* * *
With his last nerve dying a noisy death, Sam herded the twins from the car to the Everything, a gas station/convenience store/grill in town that served burgers, fries and nuked frozen pizza. The place was owned and run by Elwood and Velma Dill, who were self-proclaimed hippies in their early fifties. Elwood was a member of the SOS Committee, and both he and his wife had really become more involved in the community since Randall Manufacturing had closed its doors.
After a long day at work wrangling teenagers and an afternoon spent wrangling the twins, Sam was just too tired to get a meal together. Sometimes it was more work to eat out with the kids. But after the afternoon he’d had at home—which had involved a stray tube of bright red lipstick Teresa had left behind and two rolls of toilet paper unwound all over the house by one mischievous little boy—they all needed a change of scene.
Besides, it was a lovely Indian summer evening, and they should enjoy the nice weather while they could. Soon enough it would be too cold to eat outside. Who knew how Sam would entertain the kids then? Just the thought of being cooped up with them on his own spread little rivers of panic through him. Last winter had been rough, what with his split from Teresa fresh in his mind and his trial-by-fire single parenthood.
“Look, Daddy.” Rosie pulled on his hand. “There’s the nice story lady.”
Sure enough, Allison was sitting at one of the picnic tables set up outside. Another young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair, whom Sam had seen working at the bookstore yesterday, sat across from Allison. The other gal looked familiar, as if he’d seen her around town or something, but he couldn’t quite place her.
The sun had begun to set, and the early-evening light glinted off Allison’s hair, highlighting it with streaks of gold that perfectly matched the gold-hued coat she wore with a pair of black pants. His heart gave a little blip.
“Yes, there she is,” he said, willing himself to ignore the disconcerting effect she had on him.
“Hi, story lady!” Nicky called. “We are here!”
Allison looked their way and froze for just a second. Then her face broke into a big smile. She waved. “Hey, you guys!”
Sam gave a return wave and then let the kids go. They both went scurrying toward Allison, waving as if she were a race-car driver and a fairy princess all wrapped up in one wonderful person.
He followed at a slower pace, trying to look all cool and collected—casual—despite the fact that she hadn’t been far from his mind since Story Time yesterday. Her interaction with the twins had had a big impact on him. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get the picture of her with Rosie out of his mind.
He was a bit in awe of Allison, actually, and that wasn’t comfortable; given the female role models he’d had, he hadn’t been amazed by any woman for a long time, and the emotion felt foreign and awkward. Guess he’d have to adjust; he should be good at that by now.
Nicky and Rosie were obviously taken with Allison, too. They both hopped around her table, excitedly greeting her as if they were long-lost best friends.
Sam consciously relaxed, then smiled as he drew near. “Well, look here. My kids’ favorite person in the whole world.”
Allison blushed. “Aw, that’s sweet.”
“It’s true,” Rosie said, patting Allison’s arm. “You are the bestest story lady ever!”
“She does tell a mean story,” the other woman said. She held out her hand with a grin. “Vivian Duncan. I work at the bookstore part-time. I used to work at the library until budget cuts happened.” Randall Manufacturing closing had had far-reaching effects on just about everything in town, but especially on town-supported services, like the library, police force and school district.
Sam shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Sam Franklin.”
Allison blinked. “Oh, where are my manners? I thought you two knew each other.”
“Unless it’s involved with the high school, I don’t get out much.” Again, maybe his social life needed to be reworked, although finding the time for any kind of socializing would be a challenge.
“We’ve never crossed paths, then, even though I’ve lived in town for quite a while.” Viv raised a hand to shield her face from the setting sun. “You guys want to join us?”
Nicky and Rosie squealed. “Yes! We want to!” They both jumped in place.
Sam put a hand on his kids’ shoulders and pressed lightly to encourage them to calm down. “Oh, wow, I don’t want to intrude.”
“Oh, you’re not intruding one bit.” With a tilt of her head, Viv looked at Allison. “Right, story lady?”
“Right you are, Viv,” Allison said, gesturing to the huge pizza with just two slices missing, which sat in the middle of the table. “We ordered a whole pizza, so we’ve got plenty.” The pizzas weren’t exactly gourmet. But anything Sam didn’t have to make was extra tasty.
“I love pizza,” Nicky announced. “I want some.”
“Me, too,” Rosie added. “The cheesy cheese is good.”
“Guys, we can’t eat all their food,” Sam said.
“Are you kidding?” Allison said. “There’s plenty.” She smiled at Sam. “Unless you want to add some fries...?”
“Yeah, fries.” Nicky rubbed his tummy. “My favorite.”
“Well, then, fries it is, if you love them so much,” Allison said, then quickly clamped her mouth closed, as if she’d spoken out of turn. “If Dad says it’s okay, of course.”
“I love them, too, so it’s fine,” Sam said, unable to say no to his kids. And, really, socializing with a couple of adults sounded good for someone whose day was usually filled with teenagers at work and toddlers at home. Sometimes his brain was mush by dinnertime.
“Great,” Allison answered. “Sam, why don’t you go order some, and these two kidlets can stay here with us.”
“Okay.” Sam headed to the order window within earshot to order the fries and some water for him and the twins. There was a short line, so he waited, arms crossed over his chest, and surreptitiously observed the two women and two kids.
Vivian scooted over and patted the bench next to her. “Who wants to sit next to me?”
“I will.” Rosie ran over next to Viv, then pointed at Viv’s wrist. “Can I look at your bracelet?”
“Sure,” Viv said, slipping the bangle off her wrist. “Here you go.” She handed it to Rosie.
Rosie eyed it as if it were a priceless piece of jewelry. Sam quirked an eyebrow. His daughter, the jewelry queen. She was a girlie girl for sure. He wondered how he was going to deal with that in the future as a single dad; just the thought of what was to come scared him silly. Dating? Teen angst? Just kill me now.
“Well, then, Mr. Nicky, I guess you’re stuck with me.” Allison moved over. “How about we sit next to each other and you can tell me what you liked most about Mike and Mary Anne.”
“Okay,” Nicky said. “That was a good story.”
She reached out and lifted Nicky onto the bench to sit next to her. Her arm stayed around his little shoulders and she bent her head near to listen to him while he chattered on about the story, his face glowing.
As he waited to order, Sam watched as Allison set paper plates in front of each child with her free hand—multitasking at its finest—and then added a slice of pizza. She even managed to get a napkin on both kids’ laps, although Sam knew it wouldn’t stay on Nicky’s for long; his rambunctious son was usually up and running around the dinner table too much to keep anything on his lap.
Viv and Rosie chatted about