by KG MacGregor
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Carly picked up the loose wrapping and started back out to the truck with Justine in pursuit.
"Carly, I am so sorry. I just don't know why she has to be so mean."
"That's okay. I guess it's confusing for old people…you know, to see women wear their hair short and dress like men. They didn't do that in their day."
"You're being far too kind to her. I wear shirts and jeans sometimes too, and so does my daughter."
"Nobody's ever going to mistake you for a man, Justine. Not with a face as pretty as yours."
The redhead blushed at the compliment, but she still hated what had prompted it. "Carly, look…for what it's worth, I think you're as cute as you can be. I mean that. I wouldn't say it if I didn't."
Now they were both blushing, and they needed a way out of this conversation.
"So do you still want to go to the movie tomorrow?"
"Of course I do. The one I want to see starts at two-thirty. Then if we feel like seeing another, that stupid old spy movie is at five."
Carly smiled at the gentle gibe. "So what if I pick you up at two?"
"I'll be ready."
**********
Carly pulled her compact rental car into the crowded lot at Steer Masters, squeezing between a pickup truck and a Cadillac that was parked over the line. Perry's truck was parked close to the door, so they must have gone inside to wait, she figured. Saturday night was a busy night at the steak restaurant, and the line would be long.
She was nervous about meeting Perry's new girlfriend. She wanted to make a good impression, especially since it looked like Debbie and her son might be joining her extended family one day. That meant seeing them at holidays, and maybe even at the store if Perry took it over.
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Tonight, Carly wore her nicest clothes, the same outfit she'd worn the night she and Justine had gone to Lexington for dinner. The jade pendant seemed a little out of place for the local steakhouse, but the ivory pullover looked dressy enough without it.
When she and Perry had finished their deliveries today, Carly went home and stood in front of the mirror for twenty minutes, looking at the image Marian Hall had thought was a man. For the first time since high school, she was self-conscious about her appearance, and that made her angry. She'd never given a damn about what other people thought of the way she looked, but that remark from Justine's mother hit a nerve. It was one thing to be mistaken for a teenage boy, but something altogether different to be mistaken for a man.
"Look at you! Don't you clean up well?" Perry met her just inside the door. "If I'd known you were going to get all spiffed up, I'd have worn my tuxedo."
Carly jabbed an elbow in her cousin's ribs. Now she felt embarrassed for being overdressed.
Perry noticed his cousin's reddening face and realized his mistake. "You look nice, Carly.
I hope you didn't let that crazy woman's nonsense bother you today."
"Don't be silly. I just wanted to look good when I met your future wife."
"Shhh. Don't go saying that out loud. What if she says no?"
"She isn't going to say no, you goof. You're a catch…even if you are a smart aleck."
Perry led her through the crowd to a woman who waited with a young boy on a wooden bench. "Debbie, I want you to meet my cousin, who just happens to be one of my favorite people. This is Carly Griffin."
Carly stuck out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Perry talks about you all the time. I mean, all the time!"
The three adults laughed.
"And this is Kevin." Perry gestured to the boy, who sat sulking next to his mother, obviously wishing he were anywhere else but here.
"Hi, Kevin. I hear you're a master at videogames."
"Not anymore, I ain't," he scowled.
Oops. She'd forgotten that his Play Station was on vacation at Perry's for now. Not a good start at all.
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"Shall we get in line?" Perry broke the tension, and Carly surged ahead to put some distance between herself and the surly lad. The four of them studied the menu on the wall, each ordering a steak with a baked potato. Carly carried the tray with her iced tea and silverware to a freshly wiped booth at the back of the restaurant, where she was joined first by Debbie.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up the videogame. Perry told me that he took the Play Station over to his house last night."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Kevin's just in one of his moods. He'll get over it."
Just then, Perry and Kevin joined them, the son sliding in next to his mother.
"Do you play videogames?" the boy asked. It was apparent that he'd gotten a scolding from his mother's boyfriend about his rude remark.
"No, I'm afraid not. I just don't have the eye-hand coordination it takes to be good at it. I usually put my quarter in and before I can even figure out what the object of the game is, everything fizzles out and it flashes ‘Game Over'."
Kevin laughed at her pitiful assessment. "Not me. I can pick up any game and get the high score in just a few tries." As they waited for their steaks, he regaled them with his video heroics.
Carly caught on that this was important to the kid and that he was trying hard to impress her. Though she had almost no idea what he was talking about most of the time, she fed him the intermittent "wow" or "that's really something" to demonstrate that she was suitably amazed.
"Perry tells me that you work for a company that sends you all over the world." Debbie took the lead in the conversation when their food arrived and Kevin began to eat in earnest.
"Yeah, I just got back from Israel, and next month, I'm off to Madrid."
"Is that in Germany?" the boy mumbled with his mouth full.
"No, it's in Spain. You're probably thinking of Munich."
"Yeah, I get those two confused."
"It sounds exciting to travel like that. You must think we're a bunch of hicks here in Leland."
"Oh, no. I grew up here. I think Perry's a hick, but everyone else is pretty normal." That brought an appreciative laugh from everyone, especially Kevin. Since Perry was the person they all had in common, he was fair game. "I invited Perry to come visit me when 97
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I was living in Shanghai, but I think he got worried that he wouldn't be able to find anything to eat."
"I didn't want to eat no cats, or eyeballs, or raw fish. I can get raw fish right out of the Barren River."
"Eww, I can't believe you're talking about that when I'm trying to eat my steak." Debbie struggled to cut her sirloin. "And speaking of steak, I think they cooked mine too long. It was supposed to be medium but it's just as tough as it can be."
"Here, honey. Why don't we trade? Mine's done just the way you like it." Perry showed her the juicy pink center cut, which she eagerly accepted.
Carly knew it was true love right then. Her cousin couldn't stand meat that was overcooked, and here he was trading a perfectly good steak for a hunk of shoe leather.
Only a man in love would do that.
Throughout dinner, Carly wove in and out of the conversation, realizing that she genuinely liked Debbie and even Kevin. But mostly, she just enjoyed seeing the simple dynamic of two people in love. The best part was the laughter, and Carly was really glad to see that the thirteen-year-old was a big part of it. It was obvious that the youngster looked up to Perry, even if the laws of adolescence held that grownups weren't supposed to be cool.
Carly was willing to bet her last dime that Perry and Debbie would be married within a year if her parents turned over the store. And after seeing the three of them together today, that idea made her immensely happy.
**********
Another nice Saturday, Justine thought as she stepped from her bath. Thanks to her kids'
efforts to spend more time with her, it had easily become her favorite day of the week.
Th
is one had been almost perfect.
She'd started out by going on an eight-mile run with Trey, during which they talked about the things he wanted to accomplish before finishing high school. The honor roll, another letter in track, a community service project at the hospital that Justine would help to arrange…these were his goals, and the mother couldn't help but be proud.
Though she would have preferred more time with Trey alone, he called two of his friends to join them for breakfast at the drug store counter. That pretty much killed the rest of their serious conversation, but it was nice to get an affirmation that he wasn't ashamed to 98
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be seen with her. And it was also nice that Trey and his friends had finally outgrown their need for public burping contests.
Right after breakfast, she drove over to JT's and picked up Emmy, who had a surprise request for the day. She wanted to practice driving.
Unlike most teens, who counted the hours until they turned sixteen, Emmy hadn't shown much interest in getting her license, though she had her learner's permit. As they drove along the back roads toward Frankfort, Justine learned why her daughter had been reluctant to enter this phase of independence.
"I know this is really selfish, Mom, but I'm afraid that when I get my license…," her chin quivered and her eyes began to mist.
"What is it, honey?"
"I'm worried that Dad and J2 are going to ask me to do even more stuff for Alex." Ashamed of her admission, the teenager couldn't hold back the tears.
"Alex?" Justine anxiously looked ahead on the country road. "Honey, pull over up there."
Emmy turned the Acura into the gravel parking lot of the Hope Eternal Baptist Church and put the car in park, engaging the emergency brake like she'd been taught in her driver's education class. "I love her, Mom. Really, I do. But they never ask Trey to help with her. It's always me, and if I start driving, they'll probably want me to start taking her places, and–"
"Emmy, listen to me. I know you love your sister, and she loves you too. I can see it on her face whenever you're there."
"I know I should–"
"Sweetheart, listen." It nearly broke Justine's heart to see her daughter so torn with guilt. From her own sessions with Valerie, she understood how it could rule your life, but she also knew a little about how to fight it. "Alex is going to need a lot of help in her life, and I won't tell you that you shouldn't help out whenever you can. But she isn't your primary responsibility. At your age, you should be learning to be responsible for yourself."
Justine rustled through her purse to produce a tissue.
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"But J2 can't handle it all herself. It's too hard. Alex can't be left alone…ever!"
"I know that. But what you already do to help J2 is enough, maybe even more than they have a right to ask of you."
"They don't ever ask Trey for anything. He just gets to hang out with his friends or go off whenever he wants to."
The mother was ashamed to hear that her son was shirking his duties at home. "Emmy, tell me this, honey. Are you more upset because your father and J2 are asking you to do too much, or because they aren't asking Trey to help?"
"Both…I mean, I wouldn't have to do so much if Trey helped out a little.
Kelly came over so I could help her with algebra and Trey wouldn't even watch Alex for a little while. And then J2 says, ‘Oh, your brother isn't as good with her as you are.' So just because Trey doesn't even try, they push it off on me."
Justine hated to see her sixteen-year-old daughter saddled with so much responsibility at home, especially at a time when she should be more concerned with having fun and enjoying her high school years. And though she usually bit her tongue when Emmy came to her with problems, this time she felt that she had to speak up.
"Have you talked to your father about this?"
The teenager shook her head.
"Then I think I should."
"No! Can't you just tell Trey that he has to start helping out?"
"It's not that simple, Emmy. If your father and J2 aren't after him to help out more, I have to wonder why. I can't just jump in the middle of things when it comes to taking care of Alex. She isn't my child."
"But Dad's going to be disappointed. He's going to think I don't love Alex."
"No, he isn't. He knows better than that."
The tears were coming harder now. "Mom, please don't tell Dad. I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known you were going to tell him."
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Damn! "Sweetheart, listen to me." Justine reached over and took her daughter's hand. "Most of the time, the talks we have stay between you and me. And believe me, I feel very lucky that you and I can talk about so many things. But this kind of thing is different. This is where I have to be the mother, and I have to do what's best for you. You are my responsibility, and I won't have you feeling like this if there's anything I can do about it. Can you understand that?"
Emmy sniffled and nodded without looking up from her lap.
"Your father makes good money. He can afford to hire someone to help out with Alex. Now that doesn't mean you won't have to jump in from time to time to lend a hand, but you shouldn't feel like you have to be on call every day. It's not fair to expect you to give up things you have every right to enjoy. And you know what? I bet your father and J2 don't realize how much they've come to depend on you and what you're missing out on. And as soon as they do, they'll make it right."
"You don't think they know?"
Justine could see the look of relief on her daughter's face as she contemplated this new perspective.
"No, honey. They'd never put you in this kind of position if they knew what it was doing to you. And they know you love your little sister. Anybody with eyes can see that."
"When will you talk to him?"
"We'll set something up today. I don't want you to worry about this anymore."
"Thanks, Mom." Emmy leaned across the seat to embrace her mother.
As usual, the simple gesture triggered a surge of emotion in the older woman, and she clung to her daughter as if her life depended on it.
When the two returned from their drive, Justine was able to have a word with both JT and J2, especially since Emmy offered to take Alex into the other room to play. As she suspected, they weren't at all aware of the burden that was falling to the teenager, and they promised to see about getting some professional help at home. As for Trey, that too was as Justine imagined. Her son had been left with the responsibility of taking care of his little sister on a few occasions, but hadn't proven himself dependable. They couldn't afford to take a chance on Alex's care, so they'd fallen out of the habit of asking him for 101
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help. However, now that JT's eyes were opened to how his daughter felt about her brother having less responsibility, he promised to even things out at home.
Getting that resolved for Emmy gave Justine a real sense of accomplishment today. She still needed to talk with her son about stepping up for Alex. Even though the disabled child wasn't hers, she wanted her son to be the kind of young man who would do the right thing.
Wrapping the terry robe around her, Justine sat down at the vanity and turned on the Hollywood lights. This was her Saturday night self-indulgence routine. First, she looked hard at her hairline to see if it was time to call Wanda. Being a redhead required vigilance. She could last another week, but she wanted to be sure and get in before Christmas so she'd look nice at the reunion.
Next was the facial, a muddy green cream that she spread all over her face and left until it cracked, cleaning and tightening the pores to keep the wrinkles at bay. While she was waiting for the mixture to dry, she gave her hands a paraffin treatment to keep them soft and young-looking. These extravagances–the hair salon, the facial, and the occasional manicure and pedicure–were gifts she started giving herself when she began to lose weight a
nd firm up. Looking good did a lot for her self-esteem.
Treating herself at home to these little luxuries had another very important benefit. It took her mind off the fact that here she was–alone again on a Saturday night. And since she was trying so hard to focus on relaxing things, she turned her thoughts back to how well her day had gone.
Any day that Justine did right by her kids was a good day, and this one certainly qualified. If that had been all there was to this Saturday, it would have been enough. But she'd had another high point–seeing Carly Griffin.
Justine caught herself smiling as she thought of the blonde woman. Regardless of her mother's rude remark, she'd thought Carly looked great today. She had on jeans that showed off her rear nicely…and a work shirt that was opened at the top to reveal just a little of that wonderful cleavage. Justine's thoughts wandered to that cleavage, which she'd seen up close and personal…. "Now get hold of yourself, Justine. Carly Griffin is just a friend."
Her ablutions completed, she turned off the lights at the vanity and walked back through the house one more time to make sure the doors were locked and the fire had burned down. When she reached her bed, she folded back the covers and stood for a moment while her mind rationalized her desires. It was Saturday, a night for relaxation, for decadence. She walked over to the closet and reached high to the back of the top shelf, pulling down the shoebox that held her vibrator. She hadn't used it for several weeks, but tonight, she wanted a release.
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On her way back to the bed, she stopped to pull a gown from the top drawer. On second thought…. She dropped it back into the drawer and removed the terry robe, tossing it onto the end of the bed as she turned out the light and climbed nude into bed.