Caroline's Seduction (Montgomery Family and Friends) by Iris Abbott Page B

“My dad was always very careful to keep his love life separate from our family life.  I guess his relationship with Caroline lasted a little longer than normal.  I met her a couple of times while they were together and trust me when I say that is rare.  I’ve never met any of his other women.  I really liked her too.  She was very nice to me.”
    “Now that doesn’t surprise me.  The Montgomery family is a tight knit group and Aunt Caroline fit in right away.  We all love her.  Fair warning, your dad had better tread carefully around Caroline.  My mom and aunts are a force to be reckoned with when someone makes them angry.  Someone hurting Caroline would make them very angry indeed.”
    Sarah shrugged and finished her confession.  “Four years ago I really wanted a new mom, and Ms. Johnson was the perfect candidate.”  Sarah gave Jay an intent look trying to decide if she should confide in him completely.  After a second she took a deep breath.  “Now after spending even more time with her, she’s still my ideal, the perfect mom for me and the perfect wife for my dad.”
    Jay’s eyes lit up.  “Are they seeing each other again?” 
    “Nope!  Up until now they’ve vigorously avoided each other.  I talked Ms. Johnson into going dress shopping with me and my dad drove us up to Atlanta.  They spent the entire trip basically ignoring each other.  While we were dress shopping she wouldn’t talk about my dad.  Whenever I brought him up, she immediately changed the subject.”
    “Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”  Jay had always found Caroline to be very open. 
      “Not really,” Sarah shrugged her shoulders.  “They are both stubborn.”  The song ended and they watched as Caroline practically tore herself out of Kyle’s arms and took off in the opposite direction.
      “See what I mean,” Sarah pointed toward the quickly fading Caroline.  “I think they want to find their way back to each other, but they need a little help.  I’m going to be leaving for college soon.  I don’t want my dad to be alone.  He already works twelve to fourteen hour days.  I can’t even imagine what will happen to him once I move out of the house.  He’ll probably work twenty hour days,” Sarah wailed.  “He is going to need a reason to want to go home in the evenings.  I think Ms. Johnson could be that reason.”  She gave a wicked smile.  “Plus it helps that we get along with each other.”
    “No wicked step-mother for you,” Jay teased.  “You’re right.  She’d be as great a step-parent as Mason.”  It was Jay’s turn to assess the girl in front of him and decide if he wanted to give away one of his deepest secrets.  It only took a second. 
    “You know, I think I can help you.  I’m an excellent matchmaker after all,” the teen boasted.  It was my sister Emily and I that helped get our mom and Mason together.  We could tell they really liked each other, but neither would budge.  Emily and I kept thinking of ways for them to cross paths.  I sprained my ankle at a football game once.  I knew Mason would feel badly about me getting hurt on school property and visit us at the hospital.  It worked too,” the teen said proudly.  They went out on a couple of dates after that and got engaged almost immediately.”
    “Really?”  Sarah gave him her biggest and brightest smile as they exited the gym.  She glanced around the parking lot looking for her dad’s car.  “Let’s talk more about this at lunch Monday.  I don’t want people to know what we’re talking about so we need a codename.”
    “That’s probably wise,” Jay agreed.  “We don’t want my mom to get wind of what we’re doing either.  She might feel obligated to spill the beans to your dad or my Aunt Caroline.”
    “There’s my dad’s car and he’s waiting for us.”  She dropped her purse and stopped to retrieve the sparkly clutch bag.  Jay reached for it at the same time and their heads