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“But he did exist. And it’s something Alex needs to deal with in his own way.”
“Why?” she cried out in frustration, although she already knew the answer. So did her sister, who chose not to say anything.
After a few moments of silence, Frannie said, “I hate knowing Alex even thinks about the man.”
“It’s normal, Frannie,” Lois said, putting a hand on her sister’s arm.
She chewed on her upper lip as she nodded. “It just seems as if every time I think I’ve managed to let go of my anger, I realize I’ll probably always be angry at Dennis. Not because of what he did to me, but because of what he continues to do to my kids.”
“Your kids are going to be just fine,” Lois insisted. “They’re bright, well-adjusted, and happy—and that’s because of you, not Dennis. So put him out of your mind. He’s not worthy of your thoughts—not even the nasty ones,” she said, grinning.
Frannie didn’t return the smile, prompting Lois to ask, “Hey, you’re not going to let this spoil our evening, are you?”
She shook her head, although the enthusiasm she’d felt earlier had waned. “I do wish Alex had shown me the poster himself.”
“I think he wanted to test the waters with me first,” Lois remarked. “And I’m glad he did. That poster has your phone number on it.”
Frannie groaned. “Tell me that doesn’t mean I’m going to have creeps calling my house in the middle of the night.”
“You won’t,” Lois stated confidently. “I suggested Alex use one of my office numbers, instead. I told him it was much safer to do that, and he said he’d have Josh redo the posters.”
“Thank you. That means that if by some strange twist of fate someone does call with information, you’ll be the first to know and you can tell me.”
“He’s not going to hear anything.”
Frannie hoped her sister was right. It had been a long, painful struggle, but she’d put her life back together after Dennis had done his best to ruin it. She’d made a good life for her children, and she wasn’t about to let him disrupt it again.
For the rest of the taxi ride, Lois talked about the place where they were meeting several of their friends. It was a new club that had become popular among singles. Frannie listened and made appropriate responses, but her thoughts weren’t on the evening ahead. She stared out the window at the passing scenery, watching trees and houses and storefronts disappear in a blur and thinking how her life with Dennis had been like a car ride.
They’d started a journey together and reached a destination, but everything in between had been of little consequence. All the places they’d been, the things they’d seen were gone, just like the passing scenery. There was nothing memorable about that journey—except for the children—and that was the part of the ride Dennis wanted to forget.
“This is it.” Lois’s announcement interrupted her musings. The taxi stopped in front of an old brick building in the warehouse district. The only indication there was a club inside was the line of people waiting to gain admission. “Come on. We need to find Shannon and Misti.”
Frannie wasn’t sure how they’d find the other two women in the crowd, but she was glad when they did; being with her women friends was exactly what she needed to push all thoughts of Dennis Harper out of her mind. They moved from club to club, each one a little bit noisier than the previous one, all of them perfect backdrops for the laughter they shared. It felt good to have fun, and when it was time to go home, not even fatigue could stop Frannie from wishing the night wasn’t over.
Their final stop was a twenty-four hour deli where they ate chocolate desserts and rehashed the encounters they’d had that evening. Frannie couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so much, and made a promise that she wasn’t going to let so much time pass before she went out with them again.
She and Lois were both grateful they had Lenny to drive them home. After saying good-night to her sister, Frannie dragged her feet up the walk to the front door. She paid the baby-sitter, then stood on the front porch until the teen was safely in the house next door.
Then she went inside the place that had been home for the past five years. A quick peek into Emma’s room assured her the little girl was asleep. Next she went to the boys’ room and poked her head in to make sure everything was all right. She was about to leave when she remembered the posters. Unable to resist, she tiptoed over to the desk and opened the top drawer.
A small night-light in the shape of a baseball was just strong enough for her to see the stack of flyers. In the near darkness, Dennis’s face stared up at her. She squeezed her eyes shut and didn’t open them again until she’d pushed the drawer shut. Angry for letting her curiosity get the better of her, she quietly left the room.
Later, as she lay in bed, all thoughts of her night out with the girls had vanished. There was only one thing on her mind: Alex’s deadbeat father.
“MOM, LUKE’S BEEN MESSING with my baseball cards again,” Alex cried out in frustration as he stormed into the kitchen, his faux-leather album spread wide so she could see the empty pockets.
“No, I didn’t,” the three-year-old denied.
“Yes, you did,” Alex said, then turned back to his mother.
“I told you to keep them out of his reach,” Frannie said absently, her attention on the negatives she held up to the light.
“They were out of reach,” Alex said in exasperation. “I had them on top of the dresser, but he’s like a monkey, climbing all over the place. You either need to put him in a cage or give me my own room.”
She clicked her tongue in reprobation. “He’s not a monkey, he’s your brother—he doesn’t belong in a cage. And you know you can’t have your own room.”
“So what am I supposed to do? Watch all my stuff get ruined?”
“They’re only dumb old trading cards,” Emma said, standing at the counter buttering her toast.
He shot her a look of disdain. “Go ahead and call them dumb. They’re gonna be worth a lot of money someday.”
Emma grunted in disbelief.
“They are! Trading cards are big business. I heard a guy got a thousand dollars for a Cal Ripken.”
Frannie raised one eyebrow. “Do you have a Cal Ripken?”
“No, but some of my cards will be worth something someday if they’re not all wrecked. Mom, you’ve got to do something. He’s always into everything…my homework, my cards…everything. Can’t I please have my own room?”
“That would mean putting Luke in with Emma,” Frannie said, telling him with her tone what a bad idea that was.
“He can’t. He’s not a girl,” Emma said.
“It’s not fair,” Alex said, slamming his album down on the table. “Luke’s a monster.” It was a comment that caused the three-year-old to chuckle with delight.
“It’s just a stage he’s in,” Frannie said consolingly. “It won’t be long before you’re the best of friends.”
Alex made a sound of disbelief.
“You should read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, ” Emma suggested. “Peter has the same problem with his brother Fudge that you have with Luke.”
“I don’t want to read a book. I want my cards,” Alex demanded.
“Luke, did you take your brother’s baseball cards?” Frannie asked.
Luke giggled again, then ran from the room. When he returned, he clutched two trading cards in his fists. Alex grabbed them from him.
“Books are make-believe,” Alex said to Emma. “This isn’t.” He held up two dog-eared cards for their inspection. “Look! Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter ruined!”
He grabbed his album and was about to stamp out of the kitchen, when Frannie said, “Alex, I’d like to talk to you after you’ve had breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Well, when you are hungry, let me know. I’ll make you some pancakes and you and I will have a heart-to-heart.”
Alex grunted, then slipped out of the kitchen. As he left, Emma called out, “If you want my Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, I’ll loan it to you.”
Frannie didn’t think Alex wanted anything but to be left alone. When Luke would have followed him, she grabbed him by the waist and set him on a chair. “Time to eat.”
“He’s mad, you know,” Emma commented.
“He just needs some time alone,” she told her daughter, but she knew that as soon as she’d fed Luke, she’d see if there wasn’t something else she could do for Alex.
ALEX HEARD HIS SISTER’S VOICE echo through the hallway as he headed for his room. He didn’t care if Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was the best book in the whole wide world. He didn’t want to read about some kid named Peter who had a little brother who messed with his things.
It was bad enough that he had a little brother who messed with his things. And the title of his sister’s favorite book was enough to make him want to bury it at the bottom of his closet. Why would anyone want to read about a kid who thought he was a nothing?
If the title was Tales of a Fourth Grade Somebody, he might read the book, but a fourth grade nothing? No way. He already felt like a big fat nothing when he thought about his dad.
There was knock on his door, and then Alex heard his mother’s voice: “Can I come in?”
He knew she wouldn’t go away until he said yes. Mothers never did. “All right,” he mumbled.
She came in and closed the door behind her, then sat down next to him on the bed. “I’m sorry Luke ruined your cards. Can I buy you new ones?”
He shrugged. “If you can find them.”
“I saw in the paper there’s a trading card show next weekend at the junior high. Would you like to go?”
“You’ll take me?”
“If you want. And you could bring Josh, too.”
“All right.”
“Alex, there’s something else I want to talk about with you.” He could tell by the look on her face that it was serious. “Lois told me you’ve made up the posters you hope will help you find your father.”
He’d figured his aunt would tell her, so he went over to his desk and pulled open a drawer. He removed a single sheet of paper and showed it to her. “Are you mad?”
He thought it was probably a dumb question. She’d already told him a while back that she didn’t think the poster was a good idea.
“You call him a deadbeat.” Her voice was quiet, not angry.
“Because he is. You don’t need to pretend with me, Mom. I heard you and Auntie Lois talking. I know he’s a deadbeat.”
“Then, why look for him?”
“To make him pay. He owes you money. It’s not right that you have to work so much just to pay the bills he should be looking after.”
She slid her arm around his shoulder and squeezed him. “It’s sweet of you to worry about me, but I can take care of the four of us just fine. Are you sure there isn’t another reason why you want to find him?”
“Like what?”
“Maybe you think there’s a possibility that when you find him, things will be different. That your father will want to be a father again.”
“No! That’s not it. I’m not doing this for me, Mom. I told you that. It’s for you and Emma and Luke.”
She gave him another squeeze and said, “Oh, Alex. You really are a very special boy.”
He wanted to believe her. And most of the time he did, but there were those times when he had his doubts. “If I’m so special, why did dad leave?”
As soon as he’d asked the question, he wished he hadn’t, because his mom’s eyes got all watery.
Then she pulled him even closer to her, resting her chin on his head as she said, “It’s nothing you or Emma or Luke did. Your father left because he was missing something inside himself. And it was a big something. It was what tells us that the greatest treasure anyone can ever have is a family to love. So don’t ever think you aren’t special. You were just unfortunate to have a father who wasn’t smart enough to recognize what special is.”
This time she didn’t just give him a hug, but a kiss, too. Right on his forehead. Then she said, “Now how about coming out and letting me make you some pancakes?”
He was hungry. “Oh, all right.” He tried to make it sound as if he really didn’t care about breakfast.
Before they could cross the living room into the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Emma raced to the front window to push aside the curtains so she could see who was standing on the step.
With a screech she cried out, “Oh, my gosh! It’s Gramma!”
CHAPTER TWO
WHAT FRANNIE DIDN’T NEED today of all days was to have her former mother-in-law drop in. “This is a surprise,” she said, although it really shouldn’t have caught her off guard. After all, Arlene Harper had a way of showing up when she was least expected. If there was one word Frannie would use to describe Arlene, it was unpredictable.
“Did you take a taxi from the airport?”
“Oh, I didn’t fly,” Arlene answered. “I drove.”
“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 talk.
Seeing her yawn Frannie said, “The kids can wear you out, can’t they.”
“It’s a nice kind of tired. Alex, Emma and Luke are good kids, Frannie. You’re doing a fine job with them,” she said, taking a seat at the table where Frannie sat folding the laundry.
Frannie smoothed the wrinkles out of a small undershirt. “Thank you, Arlene. I do my best.”
“I know you do. And it shows. Of course, Luke does have quite a temper,” she remarked.
Frannie gave her a smile. “He had a tantrum?”
“I didn’t know kids could arch their backs that way,” she reflected with a weary chuckle.
Frannie grimaced. “I’m sorry if he was a handful.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m a mother, too. I know what kids are like.” She picked up one of Luke’s socks that had fallen out of Frannie’s basket. “I’d forgotten how tiny they make these things.”
Frannie smiled in understanding and continued to fold the clothes. “I appreciate your help with the kids today. They didn’t want to go to the walk-a-thon.”
“And you shouldn’t have to take them with you when you work,” Arlene said as she reached inside the laundry basket for the matching sock.
“Most of my assignments are during the week, and I can drop the kids off at day care if necessary, but on weekends I have to rely on the girl next door. When she’s busy, it means I either have to find someone to cover for me at the paper or bring the kids along.”
“That can’t be easy,” Arlene commented, adding the pair of folded socks to Frannie’s pile.
“No,” she said. “That’s why I’m grateful for what you did today.”
Arlene blew off Frannie’s gratitude with a wave of her hand. “It was nothing. Actually, I’m the one who should be thanking you. You’ve always made me feel welcome here, Frannie, despite everything that’s happened.”
“That’s because you are welcome here,” Frannie said sincerely.
“Thank you. It’s nice to hear you say that, especially when I know you wouldn’t say it if you didn’t mean it. I hope you don’t mind that I want to spend some time here with the children.”
Frannie wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but she didn’t admit her uncertainty. “You said you quit your job?”
“Yes. I wanted to see what it would be like to be footloose and fancy free.” She smiled reflectively. “I discovered I like it. Now I know why women marry money.”
“Money isn’t everything.” Frannie recited the familiar refrain she’d used hundreds—maybe thousands—of times in the past few years.
“No, but it makes life a bit less stressful,” Arlene said.
“Is that why you’re looking so relaxed? Because you’ve come into some money?”
A self-satisfied grin spread Arlene’s lips. “I’m here because I’ve had some very good luck recently and I want to share it with you and the children.”
“What kind of luck?”
“Do you remember me talking about Martha Ball?”
“That sweet little old lady who lives down the hall from you?”
Arlene nodded. “I used to pick up her groceries for her, take her to the beauty shop once a week…you know, those kinds of things. She had such bad arthritis that it was difficult for her to get around.”
“Had?”
A sadness came into Arlene’s eyes. “She passed away a couple of months ago.”
Frannie placed a hand on Arlene’s arm. “I’m so sorry. I know you were fond of her.”
“Yes, she was a dear. And a bit of a gambler. She used to look forward to me coming over so we could play penny-ante poker.” Arlene shook her head, a nostalgic twinkle in her eye. “All those years we played for pennies…I had no idea how much she was actually worth.”
“She had a lot of money?”
“Oh, yes, and no family to share it with. That’s why when she died she left everything to the people she said had been the kindest to her.”
“And you were one of them?”
Again she nodded. “There weren’t many people who took the time to visit her. Just a handful of us who stopped in to play cards. None of us expected to get anything. Heck, we all thought she was one step from poverty. We’d often let her win just to give her a few extra bucks.” She chuckled at the memory.