released Emily's arm and waited until she sat down on the couch before easing his big frame into a chair across from her. “Oh, yes. Amy is so like Ellen. She always thought of others first. Amy has that rare quality also. I think it must be a gift from God."