“I’m not old,” Andrea exclaimed.
“Got ya. And I didn’t even try,” Shannon said triumphantly, holding the dog up in front of her. “Hi, Butch.”
“Butch it is,” Carrie agreed, chuckling.
Andrea suddenly realized what her mother was doing by getting this dog. She wanted Shannon to have a pet, something Andrea had refused. It was probably selfish on her part, but her days were too busy to be responsible for walking a dog.
Inside, there were huge candles in large glass pots flickering everywhere, giving the main room a magical feeling. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with paintings done by friends of Carrie’s. Some of them were by famous artists, and many of the paintings Andrea really enjoyed. How many hours had she spent gazing at these paintings? Andrea loved the reminder of her childhood.
Shannon squeezed past them into the kitchen. “Where are Butch’s food and water bowls? He’s starving.”
“That’s a great name for a dog, don’t you think?” Carrie whispered as she put her arm around Andrea’s shoulder.
“Shannon has wanted a dog for a long time.”
“You think I got that dog for Shannon?” her mother asked.
“I do, and don’t deny it,” she said, but she could hardly be angry. It made perfect sense, and it provided an opportunity for Shannon to spend time with Carrie. “There’s only one problem.”
“And that is?”
“You’ll be away most of the year, and we’ll have Butch.” She didn’t have a clue how she’d manage a dog, given their schedules. But seeing her daughter so happy, she’d find a way. The kind of joy evident on Shannon’s face had been absent for far too long.
“I believe I have a solution,” Carrie said.
“What are you saying?”
“Let’s have dinner, and I’ll explain.” Carrie went to the kitchen, a galley style with all the amenities.
“What can I do?” Andrea inquired, noticing that the mahogany table was set with the best silver and Carrie’s Spode china. “Wow, the table looks gorgeous. What’s the occasion?”
“Isn’t Butch the perfect occasion, Mom?” Shannon asked, hugging the dog as she sat on the cream sofa in the main room next to the dining room.
“It would take more than a dog to bring out the good china.” Andrea glanced at Carrie, who stood beside the kitchen counter, a pensive expression on her face.
Carrie lifted the casserole from the oven, and holding it carefully, she made her way to the table and put the dish on an insulated mat.
Her eyes bright with excitement, she said, “I’ve got good news. I’m not traveling anymore. I’ve decided that if people want me to paint their portraits, they can come here. I’ve worked hard, my reputation is solid and I’m tired of being away from my family.” She wiped a strand of graying hair from her forehead. “And my family is here—the two of you.”
Andrea and Shannon exchanged surprised glances. “Are you serious? After all this time?” Andrea asked.
“Sit down while I tell you all about it.” Carrie pulled the salad from the fridge and sat at the head of the table. “Shannon, honey, put Butch in his kennel in the laundry room.”
Shannon did as she was told, washed her hands then took her place at the table. “So, let’s hear it, Gram. What’s the plan?”
“Shannon, your mom has always had to live around my crazy schedule, and now I want to be here for her, and for you. I’m not getting any younger, and before I miss out on everything going on in your lives, I’ve decided to change how I work. My agent isn’t all that happy, but he’ll manage. Besides, he’s made lots of money off me while he got to stay home with his family.” She raised her crystal wineglass. “To a new life.”
Andrea peeked at Shannon, and her daughter’s face was radiant. “What do you think, Mom? Isn’t this great news?”
Andrea felt a rush of excitement at the thought of her mother being around all the time, being a part of their lives. She raised her glass. “This is wonderful news. To a new life,” Andrea said before taking a sip of merlot.
They ate their meal punctuated with Shannon’s excited stories of what she and Butch would do together, how she wanted to take Butch to obedience school. “Mom, we’ll check all this out when we get home, right?”
“We will.” Andrea wiped her lips with the Irish linen napkin as she let the idea of Carrie being around full-time sink in. “You’ll be able to have sleepovers at your gram’s anytime you want.”
“And when you’re tied up with work, I’ll be able to invite Gram over to our house...with Butch, of course. We’ll make chocolate-chip cookies.” Shannon gave a satisfied smile, rubbed her tummy and got up from the table. “If it’s all right with you guys, I’m going to take Butch for a nice long walk.”
Carrie smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea. Have you got your cell phone with you?”
“Yes. Why?” Shannon asked as she took the leash off the hook at the back door and fastened it on Butch’s collar.
“Just in case you need us. Butch may want to run, and you could end up in the next county.”
Shannon laughed—a lovely, melodic laugh that Andrea hadn’t heard in far too long. She realized now how big a mistake it had been to deny Shannon her wish to have a dog. “See you later,” she murmured, happy at the thought that her daughter would spend the next little while doing something she loved.
“Let’s sit out on the deck and watch the sun go down,” her mother said.
They sat in well-weathered Adirondack chairs. Below them, the lawn stretched toward the lake. The wide expanse of water glistened in the half-light. “It’s so beautiful here.” Andrea breathed in the scent of lavender wafting from the herb garden along the side of the house.
“It is, and someday it will be yours.”
Where was this coming from? Her mother never talked this way. “What is going on? Why the sudden change?”
“I’m setting up a trust fund for Shannon’s education. And I’m redoing my will, naming you my sole beneficiary. You’re all I have, and I want to look after you and Shannon.”
“Are you sure you’re not hiding something?” Andrea asked.
“No, I’m looking after business, something I’ve not done well over the years. But my accountant says I need to start planning for the future.”
“That’s great, Mom, especially after the week I’ve had.” She explained her concerns around Shannon, Kyle and the accident.
“Andrea, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all this. But this proves how important my decision is. With me around more, I’ll be able to help you with whatever is going on in your life. I want to be a better mother and grandmother.”
Andrea had become so accustomed to making her own decisions, being responsible for her own life over the years, she didn’t know how to respond. “I’m happy for you, Mom.” She needed to think, to take this all in. So strange and so unexpected. Her mother could be pretty forceful when she wanted something. What if she decided she wanted to be much more involved in Andrea’s life? Or Shannon’s? Scott meddling in Shannon’s life, and her mother suddenly retiring might mean a whole new round of conflict over Shannon’s activities. It was too stressful for her to deal with right now. “It’s been a hard week, and right now I need to go home.”
Carrie looked startled. “Maybe Shannon could stay with me tonight?”
“I don’t know. She has school tomorrow and a project due next week.”
“Can I ask her? I could drive her over to pick up her things at your house and bring her back here.”
What would it matter if Shannon stayed here tonight? “Sure. Go ahead and ask her.”
When Shannon returned Carrie asked her if she’d like to stay overnight.
She hugged her grandmother. “I would love that. Can Butch sleep with me?”
“Now, we don’t want to get Butch into any bad habits, do we?”
“No, we don’t, I guess,” she murmured, her expression downcast.
Carrie, her face suffused with love, whispered, “Okay, just for tonight.”
Shannon’s cry of happiness brought a loud bark from Butch.
“We’d better go, Shannon, and get your things organized for your sleepover.”
On the drive home, Shannon hummed a happy tune. “You like Butch?” Andrea asked, knowing the answer but needing the sound of her daughter’s voice to break the endless train of thoughts roaring through her mind.
“I love Butch, and I can’t wait to take him to obedience class. I’m going to be the best dog trainer ever,” she said.
As Andrea listened to Shannon’s plans for Butch, her daughter sounded like her old self. If a dog was what it took to bring her daughter back to her, the dog could move in with them. Grateful to finally feel at peace with her daughter, she vowed to focus on their lives together, on Shannon’s plans for college, on their plans for Thanksgiving weekend just a few weeks away. They would have a huge dinner at her mom’s and maybe stay overnight just for the fun of it.
Focus on the good...and pray the rest went away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TWO DAYS LATER, Jake got a call from Melody, the guidance counselor at Shannon’s school. She was still concerned about Shannon’s behavior, and the school psychologist was not yet back to work. She’d called Jake to get his recommendations on what to do.
“Shannon had another argument yesterday with Stuart Jameson, and it escalated to a yelling match,” Melody explained, adding that Stuart was a difficult student. “Before classes ended, Shannon left with Kyle. I need to speak with Mrs. Taylor, but she hasn’t returned my call. I get the impression she doesn’t welcome any interference in how she raises Shannon.”
What could he say? He had that impression, too, although he suspected Andrea had deeper motivations than he’d initially assumed. Jake promised to look into it, although he didn’t have any idea how he’d do that.
This wasn’t his case, and his only involvement was his complicated relationship with Andrea. And although he felt he understood her better as a person, he wasn’t convinced that he could be of much help in the continuing situation with Shannon, especially if Shannon’s behavior at school was not showing noticeable improvement.
Complicating matters further, he had feelings for Andrea. After he’d left Andrea’s house, he’d wished he could start over with her. Again. He wanted to erase the awkwardness of their goodbye. Especially because he could still taste her lips, could still remember how she felt in his arms.
The problem was he didn’t want to see her to talk about issues with Shannon. He wanted to spend time with Andrea. But he couldn’t, not after he’d promised Melody to help. Damn it! Reluctantly, he called Andrea.
When she answered she sounded out of breath. “Did I bring you away from something?” he asked.
“Just lugging laundry to the laundry room. I’ve never seen so many dirty clothes. I’m thinking about buying disposable clothes for Shannon, if such a thing exists,” she said, a warm chuckle filling the connection. “What’s going on with you?” she asked, her tone hopeful and upbeat.
“I wonder if you and I could meet sometime today or tomorrow? I’d like to talk to you about Shannon.”
“Why? She’s doing okay.”
Was that disappointment or suspicion he heard in her voice?
He didn’t know how to answer that without putting Andrea on the defensive. Besides, he preferred to see her in person, just to be sure she was okay. Then he’d tell her what Melody had said. “Have you talked to Melody Chapman?”
“No. She called, left a message asking me to call. I assume it’s about another meeting. I’m going to call her back when I’m finished cleaning the house. Shannon really does seem to be doing better, not wanting to go to her father’s place...”
“Could we talk?”
She sighed. “Only if you’re willing to come here. Shannon will be home from school in a little while, and unless you want her to be part of the conversation—”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He had a client coming in shortly after four today, so he had to be quick.
When he got there, Andrea was waiting at the door. “What’s so urgent?” she asked.
She looked beautiful with her hair in a twist at the nape of her neck, her jeans fitting over her slender legs. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m flattered.” She met his gaze, color rising in her cheeks. She motioned for him to enter. “Shannon’s grandmother got a dog, and that’s all Shannon can talk about.”
“That’s great. And how’s she doing in school?”
She turned to him, a quizzical look in her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“I had a call from Melody. It seems that Shannon was in another argument yesterday.”
“What? Why am I only finding out now? And from you?” There was a hard tone in her voice and he saw signs of anger. Understandable, but he knew that if she couldn’t get past her anger, Shannon wouldn’t receive the kind of support she needed.
“Melody did call you.”
She deflated a little. “I should have called her right back. Who was Shannon arguing with?”
“Stuart Jameson.”
“No. Not again.” Her voice rose. “Shannon told me she was done with him after the other incident. Melody knows that Shannon had never had any trouble at school before, or else I would have been in her office at some point before all this. Stuart is the problem here, not my daughter. Why is the school calling me? Why aren’t they taking action against Stuart?”
“I’m sure they’ve been in touch with his parents,” Jake said calmly.
“If you ask me, the school is practicing appeasement.” She picked up the phone. “I’ll call the school. I don’t know what I have to say to get them to address this.”
How could he encourage her to not let her anger dictate how she acted with the school? Not only did it make her relationship with her daughter more complicated, it affected how the school staff responded to her. “Would you like me to go to the meeting with you?”
“Would you be willing to do that?” she asked, putting the phone back.
Her deep blue eyes were clear and focused solely on him, creating a connection, an unexpected feeling that they were a team. “If it would help you deal with what’s going on with Shannon,” he said, feeling a current between them.
“Shannon is still in some kind of trouble, isn’t she?” She paused as if in thought. “We talked about it, and she wants to work it out on her own, but if she’s had another run-in with Stuart, she isn’t working it out.”
She rubbed her forehead, her expression anxious. “I’d like to talk to Shannon first before I meet with the school. I want to hear what went on from her.” She glanced up at him, her expression one of worry mixed with resignation. “Could you stay?”
She needed him with her. He’d left her alone to cope twice before, and she still trusted him to support her. If he didn’t have faith in his abilities to make a difference in Shannon’s life, he had to go now and not come back. That way, Andrea could find someone else to rely on.
If he stayed, he might be able to turn the situation around. Seeing Andrea’s wary expression, he knew he could be making a big mistake. But his heart told him he had to be there for her or get out of her life. And if he stayed, he’d have to cancel his four-o’clock appointment. “Certainly.”
He rescheduled the appointment while Andrea made coffee. They talked idly until Shannon came home twenty minutes later.
“Mom, who’s here?” she asked, stopping abruptly when she saw Jake.
There was something in the way Shannon looked at him�
�disappointment, maybe. “I came to talk to your mom.”
“About what?” Shannon asked.
“About you,” Andrea said. “Did you get into a fight with Stuart Jameson?”
“When?” Shannon asked, dropping her backpack near the door and shedding her hoodie, tossing it on top.
“The school called to say that you were arguing with Stuart. Is it true, Shannon?”
“We were talking too loud in the hallway, that’s all,” Shannon said.
“Why would you have anything more to do with the likes of him?” Andrea demanded.
Jake watched the anger flare and stepped in. “I hear Stuart is a bit of a bully. What were you and Stuart talking about?”
Shannon slouched against the island. “Stuart is going out with my best friend, Chloe. I was trying to find out what their plans were for the weekend.”
“Why didn’t you ask Chloe?” Andrea interjected.
“Because Chloe and I aren’t talking much these days. Since she started dating Stuart I hardly see her, even at school. She’s usually off with Stuart in his car.”
“And her mother’s okay with that?”
Shannon shrugged. “Who knows? Besides, her mother does whatever her stepdad says.”
Andrea placed her hands on the island. “But you’ve been friends for years. Is it upsetting you? Do you want to talk about that? I’m worried it’s affecting you more than you know, because your grades are down. And what about volleyball? Did you go to practice today?” Even though Andrea’s words were expressing her concern for her daughter’s well-being, her tone of voice was harsh and accusatory. With each sentence she’d gotten louder, her anger more evident...and a bit fearsome.
Shannon hunched her shoulders as she looked at Jake, seeking his support. “Can you please tell my mom that sometimes I just don’t feel like going to practice?”
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