Waters Fall (10 page)

12

N
ora couldn't concentrate. Meeting with Renee
Nash always set her on edge, but the woman liked to spend money.

“I absolutely adore
everything
you do, Nora, dear.” Renee's standard uniform consisted of skin-tight, cleavage-baring outfits, and extremely high heels, hair that looked like it might shatter in the slightest breeze, and enough make-up to stock a high-school girls’ dormitory for at least a year.

The first time they'd been introduced, Nora was terrified of what she might ask of her. Her taste in home d
écor, however, was superb. The woman loved clean lines and antique color schemes, beautiful, quality furniture with classic accents. Her style was a perfect blend of all things elegant, and Nora loved putting ideas together for Renee's home. It was her life-style, and the fact that Renee felt she must discuss every last detail of every party, every event, every affair she put together, that left Nora drained. Today, Renee was sharing with her about another kind of affair in which she was involved.

“You remember Tanya
Sharpston, the woman who introduced us? Of course you do. Well, I still can't figure out how it happened, but I'm sleeping with her husband.” She giggled like a school-girl, and fluttered her bejeweled fingers over her enormous bosom. “I think I'm in love, Nora, but this really throws a damper on my relationship with Tanya. I mean, we're co-hosting the annual Wine and Dine Gala at the Country Club next month, and every time I look at her I just want to weep. I feel
so
sorry for her, so badly for what Freddy and I are doing to her, and she doesn't even know!”

“You say that like it would be better if she
did
know.” Nora was appalled at how reasonably the woman spoke, as though her behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

“It would be! I wouldn’t feel so badly, then!” Renee frowned a little,
then she looked up at Nora with a resolute expression, her scarlet-tipped fingers waving decisively in the air in front of her. “I really must tell her. Get it out in the open. That way we can clear the air and get on with things.”

Nora just shook her head. Get on with things? How does one just get on with things after news like that?

“Oh, don't look at me like that, Nora, dear.
Everyone
knows I like other women's husbands. And everyone knows that Tanya hates hers. Sleeping with him is one thing. That happens all the time. I mean, him with other women. But now that I’m falling in love with him, I don't think I want to share him with anyone, especially someone I have to work with every day. Besides,” Renee winked at Nora, as if divulging a saucy secret. “She's younger than I am.”

Nora couldn't come up with anything appropriate to say in that moment. At least not out loud.  She's going to talk to the woman?
To clear the air between them? How would telling Tanya that Renee was sleeping with her husband clear the air between them?
The words were all inside her head, but Renee responded as if she’d spoken them aloud.

“Oh, Nora, dear, I'm not such a monster. I don't expect him to divorce her. She deserves his name and his money after all the years they've had together. And three kids, to boot. She's a great girl, Tanya
Sharpston is. She's been a wonderful friend, she's got a creative flair that is so charming, and she's put up with a multitude of Freddy’s affairs over the years. I'm sure I'm just the most recent in a long line, just as I'm sure there will be more that come after I'm gone. I'm not stupid. But I do want him all to myself while our little affair lasts, and I hope she'll understand.”

“I'm not sure she will, Renee. I don't even understand, and I'm not the one you're doing this to.” Nora couldn't keep quiet any longer. “It’s really a horrible situation all the way around. Someone has to get hurt, you know?” She shook her head. “I feel sorry for all of you.
Especially the kids.”

“Goodness, Nora, dear.
You don't need to worry about the kids. They're so pampered and protected, the world could blow up around them, and they wouldn't know it. But don't you feel sorry for me, either, not for one moment. I'm having the time of my life! I feel young and alive again. I'm barely sleeping, and I haven't looked better in years! Love is the elixir of youth, Nora, dear.” She leaned forward across the table between them, and Nora had to look away just in case the woman's left breast escaped its confines. “I can tell when a woman is in love. Do you know how? She looks like she's had a face lift, that's how. And I,” She sat up and jabbed at her chest, inadvertently setting everything into motion. “I ought to know about face lifts.”

By the time Nora left Renee's home, she was practically in a stupor, numbed by the woman
’s ceaseless banter about the lifestyles of the rich, if not famous, her relentless gossip. It was almost two o'clock, and she hadn't eaten since breakfast nearly seven hours earlier. She still had a few hours before she had to pick up kids, so she debated whether to go back to the office and just finish out the day, go home to eat something, or stop somewhere along the way.

She spotted the familiar exit just up ahead. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled off and made her way toward the cluster of shops. In the parking lot, she maneuvered her silver car into the same spot she
’d parked in the last time. She could get some food when she picked up the kids. Right now, she suddenly wanted to see Tristan’s
Isolde
more than anything else in the world. And, since she didn't really feel like lying to herself, she admitted that she wouldn’t mind running into the artist himself today either.

It had been exactly one month since she
’d been here, and even though she and Jake were sleeping in the same bed again, that was about all that was back to normal. She still refused to allow the children to ride with Jake, and even though he told her she was being paranoid, he didn't really argue. She couldn't decide if that made her more or less confident in the sincerity of his apology.

Revamping her schedule required a major effort on her part, and she often felt more overwhelmed than ever. The rewards of spending those extra hours with her children made up for the exhaustion, but not having those hours to invest in her work was taking its toll on her business. She had turned away a few very influential patrons, not because she didn't want them, but because she couldn't get to them within the time period they requested. All she could do was
refer them out to another decorator she knew was both reputable and had great taste. Even though she'd received a lovely gift basket and thank you card from Suzi's Shenanigans, the woman was still her competition, and it riled her up to have to feed Suzi clients who should have been her own.

It was that very gift basket, however, that had her unable to get Paradise Lost Art Gallery off her mind this week. It was a typical gift basket, complete with pretty notepads and pens, fancy teacups, some organic Middle Eastern tea, a tin of butter cookies, and some honey sticks. The card, however, was a piece of art. The image on the front was a print of a piece she
’d seen hanging near the front of the gallery, and Nora couldn’t help but wonder if Suzi had purchased the set of cards there. Since the moment she’d received it, she couldn’t stop thinking of visiting again.

Or the way Tristan had looked at her.

She was not an imbecile. She knew that entertaining thoughts of going back, especially under the volatile condition her marriage was in at the moment, was dangerous. Somehow, though, after hearing Renee's callous description of the love-triangle in which she was involved, Nora felt an even greater need to return. It didn't make sense, really, but she almost felt like she had to prove that her attraction to Tristan was nothing like Renee's vulgar relationship with her friend's husband. It really was only a bit of flirting between two people. It would never go anywhere; she was not like Renee.

Just as she turned off the engine, her phone rang. She dug around in her purse for it and checked the number.

Vicky Johanson.

Nora had avoided the woman's calls for weeks, but she obviously wasn't going to give up.
“Sonora Décor. This is Nora.”

“Nora! I'm glad I caught you. I know you're busy, but I was just wondering if you had some time to get together with me this evening. I have a cancellation and would love to meet with you.”

Nora squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. The last time she spoke with Vicky was a few days after Jake’s night out. He’d suddenly remembered that the woman had called, and although Nora wasn’t sure what she would say to her, she did return the call. She'd been very vague, explaining that her schedule was changing, and she wouldn't be available for evening appointments any longer. Since then, Vicky attempted to contact her regularly, at least once a week, trying to find a time to work Nora in. She might as well get this over with.

“I just can't commit to evenings anymore, remember?” She was tired of reiterating herself to the woman. Was she daft? Did she not have a family of her own to go home to? “I need to be home with the kids.”

“What about Jake? Can he keep the children while we meet?”

“That won't be happening anymore.” The snippy remark slipped out before she thought about how it might sound.

Vicky didn't say anything for a few moments, and in the ensuing silence, Nora wondered what would happen if she just hung up on the woman.

“Have you two split up? Is he not living at home anymore? Is that why you're no longer available?”

“No, no, and no. Look Vicky,” Nora rolled down her window to let a little of the crispy fall air in. “Things are really tough right now. I can't trust him. I won't trust him, and I'm really having a hard time even praying for him. I'm not leaving him, and I don't think he has any plans to leave me right now, either, but honestly, I don't think I would care if he did.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow. And I think you and I meeting right now would be a waste of your time, and of my money. Money that I'm now making less of because of him. And I won’t leave the kids in his care, unless it’s a dire emergency.”

“What happened?”

“He started drinking again. To prove that I can't tell him what to do.”

“Wow,” Vicky said again. “And he's still at home?”

“Well, like I said, he
started
drinking again. He went out one night—in fact, it was the night I was supposed to meet with you and canceled—and he came home plastered. The next morning he tried to confess to me about his shenanigans with some little waitress. So,” Nora shrugged, even though she knew Vicky couldn’t see her. “I don't think he's had anything since, but I'm not going back to the way things were. I'm not giving him any chances.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Exactly what I'm doing. He's living in my house, eating my food, and sharing in family time with my children, only because he also happens to be my husband. I'm taking care of all the responsibilities. I'm working, I'm paying the bills, and I'm making sure that the children's lives aren't turned upside down by his selfishness.”

“He's working then?”

“I don't really know. But I don't care, Vicky.”

“Wow.”

“I wish you'd stop saying that.”

“Sorry, Nora.
That was insensitive of me.” Vicky apologized sincerely, then she continued. “Can we perhaps get together another time? Maybe in the morning, sometime next week?”

Nora clenched her jaw and leaned back in her seat. The woman was tenacious, she
’d give her that. “I don't think so. I think I need to just let things go for a bit. I know where you are and how to get a hold of you if I change my mind, Vicky.” She sighed, realizing how her words sounded. “This isn't a brush-off, really,” she lied. “I just don't think it will be very productive for either of us.”

“No offense taken, Nora.
I just have two things to ask of you.”

“Shoot.”

“I want you to try, I mean,
really
try, to put aside these feelings and pray for your husband, Nora. It is imperative to hold him up, especially after he has fallen so hard, and you may be the only one doing so. Can you do that?”

“I can try.”

“Okay. The other question. Would you mind if I called you periodically? Just to make sure you're not imploding or falling apart?”

“Sure, that's fine. I think I can handle that.” Nora half-heartedly smiled into the phone. She said her good-byes and dropped the device back into her purse. Just as she opened the door, it rang again.

“Gah!” She plucked it out of her purse again; this time is was Jake.  She couldn’t help feeling the surge of guilt over not one, but two phone calls from people who would not be thrilled with where she was at that moment. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the send button and answered.

“Sonora Décor.
This is Nora.” She used her professional greeting.

“Hey, Nor.” He obviously didn't get the subtle snub. “I've got dinner covered for tonight, but I have to run to the
store. Do you need anything?”