Distracting Dad. Terry Essig

Can you lift your head? You’re mumbling.”

      Allie turned her head out of her hands and glared at Nate. “I’m not talking to you.”

      “Oh, sorry. Dad, Allie’s talking to you. Pay attention, will you?”

      “Not him, either.”

      “Not him and not me. Fine. Then you were speaking to…whom?”

      She glared harder. “If you must know, I was speaking to my mother. And it was a private conversation.”

      Nate cleared his throat. “Your mother? The one who’s—”

      “Yes, that’s right. Frankly, I’m very disappointed in the way she’s handling things up there and I just told her so. I’m sorry, but she could do a better job of watching out for me than she’s currently doing. She is a lot nearer to the final seat of authority than I am, after all.”

      “Is that so?”

      Allie nodded stubbornly. “Yes, that’s so and that’s just what I told her.”

      “Uh-huh. Okay, you told your mom off. Did she, um, have anything to say in return?” He held up his hands. “Just wondering.”

      “No, she doesn’t talk back. Dead people don’t, as a rule,” Allie explained kindly. “Which doesn’t mean she isn’t listening, though,” Allie stubbornly insisted. She raised her voice a little bit. “And I expect her to get her act together and do a better job.”

      “Oookay.” Nate sat back in the booth, eyeing Allie warily. And she’d looked so normal. The waitress returned with their drinks. Nate took his and released the straw from its paper wrapper. He stuck it in his drink and sucked up half the liquid in his glass. So maybe he’d steer clear of Allie all together and forget even the mutually satisfying enjoyment of each other part of the deal. He might have been able to avoid the three brothers. Maybe even handle both fathers as well. But a knows-all, sees-all mother spirit? He didn’t think so. And Nate liked his private life…private.

      Chapter Three

      Nate made it through dinner. He doubted he’d win the crown for Mr. Sociability, but he’d grunted a couple of times in response to direct questions and frankly, Nate doubted that either Allie or his father had much noticed his lack of participation. The two of them had managed a continual running conversation that Nate would have only interrupted had he tried to participate. So fine. To heck with them. Besides, wasn’t this exactly what he’d been hoping for? It didn’t hurt that his dad’s attention had been so quickly and so thoroughly diverted. He might actually get a few constructive days in at work.

      Allie and Ted continued to bond over brownie hot-fudge sundaes. An oddly disgruntled Nate picked up the tab. He held the restaurant door for Allie, who was so involved in her conversation with his father, she didn’t even seem to notice the courtesy. Even so, Nate got the car door for her, closing it when she was safely seated. Darn, but for a short person she’d swung some long legs into the car.

      Edgy for some reason, Nate paid extra attention to his driving as he made his way to the Sleep Factory.

      “Of course I’m edgy,” Nate muttered under his breath as he signaled a lane change. “I’ve had the day from perdition and by the time I’m finished just getting back to where I started from this morning, it’ll probably have turned into the week from hell, possibly even the month from Hades.”

      “You say something, Nate?” his father asked.

      “No.”

      “Humph.” His father shrugged. “Thought you did. Oh, well, getting old. Allie, what about…”

      Left out of the loop once more, Nate shook his head and pulled into the Sleep Factory’s lot and parked.

      Allie opened her door and swung her legs out. “Oh,” she said when Nate showed up to offer her his hand since he couldn’t open the door for her. “Oh. Thank you, Nate. I can manage on my own, but thank you.”

      “My mother taught me to treat a woman with respect.”

      Allie just looked at Nate, really seeing him for the first time. She’d been so involved in the mess her apartment had become, she hadn’t really processed what had been right there in front of her. Hard to believe. Nate was tall, over six feet, she’d bet. From her seated position, he towered over her. She’d thought him blond, but now that she was noticing, it was really all streaky with different shades of blond and light brown all mixed together as though he spent a lot of time in the sun—or paid a lot to a hairdresser. Somehow she doubted Nate Parker spent a lot of time in a beauty parlor. His eyes were blue. There was the beginning of crinkles around their corners and his skin was lightly tanned. He reminded her a lot of this lifeguard she’d had a crush on when she’d been sixteen. She’d never gotten him to notice her that whole summer. If it hadn’t been for the plumbing going berserk in Nate’s apartment, she doubted she’d be spending time with him, either. Allie tried to be honest, especially with herself. She just wasn’t the type to inspire lust in modern-day Apollos. Maybe her mother had burst his pipe for him? No, that was too ridiculous.

      “Well?” Nate asked, his hand still stuck out there. “You coming or what?”

      Allie swallowed. Yes, yes she was. Allie gave Nate her hand and let him draw her up and out of the car. “Thank you,” she said.

      Nate looked at her oddly. “You’re welcome.” He closed the door, locked it and then put his hand on the small of Allie’s back to guide her into the store.

      She shivered.

      “Cold?” he asked.

      “No, I’m okay.” She wasn’t but she wasn’t really sure how to explain what was wrong with her and wasn’t about to try, not to Nate. A guy who looked like him probably already had a swelled head; no way was Allie going to add to it. A second shiver went down her spine.

      “Sure?”

      “Yes, really.”

      They entered the store, both the men standing back, allowing her to be first. Allie glanced around.

      “Oh, Lord,” she murmured. She’d been so thrilled that her unknown neighbor hadn’t given her a hard time about replacing her mattress, she hadn’t considered the shopping-for-it-with-him aspect. Allie stood just inside the door, staring at an entire showroom of mattresses. Mattresses she should lie on to check for comfort before purchasing. Lie down on in front of Nate Parker. “Oh, Lord. Mom?” She whispered, rolling her eyes heavenward.

      “Hey, can we come in, too?”

      Allie turned. Nate and Ted were bottlenecked in the entryway behind her. Allie stepped to the side. “Sorry,” she said.