Newton Neighbors (New England Trilogy) (35 page)

Maria recalled the old wives’ tale—blue hue, drive on through. Translated, that meant if the ice looked blue, it was thick enough to drive a horse and carriage over. Nobody had been dumb enough to try in the last few decades. She sometimes saw skaters out there, but she wouldn’t let Cody do it. Everybody knew about global warming. What if it wasn’t thick enough? She had never let him skate on the lake. Never.

Despite the warmth of the kitchen, Maria felt a chill. She hugged herself. “What am I going to do?” she said to Alice, who was using the kitchen chair to pull herself up into a standing position. “I came home fully intending to make peace, and within minutes we’re at each other’s throats again.”
 

Maria started to scoop the powdered formula into the bottles. “Maybe Mami was wrong. Maybe this marriage can’t be saved.” The idea shook her to the core. Was this really happening to her and Ricky? Sure, she had friends who had broken up, but her? Jesus. Maria’s vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears. Some of the formula fell outside one of the bottles.
 

“Damn and double damn,” she said, knocking them all over and pushing them into the sink. She would have to start again—washing, sterilizing, boiling up more water and mixing new formula. She couldn’t even make a baby bottle right anymore. Was it her? Had she fallen apart? Maybe Ricky was right. All she did now was complain, spend money, and make life hell. What if she was the problem? Maria wiped her eyes and put the unused baby bottles into the dishwasher. She went over to the mirror in the kitchen to check her reflection. Her eyes were bloodshot.

“Da,” Alice said behind her.

“Da,” Maria said without turning around. She looked like hell. Crying didn’t do her any favors, but she wasn’t wearing makeup either. Their flight out of Puerto Rico had been early. There hadn’t been time to clean up before coming home to Newton.

“Make time,” she said to her reflection. “You need to make the effort.”

“Da,” Alice said again. This time Maria turned to look at her daughter.

“Oh my God, you’re standing!” Maria froze, scared that if she rushed to the baby, she’d fall. Alice smiled and tried to clap which was enough to unbalance her. She fell back down onto her diaper-cushioned bottom and gave a self-satisfied grin. Maria rushed over to her now. “You are so clever—standing up and not even one. I’m so proud of you, Alice.” She snuggled her daughter and inhaled her sweet baby smell.
 

“ ’Sup?” Cody walked into the kitchen.

“Alice just stood by herself without holding on to anything. Isn’t she smart?”

The boy shrugged and gave his mom a half nod.

“Come on, Cody. That’s a big deal. She can stand.”

Cody opened the fridge and studied the lack of contents.

“I think I’ll have to go grocery shopping this evening. Do you want to come with me?”

Another shrug. Maria felt a stab of guilt. She knew he had seen and heard her argument with Rick. Damn it, why hadn’t they been more discreet? She put Alice down next to the kitchen chair again so she could work on her standing. Then Maria walked over to her boy.

“Look, Cody, I’m sorry Orga is missing, but she’s microchipped. We’ll get her back, and I’m sorry you had to hear Dad and I fight like that.”

“Are you guys going to get a divorce?”
 

The question was so sudden it stunned her for a moment. “What? Cody, how could you think such a thing? No, we’re not getting a divorce. We were just arguing about Orga.”

“Yeah, and we just spent Thanksgiving away from him, and you were fighting before we went away.”

“How did—” Of course he had known. He wasn’t stupid. Even Alice got upset when her parents fought. Cody would be a lot more perceptive.
 

This was a mess. It wasn’t about her and Ricky anymore. It was about the kids, too. What was she thinking? She had to find a way back to her husband. She had to fix this—somehow.
 

She took Cody in her arms. “Honey, your dad and I are arguing a lot these days, but he’s working very hard. He’s under a lot of pressure. But we’re not talking divorce. We’ll get through this, I promise.”
 

Cody wrapped his arms around her, which was pretty unusual these days. He let her hug him on occasion but never returned the gesture. She understood that mom-hugs weren’t high on a ten-year-old’s agenda. For him to hug her back spoke volumes. He was feeling the pain. It broke her heart. She couldn’t hurt her babies like this. It wasn’t fair.
 

“I know. Let’s order pizza tonight. We can go food shopping tomorrow.”

He pulled back from her and smiled. “Score,” he said with a smile. Then he looked over to Alice. “Hey, she’s doing it again.”

They both turned around and looked at the baby.

“Good girl.” Maria clapped.

“You go, little sis. Look at you standing on your own.”

That struck a chord with Maria. Her own daughter was standing on her own two feet. She had found a way. Couldn’t Maria do the same? Had she become so unbalanced in the last few years? Maria needed to be strong for the sake of her children and her marriage. She would get through this mess with Ricky and find a way to save her marriage for her sake, his, and her two adorable kids. And she would damn well learn to stand on her own two feet again—just like Alice.

“Be careful, it’s icy out here.” He spoke from behind her, which surprised Jessie, and she almost lost her balance. She turned around and saw miserable Bruce. He didn’t look too glum to her, but she trusted Noreen Palmer.

“I didn’t hear you coming up behind me,” she said. “I’ve just never seen the lake iced over before. I had to come out and have a look.”

“Spectacular, isn’t it?” he said. Bruce inhaled a barrelful of air, as if to savor the moment. He smiled at her. “Hullo, I’m Bruce Wiswall.”

“Jessie Armstrong.” They shook hands. He wasn’t a large man—tall, yes, but thin. His legs were long, because he was taller than Jessie. His arms seemed lanky, too, but it was difficult to tell because he was well wrapped up.
 

“You’re the lady I waved to last night?”

“I think so. You had a flat cap on?”

He smiled. It was a nice smile. “Yes, should have worn it this morning. I keep forgetting how bloody cold it is over here.”

“You’re English?”

“Yup. You, too? You sound it.”

She nodded and smiled. “It’s nice to meet a countryman. Do you live around here?” She already knew he did but asked to be polite.

“Number three.” He pointed down along the lakeshore toward the back of his house.
 

They were standing on the edge of the ice just behind Noreen’s house. Like Maria, Noreen had a long garden that was walled off with a small hedge, but Noreen had a fence with a gate in hers.

“I’m in here.” Jessie pointed to the house behind them. “We’re lodgers of Noreen Palmer’s for the next few months.”

“Noreen?” He raised a dark brown eyebrow. Bruce Wiswall looked a lot younger than she’d expected by the way her landlady had talked. His face was thin and angular, with nice cheekbones—he couldn’t have been more than thirty years old. Jessie quickly appraised the wide apart eyes, long nose, handsome mouth. Then she was distracted by a dog bounding up to them.

“Orga!” Jessie bent down and hugged her.

“You know this dog?”

“Yes, and her family is freaking out. You had her? She belongs to the Sanchez family.” She pointed to the house next door.

“I found her outside my front door last night.” Bruce crouched down and petted the dog. “Poor girl, she was freezing, so I took her in and we had supper together.”

“I was out looking for her last night. Why didn’t you call the number on her tag?”

“What tag?” Bruce raised his eyebrow again.
Cute
.

“Wow, she’s not wearing her collar. That’s weird.”

“I figured I’d take her to a dog shelter tomorrow and have her scanned for a chip, but if you’re sure she belongs to those people . . .”

“Let’s go,” she said. “Come with me—I’m sure they’ll want to say thanks to you.”

Bruce fell into step with her. “What did you call her?”

“Orga.”

“New one on me. Does it mean something?”

“It’s the Irish for gold.”

“Oh, I’d never have guessed. Are the owners Irish?”

“No, Puerto Rican and American—go figure.”

The dog bounded ahead once they got into the Sanchez yard and headed straight for the back door with Bruce and Jessie a few steps behind. Jessie rang the doorbell, and Cody came out.

“Orga! You found Orga,” he said and wrapped his arms around the dog. Maria appeared next with Alice in her arms.

“Jessie, hi.” She glanced at Bruce. “Great to see you, and you found Orga. Come in.”

“This is Bruce Wiswall, Maria. He’s from number three.”

“Nice to meet you, Bruce. This is my daughter Alice, and that’s Cody. He’s the one who owns Orga.” She looked at Jessie again. “How’d she end up with you? Did she wander onto campus?”

“Um, no. It was Bruce who found her last night, but she’s lost her collar, so he didn’t know who to phone.”

“What the heck?” Cody moaned. “I bet it was Dad. He always takes it off when he gives her a bath and forgets to put it back on.”

“A bath at this time of year? Chilly.” Bruce smirked. Again, Jessie was struck by how pleasant he seemed. Why did Noreen say he was miserable?

The front door of the house banged closed, and Orga tore off to see who had just arrived. “Orga!” Rick shouted in delight.

“How did you find the dog?” Rick said as he walked into the kitchen. “Oh! Hi, Jessie.” He looked at Bruce. “Hey.”

Jessie thought Maria looked mutinous. “Yes, Orga’s back.” Her tone was icier than the air outside.

The tension shimmered between Rick and his wife, and Jessie felt her stomach start to form knots. Was she adding to their problems? She tried to break the tense atmosphere by introducing Bruce to Rick. “He’s the one who found the dog.”

Maria was in no mood to be cheered up. “Orga didn’t have on his collar. Know anything about that?” She glared at her husband.

“No collar? Damn it. I took it off her on Friday, I think. It was soaking wet after she was rolling in the snow, and I wanted it to dry off. I must’ve forgotten to put it back on.”

“Understandable,” Bruce said.
 

Jessie knew he was siding with Rick to help him out, but Maria looked like she was going to skewer him with her nasty glares.
 

“Cody, can you take Orga into the living room and put her collar back on? I’m pretty sure I left it on the mantelpiece.” The boy ran out of the room with the dog in hot pursuit.

“Honey, has Jessie told you she’s moved in next door with Noreen Palmer?”

Maria’s attention swooped around to Jessie now.
 

“You live next door now?”
 

Jessie heard the manic tone in Maria’s voice.
 

Was she that awful a neighbor? Jessie felt even more uncomfortable.

“Um, yes. We got kicked out of our college accommodation for throwing a party, but Noreen took us in. Don’t worry, there won’t be any more parties. We’re lying low and studying hard for the next few months.”

Just then, and to Jessie’s enormous relief, the doorbell rang. Orga started to bark, and Maria shook her head with a look of bewilderment. “This house it too damn busy.” Alice was gurgling in her mother’s arms but smiling at Jessie.

“It’s the Grants,” Cody said when he walked back into the kitchen.

Michael and Cathi entered the already busy kitchen. Cathi smiled at everybody in the room, but then she came over to her friend.
 

“I have the best possible news, Maria. You’ll never guess.”

“Surprise me.” She couldn’t have sounded less interested.

Cathi, on the other hand was bursting with excitement. “We’ve made an offer on number sixteen, and they’ve accepted! We’re going to be neighbors.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bells and Balls

For Jessie, time seemed to speed up after Thanksgiving. Living with Noreen was great. She was a good-humored woman, who was full of stories from the old days. She liked to cook for the girls, and they in turn cleaned the house—well, Jessie did. Ely was more of a hindrance than a help, but she kept everybody laughing, so the others were happy to have her around.