Rebecca's Little Secret

by Judy Christenberry

  “Six months ago?”

  “Oh, yes. There’s only one decorator who makes the best cakes. Mine will have blossoms that spill down the five layers. It’ll be the most beautiful thing, almost too pretty to eat.”

  “And it’s going to cost, what, a couple of hundred?”

  “No. The main cake itself is seventy-five hundred, but we’ll need additional cakes to serve all our guests, so it’ll be about ten thousand.”

  “And I don’t suppose you considered cutting the guest list?”

  “Actually, I did. The caterers were outrageous!”

  “I thought we were serving cake?”

  “Well, of course, but you have to have real food, too. Nowadays, you have stations. A roast beef station, a shrimp station, a roast-of-lamb station. Some weddings divide their stations by carrying different ethnic foods. Greek, Mexican, French, American, but I don’t think that’s as elegant. And of course, at each station, you have a mix of vegetables and finger foods.”

  Jeff wasn’t quite grasping what Chelsea was saying. He was too preoccupied with arriving at Rebecca’s home. “We’re here. Do you want to come in or wait in the car?” Jeff was glad to change the subject. The thought of the cost and planning of the wedding was making him sick.

  “Oh, I’ll come in. I had no idea they lived so well.”

  “This is Vivian Greenfield’s house, Chelsea, not Rebecca’s.”

  “I should’ve known.”

  Jeff raised his eyebrows. He didn’t hold out much hope for the day ahead of him. When he rang the doorbell, Betty answered, but Joey was right behind her.

  “Hi! We’re ready. We’re going to see lions, Betty!”

  “I know, Joey. You’ve been growling at me all morning. Come on in, Mr. Jacobs, you and your friend.”

  “Betty, this is my fiancée, Chelsea Wexham.”

  In response, Betty smiled and offered a hand in welcome. Chelsea stared first at Jeff and then at Betty’s hand, as if she didn’t know what to do about it. Finally, at the very last minute, she barely shook Betty’s hand.

  “Have you had breakfast, ’cause I can fix something real quick. It’s best to start out with a full stomach,” Betty offered as she led them to the library.

  “We’ve eaten, Betty, thank you. How about you, Joey? Have you eaten?” Jeff smiled at the little boy who was dancing around in excitement.

  “I ate twice. First, when Betty fixed my breakfast. Then I helped Mommy eat her breakfast.”

  “That was mighty good of you. Did Mommy say thank you?”

  “Yes. But she said I mustn’t eat too much or they might want to eat me up!”

  “Who might want to?”

  “The lions and tigers, a’course!”

  “Good thing Mommy warned you,” Jeff said, grinning at the nonsense.

  Chelsea, however, wasn’t charmed. “Don’t be ridiculous. They don’t feed children to the lions and tigers!” she snapped.

  Before Jeff could think of a subtle reprimand, his son spoke.

  “I know, Chelsea. Mommy was making a joke because I’m excited to go to the zoo.”

  Having life explained to her by an almost four-year-old left Chelsea with nothing to say.

  Jeff winked at Joey. “Is your mom ready to go?”

  “She’s on her way down,” Betty said, having gone upstairs to let Rebecca know they were there. Rebecca came down wearing jeans and a sweater, much as she’d been dressed Monday night.

  She greeted Jeff and Chelsea, adding a compliment about Chelsea’s overalls.

  “Thank you. Someone told me that I was too pretentious, so I thought I’d give overalls a try.” Her expression was triumphant, but Jeff knew he hadn’t made that remark, so who was she planning to show?

  “And they have big pockets for peanuts to feed the elephants!” Joey added knowledgeably. “On TV I saw an elephant who could get the peanuts out of your pocket with his long nose without you doing anything!”

  “That’s called his trunk, Joey, not his nose,” Rebecca corrected.

  “But it’s just like a nose,” Jeff said, “and I’d like to see the elephant do that to Chelsea. Wouldn’t you, Chelsea?”

  “Absolutely not! You’re both being silly. Let’s go.” She turned around and marched back down the hall to the front door.

  Jeff looked at Rebecca, wondering if she understood his fiancée any better than he did. But she shrugged her shoulders and caught Joey’s hand in hers. “We’re ready.”

  In the car, Chelsea chattered nonstop about the plans for their wedding. Joey almost fell asleep in the back seat, since he had no interest in the conversation. Chelsea, however, thought of a role for him.

  “Jeff, Joey can be the ring-bearer. I didn’t have any cousins or friends with children young enough to be cute. But Joey would be perfect. He’ll look darling in a tux.”

  “Just when is the wedding?” Rebecca asked.

  “In June, of course. It’s the perfect month for a wedding.”

  “But how long have you been engaged?”

  “We got engaged last March,” Chelsea said. “And I thought about getting married last June, but I didn’t want my wedding to be all harum-scarum. It takes time to have a perfect wedding. And three months just wasn’t enough time to plan my dream wedding. I was telling Jeff earlier, the cake had to be ordered months in advance, and I just found my dress yesterday. It’s a Vera Wang. But it will have to be made to my measurements, of course.”

  “It’s not ready-made? I mean, you can’t buy it and take it home with you?”

  “A Vera Wang? Well, I suppose she does some pret-a-porter, but I want one made strictly for me.”

  “I see.”

  “Look—there’s a giant giraffe!” Joey screamed.

  “He’s a statue, sweetie,” Rebecca told her little boy.

  “Yeah, Joey, he guards the entrance so we can find it easily,” Jeff told him. “If you get lost, just look around and go to the giant giraffe.”

  “Oh,” Joey said in a long, drawn-out breath.

  Chelsea, too, seemed impressed with the giraffe. Suddenly she was sitting up straighter in her seat, craning her neck to see it.

  “Haven’t you seen the giraffe before, Chelsea?” Jeff asked out of curiosity.

  “Yes, of course, but it’s been a long time.” She continued to stare, but she tried to look nonchalant. Jeff parked the car, and they all got out to walk to the entrance.

  After Jeff bought the tickets, they moved inside the walls of the zoo, where the giant giraffe stood.

  “Why, I believe that’s Bill over there!” Chelsea exclaimed.

  Startled, Jeff looked up in time to see his partner walking toward them.

  “Bill? What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.

  “Didn’t Chelsea tell you? She invited me.”

  Jeff and Rebecca turned to stare at Chelsea.

  “Well, Jeff spends all his time with his kid, and Rebecca doesn’t mind, but I don’t like to be ignored. I thought Bill could keep me company.”

  Jeff let out a deep breath. “I think it would’ve been polite to at least tell me Bill was going to be joining us, Chelsea.”

  “I thought you’d say no.”

  Jeff knew that this wasn’t the time or the place to address this. Besides, he didn’t want to make a scene in front of Rebecca, Joey or Bill. Instead he just shook his head. “Of course you’re welcome to join us, Bill. Joey and I plan to find the elephant that can get peanuts out of Chelsea’s pockets.” He grabbed Joey’s hand and headed in the direction of the elephant house, warning Joey to keep his eyes peeled for a place they could buy peanuts.

  REBECCA THOUGHT THE DAY at the zoo was turning out to be a lot of fun after the bizarre start. And Chelsea was right. Bill fit right in and entertained Chelsea when the other two adults were involved with Joey.

  Joey was having the time of his life. His father was spoiling him rotten. He’d had peanuts, cotton candy, chocolate candy and several colas. Now Jeff was announcing
they needed to stop for lunch.

  To no one’s surprise, Joey said he wasn’t hungry.

  “That’s because your father has been feeding you junk food all morning,” Rebecca said.

  Joey, sitting beside his mother, tugged on her shoulder and whispered, “I don’t think they know, Mommy.”

  “Know what?” Rebecca whispered in return.

  “About him being my daddy. He may want to keep it secret.”

  “Is that why you never call him Daddy?”

  Joey nodded his head.

  Rebecca had noticed the way her son avoided calling Jeff Daddy or even by his first name. She had started to say something several times, but she hadn’t wanted to embarrass Jeff or Joey. Instead, she bent over to kiss her son to show him she understood and cared.

  “What is it?” Jeff asked, his face showing obvious concern.

  “Joey was warning me not to call you his father in front of the others in case you were trying to keep it a secret.”

  “Mommy!” Joey protested.

  “Joey, they already know I’m your daddy,” Jeff said hurriedly.

  “I think that may be why he’s never called you Daddy, either,” Rebecca added, staring at her son with tears in her eyes.

  “Is that true, Joey?” Jeff asked.

  “I didn’t know if you’d like it,” Joey said, staring down at his athletic shoes, too embarrassed to look up at Jeff.

  “We should’ve talked about this before now. It’s my fault. I didn’t want to rush you about calling me Daddy. I’d love for you to call me Daddy, but if you don’t want to, you can call me Jeff.”

  This time Joey looked up at Jeff. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m very sure.”

  “Then I’d like to call you Daddy.”

  Jeff picked him up and hugged him tight against him. “Boy, that sure sounds wonderful coming from you.”

  “What a touching moment,” Chelsea said with a lot of sarcasm.

  Bill stood, took Chelsea’s arm and practically dragged her away from the table.

  Jeff paid them no attention. “I’m glad we’ve got that settled, Joey. I was afraid you didn’t like me.”

  “Aw, Daddy, I always like people who buy me peanuts, popcorn, candy and colas.”

  It took Jeff a moment to realize his almost-four-year-old was teasing him. When he finally figured it out, he grabbed Joey and began tickling him. Joey was shrieking with great joy.

  Just as Rebecca was calling the two males in her life to order, Bill and Chelsea came back to the table. Much to everyone’s surprise, Chelsea apologized to Jeff if she’d seemed insensitive a few minutes ago.

  Jeff stared at her blankly, not really sure if she was being sincere or if Bill was forcing her to apologize.

  “Well, it makes you sound so old,” Chelsea said, trying to explain her behavior.

  “So I guess you don’t want Joey to call you Mommy?” Jeff asked with a grin.

  It was hard to determine which one looked more horrified, Joey or Chelsea.

  “Daddy was just teasing, Joey,” Rebecca said quietly.

  Her words reassured Chelsea, also.

  “He can call me Chelsea.”

  “And if you keep on wearing those overalls,” Bill pointed out, “in a few years they’ll think he’s your date instead of your stepson!”

  Chelsea burst into tears and ran away from the table. Both men looked helplessly at Rebecca. She got up from the table and followed Chelsea over to a tree under which she was standing.

  “Chelsea, what’s wrong?”

  Chelsea hurriedly rubbed away her tears. “Nothing I care to discuss with you.”

  “Bill was just pointing out how young and cute you look in the overalls. I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm,” Rebecca offered, despite Chelsea’s rude comment.

  “Are you sure? I—I bought these overalls because Bill said I didn’t know how to dress for fun. And then I thought he was making fun of me.”

  “That would upset me, too,” Rebecca assured her with a smile. “But I’m sure that’s not what he was doing.” She looked over at the others. “Let’s go back to the table. They can’t go get our food until we’re there to stay with Joey.”

  “But how will I explain my tears?”

  “Oh, Chelsea, never explain. We don’t want them to think they can figure us out.”

  A look of realization shone in Chelsea’s eyes. “Yes, of course. What a good idea.”

  They walked back to the table. When both men questioned her, she smiled and said, “I had a headache.”

  Both men looked dumbfounded.

  “I think you’d better get in line for our hamburgers. There’s a big crowd coming,” Rebecca pointed out with a smile.

  The men hurried away, fear of standing in a long line making them rush to the hamburger stand.

  “Well, that went well,” Rebecca said with a grin at Chelsea.

  “Thank you, Rebecca,” Chelsea said slowly, as if the words were hard for her to say. “My mother would’ve insisted on a detailed explanation that would’ve embarrassed me.”

  “Good heavens, with that to look forward to, you must hide all your emotions.”

  “Mostly,” Chelsea admitted with a shrug. “Mother doesn’t like tears.”

  “I think they’re therapeutic, sometimes.”

  “I like that idea. You have a great way of explaining things. I’ll have to remember to say that to my mother.”

  Rebecca grinned. “Just don’t attach my name to it.”

  Chelsea giggled. “You’re a lot of fun…for a mother.”

  Chapter Five

  “So, Chelsea, you’re going to be a stepmother. Are you all right with that?” Rebecca asked. She knew she shouldn’t be prying into Jeff’s business, but as Joey’s mother, she felt she had a right to know. Chelsea mostly seemed to ignore Joey, and that worried Rebecca.

  Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t suppose I’ll be around your little boy that much. I mean, Jeff will most likely spend time alone with him doing boy things.”

  Rebecca hesitated, but she couldn’t leave things as they were, especially if Chelsea was going to be a part of her son’s future. “Do you not like little boys?”

  Chelsea looked shocked. “I don’t dislike them. I’ve just never been around them. I don’t know what to do with them.”

  “Well, I could teach you about little boys and what they like to do, so when you become Joey’s stepmother, it won’t frighten you.”

  “I didn’t say it frightened me,” Chelsea said, her eyes round and accusing.

  “I’m sorry. I just thought— Hmm. I just know from my own experience, when I don’t know about something, it tends to frighten me. I wasn’t trying to make a judgment about your character or mothering skills,” Rebecca said gently.

  “Oh.” Chelsea relaxed and seemed a little less defensive. “I guess it does rather scare me a little. I don’t know what small boys like.”

  “I like hamburgers,” Joey said helpfully, watching Chelsea. Then he looked up and saw his father and Bill. “Here they are, Mommy. Hurray! They got french fries, too!”

  “Now you know what little boys like,” Rebecca said with a laugh. “But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t eat vegetables as well.”

  Chelsea grinned. “I’ll remember.”

  The two men reached the table with two trays loaded with food. In the flurry of distributing everyone’s meals, Jeff stole a look at Rebecca. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, everything’s fine.” And it was. Rebecca had discovered that Chelsea wasn’t as pretentious and cold as she’d thought. She just hadn’t had any experience with children, and she was frightened by the unknown. Maybe Rebecca could help Chelsea get to know Joey, so that when Joey spent time with Chelsea and Jeff, it wouldn’t torture Rebecca with fears of neglect or mistreatment.

  When they all finally left the zoo, Rebecca felt it had been a day well spent. But she was exhausted, as was Joey. He’d fallen asleep on Jeff’s shoulder
as he carried him to the car.

  Bill interrupted Jeff’s attempt to get everyone in his car. “Jeff, why don’t you let me take Chelsea home so you can get Joey to bed as soon as possible? The little guy is obviously really tired from his full day of excitement.”

  “Chelsea, do you mind? Joey needs to get to his bed for a little sleep before dinner,” Jeff said, concentrating on his son.

  “That will be fine,” Chelsea agreed calmly.

  Rebecca watched Chelsea, amazed that it didn’t bother her that she was being passed off to Bill because of Joey. Rebecca wanted to tell Jeff that wasn’t smart, but before she could decide what to do, she found herself in the front seat next to Jeff, with Joey asleep on the back seat, belted in.

  As they drove, Rebecca finally said, “Jeff, I don’t think it’s a good idea to shuffle Chelsea off to Bill. She may blame Joey for separating the two of you.”

  Jeff turned to stare at her until traffic demanded he pay attention to his driving. “Chelsea understands that I need this time to bond and form a relationship with Joey. Otherwise she would’ve thrown a fit. Overall, I think things went well today.”

  “Yes, they did. I didn’t expect to like Chelsea, but I do. I see why you like Chelsea and chose her for your wife-to-be. I’m going to teach her about little boys, so Joey won’t frighten her.”

  “You could teach me, too.”

  Rebecca looked at him, sure he was teasing her. When he appeared to be serious, she said, “You don’t need any teaching. You seem to know what to do instinctively. Joey has taken a real liking to you, and you didn’t seem to be struggling with what to do next with him.”

  “He’s a smart little boy. Happy, too. You’ve done a good job, Becca. You could’ve taught him to hate me, since I wasn’t around, but you didn’t do that. I really appreciate that.”

  “Why would I do that? It would only hurt Joey.” To say nothing of herself. She didn’t want Joey to hate Jeff. She couldn’t hate him, either.

  Jeff parked his car in front of Vivian’s house. “I’ll carry Joey up to his room.”

  Rebecca followed him into the house, waving to Betty as she admitted them. Upstairs, Rebecca turned back the bedcovers and helped Jeff put Joey in bed. The little boy never opened his eyes.