Sam turned out of the parking lot. He felt pleased about the afternoon. Kelly had seemed to enjoy herself in the office. Jason had taken care of her for much of the time, and he’d only had good things to say about her behavior. Maybe Teen-zilla was gone for good.

As he waited at a signal, he glanced at Kelly. While he could see Tanya in her, he also saw his grandmother. Yet much of Kelly was uniquely herself.

“How about Italian for dinner?” he asked. “We could go back to that place by the beach.”

Kelly shrugged.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She faced him. “Nothing. It’s just—you need to give me an allowance, okay? I mean, I’m twelve. I’ve more than proved I know how to handle money. I’ve had my own credit card for years. But you took that away from me. I need to have some cash to buy stuff.”

Her voice was an odd combination of pleading and defiant. He turned his attention back to the road. When the signal turned green, he stepped on the gas.

“What do you need money for?” he asked.

“Does that matter? Do I need to give you a list?”

“Maybe.” An allowance. While he didn’t agree that her having her own credit card meant that she was capable of handling money, he knew she would need to learn. An allowance might accomplish that. But how much? And how often? Should he tie it to chores or just give it to her?

Too many questions, he thought as his head began to pound. “Let me think about it.”

She rounded on him. “You are so mean. How can you not say yes? You don’t give me anything I want. Not ever. How many things have I asked for lately?”

She continued to rant. When they pulled into the driveway, all he could think about was that he’d been too hasty when he’d assumed she’d morphed into a normal child. Apparently raging Teen-zilla still lurked just under the surface.

“Kelly come out of your room right now!” Sam yelled through the closed and locked door.

“No. I’m fine. Go to work and leave me alone.”

Leave her alone? Not likely. He glanced at his watch and groaned. He had a nine o’clock meeting with clients who had flown in from Brazil. Kelly had been in a temper all the previous evening, still upset about the allowance discussion, but he’d expected her to be over it by morning. Obviously, he’d been wrong.

Their relationship could definitely be defined as two steps forward, two and a half steps back. He wished he could find a way to get through to her so they could communicate like rational people. Between her being a teenager and him being a clueless father, that wasn’t likely.

“Kelly, I know you’re angry, but sulking isn’t going to change my mind. If you don’t get out here right now, you’re not going to ballet class for the rest of the week.”

He heard something that sounded like a sob. “F-fine,” she told him, her voice thick with tears. “Just leave me here. Okay? Just go away.”

While her temper got on his nerves, her tears made him nervous. “Kelly, dammit, tell me what’s going on. Are you sick?”

“I don’t—” She sniffed. “No. It’s not like that. I can’t tell you. Just stop asking me, okay?”

It wasn’t okay. He rattled the door handle. He knew with a screwdriver and thirty seconds, he could have the door open, but something inside told him that wasn’t the best way to handle the situation.

“If you won’t talk to me, will you talk to someone else?” he asked. “Gabriel or Francesca?”

He heard Kelly crying. Then there was silence and finally she said, “I’ll talk to Francesca.”

“Okay. I’ll get her on the phone, then you pick up.”

He practically ran to his bedroom, where he dialed the number from memory.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Sam. I’m sorry to bother you so early. I know you wanted to work until you have to pick up Kelly after class.”

“It’s fine. What’s up?”

“Hell if I know. Kelly won’t come out of her room, and she won’t tell me why. But she agreed to talk to you.”

Francesca sighed. “Oh, Sam, I thought things were getting better with you two.”

“So did I. Obviously they’re not. Can you talk to her?”

“Sure.”

He hurried back to Kelly’s room and knocked on the door. “Francesca’s on the line. You can pick up.”

He heard a click, then Kelly’s voice. “Sam, hang up now. I mean it.”

He hesitated, then did as she requested.

As he paced the hall, he heard murmured conversation. Three minutes later the phone rang. He grabbed it.

“What?” he demanded.

Francesca laughed. “Don’t sound frantic. She’s fine. I promised not to tell you what’s wrong. Don’t freak out about that. I’m coming over now and she and I are going to talk, and then I’ll call you at work and tell you all about it.”

“What’s going on?”

“Sam, you’re going to have to trust me on this. Just go to work and I’ll be in touch.”

Trust her. He relaxed. That was one thing he could do. “Please call before noon.”

“I promise.”

“Great.” He smiled. “Thanks, Francesca. I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. Bye.”

He hung up the phone. “I’m going to work,” he called through the door. “Francesca will be here shortly.”

“I know. Everything is fine now, Sam. Don’t worry.”

He heard the relief in Kelly’s voice. The tears seemed to have disappeared. Somehow Francesca had worked a miracle in just a few minutes. Damn, she was good. Better than good.

He’d long ago learned that women lied to get what they wanted, that they couldn’t be trusted under any circumstances. But Francesca wasn’t like that. She was honest, straightforward, and she would never manipulate him. He could trust her. And he did.

17

“T his is just too gross,” Kelly said as she came out of her bathroom and flopped on the bed.

Francesca thought about pointing out she would get used to the process over the next thirty or forty years, then decided that was too depressing to consider. Better to focus on the positive.

“At least you know you’re growing up.”

Kelly glanced at her and smiled. “I kind of already knew that was happening.” She winced slightly and pressed a hand to her stomach. “How long does it take for the pain to go away?”

“Give it a half hour or so.” She pointed to the hot pad she’d brought along. “Try that. It really helps.”

Kelly pulled the flannel-covered square over her midsection, then picked up the control and hit the On button.

“I thought I was gaining weight or something,” she said. “I’ve been kind of puffy for the last couple of days.”

“Good old bloat. It happens.”

“Along with cramps and that disgusting bleeding. Who thought that up?”

“It’s all part of the flow of life, if you’ll excuse the pun.”

Kelly wrinkled her nose. “Not funny.”

Francesca lay down next to her. “Are you feeling better?”

Kelly nodded. Her lower lip trembled slightly. “I knew all about it and stuff. My mom had said a few things, and 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.”