The Empty Nesters

by Brown, Carolyn

  “What are you talking about?” Eli’s mother’s high, squeaky voice was as cold as it had ever been.

  “I’m sorry, Barbara, I thought you were someone else.” Carmen made herself a vow that she’d never answer the phone again without checking caller ID.

  “Evidently,” Barbara said. “So are you making money by going to the hotel with men since my son divorced you?”

  “No, I’m not. Why are you calling?” Carmen asked through clenched teeth.

  “My granddaughter graduates on Saturday. I’ve sent a card to her father to give or send to her when she has an address. I want her to know that. Since Eli won’t be there to tell her, I want you to do so,” Barbara said. “I never particularly did like you, but I like this new woman even less. She’s mean to me.”

  “Oh?” Carmen asked. “So you’ve met Kate?”

  “Yes, and that unruly son of hers, too. My son is brilliant until it comes to his choice of women,” Barbara snapped.

  “And she’s mean to you how?” Carmen pushed on even though she didn’t really care how the new daughter-in-law treated her own ex-mother-in-law.

  “She took my precious Eli off to another state. At least when he was married to you, he was within a day’s drive. And when I told them they weren’t sharing a bed in my house until they were married, she laughed at me and said they’d just go to a hotel then. They did just that and left that brat of hers here with me,” she said. “They thought I should get to know my new grandson. He’s no kin of mine, and I don’t care if Eli adopts him or not, I’m not ever going to claim him.”

  Tootsie came in from her bedroom and asked, “Everything all right?”

  “Eli’s mother,” she mouthed.

  “Tell her to go to hell,” Tootsie said.

  “Who’s that talking? Are you at the hotel? Is that the man who’s going to pay for your favors?”

  “I’ll tell Natalie that her father needs her new address. Goodbye, Barbara, and good luck with Kate. Maybe he’ll let you pick out his third wife and you’ll like her.”

  “You’ve never been mean before. Why now?” Barbara snapped.

  “Guess your son divorcing me for another woman and sleeping with me when she was already pregnant brought out my bad side. Have a great day.” Carmen ended the call and put her phone on the table. “I don’t want to talk to her if she calls back, so if my phone rings in the next few days, please don’t answer it for me. I really need that walk right now. I don’t suppose there’s any wood to split around here, is there?”

  Tootsie chuckled. “Not that I know of. Let’s go. We’ll just have to walk off the anger.”

  The air felt like rain when they stepped out of the motor home. Neither of the women even noticed the crunch under their feet as they circled halfway around the pond. Carmen told Tootsie about the phone call. She ended with, “I tried so hard to make that woman like me.”

  “Well, honey, karma has given her Kate, and it’s biting her square in the ass for the way she’s treated you. If I’d been you, I’d have divorced Eli years ago just to be rid of her.” Tootsie stopped at a bench and sat down. “You walk really fast for a short woman. I need a little rest.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Carmen eased down beside her. “I guess I was trying to outrun my anger.”

  “Did it work?” Tootsie asked.

  “Not really,” Carmen answered. “But I noticed that the office for this place has a convenience store. When we get back to it, let’s buy a bunch of junk food. We can have chocolate and sour cherry balls and maybe even SweeTARTS while we binge-watch something on television tonight.”

  “Let’s buy enough to last all day tomorrow,” Tootsie suggested. “My knees are telling me that the storm coming in is going to bring us a cold front. There’s some frozen burritos and corn dogs in the freezer. We’ll wear our pajamas and . . .” Tootsie held out her hand. “That’s the first raindrop. Maybe we better get on back.”

  “We should’ve brought an umbrella,” Carmen said when a raindrop hit her on the tip of her nose.

  “We ain’t sugar or salt either one, darlin’. We won’t melt, and we’ve got dry clothes in the motor home.” Tootsie took off so fast that Carmen had to do a slow jog to keep up with her.

  They were both drenched by the time they got to the store, but they still took the time to buy a plastic bag full of junk food. The lady asked if they wanted to purchase an umbrella, and Tootsie just laughed. “Honey, it wouldn’t do us a lot of good now, but thanks for asking.”

  When they were back in the motor home, Carmen tossed the bag of food in the kitchen sink and headed straight for the bathroom. Tootsie didn’t waste a bit of time getting down the hall and into her bedroom. Carmen dried herself and hung both the towel and her wet clothing on the shower rod. Then she padded out to her bunk bed, opened her suitcase, and brought out the warmest pajamas she had. Old-lady flannel—that’s what Natalie had called them last Christmas. Eli had given them to her. She wondered if they had fit his image of her. The thought that he had probably bought Kate a pretty piece of jewelry—or, better yet, something lacy and sexy—made her temper flare again. She threw the pajamas in the trash can and got out her favorite pair of red-and-green plaid pajama pants and her Minnie Mouse T-shirt.

  She’d just gotten dressed in them when Tootsie opened her door and said, “You get that candy out of the bag, and I’ll stick a bag of popcorn in the microwave.”

  Tootsie passed by her on the way to the kitchen. “I’ve got all the seasons of Chuck out for us to binge-watch. It’s a real cute little show. You’ll love it.”

  “You reckon Joanie and Diana are listening to the rain beating against their hotel windows?” Carmen followed her.

  “Honey, I bet they don’t even know it’s raining,” Tootsie laughed. “If we have to have a storm, I’m glad it’s today and not Saturday when the girls graduate.”

  “Amen to that.” Carmen thought of a worse storm than Mother Nature could provide—one that involved Eli bringing Kate to the girls’ graduation. She had gotten a measure of closure now, but she sure wasn’t ready to see him with another woman.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Diana had felt that Rebecca and her friends were still children when they graduated from high school. But a mere six months later, as she watched the impressive military graduation, she could see three young women before her, ready to take on the next responsibility and serve their country. Her heart swelled with pride, and yet tears ran down her cheeks and dripped on her new olive-green jacket.

  Luke pulled a snow-white handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. She dabbed it against her face and sent it on down the line to Tootsie, Carmen, Joanie, and even Brett, who was sitting at the other end of their little group.

  “Thank you,” Diana whispered when the hankie made its way back to her hands. She handed it back to Luke, and he stuffed it back in his pocket.

  The memory of the day that she and her friends had taken their daughters to the recruiter to enlist surfaced and brought with it a brand-new rush of tears. The girls had been so giggly all the way to San Antonio, and then they’d wanted to go shopping after they’d signed their lives away for six years. The next thing that popped into her head was the day that she, Carmen, and Joanie had left them at that same office. Their daughters had been nervous, but it was more like three teenagers going to their first concert than women who were about to undergo weeks of intensive training.

  Now, here before parents, grandparents, and friends were dozens of brand-new soldiers standing so tall and grown-up. The girls all had their hair up and looked so mature that it was impossible to think that they had just been kids a few months ago.

  The ending of the ceremony was a little anticlimactic to Diana. After all these young men and women had accomplished, there should have been medals involved or maybe their names called out individually so that each one of them could stand or even come forward and be recognized.

  This is not an awards assembly at high school
, Smokey’s voice scolded.

  A smile came through the tears. It was time to recognize Rebecca as an adult. Diana wasn’t sure how to go about that, but she was determined to try. Right up until Rebecca found her in the midst of all the chaos, wrapped her arms around her mother, and hugged her tightly.

  “I missed you so much, Mama. Some nights I wondered if I’d done the right thing,” Rebecca whispered. Then she took a step back and stuck out her hand. “You must be Luke. Mama wrote to me about you.”

  “Congratulations on surviving basic. That’s no small feat.” He grinned.

  “Hey, I’m Brett. Joanie told me about you.” Brett stuck out his hand toward Luke. “Sounds like y’all had a really good time on your trip.”

  Luke shook his hand. “We sure did. Maybe we can all get together next week for supper at Aunt Tootsie’s.”

  Rebecca moved away from the group to speak to her father, but Diana didn’t even notice for several minutes. Then she caught Gerald staring at her over the top of all the folks in their group. He quickly focused his attention back on Rebecca and then the two of them made their way over to her.

  “Who’d have thought our baby girl would ever join the army?” He grinned.

  “It was wholly her decision,” Diana said.

  Gerald’s wife came from the direction of the restrooms and stepped between them. As usual, she looked like she’d just walked off a fashion-show runway. Every blonde hair was in place, her tight-fitting dress hugged her body, and her matching coat looked as if it had been tailor-made for her. The brooch on her lapel had probably cost more than Diana made in a month, but then, Gerald hadn’t chosen his new wife for beauty alone. There was that beautiful bank account that came along with her.

  “Diana,” the woman muttered.

  “Vivian.” Diana nodded. “Let me introduce y’all to Luke Colbert. Luke, this is Rebecca’s father, Gerald, and his wife, Vivian.”

  Luke shook hands with Gerald first and then Vivian. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. Y’all should be very proud of your daughter.”

  “We certainly are,” Gerald said. “I understand that you’re Tootsie’s nephew?”

  “That’s right,” Luke answered, and slipped an arm around Diana’s shoulders. “Darlin’, we should be gathering up the crew. We’ve got reservations.” Then he smiled at Gerald. “Would y’all like to join us for the celebration dinner? Nothing fancy. The girls only have four hours off base, and they chose Bubba’s Burgers and Ice Cream. I can call and add two more if you’d like to join us. Then we’re going back to the Baymont lobby to sit around and visit until they have to get back to base.”

  “No, thank you.” Vivian smiled. “We’ve got to get home to San Antonio. We have friends and family coming to welcome Gerald back from this last deployment, but thank you for the invitation. Come on, honey. Let’s go tell Rebecca goodbye and get on the road.” She slipped her arm in his and led him away from Diana.

  “That went well.” Luke grinned.

  “If they had joined us, I would have shot you,” she whispered.

  “But now Gerald can’t say that we were selfishly keeping him from spending an important day with his daughter.” With his hand on her lower back, he guided her over to where the rest of their group was waiting.

  “I’m going straight to Bullis,” Zoe was saying. “So y’all can come see me on weekends. If you’re still in Sugar Run at Christmas, I can probably have a couple of days off to come home.”

  “Rebecca and I fly out Monday morning to Georgia. We didn’t get to go to Goodfellow after all, but we’ve been told that we could probably have a few days at Christmas.” Natalie had an arm around Carmen. “Want to pick us up in Dallas if we can get a flight?”

  “Of course we will,” Luke answered.

  Rebecca talked with Gerald and Vivian a few minutes, and then she hurried back over to her mother. “I’m so ready to get off base, and I’m starving for a big old greasy burger with french fries and then some ice cream for dessert.”

  “Well, darlin’s,” Tootsie said, “we’ve got the motor home parked not far from here. We can all fit in it comfortably.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Zoe said. “We wanted to spend the time together with all y’all as much as we can.” She slipped one hand into her father’s and the other one into her mother’s. “Lead the way, Tootsie.”

  “Don’t expect us to swing you like we did when you were a little girl.” Brett’s eyes kept shifting from his wife to his daughter. “I’m pretty proud of y’all.”

  “Y’all?” Zoe asked.

  “You for taking this step to serve your country, and your mama for standing beside me for twenty years,” Brett said.

  “With that in mind.” Rebecca stepped between Luke and Diana and, following Zoe’s example, slipped a hand in her mother’s and the other one in Luke’s. “I’d say we’ve all got a lot of pride right now, but walk faster. I meant it when I said I was starving.”

  How four hours could pass so quickly was a complete mystery to Diana. It seemed as if they’d only all sat down in the Baymont lobby after dinner when Rebecca pointed at her watch and said, “It’s time to go. We can’t be late or we’ll be in trouble.”

  “And army trouble is worse than missing curfew at home when we were seniors.” Zoe tucked a strand of hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck.

  “But not by much,” Rebecca giggled. “The only reason I made it through basic was because I had a tough mama.”

  “Testify, sister.” Natalie raised her hand. “The drill sergeant was nothing compared to Mama the night she found out I’d had my first beer. But today I love you for all that strictness.” Natalie hugged Carmen for at least the tenth time that afternoon. “This whole day has been amazing, and it’s only two and a half weeks until Christmas. Then we can see all y’all again.”

  Luke was on his way out to the motor home to get it warmed up when he heard someone call his name. He turned to find Rebecca jogging toward him. Her long legs and her movements reminded him so much of Diana that he doubted she’d gotten much of Gerald’s DNA at all.

  “Hey, wait up,” she yelled.

  When she got to his side, she slowed to a walk. “I wanted to talk to you when Mama wasn’t around.”

  Together they covered the rest of the distance to the motor home.

  “What’s up?” He opened the door for her, and she stepped inside.

  “Are you serious about her, or are you just out for a good time? Are you going to break her heart?”

  “I hope we’re both very serious, and I want a long-term relationship. I care too much about your mother to ever break her heart. Now, let me ask you . . .” He started the engine and turned on the heater. “How do you feel about me? You’ve only just met me, so that might be an unfair question, but . . .”

  “Tootsie has written lots about you in her letters and so have Carmen and Joanie. I hope you’re half the man they make you out to be,” Rebecca replied. “It’s just that Mama has been hurt deeply once, and I want your word that you’ll go easy on her. I can see by the way she looks at you that she . . . that she likes you a lot, maybe even loves you.”

  “I hope so, because I’ve sure fallen in love with her, but let’s keep that between us for a little while. I don’t want to overwhelm her. Emotions have been pretty high the past few weeks. I can wait to tell her until she’s ready,” Luke said. “And I hear them all coming this way now.”

  “Good talk.” She darted off to the bathroom. Her head popped back out of the door for a moment. “Since I’ve met you in person, I guess I like you.” The door closed behind her.

  “Where’s Rebecca?” Diana was the first one inside. “She said she had an emergency and took off in a run.”

  “Hey.” Rebecca came out of the bathroom before Luke could answer. “The hotel bathroom was in use, and I couldn’t wait. Natalie and Zoe and I have an announcement to make right now. Right, girls?”

  “No tears when we get to base,” Zoe said.


  “We want you to be brave like you were when we left,” Natalie said. “Just drive up, drop us off, and then leave.”

  “We all hate goodbyes, and this is the only way we can handle it,” Rebecca chimed in.

  “You got it,” Tootsie said. “We can do that, but we’ll make no promises about what happens when you’re out of the motor home.”

  “Fair enough,” Rebecca said. “Now let’s get this big-ass bus to rolling before we all start crying from just thinking about not seeing all y’all for a while.”

  “Next stop, Fort Sill army base, Lawton, Oklahoma,” Luke called out, and the motor home started forward. “Second stop, Joanie and Brett’s hotel. Third stop, Sugar Run, Texas.”

  “You make a pretty good tour guide, Luke,” Brett chuckled.

  “I thought we were stopping for a night,” Carmen said.

  “Change of plans,” Tootsie told her. “Luke said he didn’t mind driving until midnight, and I’m homesick, so we’re taking this big-ass bus home tonight.”

  “Sounds great to me.” Carmen yawned. “I may sleep most of the way.”

  “That’s my plan, too,” Tootsie replied.

  They held it together really well when the girls got out of the motor home, but by the time they’d driven away from the base, the waterworks had begun. The women had gone through half a box of tissues by the time Luke drove them to the area where Brett and Joanie had left their car. When they had left the motor home, Luke headed south toward the Oklahoma/Texas border, but the sniffles just got louder. Being the gentleman that he was, he couldn’t let Diana cry alone, but he wiped his tears on the handkerchief he kept in his pocket.

  Dusk was settling around them when Carmen and Tootsie headed for their beds and a late-night nap. Diana buckled herself into the passenger seat beside him. “We’ve looked forward to this for months, and now it’s over. It’s almost surreal.”

  “Kind of like Christmas,” he suggested. “Speaking of that, I told Brett and Joanie that they shouldn’t move out until after the holidays so they can have one last Christmas with Zoe in the house. And, Diana, I’ve already called my financial manager and arranged for flights for Natalie and Rebecca to come home. All they have to do is tell us the dates they can be away from base, and it’s a done deal. They can consider it their Christmas present from me. I hate to shop.” He grinned.