THE GREAT PRETENDER (7 page)

Helen’s words stung. She was shining light on Renee’s biggest insecurities. But Renee would rather die than show her pain any further.

With a knowing smirk, Renee rose from the table without replacing the chair. “Denise, where are you? It’s time to go!” She grabbed her purse and headed for the den. When she walked in, Dorothy was helping the Scarecrow dislodge himself from the post. “Come on, Denise. You can finish watching it at home. We have to go.” Renee reached for her small hand. “Ashley, we’ll see you later. Try not to be so sad. You’ll see your daddy soon, okay?”

“Okay, Aunt Renee,” replied Ashley, never taking her eyes off Judy Garland and Ray Bolger following the Yellow Brick Road to Oz.

After quickly gathering Denise’s things, Renee clasped the little girl’s hand and nearly dragged her to the Mitsubishi Eclipse. She drove home in silence. She nearly took Denise’s head off whenever she made a sound.

That night, Renee
lay in bed reliving every word of her argument with Helen.

I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when I am finally Mrs. Reginald Brooks,
she thought.
Hurry home, Reggie. Hurry home and propose to me…

Hours later, she finally drifted off into a troubled sleep.

R
eggie and Tracy were bowling at the Dolphin Lanes on the corner of Bull Run and Ludlam when Tracy thought she might have a stroke.
No, no, no…he’s not saying this…not now.

“…Very little time together as a family, Trace,” Reggie was saying. He posed for his next throw.

She had tuned him out after he said, “After the next trip, I’m going back to my original schedule. I talked to Roger, and we both agreed that things are stable enough for me to revert to visiting the Orlando office two, maybe three times a month. I’m going back a little early to finalize some issues…”

Now she just stared at him as he sent the ball whirling down the alley. “But…but what about the money? The stipends are too sweet to give up. What about—”

Reginald cut her off. “It’s not worth it anymore. I don’t think you realize how much strain I’ve been under all these years. Can you even appreciate how much time I’ve lost? No, you probably can’t. Because of this schedule, I’ve lost the love of my daughter…And I can’t deal with that anymore. Olivia is twenty-one years old now, and I want to right things with her before she gets any older.

“I want to try to give her some semblance of a normal family life, and Valerie, as well. They’ll be getting older and moving out, and I don’t want them to go out on their own and all they remember is this.” He waved his hand. After a pause, he placed his hands on Tracy’s hips and turned her to face him. “Besides, the two of us need to spend more time together, too.”

Tracy looked into Reginald’s eyes.
Frank…what are we going to do now?
She realized it was unlikely that Reginald would change his mind. Especially since he’d already made arrangements with Roger. What could she say? If she pressed her objections, she’d be running the risk of making him suspicious, so, ultimately, she had to relent and show support. She and Frank would just have to find ways to work around it…somehow.

“Reggie, the girls are grown up now. They understand that you were working. Don’t worry about Olivia. I’m sure the relationship will improve now that you’ll be home more. I’ll have some talks with her…She’ll come around.”

They were silent
for most of the ride home in Tracy’s Grand Cherokee. Both were haunted by the uncertainty of the immediate future. Finally, as Reginald made the turn onto Miami Lakes Drive, Tracy said, “You know, it’s probably good that you’ll be here to help me get Valerie back under control. She’s been so disrespectful lately.”

Reggie pressed the garage door opener and spun into their winding driveway. “Disrespectful how?”

“You know…sassy mouth, quick to talk back. I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with her, but you know what I’ve been thinking, don’t you?” She looked knowingly at Reginald.

“What? Sex?” said Reggie incredulously.

“Yeah, sex. That’s usually what it is when they start getting rude like this.”

“No, I don’t think so, Trace. She doesn’t look like it.”

“Look like it?” asked Tracy, settling into the leather seat and crossing her arms. “Well, how exactly does a sexually active seventeen-year-old look?”

“Well, you know what I mean. She doesn’t act like it to me,” replied Reggie, not able to picture his little Valerie as sexually active. It wasn’t that long ago that she was still in pigtails.

“I’m telling you that I think she’s doing it, and I think she might be doing a lot of it! But don’t take my word for it. You’ll be home now to see for yourself,” said Tracy as she got out of the jeep.

Reginald got out and closed his door. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. If I had been around more often, I would’ve been able to pick up on something like my little girl starting to have sex. I’ve been in and out of their lives for so long, I feel like I don’t even
know
my own children.” He pressed the lighted button next to the kitchen entryway. They made sure the garage door was secure before going into the house. Reginald held the door open and allowed Tracy to enter before him.

Inside, they found
the subject of their conversation in the den, watching television. Valerie looked up when she heard them come in. “So who won?” She smiled.

Tracy laughed. “Do you always have to ask? You know I can barely bowl a sixty!” She flopped onto the leather sofa across from Valerie.

“You know your mother can’t bowl to save her life. After all these years, she’d be
lucky
to bowl a sixty!” said Reginald, sitting next to Valerie. They all laughed.

Tapping her knee, Reggie said, “Val, run upstairs and get Olivia. Your mom and I need to talk to you two about something important.”

Tracy gave him a questioning look as she swept up her short, dark hair and retied the bow.

“Olivia isn’t here, Daddy.”

“But her car’s outside,” said Reggie, frowning.

“Well, Sean probably came and picked her up,” Tracy guessed. She looked at Valerie to confirm. Valerie nodded yes while still keeping an eye on a rerun of
The Cosby Show.

Reggie turned to Tracy and asked, “Who is Sean?”

Hearing this, Valerie lost all interest in Theo Huxtable and turned her attention to her parents.

“Sean Johnson’s her boyfriend,” said Tracy. “They’ve been dating for a few months now. Is this the first we’ve mentioned him? I could’ve sworn you knew about Sean.”

“Yeah,” said Reggie in a low voice. He took a deep breath. “But that’s all about to change.”

“What do you mean, Daddy?” asked Valerie.

“Well, that’s what we wanted to talk to you girls about. I’m going back to my old schedule at work.” He slipped a lock of Valerie’s hair behind her ear and pinched her chin. “No more of the two weeks here, two there arrangement. From now on, I’ll only fly to Orlando on an as needed basis, for meetings and such. Two or three times a month, max.”

Valerie covered her mouth. She let the information sink in. “Daddy, tell me you’re not joking. Really? You’ll be working out of Miami most of the time now? You’re actually gonna be home more often?” She glanced at her mother. Valerie was thrilled at the news…But there was a bit more to her excitement.

“Well, I’m going back tomorrow to wrap things up,” replied Reggie. “Hopefully, it won’t take too long to finalize everything with the management team, and then, yeah, that’s it.” He turned to Tracy. “Things have gone on far too long. I need to be more involved with my family, closer to all of you, so if one of my daughters is seeing someone for months, I’ll know about it.” Inside, Reginald felt mortified, full of guilt. He knew so little about his children!

“Oh, come on, Reggie. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” said Tracy, walking over to him. She sat across his lap and pulled his head to her chest. “I thought that you knew about Sean, or I would’ve mentioned him before now.”

Reginald locked his arms around her waist. He relaxed in the embrace. This was why he could love no other woman. Tracy was especially thoughtful and remarkably considerate. She always sensed his need for a soft place to fall, and she’d always been right there to catch him—the way only
she
could. This was why he’d fallen in love with her all those years ago…And this was why he loved her still.

Valerie looked on from her seat on the sofa.
Let’s see how she runs out to see her boyfriend now,
she thought.

Valerie was the first to break the silence as she rose to go to bed. “Well, I’m glad you’ll be here, Daddy. For as long as I can remember, you’ve only been around half the time and gone to work the other half. It’ll be wonderful!” Slipping into her bed slippers, she bent to kiss his cheek. “G’night…g’night, Mom.”

“Night, honey.”

“Good night, Val.”

They watched Valerie leave. Then Reggie whispered, “You really think she’s doing it, huh?”

“Oh yeah—a lot.”

“You don’t seem to mind very much, Trace,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t mind, but I figure they’re gonna start doing it some time, right? What can we really do about it? If we keep the leash too short, they’ll just rebel and break away and do exactly what we
don’t
want them to do.” Tracy rubbed her eyes. “If I dwell on it, it’ll kill me. I mean, imagine Valerie getting pregnant. But they’re gonna do it whether we like it or not.” After a pause, she added, “We did, remember?”

“Uh-huh, I remember,” he said. His eyes darkened. He kissed the line of her jaw.

“You’re getting horny.”

“Umm,” Reginald replied.

She began running a light trail of kisses from his temple to his smooth lips, settling there for a kiss.

Reggie ran his hand from her waist to her thighs, settling on her sex. He felt himself rise as the kiss deepened. He unbuttoned her jeans.

“Come on,” she said against his lips. “Let’s go.”

Turning off the television, they left the den and made their way up the staircase to their bedroom at the end of the hallway. Once inside the privacy of their room, Tracy removed her shirt and jeans and lay back against the silky sheets. Reggie turned on the CD player and undressed as Nat “King” Cole filled the room. He joined her in bed.

Tracy reached down, caressing him.

Reggie groaned.

They kissed deeply, and she used his penis to stroke herself…Back and forth, up and down, around and around. When his tip slid toward her opening…Reginald held his breath, trembling in anticipation.

When he finally slipped into her, Tracy felt a cloud of ecstasy settle over her, and she let out the exquisite sigh of pleasure that was like music to Reginald’s ears. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and suckled the tender skin there as he grounded against her in circular motions. Matching him thrust for thrust, she felt the familiar tremors shimmering through her pelvis and contracted her vaginal muscles at just the right times, bringing him the most pleasure.

“Hmm…I missed you, Trace,” said Reggie huskily as he caressed a breast and covered her mouth with his.

Slipping his arms under her legs and holding them wide, he raised her pelvis, sinking deeper and deeper with every plunge.

Reggie felt his climax coming. He reached down, cupping Tracy’s soft buttocks and squeezing in time with his release.

When it was over, he relaxed his body and laid his head next to hers on the pillow. He was still tightly nestled inside her.

“I missed you, too,” said Tracy breathlessly, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow. But it wasn’t long before her thoughts turned anxious, drifting to Frank. “So, when exactly do you think you’ll be back?” Humming along with Nat, she raised her legs, wrapping them around Reginald’s waist.

“Hmm…you mean”—he gave her a soft thrust—“you’re missing me already?”

Moaning, she kissed his nose. “Oh, yeah. We have a lot of time to make up for, you know.” She contracted her muscles, gripping him.

“Ahh…I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” He turned his head and licked a nipple. “I think I’ll shoot for a week at the most…Depends on how smoothly things pan out. There’s one particular meeting I’ve been putting off, but it’s unavoidable now…” His voice trailed off. Renee had invaded his thoughts.

A week,
thought Tracy.
That should be enough time for us to figure something out…