We Interrupt This Date (21 page)

Then, pursing my lips as if that would help me
concentrate, I tried to imagine myself living here. What would I
want my bathroom to look like?

Marble floors--green to pick up the same shade as the
green in the stained glass window. A bit of royal purple for
accents because that’s my favorite color. Some white for contrast.
I moved from the front of the room to the back, explaining as I
went, waving my hands for emphasis.

Jack kept nodding. Finally he said, “Is that it?”

“I guess so. And I’m sure you could have done the
same thing yourself.”

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “I was ordered to get a
second opinion. Female.”

“That’s right, and I did the ordering.”

I jumped and slid out from under Jack’s arm to turn
around. I’d been so absorbed in mentally decorating Jack’s bathroom
that I hadn’t heard anyone come into the house.

A tall, blond woman stood in the doorway. She was
beautifully dressed in a peach-colored linen suit. She was
gorgeous, flawless even, and I would have bet her makeup was done
professionally. I had to concentrate on my jaw muscles to keep my
mouth from dropping open in awe.

“Hi.” I stepped forward with my hand out. “Jack has
told me…” He hadn’t actually told me anything about Kelly, come to
think of it. “all about you.”

“Really?” She turned to Jack. “I didn’t know you
cared.”

Jack laughed. “Dawn, this is my friend, Nic.
Actually, her real name is Susan, but it doesn’t suit her, so I
call her Nic. And, Nic, this is Dawn Akron, a designer for my firm.
She’s helping with the house.”

“Jack had plans to wreck this beautiful bathroom.”
She shuddered. “He has the color sense of a baboon.”

“Hey, don’t let her talk about me that way, Nic.”

“First I want to hear what you were planning.” I
pretended to frown.

“Brown and orange with a gaudy shade of turquoise for
accents, that’s what.” Dawn shook her head in mock sadness. “And I
thought he had better taste than that.”

“Tan and, uh, tangerine,” Jack said. “Tan and
tangerine. And Teal. What’s wrong with that?”

Dawn looked at me. “Trust me, Nic. Calling mustard
and brick, tan and tangerine do not make them look any better in a
room like this. And turquoise clashing with that beautiful stained
glass would be a crime. Do you agree?”

“Perfectly.” I may not have been the greatest when it
came to decorating, but even I knew that Jack’s colors would make
this room look like a budget motel. I playfully slapped his arm.
“I’m disowning you if you ruin this gorgeous bathroom.”

“Two against one. It’s settled,” Dawn said. “I
thought a nice green marble for the floor.”

“With purple and cream accents for the rest of the
room?” I said hopefully.

“I’d planned scarlet and cream, but purple would do
fine. There’s purple in the window. Purple accents in the room
should give it a nice color punch.”

“But shouldn’t Kelly have the final say?” I meant
this question for both of them, but I looked at Jack. “After all,
she
is
Jack’s girlfriend.”

Dawn blinked rapidly. “Jack? I didn’t know you—“

“I don’t. I didn’t.” Jack waved his hands in denial.
“It’s a surprise. My girlfriend will be happy with whatever you two
choose.” Jack tromped past Dawn, through the master bedroom and out
into the hallway.

“Men.” Dawn raised her eyes to search heavenward for
answers.

“Yeah, men,” I echoed. I didn’t bother raising my
eyes. Heaven hadn’t given me any answers yet where men were
concerned.

You’d have thought Jack would have told his designer
he had a girlfriend, though. After all, her tastes in home
decorating should be considered first. But then Jack wanted the
house to be a surprise. I hoped Kelly The Girlfriend wasn’t fussy.
Personally, I thought Dawn had done a terrific job in the finished
rooms I’d already seen, but Kelly might, like Maureen, be consumed
with a burning need to complain about everything. I wondered what
would happen if she hated the house and hated that I’d given my
opinion about the decorating. For just a few seconds I almost
wished I’d sided with Jack and let him decorate his bathroom in the
foulest of mismatched colors that would send Kelly running back to
New Jersey in a snit.

Dawn and I rejoined Jack downstairs in the kitchen.
Unlike most of the rest of the house, the room was finished, the
appliances installed, and, Jack had told me earlier, already in
working order.

“Nic and I are going out to dinner,” Jack said. “Care
to join us?”

“Thanks, but Zack will kill me if I leave him alone
with the kids for another minute.” She swept out of the room,
trailing a “nice meeting you” over her shoulder.

“I enjoyed meeting you, too,” I called. I pulled out
one of the kitchen barstools and slid onto the padded seat. “I can
advise you on how to remodel your attic if you want. Insulation.
Storage bins. Rustic, yet functional.”

“I think I can handle it. So are you as starved as I
am? I thought we could go to that new seafood place on Broad.
What’s it called?”

“I forget, but I know the place you mean. I heard the
food’s fabulous, but there’s usually a line out the door. Look, the
kitchen’s finished. If you want to just get some food, I’ll be glad
to cook us something.”

Jack was already shaking his head. “Not that you
aren’t a fabulous cook, but you’ve already made me a meal this
weekend. Tell you what--why don’t I order in from the Grotto? The
food’s great, Italian, and while we wait for it to get here we can
finish catching up on all the years since…” He paused and worked
his mouth, fishing for words. “Since we lost touch.”

“Great plan.” There was a little catch in my voice.
His tone made it sound like we were more than friends. But we
weren’t, much to my regret. “We can talk without my family taking
center stage the way they did last night and without sitting in a
crowded restaurant trying to hear over the sound of everyone
else.”

Jack nodded. “Not that I don’t like your family, but
I’m not in the mood for that much input this evening.”

He placed the order and poured us glasses of red
wine. We went into the living room, still unfurnished, but with a
working fireplace.

The air was unusually cool for September, probably
due to the earlier rain. Jack lit a fire and we sat together with
our backs against a box that had “Shelving” stenciled on the
side.

I stared into the flames, watching the golds and reds
and oranges dance on top of the logs. I couldn’t remember the last
time I’d sat in front of a real fire with a friend. We were
supposed to be talking over old times. Instead we drank our wine in
a companionable silence.

After a while, Jack said, “Nic? Last week you talked
about your broken marriage and your job. What about your social
life? Didn’t you say you have a boyfriend?”

My first impulse was to describe Steve, but the words
wouldn’t come. I tried on and discarded several thoughts. And knew
it was time to stop playing my silly game and come clean. The new
improved me had promised to get a life. I was quite sure that
getting a life didn’t mean having an imaginary love interest or
telling lies to my friends.

“The truth is,” I said, not looking at him, “there
isn’t a boyfriend, there’s only a blind date that went terribly
wrong and a guy from yoga class I enjoyed having coffee with. But
we never went out and he’s seeing someone now. Sorry I misled you.
Guess I didn’t want to seem pathetic and alone or anything like the
shell-shocked divorcee you imagined.”

“You’re not pathetic. Or shell-shocked. Thanks for
leveling with me.” Jack squeezed my hand.

I squeezed back. He’d made everything okay. He always
made everything okay.

The food arrived and was, as promised, fantastic.
Jack’s phone rang while we were finishing our cherry cheesecake. He
powered the phone off without looking at the caller ID. He leaned
in closer and put his arm around me.

“Nic, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell
you.” He half turned and put his fingertips under my chin. Our eyes
locked.

Oh, God, the baby goosebumps were back and if he
didn’t move at least ten feet away I was going to forget he was
taken. “You. I mean, okay what is it?” My heartbeat was so loud I
was sure he could hear it over my breathing.

“It’s about Kelly. Things haven’t been going that
great and we’ve both had second thoughts about continuing our
relationship. In fact--”

“Hold that thought.” I held up my hand. The shrill
ring coming from the phone in my pocket was so loud I couldn’t have
heard him over the sound.

Caller ID indicated home. My stomach dropped toward
my knees and all thoughts about Jack and Kelly dissolved. “I have
to take this. Only the gods know what will happen with Mama and
DeLorean on their own in my house for the evening.”

“I’m sure it can wait.” He grabbed for the phone and
I snatched it out of reach.

“Stop it, Jack.”

“They haven’t killed each other or burned down any
houses yet, Nic.”

“They wouldn’t call unless it was an emergency. Maybe
something’s happened to Christian.” My fingers shaking, I pressed a
button on the phone. “Mama?”

“It’s DeLorean. Susan, you have to come home right
away. I borrowed Mama’s Cadillac and went out with Cole for just a
few minutes, I swear, just five minutes to pick up some diapers at
CVS.”

“What happened? Is Mama okay?’ I shrieked,
envisioning her falling off the couch and cracking her skull
because DeLorean had left her alone.”

“Calm down. She’s fine. Physically, I mean. But while
I was gone, my father showed up and had this big ugly scene with
Mama. Thank God he was gone before I got back and I didn’t have to
deal with him. Anyway, Mama’s sniffling like somebody with major
allergies, and it is so getting on my nerves. It can’t be good for
her heart, either. Don’t people her age have weak hearts? And Cole
is screaming and all the dogs are barking.” Her voice skirted the
edge of hysteria. “I swear, Susan, I simply can’t deal with this.
I’m about ready to toss your TV through the nearest window if it
will get everyone to calm down and shut up and give me five minutes
of silence.”

“It won’t. Don’t toss, I’ll be right there.” I rang
off and turned to Jack. “There’s a crisis at home with DeLorean and
Mama. I have to go.”

“And they can’t handle it themselves,” he said in
flat tones.

“Don’t be angry.” I put my hand on his arm and he
shook it off. “Jack, I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have to.”

He hauled himself off the floor and strode toward the
door, shoving an empty carton out of his way so hard it went
airborne and bounced off the wall. “Let’s go.”

I scurried to catch up with him. “It’s family, Jack.
It’s not like some random strangers are interfering in my
life.”

“Right.” Jaw set like stone. “Two grown women sitting
there totally helpless until you show up to wave your magic
wand.”

“It isn’t like that.” I was speaking to his back.

By the time I’d settled myself next to him in the
car, I was feeling a little anger of my own. Who needed a friend
who was too selfish to understand that you had to be there for your
family, even it if it interfered with your own plans?

Neither of us spoke on the way back to Mount
Pleasant. Jack pushed the button to the radio. When some singer
with a nasal voice started whining about love being the answer, I
had to fight with myself to keep from hitting the off button. Love
song. Hah!

Jack skidded the car to a stop in my driveway, got
out and opened my door and walked me to the porch. Then, without a
word he stormed back to his car and left. I wanted to turn around
to look, to wave and say that I’d call him, but I couldn’t do
anything except stare at my front door until DeLorean yanked it
open.

She stared at me as if she expected me to break out a
magic wand and when I didn’t, she said, “What are you waiting for,
Susan? Do something. Mama is about to have a cow, and I couldn’t
deal with all the noise. This evening has gone off the stress
charts, and I almost wish I was back with Baldwin. No, not really.
I couldn’t handle any more of his putdowns. But still. I expected
peace and quiet and a little sympathy at your house. God, I need
meditation time, not a circus.”

“Sorry I fell short in the peace and quiet
department. Of course, I don’t have any stress of my own.”

Ignoring my crack, she grabbed my shoulder and pulled
me forward so hard I almost tripped over the doorsill. “I called
that boy, Kenny, to take Brad for a walk because he wouldn’t stop
barking—Brad, not Kenny. The Chihuahuas finally shut up after I
gave them some leftover ham, and Cole is napping, though that won’t
last. You have to see to Mama because I simply can’t get any sense
out of her and I have had it up to here.” She put her hand about a
foot over her head. I could see that her hair needed combing and
there was a swath of yellow baby drool smeared across her left
shoulder.

I smiled insincerely. “Why don’t you make us a pot of
tea while I get started soothing Mama?”

Her eyes widened. I’d just given her the keys to
unlock the serenity secrets of the galaxy. “Super. Yes, tea would
be great. I knew you’d know exactly what to do.”

She trotted off to the kitchen while I went into the
family room and found Mama and her Chihuahuas. Tiny was so
traumatized by the evening’s events that he didn’t even bother to
shoot me a dirty look when I sat next to Mama and put my hand over
hers. A second later I realized it wasn’t trauma, but a tummyache
that troubled the little hellion. He suddenly dipped his head over
the side of the couch and deposited a pink mess onto the rug. No
doubt the ham DeLorean had bribed him with had done a number on his
digestive system.