Anything for Her - By Janice Kay Johnson Page 0,84

day.

Tomorrow, he decided, ashamed of his relief. Or maybe the day after. Right now, he’d keep holding her close and revel in the knowledge that she loved him.

* * *

ALLIE HAD AWAKENED the next morning smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that.

If only Nolan had been able to stay the night. Of course she’d understood; he had a teenage son and couldn’t not go home.

She wanted to wake up with him every morning. Go to bed with him every night.

He hadn’t said anything about the future. Given that he had Sean, Allie couldn’t see him suggesting she move in with them. No, a man of his rock-solid integrity would ask her to marry him. Maybe he thought they needed more time first, though, and maybe he was right.

I love him. She hugged herself in delight.

What she didn’t want to think about was the shadow that hung over her. She had to talk to her mother. Say, Mom, I told him everything. Soon.

Today. Better to get it over with.

Midmorning she called her mother’s mobile number and suggested they have lunch together. When she offered to pop out to the Pea Patch or the bakery and pick up the food, Mom insisted that she had a full hour off, she’d be glad to bring the meal.

By the time she ended the call, Allie felt horribly guilty. Her mother had sounded so relieved. She thought everything was fine now, that their little tiff was past. She wasn’t going to like what Allie had to say.

Mom had taken her break late to accommodate the quiet time in the quilt shop. She arrived in a bustle with bags in hand.

“The loveliest sandwiches on croissants,” she announced, laying them out on the table in back. “Fruit salads and, for you, a ginger-molasses cookie. I can’t afford the calories, but you can.”

“Why don’t we split it?” Allie suggested. “You’re as slim as you were ten years ago. You can certainly get away with a decadent cookie now and again.”

“‘Now and again’ has a way of creeping into ‘every day,’” her mother said ominously.

Allie broke the cookie into two and set one on the napkin in front of her mother.

“Oh, I suppose this once...” She laughed, but gave her daughter a look. “You know me too well.”

Aware that a customer could walk in at any time, Allie knew she had to get this over with. “Mom, I have something to tell you.”

Her mother very carefully set down the croissant she had picked up. There was no sign of laughter on her face now. “What is it?”

Allie hadn’t reached for her own sandwich. She squeezed her hands together on her lap. She couldn’t think of any way to sidle into this. Blunt was best, she decided. Like peeling off a bandage with one yank. “I told Nolan everything.”

“You...what?” Mom whispered.

“You heard me.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” Horror aged her mother as much as the tears on Sunday had. “I begged you.”

“You have to ask me why?” Allie’s chin rose. “I’ve tried to make you understand. I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face, and you haven’t listened. I love Nolan. I cannot make a life with a man who knows only the small surface part of me. I trust him.”

“Oh, dear God.” Mom was shaking. “What have you done?”

“I’ve made him fully part of our lives. That’s what I’ve done.” She hesitated. “I made him promise he would never say a word about it to anyone, not even Sean.”

“Easy to say, hard to do,” her mother said bitterly. “Look at you. You couldn’t follow through.”

Acid burned in her throat. Allie pushed back her chair. “That’s a lousy thing to say, Mom.”

The bell over the shop door rang. Oh, great. Perfect timing. I should have waited until this evening. Allie recognized in that second that she’d chosen this time and venue in the hopes her mother’s response would be moderated. The awareness that they could be interrupted and that they didn’t have long to talk had seemed like a safety net.

She stood up, tearing her gaze from her mother’s ravaged face. “Hello,” she called. “I’m here in back.”

There was no immediate answer. Nolan. Oh, my God, she thought. It’s Nolan. Why hadn’t it occurred to her that he might want to see her today?

He appeared, striding toward her between rows of colorful fabric bolts, his eyes smiling. She couldn’t help contrasting his approach to that first time, when he’d been bemused and cautious, then clearly