Page 39 of Trophy

Not that he was perfect. They’d gotten into a stupid argument last night because she was reading over her assignment for class a second time.

He’d told her it was an easy class and she could probably pass without reading it once.

But she wanted to do the best she could in school, so she needed to really know it.

So they’d argued over dinner and then gone to their separate corners until bedtime, when they’d both finally said they were sorry and got to have some makeup sex.

But overall, in general, she couldn’t imagine a better boyfriend than Rob.

“How many times are you going to read that today?” Chelle asked, coming over to stand beside her with a knowing smile.

Allison blushed slightly and stuck the note back into her pocket. “It hasn’t been that many.”

“If you say so.”

“I guess it’s silly,” Allison admitted. “But it makes me happy.”

Chelle’s expression changed. “That’s not silly. And you deserve some happiness. So does Rob. You both have had a hard time and deserve to be with someone good. So I’m happy for both of you.”

“Thank you. I still can’t believe it’s really happening with him and that nothing serious is going wrong.”

“It’s the real deal. Anyone can see that. You know what comes next, don’t you?”

Allison gave Chelle a mock-stern look. “Don’t you dare start talking about that! It’s too early for it yet.”

“Maybe. But I’ve seen Rob’s face when he looks at you, and I guarantee that man already has a ring for you.”

Allison knew he had a ring. His mother’s ring. She was hoping that one day he would give it to her. She would say yes without hesitation.

But she hadn’t been lying to Chelle. She and Rob were still working out how to be together, despite all of their issues from the past.

They weren’t ready for marriage yet.

That evening she made dinner for Rob and his parents.

She’d wanted to spend more time with them, but she couldn’t always go up with Rob when he visited them once a week. Last Saturday she’d had a craft fair to attend—which had gone incredibly well and made her decide that she really needed a website—and the Saturday before she’d gone to visit Vicki.

So they’d invited his parents to dinner, and Allison was preparing the meal.

She made pasta and salad, and Rob bought bread and wine, and everything turned out just fine.

She really liked James and Tari, and not only because they were Rob’s parents. They were smart and funny and no-nonsense and had a huge number of stories to tell about their lives. After she served cookies and ice cream for dessert, they all went into the living room to sit.

She checked her phone quickly as they changed rooms and was glad to see a text from Cali.

The girl was doing better. She hadn’t gone back to that boyfriend, and she seemed to be behaving better overall.

The episode had evidently scared Dee, who was genuinely trying to be a somewhat decent mother.

Allison didn’t know how long it would last, but at least it was encouraging for now.

While Rob was making his parents laugh about an annoying customer who had come into the store yesterday, Allison went to get something she’d found in the basement the other day.

“Where did you dig that thing up?” Rob asked, staring at the guitar she handed him.

“It was in the basement. Chelle’s husband tuned it up for you, so it’s all ready to go.”

“What am I supposed to do with it?” He was smiling, but his question appeared genuine, like he had no idea what she wanted him to do.

“Your mom mentioned that you used to sing a few hymns that she loved, so I thought you could play her some now.”

“Oh, I would love that. Please do,” Tari said with a smile.

Rob had drawn his brows together in a questioning look at Allison.

She gave a little shrug. “You seemed to enjoy it that night on my birthday. You might as well play a little for fun. I love to hear you.”

“We do too,” his mother added.

Rob sighed, looking sheepish in that way he had but also rather pleased.

It wasn’t a big gesture. It was only a little thing.

His mother had told Allison that he’d played and sung all the time when he was married the first time, but he’d stopped after Marie had started cheating on him and he hadn’t picked up the guitar since.

She assumed he had bad memories associated with it, and she wanted him to have new ones, better ones, now.

So Rob sang “Be Thou My Vision” and “It Is Well with My Soul,” and his mother was in tears at the end of it.

When he’d finished, he put the guitar back in its case and reached out to wrap his arm around Allison. He gave her a quick kiss, and she was sure he understood why she’d asked him to sing.

“You know,” Tari said with a smile, “your father wrote a song for me when we were courting.”

“He did not!” Rob replied, staring in surprise at his dad.

“Nah,” James said.

“He did too! He’ll never admit it, but I still know all the words. It was the most romantic thing.” Tari gave Rob a teasing smile. “You should considering doing something equally romantic for your young lady.”

“He already does,” Allison said, giggling when Rob gave her a warning poke. “You should see the notes he writes me every morning after breakfast.”

“Does he really?” His mother’s eyes were wide. “I never would have believed it. Love letters?”

“Not really. They’re just little notes on napkins. But I guess, put together, they have ended up as a love letter. I have them all, even the very first one he wrote me.”

Rob was groaning, exaggerating his displeasure at this discussion of his romantic habits, and James was chortling softly.

“Didn’t you think he was fresh,” Tari asked, “writing you note like that when you didn’t even know him?”

Allison looked up at Rob. “I thought he was amazing—and that he had the kindest heart I’ve ever known. I still do.”

Rob’s face softened, although he leaned down and whispered, “Don’t lay it on too thick. They’ll never believe it.”

After his parents left for the evening, they stood on the front step waving them off, and then Rob took her into his arms as soon as they walked inside.

“What are you doing?” she murmured, responding immediately to his touch.

“I’m loving you,” he replied, just a little thickly. “Is that all right?”

“It sounds good to me.”

He just held her in his arms, standing in the entryway of her house.

Eventually she looked up at him and smiled. “I saw Keith today in Dora’s. He said he still owes you a hundred bucks.”

“Would you tell him to shut up about that?”

“Well, you won the bet, didn’t you?”

“I won something a lot better than the bet.”

Allison had absolutely no objection to this sentiment, and she made it clear to Rob with a kiss.

So Rob spent the rest of the evening loving her, and it was like nothing Allison had ever dreamed of before she’d moved to this little town last year.

But, as it turned out, loving him back was what she’d wanted all long.