Storybook Romance

“Yeah, my dad said he was as skinny as me when he was my age,” Rory said. “And he’s all muscle now.” Rory’s dad, Vern, had been on the Bygones police force for years, but had lost his job recently due to budget cuts brought on when Randall Manufacturing had closed its doors. Sam had a feeling Rory was struggling with more than just his falling grades, which was one of the reasons Sam hoped Rory would be willing to attend Allison’s creative-writing workshops.

“Coach, your order’s ready,” Velma said. She had a colorful scarf wrapped around her neck and some kind of feather thingies hanging in her long hair, which she had pulled back at her nape.

“Great.” Sam picked up the fries and drinks. “Thanks, Velma.” He turned his gaze to the two boys. “You two stay out of trouble, all right?”

Both Rory and Scott nodded. “Sure thing, Coach.”

Man, he never got tired of being called Coach. He loved working with kids, influencing them to make good choices. “See you at practice tomorrow after school.” Sam carried the order back to the table and set it down. “Fry alert,” he announced.

With happy squeals, the kids dug in.

Sam scrunched in next to Allison, his leg lightly touching hers under the small table that was obviously designed for four regular-size people and not four plus one six-foot-three-inch man. She didn’t try to scoot away, so he tried not to let her proximity get to him. However, obviously Allison wasn’t a kid anymore; she was an attractive woman. He’d have to have ice water in his veins not to notice that.

Nicky and Rosie kept eating the fries with gusto, holding up each one before they ate it to compare the length; it was a game they played in search of the longest one.

Sam helped himself to a slice of pizza, having to touch Allison’s arm in the process, and his breathing hitched just a bit at the contact. To cover up his reaction, he started munching on his pizza.

“Do you ever feed them?” Allison said with a slanted eyebrow, her eyes on the fry-eating machines.

“Once in a while, when I remember,” he quipped before he popped a fry in his mouth.

“These are yummy,” Rosie said, dipping a fry in ketchup, then gobbling it up.

“Okay, I have to try one of these delish fries,” Allison said, picking one up. She held it up. “Okay, kids, with ketchup or without?”

“With!” Nicky and Rosie said in unison.

Allison dipped and then made a big show of eating.

“Sam, you might have to get another order,” Viv said.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” he replied. He eyed the pizza. “Doesn’t look like they’re interested in that right now.” He got up and ordered some more fries.

The lively conversation kept up while everyone ate, and Sam found himself very conscious of the woman sitting next to him. Allison laughed and joked around with the kids, and had them both giggling with her stories about Sam when he was a teenager.

Toward the end of the meal, she gently wiped Nicky’s pizza hands and ketchup-ringed mouth with a napkin. Sam watched, impressed; her motherly streak with someone else’s children was something to behold.

When the pile of fries and three-quarters of the pizza were gone and the kids were relatively clean, he, Viv and Allison started clearing the table. Nicky and Rosie chased each other, pretending they were wild puppies.

Allison looked at them. “It would be a really nice night for a trip to Bronson Park to play, don’t you think?” Bronson Park, named for the two Bronson brothers who’d founded the town, was located just behind the Everything and had an old-fashioned gazebo, playground, basketball court and a pond complete with numerous duck families.

“I love the park!” Nicky said between play woofs as he ran by. “Let’s go!”

“Me, too.” Rosie clapped as she ran by, hot on Nicky’s heels, Viv’s bracelet glinting on her upper arm. “I want to swing.”

“Well, then, let’s go,” Allison said. “If it’s okay with your dad.”

He looked at his watch; the twins’ bedtime was creeping up fast. “I don’t know...”

“Tired kids are happy kids, and that makes for a happy parent,” Allison said. “Besides, after a long day at work, I could use a turn on the swings myself. How about you, Viv?”

“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to take a rain check,” Viv replied. “I have some paperwork at home I have to get done tonight.”

Allison’s eyes widened. “Oh, okay.” After an awkward pause, she regarded Sam, her hands shoved into the back pockets of her jeans. “So. How about it?” Her gaze strayed to the human puppies. “Looks like the kids could use a trip to the park to burn off some energy.”

He paused for a second. He usually stuck pretty close to the children’s schedule when he had them, firmly believing a strict routine was better for everyone. But they were pretty wound up right now, and some extra playtime would probably mean a quieter night later on. Was there a better reason for accepting Allison’s invitation?

“Sure, we can go for a while,” he said, telling himself his agreement was all about the kids having fun and tuckering themselves out.

And had nothing whatsoever to do with wanting to spend more time with one all-grown-up and very intriguing Allison True.

Chapter Four (#ud32bb975-7aa4-505c-a9ef-2574d041cbaa)

“Look how high I can go!” Nicky squealed. “Higher, higher!”

“I can go as high as Nicky,” Rosie cried. “Higher, Daddy, higher.”

Sam gave Rosie another push, then gave Allison a wry smile. “Looks like we have ourselves a little competition here.”

She pushed Nicky and returned Sam’s smile. “When you were a kid, did you ever wish you could go so high you’d go all the way around on the swing?”

“Of course.” He pushed Rosie again, a bit harder, yet still lightly. In actuality, they weren’t going high at all, except from a three-year-old’s perspective. “Doesn’t everybody wish that?”

“Good point,” Allison replied. “The swings were always my favorite. The monkey bars came in a close second.”

“I always liked the slide,” Sam replied. “We used to have races to see who could get in the most trips down during recess.”

“We did that, too,” Allison said. A breeze kicked up and blew her long, dark hair around her face. Between pushing Nicky, she tried to corral the errant strands.

Sam couldn’t help but notice her profile, complete with perfect nose and high cheekbones. She really was pretty, but her appeal went much deeper than simple good looks. He’d seen through her interactions with the twins that Allison possessed a kind and good heart, as well as a compassionate nature.

“Daddy, I’m gonna play in the sandbox,” Rosie said, pointing at the large, wood-sided sandbox embedded in the grass to their left.

He caught her and stopped her forward motion. “Okay, honey. You want to go play in the sandbox, Nicky?” Gingerly, he lifted her off the swing.

“Yes, sandbox!” Nicky shouted.

“Okay, bud.” Allison grabbed Nicky and brought him to a stop and lifted him to the ground. “There you go.”

Both kids ran off and plunked themselves down in the sandbox.

Sam turned to Allison and an idea hit him. “You want me to push you on the swing?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” With a bright smile, she went around to the front of the swing and sat down in the black rubber seat. “Let’s make this baby fly,” she said, looking back over her shoulder at him, her eyes sparkling like ocean-blue jewels. She flicked her feet at the cedar chips on the ground to get herself moving. “Maybe I’ll go all the way around!”

Her excitement was contagious. “Let’s see what we can do about that.” As she swung backward, he grabbed the swing’s chains down low and pulled, putting his back into it. “Here we go.”

She was light as a feather, so it wasn’t hard to pull her up and back a long way, until her feet were off the ground. He held her there and leaned in close to her. “You ready?”