Un-fucking-believable.
Allie’s eyes crinkled agreement, and I smoothed my expression before I turned to face the girls.
“What about dinner?”
“You said…” Carly’s frown deepened. She knew we’d been talking about something else, but her suspicions bounced off my dad armor.
Emily and Madison moved from under the shower and left it running.
“Come on,” Susie said to her friend. “He’ll never tell you what they were talking about. He does it to us all the time.”
I rewarded them with a bland smile.
“See?” Susie said. “Ugh!”
“Speaking of dinner…,” I said, “where do we want to go?”
We eventually decided on the Cheesecake Factory. It wasn’t my favorite, but I’d learned to pick my battles. Besides, the portions were so large that Emily might actually get enough to eat.
Twenty minutes later we were all dressed and shod, brushed and combed, lotioned, potioned, and assembled in the kitchen. Susie had even brought the new Beyoncé CD for our listening pleasure. The dogs circled in excitement, their tails thwacking indiscriminately.
“Sorry, guys,” I told them. “Humans only.”
Molly took it in stride, while Spike and Buck sat obediently, licked their chops, and double-teamed me with puppy-dog eyes. I had a heart of stone, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
“It’s okay,” Susie told them. “We’ll bring you a snack.”
“We’ll see,” I said. “Now c’mon, I’m getting hungry.”
We trooped out to the garage, climbed into the Denali, and drove to town. Dinner was about what I’d expected, but the girls enjoyed it. Sometimes that was enough.
We stopped by Allie’s house on the way home. She and the girls packed bags for the night, along with things they’d need for dance camp in the morning. The place was hotter than ever, especially after being closed up all day. The family cat didn’t seem to mind, but the humans did.
“Oh my gosh,” Susie complained, “that was disgusting.”
“Try sleeping there,” Carly said.
“Ugh. No, thank you. Hurry up, Dad, start the car.”
I did, and the air conditioning blasted with hurricane force. We let it wash over us for a moment before I backed out of the driveway.
“Hey, Dad,” Emily ventured, “since it’s so hot—?”
I knew exactly where she was going, but I still couldn’t believe it. She’d eaten bread, a salad, and an entire plate of pasta. Then she’d polished off a piece of cheesecake that rivaled Stone Mountain for size. Yet she was still hungry? After all that? She must have been going through a growth spurt.
“—can we stop for ice cream?”
The rear of the car erupted with a chorus of pleas, even though the other girls had eaten cheesecake too. Granted, they’d shared a single piece among them, but it clearly hadn’t hit bottom yet.
“What do you think?” I asked Allie.
“I’m full,” she said.
“So?” Madison complained. “We aren’t.”
“Yeah, we’re starving!” Carly said from the back.
“Starving!” Susie agreed.
Allie couldn’t help but laugh, although she glanced my way and sketched a nod.
Four sets of eyes bored into the back of my head.
“He’s gonna say yes,” Susie stage-whispered to Carly.
“How d’you know?”
“I just do. Trust me.”
She sounded so much like me that I couldn’t help a smile.
“See?” she said triumphantly.
“All right, we’ll stop for ice cream,” I said. “But cups instead of cones. And we’ll eat at home.” I had to maintain at least a pretense of being in charge.
The back of the Denali erupted with talk about flavors, and Allie shot me a speculative look.
“On second thought…,” she grinned.
“Oh? You want some after all?”
“Mmm, but I want the special cream.”
* * *
I tried calling Christy when we got home, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said. “I hope you had a good day. Ours was fun. Allie and the girls came over and spent the day. They’re going to spend the night, too.” I kept my voice deliberately neutral, but Christy would hear the excitement in what I didn’t say.
Allie herself smirked.
I replied with a quick grin and finished the voicemail, “Give me a call when you get this. I love you. Tell Laurie I love her too. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
I ended the call just in time, mere moments before the Jötnar thundered down the stairs. Four girls burst into the kitchen instead of giants. I was tempted to look for Thor behind them, but they wouldn’t understand. I heard my mother’s laughter, yet again, Someday you’ll understand.
I sighed. Maybe Hobbes had meant children instead of life? They too were nasty, brutish, and short.
Emily pulled up short. Lately she’d been paying attention to other people’s thoughts—their expressions, at least—although she dismissed mine in true eleven-year-old fashion.
“Can we watch a movie while we eat our ice cream?”
Susie piped up, “Harry Potter. The one me an’ Carly like.”
“Carly and I,” Madison said.
Emily’s eyes narrowed, but Susie beat her to the punch.
“That’s what I meant,” she replied breezily.
“Then why—?”
“Of course!” Emily said. “It’s out in the pool house.”
“Why can’t they watch it there?” Madison complained. “Then we can watch something grown-up here.”
Emily gave her an “eat shit and die” look.
(My little frog princess was actually a basilisk in disguise. I blamed her uncle Rich. He had an entire repertoire of scathing looks, and he’d probably taught her when I wasn’t around. Yeah, that’s the ticket—it was all Rich’s fault.)
Madison scowled and looked away.
“I’ll go get it,” Emily said. “Come on, Mols.” She and the dog left through the patio door.
Madison looked a question at her mother, who replied with a raised eyebrow, Well, what did you expect?
Spike woofed, and Buck sank to his haunches. They both looked at me, like I was going to explain what had just happened.
“Sorry, guys… humans. Speaking of which—”
Susie panicked and started looking for an escape.
“Ah-ah, not so fast,” I said. “Nice try, though.”
“Ugh! Do I have to?”
“I’m afraid so. It’s your job.”
“But what about our ice cream? It’ll melt.”
“It will if you keep arguing.” I gave her a dad look, with expectant eyebrows and everything.
“Ugh, fine.”
Carly didn’t know what we were talking about, but she understood chore-avoidance when she heard it.
“Can I help?”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Susie sighed. “Come on.”
They headed toward the alcove where we kept the dogs’ food and water bowls. Spike and Buck knew what that meant, and they scrambled to catch up.
Allie gave me a look that was a cross between “aww” and “I want you.”
Madison, of course, picked that moment to speak up. “What should I do?”
Allie blushed, and I had to look away to hide my amusement.
“What?” Madison said uncertainly.
“Why don’t you take the ice cream into the living room,” I replied.
She frowned but went along with it. “Spoons and napkins, too?”
“Yes, please. And maybe some pillows and blankets.” All of my girls were like their mother, who became chilled around bedtime. Emily suffered more than the others, probably because her metabolism was on overdrive the rest of the time.
“You know where everything is,” I added to Madison, who nodded and ran off.
“Dear God,” Allie sighed, “that was close.”
“No kidding. I thought you were gonna jump me.”
“No, that comes later.”
* * *
Allie and I decided to change out of street clothes and into something more comfortable. She met me outside the master bedroom.