Clara in America (Clara Andrews Series - Book 7) (9 page)

‘You two have
never
fit together.’ Noah starts to squirm in his pram so I pull him out and sit him next to me. ‘What’s changed?’

‘What’s
not
changed more like.’ She curls up her lip and twists her wedding rings around her finger. ‘Listen, I don’t want to get into the ins and outs of it. When you have spent four decades with the same man,
then
you can have an opinion on how to make a marriage work.’

I bite my lip for a moment, feeling shell shocked at the sudden sharp tone to her voice.

‘You don’t realise how easy you have it with Oliver.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘No money worries. No              daily grind of the 9 to 5 running you down… All you had to do was pop out a baby and sit back and enjoy the cash. Anyone could make a marriage work if they had it that easy.’

Blood rushes to my cheeks and I can’t help but feel mortified. Yes, Oliver brings home a massive pay check so we don’t have to fret over bills and so forth, but that doesn’t mean our relationship is any less real than anyone else’s.

‘That’s not fair…’ I start, feeling a strong urge to defend myself. ‘We have our own share of problems just like everyone else.’

‘Yada, yada, yada.’ Mumbling under her breath, she throws back her head and refuses to look me in the eye.

I decide to try a different tact and put my bruised feelings to one side. ‘You and Randy are happy, Janie. You know you are deep down. This is just a blip, a moment of madness, an error of judgement.’

‘You aren’t around!’ Throwing her arms in the air, she lets out a sarcastic laugh and flicks back her hair. ‘You see snapshots of our lives through photographs and video calls. You live four thousand miles away, Clara! You don’t know the half of it.’

A surge of guilt runs through me and I tear my eyes away from hers. With Janie and Randy living in Texas, it’s true that we neglect Oliver’s side of the family ever so slightly. Not intentionally, of course. It’s just that having an ocean between us kind of puts a stop to a lot of family activities.

‘You must understand just how unexpected this is for us? Especially for Oliver. One minute everything is fine and you’re flying us out to America and the next you drop this on us. Talk about out of the blue.’ I wait for her to say something, but she turns away in silence. ‘I better go and find Oliver, I don’t want him to do anything stupid.’

Reaching out for the pram, she takes Noah and motions for me to leave. ‘Let me keep Noah with me. There’s no point in dragging him around on a wild goose chase.’

Planting a kiss on his head, I slip out of the booth and squeeze through the tables. The entire coffee shop is filled with happy families enjoying a much needed moment of rest from the festivities going on outside. Oh, how I envy them. Quietly enjoying their caffeine fix, they don’t have any idea how lucky they are that they don’t have Janie for a mother-in-law.

Pushing my way out onto the street, narrowly avoiding knocking over a wizard in the process, I shake my head in an attempt to clear my mind. OK. If I were a pissed off, middle aged American at Magic Metropolis, where would I go? Scanning my surroundings, I let out an exhausted sigh and decide to retrace our footsteps. My first guess is that Oliver has gone in search of Paulie, so I am either looking for a shaken up dinosaur or the sound of Oliver’s roar. In a park filled with screeching children and booming music, it makes this an almost impossible task.

Smiling at a passing witch, I accept a handful of fairy dust and throw it over my shoulder. I guess I need all the luck I can get right now, even if that luck does come in the form of arts and crafts glitter. I knew it was strange for Janie to bring us out here like this! Someone like Janie doesn’t just have a complete one eighty and suddenly decide they want to play the role of cookie cutter grandmother. I should have known that she was up to something. I should have worked out something was going on long before now.

Spotting a baseball cap that looks suspiciously like Oliver’s on a nearby bench, I run over and pick it up. He wouldn’t go very far without this. I don’t think I’ve seen him without his precious Houston Rockets cap this entire holiday. After scanning the area for what feels like an eternity, I collapse into a heap on the bench and let out a groan. This is
not
how I pictured this holiday going. Tipping back my head to allow the sunshine to beam down onto my face, I let out a laugh as a heavy rain drop lands on my cheek.

Well, isn’t that just perfect. Within seconds the rain turns heavy and tourists run for cover inside the many shops and restaurants, but I stay firmly put. Unlike the last time I experienced a Florida downpour, I don’t want to escape the rain. I want to sit right here and allow the water to wash over me. The sound of hysterical screaming is drowned out by the patter of rain thrashing against the ground. Enjoying the sensation of cooling droplets on my skin, I am completely lost in the moment when a familiar voice grabs my attention.

‘Clara?’ Trying not to laugh, Oliver waves his arms around from beneath a shop canopy. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Nothing.’ I reply, shaking the water out of my hair. ‘I just… felt like getting wet.’

Nodding in response, he squints at me for a moment before stepping out into the rain. ‘Mind if I join you?’

Smiling up at him, I slide over to make room for him to sit down. People start to stop and stare at the crazy pair taking an impromptu shower in the middle of the theme park. Really not caring, I stretch out my legs and watch Oliver’s clothes quickly become as saturated as my own.

‘How do you feel?’ I eventually ask, once the rain has had the decency to calm down an iota.

‘Wet.’ He replies, looking down at the stream of water running off his basketball shorts. ‘Very, very wet.’

Not knowing what else to do, I let out a small giggle that quickly develops into a belly laugh and once I start, I just can’t stop. What are we doing? A passer-by stops to snap a photo of us and I bury my head in Oliver’s soaked t-shirt. Once confident that the spontaneous photographer has moved on, I take off my sandals and squeeze the excess water out of them.

‘I just, don’t know what I’m going to do with her.’ Oliver says, shaking his baseball cap and putting it back on. ‘Deep down, I knew this day would come. She always pushes the boundaries, always.’ I nod in response and say nothing, choosing to let him keep talking. ‘We can put this right though. Dad will forgive her and we can put all this behind us and move on. Just like last time.’

‘Last time?’ I gasp, not sure that I have heard him correctly. ‘You mean… Janie has done this before?’

‘It was a long, long time ago. Years, actually. I was just a boy, but I still remember everything that happened.’ My stomach flips as he fiddles with his watch, avoiding all eye contact. ‘It was with some guy from work. Apparently he showered her with gifts, promised her a life my dad could only ever dream of giving her.’

‘What happened?’ I ask, choosing my words carefully so that he doesn’t clam up.

‘She came back, eventually. Dad forgave her and things gradually went back to normal.’ He stares down at his own wedding band and sighs. ‘To be honest, I don’t really think they’re aware of just how much I remember.’ Turning away to look down the street, he closes his eyes as he recalls the memory. ‘Things were pretty rough for a while.’

Reaching out for his hand, I take it in mine and rub his fingers with my thumb. I’m trying not to show it, but this revelation has really shocked me. I am aware that Janie is well known for her wild antics, but I really wouldn’t have had her down as a serial cheat. Poor Randy. Imagine going through the agony of having your spouse betray you like that, just to have it happen all over again many years down the line. I am so lost in my sorrow for Randy that I don’t even notice the rain gradually coming to a stop. Looking up into the sky, I shield my eyes as the sun peeks out from behind the blanket of cloud. People start to creep out from the shelter and within seconds the park is alive and buzzing with the same excitement that it had before.

‘So, how are we going to handle this?’ I whisper, strategically placing myself under the sunlight in the hope that I dry out.

‘We just have to bring them back together, like last time.’ Pushing himself to his feet, he shakes his wet shirt and attempts a small smile.

‘And how do you suggest we do that?’ I slide off the bench and start walking back towards Starbucks.

Shrugging his shoulders, he stands still for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. ‘I guess we just have to make her see sense.’ He gives my hand a squeeze and I squeeze it back. ‘I just hope we can paper over the cracks before it’s too late…’

Trust is like a mirror.

You can fix it if it’s broken,

but you will always see the cracks in your reflection.

This could not have gone any worse if I tried. I had one job.
One
. Think, Clara!
Think!
After Oliver’s mini meltdown this afternoon, we put our minds together and came up with a plan to get Janie and Randy back in martial matrimony. Well, when I say
a plan
, I mean we decided that I would tell Janie how stupid she has been and Oliver, well, Oliver would tell Randy just how stupid she has been. So far I can safely say that I’ve failed miserably at my end.

When I arrived at her room two hours ago, my tactic was to convince Janie that Paulie is bad news, but I haven’t managed to get a single word in sideways. Between listening to her gush over how tight Paulie’s six-pack is and covering my ears while she rambled on about his moves between the sheets, things have gone from bad to worse. This is not good. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I take a slug of my whisky and go for it.

‘Do you think there’s any slight, little,
tiny
chance that this is just a… a phase?’

‘A
phase?
’ Janie laughs and throws back the contents of her glass before reaching for another from the mini bar. ‘No.’

‘OK, maybe not a phase.’ Looking around the messy hotel room, I rack my brains for another way to put it. ‘Maybe it’s a temporary thing that you just need to get out of your system? One final blowout to tick off your bucket list?’

Cocking her head to one side, she swirls whisky around her glass before nodding slowly. ‘I see where you’re going with this and maybe you’re right.’

Yes! Feeling like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I give myself an inward high five and take a sip of my drink. The golden liquid burns down my windpipe before crashing into my empty stomach with a sizzle. Bleurgh! How do people drink this stuff?

‘I’m not saying that Paulie is definitely forever.’ I nod enthusiastically and rest my chin in my hand, relieved to finally have made a breakthrough. ‘I just know that Randy definitely is
not
. Paulie is just what I need right now.’

No!
No! No! No! That is not what I meant! I’m going to be taking back divorce papers at this rate. How am I going to get it through to her that she’s throwing her entire life away for a quick fling with a no-hoper. Come on, Clara! If Oliver has managed to talk Randy into taking her back, he will lose his mind if Janie is sticking to her guns. Deciding to try some reverse psychology, I take a seat on the bed and roll onto my stomach.

‘On second thoughts, perhaps you’re right. I mean, you only get one life. If Paulie is what makes you happy, maybe you should go for it.’ Draping her legs over the headboard, she squints her eyes at me suspiciously. ‘I’m being serious! If you want to spend the rest of your days with a twenty-six-year-old aspiring actor who has zero prospects and is financially unstable, who am I to judge?’

‘Exactly…’ She murmurs uncertainly, obviously not quite trusting my words.

‘And so what if some people think the age difference is weird. As long as he is cool with wiping your backside when you’re eighty and he’s forty, what the hell.’

‘Oh, OK.’ Putting down her glass, she wags her bony finger in my face and scoffs. ‘I see what you’re doing here and let me tell ya, it’s not going to work.’

‘Oh, come on, Janie!’ Thrashing my legs around in frustration, I bang my hands down on the mattress. ‘This is insane! You know that you’re going to go back to Randy in the end, so can we just cut all this Paulie crap out and jump to the finish line?’

‘Alright, Paulie is not the issue here.’ Janie slides off the bed and saunters around the room. ‘Whether I stay with him or not, Randy and I are over. You just need to accept that.’

‘But
why?
’ I bury my face into the pillow to stop myself from screaming. ‘You haven’t even given us an actual reason as to why you’re walking away from a forty-year marriage. People your age don’t just leave their husbands to play the field with near teenagers!’

‘People
my age?
’ Janie growls, saving her huge implants from a near wardrobe malfunction. ‘Do you wanna clarify what you mean by that, lady?’

Quickly back tracking, I realise we aren’t going to get anywhere this evening and decide to call it a night. Hopefully Oliver has had more luck at his end. It’s getting dark outside and if I drink any more alcohol I’m not going to make it back to my room unaided. Discreetly pouring the contents of my glass onto a plant, I reach for my handbag and push myself to my feet.

‘I’m going to get back to Oliver. It’s getting late and Noah will need putting to bed.’ Holding out my arms for a hug, I curl my hands into fists to stop myself from shuddering as Janie plants a wet whisky smacker on my cheek. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

Trying not to think about where those lips have been, I slip out the room and creep along the lobby to the stairs. Laughter drifts out from other rooms and I can’t help but smile as a tiny voice chants
Mickey Mouse
over and over again. Like a very enthusiastic record stuck on repeat. Oh, to have my only worry to be which theme park to visit next. Tapping gently on our door, I am taken aback when it immediately swings open.

‘Well?’ Oliver asks hopefully, stepping back to let me inside. ‘How did it go?’

Not wanting to tell him that it actually went worse than I could ever have imagined, I offer him a tight smile and pluck Noah off the bed. ‘It could have gone better. How about you?’

‘I got nothing…’ Handing me a room service menu, he takes a seat on the windowsill and looks out at the black sky. ‘It’s like he has just…
disappeared
or something.’

‘Mummy?’ Noah grumbles, rubbing his tired face and throwing himself backwards. ‘Where’s Gee-Gee?’

‘Gee-Gee is going to sleep.’ I whisper, stroking his hair gently. ‘I think she has had enough for one day.’

Oliver points to the mini bar and I nod in response. Rolling his eyes, he kicks off his trainers and sighs. ‘Please tell me you haven’t eaten?’

My mind flits to the pack of Twinkies that I stole from Janie’s room. ‘Not really. Have you?’

‘Noah has. I was waiting for you to come back.’

‘Burger!’ Noah confirms happily, pointing to the room service tray that is sitting on the dressing table.

‘Did you eat
all
that?’ I whisper, tickling his tummy and smiling as he giggles like crazy. Pulling him onto my chest, I push myself up and yawn loudly. ‘Right, I think it’s someone’s bedtime.’

Noah shakes his head slowly and rubs his cheeks as he always does when he is tired.

‘I’ll do it.’ Oliver says, holding his hands out for our sleepy baby. ‘You phone down for some food. I’ll take the club sandwich and extra curly fries.’

Kissing Noah on the cheek, I flip open the room service menu and scan the many mouth-watering options. With a stomach filled with whisky, I need something stodgy to soak it all up before the remnants of my lunch make a reappearance. Scanning the menu with hungry eyes, I settle on a cheeseburger and phone through the order. As soon as I put down the handset my stomach growls loudly. Resisting the urge to eat Noah’s leftovers, I swap my shorts for a clean pair of pyjamas and curl up under the sheets with my phone. With the Janie bombshell taking up all of our attention, I haven’t had a minute to check my emails. Noticing that I have a ton of Tweets from Gina, who is requesting photographs for Madison, I send a bunch over and slip the handset under my pillow.

‘He’s asleep.’ Oliver whispers, closing the door to the adjoining room behind him and flipping on the baby monitor. ‘I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this, Clara. It’s not exactly what you expect while on vacation.’

‘Honestly, it’s fine. Janie is just as much my problem as she is yours.’ Flashing him a reassuring smile, I twist my hair into a messy ballerina bun as my eyes become extremely heavy. ‘I just hope she hasn’t gone too far this time.’

‘What do you mean?’ He asks wearily.

‘Well, we are going to have to start preparing ourselves for every eventuality. If she really
is
leaving Randy, we have to accept that and start to think of it practically. Like, where will she live? What will happen to their marital home? How will she support herself?’ Rubbing his face in agitation, he lets out a moan and cracks his knuckles. ‘Also, what if your dad doesn’t want her back? What if he is as decided on this as she is?’

‘No way.’ A flash of alarm washes across his face. ‘Dad worships my mom. Always has, always will.’

Not being as certain as he is, I chew the inside of my cheek and look down at my chipped manicure. Oliver might not want to accept that his parents might be ready to give up on their marriage, but let’s face it, with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce, the future of their relationship really does rest on the toss of a coin…