Finding the Way Back (14 page)

Chapter
Fifteen

I fastened the latch then lingered at the
door, watching Emmett, Dean, and Glen get in their van and
disappear into the night. The house suddenly felt very empty and
quiet, and it was just Connie and me again. We turned out some of
the lights on the main floor, leaving a few lamps on just for
comfort’s sake and then headed upstairs to bed.

I was straightening my room a bit and putting
some clothes away when I heard Connie finish up in the bathroom and
head back to her room. I put my pajamas on then went down to talk
to her.

“So am I the biggest fruitcake in the world
or what?” I asked her.

“They’re men, they seldom notice anything
unless you hit them over the head. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better. You
were supposed to say that I wasn’t a fruitcake at all, not that
they wouldn’t notice.” I sat on one of the twin beds, smoothing the
covers. Connie lay on her side in the other.

“I like the thought of you with him. He’s not
my type, but Emmett’s always been a good friend.”

“Connie! Tell me you didn’t deliberately try
to set me up with him.”

“I didn’t, honest! But if it turns out that
way, what’s the harm in that? I’m surprised he’s not married
yet.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“I know he was going to get married after
college but that didn’t work out for some reason. I’m not sure what
happened.”

“Maybe it’s his unusual hobby.”

“There are worse ones.”

“Yes, Simon had a few of those,” I said.
“When I look at it that way, ghost hunting isn’t so peculiar.”

We both laughed then lay back, staring at the
ceiling. “Maybe I’ll just sleep in here with you tonight,” I said.
“Is that okay?”

“More than okay, that would be great,” she
said.

“It’ll be just like when we were kids.
Remember the Barbie fests we used to have where we would take the
blankets off the bed and make tent houses between the furniture for
our little families?”

“Those were the best times. I could do that
for hours.”

“I remember laughing so hard my stomach and
face would hurt. Then you get older and life beats the laughter out
of you.”

“I know what you mean, but it doesn’t have
to. Sometimes things just don’t turn out like you think they will.
But if it’s not working you can do something different. That’s what
I do. I never thought my interest in art would lead me to
re-imagine old furniture and other objects, but I love it.
Sometimes the universe throws things at you from unexpected
directions. You just have to be open to it,” Connie finished, then
paused a moment. “You know, I always thought of you as my sister.
Neither one of us had brothers or sisters so we just had each
other. I was sad that we grew apart as we got older.”

I looked over at Connie and could see my
little cousin again. “Me too. I didn’t mean to, but I got married
and you were doing other things. It’s been ages since I thought of
those times we spent together when we were kids.”

Connie rolled over onto her stomach and
propped herself up on her elbows. “I remember being in junior high
when you went to high school. All of a sudden you seemed just
gone.”

I thought about that time, remembering events
I hadn’t revisited in years. “I’m sorry we lost touch. I did get
too big for my britches about that time. I so wanted to be accepted
into the ‘in’ crowd. I thought I couldn’t drag along my younger
cousin. Then Melanie moved in and they dumped me anyway. I felt
like I lost all my friends at one time. I forgot that family was
forever.” I remembered the pain of that time like it was yesterday.
“The happiest years of your life, my ass! I’m really sorry,
Connie.”

“I forgive you,” Connie said simply, sitting
up. “I discovered boys around the same time, so I wouldn’t have had
time for you anyway.” We both giggled. “Remember when we used to
climb in bed together and pull the sheet up over our heads and
pretend we were in Pride and Prejudice?”

“You have to be Jane since you’re the
beautiful one in the family on whom we are all pinning our hopes to
marry well.”

“So if you’re Elizabeth, that must make
Emmett Mr. Darcy. But who’s my Mr. Bingley?”

I didn’t dare admit it to Connie, but I felt
a twinge of jealousy that she thought of Emmett as the stoic and
sexy Mr. Darcy. I sure didn’t need any competition from her. It
didn’t occur to me that Mr. Darcy ended up with Elizabeth.

* * * *

When I woke up the next morning I was
grateful that the rest of the night had been quiet. No unearthly
visitations. It was starting to get light and I told myself we
would have to get shades on the bedroom windows or we would be
getting up at the crack of dawn each day. I lugged myself out of
bed and looked over at Connie who was still out like a light. I
glanced at my cell phone that I surprisingly had remembered to take
to bed with me. Six-thirty. Ugh. Even when I stayed up half the
night I couldn’t sleep in. I pulled on my robe and slippers and
padded to the bathroom. Inside, I saw that the door to the closet
under the eaves was ajar, and I was sure it was closed the night
before. Okay, I’m going to ignore that, I told myself, too tired
even to think of ghosts. Then I headed downstairs for my
coffee.

As I waited for the coffee maker to warm up I
thought about the day I had ahead of me. Today was the day I became
a single woman again. It was actually a bit depressing when I
thought too much about it. There was that slight feeling of failure
or quitting, thinking that there must have been something I could
have done differently. But I pushed that thought out of my head.
Sometimes things just don’t turn out like you expect
, Connie
had said to me. That was the way I was going to look at it. I was
changing my name back as well, which would be strange too. In one
fell swoop I would be Elaine MacKenzie again. My mother had never
called me by my married name anyway so there wouldn’t be any change
for her.

I took my coffee with me and went to search
for towels upstairs. There would be no repeat of yesterday’s shower
fiasco. Finding a linen closet in the hallway, I snatched a
threadbare towel from the middle shelf and quickly slammed the
door, ignoring the rest of the stuff that threatened to engulf me
in an avalanche.

Searching through my suitcase, I tried to
find something classy to wear to the lawyer’s office. I missed my
walk-in closet. It had been an organized, attractive space, drawers
for smaller pieces of clothing, small cubbies for purses, a shoe
rack, shelves for sweaters, and multiple length hanging rods.
Actually, I missed my closet more than I missed Simon. I found a
blouse that wasn’t too wrinkled and a pair of gray dress slacks to
wear with flats. Taking my towel, clothes and my dignity I forced
myself down to the shower.

Finishing my shower without an assault by an
army of spiders or the walking dead, I dressed as fast as I could
and ran for the stairs, making a short detour to throw my towel in
the washer. I would come back with more of the musty-smelling
towels later so I would have a full load to run.

Connie was in the kitchen when I walked
through and we said a short good morning to one another. She was on
her first cup of coffee, and she looked the way I felt before my
first cup. Morning conversations before coffee were verboten. I
eased myself around her and went on my way.

Upstairs again, I blow-dried my hair and
carefully applied my make-up. I looked through my overnight bag to
see what jewelry I had with me. I sure wasn’t going to wear my
wedding ring, but my grandmother’s opal was perfect. I wanted to
look professional and together, my armor fully in place. I decided
to curl my hair for a change, a sign of the new me. Heading
downstairs again I met Connie at the base of the stairway.

“Wow! Look at you! You look gorgeous! I don’t
know if I’ve ever seen you curl your hair.” Connie pantomimed
waving a fan at herself and teased me. “I am overtaken by your
beauty, Lizzy,” referring to our conversation from the night
before.

“I think you should look your best when you
are signing your divorce papers. You know, give him something to
regret,” I replied sarcastically, tossing my long tresses.

“So it’s not for some ghost hunter we know
who’s visiting us later?”

“Do you actually think I would I flirt with
someone the day I get divorced?” Was it that obvious?

“I would if he was as adorable as Emmett,”
Connie teased me. Then getting more serious she added, “Do you want
me to go with you?”

“No, that’s okay. I’m sad, of course, it’s
the end of something, but I’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure. I wouldn’t mind going with
you.”

I put my hand on her arm. “No really, I’m not
being a martyr or anything. I can handle this,” I said,
straightening my back and pretending to feel stronger than I
felt.

Glancing at the clock, I was startled to see
the time. “I have to go, I’m going to be late.” I ran up to my room
and grabbed my purse. I slipped on my flats, came down the steps,
rummaging in the purse for my keys. Fortunately, it was a shorter
drive to the attorney’s office than I expected, and I actually
arrived early.

Walking into the simple, unimpressive office
I glanced around, looking for the receptionist. I stood waiting for
someone to come out, when I heard voices in the next office. I
looked down the hall but didn’t see anyone. I followed the voices
and turned a corner, finding a glass-enclosed conference room
dominated by a long table and chairs. A young woman in a short
skirt with long dark hair falling halfway down her back was coyly
sitting on the end of the table, a good deal of leg visible.
Standing very close to her was Simon, lightly brushing his hand
against her cheek. Discomfited, I stopped quickly and took a step
backward. Simon pulled away from the woman and our eyes locked. I
felt my blood begin to boil.

His blond, shaggy hair lay tumbled across his
forehead, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He looked casual and
unassuming, but he spent an hour every morning working to achieve
that look. Apparently it worked on a lot of sheep.

The receptionist slid out of the doorway,
averting her eyes, and walked back toward the front desk. He was
acting true to form, but it wasn’t my problem anymore.
Nevertheless, I still didn’t like it.

“What are you doing here, Simon?” I tried to
be as civil as I could, which, under the circumstances, was nearly
impossible.

“I wanted a word with you before you signed
your papers. Marcus said I could talk with you privately if I got
here early. Here, let’s go in this conference room.”

“Is that where you take all the girls?” I
asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Come on, Laney, you know me better than
that.”

“Yes, I know exactly how you are.” Everything
inside of me was screaming not to talk to him. But I just took a
deep breath and followed him into the room. “So what do you want to
talk to me about?”

“Laney, I’ve been thinking lately and I’m
just not sure we’re doing the right thing.” He gave me his best
puppy dog look. How often in the past had I fallen for this man’s
game?

“Seriously? I’m sure I’m doing the right
thing. I should have been sure when I caught you in my bed with my
best friend, but because I’m an idiot it took me longer than that.
But you will never change. And now I’m sure, the end of our
marriage was never my fault. I didn’t think I could have been more
sure, but then I walked in, and here you were, up to your same old
smarmy tricks with someone else. Believe me, I’m positive. Now
please leave, I have papers to sign.”

“Laney, I was just brushing—”

“Leaving. You were just leaving. Good-bye,
Simon.” I sat down at the table. “By the way, does Pamela know
you’re here?”

Simon paled. “Laney,” he started once more
then thought better of it. And then he turned and walked right out
of my life. Well, maybe not exactly, but I loved the poetry of the
words.

I exhaled loudly, not realizing I’d been
holding my breath. Why did I let that man make me feel this way? I
thought of the close relationship I was rebuilding with Connie. I
thought of the possibility of something with Emmett. I no longer
needed to put up with any of Simon’s juvenile behavior. I could be
my own person again. I still remembered the seriousness with which
Emmett told me he would never tell me what to do. Well, neither
would anyone else. The ten years I had with Simon were little more
than an extended high school romance, fragile and vulnerable to the
next cute thing to come along.

Marcus Andrews came in and started with a
cursory greeting, then stopped and looked at me. “Is everything
okay?” Apparently my face betrayed the turmoil that was churning in
my mind.

I looked up at him, took a deep breath and
smiled. And in that moment, I knew, and I answered with complete
honesty. “I’m fine, thank you. Where do I sign?”

It took a surprisingly short amount of time
to end ten years of a relationship, and then I was out the door a
free woman. I couldn’t believe how great that felt. Free. Never
again would I let any man talk me down. Ever. I was woman, hear me
roar.

Chapter
Sixteen

I walked out of the attorney’s office and
gazed in dismay at the sky. The rain was coming down in buckets and
the temperature must have dropped ten degrees. I didn’t have my
coat, and I didn’t have an umbrella. “I was feeling so good, did
you have to rain on my parade?” I shouted at the sky. An older
couple gave me disapproving glances as they walked past me into the
building. I smiled at them in spite of their frowns. Disapprove all
you want, I won’t be altered one bit by it.