A Life Less Ordinary (48 page)

Daisy
stared sadly at her, knowing Rebecca was remembering the night her parents
threw out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back and the baby in
her belly.  Now that baby had also rejected her, along with her granddaughter.

“Rebecca,”
Daisy said softly.  Sadly.

Rebecca
waved away her sympathy and the dark memories of the past without quite looking
at her.

“I
could forgive Jaime for leaving me,” Rebecca said slowly, “but not for leaving
Tris.”

“So
what are you going to do?  She’s not taking your calls or your letters...maybe
when your lawyer starts to send her letters...?” Daisy trailed off.

“My
lawyer’s ready to start the formal proceedings, but I’ve asked her to hold off
until I get back.”

“Back?”

Rebecca
smiled a tight, bitter smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  “It’s time
Jaime and I faced each other, don’t you think?”

Daisy’s
breath caught, her eyes widening as she searched Rebecca’s expression.

Rebecca
nodded.  “For the first time in twenty-eight years, I’m going home.”

“I. 
Hurt.  All.  Over,” Manny groaned at the hotel room ceiling.

“Me,
too,” Zeke agreed.

She
turned her head and stared at him where he was sprawled face down, half-on,
half-off the other bed.

“I
think we’ve officially seen every.  Inch.  Of Disneyworld,” he added, turning
to look at her.

“I
think you’re right,” she agreed, “but I’m a little surprised you’re so worn
out.”

“So
are you!”

“I’m
old – you’re still a puppy.  What’s your excuse?”

“
Keeping up with the old
broad has taken it out of me.”

“
Glad to hear I can
still teach the puppies a thing or two.”

“
Well, only in terms of
stamina,” Zeke said, then grimaced as he realized what he’d said.

Manny
started to laugh and Zeke joined in.

“Ow,
ow, ow – that hurts,” Manny groaned.

Zeke
grinned at her, then said, “You know – I don’t think – no, I know – I’ve never
been just friends with a woman before.”

Manny
half-smiled and raised an eyebrow.  “What about Leah?”

“She’s
my boss and my best friend’s wife, and I like her.  But I guess I feel like
TJ’s my friend.  I mean – I can’t imagine talking to her the way I talk to
you.”

“Oh,”
Manny said softly.

After
a moment Zeke said, “That’s it?”

“Well,
I’m...honoured.  But if you say I ‘complete you’, I will hurt you so bad.”

“Well,
if you say I had you at hello, I’ll have to return the favour.”

They
laughed and winced.

“How
are you gonna write about this in your blog?” Manny asked.

“Honestly. 
My readers wanted to me learn something – and I think I have.”  He paused, then
said softly, sincerely, “Thank you.”

Manny
chuckled slightly.  “I didn’t do anything...but you’re welcome anyway.”

* * * * *

Rebecca
slowly drove the streets of her old home town and marvelled at how much had
changed.  She marvelled even more at how much had stayed the same.  The town
layout, of course, although some of the familiar landmarks were gone, with
nothing to mark their places except empty lots and, in a few rare cases, new
buildings.  Downtown was deserted compared to the old days, and only one of the
three hotels that had once stood in the heart of the town was still there.  The
bar where Mr. Mankowski used to hold court almost any day of the week was long
gone from the looks of it.  Just like him, Rebecca thought and her heart
clenched from a stab of grief.

Twenty-eight
years, she thought, pulling into a parking spot in front of a small cafe and
grabbing her purse as she left the car.  Twenty-eight years, and there was
still such a void left in her heart by the Mankowskis’ absence.

She
pushed away her thoughts as she pushed her way into the cafe.  She took off her
sunglasses and glanced around.  The place was half-full, with a couple of
tables of families, but most of the clientele were retired men and women
sitting at several tables pushed together.

“Seat
yourself, hon – I’ll be there in a minute!”

Rebecca
jumped slightly at the cheerful voice and she watched as the waitress, harried
and plump and about Rebecca’s age, grinned and waved her towards an empty table
as she hastened to refill the cups of the residents of Coffee Row.

Rebecca
slowly smiled, somehow soothed by the thought that some things like Coffee Row
never changed as she made her way to a table by the window.  She grabbed the
menu and waited patiently.

“Coffee?”

Rebecca
glanced up, smiled and nodded.

The woman stared, her eyes widening before she said, loudly, “
Rebecca?
 
Rebecca Hayworth?”

The
sudden silence in the cafe was deafening and Rebecca suddenly found herself the
focus of everyone’s attention.  She flushed, remembering her behaviour
immediately after Jaime was born, her notoriety, her carelessness with her own
reputation and – yes, her own body.  It was very possible, she thought, shame
burning every inch of her, that she’d slept with at least one of the men in
this cafe.  She’d slept with a lot of men in town before the Mankowskis had
given her the wake-up call she’d needed.

She
bit her lip then pasted on a resolute smile and said clearly, “Yes.  I’m sorry
– you are...?” she trailed off delicately.

The
waitress grinned, her plain, plump face transforming into something remarkably
pretty.  “I’m Heather.  Heather Padloski.  I don’t expect you to remember -”

Rebecca
gasped, jumped to her feet and hugged Heather.  “Heather!  Of course, I
remember!  You look great!”

And
she did.  Heather had been even more shy than Rebecca, grossly overweight and
slow-moving, picked on unmercifully by their schoolmates, often to the point of
tears.  She’d sometimes shared Rebecca, Daisy and Manny’s table in the
cafeteria, where she huddled in on herself as she ate unbelievable mountains of
food silently and as rapidly as a starving puppy.  Heather had kept her head
and eyes down and never, ever spoke at the table unless spoken to, and even
then she replied in mumbled monosyllables.  Rebecca remembered she always
looked like a startled rabbit when they spoke to her outside the cafeteria, or
outside of school.

Now
she was smiling and open as she hugged Rebecca back and giggled. 

“
How could I not look
great – considering the shape I was in the last time you saw me!” she said
cheerfully.  “Listen, I’m alone here right now so I can’t stop for long.  Are
you staying in town or are you just passing through?”

“I’m...going
to be here for a couple of days, I think,” Rebecca said carefully.

“Then
how about supper tonight?  If you don’t have any other plans, that is.  You can
meet my family and we can get caught up.  You look
fantastic
!”

Rebecca
hesitated then smiled and nodded.  “I’d love that.”

~~~~~

That
evening, Rebecca followed Heather out onto the back deck, a cup of coffee in
her hand.  They settled into the patio furniture, and Rebecca admired the yard
that was screened from prying eyes with lush plants, mostly fruit trees and
bushes.

Rebecca sighed with satisfaction.  “
Amazing
meal,” she
said.

Heather
grinned.  “Thank Willis.  He made it.”

“There
are definite advantages to having a husband who’s a professionally trained
chef,” Rebecca said approvingly.

“And
a nutritionist,” Heather agreed, “although there are days I would absolutely
kill
for an hour alone with an assortment of cakes and cookies made the
old-fashioned way.  You know, three pounds of butter and four pounds of sugar.”

Rebecca
laughed and nodded.  They sipped their coffee in silence for a moment, then
Heather said, “You’re here for Jaime, aren’t you?”

Rebecca
coughed a little on her own sip of coffee and looked ruefully at Heather as she
caught her breath.  “I’d forgotten what a small town is like,” she muttered.

Heather
grinned and shrugged.  “It’s also just basic deduction.  Jaime showed up, looking
for Devon and now here you are, looking...well.  Stressed.”

Rebecca
shrugged.  “It’s...complicated.”

Heather raised a hand.  “I know – I know.  You don’t really know
me, not even when we went to school together, let alone after thirty years!  I
don’t mean to pry, but you looked pretty scared when you walked in today.  And,
well, Jaime hasn’t exactly been...ummm...
kind
when she talks about you.”

Rebecca
grimaced.  “Why does that not surprise me?”

“I
don’t mean to speak badly about your daughter, but she comes across as,
well...complaining about nothing, actually.  Her life hasn’t been that
difficult, as far as I can tell.”

“Depends
on your definition of difficult, I suppose,” Rebecca shrugged.  She hesitated,
then said, “Is Devon in town?”

“As
far as I know.”  Heather gave her a comforting smile.  “He’s changed a lot.  I
think you’ll be surprised.”

Rebecca
raised an eyebrow.  “I’m not here to see Devon,” she said coolly.  “It’s not
like we have anything to say to each other.”

“No? 
I’d think you’d have lots to say to each other.”  Heather took a sip of coffee
in the sudden, tense silence, then said, “But enough of that.  Tell me about
Daisy and Manny.”

Rebecca
gratefully began to tell Heather about Daisy and Manny.

* * * * *

Rebecca
was back in the cafe for breakfast, sitting at the same table as the day
before.  She sipped her coffee as the morning waitress cleared away her
half-eaten breakfast and pondered what she was going to say to Jaime.

“Rebecca? 
Is that you?”

Rebecca
glanced up at the man standing by her table and froze, her eyes wide, her mouth
dry.  All she could do was nod wordlessly.

The
man stared back, his own eyes huge in his face.  They stared silently at each
other, the woman beside him looking curiously and a little resentfully at
Rebecca, until he finally gestured helplessly and said, “May I join you?”

She
nodded numbly and watched silently as he murmured to the woman then slipped
into the chair across the table from Rebecca.  The woman shot her an angry look
but said nothing as she took a seat at a distant table.

Rebecca
stared at the man across the table.  She searched his features, seeing how the
shape of his eyes was the same as Jaime’s, as was the line of his jaw, the tilt
of his nose.  She searched for the boy she remembered, the boy she’d once so
desperately loved with every ounce of her being.

Until
he deserted her, that is.

He
was older – of course.  Who wasn’t, after thirty years, she thought dimly.  He
was a little softer, but he’d kept himself in good shape over the years.  He
still had bottomless brown eyes and cheekbones models would kill for, and as he
smiled at the waitress, Rebecca saw he still had the same old sexy smile,
albeit a little forced at the moment.

He
gave the order – a fresh coffee for him and a refill for her – and then they
sat in awkward silence.

Devon
was the first to speak.

“You
– uh – you look...great.”

“Thank
you,” she managed.  She didn’t smile.

“I
didn’t know you were in town,” Devon continued cautiously.  “I – Jaime said
you’d never come here.”

“My
daughter doesn’t know me very well,” Rebecca replied, a slight emphasis on the
“my”.

Devon
placed his palms flat on the table and met her eyes.

“I’m...glad
I ran into you.  I’d hoped you’d come back.  I’d even thought of calling you. 
Asking you to meet with me.”

“Why?”
Rebecca asked, a puzzled frown on her face.

“I
wanted to see you and...apologize.”

Rebecca
blinked.

“I
know what I did was...well, it was unforgivable.  And I deserve whatever you
want to throw at me.  I thought – well, since I met Jaime, I thought you
deserve the chance to say everything you’ve ever wanted to say to me.  I am
sorry, Rebecca.  I really am.  If I could change the past, I would.”

Rebecca
simply stared impassively when he finished speaking.  He began to fidget under
her steady, unblinking gaze.

“You
know,” she said slowly, “even five years ago I would have taken you up on that
offer.  Your ears would have exploded with all the vitriol and anger I had
stored up inside of me.”

“And
now?”