“By yourself? Where’s Harry?”
Harry was Arlene’s fiancé—or at least he was the last time Frannie had seen her. She glanced at Arlene’s left hand and saw the ring finger was bare. It looked as if Harry had gone the way of the rest of the men in Arlene’s life.
“I’m afraid that didn’t work out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Frannie said, although she really should have told Arlene how lucky she was to be rid of the moocher. From the very first time Frannie had met Harry she’d had her suspicions that he was all charm and no substance. But then, in the eleven years she’d known Arlene, that’s all there had been in her mother-in-law’s life—men with charm but little substance.
Arlene’s next words indicated that she’d finally figured out Harry, too. “It’s for the best. He wasn’t the man for me,” Arlene said without any bitterness. “He thought work was for other people. But let’s not waste our time talking about me. I want to hear what’s been happening to my beautiful grandchildren,” she said, wrapping her arms around Luke and Emma.
“As you can see, they’re fine,” Frannie answered.
“We only have one more week of school and then we’re on summer vacation,” Emma stated joyfully.
“I know. That’s why I came. I want to spend lots of time with you this summer.”
Frannie gulped. “You’re staying for the summer?”
“This is going to be so cool,” Emma gushed, giving her grandmother another hug.
“Yes, it is,” Arlene agreed with a smile. “You won’t have to have a baby-sitter while your mother’s at work.”
As much as she appreciated Arlene’s offer, the thought of her mother-in-law staying with them in a house that was already too small did not put the glee in her eyes that it did in her children’s.
“It’s very generous of you to offer, but I’ve already contracted for day care,” she said, trying not to sound ungracious.
Alex, who’d been standing in the background, stepped forward. “We hate going to day care. It’s all little kids. Why can’t Gramma take care of us?”
“Because it’ll cost me money if we back out now,” Frannie explained.
“But it’s going to cost you money anyway, right?” Arlene asked.
“Can’t we please stay home with Gramma?” Emma begged, giving her mother a look that was just as dramatic as her plea.
“What about summer camp? The bus is supposed to pick you up at the day care center,” Frannie reminded them.
“That’s not until August,” Alex answered.
“Oh, by then I’ll be gone,” Arlene told them.
Frannie hoped no one heard her sigh of relief.
Emma’s face dropped. “I thought you said you were staying the whole summer.”
“Just for part of the summer, dear. But I will be here all of June and part of July.”
“What about your job?” Frannie asked.
“Oh, I quit,” she said with a flap of her hand.
“You quit?”
“Yes. Don’t look so alarmed, Frannie. I’ll find another,” she said nonchalantly, then turned to the twins and said, “Wait until you see what I brought for you.”
“Did you bring us cards with the holes in them?” Alex asked, moving closer to the couch.
“I most certainly did,” Arlene said proudly. “Two decks for each of you.”
“And the teeny bottles of shampoo and lotion?” Emma wanted to know.
Arlene nodded. “They smell just heavenly. Wait until you see.”
Because she worked as a cashier at a hotel casino in Atlantic City, Arlene often brought playing cards as well as complimentary bottles of lotion and shampoo.
Her glance moved between Emma and Alex. “Now, what should we do today? Gramma wants to take you someplace fun.” Arlene looked at Frannie and asked, “You don’t have plans for today, do you?”
“Actually, I do.” She was assigned to cover a charity walk-a-thon. She’d planned to put Luke in the stroller and let Emma and Alex push him, as they walked with the rest of the participants and she took photos.
Alex groaned. “We don’t have to go to that, do we?”
“Go where?” Emma asked.
“Some stupid walk-a-thon,” Alex answered.
“It’s not stupid. It’s for a good cause,” Frannie chastised him.
“We can always do something tomorrow,” Arlene suggested, which provoked groans from the twins. Then she looked at Frannie and said, “Or I could take the children today and then you’d be free to concentrate on your work.”
It was a tempting offer. The children would be a distraction while she tried to work. On the other hand, Frannie knew her children could be a handful, especially Luke. The memory of her son throwing a temper tantrum the last time she’d had him at the mall made her hesitate. As much as Frannie wanted to say yes, she wasn’t sure she could do so with a clear conscience.
Finally, after much cajoling by the twins, she agreed to let them stay with their grandmother, but extracted the promise that they would help their grandmother with Luke. They also needed to complete their Saturday chores, which would give Arlene a chance to rest before their adventure.
Alex didn’t protest the later start. “That means I can go over to Josh’s and get my posters done.”
That raised his grandmother’s curiosity. “What posters are those?”
“I’ll show you,” he answered, then disappeared into his room.
Frannie thought about stopping him, but knew it would only be a matter of time until Arlene found out about his campaign to find his father. When Alex returned with the flyer, he held it up for his grand-mother’s inspection.
“I’m trying to find my dad. Me and my friend Josh made this, but I have to change the phone number. That’s why I have to go to his house. He has a computer,” he explained.
Arlene looked first at the poster, then at Frannie, her eyes filled with questions. Frannie didn’t know how to answer them, so she simply lifted her brows and shrugged.
“I’m going to put them up all over Minneapolis, and some of my friends are going to take them when they go on vacation this summer,” Alex continued. “Will you take some back to Atlantic City with you, Gramma?” He looked at his grandmother expectantly.
Arlene placed her hand on his shoulder. “If it’s important to you, of course I will, but I don’t know if it will do any good. I doubt he’s anywhere close. If your father were living near me, he’d call.”
“But there are lots of people who come to the casinos and hotels. Maybe a tourist will see the poster and recognize his picture,” Alex argued.
Frannie could see how unsettling it was for Arlene to have such a discussion with her grandson, and decided to change the subject. “Okay, kids, get your chores done.”
That got Alex to table the discussion of his missing father. Frannie knew, however, it was a subject that wouldn’t be left for long. Sooner or later she and Arlene would have to talk about Dennis’s disappearance and Alex’s quest.
That’s why she wasn’t surprised when later that evening, after the kids had gone to bed, Arlene joined her in the kitchen. Frannie offered to make her a cup of tea, but the older woman said she just wanted to sit for a bit and