She gripped her purse strap and walked up the gravel walkway and onto the porch, which smelled of honeysuckle and jasmine on this June morning.
She knocked, too softly at first. When no one answered, she tried again. Harder this time.
The door swung open, hinges creaking, and there he was, filling the doorway, dressed in shabby overalls and a pale blue T-shirt that read: River’s Edge. His brown hair was Albert Einstein wild.
“Meg,” he said, clearly forcing a smile. He stepped back. “Come on in. ”
She sidled past him and found herself in a surprisingly cozy living room. “Good morning, Sam. I’m here to pick up Alison. ”
“Yeah. ” He frowned. “Are you sure you want to take her this week? I’d be happy to keep her. ”
“I’m sure you would,” she answered, stung. It was too much like the other time.
“I didn’t mean anything by that. ”
“Of course not. ”
“I know how busy you are, though. ”
She looked at him. “You still think I’m a bad influence, is that it?”
He took a step toward her, stopped. “I should never have thought that. Claire’s told me how good you were to her
. I didn’t know about kids back then, and I sure as hell didn’t know about teenage girls who—”
“Please. Don’t finish that sentence. Do you have a list for me? Allergies. Medications. Anything I should know?”
“She goes to bed at eight. She likes it if you read her a story. The Little Mermaid is her favorite. ”
“Great. ” Meg looked down the hallway. “Is she ready?”
“Yeah. She’s just telling the cat good-bye. ”
Meg waited. Somewhere in the trailer a clock ticked past a minute, then another.
“She has a birthday party to go to on Saturday. If you get her here by noon, she’ll make it,” Sam said finally. “That way she’ll already be here when Claire and Bobby get home on Sunday. ”
Meghann knew the arrangements. “She’ll be on time. Do I need to take her shopping for a gift?”
“If you don’t mind. ”
“I don’t. ”
“Nothing too expensive. ”
“I think I can handle shopping, thank you. ”
Another silence fell, marked by the clock’s passing minutes.
Meghann was trolling for something innocuous to say when Alison came racing down the hallway, carrying a black cat whose body stretched almost to the ground. “Lightning wants to come with me, Grandpa. He meowed me. Can I take him with me, Aunt Meg, can I?”
Meg had no idea whether cats were allowed in her building.
Before she could answer, Sam knelt down in front of his granddaughter and gently eased the cat from her arms. “Lightning needs to stay here, honey. You know he likes to play with his friends and hunt for mice in the woods. He’s a country cat. He wouldn’t like the city. ”
Alison’s eyes looked huge in the heart-shaped pallor of her face. “But I’m not a city girl, either,” she said, puffing out her lower lip.
“No,” Sam said. “You’re an adventurer, though. Just like Mulan and Princess Jasmine. Do you think they’d be nervous about a trip to the big city?”