“That sounds promising, unless she’s one of those people who are usually unhappy.”
“I think Harriet would know it if she were one of those kind of people.”
“You’re probably right. You’ll know when you interview her.”
“Yeah.”
Jeff parked the car in front of Vivian and Will’s house, and before either man could get out of the car, the front door opened and Joey came running toward them.
“Now, there’s a welcome every man should get,” Bill murmured.
Jeff hurried out of the car and met his son with his arms open. He swung him up into his arms for a big hug.
Then Bill asked for a hug, too. Joey willingly gave him one, but he remained in his father’s arms.
“Does your mommy know you were coming out to meet me?” Jeff asked as Rebecca appeared in the doorway Joey had left open.
Joey shook his head, a guilty look on his face.
“Then I think we’ve got some explaining to do,” Jeff said.
“Hi, Mommy,” Joey said, fear in his voice.
“Stop acting like I’m going to beat you, young man,” Rebecca said. “But you shouldn’t leave the door open, and you shouldn’t leave the house without telling an adult.”
“But, Mommy—”
“Yes, ma’am, Mommy,” Jeff said insistently.
“Yes, ma’am, Mommy,” Joey repeated. Then he turned to his father. “What’s ‘ma’am’ mean?”
They all burst out laughing.
Bill supplied the answer. “That’s a polite way to address ladies.”
“Oh. So I should call my teacher, ma’am?” Joey asked.
“You could, but probably you should just call her by her name. Mrs. whatever her name is.” Jeff smiled to accompany his words.
“Mrs. Peabody,” Joey supplied.
“Well, I think Mrs. Peabody would prefer that you call her Mrs. Peabody instead of ma’am.”
“Mommy likes me to call her Mommy, don’t you, Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetie, I do. But it’s good to know polite words in case you’re talking to another lady.”
“Okay.” He wiggled out of his dad’s arms when they reached the house. “I’ll go tell Betty you’re here.”
After the boy disappeared, Jeff said, “Thanks for helping me out of that conversation.”
Bill laughed. “I was hoping it would continue. It’s not often I see Jeff bested in a conversation.”
Rebecca smiled, but she didn’t laugh.
“Are you feeling okay?” Jeff asked, thinking again about Chelsea’s phone call.
“Yes, fine. This week with Rachel coming into our lives has been wonderful but a little bit stressful, you know, adjusting,” Rebecca said.
“But you’re getting along all right, aren’t you?” Bill asked in surprise.
“Oh, yes, of course, but it’s amazing how often we know what each other is thinking.” She was worried about that. Rachel would leave tomorrow morning and be gone for a couple of weeks. If she could hide her turmoil from Rachel until the morning, she could manage to pull off her departure.
“I guess that would be hard to adjust to,” Bill said.
“Yeah,” Jeff agreed belatedly. “I’m not sure I’d like it.”
Rebecca didn’t want to continue to discuss her relationship with her twin. “I think Will is waiting for us in the library. And I’m sure Betty will be bringing in hors d’oeuvres soon.”
She smiled and waved them into the house.
After the two men reached the library, Bill whispered, “That’s the second time Rebecca bested you in a conversation. She’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, I know.” Jeff shook hands with Will and sat down. “Will, have you talked to Rebecca today?”
“Um, I think I spoke to her at breakfast. I’m not at my best early in the morning.”
“No, I mean this afternoon. She just showed us in here and disappeared.”
Vivian entered at that moment. All the men greeted her. Then Will asked, “Is Rebecca doing all right?”
“Why do you ask?” Vivian stared at her husband with wide eyes.
“Jeff was wondering if everything is all right. Rebecca showed him and Bill in here and then disappeared.”
“Perhaps she wasn’t quite ready for guests. I’m sure she’ll be down soon.” With a smile, Vivian sat down beside Bill. “We’re so glad you could join us this evening, Bill.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Greenfield. I’m looking forward to a home-cooked meal.”
“Call me Vivian, Bill. And that’s Will. Right, dear?”
“Definitely Will,” Will agreed with a grin. “Vivian rules the roost around here, Bill, so you may as well give in.”
The door opened again and three young ladies entered.
“Oh, Rachel and Vanessa, you’re back,” Vivian greeted them.
“Bill and Jeff are joining us for dinner. And Rebecca, they were concerned that you hadn’t joined us yet.”
“I’m sorry. I hadn’t finished fixing my hair when I ran after Joey. I thought I’d take a minute to get the hair out of my eyes.”
“And you look lovely. All three of you do. Rachel, have you got all your things moved in?”
“Yes, Vivian, we finished this afternoon. Vanessa helped me.”
“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re finally here.”
Betty entered with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “Here now, this should hold you until dinner is ready.”
“Thank you, Betty. I’m sure it will,” Vivian agreed.
After Betty had left the room, Bill said, “This could hold me until Saturday.”
Will chuckled. “I know, but you have to share with us.”
“Oh, I knew there was a catch.” Bill got up and passed the tray around.
A few minutes later, Betty called them in to dinner. She served the roast beef and vegetables, then said, before leaving the room, “Be sure you save room for dessert. I baked coconut cream pies.”
Rachel groaned after Betty left the room. “I knew moving in here was a mistake. I can’t stay on a diet around here.”
“Yes, you can, dear,” Vivian promised. “I’ll make sure she adds some lower-calorie vegetables and not as many good desserts.”
“Oh, no, I won’t be here often enough to make everyone hate me. And I would hate me if I changed Betty’s menu.”
“Good for you,” Will said. “I enjoy every calorie I eat of Betty’s cooking. It’s why I keep working out in the gym.”
“I try to do some kind of physical regime, but with all the traveling I do, it isn’t easy. And then I meet Rebecca, who looks just like me, and she doesn’t diet at all.”
“Ah, Joey’s my secret. Keeping up with him is my workout.” Rebecca smiled at her son. He was seated between her and Jeff. Vanessa and Rachel sat on the other side with Bill.
When dinner was over, it was almost Joey’s bedtime. Everyone retired to the library, but Rebecca told Joey to tell everyone good-night. He did so, but Jeff immediately stood and offered to help put him to bed.
Rebecca hesitated. She wanted to refuse his offer, but she couldn’t do that. It might be the last time Jeff tucked Joey in for a long time.
Jeff carried his son upstairs and helped him brush his teeth and don his pajamas in the bathroom. They came into Joey’s bedroom, both laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Rebecca asked.
“Joey was making funny faces in the mirror.”
“You started it, Daddy,” Joey said.
Jeff laughed. “I guess I did.”
“Choose the book you want us to read, but not the dinosaur book.”
“Why not?” Jeff asked.
“Because it’s his longest book. That’s why he chooses it so often.”
“Aw, Mommy.”
She crossed her arms and stared at her son. With a shrug of his shoulder, Joey picked another book about a dog.
“Someday I want to have a dog,” he said as he gave it to his father.
“
Maybe someday you can. What kind would you like?”
“I like golden retrievers.”
“Those dogs are bigger than you are,” Jeff protested.
“But I’m going to grow, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are, son. And I’m going to watch you grow.”
Rebecca turned her back to the pair. She was afraid her face would give away her anguish.
“Rebecca? You ready to read?”
“You start. I want to tidy up the bathroom.”
When she came back into the room a couple of minutes later, Jeff was halfway through the book. She took over the reading for the last few pages. Then she kissed her son good-night and stood, waiting for Jeff to do the same.
When he’d done so, she tucked the covers around her little boy, kissed him again and tiptoed to the door where Jeff waited.
“Are you okay?” Jeff asked when they had closed Joey’s door.
“Yes, of course, why?”
“I just got the feeling you were upset.”
“Please, I don’t need anyone else reading my mind.” She hurried down the stairs ahead of Jeff.
Betty was bringing in a tray of coffee and hot tea when they reached the library. Jeff gave a sigh. “I think coffee is the perfect antidote to that pie.”
“But, Mr. Jeff, I thought you’d want an extra piece to take home,” Betty said, a shocked look on her face.
Jeff began to stammer, trying to think of a way to avoid hurting Betty’s feelings.
“He’s afraid he’ll put on weight and Chelsea won’t want him anymore.” Rebecca finished by smiling at Jeff, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile.
Jeff gave his apologies to Betty. Then he accepted his fragrant cup of coffee.
After an enjoyable hour, the two men excused themselves. As they walked to the car, Bill commented on the pleasant evening and got almost no response from Jeff.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to think Chelsea was right. There’s something wrong with Rebecca.”
Chapter Fifteen
Friday morning, Rebecca got Joey off to school. Then she joined Vivian, Vanessa and Rachel at the breakfast table. Rachel would have to leave soon to make her flight. Peter was going to drive her as soon as he got back from taking Joey to school.
“In honor of your departure, Rachel, I think I’ll have just one more cinnamon roll. These are even better than the coconut pie last night,” Rebecca said, closing her eyes to savor the taste.
“Yes, they are,” Rachel agreed.
Rebecca’s eyes popped open. “Did you eat one?”
“No. But Vanessa gave me a bite of hers.”
“I’m glad you ate your scrambled eggs, Rachel,” Vivian said. “They have a lot of protein in them.”
“Yes. Eggs are one of my favorite foods.” Rachel paused before she said, “Eggs and cinnamon rolls.”
They all laughed. Betty came in and poured more coffee in Rachel’s cup.
“Thank you, Betty.” After Betty went back to the kitchen, Rachel said, “I’m going to miss this service while I’m gone. It seems like all they do is yell at us at these shoots.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant,” Vivian said with a frown.
“It’s not. Modeling is not an easy job, but it pays well. If it weren’t for Mother stealing all my money, I’d have a nice nest egg.”
“How much had you saved?” Vanessa asked.
“Almost seventy-five thousand. And that included paying Mother a salary to handle my money.”
“Your mother spent that much money?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes, over a period of a year. And borrowed another twenty-five thousand against my future earnings.”
“Oh, my,” Vivian said, her gaze sad. “That woman has no right to call herself your mother.”
“Certainly not compared to you, Vivian,” Rachel said with a smile. “Now, I’ve got to go. I hear Peter in the driveway and he said we’d have to hurry.”
She hugged all three women goodbye. “This is the first time I’ve gone on a shoot and really had family to say goodbye to.” She brushed away the tears, grabbed the suitcase she’d brought down with her and ran out the door.
Rebecca gave a sigh of relief.
“You’re glad she’s gone?” Vivian asked, staring at her.
“I’m glad the goodbyes are over. I’m not very good at them. And I knew they might be difficult this morning.” Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw understanding in Vivian’s smile and gaze. She stood, excusing herself.
“I guess you do have to go so you won’t be late to class.”
Rebecca had intended to tell them she wasn’t going to school today because she had too much to do, but she couldn’t do that. So she grabbed her purse and books to hurry out. Only she didn’t go to class. Instead, she went to the library. There she wrote goodbye letters to Will and Vivian, Rachel, Vanessa and Jeff.
She received several funny stares as she wrote while tears slid down her cheeks. She kept a tissue in her hand and mopped them up, but the tears kept coming.
“Rebecca?”
Rebecca gasped as she realized Vanessa had come to the library and found her. “Vanessa!” she managed to get out.
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa whispered as she slipped into the chair beside her. “And why aren’t you in class?”
“I couldn’t go. I was too upset.”
“Because Rachel left?”
“Yes, it seemed to release some emotions I hadn’t dealt with. I’m sorry. I thought if I wrote about them I’d feel better.”
“It doesn’t seem to be working. Why don’t we go get a hamburger together?”
“Okay, that’s a good idea.” Rebecca quickly tucked her letters away so her sister couldn’t see them.
They walked a short distance to a favorite lunch place the students enjoyed. They found a table, and Vanessa insisted Rebecca sit down while she went and got their food. Rebecca could only agree.
Vanessa came back to their table with a tray full of food. “I got us some onion rings, too. I never asked you if you like them, but since we seem to like all the same things I thought you might like them, too.”
“You noticed that about all of us?”
Vanessa grinned and nodded.
“Well, you’re right. I love onion rings. I don’t think I can eat all this food, though, after those cinnamon rolls for breakfast.”
“It’s a good thing Rachel won’t be going on a trip every morning. We’d all get fat.”
“Yes.” Rebecca took the thick hamburger off the tray, cheese dripping down its sides. “Oh, this looks so good.”
“I know. I love these hamburgers. It took me a while to convince Betty that college kids didn’t take sack lunches to school.”
“No—really?”
“Really. She’d always packed lunches for me because she was sure that the school food would be bad for me.” Vanessa grinned as Rebecca laughed.
“It sounds good to hear you laugh, Rebecca. I was afraid you were falling to pieces back there in the library.”
“No, I’m fine. It was just a hard day.”
“Are you going in to work today?”
“No. I’ve missed all week. I don’t see that going in today would do any good.” She released her breath as Vanessa nodded in agreement.
“True. Have you told Jeff?”
“No, I thought I’d give him a call in a few minutes.”
“Here, you can use my cell phone and call him now.”
Vivian had wanted to get Rebecca a cell phone, but she’d refused. She didn’t consider one essential. “All right, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
Rebecca dialed the number for the law office. When Harriet answered, she began giving her the message for Jeff.
“Jeff specifically said if you called I was to let him know so he could talk to you. Just a minute.”
Rebecca wanted to protest, but Harriet had already gotten up
and wasn’t there to hear her words.
“Is anything wrong?” Vanessa asked.
Rebecca shook her head no.
“Rebecca?” Jeff’s strong voice sounded in her ear.
“Yes, Jeff?”
“You’re not coming in to work today?”
“I didn’t think one more day would matter since I’ve missed all week.”
“No, that’s fine if you don’t want to come in. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“I was thinking about taking Joey shopping tomorrow to buy him some winter clothes. We can have lunch out, too. Is that okay with you?”
“No, tomorrow’s not convenient. Maybe next weekend.”
“What have you got planned for Saturday?”
“We’re way behind on several chores, and I want us to get caught up on them.”
“Can I help?”
“No, you can’t.”
“But I haven’t seen much of you…and Joey this week.”
“Jeff, don’t be difficult. You came to dinner last night.”
“Okay. You’re sure nothing’s wrong?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. I’ll see you Sunday.”
He waited, as if to see if she would protest.
She didn’t bother. “Goodbye.”
“Bye.”
“Why was he being difficult?” Vanessa asked.
“He wanted to see Joey on Saturday, but I didn’t want to spend the day with him.”
“Why didn’t you let him take Joey for the day? You could have some rest.”
“The invitation was for both of us.”
“It’s a wonder Chelsea doesn’t get jealous.”
“She does. And I feel terrible about it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Yes. I didn’t think I’d like her, but I do. I’ve tried to tell Jeff he can’t put me and Joey first and always leave Chelsea as third, or she would become resentful. I also told him that he had to stop turning her over to Bill’s care. But Jeff acts like there’s no problem.” Tears had filled Rebecca’s eyes, and she tried to blink them away.
“Is that one of the reasons you were crying in the library?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“Well, I imagine Chelsea will let him know that.”
Rebecca's Little Secret: Children Of Texas Page 16
