After I Fall (14 page)

She nodded and a smile fought its way onto her lips. “I think that sounds fun. I’ll call Mason and let him know.”

“I have an enormous favor to ask of you,” Mom said as she breezed into the pool house. Her insanely high stilettos clacked against the tile floor. Her evening gown probably cost more than my first car. The one that I sold when I moved here.

“Mom,” I grumbled.

Eric had just walked in my door. We were two minutes into a conversation, trying to decide what we should do for the evening.

“Well, hello. You must be Eric,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” Eric gave her a polite nod.

She smiled at him, blinked, and then turned back to me.

“Sweetheart, I hate to ask. I know you have plans for tonight. But I’m in a bit of a bind.” Her tone was already pleading.

“What?” I hesitantly asked. I knew it had to be something big if she’d bothered herself with traipsing down here in all of her elegant glory.

“You know that we have the fundraiser for the new library tonight,” she started.

I nodded, hoping she wasn’t going to insist at the last moment that I tag along. It would be just like her to try to sabotage my night with Eric. “I know.”

“The sitter canceled on us. Just now!” she exclaimed. “Apparently she has the flu. She said it came on suddenly. I suppose I should be glad she didn’t become ill while she was here. It does cause a dilemma though. It’s too late to try to find someone decent. Phillip and I really ought to be walking out the door at any moment.”

She looked at me imploringly.

I groaned. “Mom.”

“Just this once?” she asked. “Just this once would you please watch the twins?”

“Just this once?” I parroted. “I watch them all the time!”

“This is different,” Mom argued. “I’ve never asked you to watch them during the evening before. Besides, you were just planning on sticking around the house tonight anyway, weren’t you?”

I shook my head. “We haven’t decided what we’re doing yet.”

“Perfect!” She said, as though the matter were suddenly settled. “I realize you have your…friend over. But maybe you could reschedule?” she asked hopefully. She looked to Eric. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

As if he would refute her, especially when he was completely put on the spot like that. It was this attribute of my mother’s that I hated the most. The way she sounded as though she were asking how you feel, when really, it was clear that she was telling you how to feel.

Before he could answer, I cut in. “
If
I watch the girls, Eric is staying.” I turned to him and frowned. “If you want to, I mean. You don’t have to stay. Or I really don’t have to watch them at all. We
did
have plans.”

“I don’t mind,” he said quietly. I tried to read any hint of hesitation on his face, a nonverbal cue that my mother would miss. All I saw was his easy-going smile.

I raised my eyebrows in silent question. He reached out and squeezed my hand. “It’s fine. Really.”

“Be up to the house in two minutes,” Mom said. “Phillip and I need to get a move on.”

She was out the door without a thank you. Not that I needed one, but I would’ve appreciated it if she’d given that acknowledgement to Eric.

“You’re positive you don’t mind?”

He shook his head but grimaced a bit. “I doubt I’ll be a lot of help. I’ve never been around kids before.”

I laughed. “Oh, trust me. They won’t care. But don’t worry. I’ll watch them, you can just hang out. We better get up there. Don’t want to upset the tyrant.”

“Aw,” Eric said lightly, “she wasn’t that bad.”

I made a face at him and he just smiled and shrugged.

By the time we reached the house, Mom was bustling around, her high heels assaulting the tile floor. She was giving last minute instructions to the twins about their bedtime and their behavior.

“Nice to see you again,” Phillip said as we slipped into the foyer.

“You too, sir,” Eric replied.

“EmLynn, Eric, we truly appreciate you putting your date on hold for this. I have to give a speech tonight, or I would just skip it altogether,” Phillip explained.

“It’s fine,” I assured him.

“We need to go!” Mom said as she hurried to the door.

Phillip pulled it open for her. She slipped out.

He hesitated a moment, “Oh, I almost forgot. I took the liberty of ordering a pizza for dinner. It should be here soon. The girls haven’t eaten yet. I left money on the kitchen counter.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “You two have fun.”

The girls shrieked in the other room.

“Yes, you too,” Phillip said with a grin.

A grumbling of thunder rumbled across the sky. Phillip let out a sigh. “Your mother is going to be furious if it starts to rain and she ruins her dress.”

“Good luck with that,” I said with a grin.

“I’ll need it,” he assured me.

“
Phillip
!?” my mother shouted.

He gave us a quick wave and was gone.

The girls’ laughter floated down the hallway.

“What’s going on in here?” I asked as I marched into the den, hands on hips, stern look on my face.

They both froze, mid-bounce on the sofa, and then they toppled down onto the cushions.

“Madison. Natalie,” I said firmly. “You both know better than that. No jumping on the couch.”

“Sorry,” Natalie said as she hung her head in shame.

Madison said nothing. She was too busy eyeing Eric up. “I know you!” she finally said. “Em gave you a ride one day.”

“She did,” Eric agreed. “My name is Eric. What’s your name?”

“I’m Madison. That’s my sister, Natalie,” she said as she poked a finger in our sister’s direction. “I’m the big sister,” she informed him.

“By eleven minutes,” I clarified.

The doorbell rang.

“Oh, I bet that’s that pizza. Do you mind watching them for like, two minutes?” I asked Eric.

“Go ahead,” he said as he warily eyed the girls.

I gave his arm a squeeze. “Don’t worry. They don’t bite. I’ll hurry.”

I scurried out of the room. I could’ve had Eric pay but I realized he didn’t know where the kitchen was. I answered the door and apologized when I had to ask the delivery man to hold on for a minute. I scampered off to the kitchen, found the money that Phillip had left and hurried back.

I paid, letting him keep all the change for a tip. He grinned at me as he handed over two familiar looking pizza boxes. I was sure one held a combination deep dish, the other an apple crumble dessert pizza.

When I made my way back into the den, Eric was seated on the couch with Natalie. She looked up at me with big, curious eyes.

“Natalie can be really shy,” I said. “Don’t be offended if she doesn’t warm up to you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize. We’ve been playing rock-paper-scissors. She didn’t seem all that shy.”

Natalie giggled and I made a silly face at her.

“You warmed up to Eric right away, did you?”

She laughed. “He’s not very good at that game.”

I turned to him. He smiled and winked at me. I had a hunch he was better at the game than he let on.

I set the pizzas down on the coffee table. “I forgot plates. Are you okay for another minute?”

He nodded and I hurried off to get them. When I came back Eric was leaning forward on the couch, one hand protectively resting on the pizzas.

“Madison,” I started, “you know you can’t start eating until you have a napkin and a plate. Those are Mom’s rules. Otherwise she might not let us keep eating in here.” The den was the only room in the house besides the kitchen and dining area where food was allowed.

By the time the pizza was eaten and the dishes were stacked in the dishwasher, the storm had arrived. The girls had insisted on following me into the kitchen. Neither of them liked storms, and they were both terrified of thunder. Luckily I didn’t have much cleaning to do in the kitchen because they were constantly attached to my side.

“Do you know what I used to do when I was scared?” Eric asked when we made it back to the den.

Natalie shook her head and looked up at him through her messy mop of curls.

“Can you find me a big blanket and I’ll show you?”

Natalie glanced at the doorway, clearly hesitant. Finding a blanket would mean that she’d have to leave the room. I was about to offer to find one but Madison beat me to it.

“Come on Natalie,” Madison said as she took our sister’s hand. “I’ll go with you and we’ll hurry.”

The two of them scampered out of the den. Minutes later they came back, each holding a corner of the comforter from Madison’s bed. They dragged it along behind them.

“Will this work?” Natalie asked Eric.

“It’s perfect,” he assured her. “This is what you do.”

I watched with a smile as he shifted the furniture around just a bit. He tossed the large comforter over the top of the couch and a chair, creating a tent for the girls. They squealed in delight when they realized what he was doing.

I couldn’t help smiling, too.

“Is it ready?” Madison asked.

“Pretty much. I used to stuff it full of all of my favorite things,” Eric admitted. “I had a favorite pillow and blanket. I had a favorite stuffed animal. And—”

“What was his name?” Natalie demanded.

“What? Who?” Eric asked.

“Your favorite stuffed animal,” she clarified.

“Oh, his name was Bear. He was a stuffed bear named Bear,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Madison and Natalie found that little snippet of information oddly amusing. They both giggled shrilly. When the next round of thunder hit, Natalie was so distracted she didn’t even notice.

“Sometimes,” Eric continued, “if the electricity went out, I’d find a flashlight and a book. I’d read until the storm passed.”

“I like to read!” Natalie announced.

“You can’t read yet!” Madison corrected.

“Madison, Natalie likes books. She loves looking at the pictures and having someone read her a story,” I gently reminded her.

“But she can’t
read
,” Madison pouted.

“I know some words,” Natalie argued.

She knew very few, but I wasn’t going to point that out.

“I know some words
too
!” Madison said. She frowned as she looked at me. “What does cadoodling mean?” Her face was puckered in curiosity, her nose wrinkled and her forehead creased.

Eric choked out a laugh and I stifled a giggle of my own.

“What?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face. “Do you mean canoodling?”

She nodded.

“Why are asking?”

“Because when Mommy was on the phone she said that it was a disgrace that you were cadoodling with the help.”

My laughter froze somewhere deep in my chest and in that moment I realized that Eric’s had stopped too.

“Mommy said that you’re just being rebellious. She said—”

“Madison,” I said sharply.

Her face fell into a frown. “Mommy said—”

“
Madison
.”

This time she looked at me with a scowl.

“Maybe you should let her finish what she has to say,” Eric suggested. His tone was quiet but his words rang loudly in my ears.

Her words came out in a jumbled rush. “Mommysaidhe’saphase.”

“Well sometimes mommies are wrong and sometimes they say things they shouldn’t say,” I said, keeping my tone light.

Natalie’s eyes grew big and round. “Even our Mommy?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Especially our mother
, I thought.

“Yes, even our mom,” I said in a tight voice.

“Was Mommy bad?” Madison asked. She looked gleeful at the thought.

“You know what girls? It’s getting late! Who wants a story?”

“I want a story,” Natalie answered.

“I want to play in the tent!” Madison argued. “It just got made!”

“Okay, you two play in the tent for awhile,” I said. I didn’t care if they stayed up for a bit longer. I’d just wanted a subject change.

As they both giggled and scrambled inside, Eric caught my eye.

Though I maybe had changed the subject momentarily, I could tell he wasn’t ready to let it drop completely.

*   *   *

“Thank you,” I said to Eric.

“It was no problem,” he assured me as we dropped down onto the couch.

The girls had finally fallen asleep. In the tent, no less. Eric had carried Natalie up to bed while I carried Madison. I’d tucked them both in and now we finally had a little bit of time to ourselves.

“I don’t mean just carrying Natalie up to bed. I meant for the whole night,” I explained. “I know this wasn’t exactly what we planned on doing.