we’d talked about it in school, but hearing about it and seeing blood are not the same thing. For a second I thought I was dying. Then I remembered, but I couldn’t tell my dad and I didn’t know what to do.”
Francesca stroked her bright red curls. “I’m glad I could help.”
“Me, too.”
“We’ll take it easy today. Just relax and hang out. Tomorrow, if you feel up to it, you can go to class. In the afternoon I’ll need to stop by my adviser’s office for about a half hour. Otherwise, I have no plans for the week.”
Kelly smiled. “I like the idea of hanging out today. Maybe we can use the DVD player in the family room, seeing as I don’t have one up here.”
“That’s right. How sad. Imagine having to go through life without your very own DVD player. Maybe you could write UNICEF and ask for one. Oh, wait. They’re busy feeding starving children in poor countries.”
Kelly swatted away her hand. “I get it. I’m a spoiled brat who doesn’t appreciate all she has.”
“Something like that.”
Kelly grinned. “Okay. I’ll stop complaining about the DVD player.”
“I would if I were you.” Francesca sat up. “I have to call your dad.”
“No way! I don’t want him knowing.”
“It won’t be a surprise to him. Sam’s been around women before, and he completely understands the process.”
“But he’s my dad. Telling him is completely sick.”
“Getting your period is a natural part of life. Kelly, he has to know what had you upset this morning.”
The preteen sighed heavily. “All right, but I don’t want to talk to him about it. Ever. I mean that.”
“Fair enough. Why don’t you sort through your movie collection, and I’ll talk to him.”
Francesca had to wait on hold for a couple of minutes, then she heard Sam’s chocolate-on-velvet voice.
“So what was the crisis?”
“Kelly got her period. It was her first one and it freaked her out, which is completely understandable. Plus, she wasn’t prepared with supplies, and she was too embarrassed to tell you.”
“That was it?” Sam asked. “Her period?”
Francesca frowned. “It’s a big deal. Girls have a lot of ambivalence about the whole concept of growing up. This is physical proof things are never going to be the same again. Plus, it’s not like a guy’s first wet dream. There’s no pleasure and usually a lot of pain.”
“Whatever. She can’t hide out every time she has a problem. Look, I’m in a meeting and I have to get back to it. Thanks for letting me know what’s up. I’ll deal with it when I get home tonight. Bye.”
He hung up. Francesca stared at the phone. “Whatever?” she repeated, more than a little outraged. “That’s your entire response to this incredibly significant event in your daughter’s life? And now you’re going to deal with it? I don’t think so.”
Kelly walked into the kitchen. “Everything okay?”
Francesca set down the phone and smiled. “Absolutely,” she lied cheerfully. There was no point in upsetting Kelly. Not when the poor kid wasn’t feeling well. Francesca would make sure to corner Sam before he could talk to Kelly. Somehow she would make him see that he had to give his daughter a break and show a little more sensitivity.
Sam could feel another headache coming on. They were a regular occurrence ever since Kelly had appeared in his life. He ignored the wine rack on the counter and went right to the hard stuff. After collecting a glass, he headed for the wet bar and opened a bottle of single malt scotch.
“I’m not kidding, Sam,” Francesca said as she followed him. “You are completely in the wrong. This is a female thing and you can’t possibly understand. You’re going to have to believe me.”
He drank half the contents of his glass in two swallows. The liquid burned its way to his belly.
“She could have told me.”
“No, she couldn’t. She was embarrassed and scared. You try waking up to blood everywhere and we’ll see how you react.”
He wasn’t comfortable with the visual image, so he ignored it. “She locked me out of her room, she wouldn’t come out, and she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”
“With a good reason.”
“I’m her father.”
“You’re a stranger. It’s been what-a month? That’s not enough time to get to know each other.” She leaned against the bar. “You haven’t even decided if you like having her around.”
“Sometimes I don’t,” Sam admitted. He crossed to the sofa and sat down. “Sometimes…” He shrugged.
Francesca perched on the edge of the club chair and leaned toward him. “Give her a break on this.”
“She was wrong to lock me out of her room. This weekend I’m taking the lock out.”
“Fine, but don’t be in a snit when you do it.”
He looked at her. “Why are you taking her side? I thought you were on my team.”
“I’m a neutral third party.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “Francesca, I’ve had a hell of a day. I have clients in from out of town, I was worried about Kelly all morning only to find out she’d fussed about nothing.”
“It’s not nothing to her.”
He wasn’t convinced. “I just want to spend a quiet evening. No fighting, no misunderstandings, no lectures. Is that too much to ask? We could order in, you could stay for dinner, then for breakfast.” He smiled.
She didn’t smile back. “You’re missing the entire point. Kelly had a hard day, too. She needs to be cuddled and pampered. She needs to feel special. She needs you to understand. Right now she has to be the most important thing in your life.”
He swallowed the rest of his drink. “Why the hell not? She’s ruining it anyway.”
Francesca rose and glared at him. “I can’t believe you said that.”
His guilt was faster than her accusation. “I know. I didn’t mean it.” He hadn’t. It was just he didn’t understand Kelly. Every time he thought he had her figured out, he found out he couldn’t be more wrong. He cared about her; he just wished she wasn’t so frustrating.
“Get to know her, Sam. Make some effort to spend some time with her.”
“I do.”
“Not enough. You don’t understand her, and that’s why this isn’t going smoothly. You’re the adult in the relationship. Maybe you should act like it.”
With that, she turned and walked out of the room. Seconds later the front door slammed.
Sam leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes. Looked like he wouldn’t be getting any tonight. His morning had started badly, and his evening wasn’t showing signs of improvement.
He heard a noise from upstairs. Kelly.
Get to know her, Francesca had said. He was. Sort of. He’d taken her to work the previous day. Okay, she’d spent most of her time with Jason, but still…
“Hell,” he muttered and set down his glass. Francesca was right. Again.
He walked upstairs and knocked on Kelly’s door.
“Come in,” she called.
He opened the door and found her curled up on her bed, reading.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked.
She eyed him warily. “Fine. I know Francesca told you and everything, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Thank God. “What do you want to do?”
She shrugged.
Great. That was helpful. He thought about what he used to do with his grandfather when he’d been Kelly’s age and it had been a cold, rainy day. He smiled.
“Ever play chess?”
She rolled her eyes. “Could you be more boring?”
“Probably not, but that doesn’t answer the question.”
She sighed. “No, and I don’t want to learn.”
“Too bad. Because if you were to win a game, I’d get you a DVD player.”
