Lia Farrell - Mae December 02 - Two Dogs Lie Sleeping (13 page)

B
en stretched luxuriously in her bed, yawned and gave her a big smile. “Good morning, gorgeous girl.”

“Sssshh. Good morning,” Mae whispered. “Please get dressed, and don’t wake Matthew.”

“Oh, okay.” He hopped out of bed and dressed quickly, while Mae enjoyed the view.

“Are you ogling me from your bed, Miss December?” He bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “That’s not going to get me out of here any faster
, you know.”

“I know
.” She smiled up at him. “Why don’t you go downstairs and let the dogs out. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“So I don’t get to watch you get dressed? Not fair.”

She giggled. “No. Please, before your mini-me wakes up, get out of here!”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Ben looked back from her doorway. “I think he’s already downstairs, though.”

Mae closed her eyes, envisioning her kitchen at the mercy of an unsupervised four-year-old. She got out of bed, grabbed underwear, shorts, and a tank-top from the drawers of her antique dresser and scurried into her bathroom to dress. She heard a delighted squeal from Matthew downstairs. His father must be tossing him in the air already.

When she was decent, Mae went downstairs. Her house was empty of men, boys, dogs
, and puppies. The back door stood partway open, so she poured herself a cup of coffee before peeking out. Matthew and Ben were standing with their backs to her, apparently taking a potty-break with the dogs.

When Mae and Ben first started dating, Mae had talked to her sister, July, about Matthew.

“Do you have any advice about little kids for me, Jules? I’m dating a single dad now.”

“Well, let’s see. Little girls like to scream for no apparent reason, and little boys like to whack things with sticks. Oh, and they love to pee outside.”

“That’s it?”

July laughed. “Yes, that’s the sum total of my maternal wisdom about little kids. And if you can get them to eat and sleep on a regular basis, everybody’s happier.”

Mae looked out her kitchen window and laughed at the pant-less little boy and his daddy, thinking big boys love to pee outside too. Matthew and Ben concluded their business and walked back toward her.

“Good morning, Matthew. How’re you today?” He smiled up at her.

“I left my T-Rex underpants upstairs.”

“I can see that. Could you go put them on for breakfast, please?”

Matthew frowned. “My mommy makes me wear pants at the table too.”

She looked at Ben, who was unsuccessfully stifling a laugh. “I think that’s a good rule, don’t you?” She
gave Ben an imploring look.
You’re the dad, help me out here.

“Yes, that’s a good rule. Go on, pants before pancakes,” Ben grinned.

“Yay pancakes!” Matthew sped back into the house on chubby little legs, slamming the door behind him.

After Matthew came back downstairs, clad only in his dinosaur underpants, he handed her his extremely wet
Pull-Ups from the night before and wolfed down a stack of pancakes the size of his head. Ben told him it was time to go to school.

“But I want to stay here, Daddy.” He looked like he was about to cry. “I don’t want to go to school today.”

“Your mommy’s going to pick you up from school this afternoon. You want to see her, right?”

“Mommy can pick me up here,” he pointed out, with impeccable four-year-old logic. “She knows where Miss Mae lives.”

“That’s true, she does. But it’s a school day. You need to get dressed, sport. I’ll help you pack your things.”

Matthew threw his fork down and glared at his father. “I want to play with the puppies,” he shouted.

The light of battle began to gleam in Ben’s eye. “Don’t yell at me, young man. Get your butt upstairs right now!” Matthew remained seated. “I’m going to start counting now, and by the time I get to four, you better be on the stairs.” No action from the little rebel. Mae stood and began to clear the table; she was trying not to giggle.

“One.” The two Bradleys
locked eyes. “Two …” Matthew inched one bottom cheek off his chair. “Three!” Ben roared, and Matthew broke for the stairs. Mae laughed and Ben followed his little man out of the kitchen.

They left within the hour after
each gave her a kiss and a hug. Matthew clung to her for an extra beat.

“Can I come back and see the puppies again, Miss Mae?”

“Of course, thanks for being such a good boy while you were here. Good-bye.”

She watched them drive away, and then collapsed on the couch. “Good Lord, how does July do it with three of them?”

M
ae hadn’t talked to her mother in a few days, so she took care of a few quick house and dog chores and then carried her cellphone and a glass of raspberry iced tea out to her screened porch. Although it had been rainy and cool this August—for middle Tennessee, anyway—it was already eighty degrees out and very muggy. She turned on the ceiling fan and took a seat. After a refreshing gulp of tea, she called her mother’s home phone.

“Suzanne speaking.”

“Good morning, Mama, it’s me.”

“I’m glad you called me, Mae. I’m really worried about your sister. I took the kids out to the lake
house yesterday, and July’s not in a good place right now.”

“I know she’s not,” Mae said. “She dropped both her dogs off here night before last. She was only here about ten minutes, but she was in tears. She got into it with Ben too, about him having her house searched.”

Suzanne sighed. “I hope she’s not headed toward a major depression of some sort. Can I come over there? I’d rather not discuss all this on the phone.”

“Sure, Mama, you can meet the Tater. Just give me an hour to get my house put back together first. Matthew was here all weekend, so I’m a little disorganized.”

“The Tater? Is that what you named your new puppy?”

“December’s Sweet Potato is her full name. She’s so cute. You’re going to love her.”

“I’ll pick up some barbecue for us for lunch on the way over. See you in an hour or so.”

“Sounds good.” Mae pressed the ‘end call’ button on her cellphone and went upstairs to change out of her grungy shorts and tank
-top. In the back of her closet, she found a short denim skirt and sleeveless brown blouse. It was time to do laundry. She was officially out of clean clothes.

She took her full hamper down the hall to the spare bedroom and stripped the sheets from Matthew’s bed. Mae had made extensive changes to the floor plan on the main floor of her historic farmhouse, removing all the non-supporting walls and converting a parlor into an art studio. She’d also divided what had been an office into a laundry room and powder room.

A hundred years ago, when her house was built, big families were the norm. When she and Noah bought the house, they joked that they would have to plan on lots of kids to fill all of the five original bedrooms. The first change they made to the house was to turn the two bedrooms on the front of the house into one large room with a walk-in closet, but it was still a four-bedroom house. She smiled, thinking that at least this bedroom would have a little one in it now and then. She put Matty’s sheets in the hamper, remade the bed with clean sheets, and took her laundry downstairs.

The Tater was in her crate in the kitchen. Mae put the overflowing laundry basket on the counter and released the puppy. Picking her up, she put her in the hamper on top of the sheets and carried her into the laundry room. Both of July’s puppies were in
the bed of their mother, Tallulah. Tallulah herself was nowhere to be seen.

“C’mon Soot, Ricky, let’s go outside.” She liberated the Tater from the hamper and carried her out the back door with the two older puppies in tow. All three of the pups sniffed around and got treats as soon as they went potty. Mae stood there enjoying the cuteness for a few minutes, then took them all back inside.

An hour later, her mother showed up with a bag of delicious-smelling barbecue and the puppy ran right over to her, looking up with a twitching nose. “You must be the Tater,” Suzanne said with a laugh. “You’re super-cute, but this food’s not for you.” The tiny corgi tilted her head and blinked her eyes. “Look at you,” Mae’s mother cooed, bending down. “You sure know how to work it.”

Mae poured sweet tea into tall glasses with ice and put plates, forks and napkins on her kitchen table
. “Thanks for bringing the ’cue, Mama. It smells great. Do you want me to toast the buns?”

Suzanne was cradling the Tater close to her face. “Yes, please. Should I put her back in her crate?”

“Yeah, she’s far from potty-trained.”

Suzanne set the little corgi in her crate and latched the door. She looked around. “Where are the rest of the dogs?” She asked.

“I’ve got Soot and Ricky gated into the laundry room. My other three are tired of puppies. They’re hiding in my art studio. I just closed the door, so they could have some peace.”

Suzanne washed her hands and took the buns out of the toaster. Seating herself at the table, Mae’s mother piled the pork on her bun, added sauce and topped it with coleslaw and the top of the bun. She took a huge bite and Mae sighed, wishing she could eat like her mother and still stay thin. Mae fixed herself an open-face version of the same sandwich with less barbeque.

“So I had a long talk with your sister yesterday. I spent the afternoon out there with her and the kids. Mae, I think her marriage is in trouble.”

“Really? I know she’s upset, but I thought it had more to do with finding Tommy like she did. It must have been so traumatic.”

Suzanne smiled at her younger daughter. “Who do you turn to when you’re upset?”

“Ben, I guess
, or you and Daddy. And Tammy.”

“U
h-huh. And you and Ben have been together for three months now?”

Mae put her fork down and nodded at her mother. “I see what you’re getting at. She’s not turning to Fred.”

“Right, she’s pushing him away. It sounds like he doesn’t trust her, and she’s angry about it. Are you done with your lunch?”

At Mae’s nod, Suzanne stood and cleared the plates. She set them down in the sink. “Could we take our tea out to the screened porch?”

“Sure, Mama.”

The two women carried their glasses out to the porch and made themselves comfortable.

“July shared something with me,” Mama said. Her voice was very quiet and she was looking down at her clenched hands. “She didn’t say I couldn’t tell you …. Do you remember when she and Fred were newlyweds, and she was trying to get pregnant?”

“I
remember it took a little while. And then after she got pregnant she was so nervous about miscarrying—she acted like she was made of glass. Why?”

Her mother pursed her lips. “Well, apparently your poor sister got pregnant the first time she had sex. Tommy disappeared before she even missed a period, but after six weeks she miscarried and lost the baby.”

“
I can’t believe July never told me that
.
”
Mae looked at her mother with a frown. “Do you think she ever told Fred?”

“She says not. And now she’s afraid to. She knows that Fred’s already upset about her relationship with Tommy.”

“Oh, that’s not good.”

Suzanne nodded her agreement. “Your sister’s not talking to her husband and she’s holed up at the lake house with the kids. And your boyfriend is investigating Fred for Tommy’s murder.”

“Well shit, Mama. If I ever want to get rid of these two extra puppies, I’ll have to do something to get July back home.”

Suzanne gave a surprised snort of laughter. “Don’t curse in front of me, young lady. But you’re right. Six dogs in the house might be too much for
even you.”

A
fter her mother left, Mae called Fred’s cellphone and it went straight to voicemail. She tried his office and got his secretary. She identified herself as his sister-in-law and was told, “Mr. Powell is out of the office today. He wasn’t feeling very well. Can I give him a message when he returns?”

“No
, thank you, I’ll try the house phone.”

There was no answer at the house either, just July’s voice on the answering machine
, so she decided to go check on Fred. A flash of inspiration made her decide to take the porgi pups with her. She rounded up Soot and Ricky, their food, beds and leashes and took everything out to her car. Matthew’s car seat was still latched into the backseat of her Explorer. Ben must have forgotten it, since he had a car seat for Matty in his truck. Katie would need it when she picked Matthew up this afternoon. Luckily, Mae knew where the pre-school was; her niece Olivia had gone there too.

Mae put the pups and their gear in the back of the Explorer and drove into
Rosedale’s historic downtown. After she parked and extricated the car seat, she carried it into the nursery school. The administrator’s office was right inside the door. A woman with shoulder-length brown hair and glasses looked up from her computer monitor.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m just dropping off a car seat for Matthew Bradley. Should I leave it with you?”

She shook her head. “You need to sign in.” She indicated a ledger on the desk. “Then you’ll have to put it outside his classroom door. He’s in the rainbow class at the end of the hall.” She handed Mae a pen and
resumed typing on her keyboard.

Mae printed her name, filled in the date
, time, and reason for her visit, and then signed her name. Hoisting the car seat, she took it down the hall. The top half of the last Dutch door on the left was open and had a large rainbow decal on the wall next to it. Mae set the heavy car seat on the floor and peeked into the classroom.

“Hi
, Miss Mae!” Matthew shouted. “We’re having snack time. Do you want some of my fruit snacks?”

“Hi, Matthew, no thanks. I’m just dropping off your car seat.” She looked at Matthew’s teacher. “I’m leaving it right out here for his mom, okay?”

“That’s fine. I’m Miss Jena.” She walked over with an outstretched hand. Matthew darted in front of his teacher and looked up at Mae through the top half of the door.

“That’s Miss Mae. I sleeped over at her house while my mommy was gone. So did my
daddy.” Mae winced. Miss Jena put her hand down on Mathew’s head.

“I’m Mae, Ben’s girlfriend. I kept Matty this weekend.”
She opened the bottom half of the door to give Matthew a quick hug. “Bye, Matty. I’ve got to get going. Bye, Miss Jena.” Matty’s teacher gave her an insincere smile, and Mae made a speedy escape.

It was late afternoon by the time she reached her sister’s house and found Fred sitting on the wide stone steps by the front door. He was wearing running shorts and a faded Vanderbilt T-shirt. He looked up from his coffee cup when Mae came up the walkway with the two exuberant puppies on their leashes.

“Hi Mae.” He put the cup down, then got up and gave her a hug. He smelled like stale sweat and cigarette smoke. She looked up at him with concern.

“I thought you quit smoking years ago, Fred. Are you all right?”

He shook his head. “C’mon in.” He took the leash handles from her and opened the carved wooden door. “I’ll put these two rascals out back.”

Mae patted his shoulder. “I’ll grab the rest of their stuff from the car and come in. We need to talk.”

Mae left two hours later with her head in a whirl. Things were even worse between Fred and July than she had feared. As soon as Mae got home and the Tater had been attended to, she called her mother.

“Hi. I just spent the last two hours talking to Fred.”

“What’d you learn?”

“He’s a mess. I took the puppies to him, and his eyes got all red watching them play in the backyard. He told me
he hasn’t slept or eaten much since July left. He’s smoking again, too.”

Suzanne was quiet for a moment and Mae heard a sigh.

“I don’t know why he doesn’t just go to the lake house and talk to her.”

“I suggested that, but he feels like that would just make her angry. He really doesn’t want to fight with her in front of the kids. I fixed him some scrambled eggs while I was there and he ate them, but he looks terrible. I’m worried about him being there alone. It was so sad, Mama. He said he doesn’t think July ever really loved him.”

“What?”

“Yes. He said that Tommy was a ghost in their marriage even when he was alive. Now that he’s dead, Fred thinks she’ll never get closure. He’s making it sound like July’s going to
ask for a divorce.”

“I’ll invite him over for dinner soon. Your father’s getting back from his fishing trip tomorrow night. We’ll try to cheer Fred up. What do you think we can do to get your sister to come home?”

“She’ll probably come for Tommy’s funeral, but she still might not be talking to Fred. I’m going to call Sandi Townsend. She might be able to persuade July better than I can.”

“Your sister’s pretty hard-headed, but that might work. Thanks
, sweetie.”

“You’re welcome, Mama. Talk to you later.”

The rest of the evening Mae thought hard about her sister. By the time she took her dogs outside for a potty-break before bed, she had decided there was only one thing that would help. If July wanted to save her marriage, it was time for her to say good-bye to Tommy Ferris once and for all.