A Family Woman

by T. B. Markinson

  Maddie’s eyes pleaded with mine.

  “Fine. Invite her to lunch or something.” My cell beeped, and I checked the message. “Sorry, I have to take this.” I waved my phone like I’d just received a presidential pardon.

  Sarah glared at me, but she said nothing. She didn’t have to. I had never been the type to run off and answer a text, email, or carrier pigeon. My gut said she’d let it slide since she knew I needed to hole up in my cave, aka library, and deliberate. I could never move forward until I mulled something over. If I didn’t, I made snap decisions, often resulting in a fight with Sarah. Years with Sarah taught me one thing: avoiding fights was key to happiness and a healthy marriage.

  ***

  Courtney, clad in an expensive-looking black business suit and a scarlet silk blouse, breezed into the library on Maddie’s arm.

  “So glad you could make it.” Sarah rose to greet our guest, who was supposed to arrive for lunch but hadn’t managed to make it until after five in the evening.

  “Please, sit. I’m so sorry about earlier. A major shit-storm landed on my desk this morning, and I had to set it straight or lose a million-dollar account.” Courtney spoke as if everything she did was of monumental importance. She reminded me of Peter.

  I eyed Maddie, trying to judge whether she’d caught on to that fact. Maddie gazed at her like a sycophant, as if she was about to bend over and kiss the Pope’s ring. How had I missed this aspect of Maddie’s personality for so long? Of course, I hadn’t been around when Peter and Maddie started courting.

  Sarah waved off her apology. “Please, no excuses needed. Now that I’m on summer break, I have loads of free time. What can I get you to drink?” She started to waddle to the bar.

  I jumped into action. “It’s okay. Have a seat.” I directed my pregnant wife back to the couch. “Okey dokey, jamokeys—what can I get you?”

  “Okey dokey, jamokeys?” Maddie echoed.

  I shrugged. When I was uncomfortable, weird shit flew out of my mouth.

  “Wine for me. You, Courtney?” Maddie laced her fingers through Courtney’s with too much force.

  “Wine works.” Her smile was genuine. Unlike the night at the barbeque joint, her outfit didn’t let her ample cleavage spill over. Secretly, I was disappointed. Did that make me a boob person?

  “Lizzie, tell me about the Hitler Youth.” Courtney settled onto the couch opposite Sarah.

  It seemed odd that she’d opened with this thread before I had a chance to serve the drinks. Another sign she was desperate not to be pigeonholed even with everyday conversation.

  “Tread carefully. Once she gets going, she doesn’t stop.” Maddie sniggered.

  “No, seriously, I’m curious. How did you become interested in the Hitler Youth?” She slipped off a three-inch heel and tucked her leg under her body. Whatever stress she’d felt during the day seemed washed away with this simple act.

  “If you’re serious, let’s talk about ordering some food first. Then we can unleash the hounds, so to speak.” Sarah gestured to a stack of menus on the coffee table.

  Maddie swooped in. “Do you have one for that Thai place I love?” She thumbed through a stack of about fifteen, finally locating the lime-green menu. “They have the best skewers,” she insisted, patting Courtney’s thigh.

  “I do love a good skewer.” She waggled her brows suggestively at Maddie. I wanted to get down on my knees and thank the gods I was no longer in the dating world. Had I made such an ass out of myself when pursuing Sarah?

  The two of them huddled together, deciding their choices. It didn’t take long for Courtney to pick out an appetizer and a main dish. At least she was efficient.

  Maddie bounded off the couch. “I’m going to place the call. I already know what you two are getting.”

  I placed two glasses of wine on the table and poured ice water for Sarah and me.

  Before I had a chance to sit down, Courtney pounced. “So, you and the Hitler Youth. How and why?”

  Parking my ass on the arm of the couch, I sipped my water. “It just happened. Back in grad school, I had to write a research paper for my twentieth-century European history class. Everyone was picking obvious topics, like the origins of World War II, Nazis, Winston Churchill, the Cold War, the European Union—all things people had written extensively about. I wanted something different. I was already intrigued by World War II, especially the Nazi aspect, but I didn’t want to focus on something everyone knew about.”

  Courtney nodded. “So not Hitler, Goebbels, or even Speer…?”

  She scored major points for knowing about Speer, Hitler’s architect and Minister of Armaments and War Production. Not that he wasn’t known, but his name usually didn’t pop up first thing.

  “Exactly. However, coming up with a topic was a challenge. The afternoon before I had to write my proposal, I wandered through the aisles in the library, looking for a title that caught my attention. I found one about a young man forced into the Hitler Youth, and that’s how it came to be. Once I started studying it, I became more and more fascinated. Basically, I fell face-first into the Hitler Youth rabbit hole.”

  Courtney sipped her wine. “I’m jealous. You’re doing something that interests you.”

  This piqued the teacher inside Sarah. “You aren’t?”

  Courtney, in mid-swallow, snorted. She quickly covered her mouth to prevent from spewing red wine all over her blouse. “Not at all. I work for an advertising company my grandfather started back before every house had a television. Choice was never an option for me.”

  Was that why she liked having choices, having flings outside of her professional life?

  Maddie, who’d returned halfway through my spiel, rubbed Courtney’s thigh. “Don’t you like advertising?”

  “I like the creative side to it, but a couple of years ago, I became part of the management team. I spend ninety percent of my time kissing the client’s ass—like today. The guy wouldn’t sit down and talk to me. He insisted we work through the problem by playing a round of golf. That’s how he solves every one of his problems.”

  “That’s what you were doing today? Playing golf?” Maddie stared wide-eyed.

  “With my client, yes. If a client says jump, I say how high.” Courtney turned her attention to Sarah. “What about you? Why teaching?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. I wanted to have my summers off.” Sarah rubbed her belly. “Had I known one summer I’d be giving birth to twins, I may have found a different occupation.” Sarah’s smile and glow said the opposite.

  “Did you always want kids?” Courtney’s eyes laser locked onto Sarah.

  “Nope.”

  “Really?” I blurted before I had a chance to think. It should have been a fact I’d always known about the person I was spending my life with.

  Sarah laughed. “It wasn’t until I settled down with Lizzie that I realized I wanted a family.”

  Maddie cocked her head. “I’m not buying that.”

  “I’m not lying. Before Lizzie, I liked dating and I had some relationships, but I always went in knowing it’d be short-lived. Fun for a time, but once it became work, I’d bail. Then I met Lizzie.” She half-covered her mouth and stage whispered, “She was work almost right out of the gate, but I didn’t run. And Lizzie didn’t make it easy.” Sarah lowered her hand and glanced over at me, smiling. “Falling for a commitment-phobe is a challenge, to say the least.”

  “Maybe she was the right challenge for you. I’ve been looking for that,” Courtney confessed without any sense of unease.

  Maddie, on the other hand, squirmed on the couch. If I were her, I’d take that statement to mean Courtney was still looking. Maddie wasn’t a delicate flower, but I sensed she wanted what Sarah and I had: a loving relationship and a family on the way. It had taken me years to realize the things I’d chased after, and the things I’d chased away in pursuit of those things, didn’t matter. What mattered was the woman sitting to my left and
the two creatures growing inside her belly.

  Courtney’s cell phone lit up the room. “Ah, I was wondering when I’d hear from him.”

  “Kit?” Maddie’s brow furrowed.

  Did he always show up? Even when Maddie and Courtney were in bed? Threesomes had never appealed to me. Did they to Maddie? I tried to think back to whether or not we’d ever discussed that. Of course I hadn’t detected any bisexual vibes from Kit. Then again, I’d missed the gay ones as well.

  “Need to pinch off a load, Lizzie?” Maddie motioned to my scrunched face. My concentrated stare would scare most.

  “Just thinking.”

  Courtney tucked her phone into her purse. “Hope you don’t mind, but he’s on his way over.”

  Maybe Courtney hadn’t gotten the memo that Sarah and I owned this house and she should ask before inviting her fiancé over while she was busy courting our best friend. That was how it worked in my world, minus the faux engagement.

  “Shall I order more food for him?” Maddie attempted to sound perky and welcoming.

  “Nah, we’re used to sharing.” She stood. “May I use your restroom?”

  “Of course.” Sarah gave her the lowdown of where to find it.

  Courtney was barely out of the room when Sarah quirked an eyebrow at Maddie. “Do you ever get her to yourself?”

  Maddie’s spine stiffened. “That’s an issue, for sure,” she said, collapsing into the back of the couch.

  “Even, uh, during sexy time?” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

  Her eyes bugged. “Did you just ask me whether I’ve had a threesome with Kit and Courtney?”

  “I think I did.” I rubbed my chin more thoroughly, as if that made the situation less awkward.

  The doorbell rang.

  “Food’s here,” Maddie said needlessly, darting out of the library to the front door.

  Sarah met my Now what? glare and shrugged. “It’s not ideal.”

  “I don’t see this ending well.”

  “I don’t know… I think it’ll peter out before it really has a chance to foment. Courtney isn’t playing coy.”

  I’d always hated the phrase “peter out” because it made me think of my sibling.

  “Did I hear something about Peter?” Courtney waltzed in, her face slightly damp.

  “What do you really think of Peter?” Sarah motioned for me to refill Courtney’s wineglass, which I did.

  “He’s interesting. I admire his business drive. He’s actually sent some business our way.” Courtney slipped her blazer off and laid it over the back of the couch.

  “Really? That was kind of him.” Sarah blinked rapidly. Was she struggling to associate Peter with any act of kindness? Or was she, like me, trying to figure out Peter’s angle?

  Maddie returned, laden with white plastic bags.

  “I’m curious what you think of…” Sarah paused as if mulling over the proper word choice before shrugging and saying, “his marrying Tie.”

  Courtney continued, “Peter has no idea what he got himself into when he tied the knot with that one. However, I’m not sure he had much choice in the matter.”

  That caught my attention.

  “Shall we eat on the back deck? I’m roasting.” Sarah didn’t wait for an answer, standing to lead our odd group outside to congregate around the black iron table under a large oak tree.

  Maddie divvied out the takeout containers and rounded back to the conversation Sarah had tried to stall. “What about Peter’s cheating?”

  I accidentally dropped my veggie spring roll into the duck sauce. Sarah handed me a recycled paper napkin, grinning at my clumsiness.

  “I see Lizzie takes after her brother some. Never discuss the things people like to keep hidden.” Courtney scooped Pad Thai into her mouth.

  I focused on a blue jay intent on retrieving a peanut that had slipped into the cracks of the flagstone patio. Each peck lodged the shell further into the crevice.

  “Does Tie know?” Maddie nibbled on a beef skewer, corncob style.

  “Of course. She knew before their first date.”

  “How?” Maddie’s tone suggested she didn’t really care, but the way her sapphire eyes zeroed in on the food implied the opposite.

  Courtney set her chopsticks down. “You really don’t know?”

  Maddie shook her head.

  “They met briefly while Peter was engaged.” She spoke softly and slowly. For the first time, Courtney seemed uncomfortable in her own skin.

  Maddie sucked in a breath. “Engaged… to me.”

  It was hard to tell whether she was stating it or asking. Courtney must have thought the same thing; she opted not to reply.

  “I see.” Maddie stood. “I need…” She left the rest unsaid and disappeared inside.

  “Should I go after her?” Courtney asked Sarah.

  Sarah folded her napkin in half and then into quarters. “No. Give her some time.”

  “I thought she knew. Did you two know?” Courtney peeked at me and then gave Sarah her full attention.

  We shook our heads. “Peter and Lizzie aren’t close. During the first year of our relationship”—Sarah motioned to me and then to herself—“she wasn’t in contact with her family. It wasn’t until Peter and Maddie moved back that Lizzie reconnected with them. Maddie was the instigator.”

  I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the hurt in Sarah’s eyes. The reason I’d allowed Maddie into our lives was the fear of committing to Sarah. I hadn’t liked it when she called me a commitment-phobe earlier, but her assessment was dead-on. It nearly made me laugh out loud to think I’d been judging Courtney for how she lived her life while I was guilty of my own transgressions. Was that why it bugged me that Courtney played with Maddie’s emotions? Because I knew the toll it had had on Sarah? Because I knew what I’d nearly lost?

  “I see. Another fucked-up family.” Courtney’s smile revealed more than she probably intended.

  “Is yours as bad?” Sarah asked softly.

  “Hard to define, but it wasn’t great. And we’re all in business together. Greed and families are never a good mix. Having board meetings with family members—a deadly combination.” Her steely eyes showed her steadfastness.

  “There you are. I rang the bell, but no one came. Luckily the front door was unlocked.” Kit sashayed onto the deck and patted the top of Courtney’s head, then Sarah’s, and finally mine. Were we playing Duck, Duck, Goose? He took the seat Maddie had vacated, and his face zagged up. “Uh-oh. Did I miss something?”

  “Maddie found out about Tie’s affair with Peter.” Courtney sipped her red wine.

  “Where is she? I should talk to her.” Without awaiting a reply, he pranced back inside our home in search of Maddie. These people had no issues invading anyone’s privacy.

  I took a fierce, noisy slurp of water.

  Sarah squeezed my thigh under the table, as if reassuring me Kit had no intention of stealing my books. Still, a simple, “Do you mind if I search your house top to bottom for a woman I hardly know?” would have made me feel loads better.

  “I’m curious. How do you and Kit keep it together?” Sarah asked.

  “Pretending to be in love?” Courtney arched a brow. Sarah nodded. “It’s easy, really. I’ve been pretending one thing or another all of my life. So has Kit. Besides”—Courtney leaned back in her chair—“I do love Kit. He’s the brother, best friend, and confidant I never had until now. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

  “Do you really plan on marrying?”

  I admired Sarah’s determination to keep pushing.

  “That remains to be seen. I think both families suspect it’s a farce, to some extent, but it’s a farce they like to maintain publicly.” Courtney cradled her wineglass close to her chest, like a child does a teddy bear. “It’s not that our families are so opposed to homosexuality. It’s us they don’t like. Neither Kit nor I are conventional in any way, shape, or form, and
neither one of us—after watching our parents’, grandparents’, and siblings’ disastrous marriages—has any desire to really settle down.” She plunked her glass down on the table and eyed Sarah and then me. “I see you two have a strong relationship, and I don’t mean that can’t happen, but the odds are ninety-nine to one, and you’re the one.”

  Sarah’s laughter tickled my eardrums. “Are you saying that since Lizzie and I are happily married, your odds are zilch? That’s absurd.”

  “Are you saying the marriages around you are happy?” Courtney’s smile signaled her belief in the ninety-nine to one theory was rock solid.

  “Lizzie’s friend Ethan has a great marriage.”

  I was in mid-swallow and nearly choked.

  Courtney waved a hand. “You see; even Lizzie sees things my way.”

  Sarah gave me the hairy eyeball, a phrase I picked up from the Urban Dictionary. “Their marriage isn’t that bad.”

  “They don’t have sex. They had to adopt Casey because of Ethan’s aversion to ‘fluids.’” I made quote marks in the air.

  Sarah’s face reddened. “Pfffft—you’re still a commitment-phobe at heart.”

  I smiled and laced my fingers through Sarah’s. “Not when it comes to you and our little buns in the oven.”

  “So you buy Courtney’s theory?” Sarah’s voice softened.

  “Not sure. Before I met you, I would have said the odds were one hundred to one that any marriage would fail.” I raised her hand to my lips. “Luckily, I was wrong.” I turned my gaze to Courtney. “From one commitment-phobe to another, don’t give up. Love is worth it.”

  Courtney cocked her head to the left and nodded. From the tightness in her shoulders, I had a feeling my words slid right off.

  Kit ushered Maddie back outside, one hairy arm flung around her shoulders. “Found her in the nursery.” Her eyes were puffy, and she held a Kleenex to her nose.

  Sarah stood and hugged her. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t know.”

  “Apparently, we’re the only three in the world who didn’t.” Maddie collapsed in the chair wedged between Sarah and Courtney. The latter reached out and gave Maddie a supportive squeeze on the shoulder. It did not have the desired effect; Maddie edged her seat closer to Sarah.