Chapter Ten

 

Christian was clomping back and forth holding Cole when Trinity and I walked into the kitchen. His expression said he’d rather be clutching a bomb to his chest than a screaming baby.

“Does he need a bottle?” I asked.

Christian shot me a look of pure disgust. “Don’t you think that’s the first thing I tried? And after that a fresh diaper, a rattle, some strained carrots. He hurled the whole jar at me.”

Trinity wrinkled her nose. “I don’t blame him. For future reference, if I ever burst out crying, don’t try to pacify me with strained vegetables of any kind.”

“Smart ass.” Christian thrust Cole into my arms. “Your turn.”

I jiggled Cole up and down and when that didn’t help, sat in the rocker by the window and patted his back. For some reason, Christian had seen fit to reinforce Cole’s diaper with duct tape and now it had started to come loose on one side. “Settle down, sweetheart, Aunt Susan is here.” Cole’s lower lip quivered and I nuzzled his forehead. “Where’s DeLorean?”

“Upstairs. Crying. That jerk called and got her all upset.”

“Baldwin?”

“What other jerk is there? Two or three calls came in. She was sitting right on top of the phone, or I’d have picked up myself and told him where to go. I’d like to bury my fist in his face.”

“Thanks, Christian, but he’d just get his plastic surgeon to fix the damage.” DeLorean stood in the doorway. She’d changed out of the jeans and blouse she’d had on earlier and put on a lime colored sundress that looked fantastic with her auburn hair. But the fresh make-up she’d applied couldn’t hide the blotchy features of someone who’d been crying. She took Cole from me and I let her sit in the rocker. “You’d think he’d call because he misses me or our baby. But all he wanted was to find out if I’d send back the tennis bracelet he bought me.”

“Wow, that’s way harsh.” Trinity shook her head.

“I hope you refused.” I opened the refrigerator and took out a ham I could warm up and then started hauling out the makings of a salad.

“I may have temporarily lost my head over Baldwin, but I do know how to deal with men. Most of them are easy enough to control.”

Christian frowned. “Hey, what’s that mean?”

“Want to know how it works?” DeLorean grinned and I was glad to see her mood lift. “Maybe your mom and I can give you a few pointers. Or at least I can. Your mom isn’t good at stuff like that.”

“Stuff like what?” I said absently.

“Womanly wiles. Keeping men in line. For example, you have to make them wait when they come to pick you up for a date.” Cole had calmed almost as soon as DeLorean took him in her arms and now she rocked gently back and forth while he sucked his thumb and stared into her face. “You can’t jump up to open the door the minute he rings the bell as if you have nothing better to do than wait for him to arrive. You have to make him wait at least five minutes, but ten is better. I remember when you were dating T. Chandler. He probably thought you lived behind the door expecting him to whisk you away to happily ever after.”

I dropped a tomato and watched it roll across the floor. “Don’t be an idiot. There’s no reason for me to leave a man waiting if I’m ready to go. And in my case, if I made him wait he’d be sitting around my kitchen while the rest of you stared at him like he was a lab specimen.” I picked up the wayward tomato and scrubbed it hard enough to break the skin and squirt juice onto my shirt. I started thinking about how I was supposed to be out with Jack this very night to look at his bathroom. What had happened with that?

“Lateness is expected. The man always allows at least fifteen minutes waiting time when he picks up his date.” DeLorean shook her head. “You have no idea how to keep men interested.”

“How would I?” I could have made a nasty remark about her own track record.

“God help us, have you even gone out once since your divorce?” If DeLorean rolled her eyes any higher, they’d disappear into her skull.

“Yes, of course.” The date with Herman qualified, didn’t it?

Trinity turned around. DeLorean saw her watching and said, “What do you think, Trinity? Tell my sister she needs to be more mysterious or men will think she’s desperate.”

Why? It wasn’t as if I had men swarming around the yard hoping to catch a glimpse of me.

“Yeah, tell her, Trin.” Christian was lounging in a kitchen chair drinking milk out of a glass that I was sure was really my largest flower vase--one that had once held two dozen roses. This was back when T. Chandler had a guilty conscience about not taking me out on Valentines Day because he was “working late.”

“Shut up.” Trinity stuck out her tongue, and I caught a glimpse of a tongue stud. “Susan, I understand what your sister is saying, but you have to be yourself. Me, I might make him wait, depends on the guy. But you don’t like to play games, do you?”

“Boy, you got that right.” Christian snorted. “Mom might be too polite to say exactly what’s on her mind the way Grandma does, but you can bet she’s just as stubborn if she sets her mind to something.”

“Stubborn?” I squawked.

“Yes, stubborn,” DeLorean put in. “Remember that time Mama said you had to go to the prom because it was a family tradition and you said, ‘if people let tradition run their lives, then we’d still be living in caves.’”

“Shame on you, Mom.” Christian shook his head.

“Christian, if I’d let Mama talk me into following tradition, you’d have been named Zebediah Ezekiel after your great grandfather. People who can’t think up original things to do deserve to be shackled by tradition.”

“Hey, I like that.” Trinity dropped a handful of cucumber slices on top of the salad. “I’m quoting you next time my mother tries to get me to wear flowered dresses that hang past my knees. Deep down, you’re a true rebel, Susan. Someday you’re going to surprise a lot of people.”

“I doubt that.” I glanced at DeLorean. What she hadn’t said about my prom experience, was that I’d finally given in to please Mama, who’d spent far too much on a lemon-colored gown that made me look like I was just recovering from a bout of jaundice. I was between boyfriends at the time and the date I’d let her arrange for me was an older boy with sweaty hands and too many hormones. I’d escaped and gotten a ride home from a couple of the chaperones.

“Sometimes,” DeLorean said, “people think Susan is soft and non-confrontational.”

“And I’m sweet, too, nothing but sugar and spice.” I hacked a tomato in half and snatched up a perfectly innocent carrot.

She snorted. “Remember when I was in high school and that new boy kept stalking me? You drove up to give me a ride home from the movies just in time to see him grab my arm.”

“What’d you do, Mom? Threaten to call the cops?” Christian shot me a grin.

“Well, I—“

“He would have been lucky to tangle with the cops,” DeLorean broke in. “My big sister charged out of her car waving a hoe around in the air like she was going to brain this kid if he didn’t let go of me.”

“A hoe?” Trinity’s eyebrows rose over her purple eyes.

“It’s not like I carted a hoe around in case I needed a weapon. I’d been to the store for gardening tools and they were still in the back of the station wagon,” I said with a shrug. “Anyway, what’s wrong with defending your family?”

The doorbell rang before anyone could respond. If I were Trinity, I’d have said, “Primo.” I was starting to get the feeling everyone was ganging up on me.

Expecting a salesperson, I strode across the room and yanked the door open.

“I don’t want…” I shut my mouth in mid sentence and stared at Jack. He was wearing a navy blue shirt and neatly pressed jeans.

He stared back. My bare feet, my pink tee shirt--fresh tomato stain decorating the front--and my gray sweat pants obviously didn’t impress.

“Uh, come in.” I stepped back and he joined me in the foyer. Unfortunately my house has one of those open floor plans where the kitchen, dining area, and family room “flow,” as they say on the home decorating shows.

The crowd in the kitchen could see us and we could see them. I should have insisted on more walls when we bought the house. Was it too late to ask Jack to wait outside for a minute while I nailed up a couple panels of sheet rock?

“Ready?” Jack asked, eyeing me doubtfully.

“Ready for what?”

“I said I’d take you to dinner before we went to look at my house. And for you to call if it wasn’t okay. Didn’t you get my message?”

“No one gave me a message.” I was going to kill someone.

“The person who answered said you were out for a few minutes, but she’d pass the word along.”

I spun to face DeLorean and she shook her head. “Don’t look at me. The phone rang while I was changing Cole, and Mama answered.” Her expression said that if she’d talked to Jack, there was no way she’d have forgotten to let me know because a man calling for me was too important to forget.

“I’m so sorry for the mix up.” I’d have been better off if they’d left my phone alone and let my machine pick up so I could get my own messages. “Mama must have forgotten. We—we’ve had a lot going on.” Arguments, name-calling, criticism. Your basic family gathering.

“And here you were, thinking I forgot all about you.” He pretend punched my shoulder. “Aren’t I your favorite friend? You must have been devastated.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I never gave you a thought.” Liar. “After all, you were only going to show me your new bathroom. What woman would get excited over an invitation like that?”

“I said we’d eat dinner, too, remember? How about if we make it another time?” He reached for the doorknob.

“We’re fixing dinner. Why don’t you join us?”

“I can see you have company. I couldn’t put you out.”

“Don’t be silly. Susan has made enough for an army.” DeLorean had joined us in the foyer, standing so close I could count the pores on her face, so I had to move a step nearer to Jack. “She insists that you stay.” She nudged me with her elbow.

I couldn’t get closer without invading Jack’s personal space, so I took my cue and said, “Yes, I insist. We’re having ham, salad, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Ice cream for dessert.”

Instantly I regretted babbling like parrot on speed. Did I need to stupidly recite the menu as if I were his waitress for the evening? DeLorean nudged me again, this time hard enough to cause me to bite back an “ouch.”

“It sounds delicious.” Jack grinned at me. “I’m convinced.”

“Super.” DeLorean stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Susan’s sister, DeLorean.”

“Don’t you remember me, Dee? Jack Maxwell.” He ignored her outstretched hand and pulled her into a hug.

Her face lit with recognition. “Of course. Sorry, Jack, I didn’t recognize you at first. But I was just a little kid when I saw you last. You’re the big ox who used to tease me about my long legs and my braces and my wild red hair.”

“Big ox? You mean handsome stud. Didn’t your sister teach you anything?”

“Not about men. I learned that on my own.”

“Well, it looks like I can’t tease you about the braces anymore. You still have the red hair, though.”

“Auburn. But it’s not wild anymore.”

“That it isn’t.” Jack sent her an admiring glance.

I felt like the net on a tennis court. I cleared my throat. “Now that we’ve decided Jack’s staying for supper and DeLorean’s hair has matured, can we join the others in the kitchen?” I made scooting motions with my hands.

“I’ll introduce Jack while you go upstairs and change, Susan.” DeLorean’s voice had morphed, taking on the tones of a woman who spent a lot of time in smoky lounges. But then it always did when she was around men.

I wasn’t sure I liked that. But Jack was a family friend, so why shouldn’t he talk to my sister? Still, I determined to tell her as soon as possible that Jack already had a girlfriend.

It took me ten minutes to shower and two minutes to decide on a peach colored blouse and a pair of jeans. I brushed my hair and pinned it up. A dab of makeup later, I scurried back to the kitchen before they scared Jack away.

I stopped short in the doorway. Jack was holding Cole and spooning applesauce into his mouth. DeLorean was sitting practically on top of Jack and wielding a cloth, using it to mop drool off Cole’s chin after every bite. Even so, I could see that a glob had landed on Jack’s shirt.

I experienced a twinge of annoyance. “We’ll have to shop for a high chair tomorrow,” I said. “When you reach a point where it takes two people to feed one baby, that’s way too labor intensive. And, Jack, there’s baby drool on your sleeve.”

“I don’t mind. He likes me. Don’t you, Cole?”

“He sure does,” DeLorean said. “He hasn’t fussed one bit since you picked him up. You’re so good with him, Jack. I’m raising him on my own, you know.”

Cole slung his head sideways and tried to wipe his mouth on Jack’s shirt. DeLorean came to the rescue, leaning in so close she could have kissed Jack while she cleaned Cole’s face with her cloth. Mission accomplished, she took the baby and carried him to a corner of the dining room where she put him on a blanket on the floor.

I glanced at the table. Christian had set it. I could tell by the haphazard way he’d laid out the silverware. Normally I’d have ignored the chaos, but now something prompted me to rearrange everything. Forks clattered against spoons as I fixed everything exactly the way Mama would have, except for cut flowers, which I didn’t have.

“Dinner’s ready,” Trinity announced while I was slipping place mats under the settings.

I took my usual chair at one end of the table, and Christian sat at the opposite end with Trinity on his right. DeLorean ended up on my right, between Jack and me.

“There,” she said. “I’m close enough to Cole to watch him, but for once I don’t have to hold him in my lap while I eat. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have this much freedom.”

“Must be tough raising him without help,” Jack said.

“At least now, thank God, I have Susan.” She flashed me her patented “Love you, mean it,” smile and turned ever so slightly in her seat so she could keep looking at Jack.

He glanced my way. “Any family would be fortunate to have Nic jumping in to help them with all their problems.”

His words should have made me feel flattered. But something in his tone made me feel he was criticizing. I ducked my head and focused my attention on my salad. Two green olives on top stared at me, accusing eyes looking up from a bed of lettuce and grated carrot. I grabbed a bottle of dressing and buried them under a mound of cucumber ranch. I plunked the bottle back on the table so hard my silverware rattled.

What was wrong with me? My mood had morphed from reasonably content to rotten almost from the moment Jack walked into the house. You’d think I’d be pleased he was here.

Jack asked Christian and Trinity about college. They’d barely finished talking when DeLorean broke in to update him about her years getting her degree.

“I couldn’t have known that nothing I experienced my freshman year could have prepared me for dealing with Baldwin.”

Neat trick the way she could snare Jack’s attention and bring up her ex at the same time. I would have bet if I said I’d seen a rhinoceros galloping west on I-26, she’d have butted in to say she’d seen two of them and that her ex had tried to push her out in front of them.

I went quiet and stayed that way all through the meal, only half listening to DeLorean regale us with the story of her disastrous sojourn in LA. By the time I finished the last bit of my potatoes I thought I’d scream if I heard her say “flaming narcissist” one more time.

Jack eventually put his napkin next to his plate and said, “Nic? Great meal. First home cooking I’ve had in quite a while.”

Kelly the Girlfriend must not know how to cook. I allowed myself a brief moment of mental back patting. “Thanks. But Trinity was responsible for most of it. Ice cream, anyone?”

Everyone declined except Christian. Jack helped Trinity and me carry empty plates to the kitchen. He leaned forward to open the dishwasher and then put his hand on the small of his back. “I keep forgetting about my back until it sends me a little reminder.”

“What happened?” DeLorean materialized from across the room to insert herself between Jack and me.

“Got hurt at work. My doctor says it will heal up with time.”

“Baldwin had back problems and I used to give him backrubs to loosen the muscles.”

“I’m okay.” Jack gingerly straightened his back. “Ice packs or aspirin usually help.”

“Don’t argue with me, Jack.” DeLorean pointed toward the family room. “Lie on the floor in front of the couch. I guarantee that one of my backrubs will do more for you than a whole truckload of aspirin. Susan, do you have any lotion?”

“In the cabinet over the sink in the powder room,” I replied in brittle tones. Let her use the lotion. Let her use anything she wanted. Who was I to stand in my sister’s way when she wanted to make a fool of herself falling all over Jack?

I picked up a glass and watched it slip out of my hand and shatter at my feet. Then I stared at the pieces as if I expected them to gather themselves and leap into the trash.

Christian appeared at my side with the broom and dustpan. “I’ll get that, Mom. Why don’t you rest and let me and Trinity take care of the kitchen.”

“Don’t be silly. You act like I’m ninety years old and can’t manage a few dishes. I refuse to sit around while you two do all the work.” And watch DeLorean and Jack carry on like a couple of junior high kids alone for the first time.

I swiveled my head from side to side until a plastic bowl showed up in my sights. At least it wouldn’t break if I dropped it. I grabbed the bowl and shoved it into the sink.

When the kitchen was finally spotless, Trinity and Christian disappeared up the stairs. I didn’t look to see if they shut the door to his room. I checked on Cole. Still sleeping. He’d probably be up half the night after such a long nap. I walked into the living room, gratified to see that the backrub was no longer in progress. Jack was sitting on the couch across from my sister. He stood as soon as I walked in.

“I hate to leave so soon, Nic, but I have to call Kelly tonight.”

“I understand.” Probably Kelly the Girlfriend wanted to set the date for their wedding. I walked him to the door.

He hesitated, standing on the porch steps and staring down the street at a neighbor walking her poodle. After a few seconds, he said, “How about tomorrow evening? Does that work for you?”

“Perfect. I can’t wait to give you that priceless advice about your bathroom. Goodnight, Jack.”

He moved a step closer and I got the distinct impression he was about to pat me on the head. This I would not stand for. I was not his girlfriend and I certainly did not expect a kiss, but a pat on the head was something reserved for a child or a pet. I lurched backward out of reach and overbalanced, so I had to grab a porch column to save myself.

His eyebrows came together in a frown. “What’s wrong, Nic?”

“Nothing. I slipped, that’s all.” Still hanging onto the column, I tipped my chin up.

“Gotten clumsy in your old age, haven’t you? You know, if there’s some kind of problem, maybe I can help.”

Sure, Jack, I’ll open my heart and tell you that even though we are nothing but friends, I’m jealous of the way you and my sister flirt and I wish you didn’t have a girlfriend. There, I’d said it. At least, I’d thought it. But Jack was never going to know.

“There’s no problem. I’ll see you tomorrow, advise you on your bathroom, maybe even take a look at your kitchen while I’m at it.”

I watched him drive away before I went back inside and collapsed in my recliner. Where were all these feelings coming from? A week ago I’d thought I had a schoolgirl crush on Steve and now he might as well not exist. In fact, I couldn’t even clearly remember what he looked like. Maybe I was having some kind of tired-of-being-alone-crisis. I wondered if there was a hotline I could call. 1-800-reality check ought to do it.

DeLorean was buffing her nails to a higher gloss. I noticed she’d left the lotion bottle sitting on the coffee table. I got up and slipped a coaster under it, but the bottle had already left a greasy ring.

She didn’t pick up on the vibes I was sending. She even yawned delicately, putting her fingertips over her lips.

“Who’s this Kelly Jack has to call?” she asked.

“His girlfriend,” I spat. “She’s coming here from New Jersey. Any day now.”

“Moving down or just visiting?”

“I didn’t quiz him about it and he didn’t say.”

“Maybe he didn’t need to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I did not intend to sit up half the night and play guessing games with my sister.

She shook her head. “Honestly, Susan, for someone as smart as you are, you can really be clueless.”

I narrowed my eyes down so far I could barely see. “Clueless about what?”

“Think about it.” She crossed to the dining room and picked up her sleeping baby, taking care not to wake him. Quietly she went upstairs.

I stared at my hands. She was wrong. I wasn’t clueless and I didn’t need to think about anything. I knew all too well that my feelings for Jack, the feelings that had lain dormant for twenty years, had come flooding back. And the timing was terrible.