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.“I don't know.That seems too obvious.”“Do you want to know or not?”“At this point, I'm pretty sure I know.And it pisses me off.”“Good.” Melissa reached across the table and grasped Allie's hand.“As long as you don't start blaming yourself for his inadequacies.His immature behavior has nothing to do with you, Allie, and if you start blaming yourself, that's going to piss me off.”***Craig honked his horn and screamed around the car in front of him as it let off a carload of people in a no stopping zone, but he had to slam on the brakes when he almost barreled into a pedestrian.He loosened his hold on the steering wheel and took a deep breath.Get a grip, he told himself as he counted in his head to ten before exiting the home remodeling center.His cell phone slid from the passenger seat to the floor.When he reached over and picked it up at the red light, he scanned his calls.No more messages or missed calls from Allie.He wanted to feel relieved, but he didn't feel anything but foolish for avoiding her and for letting her get under his skin.He knew he couldn't hide from her forever.He'd made a mistake being with her.He knew he couldn't trust himself not to make it again if he talked to her or saw her before he had his emotions in check.She'd be pissed; he knew her well enough to know that he'd hurt her and she wouldn't make it easy.If she were anyone else, he'd have walked away and never looked back, but this was Allie.Leah had called and left a message.He banged his fist against the wheel after listening to her beg him to come to dinner that night.Tuesday.The night Allie would be there for her lesson.The night she stayed for dinner.His phone rang as he scowled at the display and he knew he couldn't avoid her forever.“Hey, squirt.”“Are you coming for dinner?” Leah asked.“I'd like to, but I'm juggling two jobs right now.”“You're too busy for your family?”He recognized that tone.It didn't bode well for his chances.“I'm too busy, period.”“I haven't seen you in forever, Uncle Craig.Please, I'm begging you.It's lasagna.You know you love Dad's lasagna.”“Leah.”“Please, Uncle Craig.Please?”His head was pounding; he had four loads to drop off before heading to the new house for measurements and an assload of paperwork waiting at home.“I can’t,” he said.“I’ll try and stop by another day after work.”“Don’t bother,” she said.“We’re obviously not that important.”“Leah…”“Whatever.I gotta go.”Craig sighed when the line went dead.It was time to face things head on, one angry woman at a time.Leah would have to get in line.Chapter 31Allie put on her best happy face and got through the lesson with Leah as best she could.The girl, it seemed, was as down as Allie.“That’s good,” she told Leah after her second run through of her new recital song.“I can tell you’ve been practicing.”“Yeah.”“Leah!” Mark called from the kitchen.Leah rolled her eyes.“Yes, ma’am.”“You okay?” Allie asked and ran her hand along the girl’s back.No matter how bad things were with Craig, she wouldn’t let him ruin her relationship with Leah.“I guess.”“Want to talk about it?”“Not really.Can you stay for dinner tonight?”Allie sighed and pinched her lips together.Leah was looking at her with puppy dog eyes, but the thought of pretending everything was okay for another hour seemed unbearable.“Please, Ms.Allie.Uncle Craig already said no, and I really want you to stay.”Allie felt relieved and bemused by Craig’s absence.He wasn’t usually around for dinner on Tuesday nights, but he rarely told Leah no.“I suppose I can make the time.”The girl sprang up and started to close her music book.“If you run through the song one more time.”“You drive a hard bargain,” Leah said.It wasn’t hard to act natural through dinner.Mark and Leah kept up their usual banter, while she and Carolyn did their duty to laugh and make fun when necessary.Allie offered to help Carolyn with the dishes after dinner while Mark challenged Leah to a game of one-on-one in the driveway.“Is everything okay?” Carolyn asked.“You seem kind of distracted tonight.”“I’m fine,” Allie said.She took the freshly rinsed pot Carolyn handed her and dried it with a towel.“Busy.I don’t mean to seem aloof.”“You’re not.I just wondered if everything was okay.Leah said you’ve been spending some time with Craig.”Oh no.The last thing she wanted to discuss was Craig.“We’re friends,” she managed to say without choking.“How are things going with you and Leah?”“Oh, they’re better.We still have our moments, but ever since she ran away to Craig’s house and we got a lot off our chests, things have improved.Why?” Carolyn asked.“Do you think she’s backsliding?”“No, not at all.I’m just curious.She seemed a little down tonight.”“She’s mad at Craig.”Get in line, Allie thought.“She wanted him to come to dinner tonight, but he said he was too busy.He’s been busy for a couple of weeks now, and she’s feeling neglected.”What was Allie supposed to do? Defend the jerk? “I haven’t heard from him either, so I suppose he must be busy.”“I don’t know…” Carolyn said, shaking her head and scrubbing the cooked on edges of the lasagna pan.“What do you mean?” Allie asked.She didn’t want to seem too interested, but if Carolyn had any information that could shed some light on how she should proceed, she’d listen.“I’m not sure, but I think something’s going on with him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]