Other Side of the Wall

by Jennifer Peel

  “So you think I should just forgive him and welcome him back with open arms?”

  “Absolutely not. I expect you to give him a run for his money, like a true Elliot woman.”

  I laughed, but I still didn’t know what to do. “Momma, I’m so confused right now.”

  She glanced my way again. “Ava, there are no straight lines in relationships, especially with someone like Scott who brings baggage.”

  “We all have baggage,” I quipped.

  “Yes, sweet girl, but you don’t let your baggage weigh you down. You, young lady, have always had this amazing ability to take whatever life gives you and make the best of it. And I’ve never known anyone as determined as you. I remember when you were learning how to walk. You were only eight months old and you were so desperate to chase after Tucker. There you were, so tiny, but every time you fell you would get right back up, tears and all. I would even try to help you and you just fussed at me. I had never seen anything like it and that’s the way you have been your whole life.”

  I don’t know why, but my momma’s words made me cry. “Momma, what do you do when that person loves their old baggage and you don’t feel like you want to give that old baggage space in your closet or you’re afraid they’ll keep using that baggage, and it’s baggage that you feel didn’t fit them right in the first place? Or better yet, they keep going to the same old luggage store and picking out the same set?”

  By this time we had made it to the shopping center, and we parked toward the back. My momma always parked far away. One reason she did this was for exercise, and the other was that for some reason she thought her Mercedes was safer there.

  She turned off the car and turned toward me and took my hands in hers. “Ava Mae, I don’t have all the answers, and I wish I could tell you the exact right thing to do, but this I know, men are real idiots sometimes and they do things that just don’t make any sense at all.”

  I started laughing.

  “Take your daddy, for instance. After we had been dating for several months he finally told me he loved me. I was the happiest woman in the world. I had been in love with him for months and was just waiting for him to say it. But then, just the very next day, he told me we should see other people.”

  “What! Why?”

  “He said we were moving too fast.”

  “So what did you say?”

  “I told him fine, go ahead, but not to expect me to wait around for him because I had plenty of men lined up to take his place.”

  I smiled. It sounded like something I would say. “So did he date other women?”

  She raised her eyebrow at me. “What do you think?”

  “No, but then why did he say that to you?”

  “Because honey, I told you, they’re idiots and they scare easily.”

  “You think Scott’s scared?”

  “Oh, I think you terrify him.”

  “I’m not scary.”

  She tapped my nose like she had when I was younger. “No, sweet girl, you’re the new shiny designer luggage that he didn’t think he could afford or maybe he thought he didn’t deserve. Now he realizes he missed out on the bargain of a lifetime and that same luggage is much more expensive and even more valuable to him and he’s scared it’s now out of his reach and, like an idiot, he was the one that increased the price.”

  I reached over and hugged my momma and told her thank you and that I loved her. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, but just talking to her made me feel better. She was the wisest, most beautiful person, inside and out, I had ever known. I was so lucky to call her momma.

  Before we left the car I had a thought. “You don’t think Tucker will do anything to hurt him while Daddy is there do you?”

  “He better not, for his sake.” She winked at me. “Besides, I think you’re doing a good enough job of beating him up yourself.”

  I just shook my head and smiled and got out of the car. As we walked toward the first store, my momma turned to me for direction. “Well, what should we get this man of yours.”

  I wanted to say he wasn’t my man, but I knew what she meant.

  “I don’t know, Momma.”

  She gave me her, ‘Really?’ look. “Come on, Ava. I know you probably had your whole Christmas list planned out before Thanksgiving.”

  “Yeah, well, that was before he went completely on the naughty list.”

  “Well, don’t you think he should get some credit for coming down here and facing all of us?” my momma replied.

  “I guess so,” I said begrudgingly. I seriously had some good ideas, and I hated to see them go to waste.

  We decided to first head to the department store where my momma had bought us all matching PJ’s. Apparently, she thought Scott should have a pair, too. I thought it was weird, but I knew better than to argue with her about it. She also bought him some nice small things like cologne, a fancy shaving kit, and a blue sweater to match his eyes. Then she asked me what all his favorite treats were so she could fill his stocking, which reminded her she needed to sew him one to match the rest of ours. I told her not to go to all the trouble; we could just buy him one. It wasn’t like he was part of the family. But I did mention to my momma about what he said about marriage following love. She just smiled. Was he really thinking about marrying me?

  Once my momma was done taking care of him, we worked on my list. I had planned on getting him this incredible little pocket projector and wireless Bluetooth speaker for his presentations and classes. It was quite expensive, but at the time I made the list I had thought, what the heck I love him. I still loved him, but things were different now. We searched a few stores, and I was able to find what I was looking for. I hemmed and hawed about spending that kind of money on him, but in the end, I purchased both. Next we hit a running store, and I bought him a top-of–the-line wrist heart rate sensor. Then, by happenstance, I found this hokey t-shirt that said, “I brake for dolphins.” It reminded me of him, so I bought it. I was the best non-girlfriend ever. At least I made my momma proud.

  On our way home, my momma decided we should stop and get lunch for everyone. We stopped at my favorite Mexican restaurant and ordered enough food to feed a small island. My momma’s attitude was, better to have more than less, and she supposed we would be too busy to cook dinner tonight with all of our party and Christmas prep, so the extra prepared food would be handy.

  When we got home, my momma took the food into the main house, and I grabbed the bags full of Scott’s gifts and took them to my place where I would wrap them later. I walked back through the gate to find the men hard at work stringing lights around the pool area and backyard. I was happy to see Scott was still alive, but Tucker did have an evil glint in his eye as I watched him eye Scott up on a ladder. I just smiled at him and shook my head no.

  “Hey guys, momma has lunch ready for everyone inside the house,” I called out as I walked through to the guest house.

  Tucker dropped the lights he was untangling and went straight in. He never missed a meal.

  My daddy smiled at me. “Thanks, sweet girl.”

  Scott climbed down the ladder and came straight toward me. “Do you need help with your bags?”

  I pulled them toward me, so he wouldn’t see inside them. “No thank you.”

  He smiled. “So what’s in the bags?”

  I just raised my eyebrow at him.

  He laughed. “So, your mom made you buy me Christmas gifts.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh too. He knew me too well.

  He winked. “I’ll wait for you.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Ok.”

  I ran in and placed the bags in my bedroom, and then met Scott outside my door.

  He immediately held my hand when I reached him. I wasn’t sure if we should be holding hands, but in the end I liked it too much, so I allowed it.

  “So, you’ve survived the morning,” I said.

  He looked down at me and smiled as we walked toward the house. “Were you
worried about me?”

  I smirked. “Why would I worry about you?”

  He raised up our entwined hands and kissed mine. “You know you still love me, Ava.”

  I nudged him with my shoulder. “You wish. I just would hate to have to tell your parents of your demise right before the holidays.”

  He laughed, but he pulled me off to the side before we entered through the patio door.

  He gazed down at me. “That reminds me. Thank you.”

  I cocked my head slightly. “Thank you for what?”

  “My mom told me about what you said about not wanting what happened between us to get in the way of my relationship with my parents. I think that may be the only reason they’re still talking to me. Well, that and me being here.”

  I smiled at the thought of his mom. “I don’t think so. Your parents love you.”

  “Not as much as they love you. I think my mom is still referring to me as the shame of her flesh.”

  I couldn’t help it. I began to laugh heartily. I could hear his mother’s voice, Chicago accent and all.

  At this point, my brother stuck his head out the door. “You better eat up, Scott. You never know when it could be your last meal.”

  I turned around and shook my head at my brother. He smiled sweetly at me and then glared up at Scott. I turned to look at Scott, who seemed to take it all in stride. “Do you think there’s any chance of me winning over your brother?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I would be more worried about winning over his sister if I were you.”

  He pulled me to him and looked down lovingly. “Don’t worry, that’s priority number one and I have a plan.”

  “It better be a good one,” I whispered. I walked off toward the door. I waited for him to open it; he did, all while grinning from ear to ear at me.

  My parents and brother were already sitting around our high kitchen table, and they all looked our way as we sat down next to each other. Scott thanked my momma for the food and once again expressed his thanks for their hospitality. My daddy said he needed to go to the hardware store and pick up some more lights and hooks and asked if Scott wanted to join him. Scott readily agreed, but I think it made him nervous. Tucker chimed in that he would go, but my daddy told him he needed to stay here and wait for the outdoor heaters to be delivered. I had a feeling my daddy wanted to get Scott alone, or maybe he was just preventing Tucker from pulling one of his pranks.

  I handed Scott the pan of mild enchiladas; he didn’t like his food as spicy as I did. He poured my water and placed two lemons in it, just like I liked. It was odd to just fall into our habits, but there was something so comforting about it. We just kept smiling back and forth. I kept having to remind myself we weren’t really together, along with the reasons why, and that those reasons hadn’t been addressed yet. But it was so easy for me to love him.

  I felt like my momma was watching our well-coordinated dance of sorts. She kept smiling our way. Then she kind of embarrassed me when she handed Scott her Macy’s bag. “We got these for you. We all wear matching pajamas Christmas Eve night. If they don’t fit, let me know, but Ava was pretty sure about your size.”

  He looked touched. “Thank you, I’m sure they’ll be great. Ava has a tendency to be right.” He offered to pay for them, but my momma absolutely refused.

  I think I heard Tucker say, “Kiss up,” under his breath. Both my parents gave him warning glares.

  Scott said he would like to take us all out to dinner one night as a way to say thanks. My parents accepted, but told him it would have to be after Christmas as we would be too busy until then. Scott had no idea what my parents put into this party of theirs.

  “But I’m sure Ava could spare some time to have dinner with you,” my daddy said. He looked at me and smiled. “Right, sweet girl?”

  Scott looked over to me with hope in those beautiful blue eyes of his. “Tonight then?”

  I had no choice but to say yes.

  He smiled wide. I looked at my daddy who winked at me. I wasn’t sure what I thought about my daddy tag-teaming with Scott. I don’t think Tucker liked it. He scarfed down his food and went straight back outside. I think Tucker was having such a hard time because he had been the first one to come and see me after my break up with Peter and with Scott. He got an up close and personal look at the raw emotions. There was nothing I could do at the moment to make it better between the two. That wouldn’t get resolved until or unless Scott and I could fix our relationship and the jury was still out on that.

  As soon as lunch was over, the men headed out, and my momma and I got to work in the kitchen pre-making and baking anything we could for the big party. My momma loved to do everything herself; she could have been a caterer if she had wanted to, but she loved real estate too much. Not only did the food have to taste good, it had to look good. She was planning on having one table dedicated to a cascading tiered tower of just fresh fruits and vegetables. I made several dips from the sweet to the savory to go along with said table, as well as chopping what could be done this far in advance. To top it off, I made a million individual cheesecakes in all varieties. Ok, maybe not a million, but it sure felt like it. There were meat and cheese trays to be made, all in different holiday shapes like trees. It was not going to be a relaxing holiday vacation.

  Several times I found myself looking out the window to catch a glimpse of Scott and to make sure Tucker was behaving. Scott and my daddy seemed to get along well. It didn’t surprise me that they did, Scott reminded me of my dad.

  I couldn’t help myself, I glanced at Scott again.

  Scott looked really good, too; he looked masculine in his well-fitting jeans, plaid flannel shirt, and work boots. I’ll admit it was a total turn on.

  Even my momma remarked about how nice looking he was. “Don’t get me wrong, he can’t hold a candle to your daddy, but he is definitely easy on the eyes. I noticed that this morning when you were in the pool.”

  “Momma!”

  “What, Ava? I’m not dead.”

  “Yeah, well, quit checking out my…” Hmm, I didn’t know what to call him. I lamely said, “Neighbor.”

  My momma just laughed at me for a bit before she became solemn. “Ava, you never… you know, with Scott?”

  “Momma! No, we never…and he knows I won’t unless I’m married.”

  She looked visibly relieved.

  A sudden thought entered my mind and I panicked. “Please tell me that’s not why daddy wanted to take him to the hardware store alone.”

  My momma just grinned.

  “Momma, he’s a grown man and we’ve both been married, this isn’t like we’re in high school.”

  She rested her hand on my cheek. “We’re just trying to judge the character of the man that says he’s in love with our little girl. We’ve already misjudged before, so we’re just being extra careful.”

  I knew she was talking about Peter, and we were all wrong there.

  “I appreciate that, momma. Just know, no matter his other faults, he’s been a gentleman in that regard.”

  She smiled, and then we went back to work. I missed baking with my momma. She did everything with elegance and grace. I had always wanted to be just like her—still do. Wherever she went, she was respected and admired. She had this way of making people feel good about themselves no matter the situation. She was beautiful, but far from vain. To me, she was perfect.

  Well after sundown the men dragged themselves in, but not before they turned on the thousands of twinkle lights that now illuminated the backyard. It was breathtaking. The night of the party we would add floating luminaries to the pool as well. I think I was finally starting to be happy about being home. I forgot how much I missed this.

  My momma went straight to my daddy and kissed him and thanked him for a job well done. She also thanked Scott and Tucker, but without the kisses. Scott came and joined me in the kitchen. I was looking at my parents and how happy they still were after thirty-five years of marr
iage.

  Scott noticed my gaze and looked their way, too. “Your parents are great.”

  “Yes they are.” I responded. “The backyard looks amazing. Thank you for helping.”

  He smiled. “It’s the least I can do. So, are we still on for dinner?”

  “Aren’t you tired?”

  He embraced me. “I’m not too tired to take you out. Just let me shower and change.”

  I sighed. “Ok.”

  He kissed my forehead softly and then he went off to get ready. I took a deep breath. I decided if I was going to do this, I better get ready too. I untied my apron and said goodbye to my parents and Tucker. I received dual reactions: my parents were happy and Tucker not so much. I kissed Tucker on the cheek. “I love you, big brother.” He at least smiled.

  I figured I should shower and change too. I felt a little gross from all the baking today. I quickly jumped in the shower and scrubbed and shampooed hurriedly. I knew Scott liked to take long showers, but he didn’t have to do his hair, per se. I threw on a black turtle neck sweater, some nice jeans, and black high-heeled boots. Just before I started blow drying my hair in my bathroom, I heard a knock on my door and Scott calling my name.

  “Come in.” I called out. I figured he would just wait in the living room, but he scared me when he came back to my bathroom where I was. I was blow drying my hair, and I looked up to see him. He could tell I was startled. He apologized but laughed.

  “What are you doing back here?”

  “Are you kidding me, I’ve watched you do your hair several times. It never bothered you before. Besides, I like watching you get ready.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine, you can stay.”

  I blew air in his face before I started back on my hair. He smiled playfully. It seemed like old times, but I knew it wasn’t. He leaned against the wall and looked at me the whole time while the blow dryer was running.

  “Ava, I know I keep saying this, but you’re so beautiful,” he said as soon as I turned off my blow dryer.

  I gave up and shook my head. “Thanks, Scott, I think you’re beautiful too.”

  And I meant it, but he thought I was teasing.