Coming Unglued

by Rebeca Seitz

  “No, you don’t. It’s going to get ugly, and the fewer witnesses around, the better.” Kendra hopped off her stool to pace around the room. Too much nervous energy. “After I grovel, beg, and plead, what then? What if he looks at me and says, ‘Thanks for your pride on a silver platter. You can go now’?”

  “He’s not going to do that to you.” Tandy slid her photo groupings into envelopes. “Stop being melodramatic.”

  “He could. It’s a possibility we have to consider.”

  “We considered and discarded it. Moving on.” Joy cut a length of ribbon and applied glue dots to either end. “Timing—how long do we give him before she does her I’mso-sorry thing?”

  “Clay will know.” Kendra stopped pacing and turned to Tandy. “Ask him. Please? He’ll tell you if Darin’s ready to hear me out.”

  “I don’t know, Ken. I asked him for details before, and he wouldn’t give me anything. He knows I’m going straight to you with whatever he says.”

  “Then tell him I’m going to make things worse by showing up there before Darin is ready to see me. Tell him he’s a bad friend if he doesn’t tell me when things are right.”

  Tandy sighed. “I’m happy to try.” She took out her cell phone and dialed again. “Sweetie, it’s me. You with Darin?”

  Kendra stopped by Joy’s layout while Tandy talked with Clay. “That looks really good, Joy.”

  “Thanks. It’s not the same as baby pictures, but I’ll take what I’ve been given and be content for now.”

  “For now?” Kendra pulled herself out of her own predicament long enough to take stock of the fresh worry lines on Joy’s face. “Until when?”

  Joy shrugged. “That’s my problem. I think yours is a little more pressing tonight.”

  Kendra looked to Tandy’s face, saw the sadness there, and quickly moved her eyes back to Joy’s layout. “Only if I’ve got a shot at fixing things.”

  “Oh, you do. There’s always the chance to say you are sorry. Always.”

  “Even if he doesn’t want to hear it?”

  Joy’s blue eyes sharpened. “Even then.”

  The snap of Tandy’s phone caused them all to stop what they were doing and focus on her.

  “Well? What’d he say?” Kendra’s heart felt as if it had paused in midbeat, then jumped into overdrive.

  “He said to give it a few days.”

  “A few days? Is he kidding me? I’m dying here.”

  “But Darin’s dying over there. And right now Clay says if you showed up on his doorstep Darin’s likely to say things you’ll both regret.”

  “I don’t think those thoughts are going to magically go away in a few days.”

  “No, but his boil might just cool to a simmer.” Tandy pushed her hair back and blew out a breath. “Look, you’re the one who asked me to call Clay; and, let me tell you, I don’t love being in between my sister and my fiancé. Why don’t you just take Clay’s advice and wait a few days?”

  Because a few days stretched before her as an eternity? Because every part of her being wanted to rush to Darin’s side and jump right into the begging and pleading mode? Because the idea of Darin in agony over what she’d done was more than she could bear?

  Kendra trudged back to her stool and collapsed onto it. “Oh, all right. I’ll give it until Monday. But then all bets are off, and I’m giving that man the best begging and pleading he’s ever heard in his life.”

  “Provided you’ve talked to Lorena by then.” Tandy shot a glance at her, then lowered her eyes to the table.

  “Excuse me?”

  “That’s one of the things Darin’s stuck on right now, according to Clay. He keeps wondering how you could befriend a woman whose husband you were dating.”

  “I didn’t know he was her husband! I explained that to him.”

  Tandy nodded. “Yeah, he knows that, too. But I think you need to talk to Lorena before you go to Darin’s.”

  “That makes sense.” Meg’s head tilted as she thought about it. “It would help you show that you’re not like his ex, that you do care about the people you hurt, and that you are trying to do something about it.”

  “But wouldn’t that just be heaping more hurt on her? I mean, look at what my confession did to Darin! Why would I do that to Lorena, too?”

  “Put yourself in her place, Kendra.” Joy’s quiet voice calmed Kendra by a few degrees. “If you were married to Darin, and he went out and befriended another female, would you not want that woman to tell you the truth?”

  “Well, yeah, but I’d prefer my husband tell me.”

  “Lorena’s husband isn’t talking.” Meg held up her hand to stop Kendra’s protest. “So far as we know, her husband hasn’t told her anything about you. You have to assume he hasn’t or that she’s the world’s best actress.”

  Kendra thought back to Lorena’s bumbling sincerity, her open naiveté. “Definitely not that good an actress.”

  “There you go then. You have to tell her.”

  “I don’t know, girls. It feels like I’m unloading my guilt onto her.”

  “It’s not about you, Kendra. It’s about her. About admitting to her that you’ve wronged her.”

  Kendra sighed. Such a mess. A complete and utter mess. How had she gotten to this point?

  An inch at a time, that’s how.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “But—”

  And Kendra held up her hand this time. “That’s as much as I can do right now. I’ll think about it, do the right thing, and then go see Darin after the weekend.”

  If he opened the door.

  Twenty-Two

  The weekend dragged by with all the speed of honey from the comb. Kendra looked at the clock thirty times in an hour, sometimes more. It seemed Monday would never arrive, and she couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or bad.

  Sunday afternoon fell hot and humid on Stars Hill and the parishioners of Grace Church. Kendra walked out into the sunshine, her skin immediately damp with perspiration the second the light hit it.

  Ugh. One last gasp of summer before the welcome cool of fall, according to the weatherman. Suffer through it today, and all would be better tomorrow with the coming of a cold front.

  Kendra looked around for the sisters and saw them huddled beneath the shade of a giant elm. She sauntered over, determined to appear at ease though her heart was bound up in knots.

  “Hey, Ken.” Tandy waved. “Made any decisions about Lorena?”

  “Shh.” Kendra looked around but saw no churchgoers in hearing range. “Keep your voice down. Do you want the whole town talking about my business over Sunday lunch?”

  “Sorry, sorry.” Tandy ducked her head. “Wasn’t thinking.”

  “Have you, though?” Meg’s willowy beauty stood out among them. Even in all this heat and humidity, she looked dry and tired. “Decided what you’re going to do?”

  Kendra sighed. “I don’t know, y’all. I just don’t know.”

  “Ask Daddy.”

  “Are you kidding me? The less Daddy knows about this, the better.”

  “Oh, please.” Tandy tucked a curl behind her ear. “He knows something’s up, and he’s going to corner you about it the first chance he gets anyway. Besides, he’d know more than any of us if you’re supposed to let the spouse know.”

  “Fine then. But only because I’m desperate for somebody to tell me what to do here.”

  “Whatever gets you to talking is fine with us.” Meg’s chin came up, and she waved over Kendra’s head.

  Kendra turned to see Jamison and the kids coming down the church steps.

  “Gotta run, y’all. Got a roast in the oven that’s probably dry as the Sahara right now. Ken, when you talk to Daddy, tell him no more long sermons, you hear?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be sure to critique his sermon style right after I tell him what a conniving daughter he has.”

  Meg, by now halfway to the church, turned and began walking backward. “He already knew that.” She t
wirled back around before Kendra could shoot her a death stare, and Kendra watched as she swung Savannah up in her arms.

  Hmm, maybe not as tired as she looked, after all.

  “Want me to stay for your talk with Daddy?”

  “No.” A slight breeze rustled the leaves in the old elm. “But thanks.”

  “Whatever you need.”

  “Even if it puts you between your fiancé and me?”

  That crack had hurt more than Kendra liked to admit. Pretty soon, Tandy would have to put Clay first.

  “Even if.” Tandy hugged her, then headed for the parking lot.

  Kendra stayed beneath the elm, watching Daddy shake hands and nod as people told him stories about their week.

  Such a good Daddy. Darin was like Daddy in some ways. Dependable, trustworthy, caring. What would he say when she told him about Harrison?

  She almost ran for the RAV4 but stopped. No escaping this. Time to face the consequences of her own actions, the demons she allowed to drive her to this point.

  She turned her feet toward Daddy and began walking. The crowd had cleared out now, people escaping into the air-conditioned comfort of their cars. On their way to lazy Sunday lunches under circling ceiling fans.

  Daddy saw her coming and met her halfway down the steps. “I thought you’d run off with your sisters.”

  “Not today. You have plans this afternoon?”

  “Not a thing.” Daddy cocked his head to the side and looked at her. “Something on your mind?”

  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak lest it all come tumbling out right here on the church steps.

  “All right then, I’ll meet you back at the house. Go on and see if you can’t scare us up some lunch, hmm?”

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  Kendra went for the RAV4, no idea what would be coming out of her mouth in just a few minutes, but certain it was something Momma and Daddy never dreamed would cross their kitchen table.

  * * *

  FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER Kendra sat down and accepted Daddy’s proffered hand. Bowing her head, she listened to him ask grace on the meal. The act comforted her, eased the tension in her shoulders slightly. No matter what, Daddy would always be here, saying grace over his meals.

  “So you want to pretend we don’t have things to talk about and do the small-talk thing for a while?”

  Kendra choked on her sandwich, the only thing she’d been able to scrounge up in a hurry from the kitchen. “Guess not.” She coughed and set her sandwich down. “It’s like this …”

  And she told him the whole story. Everything she’d told the sisters and even some stuff she may have left out. Daddy didn’t take his eyes off her the whole time; and, though she was ready for it, even had her guard up to shield it, she never saw judgment enter his stare.

  With every word another part of her let it go. Released any part of attraction she still felt toward Harrison, surprising her even as it did so that the attraction was still there. But it was overshadowed by the enormity of the betrayal they’d perpetrated. Not just on Lorena, but on her family as well. And on each other.

  “Well,” Daddy said when she’d finished and filled her mouth with cold sweet tea, “you always did do things big.”

  “What?”

  “Your mother and I never worried you’d do something we wouldn’t know about and have to reap the consequences alone. We knew whatever you did would be on such a large

  scale that the whole town would know it by daybreak.”

  “Is the town talking?”

  “Surprisingly enough, no. At least not to me. It doesn’t matter anyway. What matters is that you’ve recognized the fault in what you’ve done and received forgiveness for it.”

  “I got forgiveness from God, yes. But I haven’t talked to Darin yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “The sisters think I should talk to Lorena first.”

  “Harrison’s wife?”

  Kendra nodded and hoped he’d tell her what a ludicrous suggestion that was. Instead Daddy sat in silence while Kendra chewed her sandwich. He took a bite of his own, looking no longer at her but at some distant point on the white wall. His jaw worked the sandwich, and he washed it down with a long swig of tea.

  “Hmm. I think they have a point there.”

  “You mean I should tell her? But isn’t that heaping hurt on her to get rid of my own guilt?”

  “That depends on your motivation for telling her. Would you be saying it to make yourself feel better?”

  “No.” Kendra thought about it for a second. “No. If I told her, it’d be because I think she needs to know. I think, in her position, I would want to know. I think she already knows; she just needs to be confirmed in it.”

  “Then tell her. The worst she can do is throw you out on your ear and yell at you.”

  “Blame me for breaking up her marriage.”

  “No, she may say that, but we both know that isn’t true. All responsibility for this doesn’t rest on your shoulders, daughter.”

  Kendra popped the last bit of turkey into her mouth. “You’re sure I should tell her?”

  “I’m sure at the end of the day it isn’t my call.”

  “But you’re advising me to tell her?”

  Daddy rubbed his chin and thought for a minute. “I am.”

  Kendra pushed back from the table. “I need to go then. I’ve got a call to make.” Completely forgetting her dirty dish, Kendra wandered out of the house and to her RAV4. She made it home on autopilot, only fully realizing she was home when she held the phone in her hand.

  What’s his home number? Mistresses and special friends only have cell phone numbers.

  I’m such an idiot. She put the phone back in the cradle and went to her computer. Anywho.com called up the number in two seconds. Harrison and Lorena Hawkings. Franklin, Tennessee.

  She scribbled down the number and returned to the living room.

  Miss Kitty, sensing her mistress’s unsettled state, hopped up onto the sofa and padded over to her lap. Purring, she bumped up against Kendra while Kendra dialed with a shaking finger.

  “Hawkings Residence.”

  Her body froze at the sound of Harrison’s deep voice.

  Shoot, what now? “Hi, can I talk to your wife?” and pray he doesn’t know it’s me?

  She slammed the phone down, staring as if it were a snake.

  What now? Call back?

  No, he’d just answer again.

  Write a letter?

  He could open the mail.

  Go to her office tomorrow?

  No, this definitely didn’t qualify for workplace chatter.

  Kendra sat down on the couch in a huff. And I thought deciding to tell her was the hard part.

  She considered the situation from all angles, then gave a sad laugh. “How ironic is this, Miss Kitty? I’m trying to avoid the man and get around him to the very woman I helped him betray.”

  Miss Kitty meowed and Kendra rubbed her ears.

  “There’s a way to do this,” Kendra reasoned aloud. “Should I be giving Harrison the chance to tell her before I do?”

  Miss Kitty closed her eyes and purred as Kendra’s nails dug into her fur.

  “Hmm. That’d mean calling up Harrison on purpose. And given the way Darin’s hurting right now, I don’t think he’d cotton to me calling Harrison—no matter what reason I had.”

  Kendra looked over at the phone, then snatched it up. She dialed Tandy’s cell number and waited.

  “Tandy Sinclair.”

  “Hey, it’s me. I need a favor.”

  “Am I going to end up in jail?”

  “No, but you may end up on the wrong side of Clay for a while.”

  “Kendra,” Tandy’s voice held a note of warning. “I told you I really don’t like this position.”

  “Yeah, but you also said you’d help me make this right.”

  “That I did. Okay, what are we doing?”

  “I talked to Daddy, and he says I should go
ahead and tell Lorena.”

  “Good. So call her. You don’t need me.”

  “I tried to call her. Harrison answered.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, ‘oh.’ Now I’ve got to figure out a way to get to her without his knowing. Or I’ve got to call him and tell him I’m about to tell his wife.”

  “I feel like I’m in a Jerry Springer episode.”

  “Welcome to my world.”

  “We could drive up there. Then we might get the throwing chairs and screaming just like Jerry.”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of you calling and getting Lorena on the phone. He won’t recognize your voice.”

  “Or, like you said, you could give him the chance to tell her. Might be better that way.”

  “Better for who? Do you see me telling Darin I talked to Harrison again?”

  “Ooh, good point.”

  “Thanks. I’m trying not to do more damage than I already have.”

  “Wow, this is a mess.”

  Kendra slapped her hands on her thighs, startling Miss Kitty. “Well, yeah! That’s what happens when you start having relationships with men sporting wedding bands.”

  “You should write a book about this.”

  “Tandy, focus.”

  “What? I am focused. There are probably lots of women out there who have had relationships with married men, didn’t sleep with them, and excused it all away just because there was no sex. You should tell them about the kind of mess that happens.”

  “How about we just get me through this and talk about book deals later?”

  Tandy sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Okay, so you want me to call and get her on the phone? Tell her to call you?”

  “No, I want you to come over here, call her, get her on the phone, and hand the phone to me. Or I can come there. Whichever.”

  “Why not just have her call you?”

  “Because she might mention it to her husband on the way to the phone.” Kendra tried not to sound as exasperated as she felt. Getting herself out of these murky waters was a whole lot harder than diving into them had been. Explaining every reason behind her actions to a litigator sister bent on having explanation for everything didn’t help.

  “Ooh, you’re good at this.”