A New Kind of Bliss (15 page)

Tanis.

What in heaven’s name was she doing down in Euliss at ten o’clock at night?

My head darted about, as I tried to think how I could make myself invisible. Throwing myself flat across the bucket seat wouldn’t work; no way could I wedge my body in that tiny space between the gear and CD storage box. Besides, Tanis had to walk past Teddy’s car to get to her own and would surely notice me stretched out. Damn. Why couldn’t Teddy have parked in
front
of her?

I had nowhere to hide. How could I possibly explain being out with Teddy at this hour? She might even have seen him purchasing the condoms!

My ass was toast.

They started moving toward me, and I did the only thing I could. I turned my body away from the window and scrunched forward, pretending to be adjusting the radio. Teddy knew that Tanis and I knew each other, of course, but I felt fairly positive he wouldn’t feel it necessary to point out to her that I was his passenger. He knew discretion was the name of the game.

With one hand I quickly gathered up my hair and pushed it over my left shoulder. A lot of women had long hair, but the less Tanis saw of it, the better. I wanted to be as anonymous as possible. I wished to God I had thought to grab the baseball cap Teddy kept on a table near his apartment door; I could have stuffed my hair inside it.

The driver’s door opened, and I heard Teddy’s voice. “Good seeing you, Tanis. I hope your father feels better.”

“Good to see you, too, Teddy. And thanks.”

My God, her voice sounded like it came from barely a foot away from where I sat. Did I imagine it, or did she linger a few seconds before moving on?

I didn’t dare look up for confirmation when I sensed she had finally moved on. I might have been wrong and looked dead at her.

“Okay, you can straighten up now,” Teddy said as he made a right turn onto Hillside Avenue. “She went straight.”

I sighed as I straightened. “Well, that was a close one. The last thing I need is Tanis Montgomery in my business.”

“I think she’s in your business already.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “What’s that mean?”

“She recognized you, Emily.”

“Whattaya mean, she recognized me? All she saw was the back of my head.”

“Yes, and your gray streak. The light from the street lamp shone dead on it.”

I exhaled like a slowly deflating balloon. That damn streak. It had made me a marked woman. I might as well have a port-wine birthmark across my cheek.

“Oh, God,” I moaned, my shoulders slumping.

“Come on, cheer up.” He leaned as close as he could while driving. “I got the condoms.”

At the moment that was my least concern. “Did she see you buying them?”

“I really don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say no, but I can’t say for sure.”

“What was that you said about her father?”

“Apparently Mr. Montgomery was having some abdominal pain tonight, and they took him to the ER. Tanis drove over to check on him. They didn’t admit him, so it looks like he’ll be okay.”

Doggone it. Why couldn’t George Montgomery have waited an hour or two to develop a bellyache? A little bit of a timing shift, and I wouldn’t have been found out. The worst part was I hadn’t even done anything wrong—at least not yet.

For a crazy moment I thought about telling Teddy I’d changed my mind but decided against it. If I was about to be reported to Aaron, I might as well do what Tanis would
say
I’d been doing.

When the door of Teddy’s apartment closed behind us, the mood returned, and in the blissful feeling of making love to Teddy I forgot all about Tanis and what she may or may not have seen. At least for the moment.

The wheels of my mind started spinning as soon as I got in the car to drive home. I had to come up with a legitimate reason for being out with Teddy.

As it turned out, I had to invent that reason sooner than I planned. Rosalind called me the next morning on my cell phone.

“Good news,” she said cheerfully. “Tanis called me and offered to assist with the reunion planning. I suggested that we get together at my house tomorrow after work. Will that work for you? I know you usually spend Friday nights with Aaron, but John and I are taking the kids to Ocean City for the weekend and we’re leaving first thing Saturday morning.” I’d confided in Rosalind that Beverline’s attitude made me choose to sit out summer weekends in Sag Harbor in favor of waiting until the fall, when the kids were back in school and Aaron and I could go out there alone.

“Sure,” I replied, forcing myself to sound eager. “I’ll just let Aaron know I’ll be a little late. Uh…I wonder what made Tanis want to help out.” I knew
exactly
what had brought on the offer, but I wanted to know if she’d given Rosalind a reason.

“I don’t know. All I know is that when I spoke to her about it before she said she didn’t have time. I know that’s an hour-long show she’s filming, but I doubt she’s in every scene.”

“Amen to that.” The reason behind Tanis’s change of heart was as clear to me as glass.

“She said she’d even contribute to the food,” Rosalind added. “That means she’ll probably get her housekeeper to make something and will pass it off as her own, but what do I care? We need all the help we can get.”

“You know, I think Valerie might be interested in helping, too,” I said, an idea forming in my head. I needed an ally, preferably one far removed from Euliss, and I was running out of friends close enough to cover for me. Valerie, whom I’d known just as long as Tanis, would probably consent to help me. She and Tanis might share blood—they were first cousins through their mothers being sisters—but they’d never been close. Tanis had always been a little jealous of Valerie, who had both good looks and good grades while growing up. That was probably why Tanis was closer to Valerie’s sister, Wendy, who had the nonthreatening qualities of being cute as a button and dumb as a doughnut. The sisters weren’t twins, but we were all in the same grade because they’d both been born within the same year, Valerie in February and Wendy in December. “I’ll give her a call.”

“Sure. The more hands we have, the better. Can you come over around six? I’ll order pizza. And bring Valerie if she wants to come.”

I
t didn’t take long for Teddy’s name to come up at our meeting Friday night. The four of us had been sitting around the table in Rosalind’s dining room for about ten minutes, eating pizza and planning the reunion menu, when Valerie asked Tanis, “How’s Uncle George?”

“Oh, he’s doing fine. He gave us a scare the other night. The doctor said it was probably just something he’d eaten.” Tanis’s gaze settled on me as she casually said, “I ran into Teddy Simms when I stopped at Hardy’s convenience store on my way home.”

“Does old Mr. Hardy still run that store?” Rosalind asked, incredulous, and with good reason. The grocer had been just a few years removed from social security back when we were in high school.

“No, some Spanish dude owns it now, but he kept the name.”

“Emily told me Teddy’s doing well,” Valerie offered.

The surprised look on Tanis’s face told me she didn’t expect to hear my name come up in conjunction with Teddy’s. She didn’t know I’d cued Valerie in on what had transpired and pleaded for her help. “Have you seen him lately, Emily?” Tanis asked innocently.

“All the time. We work in the same building, at least a few days a week. He’s a denture technician, and he has two clients in different locations. As a matter of fact, we got together just the other week for dinner to catch up.”

“Emily says that Teddy knows what just about everybody from our graduating class is up to these days,” Rosalind remarked.

God, was I glad I’d told her that. That was a completely unrehearsed statement, and considering Rosalind had no clue about what had transpired Wednesday night, one that came right on time.

Tanis looked at Rosalind blankly, then at me. “Well, he had some chick in the car with him Wednesday night,” she said slyly. “I didn’t see her face, but it was pretty obvious she was trying to hide it from me.”

Rosalind shrugged. “Is he married?”

“No,” Tanis replied.

“Then unless he was with someone who is, I don’t see the big deal.”

I was saying a silent prayer of thanks for Rosalind’s support when she added, “I’m just glad he’s getting some from
somebody
.”

My face froze. That remark gave just the image I wanted to avoid. Tanis looked at me with an expression similar to that of someone who’d just found a fifty lying on the sidewalk.

“Not necessarily,” Valerie said. “Why don’t you tell them, Emily?

Rosalind, sensing a secret about to be revealed, instantly perked up. “Tell us what?”

“That I was the one in the car with Teddy,” I said. “I was out with Valerie Wednesday night down at City Island, and I’d just gotten off the parkway in Euliss when my engine gave out. I didn’t have any of my nephews’ phone numbers with me, but Teddy’s number was still in my cell phone from when we met for dinner the other week, so I called and asked him to give me a jump. The car didn’t make it all the way to my mother’s, so we managed to park it and he drove me home.” I shrugged. “It was all perfectly innocent. I tried to keep out of sight because people tend to jump to conclusions, and the next thing you know there’s this huge, totally untrue rumor going on.” I gave Tanis a pointed stare.

She took a sip of her Sprite, her eyes meeting mine over the rim of her glass. “I’m surprised you didn’t just call Aaron,” she said after she swallowed.

“Aaron does his surgeries in the mornings, and I preferred not to bother him that late unless it was a real emergency.”

“Did you get your car started, Emily?” Rosalind asked.

“Yes. Yesterday morning it started up just like that, and Mr. Norris didn’t find anything wrong with it.”

“That happens sometimes,” Valerie said with a nod.

“Maybe Teddy’s jumper cables were weak.” This smart-assed comment came from Tanis. I had a little trouble digesting her statement and had to press my lips together to keep them from twitching. Teddy had a tiger in his tank, and the idea of any of his equipment not functioning at capacity made me want to roar with mirth. But of course the object here was to prove Tanis wrong, preferably with some quiet dignity.

“I have no need to get any from Teddy, Rosalind,” I said. “I have Aaron, remember?” I smiled sweetly. “When I leave here I’m going straight over to his place.”

“You lucky girl, you,” Rosalind said.

Now Tanis wore an expression that looked like she’d eaten some bad pepperoni. She let the matter drop like the grease off the slice she was eating, and we returned to menu planning between bites. At least Rosalind, Valerie and I did. I wasn’t surprised when Tanis seemed to lose interest in the reunion after that. She even made an excuse for leaving early, something about a promise she’d made to her kids.

Valerie and I walked out together to our cars, both of which were parked in the street. “Thanks again for covering for me, Valerie. I really owe you one.”

“Tanis is such a pain sometimes. I can’t tell you how sick I am of having her and Wendy and their husbands shoved down my throat.”

“But Tanis is getting divorced.”

“My mother isn’t giving me any reprieve. Already she’s predicting that Tanis will probably be remarried within a year, the implication that everyone can find a husband except me.” Valerie’s upper lip curled. “I hope her new show flops.”

I chuckled at her hope for the failure of Tanis’s new gig, but I felt for Valerie. I’d been hearing about Tanis’s accomplishments all my life. Poor Valerie had to hear about both Tanis
and
Wendy.

“I really appreciate it,” I repeated. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t helped me cover.”

“No problem. So tell me, how was he?”

I’d never actually come out and expressed that I’d been to bed with Teddy; I’d only said that Aaron was bound to misunderstand if word got back to him through a vengeful Tanis that I’d been riding with Teddy at night. But Valerie was no fool. What other conclusion could she come to?

“Valerie! You’re embarrassing me.”

“Listen. I always thought Teddy Simms was cute. He always struck me as the type who’d want to settle down, so I’m surprised he never got married.”

I saw an opening and took it. “Valerie, haven’t you ever wanted to get married?”

“Of course I have. Both of my parents were worried when I started getting promotions that if I became too successful, I’d never get a husband. My father said
he
certainly wouldn’t want a woman who made more money than he did. My mother actually tried to get me to turn down a promotion. When Wendy got married and had her son, got divorced, and was remarried within a year and started having more babies and I
still
couldn’t find anybody to go out with, I started to wonder if maybe they’d been right.”

I could understand how she felt. Wendy Woods was a nice enough person, but her brain was as absorbent as a cheap paper towel. I was amazed she managed to get through high school. Nobody would want to finish behind her at anything.

“So I decided not to let that get in the way of having babies. Since I made enough money I’d find someone to sleep with and raise my baby on my own. Then when Melanie started school, I found I missed having a little one around, so I did it again. And again.” She looked at me and smiled. “You probably think I’m nuts, Emily, but I love kids. I always have.”

I remembered Valerie as a little girl with her collection of dolls. When we got older and got into the Barbie phase, Valerie still preferred her baby dolls. “When I grow up I’m going to get married and have a house full of kids,” she used to say.

“You look happy,” I ventured.

“Life’s good. I’ve attained more success than in my wildest dreams, Em. I’ve got three wonderful children. And it looks like I’m going to have another baby in the house. Melanie’s pregnant.”

Her oldest daughter. So Bea Pullman hadn’t been imagining things. “But she’s so young, Valerie!”

“Sixteen.” She sighed wearily. “At least I was a woman in my midtwenties before I got pregnant, and it was planned. But Melanie is tough. She knows that having a baby doesn’t mean she can’t achieve her goals. I’ll help her, of course. It’ll be kind of nice to have a baby around again. Only six more weeks to go.”

She sounded only vaguely disheartened at her teenage daughter’s pregnancy. I’d say her leading emotion right now was excitement, and I didn’t know what to say. All I could think of was,
If you’re happy, I’m happy.

In the end I said nothing, and Valerie kept talking.

“I know what you’re thinking, Emily, but Melanie will be fine.”

“Haven’t you ever met a special man, Valerie?”

A wistful smile formed on her lips, and her eyes took on a faraway look. “Only twice. Once when I was in college—we broke up my junior year. Then again just a couple of years ago. He was an attorney. For a couple of months everything was perfect, but then he started to change. He’d start complaining about the way I did this or that. I felt like he was trying to mold me, and I’m nobody’s clay. We ultimately decided it would be best if we went our separate ways.”

“I’m sorry, Valerie.”

“No need for that. I’ve done pretty well for myself, Emily. I wanted the whole package, but since I couldn’t get it, I took the parts of it I could get.” She chuckled. “Too bad I didn’t meet someone like your doctor friend.
He
wouldn’t have a problem with my income.”

The weight of my burden descended over me in a manner that was becoming familiar. Marsha wanted someone like Aaron. Valerie wanted someone like Aaron. And Tanis just plain wanted Aaron. I had him, but I didn’t feel like celebrating. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I appreciate what I had? “Gee, Valerie, I don’t know what to say.”

“Just promise me something. If you decide you’d rather have Teddy than the doctor, make me the first to know so I can get to him before Tanis does.” She opened the door to her maroon Saab SUV and climbed in. “See you later!”

The next afternoon I shared with Mom what Valerie had told me. I sat in the La-Z-Boy in the living room, and she at the table in the adjoining dining area with her latest bank statement. “Well, I think it’s a shame when a young girl in her twenties feels her situation is so hopeless that she has to choose between having a husband and having children.”

“Her parents certainly didn’t encourage her. In fact, Winnie tried to discourage her from becoming too successful.”

“In a way you can’t blame them. It can be damaging to a man’s ego when his wife has a higher salary. I know David had some problems accepting Cissy’s promotion.”

I choked on my bottled water. Euliss tap water tasted nasty with a capital N, so bottled water was an extravagance I refused to give up. “He did?”

“They came close to separating. She asked me not to tell anyone, and I didn’t. Just like you asked me not to say anything to anyone when
your
marriage was in trouble,” she reminded me. “But it’s been such a long time, and he’s gotten over it, so I don’t think Cissy would mind my telling you about it now. Men and women from Winnie’s and my generation look at these things differently from you young folks, Emmie. In our time, the man was the breadwinner. Professional women worked as either nurses or schoolteachers or social workers. There was no such thing as a woman making the money you girls make now.” She sipped her water. “Sometimes I look at you and Cissy and I wonder what I could have been if I’d been born a generation later.”

Her statement shocked me. Never once had it occurred to me that my mother, who hadn’t worked outside the home since she got pregnant with Sonny, ever wanted to do anything with her life besides care for her family. The knowledge was fascinating…and a little bit sad, for the answer to her musings would forever be unknown.

“Back to Valerie,” Mom said. “Does Aaron have any nice doctor friends you can introduce her to?”

“Unfortunately, they’re all married. And the one who isn’t, he seems to have a thing for blondes.”

“Well, if you ask me, instead of getting pregnant with that first baby she should have been out looking for a nice doctor or lawyer once she started moving up the career ladder. Even if he was still in school at the time. She wasn’t doing nearly as well then as she is now. They could have built a beautiful life together.”

“Well, Mom, it’s not like there’s a place women can go to pick out a nice med or law student, it’s not like buying a new car.” Although the idea of it was rather pleasant. Imagine going into a showroom with men on display instead of cars and picking the one you wanted.

“I’m just glad you met Aaron.” Mom sighed.

“You okay over there?”

“I’m trying to find this fifty cents I’m off by.”

“You’ll find it. Try re-adding your outstanding checks.”

“Why bother? It’s only fifty cents, Emmie.”

“Today it’s fifty cents. Tomorrow it’ll be fifty dollars. That’s why it’s so important for you to balance your checkbook every single month to the penny. That’s the only real way you can keep up with your money.”

“Yes, ‘Mother,’” she said with playful meekness.

I glanced at her as she worked on the Case of the Missing Fifty Cents. She muttered to herself as she worked her pencil. Mom was nearly eighty, but I envisioned her at eight, sitting at her wood desk at school, all hunched over with her legs fidgeting, struggling with a sum.

Then I concentrated on the television movie I was watching, and for the next few minutes the only voices came from the television. Finally, Mom said, “I found it! It was a nine, and I wrote it down as a four.”

“Well, congratulations! You’ve balanced your checkbook.”

She let out a sigh. “And I have to do this every single month?”

“Don’t worry; it’ll get easier as you go along.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I never balanced my own checkbook; paying bills electronically and using a debit card had pretty much eliminated the need for checks. All I had to do was make sure I had the money to cover what I paid out. Even I felt it would be too much for Mom to learn to operate a computer at this point in her life.

“Emmie, I’ve been a little worried about something,” Mom said as she gathered her statement and other papers.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”