This Matter Of Marriage by Debbie Macomber Page A

explanation, she said, “I’m helping a friend. Saturday afternoon, too, but I’ll be home by about four.”
    â€œA friend?”
    â€œYeah.” She didn’t elaborate.
    Again she felt his scrutiny. “Save Saturday night for me.”
    She smiled, oddly discomfited by his frown and at the same time relieved that he hadn’t questioned her further.

Ten
The Lady With The Curve Ball
    T his wasn’t going to work. Steve knew it the moment he saw Hallie grip the bowling ball and step in front of the pins. The first time he watched her throw the ball, he was reminded of an old Fred Flintstone cartoon. It looked, honest to God, as if she’d raced down the alley on tiptoe. And the bowling ball had headed straight for the gutter.
    She looked guilty when she turned back. “I don’t remember it being this difficult.”
    â€œDon’t worry. Just relax.” He tried to reassure her, a little afraid that if he offered her too much advice she’d change her mind and run.
    The bowling ball was returned. Hallie reached for it and approached the line a second time. She made some inexplicable movements with her feet, shuffling a couple of inches to the left, to the right and then back to where she’d started, which was by no means where she should be. Up she went on her toes, glared menacingly at the pins, then raced forward like a ballerina terrorist.
    â€œYou might try aiming for the pins,” he suggested when her bowling ball slammed into the gutter again. He had to give her credit, though; her ball had gone maybe a foot farther before falling off the lane this time.
    â€œI am aiming for the pins,” she said righteously. She rotated her arm and shook her hand back and forth, as if all she needed to improve was her wrist action.
    â€œMy turn,” Meagan said, rushing forward. Both his children had inherited his talent for sports. Meagan walked up the alley like a pro, released the ball just the way he’d shown her, and effortlessly knocked down eight pins.
    Steve placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly in appreciation. Meagan had missed the spare, but she hadn’t had a chance to warm up yet.
    Kenny was next. Steve got a real kick out of watching his son bowl. What he lacked in strength and finesse, Kenny made up for with instinctive skill. He carried the bowling ball up to the foul line, studied the pins, then bent forward and gently let the ball go. It moved as if in slow motion and when it reached the pins, they fell almost gracefully. He knocked down six and then three.
    Now it was his turn. Steve threw a strike, his ball exploding against the pins. He was good and had the trophies to prove it.
    Hallie waited for the rack to reset the pins. She retrieved her ball, walked up to the starting point, shuffled to either side, then turned back and looked at Meagan.
    His daughter shook her head and motioned with her hand for Hallie to move to the left. Hallie did as Meagan advised, but when she released the ball, Steve could see that she was standing in the wrong place. Again. The bowling ball headed straight for the right-hand gutter, just as it had earlier.
    Steve closed his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to back out of the tournament. He opened his eyes in time to see Hallie’s bowling ball balancing precariously on the outer edge of the lane, then unexpectedly taking a sharp turn toward the headpin. It missed that and struck two pins to the left. The left. The bizarre thing was that her ball had been slanting toward the right-hand gutter two seconds earlier.
    All in all, Hallie managed to strike down six pins. Steve had seen plenty of curve balls in his day, but this was something else. She missed the spare, but returned to her seat, looking pleased with herself. Steve congratulated her.
    â€œIt just took me a while to remember what I was supposed to do,” she informed him. “This isn’t difficult, you