Age Before Beauty (18 page)

“I’m looking for someone to give me a hand with the auction Joan and I are doing next week. Maybe she mentioned it to you?”

He’d heard Allie and Joan talking about some sort of fund-raiser thing going on at their church, but he hadn’t paid much attention. “What kind of help?”

“I need someone with a truck and a strong back to give me a hand moving some furniture that’s been donated. Can’t get much in the trunk of my old Probe.”

Eric got that request a lot. Having a pickup was like an open invitation every time someone moved or bought something big. He didn’t mind. “When do you want to do it?”

“Tomorrow night, if that’s okay. It’s the only night this week I’ll be off.”

Thursday night … Allie mentioned something about a party or a meeting or something. Mother probably wouldn’t mind watching Joanie for a couple hours. “No problem. I’ll get off around five. You want to come by the dispatch office and we’ll go from there?”

“Sounds good. Thanks. See you then.”

Eric pressed End and took the earpiece out of his ear, then downshifted as he turned into their neighborhood. The clock read just after five and already he saw several small groups of kids running from house to house up and down the street with bulging bags clutched in their hands. He remembered Mother making him finish his dinner before she’d let him go trick-or-treating when he was a kid. These days it made sense to get home before dark, which was a shame. The world wasn’t as safe anymore. Even a small town like Danville had its share of crime, though thankfully it wasn’t as bad here as in the bigger cities like Lexington or Louisville. That’s one reason he and Allie had chosen to live here.

He pulled into the driveway and got out of the truck. A brisk wind blew across the grass, stirring up the earthy smell of fallen leaves. The weather was cold enough to wear coats and jackets, but he didn’t see many on the neighborhood children. Who wanted to cover up their costume with a coat? A group of kids brushed by him as they ran up the front sidewalk and climbed the porch steps. The door opened, and Allie stepped outside, a big bowl of candy in her hand and a wide smile plastered across her face. Eric watched as she exclaimed over the costumes and dropped candy into each bag. She was so great with kids, and she obviously liked them. Why didn’t she want to stay home and be a full-time mom to Joanie?

The kids left their house and ran across the yard to the one next door. Allie smiled, waiting for Eric as he walked up the porch steps.

“You should have seen the last group,” she told him. “There was this tiny little boy in a cowboy hat almost as big as he was. It kept falling over his eyes.” She slipped her free arm around him. “In a couple of years, we’ll get to take Joanie.” Her eyes sparkled.

Eric kissed her. “It sure is good to have you here when I get home.”

She stiffened and stepped away, her expression suddenly cold.

“What?” He spread his hands. “What did I say?”

“Why do you have to start out by taking a shot at my job?”

Eric shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I was just saying it’s good to see you.”

“That’s not what you said.”

Why was she so touchy lately? He couldn’t say a word without setting her off.

“Well, that’s what I meant, but I don’t mean it anymore.” His voice came out louder than he intended.

Allie’s gaze dropped as she looked at something behind him. He whirled to find three preteens dressed like punk rockers standing a few feet away. They stared at him through eyes as round as giant gum balls. Great. Here they were, standing on the front porch and shouting at each other in front of the neighbor kids. He clenched his jaw and turned back to Allie.

“You have customers,” he said through gritted teeth as he stepped by her into the house.

Allie came from the nursery into the living room and slipped onto the center couch cushion beside Eric. Joanie had just finished her last meal of the evening and was fast asleep in her crib. Betty’s bedroom door was closed. The television played some stupid sports game, of course, but Allie chose to ignore the rise of frustration when Eric didn’t take his gaze from the screen. She saw his jaw bunch, so she knew he was still angry with her.

She had to admit he had a right to be. She stared at the television without seeing anything on the screen, super aware of Eric’s tense body beside her. She had been a shrew this evening, defensive because she’d just realized how far in debt she’d gone. His comment about having her at home rubbed her the wrong way, and she snapped before she thought.

She steeled herself, then said the words she found so hard. “I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion earlier and barked at you.”

He didn’t look at her. “You didn’t jump to the wrong conclusion.”

Allie narrowed her eyelids. “You mean you were taking a potshot at my job?”

His voice sounded as tight as his jaw. “I didn’t think so at the time. Now …” He turned his head to look at her. “Yeah, I think I was. I’ll admit it. I don’t like your job. I wish you’d quit.”

Allie forced herself to remain calm. At least he was looking at her and not the stupid television. “I thought you said you supported me in this. I thought you understood how important it is to me.”

“I thought so, too, before I knew what it was going to be like.” He cocked his head and his voice lost a touch of its hardness. “Allie, I thought you wanted to stay home with Joanie instead of taking her to a babysitter.”

“I do! She isn’t in daycare, is she?”

“Only because my mother is here.” Eric glanced toward the bedroom door and lowered his voice. “You’re taking advantage of her. I don’t think you even want Mother to leave anymore.”

Allie leaned away from him, hurt. “You’re taking just as much advantage of her as I am. You let her fix breakfast for you every morning and pack your lunch like you were ten years old. You’ve asked her to watch Joanie a couple of times too. The deal was that I’d stay with the baby during the day and you’d watch her at night when I had a party or a meeting. You left her with your mother Tuesday night while you went to Molly’s house.” She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice as she spoke Molly’s name, but she didn’t entirely succeed.

If he heard her tone, Eric chose to ignore it. “You’re gone most nights before I get home, so if Mother wasn’t here, you’d have to hire a babysitter.”

“My mother—”

“Has a job and a life. You can’t expect her to arrange her life around your party schedule.” Allie opened her mouth to react to his wording, but he held up a hand. “Sorry. Your
work
schedule. And you’re right, I did tell you I supported you in this job. That was before I knew that I was going to lose my wife.”

“You haven’t lost your wife.” Allie couldn’t hold his gaze. This was the first night she’d been home this week.

“Yes, I have. You might be a stay-at-home mom during the day, but you’re not a stay-at-home wife.” He covered her hand with his, and Allie felt his warmth seeping into her cold fingers. “You know I want you to stay home all the time, but if you insist on working, I wish you’d go back to your job at the state. At least then Joanie would get to see both of her parents at the same time.”

She moved her hand away. Why did she even tell him about Gina putting her on a leave of absence status? Better if she’d kept her mouth shut.

Should she give up on Varie Cose? Put Joanie in daycare and return to the steady paycheck? She’d have to come clean about her debt to Eric, and they’d take a huge loss financially. And what would she do with all that expensive inventory?

No. She couldn’t. She was too far into Varie Cose to quit now.

She raised her head and locked eyes with Eric. “I can’t quit. I’ve put so much work into this business. I’m making a lot of progress. Things will calm down once I’ve established a good client base and gotten a few people signed up as consultants under me. I won’t have to do as many parties then, because I’ll get a percentage of their sales. That’s where most of Sally Jo’s income comes from.”

Eric held her gaze, and for a moment Allie saw the same sadness in the depths of his eyes that she saw so often in Betty’s.

“I hope so, Allie.”

The slow way he shook his head before he turned back to the television shot a chill through Allie. She had never heard her upbeat husband sound so pessimistic. His tone reminded her of …

She stood abruptly. “I’m going to bed.”

He spoke without looking up. “I’ll be there in a while.”

Allie fought against tears as she closed the bedroom door. For a minute there, Eric sounded just like her father. She rested her forehead on the door, her throat tight. From now on, she needed to focus on signing up new consultants instead of just booking parties. She had to pay off her debt and become profitable soon.

16

On Thursday morning Allie did laundry. It was the one household task Betty hadn’t taken over. Though she had offered, Allie refused. There were limits to her comfort level in the household tasks she gave up into her mother-in-law’s eager hands. Washing her underwear was one of them.

As she folded the last of Eric’s T-shirts and placed it at the top of the neat stack on her bed, the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock. Darcy called earlier and asked if she had any four-ounce bottles of Stay Clean Spray. A customer wanted one quickly.

She tossed a burp pad over her shoulder and picked Joanie up off the bed. “Come on, sweetie pie. Maybe Darcy brought a friend for you to play with.”

Sure enough, Darcy stood on the doorstep with her baby in her arms. At least, Allie assumed there was a baby bundled in the giant wad of blankets she carried. As Allie opened the door, a cold breeze swooped into the house. She stepped sideways so Joanie was behind the door, protected from the wind.

Darcy rushed inside. “Brrr. It’s cold out there. I think it’s going to snow soon.”

Allie shut the door behind her. “I wouldn’t be surprised, but it won’t stick. Not yet, anyway.”

Darcy peeled off a couple of layers of blanket and dropped them in the chair. Beneath them Brandon was still invisible inside a puffy winter coat with a hood and built-in mittens. When Darcy turned him in her arms to face Allie and Joanie, his little face peeked adorably at them from within the hood.

Allie held Joanie against her torso and pointed. “Look who’s here, Joanie. Brandon came over to visit.”

Joanie could care less. She didn’t seem to notice the little boy, but Brandon sure noticed her. A smile lit his face, and he let out an ear-piercing screech.

Darcy winced. “He’s started doing that in the last week. I know it’s a growth phase, but I wish he’d get over it.”

Betty emerged from the depths of the guest room and stopped just behind the chair nearest the doorway. She watched them in her expressionless way.

Allie did the introductions. “Betty, this is my friend Darcy and her son, Brandon. Darcy, this is my mother-in-law, Betty Harrod.”

Darcy smiled and dipped her head. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Harrod.”

Betty inclined her own head, then looked at Allie. “Would you girls like a cup of tea or hot chocolate? I got sugar free at the store the other day. Only fifty calories per eight-ounce serving.”

Determined not to take offense, Allie smiled. “That was nice of you. Darcy, can you stay for a few minutes?”

“Sure. A cup of tea sounds great. Thanks.”

Betty turned. “I’ll put the kettle on.”

Did they even own a kettle? Allie couldn’t remember one, but Betty disappeared into the kitchen and a second later Allie heard water running.

“Get Brandon out of his coat and I’ll grab your spray.”

Allie went into the bedroom to her inventory shelves. Her desk was much cleaner than when Joan saw it last. All the paperwork had been either scanned and discarded or filed in one of the hanging folders in the bottom drawer. Her sister would be proud of her organization.

“Hey, Darcy,” she called. “Come in here a minute. I want to show you something.”

Darcy stepped into the room with Brandon on her hip. Her eyes moved as she took in the room and especially all the product stacked neatly on the shelves. “Wow. You’re going to catch up with Sally Jo soon.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Allie knew her tone sounded dry. “Come over here and let me show you the database I built. It stores all my customer information, expenses, and sales.” Allie walked her through the entry screens and pulled up a couple of reports.

Clearly impressed, Darcy eyed the scanned version of a customer sales receipt. “So you’re not even going to keep the paper ones?”

Allie shook her head. “No need to. I can always print a copy if I want. Same with packing slips and all that.”

“Doesn’t Varie Cose’s system keep track of all that for you?”

“Some of it, but they don’t track sales by customer. And of course they don’t track business expenses besides product orders, like office supplies. I can enter all those into my database, and in one report I can see every cent I’ve spent right alongside every cent I’ve taken in.”

“It’s impressive.” Darcy turned an admiring glance her way. “I can barely turn a computer on.”

“It’s really not that hard. It only took me about a day, and it’s going to help me stay organized. Plus, it’ll save so much time.” She basked a moment in Darcy’s admiration, then pulled a bottle off the shelf. “Here’s your spray.”

“Thanks. Let me get my checkbook.”

They went into the kitchen and sat at the table while Betty moved around the kitchen getting cups and tea bags. Allie couldn’t help but notice that she set the sugar bowl in front of Darcy, but placed a small box of Splenda in front of her.

Darcy noticed too. She nodded toward it. “Are you dieting?”

Allie twisted her lips in a grimace. “Sort of. I’m trying to fit back into my prebaby jeans. It’s not looking very hopeful at the moment.” She lifted her free hand to pat Joanie’s back. “I put on a lot of weight with this one.”

There. It didn’t sound too awful to admit it out loud.

Darcy nodded sympathetically. “I know what you mean. I gained seventy pounds with Brandon.”

Allie gave a low whistle. “Seventy pounds?” She tilted her head to look at Darcy’s trim figure. “You sure don’t look like it.”