to meet the parents of Kendra’s friends just to make sure she isn’t hanging out with children whose parents are too permissive.” A little frown appeared between her tired blue eyes. “A year ago we got crosswise when she befriended a little girl who didn’t have a curfew, dressed like Britney Spears, and was trying to grow up way too fast. Suddenly Kendra wanted to wear a short skirt and thong underwear.”
“I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, but I don’t think you have to worry about Tiffany.”
“Kendra says there’s no mother in the home, and it sounds like her father is really busy.”
“Oh, poor thing.”
“You remember Devon Hamilton.”
Sherilyn closed her eyes and thought a moment. “Isn’t she the one who used to torture you about your hair?”
Among other things. “Yes. That was Tiffany’s mother.”
Sherilyn’s eyes flew open, and her gaze met Adele’s. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
Sherilyn reached for the Gummi Bears and opened the bag. “Small world.”
She had no idea.
“I feel so helpless. I can’t keep an eye on my daughter.” She popped a red bear into her mouth. “And with everything going on with William, I haven’t bought a thing for the baby.” She rubbed her stomach. “Poor thing.”
For a type-A, control freak like Sherilyn, being confined to bed had to be hell. “Kendra and I will get everything ready for the baby. It’ll be fun.” And as soon as Sherilyn had the baby, and everything was okay, Adele was out of there. Back to her own home and her friends and her life.
“Great.” Sherilyn tossed the bag of Gummi Bears on the tray. “The baby’s moving.” Counting kicks and paying attention to movement was important in a preeclampsia pregnancy. “Give me your hand.” She grabbed Adele around the wrist and placed her palm on the left side of her belly.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Shhh…there. Did you feel that?”
Adele shook her head. Yesterday, she hadn’t felt anything either. Or the day before that.
After a few moments, Sherilyn let go. “I guess he went back to sleep.” She pointed to the nightstand. “Get a piece of paper and pencil and write down everything I tell you.”
An hour later, Adele had a three-page list of what the baby needed as well as a list of appropriate behavior, activities, and television programs for Kendra. Basically, anything that had cursing in it was forbidden. Which meant Adele would have to catch up with some of her favorite shows after Kendra went to bed.
Adele shoved the list into her purse, hopped in Sherilyn’s car, and headed to Sterling Park Middle School. The second she entered the old gym, she was struck by two things. One, it looked smaller than she recalled. And two, it smelled the same. Like hardwood floors and rubber balls. A red-and-black-painted stallion took up the center of the floor, and at the far end, Kendra and a few dozen or so girls stretched and tied their dance shoes. Kendra had pulled her hair back and tied a white-and-red ribbon around her ponytail. Adele gave her niece a big wave, but Kendra must not have seen because she turned her back. Adele shrugged and moved up the bleachers to take a seat three rows up. On the floor below her, four teachers and three students sat at a judging table. One of the students was Tiffany Zemaitis with her hair pulled back in a claw and a pencil in one hand.
Just a few short weeks ago, Adele never would have imagined that she’d find herself sitting in her old middle- school gymnasium. She wrote about the bizarre and unlikely, but she never would have imagined that someday she’d watch her niece try out for a dance team on which Devon and Zach’s daughter was the captain. Not in a million light-years.
She set the Handycam next to her and put her elbows on the bench behind her to stretch out and wait. Neither would she have ever pictured herself the interim de facto parent of a thirteen-year-old. She knew nothing about children. She hadn’t been responsible to another living thing since her veiled chameleon, Steve, died of old age five years ago. And a teen required much more than some misting water, a clean basking area, and a few crickets.
Whatever it was that Kendra required, Adele hadn’t figured it out yet. Kendra hated chicken because it was “veiny.” She hated salad because lettuce tasted like “dirt,” and she hated bananas because they were “mushy” even when they weren’t.
Since the age of eighteen, Adele had lived alone and really didn’t cook much. She usually just threw steak or chicken on her George Foreman and made a salad. Something quick and easy, but Kendra wanted stuff that had to be planned out and cooked, like spaghetti or enchiladas. Or better yet, she wanted fast food. When Adele had explained that she couldn’t have McDonald’s or Taco Bell every day because it was very unhealthy and filled with trans fats, Kendra had looked at her, and said, “That’s gay.” As Adele had quickly discovered, anything that Kendra didn’t like or didn’t like to hear, was “gay.” Adele might have pointed out that saying everything was “gay” wasn’t very p.c., but she figured Kendra would just look at her as if she were old and stupid and “gay.”
A girl in black spandex moved to the center of the gym, put her head down, and waited. Within a few seconds “Get Ready 4 This” blasted from a CD player in front of the judges’ table. The girl began to dance, and it wasn’t so much that she was bad, as she just wasn’t very good. The second girl was a bit better, but unfortunately, the loud squeaky doors to the gym opened and slammed shut three times during her performance, prompting one of the judges to make a sign and hang it on the outside. After that people filed in through the locker rooms.
Half a dozen girls danced before Kendra took the floor. She put her CD in the player, then waited for the first few beats of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” Adele stood, and through the Handycam’s screen, she watched her niece. Kendra had mentioned that she’d been in dance classes since the age of four. Adele had taken dance classes throughout her life, too, and she recognized someone with natural talent. When Kendra finished, Adele gave a few whoop whoops, then stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. She’d probably just acted really “gay” in Kendra’s eyes, but she was too excited and proud not to make some noise.
Several more girls danced after Kendra, and by the time everyone finished trying out, it was past six. Adele stuck the Handycam in her shoulder bag and moved down the bleachers. She moved a few feet from the judge’s table, where the girls had gathered.
“You were awesome,” Adele told Kendra, as her niece separated herself a bit from the other girls.
Kendra shook her head. “I messed up twice.”
“I didn’t notice.” She lowered her voice, and added, “You were a lot better than everyone else.”
Kendra tried and failed to hide her smile. The first really genuine smile Adele had seen on her niece’s face. “I hope so. A few of the girls were good.”
“Grab your stuff, and we’ll run to the hospital to show your mom what a great job you did.”
Kendra pointed past Adele’s left shoulder. “We have to wait until they announce the winners.”
Adele turned to the judges’ table near her. Their heads were all together, and they spoke in hushed tones. “They’re going to announce the winners now?”
“Yeah.”
The doors to the gym banged open, prompting everyone to turn as Zach Zemaitis walked in, trailing the last remnants of the setting sun. Apparently he hadn’t bothered reading the note stuck to the door. The door banged shut behind him, and he stopped just inside and looked around. He wore a black Nike hooded sweatshirt and a pair of faded-out Levi’s. A whistle circled his neck, and the curved brim of his cap shadowed his face and hid his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest and looked intimidating and massive standing there framed by the door and glancing about. His arms fell to his sides, and although she couldn’t see his gaze, she knew it had stopped on her. She could feel it move up and down her body, touching here, stopping there.
“Hey, Daddy,” Tiffany called out to him.
He took off his hat and walked across the gym to the judges’ table. He ran his fingers through his hair as his unhurried stride carried him closer. He didn’t so much as glance at Adele, and she wondered if she’d imagined that whole feeling-his-gaze-on-her thing. She wondered if he’d even seen her at all.
Zach stopped next to Tiffany and tossed his hat on the table. “Are you just about done here, sugar bug?”
“Yep.”
