THE GREAT PRETENDER (38 page)

Renee quickly flipped the cream-colored pages over to see if there was anything more. Perhaps a note saying it was a joke. She slowly rose from the table, in a trance, and moved toward the entryway. Her body began shaking from sobs that could not find their way to her mouth. Tears stung her eyes and soaked her face as she clung to the column of the doorway. She was trembling violently now, and thought she would faint.

She didn’t know how, but somehow she sank to the tile, curling into a fetal position, trying to squash the ache in her chest.

What would her family say?

That’s what the dreams had been about! Her face crumpled as emotions knifed her.

Lips trembling, a small sound escaped her then, like a wounded animal about to be put out of its misery.

Then a slow whine squeaked out and she began to rock slowly back and forth to the rhythm of
the pain surging through her. Her stomach hollowed out, her head began to tighten. Her whine turned into a series of choked moans. And then sobs.

Renee remembered the piercing words from the cream-colored page
: I love my wife and kids…Tracy and I have decided that we can give our life together another chance…Taking care of Denise and having her know me as her father is my number one priority right now…

And she wept bitterly, staring unseeingly at the whimsical design of the kitchen tile.

More than an
hour
later, Renee wearily pulled herself to a sitting position and leaned against the column of the kitchen entryway.

Something had broken.

She reached up to push her hair out of her face, but her hand froze in midair.

Reginald wasn’t coming back.
He was not coming back
!
All he wanted now was to talk about his future with Denise.

How could she explain this away? How could she live knowing that
her
Reginald was never coming home, never going to hold her or sleep in the same bed with her or make love to her again? How could she stand that their life together was
over?
She’d never recover from the humiliation.

Her life was over.

It was all over.

Renee squeezed her eyes shut…and summoned death.

R
eginald was arrested and charged with assault and battery. Accepting the statement of Franklin’s secretary, Susan Dooley, UPS executives decided against pressing charges of their own against him.

Within an hour, Tracy arrived at the police station, prepared to post his bail.

Franklin had been rushed to the hospital and his condition was listed as critical but stable, which had worked in Reginald’s favor as far as criminal charges were concerned. He had barely escaped attempted manslaughter.

Olivia and Valerie had insisted on staying with Frank until they could be assured he would be all right, that he would live. Despite all that had happened, he was still their Uncle Frank; the Uncle Frank who had been there for them as children and had watched them grow up, the Uncle Frank who never came to the house without a gift or small trinket, the Uncle Frank who had really been like a father to them both for as long as they could remember.

Tracy slowed the
Jeep as she sped along I-95, heading home. She knew she would crash if she didn’t slow down. She was crying so much, the tears were blurring her vision. Reaching for the glove compartment, she pulled out her box of Kleenex and wiped her nose and face.

Reginald was gone. He was leaving her.
She had actually lost him.

When he was released from the jail, she saw the face of a heartbroken man. Gone was the raging anger of a few hours before, when he had beaten Frank to a pulp. Tracy still could not get her mind around what happened.

She and their attorney, Richard Love, had rushed over to his side. “Reggie, are you okay?” She’d said urgently. “Rich did his best to get you out of there as soon as possible.”

“Get away from me.” Reginald’s face had been like granite as the desk sergeant handed him a see-through plastic bag with his few belongings. “I
am not
talking to you right now.” He turned to Richard then, and the pair walked off and left Tracy standing in front of the desk sergeant.

Outside, Tracy rushed after them. “Reggie, we
have
to talk now. Let’s just go home and—”

Reginald kept walking toward the parking lot, ignoring her.

Richard touched her shoulder. “Just give him time. Whatever it was that occurred, it’s probably just best to give him space to cool off. You can try tomorrow, when you’ve both had time to calm yourselves and think things over.” He paused. “In the interim, let’s hope Mr. Bevins doesn’t hold a grudge. From what you’ve told me, he’s pretty banged up and could have permanent impairments.” Then he turned, following Reginald into the parking lot.

She watched them get into Richard’s Range Rover and drive off.

Now as Tracy remembered the harsh look on Reginald’s face, the scorn in his eyes, she gave up trying to drive altogether and pulled over to the shoulder of the road. And just sat there, crying.

What have I done to my life?

H
er mommy was back! Her
old
mommy!

Denise raced through Toys ‘R’ Us, picking up all her favorite toys. Her mom had said that they were going away on a long trip and she could take all the toys and games she wanted.

“Where are we going again, Mommy?” she asked when they were back in the car.

Renee smiled sweetly. “I told you, honey, first we’re stopping at Grandma’s and then we’re going far away, where your Daddy can’t find us.”

“But why don’t we want him to find us, again? I miss Daddy,” said Denise, her face becoming sad.

Still smiling, Renee laughed. “Don’t worry, Gumdrop. When we go away, I bet your daddy will be so upset that he’ll forget everything else and come after us. Then he’ll realize how much we mean to him, and he’ll never leave us again. Just remember that this is our little secret, Gumdrop, okay? So don’t say anything to Grandma. If we tell anybody, Daddy won’t come after us.”

Her mommy was even calling her Gumdrop again! Denise’s eyes brightened as she said, “Daddy will come get us and never leave again, right? And he’ll always bring me ice cream, right?”

“That’s right, honey. Daddy will do whatever we want.” Renee kept smiling.

Denise brushed the glistening hair of her new Tropical Barbie and smiled. “I hope he finds us quick so I can stop missing him. See, Mommy, I was always right about Daddy. He
can
keep his promises, and he promised I won’t have to miss him too long.”

Pain flickered in Renee’s eyes as she tried to remain focused on the road. “I miss Daddy, too, honey…But Daddy doesn’t visit us anymore, and we have to teach him a lesson.” Her face hardened. “A brutal one.”

Beatrice Jameson was
watching
The Price is Right
when Renee arrived with Denise.

Renee’s smiling face made Bea’s heart flip with joy. Things were back to normal again. She knew that smile. God had answered her prayers, and Renee had found her way out of that dire phase. Even her granddaughter seemed happy again. Gone was the heartbreaking gloominess in Denise’s eyes. Beatrice praised God.

Renee went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. “Mom, I’m gonna need you to watch her for me for a little while. I have a couple errands to run and I can do them faster if I’m by myself.” The last thing Renee needed was to alarm Denise and make her start asking any more questions.

“Sure, dear. You go ahead. Denise and I will be fine.” Bea turned to her granddaughter. “Denise, are you hungry, baby? Grandma can make some hot dogs! I know how much you love hot dogs with ketchup and relish.”

Denise jumped up and down, tightly holding her Barbie. “Yeah, hot dogs with
lots
of ketchup and
lots
of relish, too! Can Mommy have some, too, when she comes back?”

“Sure, honey. We’ll save some for her, if she wants.”

“Okay, Ma, I’ll be back in a while,” said Renee, leaving.

Outside, Renee revved
the engine of her Eclipse and turned up the radio full blast. She had a lot of work to do.

Lyle Bennett, an
administrator at Forrester Academy, smiled when he saw the young woman walk into the office. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a form-fitting green T-shirt that had the letters DKNY sprawled across the front.

God, w
hat a body!
thought Lyle.
If only she were a tad better looking.
“Good morning,” he greeted. “How may I help you?”

“Good morning,” said the woman cheerfully. “I need to withdraw my daughter. We’re leaving the area.”

Renee’s next stop
was the post office. She walked in feeling freer than ever. She smiled to herself as she picked up the change of address card and began filling it out.

Reginald had hurt them for the last time. She was through being a sitting duck, a fool. All along they’d been right! Her mother and father, Helen and John; they’d all been right. She had even alienated all of her friends when they expressed suspicions about Reggie.

Well, she wasn’t gonna stick around for the gloating “I told you so” speeches. She didn’t think she could stomach even one. And if Reginald thought he was gonna live happily ever after with
wifey
, folding Denise into their neat little family, he had better think again.

After completing the card, she dropped it into one of the blue mailboxes lined up outside and got back into the car. Unable to contain her sense of exhilaration, she laughed out loud and blasted the radio even louder than before, as she sped out of the parking lot. She had one more stop to make, then they’d be gone.

For the first time since she had met Reginald Brooks,
Renee Jameson was in control.

Renee was relieved
to see that the First Union bank wasn’t crowded. She signed in at the podium and took a seat next to an elderly lady. The lady was busily scuffing a Florida lotto scratch-off card. Renee silently wished the woman luck.

As she waited, patrons shuffled all around, moving through the bank, going about their financial business. Her mind drifted as she sat there…She thought about when she and Reggie first met. This tall,
deliciously
handsome man that she had succeeded in attracting. No other man had ever been his equal. And she’d wanted no other man since.

Then she thought of all the years she had spent with him; all the years that he’d been making a complete fool of her.

Two weeks in Miami. Two weeks in Miami.
Those damn two weeks in Miami!

Her imagination wandered as she thought about what those two weeks had represented. A wife and two daughters. A whole other life. He’d come home and make love to her so sweetly, and he’d tell her he loved her, but in reality…
those damn two weeks in Miami!