Sisters and Husbands (25 page)

“Wednesday evening is the only time I can make it this week.”

“Suit yourself,” she said. “Come around ten or eleven. I should be home from my date by then.” She smiled. She loved rubbing
those words in.

“That’s pretty late for a dinner date to be over.”

“Do you want your tools or not?” she asked.

“Are you sleeping with him?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you sleeping with this dude?” Kevin repeated louder.

“I can’t believe you just asked me that after what you’ve done. You really have some nerve. Give me one good reason why I
shouldn’t hang this phone up right now.”

“I couldn’t blame you if you did. I hope you don’t because—”

“I didn’t think you had one,” she said just before she slammed the phone down as hard as she could. He wasn’t even worth a
good-bye.

She climbed out of bed, walked to the window, and stared down at the lawn. It was one of those deep dark nights when she could
barely make out the silhouettes of the trees and shrubbery at first, and then slowly her eyes adjusted and everything stood
out with perfect clarity.

Beverly sat on the edge of her bed in her teddy and reached for the telephone on her nightstand, then snatched her hand back.
She had promised Julian that she would call him as soon as she got back from Evelyn’s house. He had to work late most of the
following week, and they wanted to spend what might be their last night together before the wedding on Saturday.

Yet she had been home for more than an hour and couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone. She had done everything else—changed
into her bedclothes, checked her e-mail and phone messages, brushed her teeth—but kept putting the phone call off. She had
so much on her mind with all that had happened yesterday with Valerie, Evelyn, and Kevin. She honestly didn’t think she would
make very good company that night anyway.

Who she really had a mind to call was Valerie. She had a thousand questions. Did she think about how her actions would hurt
so many people? Did she have feelings for Kevin or was she just being mean? How long had she had these feelings and why didn’t
she talk things over before doing something so crazy? And on and on and on.

But she figured it would be better to wait a few days, until she’d had time to cool off. Sometimes she thought she would never
cool off enough to call Valerie.

She pulled the covers back and climbed into bed just as the phone rang. The caller ID showed that it was Julian. She smiled
and picked up.

“Hi, there,” she said.

“Hey, you. Thought you were going to call me when you got in so I could swing by.”

“I know. I was just about to pick up the phone.”

“How long you been back?”

“About an hour, I guess.”

“K. So should I come now?” he asked.

“Um, maybe not tonight, Julian. I’m really, really tired. I need to get some rest.”

“I’ve been there before when you were tired.”

“Not this tired,” she said. “I won’t be good for much of anything besides sleeping.”

“Then we won’t do anything besides sleep. Maybe we can talk a few minutes before we doze off. I know you got a lot on your
mind.”

“I don’t think I have the energy to do much talking even. I would probably drift off to sleep before you even get here.”

“Damn, you really are tired.”

“Yeah. That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“Why you getting all testy with me?” he asked. “Just like at the family get-together. You sure you’re just tired? You’re not
mad at me or anything, are you?”

“No. Why would I be mad? You haven’t done anything.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re in a ‘all men are dogs’ phase.”

Beverly frowned into the phone. Where was this coming from? “When have you ever known me to be like that?”

“Don’t all women get like that once in a while?” he asked. “Especially when they’ve been around other women.”

“Not me,” she said firmly. “I don’t even know why you’d say that.”

“Sorry, just trying to understand what’s up with you. That’s all.”

“Like I said, I just need some rest,” she said. “What’s the big deal about that?”

He sighed. “Nothing. Let’s leave it at that and I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can see each other one night this week if
I can swing it at work.”

“Sounds good. Love you.”

“Love you back.”

They hung up and Beverly switched the television on and off again almost immediately. Something didn’t feel right. She couldn’t
remember a time when she hadn’t been anxious to see Julian no matter how tired she was. Many a night he had let himself in
with his key, found her asleep in bed, and quietly slipped in beside her. She would wake up in the middle of the night and
snuggle up to him.

But she hadn’t wanted that tonight. And rather than talk to Julian about all that was on her mind, she wanted to be alone
with her thoughts and feelings. For some reason, the whole episode with Valerie had left her feeling odd around Julian and
she wasn’t sure why.

Was it trust? Had the Kevin and Valerie thing left her doubting that men could be trusted? Any man? If Kevin—who until very
recently was one of the most reliable and honest men she had ever known—could mess over Evelyn so badly, was any man a hundred
percent trustworthy? If Kevin could do this to Evelyn, a woman he had been with for more than twenty years, could she be sure
that Julian would never do it to her?

C
harmaine finally caught up with Tyrone on Monday evening. After work, she parked her Honda outside his mother’s house and
waited until he drove up in his SUV. Wearing his leather electrician’s tool belt, he hopped out and entered the house.

Charmaine exited her car and crossed the street. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Tyrone’s mother. But once Charmaine
made up her mind she was going to do something, she wasn’t about to let anything or anyone—including Anne—get in her way.

She walked quickly to the front door and knocked firmly. Tyrone answered almost immediately and he looked genuinely surprised
to see her. He also looked pleased—or at least not displeased—and that Charmaine took as an encouraging sign.

He stepped aside to let her in. Being so close to his rugged scent reminded her instantly how much she missed him. She was
glad she had worn one of his favorite outfits—a snug-fitting black dress with a wide fire-engine-red belt. Her toenails peeked
out of her sandals and matched the color of the belt.

“You’re looking good,” he said as he shut the door and admired her openly.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling.

“Come on in. I’ll get us something to drink and we can talk.”

She followed him into the living room, and Anne and Tiffany came out from the kitchen to see who was at the door. Anne was
wearing an apron and holding a large spoon. As usual, Anne was wearing too much makeup, trying to look younger than her seventy-something
years. Charmaine had always thought that Anne was an attractive woman and didn’t need so much makeup. Tiffany was looking
as cute and stylish as always. Both Anne and Tiffany’s expressions seemed to fall flat when they saw who their guest was.

“Oh, hello, Charmaine,” Anne said coolly.

Charmaine nodded. “Anne, how are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Hi, Tiffany,” Charmaine said.

Tiffany gave a weak wave. “Hi.”

Anne looked at her son. “Tyrone, Tiffany and I are almost done. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Tyrone said. He looked at Charmaine. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

Charmaine shook her head quickly. “Oh, no, thanks. I really need to get back and get something on the table for Kenny. But
thanks for asking.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Anne said, not sounding sorry at all. “But I certainly understand.”

Anne and Tiffany walked back to the kitchen, and Charmaine could have sworn she’d heard two big sighs of relief.

“I really wanted us to talk in private,” Charmaine said.

Tyrone nodded. “Why don’t we go for a walk up the block or something?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Tyrone removed his tool belt and placed it on a shelf in the front hall closet and they walked out the door.

“Nice evening,” he said as he moved around her to get to the outside, near the road. “Not too humid.”

“Beautiful,” she agreed.

They strolled in silence for a couple of minutes, both in deep thought. “How did it get to this point?” Charmaine asked, suddenly
blurting out loud what she was thinking. She had practiced what to say while waiting in the car and just again as they walked
silently beside each other. In the end, she realized that all the rehearsed words sounded phony. This was her husband. They
needed to get real.

He shrugged sadly. “I’m not sure. It’s unfortunate.”

“Do we really want it to be like this?”

He shook his head. “I don’t. There’s nothing I want more than for us to get back together.”

She smiled with relief.

“But…”

Uh-oh, she thought. Here it comes.

“I can’t let Tiffany live in a situation that’s uncomfortable for her. Even if it’s only for part of the year.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. Honestly.”

“After what happened with Kenny, it wasn’t the best of situations for her,” he said.

Charmaine knew that she needed to tread carefully here. No way was she ever going to believe that Kenny had hurt Tiffany deliberately.
Neither was Tyrone going to believe that Tiffany was lying to him. Charmaine had come to believe that the truth probably lay
somewhere between the two versions. Kenny had been careless when they were playing, and Tiffany just didn’t trust her stepbrother.

But Tyrone was too blind to see that. And she hadn’t seen things much more clearly herself for a while. Now she realized that
if she wanted this marriage to work she had to have her eyes wide open. She had to see not only his faults but also her own.
And they both had to find a way around them.

“Look, Tyrone, we’re not going to agree on what happened between Kenny and Tiffany. You see it one way, I see it another.
The irony is that neither of us is completely right or handling this right.”

He smiled thoughtfully.

“They’re both good kids,” she continued. “And they can move past what happened and get along in the future if we lead the
way. The question is, are we up to it?”

“I agree that Kenny is a good kid, and any man would be proud to have him as a son. I never said or thought otherwise. I want
him and Tiffany to be friends.”

“Then we have to encourage it and stop taking sides. We’re the adults here.”

“That may be easier said than done,” he said. “There are a lot of differences in the way we see things when it comes to them,
and I’m at a loss as to how to overcome the differences. Believe me, I’ve given it some thought.”

“I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to try harder to see your point of view if you try to see mine.”

“That sounds fair now, but will it work?”

She smiled. “That’s the tricky part. We have to try, though. We owe it to ourselves and to the kids.”

He thought for a minute, and she could see that he was turning things over in his head. She hoped he would come around. She
had done her part and reached out with an offer to meet him halfway.

Finally he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her with a half smile. “Let’s do it,” he said. “We have to find a
way to make this work. Tiffany and I will move back in on Wednesday after I get off. That’ll give us a day to pack.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said. “I miss having you both at home.”

He put his arm around her. “I missed you and Kenny too. I’m glad you came by and we talked.”

“So am I.”

“We’re good together,” he said. “I’ve always believed that. It’d be a shame to let a couple of teenagers ruin what we have.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

B
everly had finally decided to confront Valerie. She wanted to get the talk with Valerie out of the way to clear her head before
her wedding day, and she wanted to do it in the flesh rather than by telephone or e-mail. She needed to see her friend when
they had what Beverly figured would be their last talk together.

She felt that she had calmed down enough to meet with Valerie without blowing her top. And all day at work on Tuesday, she
rehearsed what she would say and how she would say it without losing her cool.

“Why did you do this, Valerie? I thought you were my best friend. What were you thinking?”

She practiced the words and the mild tone she would use as she drove to Valerie’s. Julian was working overtime all that week
to make up for the days he would be off next week while they vacationed in Bermuda on their honeymoon. They had decided to
hook up for dinner on Friday evening as the last time to see each other before the wedding.

She pulled into the lot outside Valerie’s apartment building and sat in her car for a few extra minutes. Valerie’s red Volvo
was parked there, so Beverly knew she was in. All that remained was to be sure she was ready to do this. It was going to be
hard, one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. In all their years as friends, she and Valerie had never argued about
anything more serious than where to go out to dinner together.