Coming Unglued

by Rebeca Seitz

  Harrison.

  She must have gone to bed a few minutes early if he felt safe enough to call her already.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, doll. How was your day?”

  She snuggled into the couch and pushed Darin to the back of her mind, ignoring the twinge of guilt that caused the other Kendra answer. “It was okay. Yours?”

  He sighed. “Long. Very, very long. But getting better by the second.”

  “Oh, I’ll bet you use that line with all the girls.”

  “Yeah, the thousands I see every week.”

  The smile in his voice didn’t completely stop her mental question. Was this the first time he’d looked at a woman other than his wife?

  “I’m sure. And does it work with all of them?”

  “Most.” He laughed. “Tell me about your week.”

  “Not much to tell. I don’t think you snuck out to your driveway to call and hear about my boring life.”

  “On the contrary. I’m in my car, and your life is anything but boring. I feel better after ten seconds talking to you than I have all week.”

  She tucked the compliment away to savor later. “You’re in your car?”

  “I am.”

  “At midnight? Why?”

  “I gave a seminar this evening on better business principles. And, yes, it was as awful as the title.”

  “A seminar lasts until midnight?”

  “No, a seminar lasts until nine. A man who’s trying to ignore his compulsion to drive to a little town south of Nashville and talk to a woman who makes him feel so much better about life in general leaves that seminar and takes in a late movie in a desperate attempt to rid his mind of her memory.”

  “Ah, and did it work?”

  “I don’t think so, since I’m now two exits from your place.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “I’m about five minutes from your front door.”

  “What happened to meeting in public places?”

  “Guess I should have called you from the movie.”

  “Yeah, that would have been smart.” Except I would have said no. Because I’m cutting things off with you. See, I have this man who is wonderful and doesn’t deserve my cheating self.

  “Sorry. Do you want me to turn around?”

  “Yes.” No.

  “Really?” A hint of confusion colored his tone.

  “Yes. Go back one exit, and I’ll meet you where we were before in about ten or fifteen minutes.”

  “Scared to have me in your apartment?”

  “Too wise to have you in my apartment, mister. Fifteen minutes.” She disconnected and looked down at Miss Kitty. “Looks like I’m not in for the night after all.”

  * * *

  KENDRA CHECKED HER face in the living room mirror. Most of her makeup was gone now, sweated off on the floor of Heartland with Darin, who would be so hurt if he knew where she was headed right now.

  But Harrison had driven an hour to see her. She couldn’t just tell him to turn around. It would be rude. And friends didn’t treat each other that way. Even if they were friends with an attraction, she and Harrison had chosen to keep things as friends. Only friendship was allowed.

  Of course, they’d also chosen to restrict their meetings to public places, and here he came driving to Stars Hill in the middle of the night.

  What had he told his wife? Was she lying in bed right now, wondering why her husband hadn’t come home yet?

  Kendra grabbed her keys from the table by the door and walked out. Descending the staircase, she tried hard to forget her steps on them not fifteen minutes ago. The man walking beside her then was honest, forthright, and undeserving of the kind of ugliness she walked in right now.

  Maybe she should end things with Darin, not Harrison. If she truly cared for Darin, then the only caring thing would be to let him go so he could find a good woman.

  A woman much better than she.

  A woman who wouldn’t dream of meeting a married man on an old country road in the dark of night.

  Kendra crossed the yard and got into her little RAV4. Shards of pain cut deep into her heart. If the very thought of leaving Darin hurt this much, how would she survive the act of it?

  Her cell rang from its place in the cup holder as she backed out of the driveway. Who was calling her at midnight?

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Ken, it’s me.”

  “Tandy? What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?”

  “No, no. I’m working on the wedding. What do you think of white lilies?”

  “I think they’re great if you’re going to a funeral or playing the White Queen in Narnia.”

  “So that’d be a no?”

  “Um, yeah. Why are you up at midnight working on this wedding?”

  “Because it’s when I have some time with Clay. I’m over at his place. We just got back from Heartland.”

  “Ooh, don’t tell Daddy you were in Clay’s apartment, just the two of you, late into the night.”

  “Oh, stop. Darin’s here, too. We’re fine.”

  “Darin’s there?”

  “Yep. Hey, you should come over here and help us plan!”

  “Look at the clock, sis. It’s after midnight. My going-out shoes are in bed for the night.”

  “But you’re not at home.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I tried your house. You didn’t answer. You’re not home, are you?”

  “Well … no.” Kendra scrambled around for an excuse. “I needed to think, so I’m out driving around.”

  “That’s perfect. Drive on over here.”

  “Not exactly conducive to thinking, you know?”

  “Come on. I could really use a female perspective here. Clay and Darin have rolled their eyes at me at least fifty times since we sat down. And they’re making fun of all the bride models in the catalogs. You could save your sister from a night of wedding-prep torture.”

  Kendra stopped the vehicle at the red light on Lindell. If she turned right, Harrison was less than ten minutes away. If she went straight, Darin sat one block ahead and on the left.

  She groaned, too tired to face this decision right now.

  “Ken? You okay?”

  Oh, shoot. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Tired and confused. But fine.”

  “What are you confused about? Come over here, and we can kick these guys to the curb and talk about it.”

  Protests from Darin and Clay sounded through the phone. Darin didn’t deserve what she intended to do.

  “Okay, I’ll be there in a few.” She tried to focus on the part of her that had wanted someone to stop this meeting with Harrison in the dead of night on a dark country road.

  “Yay! I’ll get the caffeine going.”

  Kendra hit the End button and dialed Harrison’s cell the long way. If she ever lost her cell, there was no trace of Harrison on it in her speed dial numbers or phone book. Unless they checked the “numbers dialed” screen, her secret was safe.

  “Hey, doll. You close yet?”

  Kendra sighed. “Something’s come up. Tandy needs help with wedding planning, so I’m headed over there.”

  “Wedding planning at midnight? Are you avoiding me?”

  “I think I’d come up with a better story, don’t you? Seriously, she called me as I was leaving. I couldn’t very well tell her I had just left my house to come meet you, could I?”

  “Why not? Tell her you have a friend in need and you can’t leave him in the lurch.”

  “At which point she’ll ask which of my friends, and I won’t have an answer.”

  “You know, sometimes these sisters of yours can get in the way.”

  “Hey, watch it, mister.” She was only half playing, grateful that he had made a wrong move. Then she wished he hadn’t and would keep being perfect. Perfection made it easier to excuse the relationship. Because what woman rejected perfection?

  “Kidding! I was kidding. How long do you think this wedding planning will tak
e?”

  “Why? Are you going to wait for me?”

  “Perhaps.”

  He’d wait for her?

  “Wait, how can you do that? I get that you can tell her you were in a seminar until late, then went to a movie, but your time frame won’t work out.”

  “Relax. She’s at her mother’s. Won’t be home until tomorrow night at the latest.”

  “Oh.”

  He could wait for her.

  “Well, um, I’m not sure how long I’ll be with Tandy. How about I call you when I leave there?”

  “And try to get out soon?”

  “And try to get out soon.”

  “Is there anywhere to get a bite around here?”

  Kendra chuckled. “Sorry, we roll up the streets at nine. There’s a twenty-four-hour truck stop one exit south of Stars Hill, though.”

  “Truck-stop food. Yummy.”

  “Oh! And there’s a Wendy’s. It’s the weekend, so the drive-thru is open until two.”

  “Where’s Wendy’s?”

  “Remember Lindell? Take it to University. Wendy’s is about four blocks down on the left.”

  “Great. I’ll go eat and be waiting on you at your place.”

  So much for public places. “Sure. See you soon.”

  She folded the phone closed again and dropped it into the cup holder. The red light before her had gone through its signal change about three times now. She eased through the intersection and drove down Lindell to College Street. Turning just before Clay’s Diner, she rolled to a stop by the curb and looked at the windows in the upper level of the old building.

  Light glowed through the glass and welcomed her. Up there were three people who cared more about her than Sylvia had ever thought about. Which left her wondering why she acted more and more like her birth mother these days. Had Sylvia cared for the men in her life? Had she shared with them the stimulating conversation that Kendra shared with Harrison? In a perverse way, Kendra almost hoped she had. Because that, at least, would give some logic to the situation.

  Opening the door, she stepped out of the RAV4 and looked up and down the street. No cars marred the picture-perfect evening. Pretty much everyone in Stars Hill was asleep by now.

  The stairs creaked as she made her way up to Clay’s door. It opened before she’d climbed the last step.

  “Hey, Ken!” Tandy stood in the doorway, golden light pouring from behind her to pool on the landing. The edges of her red hair glowed copper. “Come tell these guys that serving cheese puffs at a wedding reception isn’t going to happen.”

  Kendra beamed and the bands around her chest loosened a bit. “Cheese puffs? Let me guess. Darin’s idea.”

  “I heard that, woman!”

  Kendra came into the apartment and noted the bridal magazines scattered around the living room. Darin sat in the corner of the couch, an open copy of Bridal Magazine on his knees. Clay nestled in his recliner, thumbing through Travel+Leisure, no doubt planning a honeymoon. Norah Jones’s smooth voice came from the speakers.

  Tandy tugged Kendra into the mess. “Tell him, Ken. Save me from the testosterone craziness.”

  “Cheese puffs?” She looked at Darin. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  He smiled at her, and his eyes told her he was thinking of their kiss just a few minutes ago. “I was, actually. But Bridezilla here takes everything so literally these days.”

  “Hey, I am not Bridezilla! Why does everybody keep calling me that? Just because I don’t want cheese puffs at my wedding reception? Crab puffs, sure. Cheese puffs? No.” Tandy sat down and snatched a copy of Modern Bride from the floor.

  Darin laid his arm across the back of the couch and tilted his head to Kendra. “Come here and tell this woman to lighten up.”

  Kendra stepped over the magazines and settled beside him. The warmth of his arm just above her shoulders set her tingling again and put the other Kendra to rest.

  This was good.

  This was smart.

  This was nothing like Sylvia.

  Sylvia would be out there in the dark somewhere with Harrison, ignoring the repercussions of her actions, throwing caution to the wind, and reaping the results in the morning.

  “Sorry, no can do. It’s her wedding day, and if she’s smart, it’ll be the only one she ever has. Better get it right the first time.”

  Darin winced, and, too late, she remembered his first wife. “Oh, sorry.”

  His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “No problem. Can’t stop a woman from leaving if she’s dead set on it, right?”

  How could she be so insensitive? If he found out about Harrison, he’d relive the ending of his first marriage all over again. The irony of the moment settled on Kendra’s shoulders like a fine rain.

  Darin gave her an odd look, and she wiped the emotion from her face.

  “I’m about ready for some sugar and caffeine.” He stood up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen. “Anybody else?”

  Clay folded a corner of a page down in his magazine and said, “Yeah, bring me a Coke.”

  “Sure thing. Tandy?”

  Tandy waved him off, circling pictures like mad in the magazine before her.

  “Ken?”

  “I’ll come help.” Kendra unfolded herself from the couch and followed him into the kitchen.

  “Hey, I’m really sorry about that. I just—it’s just—you don’t mention your ex all that often, and I forget you were even married before.”

  Darin glanced at her, then opened the fridge door. “I’m okay.” He pulled out a two-liter bottle of Coke and shut the door. “It’s been long enough that I know she’s not coming back. And with the assistance of one very fine woman,” he wiggled his eyebrows at her, “I’ve found my way back to the land of the living.”

  She crossed the kitchen and took glasses down from the cupboard. Being at Clay’s house was as familiar as being at her own; they all spent so much time here these days. “Good. Happy to help.”

  They fixed the drinks and were taking them back into the living room when Darin’s “Hey, Kendra?” stopped her.

  “Yeah?”

  His eyes had lost their normal joking sparkle. “No matter what happens with us, thanks for … well … for this.”

  He knew. He had to know. The weight settled back on her chest. “What do you mean what happens with us? You going somewhere?” Her attempt at being flippant fell just short of success.

  “Me? No.”

  She turned back to the doorway. “Good.”

  She had to end things with Harrison. Darin had lived through one cheating woman, and she’d not be the next to hurt him that way.

  Ten

  Saturday morning cartoons blared throughout the house as Meg wiped down the kitchen table. White cords snaked their way up her blouse and into the buds in her ears. Smart moms knew how to combat the sounds of VeggieTales. A woman can only take so many singing cucumbers before she resorts to her iPod.

  She hit the Play button, and the opening guitar notes of “Footloose” filled her head. There we go. She danced to the rhythm, dropping dirty breakfast dishes into a suds-filled sink and twirling. She and Jamison danced to this song at their high school prom. Meg closed her eyes for a second, reveling in the beat, remembering the feel of Jamison’s hesitant hands on her shoulders as they danced together. On the football field, he’d been the most confident thing on the planet. But with her, he’d never seemed certain of his next word or act. She found it charming then and only more so as she grew to know him.

  Jamison’s face held a lot more wrinkles now, almost twenty years later, but his dedication to her had never wavered. He was more certain of them as a couple, maybe even took her for granted some days. No, that wasn’t right. It was their life that they both took for granted at times.

  Meg plunged her hands into the hot soapy water and fished around for the dish rag. Others didn’t have it nearly as good as she did, and she’d do well to remember that. Take Kendra, for instance. Here she was,
probably running off after another man while she had a perfectly fine man right there interested in her. Meg shook her head. Sometimes her sisters drove her crazy.

  At least Tandy had finally seen reason. Meg would have bet Hannah’s diaper money that when Tandy headed south for her home in Orlando four months ago they wouldn’t be seeing her for another three years. But Clay’s love had proven too irresistible for Tandy, and here she was, a diamond on her finger and a wedding planner filling up more each day.

  Meg bobbed her head in time to the new song playing in her ears. “Danger Zone.” Mmm, Top Gun with Tom Cruise. Now that was a movie. They didn’t make them like that anymore. Military men rocketing through the air in fighter jets, then opening themselves up to the vulnerability of love once they hit the ground.

  “Danger Zone” … that could be Kendra’s theme song these days. Why couldn’t the sisters see the wisdom in music? These artists sang about life. She sniffed. Oh, well. Let them try to figure out life without the wisdom of musicians and singers.

  The shrill ring of their home phone sounded over Kenny Loggins’s voice, and Meg popped out an ear bud to answer it.

  “Fawcett residence.”

  “Hi, Meg. It’s Joanie Hopkins over at Dr. Brown’s office.”

  “Oh, hi, Joanie. How’s your momma?”

  Joanie’s loud sigh came through the phone line “She’s having a good day today, thanks for asking. Knew who I was when I went to see her before work.”

  “Good, that’s good. You hang onto the good memories, now. No matter how much her memories fade, you can hang onto them for the both of you. And remember, we’re praying for you.”

  Joanie sniffed. “Thanks, Meg. Alzheimer’s is no walk in the park.” A beat of silence passed as Meg fumbled with the iPod to pause it and Joanie got control of her emotions. “Anyway, I’m calling to remind you of your appointment on Monday at nine for your regular physical.”

  Meg looked on the family calendar hanging from the refrigerator and saw the notation in red. “I’ve got it down, Joanie. I’ll be there at nine with bells on.”

  “All right. See you then.”

  “Bye.”

  Meg hung up the phone and went back to the dirty dishes. See, right there was another example of the preciousness of life: Joanie’s momma had taught hundreds of kids at Stars Hill Elementary, and now she could barely remember her ABCs.