The Real Thing

by Tina Ann Forkner

  Keith squeezed my hand. “What, cowgirl?”

  “I think I’ve heard this speech before from my own ex. Let me guess, the next thing that happened was you were off on a trip – in your case, the rodeo – and you ran into your old friend. She was probably a former queen, like Kim and Violet, right? You got a little drunk. Then you got really drunk. And then we both know what happened. Violet found out about it, and that’s when she changed all the locks.”

  He was red now, and I admit I hoped it was from the shame, because he should be ashamed. I hated a cheater. But I didn’t hate my husband. I sighed, not really sorry I’d said what I had, but feeling crummy nonetheless.

  “That pretty much sums it up,” he said, giving me a shrewd look. “You’re pretty tough, cowgirl.”

  “Just experience,” I said, dismissing it with a wave of my hand. “Was that the only time you did that to her, or was it just the only time you got caught?” What I really wanted to ask was, would he do the same to me?

  He hung his head, low, hiding beneath the brim of his hat.

  But I couldn’t judge his past today. He was my husband.

  “So, what they say about cowboys is true? They are rabble-rousers?”

  “Not true,” he said, regaining his spunk. “Listen, what I want you to know is that Violet and I loved each other. That was a horrible mistake, but what Kim didn’t tell you is that Violet and I made up and we were happy until the day she disappeared. Incredibly happy.”

  I scooted closer to him.

  “That,” he said, gazing out into the apple trees, “is why I felt so much joy when God gave me that moment with her in the barn a few weeks ago.” He smiled, released a breath, as if he had been holding it for a long, long time. “It felt so good to say that to her and when she said I was forgiven in that tiny window of that Violet moment, she set me free.”

  I remembered the look on Keith’s face that day.

  “I thought that was beautiful,” I said. “And then Kim came along and made you feel guilty again.”

  “Kim means well,” he said. “But she’s wrong about a lot of things. One of them is I didn’t change for you.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No, because I was already a changed man before Violet left, and that’s why it was so hard to understand when it looked like she up and left me.”

  “So, where does that leave you and me? Us?” I touched my stomach.

  He shook his head, as if he hadn’t just explained it already. “What do you mean, us?”

  “How do I know you won’t do stuff like that anymore? How can I be sure you won’t make the same mistake again?”

  “Well, for starters, I don’t drink on the road anymore, but mainly, because I love you. I would never let anything like that happen again. I was lucky that Violet forgave and that we worked things out. I’d never expect another woman to go through what she did.” He gave me a sad look. “And I know your ex already did that to you.”

  I shrugged. “So, Violet just dropped it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say just like that, but there did come a day when she was okay.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I guess I didn’t really,” he admitted. “Until that day in the barn.” He pulled me closer. “I know I don’t deserve for anyone to ever trust me again, Mandy. I can’t tell you how it makes me feel that I introduced this into my life in the first place, and now into yours.”

  “Kim did that.”

  “No, Kim didn’t do it. I did.”

  It surprised me more than a little that he admitted it. It was a gentle reminder that while this news was all new and horrible to me, he’d been dealing with it for years before he met me. Violet had, too, but had forgiven him, although not without making him suffer a little bit when she changed all the locks. The thought of it made me smile, just a little. I liked a woman who didn’t wallow in self-pity.

  “I promise, Mandy. I’ve never cheated on you, in case that’s what you’re worried about.”

  And those were the words I had really wanted him to say.

  “Mandy, I made a mistake in my first marriage, yes, but I changed. It sure as heck has never happened since I’ve met you.”

  When he wrapped those muscled arms around me and pulled me into his chest, I melted into that moment like an ice cube.

  The funny thing is, I don’t even think Keith knows that I am putty in his hands, and maybe I’d better not tell him. I was really thinking about letting bygones be bygones and was just leaning in to kiss him back when his cell phone went off in his shirt pocket. The vibration made me jump back. Frustrated, he glanced at the screen.

  “It’s Kim.”

  “Calling you?”

  “Hello?”

  “What does she want?”

  “What? Are you sure?”

  Silence.

  “When did they leave? Uh-huh? Gotcha. We’re on our way now.”

  He took my arm, leading me back to the house. “Keith, slow down.”

  He slowed his pace, taking my hand. “I’m sorry. We have to hurry. Peyton and Pia roped Estefan into running off with them.”

  “What? Running off where?”

  “I don’t know, but Carlos called your dad and said Estefan took the truck and they haven’t seen them since early this morning.”

  “Peyton told me they were making deliveries.”

  “I don’t think so,” Keith said.

  We hurried through the orchard. I was out of breath halfway there, so I had Keith go on ahead.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Go on. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  When I walked into the kitchen, Marta took one look at me and sat me down in a corner rocking chair. I guess it was silly to have a rocking chair in the kitchen, but it had always been there. Daddy said our mom had rocked us in that chair when we were babies. Before she started showing signs of her illness. I always felt like it held a piece of her, a memory that was warm and soft and comforting.

  “Do you want me to call the doctor, sis?”

  “Oh, no. I’m fine. Just tired.”

  “Okay, but you just sit there for a while, okay?” She bustled around the kitchen, doing a bunch of nothing, it looked like to me, and so I knew she was worried.

  “So what’s going on with the kids?”

  She whirled around. “I found that list, so I know they aren’t making deliveries.”

  “Maybe they’re just skipping out like kids do. Remember the time we skipped out and went rafting with our friends?”

  “How could I forget? You fell out of the boat and our friend Randy had to fish you out of the water.”

  “Oh, yes. That’s right.” In my mind I saw Peyton rolling through the water, her little body limp, or something worse, and felt my heart rate quicken.

  Marta sat down at the table, but her foot bounced up and down like she was tap dancing.

  “I wish one of them would just answer their phone.”

  “I’m sure they’re alright.” My own foot started bouncing. “You think they’re alright?”

  Marta stood, forgetting she was supposed to be calming me. She paced the room. I longed to join her, but made myself sit in the chair and take deep breaths.

  “They’ve been gone for two hours. Kim said neither Peyton nor Pia will answer their phones. Estefan’s dad is angry, going to ground him into next week.”

  “Well I think they all need grounded further than next week.”

  She sat back down, tapped her fingernails on the table. I stood.

  “I’m not sitting around and waiting,” I said. Marta followed me out onto the porch. We both saw Dad at the same time and made a beeline for him.

  “Now slow down,” he said. “I’ve already talked to Keith. They’re checking your house, Pia’s, and Estefan’s first. It’s probably just kids being kids. You’ll remember how that goes.” He gave us each a pointed look. />
  I shook my finger. “If that’s what they’re doing, then Peyton’s grounded until college. I hope that’s what they’re doing.”

  “It’ll be okay.”

  “Let’s check The Southern Pair.”

  Sure enough, they had been there.

  “Wow, Mandy. That was a good hunch. How did you know?”

  “Remember the time we snuck off with our friends Mitzie and Caroline? First we raided their mom’s office. Remember how she had that extra fridge with all those drinks and snacks?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Yes, but we didn’t want those kinds of beverages. We wanted the ones hidden down in the salad crisper.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re as precocious as we were.” Inside, sure enough, a six pack of 7-Up and Diet Coke I’d just bought was gone from the fridge, along with all the candy bars and a note that read, IOU – Peyton.

  “Bingo.”

  “So which part of the river do you think they’re at?”

  “I don’t know, but they are in big trouble for not asking permission.”

  We were thinking the river because that was where we would have gone when we were their age, but there were many other places they could be. My mind spun as I imagined what they could be up to. Hopefully, we’d find them sitting on the banks being normal, but they were still in big trouble.

  “What if they’re smoking cigarettes?”

  “Or marijuana,” Marta said.

  “Oh, Lordy, help us.”

  “At least we know they aren’t getting drunk with all that 7-Up and Diet Coke.”

  “True,” I agreed. We were back in the car, driving along the river, looking for Estefan’s truck. After a while, we turned around and headed back to Daddy’s. We’d been texting Keith and Quentin, but nothing.

  “Is there some other friend they might hang out with, besides Estefan?” I tried to remember who Pia had a crush on. It would have been more fun to be rebellious with another boy around.

  “If there’s another boy, then that can’t be good.”

  “Oh, my word, Marta. What if they get pregnant?”

  “What? No, I don’t think Estefan would be like that. He’s a gentleman, Mandy.”

  “He’s a boy!”

  “True, but not all boys are like that, especially with girls like Peyton and Pia.”

  I hoped Marta was right. Back at the orchard, we tumbled out of the car. Daddy was hanging the kitchen phone receiver in its cradle on the wall as we walked in. I forgot to even say hello before I plied him with questions.

  “Now, calm down girls.” He put an arm around each of us. “Just got off the phone with Keith and they found them. Sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  “Yes. They are in Pillar Bluff.”

  “What? Have they been gone that long?”

  Marta forced me to sit in the rocker again. She leaned against the table, waiting for Daddy to explain.

  “They are fine, but Keith got a call from Cottonwood Manor. Said some kids claiming to be relatives tried to get in to see Judy.”

  Marta, Daddy, and I exchanged glances.

  I was angry, but grateful, and not at all surprised once I thought about it.

  “Of course,” I said. “Of course she wanted to see her mom. She didn’t want to wait until after the baby is born. Who can blame her? We should’ve taken her days ago.”

  I looked at the others. “A girl needs her mother.” They both nodded.

  I sat back in the rocker to wait.

  Brett, Kim, and Estefan’s dad, Carlos, met at our house as Quentin drove up with the girls in his truck, and poor Estefan sat in the passenger side of his own truck, Keith in the driver seat.

  Kim put a hand on my shoulder, but there wasn’t much to say. The kids were safe. In trouble, of course, but safe. Estefan’s dad approached as Keith got out of Estefan’s truck. He was a short Hispanic man. Even I towered over him, but what he lacked in stature he made up for with confidence.

  “I’m sorry about Estefan,” he said. “I don’t know what got into him.”

  “I do,” Marta said, grasping Quentin’s hand. “The love bug.”

  Carlos looked surprised and then amused as the truth donned on him. He nodded. He got into Estefan’s pickup and started the truck, but before he could leave, the passenger door flew open. Estefan headed straight for Keith.

  “Can I talk to Peyton before I go? Please?”

  Keith gave him that look that every dad must look forward to giving a boy someday. Estefan didn’t shrink though. He stood up straighter.

  “I already told you. I’m sorry, sir. For going along with this. I should’ve stopped her instead of…”

  “Instead of driving her to Pillar Bluff without her parents’ permission?” I asked. He gave me a regretful look.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I took pity on him, feeling like he’d probably been terrified enough on the two hour drive with Keith.

  “Only for a minute,” I told him. “You can talk to her just a minute. Your dad looks ready to leave.”

  He looked frightened. “Yes ma’am. Thank you.”

  “And Estefan?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “You might have a driver’s license, but you can’t just take the girls off two hours away and not check with their parents.”

  “Yes,” he said. “Mr. Black said as much on the way back.” I bet he’d said it over and over, too.

  “Okay,” I said. “Just for a minute.” Estefan turned away, his shoulders sagging. Keith started to follow him to the truck where Peyton and Pia still sat, even though Quentin had gotten out. I grabbed his elbow, shook my head.

  “What? You want me to let him talk to her alone, after what he just pulled?”

  “Yes.”

  Keith looked doubtful, but walked to where my dad and Quentin stood.

  I stood nearby with Kim and Marta. After a bit, Pia climbed out of the truck and shuffled nervously up to her mom. Kim gave me a look and ushered a brooding Pia to their truck where Brett was already waiting in the driver seat.

  I snuck a glance at Peyton. She was crying. I paused, ready to swoop in and rescue her, but before I could, Estefan leaned through the window, and their lips touched, only for a split second, but they touched.

  I stopped in my tracks, turned around, placing my hands over my mouth. Did all moms feel this way about their daughter’s first kiss? Worry? Pride? Even a bit of joy, not that I wanted her kissing boys, but the kiss had obviously been innocent, right in front of their parents! But when I glanced at Estefan’s dad, he was busy on his cell phone, Keith and Brett were deep in conversation, and my dad was suspiciously studying a shrub at the edge of the driveway. Only Marta and I had seen. We shared a little smile.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The next day we drove to Pillar Bluff. I suppose I could’ve gone into labor on the way there, but it was where I’d be having the baby anyway, so I wasn’t really being risky by traveling. Peyton was grounded for a few days, but we weren’t monsters. We’d obviously underestimated her desire to see her mom. Even though she was happy, if it were me, when it was me, I’d visit my mom every day, and definitely if my dad wouldn’t have taken us, Marta and I would’ve taken ourselves.

  “I’m kind of scared,” Peyton told her dad as we stood at the front desk.

  When Peyton had driven there with her friends, they weren’t allowed in. It wouldn’t have been a good idea, not knowing how Violet would have been without Keith and I there, too.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Keith told her. “Nothing to worry about.”

  I watched as Peyton wrote her name on the registry. She turned around and faced the rest of us.

  “Yes, but seeing her here is not like her being at our house. This is such a sad place. It feels weird.”

  “It’ll be fine. Your dad will be right beside you, and I’ll be here if you need me. Just come get me.”

  “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

  I smiled, proud and worri
ed. She followed her dad around the corner and I took a seat on a stiff couch in the lobby. No matter how many times Keith and I’d been there to see Judy, I would never get used to it. I was just settling my purse beside me when I heard the sobs. You know the kind where the person can hardly even catch their breath because their grief is just so deep and wide?

  I hurried toward those sounds, right past the nice lady at the sign in desk. Peyton came around the corner the same time I got there. My heart tearing, I reached for her. She brushed them away, stopped and turned in a circle.

  “Honey,” I said, stepping closer. “What is it?”

  “It’s so different than hanging out with her at home, Mandy. It is like a hospital.” Her words were a flood of pain and surprise. “There is metal everywhere and it’s like a prison.” She wailed. “And it smells. How could my dad let her stay in this place?” She melted in a puddle on the floor, and she looked more like a toddler than a girl almost fifteen.

  I caught her up, big as she was, big as I was, and held her tight, whispering to her that it was okay. She would be fine. I would be there for her. I’d been there before, a girl nearly her age having to see her mother in such a sterile, cold place.

  The lady behind the desk approached us, handed Peyton a tissue.

  “Now, darling. My name’s Nancy. You just come sit in here until you’re ready.” She walked us into a little waiting room. “Now, your Daddy is in there with Judy, Peyton. He’s gonna stay there, and if you decide to come in, you can. If you want to wait until another day, you can. No pressure.” She looked at me and said under her breath. “Bless that poor baby’s heart.”

  Peyton nodded, and I wished I’d had a Nancy when I was a girl visiting my mom.

  “Thank you.” I said. We each drank a cold Pepsi Nancy brought us before Peyton finally stood. She held her breath a minute and then spoke.

  “Mandy. Will you go with me?” She had found her voice again. “I know it’s silly since I’ve met her before, but I feel so nervous.”

  “Of course, baby.” I held my hand out and she slipped hers inside. “I won’t let you go without me this time.”