Teresa Hill (16 page)

“Yes.”

“It’s her?” Dani asked, yawning.

“Yes, it’s her.”

“She looks different,” Dani said.

“You don’t even remember her!” Luke snapped. “You are such a baby. How can you not remember her?”

“Luke,” Joe said.

“Am not,” Dani said.

“Are so. You’re a big baby.”

“Luke!” he said more sharply than he intended. “That’s enough.”

Luke pouted. Dani looked as if she was working on producing a few tears for effect, to show that she was the long-suffering and most grievously injured party here. She could produce tears at will, and it had taken Joe a while to catch on to that little trick. But now that he knew, he couldn’t afford to give in to her every time she did it. But man, it was hard.

“It’s all right,” he said, putting an arm around her and drawing her closer.

“She looks diff’rent,” Dani insisted.

“I know she does. Her hair’s shorter and…redder.”

“I want mine to be red,” Dani said.

“Maybe when you’re thirty, if you really want to, I’ll let you color your hair,” he said, kissing her cheek.

She beamed at him. “I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too, baby.” Then he turned to Luke. “How you doin’ this morning?”

“I wanna see Mommy. Is she here?”

“No,” Joe said.

“Where is she?”

“I bet she stayed with your grandparents.”

“How come?”

“Because she doesn’t live here anymore, Luke.”

“But now she’s back.”

“Yes. Back in town.”

“She’s not gonna live with us?” Dani asked. “No.”

“’Cause of Samantha?” Luke asked.

“No. Because your mother and I aren’t married any longer.”

“You could get married again, couldn’t you?” Luke asked.

“We’re not going to do that.”

“Because of Samantha,” he said.

“Luke, even if I hadn’t ever met Samantha, I still wouldn’t get married to your mother again. I’m sorry, but it’s not going to happen.”

“So what is going to happen? Mommy can’t stay here?”

“She can stay here in town, if that’s what she wants. But not in this house. This is our house now.”

Luke looked as if he was about to cry, and these were real tears. “You don’t want her here?”

“I can’t be married to her anymore. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be here for you. She can still be your mother.”

“I don’t understand!” Luke cried.

“I know.” Joe hugged him close, too. “It’s a hard thing for me to understand and I’m a grown-up. It must be really hard for a big boy like you to understand.”

“I don’t understan’, either,” Dani said. “An’ I’m hungry.”

Joe decided food should come first. Actually he thought to distract his daughter with her favorite cereal, eaten in front of the TV, even. She thought that was the ultimate treat, and there was a good chance she’d stay put so that maybe he could have this out with Luke without her hearing it all. She didn’t need to hear all this. She wouldn’t understand.

Once he had her settled, he found Luke in his closet holding his empty jar of teeth. Oh, no, Joe thought. He sat down in the closet with Luke and took the jar from his son’s hands, thinking that maybe he knew, after all, what this was about.

“Wow,” he said. “It’s empty.”

Luke nodded.

“All those teeth. Must have been some wish.”

“Yeah. It was.”

“What did you wish for, Luke?”

“That I had a mommy again.” And then Luke started to sniffle. “And I think this is all my fault.”

“What’s your fault?”

“The mommy thing. I made the wish.”

“So?” Joe asked.

“I wasn’t even sure which one I wanted—my mommy back or S’mantha. I didn’t even say which one I wanted, and I think now that somebody up there messed up and brought me both of ’em, and what am I supposed to do with two of ’em? You want Samantha, don’t you?”

“I want to marry her,” Joe said carefully. “I want her to be part of our family. I thought you did, too.”

“I do. Or I did.” He sniffled once again. “I like ’er, and she’s kind of fun.”

“But you want your mother, too?”

“Yes.”

“You know, you don’t have to choose between them, Luke. It’s not an either/or kind of thing.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“I dunno what I want, and I think I messed everything up with the teeth and the wishes. By bringin’ ’em both here.”

“Wishes didn’t bring them here, Luke.”

“You’re sure? I know I never got all hundred teeth ’n’ everything, but—”

“Thank goodness for that,” Joe said.

“I still made the wish, and I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Why?”

“’Cause you’re sad.”

“I’m not—” Joe stopped right there. He couldn’t lie about that. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. I thought we had everything settled. I thought I knew what was going to happen. That it was going to be you and me and Dani and Samantha.”

“And you like her a lot.”

“Yes, I do.”

“And she likes us a lot?”

“Yes, she does.” Joe still believed that. He’d been rattled by the events of the night before, but he still believed Samantha loved them and that she knew how to do that. That with her, it was real and good and enduring.

“I thought we had everything figured out, too,” Luke said.

“Yeah. It was nice, wasn’t it? Thinking we had it all figured out?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m afraid life’s just like that sometimes, Luke. You think you understand it all, and something happens and it surprises you, and things change. But not all those changes are bad. Sometimes the changes are really good. I think this change might be good eventually. You wanted to know where your mother was. You wanted her back, and she’s here now. And it’s not like you can’t have her in your life just because we have Samantha, too. And no matter what happens with anybody else, you’ll always have me.”

Luke slipped his little hand into Joe’s and leaned into him.

“Always,” he said.

“Always,” Luke agreed.

S
amantha eventually fell asleep, but it was very, very late before that happened. She awoke to the sound of the phone ringing from what seemed like a great distance away. But it was her phone, and squinting at the clock, she saw that she’d somehow slept until ten o’clock, which was unheard of for her.

Wincing at the morning sunlight coming through the curtains, she grabbed the phone, had it nearly to her ear before she remembered that it might be Joe, and she had no idea what she’d say to him today. She felt terrible about everything that had happened yesterday.

“Hello,” she said tentatively.

“Samantha? Is that you?”

“Yes. Abbie?”

“Yes. Are you okay? You sound awful.”

“So do you,” Samantha said. “And it’s early out there. What are you doing up at this hour?”

“I had to talk to you, and I didn’t want Daddy to know.”

“Oh, Abbie. We talked about this. He’ll see the phone bill. He’ll know.”

“Well, then, he’ll just have to know. I don’t care if he knows. I don’t even like him anymore, and I was wondering…could I come live with you?”

“Abbie—”

“You still want me, right? You said you’d always be there for me.”

“Of course I still want you, and I love you very much. But we talked about this, too. He’s your father.”

“He doesn’t like me,” she sobbed.

“Oh, baby. Of course he does. He just gets frustrated sometimes, and then he gets mad, but he does love you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I know so.” He might not be so great at showing it or at running his own life or theirs, but he did love them. “What happened now?”

“We just had another fight. A bad one. He wants us to move again. This time to California. He’s got a great job offer, or so he says, and I think he and Monica are fighting. I don’t even know if she’s going to go, and I know I don’t want to. I just wanted to come be with you, and I told him so.”

Samantha sighed. Richard was always sure something better was coming along, either with people or places or jobs. Odd how she could see that so clearly now. Things got tough, he ran, just as Joe had accused her of doing last night.

First things first—she had to deal with Abbie. “Do you want me to talk to your father for you?”

“Would you?”

“Of course. I love you, remember?”

“Yes,” Abbie said.

“Tell Sarah I love her, too, and I’ll talk to your father today.”

“Okay. Thanks, Samantha.”

Samantha said goodbye and hung up. It wasn’t five minutes later when the phone rang again, Richard this time. Samantha bit back a groan and wondered if the day could possibly get any worse.

“Abbie said you wanted to speak to me,” he said in that smug tone she hated.

“Yes, Richard. I wanted to tell you that if you’re not ready to be a father to your daughters, just send them to me. I’d be happy to have them. You wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore, and they wouldn’t inconvenience you in the least.”

“I don’t care for your sarcasm, Samantha,” he said, still smug.

“I’m perfectly serious. I love them, and I’m more than willing to have them forever. I’ll make whatever sacrifices are necessary—”

“You don’t have any idea what it takes to raise a child, all the sacrifices involved.”

“Of course I do. I’m the one who raised your daughters for three years.” She had, she realized. She’d done it all and loved them. It hadn’t been easy—she didn’t think raising children was ever easy—but she’d loved it and found it well worth the effort. She worried that Richard didn’t.

“I didn’t call to listen to you criticize my parenting techniques, Samantha.”

“Someone needs to, to tell you to start being a parent,” she said. “You’re not going to find something that’s magically easier or better in California, or with some woman other than Monica or me. And you won’t find two kids any sweeter or kinder or more loving than Abbie and Sarah. The problem’s with you, Richard. You always think the answer to all your problems is to start over, either somewhere else or with someone else, and it’s time to stop. You’re forty-five—grow up. And if you can’t, if you can’t put your daughters first for a change and take care of them, send them to me. I’ll see that they’re fine.”

“How dare you speak to me that way!”

“I dare because I love them, and it’s time you started acting like you do.”

“You’re bitter, Samantha. Bitter because I fell in love with someone else.”

“I’ll never be bitter about losing you, just your daughters. Believe it or not, I’m over you, Richard. I’m in love with someone else, and I’m going to marry him.”

“You’re getting married?” Richard repeated.

“Yes,” she said. If Joe would still have her.

Joe was right, she realized. Maybe she
had
wanted something that was easy. Something that came with a guarantee and didn’t scare her at all. How ridiculous was that? And she’d panicked at the first sign of trouble. What must he think of her?

“Does this man know you’re offering to take on two little girls who aren’t even yours?” Richard scoffed.

“No, but he’d do it if I asked him to. He’s a terrific father,” she said. “You should try it. It’s what your daughters deserve. Why don’t you think about that for a change?”

He huffed and puffed for another ten minutes before Samantha got rid of him, and oh, she felt so much better telling him off that way. He didn’t know what he had in his girls, how precious they were, the rat. And she would always miss them, always worry about them. Maybe some of what she’d said would get through to Richard. Maybe one day he’d be half the man Joe Morgan was.

Joe felt as if he’d been run down by a bus that day, knocked flat, every bone in his body aching, and he still wanted to tear something apart. Anything. And he was digging deep, looking for some patience and the right things to say to his kids.

He thought some people might say he’d been harsh this morning with Luke, laying it all on the line like that. But he didn’t think he could afford to let his son build up false hope that life was magically going to go back to the way it used to be. It wasn’t.

For so long they’d all thought they could just return to what they used to have, that everything would be okay, if only Elena would come back. But they couldn’t. They were different now. Everything was different.

He leaned against the wall, and he was so weary he could have gone straight back to bed and slept for a day and a half. But he didn’t have time for that. He had kids to take care of, probably an ex-wife to see and…Samantha.

He took a breath and held it, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

What in the world was he going to say to Samantha?

They’d never fought about anything before. She’d never seen him the way he’d been last night. He wondered if he’d scared her by losing his temper that way, and he knew he owed her an apology.

But a part of him was in a panic, too, for the core issue remained. Did she love him enough to get through this with him? To stay and fight for their relationship?

Oh, he didn’t think it had been fair of him to put it to her right then and in that way last night. But he still had to know if she was going to turn around and run when things got tough. Maybe not now, but someday in the future? What would she do when they ran into problems? Every marriage did. He was sure of that. And he felt sick just thinking about it. Losing her. Going back to the way things used to be.

She’d brought so much hope into his life. Hope and sunshine and laughter. Her tenderness, her kindness, the generous nature of her heart. All of that. He’d soaked it up like a starving man, and so had Luke and Dani.

He couldn’t imagine losing her now, and he figured he had serious apologizing to do. He stopped by the florist on his way to her house when he realized he’d never even given her flowers or any kind of token of affection at all, except for the ring. He’d never really taken her out on a date, had courted her very little, and he wished it had been different, that he’d done more to show her how special she was to him.

He found something pretty at the florist, wild pink and purple flowers and soft yellow roses. He had an armful by the time he was done, and the florist merely smiled as she wrapped them up.

“In the doghouse, are you?”

“Big time,” he admitted.

She handed them to him with a little wink and confided, “I’d forgive you.”

Joe made it to Samantha’s house by early afternoon and saw that her car was not in the driveway. He parked, walked to the front door and leaned on the doorbell, anyway. No one came to the door. He walked around to the backyard and even peered in the windows, thinking that, any minute now, someone was going to call the cops on him. But no one did.

Sighing, he looked around the backyard, up at the sky, into the trees and spied the tree house, remembering the lunchtimes they’d spent there.

And then he had an idea.

Samantha had agreed to man the dental-health booth at a health fair at one of the local malls that afternoon, and no matter how lousy she felt or how worried, she donned her fairy suit and went. She told stories and did little tricks all afternoon, passing out toothbrushes and floss and other things, and felt more than a little foolish by the time she was done.

She was remembering the first time she saw Joe and Luke, when she’d thought their problems were something she could whisk away with a swipe of her magic wand, the quarters she’d pulled from behind Luke’s ear or that long swath of yellow cloth she’d pulled from Joe’s pocket.

Odd, she decided as she pulled into her driveway. There were little bits of that same yellow color on her front lawn. Some pink, too. And purple.

She parked the car and got out.

They were flowers, she realized. Someone had left a trail of flowers from her door to around the side of her house.

Her heart rate kicked up just a bit, the sadness fading by degrees.

There was a note taped to her front door, a yellow rose lying on the stoop beneath it.

She picked up the rose with a hand that shook, then the note that said, “I love you. Come and let me tell you how much. Joe.”

She gathered roses as she went, around the side of the house and into the backyard, the trail leading up into the tree house.

She laughed as she started to climb, an armful of flowers and her fairy suit making it difficult. She’d forgotten all about the suit until then.

“Joe?” she called. “I want to come up, but I’m not exactly dressed for climbing.”

He leaned over the narrow platform and slowly looked her over from the top of her head to the tip of her toes, and then he broke into a big grin.

“Go ahead. Laugh if you need to,” she said, putting the flowers down on the ground and gathering up her skirt.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said. “You look adorable.”

“I look silly,” she claimed, feeling like a little girl playing dress-up. “And if you dare make fun of me, I’ll cast a spell over you.”

He took her hand as she reached the top of the ladder and helped her up until she was sitting on the platform next to him, suddenly feeling shy and unsure of herself. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, her long skirt flowing around her.

He picked up a fold of the dress and ran his hand along the shiny sparkly material, and she felt even more foolish than before.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“For what?”

“Everything.”

He frowned. “Everything?”

She nodded, hoping to get through this without crying. Surely she had no more tears left. “You were right. I was looking for something easy and uncomplicated, something that offers any kind of guarantee at all that things will work out. I mean, just because it’s easy and uncomplicated now doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way.”

“I’d say it practically guarantees it won’t,” Joe said.

“Yes. You’re right.”

“You’re probably better off starting with me and the kids with everything in a mess. At least you know what you’re getting into with us. Our messes are right out there for everybody to see.”

“Makes sense to me,” she agreed.

“We’re probably doing you a favor, Doc.”

She nodded. “No surprises with you.”

“And we’ve been through so much in the past few years I figure we’re due for some good times. Lots of ’em.”

“I hope so,” she said. “I want you all to have the best of everything.”

“Well, in that case, there’s just one thing we have to have.”

“What’s that?”

“You,” he said. “Tell me we’ve still got you.”

“Oh, Joe. I love you.”

He planted a fiercely strong kiss on her, one that had her clinging to him.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Me, too. I had no right to jump on you that way.”

“No, you were right. I was running scared. First sign of trouble, and I panicked.”

“I panicked a little bit myself last night, and then I took it out on you.”

“No, you didn’t. You were right—I should have been there for you. I should have had more faith in you. In us.”

“I rushed you, Samantha. I know that. It just felt so right, right from the first moment I saw you. I don’t think I’d smiled in a year and a half or so, and I know I hadn’t laughed. None of us had, until we had you.”

“I was so sure you thought I was a nut. A flake.”

“Why?”

She glanced down at her fairy suit, and he teased the little bow on the neckline with his fingertips.

“I think you cast a spell on me, Doc. Me and both my kids. You made us remember all about magic again. Which reminds me…” He reached behind him and pulled out a jelly jar, lid on, and held it out to her.

“What is this?”

“Luke’s. He gave them up for the cause, thought I might need them when I told him what I was up to,” Joe said. “He even agreed to take a nap this afternoon to give the tooth fairy a chance to bring them back today, so I could see you today and not wait until tomorrow.”

She took the jar and only then saw that there were a few tiny baby teeth in it.

“We only got eight,” he said. “We were trying for a hundred, but it just didn’t work out. But still, we thought that might be enough.”