The Dad Next Door

“If you’re thinking of hiring someone to consult on the project, I’d be glad to show you my portfolio.” She hesitated, seeming to sense his reluctance. “Or I can recommend someone from North Conway if you’d prefer.”

“If I was going to hire anyone, it would be you.” But he still wasn’t sure where he wanted to draw the line with his neighbor. Tory liked her, he liked her…But somehow this all seemed too easy. “I wouldn’t want to impose. You seemed busy at the store.”

“Actually, I have some spare time in my schedule since I just canceled a three-week holiday.”

For the wedding and the honeymoon, he realized. He wondered what had happened to make them call off the wedding. Was Allison heartbroken about it? If so, she was doing a good job of hiding her pain.

“Will you make my room pretty?” Tory asked from her perch on his shoulders. “Daddy said we were going to paint it.”

“I’d love to help you with that, Tory.” As if sensing Gavin’s doubts, she added, “You wouldn’t have to pay me. I’d do it for fun.”

“Of course I’ll pay you.” He realized he was committed now. And maybe it was for the best. He hadn’t even managed to unpack on his own.

“Well, squirt.” He pulled on Tory’s legs. “I think it’s time we started that movie.”

“Can we watch it here?”

He didn’t blame Tory for wanting to stay. He did, too. “Allison’s probably seen Mary Poppins before.”

“That’s always fun to watch. Why don’t you bring the movie over? I’ll make popcorn.”

Popcorn was the final straw. “Pleeease, Daddy?” Tory pleaded, and Gavin couldn’t resist.

“Okay. I’ll run home and get the DVD.” He lifted Tory off his shoulders and settled her on a stool. By the time he returned, Allison was scooping popcorn into three paper bags with Tory’s help.

“Just like the theater, Daddy.”

Allison’s family room was wonderfully cozy for watching movies, with an overstuffed sofa and lots of cushions and blankets. Gavin was reminded of the show window at her store.

“Can I sit in the middle?” Tory plopped herself onto one of the down-stuffed cushions, and he and Allison settled themselves on either side.

By the time she’d finished her popcorn, though, Tory was getting sleepy. She settled her head on a pillow on her father’s lap and Allison covered her with a light blanket.

The movie was only half over when Tory fell asleep. Gavin stroked her fine hair, then smiled at Allison. “She’s down for the count.”

Allison looked at him solemnly. In her eyes he saw the same compassion he’d glimpsed earlier.

“Tory told me about her sister today. I’m really sorry, Gavin.”

He was relieved she knew. And glad he hadn’t been the one to have to tell her. “It’s been hard on her.”

“She told me they were twins.”

“Yeah. Samantha was the firstborn. It really seemed to make a difference with their personalities. From day one, Sam led the way for her sister. Tory’s been lost without her.”

“There was a set of twins in my grade at school, and they were amazingly close.”

“That was Sam and Tory. Sam was very protective. She seemed to know what her sister wanted better than Tory knew herself.”

“Is that why Tory’s so hesitant about decisions? I thought she was just shy.”

“She wasn’t acting shy tonight.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his daughter so enthusiastic, so happy, so…alive.

“That’s true.”

“I’m sorry we took over your evening.”

“It’s been great. Honestly. Tory’s a real sweetie.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her this happy,” Gavin admitted. “Even before Sam’s accident, she was the quiet one. Maybe things would have been different if she’d had her mother.”

He wondered if Marianne had any idea of the gaping hole she’d left behind. If she could see how much Tory was hurting now, surely she’d want to be here.

“Was their mother in the accident, too?”

“No. She left long ago.”

“Left?”

“Yeah.” He was surprised to discover that he actually wanted to tell her more, but Tory stirred just then. She stretched out her arms and yawned. “Is the movie over, Daddy?”

The DVD had continued to play, though Gavin and Allison hadn’t paid much attention to it. Gavin hit the stop button on the remote control. “It’s over for tonight. Come on, sweetheart. We need to get you to bed.”

He sat up and scooped his daughter into his arms. She snuggled her face against his chest and he kissed the top of her head. She smelled like popcorn and chocolate-chip cookies.

He noticed Allison watching them, a tentative smile on her face.

“Hand me your keys,” she said. “I’ll get the front door for you.” A plate of cookies she’d covered with plastic wrap was waiting in the kitchen and she took that, too, leaving her own house unlocked as she accompanied them across the lawn.

The night was still and quiet, and the cool air, hinting at autumn, was a surprise. Gavin held Tory closer to his chest and walked briskly. Allison unlocked their front door, pushing it wide open, then stepping inside after they’d paused to turn on the lights.

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” He carried Tory up the stairs to her room, where he settled her into bed.

“Daddy…” she began, but she fell asleep before she could finish whatever it was she was going to say.

He stared at her for a few seconds, his heart filled with love for the fragile creature in his care. A parent’s first job was to keep his children safe, and he’d failed with Sam.

He had to do better for Tory.

ALLISON WASN’T SURE if Gavin expected her to go or stay. She closed the door and decided to give him a few minutes, anyway. Glancing around, she was surprised to see so many boxes stacked against the walls.

They’d been here for over a week. Why was it taking so long to get settled?

Maybe the task was overwhelming. Despite all the previous owners, not much had changed since the McLaughlins had lived here. The house desperately needed paint and new flooring. Allison hoped Gavin was serious about letting her help. Whether she was paid or not, it didn’t matter to her. She’d love to get her hands on this place.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Gavin was back. He noticed her scrutiny and shrugged apologetically. “It’s a mess, I know. I just can’t seem to motivate myself to deal with it.”

“Moving is always tough. It must be even harder when you have a young child.” And if you were depressed over the loss of another child.

She wanted to go back to what they’d been talking about earlier. The twins’ mother. Why had she left? Was she in touch, at all?

“That’s a good excuse. But I could be making better use of my time.”

“Well, if you were serious about letting me help you, I’d be glad to do it. I’ve always loved this house. I had a…” She paused. “A friend who used to live here.”

“Really? Who was your friend?” It was too dark to see Gavin’s face clearly. But he definitely sounded interested.

“Her name was Marianne McLaughlin.”

Gavin went still and silent. Had she said something wrong?

“You and Marianne McLaughlin were friends?” he finally asked, slowly, as if it were some unbelievable thing.

“Sometimes it felt more like enemies, but yes. We were in the same grade. Anyway, the point is, I know this house. Marianne had the run of the place when she was growing up, and we spent a lot of time here.”

She laughed, but Gavin didn’t join in.

“I’d been meaning to ask if you happened to know her.”

“Why—do you know Marianne, too?” Her good mood evaporated. Suddenly she felt a chill, as if a ghost had just brushed past her. She had a flashback to her childhood, to the feeling she’d get whenever Marianne took something of hers. It had happened a lot.

“Yeah. I knew Marianne, all right.” Gavin went to the kitchen and opened the high cupboard above the sink. Pulling out a bottle of scotch, he poured himself a glass, then looked at her inquiringly.

She shook her head no.

He downed his drink in one swallow, then looked at her again. “Marianne is the mother of my twins.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“MAYBEI’LL HAVE that drink after all,” Allison said.

Gavin pulled down the bottle again. “Did I shock you?”

“Frankly, I’m a little surprised. Yes.”

“She didn’t tell you about us,” he guessed. “Or maybe you haven’t seen her in a while?”

“Right on both counts.”

“Ice?” When she nodded he tried to make it to the fridge, but tripped over a box. He swore, then moved around it. “Let’s go out to the deck,” he suggested. “It’s the only place that isn’t a complete shambles around here.”

Gingerly, she followed him to the patio doors. A couple of recliners and some deck chairs were arranged to take advantage of the view, though it was too dark to see much at the moment. She walked past these to the railing, where she leaned out to face the lake.

Moonlight gilded the rippled water and she could just make out the diving dock where she and Marianne had sunbathed and swam for hours on end. Those were some of the happiest times she had had with Marianne. She only wished there had been more of them.

For some reason, Marianne had seemed to get a kick out of winning things that Allison wanted. It didn’t matter if it was an art competition or a boyfriend.

“I can’t believe Marianne is a mother.”

“Why do you say that?” Gavin turned on an outdoor heater, then offered her a chair beside it. There was just enough light so that she could make out the line of his jaw, the solid breadth of his shoulders.

She turned away from the sight. Right now, she couldn’t handle being attracted to him. He and Marianne had had two children together. Gavin Gray and Marianne. It was a picture she didn’t want to contemplate.

“I’m just confused. I didn’t know Marianne was married.” She swirled the ice cubes in her glass, fighting a sudden impulse to down the drink in one long swallow.

He was quiet for a while, then said, “We were never married. We’d only been seeing each other a short time when she found out she was pregnant.”

Strangely, Allison felt relieved to hear they hadn’t been married. At the same time, she was still shocked about the pregnancy. She only heard from Marianne once or twice a year, but you’d think she might have mentioned that she was having twins.

“I can’t help feeling we’re talking about different women.”

“Could there be two Marianne McLaughlins in New England? Both from Squam Lake?”

Now Allison sighed. “I guess it’s the same woman. But if Marianne is Tory’s mom, then where is she? You said she left you years ago, but why?”

“She walked out when the twins were just one year old. And as for why she did it…” He shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

But mothers didn’t just leave their children for no reason. Marianne, for all her faults, wouldn’t have, either. Would she?

“Are you sure she didn’t give a reason?”

“Maybe there were signs I didn’t see. I don’t know. But when I say she walked out on us, that’s literally what happened. She said she was going away for a girls’ weekend. She never came back.”

“Did you question her friends?”

“That’s the funny part. She didn’t have any friends. At least none that I’d ever met or heard her mention. She never showed any interest in meeting the people I worked with, and she didn’t seem keen to get to know the neighbors, either. That’s why I was so glad when she said she wanted a weekend away. I thought finally she’d met some women she liked.”

The profile he presented fit Allison’s memories of Marianne perfectly. “She was the same at school. The guys all liked her, but she didn’t really have friends.”

“Except for you.”

“Except for me,” she agreed. For some reason Marianne had chosen Allison as the one person she could tolerate, starting in kindergarten when they’d both gravitated to the craft table. After that, they’d taken art classes together all the way through their senior year.

That common interest had come to haunt Allison, though. She wasn’t very old before she’d realized that although she was good with color and artful arrangements, Marianne was the one with the real talent. An original spirit was what their high school art teacher had called her.

How Marianne had lorded that one over Allison.

Many times Marianne’s friendship had been a burden that Allison gladly would have shed. Her spitefulness had caused all sorts of problems with the other kids in their class. But whenever Allison complained to her parents, her father would be quite stern. He’d point out that Marianne didn’t have a father to guide her, the way she did, and he’d urged her to be patient and understanding.

The fact that Marianne didn’t have a father hadn’t seemed like much of an excuse to Allison. There was another kid in their class who was missing one of his parents, and Scott wasn’t a jerk just because he didn’t have a mother.

But Allison liked pleasing her father, and so she’d stuck by Marianne over the years. Even when her other friends called her a fool.

“Well, whether Marianne had girlfriends or not,” Gavin continued, “she didn’t come home that night. Or any other night after that.”

“So you haven’t heard from her in all those years?”

“Not a word.”

She considered the various implications. “Do you think she knows about what happened to Samantha?”

“Not unless she was still in Hartford at the time and read about it in the local papers.”

“She wasn’t. She’s been living in the White Mountains for quite a while now.” Allison wondered if Gavin was disappointed to hear that. “Were you hoping to find her in Squam Lake?”

“Not at all.”

“It’s not why you moved here?”

“I wanted out of the rat race of the city.”

“There are lots of other small towns in New England.”

Finally, he conceded the point. “I suppose I chose this one because of the ties to Tory’s mother. I thought maybe I’d find someone who knew Marianne. Who could help me locate her.”

“In other words…someone like me.” She found herself resenting the hopeful look he gave her. She and Gavin had been working their way toward friendship, and now—suddenly—Marianne was part of the picture. And she didn’t want Marianne in the picture. Marianne had always changed everything.

“You had to know that moving here was a long shot,” she added. “Why not hire a private investigator to track her down?”

“I considered that, but my brothers talked me out of it.”

“You have more than one?”

He held up two fingers. “Matt’s a lawyer and Nick is a cop—they both live in Hartford. Neither one of them cared much for Marianne.”

Which showed that they had good taste. Allison wrinkled her nose, aware that her thoughts were bitter. Marianne had always been able to bring out her dark side.

“So you let it drop.”

“It wasn’t until Samantha died that finding Marianne seemed imperative. Then, as luck would have it, I stumbled across an old box of her belongings in the attic. Inside were some school papers, including her high school diploma. That’s how I found out she’d grown up in Squam Lake.”

“And you decided to move here.”

“I needed to do something. Tory was depressed. We both were. Too many memories in that house. In Hartford, for that matter.”

“I can imagine.” He had her sympathy now. Losing Marianne was one thing, but losing a young daughter was something else entirely.

“I’d already been thinking about moving. I wanted a small town. Something not too far from my family. Squam Lake seemed like the right answer on several levels.”

What he said seemed sort of reasonable. Except…“You went so far as to buy Marianne’s old house.” That was just a little too creepy for Allison. It was one thing to want to find your daughter’s mother, but it was another to be obsessed by the idea.

“That part was coincidence. I couldn’t believe it when our real-estate agent said the house used to belong to the McLaughlin family. I figured it was a sign.”

And maybe it was, Allison thought. For Gavin, it was a sign that he was getting closer to the mother of his babies. For her, it was a sign that she’d better not get too close to a man obsessed with another woman.

GAVIN COULDN’T BELIEVE that he’d finally found a link to Marianne. Though Allison didn’t seem to have liked her that much, she’d actually been Marianne’s friend. There was something ironic about that, but at the moment he needed to focus on other things.

“Allison?”

“Yes?”

He’d given her an opportunity to ask her questions. Now it was his turn. “Have you heard from Marianne lately?”

“The last time was about a year ago.”

He waited, but she didn’t offer him any more than that. He could tell she didn’t want to talk about Marianne any longer, but he couldn’t let this drop. “Do you have a phone number or an e-mail address?” he pressed.

“When she gets in touch, it’s usually by e-mail. I can give you the last address she used, but it probably won’t help. She lives in a trailer with no Internet access and doesn’t get to town often.”

In the dim light of the moon, Gavin tried to read Allison’s expression. Was Marianne really that reclusive? “I can’t imagine Marianne in a trailer.”

“How well did you know her?”

It was a valid question. “I’m beginning to realize, not that well.”

There was a long silence. Then, almost reluctantly, Allison asked, “How did you two meet?”

He hadn’t thought about that night in years. “It was at an evening reception at an art gallery in Hartford. I can’t remember the name of the artist. The paintings were different. Not my taste at all.”

But though he’d gone to the show hoping to find a gift for his mother’s new condominium and had been disappointed in that respect, the evening hadn’t been a total waste. He’d been about to leave when a beautiful woman had offered him a glass of wine and then introduced herself as Marianne McLaughlin.

Within half an hour he was totally bewitched.

They had an intense four-week affair. And by the beginning of the fifth week, while he was haunting jewelry stores looking for the perfect ring to tempt her, she was already drifting away.

He’d tried to deny what was happening. Found excuses to explain why she was slow returning his calls. Why suddenly she could only find time for him once or twice a week, rather than every night like before.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.