he got his driver’s license.
Once again, he didn’t have to go up to Allie’s door; she came out as soon as he pulled in. He got out to meet her, enjoying the sight of her coming down the stairs. She wore calf-length chinos, sandals and a T-shirt the mossy green color of her eyes. Her legs were sensational, and his groin tightened. On another level, he was glad to see that her hand slid along the railing. So she was being careful.
Sean had climbed out of the truck, too, and stood there looking as lumpish as he could manage.
“You must be Sean,” Allie said with a friendly smile. “I’m so glad to meet you. When we get back later today, why don’t you come upstairs and see what I’m doing with your quilt. I’d like to make sure you approve.”
That stirred a little emotion on his face. “I guess,” he mumbled.
Nolan held out a hand, but she said, “Why don’t we take my car? I get better mileage, and it fits in parking spots for compact cars.”
He didn’t much like being a passenger, but agreed. Sean was relegated to being in the backseat of her Corolla, but he was probably relieved.
Mostly, Nolan and Allie carried the conversation on the drive to Seattle, but Sean wasn’t rude enough to ignore direct questions. They were able to park only a couple of rows from the entrance. As they all got out and Allie locked the car, Sean looked at several families with small kids streaming across the parking lot, parents pushing strollers.
“I can’t believe this,” he muttered.
Nolan laid a heavy arm across his shoulders. “I wish I’d had you when you were that age. We’d have come to the zoo a lot.”
That earned him a skittish look he’d seen before. Sean had trouble believing Nolan truly wanted him as a son, or that he’d give a lot to be able to go back in time and save the boy from all the uncertainties and deprivation of his life.
Huh. Maybe if he bought that car now, Sean would understand it was a kind of promise, one that said, You will be staying with me.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Allie exclaimed enthusiastically. “Do they have snow cones here? I love snow cones.”
“I think maybe they do.” Nolan bumped his hip against hers. “You’re easy to please.”
She bumped back. “Am not. Usually the only place you can get a snow cone is the fair.”
“You went?”
She gave him a humorous glance. “Are you kidding? I always enter some quilts. Both in the Evergreen State Fair and the Stanwood Fair.”
“And win, I bet.”
“Naturally,” she said with dignity, then spoiled it with that scrunched nose. “Sometimes I get robbed, but then, there are people with no taste wherever you go.”
He laughed. Sean gave her his “what are you” look.
Nolan paid the entrance fees and grabbed a map, steering them all toward the safari enclosure that held zebras and the stately, ungainly giraffes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sean gaping as he leaned against the railing.
“There’s a baby,” Allie said with delight. “Sean, look!”
By the time they reached the elephants, Sean had shed his teenage cool. He was exclaiming right along with Allie, only taking occasional glances around to make sure no one in his age range was looking.
They got lucky enough to see two otters romping in the extraordinarily natural stream, shooting down over rocks like kids on a playground slide, then scrambling back up to do it again. A lioness snatched a huge fish from the water with brutal speed, making the human audience gasp. A gorilla mother cradled a young one, and when Sean crouched by the glass both stared at him with intelligent dark eyes while he stared back.
“Wow,” he said after that. He sounded awed and uneasy. “They look so human. Not like they should be in the zoo.”
Partway through, Nolan bought everyone hot dogs, sodas and, eventually, snow cones. He was having more fun watching Allie and Sean than the animals. The two of them were as entranced as any pair of five-year-olds, and not hiding it. Allie didn’t leave him out, though. Every so often, she’d grab Nolan’s hand and drag him forward either to make sure he saw something or just to be close to him.
He got to wondering whether she’d had a normal share of satisfying childhood experiences. Maybe she possessed the rare quality of being able to throw herself into the moment without