Anything for Her(87)
“You’re welcome. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t the truth.”
“I’m so relieved.” She did one small spin before collapsing into her chair. The dread that had weighted her down from the moment she called her mother that morning was gone. Or transformed, into this enormous relief and even ebullience.
A trace of amusement showed in Nolan’s very blue eyes. “Saved by the bell, huh?”
“Yes! Mom was just getting really worked up when you got here.” She chuckled. “And then we heard the bell.”
“You needed me, I came.” He grinned. “Didn’t know you needed me, but still.”
“My hero.”
His grin died. “Yeah, about that.”
Allie waited.
“You’re okay today? Not...sorry?” he asked.
“No. I feel...” She frowned a little, doing an inward scan. How am I really? “I said I didn’t know how I’d ever put myself back together. But I think I’ve already made a start. Just being able to tell someone, to acknowledge that I’m Chloe, too, that I was a dancer, and that I’m angry and confused. Lying has been hard...” She stopped. “I’d blocked out the anger for so long, you see. It was Chloe who was angry. Angry and bitter. But it’s not safe for me to be Chloe, so I had to ignore that part of me. Laura was the confused one, but I’m not supposed to acknowledge her existence anymore, either.” She laughed softly at herself. “You’ll think I have a split personality. Um. Maybe I do.”
“No, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?” Nolan captured her hand again. “You were being split apart by external forces. If you can say to yourself, and to me, ‘The name I was called doesn’t matter, I’ve always been myself, I am Chloe and I’m Laura and I’m Allie,’ then you’ll be all right.”
“Yes.” The backs of her eyes burned as she considered the magical notion. “Whole.”
“You are whole.” His smile transformed the rough angles of his face into something considerably sexier. “And you have some customers. Which means I’d better pack up and go.”
She started, not even having heard the bell over the door. Women’s voices carried from the front of the store, though.
Nolan leveled a stern glance at her. “But I’m going to leave some of this food. I want you to promise to eat. Grab a bite when you have a chance.”
“I promise.” Allie bounced to her feet and kissed him again. “Cross my heart.”
Long after he’d left, she carried the memory of his smile with her.
And, yes, she eventually ate every single crumb of the food.
* * *
THE NEXT COUPLE of days were wondrous, fantastic. Allie was in love with a man who loved her. She had another talk with her mother, who still wasn’t happy but seemed resigned.
“At least he’s a nice man,” she said grudgingly. “I always pictured you with a man not so...blue-collar, but I suppose I should be grateful he makes a decent living.”
Allie had only laughed. “Yes, he does, but he’s also a very talented artist. I suspect that, in the not-too-distant future, he’ll concentrate entirely on sculpting. Someday you’ll be able to brag that your son-in-law is Nolan Radek.”
“He hasn’t asked you to marry him yet, has he?”
“No, but he will.”
“I do wish you’d waited,” she fretted. “What if it doesn’t happen, Allie? Then a man who isn’t even part of our family knows a dangerous secret about us.”
Allie felt a small flicker of anxiety, but ignored it. Nolan wasn’t a man to say he loved her and then change his mind.
“I trust him no matter what,” she said.
Her mother sighed. “We don’t have any choice now, do we?” Fortunately, she didn’t say it with any heat.
Friday night, Allie had dinner at Nolan’s, where she also got soundly trounced by Sean at their second game of horse. Her shot was off, but mostly, he’d gotten better.
Triumphant, he dunked the ball in celebration. “Kicked your butt,” he gloated.
Allie gave a very feminine snort. “You won’t be very popular if you don’t learn to be a better winner.”
He grinned at her. “You mean, like saying you were awesome and it was just chance that I had the better day?”
She crossed her arms. “Like that.”