Love.com (29 page)

Leila and Kathy shared a
long look between them before her mother grabbed the handle of her rolling suitcase. She said she would leave them alone to chat. She was going to nap after the long flight.

Emily watched a subdued Leila navigate her suitcase up the stairs and finally went and hugged her sister. Kathy was thinner than she ever remembered. The fear someone in the family was sick made her tense. She drew back and looked at her closely.

“Is everything ok, Kathy? Don’t tell me everything’s fine, either. My radar went off when mom paid for a shuttle. What’s going on?”  

Kathy laughed at that. “Yeah, I figured that would alert you, Em.”

They sat at the kitchen table. Emily poured them both a glass of wine. She waited for her sister to speak.

“Doug wants a divorce,” her sister said
without further preamble and fidgeted with the stem of her wine glass. “He told me at Christmas he wants out. He’s moving out as soon as I get back.”

Emily was shocked. Her sister and Doug had been together since they were both sophomores in high school. The fact he was leaving her sister was a cruel joke. They had four kids between them; ages three to thirteen. Kathy had never worked in her life except for extra money
at Christmas during the holidays at the local hardware store. Her concern for her sister was obvious.

“Can I ask why or is that too personal?” Emily resented the fact she immediately jumped to the conclusion Doug was a lying, cheating asshole
. Knowing him as she did since he started dating her sister, it was probably the case. She could never stand the guy, if the truth be known.

“He said he isn’t in love with me anymore. He said it isn’t working for him,” Kathy said with a sigh and sipped her wine. “I know what you’re thinking
. Mom said it too. He says he isn’t having an affair. It doesn’t matter. He wants to leave. I just don’t care if he does anymore.”

“Is this what you want? What are you going to do, Kat?
You don’t even have a job. What are you going to do to live?”

Kathy shrugged and shook her head. “We own the house. Doug is giving it to me without a fight. He seems resistant to
the idea of alimony though. He says the child support alone is enough. I need a lawyer, Emily. That’s why we’re here. I need the money to get the best lawyer I can get or I’m screwed, my kids are screwed, and that’s the real reason we’re here.”

“What about Dad? Did you go to him?”

Kathy rolled her eyes, looking at Emily sadly. “Would you ever ask him for anything, Emily?”

Emily shook her head, knowing Kathy felt the same way about their father as she did. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of groveling for anything, even for something this important. Emily didn’t hesitate. “How much
money do you need to get it started?”

Kathy looked relieved. “Five thousand? Ten maybe, before it’s all over. I’m not sure what it will take.”

“I’ll help you. It’s not a problem.”

Kathy appeared miserable then, her control slipping with the burden of her impending divorce hanging over her head. “I’m the older sister here. This isn’t right my baby sister bails me out of my mess.”

“Your baby sister just made partner at the agency. She can afford it. Besides, my nieces and nephews deserve to stay in the style they’ve grown accustomed to.”

“
I don’t know how to thank you much less repay you, Emily.”

“You’re my sister, Kathy. You’d do it for me. We always st
ick together. Don’t worry about it. Consider it a gift.”

Her sister looked unsure. “You mean that?”

“Just get the best damn lawyer in town, and make sure it’s somebody Dad really hates, and stick it to that asshole you’re married to, alright?”

Kathy relaxed after that. Emily could see the stress of what was to come had taken its toll on her sister. They hadn’t told their kids yet. Doug wanted to wait until she got back. Her brother-in-law
might be a selfish prick, but he loved his kids. It was going to be alright.

Emily wrote out the check and handed it to her, assuring her to not hesitate
to ask if she needed more. She refused to see her sister get nothing out of her marriage. If Doug wanted out so badly, he would pay and pay dearly. Emily was glad they could put the matter behind them right off the bat. Kathy needed to have fun and forget about what was to come when she returned home.

Emily ordered Chinese take-out
that night and picked up some old movies at the Video Hut. Leila looked refreshed and rested when she joined them downstairs. She was wearing her favorite housecoat and slippers, her much mellowed attitude met with confusion by Emily. What was wrong with her mother? Leila was acting far too pleasant for her to not think the pod people kidnapped her mother.

“What’s with her?” Emily gazed after their mother when
Leila took a phone call in the other room. “Did you spike her Diet Coke on the plane? Did you bring more of that stuff when it wears off?”

Kathy giggled and rolled her eyes. “Ma has a boyfriend
, Emily.”

“No way!”

“Way! I swear! She met him at church. The guy is the best thing since sliced bread. I told him if he ever leaves our mother; I’ll kill him!”

Emily was stunned to know Leila Jones, hater of all things male,
including even baby animals, basher of philandering ex-husbands everywhere, and negative Nellie to the extreme, had a boyfriend.

“How?”

“What do you mean, how?” Kathy looked confused. “She met him at church, Em. That’s how.”

“No, I mean
, really…
how
? Since when does our mother give men the time of day? Is this guy for real? Are you sure you aren’t drugging her?”

Kathy sighed and smiled, hearing their mother giggling on the phone in the living room beyond them. “Who cares
what it took? I say, let’s just go with it. For the first time in our lives; Ma isn’t miserable and bitching. People change, Em. There’s hope for me if our mother fell in love. I guess that’s what made me let Doug go. We haven’t been happy for years. We’re just hanging on. To tell you the truth; I think I’ll like not having him there anymore, having the bed to myself, the TV to myself. Maybe I’ll go back to school and get my teaching degree like I always talked about before the kids came along?”

Emily was relieved what she dreaded the most turned out to be exactly what she needed. For the first time, she
really laughed with her mother over trivial things. They spent time in the kitchen working recipes, gossiped about her high school friends living back in Greenwich.

Leila was a changed woman. Gone was the grim set to her jaw, the feral look in her eyes when
ever she mentioned their father, or anything else bearing a penis. Now, she was happy, her eyes aglow, and her smile fixed. Emily recalled her own sickly expressions over Ian and had to agree love was magical. Just look at what it did to her mother?

She didn’t question how it came about her mother found love again. Emily made Kathy swear she would chain the man in the basement if he ever tried to leave their mother, vowing to hunt the man down if he tried to get away.

Gordon Hightower, or Gordie, as Leila called him in a hushed, whispery voice, was a keeper. He wasn’t going anywhere. He owned a bakery in town and brought their mother fresh bread every day. She said he was a nuisance from the time they met in church. He bugged her when she refused to go out with him. He wore her down finally. She hinted the relationship was getting more serious when he invited her to his place in Florida that winter.

Emily declared it a miracle
. She vowed to say a prayer for Gordon Hightower each night, thanking him for coming into their mother’s life. Kathy agreed Gordie was pretty special. She said he tolerated Leila in ways neither of them ever could while growing up. He liked her nagging and harping, so much she seemed to do it less and less this last year; and now not at all. The reverse psychology seemed to work on her, softening the bite to her words.

Emily spent the weekend with her mother and sister and regretted when Monday rolled around
. The pair decided to head up the coast for a couple of days of sightseeing while she was working. They rented the car on Sunday. They intended to come back Wednesday night. Emily watched them leave at seven that morning, saddened she couldn’t go with them.

Willie growled nearby, as if echoing her thoughts. He was a fixture in her mother’s lap every since the pair bonded. Willie slept at the end of Leila’s bed and followed her everywhere. His brown eyes met hers with a sad, soulful look in them.

“Tough break, buddy, but we’re stuck here. Get over it.” Willie whined and his head went back down on the tile.

Emily sipped her coffee, relaxed for once before work. It was funny about being the boss.
She didn’t worry about being late anymore. Her promotion came with a primo parking spot in the garage. She didn’t have to worry about carrying her lunch anymore. The clients and reps took care of that. You didn’t sweat the small stuff when you sat on the throne. The reality of her being in charge didn’t hit her until she saw them erecting the new plaque outside the building the day before, now reading Stone, Watterman, and Jones Agency. Emily decided to return to her maiden name at the last minute. It seemed fitting. It allowed her to let go of her former life and start this new one, one which didn’t have room for Eddie’s ghost.

Emily
could see the office was buzzing with activity when she arrived. Heads popped up from computer screens. Warm smiles met hers. A series of ‘good mornings’ met her arrival as she passed. The air of confidence that was now hers was becoming almost second nature.

Emily took the office once reserved for old man
Watterman. It was adjacent to Evan’s. It was completely remodeled over the weekend. She opened the door and flicked on the lights, smelling the fresh, muted taupe paint she selected. She looked about the room in appreciation; glad the rustic, heavy mahogany desk remained.

Evan allowed her to requisition new furnishings, but she insisted the desk would remain
; a symbol of the past. It reminded her of the one in the Oval Office for some reason. She added her own touches in the artwork on the walls. She had a new computer, a state of the art printer, and her own personal bathroom installed from an unneeded coat closet.

Emily framed the original picture of Andy and Ida Berkowitz. It sat on her desk, a symbol of more than just landing
the Ambidor account and changing the course of her career. It reminded her of Ian. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

She went to her desk and sat down
; orienting herself to the idea she was now the boss. It was for those first thirty minutes she remained sitting there quietly, didn’t move; just absorbed and basked in the reality of where she was. A smile curved her lips, a genuine one, filled with real pleasure.

Emily didn’t allow herself more horn-tooting than that. She had three accounts to work and a new guy to train. She glared at the clock. It was eight-twenty. Where was this guy? Didn’t he know he was supposed to be
there at seven-forty-five? He should have been waiting for her, not the other way around. She fumed, wondering about the guy Evan hired without her approval. He was definitely getting off on the wrong foot with her on his first day.

Janice retired before Evan left
the week before. Her new secretary arrived at nine from the temp agency that morning. Emily didn’t want to make it permanent until she found the right person for the job. She had enough trust issues and quirks to want a secretary she could rely upon; her own personal Janice. Curiosity got the better of her when it went on eight-thirty and the new guy still hadn’t shown up.

Emily
grumbled when she rose to go looking for him. She muttered an expletive to realize she hadn’t even been told the new guy’s name by Evan. Kind of hard to ask anyone
where
he was when she didn’t know
who
he was!

She decided the best place to look
for the newbie was in Desiree’s old office in the art department. The office was empty when she arrived, save for a large box sitting in the center of the desk. She spied a Starbuck’s coffee cup sitting next to it. She could see steam rising from the plastic lid. She was getting warmer.

Emily walked around the studio
, stepping around work easels, frowning to see nobody there who shouldn’t be. She shook her head and returned to her own office. The door was ajar. She was certain she closed it when she went on her search and rescue mission.

She entered and relaxed to see a man sitting in the chair in front of her desk. He had his back to her. Something in the tilt of his head as he heard her approach made a quiver of awareness sweep through her. Then he turned, making her world seem to careen slightly under her heels.

“Just the lady I needed to see this morning,” Ian said in his deep melodic voice as she came forward, his bluer than blue eyes meeting hers. His eyes sparkled with humor to see her stunned expression. “Hello, Emily. It’s good to see you again. Didn’t I tell you that you would make partner?”