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“Hey, there’s Dr. Clayborn,” Allie called.
Mark grinned as he joined them. He ruffled Allie’s hair. “That’s Mark to you. Dr. Clayborn sounds like a mouthful for such a little girl.”
Allie drew herself up straight. “I’m a big girl.”
Mark went down on one knee, bringing himself to eye level with Allie. “I apologize. Yes, you are a big girl. Big enough to walk with Gus in the parade?”
“Really, you’re going to let me take Gus in the parade?”
“Yes, and Jeremy, too. But I have to come along with you.”
She turned to Laura Jo. “Mommy, I’m going to get to be in the parade.”
“I heard, honey, but I don’t know.”
“I’ll be right there with them the entire time.” Mark reassured Laura Jo.
The look of hesitation on her face gave him the idea that she didn’t often trust Allie’s care to anyone but her friend Marsha.
He reached for Gus’s leash and she handed it to him. The nylon was warm from her clasp. “She’ll be perfectly safe. We’ll meet you and Jeremy at the car when it’s over. The parade route isn’t long.”
“I guess it’ll be okay.” She looked at Allie. “You and Jeremy do just what Mark tells you to do.” Laura Jo pinned Mark with a look. “And you turn up with my daughter and Jeremy at the end of the parade.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a smile and a little salute. “I’ll take good care of them, I promise. Let’s go, kids. We need to get in line.”
Laura Jo watched as Mark took her daughter’s much smaller hand in his larger one and Jeremy’s in his other one. Gus walked at Allie’s heels as they were swallowed up by the crowd.
What was it about Mark that made her trust him with the most precious person in her life? She’d never allowed anyone but Marsha that privilege. Maybe it was the way he’d care for Allie’s knee, or his devotion to the grandfather and later the girl he’d cared for. Somehow Mark had convinced her in a few short meetings that he could be trusted. Now that she was a mother she better understood how her parents had felt when she had insisted on going off with someone they hadn’t trusted.
Alone, she made her way through the crowd to the curb of a street about halfway along the parade route. Taking a seat on the curb, she waited until the parade approached. For this parade there would be no bands involved. All the music would come from music boxes pulled in carts by children. The floats would be decorated wagons and dogs of all shapes and sizes.
Twenty minutes later the first of the parade members came into view. Not far behind them were Allie, Jeremy and Mark. Laura Jo stood as they approached. She’d never seen a larger smile on Allie’s face. Mark and Jeremy were grinning also. Gus was lumbering behind them, looking bored but festive. Allie held his leash proudly.
She screamed and waved as they came by. Allie and Jeremy waved enthusiastically back at her. Mark acknowledged her also. As they came closer he stepped over to Laura Jo and said, “The kids are having a blast.”
Laura Jo smiled.
* * *
An hour later Laura Jo stood waiting outside Mark’s car. Anxiousness was building with every minute that passed. Something had to have gone wrong. Mark and the children should have been there by now. Had something happened to one of the kids? She shouldn’t have let them out of her sight. Was this how her parents had felt when she’d run off with Phil?
He had been a master of manipulation. Before they’d got married he’d made her believe he had a good job and he would take care of her. “Don’t worry about what your parents think, I’ll take care of you,” he would say. The worst thing was that he’d made her believe he’d loved her.
Had she let Mark do the same thing? Persuade her to let the kids be in the parade. Had she made a poor character judgment call again? This time with her daughter? Her palms dampened. She’d promised herself to be careful. Now look what was happening. She headed in the direction of where the parade had ended, and soon recognized Mark’s tall figure coming in her way. He pulled a wagon on which Gus, Allie and Jeremy rode. With relief filling her chest, she ran toward them.
Mark was red-faced. Jeremy wore a smile. Allie looked pleased with herself as she held Gus’s head in her lap. The dog was wearing a crown.
“Where have ya’ll been? I was getting worried.” Laura Jo stopped beside them.
“Mommy, we won first place for the slowest dog in the parade.” Allie beamed.
Laura Jo gave her a hug. “That’s wonderful, honey.”
“Sorry we made you worry. I should have given you my cell number. Gus also got slower after the parade. I carried him halfway here until I saw a kid with a wagon. I had to give him fifty dollars for it so I could haul Gus back.”
At the sound of disgust in Mark’s voice Laura Jo couldn’t help but laugh. His look of complete exasperation and her sense of relief made the situation even more humorous.
“I’m glad someone thinks it’s funny.” Mark chuckled.
Laura Jo had to admit he was a good sport and he’d certainly made her daughter happy. Every time she tried to stop laughing she’d think of Mark begging a boy for his wagon and she’d burst out in laughter again. It had been a long time since she’d laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
“If you think you can stop laughing at me for a few minutes, we can load up this freeloader…” he gave the dog a revolted look “…and get him home.”
“Had a workout, did you?” Laura Jo asked, trying to suppress the giggles that kept bubbling up.
“Yeah. No good deed goes unpunished.”
“Whose idea was it to be in the parade?”
“Okay, it was mine.”
Laura Jo burst into another round of snickers.
“Mommy, are you all right?” Allie looked at her in wonder.
“Oh, honey. I’m fine. I’m just glad you had a good time.” She looked over the top of her head and grinned at Mark. Had it really been that long since Allie had seen her laugh?
Mark scooped Gus up in his arms. “If you’ll get the door, I’ll get this prima donna in the car.”
Laura Jo’s snort escaped as she opened the door. Allie climbed in next to the dog then Jeremy clambered in. Laura Jo saw they were buckled in. Mark put the wagon in the trunk and slapped the lid down harder than necessary.
“So you plan on being in another parade anytime soon?” she asked him, as she took her place in the front seat.
Mark sneered at her as he started the car. Laura Jo’s smile grew. Before they left the parking spot, he twisted to study the children. As he turned the first corner, she looked back to find both of the children asleep. Most of the people at their end of the parade had left already, which made it easy for him to maneuver out of town and back to his home.
As they drove down the drive, Laura Jo said, “Thanks for going to so much trouble for Allie. She had the time of her life.”
“You’re welcome. Despite Gus being in slow motion, I enjoyed it. I’ve been a part of a number of parades in m
y time but never one like today’s.”
Laura Jo grinned. Something she seemed to have been doing more of lately. “Well, I appreciate it. I’ll get the kids loaded up and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Laura Jo sighed and looked back at her daughter. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I bet they are hungry. They’ve had a busy day. I’ve got some hot dogs I could put on the grill,” Mark suggested, as he pulled the car to a stop.
“You’ve already done enough. I think we had better go.” Laura Jo didn’t want to like him any more than she already did, and she was afraid she might if she stayed around Mark much longer. The picture of him pulling the dog and Allie and Jeremy put a warm spot in her heart. He wasn’t the self-centered man she’d believed he might be.
“Can’t I play with Gus a little while longer?” Allie pleaded.
“Face it, you’re not going to win this one.” Mark grinned.
“You’re sure about this?” Laura Jo realized she’d lost again.
“Yeah. It’ll be nice to have company for a meal.”
“Okay,” she said to Mark, then turned and looked at Allie. “We’ll stay for a little while longer but when I say it’s time to go, we go without any argument, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Allie said, and Jeremy, who had awoken, nodded in agreement.
Laura Jo opened the door for Allie while Mark did the same for Jeremy and Gus.
“If you both give your mom and me just a few minutes, we’ll have the hot dogs ready. Why don’t you guys watch the parade on TV? Look for us.”
“Do you think they’ll have it running already?” Laura Jo asked.
“They should. When I told friends on the West Coast that we had Mardi Gras parades on TV they were amazed.” Mark turned to the kids again. “I’ll turn the TV on and we’ll give it a look.”
They all followed Mark through the front door of the house. Laura Jo studied the interior. The foyer had an easy, casual feel to it but every piece of furniture was placed so that it reminded her of a home decorating magazine. From the entrance, it opened into a large space with an exterior glass wall that gave the room a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of the deck area and the bay. Full ceiling-to-floor green-checked curtains were pushed back to either side of the windowed area. The late-afternoon sunlight streamed into the room, giving it an inviting glow.
