The Someday List (15 page)

Once the calls began rolling into voice mail, she woke up Indigo and Yasmin and urged them to get dressed. The mother of
Yasmin's best friend, Carmen, had called last night and offered
for Yasmin to spend the next few days with her family, so Uncle Charles could concentrate on caring for Aunt Irene. He had accepted the offer and Rachelle planned to drop her off on the way
to the hospital this morning.

Indigo was adamant about not needing a babysitter and had
sulked for most of the evening, after Uncle Charles told her she
couldn't stay home alone all day. From what Rachelle could gather,
he normally gave her that option. But he clearly was shaken by
Aunt Irene's accident and insisted that this time she go over to a
friend's house.

"I'm just not sure how long we're going to be at the hospital,
baby," he told her.

She had stomped to her room and avoided him the rest of the
night.

This morning, she sat up in bed and told Rachelle she had
settled on someone: Troy's niece, Chaundra.

"I really like her, and this would be the perfect way to get to
know her better," Indigo said. "Can I hang out with her?"

Rachelle had summoned every ounce of maturity she possessed to keep a straight face. Did Indigo really expect her to call
and set this up?

She kept forgetting the girl had no clue. Indigo was born the
year that Rachelle and Troy married and divorced.

Rachelle shrugged. She needed to do whatever she could to help
right now. This wouldn't kill her. "Did she give you her number?
Call her and see what her uncle says"

Indigo's eyes grew wide. "Her uncle? You mean Mr. Hardy isn't
her father? Is he single?"

Rachelle put her hand on her hips. "He may be single, Indigo,
but he's more than twenty years older than you. Get over it"

The girl giggled and searched for Chaundra's number in her list of cell phone contacts. She passed the phone to Rachelle. "Can
you ask for me? I'm nervous around him."

Rachelle raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you need to find another
friend to visit today. You don't need to be hanging around a man
you have a crush on, especially since there's not an adult female
in the house. I'm not feeling this."

Indigo rolled her eyes. "So now you're saying he's shady? I
can't believe this!"

Rachelle took a deep breath and tried to remember how over
the top she had been as a teenager. If she couldn't muster some
patience, she just might snatch this girl up. "Look, let's remember
what this is all about, Indigo-not you. Your mom had a serious
accident, she's having surgery today, and we all need to pull together. Call Sabrina or one of your other girlfriends and ask the
parents if Chaundra can come over there and hang out with you.
I don't have the energy for the drama today."

Indigo sat Indian style on her bed and lowered her head. She
muttered something Rachelle couldn't hear and held her hand
out for her cell phone.

"Aren't you concerned about your mother? You seemed to be
yesterday," Rachelle said.

The wistfulness in Indigo's eyes conveyed more than would
ever cross her lips. Just as quickly as Rachelle noticed it, however,
it was replaced by adolescent indifference.

Indigo dialed a number and asked to speak to Sabrina's mother.
"May I come over for the day and bring a friend who's new to
town, Mrs. Robinson?"

When she received the okay, she called Chaundra and looked
expectantly at Rachelle, who sat on the edge of the bed, waiting
to see how things would unfold.

"Mr. Hardy, good morning;' Indigo stammered. "Will you speak
to my cousin?"

She thrust the phone at Rachelle, who grabbed it before it hit
the floor. She glared at Indigo.

"Uh, hi, Troy, how are you?" She knew he must be thinking
she set this up. "I'm sorry to bother you so early, but we're calling
to see if Chaundra can hang out with Indigo today, at a friend's
house? I'm heading to the hospital with Uncle Charles and we
may be there most of the day, depending on how Aunt Irene's
surgery goes. Indigo is going over to another friend's house, and
that friend's mother has invited Chaundra over too"

Rachelle wanted to kick herself for going on and on, like an
eager-beaver teenager.

Troy chuckled. "These young ladies are something else, aren't
they? Sure, she can hang out with Indigo today. She'll be excited
to meet some other girls too. Should I bring her over to Irene's
or drop her off somewhere?"

Rachelle hadn't thought through the logistics. "Let's see, I'm
dropping Yasmin and Indigo at their friends' houses on my way
to Jubilant Memorial. Do you want me to pick up Chaundra?"

"No, no;' Troy said quickly. "You've got enough on your plate.
I'll bring her by there, and if you want, I can drop the girls off
wherever they need to go. That way, I can introduce myself and
Chaundra to the girls' parents"

Rachelle was impressed. For an uncle doing a dad's job, he was
on point. But then again, hadn't he always been?

Don't go there this morning.

Her brief self-talk jerked her back on course. "That's a great
idea, Troy. Can you be here in about an hour?"

By the time she showered and dressed, Uncle Charles had al ready left for the hospital. Since Yasmin was raring to go, he had
taken her to Carmen's house when he left.

Rachelle grabbed a few magazines and a bottle of water and
made sure she had her cell phone, so she could check in with
Taryn and Tate before she reached the hospital. Those "No cell
phones allowed" signs were plastered everywhere.

She checked her hair and makeup in the mirror, out of habit.
Gabe liked her to look flawless, even if she were running to the
neighborhood gas station for a refill. He wasn't here to offer a
critique, so she gave herself an A:'

She had been in jubilant just a few days, and already she felt
sluggish after missing her Pilates class. Maybe she could walk
the neighborhood this evening, if all went well with Aunt Irene's
surgery.

"Come on, Indigo! Mr. Hardy will be here in a few minutes."

It felt strange referring to Troy in such formal terms, but Rachelle wasn't sure what he had told Chaundra about her. She intended to downplay their connection as long as he did. At the
same time, she was nervous about seeing him again, even if only
briefly.

She plopped on the living room sofa to wait for Indigo and
glanced at her watch. It was just 8:45, but it seemed so much later,
perhaps because she had risen around six a.m.

Thinking about Aunt Irene's accident and the fact that she had
been drinking saddened Rachelle. After they helped her work
her way through the hip injury, the family needed to address her
drinking.

The doorbell rang and Rachelle trotted to answer it. Troy and
Chaundra stood there expectantly.

Rachelle opened the door wide and welcomed them in. She
hugged Chaundra and led them into the kitchen.

"Indigo left a bag on the table in here with her iPod and a few
other necessities;' she told Chaundra and Troy. "I want to make
sure she doesn't forget it. Are you guys thirsty?"

Instead of joining them at the table, she bustled about, all of a
sudden finding things that should be put away or reorganized.

Indigo emerged from her bedroom and greeted her friend.
"Thanks for coming over;" she told Chaundra. "You remember
Sabrina from my party, right? She has a great hangout room at
her place:"

Rachelle explained that Troy would be dropping them off.

"That's the plan;' he said and looked at Rachelle. "Then I'll
swing by the hospital and check on Irene."

Rachelle waved him off. "You don't have to do that," she said.
"It's nice of you, but I know you're busy. When do you start working on campus?"

"Not'til the fall semester begins," he said. "But I've been dropping by occasionally, just to get a sense of how the department
works and to organize my office"

Rachelle nodded.

"Let's get in the truck," Chaundra told Indigo. "There's a song
I want you to hear on my iPod, and I didn't bring it in."

When they were gone, Rachelle and Troy stood facing each
other across the kitchen island. Neither knew what to say, but
neither looked away.

Rachelle wanted to ask him why he had custody of the girl.
No-she really wanted to know whether he hated her for leaving
him all those years ago, with nothing more than a note and her
half of the rent.

Troy broke the silence. "I couldn't hate you if I tried, you
know."

A thrill raced through Rachelle. How had he known what she was thinking? Then she remembered-he had always known her
that well.

The fact that he could still read her expressions after fifteen
years, when Gabe had no clue, stunned her.

Troy peered into her eyes and she realized the connection was
mutual: she knew what he was thinking and feeling too. He might
not hate her, but he needed the explanation she had never had
the courage to give him.

She couldn't. If he knew why she left, he just might realize she
hadn't been worthy of him in the first place.

She zeroed in on his lips, wondering what it would be like to
kiss him again.

"You know, Rachelle, I've forgiven you," Troy said.

Those words chilled her like a splash of cold water.

"I kept holding out hope that you would realize we had something special;' he said. "I just knew you would finally wake up and
decide that your mom and dad couldn't keep making all of your
decisions for you and that you would come back.

"After a while, all I wanted was the reason you just threw us
away. But even without that, I moved on:"

Tears filled Rachelle's eyes. "I'm sorry, Troy"

She wanted to ask why, if he had loved her so much, he hadn't
come after her.

With that selfish thought, she couldn't look at him any longer. She turned her back and wiped away the single tear snaking
its way down her cheek. "I was young and stupid and intent on
keeping my parents happy, but I didn't realize how much it would
cost me"

That was all she could offer him right now. Besides, the girls
were sitting in the truck waiting.

As if on cue, Rachelle's cell phone rang and she trotted to the
living room to retrieve it from her purse. It was Aunt Melba.

Troy paused in the entrance connecting the two rooms and
waved at her as she flipped the phone open. He formed his lips
to speak, but instead smiled and left through the front door.

Rachelle watched him go and calculated his assets. He was
smart, kind, and talented. He could have been a football star with
that physique or a model with that face, but he had never used
those qualities to his advantage or been arrogant about what he
considered his gifts from God.

"Hello? Helloooo?"

Melba's voice floated through the cell phone and snapped Rachelle back to reality. She was swooning over her first husband
and needed both a fan and a wake-up call.

That must explain Melba's timing.

"Are you at the hospital?" Rachelle asked.

"I'm on my way," Melba said.

Rachelle could tell she was using her Bluetooth; she heard air
swirling in the background while Melba drove.

"Are the girls squared away for the day or do you need to stay
there with them?"

"No," Rachelle said. "I'm on my way too. Both of them will be
hanging out with their friends' families for the day, including Miss
Grown-Up Indigo, who wanted to stay here by herself."

"Humph;' Melba said. "She better get used to not always getting her way. How is she, otherwise? And has anyone talked to
Reuben?"

Rachelle hadn't shared Indigo's reaction at the accident scene,
but it was just like Aunt Melba to understand that the crash would
leave the girl, and Reuben, shaken.

"They both seem fine;" Rachelle said. "I talked with Reuben last night, and he was upset, as expected. I didn't give him any
details. All he knows is that Aunt Irene broke her hip and is having surgery.

"Well, we need to get him back on the phone;' Melba said. "He
needs to know the full story"

Rachelle frowned. "Why? How is that going to solve anything?"

"It may not solve anything, little niece, but it's no secret that
Irene was driving drunk. The Jubilant Herald has pictures of the
accident scene and traffic backup it caused, along with a brief
story. It's on the front of the city section and details who was
at fault. My dear sister had a blood alcohol level twice the legal
limit, and when she crashed into those two cars, she injured a
five-year-old boy."

Rachelle's mouth fell open. Uncle Charles had informed them
that Aunt Irene had been intoxicated and that a child had suffered
minor injuries, but this was bad. Someone did need to break the
news to Reuben, and to the girls.

The phone had ceased ringing nonstop about an hour ago.
Now Rachelle knew why.

espite their awkward encounter earlier, Troy kept
his word.