The Trouble With J.J. (20 page)

“You think so?” Grace beamed. “Well, thank you.”

“She’s got your taste too, Mother,” Bill said, blowing a bubble. He sat on the patio to Grace’s right, his legs stretched out on the lawn, arms braced behind him for support. He wore ragged cutoffs and a fluorescent-green Hawaiian shirt that made Genna’s eyes hurt. His steno pad lay open on his lap, and his felt-tip pen was tucked behind his ear as he watched his children play ball.

“Maybe I’ll grow up to be just like you, Gramma,” Alyssa speculated.

Grace glowed.

Roberta exhaled a cloud of smoke and reverently crossed herself with her cigarette.

Bill chuckled. “You’re in like Flynn now, Lyss.”

Alyssa slid off her perch and threw her arms around her grandfather’s neck in an exuberant hug. “I love you, Grampa!”

Bill laughed, his pale blue eyes crinkling at the corners just the way Jared’s did. He wrapped his arms around his granddaughter and rocked her back and forth. “I love you, too, baby.”

Genna tried to choke down the rock in her throat. Jared’s family was undeniably weird, but they loved one another and never felt any compunction about showing it. They were forever hugging and kissing and slapping one another on the back. They made Genna’s family look like polite strangers. They made her feel like an outsider.

No. That was her own fault. She had always longed to be a part of a family that was secure in loving one another. Spending time with the Hennessys only reminded her that she wasn’t, and her prospects weren’t so great either. She bit her lip
and stroked the puppy, who had fallen asleep on her lap.

An exultant cry of “Touchdown!” from Father James drew her attention to the lawn. James was several years older than Jared, and the guy was drop-dead handsome. Not as handsome as Jared, of course, she hastened to amend, but handsome. In his cutoffs and white polo shirt, his black hair windblown, Genna could easily imagine he’d broken a lot of hearts when he’d taken the vows. And no doubt he heard a lot of confessions about lust.

At the other end of the touchdown pass stood Bryan. Bryan was quiet and studious like his father. He never said more than five words at a crack. He wasn’t as tall as his brothers, but he was athletically built. His hair was almost blond, and he wore black-framed glasses over fathomless blue eyes. Women must itch to take those glasses off him.

Marie looked like her father with a Dorothy Hamill hairdo. Jared lifted her over his head and turned around and around as if they were pairs skaters, Marie changing leg positions for dramatic effect, then somersaulting down in front of him.

Jared laughed and jogged over to where Genna sat looking forlorn and forgotten. She had begged
out of the football game, claiming her ankle was bothering her, but he had his doubts about that. She’d been getting quieter and quieter all week, and nothing he did to tease her out of her mood worked. He was terrified she was getting ready to back out of their relationship. In two days he would be leaving for training camp, what better time for her to break it off?

Dammit, he thought, grabbing up his discarded T-shirt and toweling himself off with it, things had been going so well. What had triggered this? His family? Genna seemed to genuinely like them, but they were an eccentric bunch, and she wasn’t into that. Had being around them sent her back to believing he wasn’t her type or some such ridiculous nonsense? That made sense, according to the way Genna’s mind worked. He was going to have to find out soon and set her straight on a few things.

He would have to be careful about it, though. He had promised her to keep things light. He couldn’t just up and tell her he was changing the rules of the game.

“Hey, gorgeous, how’s the ankle?” he asked, dropping down beside her, a teasing grin on his face.

“Fine.” She flashed him a smile that she feared fell short of looking authentic.

He reached out and tipped her chin his way, stealing a kiss.

“Don’t kiss in front of the priest, J.J.,” Roberta scolded, grinding out her cigarette and reaching for the half-empty pack on the white wrought iron table.

Jared laughed. “He’s my brother, Aunt Roberta.”

“Ha! Don’t try to fool me.” She shook her cigarette at him. “I can see perfectly well who you’re kissing. It’s Geneva.”

Jared and Grace rolled their eyes. Genna squeezed hers shut. Bill scribbled on his steno pad, then his head shot up and his eyes glazed over.

“Boys,” he said, suddenly jumping up and marching for the garage, James, Jared, and Bryan hot on his heels.

“Where do you suppose they’re going now, Jemima?” Roberta asked, smoke rolling in a cloud around her head.

“They are undoubtedly in there planning my surprise birthday party,” Grace said, fluffing at her hair. It was caught up high on the crown of her head and cascaded dramatically down in a froth of inky ringlets.

“You know about your surprise party?” Genna asked, thinking how disappointed the men would be when they found out.

“Of course.”

“Oh, my word, Gracie!” Roberta said between puffs.

“I always know. Bill’s given me a surprise party every year for thirty-seven years. Every year I know, and every year he knows I know.”

“It’s a tradition,” Marie said with a mischievous grin that was a female version of Jared’s.

Roberta cackled, reaching down to pat Genna’s shoulder. “They’re a crazy bunch, aren’t they, Jeanette?”

When the men emerged from the garage, everyone headed for the house and their nightly game of Trivial Pursuit. Everyone except Genna. She backed away from the door Jared held open.

“I can’t stay,” she said, sending a vacant smile to the space between James and Jared. She figured they would know she was lying since she was terrible at it, and she had the distinct impression she would burst into tears if she looked into Jared’s beautiful eyes.

The brothers exchanged meaningful looks.

“I’ll walk you home,” Jared said evenly.

They walked across the dew-damp yards, Genna forgetting to limp. Twilight was staining the sky purple and fuchsia in the west. Crickets chirped. Across the street Kyle Dennison and Brad Murray played basketball, the ball thunk-thunking on the Dennisons’ driveway.

Jared slipped an arm around Genna’s shoulders. He pulled her close to his side and leaned back against her house beside the back door.

“My family driving you crazy?” he asked, only half teasing.

“No,” Genna rushed to assure him. “I love your family. They’re wonderful.”

“Yep. The Weird Wonderful Hennessys they call us back home.”

“Your aunt Roberta is priceless.”

He laughed fondly. “She’s a fruitcake, but she’s sweet, isn’t she?”

They fell silent for a moment. It was an awkward silence, something they hadn’t experienced in their relationship even when Genna had disliked him. The sounds of the evening grew almost unbearably loud around them. A click sounded on Jared’s front porch, then a dot of red glowed, indicating Grace had slipped out for one of her secret cigarettes.

Jared turned and braced a hand on either side of Genna’s head. “Listen, I know we haven’t had any time alone this week. I was thinking maybe later I could slip over for a while and—”

“Not tonight, Jared,” she said, shaking her head and lying through her teeth. “This isn’t a good week for me.”

Damn, he thought, as if they didn’t have enough obstacles in their way all of a sudden, now Mother Nature had to get into the act. He brushed Genna’s hair back from her face. “We don’t have to make love, just be together. We need to talk—”

She shook her head. As badly as she’d craved time alone with Jared this week, her emotions were too raw tonight. She needed to be alone, to build herself up for what she was certain was coming: the end.

“Genna, we need to have a serious talk.”

So you can tell me it’s over? No thanks
.

“Not tonight, Jared. Please. Don’t push it, okay?”

Just push off. Right, Genna?

He heaved a sigh and looked away. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Um—no—I have some things to do tomorrow.”

“Baking for next Easter?” he asked sardonically, stepping back from her.

Sudden tears sprang to Genna’s eyes. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“I thought you were taking your family to New Haven tomorrow anyway. I thought your father wanted to go to the shipyard or something.”

“Yeah, well, there’s no reason you can’t come along. I’d like you to come along.”

“I can’t.”

“Fine.”

Another silence fell, this one more awkward than the last. Genna was glad darkness had fallen as well. If she looked as much an emotional wreck as she felt, she didn’t want Jared to see her.

“You’re coming to Mom’s party.”

The way he said it made her wonder what he’d do if she refused him. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Silence.

“So …” she started, searching frantically for something to lighten the mood. “What is your dad doing in the garage?”

He flashed a weary version of his famous grin. “He’s working on a special fireworks display. He’s
got a board of sparklers spelling out
Grace
in pink and purple with an exclamation mark that has a built-in rocket launcher that’ll shoot up Roman candles.”

“Sounds exciting,” she said in a tight voice, closer to tears than ever.

The party would be the last she’d see of Jared for weeks, and afterward nothing would be the same. Part of her wanted to spend every minute of every day they had left together wrapped in his arms. But she wouldn’t do that. If Jared was ready to let the relationship go, she wasn’t going to make a scene. She wasn’t going to cling to him and embarrass both of them.

It hurt, but she would tough it out. She was a grown-up. She’d made her own decision to love Jared, knowing what that meant. She’d just have to handle it now.

Jared didn’t miss the tension of restrained tears in Genna’s voice, or the desperation in his own. “Genna, what’s wrong?”

He’d intended to wait until he was sure they would have uninterrupted time to talk about whatever it was that seemed to be pulling her away from him. He’d sworn he wouldn’t push her into
anything. But the prospect of her tears scrapped his intentions.

Genna gulped back the knot in her throat, wishing Jared hadn’t put his hands on her shoulders. She could never think straight when he was this close. “Nothing. Why should anything be wrong?”

“You tell me, honey,” he begged, his fingers massaging her tense muscles.

Across the yard Jared’s back door slammed and Alyssa called out, “Daddy, are you coming to tuck me in?”

Jared cursed under his breath, then turned and called back to his daughter, “I’ll be right home, Lyss.”

“You’d better go,” Genna whispered, misery welling in her chest so she could barely breathe.

Jared didn’t move. He could feel Genna slipping away from him. He wanted to know why. He wanted to stop it from happening.

“Dad-dy!”

“Damn,” he muttered. Cupping Genna’s face with one hand, he leaned down and kissed her. Her lips were soft and trembled beneath his in a way that made him want to hold her and protect her forever.

“Da-ad-dy!”

“See you at the party,” he said. Then he turned and loped off across the grass.

Genna watched him snatch Alyssa up in his arms and disappear into the house. Without turning any lights on, she went inside her own lonely little house, climbed the stairs, and sat on the empty bed, where Jared had made love to her.

Silver moonlight spilled through the open window, lighting the room almost as adequately as a lamp. Genna let her eyes roam over her bedroom, her possessions, and mementos. She had a good life, a fulfilling life. Why did it suddenly seem to stretch before her like a vast wasteland?

Why? That was a good word on a moon-drenched night when she sat alone. Why couldn’t Jared Hennessy want her for more than the summer?

A long, soft sigh escaped her as she stretched out on the bed and lay looking out her window at Jared’s house. Her eyes were remarkably dry. There was really no sense in crying. Life was life and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She might have been able to change Jared’s outward appearance, but she couldn’t change what was in his heart—no more than she could change what was in her own.

ELEVEN

“H
ELL OF A
party, isn’t it, Jean?” Roberta exhaled a jetstream of blue smoke into the night air. She had borrowed one of Grace’s “flowing robes” to wear for the occasion, a chartreuse organdy creation with a kelly green sash. It hung on her like a sack. It made Genna think of the little boys who played shepherds in the Christmas pageant at school, dressed up in their father’s bathrobes.

Amy stood on the other side of Jared’s aunt. She leaned behind Roberta and gave Genna an incredulous look. Genna cracked the faintest of smiles.

“It’s a lovely party, Aunt Roberta. Can I get you a soda or something?”

“Yes, Jenny, yes, you can.” She grabbed Genna’s hand in an affectionate death grip and stared at her with glassy eyes. “My word, you are
such
a wonderful girl. I just can’t tell you. I just can’t. Please do get me another soda and put a little ‘or something’ in it, will you?”

“How much ‘or something’ has she had?” Amy asked as she and Genna made their way to the long refreshment table set up along the back of the house.

“Probably none. She’s a little different.”

“Bonkers, you mean.”

Amy’s gaze raced greedily from one end of the table to the other. Spotlights from the side of the house illuminated the bowls and platters of every size and shape, which were crowded onto the red checkered tablecloth. There was everything from cracked crab to barbecued ribs to fresh strawberries to chocolate cake. Thanks to Genna’s donations, there seemed to be an inordinate number of desserts.

Amy grabbed a plate and made one enthusiastic sweep down the table. Genna picked out one stick of celery for herself and mixed a drink for Roberta.

“J.J. sure knows how to throw a party.”

“Mmmm,” was all Genna had to say, an understatement at the very least.