was knock on his door, and then Alex heard his mother’s voice: “Can I come in?”
He knew she wouldn’t go away until he said yes. Mothers never did. “All right,” he mumbled.
She came in and closed the door behind her, then sat down next to him on the bed. “I’m sorry Luke ruined your cards. Can I buy you new ones?”
He shrugged. “If you can find them.”
“I saw in the paper there’s a trading card show next weekend at the junior high. Would you like to go?”
“You’ll take me?”
“If you want. And you could bring Josh, too.”
“All right.”
“Alex, there’s something else I want to talk about with you.” He could tell by the look on her face that it was serious. “Lois told me you’ve made up the posters you hope will help you find your father.”
He’d figured his aunt would tell her, so he went over to his desk and pulled open a drawer. He removed a single sheet of paper and showed it to her. “Are you mad?”
He thought it was probably a dumb question. She’d already told him a while back that she didn’t think the poster was a good idea.
“You call him a deadbeat.” Her voice was quiet, not angry.
“Because he is. You don’t need to pretend with me, Mom. I heard you and Auntie Lois talking. I know he’s a deadbeat.”
“Then, why look for him?”
“To make him pay. He owes you money. It’s not right that you have to work so much just to pay the bills he should be looking after.”
She slid her arm around his shoulder and squeezed him. “It’s sweet of you to worry about me, but I can take care of the four of us just fine. Are you sure there isn’t another reason why you want to find him?”
“Like what?”
“Maybe you think there’s a possibility that when you find him, things will be different. That your father will want to be a father again.”
“No! That’s not it. I’m not doing this for me, Mom. I told you that. It’s for you and Emma and Luke.”
She gave him another squeeze and said, “Oh, Alex. You really are a very special boy.”
He wanted to believe her. And most of the time he did, but there were those times when he had his doubts. “If I’m so special, why did dad leave?”
As soon as he’d asked the question, he wished he hadn’t, because his mom’s eyes got all watery.
Then she pulled him even closer to her, resting her chin on his head as she said, “It’s nothing you or Emma or Luke did. Your father left because he was missing something inside himself. And it was a big something. It was what tells us that the greatest treasure anyone can ever have is a family to love. So don’t ever think you aren’t special. You were just unfortunate to have a father who wasn’t smart enough to recognize what special is.”
This time she didn’t just give him a hug, but a kiss, too. Right on his forehead. Then she said, “Now how about coming out and letting me make you some pancakes?”
He was hungry. “Oh, all right.” He tried to make it sound as if he really didn’t care about breakfast.
Before they could cross the living room into the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Emma raced to the front window to push aside the curtains so she could see who was standing on the step.
With a screech she cried out, “Oh, my gosh! It’s Gramma!”
CHAPTER TWO
WHAT FRANNIE DIDN’T NEED today of all days was to have her former mother-in-law drop in. “This is a surprise,” she said, although it really shouldn’t have caught her off guard. After all, Arlene Harper had a way of showing up when she was least expected. If there was one word Frannie would use to describe Arlene, it was unpredictable.
“Did you take a taxi from the airport?”
“Oh, I didn’t fly,” Arlene answered. “I drove.”
“By yourself? Where’s Harry?”
Harry was Arlene’s fiancé—or at least he was the last time Frannie had seen her. She glanced at Arlene’s left hand and saw the ring finger was bare. It looked as if Harry had gone the way of the rest of the men in Arlene’s life.
“I’m afraid that didn’t work out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Frannie said, although she really should have told Arlene how lucky she was to be rid of the moocher. From the very first time Frannie had met Harry she’d had her suspicions that he was all charm and no substance. But then, in the eleven years she’d known Arlene, that’s all there had been in her mother-in-law’s life—men with charm but little substance.
Arlene’s next words indicated that she’d finally figured out Harry, too. “It’s for the best. He wasn’t the man for me,” Arlene said without any bitterness. “He thought work was for other people. But let’s not waste our time talking about me. I want to hear what’s been happening to my beautiful grandchildren,” she said, wrapping her arms around Luke and Emma.
“As you can see, they’re fine,” Frannie answered.
“We only have one more week of school and then we’re on summer vacation,” Emma stated joyfully.
“I know. That’s why I came. I want to spend lots of time with you this summer.”
Frannie gulped. “You’re staying for the summer?”
“This is going to be so cool,” Emma gushed, giving her grandmother another hug.
“Yes, it is,” Arlene agreed with a smile. “You won’t have to have a baby-sitter while your mother’s at work.”
As much as she appreciated Arlene’s offer, the thought of her mother-in-law staying with them in a house that was already too small did not put the glee in her eyes that it did in her children’s.
“It’s very generous of you to offer, but I’ve already contracted for day care,” she said, trying not to sound ungracious.
Alex, who’d been standing in the background, stepped forward. “We hate going to day care. It’s all little kids. Why can’t Gramma take care of us?”
“Because it’ll cost me money if we back out now,” Frannie explained.
“But it’s going to cost you money anyway, right?” Arlene asked.
“Can’t we please stay home with Gramma?” Emma begged, giving her mother a look that was just as dramatic as her plea.
“What about summer camp? The bus is supposed to
