Desperado by B.J. Daniels

Author:B.J. Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, short stories, short story, montana, bj daniels
Publisher: B.J. Daniels

A Halloween Surprise

By B.J. Daniels

Copyright 2011 B.J. Daniels

Smashwords Edition

At the same time the spaghetti boiled over, the phone rang and a five-year-old vampire ran through the kitchen chased by a dog.

Abbie was elbow-deep in dishwater trying to wash up spilled spaghetti sauce.

“Josh!” she called as he disappeared into the living room with a barking Arfy chasing close behind.

Frantically, Abbie dried her hands, turned off the burner and reached for the phone.

“Hello,” she cried over the barking dog.

“Did I call at a bad time?” asked her best friend Karen.

“No, I’m just screaming and tearing out my hair.”

Karen laughed. “So when does your date arrive.”

Abbie glanced at her watch. “In…30 minutes!?”

“Good luck,” Karen said and promptly hung up.

From the moment Doug walked through the door, Jennifer went into her “this-guy-won’t-last-long” routine.

That’s what happens when you have a bright 10-year-old who thinks she knows what’s best for her divorced 30-year-old mother. Josh was no help either.

“Everything looks great,” Doug said as they sat down to dinner.

“You should see the kitchen,” Jennifer remarked and rolled her eyes. “It will probably be easier to burn it down rather than try to clean it.”

Doug smiled nervously. “Spaghetti. My favorite.”

“Obviously you haven’t had Mom’s,” Jennifer quipped. “And it’s the only thing she knows how to cook.”

“Jennifer,” Abbie said quietly.

“Dessert should be okay though. Betty Crocker helped her.”

After dinner, Doug said he wanted to stay, but he had a lot of work to do.

Abbie walked him out to his car. “I’m sorry about…” She waved her hand through the air. Jennifer hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. “…tonight. I’d like to tell you tonight was the exception. It wasn’t.”

“No, it was…fine, really.”

Just when he started to kiss her goodnight, Jennifer called, “Mom!” from the front porch as if the house was on fire.

Abbie gritted her teeth as Doug pulled back from the almost kiss. “I’d better get back inside.”

Doug agreed and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He seemed to drive off faster than usual. They’d been going out for almost a month now, but Abbie could see the handwriting on the wall.

“Jennifer, what is so urgent it couldn’t have wait a few minutes?” she demanded when she reached the house.

“A really important school dance.”

“You’re too young.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “It’s not a dance for me. It’s a dance for parents and teachers and I already told Mr. Turner you’d go.”

“What? Who is Mr. Turner?”

“The dance is Saturday night and Mr. Turner is…” She got a dreamy look in her eyes. “My favorite teacher. I talk about him all the time. Haven’t you been listening?”

“Your science teacher.”

“You have to go to the dance. Everyone else’s parents are going.”

“Jenny, I can’t.” After tonight’s “date,” she wasn’t about to call Doug to see if he would go with her to a middle school dance. “I’m not going alone and I really can’t ask Doug--.”

“It’s parents night and Doug is not my parent,” Jennifer said firmly.

“You’re not suggesting I ask your father to go?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes again. “I know you and Daddy can’t stand to be in the same room together.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.