Heart of Gold (10 page)

Bernadine paused in midpour. She turned her sister's way, but Diane was focused on reading the label of the wine bottle in her hand. Her face pained, she leaned over and whispered to Bernadine, “Where on earth did these country bumpkins get this no-name wine?”

Bernadine whispered back, “From my cellar. It's a 1966 Petrus Bordeaux. Bought it at an auction for a thousand bucks.” She loved the startled expression, but by then she was too through, so she stalked off to claim one of the empty chairs.

Lily came over and stood at her side. “Opinion formed.”

Bernadine watched Tamar walk over to Diane and strike up a quiet conversation. “And your verdict?”

“Like Roni said, wow.”

“I know.” Apparently Diane wasn't liking whatever Tamar was saying. She tried to move away, only to find herself gently taken by the arm.

Roni drifted over to where Bernadine was seated too. Apparently she, like everyone else in the room, was discreetly eying the interaction between Tamar and Diane. In a singsong voice reminiscent of the kids, she offered quietly, “Somebody's in trouble.”

Bernadine nearly choked. “Go away before you make me spill this thousand-dollar wine.” As she'd mentioned to Lily earlier, she thought Diane might benefit from rubbing elbows with their friends. Instead, she'd set them on edge straight out of the gate. Opinion formed.

Since it was Sheila's idea to form the ladies' group, she opened the meeting. “My reason for wanting to found this organization is so we can get together and relax.”

“And drink Bernadine's fabulous wine,” Marie cracked, to much laughter.

Bernadine watched her sister finally move away from Tamar and take a seat. Diane's stormy face mirrored the way the kids sometimes looked when Tamar called them out for their behavior. On the other hand, Tamar, who'd taken a seat on the sofa, didn't appear the least bit upset. Then again she never did.

On the heels of the laughter, Sheila said, “Tonight we need to come up with a name, elect officers if we want to go that route, and talk about what we want to achieve going forward. First, though, we need Bernadine to fill us in on Ms. Crystal.”

Bernadine relayed what she'd been told of Crystal's doings in Dallas. When she'd finished, there was head shaking all around. The ladies had a few more questions about the stolen shoes and the role played by the police. When those were answered, she added, “Crystal asked if the couple she stayed with in Dallas could move here.”

Reverend Paula asked, “And your response?”

Bernadine shrugged. “According to her, they're struggling big-time, but I was impressed by the common sense they seemed to have.”

“We're all about opening our hearts here,” Lily reminded everyone.

“And it might be nice to have some babies in town,” Sheila added.

“Babies?” Genevieve gasped. “We may have babies here?”

Everyone laughed, and Lily cracked, “Better them than me, because lord knows I'm not having any, regardless of Devon's constant nagging for a little brother.”

Roni laughed. “Aw, come on, Lily. Forty-plus isn't too old.”

“Then go for it, Roni. Me, I'm done. Amari and Devon are more than enough for this old woman, thank you very much.”

Diane interrupted. “You mean you're seriously considering letting these strangers live here?”

Bernadine replied, “Sure. Why not?”

“But you don't even know them.”

Rocky quipped, “Before Ms. Money Bags over there bought the town, many of us in this room didn't know one another either. Worked out fine.”

Mumbles of agreement and glasses raised in toast followed that.

Diane had shock on her face again. Bernadine wondered if it might stem from not having known about her poor, friendless big sister's ownership of Henry Adams. She'd never told Diane about purchasing the town on eBay because her sister's only interest was herself. “Let me get some more info on the couple, and then we can have a serious conversation about the pros and cons.”

That seemed to suit everyone except Diane, who looked disgusted, but no one paid her any attention. Sheila moved on to the next item on her agenda.

On the drive home, Bernadine glanced over at her silent sister and wondered what she might be thinking. “So, did you enjoy yourself?”

She shrugged. “I suppose. Didn't like Tamar, though.”

“Why not?”

“She had the nerve to tell me I shouldn't have said what I did about you not having any friends. And apparently Malachi told her about the prom date story, and she didn't like that either.”

“Ah.”

“Do you really own the town?”

“I do.”

“You couldn't come up with a better way to spend your settlement?”

“After the divorce I needed a new purpose in life, and this was it. Had no idea how things would turn out, but it's been a blessing all the way around. That old religious saying about casting your bread on the water has really proven true. I can't put a price on what this town and the people here have given me in return.”

Diane stared out her window at the passing darkness.

“You might want to think about finding a new purpose in your life, too,” Bernadine added.

But Diane didn't respond.

When Roni got home, Reg was in their bedroom, packing for his trip to Seattle the next day. “How'd the meeting go?” he asked.

“We had fun. We decided to call ourselves the Henry Adams Ladies Auxiliary.”

“Sounds pretty old-fashioned.”

“That's the point. We're patterning ourselves after those old school groups. Zoey still up?”

“Yeah. She's watching TV.”

She picked her words carefully. “I talked to Paula. She said she'd be willing to sit down with us to try and help us sort out whatever this is we're going through.”

“No.”

“That was quick.”

“The only thing wrong was you being gone all the time. Now that you aren't, we're good.”

“That why you faked being asleep when I came home Saturday night, because we're good?”

He stiffened.

“We're both adults, Reggie. If you don't want to be married anymore just say so.”

He met her eyes, then went back to his packing. “I need to get this done.”

“You do that,” she replied icily, and left the room.

On the heels of her departure, Reggie sighed and dropped his head. He didn't want their marriage to end, but talking to a counselor, even someone he knew and admired like Paula, wasn't something he was comfortable with. More than likely folks around town had already picked up on the fact that he and Roni were having trouble, but thankfully no one had said anything out loud. Going to see Paula would be to openly admit they were having issues, and he didn't want to air their dirty laundry. It was his hope that now that Roni was home, the tensions between them would miraculously dissolve. Although he didn't believe that, he clung to it anyway because he had no other solution.

In light of that, he thought his first step back to normalcy would be to patch things up with Roni before leaving for Seattle in the morning. He had been feigning sleep, and although he didn't want to discuss the reasons behind it, he did owe her an apology. She was down the hall in Zoey's room and they were watching
Leave It to Beaver
.

Zoey glanced up at his entrance. “Did you watch this when you were little, Dad?”

“I don't believe it was still on TV when I was growing up, but I do know about the show.”

Roni's soft smile gave him hope, and he offered her his own in reply.

“Why does Mrs. Cleaver wear high heels and dresses all the time?”

Roni chuckled. “That's the way some women dressed back then.”

“Is she just getting home from work on every show?” The confusion on her face made them both chuckle.

Roni said, “I'm not sure whether June had a job, babe.”

“So she walked around the house all day in dresses and high heels, just because?”

Roni nodded.

“That's dumb.”

Reggie tried to explain it better. “Zoey, back then a lot of women didn't work. They stayed home and took care of their families.”

“Was it some kind of law, like when they wouldn't let Black people vote or drink out of the water fountains?”

He could see Roni waiting for the answer. He swore she was laughing at him. “Well, no.”

“What did the dads do?”

“They went to work and took care of the family.”

“That doesn't sound fair. That sound fair to you, Mom?”

“On the surface, no, but things were different back then. Men sorta ran things.”

“Why?”

“Well, a lot of them didn't think women were smart enough to do stuff.”

“What?”

When Reggie cut Roni an impatient look, she responded with, “You explain it to her, then.”

He'd come into the room with the intention of trying to iron things out, only to find himself caught up in a dilemma not of his making.

“I need to finish getting ready.”

As he headed for the door, he heard Zoey say, “They should've called Martin Luther King. He'd've fixed that.”

Roni entered their bedroom a few minutes later. “That child of ours is something else.”

“Yes, she is. Martin Luther King.”

“Women's roles back then probably confuse a lot of the girls these days.”

“Probably, but I didn't like having to defend my entire gender.”

Her flinty-eyed response to that made him instantly regret the words and, more importantly, his snappish tone.

“It's kind of hard defending the indefensible, isn't it?” she asked coldly.

He exhaled an angry sigh. “I'll be leaving before Zoey gets up in the morning, so let me go say good-bye.”

She shot him a terse nod.

He left.

“Hey Zoey,” he called, sticking his head back in through her open door again. The TV was off, and she was sitting up in bed, reading. “What're you reading?”

“The book you ordered for me.” She'd found it on Amazon a few weeks back and had to have it. It was titled
Car: The Definitive Visual History of the Automobile
. It chronicled the history of automobiles and was filled with great glossy pictures.

“Enjoying it?”

“A lot.”

“I'm going to Seattle in the morning. Just came to say good-bye.”

She put the book aside and scooted over so he could sit on the edge of the bed, as he always did at the end of their day. “Is this the medical conference you were telling me about?”

He nodded.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Should be back Saturday afternoon.” From the first time they met, she'd been the daughter of his heart. He'd always remember the evening Bernadine announced the matching of foster parents to kids. Zoey had been slated for Sheila and Colonel Payne, but instead she'd walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and staked her claim. “I'm going to miss you while I'm away.”

“I'll miss you, too.”

This trip would mark their first prolonged separation. During Roni's descent into the studio they'd formed quite a bond, with their nightly checkers games, their fishing trips to Tamar's creek, and him watching her working on the cars with Trent and Amari. “Take care of Mama Roni while I'm gone.”

“I will. Are you getting a divorce?”

That threw him. “No. Now that Mom's home, things will be better.”

“She's going to record again, right?”

“Would it be so bad to have her here all the time?”

“Like Beaver's mom?”

“Maybe?”

“She'd be sad without her music.”

He knew that to be true, but he didn't want to talk about it. “She won't turn into Mrs. Cleaver. Promise. And we're not getting a divorce either.”

“Good.”

He leaned over and kissed her brow. “Another twenty minutes, and then lights out.”

“Okay. Did Mom talk to you about me driving go-karts? I really want to.”

“She hasn't said anything, but how about we talk about it when I get back from Seattle?”

“But that's a long time from now.”

“When I get back.” Reggie smiled and left.
Go-karts
. When he entered their bedroom, Roni wasn't there. He noticed her pillow was gone from the bed, as well. In the empty space lay a note:
Don't want you to have to fake being asleep. I'll use the guest room. Have a safe flight.

He dropped his head. As he got into bed, he could hear the faint strains of the piano being played downstairs. Feeling like a world-class jerk, he turned out the lights.

On the ride to the airport with Trent the following morning, Reggie thought back on the note. “Why are women so complicated?”

Trent looked over. “That rhetorical?”

“I don't know. Probably.”

Being the good friend that he was, Trent didn't press him to explain. He just drove and remained silent.

“Why is it so wrong for me to want my wife to be at home?” Reggie asked.

“Is that what's going on with you two?”

He nodded. “I don't think it's fair to Zoey for her to be gone as much as she is.”

“Zoey or you?”

“Zoey.”

“Ahh.”

Reggie knew that was a lie. “Who am I kidding? I feel like the colonel.”

Trent chuckled. “I don't think the town can handle two Neanderthals, Reg. Although Barrett seems to have seen the light.”

“My mom didn't work outside the house, and she was fine.”

“Was she a Grammy Award–winning superstar?”

He didn't respond.

“Music is her life, man. You knew that when you married her, right?”

“When I married her, music was on the back burner.”

“Lily always says, ‘Husbands and children don't like change.' What if Roni asked you to give up your practice?”