“You’re very welcome. We did have fun, didn’t we, girls?” Meg said, smiling. “We shall do it again sometime.”
She said good-night, and Lissa fell into step as they walked to her car. The fourteen-year-old was quiet.
“Was there something in particular you wanted to discuss with me, Lissa?”
“No, not really…”
“Mmm…”
“It’s just that I don’t have anyone to talk to about grown-up stuff.”
The night sounds had begun; crickets chirped and mosquitos buzzed. A soft breeze whispered through the oaks by the house.
“There’s always your Dad.”
“Yeah, I know. But sometimes he’s too busy and he doesn’t…well, he tries, but—”
“A girl needs another woman, I suppose Is that it?”
“Uh-huh. But not just any woman! Once he suggested I should talk to Sydney’s mom, can you imagine?”
Meg hesitated a moment before answering. If Kelsey were thinking of Linda in those terms, it wouldn’t help matters if she fostered more dissatisfaction in the girls. “Lissa, I don’t remember Linda Burroughs very well. What is it you don’t like about her?”
“Only everything!”
“Oh-oh. That bad, huh?”
“Yeah. She criticizes all the time and thinks she knows all about how I feel when she doesn’t. And she thinks I should wear the same kind of dorky clothes Sydney wears I couldn’t stand it if Dad got, you know, seriously serious about her ”
“Well, perhaps you should tell your dad how you feel about Linda.”
“I ‘spose so, but it’s hard to find time without the other kids around. And sometimes Dad’s just not in the mood, you know? Then there’s always so much to do! I mean—” Lissa bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Aunt Meg. I don’t mean to complain so much, but—”
Meg made a shocked sound. “Oh, my, my, my! Here I thought I’d met the perfect teenager.”
Lissa erupted in the desired giggles, and Meg joined her.
“I’m serious, Aunt Meg.”
“It’s all right, Lissa. I’m not kidding, either. No one expects you to be perfect. Even though I thought you were when you were little.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m so glad you’re home. I always remember good times with you. And Mom and Dad always talked about you with lots of love and stuff—you know?”
“Yeah…” Meg’s heart turned over She remembered, all right.
“So, Aunt Meg, I was wondering if—that is, Aimee and I talked it over, and we thought maybe you might be tired of—of living on your own?”
“What do you mean, on my own?”
“Well, maybe you’ve come home to stay?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Lissa. I have a great job that I like very much, and I don’t think my mother will need me after a few weeks. I’d just get in her way and make her nervous.”
“Not that. I mean. .Aimee and I thought…we’d hoped—”
Lissa stood very still and held her breath, a peculiar expression fluttering over her face.
“Lissa? What is it, hon?”
“Aunt Meg, would you marry my dad?”
Meg sucked in air, wondering if the fragrance of the honeysuckle vines resting against the old board fence next to her car could cause hallucinations. Surely she hadn’t heard right.
“Um, Lissa…”
“Please, Aunt Meg, just listen. Please? I’m seriously serious.”
“Well, I—” She swallowed hard.
“You said you like Daddy, didn’t you? You did say it! You think he’s really special, remember?”
“Yes, I do think he’s special, and yes, I like him very much.” Meg’s heart raced at the vast understatement. If only Lissa knew…“But, Lissa, there’s a lot more to marriage than merely liking each other.”
“But that’s a start, isn’t it? Dad likes you, too. He was all excited when he found out you were coming home. I could tell.”
Kelsey excited about her homecoming? Her mouth went dry as her mind whirled with the thought.
“And you like us kids, don’t you?” Lissa nudged.
“Oh, I do…yes, indeed I do. But Lissa—” Her mind tumbled over what to say. “I think Thad and Phillip might not return the regard. And Heather…”
“Don’t worry about Thad and Phillip, Aunt Meg. They’ll love you just as much as Aimee and I do, once they get to know you better.”
Aimee skidded to a stop in front of them, out of breath and flushed. “Did you ask her?”
“Aimee! What are you doing here?” Lissa questioned in an urgent whisper. “I told you to keep the rest of the family busy. Where’s Dad?”
“Keep your shorts on, will ya?” Aimee hissed back. “The boys went to the barn, and Dad said he had some calls to make. Heather’s playing with her new doll we bought today. That’ll keep her busy till bedtime. Anyway, how about it, Aunt Meg?”
Meg studied the eager young faces in the growing dusk. She had the silliest feeling of wanting to laugh and cry at the same time, remembering her own earnestness at their age. But sometimes a girl of a certain age could be just as earnest about something completely different a week later. “You girls can’t be, um—”
“Uh-huh, yes, we are. Majorly serious,” Aimee insisted.
“You don’t want to marry anybody else, do you?” Lissa asked in a suddenly alarmed tone. “I mean, Aunt Audrey said you were dating that English guy, but—”
“Well, no. No, I don’t plan on marrying anyone.”
“Whew! I thought for a minute—” Lissa sighed.
“Well?” Aimee pushed. “What do you think? Isn’t it a great idea?”
“I don’t think you know what you’re asking,” Meg began slowly, staving off hysterical laughter with gritty determination. “You can’t just ask someone to marry your dad out of the blue. He has to do that for himself.”
“But we want you to be our new mother, Aunt Meg,” Aimee pleaded. “And it isn’t out of the blue. We’ve been thinking about it for a long time. You were Mom’s best friend and she wouldn’t mind. Honestly. And Dad needs you, too.”
“Aunt Meg doesn’t think the boys like her,” Lissa said.
“But they just don’t know you very well, not like we do. And I know Heather can be a pain sometimes.” Aimee made a face, admitting, “She’s spoiled.”
Then Aimee’s face brightened, her brown eyes glimmered with a new thought. “That should tell you how much we all need you, Aunt Meg. You can unspoil Heather for us. And if you marry Dad, you can move back to Missouri! You want to, don’t you?”
Meg nearly gurgled her laughter. “I’m not so sure about that one.”
“Aunt Meg, you’re absolutely, positively the only right woman to marry Dad,” Lissa said