Sweet Serendipity (6 page)

“Mom…well maybe, but I haven’t talked to him yet, and we’re going away for two weeks, so I don’t know.”

“Well, just remember that you are young, you don’t have to have a boy. You should go and have fun with your friends.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know already.”

The next day at Solstice it was quiet. It was a rainy day and the tourists were most likely inside the local mall instead of walking around the harbor. Rebecca sat behind the counter writing and making a welcome home baby book for little Layla. She was sketching images that were supposed to be Emily with the baby and Andrew with the baby. She laughed at her own sketches, at least she could tell boy from girl.

The bell on the door chimed and she looked up to greet whoever it was that walked in.

“Hi, welcome to…” She stopped mid-sentence. It was Ethan, and he was carrying a brown bag with him.

“Well hello, neighbor. I see you’ve been in here all morning, and since I was grabbing lunch for myself, I figured I could share it with you.” He beamed a smile at her and her heart fluttered again. He seemed to have a way of making her heart do that.

“Well, that’s very sweet of you, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“Maybe not, but I wanted to. I hope you like sushi?”

“I do, actually. That’s what I usually eat when Tasha and I go out. Did Tasha tell you that I like sushi?”

“I may have inquired about what you like to eat,” He teased.

He placed the bag on the counter and pulled out the food. He had spicy tuna rolls, smoked salmon, inari (tofu skins), tamago (sweet egg), nigiri and sashimi. Rebecca took one look and smiled at him.

“I think you ordered the entire menu.”

“I wanted to impress you. Did it work?”

“We’ll see.” She smiled at him.

They sat and talked as they enjoyed their lunch. They never had any awkward silences. The conversation just flowed. She thought she would have been shy, but every time she seemed to clam up, he found a way to break her out of it.

“So you opened a shop nearby?” She asked him.

“Yes, I am in the process of opening. I have a lot of work to do, but I think it will be worth it.”

“What are you going to sell?”

“Art. I want to set up a space in the back where I can give lessons and encourage the younger generation to paint.”

“Wow! I must say that I am impressed. Do you have any work of your own that you will be selling?” she asked him.

“Oh…no, I would rather find new, raw talent.”

She watched him as he spoke and wondered how someone who was so interested in art didn’t paint.

A customer entered the store. She walked up to the counter and smiled at the picnic.

“I hope I am not interrupting.”

“Oh no, sorry it’s been a little quiet, so we decided to eat lunch,” Rebecca tried to explain.

“Oh, honey, I don’t take offense. I am just here to pick up an order that Emily placed for me. She found me some wonderful shells for my summer camp group.”

Rebecca jumped up off of her stool and excused herself to the backroom to find the order. Ethan packed up their lunch since they were finished anyway. As he was cleaning, he noticed the book she was fooling around with. He picked it up, looked at it, and smiled at the pictures she attempted to draw.

He tucked the book into the items he was taking with him and then called out to Rebecca, “I’m going to take off, Becca. Back to the grind, you know. I’ll catch up to you later.”

She poked her head out from the back just as he walked out the door. She walked to the counter and rang the woman in.

“He’s a very handsome fella, you are a lucky girl.”

“Oh, no…we’re just friends.”

“Too bad!” the woman remarked.

They finished their transaction, and the store remained steady until closing. She didn’t have a chance to sit and think about her surprise lunch. Her cell phone rang.

“Hey Tasha, thanks for arranging my lunch date.”

“How’d it go? I knew you’d say no if he asked you out, so when he popped in my office asking, we decided the best way to break the ice was a nice, quiet picnic lunch.”

“You are unreal. Stop trying to force me to date. Ugh! I’m just not ready. I don’t think my heart could handle it right now.”

“You have to move on. Jack did. Speaking of which, the kids leave tomorrow?”

“Yes! It’s going to be a very long two weeks with Jack and
Amber
.”

“That’s my point exactly, Jack and Amber. You deserve to have an ‘
and’
.”

“Is there a point to this call, darling?” Rebecca asked.

“Oh yes! I want you and the kids to come to dinner tonight. I know the girls want to see each other and I invited Emily and the kids. Think of it as a sort of a bon voyage for your tikes.”

“OK. I’m about to lock up here anyway. I’ll be there in an hour.”

They hung up the phone and Rebecca closed the shop. She figured since she was going to see Emily that night that she’d bring the day’s receipts. It would make it easier for her. She shut off the lights and walked out the door. Glancing down the sidewalk, she hoped to catch a glimpse of Ethan outside. He wasn’t. A small part of her was disappointed.

Dinner was enjoyable. The kids swooned around Layla, and Layla just sat and stared at them with her uncontrolled eyes. Tasha cracked open a bottle of wine and poured three glasses.

“Here’s to us. Here’s to our family, our friends, our kids, our futures.” They all drank.

Around nine, Emily decided to pack up her crew.

“James comes in tomorrow afternoon. We are going to surprise him at the airport. I am so nervous.”

“Just think…you can’t even have sex yet,” Tasha commented.

“Oh God, I don’t even want to think about it. I’d probably end up prego again. I’m glad, though. It will give us a chance to reconnect on a different level. He’ll get used to his kids and the damn dog.”

She turned to Rebecca.

“Thanks for looking after the shop. I could never repay you. It means so much being able to stay with the kids for a while. I think Andrew needs this time. He’s having difficulty adjusting. I know it’s normal, but he just stands there covering his ears when Layla cries. He rocks back and forth. I’ve never noticed him do that sort of thing before.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s like you said, it’s an adjustment. He’ll be fine,” Rebecca tried to reassure her. They all said their good nights and everyone headed home.

The next morning Rebecca stood in the kitchen hugging her children goodbye.

“You behave while you are gone and listen to your father. Make sure you take lots of pictures and be sure to call or text me all the time because I’m going to miss you guys.”

“OK, Mommy,” Adam said. “I love you, too.” He clung to her tightly.

“We will, Mom. Go out and have some fun while we’re gone,” Riley told her.

Rebecca kissed her daughter on the head and lovingly swept the bangs from her face, “And you be kind,” She told her.

Jack stood in the doorway watching the exchange between them. His heart felt heavy knowing that the trip was something they should have been taking together. Rebecca ushered her children to the door and pushed them out, otherwise they wouldn’t leave. As she stood on the side porch, she could see someone sitting in the passenger seat of Jack’s four door truck. Rebecca suddenly saddened at the thought of a strange woman taking her children on the trip that she should have been on. She waved goodbye and closed the door. She leaned against it and couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

The first few days that the kids were gone were the hardest. Her routine changed. She didn’t have to worry about meals or laundry. So instead of having to worry about her children, she found herself shopping for some new clothes, and even made an appointment at Elemental Salon to have her hair highlighted and trimmed. She wanted a whole new her. She treated herself to all new makeup and accessories. Tasha tagged along with her during her transformation. She approved of all of it. She even managed to drag Rebecca into Victoria’s Secret to invest in some sexy new bras and panties.

“You need to get away from all the ‘Mom’ stuff and realize that somewhere in there is a hot woman screaming to come out,” Tasha teased.

“I am just so out of my comfort zone here.”

“Well, that’s what having sassy friends are for. If anyone knows anything about sexy, it’s moi.”

They finished off their day by getting their nails done. It was one of those frivolous things that Rebecca never bothered to do. She always felt it was a waste of money, but now, after the day she had, she had to admit that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. She didn’t have to worry about anything except herself. She sat back and relaxed.

Rebecca hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. She knew that there were no kids and Emily was back at work. She could sleep in just a little bit longer. At eight AM she rolled out of bed and brewed a cup of coffee. She sat out on her porch and looked out over the pond that was off behind her house. She had always loved the area. When she and Jack bought the house there were many houses in the development to choose from but the second they saw the view, they knew that this was the house. He had promised he would build a koi pond in the backyard, but instead an old swing set that no longer got any use sat there. She had always wanted a puppy to run the length of the backyard, but Jack was allergic and couldn’t have one. She finished her coffee and decided to take a long, hot shower.

The August day was heating up, so she chose a black, lacy tank top and a pair of white cotton shorts. The shorts were not what she was used to. She would have chosen knee-length, but Tasha insisted on shorts that sat mid-thigh. She threw on a pair of chunky flip flops and let her newly highlighted and styled hair flow down her back.

She felt really good about herself. She looked as though she could pass for her late twenties. She put her coffee mug in the dishwasher and set out to begin her day.

She had fun at the store. Having Emily there made the time pass by, and it was nice to have girl time. Emily rambled on about James and how from the moment he stepped off the plane, he has been unbelievable. He was so hands on with the kids, he cleaned up around the house, and he brought her breakfast in bed. She told Rebecca that some nights they’d stay up until the wee hours of the morning just talking and laughing. They felt like they were reconnecting on a whole new level and she loved him more now than she ever did.

Rebecca was jealous. She had never really had that with anyone, certainly not with Jack. They stopped talking a long time ago. They somehow managed to have completely different interests. They realized that if they weren’t discussing the kids, then they had nothing to talk about.

Emily confided that Andrew’s pre-school teacher was beginning to notice that Andrew was withdrawing from class. He sometimes seemed to be off in a day dream or busy playing with his superheroes and not playing with the other kids. He wasn’t willing to try anything new; he wanted to just play with his action figures.

“I really don’t know what to do. I thought that it was bringing home the new baby that was causing it, but what if there is something wrong?” Emily told her.

“What does his teacher recommend?” Rebecca asked her.

“She thinks I should take him into Boston and have him evaluated. She mentioned that he seems to fit the criteria of Asperger’s Syndrome. Have you ever heard of it?”

“I think I may have, but I’m not really familiar with it.”

“It’s a high-functioning Autism. He can make it through his entire life functioning and it may not even be noticeable. The problem is he is developing these little quirks. I’ve noticed that if something is moved, he can’t handle it. I have to change it back. He doesn’t handle change, and now that James is home, and the baby, we are all readjusting. I am afraid it triggered something.”

“Can it be treated with medication?” Rebecca asked.

“No. It’s a lifestyle. You adjust his environment to him. I don’t want to think about it. I’m supposed to call and make an appointment at Mass General Neurology Department I’ll just wait and see what they say,” Emily told her.

Rebecca felt bad for her. She knew it was a lot to take in all at once. News like that can challenge even the strongest families.

Tasha joined them for lunch, which was becoming a regular thing. Rebecca admitted it was fun doing it on a regular basis. She was enjoying talking to everyone and meeting new people.

After lunch, Rebecca ran to the bank for the store. Sovereign Bank was only the next block down, and it was such a nice summer day that she decided to walk. Emily told her to take her time. She packed up what she needed to make change and set out onto Court Street. She crossed the main road at the crosswalk and walked along the sidewalk to the bank.

On her way back, she stopped at the quad. She noticed the massive tree sitting in the middle of the town square. She smiled to herself when she saw a young couple standing in front of it taking a picture. She remembered the story that the retired couple had told her about the tree and its magical qualities.

She walked over to the tree as soon as the young couple walked away, and ran her hand along its hard surface. She looked up into the treetop and noticed a bird’s nest inside. She stopped and watched the birds singing from their perch.