On the Verge (Sisters Series Book 3)

by Karen Lenfestey

  He glanced at the headline on the morning paper, but didn’t unfold it like he usually did. He pushed it away. “I’m going to drive myself today.”

  “Are you sure?” Val asked. His mom had chauffeured him to his physical and speech therapy appointments yesterday. The rest of the time she’d hung around, hovering, just like in the hospital. Last night she seemed reluctant to leave. Probably because she was a lonely widow with two grown sons, who didn’t visit often enough for her taste. Nathan only stopped by when Lydia needed her lawn mowed or something needed to be fixed around the house. His brother appeared less frequently, whenever he needed money.

  Even though she’d like to drive Nathan to his appointments, Val had heard rumors that the hospital bills would be in the thousands of dollars. She needed to earn a paycheck after taking six weeks off.

  Nathan stared at his orange juice. “I told Mom to go home. The doctor said I can drive. I want things . . . back.”

  Val’s lips turned up a little. She wasn’t sure what that meant. Instead of scooping the bits of sugar floating in the milk at the bottom of her bowl, she stood up and dumped them into the sink. Time to figure out how to “get back.”

  ###

  Nathan lifted up the Lansing State Journal and looked under it. Nothing. He scanned the kitchen counter covered with dirty dishes. Apparently Val wasn’t much for housekeeping. He started loading their three breakfast bowls into the dishwasher. Maybe if he cleaned up a bit, he’d find his car keys.

  After scrubbing the pots and pans leftover from several nights’ dinners, Nathan looked around the little kitchen. He smiled. He’d done something useful.

  He noticed the rectangular numbers on the microwave. Shit! He was supposed to be at physical therapy right now. But he still hadn’t found his car keys. He rushed into the bedroom and looked on the dresser where he kept his wallet. It seemed like he would put his keys there, too, but all he saw were bottles of Val’s Viva la Fleur perfume and a framed photo of Chip at Chuck E. Cheese. He gritted his teeth.

  He jerked open the dresser drawers, one after another, like a robber ransacking the place. When he reached the bottom, he saw them. The shiny jagged pieces of metal had fallen underneath the dresser. He grabbed them and headed for the door.

  He jammed the keys into the ignition and pressed his foot on the gas. Stuck behind a car that didn’t move when the light turned green, he pounded the steering wheel. Fiery anger threatened to explode like a volcano. “Let’s go!”

  Finally, the person talking on their cell phone accelerated.

  He swerved around the jerk.

  When he limped into the physical therapy building, it was twenty minutes past his appointment. He headed straight for the receptionist’s window. “Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t find my car keys.”

  The woman with the short red hair nodded and looked at her watch. “Hi, Nathan. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

  Nathan fidgeted with his wedding band. He wasn’t used to wearing it yet. Several empty chairs lined the walls of the waiting room, but he couldn’t sit down. This was the only thing he had to do all day and he couldn’t manage to get himself here without his mom’s help? How pathetic was he?

  Just then the door opened and the familiar face of his physical therapist, Mia, smiled at him. “Nate, glad you could make it.”

  She was the only one who called him Nate, but he didn’t bother to correct her. Instead he apologized again for being late.

  Mia waved for him to follow her. “It happens to everyone. Don’t worry about it. I’m so spacey, my boyfriend suggested I wear my keys around my neck like dog tags.” They walked past some weight machines and an old man huffing and puffing as he lifted what looked like only twenty pounds.

  They walked into a small room with a padded table against the wall. Nathan sat on it and waited for Mia’s instructions. He noticed framed posters of skeletons and muscle groups hanging on the walls.

  She told him to lie on his back and she used her hands to bend his right leg. Then his left.

  He watched her work. She had dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. Pretty like--what was that actress’ name? The one that was in “My Cousin Vinnie”? Mia reminded him of her. He’d always had a crush on her. Damn. How could he have forgotten her name?

  Mia continued to move his limbs as if she were positioning a mannequin. Firm, yet gentle. She chatted easily about her day, her boyfriend, the litter of puppies her golden retriever just had. “You want one?”

  He noticed that she’d stopped moving and her eyes seemed to implore him. “What?” he asked.

  “Would you like a puppy?”

  He laughed. “No thank you.”

  “You have a little boy, right? Every boy needs a dog.”

  Chip. He was so irresponsible, forgetting to brush his teeth, refusing to comb his hair, driving Val crazy. Maybe this was just what he needed.

  Mia reached for Nathan’s arm and raised it above his head. “I brought them with me today. After our session, you can have your pick of the litter.”

  Nathan slowly nodded. “I’ll take a look.” Their session went rather quickly since he’d been so late. Before he knew it, Mia gave him some handouts with exercises he should do at home. They walked to what must be the employees’ break room. In the corner stood a white fridge and a water cooler. They walked past a round table and she opened the back door. Yelps immediately greeted them when they stepped out into the wind. Little blond puppies climbed on top of one another, poking their paws through the wires of a large cage.

  Mia spoke in a singsong as she opened the latch on the top. “Hello, sweeties.” The dogs tried to jump out, but couldn’t quite manage. Nathan reached in and selected the most enthusiastic pup.

  Mia stroked the dog’s head. “Aren’t they adorable? I wish I could keep them all.”

  “Yes.” She didn’t need to even give him a sales pitch. The pup licked Nathan’s fingers as if he were covered in chocolate. He’d always wanted a dog. “How much do you want?”

  “Oh, they’re free. They aren’t thoroughbreds because we don’t know who the father is. Some dog in the neighborhood, I guess.”

  Nathan chuckled. “If I take one, do I still have to do my exercises at home this week?”

  She smiled. “Of course. Plus walking the dog will be good for you. Help you regain your natural gait.”

  “So I can tell my wife the dog is part of my therapy?”

  “Definitely. In fact, maybe that’s what I’ll tell all of my patients. I could be puppy-free by five o’clock.” They both shared a laugh.

  He petted the dog. His hand traveled from head to tail in the blink of an eye. So tiny. But so full of love and acceptance. He imagined coming home from a long day at the shop to find this dog waiting for him.

  Mia’s brown eyes sparkled. “What are you going to name him? It is a him, right?” She peeked at the dog’s underbelly. “Yep. It’s a boy.”

  “I don’t know. How about Homer? Because he will always be there for me at home.”

  It would be nice to start making some memories instead of always trying to retrieve them.

  ###

  Joely opened her apartment door and welcomed Jake inside. His musky cologne trailed him, ramping up her heartbeat.

  He carried a stack of bridal magazines and spread them out on her coffee table. “Now if you tell anyone about this, I’ll deny it.” He held up a DVD. “I thought we’d watch ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and search these magazines until we find you the gown of your dreams.”

  At the sound of Jake’s voice, Anna left her bedroom and gave her father a hug. “Yea! Daddy’s here!”

  Joely’s hand lightly touched her heart. It pleased her so much that Anna wanted this marriage as much as the bride and groom did. The three of them sat on the couch and each flipped through the glossy photos of models adorned in satin and lace. Anna kept announcing, “Oooh, I like this one. No, this one’s better. When I grow up, this is going to be my wedding gown.”

>   Toward the end of the show where the bride wanted to look sexy and her maid of honor wanted her to look demure, Jake’s cell phone rang. He checked caller i.d. and made a face. “It’s my mother.” He answered it and gave her a bunch of one word answers.

  Watching him, Joely tried to interpret their conversation, but couldn’t. Jake stood and carried the phone down the hall for privacy. Joely and Anna dropped their jaws when they heard the gown someone had selected on TV cost $12,000.

  “For one dress?” Anna asked, her eyes wide.

  Joely shrugged. “Madness, isn’t it?” She thought even one thousand dollars seemed expensive. It wasn’t like the olden days when women would incorporate their wedding dresses into their everyday wardrobe. Of course, that was before white gowns came into fashion. Nowadays, a wedding gown was about conspicuous consumption, something Joely abhorred. Just like the country club reception that Mrs. Mahoney envisioned. Joely’s shoulders tensed just thinking about it.

  From the other room, Jake’s voice grew louder. “I’m not going to discuss this with you any more. Good-bye, Mother.” He quickly came into view, flipping his phone closed and clenching his jaw.

  “What’s wrong?” Joely asked.

  He shook his head as if he didn’t want to talk about it. When Joely persisted, he signaled toward Anna. So, Joely told her to take a magazine into her bedroom and dog-ear the pages that she liked best.

  Anna slouched. “Aww, Mom. Do I have to?”

  “Yes.” Joely handed her an especially thick magazine and shooed her away. After the bedroom door clicked shut, Joely faced Jake. “What’s going on?”

  Heaving a sigh, Jake ran his hand through his dark blond hair. “Ever since we got engaged, my mother has been on a mission to talk me out of it.”

  Joely stiffened. “I knew she didn’t like me, but she’s still hassling you?” Her future mother-in-law’s animosity mystified Joely. People always liked her. She had friends who were musicians and contractors, waitresses and accountants, working class and professionals. But for some reason, Mrs. Mahoney had been against Joely from the start. Maybe she was part of the reason why Jake broke up with Joely the first time around. “Is it because of our meeting with the priest?” Kate’s threat to withdraw as matron-of-honor resonated in her head. A headache drilled into her skull. But making peace with Jake’s family was important, too. Since Joely had been orphaned as a child, part of her had always hoped that her mother-in-law would fill a small bit of that void. “Because I just needed time to think about converting--”

  “It’s that. And yet it’s not that. She wants me to marry someone from the same social circle.” His hand made air quotes around the last two words as if he thought it was stupid.

  She couldn’t help that she wasn’t a trust fund baby, but she could still win Mrs. Mahoney over. “That cathedral was gorgeous. If you really want to get married there, I’d be willing to talk to the priest and do whatever he says.”

  Taking a seat next to her, he patted her hand. “That’s sweet. But you don’t know what you’re agreeing to. Being Catholic isn’t something you choose like a flavor of ice cream. I’m not even a good Catholic.” Again with the air quotes.

  “I never had much religious direction. It might be nice to have everything spelled out in black and white.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t care where we say our vows. All that matters to me is that we get married. Let’s pick a date and stop worrying about my mom.”

  Heat sprang to her face. “A date? I don’t know.” She looked at her thunder thighs. She hadn’t made much progress toward her weight loss goal. “How about in a year?”

  He lowered his eyebrows. “A year? I can’t wait that long.” His arm reached around her shoulders and he planted a kiss on her lips.

  “I don’t want to wait that long, either. But I still need to find a dress and a location. Plus I’d like to drop a few pounds.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and started singing Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are.”

  She giggled. “Did I ever tell you that I was named after him?”

  “Yep.” Undeterred, he jumped to the chorus.

  She covered his mouth with her hands so they could get back on track. “Thanks, but I hate how I look. I’ve declared war and I’m not giving up.”

  “Seriously, Joely. I love your curves. So let’s talk about the venue. What do you envision when you close your eyes and think of our wedding?”

  Instead of closing her eyes, she chewed on her thumbnail. “To be honest, since I don’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle, I’m not excited about a traditional church wedding.”

  “So, maybe a destination wedding? Get married on a beach in Hawaii?”

  “No. I don’t want to ask my friends to spend a fortune on flights and hotels.” Sometimes he forgot that not everyone had as much money as he had.

  “In a garden here in the city?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll scout out some locations and see what’s available. But an outdoor wedding depends on the weather. It could be wonderful or it could be a disaster.”

  Just like her past relationship with Jake.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Val said that evening when Nathan told her that Homer belonged to them. She dropped her purse on the floor and left her coat on the sofa. She watched Chip holding a sock, trying to wrestle it away from the puppy’s tiny teeth. Her son kept laughing and laughing, never getting bored.

  Nathan gestured with his spatula. “Look how happy they are together.” He opened the sliding glass door, going out to flip the burgers on the grill, still favoring his left leg a bit. A moment later, he lumbered back inside.

  Val wagged her finger at him. “We can’t have pets in this duplex. It’s against the rules.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that.” Nathan scratched the side of his head. He’d told Val it itched as the hair grew back. “We’ll move somewhere else. Some place with a big backyard.”

  Val nodded. “I’d like that. We can’t agree on a house, though. Remember?”

  For a moment Nathan looked clueless. “We’ve looked at a lot of houses?”

  “Yes. You want something from the 1970s and I want a place with quality and character.”

  He re-read the recipe even though he’d never used one for burgers before. “We’ll find something. Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry? Now that we have a dog, we have to find someplace fast.”

  “Perhaps we just needed something to push us into making a decision.”

  She sighed. “The last thing I need in my life is a push.” She’d just found out she’d lost two clients since she’d been out of the office for so long. Kelly, the owner of the design firm, said she’d tried to explain the situation, but the clients wanted someone “right now.” Plus since Nathan’s accident, she hadn’t been doing flash cards with Chip, like Mrs. Bean wanted.

  Chip laughed and looked at Val. “Mom, come over here. You’re going to love Homer. He already knows how to fetch. Watch!”

  He threw the sock across the living room. Homer bounded over to it and started chewing on it. Then he carried it back to Chip. She hadn’t seen her son so happy since--she didn’t even know when. “Are you going to feed and water him every day?”

  Chip nodded while still playing with the pup. Another toss and retrieval.

  The dog was smart. Maybe he would be quick to house train. Val watched in silence, putting her hand on her hip. “I guess we can keep him.”

  “Thank you, Mom!” Chip ran over, gave her a quick hug and returned to the puppy.

  Pouring pop into a glass, Nathan smiled. “Yeah. Thanks, Mom.”

  “Ha, ha,” she replied.

  The phone rang and Val picked it up. It was their gruff neighbor with whom they shared a wall. “I keep hearing barking. Do you have a dog over there? Because if you do, I’m telling the landlord.”

>   ###

  The next day, Val walked into the kitchen for her breakfast and noticed the ammonia scent in the air. Homer immediately came running as if to beg forgiveness.

  “No way.” She shook her head and went to the hall closet for the carpet cleaner spray. She hadn’t needed it since Chip was a baby, when he spit up all the time.

  Giving the dog the cold shoulder, she supervised Chip’s morning routine--dress, complain while eating breakfast, brush teeth and head out for the bus. Except today he moved especially slowly because he kept stopping to pet the puppy. Focused on Chip, she ignored the rumbling in her own belly.

  Finally, once he was gone, she opened the fridge. But it wasn’t there. She went to the cabinet where she kept her extras. Empty. She was completely out of Dr Pepper. Nathan must’ve poured the last one without alerting her. Darn it! How would she ever make it through the day? She threw on her coat and said a curt good-bye to Nathan who still lay in bed.

  She’d have to find a way to satisfy her craving elsewhere.

  ###

  Nathan crossed his ankles on the coffee table in front of the TV. Still in the gray sweatpants and Rod’s Garage T-shirt he’d worn to bed, he watched the morning news. His cell phone rang and he answered it, anxious for human interaction.

  A female voice came over the line. “This is Tosh Physical Therapy. I’m afraid Mia is sick today and won’t be able to make it in for your appointment.”

  Nathan slouched. “Will she be okay by tomorrow?”

  “Hopefully. If not, I’ll call you.”

  “Alright.” He flipped the phone shut. Without physical therapy, he had no place to go today. He plopped back down on Val’s striped couch--a bold design choice most people wouldn’t be willing to try. That’s one of the things he’d noticed about her. She wasn’t like most women.

  The news ended and talk shows began. He flipped through the channels searching for entertainment. Finally, he found “Die Hard” and put down the remote. John McCain was a real man. Despite walking on broken glass, getting beat-up and knowing he was outnumbered, he kept going. For the next hour or so, Nathan forgot about the time. Right when John McCain reached for the gun duct taped to his back, the screen turned black.