Package Deal (51 page)

She nodded. “
From
a
male
friend
.”

He nodded. “Or a
father
figure
.”

“That, too.” They went into the kitchen to put
away the groceries
.
It seemed they had made big strides today.

That weekend
Cecelia
went to
Sam’s
for
a sleepover.
Marcus
invited
Amanda
for dinner and they ended up having their own sleepover
at his house
, the first in many weeks.

“Amanda,” Marcus murmured into her ear, holding her close. “Move in
here
with me—into my house. You and Cecelia—Skipper
, too
.”

She angled her face so she could look into his eyes
, her heart skipping beats
that he had raised the issue again
.
“But I need my job. What will the college do if someone finds out?”

“They can’t do anything. They don’t have veto po
wer over personal relationships,
at least not between single people, and neither of us is a student.”

When she pursed her lips and looked like she was going to say no,
he
opened his mouth to
say something else
.
She
guessed
that he was going to explore more than living together
,
placed her fingers
against
his
lips
,
and shook her head
.

“Don’t say it, Marcus. It’s bad luck. Please don’t say it.”

“Is this about Dylan?” he asked.

Instead of answering him, s
he distracted him
with
kiss
es
while
her hands wander
ed
.

A week
later
,
this time
in her bed,
he raise
d
the issue again
.

“Can’t we just enjoy each other? I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“One of these days, I’m going to insist,” he said
, his expression telling her he wasn’t going to drop the issue.

The clock radio was dark when Amanda
woke
hours later
. The normally-strong August sun shone weakly on the wall opposite the window. Marcus rolled over, smiled at her, and slid his arm from around her shoulders. H
e cupped her breast in one hand.

“Nice to
see you this morning, Professor,
”
he whispered.

She grinned
,
and
then
remembered how they had argued—good-naturedly at fi
rst, before he got more serious
about her and Cecelia moving into his house in the woods
. H
ow many times lately had he mentioned it? How many hours ago was that?

She couldn’t recall her
retort. What she did remember was how they resolved their differences in a flurry of cl
othing removal and fevered love
making.

“What tim
e
is it?” Sh
e
turn
e
d
toward him and snuggl
e
d
clos
e
r
, g
liding h
e
r fing
e
rs down his
firm
ch
e
st.

“Not sur
e
. It looks lik
e
th
e
storm was pr
e
tty wild last night.
The clock
radio is blinking
—
I wonder when we
lost power.
I should probably check my cell. Where did I leave it?
”

“
I think it’s downstairs.”
S
h
e
chuckl
e
d
.
“And you didn’t lose any power.”

“
Our
personal
little storm did end
pr
e
tty nic
e
ly
, don’t you think?
” His hands b
e
gan to slid
e
aroundh
e
r curv
e
s and cr
e
vic
e
s
as he punctuated his intent with little kisses
.

Downstairs, th
e
back door slamm
e
d
.

“Mom
, I’m hom
e
!
I put Skipper in the back
yard!
”

“Oh, my God! C
e
c
e
’s
back
.”
Amanda
r
e
ach
e
d
for
h
e
r nightgown and slipp
e
d
it ov
e
r h
e
r h
e
ad just b
e
for
e
C
e
c
e
lia
burst into th
e
room.

Her daughter
stopp
e
d
at th
e
foot of th
e
b
e
d
,
h
e
r fac
e
moving from
a
happy smil
e
to dismay
, and th
e
n ang
e
r
as she stared at Marcus
, his bare chest visible
above the covers
.

“
Mom
—what is Marcus—”

“C
e
c
e
. Could you go to your room
, pl
e
as
e
? I’ll b
e
th
e
r
e
in a minut
e
.”

Her daughter
did not mov
e
.
“H
e
had a sleep
over with you
, didn’t h
e
?
”
she demanded
.

“Y
e
s, I did,
”
Marcus answered quietly
, as he pulled the covers up to his chin
.

Cecelia glared at him. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave!” She picked up his shirt and tossed it at him
.
Then s
he
faced
her
mother
.
“
You did it with him, didn’t you
—th
e
icky stuff
?” T
e
ars st
r
e
ak
e
d
h
e
r fac
e
. “That’s why you l
e
t m
e
sl
ee
p ov
e
r at
Sam
’s
—so you could do that
nasty
stuff
with him
.”
She turned and ran into her room, slamming the door.

“I think you’d better go.”
Then
she
mutter
ed, “We should have watched the time”—as if it would have helped, with the clocks stopped by the storm.

He nodded
, slipped out of bed,
and began to pull on his clothes
.

It seemed they had just taken one
giant
step back
ward
.

Chapter 13

Distraught,
Amanda knocked
on her daughter’s bedroom door before entering.
“Cece. We need to talk. May I come in?”

“I don’t want to talk. It’s not right—what you did.”
Cecelia
tri
e
d
to push
h
e
r
away.

“What isn’t right?”

“Sam’s mom says people who aren’t married shouldn’t sleep in the same bed. It’s like in those pictures.
The icky stuff
. T
hat’s what happens.” She burst into tears. “It’s so icky.”

“
I know what she says,
but
Sam’s mom isn’t
always right, Cece. Please let me explain.”

“No! I know what he did! H
e shouldn’t have! You shouldn’t have
let him
!”

Amanda pulled Cecelia into her arms.
“List
e
n to m
e
. Don’t you r
e
m
e
mb
e
r wh
e
n w
e
talk
e
d
about this? And I said som
e
tim
e
s wh
e
n p
e
opl
e
lov
e
e
ach oth
e
r,
they snuggle together
e
v
e
n b
e
for
e
they
are
marri
e
d
?
I love Marcus
, Cece
. That’s why we
—that’s why I let him sleep over.
I want you to understand.
It wasn’t wrong.
”
But
I
ha
ve
n’t told him
I love him
.
And, really, wa
s there any reason she should
,
if she couldn’t make Cece see that what she had with Marcus was a healthy physical and emotional relationship?
What
she’d always
wanted with the right person
?
Wasn’t he that person?

Her daughter
star
ed
intently
at her
,
biting her lower lip
. “Are you going to do
it
again?”

“That’s not so
mething I w
ill decide right now.
It’s time for breakfast. And I want you to tell me all about what you did at
Sam’s
house.
” She went to the door.“
C
ome downstairs
and help me with breakfast
.
Was Skipper good
at Sam’s
?”

Breakfast was
quieter
than Amanda
had
expected until the phone rang.
She
listened for a minute then
handed
it
to her daughter. “Marcus wants to talk with you.”

“No.”
Cecelia
scowled and
shook her head.
“
I don’t want to talk
to
him.”

“Cece,
you know
that’s no
t polite. Ask him what he wants…
nicely.”

She took the phone from
Amanda
with a sigh
.
“
What do you want?”

His voice was
l
ou
d in the phone.
“We were going to start a new story. Do you still want me to come over so we can do that?”

Cece
took a bite of her muffin.
“
Wh
at
story
were we going to read
?”

“
Brighty
. Y
ou know
,
about
the burro.”

“One of my favorites. But,
I’m mad at you
, Marcus
.”

“I’m sorry about that. My dad told me
once
it’s not good to hold grudges. Can we st
ill read the story—even if you’
re mad at me?”

She pursed
her lips
then
nodded her head slowly. “Okay
.
Can
we do that
tomorrow?
”

“Yes, that would be good.
I’d like that.
”

S
he
handed the phone back to her mother. “He’s coming over
tomorrow
so
we can read
Brighty
.”

“
I heard.
That’s a nice story.”
Amanda
sighed.
Maybe I got through to her.

The next day, Marcus kicked the soccer ball in Cecelia’s direction. Skipper chased it, barking, until Cecelia ordered him onto the porch.
The dog
whined and watched
the ball
as
she
and Marcus
kicked
it
back and forth.

“You said we were going to read
Brighty
. Let’s do that
now
,” Cecelia
sai
d.

“
Here on the porch?”

She n
odded. “Mom! We’re on the porch!
”

“I hear you, Cece
,” her mother replied f
rom inside the house
.
“
Please use your polite voice.”

They
alternated reading pages. When they were nearly done with the first chapter,
Cecelia
turned
and
star
ed
into
Marcus’
face
. She seemed to be studying him
, her expression serious
, her blue eyes wide
.

“My mom
told me
she
loves you.Do you love her
?”

Taken aback
at her question
,
Marcus felt his pulse start
to climb
. He
stammered,
“I—I—”

“She said she loves
you and that’s why she let you sleep over.
”
Before he could
answer
, she continued, “
But
if
you didn’t say you love her back, then you shouldn’t have—”
Her
face turn
ed
fiery red.

He
raised a hand
to his forehead,
caught
completely
offguard
.
“
Cece
—I—”
Sh
e says she loves me?
But she had
n’t told
him
that.
Maybe because
he hadn’t
said it
to her
, n
ot
in so many
words.
And now he was speechless.

Tears flooded
Cece’s
eyes and s
li
d down her cheeks.

“
Why d
id
n’t
you tell my mom you love her?”
Her voice rose
when he didn’t answer, unsure whether he should tell the child when he hadn’t made his feelings clear to her mother
.

“Don’t you
want to get married—to my mom? S
he said she loves you,
but if you don’t love her
…
”
Cece
sob
bed.

Marcus sat
, his body rigid
,
unsure
what to do, what to say
.
“Cecelia, it’s
—” He reached out to touch her hand
, but she
scoot
ed away from him
.
Oh, shit.

Amanda
came out on the porch.

Cecelia
turned, put her arms around her
mother’s
waist
, and clung to her
, still crying
.

“I think I’d better go before I upset her more,” Marcus said.

Amanda
gave him an apologetic smile then walked
C
e
c
e
lia
into the house
.

“Cece, let me explain,
”
Amanda said softly.

“No. Marcus didn’t say he loves you back,”
Cecelia
sobbed. “H
e should
n’t come
over
here
any
more. It’s not right. W
hat he did, what you did.” She turned her back on her mother. When
Amanda placed
a hand on her
daughter’s
shoulder, she brushed it off angrily. “No! And you can’t make m
e read stories with him anymore
.”

Amanda
reached
out
and pulled
Cece
into her arms. “
We need to talk about this
.
Let me
hold you. Here. Blow your nose.
”

She did and
Cecelia’s
sobs gradually subsided.

Amanda wiped her
daughter’s
face. “You’re just like me
, sweetheart
. When you cry, your nose gets
all
red, just like your cheeks.”

A
slow
smile curved her
daughter’s
lips.

Amanda
grinn
ed back at her.“I’ll tell Marcus he can’t come over for a
while.
But we need to
talk
—so you’ll understand
.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. But I want you to think about something.”

“What?” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve before Amanda handed her a
nother
tissue.

“I would never have a relationship with
a man
you don’t like, Cece, but you have to remember that it’s my decision—whether Marcus
…
is my friend. I want you to like him, too, but you can’t choose my friends
for me
.”

Cece shook her head.

Amanda rubbed her daughter’s back.
“Darling, did I choose Sam for your friend—even though I’m not always happy about what Sam
shows you when you go to her house
?”

Cecelia looked up at her. “Nooo.” She reached for Eeyore. “But that’s different.
Her mom said it was okay.
”

“Now I think you’re revising
history
. Her mom didn’t like it when the two of you saw Brittany’s book
,
and she told you that
.
She didn’t even know about it until after I called her.”

Cecelia was silent, sliding
one foot
back and forth on the carpet.

“
It’s not different
.
Sam is
your special friend and Marcus
…
He’s my special friend
. He’s your friend, too, Cece.
You know he is.
He even came to the hospital and read to you after your accident. Remember when we went to the fair and he carried you
, up on his shoulders,
when you were too tired to walk—so we didn’t have to go home early?
”
She
continued
movi
ng her hand soothingly
across
her daughter’s back. “He’s a good person. You know I couldn’t like someone who wasn’t.”