“The client’s always in charge. If they ask me to go softly, I will. Even when I don’t think it’s in their best interest.”
Aly nodded. So it was like she suspected. Toy could have asked her lawyer to back off.
“You okay?”
“Better than I’ve been in a while,” Aly replied, and headed to the pool to join the girls.
The girls were still full of their Florida vacation and in the course of the day Aly did a lot of listening and piecing together. Julio’s sister was Aunt Gracia and her husband was Uncle Nate. They were doctors from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their oldest child, Miri, was a year older than Whitney and one of her best friends. They kept in touch via social media and Facetime all year. Their second child was a boy Lu’s age. His name was Ellery and he and Lu did not get along. Look out, in a couple of years they’ll be crushing on each other, she thought. Their youngest was a little girl named Violet and both girls found her precious.
She learned the girls were fluent in Spanish. Julio wanted them to be able to communicate with his mother, of course, but their school curriculum included a second language from Kindergarten on as well. Spanish and Chinese were most popular.
Aly had learned a little Spanish in high school. Erika said the girls were not allowed to use Spanish to speak in code behind her back. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have foresight and took German in high school.”
“Because she had a crush on the teacher,” Whitney explained.
“It’s true.” Erika beamed a delicious wicked smile. “Miss McNair.”
The girls made a lunch of sandwiches and fruit and iced tea. The sandwiches were lean turkey on whole wheat with lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes and mayonnaise. Aly commented that it was like something from a sandwich shop. Apparently, Casey was a fiend for sandwiches and would eat them for every meal if left to her own devices.
“A meal in the hand, she called it,” Lu explained, in apparent approval. Casey’s going to be a hard act to follow with Lu, Aly thought.
Whitney was relatively quiet and harder to read than Lu. She had spent a couple of weeks before her trip at an introductory science camp and her aunt and uncle encouraged her interest on vacation. She seemed to be thinking of becoming a doctor.
“For now,” Erika pointed out.
Whitney did have one burning issue. Dating. Apparently Miri, at fourteen, was allowed to go out with a boy alone. “She doesn’t have to group date,” she announced as they ate lunch.
“That’s nice for her,” Erika replied. “When you’re sixteen.”
“But, Mom, it’s not like we’re Mormon. They have to group date.”
“Hey, I take good ideas where I find them. When you’re sixteen you can go out alone with a boy.”
Whitney was quiet for a moment and then tried again. “When did you go out alone with someone?”
“That’s different. It was a girl.”
“That’s a double standard.”
“Well, you know the term. Good for you! We were friends first. We went out alone together as friends and then became girlfriends. So we just continued.”
“So if I go out alone with a boy who is just a friend that is okay?"
“No, because you won’t go out with a boy alone until you’re sixteen.”
“I can’t have boys who are just friends?”
“Yes, but in a group of friends.”
Whitney was quiet again, but undefeated. She tried another tack. “When can we renegotiate this?”
“When you’re fifteen.”
She sighed and sat back, not totally happy, but at least she gained some concession.
A child of lawyers all right, Aly thought.
15
After lunch it was time to acclimate Aly to Gigi. The girls decided they wanted to come for the short ride, probably to show off their school. Aly retrieved her wraparound sunglasses from her car and then was shown by Lu how she only needed to have the key fob on her person for the Audi to open at her touch. They all piled in and with a touch of a button she started the car and the vehicle was flooded for a moment with the twang of country music. Her instant thought was of how Toy would disapprove. Music, air-conditioning, and lights had to be off before the car was shut off to protect the battery on the next start or Toy would make noises. But her instant sensation was surprised amusement and she looked at Erika, her eyebrows raised.
Erika quickly reached over to the steering wheel and shut off the music. “What? You think, black woman, likes hip-hop, R&B, maybe jazz. But never country.”
Aly laughed at herself. “That is exactly right.”
Erika smiled. “I do. I do like that music. But my girlfriend in college turned me on to country. Sometimes I’m flipping channels and something’s there and I get nostalgic.” She slipped on a pair of polarized aviator sunglasses. “Okay, let’s go.”
The sunglasses emphasized the angles and planes of her face and she looked so stunningly handsome that Aly felt her stomach drop and her heart accelerate. There is a big difference between thinking someone’s attractive and being attracted to them. She looked away quickly. The car alone was overwhelming. She didn’t need this confusion.
She concentrated as Erika went into the features of the car. There was so much technology, so much was automated and done for the driver, that she said, “I hope there’s a book I can read. I won’t retain half of what you show me.”
“There’s a book. And Whitney will help you with the technology. She taught me.”
It was time to go and with the assistance of the car itself she backed out. Erika had her drive around the development for a bit before they headed for the 215. The exit for Charleston was the next one south and she hugged the right lane, driving slow. She sometimes drove Gemma’s van so she was not unused to a larger vehicle. But the Audi was far more powerful and responsive. And it was worth at least five times Gemma’s old van.
The Verkammer was right off the exit, on the southwest corner. The school was locked up behind a black iron fence so there was not much to see but nondescript, low lying beige brick buildings with a green field in back. Lu enthusiastically showed her how she was to drive through a drop off lane in the morning to let them out. In the afternoon the girls were to wait behind the fence until they saw her pull up.
“Security is good here,” Erika explained. “They’re in soft lockdown basically once school starts. No one on or off campus without going through a check-in process. Once you get the hang of the pick-up it goes pretty smoothly.” She turned to the girls, dipping her sunglasses down her nose to give them a pointed look. “If the girls are paying attention and looking out for you.”
Aly drove home, getting more comfortable. Starting tomorrow, when she had the girls, this is what she would drive. She would make a point in the next couple of weeks to find places to take them to get used to the SUV.
Back home they went back out to the pool. It was the heat of the day, still humid, and they all took to loungers on the covered patio. The girls fell asleep. “Jet lag, though they don’t like to admit it,” Erika said.
They dipped in the pool when it got too hot and then returned to the shade. Seeing Erika standing without the robe Aly discovered she had been right. Erika was not carrying more weight than she should, though she had stretch marks and a pooch to her stomach from carrying her babies. The length of her legs and torso were balanced. She had broad shoulders and was curved and rounded in all the right places. Her breasts, a little flaccid in the bikini top from breast feeding, were proportionate to her build. She was broader in the hips and behind. All in all a sweet, compact body. Damn.
They were quiet for a while and Aly thought Erika might have fallen asleep when Erika lifted her head to take a sip of iced tea.
“What was the song?” Aly asked quietly. “The nostalgic one in the car?”
“‘The Dance’. Garth Brooks. You know it? It was already old when I was with Katie, but we loved it. We loved what it said about the pain being worth it. After she left, I p
layed it over and over. I didn’t feel the pain was worth it then! Oh, young love, I thought I was going to die. Later, I wondered if she had been trying to tell me something with that song. Unconsciously preparing me.”
“Oh, I know about missed signals.” Aly said. “What happened with her?”
“She was Mormon. She left me for the boy her family always wanted her to marry. Last I heard she had eight children in twelve years.”
“Oh, my god.”
“Too busy to remember the girl she loved in college.”
“I doubt she’s forgotten you. First love?”
“First serious love. I’d had girlfriends in high school, but Katie and I were together for almost two years. That was a long time at that age. But she was always conflicted. It was inevitable she was going to go. I think I even knew it then. Of course I’m grateful now it worked out as it did.” Erika waved a hand at her girls.
“I’m beginning to feel my divorce wasn’t a mistake,” Aly said, and Erika looked at her in that way she had of seeming genuinely interested. “I thought I failed. Now I think I didn’t have any choice if I was going to save myself.”
“Was it Toy you had in mind earlier? When you asked about a lawyer going softer if we’re asked?”
“Yeah. I always wondered if she could have stopped him.”
Erika studied her for a moment. “I’m glad you saved yourself, Aly. You deserve better.”
Aly hardly heard her. “I don’t think I’m at the point yet where I can say that I think the pain was worth it, though.”
“I think that comes when you’ve learned the lessons. Then you remember the love, the sweet times, with gratitude.”
“Is that how it is for you?”
“With Katie? Yes.” Her face softened. “I just hope she’s happy.”
That evening Aly found “The Dance” on iTunes and downloaded it. Would she ever be grateful for her time with Toy? She had some good memories, but they were obliterated by the awareness that Toy had another life when some of them occurred. She wondered if Erika was grateful yet for what she had with Bianca, besides the girls.
She went to bed trying to imagine the Ice Queen at twenty mooning over her lost love.
16
Though she officially started working for the Miltons on Monday, Aly felt she was on vacation the first couple of days. Each morning she was up and walking at five and had showered and breakfasted by the time Erika left at seven. Then she spent much of the day at the patio table doing her medical billing while the girls were in or around the pool. When she got too hot, she dipped in the pool a bit and then went back to the billing. It was not like working at all.
On Tuesday, she met the Giannis at an Olive Garden for a farewell dinner. She wore blue jeans and a pink button down shirt tucked in. Both fit her well. “You look good,” Gemma said greeting her. “I like your clothes. And you have some color in your cheeks.”
Aly was sad and it was hard to eat, but she did her best to be cheerful. She could see it was the same for Gemma. Nick, however, was genuinely upbeat, and the kids were oblivious and full of energy.
They parted in the parking lot. Troy, the eldest, seemed to finally feel their separation. He tried to not show his emotions, but Aly detected them in his tight hug and averted face.
It was especially hard for her to say goodbye to Zoe, who was an infant when she moved in with them. When she had hugged them all and turned to walk away, Zoe said, “Where’s Aly going?” and it nearly broke her heart.
On the way home she tried to convince herself that they would keep in touch through social media, but she knew their lives were diverging. All of them, including Aly, were starting new lives.
When she got to the Miltons’, Erika was in the kitchen at the coffee maker. She knew where Aly had been. “You okay?”
“Sad.”
Erika nodded her understanding and lifted a mug toward her. “Want some chamomile tea? It’s relaxing. I have some before bed every night.”
Aly got herself a glass and filled it with ice and water from the refrigerator door. “No, thank you. I think it tastes like soap.”
“Soap! It’s like flowers.”
Aly laughed. “Not to me. Goodnight.” She headed to her room already feeling better. It was nice to have someone offer her something to comfort her, even if it was just tea.
◆◆◆
A routine was quickly established that first week. During the school year, Aly knew, Erika would get the girls up at six to spend time with her over breakfast. But in the summer, they could sleep in each morning. Whitney did until she was awakened by Erika kissing her goodbye. Then she most often went back to sleep. Lu, however, was already up and outside having breakfast with Erika on the patio when Aly came back from her walk.
When the girls were indoors, Aly worked at the kitchen bar. If they were not out with friends or had friends over, she found a reason each day to take them somewhere in the SUV, both to familiarize herself with the vehicle and to give the girls some variety. They had a lot of energy to burn.
Erika came home while they were preparing dinner. She would pour a glass of wine for herself and Aly and then sit at the bar while the girls talked about their day. Aly would stay out of it except to prompt the girls to share with Erika something she thought was important. After dinner, she went to her room to finish up any billing paperwork and to relax.
Later, after the girls were in bed, if she felt there was something important she observed or learned about the girls, she would share it with Erika. In the evening, Erika could be found in the living room, in lounge wear, at the coffee table with her laptop, or on the couch with a tablet, the television on, but often muted.
At the end of the first week, Aly shared her overall impressions of the girls. “Lu’s honesty and bluntness make her seem both younger and older than she is. Her lack of filters makes me think of a younger child, but her observations can be so dead on and ruthless sometimes she seems wiser than she should be at ten.
“Whitney is so quiet. At least with me. She can be on the phone forever with her friends. And then it’s all the usual teenage stuff, who said what to whom, who likes whom, blah, blah, blah.”
Erika studied her thoughtfully, a gesture she recognized signaled an insightful comment or question approaching. “And how was your first week?”
“Oh, I’m having a blast. The girls are a delight.”
Erika beamed. “I am so glad to hear that. They both like you, too.”
“Even Whitney?”
“Yes, even Whitney. She’ll talk to me if I ask a direct question. Give that a try with her. She might not volunteer information, but she won’t withhold. At least not yet.” She looked wistful. “I guess that’s coming soon.”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Erika’s birthday was in August and that weekend, which for the girls was a Dad’s Weekend, she was to spend away with her best friend, Ronnie Mathers, at the Paris hotel on the Strip. They were to do the spa, some shopping, a little gambling, and maybe a show. Aly would be alone for the first time since the few days between Toy moving out of their house and her moving in with the Giannis.
Erika came home early Friday. Ronnie arrived from the airport by Uber before Julio came to pick up the girls so she could see them. Aly knew from the girls that Erika was turning forty two, that Ronnie and Erika had been best friends since the second grade, and that Ronnie was the only person in the world who could call Erika “Rickie”.
Ronnie was a few inches taller than Erika and Aly, had a muscular build, and a broad face with blunt features and warm, but intense, brown eyes. Her skin was chocolate and her straight hair was colored a few shades lighter. She wore tan slacks and a flowing gold blouse and gold sandals. She was not beautiful like Erika, but striking, and she had presence.
Erika introduced her to Aly and, from the ensuing discussions that flew between all parties, she learned that Ronnie had a husband and four children in San Francisco, and that they were the family E
rika spent time with each summer. There was a lot of bustle as the girls got ready to go, Julio arrived and greeted Ronnie, and then everyone was out the door leaving Aly in sudden silence.
Saturday morning she slept until six, which was now sleeping in for her since she was up at five during the week. She had her protein drink, went for her walk-run, had breakfast, showered. And then she sat at the bar in the kitchen and listened into the quiet.
She realized she would have this a lot when the girls were in school. She would be with herself in a way she had not been in a long while. While married to Toy, when their schedules diverged, she was often alone while Toy was at work or, unknown to her, gambling and funding her gambling. She was aware she wasn’t that Aly anymore. Not at all. But who had she become? No one she could find. There had been Aly-with-Toy and now there was a sort of limbo-Aly who was not who she was, but also not yet who she would be. That was yet to be determined.
She ran errands and then floated the day away in the pool on a big, blue vinyl air chaise that held her completely out of the water, had a place for a drink, and even had slots for a phone or tablet if she wanted to risk it, which she didn’t. In the evening she watched a movie and went to sleep early. After all that had come before, it was one of the best days of her life.
On Sunday, she remembered to get the bagels at the front door. She took a leisurely walk and then spent the morning helping an older cousin with rheumatoid arthritis move some furniture around. Erika came home in the afternoon, the girls after dinner. And Aly felt that, after just ten days in this house of spaciousness and graciousness, she was emerging from a cocoon.
17
The week before school started was a bustle of preparation. Erika had already taken the girls shopping for school clothes and supplies, but there always seemed more to get. Whitney had to be taken to get her hair done. And Erika went to work late one morning so she could take Aly to the school to register her as an authorized guardian and have her picture taken as part of the school’s security protocol.
A Good Woman Page 8