“So you were together for…”
“Married for ten,” he answered. “It flew by.”
“You were busy, starting a big practice like that. I can’t imagine the work. Or the expense.”
“Oh, I’m mortgaged to the hilt,” he said. “That’s another reason I’m anxious to sell it. I’m tired of the pressure.”
Kelly got up for more coffee.
“Do you want to run with me?” she asked, shocking herself; she hated having a running partner.
“You mean run away?” he asked, smirking.
“No, road work,” she replied, laughing. “Like put on your sneakers and run.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ve already embarrassed myself on a nonstop basis for the last twelve hours, what’s another hour’s worth of humiliation?”
“Stop,” she said, laughing in typical Kelly Boyd mode. “It’ll be nice, you’ll see. Getting out will give you a chance to clear your head.”
“It needs clearing.”
“We’ll go out after we finish coffee,” she said, leaning against the counter. “If you feel like talking about your mother, I’d like to know more about her.”
It was true, Kelly’s curiosity about the kind of woman compelling enough to lure a man away from an ancient marriage had not been satisfied in the few, unsatisfactory encounters they’d had. She wanted to accept Lee because it might become important for her children. Their relationship with Steve was evolving, and it was possible someday they might all be close.
“Believe it or not, my mother was doting. She’s so selfish right now I barely recognize her. But when I was a child, everyone loved coming to our house because of my mother. I never asked her why she didn’t have more children, because she seemed to enjoy me so much. My father was attentive as well, but not to the extent of my mother.
“This is amusing - my image of my mother is always in the kitchen with rice flour on her hands, making something to eat. Almond cookies or dumplings. She worked at the Formica table in the bay window at the front of the house. My mother wore an apron, too. The way she dresses now - spandex and those big tops - that’s more for comfort because she has some ascites from the liver disease. But when I was growing up, my mother was very stylish. I remember her wearing capris and ballet slippers with an angora sweater that my father had given her as a gift.”
“What was he like?”
“My dad was great. He was jovial and kind. Everyone loved Ted Baker. Clearly he was easily duped.”
Titan stopped talking, looking down in his cup. “You said before that maybe she just thought she was pregnant when Steve left Vietnam and I really am Ted Baker’s son. I want to know for sure.”
“We’ll run uptown,” Kelly answered. “The lab you were talking about is a mile from here.”
Returning to her room to dress, the phone rang and it was Karen. “I know you have craziness there,” she said. “I talked to Liz this morning. You go ahead and tell me and then I’ll tell you my news.”
“No! You tell me your news first. I can hardly wait!”
“Well, this might be a match. Anne isn’t looking for a mom, like we thought. She’s a take-charge kind of gal. When we’re together, she makes suggestions for things she’d like to do. If I want to do something, she’s game. For instance, on the first date it was really her idea to go to Eastern Market. This weekend she wants to flea market if the weather dries up. What’s with this early snow garbage?”
“That’s great, Karen. Are you getting together during the week?”
They chatted a while longer about Anne, and then Karen asked what was going on there.
“Did Titan show up?”
“Oh yes,” she replied. “We’re going to run together this morning. You won’t believe what happened last night.”
Relating the drop-in of Lee and Steve made it sound so much worse than it was. “I’m worried that she’s going to be a frequent visitor in my house, and I don’t know if I can tolerate it. She’s so unpleasant. But I need to get moving. Can I call you at lunch?”
They agreed to chat later.
Unconsciously, Kelly took an extra minute preparing for the run. Rarely stopping to chat with anyone but their neighbor when she was out, today would be different. She didn’t know Titan, and it was possible he was communicating with his mother and Steve, relating every second that had passed under Kelly’s roof. She didn’t want a detailed description of how awful she looked to be part of that chat, her pride ruling.
He was waiting for her in the living room, wearing a Chicago Medical School knitted cap on his head, sweatpants and a down-filled jacket, obviously used to freezing temperatures.
“It’s warmer out there today,” she said, looking at the weather app on her phone. “It’s 34!”
“Brrrrr! I hate the cold,” he said as they left the house.
“You’ll warm up soon, promise,” Kelly said, walking backwards. “You can do it!”
Soon they were out of the neighborhood, near greenspace. The sidewalk was wide enough to run side by side. They didn’t talk. Kelly tried to keep her mind blank, but Steve kept creeping in. There were enough good times to sustain her, and then when there weren’t, their history kept her strong. It was that history with him, the children, and the milestones that would be tempting to use to glorify the relationship.
Watching him with Lee, now that was real love. He was tender toward her; he looked at her with love. It had felt like a punch to the gut.
“I think my husband really loves your mother,” she said. “It will take me a while to get used to it.”
“I’m sorry,” Titan said, out of breath. “Like I said, if I’d known…”
“No. This is better. He didn’t love me. He might have felt trapped; I don’t know why he stayed. He claims he loved me, but I don’t know how that’s possible after what I saw last night, how loving he is to her.”
“My mother seemed devoted to Baker,” he said, slowing down. “Can we walk for a while?”
“Sure. Let’s go into town and sit at a café. I’m ready for more coffee.”
“Yes, a chair and coffee,” he replied. “My mother waited on my father hand and foot, like she was his slave. Up until the end, he resisted. For all those years, every time she’d serve him, he’d say, ‘Lee, you don’t have to do this,’ and look up at her with love in his eyes. I grew up knowing my father loved my mother.”
“Wow, what a beautiful testimony of your father’s love. But it makes me sad,” Kelly said. “My children won’t be able to say that. Steve was unaffectionate. I learned early not to try to engage him because he would freeze up like a statue. He’s even pushed me away when I tried to hug him. It’s been years, but the rejection still hurts.”
Realizing what she’d just confessed to a stranger, something she’d never said out loud upset Kelly further. Now she had that regret on top of the other things.
It was surprisingly warm outside, the snow quickly melting. A bright, shining sun had the power to make Kelly sad, taunting her heartbreak. But with a companion, she was almost enjoying it. They arrived at the café.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“No, you don’t,” Titan said. “You aren’t paying for my coffee. What do you want?”
“I’m going to be bad,” she said. “Mocha cappuccino and a pain au chocolat.”
Titan moaned. “Mmmm. I’m having that, too.”
Giving their order, he looked over his shoulder at Kelly. “Make that three pain au chocolat.”
The barista laughed, understanding that sometimes, one apiece wasn’t enough. They took their food back outside, even though they had to brush snow off their table.
“We look like diehards,” Titan said.
“Diehard pigs?” Kelly asked, taking a pastry and biting.
“No! Athletes. Look at us, running to the coffee shop and getting our daily calorie allowance for a snack.”
“I personally don’t care,” she replied. “The pleasure of being as o
ld as I am is that I get to eat what I want. The positive side of being single is that no one will care if I get fat.”
“I find that hard to believe, both that you can get fat, and that no one will care,” Titan said, studying her face.
“Oh, it’s true,” she said.
They watched traffic and drank coffee for half an hour, and when it was time to leave, they said so at the same time. “I think we are attuned to each other,” Titan said. “You’re on the same wavelength I’m on.”
Splitting the last pastry before they left, they were chatting about easy topics when Reggie walked up to the café.
“Reggie,” Kelly called, getting up to go to him. “Come sit with us. You can meet Titan.”
“I feel like I already know him,” he said, deadpan.
“Well, come and do it formally. He’s lovely.” She took his arm, kissing his cheek.
“Titan, this is my youngest son, Reggie.”
Titan stood up, towering over poor Reggie, and offered his hand. “You’re my youngest brother, then,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” he said. “I’d better get my coffee and be on my way.”
“Wait. You work here in the afternoon,” Kelly said. “Why on earth are you getting coffee now?”
“Actually, I’m dating the baker,” he said. “I try to get in here every morning to say hello.”
“Should I meet her?” Kelly asked, feeling uncertain.
Reggie had never mentioned he was seeing anyone. It had crossed her mind that he might be gay but afraid to come out because of his father’s response.
“If you want to,” he answered, shifting his eyes from the ground up to her face. “She already knows about you. She might know you, too.”
“From coming in here?” Kelly asked, pointing over her shoulder.
“She’s a nursing student. She worked as an aide on your floor last summer.”
Heart sinking, Kelly remembered a young woman, a chubby, unkempt girl with piercings and tattoos. Although she was an excellent aide, patients complained that her nose ring made them nauseous. The girl behind the counter today reminded her of that aide, dreadlocks pinned up under a bonnet of sorts, like a Rastafarian.
“Oh, I see,” Kelly said, consciously arranging her features to be neutral when her nose wanted to flare.
“Well, let’s go meet her,” Titan said, putting his hand on Kelly’s back.
That sensation removed all the angst she had about meeting the girl with tatts and dreads, his giant surgeon hand burning a hole through her woolen jacket, layers of silk long johns, and thermal running clothes. By the time she was face-to-face with Reggie’s new girlfriend, Belinda Potts, she was giddy.
“Hi, Belinda!” she said, unusually cheerful. Reggie took a second look at Kelly to see if she was serious. “I do remember you from the summer. How nice to meet you again.”
“I’m hard to forget,” she said, smiling, pleasant.
Meeting her turned out to be okay, because Kelly could see that Reggie was happy. Happy was not an adjective anyone would ever use for Reggie. Frightened, worried, serious, committed, now those were words that described him.
Kelly watched the dynamic between Titan and Reggie and Belinda, the sincere interest they seemed to have in each other, and it began to balance the awful rejection from Steve that had haunted her that morning. Things were evening out again. It might only last for this moment in the café, but she’d take it and run, not examining it too closely.
Another advantage to Steve being gone - Reggie would be free to bring Belinda to family get-togethers without being petrified that something might be said that would hurt her.
“Do you want to have coffee with us?” Reggie asked, seeming to want them to stick around.
Kelly and Titan looked at each other, agreeing that they should be on their way. They’d had their full calorie quotient for the day.
“If you stay, I’ll bring out a cheesecake I just made an hour ago. Chocolate peanut butter.”
“I thought you were a nurse,” Titan said.
“A nurse wannabe who bakes,” she said, smiling. “Honest, sit down and let me serve you. Unless you really have to go.”
“No, we were just being polite,” Titan said, and they laughed.
“It’s too cold to sit out there,” Reggie said. “You know my mother lowers her standards for me when I come around.”
“I find it hard to believe that it’s necessary,” Titan said. “Tell me more about your master’s studies.”
They talked for another hour, and finally Kelly had had enough sugar and enough caffeine. “Now we really have to run!” she said.
“She’ll probably let you off easy,” Reggie said. “My mother is merciless. I collapsed once trying to run with her.”
“Reggie…” Kelly started, flushing.
“No, Mom, they need to know,” he said, and she burst out laughing.
“It wasn’t my fault you had appendicitis,” she said defensively.
“Oh no!” Titan said.
“Yep, I had a bellyache, and she said I was probably constipated and a run would help resolve it. Well, it sure did. I shit my pants and then had to be rushed to the hospital.”
Belinda bellowing, they all laughed at his description, Kelly trying to rationalize her reason for making him move around but the others not buying it.
The bell on the door jingled and they looked up as Augie walked in. Kelly quickly surmised he was confused why they were sitting around the café table laughing like idiots.
“Doesn’t anyone work in my family? I just saw Ken at McDonald’s.”
“I work afternoons,” Reggie said. “Why aren’t you working?”
“I’ll get there after I eat,” Augie said.
“I’m off till Monday,” Kelly replied.
“And I’m soon to be unemployed,” Titan said. “But not for long.”
“What are you doing here?” Reggie asked.
“Sandy’s on a diet and I’m starving to death,” Augie said. “What’s good today?”
“I just made cheesecake,” Belinda said.
“How about a cheese sandwich?” Augie asked. “With bacon and egg on it?”
“I’m honored you’d come in here when you could have had McDonald’s,” she said.
“Hey, aren’t you my brother’s girlfriend?”
“You could say that,” she said, smiling.
Kelly watched her children again, observing that they seemed okay in spite of everything they were all going through. After spending fifteen minutes with Belinda, Kelly no longer noticed her altered body; it had been the same thing at work. Although here she was dressed in tight jeans and a low cut T-shirt with her breasts spilling out of it, at the hospital she was starched and proper, only her nose ring and the tattoos on her hands visible.
“You’ll be a good nurse,” Kelly blurted out, embarrassing herself.
Everyone stopped talking and Belinda was surprised. “I will be?”
“Yes. I just thought I’d throw that in while I was thinking of it. I think I’ve had too much sugar.”
“Thank you,” Belinda replied, rising to get Augie a sandwich.
“I have to get back to school. I’ll be back at three,” Reggie said, leaning in to kiss Belinda before she walked off.
“Great, everyone leave me,” Augie said.
Belinda called from the kitchen, “I’ll sit with you.”
“Thanks,” Augie called out.
Kelly stood, stretching. “I’ll have to do more than a few miles to burn that cake off. Good lord, I feel like a pig.” She put out her hand. “Come on, stepson, get up.”
“He is your stepson!” Augie said, observing his mother with the stranger. “That’s amazing.”
Titan let Kelly pull him out of his chair.
“You’re taller than I am,” Augie said, standing. “Let’s measure.”
They stood back to back, and sure enough, Titan was at least two inches ta
ller.
“That’s odd,” Augie said. “No offense but your mother is a tiny little thing. I’d think you’d be at least my dad’s height or shorter.”
“Ted Baker was six five,” Titan said. “Just sayin’.”
“Yes, but he’s not your father,” Augie said. “Unless I’m missing something.”
“Unless he is,” Titan replied. “I’m going to spit into a test tube right now.”
“Oh jeez, I’m sorry,” Augie said. “I’m really sorry. This sucks.”
“He’ll still be around,” Kelly said. “Dad loves Lee, so they’ll all be here.”
“Buddy, I’m sorry,” Augie repeated. “Talk about putting my foot in my mouth.”
“You didn’t,” Titan said. “And the height thing might be nothing. We’ll soon find out.”
“So, my mother has you running around town with her?” Augie asked as they put their jackets on.
“Why does everyone imply that it’s torture to run with me? Jeesh.”
“Because it is,” Augie said, laughing. “Don’t let her guilt you into it, because she’s good at it. You’ll be running with her everyday if you’re not careful.”
“Here’s your sandwich,” Belinda said, placing it in front of Augie and sitting down again with a cup of tea.
“I need the exercise,” Titan said. “And it’s good for my head.”
“I’m glad,” Augie replied. “You’ve been through it this week.”
“Let’s go,” Kelly said. “I’m roasting.”
She bent down and kissed Augie, waved to Belinda and walked out, Titan tagging along behind her.
“Is the lab our next stop?” Kelly asked.
“The lab it is. But I’m afraid they’ll discover I’m part cheesecake, part pain au chocolat.”
Chapter 17
Wednesday morning, Steve went back to work, leaving Lee with a newspaper and a stack of rental magazines. By the time he returned to the hotel with their lunch, she’d found several places, called the agents, and made arrangements to look when he was finished with work that evening.
“Good job!” he praised her. “We’ll find something, and hopefully we can move in right away.”
The Jade Emperor Page 22
