Package Deal (58 page)

“She
said
she
tol
d you
no kisses
on t
he first date. I’ll bet you did
anyway. And
when Cece took me to walk on campus with her the other day
—to the soccer field
—
she and
Sam pointed out that other man,
the
very
tall
one in your department,
Ethan
or
Alvin
or Edward
something-or-other. You should have seen the
college girl
s
ogling
him when he walked by. I’m sur
prised you didn’t go after him. H
e reminded me so much of Dylan
with his blond
hair and good looks
—”

Amanda
brushed
a
hand across her face.
“
Mother, s
top
! I’m not interested in Evan
Workman
. I’m just trying
…” she gulped, “
I’m just trying
to make a secure life for Cece—”

“Then do that.
Sh
e
n
ee
d
s a fath
e
r. Find som
e
on
e
who’
s not afraid of gaining a r
e
ady-mad
e
family.
Th
os
e
handsom
e
on
e
s ar
e
always
too much into th
e
ir own n
ee
d
s.
They never think of others.
And if he can’t even tell you he loves you, then—
well,
then t
hat Marcus f
e
llow isn’t th
e
on
e
for you!”

At the sound of the dial tone,
Amanda
managed to
put the phone
back in its cradle
before she broke down and
let
her
tears fall unheeded onto the kitchen table.

Two days after arriving
hom
e
from th
e
workshop
, Marcus
finished his report to the granting agency, and stacked his proposal for next year on his desk.He gri
nned as he thought back on how
well
the workshop had been received
. H
e
toss
e
d
his cloth
e
s in th
e
washing machin
e
and w
alked
into th
e
kitch
e
n
, aware that he needed
groceries
.
W
hat was Amanda doing this week? S
till showing her mother around? Or had
the woman
left
already
? He wanted to call, but did not want to interfere in what he knew
to be
a touchy relationship between
Amanda
and her mother.
Th
e
lon
e
appl
e
in th
e
r
e
frig
e
rator n
e
xt to a box
containing
two
dried-up
pi
e
c
e
s of pizza r
e
fl
e
ct
e
d
his mood.H
e
didn’
t want to b
e
alon
e
, but h
e
couldn’
t g
e
t past
the fact that the situation was far from resolved with Cecelia.

When
he
’d
called Amanda’s house
after
Cecelia had cried
on the porch
and she
answ
e
r
e
d
, h
e
hung up
without identifying himself
. Th
e
s
e
cond tim
e
,
the little girl
hung up
on him
wh
e
n h
e
ask
e
d
to sp
e
ak to Amanda.
H
e
pick
e
d
up th
e
phon
e
to
try
on
e
mor
e
tim
e
then
thought b
e
tt
e
r of it.
If
Amanda’s moth
e
r was
still
th
e
r
e
, he didn’t want to have to identify himself to her
. H
e
had h
e
ard
e
nough about h
e
r r
e
action to Amanda’s pr
e
gnancy that h
e
didn’t w
ant to
stir that po
t
…
for Amanda’s sake
. H
e
at
e
th
e
appl
e
and toss
e
d
th
e
cor
e
in th
e
wast
e
can
along with the pizza slices
b
e
for
e
h
e
ading
into his bedroom
. H
e
lay
down
,
his
thoughts
filled with
Amanda, his body r
e
acting as if sh
e
w
e
r
e
lying n
e
xt to him
, as she had
every evening during the
workshop
. H
e
swor
e
to hims
e
lf, got up, turn
e
d
on th
e
show
e
r and stay
e
d
und
e
r th
e
stinging str
e
ams until
the cold water had him shivering.

The next day,
he called Evie again.

“What is it this time?” she asked.

“I need—that is, I was wondering if you could help me figure out how to handle Cece.”

“Did you talk to Amanda?”

“Yes, and I told I love
d
he
r and she seemed to accept that,
except that I
’ve
still
got
to
talk to Cece. S
he has to hear me say it
. I don’t think
it’s enough
that
Amanda tells her what I said.”

“Now you’re talking.”
She hummed into the phone for a minute. “What does she do—that is, Cecelia—when Amanda’s in class?”

“Mostly, Amanda has a babysitter for her. She won’t leave her alone
, if that’s what you mean. T
hen there’s Skipper. He sleeps on the end of Cecelia’s bed.”

“Skipper?”

“The dog, a little terrier mix. Cute as can be and Cecelia’s best pal. He seemed to like me—before—but for all I know, Cecelia’s probably teaching him to go for my ankles if I dare to show up at their house again.”

“Hm
m
.”

“Evie, what do I do?”

“
Give me a minute, Marc,
I’m thinking.
” He heard her moving something around.“
I suppose you could always write her a letter
or maybe a story. The two of you have read stories together. Maybe that will get her attention
.” She hummed a bit. “
Does she walk the dog?”

“Every day.”

“Does Amanda go with her when she does that?”

“Not always. The last time they went to the dog park, she told me she stayed in the car and worked on an article she’s been writing.”

“Then why don’t you go to the dog park? Maybe if the girl sees you there, she’ll talk to you.”

“But I don’t have a dog.”

“Marcus
Dunbar
, you graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illi
nois!Use that brain of yours. I
f you need a dog to
visit the dog park, borrow one.
”

He blinked.
“Why
didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you
are a man—with a one-track mind.
”

Later that week
,
Marcus walked through the woods to the dog park. Ten
animal
s were occupying the fenced area, their owners scattered along the edges, in clusters of two
or three,
or singly. Cecelia and Skipper were not among them.

After a ha
lf-hour in the sun, Marcus rose
and walked past the dog park again. He saw Skipper on the far edge of the enclosure making friends with a large black
dog
. Cecelia was talking to
a
young boy standing next to
a man who had to be
his father. When the dogs moved away from their owners, Marcus
spotted
Janet s
itting on a
bench near the water fountains.
Skipper saw him and approached,
wagging his stump of a tail
.

“Hi, Skipper,” he called out, hoping Cecelia would approach him.

Instead, she called
the dog
, who ran back to
her
. Cecelia
followed
Skipper as he raced
to the other
side of the enclosure.

Marcus rose and moved to another bench closer to the trees
,
out of the sun. Another man joined him.

“Who do you belong to?”
Marcus asked.

“That little Scottie over there by the terrier. My daughter loves that dog. Usually my wife brings them here. I had
some
free time this afternoon and told her I would do it.”

The Scottie raced over to the man on the bench.

“I guess your dog is telling you he wants to go home.”

“That c
ould be. Annie!”

A girl about six years old trotted after her dog. Her dark braids hung halfway down her back, ribbons trailing at their ends. Behind her walked Cecelia.

When
Cecelia
saw
Marcus
,
her face darkened into a scowl and she turned away.
“Annie, I’ll see you
later
,” she called over her shoulder. “Skipper! It’s time to go home.”

Three days later
, Marcus
returned
to the dog park. He sat on a bench well away
from
the trees and watched as the dogs and their owners moved around the enclosure
. Their
action
s reminded him of race horses running free around an oval
. Cecelia was there with Skipper.
A large
d
oberman was leading several of the dogs in a race from the far end of the park to the upper
corner
.The sun warmed
Marcus’
back and
, after several minutes,
he closed his eyes.