“Exactly. And you’re lovely.”
She’d lifted her chin, lowered her chin, tilted her head to the left and then to the right, all the while Todd was busily clicking away with his camera.
“I thought you wanted pictures of the bridge,” she’d teased.
“The bridge will be here another day. You might not.”
I’ll be here any day you want.
Her mother had been the farthest thing from Jamie’s mind.
“I must not have heard it,” Jamie said now, still standing near the doorway. “Why were you calling?”
“To see if you needed a ride home.”
“A ride?”
“You told me this morning that you and Alyssa were going to study after school. But I ran into her mother. Alyssa had a dentist appointment this afternoon.”
Jamie thought fast. “Yeah, she forgot.”
“So you went to the library anyway?”
Oh, God. Had her mother called the library, too?
“For a bit,” Jamie said. “But since Alyssa wasn’t there, we couldn’t work on our project. So I went with some other kids for a soda.”
Her mother brightened. “That’s nice. Did one of them give you a ride home?”
Jamie nodded, afraid to say more.
“Someone I know?”
“What’s the matter with you today?” Jamie asked. “You’re acting crazy. I’m home by dinnertime, aren’t I?”
Her mother took a moment to answer. “Alyssa’s mother said she hadn’t seen you in quite a while. That you and Alyssa hadn’t been spending much time together at all lately.” She paused. “I was under the impression you’d been at her house a lot.”
Jamie didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Her mind was frozen.
“What is it you’re keeping from me?” her mother asked.
Jamie thought she might cry out of sheer frustration. She’d had such a perfect afternoon, and now this? She couldn’t think of a single excuse that wouldn’t sound totally lame.
“Is it a boy?”
“A boy?”
“Alyssa’s mother thought you might be seeing someone.”
“I’m not really seeing anyone,” Jamie protested.
“But there is a boy in the picture?”
Jamie looked down at the floor.
“I’m happy for you, honey. I wish you didn’t feel you had to be so secretive about it.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Who is he? Anyone I know?”
Jamie latched onto the only name she could come up with. “His name is Oliver.”
“Oliver Glick?” Her mother sounded pleased. “I’ve met his mother. Nice woman.”
As if that mattered. “He’s not my boyfriend or anything, though. We’re just friends.”
“Of course. But anytime you want to bring him by the house . . . well, he’s welcome. Your dad and I promise not to hover.”
“Thanks.”
“We do hope to get a chance to meet him.”
Jamie turned and escaped to her room, trying desperately to hold onto the warm glow of her afternoon with Todd.
Chapter 23
Gordon was looking out the kitchen window, thinking about his upcoming lunch with Todd, which he hadn’t told Marta about, and mentally running through The Lost Colony of Roanoke lecture he would be giving at the graduate seminar next week. Marta was chattering in the background, making a salad before she left for an evening meeting.
This past week she’d been going on about Jamie and her new boyfriend. Jamie herself didn’t talk about him much, but when she was out of earshot, Marta could barely contain herself.
Jamie seemed so happy lately, she told him. Had Gordon noticed? Did he think they ought to talk to the young man’s parents? Not that there was anything to worry about—Marta knew the mother and the boy was a top student, but still, kids today were so much more open to sex than in their day.
Gordon was pleased for Jamie, who had felt more or less on the margin of things since their move to Sterling. And like Marta, he worried about the temptations that came with high school romance. But he couldn’t imagine a conversation with the boy’s parents would change anything. And it would certainly embarrass Jamie. Marta had finally agreed to have a cautionary talk with Jamie.
Gordon appreciated his wife’s bubbly nature. It balanced his own tendency to shut down and withdraw. He was generally more than happy to let her carry the conversation while he bobbed along listening to a stream of stories and observations that required only an occasional acknowledgment from him. But tonight he was finding her energy difficult to deal with.
She was on a tear about a call she’d received from the school vice-principal. It seemed that Jamie had been cutting classes and her grades were slipping.
“And,” Marta added. “She had drug paraphernalia in her locker.”
Gordon put his Roanoke thoughts on hold for the moment. “They must have her confused with another student.”
“They know who their students are.”
“But it doesn’t sound like our daughter,” he protested.
“No. It doesn’t. That’s why I’m worried.”
“What does Jamie say?”
“That it was all a mix-up. And there was only one test she really messed up.”
“Well, there you have it.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple, Gordon. Jamie was . . . evasive. Like she was making up excuses on the fly.” Marta ran the dishrag across the counter, brushing crumbs into her cupped palm. “I worry that the boyfriend may be at the root of this.”
Gordon was confused. “I thought you were happy Jamie had a boyfriend.”
“I am. But young love can be so”—Marta looked off into space—“so delicious.”
“That’s a problem?” Gordon had little experience with young love. He’d been too shy in high school to even talk to girls, and while he’d suffered through a few awkward dates in college, he’d never been in love until Marta came along.
“Not a problem per se,” Marta said, “but we don’t want Jamie to be so gaga over him she’s not thinking straight. ”
“No, of course not. But it doesn’t sound like that’s what’s happening. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s not going to do something stupid.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Gordon wasn’t sure what Marta wanted from him. “Maybe she needs another dose of motherly guidance,” he offered at last.
“I tried, for all the good it did. She didn’t want to hear a word I had to say.”
Gordon nodded sympathetically.
“She was full of excuses,” Marta continued. “And then she got angry. At me. Like it was all my fault.”
“Well, she is a teenager,” he pointed out.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marta snapped.
“Aren’t teen years the rebellious years?”
“We’re still her parents.”
“Of course we’re her parents. But Jamie’s always been so responsible.”
Marta turned to face him directly. “Maybe if you talked to her. Maybe she’d listen to you.”
“Me?” Gordon could feel himself resisting. He loved Jamie with all his heart, and wanted more than anything to protect her. He worried about her too, just as Marta did. But he didn’t know how to talk to her. Not anymore. And most definitely not about a subject as fraught with pitfalls as boys. Or drugs. “I’m sure I wouldn’t have anything to add to what you’ve—”
”Please, Gordon. This is important.”
“You had the sex talk with her, right? You’ve opened the door already. Isn’t this just an extension of that?”
Marta glared at him.
He sighed. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, honey. You’ll do great.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I have to run or I’ll miss the start of the meeting. Casserole’s in the oven, salad is ready except for the dressing.”
“You me
eting Carol there?”
“I’m handling this evening myself. No reason we both need to attend.”
The library committee was one of Marta and Carol’s longstanding clients. Usually they both went to the meetings and then went out for a glass of wine afterward—as much a girl’s night out as business. Given tonight’s break from tradition, Gordon guessed the rift between the two women wasn’t fully mended.
It had something to do with Todd, although Gordon didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. So the guy used a different name professionally. It wasn’t like he’d been trying to cheat them. But apparently Carol found it suspicious. She’d even hired some investigator who also sensed “something fishy,” whatever that meant. Marta hadn’t liked the guy from the moment Gordon had introduced them, so he couldn’t understand why she and Carol weren’t on the same page.
Gordon tried to stay out of it. He did find it something of a coincidence that Todd and Marta had crossed paths professionally, but life was full of coincidences. He liked Todd, and had continued to meet him for lunch now and then, even knowing Marta wouldn’t approve. He didn’t tell her which friends she could or couldn’t see, so why should she dictate his?
After Marta left, he turned on the TV and caught the last half of the national news. He wondered if he should go up to Jamie’s room and talk to her now, get it over with.
No, he decided, that would be a talk. Much too serious. Better to wait until dinner and then try the casual, off-hand approach. He wasn’t sure what Marta thought he could do. He suspected she was overreacting anyway, but he did agree that Jamie couldn’t just blow off school.
*****
Jamie breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her mother’s car pull away from the house. Even a few hours’ peace was a relief. Last week had been Boyfriend Mania. Her mother was full of questions—artfully disguised at first, and then more direct. What was Oliver like? Shouldn’t they meet him? Did he treat her with respect? Worse were the cautionary warnings about sex, especially unprotected sex. God, it was so embarrassing. Like Jamie didn’t know anything.
She’d tried explaining that she and “Oliver” were just friends, but the long afternoons she spent with Todd—which her mother assumed were spent with Oliver—led her mother to think otherwise. She’d look at Jamie with a smirky smile and say, “Of course you’re friends.”
Her mother could be so annoying sometimes.
She felt bad using Oliver the way she was, but he provided even better cover than Alyssa. She knew she should say something to him, though. Warn him in case word got back to him. She liked Oliver. Not romantically (the very thought made her gag), but he was a friend and she didn’t want to embarrass him.
Boyfriend Mania had been bad enough, then this afternoon her mother had hit her with The Call from the school. The way she reacted you’d think Jamie had been arrested for some major felony. Cigarette papers weren’t even against the law, although she was angry at Harmony for leaving them in her locker. And so what if she’d missed a few classes? Some days she wanted to spend more time with Todd.
Just thinking about him made her insides feel all tingly. She couldn’t ever get enough of him. Ever since that afternoon he’d kissed her and told her how much he liked her, she’d been able to think of nothing else. Her notebooks were filled with hearts she’d drawn in pink and purple ink, with anagrams of their combined names, and with initials. JLW - Jamie Louise Wilson. And sometimes simply Mrs. Todd Wilson.
They would meet after school, or during school on the days Jamie skipped class. Usually they went somewhere for a snack then drove around and ended up in a secluded spot, where Todd might snap some pictures, which were often of her. But mostly they talked and touched and kissed. And Jamie never could remember afterward what they’d talked about.
“Jamie,” her dad called from downstairs. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
It was just her and her dad tonight. He’d probably bring up The Call, but she could handle him. It wouldn’t be that bad.
Chapter 24
Marta was at her desk later that week when Cassie phoned. She might have let the call roll over to voice mail, but she’d just finished proofing a marketing brochure and welcomed the excuse for a break.
“Hi,” Cassie chirped in an unusually upbeat voice. “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“Not at all.” Marta wondered fleetingly if Cassie’s cheerful mood had anything to do with drugs. “What’s up?”
“I think my life might finally be on the right track.”
“That’s wonderful. Is there a guy involved?” Marta had seen Cassie go down this path before.
“Well, yeah.” Cassie laughed. “But it’s not just that. My job is working out okay and I’ve been pretty regular about my AA meetings. I think I’m really going to make it this time.”
“Good for you! I really hope it works out.”
“That’s part of why I’m calling. I know I can be a pain sometimes, and you’ve been really good about standing by me. I’ve done some stuff I’m really sorry about.”
“Are you talking about alcohol?”
“Well, that, but things that involve you, too. Some sisters would have washed their hands of me.”
You can’t imagine how many times I’ve been tempted, Marta thought, knowing she never would have followed through. Cassie might be hard to take at times, but she was a little like the cute shelter pet you couldn’t help wanting to rescue. And she was the only family Marta had left.
“It means a lot to me,” Cassie continued.
“Is this part of your twelve-step program?” The words were out of Marta’s mouth before she knew it.
“Why do you have to be cynical? That’s not why I’m doing this.”
“I’m sorry. Really, I am. I have a way of saying the wrong thing.”
“I know.” Cassie laughed again. “But see, this is the new me, I’m not even angry with you.”
Marta wondered again if her sister might be high. “I just want you to have a good life,” she explained. “I worry about you.”
“I know you do. And I know I’ve been a screw-up my whole life. But I’ve finally got my head on straight.”
Marta was afraid to ask how this momentous change had come about. Afraid to jinx it by believing it might actually be true. “That’s wonderful. You sound really good.”
“Hey, let’s celebrate. I’m going to be in Vegas in a couple of weeks. Why don’t you meet me there? We’ll have some girl fun.”
“Las Vegas? Why?”
“Long story, but it’s connected with my job.”
“The plumbing supply company?”
“Yeah, more or less.”
Maybe it was better not to push further. “I’d like to,” Marta said, meaning it, even though she didn’t much like Vegas. It had been almost a year since she and Cassie had spent time together. “Trouble is, I need to keep an eye on Jamie.”
“What? Gordon is there, isn’t he? Besides, she’s not exactly a child anymore.”
“No, not a child,” Marta said pointedly. “She’s a teenager, and therein lies the problem.”
“Don’t you think—”
“There’s this boy she’s involved with and she . . . well, let’s just say, I don’t trust her judgment anymore.”
“You need to lighten up. She can’t do anything worse than I did.” Cassie chortled and then stopped abruptly. “I guess that’s not exactly a reassuring thought, is it?”
“No, it’s not.” Cassie had discovered alcohol and boys early on. She’d somehow managed to avoid getting pregnant—as far as Marta knew—but she’d partied her way through her teens.
“What is she doing that’s so bad?” Cassie asked. “Staying out all night and that kind of stuff?”
“No. Not yet anyway. But she’s being evasive and sneaky. It’s affecting her schoolwork.”
“I suppose you’ve tried to talk some sense into her.”
“She doe
sn’t listen to me at all. Gordon had a sit-down with her a couple of days ago, but that was a waste, too. Jamie told him everything was fine and he took her at her word. He’s clueless.”
“What’s the boy like?”
“I’m sure he’s basically a good kid.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? How does he treat her? Is he the responsible type or not? Surely you must have some sort of impression.”
“I don’t know,” Marta admitted reluctantly. “We haven’t met him.”
“Never?”
“Kids these days don’t go on dates the way we did. They hang out. And text.” It annoyed Marta the way Jamie had become glued to her phone. Yesterday Marta had threatened to take the phone away if Jamie couldn’t leave it in her room during dinner.
“Sounds like whether you’re there or in Vegas for a couple of days won’t really matter. And I’d love to see you. We have so much to catch up on.”
Marta wanted to go but she wouldn’t enjoy herself if she was worried about Jamie. “Let me think about it, okay?”
When Marta was growing up she used to envy Cassie. Maybe not envy, exactly, because Cassie was often in trouble, and Marta knew even then that her sister’s wild abandon was not something to be emulated. Still, Cassie knew how to have fun. She didn’t care much what others thought of her, didn’t berate herself when she screwed up, didn’t worry about anything but the moment. And people liked her.
Looking back at Cassie’s struggles over the years, Marta could see that her sister’s life had not been charmed at all, but she did understand the lure of throwing caution to the wind. And she worried that Jamie did, too.
*****
Carol was still hunkered down working when Marta was ready to leave for home later that afternoon. The chill between them had warmed some, which was a relief. Without Carol’s confidences and contagious enthusiasm, the days felt as flat and gray as the winter sky.
Carol’s back was to her but Marta could see that she was deep in thought—her head bent forward and pressed against her fingers. Marta hesitated, reluctant to disturb her. What the hell, she thought. Before the blowup over Todd she wouldn’t have thought twice.
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