The Accidental Encore (4 page)

When the phone rang, Leah stopped playing. From the excited
sound of her voice, Craig knew Mark was making his nightly call. He had just
loaded the last dish into the dishwasher when Leah carried the phone to him and
announced that Mark wanted to speak to him.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she said before taking the
stairs two at a time.

“Hey,” Craig said. He cradled the receiver between his chin
and shoulder and closed his laptop so he could sponge off the table. “How’s the
honeymoon?”

“Good. Great. How is everything at home?”

“Perfect. Course you know Leah likes me better than you.”

“I don’t think that’s true now that you yelled at Allie.”

“Jesus, your kid’s got a big mouth.”

“The biggest. So she’s the car you hit?”

“No, I’m the car
she
hit. She may be easy on the eyes
and a competent piano teacher, but she can’t drive worth a damn.”

Mark chuckled. “I wondered if you’d make a move.”

“Thanks for the warning, by the way. As it stands, none was
needed. What a tight ass.”

“Listen, Craig, Allie may look like your standard male
fantasy, but she strikes me as being pretty vulnerable. Lose your edge or I’m
going to have to look for a new teacher, and I really don’t want to have to do
that.”

“You may have to when Carolyn gets a load of her.”

“Carolyn’s not the jealous type. And she’s got nothing to
worry about.”

Craig knew that saying women weren’t jealous was like saying
the sky wasn’t blue. But leave it to his baby brother to see the sunny side of
life. “Whatever you say.”

“You know, since the wedding’s over and all the craziness
has died down, I’ve had some time to think. Things are going to be different
when I get back.”

“What do you mean different?”

“I mean I’m going to be married. I
am
married, and I
know you’re not going to feel comfortable coming over the way you always do.”

The stab of hurt was quick and lethal. “Are you trying to
tell me to stay away?”

“No, not at all.” He blew out a breath. “I’m screwing this
up badly. What I’m trying to say is that we want you around, Carolyn and I. We
don’t want you to feel left out or replaced.”

“Look, Mark, I know what you’re trying to do and I
appreciate it, but you’re right. Things have changed. It’s time for me to get
my own life.”

“Craig…”

“No, I’m okay with this. I’m looking forward to not feeling
so chained to you and Leah.”

“Is that how we’ve made you feel?”

“No, hell, now I’m screwing this up badly.” It was time to
be honest, and leave it to him and Mark to do so over the phone. “You and Leah
got me through the worst that could happen. I needed to feel needed after Julie
died. I feel like we raised her together.”

“We did. No question, Craig, we did.”

“But she’s half grown already, and she needs a woman in her
life. The three of you are going to have an adjustment period when you get
back, and I’d already planned on making myself scarce. It’s for the best.”

“I never could have gotten through any of it without you,
Craig. All of it—losing Becca, raising Leah. Carolyn and I wouldn’t even
have had a chance if you hadn’t watched Leah every other weekend so we could
get to know one another.”

Enough, Craig thought. Listening to this was worse than
giving the best man speech at the wedding. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a regular saint.”

“When was the last time you went on a date?” Mark asked.

“Don’t go trying to fix me up now that you’re happily
married.”

“I’m not going to fix you up; I’m just worried about you.”

“No, you’re not. You don’t want to be the only one yanked
around by the ball and chain. I’m perfectly happy on my own.” And matrimony
held less than zero appeal after his first marriage.

“I never said anything about marriage. I said date.”

Craig had to think back. His last date was a fix up, and a
terrible one at that. “I let Jimmy talk me into taking his wife’s best friend
to dinner. I’ll never do that again.”

“I think it’s time for you to let someone in. I know it’s
hard, especially after what happened to Julie, but I want you to be happy.”

Who said he and Julie had been happy? he wanted to ask his
brother, but he knew better than to speak ill of the dead. If he hadn’t told
Mark the truth before, he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him now. “I am
happy, so just keep your ideas to yourself.”

“Fine. Tell Leah I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“She won’t care,” Craig teased.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Chapter 6

 
“You should have
seen him,” Allie huffed, “all smug and self-righteous. I had half a mind to
punch him in the face.”

Melissa reached over and tugged on Allie’s sleeve. “Can we
slow down a little? You forget I’m pushing thirty extra pounds.”

Allie slowed from a run to a jog. “Sorry. Do you need a
water break?”

Melissa pointed ahead to where the jog path forked and a
pretty bench sat by the river. “No, not yet. Let’s stop by the bench and cool
down. If we stop now, I’ll probably cramp, and Henry likes to look at the
ducks.”

Allie glanced at the baby, happily chewing on a
multi-colored rattle, his angelic face red from the brisk air. “Do you think he’s
warm enough?”

“He’s in head to toe fleece. He’s probably sweating.”

“His cheeks are red.”

Melissa pulled back the retractable cover of the jog
stroller and peered over at her son. “His ears are covered. Trust me, if he
were uncomfortable, he’d let us know.”

They slowed to a stop by the river and Allie stretched her
quads while Melissa sat on the bench and gulped down water. “I know this is
good for me, but damn, I hate it.”

Allie sat down beside her, her breathing back to normal. “Do
you want me to push him back? I don’t mind, and I think you need a break.”

“Maybe,” Melissa said. “Let me rest for a minute and I’ll
let you know.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Allie asked.

“About the guy? What can you do?”

“I have to see him again this Thursday at the lesson. What
am I going to say?”

“Why do you have to say anything?” Melissa glanced at Allie
and lifted her brows. “Sounds to me like you’re interested.”

“What? No.” She thought of Craig, looking down his crooked
nose at her. “He’s arrogant and not all that attractive.”

“Not all that attractive?”

“Well, his attitude is a big turn off.”

“Speaking of turn offs,” Melissa said. “Who’s the big date
with on Friday?”

Allie blew out a breath. She dreaded her date already and
that wasn’t the attitude she needed when venturing back into the dating pool.
“He’s a dentist. Divorced. No kids.”

“I thought you didn’t go out with divorcees?”

“I’m loosening my standards a little. I’m not budging on the
kids, but just because a prior relationship didn’t work out, that doesn’t mean
I should dismiss him altogether. What if his wife cheated on him?”

“Or what if he cheated on his wife?”

Allie tried to shrug away the unease in her gut. “I’ll never
know if I don’t go out with him.”

“True.” Melissa huffed out a big breath. “But all I’ve ever
heard from you is about the sanctity of marriage. I don’t think you could fall
for someone who walked away from that commitment, no matter what the
circumstances.”

Sometimes Allie hated that Melissa knew her so well. “Just
because my parents’ divorce ripped a hole in our family and, let’s be honest,
my sense of self doesn’t mean I can’t respect someone else’s individual
circumstances.”

“Allie.” Melissa laid her hand over Allie’s. “It’s okay for
you to go out with total strangers you meet on the Internet, but do me a favor
and be honest about your reasons.”

“Fine.” Allie pushed off the bench and began pacing around
Henry’s stroller. “My criteria are too stringent to pull up anything other than
strange men who look like serial killers. If I want to go out with a
professional man in his thirties, I’ve got to be prepared for some baggage.
That’s just the cold, hard truth. And let’s face it,” she added with a point to
Melissa’s innocent face. “I’m no virginal teenager. My relationship with Nick
probably equates to a bad marriage.”

“Except he never pulled the trigger.”

Allie stopped pacing and stared out at the river. “If he’d
proposed, I would have married him. I would have married him and then been left
to make really hard choices when he cheated on me.” She thought of Nick, so
handsome, so perfect for her in every way but the one that really mattered.
“Thank God he never proposed.”

Melissa eased off the bench and stretched her hands in the
air before draping one arm around Allie’s shoulders. “I’m glad he’s out of your
life, Al. He was never good enough for you.”

Allie laid her head on Melissa’s shoulder, so grateful for
her friend’s support, even if she was wrong. Nick left because she wasn’t good
enough for him. “It doesn’t matter now anyway.” Allie grabbed the stroller
handle and turned Henry around. “I read this article in Self-Love magazine that
said you can’t appreciate a good relationship if you haven’t experienced a
really bad one first.”

“Self-Love Magazine?” Melissa handed Henry the rattle when
he began to fuss at leaving the ducks behind.

Allie shrugged and began to jog. “I know it sounds hokey,
but I think it’s true. Looking back, lots of things about my relationship with
Nick were messed up, and it never occurred to me to take a stand or rock the boat.
I didn’t have any other long term relationship to compare it to.”

“No, you didn’t have the backbone to confront him.” She met
Allie’s accusing stare with one of her own. “Whenever he did or said something
that bothered you, you’d complain to me or one of your girlfriends, but you’d
never complain to him.”

“I just didn’t think any of it was worth a fight.”

“He wasn’t worth the fight. There’s a difference.”

Allie snorted. Easy for her to say. “You and Ben never
fight.”

“Ha!” Melissa clutched her side, but kept up the pace. “We
just don’t fight in front of you.”

“But you never complain about him.”

“Allie, I purposely don’t complain to you about him because
I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful for my husband. You know as well as
I do that you’re a little sensitive in that area.”

“So you censor your comments with me?”

“No, I just don’t bitch to you about Ben. I have plenty of
other girlfriends and fellow moms for that.”

Allie stopped jogging and frowned at her friend. “Well, what
kind of friendship do we have when you can’t be honest with me about your
life?”

“We have a very good friendship. And I am honest with you,
but I don’t think you want to listen to me gripe.”

“You listen to me gripe all the time.”

“I know,” Melissa said and started jogging again, forcing
Allie to do the same. “And hearing you gripe about men really helps my
marriage.”

“How?”

“When Nick cheated on you, Ben and I talked about cheating,
in real terms. It was the first time we’d ever drawn that line in the sand
without just assuming it was there.”

“So when my relationship crashed and burned, your marriage
got stronger?”

“Exactly. And remember when you went out with that guy who
only took you to sporting events on your dates?”

“Yeah.” Allie wasn’t sure where Melissa was going.

“Well, it made me think about when Ben and I first started
dating. We used to go to clubs and restaurants and we’d take turns choosing.
After we got married, we only did things with his friends and went to games and
concerts of his choice. I put my foot down, and now our rare evenings out are
spent doing things we both want to do.”

“And all this happened because of me?”

Melissa cocked her head and smiled at Allie. “Yeah, pretty
much.”

“Well. Perhaps I should charge you a fee for these marriage
sessions I didn’t realize we’ve been having.”

“I’d say the therapy works both ways.”

Allie would have quickened her pace to outrun Melissa if she
didn’t have the extra weight of the stroller holding her back. As it stood,
they were neck and neck. At least Melissa had stopped talking and let Allie
digest what she’d learned. The more she thought about what Melissa confessed,
the more everything about their lives bounced around in her head, the more she
realized what she’d already known: dating sucked. And that, she knew, did little
to help her attitude about her upcoming date.

***

Craig dropped the sledgehammer and pulled a section of
sheetrock away from the stud. The annoying pain in his knee didn’t stop him
from enjoying the destruction of a wall that served no better purpose than to
close off a corner of the house. Besides, he needed the exertion, the feel of
something powerful in his hands and the sweat that crept down his back.