“We use a thermostat.”
“A thermo…you grill with gas. That’s not really grilling,” Kevin protested.
Alexis shrugged. “Tastes just as good, and a lot easier too.”
“Uh…”
Alexis laughed. “When you hold your hand over the coals, if you cannot leave it for more than four seconds, then you’re ready.”
Kevin smiled and nodded. “You pass.”
It was really too cold to sit out, so Alexis moved next to Kevin, holding her hands over the fire for warmth. She decided that she rather liked Kevin. Maybe she liked him, she corrected herself. He was related to Jennie.
“Do you grill out a lot?” She watched as Kevin placed each steak on the grill, the meat sizzling as it touched the hot metal.
“Not often. It’s a special occasion. I’m meeting my nieces for the first time.”
“You’re trying to impress us.”
“That’s right.” Kevin nodded. “It’s important to Jennie. She remembers how much fun the two of you had together when you were a child. She is really hoping that the two of you can be friends.”
Alexis stepped away. “Friends? Friends don’t ask a judge to order friends to visit.”
“I guess not.” Kevin looked down.
They stood in silence for several moments. Alexis stared at the white-hot coals lying in the grill. She could still feel the heat even though she had moved away. As she watched, drops of grease fell onto the coals and the fire flared.
“You and your sister are close?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alexis, could you call me Kevin?”
“Do the kids at school call you Kevin?”
“No, they call me coach, but you’re not my student. You’re my niece, even if we just met.”
She considered his request. “Okay…Kevin.”
“Thanks. I suppose it’s only natural that the two of you would be close. Growing up without a mother to—”
She cut him off. “We’ve been fine. Dad and Emma have always taken care of us.”
“Emma?”
“Dad’s fiancée.”
“Right.” Kevin nodded. “Jennie mentioned her…Look, I didn’t mean that your dad has not done a good job…Jennie is really sorry that she wasn’t around…”
Alexis bristled. “Then why wasn’t she?”
“Well there was a time when she wasn’t very nice, but…”
“I know the story. She got religion, cleaned up her act, began to walk the straight and narrow,” she said in a mocking tone of voice. “Why didn’t the straight and narrow ever lead her to us?”
“I think she was afraid…”
“Twelve years with no word, then, suddenly, poof.” She threw her hands into the air. “She appears like Cinderella’s fairy godmother, expecting us to scream in happiness and throw our arms around her in welcome.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, the godmother arrived in the nick of time, just when Cinderella needed her and then Cinderella was off to the ball. Jennie didn’t arrive until now. I don’t need her now, and if I had ever needed her, it would be too late.”
Kevin caught her eye. “It would be.”
“It is. Way too late. I’m not going to be her friend,” Alexis said softly, glaring at him. “I’m not going to be her daughter.”
“You are really angry at her.”
“It took a degree in counseling to see that? Please.” She looked at the flames licking at the steaks. “If she really wants to impress someone, it’s not me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really think I’m going to be spending a lot of time with her?”
“In her petition…”
“Give me strength.” Alexis sighed deeply. “She’s been given three visits.”
“But after those visits…”
“Another hearing will take place.” She placed her hands on her hips. “That hearing won’t occur until late April, maybe not until May. By that time, our summers will be planned. Registration fees will have been paid. Do you think Judge Sullivan will find it to be in the best interest of the children to have us cancel everything we have planned, everything we’re looking forward to doing? Dad is getting married in August. Will it be in our best interest to be in Whitesburg that day?”
“You make a good point.”
“I’ll be eighteen next spring. No judge will to order me to do anything next summer. If I have to show up for a couple of days each month until next May, I can handle that. If I want, I can hole up in the bedroom all weekend, do homework, text my friends, email. I was online until one this morning.” She shook her head at Kevin’s surprised expression. “Christa is the one who might be ordered to attend her majesty next summer and the next.” She crossed her arms. “If Christa wants to visit and she gives the judge a good report, so will I. If Christa is unhappy, I will be too.”
“Jennie recalls good times with you…”
“I recall nothing good about Jennie,” Alexis snapped. “Christa, on the other hand, recalls nothing at all. If Jennie had approached her without a shotgun in her hand, Christa might have been willing to be her friend…She might be willing anyway, so if Jennie wants to impress someone, it should be Christa.”
“You can’t give her a chance? She wants to be your mom, even if you are almost seventeen.” Kevin checked one of the steaks and flipped it over.
“That ship sailed a long time ago.”
He turned the other steaks. “So, I should tell Jennie to just write you off?”
Alexis didn’t like the sound of being written off, but she shrugged. “I didn’t know I was speaking on the record, but tell her whatever you’d like.”
They silently watched the grill for another couple of minutes.
“Know how to tell when they are done?”
Alexis didn’t respond.
“I didn’t mean to upset you, Alexis.” Kevin began to place the steaks on the platter.
“I used to think about her, you know. At night. When I couldn’t sleep. I wondered why she didn’t want me.” She angrily wiped her eyes. “Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Ever had a girl break up with you? One you really liked?”
Kevin nodded.
“Magnify that feeling by a hundred, a thousand, maybe.”
“Alexis, Jennie did…”
“I got over it.” She crossed her arms. “I realized that Emma loves me. She has been my mom for years, and in August, she’ll have the title.”
***
Alexis held the door for Kevin as he carried the steaks into the house.
Sarah had recruited Christa to help her with the salad dressing. Cups of ingredients were lined up on the counter. Christa was smiling, poised to begin. Jennie was holding a glass of tea, watching, pleased to see Christa excited.
“Okay,” Sarah said. “Mix the oil and the lemon juice. Stir them together.”
“Done,” Christa said.
“Add the egg substitute and mix.”
“Okay.”
“Salt, pepper, and parmesan.”
“Ready.”
“Pour it on the lettuce and toss it.”
“Toss it?” She looked up as Alexis entered. She picked up the bowl. “Catch, Alexis.”
“No. No. I didn’t mean…”
Christa laughed. “I know how to toss a salad.”
“Steaks are ready.” Kevin placed the platter on the counter.
“You’re right on time.” Sarah looked up and smiled. “I just need to arrange the salad. The potatoes are buttered and ready.”
Kevin pointed at the steak on the far left. “This one is well done, Jennie.” He made a face.
“I don’t like raw meat. Never have.”
Kevin shook his head. “I hate having to ruin a good steak.”
Jennie stood to one side, watching the others. Sarah and Kevin appeared so relaxed with the girls, and Christa seemed to be having a good time. Jennie suppos
ed her sister and brother-in-law didn’t have as much at stake as she did.
Christa, Sarah, and Kevin talked as they prepared the plates. Alexis, she noticed, stood away from the others. A streak on one cheek looked like she had wiped it. She was staring vacantly at the wall. Had she been crying? What had she and Kevin been discussing?
During dinner, Jennie continued to fade into the background, allowing Sarah and Kevin to carry the conversation. By the time dessert was served, even Alexis had begun to talk a little.
“We stopped by the equestrian center this afternoon,” Christa told them.
“Equestrian center? Is that an expensive name for a stable?” Kevin’s face appeared completely innocent.
Christa hesitated a moment, but she seemed to decide that he was teasing. “Pretty much. In this case, though, the stable is completely modern, and they have the most beautiful horses.” She turned to Alexis. “Did you see the riding ring? It was perfect. And huge.”
Again, Jennie thought how good it was to see her so excited.
“Do you ride?” Sarah asked Alexis.
She shook her head. “Not really.”
“You’re a terrific rider.” Christa punched her arm. She turned to the others. “She’d rather run around a soccer field or shut herself away to write than to feel the wind in her hair, the horse tensing as it begins to gallop, the excitement of leaping over a jump.”
“Or the thrill of flying through the air and breaking my neck.”
“Silly.”
Alexis nodded. “I would rather do things I can control. The soccer ball goes where I aim it. I can usually control my characters when I write. I don’t feel in control on a horse.”
“You’re not. That’s part of the fun.”
Alexis visibly shivered and Christa laughed.
“We went in some antique stores this morning,” Alexis told Sarah. “They had a sideboard exactly like Emma’s dining room furniture. She was so excited when I sent her a picture. She’s been looking for one forever…She might come over to look at it.” She glanced at Jennie. “Emma is going to marry our dad,” she told Sarah.
At Emma’s name, Jennie again felt jealous. Leave the goddess in Charleston—the words formed in her mind, but she dismissed them.
“We’d love to meet her if she does come to see it.” Jennie couldn’t believe the words came from Sarah. “Wouldn’t we, Jennie? You two haven’t met, have you?”
“No, we haven’t. Not formally…She was with Thomas when Christa had her allergy attack. You saw her in court.”
Sarah’s eyes widened as though remembering Emma’s testimony.
“You’d love Emma,” Christa gushed. “She’s the nicest person.”
“I…I’m sure I would,” Sarah said.
Jennie glanced at Alexis and startled at the expression on her face. Hatred? Contempt? The expression faded and Alexis smiled. “Emma is really cool.”
***
They started for home at eight thirty. Sarah hugged both girls, and Kevin patted Alexis’s shoulder. As they drove along the winding driveway and turned onto the two-lane road, no one spoke. I can almost hear the silence, Jennie thought. She wondered again what Alexis and Kevin had talked about when they were on the patio. She decided she would call him tomorrow.
“What would you like to do in the morning?” Jennie pulled to a stop at the railroad crossing while a train flashed past.
“Go to church?” Alexis spoke from the back seat where she leaned against the door, her face pressed against the window.
“That’s what I’d planned, but your father is coming at noon, and we wouldn’t be home yet.”
“Saint Margaret’s in Carrollton has a service at eight and one at nine. I checked.”
“I suppose, but I had really wanted to take you to my church, at least this Sunday.”
“You should have asked dad to come later. He’s not unreasonable, you know.” Alexis’s voice sounded defensive. “Call him now. He’s not out carousing.”
“I wouldn’t want to do that because…”
Alexis gave a disgusted sigh, pulled out her cell phone, and pushed her father’s number.
“Hi, Dad…We’re fine. No, no problem. Listen, Jennie wants us to go to her church tomorrow morning and we won’t get home until—what time, Jennie?”
“Twelve thirty.”
“Until twelve thirty. Okay, we’ll see you then…I don’t know why she wouldn’t ask…Afraid of you, I suppose.”
Christa laughed.
“Okay. Bye.”
***
At twelve thirty, Alexis and Christa had changed clothes, packed their duffle bags, and were standing at the front window. Thomas’s Mercedes pulled to a stop in front.
“Daddy,” Christa screamed. She flung the door open and dashed down the walk, throwing her arms around Thomas’s neck.
Alexis laughed softly and shook her head. She turned to Jennie. “We had a nice time,” she said in a flat voice.
“I’m glad.”
Alexis did not return Jennie’s hug, but picked up her duffle and strode out to the car. Jennie stood at the door watching as she hugged Thomas, then she closed the door and headed into the kitchen. She gazed into the back yard, at the leafless trees and the bare rose bushes.
So that’s it. I blew it. I wasn’t cut out to be a mother. She thought about the eight-year-olds she taught each day in school. They seemed to like her. Occasionally one would even slip and call her Mama. That’s so totally different, she thought. A tear slid down one cheek.
Jennie jumped when the doorbell rang. She was wiping away her tears as she opened the door and found Alexis on the top step.
“Forget something?” She glanced over her shoulder, searching.
Alexis shook her head. “We’ll see you in three weeks.”
A smile spread across Jennie’s face as tears began again. “See you then.”
“Christa wants to know if she can ride at the equestrian center when we’re here.”
Jennie nodded. “I’ll call Mr. Smyth tomorrow.”
***
Thomas smiled as he turned into the driveway. Lights burned throughout the house, welcoming them home, and Emma stood in the doorway, waving. Thomas nudged Alexis, who slept, leaning against the door. He reached over the seat and shook Christa, who lay across the back seat. “We’re home. Time to get up.”
Later, after they had stuffed themselves with Emma’s crawfish gumbo, Alexis and Christa headed off to bed. Emma and Thomas sat together in the family room.
“Sounds like they had an…uneventful weekend.”
“An understatement from what they told me. It seems that they were so morose the first night that Jennie made a deal with them. If they would lighten up and try to have a good time, then she would not insist that they visit again.”
“I’d have been little Miss Sunshine if I’d been offered that deal. What happened? They continued to mope?”
“For the record,” Thomas raised his hand as if taking an oath, “both deny any attempt to behave badly. They suppose their behavior reflected their feelings.” He chuckled.
“I made a quick call,” he said. “Kimi told me that Jennie has no authority to waive the court order. We’d have had to take it before Judge Sullivan. My guess is that it was not a serious offer anyway.”
“Too bad. Was her father around anytime?”
“I heard nothing about him, so I suppose not.”
“I don’t like the man.”
“Why not?”
“He made some dumb comment when I walked up to testify that morning in court. That, and the things you and the girls have said about him. Do you like him?”
“No, never have.” Thomas shook his head. “He didn’t like me and I returned the favor. I’m happy he can’t be alone with the girls.”
“What do you think is going to happen? Will her petition be granted?”
Thomas paused, staring at the fireplace. Emma had laid a fire before they arrived. The flames were casting
an orange glow across the hearth. “Kimi tells me that we’ve still found no reason to justify a denial of visitation.”
“No. Thomas, that’s not fair. It’s—”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I told you that her plan is to manage the situation rather than directly oppose it.”
Emma frowned. “So what is the plan?”
“Kimi suggested the three trial visits. Perhaps Jennie will find that it is too much for her. Maybe the reality of having children will not coincide with her fantasy. If so, she might withdraw her petition.” He put his arm around Emma’s shoulders.
“If not, then there will be another hearing. Kimi says that it will occur so late in the spring that the judge will not be able, practically speaking, to award her two months’ visitation this summer. It will be more like two weeks, and maybe not consecutive weeks. She’ll work to modify other requests in the same way.” The fire flared as a large piece of kindling broke in two and collapsed into the grate.
“Beyond that, she will insist that Jennie travel for at least half of the visitation. I told her that I don’t want her here, but she insists that I shouldn’t have to bear the expense and trouble of driving for twelve hours one weekend out of every four. The program is for her benefit, so she should have at least half of the pleasure. Maybe she’ll get tired of it, at least not be willing to do it regularly.”
“Manage it, not prevent it. Limit the damage.” She nodded. “It might just work.”
“Let’s hope so.”
They sat in silence for several moments before Emma kissed his hand. “How was your weekend?”
“I was bored and lonely.”
“That’s why you called me five times.”
“Six, and I had a reason for every call.”
Chapter Seven
“Hi, Grandmom.”
Jennie spread a blanket on the ground beside the headstone and sat cross-legged. “It was quite a weekend.”
She described how Alexis and Christa had behaved the first night. “I just wanted to cry, you know. I’d had visions—fantasies, I suppose—that they would just fall in love with me. When things turned out to be so different, I just gave up. I told them that if we could just get through the weekend, they would never have to come back, never see me again.” She plucked a small yellow flower that had poked through the grass that covered the grave, and she twisted it around her finger. She smiled. “They’re coming back, Grandmom. They don’t have to, but after Thomas picked them up, Alexis came back to the house, knocked on the door, and told me they’d see me in three weeks.” She looked at the headstone. “I wanted to sing and shout…I was so happy.”
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