My Heart Can't Tell You No (64 page)

“Not for where
you
want massaged.” Maddie said absently as she looked at her sister-in-law. “You already told me where you get
your
charleyhorses.”

As they watched the game, Joe could feel the tension eventually leave Maddie’s shoulders and neck, but still he massaged her, working his way down to her upper back. Within the hour her limpness was so complete he knew she had fallen asleep, and, when he glanced at Lew, the man nodded his head in silent agreement. Joe moved back against his seat, then reached out for her shoulders, gently pulling her back with him, but she woke with a start.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Lie down and rest.”

She didn’t even look at him as she leaned back against him and pulled her feet up to the edge of her seat. He looked down at her as she quickly fell back to sleep, a tenderness encompassing him, making him reach down and brush her hair back from her face. In her sleep, she reached for his hand to cuddle it against herself.

“Can’t hardly believe she’s going to have her third baby, can ya?” Lew asked very quietly, the glance he gave Sarah being one of nostalgia that only two people can share who have already shared a lifetime. “She still looks like the little girl I brought home from the hospital with you.”

Joe looked down at her again. The sight of her small bulge sending waves of emotion through him. She was around five months pregnant. Now he had some idea of what she was talking about when she said he should have known Jackie was his baby. She showed her pregnancies early. Probably how she got away with telling everyone she was a month farther along with Robby than she actually was. But with Jackie—it was a month behind. She was big for a nine-month baby—he realized now. So she most certainly was
huge
for the eight months she and Bob said she was. She was right—he
should
have known better. But then—she
should
have told him. The conflict going on inside him was making his own muscles tense, but he remained still, watching the game being played on the table, until finally it ended and Lew said he’d better leave before his family sent out the National Guard.

“Looks like you lost your chauffeur,” Sarah smiled.

“Looks like you’re about to lose two of your players too.” Lew nodded toward Ollie and Jackie, yawning as they leaned on the table.

“John,” Sarah called into the room. “Do you want to take Lew home?”

“Yeah. I’ll be right out.”

“Where’s she sleeping tonight, Mom?” Joe asked quietly.

“Oh, let her go upstairs. It won’t hurt for her to be away from her house for two nights.”

Joe gently shook Maddie’s shoulder. In this position he was unable to do anything else but get her up before he could get up. He shook it again. Then, with reluctance, she opened her eyes. When she saw Lew standing with his crutches, she sat up immediately.

“You ready to go home? Let me get my shoes and I’ll be right out.” She started to rise, but Joe caught her wrist to stop her.

“I’m not letting you drive me home. You’re liable to fall asleep and drive me into a ditch,” Lew laughed as he looked down at her.

“John’s taking him. So go up to bed. Mom said you can sleep up here tonight.” Joe got off the chair, stiff from sitting so long in one position.

“But, I promised I’d take you home.” She looked up at Lew, and Joe wasn’t sure if she were going to burst into tears or not.

“Well, if ya want to go along, go get your shoes and ride in the back seat,” Lew told her.

“I will. I’ll be right there.” She hurried into the room and grabbed her shoes, but she neglected to put them on as she ran out the door ahead of John and Lew.

Joe walked outside with John as he helped Lew down the porch steps. Sarah stood at the door, sending orders for him to be careful. When Joe got to the car he saw Maddie was fast asleep in the back seat.

“I didn’t
think
she was awake in there,” Lew said softly as he looked at her.

“I was wondering what the hell was going on,” Joe smiled crookedly at him.

“Hormones,” Lew told him, then reached for the door Joe was holding open. “I’ll see you next month then.” He quickly glanced up toward the door where Sarah was standing, then lowered his voice to a whisper. “Oops! I wasn’t supposed to say that. Surprise birthday party for Sarah and Robby. See you then.” When looking back up toward Sarah he raised his voice again. “See ya later, Sarah. You take care of yourself now.”

CHAPTER XXXV
 

December 1984

“A
re you going to the party tonight?” Beth hefted her end
o
f a large box into her house as Maddie stood on the bottom steps of her deck, lifting the cardboard-crated bicycle.

“You asked me to. I won’t back out now.” She gave another shove, but still it refused to budge. “Why isn’t it moving?”

“I don’t know. Wait—I’ll check.” Beth released her end and leaned over the box, seeing it was caught on a bookcase.

“Beth! What are you doing?!” Maddie screeched as the box dropped.

“I told you I was going to check it.” Beth grabbed the upper end. “It’s stuck on the bookcase. You’ll have to lift it higher and take it over the banister.”

“I can’t. There’s a pole right here.”

“Okay. Wait.” Beth climbed over the box. “Ya know. This is giving us a helluva lot of trouble for being so light and not being all that big.”

“When John built this home he should’ve designed it to allow boxed-up bicycles inside.”

“Okay. Now—
shove
!” Beth pulled furiously as Maddie shoved with all her strength. Finally the box slid across the rust-colored carpet.

“What did you do?” Maddie pushed the rest of the box into the house, then closed the door behind her.

“Moved the bookcase.” Beth grabbed the side of the bookcase and pulled it back into place, but the sound of something falling against the wall turned her attention in that direction. “Oh—shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Maddie moved to stand next to her, looking down at the fishing rod that had been crimped against the wall when Beth moved the bookcase, its tip broken off completely. “
Uh-oh
. Whose is it? John’s?”

“
Uh-huh
.” She bent to pick it up, fingering the tip that was dangling with the line.

“I don’t suppose he’d notice if it suddenly became six inches shorter—do you?”

“You might as well cut six inches off him as off his fishing pole.” Beth snorted.

Maddie’s eyes slowly moved up to Beth. “What are you going to do?”

“Me?! It was
your
kid’s bike that made me break it.”

“Yeah—but I didn’t tell you to slam your bookcase up against it. So, what are
we
going to do?”

Beth moved her own eyes over to Maddie. “Simple. We’ll glue it. Then when it snaps off—he’ll think
he
did it. Now—about the bike. I think we can put it in the extra bedroom, and it’ll be safe until Robby’s birthday next week.”

“I’m not all that sure—especially when my two kids are here visiting with Jenna. They’re all over everything.” She took the back of the box as Beth took the front, and they began sliding it across the floor again toward the extra bedroom.

“It’ll be okay back here. We’ll just disguise it.” She draped a large bedspread over the box. “Hand me those stuffed toys.”

“These?” Maddie started giving her a rainbow of stuffed animals, watching as Beth piled them around the box until it couldn’t be seen.

“You’d never believe only one child lives in this house, would you? John has her so spoiled, it’s pathetic.” They started back for the living room, both falling into chairs and slinging their feet up on footstools.

“John loves Jenna.” Maddie tried to explain.

“God, Maddie, you’re getting fat,” Beth changed the subject as she looked at the younger woman and the bulge holding up her maternity blouse.

“Well you’re no beach bikini either, ya know.”

“More like a beached whale.” Beth complained.

Maddie placed her hand on her own stomach. “That’s our peanut butter and ice cream I guess.”

“Listen to you. The only thing on you getting big is your abdomen—everything else is as skinny as before. Look at me—I swear I gained forty pounds—all in my butt and thighs.”

“I don’t hear John complaining, so it must not be too bad.”

“No, you won’t hear him complaining. For two months I was too sick for him to touch me, and now for the last two months when I’ve more than recovered—he spends his evenings down the road with Joe to keep
him
company. Here I am—a week past six months and raring to go—and he’s nowhere to be found,” Beth sighed.

Maddie smiled over at her. She could understand the problem Beth was facing. She was going through the same thing herself. The past three weeks since Thanksgiving, things had gone back to the way they had been. Joe didn’t stay around the Baker house long enough to talk with her. She was convinced the only reason for the backrub was, as he had said—for the baby—not her.

“So does that mean my big brother is siding with his old friend, rather than his sister?”

“Truthfully? I don’t know. I don’t think he’s
siding
with either one of you. Maybe it’s more a matter of feeling guilty having turned a blind eye to what should have been obvious.”

The rush of sudden wind outside made Maddie’s and Beth’s heads swivel toward the window, watching as the freezing sleet came down in a heavy, driving downpour.

“
Mommy
! It’s
cold
!” The door pushed open and in ran Robby, followed quickly by Jenna, Felicia, Ollie and Jackie.

“I can feel it’s cold,” she agreed as he climbed up on her lap and she felt the cold coming off of him. “Where’s your father?”

“Right here.” Joe came through the doorway, with John behind him, white balls of sleet clinging to both. “What do you want?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering where you were. That
is
allowed,
isn’t
it?”

“We went in to see the reindeer, Mommy!” Robby said with such excitement that he grabbed her face with both hands to be sure she was listening.

“You did?” she laughed, as she had no choice but to look at him. “Was that all they had in there? Just reindeer?”

“No, there was a goat, and a lamb.”

“The reindeer kissed me!” Jenna climbed up on Beth’s lap.

“
Yeah
! It came over and was licking our hands!”

“You didn’t have anything on your hands, or give it anything to eat?!” Maddie asked.

“No. Just the straw on the bottom of its cage.”

“That was hay,” Jackie corrected.

“We saw Santa Claus—but
they
wouldn’t take us up to talk to him.” Robby pointed toward Joe and John.

“Why not?” Maddie smiled at the child’s irritation.

“John said he’d go up if Dad did, but Dad wouldn’t go up,” Ollie told her.

“They argued over who was supposed to take us up.
Them
—I mean. I didn’t want to go up,” Felicia told her.

“Neither did I,” Jackie agreed.

“Neither did I—but he was giving out candy!
I
wanted some. It was Christmas candy—you know—the good stuff,” Ollie told them.

“I don’t suppose it occurred to you to send Robby and Jenna up with Felicia and Ollie. You could have stood on the sidewalk and waited,” Maddie told her brother.

“No, it didn’t occur to
me
.” He looked over at Joe dumbly. “Did it occur to you? No. It didn’t occur to him either.”

“I think someone needs a few lessons on parenting at Christmas time.” Maddie maneuvered Robby on the chair then got to her feet.

“Well, Beth was the one who always took Jenna up before,” John told her. “What’s your excuse, Irish?”

Joe sat on the couch, shaking a cigarette from its pack and lighting it as he watched Maddie. “I guess I don’t have one. I guess I’m just a naturally bad parent—like she said.”

“I didn’t mean . . .” Maddie started angrily, then took a deep breath as she moved to a window and looked outside. “It looks like the sleet’s stopping. I guess the party’s still on, Beth.”

“
You’re
going?” Joe asked.

“Yes. Any objections?”

“No. Not a Goddamn one.”

“Don’t worry, Irish. I won’t cramp your style. Just pretend I’m not there.”

“I’ll do that.” He drew deeply on his cigarette as he watched her. “But seeing as how it’s a company Christmas party—and
I
didn’t invite you as my guest—I’m wondering how it is that you’re going.”

“Beth asked me to go along.”

“Don’t you want Mommy to go?” Robby asked his father.

“No. I don’t,” he answered simply, his answer angering Maddie, but she maintained her temper, the only outward sign that it bothered her was the tightness of her lips.

“Well, I think if
you’re
going—so should
she,
” Felicia said.

“And I don’t recall anyone asking you.” He looked back at Maddie. “Then you won’t be going with
me
. You’ll be going with John?”

“I’ll be driving alone.” She looked at the clock, wanting very badly to get out of that conversation. “Beth, will Tom be coming down here to watch Jenna?”

“Yes. He’s on call tonight, but if he gets called in, he’ll take her up to your dad to watch.”

“Did you find a sitter?” She looked back at Joe.

“Since you aren’t going with
me
—you don’t have to worry. They’re under
my
care today. I think I can manage to find a babysitter.”

“Fine. You do that. Beth, can you call me when you’re ready to go? I’ll be down home getting ready.”

“All right. I’ll see you in about three hours.”

Maddie had been to the party more than an hour by the time she saw Joe walk in. He looked fantastic when he removed his jacket and folded his shirt sleeves midway up his forearms. His eyes scanning the small crowd, his gaze met hers momentarily then moved on to the rest of the bar-like club. It didn’t take long for him to have a beer in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. Normally she would have been proud to walk into such a place with him—but, as it was, she simply turned back to the bar as she got one beer, one soda, and one diet soda she had ordered. She was about to carry the small tray back to her brother’s table when she nearly bumped into a young man with brown, unruly hair.

“I’m sorry,” she smiled at him, amused by his youthful appearance—even though he was being served liquor.

“Here. Let me take that for you.” He didn’t give her much of a choice as he took the tray from her. “You’re sitting with John Baker, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Do you know him?” She started across the room to the table.

“Sure do. He’s the mechanical engineer on first shift. Are you—his wife?”

“No. Last time I checked—he was married to that lovely lady for over ten years.”