Sisters and Husbands (7 page)

That didn’t mean that Beverly had given up trying to talk some sense into her best friend. She wouldn’t give up until she
thought Valerie was safe. She would just wait for a better moment to bring it up again.

For now Beverly wanted to enjoy a fine seafood lunch and chat about pleasant things until it was time to head back to the
office. They had a glorious view of the boats in the Baltimore Harbor on a sunny afternoon, and Beverly couldn’t wait to sink
her teeth into one of Maryland’s famous crab cakes.

“Have you been able to get over to the bridal salon for your fitting?” Beverly asked as the waiter placed their entrees on
the table.

“I called and set something up for this evening as soon as I get off work.” Valerie signaled the waitress and ordered another
beer.

“When did you start all this drinking?” Beverly asked after the waitress walked off.

“It’s just beer.”

“I’ve never seen you drink more than one at lunch.”

“So? I’m having two now. What’s the big deal?”

“Are you driving back to the office or walking?”

Valerie waved her hand. “Oh, brother. I’m driving, but I’ll be fine.”

Beverly knew that this was Otis’s doing. Valerie hardly touched liquor before she met him. But Otis was a regular beer drinker,
and now Valerie was drinking more and more of it. Not that there was anything wrong with that, she supposed, if you didn’t
overdo it. “I guess you know what you’re doing.”

The waitress placed the beer in front of Valerie. “Of course I do. Now, how are Evelyn and Kevin doing?”

“They’re good.”

“They seem to have a fabulous relationship,” Valerie said. “They’re about the only couple I know that hasn’t ended up in divorce
court. In fact, now that I think about it, they may be the only couple that has stayed married for so long, at least that
I can think of. They’re definitely the only couple I know with both people still in their first marriages.”

“I admit they’re my ideal,” Beverly said, nodding. “They give me hope that marriage can work.”

“Any idea what their secret is?”

Beverly shrugged. “You hear all these theories about successful married couples, but it’s got to be much harder than it looks,
since so few manage to stay together. And even more black than white married couples end up in divorce. Did you know that?”

Valerie frowned with surprise. “No, although it’s not hard to believe.”

“Evelyn is like a rare species when it comes to marriage,” Beverly said.

“Kevin seems like a doll and that always helps,” Valerie said. “I’ve only been around him a few times at your family’s gettogethers,
and he’s always so sweet. You ever ask Evelyn why she thinks they’ve survived all these years?”

“Not really. Maybe I should.”

“I’m sure that having a man who is willing to work with you is important,” Valerie said. “Kevin seems like he’d be good at
that. Julian too.”

“No doubt that’s important.” Beverly gave her friend a ‘Why don’t you follow your own advice?’ look.

“What?” Valerie asked innocently when she realized what Beverly’s look meant. “I told you, Otis and I are fine. He’s going
to work on his temper, and we’re gonna live happily ever after. You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” Beverly said. But I doubt it, she thought wryly as she bit into her crab cake sandwich.

A
s Evelyn listened to Cathy, one of her longstanding clients, talk about her man problems, she realized that she had made a
huge mistake. And in her mind’s eye, she could see herself smacking her own forehead. Bam! She had completely forgotten to
get back to the caterer she hired for Beverly’s surprise bridal shower. The affair was Saturday after next, little more than
a week from today, a Wednesday. Everyone would be there—her mom and sisters, Beverly’s friends and coworkers—and she really
needed to finalize the menu. It was funny when and how these things hit.

Cathy’s husband had walked out on her some five years earlier, after nearly twenty-five years of marriage, and Cathy had sunk
into a deep depression and stayed there for several years. She had started dating again only a few months earlier and now
viewed every man she met as possible future husband material. Instead of relaxing, having fun, and trying to get to know a
man on the first few dates, Cathy was attempting to figure out if he would make a good spouse.

She was doing it right now with Ted, a man she met a few weeks earlier and had gone out with only twice. Evelyn was trying
to persuade Cathy to enjoy the freedom to explore and meet new people that the end of a relationship often ushered in, without
obsessing about remarrying. She reminded Cathy that she wasn’t planning to have any more children now that she was well into
her forties. And that she had been through a wedding once—the dress fittings, florists, caterers, bridal showers, and all
that stuff. She didn’t need those things again.

That was when Evelyn remembered that she had completely forgotten to call the caterer back for Beverly’s bridal shower. When
Evelyn had offered to host the surprise shower, her life wasn’t in complete disarray as it was at this point, with Kevin leaving
this past weekend. Thank God she had hired a caterer instead of planning to prepare all the food herself. That would have
been more than she could have handled, given her current mental state.

She grabbed the notepad she kept on a small glass table next to her armchair and discreetly jotted a note to herself:
Call caterer—urgent.
Then she listened as Cathy, wearing a floral print sundress and seated on a small couch across from Evelyn, talked about
wanting the security and comfort that comes from knowing that someone will always be there for you.

“I miss so much about being married,” Cathy said. She was twisting a lock of her shoulder-length blond hair, a habit she had
whenever she felt anxious. “Like having someone I can tap on the shoulder when I’m feeling horny.” Cathy chuckled. “Someone
I know is attracted to me and free of diseases too, by the way. And yes, women in their late forties get horny.”

There was a time when Cathy’s blunt sense of humor would have made Evelyn laugh herself. But not now. Not today. Given what
she was now going through in her own marriage, all she could manage was a weak smile. It felt familiar and yet so strange
to talk about divorce with a client, now that she and Kevin were separated and her own future was so precarious. A part of
Evelyn wondered if she would begin to view divorce differently now.

“You don’t have to tell me that women in their forties have those feelings,” Evelyn said, thinking with dismay about the many
months that had passed by since Kevin had touched her intimately. She quickly shook the personal longing from her head and
focused on her client. “We’re about the same age, you know.”

Cathy’s pretty blue eyes brightened. “Really? I always thought you were in your early forties at the most. You look so young.”
Cathy laughed good-naturedly. “It’s not fair. You-all age so beautifully.”

Evelyn smiled. “I’m not surprised that you have these feelings. You’re still a healthy woman. And being around a man whom
you find attractive is reawakening the feelings within you.”

Cathy nodded eagerly.

“But do you feel that you need to be in a marriage to deal with them?” Evelyn asked.

“Not really. I’m not
that
old.” Cathy laughed again, and this time Evelyn joined her. “I could get it on with a man without marriage,” Cathy continued.
“I guess what I really miss is having someone I know will be around to the end, at least until one of us croaks. For that,
you need marriage or something close.”

Evelyn nodded with understanding. “You’re talking about lifelong companionship or a partner who is always ready to share intimacy
or whatever else whenever you are. Can you be sure you’ll have that with marriage?”

Cathy frowned with thought and the wrinkles around her eyes deepened. “Obviously, I didn’t have those things toward the end
of my marriage, even though I didn’t realize it at first.” She shrugged. “That doesn’t mean I couldn’t have them with someone
else in the future.”

“Sounds like you think marriage would be different the second time around.”

“Maybe. Well, yes, I do.”

“Why would it be different?”

“I could meet a better man. Someone who wants a lifelong commitment just as I do.”

Evelyn nodded again.

“Not that my first husband didn’t want those things in the beginning,” Cathy continued. “I’m sure he did. I know he did. At
least I think he did.” Cathy sighed. “But he changed, you know? We both did. People change all the time, I guess, and I have
no way of knowing if this man I’m seeing now would change on me. Or anyone else I might meet, for that matter. At least I’m
older and wiser now, as well as the men I meet, so we should be smarter about these things.” Cathy paused, and Evelyn waited,
as she could see from Cathy’s expression that she was turning things over in her head. One of the tricks Evelyn had learned
as a therapist was that sometimes the best thing you could do was wait and see where the client was going.

“Do second marriages have a better success rate?” Cathy finally asked. “I know the success rate for first marriages is lousy.
But what about second marriages? It seems they would have a better success rate, since you learn something from the first.”

“Actually, no, they don’t.”

Cathy looked shocked.

“Sorry, it’s true,” Evelyn said. “People don’t always learn much from their first marriages. They tend to repeat the same
old patterns.”

Cathy frowned. “Really? You mean if they marry a jerk the first time, they turn around and marry another jerk? How stupid.”

Evelyn smiled. “Or they marry someone with the same incompatibilities. But that doesn’t mean that
you
can’t learn something and do better next time. You can break the pattern.”

“I definitely don’t want to end up in divorce court again. It was nasty, a horrible experience for me.” Cathy shuddered visibly.

“There’s probably only one way to be absolutely sure that won’t happen again.”

Cathy frowned briefly, then blinked with enlightenment. “Oh, you mean don’t get married again in the first place?”

Evelyn nodded.

“You’re telling me that marriage always has pros and cons.”

Evelyn nodded again. “So does being single. There are different kinds of risks or different pros and cons, as you put it.
It all depends on what you prefer. Some prefer the freedom that comes with being single. But the downside is loneliness, and
it can be a big downside when you’re an older woman. Not to mention the risk of all the STDs out there.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Not that you can’t catch things when you’re married, but ideally it’s less of a concern then. If you go for marriage, you’ll
have someone to share things with, from bills to lovemaking and everything else. But that comes with the risk of losing it
all and being hurt or maybe being trapped in a bad marriage that you can’t walk away from so easily. In the end, it’s about
knowing yourself—your strengths and your vulnerabilities, your hopes and dreams—so you can make smart choices.”

The more Evelyn listened to herself talk, the more she realized how much she wanted to stay married. The alternative didn’t
sound too appealing for a woman her age. She tried to sound impartial as she counseled Cathy, but it was harder to do that
now, given what she was going through in her own personal life.

As soon as Cathy left, Evelyn moved to her desk and picked up the phone, not to call the caterer but to call Kevin once again.
She would get to the caterer in due time, but she had been trying to reach Kevin since Monday, the day after he left, and
she was tired of waiting for him to call her back. She wanted to hear his voice, and she didn’t even know his whereabouts.
Was he still in a hotel, or had he moved to the apartment today as planned? It was utter nonsense that she had no idea where
her husband was.

She dialed his cell number. How ironic, she thought as she waited. The only way she could get in touch with her husband was
through his cell phone. She listened as it rang and rang until finally his voice mail greeting came on. She twisted her lips
impatiently until the greeting ended, then left yet another curt message for him to call her and slammed the phone down.

How could Kevin walk out and not even bother to get in touch for three days? She felt like some desperate twenty-year-old
calling her man again and again and praying that he would call her back. She hadn’t gone through crap like this in decades
and she hated it. She was too old for such nonsense.

She still had some good old-fashioned pride left in her. She would wait it out. If she gave Kevin some time, he would get
in touch sooner or later. They had been together for so long. He needed her more than he realized. He needed his life with
her more than he knew or was willing to admit. All his talk about trying to act white was foolish nonsense. Kevin had always
been just as eager as she had to improve their lives, to have nice things for themselves and their children. With patience
on her part, he would come back to his senses and back to her.

Or would he? What if he didn’t come back to his senses? What if he enjoyed his time away from her? What if he met some other
woman while he was away? Worse yet, what if he had already met another woman? Evelyn didn’t think he had, but could she be
sure? No, she couldn’t.

“Oh, God,” she muttered. She tapped her fingers on the desk and took a deep breath. “Calm down,” she said softly. Don’t allow
yourself to wallow in negative thoughts just yet. Kevin was about to turn fifty. Most likely, he was going through the male
change of life. It was surprising, since Kevin had always been so stable, so rock solid, but turning fifty could freak anyone
out, even someone as rational as Kevin. Maybe even more so with someone like Kevin. He was likely regretting all those years
of being so sane and serious about everything. Now he wanted to let it all loose and have some fun.