Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
NOAH
After basketball practice, I cross the gym toward Allie. “We should have supper together tonight.”
Instead of telling me no, she surprises me by saying, “That sounds nice.”
Her response takes me so off guard, I ask, “Seriously? I expected a fight.”
“I have to eat,” she says like having supper with me is nothing more than a way to fill her stomach. And while that’s a little disappointing, I’ll still take it.
“Where should we go?” I ask.
“The diner,” she says. “It’s right across the street from my apartment so I can drop Margie off and meet you there.”
“How are things going with your new roommate?” I ask her.
She leads the way out of the gym. As I lock the doors, she says, “She’s a sweet kid who’s going through a lot. She’s got me thinking though.”
“What has she got you thinking?” Although I suppose I can guess.
Allie is nearing the age when she’s sure to be thinking about becoming a mother herself.
As such, she’s probably decided it’s time to find herself another man to settle down with.
That thought might have once had me running for the hills, but I’m starting to think about the future, too. Who knew men had biological clocks?
Instead of sharing what’s on her mind, Allie says, “Maybe I’ll tell you later.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” I tease by adding, “You’re not going to confess to war crimes, are you?”
“My life isn’t as cut and dried as it looks,” she says. “There’s stuff about me that might surprise you.”
She stares at me like she’s trying to figure out if I’m trustworthy enough to share her story with, so I assure her, “I’m pretty sure that goes for most people. If it’s war crimes, I promise to keep it on the down-low.”
“I might be a top-secret government operative.” Her tone is joking, but I can tell that whatever she’s hiding, she thinks it’s on par as far as shock value goes.
“I might be one, too,” I tease back.
She stops in front of her classroom door. “Yeah, right.”
So much for trying to portray an air of mystery. “You’re going to share your secret with me at supper tonight?” I prod.
“I didn’t say that. I said maybe I’d tell you later.” She clarifies, “Later could be next month or next year.”
While I want to hear everything about her now, I also like that she imagines us still being friends in another month or year. And even though I don’t know what my long-term plans are, it gives a guy hope that the feelings I’m starting to have for Allie aren’t all one-sided.
“I’ll listen to your secrets whenever you want to share them,” I tell her. “In the meantime, how about if I go ahead and get us a table?”
“Yes, please,” she responds with a grin. “But don’t go quite yet.” She walks across the room toward a sleeping Margie and gently wakes her. When the girl starts to stir, she says, “I’m going to drop you at home and then have supper across the street with Coach Riley. Can I bring you something?”
Margie sits up immediately. “Yes, please! I’d love a cheeseburger and fries and maybe a chocolate mint milk shake. Can I go over with you and pick it up? I’m starving!”
“You can join us if you want,” I call out.
Standing up, Margie replies, “I appreciate the offer, Coach, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to go back to sleep as soon as I eat.”
“Sounds good,” I tell her. “I’ll go ahead and put the order in for you.” As I walk down the hall toward the exit at the back of the building, I realize that even though the current situation with Margie and Jordan is not ideal, there’s something about it that’s bringing out paternal feelings in me.
While I’m not yet a father, both kids need to feel like they have adults on their side. And that’s what Allie and I can be for them. Granted, Allie’s going above and beyond by letting Margie stay with her, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to be helpful too.
As soon as I get to the diner, I place Margie’s order. Then I pay for it, so she doesn’t have to feel further indebted to Allie.
I’m sitting at a booth in the front window when they walk in. Allie talks to the hostess, who in turn walks toward the kitchen. When she comes out, she’s carrying a brown paper shopping bag. Margie pulls out her wallet to pay, but the hostess waves her money away.
That’s when both ladies spot me and walk over to my table. “Coach Riley,” Margie says, “you didn’t have to buy my supper.”
“I know I didn’t,” I tell her. “But I wanted to.”
She shakes her head slowly. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you both for all you’re doing for me. I’m just very grateful.” As an afterthought, she adds, “And tired. I’m really tired.”
Allie hands over her house keys. “The only payback I want is tickets to your first opening night. I don’t care if it’s a play, or a movie. I want to be there to celebrate your accomplishment.”
“You’re the best, Allie,” Margie tells her. Then she turns to me, “You too, Coach. Thank you both.” With her food and keys in hand she turns around and leaves.
Allie sits down across from me. “It was very nice of you to buy Margie’s supper.”
She looks a little peaked herself which makes me wonder if she’s getting enough sleep. “I got you into all this,” I tell her. “And I want to help.” I wave the waitress over. “Tina,” I tell her, “can I open an account here?”
The server I’ve known since I was a kid looks confused by my question. “What do you mean, open an account? You want to charge things to the house?”
“I want a friend of mine to be able to come in and order whatever she wants, and I want to make sure I get the bill. Can I do that?”
Tina decides, “If a lifelong friend of Luke’s can’t do that, then no one can. How about if I keep the receipts in an envelope, and you can come in once a month and pay for them?”
“I’ll come in once a week,” I promise. “I don’t want to be any trouble, and this really helps my friend out.”
Tina looks at Allie and asks, “Are you the friend?”
“Not me,” Allie says with a knowing smile.
“The person’s name is Margie Flynn,” I tell her. “She’s the girl who was just here.”
“Oh, I know the Flynns!” Tina says excitedly. “They come in all the time.” She suddenly looks confused by why I’d be paying for Margie.
Allie tells her, “Margie’s staying across the street with me for a while.”
Tina glances from side-to-side like she doesn’t want to be overheard before asking, “Is the gossip true, then?”
“Depends on what the gossip is,” I tell her.
“A bunch of kids were in the other day, and they were talking about how Margie is, you know … expecting.”
Tina looks so concerned that I don’t feel like I’m talking out of turn by telling her, “That appears to be the case.”
“Poor child,” she says. “That’s not an easy life for a kid.” She pulls out her ordering pad. “But you didn’t come in here to tell me all of that. What can I bring you two for supper?”
After we order and Tina walks away, Allie once again says, “That really is nice of you.”
Unfolding my napkin, I tell her, “I feel like if more people just went a little out of their way, we could alleviate a lot of struggles in this world. And we know these kids, so this seems like a good place to start.”
“How’s Jordan doing?” she asks. “He looked off his game this afternoon.”
“That’s an understatement. He was playing like he’d never held a basketball before.”
A busboy drops Allie’s drink and scurries away. She takes a sip before saying, “I get what it’s like to feel like you’re disappointing your parents.”
I arch an eyebrow in question, so she adds, “My parents never thought I’d be divorced. Heck, I never thought I’d be divorced.”
“Your husband cheated on you, Allie,” I say hotly. “You can’t stay with a man like that.”
She’s quiet for a long stretch before finally saying, “He had his reasons.”
I can’t believe she’s defending the guy. “What reason could any man have for cheating on his wife?”
Allie looks at her lap before forcing her gaze to meet mine. “Brett and I were pregnant three times and we lost all of them.”
Poor Allie. I can’t imagine how traumatizing that must have been, but even so, I need to know, “How does that give him the right to cheat on you? Also, I’m very sorry for your loss. That’s a lot to go through.”
“It is,” she says quietly. “I’m not saying it was okay for Brett to cheat. It wasn’t. But he wanted a family, and when he realized I couldn’t give him one, he …”
I slam my hand down on the table so hard we both jump at the sound.
“No!” I tell her. “If there’s a problem in your marriage then you work it out.
If it’s insurmountable, then you end the marriage.
You don’t muddy the waters by starting something new while you’re still with your spouse.
” I have no patience with people who don’t treat their relationships with the honor they deserve.
“He got his girlfriend pregnant,” Allie says. “With quadruplets.”
There’s no way she just said what I thought she did. “He did what now?”
Nodding her head, she confirms, “Brett and his new wife have four baby girls.”
I’m at a total and complete loss for something to say. I mean, four babies? I finally ask her, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not exactly great, but there is a sort of brilliance about karma, don’t you think?”
My head bobs of its own accord. “I guess. Four is a lot of babies though.”
“He wanted a big family,” she says. “So really, he got everything he wanted, just not in the way he thought he’d get it.”
“And you?” I ask her. “What do you want?”
After a long pause, Allie confesses, “I want a family, too. The problem is that I’m also not going to get what I want the way I thought I would.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, just today, I realized how to make my dream come true, and it’s going to make my mom very mad.”
I cannot wait to hear what she’s up to.