A guilty conscience made Julie hesitant. "I haven't talked to Shannon in a long time."
"Over a month," Max told her. "I know that. More to the point, Shannon knows too."
"What about Brett?" Julie wasn't pleased with the idea of having her annoying son-in-law under foot for a long weekend but she knew if she wanted Shannon she'd have to ask him too. "Do you think he will come?"
"There's one way to find that out too." Max held the phone out to her. "You can call and invite him."
Julie shrank back. "Right now?"
"Can you think of a better time?"
Julie was sure that the moment Shannon heard her mother's voice she'd start nagging her again about 'doing the right thing' for the baby and marrying Max again. "You do the honors. It's your house."
"Shannon won't come without an invitation from you." Max gave the phone a little shake. "You must know that."
Julie suspected that was true. "I'll call tonight."
Max punched numbers before thrusting the phone into Julie's hand. "Talk to your daughter."
The telephone on the other end of the line was ringing insistently when Julie put the instrument to her ear. The answering machine droned out its mechanical spiel. Julie spoke rapidly. "Shannon, this is Mamma. Daddy and I were hoping you and Brett could spend Thanksgiving with us. Please..." Before she could complete her sentence, Shannon's clear young voice rang in her ear. "Mamma, is it really you?"
Julie closed her eyes and sighed. "It's me, baby. How are you?"
"More to the point how are you? And why haven't you called me? If Daddy didn't call me every week I wouldn't know if you were dead or alive."
Julie opened eyes to see Max staring at her with a smile tilting one side of his mouth. "I'm calling you now. Daddy and I would like for you and Brett to come to Half Moon for Thanksgiving."
"We'd love to, Mamma."
Julie breathed a sigh of relief. This hadn't been so difficult after all. "That's wonderful. When can we expect you?"
Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach when Shannon said, "But under the circumstances we can't." Shannon sighed into the telephone. "I don't know if I can make you understand but I have to try." There followed a long span of silence.
Julie prompted, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
After another moment of dead silence Shannon asked, "Do you remember the Thanksgiving I was sixteen and I wanted to go skiing with Patty Fletcher and her mother? You wouldn't let me go."
Julie remembered all to well. The result of that refusal had been a nasty quarrel between Shannon and Julie. "You know why I refused. Patty's mother was taking her live-in lover along." She couldn't believe Shannon was still angry over that ancient incident.
Shannon answered, too sweetly. "You taught me well, Mama. To this day I don't condone a woman flaunting her live-in lover in front of her children. That's why Brett and I can't come to visit at Half Moon until you and Daddy are either married or no longer living together."
Julie had expected Shannon to press her to marry Max, but she hadn't expected her to attempt moral blackmail. "You know the situation. We have no choice...."
"Another thing you taught me, Mamma, was that there's always a choice."
Julie's aggravation surfaced. "Are you going to use everything I ever said to you against me just to prove a point?"
"Mamma, I love you," Shannon said in that same saccharine voice, "and I promised Daddy I wouldn't quarrel with you. Bye now." She hung up the phone.
For several moments Julie sat staring at the dead instrument. "She hung up on me." She handed Max his phone. "I'll call later after she's had some time to cool off." He had not yet installed a telephone in the living room. Julie had never pressed him on the matter. Maybe now was the time. "Why can't we have a telephone in here?"
"Because you don't need the aggravation." Max dismissed her question with a wave of one hand. "What did Shannon say about coming Thanksgiving?"
"Shannon is still insisting that you and I should get married."
Max nodded. "She's said as much to me over and over again."
Julie frowned. "She says she can't come here to visit until we are." This situation was getting out of hand. "We need to discuss this 'arrangement' we have."
"And have you become even more upset and unstrung?" Max folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think so."
"But that's the problem. I am upset, but not because of anything Shannon said. I feel like such a fraud letting everyone at Half Moon believe we're man and wife. I don't know if I can keep up the pretense."
"Would you feel more comfortable if they all knew we've been divorced for almost fifteen years? Do you want to announce to the world that your son is a bastard?"
Julie didn't want to hurt her unborn child. She didn't want to make Max unhappy either. This mess was no more his fault than it was hers. "What will you tell them after I'm gone?"
"When you're gone what happened will be obvious, you left me."
"You won't tell them that the baby is a..." She couldn't persuade her lips to form the word bastard. "Illegitimate?"
"Good lord, Julie you can't keep something like that a secret. It's a stigma that's going to follow him all of his life. The sooner he learns to cope, the better."
Would her son not having a legal father be a continuing problem for him? "His name will be Anderson. No one will have reason to question."
Max glanced toward the kitchen. "Mrs. O'Brien should have lunch ready soon."
"I don't care about lunch." Julie's stomach was too full of butterflies to hold food. "I am concerned about the next three or four months and how we're going to get through them. If Mrs. O'Brien expects Thanksgiving to be an occasion, what must she have planned for Christmas?"
"There is a way to resolve this situation. We can settle the matter of our son's legitimacy, make our daughter happy and at the same time provide a way for you to feel more at home at Half Moon."
Julie eyed him skeptically. "How can we do that?"
"It's simple." Max looked around, apparently to make sure Mrs. O'Brien was not in hearing distance. Then leaning across the space that separated them, he lowered his voice. "We can get married."
A bark of laughter erupted from Julie's throat. "You're not serious?"
Max stood and slid his hands into his pockets. "I'm dead serious."
For one wild, impetuous moment Julie was tempted to yield. Then sanity returned to stir restless old memories. Once again Max was bowing to outside pressures. "We married once because of a child. It didn't work them and it wouldn't work now."
"It might," Max argued without too much conviction. "We could try."
"There's only one reason two people should get married and that's because they love each other."
"You were considering marrying Royce Garner. Does that mean the two of you are in love?"
"I'm not in love with Royce." Before the words were out of her mouth Julie realized that she should have been a little more discreet. Too late now, she thought as she added, "I never have been. He's a very good friend, that's all."
"Then why were you considering marrying him?" Max asked.
"That was to give my baby..." She stopped just short of tripping herself up with her own stupid but honest admission.
"A name?" Max finished the sentence for her. "If that was a good enough reason to marry Royce why isn't it sufficient reason to marry me?" His keen gaze raked over her face.
Julie met his searching stare. "It's not the same."
Max held her eyes with his riveting gaze. "Then maybe you will be kind enough to explain the difference?"
"Royce and I are very compatible." She dropped her eyes and stared down at her hands. "You and I aren't."
There was derision in his voice. "We were compatible enough to make a baby."
"You call that compatibility?" Julie pushed the blanket aside and dropped her feet from the footstool to the floor.
When Max spoke again the derision was gone from his voice. "Then what is
it between you and me that pulls us toward each other like a magnet?"
"Sex, animal attraction," Julie raised one eyebrow, "Stupidity?"
"That stupidity has created a human being. Why don't you do the only decent thing and marry me?"
"This is outrageous." It was sheer madness to consider marrying Max again. Even though, heaven knew Julie had dreamed often enough that he would someday ask her to come back to him. Her head was spinning. "It's more than outrageous, it's insane." He was asking for all the wrong reasons. He wanted to please his daughter and to have some legal ties to his son. "We'd be asking for trouble."
Max moved to sit beside her on the couch. Placing one finger under her chin, he tilted her head in his direction. "You keep saying that but how do you know?" His lips touched her temple and brushed through her hair. "Surely you want what's best for your son." He loosened his grip and moved back. "I've thought of a name for him. How does Maxwell Alvin Anderson the Third sound?"
Julie let the bonds of the past slip away and the weight of the future lift. "That's too much of a name for a little baby. Maybe we can call him Trey."
Max put his arms around her shoulder. "Trey, I like that. Well, Trey's mother shall we drive to the county seat and tie the knot?"
Mrs. O'Brien appeared in the doorway. "I hope you aren't thinking of going off somewhere before you eat the lunch I've prepared."
Max made no effort to move away from Julie. "Of course we'll have lunch first. Then my wife and I are driving over to Jourdanton for a little holiday." He helped Julie to her to her feet. "Pack Mrs. Anderson's overnight bag while I see that she has a proper lunch."
Julie interrupted, "Max I didn't...."
With Mrs. O'Brien looking on in amusement, Max angled his mouth over Julie's lips, kissed her soundly and then lifted his head and smiled. "You don't have to. That's answer enough."
Chapter Sixteen
Max inserted the card into the motel room door and pushed against it with his shoulder. It opened with a squeak. Turning to Julie he asked, "Do you want me to carry you over the threshold?"
She struggled to lighten the moment. "And chance a hernia?"
Max smiled and bowed, making a sweeping gesture with his hand. "After you, Mrs. Anderson."
Julie stepped through the door and surveyed the room. It was small and utilitarian with a dresser and a TV. A tiny table and two chairs stood near the window. Then her eyes came to rest on the lone double bed against the far wall. One bed? Julie opened her mouth to protest and then changed her mind. What difference did it make if they were forced to share a bed for a night? Max had made it perfectly clear at the beginning of her stay at Half Moon that he had no desire to--what were his exact words? Oh yes, 'have sex with her'. Not that she could blame him. She was misshapen even then. Now she must resemble a beached whale. Julie sank into the nearest chair, slid her shoes from her feet, and stretched her legs in front of her.
Max came inside, locked the door and secured the chain. "I'll order some dinner and then you should get to bed." He perched on the edge of the other chair and let his eyes wander around the room. "This is not much of a bridal suite but it's the best I could do on such short notice."
Julie let her gaze follow his. "Why didn't you get a room with twin beds?"
"I did try. This was the only room they had available." In a remote voice he asked, "What would you like to eat?"
What a difference a brief ceremony had made. While uniting them legally it had served emotionally to drive them farther apart. How ironic that after all these years they should be so uncomfortable in each other's presence. "Something light, I'm a little tired and a heavy dinner would keep me awake."
Max looked as tense as Julie felt. "You need to eat something; maybe a bowl of soup or a sandwich?"
"Soup is fine." How carefully they were skirting the one subject that had to be uppermost in both their minds. Once again they had stood before a Justice of the Peace and recited wedding vows. Words from that recent ceremony floated like mist through Julie's mind. Love and honor, from this day forward; till death do us part--Such tender fabrications but they had been spoken with the best of intentions, the wish to protect an unborn child. From what seemed a great distance, Max's voice intruded into her dismal thoughts.
"Do you have a preference?"
"I don't... I'm sorry." A wave of utter defeat swept over Julie. "Preference about what?" She had to be a complete idiot to open herself up for heartbreak all over again.
"What kind of soup do you want?" Max was scanning a menu he had taken from the table. "Vegetable or chicken noodle?"
"Vegetable is fine." Julie put her hands on the arms of the chair and heaved herself to a standing position. "I'm going to take a shower." Half way across the floor she stopped. "Do you want to use the bathroom before I start? I may be a while."
"No. Go ahead." Max was reaching for the telephone. "I'll order dinner."
Julie took her time. She would have liked to soak in the tub. She didn't dare; the fear that she couldn't get up if she ever got down caused her to settle for a soothing warm shower.
Mrs. O'Brien had packed a flannel nightgown and a matching robe. As Julie pulled the gown over her head, she remembered the tiny scrap of nylon and lace she had worn on the night of her first wedding to Max. She stared into the mirror over the lavatory and remembered the slim young teenager she had been then with only the faint beginnings of a swelling belly. Now she was a bloated, misshapen older woman. She put on her robe and buttoned it down the front. Then with some difficulty, sat on the commode and pulled a pair of fluffy white cotton socks over her feet. How foolish it was to recall the sweet vanished dreams of youth.
She came out of the bathroom to find that Max had set food from a cart on the tiny table and was sipping from a cup of coffee. "Your soup's here. Sit down and eat."
Julie sat across from him, picked up her spoon, and took a sip of soup. It had the consistency of mud and the flavor of sawdust. She pushed her bowl back.
Max was doing justice to a huge T-bone steak. A second shotgun wedding certainly hadn't affected his appetite. She watched him cut his meat into little bites and fork it into his mouth. What was he thinking? He had been tense and ill at ease since leaving the office of the Justice of Peace. Was he too remembering and comparing and regretting? It was not until he lifted his head and frowned in her direction that Julie realized she was staring. Quickly she looked away.
Max laid his fork and knife beside his plate. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"The food's not very good and I'm not very hungry."
Max laid his fork across his plate? "Would you like me to order something else?"
What she would like was to get out of this place and go back to Half Moon and the safety of her own bedroom. "No thank you."
"Then drink your milk." Max tackled his steak with renewed vigor.
Julie used one forefinger to push her milk glass from her. "I'm sick and tired of drinking skimmed milk three times a day, seven days a week."
"Would you like me to order you a carton of whole milk?"
Julie snapped, "I would like you to stop nagging me."
Max's fork clattered across his plate as he tossed his napkin on the table. "Do you have some special reason for being so irritable, or are you trying to pick a fight with me on general principles?"
"I'm not..." Julie's denial died on her lips. She was sparing for a fight, looking for any excuse to vent her frustrations. "Why don't you call Shannon and tell her we were married this afternoon?" At least one person should be happy about this union.
Max pushed his chair back from the table. "This is our wedding night; how about a toast?"
Some wedding night, Julie thought, the bride looked like a bloated cow and the groom was already showing signs of regret. She gave herself a mental shake. She was indulging in the most craven of human emotions, self-pity. She, Julie Anderson, who had always prided herself on her courage and fortitude, was behaving like a spineless coward. "You're righ
t." Picking up her glass, she raised it in a salute. "Here's to our wedding night."
Max heisted his coffee cup. "And to our future." In one gulp he swallowed the remainder of his coffee.
Julie set her glass on the table. "I'm going to bed." With some difficulty she stood to her feet.
"Maybe we should call Shannon." Max took his phone from his pocket, and began to punch numbers. "It will ease her mind to know that her parents are once again husband and wife."
Julie stretched out on the bed and pushed a pillow under her shoulders. How much of Max's insistence that they be married again was motivated by his wish to protect his unborn son and how much was brought about by his desire to please his daughter? She didn't know and she probably never would. "Tell Shannon I said hello and ask her if we can expect her at Half Moon for Thanksgiving."
"And have her think she had bullied us into getting married again? I don't think so."
Julie listened as Max conversed with his daughter. "Yes," A tiny pause and then, "No. I don't," followed by another pause and a frown. "Suit yourself." She decided there was nothing more confusing and irritating than hearing only one side of a telephone conversation. Her mind began to drift as sleep claimed her tired body.
Max sitting on the other side of the bed awakened her. The room was dim now, lighted only by the neon sign that flashed outside the motel office. Max, wearing nothing but a skimpy pair of briefs was sliding under the covers next to her as if that were the most natural thing in the world for him to do. Lying on his back, he put his arms under his head. "Are you asleep, Julie?"
Julie could feel the heat from his body and smell his clean male scent. "I dozed, but I'm awake now. What did Shannon say?"
Max turned to face her. "She offered congratulations and said how happy she was that we'd decided to do the right thing."
How sure the young were of everything. "Is that all?"
"She asked about you and how you were feeling. Then she volunteered, without me asking, that she and Brett would be at Half Moon the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving."
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