Secrets, Lies, and Online Dating: Three Generations Learn to Love Again (Women's Fiction)

by Sylvia McDaniel

  Frank laughed at Katie. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He turned and headed toward Jake, who still held a controller in his hand blasting away aliens. She watched as he slid the card into Jake’s hand and then moved on.

  She heard Jake ask Jennifer to get him another beer and when she walked away, he read the card. Slowly, he turned and glanced at Katie, then touched his fingers to his forehead in a mock salute.

  God, he was handsome enough to melt the clothes right off her body. Every girl in here knew exactly what to expect from him. He was a player and he was after her.

  Maybe she should let him catch her.

  Chapter 6

  Several days later, Marianne drove her car with its brand new battery into the Burger Grill parking lot, where Katie told her they could meet. The drive to Boulder had taken longer than expected, and a quick glance at her watch showed she was fifteen minutes late.

  Boulder, a beautiful mid-sized college town nestled at the bottom of the mountains, boasted a fair amount of upwardly mobile professionals, a hopping nightlife, and plenty of restaurants and shopping. Music spilled out into the street from an open-air patio into the cool night.

  She got out of the car and hurried toward the entrance of the Burger Grill glancing around for her daughter.

  For some odd reason, Katie had wanted to meet her at the restaurant and promised a surprise. Probably she wanted her mother to meet her friends.

  Marianne opened the door and glanced at the tables filled with college students. She searched the faces, looking for Katie among the people waiting to get a table in the vestibule.

  “Excuse me, can you tell me if Katie Larson has been seated?” she asked the hostess.

  “Mom, there you are,” her daughter said, rushing towards her, appearing even more beautiful than when she’d seen her two weeks ago. College seemed to be agreeing with her, though there was a tenseness Marianne could see in her daughters eyes.

  “I was worried.”

  They spoke often on the phone, but Marianne hadn’t seen Katie since the day she had helped Marianne move. She hugged her daughter to her.

  “Sorry, it took me longer to get here than I expected,” Marianne said, watching her daughter closely as she nervously twisted her hands.

  “Come on, we already have a table in the back,” Katie said as she led the way through the dining area of the restaurant.

  Marianne wanted to ask who “we” was, but Katie led the way, hurrying through the tables toward the back. Marianne followed her daughter, curious about the tautness radiating from Katie.

  When they reached the table, Marianne went cold with anger, her body going rigid. Sitting next to a blonde Marianne had never met, was Daniel. Katie glanced at her apologetically.

  “Dad came to visit me this weekend.”

  Suddenly everything came crystal clear as Marianne looked at Daniel who swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He seemed ill at ease.

  Their daughter stood watching her anxiously.

  “Hello Daniel,” she said. It was the first time she’d seen him since the divorce. Though occasionally he still called and begged her to come home. “How are you? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

  “Marianne,” he replied, as he twisted his hands. “Let me introduce you to Cheryl.”

  “Hello,” his latest blonde said, offering Marianne her hand.

  Marianne politely shook the woman’s hand. A wave of pity swept through her for this naïve woman. “Nice to meet you.”

  An awkward silence filled the air. Marianne didn’t want to sit across from her ex-husband all evening, not even for her daughter.

  She glanced at Katie who had taken her seat, but watched her mother expectantly. Now she understood her daughter’s unease. Now the lines of anger were clearly visible to her on Katie’s face. Daniel must have brought his girlfriend without his daughter’s knowledge, ruining her planned reunion dinner.

  They were both a victim of Katie’s manipulation and she was suddenly sick of her daughter not accepting the reality of the situation.

  “Excuse me. Could I see you outside, Katie?” Marianne asked.

  Her daughter’s face grew anxious as Marianne spun around and walked back through the restaurant towards the parking lot. This was a conversation that needed a private place.

  As she opened the door, the cool evening breeze did little to settle the tumultuous anger gripping her insides like a lion with its prey. It wasn’t the fact that Daniel sat with another woman that bothered her. Katie had known of Daniel’s visit and had set her mother up.

  Marianne marched across the parking lot, unlocked her car door and commanded her daughter, “Get in.”

  Katie reluctantly opened the door and sat on the cracked leather seat. “Mom, I didn’t know he was bringing her.”

  “But you knew he was coming.”

  “Well, yes.”

  “And you thought I would want to see your father?”

  “After all this time, is it so crazy that I thought you might want to see him again? The three of us having dinner like old times, and maybe you might…”

  “Get back together,” she said, finishing the sentence for her daughter.

  Silence filled the car, until Marianne repeated the question.

  “Is that what you thought, Katie?”

  “Yes,” her daughter said quietly.

  Marianne’s body shook with barely suppressed rage. She knew she had to impress upon her daughter not to ever put her in this awkward situation again, though Daniel’s surprise girlfriend must have ruined her daughter’s plans.

  “I have tried to be patient with you, hoping you would realize I am never going back to your father. No more,” Marianne said with finality.

  Katie’s head jerked and she met her mother’s gaze, her eyes large and wide. “I didn’t know he was going to bring her.”

  “She doesn’t matter,”” Marianne said, her voice trembling with barely suppressed fury. “Kill the fantasy that we’ll ever get back together. Our marriage is over.”

  Silence filled the car until Katie broke it.

  “I—I just thought that maybe with time, you would realize your mistake.”

  Over the summer, she had hoped her daughter would realize the reasons behind the divorce, but obviously not.

  “My mistake?” Marianne said, her voice thundering in the small confines of the car. “The marriage should have ended years ago. Do you understand?”

  A sniffle filled the car. “Yes.”

  “So answer me, do you still think your father and me will ever get back together?”

  Katie murmured, “No.”

  “Good. Now, I’m going home.”

  There was no way that Marianne would go back into that restaurant and stare across the table at the two of them while she ate dinner. It just wasn’t going to happen.

  Katie wiped her eyes and glanced at her mother. “You’re not going with me into the restaurant?”

  “No.”

  “But…but Dad is expecting you and me.”

  Marianne sighed and tried to control the rage that still flowed through her veins like a flash flood. “I hope the three of you have a lovely dinner, but I’m not staying.”

  Katie stared at her mother in disbelief. In the past, Marianne would have endured the meal, but now, not even for Katie would she spend a miserable hour with Daniel.

  “What am I supposed to tell Dad?”

  “I don’t give a damn what you tell him. I’m not the one who planned this reunion dinner.”

  Katie’s bottom lip trembled, but Marianne held tough, knowing it was yet another form of her daughter’s manipulation. Not even tears could persuade her to stay.

  “Come on. Mom, I don’t want to sit in there with her and dad. Stay for me.”

  “No.”

  There was a lengthy moment of silence as the two of them stared at one another, testing their wills. Finally, Katie wiped her eyes and opened the car door.

  “Fine!
Go home to your dumpy apartment. I’ll tell Dad and his Barbie that you got into a snit and went home.”

  Frankly, she didn’t care what her daughter told her father or his new play thing. She was not staying. It wouldn’t be healthy for herself or her daughter.

  Katie got out of the car.

  “I don’t care what you tell your father. It doesn’t matter how dramatic you act, I’m not sitting through another tense dinner with your father.”

  Katie slammed the car door. Marianne rolled down the window and started the car.

  “Goodnight,” she called to her daughter who stomped across the parking lot, ignoring her.

  Marianne watched Katie disappear inside, unable to leave until she knew her daughter had made it safely indoors. She hated that it had come to this, but it was past time for Katie to give up on ever getting her parents back together.

  Marianne pulled out of the parking lot and, with an odd sense of relief, headed back to her life in Fort Collins. She couldn’t wait to get home to her little apartment.

  Pity filled her for this Cheryl woman. And Daniel…well, how did she stay married to that man for so long?

  She sighed and a calm sense of contentment came over her. Seeing Daniel helped her realize she liked her new life. Even if Katie didn’t understand, Marianne was happy in her homey little apartment.

  For the first time in years, she felt a sense of rightness and satisfaction. No, everything wasn’t perfect, but she liked her life. And it was time her daughter accepted the divorce was final and Marianne had moved on.

  The radio blared in the big RV, filling the welcome silence. On Monday, Brenda had wished the newlyweds good luck and then stopped by the hospital to say goodbye to James. He was doing fine and his daughter had arrived to take him home. Brenda wished him a speedy recovery and headed the gypsy RV west.

  After seeing James’s daughter, the need to see Marianne had her hopping on the I-10 driving across country toward the mountains where she now lived.

  She longed to see her daughter. They had barely spoken in the three months she’d been on the road and she missed both her granddaughter and daughter. They were her only family left, except for a couple of distant cousins who couldn’t care less if she lived or died.

  Maybe the time apart had helped them all appreciate one another. Maybe they both had needed a fresh start. Maybe it had taken Brenda’s road trip to realize she needed a new beginning.

  She turned up the radio and sang along to a song on the radio. “Love hurts! Love scars…” She hadn’t heard the tune in years and she laughed, enjoying being alone.

  Last night, she’d stayed in Pensacola and tonight she’d park somewhere close to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She might even stop and donate some money to the Casinos tomorrow. But right now, she’d driven a long way and needed to rest.

  Brenda watched the last rays of the sun sink behind the endless road. She’d driven further than she intended and darkness had descended. Being alone, she wanted a park where lots of people camped. Tired, she realized that today she’d traveled almost three hundred miles.

  An hour later, she finally saw a place that said RV Park and, with relief, she turned the big rig in. After she paid her money for the night, she drove to her assigned spot. Only a few campers were parked in the park and no one near her. A river of unease traveled along her spine. It would be okay. She had George’s pistol and she knew how to pull the trigger. Tomorrow, she’d stop before it became dark.

  She’d keep the doors locked, sleep lightly, and keep the pistol handy. She backed the camper in, and since it was after nine o’clock, decided she didn’t need to set up the lights outside. If she decided to stay a second night, she could always set up camp tomorrow, but her plan was to be on the road again first thing in the morning.

  Exhausted, she made herself a light supper and crawled into bed to watch TV. With the satellite dish, she could pick up channels anywhere and she soon fell asleep watching a movie.

  Hours later, a consistent clinking noise dragged her from a deep sleep. She lay in bed, listening, trying to decipher what the noise could be, until she heard voices.

  After an hour, the TV had automatically shut itself off. A light glowed over the kitchen sink, but the rest of the camper was dark.

  The clank of metal came again and she got out of bed, sliding the pistol from the nightstand drawer. She walked slowly to the front of the RV, her hands shaking.

  Curtains blocked the view from the front window of the RV. Slowly, she pulled the material back and peaked out into the darkness. She could hear voices and realized they seem to be coming from beneath the RV.

  “Did you find it?” a voice asked.

  “Yeah, but the bolts are screwed on tight. I’m working on it. I think I heard someone walking.”

  Her first instinct was to go outside and give them a blast of the pistol. Instead, she stepped very carefully to the back of the RV, picked up her cell phone and dialed 911.

  A voice came on the line, “What’s your emergency?”

  “I’m in the Springs RV Park on highway 91 and someone is underneath my RV,” Brenda said, her heart racing inside her chest like a hot rod at a competition.

  “Can you see the individuals?”

  Good grief, what part of being underneath her RV did the woman not understand? Didn’t she realize that meant she couldn’t see them?

  “They’re underneath my RV,” Brenda repeated, her words terse.

  “Okay, ma’am, a patrol car is on the way.”

  “How long will it take them to get here?” she whispered, knowing she couldn’t wait much longer without them doing damage to her vehicle or even getting away. And these bastards were not going to slip into the night after causing damage.

  “Ten minutes, at least.”

  “By that time, they’ll be done.”

  “Just hang on ma’am, the police are on their way.”

  Brenda hit the end of call button and tiptoed back to the front of the RV. The thieves’ tools clinked in the still night air.

  “I think I hear her moving around,” a man said in a low voice.

  “You’re paranoid. The old broad is dead asleep.”

  The old broad was not dead asleep and that last remark was enough. To hell with the police.

  She sat down in the driver’s seat and turned the key, starting the engine. Like the sound of a race car engine, the RV’s motor roared in the night.

  She pushed the curtains out of the way and hit the headlights, lighting the area around the camper.

  A crash, followed by loud cursing came from beneath the camper.

  “Damn! She’s going to run over me,” she heard the man scream.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. Served the bastards right. She left the car in park, but she revved the engine, the motor roaring in the darkness.

  In the glow of the headlights two men scrambled from beneath the RV, trying to get away, just as two patrol cars pulled up, lights flashing, blocking the RV in. The cops jumped from their vehicles.

  “Drop to the ground, now!” she heard an officer yell.

  “You, in the RV, come out!” the other man demanded.

  She turned off the engine, left her pistol behind, and walked to the door. She flipped the lock and stepped outside, her heart beating hard in her chest. She’d thought she had excitement with Sandy traveling with her.

  The patrol officer glanced at her, his gun drawn, his face serious. “Did you call in the emergency?”

  “Yes, I did.” She swallowed and wondered how the officer would feel about the gun in her RV.

  Two young men lay on the ground. They were cuffed and lying on their stomachs with their wrists behind them.

  “Hey, he checked me in here,” she said, pointing to one of the young men on the ground, shocked.

  The other officer returned from the patrol car. “These two are wanted for questioning in a series of thefts of catalytic converters. It seems they like to hit the campgrounds.”

 
“Officer, she tried to kill me. She started the engine, while I was beneath it. I want to press charges.”

  “Shut up, Bobbie,” the other guy said.

  “Well, she did.”

  “If I wanted to run over you, you’d be a flat spot on the road right now,” Brenda said, disgusted as she gazed at the two boys on the ground. “Book ‘em, Officer…” she gazed at his uniform, “Bailey.”

  The patrol officer grinned at her, while the other policeman hauled the thieves up and led them to the squad car.

  The flashing lights of the patrol cars had drawn a crowd around her campsite, but she didn’t care.

  “Can we go in your RV and talk for a few minutes?” Officer Bailey asked.

  “Sure, come on in,” she said and opened the door. He followed her in. “My gun is laying on the table, so don’t be alarmed. It’s loaded and ready to use in case I needed it.”

  He picked up the weapon, put the safety on, and handed the gun to her.

  “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see it and I’m not going to ask if you have a concealed handgun license.”

  She shrugged. “My husband made me get one. Would you like some coffee?” she asked.

  “No thanks, ma’am. My shift is over in an hour and I’d like to get some sleep.”

  “You and me both,” she said.

  “Tell me what happened,” the officer asked.

  Brenda proceeded to tell him how she’d awakened to the clinking noise and what had transpired after she called the police.

  When she finished, the officer looked at her. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “What are you doing out here all alone?”

  “I’m a widow. I can either choose to die or I can continue to live my life,” she said.

  She sat there stunned at the words that had just popped out of her mouth. It was true. She had come to the conclusion that she hadn’t died with George and somehow she had to find the way to live without him. And no, it hadn’t been easy. She still loved him and missed him every single day. And people lied when they said it got easier with time.