by Joy Fielding
“Happy birthday! Happy birthday!” James echoed. He was wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt that was half-in, half-out of his navy blue shorts.
“Uncle Bram’s making pancakes,” Franny said with obvious pride.
“And he’s coming with us to Disney World!” James said.
“I know. Isn’t that wonderful?”
In response James ran excited circles around the table, Bandit at his heels.
The front door opened. “Hello?” Elizabeth Webb called from the front hall. “What smells so good?” She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, stopping abruptly when she saw Bram standing by the stovetop, frying pan in hand.
“I’m making blueberry pancakes,” he told her. “Seems you’re not the only one in the family with a famous recipe. Of course, in my case, the recipe is Aunt Jemima’s. But what the hell?”
“Uncle Bram’s coming with us to Disney World,” James told his grandmother.
“Is that true?” Elizabeth’s eyes were glued to her son’s face.
“Isn’t that what grown-ups do?” Bram quickly turned away and started spooning batter into the pan.
“I’ll make coffee,” Elizabeth volunteered.
There was a knock on the door.
“That’ll be Alex,” Charley said, running to answer it. She pulled open the door. Gabe Lopez stood on the other side.
“Sorry to bother you so early,” he began immediately, “but I saw the car pull into the driveway and figured you were up.”
“Is there a problem?” Charley asked, as Bandit jumped up and down against the man’s shins.
Gabe leaned down to pat Bandit’s head. “I just wanted to warn you that the men will be working on the back patio with jackhammers all day, so it might get pretty noisy.”
“Actually we’ll be in Disney World all weekend, so it won’t be a problem. But thanks for the warning.”
Gabe Lopez sniffed at the air. “Something smells very good.”
“My brother’s making blueberry pancakes. Would you like to join us?”
“I shouldn’t,” Gabe Lopez said, about to turn away. “But I will.”
“Good.” Charley was surprised to realize she meant it. “Go on in. Everybody, this is my neighbor, Gabe Lopez,” she called after him. “He’ll be joining us for breakfast.” She was about to close the door when she saw Alex’s car round the corner. “Guess who’s coming to breakfast,” she told him as he bounded up the front walk.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“Okay. Is everybody ready for a little piece of heaven?” Bram was asking minutes later.
James giggled. “Piece of heaven,” he repeated, and giggled some more.
It truly was a piece of heaven, Charley thought as she took her seat at the table between her mother and Alex. Franny and James sat on either side of Gabe Lopez. Bram hovered over everyone, loading everyone’s plates with pancakes.
“Who wants orange juice?” Alex asked, getting up to pour everyone a glass.
I should get my camera, Charley thought, so I can keep this moment forever, replay it whenever I want, keep the memory of it alive. Relive it, she thought with a shudder, seeing Jill’s wicked smile in the reflection of the patio door. Go away, she ordered silently. You’re not invited to this party.
“Something wrong, darling?” her mother asked.
“No,” Charley said quickly, banishing Jill’s image from her brain, although a part of her remained, skulking about the room like an evil spirit, winking from the shadows as Charley wolfed down the pancakes on her plate. “I should take Bandit over to Lynn’s,” Charley said when she was through, hoping the fresh air would be enough to banish Jill’s malevolent presence once and for all.
“And I should get going as well,” Gabe Lopez said, standing up and bowing his head in appreciation. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you could join us,” Charley said, walking Gabe to the front door.
“It’s a pleasure to have such nice neighbors,” he told her.
“It is indeed.”
Gabe Lopez cut across the lawn to his house just as several workers pulled their truck into his driveway. The man in the yellow hard hat was not among them.
Charley secured Bandit’s leash. “Kids, come say good-bye to Bandit.”
Franny and James ran toward the door, scooped Bandit into the air, and smothered him with kisses. “Bye, Bandit,” they said together.
“Be a good boy,” James added solemnly.
“I’ll be back soon.” Charley picked up the paper bag full of the things Bandit would need for the weekend and led the dog outside.
Lynn was waiting at her front door, long red fingernails gripping the handle of a steaming mug of coffee, when Charley arrived. Even this early in the morning, she was fully made up, her hair teased into a bouffant ball, her bare feet squeezed into three-inch platforms. “How’s my little furball?” she cooed as Bandit licked her toes and Charley handed over the bag of his belongings.
“Everything should be there. His food, his dish, his favorite toy.” Charley pulled a rubber hamburger from the bag and squeezed it. It made a squeaky sound that caused Bandit to snap to attention. “The vet’s number’s in the bag if there’s an emergency….”
“There won’t be. Will there, big guy? No, there certainly won’t be.” She picked Bandit up, pushed her red lips forward to be kissed. Bandit obliged by sticking his tongue directly into her mouth. “Oh, my goodness. You’re a fast one. Yes, you are. You’re a fast one. I wasn’t expecting that. No, I wasn’t.”
“I really appreciate this, Lynn.”
“Not at all. What are neighbors for?”
Charley began to smile, but a sudden sharp pain in her stomach stopped her cold.
“Something wrong?” Lynn asked.
“I think I ate one too many blueberry pancakes.”
Lynn patted the bulge at her tummy. “Tell me about it. You want some Pepto-Bismol?”
“No, I’ll be okay.” But by the time Charley got back home, her stomach was cramping so badly she could barely stand up straight.
“We’re trying to decide whose car to take,” her mother said as she walked in the front door. “Alex’s is a little bigger, but mine is newer….”
“And purpler,” Bram added.
“And purpler, yes,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “As well as safer. And I already have a car seat for James installed, and…”
“We’ll take your car,” Alex said easily, carrying the first of the overnight bags to the mauve Civic in the driveway, followed closely by James. “Are you okay?” he asked Charley upon his return. “You look a little pale.”
“My stomach’s giving me a hard time,” Charley acknowledged quietly. “Guess I’m just not used to such a big breakfast.” She felt another twinge, and looked away in order to hide her growing discomfort. She was immediately overcome with dizziness, and grabbed the wall to keep from keeling over.
“What’s the matter, dear?” her mother asked.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Alex asked. “We don’t have to leave yet.”
“No, I’ll be fine. Really.”
“You don’t look very good,” Franny said.
“Is there a problem?” Bram asked.
“Come on, everybody,” James yelled from the side of the car. “Let’s go.”
“I’m fine,” Charley insisted, as a strong spasm shot through her insides.
“You’re not fine,” Alex said. “Come on. You’re sitting down for a few minutes.” He led her into the living room, sat down beside her on the sofa. “You think you’re going to be sick?”
“I don’t know.”
“Take deep breaths.”
Charley did as she was told but felt no better.
James bounded back into the room. “Come on!” he urged. “We’re gonna be late.”
“Mommy isn’t feeling well,” Franny to
ld him.
“But it’s her birthday!”
“I’m fine,” Charley said, determined not to ruin the weekend. She tried to stand up, but the pain was like a powerful jab to her solar plexus, and she collapsed back onto the sofa.
“Okay, that’s it,” Alex said. “I’m sorry, kids, but it doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere today.”
“No!” James cried. The disappointment in that single word was both overwhelming and heartbreaking.
“Of course we’re going,” Charley insisted.
“Charley, you can barely move,” Alex said.
“I’ll be okay in ten minutes.”
“Then we’ll go in ten minutes,” Alex said. “Okay, look. Here’s a suggestion. Bram and your mother can drive the kids up, check into the motel, get started on the Magic Kingdom, and you and I will meet them there as soon as you’re feeling better. We need two cars anyway. How’s that?”
“Can we, Mommy? Can we? Can we?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you say? Think you can manage without us for a few hours?” Alex asked Charley’s mother and brother.
“I think we can,” Elizabeth said hopefully. “What do you think, Bram?”
“I think we should probably get started.” The forced enthusiasm in Bram’s voice was almost enough to mask the panic in his eyes.
“We’ll finish packing up the car,” Alex told them, “and you and the kids can be on your way.” He helped Bram tote the rest of the bags outside, James right behind them.
“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” Charley said when they were gone.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” her mother told her. “It gives your brother and me a real chance to connect. Are you sure you’re not faking this whole episode…?”
“Trust me, I’m not faking.”
“Are you gonna be all right?” Franny asked.
Charley nodded, the motion making her feel even worse. “Mom, get my cell phone, will you? It’s in my purse.”
Her mother quickly located the phone in Charley’s bag. “Here it is, darling. Do you want me to call the doctor?”
“No. I want you to take it with you.”
“What? No. I hate these things.”
“Mom, you have to take it. Bram’s phone got stolen, and I have to be able to reach you. I can’t let you go without it.”
“But I’m useless with these things.”
“You can handle it. I promise. Just remember, it doesn’t ring. It whistles.”
“Of course it does.” Her mother tossed the phone reluctantly into her purse.
“Franny, Grandma, come on!” James yelled from the front lawn. “We’re going.”
Franny touched her mother’s hand tenderly, then ran from the room.
“You know the name of the motel….” Charley said to her mother.
“I know everything, sweetheart. Not to worry.”
“Then go on,” Charley urged. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m feeling better. If you don’t hear from me before you get there, you call me.”
Instead of leaving, Elizabeth sank down in the cushion next to Charley and tenderly took her in her arms, rocking her gently. Charley felt the warmth of her mother’s embrace, the touch of her lips as they brushed against her forehead. A part of her instinctively moved to push her mother away, but another part of her, the part that had been waiting for this moment for twenty-two years, held firm and held on tight. How fitting this should happen on her birthday, she was thinking, as she buried her head against her mother’s breasts and cried like a newborn baby.
“My beautiful girl,” her mother whispered, kissing the top of her head. “My sweet, beautiful girl. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Charley told her, crying harder now.
“Okay, the car’s all packed.” Alex reentered the room with Bram at his side. “The kids are buckled in and raring to go.”
Charley loosened her viselike grip on her mother’s waist as Elizabeth kissed her forehead. “Don’t you worry about a thing, darling. You just get better.”
“Fast,” Bram added.
Charley nodded, feeling worse.
The sound of jackhammers came pounding through the walls. “Oh, God,” Charley moaned as Bram leaned close to kiss her good-bye.
“Don’t let the kids out of your sight for a minute,” she warned.
“I’ll watch them like a hawk,” Bram said.
“Drive carefully,” Charley heard Alex call out as her mother’s car pulled out of the driveway seconds later. Seconds after that, Alex was back at her side. “Do you really think that was such a good idea?” Charley asked him.
“I think it was a great idea. You need to rest.”
“I sure need something.”
“Maybe I should take you to emergency.”
“What? No. This is hardly an emergency.”
“It could be your appendix.”
“It’s not my appendix. It’s those damn blueberry pancakes.”
“They were pretty rich,” Alex agreed. “Can I get you anything? Some tea maybe?”
“No. I think if I can just sleep for a few minutes.” As if on cue, the jackhammers started up again, the vibrations slicing through Charley’s body like an electric saw. “Oh, no.”
Alex’s head jerked toward the sound. “What the hell is going on over there?”
“Whatever it is, they’ll be doing it all day.”
“Well, then, we certainly can’t stay here.” He reached down and dragged Charley to her feet, placing one of her arms over his shoulder and gripping her firmly by the waist.
“What are you doing? Where are we going?”
“To my apartment. The sooner, the better. To be honest, I’m starting to feel a little peculiar myself.”
“We make quite a pair,” Charley said, trying to smile.
Alex stopped at the front door, kissed her gently on the cheek. “I think I like the sound of that,” he said.
CHAPTER 33
Charley woke up to the sound of a door closing in the distance. She opened her eyes and sat up, trying to orient herself to her surroundings. She was quickly overwhelmed with dizziness and sank back down. Slowly, carefully, she glanced toward the wall to her right, recognizing the series of beautiful black-and-white photographs that hung there. She was in Alex’s bedroom, she reminded herself, although she had only the vaguest memory of the drive over, and only a slightly stronger recall of the elevator ride up to his apartment. She remembered being half-carried, half-dragged into his bedroom, then tucked underneath the bedcovers, Alex collapsing beside her. But Alex wasn’t there now, she realized, feeling the indentation where his body had been. “Alex?” she called out, her voice disappearing even before it made contact with the air. Where was he?
What time is it? she wondered, turning her head gingerly toward the clock on the end table beside the bed. It took several seconds for her eyes to focus, and several more for her to convince the numbers to make sense. Could it really be almost eleven o’clock? Was that possible? Had she really lost almost the entire morning?
Her family was most likely in Kissimee by now, she realized. Maybe even checked into the motel. What was the name of it? she wondered, panicking when it refused to come. Something cutesy, she thought. The Castle of the Sleeping Dwarfs…. Sleeping Beauty’s Inn…. “Beautiful Dreamers Motel,” she murmured, nodding her head in confirmation, then having to close her eyes when the room nodded back. What the hell was going on? She’d been fine when she woke up this morning. Now she felt as if she’d been run over by a truck. Could the flu strike so quickly and violently?
“I have to call my mother,” Charley said, although no sound reached her ears. Had she even said the words out loud? Her mother was probably worried sick, she thought. No doubt she’d been trying to reach her, and would have no idea where she was, or how to get ahold of her. She’d likely called the house half a dozen times by now, only to get Charley’s voice mail, which would have confuse
d her no end. “I have to call her,” Charley said again, once more forcing her body into a sitting position, then sitting very still until the room stopped spinning.
Her eyes traveled slowly across the bed from one end table to the other, looking for the phone. But it was missing from its holder. And Alex was nowhere in sight. “Alex?” she called again, pushing the word from the back of her throat along with a mouthful of bile. Hurling herself toward the marble en suite bathroom, Charley threw up in the toilet bowl, then collapsed on the floor, laying her head on the cool tile, and wondering what the hell was happening to her. She’d had stomachaches before, as well as morning sickness during both pregnancies. But nothing like this. Was it possible Alex had been right? That her appendix was attacking? Where was he anyway?
Charley took a series of deep breaths, eventually swallowing enough air to push herself to her feet. “Now what?” she asked her ashen-faced reflection in the mirror over the sink.
Find a phone, her reflection told her.
Charley shuffled out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and down the hall into the living room. The portable phone was sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Charley grabbed it just as her legs gave way and she fell to the floor, like a discarded marionette. Supporting her back against the sofa, she stabbed at the numbers and waited for the familiar ring.
I’m sorry, a robotic voice informed her seconds later. The number you have dialed is not in service.
“Bullshit! What are you talking about?” Charley tried the number again, but her fingers had lost their power, and she watched them slide helplessly across the face of the phone, so that she had to stop and do it again. She listened as the phone rang once, twice, three times, before finally being picked up.
“Hello?” the girl said, amid a rush of giggles.
“Franny?”
“Margo, where the hell are you? Everybody’s waiting.”
“Margo?” Charley repeated.
“Stop fooling around,” the girl said. “You’re really late.”
“Who is this?”
“What?”
“I need to speak to Bram,” Charley said.