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  Lonna sighed. “Your father and I didn’t discuss what we were going to get you, Abbie. If he said those things were from the both of us, he was probably just covering for me in case my gift didn’t measure up. But I got you something, too. Something I didn’t tell him about.”

  Abbie peeked at her from behind her hand. “What? More eggs?”

  Lonna smiled. “Wait here.” She got up and returned to the bedroom, taking a wrapped package out from beneath the bed. When she returned to the living room, Abbie hadn’t moved from her place on the couch, her face still hidden. She approached with the package and held it out. “Happy birthday.”

  When Abigail saw it she seemed mildly surprised. “You mean you actually bought me something?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I just…” She shrugged, tangles of dark hair hanging over her eyes. “I dunno. I can’t figure you out.”

  “Well, this is just a little something I picked up for you. Something I thought you might like.”

  Abbie finally reached out and took the package. She hefted it, trying to get a feel for what might be inside. “It’s not another jacket, is it?”

  “No.” Lonna took a seat beside her and waited as her stepdaughter slowly peeled the wrapping paper back. When the white box beneath was revealed, she watched in blissful fascination as the expression on Abbie’s face changed from one of sorrow to one of elation.

  “No fucking way!”

  Lonna laughed, delighted.

  Abbie threw the paper aside and stared incredulously at the iPad box. She stared at it for a long time, making no move to open it. Finally she turned her head and looked at Lonna. “You can’t give me this.”

  “Of course I can. I just did.”

  “But you can’t.”

  Lonna took a chance and reached out, ruffling Abbie’s hair. “I can so. You wanted one, and I wanted to buy you one. So I did.”

  “Do you know how much these cost?”

  Lonna smiled warmly. “I have a pretty good idea. The sales clerk told me.”

  Abbie looked back at the box. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say anything. The look on your face when you opened it was enough for me.”

  Abbie looked at her again, licking her lips. “You’ve really been nice to me lately. And I appreciate it. But this is too much.”

  “Abbie, I bought this for you because I wanted to. It made me happy to buy it. If you don’t accept it, that would really hurt.”

  “But why? Why would you be this nice to me? My own father wouldn’t even buy me one of these.”

  “Your father is...kind of an insensitive jerk.”

  Abbie nodded. “No shit.”

  “I wish you’d stop thinking of me as an extension of him. Or even as a stepmother. I wish you’d just think of me as Lonna. That’s who I am, really.”

  Abbie seemed to consider it. She started to speak and then stopped. She was fighting something inside herself. “I’ve been nothing but a bitch to you. Why would you want to buy me something as nice as this?”

  “I told you that already. I like you. It makes me feel sick inside when we don’t get along. And when I see you happy, I feel happy. It’s because I care about you.”

  Abbie swallowed, looking away. “Even though I’m a bitch?”

  “You’re not a bitch!” Lonna placed her hand on Abbie’s cheek. To her surprise, Abbie didn’t pull away. “You’re a beautiful young woman, and it’s your birthday. And if there was something I could do to make it better for you, I wanted to do it.”

  Abbie took an enormously deep breath, and when she let it out she appeared much more relaxed. “So…you mean I really have an iPad now?”

  “You sure do!”

  Lonna thought Abbie was finally going to open the box, but instead she set it beside her on the couch. “Thank you, Lonna.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Abbie shifted on the couch so that she was in a better position to see Lonna. She licked her lips again, composing her thoughts. “I think I owe you an apology.”

  The words meant more to Lonna than she would have believed. Her whole body sang with happiness. “You don’t owe me anything, honey.”

  Smiling, Abbie nodded. “Yes, I do. I’ve been cold to you right from day one. I never even gave you a chance. You tried over and over, and I just kept blowing you off.” She looked her in the eyes. “And I’m sorry. I really mean that.”

  “Thank you.” Lonna’s voice cracked. She felt as though she were going to cry. “That means a lot to me.”

  Abbie motioned to the iPad box. “This means a lot to me. Not the gift, but the fact that you gave it to me. It tells me something about...” She sighed. “...about you. From now on, things are going to be different. I promise.”

  Tears spilled down Lonna’s face. “I hope that means we’re going to be friends.”

  “It does.”

  “Real friends?”

  “Yes.” Abbie looked away for a moment and then looked back. There was something in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. A softness. “I misinterpreted you.” She licked her lips. “It was a mistake. I won’t make it again.”

  Lonna laughed, still crying. “It’s going to be so nice, having you for a friend, Abbie. There are so many times when I wish I had somebody to talk to about things. There’s so much I want to share with you. This is like a whole new world opening up for me.”

  Abbie smiled. It felt good. “Well, you’ve got someone to talk to about things now.”

  Lonna smiled. “Thank you so much.”

  “I can’t believe...” Abbie paused, looking off in the distance.

  “What?”

  She took another deep breath. “I can’t believe we could have been close all this time. It’s my fault we weren’t.” She looked at Lonna. “You know, you’re not the only one who wishes she had somebody to talk to around here.”

  “You can talk to me about anything you want to, Abbie. Any time.”

  “I...” She shrugged. “I didn’t know that.”

  Lonna reached out and took her hand, holding it in hers. It was very soft and warm. “You know it now. I’m here for you, no matter what. For anything.”

  “Thank you, Lonna.”

  “You’re so welcome.”

  Abbie was still smiling. She wiped her eyes, which had gotten moist. “There’s so much shit I want to tell you now. All kinds of crazy things.”

  “You can tell me anything.”

  Abbie nodded. “I don’t mean anything in particular. Just all kinds of stuff.”

  “Anything you want.”

  “I will. I promise.” She reached out and touched Lonna’s hair, brushing it back from her eyes. “God, this is really going to be cool!”

  “I agree.”

  “Thanks for saving my birthday.”

  Lonna got to her feet, pulling Abbie by the hand. When they were both standing, Lonna wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Abbie hugged her back, squeezing hard. They stood that way for almost a full minute, holding each other in the quiet living room. If Lonna had ever felt better, she didn’t remember when.

  After a moment, Abbie released her and leaned back. “Thanks, Lonna.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And thanks again for the thoughtful present. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

  “You’re very, very welcome. It was money well spent.”

  Abbie kissed her on the check. She had a big smile on her face. “Would you like some breakfast? It’s my turn to cook.”

  Chapter 6

  They ended up cooking together. It was an almost exact duplication of the previous day’s breakfast, the only real difference being the lack of bacon; neither of them wanted it. They had fun as they got in each other’s way, chopping and stirring and buttering toast, chatting about whatever came to mind. Neither of them had had such a happy morning in a very long time and
they both snuck apprehensive glances at the clock, knowing it wasn’t going to last. The real world would beckon, ruining their fun.

  Sitting at the table and sipping coffee, Lonna filled Abbie in on the miserable dinner she’d suffered through the night before. “He just sat there, shoveling it in, oblivious to everything else around him.”

  Abbie was smiling, chewing on some rye toast. “I can’t believe you made me a big casserole and I didn’t even come home.”

  “There wouldn’t have been enough for you, anyway. He just kept eating it. I barely got any myself.”

  “It’s completely gone?”

  “There was a little left over. I made him save it for you.”

  “I never even saw it.”

  “He must have eaten it during the night.”

  “What a pig. I can’t believe he’s not fatter.”

  Lonna laughed, taking a bite of eggs. “It’s all the caffeine, I think. If he’s not drinking coffee, he’s drinking soda.”

  “I don’t want to think about him anymore. It’s bad enough we’re going to have to waste the night having dinner with him.”

  Lonna slumped in her chair. “God. I forgot about that.”

  Abbie was smiling at her. “Why did you marry him, anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I thought we weren’t going to talk about him?”

  “Okay. Fair enough.” She took another bite of toast.

  “What about you? You called during dinner, something about a big date.”

  Abbie dropped her toast and wiped her mouth with a napkin. She sighed. “Something else I don’t want to talk about.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, no. It’s not your fault. It was stupid, is all. Or, I should say, a mistake.”

  “You don’t have to talk about it, honey.”

  Abbie looked at her with a smirk. “It was this guy, okay? He’s been pestering me for a date for weeks. I finally agreed to go out with him just so he’d quit hitting on me.”

  “I can see how that would backfire.”

  Abbie laughed again. Her laugh was very musical, and Lonna loved the sound of it. “I spent the night trying to make him as miserable as possible. It took awhile, but I think I finally pulled it off. I can be a real bitch when I put my mind to it.”

  Lonna smiled, drinking her coffee.

  “Anyway, I don’t think I want to go on any more dates for awhile.”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.”

  “I’m not. I didn’t want it to.”

  “Well, then, congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” Abbie looked at the clock on the wall and cursed. “This sucks. I’m finally having a nice time and now I have to run off to school. My whole birthday will be wasted, and then I have to spend the night going to dinner with my asshole father.”

  “Maybe he won’t want to go after the little fight you two had.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Hey! You might be right! That would be something. I could stay home tonight and set up my new computer.”

  “That’s something to look forward to.”

  “It sure is. I still can’t believe you actually bought me one.”

  “Don’t get too excited. Next year it’ll probably be obsolete.”

  “Still. Like I said before, it’s not the gift so much as the fact that you bought it for me. That was one hell of a gesture, Lonna.”

  “You’re one hell of a young lady.”

  Abbie looked at the clock again. “Shit!” She stood up and began gathering her breakfast dishes.

  “Leave those. I’ll clean up. I don’t have to be at work for another hour.”

  “I don’t want to leave a big mess for you.” She carried her things to the sink and began running the hot water. “The whole sink is full.”

  Lonna stepped over and tried to bump her out of the way with her hip. “Scoot over, princess. The birthday girl isn’t washing any dishes while I’m around.”

  Abbie laughed and bumped her back. “Says who?”

  “Your wicked stepmother.”

  “I thought you were Lonna.”

  “I am Lonna. And you’re late for school.”

  Suddenly Abbie had her arms around Lonna again, hugging her tight. “I don’t wanna go to school! I’m too happy!”

  Lonna almost laughed, but she was too overcome with emotion at the unexpected embrace. She wrapped her own arms around Abbie and held her, stroking her back with one hand. She kissed the top of Abbie’s head. After a moment she thought they were done, but Abbie made no move to let her go, and she didn’t want to be the one to break the contact. She felt almost blissful standing there holding the younger woman.

  Finally Abbie released her and leaned back. Her eyes were wet and glimmering under the harsh kitchen light.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She quickly wiped her eyes.

  “Tell me.”

  She shook her head. “Nothing, really. I just...” She licked her lips. “I just don’t feel like going to school. I wish it was Saturday.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “It’s going to be such a long, shitty day. I’ve got calculus with Mr. Zermont. Jesus, what a waste of time.”

  Lonna laughed softly. “At least it’s Friday. Tomorrow we can just sit around at home and do whatever we want.”

  Abbie nodded. “Yeah. But my dad’ll be here all day. I’ll end up staying in my room.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  Abbie looked at her. “Hey, you know something?”

  “What?”

  “I always thought I was avoiding you by staying in my room, but now I wonder. I think I was kind of blaming you for the way I felt about my father.”

  “I sometimes got that impression.”

  “Really?”

  “Sometimes. Not always. I usually thought you just plain hated me.”

  “I’m sorry!”

  Lonna ruffled her hair again, smiling. “Don’t be. I’m just glad we finally ended up on the same team.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Hey,” Lonna said.

  Abbie looked at her. “What?”

  “No, never mind.”

  “What?”

  “No. It was stupid.”

  Abigail grabbed her hand. “Tell me!”

  “Well…” She shook her head. “I’m supposed to be a positive influence on you. I shouldn’t even be thinking this.”

  Now Abbie was smiling. “C’mon. Out with it!”

  Lonna took a deep breath, a mischievous little grin on her face. “You’ve been going to school now for months, and I don’t recall you taking a single day off.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Well. I was just thinking…what if you took today off?”

  Abbie smiled. “Are you giving me permission?”

  “I shouldn’t be.”

  “It would give me time to set up my new computer. I really do need it for school, you know.”

  “I believe you. And it is your birthday.”

  “It sounds great. But I’d probably get kind of bored after awhile, sitting around the house by myself all day.”

  Lonna was still smiling. “I thought maybe I could take a sick day, too.”

  Abbie was beaming. “You really want to?”

  “You have no idea how much I want to.”

  “Let’s do it, Lonna!”

  “You think we should?”

  “Yes!” Abbie hugged her again, hopping up and down. “It’ll be like girl’s night out, only we’ll stay home all day.”

  “We wouldn’t even have to get dressed.”

  “God! This is going to be the best birthday ever!”

  Chapter 7

  After making a quick phone call and washing the dishes, Lonna and Abigail were back on the couch, each with a mug of coffee and still wearing their nightgowns. Abbie set her coffee down on the table and picked up her gift, final
ly opening the box and removing the iPad. As she slid it out of the packaging and turned it over in her lap to examine the back, she gasped.

  “Lonna!”

  Lonna set her own coffee down, suddenly concerned. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me I got the wrong one.”

  “I think you did! This is 64 gigs!”

  “Is that bad?”

  Abbie laughed. “No. It’s great. But this is the most expensive one they make. You can’t give me this.”

  Lonna ran her hand through her hair, relieved. “I already did.”

  “We can take it back. Turn it in for the cheaper one.”

  “I don’t want the cheaper one. The man at the store said this is the best one.”

  “It is.”

  “Well, then, there you go. Happy birthday!” Lonna leaned over and kissed Abbie high on the cheek, her heart fluttering in her chest.

  Abbie smiled, staring at her new tablet. “I want to pay you back for this. This is too much.”

  “I already told you, Abbie. I bought this for you because I wanted to.”

  “These things go for like seven hundred dollars!”

  “You’re worth it. Every penny.”

  Abbie looked at her. “Not everyone thinks so.”

  “Well, I do.”

  Suddenly Abigail looked very sad. She set the computer aside again and leaned over, wrapping her arms around Lonna and laying her head on her breast, bringing her legs up onto the couch. Lonna, surprised, wrapped her arms around Abbie and held her, stroking her hair. They sat that way for several minutes, breathing softly and relaxing peacefully, taking pleasure in each other’s embrace. Lonna was feeling very happy she’d thought of calling in sick. There was nowhere else on earth she would have preferred to be at that moment.

  She bent over and kissed Abbie on the head, squeezing her. “You falling asleep on me?”

  Abbie twisted in her arms, looking up. “I’m sorry. I’m just so comfortable here.”

  “That’s fine. I am, too. You just relax.” She kissed her head again and sat back on the couch, settling deep into the cushions.

  Abbie sat up. “No. I don’t want to waste our day off together.”