Chapter Two

Whenever Allie saw a butterfly, she was reminded of her butterfly underwear. Back when she had her infatuation with Justin, she'd had this plan to marry him and make him like her, whether he wanted to or not. She'd also bought a pair of underwear that was black with little butterflies embroidered on them. Whenever she wore her underwear, something good always happened, and she considered them her lucky underwear.

Now a junior-to-be in college, her butterfly underwear seemed silly and long forgotten.

Allie sat on the bench a few feet from Justin's underground pool, sipping a cup of lemonade after saying goodbye to most of the picnic's guests. Justin and two of his friends had waited a while until there were only about five families left and hardly any kids in the pool to go swimming. Then they'd gotten the crazy idea to play football in the pool.

It was rather entertaining to watch. It wasn't real football, it was something like monkey-in-the-middle, or keep-away, those games that were familiar during junior high but were no longer played so frequently during college. The pool had a shallow end, where the water was only five feet deep, but then it sloped down to the deep end where it was nearly twelve feet. Jeff was on the diving board above the deeper water, and Justin and Steve on the other side. They would toss the football back and forth, the two in the shallow end always competing, wrestling, and fighting over the ball.

Then there were the little kids in the middle who would occasionally get smacked in the head with the stray football, or get run into by a wrestling Justin and Steve. Allie almost felt sorry for them but wasn't about to tell them to stop. It was like watching television or reading a book, watching the football go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and her eyes along with it.

Despite what she tried to tell herself, she also enjoyed watching Justin and his bare torso play football. She almost blushed at the thought.

Tia Christie, of course, joined her after a while. "Boy, that Justin has a body, doesn't he?"

Allie looked at her aunt in surprise. "Tia, you're married!"

"And my husband has a fantastic body, too," Christie said with a sense of finality, but then she continued to explain. "Bella, bodies and faces don't matter a bit to me… and they shouldn't matter to anyone else. Would you like to have a husband—or boyfriend—that was drop-dead good-looking but whom had the guts to make you pay half-and-half for all your dates? Who didn't even think about an engagement ring when he popped the question? Of course, you've never heard the phrase, "Looks don't matter" before."

Allie protested, "But what does this have to do with looking at another guy when you're married? I mean, doesn't it feel like you're cheating on him?"

Christie shook her head. "A boy might be good-looking to me, but not even the hottest hunk in the world could change my love for my husband. I might think somebody is hot in passing, but that has nothing to do with love." She winked. "My husband's looks are just a bonus."

Allie was horrified and amused at the same time. Her aunt had a way of being completely blunt and uninhibited. It shouldn't surprise you anymore, Al, she told herself as she turned her attention back to the game.

A monarch butterfly fluttered past and landed on the edge of the bench, the sun bringing out the beautiful in its wings.

"It's just like a butterfly, Allie," Christie said softly. "Its wings might be gorgeous, but that insect doesn't have a clue what two plus two is. Heck, it might not even have a brain."

"That was profound, Tia," Allie laughed. Yes, blunt was a great word to describe her aunt.