Same Old Truths (33 page)

“Probably. But I think it best if I wait for her to call me.”

Kay followed Ruth into the building, tempted to offer her services as a person with experience in these matters. But then she figured Adelaide would be more comfortable talking to someone closer to her own age. Not only that, older couples were much less quick to resort to divorce. Given the way her own marriage had turned out, Kay realized she wasn’t exactly the best person to offer Adelaide hope for a happy ending.

The loud grumbling in Kay’s stomach returned and she looked at the clock hoping it was finally time to go eat.

Yay! 12 noon.

“Kay, would you mind if I went to lunch first?” Ruth said.

Ruth and Kay usually alternated lunch times so there’d always be someone at the front desk. Today was supposed to be Kay’s turn to go first. In spite of her protesting stomach, Kay couldn’t refuse a visibly-excited Ruth. It was clear Ruth had a special lunch date; Kay was happy to put her hunger on hold for the cause of love.

For the next hour Kay fielded incessant phone calls from nosy townspeople wanting to know if everything was ok at the mortuary, or if the limousine had been totaled, or if it was true the police had shot someone in the parking lot. The rumor mill was as fast as it was incorrect. Fortunately, no one seemed to be clued-in to the salacious basis of the incident. Nevertheless, Kay felt extremely uncomfortable since she wasn’t in a position to give an official statement. She just told callers she was a temp, didn’t know what happened, and suggested they call back tomorrow. Knowing people’s short attention spans, Kay figured it was unlikely anyone would follow up on her suggestion.

Kay was checking the restaurant app on her cell phone when Uncle Owen walked past on his way to Ed’s office. Sad eyes kept straight ahead, he pretended not to see her. Kay knew whatever awaited him behind Ed’s closed office door was nothing compared to what awaited him at home.

Kay braced herself for muffled shouts sure to come from the direction of Ed’s office. But everything remained eerily quiet. When the door finally opened she heard Ed say, “Go ahead and go on home. I think you should take the rest of the week off. Addie needs you right now and we’ve got everything covered here.”

Owen walked past Kay again, using the bloody hanky to wipe away tears. This time he stopped in front of the desk.

“I guess I just love too easily,” he said, voice breaking. He searched Kay’s eyes for absolution.

“Do yourself a favor, O,” Kay said, as kindly as she could. “Whatever you do, make sure you don’t say that to Adelaide.”

Owen walked away, muffling a sob.

Kay wanted to feel sorry for him, but she couldn’t. Choices come with consequences - especially when those choices affect other people.

“Where’s Ruth?” Ed asked, suddenly coming into the front office. Kay could see he had been crying too. It was completely foreign for Kay to see him this way, and it broke her heart.

“Are you o…? Kay started.

“I’m fine” Ed said. “Did Ruth go to lunch?” He avoided looking directly at Kay.

“Yes. We traded today. But I expect her back in about ten minutes or so.”

“Ok. I’m late for an appearance at the Chamber of Commerce lunch. Then I’m supposed to be at St. Mary’s rectory for a meeting with the cemetery committee. Tell her I should be back in time to make arrangements.”

He turned to hurry down the hall, but Kay stopped him. “Hang on a sec, Ed.”

“Yes?” he said.

She walked up to him and without a thought, put her arms around him in a supportive embrace. For a brief moment he stood there rigid, not sure how to respond. But he couldn’t hold out for long. He surrendered to her kind concern and the two maintained the embrace for an extended moment.

“I know dealing with Owen had to be difficult,” Kay said. “No one would blame you if you told him not to come back.”

Ed spoke softly into Kay’s ear. “All I could think about was how my father would have handled this. Owen is his brother and my uncle. He’s just as much a part of Salinger’s as I am. How can I banish him?”

Kay pulled away and looked into Ed’s distressed face. “Well, they say you shouldn’t make important decisions when emotions are running high. Things will eventually settle down and then you’ll know what to do.”

Ed’s expression relaxed and for a moment Kay thought he was going to kiss her. But he broke their embrace and combed his fingers through his hair. “You’re probably right. I better get going.”

Before he turned and sped away he took Kay’s hand and smiled. “Thank you,” he said in a near-whisper. He leaned in and, to Kay’s disappointment, kissed her on the forehead.

As she watched him sprint down the hall, she wondered if she had the patience for a slow courtship.

21

Meeting Your Fate on the Road You Took to Avoid It

“Cory,” Kay called upstairs. “Come down and talk to me.” She pulled two cans of soda from the fridge.

“Can it wait? I’m in the middle of my French practice drills.” Cory called back.

“Je veux que vous me parler,” Kay hollered in her best college French.

Kay didn’t like to bother the girls when they were doing their homework, but the calamity at the mortuary earlier in the day had been so unsettling, she needed to anchor herself to something familiar. She told herself she’d only keep Cory long enough to transition back to her real life.

Kay pulled out a chair for Cory at the table, set down one of the sodas, then took a seat herself.

Cory was chuckling as she descended the stairs. “I didn’t know you could speak French,” she said.

“I can’t. Not really. Took four years of French in college.”

Cory was impressed. “Were you any good?”

Kay shrugged. “I was OK. I got B’s. My dream was to go to Paris after college and live there for a year.”

Cory sat and popped open the soda. “Why didn’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I guess Life got in the way,” Kay said. “I met your father and suddenly going to Paris didn’t seem very important.”

Cory propped her elbows on the table and rested her face in both hands. “A year in Paris…” she said with a dreamy sigh. “I could never let some guy ruin my plans to do something that wonderful.”

Kay smiled. “Your dad wasn’t just “some guy.”

Despite everything she’d gone through over the last eight years, nothing would ever rob Kay of her happy memories of her early years with Dave.

Cory stiffened. Listening to Kay’s reminiscences about her father always made her uncomfortable.

“Speaking of Dad, are you taking him back to court again?”

Ever since their interview with the mediator, the girls had been aware of the legal goings-on between Kay and Dave - but only in the vaguest of terms. Kay had told them Dave’s return after seven years had made it necessary to bring the divorce decree up to date. Mariah had been satisfied with the explanation, but Kay suspected Cory knew there was more to it than a simple update.

“No. All that’s done,” Kay replied. “Why do you ask?”

“There was a big manila envelope on the seat next to Dad in the truck. He said Mariah told him it was from you. Then he muttered under his breath about it probably being more crap from your ball-busting lawyer.”

“You mean he hadn’t opened it?”

Cory shook her head. “He said he was waiting ‘til he got to work. He didn’t want Sandy getting upset.”

Kay got up to get some cheese crackers to go with her soda. She poured them in a bowl to share with Cory.

Cory grabbed a small handful of crackers and jammed them in her mouth. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what was in the envelope?”

“Please don’t talk with your mouth full. And no, I don’t mind. It was a lease for a townhouse your dad’s renting while he remodels his house. The leasing agent is a friend and I just passed it along as a favor to her.”

Cory stopped chewing. She swallowed hard. “Mom. Dad finished that remodel six months ago.”

“Are you sure? Sandy told my friend they needed to rent a place while the remodel was going on.”

“Unless he’s planning to tear down the house and start all over again, I’m pretty sure.”

Kay was totally confused. “Well, he must not have opened the envelope, because he called me this morning very upset and…”

Cory didn’t want to hear any more. She jumped up from the table, grabbed one more handful of crackers and headed for the stairs. “I’m sorry, Mom. I really need to get back to my French. I have a test in the morning.”

Kay knew she shouldn’t have, but she just couldn’t leave it alone. “How was he when he brought you home this afternoon?” she called after Cory.

“He didn’t. I had to catch a ride with Gina Delroy. Dad was tied up with something.”

“Something” is right. Something is definitely going on
.

Kay poured the left over soda down the sink and threw the empty cans in the trash. The uneaten crackers went back in the box. She stood in the middle of the kitchen not sure what she should do next.

Watch the news? No.

Do a load of laundry? No.

Empty the trash? No

Water the lawn out front?
That sounded good.

There was still at least three more hours of sunlight left and at this time of day the east-facing yard was in full shade. Kay knew mindlessly spraying water on the grass would be the perfect way to relax and recalibrate on this warm summer evening.

Some of her neighbors were out, too, and Kay felt comfortable smiling and waving - her yard was no longer a disgrace. As she stood there watering she surveyed her very basic landscaping. It wasn’t long before she had identified several potential areas for improvement. In her mind’s eye she could see trim, low hedges and attractive layouts of plants and flowers.

I wonder where my gardening stuff is?

Kay felt a burning itch on her ankle and realized the mosquitoes were out in full force. With the lawn sufficiently watered she hurried to turn off the faucet and re-coil the hose. She took off her wet shoes before going into the house to look for the anti-itch ointment.

She was rifling through the drawers in the downstairs bathroom cabinet when the phone rang. Cory’s muffled steps thundered across the ceiling above Kay as she sped to answer it.

“There you are,” Kay said to the wrinkled tube hiding behind bottles of nail polish, disposable razors and old eye shadow compacts. She put the lid to the toilet seat down and took a seat to apply some relief.

Cory called, “Mom, it’s for you.”

“I’ll be right there,” Kay yelled back. She squeezed what she could from the near-empty tube and rubbed it in frantic circles on the itching, swelling welt on her ankle. She hurried to wipe the excess cream off her finger and went in the living room to pick up the phone.

“I got it,” Kay yelled one last time.

“Kay. It’s Tina. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

There was an ominous tone in Tina’s voice that made Kay instinctively lower herself on to the couch.

Tina must have read Kay’s mind. “Are you sitting?” she said.

Tina picked up where she’d left off on her earlier call concerning a furious Sandy. She poured out an astonishing tale of intrigue, intimidation, deceit and betrayal. The most astonishing of all was the small, but pivotal role Kay had unwittingly played in the plot line.

Tina began her story by confirming Kay’s passing suspicion of trouble in Dave and Sandy’s marriage. The problems went all the way back to the court order granting Kay her back child support.

Sandy suspected the courts might not go easy on Dave, so she’d convinced him to keep mum about his bonus. When Sandy’s hunch came true she became enraged at what she considered cruel and unjust treatment from the judge. As far as she was concerned Dave had made his spousal choice clear, and it wasn’t fair she should be punished just because Dave no longer loved Kay.

Sandy’s hate and resentment had to be appeased. She demanded Dave find a way to get some kind -
any kind -
of concession from Kay. Sandy was hell-bent on preventing Kay from enjoying the full benefit of the court’s decision.

Dave knew his life would be hell unless he did what his wife wanted. But he also knew convincing Kay to concede a second time was going to be an even bigger challenge. Nevertheless, he reassured Sandy that Kay was an easy-sell, pointing to his success with his initial child support reduction snow job.

Enter Dave’s tearful, post-mediation performance in the truck.

When Kay responded to Dave’s deferment request with her written agreement he was caught completely off guard. He struggled to convince Sandy it was in their best interest to sign it.

Ultimately, Sandy relented, but only on condition Dave take her to Maui - the one place she knew Kay had always wanted to go with Dave. Running into Kay at the band pageant was a heaven-sent opportunity for Sandy to gloat. Unfortunately, Sandy’s contempt for Kay got the best of her and she ended up spilling the beans about the bonus.

Now, a new, even-harsher judgment from the courts, coupled with Sandy’s uncontrollable jealousy piled more stress on the marriage. Dave was weary of feeling like ping-pong ball between Sandy and Kay; Sandy resented Dave’s growing indifference to her expectations for attention and reassurance.