by C. J. Corbin
She giggled again. “It’s okay Elizabeth. I understand. It’s still gross though, I mean, that’s my dad, yuck.”
I laughed with her, “You’ll feel the same way about Jason.”
“Yeah,” she answered and pointed to the note, “but that’s my dad, double yuck.”
We looked around his office and did not have any success. “Maybe it’s something else?” Tammy suggested.
Then I spotted my new camera case on the floor pushed under the desk.
“That’s strange. How did that get there?” I picked up the case and peered inside. The envelope was lying right on top.
Tammy clapped her hands. “There you go!”
I gave her a hug and held the envelope to my chest. I wanted to open this one slowly and savor it.
Tammy smiled, “Okay, I guess I’ll leave.” She smiled and waved the fifty-dollar bill at me. “I get to go shopping!”
When she left I opened the final envelope and read, “My little hellcat, I hope you miss me as much as I miss you.” I nodded to myself and silently mouthed, “More than you know my love.” I continued to read, “Look at the last picture on your camera. I took it last night while you were sleeping; I’m the devil aren’t I? You looked so peaceful, and I couldn’t resist. Know that I love you. M.”
I turned the camera on and stared at the small LCD screen. I don’t know how he managed, but there was a picture of Michael and I in bed. We were lying together naked with him spooning against me. I had to see more.
I loaded the compact flash card from my camera into my laptop and waited for the picture to download into my computer. When the photo came up on the screen, I gasped at the scene that Michael had captured. He had been right. The expression on my face was one of extreme peace. My hair covered his expression. However, the position of his hands was poetic. They lay against my breasts splayed wide. His hands showed unbelievable strength and tenderness in the way he held me. I had always admired his hands but until now, I never knew their true beauty. Even though we were spooned together with our legs intertwined, it appeared that I was leaning back against him, which is why there was such a clear view of my face. The moon shining through the window lit the darkened room. Since we had entangled our legs, the musculature in Michael’s legs was evident. His right leg covered my hip and my right arm and hand covered his thigh. I was breathless looking at the picture and even though it was not explicit in its nudity, it still was very erotic. This was better than the famous bathtub scene, which I loved.
I set my laptop on the nightstand so I could fall asleep looking at the photo. I slipped out of my robe and lay in Michael’s bed feeling very contented. I stuffed the extra pillows I had brought from my bed behind me, while I held Michael’s pillows in my arms. Sticking my nose into his pillows, I inhaled deeply enjoying the memory of his scent. And, while Michael wasn’t there with me at that moment, I could sleep knowing that he did love me.
The next day I avoided everyone. After my run, I worked continuously at my house. The book was picking up steam and moving along. When Tammy retrieved the dogs for dinner, I let her know I would be working late into the evening. I finally walked across to Michael’s house around midnight and fell tiredly into his bed.
In the morning Tammy already had the coffee made when I stumbled into the kitchen. “You were late last night.” Tammy said as she poured me a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, I was in a good part of my book and I felt like writing.” I said taking the mug from her and sitting down at the table.
“Oh and here I thought you were trying to avoid my mother.” She smirked at me.
I frowned, “Tammy you know it isn’t like that.” I felt guilty because that was exactly the way it was.
“Then I suppose you’ll be disappointed to know that Mom won’t be going with us this afternoon on our visit.” She said, looking at me carefully for my reaction.
I tried to keep the smile off my face, but it was hard and I was failing miserably. “Really? I hope nothing is wrong.”
“No, nothing is wrong.” Tammy answered. “She just remembered that she and Great-grandmother don’t get along very well.”
“Oh?” I asked curious for more information, although I knew I should have left it alone.
Tammy giggled and lowered her voice to a whisper, “Yeah, she called Great-grandmother a witch and then Great-grandmother called her a bitch. It wasn’t a pretty fight.”
My hand went to my mouth and my eyes grew large. “What was going on?”
Tammy looked at me conspiratorially, “Well you know how Great-grandmother Helen sees the future?” I nodded while she continued, “She didn’t see a very good future for Mom, and then she said she saw a brighter future for Dad.”
I laughed and then covered my mouth, “I can certainly understand why your mom would be upset. Well, we’ll have a nice time. When you get back from school come on over to my place and we can leave straight away.”
Tammy agreed and told me that Katy had called and was looking forward to her visit. That reminded me that I needed to get my guest room ready for Paul. Tammy also asked if we could go out on my boat and I quickly nodded since the weather had improved after the rain.
The drive down to Calistoga was fast and since I had made it several times on my own, I no longer needed directions. Grandmother Helen was pleased to see us. She liked the chicory coffee and beignet mix I brought her from New Orleans, along with a package of tea from Marie. Michael’s parents were coming over for dinner and since we had fed the dogs before we left Mintock, we stayed to spend time with them too.
Candace managed to get me alone in the kitchen after dinner while we were doing the dishes.
“So, Michael has allowed Margaret to stay in the house.” She shook her head and rubbed the plate she was washing so hard I thought it might break. “I can’t believe it after all that woman has done to him, he keeps letting her come back into their lives.”
“Margaret is the mother of his daughters Candace, and I can understand why he does it.” I replied not wanting to get into this conversation with her.
“Every time Margaret flies into Tammy’s life it takes her weeks to get over it. She actually does damage to Tammy by filling her head with stupid ideas and promises. Margaret never follows through with anything. One time Margaret got a wild idea that she would move to Hawaii and take the girls with her. Michael had to give her extra money for that one just to get her to drop the idea. She’s evil and if she has the opportunity will probably try to destroy Michael’s life. She hated all of his friends and his family as well. I never could understand why she even bothered with Michael.”
“Well,” I replied. “Michael is pretty phenomenal.” I smiled.
Candace put down the pot she was cleaning, and put her arm around my waist.
“He is a great boy,” she corrected herself, “man, isn’t he?” I nodded in response. “And I know he thinks you’re special too, as do the rest of us. Take care of him for me.”
Wow! I believe I may have passed the mother test. A feeling of warmth went through me as she hugged me close.
Michael’s father came into the kitchen looking for desert. “Hey you girls, Helen said she made a pineapple upside down cake.”
Candace laughed, “Oh Steve, your timing is impeccable.”
I went to the refrigerator to pull out the cake while Michael’s dad wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her on the neck, “Mmmm…my sweet sugar candy.”
Candace blushed, “Oh Steve, now come on, I’m washing the dishes.”
I smiled to myself and realized that the leaf hadn’t fallen far from the tree and was happy to see their affectionate nature. They reminded me of my own parents.
Tammy and I left late. She was quiet in the car for the first part of the trip and I chalked it up to being tired. I was the chatterbox for a change.
Then she hit me with the bombshell, “Elizabeth, what would you say if I decided to go off the pill?”
I looked over
at her in the dark car and she looked serious enough, “Why? Did you and Jason break up?”
“No. But Mom and I were talking, and she said that if I feel like I found the right guy. It might be time to start our life together. A baby would certainly keep us together.” She explained.
My head started spinning, why wasn’t Michael here when she made these announcements? What was her mother thinking? The woman really was nuts, suggesting that Tammy go off the pill and have a baby.
“Well,” I began, “Jason has just started school. It is going to be at least eight long years before he becomes a doctor. And, what about you? Don’t you think veterinarian school is going to be hard with a baby?”
“I’ve been thinking about that too. I really want to be with Jason.” She sighed.
My only thoughts were that Candace had been correct. Margaret destroyed anything she met.
“Tammy I know this is a difficult time for you, especially since you’ve spent the whole summer together with Jason. However, all relationships go through a time of being apart even if you are living together. Look at your Dad and how much he travels, and how much I travel too.”
“Elizabeth, what if Jason meets someone new? What if he decides that he really doesn’t love me?”
Ah, there was the crux of the problem and it was easy to see where she had gotten the idea. That sounded like her mother.
“Tammy, that can happen whether you have a baby or not. Nothing can force him to stay with you if he doesn’t want to.”
“Yeah, like Dad left Mom.” She retorted.
“I can’t comment on what happened to your mom and dad’s relationship, you need to talk to your dad about that. All I know is that babies don’t insure any relationship is permanent. I think you need to talk to your dad about this before you make any decision, and, it would be a good idea to talk to Jason too. It wouldn’t be fair to spring something like this on him, would it?”
Inside I was thinking that she would be a fool, but I knew telling her that would shut her down completely. I hated Margaret for this. I could not believe she would set out to destroy her own daughter.
Tammy sat back in her seat and we were quiet the rest of the way home. I was glad that Katy and Paul would be home tomorrow afternoon and very glad that Michael would be home on Sunday.
The kids arrived just before dinnertime Saturday night. Paul was delightful, and as it turned out, he was not a New Yorker but a transplant from Atlanta. I could easily see how Katy had fallen for him because I too was falling prey to his southern charm, especially when he started calling me Miss Elizabeth.
We took Paul’s suitcase over to my cabin and got him settled into my guest room.
“This is very kind of you Miss Elizabeth,” he said as we put the suitcase into the room.
“Think nothing of it Paul. The two houses are becoming one quickly. Just think of mine as an extension of the other one.” I said showing him the bathroom.
Katy smiled shyly, “So Elizabeth, do you think it would be a problem if Paul had company in the middle of the night?”
I grinned at them both, “I don’t know how anyone would know if Paul had company in the middle of the night, and since this is my house, I don’t mind what goes on in the privacy of the guest room.”
She hugged me around the waist, “Thank you, Elizabeth.” Paul didn’t look up but appeared to be very interested in the patterned bedspread.
We went to the Spanish restaurant and coincidentally met Debi and Don at the restaurant. Margaret was uncharacteristically quiet during dinner, which made me thankful. I looked around the table and was surprised to find myself in this situation. If someone had told me that I would be sitting with Michael’s family including his ex-wife three months ago I would never have believed them. It also made me miss Michael even more.
Michael called me from the San Francisco airport the following day. He sounded exhausted on the phone. I didn’t talk with him about the week’s happenings because I thought I should tell him face to face.
When I hung up, I busily set about straightening up his bedroom. I changed the sheets and set out candles in the bedroom and bathroom. Even if he were too tired to do anything, I would at least pamper him tonight. I was so excited that I was almost giddy.
Katy, Paul, and I were in the living room drinking wine when Michael walked into the back door. He greeted us and the exhaustion was evident on his face, nonetheless he looked happy to see us. Michael hadn’t shaved since he had left and his days old beard made him look all the more masculine and sexy. I wanted to jump into his arms but managed to hold back and I could see in his eyes that he wanted to do the same with me.
Paul true to his southern style called Michael, “Sir.” Paul was definitely a smart kid. I knew at thirty he was no longer a kid, but fortunately, he was clever enough to show Michael respect, coincidentally, just as Michael had shown my father.
We sat together in the living room drinking wine and talking when Margaret and Tammy came into the living room. Tammy had our dry cleaning in her arms and she hung up Michael’s tuxedo and my Monterey dress in the doorway of Michael’s bedroom. I saw immediately that there was a problem with my dress.
I bolted up from the couch and ran over to my dress, “What the hell?” I said as I ripped off the plastic wrapper.
Michael could hear the distress in my voice, “What’s the matter Babe?”
I whispered, “Oh my god, Michael, my dress.”
Margaret looked directly at me with hate in her eyes, “Isn’t that a wonderful dress Elizabeth? Katy left this dress for me, and you know she’s taller than me so I had to have it altered to fit me. It’s wonderful. It fits like a glove now. The dress looks perfect on me.”
“Mom that isn’t the dress I left for you.” Katy stood up too.
I burst into tears fingering the dress that would no longer fit me.
Tammy looked from me to her mother, and then to her father. “I,” she stammered, “I let Mom take the dry cleaning in. Oh Elizabeth, oh my god.”
As I slowly crumpled to the floor Michael caught me in his arms, “Oh Babe, I’m so sorry honey.” I could feel the rage building in his body as he stiffened. He stared at Margaret, “Get out Margaret. I want you out of my house and I don’t want you ever to step foot in here again.” He said resolutely.
“Daddy!” Tammy cried out, her tears falling fast, “Don’t Daddy, she didn’t mean it.”
Michael focused on Tammy, “You can go with her Tammy, and you’re a fool if you think she didn’t do this on purpose.” Michael led me over to the couch and sat me down. “And you’re a bigger fool if you think getting pregnant is going to get Jason to marry you. I will lose all respect for you if you do that. That is not how I raised you. I raised you to be an honest woman. How could you do that to Jason?”
Tammy looked at me and I shook my head. Michael continued, “No Elizabeth didn’t tell me, Katy called me on my way home. Why would you want to trap Jason?”
“Oh so I trapped you?” Margaret yelled viciously, “That’s a great thing for you to tell your daughters. Guess what girls, your father felt trapped by you.”
Everyone looked over at Margaret with surprise. Michael looked at her and said with a cold voice, “Margaret, what are you still doing here? I thought I made myself clear. Get out!”
Tammy came over to me, knelt down in front of me, and put her hands on my knees. “Elizabeth, I’m so sorry about your dress. I’m sorry about everything.” Her tears had turned to sobs.
I touched the top of her head, “I know honey.”
Tammy twisted around to look over at her mother, “Mom you better leave.”
Margaret didn’t say a word. She turned on her heel and left the room.
Michael concentrated his attention on us, “I’m sorry for this. Paul, I’m sorry, we’re not normally so explosive a family. Tammy, why don’t you take the dress and put it somewhere so it’s out of our sight.”
Tammy looked at me and I nodded to her. She
rose, picked up the dress, and left the room.
Michael sat next to me and held me. “Babe, I will replace your dress. Honey, we’ll find one just like it.”
The four of us sat quietly in the room until we heard Tammy and her mother come downstairs with Margaret’s suitcases. The backdoor slammed shut and there was an audible sigh from everyone in the room. Tammy came back inside a few minutes later and she looked at us with despair and tears on her face. Michael patted the place on the couch next to him and reached out his arm to her.
“Come here baby girl.” He beckoned to Tammy.
Tammy quickly sat next to him and Michael kissed her hair while wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“I’m sorry Daddy.” She buried her head in his neck.
chapter thirty-seven
We managed to salvage the evening by ordering pizza and indoctrinating Paul into the Hoffman’s style of Monopoly. No surprise when Michael won again, although it was possible that Paul let him win, which was smart on his part.
Even though the guest room upstairs was now free, Paul chose to continue to stay at my cabin. Michael did not say a word when Katy and Paul departed together for the night. While Michael and Tammy did the dishes, I prepared our bedroom by lighting the candles and running the bath water. I wanted to also give them a little alone time too. They had to do some rebuilding of their relationship. It was surprising to me how accurate Candace had been about Margaret. It was time though to forget about Margaret. She was part of the past and there was definitely no room for her in our future.
I slipped into a very sheer white nightgown and sat on the bed to wait. All the lights were off and only candles lit up the room. With Barry White playing on my IPod, everything was perfect.
Michael’s knock on the door was soft and I could hear the wine glasses clinking in his hands. “Babe, it’s me.”
