The Plan (12 page)

That was why her eyes jolted so when she focused on the entire poster and the rest of him.

“You should go if you ain't ever heard him,” Irma said, pulling Claire's earlier grocery items from under the counter where she'd stored them.

“Really?” Claire said, doing her best to tear her eyes away from the poster.

“Remember when I had cancer a few years back?” Irma asked, scanning the barcode of the Rocky Road.

“Right after you lost Monty,” Claire said. “I remember. That was an awful time for you.”

“I thought that cancer was gonna get the best of me. And, honestly, I didn't really care. My Monty was gone. We'd been married forty- three years when he passed on.”

“I remember.”

“I decided I was just gonna give up. If Monty had been here, I woulda fought that cancer; no two-ways about it. But without him, the whole thing seemed so pointless. What would I be fightin' for, I kept asking myself.”

She scanned the milk and placed it in a plastic sack.

“Then someone took me to hear that man, Mr. Fitzgerald. Changed the way I saw everything in my life.”

“How so?” Claire tried to keep the skepticism out of her voice, but she was curious.

“I'd been so busy thinking about what I didn't have, I'd forgotten to be grateful for what I did have. After listening to him, I made up my mind. As long as the cancer hadn't taken away my breath, I was gonna keep fightin'. I've been cancer-free for a year now.”

“Must've been one powerful speech.” Claire had to force her eyes away from the man, in order to make eye contact with Irma. She was having a difficult time wrapping her mind around how someone with such a perfect a face could have a body that didn't match.

“That man has a gift, I tell ya. Look at him.” As if Claire had been able to do anything but look at him.

“He's got one arm.
That's all.
An arm. No legs. Just one arm,” Irma continued. “Now you know he's faced more than his share of tough times, but he has an outlook on life like no one I've ever met. His happiness is contagious. Go hear him. You'll see what I mean.”

Claire hesitated. “I don't go out much.”

“Not since the accident?” Irma asked. She asked it straightforward. There was no pity in her voice and Claire appreciated that. Claire shook her head.

“Are you going?”

“You bet I am!” A huge smile spread across Irma's face, reminding Claire of the one she always used to see on Monty's. “I'm takin' my whole family. There's nobody who's got it so easy they can't use a little encouragement, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

She took money out of her wallet and handed Irma the cash for her groceries. Irma gave Claire her change.

“You think about going. It's tomorrow night. You won't be sorry. I promise you that.”

She handed Claire her two bags of groceries.

“Okay. I'll think about it.”

“Wait one second,” Irma said, as if she'd just remembered something. She reached under the counter and pulled out an envelope. Sticking her hand inside, she pulled out a paper ticket. “I heard on the radio the event's sold out. It's a two-day thing, you know.”

“Two days?”
Claire said in disbelief. “What on earth could he say that would take
two days?”

“Well, the first night is really him speaking to everyone—telling his story and all about how he overcame his troubles. The second day is more of a seminar, a workshop, where he gives everyone practical steps to move forward with their own life. The ticket will get you into both events.”

“Oh, Irma, I couldn't take that from you.”

“No, really. My daughter-in-law can't make it. She just found out she has to work. I have an extra one now.”

Claire sighed. She didn't know what to say.

“Here. Take it with you,” Irma said, shoving the paper into Claire's
hand. “It was going to go to waste anyway. You can think about it and decide later.”

Claire looked down at the ticket. “Let me pay you for it,” she said. Though the ticket price, printed on the paper, wasn't outrageous, Claire also realized the event wasn't free.

“Absolutely not. You go and you get something from it. Besides,” Irma said, “I always did mean to bring you a meal and never got around to it. Consider this my way of clearing my guilty conscience.”

Claire nodded and folded the ticket, sticking it in one of her bags. “Okay.”

“See you tomorrow night,” Irma said, cheerfully, as if Claire's attendance was a sure thing.

Claire smiled softly at the dear, older woman, as she walked out the door.

“Maybe.”

Once outside, Claire placed the groceries in the back of her car and turned on the air conditioning the second she sat down in the driver's seat. It was unlikely she'd go to hear that man speak. She'd already psyched herself up to attend the barbecue. That would take all the energy she had. Going out two nights in a row seemed impossible and unrealistic, especially when she hadn't left the house for anything social for close to two years.

But she hoped Irma and her family got a lot out of Callum's speech. Irma was a sweet woman and she'd been right. Everyone needed a bit of encouragement every now and again.

She bet that Callum man was good at it. He must help a lot of people, if the way Irma spoke about him was any indication of his potential influence. In all Claire's years of shopping there, she'd never heard Imra rave about another human being the way she'd praised him.

Yes, Claire hoped many people were touched and encouraged by Mr. Callum Fitzgerald's talk.

She just wouldn't be one of them.

Claire stood at the door to Loni's house, poised to knock. She hesitated and lowered her arm again. What was she doing? Was she really up for this? A party with all her kids' friends and their parents? Maybe she should have started small, lunch with a couple of the moms.

But she wanted to get this over with. She knew she must be the center of a lot of gossip and chatter around town and she wanted to put an end to it, or at least help it diminish. And, if she were to be completely honest with herself, she was beginning to miss these people. She'd never been extremely close to any of the other parents, but she wouldn't exactly call them merely “acquaintances,” either. She'd enjoyed seeing them at school functions and going out for couples' nights where they'd hire a babysitter to watch all of the kids at one family's home and then all pray the kids wouldn't trash the place or scare off the babysitter so they'd still be able to use her again next month. In three years, they'd gone through seven different sitters.

She also realized she was missing all the children, too, and not just her own. She loved her kids' friends. She'd always encouraged Luke and the twins to have their classmates over to the house for play dates. She'd treasured hearing the little voices and watching them run around together. She adored all their little faces and hands and pigtails and chubby cheeks. She hadn't seen the other kids in so long. They all must've gotten so big.

Claire lifted her hand, once again to knock, when the door unexpectedly flew open.

“Claire!” Loni crooned, her Southern drawl in full swing. “I thought I saw your car pull up. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come inside!”

“I, um, was just putting on a little lipstick.”

“And it looks grand!” Loni stepped aside and made a wide, swinging gesture to motion Claire through the door. “Welcome to our humble abode.”

Claire wondered how Loni could say those words without giggling. The house was anything but humble, with a long sweeping staircase in the center of the foyer that reminded Claire of
Gone with the Wind.
Dark mahogany railings carried you past a portrait gallery wall Claire bet rivalled the Met. An enormous crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and Claire couldn't help but wonder if it had cost more than Claire and Jack's entire home. A fresh display of flowers, as tall as Claire, sat on a table in the crook of the stairway, and was flanked by Bastille armchairs, covered in pale lavender linen. Loni
loved
the color purple and it was present in various ways throughout the home.

“Here,” Claire said, handing Loni a bottle of wine. “This is for you.”

“Oh, silly girl! You didn't have to bring us anything. We're just so happy you're here! When I told everyone you were coming…well, no one could believe it.”

Claire could imagine how
that
announcement had gone.

“Am I late?”

“Nope, you're right on time. Everyone's out back. Follow me.”

Claire cautiously trailed behind Loni as she made her way through the elegant foyer and into the extravagant living room, to the back patio. Loni slid the door open and stepped outside, ahead of Claire.

“Attention, everyone! Guess who's here!” Loni's voice trilled.

“Claire!” a dozen voices rang out in unison. Within seconds, everyone was out of their chairs and on their feet.

Claire hadn't been hugged this much since the funerals and probably never before then.

“We've missed you
so
much!” the moms cooed.

“It's good to see you looking so well,” the dads boomed, squeezing Claire so tight, she lost her breath.

Claire's eyes filled with tears. She'd missed these people so much. She hadn't even realized how much until this very moment.

“Come on; sit down,” Valerie, a mom Claire had always particularly liked, encouraged her. “Sit next to me. Joe, you go sit somewhere else,” she barked at a pudgy man with a receding hairline. Her husband shrugged and found a seat closer to the pool. Valerie was a stunning woman, with exotic features and black, luscious hair. Jack and Claire had held many a conversation wondering about how Joe, with his mediocre looks and unimaginative personality, had managed to score a wife that hot.

Claire placed her bottom in the seat next to Valerie and crossed her legs nervously. Suddenly, she didn't know what to do with her hands. Should she fold them? Sit on them? She was thankful when Loni came over and handed Claire a glass of wine.

“I hope you like red.”

Claire peered down into the glass. She actually didn't know if she liked red. She didn't even know if she liked white. Claire didn't drink. Never had. It just didn't appeal to her. Claire was about to hand the glass back to Loni, reminding her she didn't drink alcohol. After all, Loni already knew that. All the parents knew it. Claire had been teased, good-naturedly, of course, more times than she could count during their big nights out.

“Hey, Jack! Did you marry Claire so you'd always have a designated driver?” the men would chortle.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Claire would retort. Jack would always come to her rescue by saying, “I married her because she was the most
beautiful girl I'd ever seen.” And then he'd place a kiss on Claire's lips that would make all the other women envious.

“Um…Loni,” Claire said, holding up the glass. “I don't…”

“Oh, sweetheart, you aren't going to tell me, after all you've been through, that you still don't drink, are you?”

“Um…”

“Let me tell you something; if anyone on this earth deserves a drink, it's you.”

Valerie nodded in agreement as she and Loni and two of the other women, nearby, lifted their glasses.

“Cheers,” Valerie said.

Claire lifted her glass, knowing it was expected of her.

“Cheers,” she said meekly.

“So, Claire…” Valerie leaned closer, as if she was about to tell her a dirty little secret. She placed her hand on Claire's knee. “How are you? Truly, I mean.”

“I'm…well, I'm fine.” Claire laughed nervously and took a sip of the wine. It tasted good. Sweeter than she'd expected. And she found it to be quite refreshing on such a hot day.

Claire took another sip as she added, “It's been really, really hard.”

Valerie nodded as if she truly did know. Which, of course, she didn't.

“I have my good days and bad days. Sometime, it's just hard to get out of bed. But, other days, like today, I feel I'm making some progress.”

Claire took another nervous sip of her drink. She could already feel her face flush the way it did whenever she'd had more than two sips of alcohol. Jack used to tell her he thought she might be allergic to the sulfites in the wine. She wasn't sure, but she did know a few sips were often too much for her. Yet, here she was, holding an entire glass. She wasn't sure how much of it she could actually get through. She knew she should probably put it down and go off in search of a soft drink, but she was so nervous, she wasn't sure her legs would
hold her as she walked across the yard. She hadn't been around so many people in ages. In her entire life, she'd never gotten past the first few sips. She'd never drunk an entire glass of wine in one sitting. She wasn't sure if she'd consumed a whole glass of wine over the entire course of her life. Maybe if she plowed through, she'd find she enjoyed it. She'd always wondered what other people found so pleasurable about a glass of wine.

“We're so thrilled you decided to come today. I've missed you so much,” Valerie said, leaning over to give Claire another hug.

Claire noticed tears brimming in Valerie's eyes and Claire was touched. The two women had never been exceptionally close, but Claire had enjoyed her company. She'd missed Valerie. She'd missed all of them.

“Okay, okay,” Claire said, fanning her face, partly from the heat and partly because she didn't want her own tears to begin to flow. “No crying. No crying. We're here to have a good time. It's been a long time since I had a good time.”

Valerie dabbed at her eyes with the corner of a napkin that had the word
Party
splashed across it in bright purple.