This Matter Of Marriage by Debbie Macomber Page B

know.”
    â€œRight.”
    They bowled three games and Hallie improved with each one. She never did get a strike, but came close a number of times. If for no other reason, her handicap would help him in the tournament, and he’d save face. It’d look bad if he couldn’t find a replacement for his sister . It was bad enough having Shirley bowl with him, but to show up without a partner on Saturday would be a blow to his image. Hallie would have to do. He realized that seemed grudging; actually, he was grateful she’d agreed to help.
    He wondered if anyone tomorrow would mistake Hallie for his girlfriend. Not that it really mattered. At the very least, it might convince his league buddies and their wives to lay off the matchmaking.
    Plenty of people knew he was divorced, and more than a few had tried to set him up with women. He’d resisted their attempts for the simple reason that he wasn’t interested in dating again. He preferred to keep trying with Mary Lynn, despite the fact that she was still dating that Kip character. They talked frequently, which Steve considered a promising sign, and Mary Lynn had him over for a family dinner every now and again. Less in the past couple of months than he would’ve liked, but he wasn’t complaining.
    Mary Lynn’s birthday was coming up next week, and he’d ordered her a dozen red roses, plus two white ones. She loved roses, and he wondered if she’d figure out the significance of the two white ones. They’d been married twelve years and apart two. Those two years had been the most confused, difficult, painful years of his life. Damn it all, he wanted to be a full-time family man again. And he wanted Mary Lynn back—not the manipulative woman she’d become, but the loving passionate wife she’d once been. They both had to make some changes; he understood that. He was certainly willing to work on it, but he couldn’t do it alone.
    â€œAre you guys ready for pizza?” he asked the kids when they returned from handing in their bowling shoes.
    â€œYou bet.”
    â€œHow many quarters do we get this time?” Kenny demanded.
    Steve hid a smile. “Who said anything about quarters?”
    â€œAw, Dad.”
    â€œDon’t worry, you’ll get quarters.” He ruffled Kenny’s hair.
    Although it was almost nine, the pizza parlor was as busy as it had been their previous visit. There weren’t any families at this hour; the place seemed to be inhabited by teenagers. Hallie and the kids located a table while he ordered the pizza and bought a pitcher of root beer for the kids and glasses of dark ale for Hallie and him.
    Once he’d brought over the drinks and relinquished the quarters into his children’s hot little hands, he sat down with Hallie. “I really appreciate your doing this for me,” he said. As for helping her out, that had cost him no money and little effort. She’d conscientiously repaid him each time. If anything, she’d added comic relief to his life when he needed it most.
    â€œI’m glad I can return the favor.”
    She really did have lovely brown eyes, Steve realized. Eye color wasn’t something he particularly noticed in a woman and he probably wouldn’t have this time if she hadn’t looked so happy. Her irises were an unusual color. Sort of like the ale they were drinking. Deep, dark. Striking.
    â€œDo I have a frosty mustache?” she asked, and raised her fingertips to her upper lip. When he shook his head, she said, “I don’t? Then why are you staring at me?”
    â€œI was just thinking how happy you look.”
    The skin around the eyes he’d been studying a moment earlier crinkled with silent laughter. “I am happy and for a very good reason. Remember I told you I met a wonderful man through Dateline? Well, I think I’m falling in love with him.”
    â€œReally?” Steve didn’t mean to sound