As Rebecca nodded, Pam considered her current wardrobe and almost shrieked. Not that she wanted to try to compete, but next to Susan, she felt like an old rag doll. “Now it’s my turn to say, ‘Oh, dear.’”
“Let’s get manicures,” Rebecca suggested.
Pam studied her bare nails. That wasn’t a bad idea. “Is there a place nearby?”
“Sure is. Not far from the bookstore. And they’re very fast. We don’t even need an appointment.”
“How convenient.”
“Sure is,” Rebecca assured her.
Pam detected a giggle in Rebecca’s voice. She faced the woman and noted a gleam in her dark brown eyes. “You know something.”
Her new friend gave her a hug. “Trust me on this. It’s a good thing.”
****
“What else do we need?” Tom asked his mom.
Katie Jarrod concentrated on putting the final touches on a three-tiered chocolate mousse cake. “Read me the list.”
Tom cleared his throat. “From the top, we’ve got steaks, chicken, swordfish, hamburgers and hot dogs for the kids, jumbo shrimp cocktail, corn on the cob, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean salad and tossed salad. What’s left?”
“An army to feed it all to,” Tom Sr. chimed in. “When are the troops due?”
“Seven o’clock,” Katie answered.
“Is it still a surprise?”
Tom dunked a freshly washed shrimp in cocktail sauce and stuffed it into his mouth. “Uh-huh. Unless Rebecca blew it.”
“Consider it blown,” his dad laughed. “It’s a known fact, son. One you’ve got to keep in mind for the future. Women can’t keep their traps shut about anything having to do with men, weddings or babies. It’s like some kind of secret honor code they have. Indoctrinated at birth. Gab, gab, gab.”
“Hm.” Katie snorted. “Add some of that really strong horseradish to the list. I think I’ll slip some of it into your father’s coffee when he’s not suspecting it.”
“On a more serious note,” Tom interjected, changing the subject, “I want to thank you both for this party. I know this seems sort of sudden, my popping the question to Pam, but it feels right. You two have been great about it, and about everything that’s happened in the past.”
“We love you, Tommy,” his mother said, with tears in her voice. “And we’ve liked that girl from the first time you brought her home.” She looked at her husband, then back to Tom. “We’re so pleased it’s working out for you.”
Tom’s dad patted him on the back. “We just want you to be happy, son.”
Tom gave his parents each a hug, then handed Katie an envelope.
“What’s this?”
He grinned. “Open it.”
“Oh, my stars!” she gasped. With trembling fingers, she removed two tickets and a travel brochure.
“What you got there?” Tom Sr. asked, prying them from her fingers. “A two-week tour of Europe. Well, ain’t that gonna be something?”
“This must have cost you a fortune!” Katie challenged, skimming the brochure.
“And you’re worth every penny. Happy fortieth wedding anniversary.”
****
“How bad is it?”
Rebecca peeked at Pam over the menu. “How bad is what?”
Pam arched her a knowing eyebrow. “Don’t give me that. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” While at the bookstore, Rebecca had watched Pam buy two books on step-parenting.
“That’s a good idea,” she’d commented. At the time, Pam didn’t get a chance to ask her to elaborate. She broached the subject again as they walked the short distance to the restaurant. Lucky for Rebecca, they were interrupted by the hostess, who was ready to seat them immediately.
Rebecca closed her menu and took a sip of iced tea. Replacing the glass on a coaster, she asked, “Do you pray?”
Pam rolled her eyes. “All the time. I feel like I have God on speed dial. Why? Am I going to need to start focusing on something specific?”
Rebecca gave her an apologetic grimace. “How much has Tom told you?”
“Clearly, not enough. The general gist was that he hasn’t seen his kids in quite a while. I can tell it bothers him. He closes down every time I mention them.”
Saying the words, she recalled a depressing statistic. Something having to do with children from prior marriages being the main reasons why new marriages fail. Dear God. What am I getting into? Is this some kind of warning that Tom and I should cool it? I got so caught up in the excitement of everything that’s been happening...the job...seeing Tom again, the nut case bothering me about the accident. I really haven’t taken the time to get the whole picture.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to Tom,” Pam heard Rebecca say. “Eddie and I pray so hard for him, asking God to help him and Susan cut the crap. For the boys’ sakes, if not for themselves. You could be the answer.” She took a deep breath.
“But?”
Rebecca crinkled her nose, looking at Pam sympathetically. “I don’t want to sound like I’m bad-mouthing Susan. And I don’t want to scare you away.”
“Go on. I can take it.” I hope.
“It’s just that there’s such a history. Tom and Susan are like oil and water. No matter what you do to try to mix the two, it just doesn’t happen.”
“Interesting analogy,” Pam commented. The waitress arrived before she could say anything else. While they ordered their lunches, she could tell Rebecca was bracing herself to continue their conversation. Patiently, she sat back and waited.
“The marriage was never exactly made in heaven,” Rebecca began, busying her hands by buttering a roll. “A few months after A.J. arrived, Tom’s dad came down with pneumonia. Understandably, Tom helped out even more than usual with the farm. It was also a bad season, weather wise. They risked losing a large portion of the crops, and Tom knew that meant a lean year. But it infuriated Susan. I guess the baby was really colicky and, well, there was a lot of stress.” Rebecca paused to take another drink.
“Eventually, word got around that Susan met up with another man. He came from out of town. We found out later that he owned one of the construction companies that invested in rehabbing the town.”
“So that’s how Susan got into real estate.”
“Exactly.” Rebecca waited until the waiter finished delivering their French onion soup. “I guess he was married, too. When the project ended a year later, so did they. From an outsider’s view, it appeared that Tom and Susan continued on, acting as if nothing happened.”
Pam went to reach for her spoon, then stopped. She looked at her new friend.
“Grace?” Rebecca suggested.
Without warning, Pam felt her throat tighten and her eyes fill. Not only was she getting a good girlfriend, but one she could pray with. That was something she had wondered about when the Cartwrights came to Tom’s house the other night for dinner. But the atmosphere felt so charged at the time that everyone started munching on Tom’s fabulous appetizers the second they came out of the oven. With all the activity and chatter, they skipped grace. Sorry, Lord, she prayed silently. And thank you. Now she needed to find the courage to go inside a church again. For the longest time, she just hadn’t felt worthy enough to do so. Now she felt an urge to try.
Though Pam’s faith had always been strong, it had also been very private. And living in such a secular, rushed world all these years didn’t often lend itself to a lot of fellowship. She realized now that things in that area of her life might change for the better there, too. She took a deep breath, then released it, feeling a lot of stored up tension leave her body.
She nodded. “Grace.”
Afterward, while they ate, Pam picked up the conversation where they left off. “And Tom didn’t file for divorce then? He’d certainly had good reason.”
Sadly, Rebecca shrugged. “I don’t know. Not that I believe in divorce, mind you. I don’t. But if two people cannot reach a meeting of the minds and all th
ey’re doing is hurting each other and their kids...well, it would have been understandable. But Tom said no. He took a lot of the blame for what happened. He admitted he hadn’t exactly been the best husband. His heart was never really in the marriage.”
She paused to finish her soup. “And Susan knew it. When she tried to patch things up, he agreed to give it another shot. They went to counseling and tried spending more time together. They even started going to church. We’d see them and they actually seemed happy. Mark arrived soon after.”
“And then?”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Susan’s father died. Suddenly. He suffered a heart attack and could not be revived. In his will, he left everything to Susan and Jennifer, her younger sister.”
“Everything? The farm? The land?” It had to be worth over a million, Pam calculated.
“Everything,” Rebecca confirmed. “Her mom had already passed on, years earlier. He wasn’t much of a farmer. Instead he hired people. But it made money. And you may not know this, but he was also the town’s chief of police. On top of the property, there was life insurance and a pension from the department.”
Pam digested this as their sandwiches arrived.
“A month later, Susan bought out her sister’s share of the real estate. Now, mind you, this was before the real estate boom. After a year, the property tripled in value. Susan put a bunch of acres on the market and made a bundle. When Tom refused to do the same with his share of his dad’s farm, Mr. Construction Company suddenly re‑appeared in the picture. Susan divorced Tom, and then married the guy who was suddenly single. The marriage lasted a little more than two years.”
“Just long enough to build that new development you and I drove past this morning when you picked me up.”
Rebecca smiled. “You catch on quick. They both did quite well financially. Then, he took off again. Ever since, World Wars Three through Twelve have broken out between Susan and Tom.”
Pam digested the information while she and Rebecca ate. But Pam didn’t actually eat. Instead, she found herself picking at her hamburger, wondering about Tom and the boys and how she could fit into this colorful mosaic.
Truths Unveiled
Truths Unveiled
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I hope I’m not scaring you away,” Rebecca said to Pam.
Pam shook her head. “No.” Providing Tom kept his head together about all this. How embarrassing it must have been for him. Just down right humiliating. She mentioned his willingness to relocate to Boston or Chicago.
“Maybe you two should really consider it,” Rebecca suggested, sounding truly sincere. “A change of scenery might do Tom some good. We’d miss you terribly, but at least it would keep both of you out of the line of fire.”
Again, Pam shook her head. “No. His family and career is here. All that’s he’s worked for. And his kids are here. By the way, what’s up with them?”
Rebecca’s expression turned perplexed. “Depends on who you ask. According to Susan, Tom abandoned them. Everyone who knows the whole story disagrees.”
“So what happened?”
“I’m no shrink, but from what I’ve been reading in one of my advanced psychology courses, it sounds like a classic case of alienation on Susan’s part. Though she seems tough on the outside, inside she’s desperately insecure and paranoid that everyone is out to get her.”
“So she gets them first?” Pam asked, familiar with a personality type she’d met occasionally through her medical practice.
“That seems to be the bottom line,” Rebecca nodded. “If she can’t pin you down under her thumb and make you do everything she says, she panics and does really bizzare things. Which she did...at least where Tom and the boys are concerned. He tried to work with her, and spent thousands of dollars going to court, but eventually he just gave up.”
“Can you give me details? I mean, I don’t want you to betray any confidences, but…”
Rebecca sighed. “There are no secrets. Susan made certain of that. It’s just sad. The boys are really good kids. And with Susan, I’m sure they’re perfect.”
“To avoid any repercussions?”
“Most likely. She sees everything as a reflection on her. So when they stayed with Tom, they’d sort of go wild to counter that military-type behavior she expected of them. But Tom handled it pretty well. He knew how Susan was. Eddie and I hung around a lot of the time helping him out. So did his parents. Tom thought it was very important for the boys to know their family. Susan doesn’t have much, and what’s left she doesn’t bother with. To this day, Jennifer swears Susan swindled her when buying her out of her portion of their father’s estate.”
Rebecca paused to take a last bite of her tuna melt sandwich. “It’s funny. That’s one of the things Susan both liked and resented about Tom. That he came from a close-knit family and she didn’t. She liked the closeness. The ability to have someone to rely upon. To share everyday experiences, along with the big holiday celebrations. But at the same time, she resented that she didn’t have that herself. Like it made her look bad. So she rebelled against it. I’ve actually heard her taunt Tom. Calling him a mama’s boy, that kind of thing. Then she’d have no qualms about asking his mom to watch the boys so she could go out with her lovers.”
“While they were still married?”
“Yes. But that would never have occurred to Katie. She’s just a really nice woman who enjoys helping other people out. So nice that if Satan knocked on the door, I bet she’d invite him in for tea and ask about his day.”
Pam rolled her eyes. “Wonderful.”
“Getting back to the boys, we know Susan drilled them after every visitation with Tom. I’m sure it slipped out how much they liked being with him and the family. I suspect they were getting old enough to express their feelings. They could also question their mother’s opinions and versions of the stories they’d heard. It probably scared the daylights out of her. She was petrified the boys would somehow favor Tom over her. To prevent that, she started playing mind games.”
“By doing what?” Pam asked.
“Everyone around started noticing the kids having a real hard time adjusting each time they visited Tom. I’d see how hostile they’d act for the first few hours. Bad-mouthing him and his parents. That sort of thing. The younger one would start to cry, saying that Mommy was really mad at Daddy. He was going to jail and Grandma was going to hell for some reason. It really got awful. But Tom would talk to the boys and let them get it out of their systems, and then they’d be fine. Until it was time to get packed up and wait for Susan to pick them up. Then they’d start acting uneasy. Even uptight. I’m convinced they were afraid their mom would find out that they’d had a good time.”
“So what did Tom do?”
“He told the boys they were welcome any time they wanted. He didn’t want to force them to see him. He didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable, like they had to see him, and then be preoccupied with wondering about what their mom might think. He told Susan the same thing, but added that he was sick and tired of her making them feel bad about seeing him. He didn’t want to put them through it any more.”
“Oh, my,” Pam groaned. “How did she react?”
“Not well. And it’s been like a train wreck ever since. Every time Tom’s tried to see them, like being a chaperone on a school trip, or going to a soccer game, she’d either keep the kids at home or make a scene in public saying that he planned to kidnap them. Recently, he’s just thrown in the towel.”
****
Tom debated what he should do about Susan’s latest demand. She’d made it earlier that morning via a telephone call, and then hung up in her typical take-no-prisoners way. Walking the length of his property with the two dogs in tow, it occurred to him that maybe it could be made to work in his favor. Uncharacteristically, she had been avoiding him for the past several months. No nasty messages left at his office or on his answering machine at home. No new accusations about him whispered via the town gra
pevine. Nothing.
He threw a stick for the dogs to fetch. Maybe Susan had realized that if she kept making demands on him, she was opening the door for him to take court action to see their sons. But she could have just been distracted, setting her sights on making someone else miserable. Whether the victim was a new man in her life or someone she viewed as an enemy, either way it directed her focus away from him. Which was good. He didn’t want any contact with her. If it weren’t for the boys, he’d block all the memories, including the pain and mistakes, from his mind entirely. He bent to remove the stick from Rusty’s mouth and threw it again.
Yet, what if Susan was up to something? Knowing her like he did, Tom suspected the latter. And it wasn’t more child support. The zoning board meeting was scheduled for two weeks from now. She had a lot riding on getting approval for her project. Was this recent demand used to induce him to withdraw his objection and his project? Well, she was definitely barking up the wrong tree there, but at least the lines of communication were open now. Fuzzy static, but open. Maybe he should take the opportunity to make some demands of his own?
Truths Unveiled Page 14
