Waking Up Gray

by R. E. Bradshaw

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Mom. You taught me two very valuable lessons as a woman. First, if you get the breath knocked out of you, you will breathe again and second, take notes. If you’re patient, vengeance is ever so much sweeter.”

  Lizbeth grinned. “I did do that, didn’t I? Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite?”

  “You stole that from Reba.”

  Lizbeth pulled Mazie into a bear hug, whispering in her ear, “Doesn’t make it any less true. I love you, Mazie.”

  “I love you, too, Mom. I’m starving. Let’s make some lunch and you can tell me all about Gray. I want to know everything.”

  “Okay, how about leftover meatballs made into sandwiches?”

  Mazie stood up. “That sounds great. Do you have any wine? I think I’m going to need a drink.”

  “Yes, there’s a bottle open in the fridge and another on the counter. I don’t think I’ll be joining you though. I had a bit much last night.” Lizbeth still felt a little hung-over even after Fanny’s magic formula.

  “I could tell,” Mazie said.

  Lizbeth thought she had done a decent job fixing herself up before she left to go to the docks. How could Mazie tell? “What, do I look bad?”

  “No, you look absolutely sparkling,” Mazie said, then began to giggle again. “But it was obvious the way the clothes were strewn around that there was a large quantity of alcohol involved.”

  Lizbeth flashed on a scene from last night. She was thankful Mazie couldn’t read minds. She giggled herself and said, “Yes, yes there was.”

  #

  It was six o’clock that evening before Lizbeth finished filling Mazie in on all that had happened in the last ten days. She told her everything, how she felt, what was going through her head. Lizbeth left out the details of her sexual encounters with Gray, just leaving it at “fan-fucking-tastic.” She included the fact that Dana was now here on the island and that Mazie’s timing couldn’t have been worse, but she was glad she had come.

  “Her ex is here?” Mazie was aghast.

  “Yes, and she’s a dead ringer for Charlize Theron.”

  “Not ‘Monster’…”

  Lizbeth cut her off. “No, think ‘Bagger Vance’ or ‘Hancock.”

  Mazie’s eyebrows went up. “Holy shit!”

  Lizbeth nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”

  “Where is Gray now? Are you going to see her before she sees this Dana?”

  Mazie was formulating a plan of action. Lizbeth could see it. She’d seen that little plotting expression before. Maybe she should let Mazie help. Lizbeth hadn’t been doing a very good job with the Dana thing so far.

  Gray calling her name as she came through the front door interrupted Lizbeth’s thoughts. She stood up and looked at Mazie.

  “Speak of the devil, here she is now.” Lizbeth stepped into the archway. “I’m back here, Gray.” She turned back to Mazie. “Wait here.”

  Lizbeth met Gray in the hallway, out of sight of Mazie. She walked right up to Gray, placed her hands on Gray’s chest, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed her. Gray wrapped her in her arms. Lizbeth could feel Gray’s relief in the kiss. Gray pulled back and looked into Lizbeth’s eyes. She started to speak.

  “Lizbeth, I…”

  Lizbeth put a finger over Gray’s lips to silence her. “Shh. You can tell me later. Right now I have company.”

  “I saw the car. Who is it?”

  They both heard Mazie clear her throat at the end of the hall. Still wrapped in Gray’s arms, Lizbeth turned her head toward her daughter.

  “Gray O’Neal, this is my daughter, Mazie.”

  Gray dropped Lizbeth from her arms in a flat second. She took a step back, gathering her composure. Lizbeth found it amusing and started giggling again.

  “It’s okay, Gray. Mazie and I have already talked.”

  Mazie came toward the two lovers, wearing a smile to match her mother’s. She extended her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gray. My mother has just been filling me in on the recent changes in her lifestyle. You can relax, I approve.”

  Gray shook Mazie’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Mazie. I’ve heard a lot about you, as well.”

  Lizbeth was beaming, looking from Gray to her daughter and back. This, at least, was going well. Mazie smiled at Gray. Lizbeth could see Mazie checking out her mom’s taste in women and approving. The Gray charm hit Mazie, too. Lizbeth saw it creep across her face. First impressions had been well made.

  Gray said, “You look like your mom.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment, since you seem to be so enamored with her,” Mazie replied.

  Gray grinned. “It was.”

  “Okay,” Lizbeth said, before it got awkward, “Mazie, I need to talk to Gray for a minute. She has an appointment to keep.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Mazie started.

  Lizbeth raised her hand, cutting her off. “Mazie, don’t. Let me deal with this.”

  Mazie was not deterred and quite a bit sassier than her mother. She had no problem saying what she felt. “Damned if someone I was seeing would be meeting up with the former love of his life, especially if she looked like what you said.”

  Gray chuckled. “Shy little thing, isn’t she?”

  Lizbeth chuckled, too. “Yes, I don’t know what I’d do if she ever really spoke her mind.”

  Mazie looked at her mother. “Well, are you going to let her go alone?”

  Lizbeth stopped smiling and turned serious. “Mazie, Gray is a grown woman. I won’t be ‘letting’ her do anything. This is something she has to do and I have to trust that she’ll be back. I can’t do anything beyond that.”

  “Mom, you’ll kick yourself all the way back to Durham if this backfires.”

  Lizbeth put her hands on her hips. “So be it.”

  Mazie waved her hands in the air in defeat and started back down the hallway to the kitchen, slinging, “I’m just sayin’,” over her shoulder, as she went.

  Gray had watched the exchange between mother and daughter silently. She took Lizbeth by the hand and led her back into the parlor for the little privacy the tiny cottage provided. Once they were alone, Gray kissed Lizbeth again and then held her tight for a moment, not speaking, just clinging to Lizbeth with her face buried in Lizbeth’s hair.

  When Lizbeth was finally able to peel Gray off her, she could see tears in Gray’s eyes. “What’s the matter, baby?” Lizbeth whispered.

  “I’ll be back, Lizbeth. I promise.”

  Lizbeth wanted so much to believe her, but Gray had not met with Dana, yet. Lizbeth surprised even herself when her voice came out strong and certain. “Gray, don’t make promises. Go listen to what she has to say. I’ll be here, if it’s really over with her. If it isn’t, don’t come back. Don’t come to explain, don’t come to apologize, just don’t come back. If you do return, I expect you to fall madly in love with me. I love you, Gray, but if I can’t have all of you, I don’t want any of you. Do you understand what I’m saying? All or nothing. You have until morning.”

  Gray looked deeply into Lizbeth’s eyes and said with resolve, “I’ll be back, Lizbeth.”

  “I’m betting on it,” Lizbeth whispered, “but just in case you don’t make it back, would you kiss me again?”

  Gray enveloped Lizbeth. She smothered Lizbeth into her arms and kissed her zealously. Then without another word, Gray left Lizbeth standing in the parlor, and exited the cottage. Lizbeth watched her walk across the street and then returned to the kitchen where Mazie waited. Lizbeth didn’t cry. She was done with crying for a while. She’d cry enough if Gray didn’t come back. Right now, all Lizbeth could do was wait and pray.

  Mazie was smiling at her when Lizbeth stepped into the kitchen. “I heard what you said, well, most of it. This is a very small house.” Mazie stood up and crossed to Lizbeth. Hugging her, she said, “That took a lot of courage. I’m proud of you.”

  “We’ll see how proud you are of me when I’m face down in a
pillow blubbering because she didn’t come back.”

  Mazie patted her mother on the back, comforting her. “She’ll be back, Mom.”

  “How do you know? You didn’t see Charlize.”

  Mazie pulled away, holding her mom out at arm’s length. “You’re kidding, right? Don’t you see the way Gray looks at you? Mom, she’s in love with you.”

  “She thinks she is, Mazie, but I want her to be sure. No doubts.”

  “How did you get to be so wise?” Mazie teased.

  Lizbeth quipped, “By making the same mistake twice. I won’t do it a third time.”

  Mazie wrinkled her brow. “What mistake was that?”

  “I trusted your father,” Lizbeth said flatly.

  “Are you afraid you can’t trust Gray?”

  “If I can’t trust her completely, then I won’t be involved with her at all. I can’t think of a bigger test than this. Not where Gray is concerned, anyway. Dana’s memory has been in the middle of this since the beginning. It’s like Fanny said, time for it to come to a head.”

  “When do I get to meet this Miss Fanny?”

  Lizbeth looked back down the hall and then over at the clock on the stove. “Let’s give Gray a few more minutes to get gone and then I’ll take you over there.”

  Mazie took Lizbeth by the shoulders. She squared her up and looked into Lizbeth’s face with all seriousness, “Hey, if she doesn’t come back, I’m here for you.” Then she giggled, saying, “If she does come back, do you think Fanny would let me sleep at her house? Like I said, noise travels in this little place.”

  Mother and daughter’s laughter filled the air.

  #

  At seven fifteen, Lizbeth walked Mazie across the street. Fanny, as usual was having iced tea on the porch and they joined her. Mazie was immediately taken with Fanny. Fanny entertained them for an hour with stories from her past. All the while, a clock was ticking away in Lizbeth’s head. She could barely concentrate on the conversation. Lizbeth was glad Mazie was there, or she would be holed up in the bed, watching the digital numbers flash and change. Instead, she was here on the porch with Fanny and Mazie, and this was keeping her from losing her mind. Except for the fidgeting. She could not sit still.

  “Lizbeth, you’re jumpy as a mullet. Stop frettin’, it won’t help none,” Fanny said, unexpectedly.

  Mazie, ever practical, said, “Mom, you gave her until morning. Are you going to twist yourself in a knot all night waiting for her?”

  Lizbeth looked at the other two women on the porch. The statement shot out of her mouth, before she had time to stop it. “That was too long. I shouldn’t have given her that much time. Anything could happen.”

  Fanny and Mazie became very amused at Lizbeth’s wound tight state. Mazie was enjoying this all too much, as far as Lizbeth was concerned.

  “Mom, you were so courageous a few hours ago. Where’s that tenacity now?”

  Lizbeth’s anxiety showed clearly in her voice when she blurted out, “You’ve never been around Gray with other women. They’re like heat seeking missiles and her track record isn’t the greatest at beating them off. If that woman is pouring it on, I don’t know if Gray can say no. You didn’t see her. Dana is an extraordinarily beautiful woman.”

  Fanny piped in, “Gray’s as loyal as a dog. She’ll come home. Besides, she also hain’t forgot what Dana did to her. Looks don’t mount to squat, if you’re a bad person on the inside.”

  Lizbeth sat down from her most recent pacing attack. “Fanny, I met her. She was wonderful, so poised and kind. I can see why Gray fell for her, besides the fact that she looks like she stepped off a movie set.”

  Mazie tried to make Lizbeth feel better, seeming to have thought better of teasing her mother. “You are beautiful, too.”

  Lizbeth argued, “Not in her league. Tell her Fanny.”

  Fanny harrumphed, “Yes, and sometimes you bite into a beautiful apple and get a worm.”

  “Maybe she just made a mistake. Maybe she’s sorry,” Lizbeth heard the words and couldn’t believe they had come out of her mouth.

  Mazie couldn’t either. “Lizbeth Jackson, I am stunned that you would say that. There is no excuse for betrayal. You taught me that… and as far as being sorry, well, Dad was sorry too, but it didn’t stop him. If you were Gray, would you forgive Dana?”

  “I did, the first time, and that’s what scares the hell out of me. I know how easy it is to make that mistake.”

  Fanny chuckled, causing both Lizbeth and Mazie to look at her. “I don’t know a lot, but I do know Gray. She don’t usually make the same mistake twice. I ain’t never known her, in all her days, forgive anybody that wronged her. She’d even pretend to be over it sometimes, but I knew she was just biding her time. In the end, Gray always got even. She’s been waitin’ a long time to get square this time.”

  Lizbeth knew what Fanny was saying, but she added her own comment, “Yeah, but she’s got to get over her first.”

  “Come on, Mom. Let’s go for a walk.” Mazie was lifting Lizbeth out of the chair by the arm. “I think we need to wear you out, or you will never sleep.”

  “Sleep? Who’s going to sleep?” Lizbeth let out a helpless titter.

  Fanny called after them, “Make sure she eats!”

  #

  Mazie and Lizbeth walked down Howard Street, toward the docks. They bought ice cream cones at Kitty Hawk Kites and ate them standing on the porch, looking out over the harbor. They walked by Gray’s boat, rocking with the slow rise and fall of the waves. It was a warm night and many people were milling about. Down the boardwalk, an impromptu jam session was taking place near the large yachts and sailboats moored by the ferry dock.

  Lizbeth had her arm around Mazie’s waist and Mazie’s arm was thrown over her mother’s shoulders. They stood there, leaning on each other, listening to the man with the clarinet send out his song over the open water. The Blues took on a whole other haunting ache, its echo across the slick surface bouncing back from the other side.

  Lizbeth grew nervous that Gray would come back and she wouldn’t be there. She told Mazie she needed to go home and eat. The ice cream cone was not the kind of food she needed to settle her spinning head. Mazie, remembering Fanny’s warning and having witnessed her mother’s spells herself, agreed that it was a good idea. It was after nine and Lizbeth had usually eaten by then. Once again, she had let Gray occupy her thoughts so much she had forgotten. It was also a great excuse to hurry home.

  They had to walk by Gray’s boat again on the way. As they neared the slip, Lizbeth heard Gray’s laughter. She froze. Mazie ran into her from behind.

  “Geeze, Mom. A little warning on the brakes,” Mazie protested.

  Lizbeth said nothing. She raised her hand to quiet her daughter and concentrated on the voices coming from the dock. She crept as close as she dared. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help herself. She maneuvered herself into a position where she could see Gray in the boat, but still remain in the shadows. She could feel Mazie’s breath on her neck. Mazie had figured out what was happening very quickly and was playing wingman on the mission.

  Dana’s voice came from above Gray. She was still on the dock. She giggled and said, “Here, hold my beer. I’m a little buzzed to be crawling down this ladder.”

  Gray laughed, reached up, and took the beer from Dana’s hand. Gray moved over in front of the ladder, poised to help Dana if she fell. Of course she did. Lizbeth saw through that move easily. Dana, instead of turning around and backing down the ladder, faced Gray and attempted a descent. She made two rungs before falling into Gray and sliding down her body. Gray caught her without dropping the beer and held her just a little too long for Lizbeth’s taste. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her ear, as Mazie must have seen it too.

  Gray released Dana and went to the bow. She untied the bowline, started the engine, released the stern line, and sat down on the seat at the console with Dana. The running lights on the boat flicked on. In th
e glow from the console, Lizbeth could see Dana smile over at Gray as she backed the boat into the harbor. Dana slid her arm around Gray’s waist and Gray’s arm went around Dana, pulling her close into her side. Gray turned the boat toward the mouth of the harbor and slowly pulled away.

  Lizbeth’s hands went to her face. They tried to rub the image of what she had just seen away, but it didn’t help. She clasped her hands below her chin in a sign of prayer, pursed her lips, and sighed heavily. Mazie put her arm around her mother’s shoulder.

  “I am so sorry, Mom. I would have never bet on that happening. I was sure she was in love with you.”

  Lizbeth bit her lip so she wouldn’t cry. Her mind raced away from her for a moment. Everything around her disappeared. She could only see flashes of the last ten days, much as she imagined her life would flash by her in the end. When the last images faded and her surroundings became real again, Lizbeth blinked her eyes and focused. The task was daunting, but Lizbeth was determined to be packed and off this island, before the last ferry left at midnight. Gray wasn’t coming back.

  Lizbeth started walking quickly without a word to Mazie, who was trying to keep in step beside her. Mazie was reasoning the situation aloud. “You don’t know what that was all about. Maybe they’re just taking a ride. Maybe Gray’s just taking her time, waiting for the right moment. You heard what Fanny said, she might be taking her out to dump the body.”

  “You saw her. I don’t think dumping Dana’s body is what’s on Gray’s mind. More like fucking her out there on the high seas is my guess.” Lizbeth had made up her mind that Gray couldn’t resist Dana. She hadn’t thought Gray was strong enough and she had been right. Gray might have thought she was in love with Lizbeth, but when she was presented with Dana in the flesh, Gray had been forced to face the truth. She would always be in love with Dana and Lizbeth couldn’t and wouldn’t compete with that.

  Mazie was having a hard time staying up with Lizbeth without breaking into an all out run. “Slow down. Where are we going? What are we doing?”

  Self-preservation mode kicked in. Lizbeth remembered it well. It had gotten her through some of the worst times. Lizbeth allowed it to guide her. She trusted it to make all the decisions. Lizbeth had been making the decisions herself up to now, and look what a mess she’d made.