THE GREAT PRETENDER (17 page)

From her arched
bedroom window upstairs,
Olivia watched
Sean drive away, muttering and cursing in his water-soaked car. After slamming the door on him downstairs, she had hurried up to her room, wanting to ride out the assault of conflicting emotions before anyone noticed. She had an overwhelming urge to call him, make him fill her head with apologies, but she suppressed it quickly.
No, no,
she thought.
He should
work hard to get me back this time. Then he’ll think twice about that bitch, Jacquelyn.

Olivia returned downstairs
to help Tracy and Valerie unpack the groceries. Just as when they had left Brixel’s and headed for the grocery store, no one spoke.

The telephone rang as Tracy was stacking meat in the standing freezer. Olivia, standing closer to the stationary nook, reached for the cordless and tossed it to her mother. She was not in the mood to speak to anybody.

Tracy caught the phone and balanced it on her shoulder. “Hello?”

“Hi, honey.” It was Reginald.

“Hey!” she said cheerfully.

“I’m in the office—busy as hell—but I wanted to hear your voice. What’s going on down there?”

“Well, we just got back from the grocery store, the three of us,” replied Tracy. She resisted an urge to fill him in on the situation with Valerie. That could wait until he came home. “We went out for breakfast first, though.”

“Went out for breakfast, huh?” Reggie sighed. “I know this may sound a little pointless and irrational, but…I regret that I wasn’t there.” After a pause, he added, “I’m sorry I missed breakfast, and even doing groceries…”

Tracy heard the longing in his voice. She wondered what had sparked this change in him. “Oh, honey, let it go now. Stop beating yourself up. We’ll have our quality time—things will improve. It’s all right.” She paused and closed the freezer. “So, any idea yet when you’ll be home?” She remembered her unfinished business with Frank. To her surprise, she hadn’t thought much of him all day.
Too much going on right now with the kids,
she thought.

“I’m almost a hundred percent sure that I’ll be ready to leave before Wednesday. I don’t expect it can be any sooner, with all the meetings that have to take place between now and then. Right now I’m drafting some memos, and then I’m outta here. Roger’s in town, and we’re gonna do some golfing down at The Bay Club.”

Tracy laughed, saying, “Are the Springers still members of that club? Whenever you run into her, make sure she knows that you’re still
my
husband.” Tracy had met the elegant Eunice Springer on one of her brief visits to Orlando. Despite the fact that she was
very
married, it was obvious that Eunice was more than willing to bed Reginald, even in a room full of people. Tracy had even suspected, though she never voiced it, that the attraction was mutual.

Reginald laughed. “Hey, listen, none of that jealousy stuff. Eunice
is
a married woman. And besides, I only have eyes for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you just come on back home and prove it. I miss you…” She said lovingly. The last thing she needed, on top of everything else, was for Reginald’s eyebrows to be raised prematurely. Everything had to happen at the right time—whenever that was going to be.

By the time she hung up, Olivia and Valerie had both finished unpacking and left the kitchen. She breathed a long sigh, thinking,
He can’t come home and find them like this
.
I have to make them iron out this mess…

Tracy had just
emptied the dryer when she heard Franklin’s distinguished voice in the foyer. Valerie had let him in.

So it’s working,
she thought. He had heard her last night—loud and clear.

“Hi, Uncle Frank!” she heard Valerie saying. “We hardly ever see you anymore. Where have you been?” After a pause, Valerie digressed. “Uncle Frank, your hands are empty…You didn’t bring us any gifts?”

Franklin laughed. “Oh, no! How dare I show up here empty-handed?” He shook his head. “Bring something ninety-nine times out of a hundred, and they act like you never brought anything at all!” He smiled. “Next time, honey.” Footsteps sounded toward the kitchen as Frank asked, “So, are you glad your dad’s
finally
changing that lousy Orlando schedule?”

Valerie hesitated for only a second before she replied, “Of course I’m happy. I can’t wait! It’s gonna be so different and exciting. I mean, it’s been so long since he worked like normal people, you know? It’ll be great for a change.”

“True, because I know it hasn’t been easy for him, living in two places,” said Frank, nodding. “Where’s your mother? I left her a message about that sprinkler system problem, but she never called me back, so I stopped in to take a look at it.”

“I don’t really know where she is,” replied Valerie. “The last time I saw her, she was in the kitchen talking to Daddy on the phone. Maybe she’s in her room.”

Frank fell silent and waited as Valerie went into the foyer, paging her parents’ room from the intercom. He had stiffened at the mentioning of Reginald. Since when did hearing that he and Tracy spoke on the phone disturb him?

Tracy made her presence known then, carrying an armful of whites. “Hey, Frank, what’s up? I did get that message, but I just haven’t had the time to get back to you. You’re right, though, maybe a bad wire’s causing the pump to shut off as soon as it hits that third zone.” Heading for the staircase, she said, “Give me a minute, okay? I’ll put these away, and we can go take a look at it.”

She hoped, while heading up the stairs, that this visit would be a productive one.

T
hey were
outside,
heading for the side of the house, with umbrellas to shield from the rain, when Tracy said, “Why did you come?”

“I came because…” Franklin hesitated. Why had he come? “I came because I’m not ready to call us off yet, Tracy. So suddenly?” He snapped his long fingers. “
Just like that
?”

She looked offended. “Well, what else would you have me do? I mean, seeing you now—” She glanced around and moved in closer to the sprinkler pump, as if to make certain that if anyone happened to notice them, it would appear to be the subject of their deep discussion. “It would be a very different offense with him at home, Franklin. I just can’t do the creeping around and the lying right to his face, day in and day out. I can’t! So it’s really best if we call it quits.” Tracy paused, and then added casually, “What’s the big deal, anyway? It’s just good sex…And Theresa’s around to keep up with you there.”

“No, you’re wrong, Tracy,” he said seriously. “It’s
great
sex—there’s a big difference.” Then he smiled.

If she was further offended, it did not show. “Okay, great sex. But just the same, it’s run its course—we’re done.”

“Well, can I still expect you tonight?” He raised an eyebrow enticingly. “We should at least have a grand finale.”

Tracy filled him in on Valerie’s scheme to have Deborah follow her.

“I don’t know what you two are gonna do with that little busybody. I suggest you lock her little ass away in that room until she’s eighteen, and then you pitch her out and let her be little miss grown-up over on that sidewalk.” He pointed towards the road.

“You just wait until Reggie gets home. Let him deal with her for a change. She’s getting to be too much for me,” she said, twirling the handle of her umbrella. “Anyway, that means things have certainly gotten far too dangerous for us—all the more reason for us to end this. I mean, let’s suppose she had gotten away with it? Deborah would have followed me straight to
San Marco,
and that would have been a fatal disaster.”

Frank could not believe, as he gazed down at her from under the large umbrella, she was being so cavalier about the end of their relationship. His pride was hurt—not to mention his huge ego, with respect to his lovemaking. “Well, what did Deborah have to say about it?”

“I haven’t spoken to her yet. I figured I might as well lay low and let Reginald come handle the whole mess. You know Thelma. If
I
confront Debbie, then I may end up looking as guilty as they probably think I am. It’s best if Reginald handles this one.”

Using the umbrella to block them from the view of any onlookers, Franklin stooped over the sprinkler pump and looked up into her face. “Come by tonight. No one’s gonna follow you now that they’ve been called on the carpet. Just check your rearview to be certain…And come see me tonight.” She looked about to object, and he rushed on. “Baby, we haven’t been together since before Reginald came back. It’s been a while. Come on, one last time…”

Tracy had caved.
She’d agreed to meet later that night for one last…fuck. Clearly, that’s all it was to Franklin, after all—fucking.

She put off talking to Olivia and Valerie, nursing a resentful mood, until the following day. She resented that Frank did not want more—more than just sex. She resented the years she’d spent cheating on Reginald, and thinking there would be more. But most of all, she hated the fact that she was looking forward to being with Frank again.

She would give in to him one more time, and give him one more night. But it would be the last time—no more. Pride would not allow her to risk revealing what he obviously didn’t realize. Tracy had known the risk she was taking when she’d advised him she wanted to end their affair.

It had been a gamble…and it was depressingly obvious that she had lost.

L
ater that evening, Tracy dressed simply in a black cotton strapless dress with matching sandals. She secured her hair with a large barrette, allowing a few tendrils to hang free around her face. Her stomach felt light. This would be her last night with Frank. She felt uneasy at the thought…and she had to shake it before Reginald came home. It seemed everyone in the house had issues to deal with where he was concerned.

She had confined Valerie to the walls of her bedroom, ordering her not to come out. Reminding her about Reginald’s wrath, Tracy made certain Valerie didn’t doubt the fact that he would hear about her behavior as soon as he walked through the door.

She
still
couldn’t believe Valerie’s presumptuousness! Trying to have her followed? The kid was totally out of order.

She selected a fine pair of knob earrings, surveyed her appearance, and headed out for a night of bittersweet pleasure.

Franklin was waiting
patiently for Tracy’s arrival.

For the sake of his sanity, he had resolved his unexpected—and overwhelming—feelings of hostility. If she wanted to end it, fine. He wasn’t about to make a fool of himself begging her for sex as he’d done earlier that afternoon. He had cursed himself savagely on the drive back home. What had he been thinking?
She
should be the one begging
him
, not the other way around!

Well, he would show her tonight. He was gonna lay her, and he was gonna lay her really good. He’d give her something to think about, and then he’d sit back and wait for her to run back for more…It would only be a matter of time.

He had taken a shower, brushed his teeth, and dabbed Eternity on his skin. Now he sat in his recliner, absently watching an old Bruce Lee flick, waiting patiently for her arrival. His mind drifted to the last time they had been together. She had met him for lunch in his office, and they had ended up panting and dripping sweat all over his leather sofa.

Franklin grew hard at the memory. He grew restless, losing all patience, and willing Tracy to ring the doorbell.

As she neared
the
San Marco Apartments
,
Tracy wanted to weep.

What had she really done with her life? She was willing to leave her husband, who had always meant the world to her, for Franklin, who was his best friend, not to mention a notorious womanizer. And now, on account of her guilty conscience, she felt like a hypocrite for reprimanding her own child.

How had she gotten into this chaos? And more importantly, how was she going to get out of it?