by Ann Everett
“Yeah.”
“Does he have a family?”
“No. Not married.” He smiled. This was the perfect time to mention her parents. “What about your family?”
“Mom lives in Abilene. No dad in the picture. No siblings.”
“So your parents are divorced?”
“We should get to it. I didn’t take time to work up a written test for you, so I’m going to give it to you orally.”
Damn. I’d love for you to give it to me orally.
“Name at least six things that pass through the foramen magnum.”
He struggled to keep from laughing at his dirty thought. “Okay. Dura mater, Pia mater, arachnoid mater…”
Jealousy is the dragon in paradise, the hell of heaven; and the most bitter of the emotions because associated with the sweetest.
~A.R Orage
From the time Elizabeth issued the dinner invitation, Maggie experienced mixed emotions. One minute excitement and the next anxiety. She told herself it wasn’t a good idea to get attached to his family, but she couldn’t stop.
When she arrived at the residence Jace met her at the door. Her breath caught in the back of her throat. He looked like he’d fallen off a calendar. The man made her body parts tingle. He snatched her bag and she followed him into the kitchen where he introduced her to Jared. Just as handsome as Jace, but a couple inches taller and a few pounds heavier, she wondered if he slept with girls as much as her study partner.
A mixture of aromas filled the house and triggered childhood memories of Maggie’s next-door neighbor, Rose, and how she’d taught Maggie to cook. Tears pooled. It dawned on her, that’s why she’d fallen in love with Elizabeth. She reminded her of Rose. Maggie regained control, then surveyed the kitchen’s soft green walls, the early evening light glowing against speckled granite countertops. She’d already spent weeks here, and appreciated the cozy atmosphere.
The polished oak table, set with china, silver, and crystal, looked staged for a cooking show. “Do you want me to put ice in the glasses?” she asked Elizabeth.
“Sure. I hope roast is okay. The boys love it. We’re also having garlic potatoes and steamed asparagus.”
“That all sounds delicious.”
Everyone claimed a seat and Maggie tried to calm her nerves. She sipped, but wanted to gulp the wine. The quicker she got alcohol in her system, the more relaxed she’d be. A family gathering was out of her element, but thanks to Google, she could be confident in conversation. If she managed to keep focus on Jace’s family and what she’d learned, she could avoid talking about her own.
“Jared, I understand you’re responsible for the renovation of the seating areas at the mall. I was there the other day and they’re beautiful. Those massive planters are gorgeous.” Maggie accepted the platter of roast from Elizabeth and forked some onto her plate.
Jace gave Jared a poke. “Yeah, he’s a real Bob the Builder.” He sounded irritated, but when his older brother scowled, Jace smiled.
“Thanks, I’m proud of the project. It’s one of the few I did on my own. Dad and I usually work as a team, but he let me run with the ball on that one.”
“I’ll be depending on him to do more,” Mr. Sloan said. “I’m at the age where I’m hoping for early retirement. Elizabeth and I want to travel before we need walkers.”
“Speak for yourself, Mister. I’m a long way from a walker,” Elizabeth said.
Maggie spooned potatoes next to her roast. “Jared, did you play football, too?”
Jace didn’t give his brother a chance to answer. “He played baseball in high school. Remind me. Did you play in college? Oh, now I remember, you didn’t make the cut.” Jace laughed.
“Stop being rude,” Elizabeth said.
“I’m just playing, Mom.”
Jared smiled at Maggie. “He’s right. I don’t have his athletic ability. But I never had to have a tutor.”
Jared smiled as he said it, but with an edge to his voice.
Maggie noticed Jace’s cocky attitude fade. He forked a piece of roast as if torturing it. She changed the subject. “Elizabeth, this is all delicious. Thank you for inviting me.”
“What about your family?” Mr. Sloan asked. “Jace said you’re from Abilene.”
She brought the wine to her lips to stall before answering. “Yes. My mom still lives there.”
“What does your dad do?”
Her stomach turned a flip. The one subject she wanted to avoid, but realized it would come up sooner or later, so she decided to lie. “He’s not in the picture. He works out of the country.”
Awkward silence hung heavy. She could see the concern on Elizabeth’s and John’s faces. Confusion on Jared’s. Pity on Jace’s. She wished to be a vampire and glamour them so they wouldn’t remember anything. And on second thought, if she was a vampire, she’d want to be one with perfect sparkling skin, flowing hair, and huge, really huge breasts. She smiled. Thank God. The wine is working.
~~*~~
After dinner, while Maggie helped with the dishes Jace sacked the trash and eyed his brother who stood in the doorway.
“Hey, I’ve got to go. Jared turned to face Maggie. “Dad and I are working on plans for the new wing at Covenant. Since you work there, I thought I might pick your brain about some of the ideas we have for the project.”
“Oh…I…”
Jace didn’t give her a chance to finish. “Weren’t you paying attention during dinner? She’s got a busy schedule, tutoring, working, and a dance recital soon. She doesn’t have a lot of free time.”
“I could catch her before or after a shift.”
Jace didn’t give up. “I don’t know…”
Maggie raised her hand. “Hey, you two, I’m right here.”
She smiled at Jared. “I could, though I’m not sure how much help I’d be.”
Jace’s head pounded. He glanced over at his brother and found him smiling like a cat that’d caught the last mouse in the barn, and for a split second, he wanted to tackle him like when they were kids. But Maggie’s voice cleared his head.
“Jace is right. I have a lot going on and my work schedule is crazy. Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll call you when things calm down a bit.”
Jared took out his wallet, removed a business card and handed it to her. Jace wanted to slap that victorious smirk off his brother’s face.
“Sounds great. Well, I’d better get going and let you two hit the books.” Jared’s smile still in place, he said, “Jace, always a pleasure, and Maggie, I’ll be waiting for your call.”
When the door closed, Jace spun on his heels. “I’ll be right back. I forgot to tell him something.”
His older brother had barely made it to his car when Jace called. “Hey, I thought you understood I didn’t want you to ask her out.”
“I know what you said, but you also claimed the two of you were only study partners. As far as I’m concerned, that makes her fair game. She’s sweet and smart. She’s cute, too. This isn’t a contest between you and me. Besides, it isn’t a date, it’s a business meeting.”
Jace clenched his teeth. He hated when Jared said one thing and meant another. “I know you. Call it a business meeting if you want, but you intend for it to be a date.”
“Bottom line, little brother, if you’re not interested beyond friendship, I see no reason for me not to pursue her. Do you?”
“Yeah, fine.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and stomped away.
Back in the house, he looked at Maggie. Really looked at her. Studied her. The delicate lines of her face. Her green eyes big and expressive. A small nose perched above sensuous lips and then her crowning glory, crimson hair. He lost himself in the thought of burying his face in the thick curls. Breathing in her scent. Whispering erotic things. Feeling it trail down his body and sweep across bare skin.
She peered over the top of her glasses. “Everything okay with Jared?”
“Yeah, sure. We’re different. He’s—settled.”
>
“By settled, you mean boring?”
“Maybe.” Even though he was pissed at Jared, the smile she offered and the lilt to her voice put Jace in a good mood again.
“And you’re not boring.”
“Is that a question or a statement?”
“A statement.”
“Yeah, right. From the beginning, I’m sure Sarah told you all about me. I deserve a chance to defend myself.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I don’t imagine she gave me a good recommendation.”
“Recommendation for what?”
The question caught him off guard. “I guess that’s the wrong word to use. I doubt she had anything good to say.”
Maggie’s eyes softened. There was no question she was a good nurse, the type of woman who wanted to comfort and care for others. He knew she didn’t want to hurt him, so she’d choose words wisely.
“It doesn’t matter what Sarah or anyone else tells me. I’ll form my own opinion.”
“So she has told you about me.”
“What’s the point of this conversation? What do you want me to say? I’ve already told you, I won’t be influenced by anybody. I’ll pass judgment according to your actions.”
“Tell me what she said. I want to know.”
She hesitated, looked away, but then turned back and stared directly at him. “She said you sleep around. Please don’t be mad.”
He held her gaze. “I suspect you cleaned that up a bit. Am I right?”
“A little.”
He clicked his tongue and jutted his jaw. “Well, we’re an odd pair, aren’t we? I sleep around and you don’t have a boyfriend in sight.”
“I never said I didn’t have a boyfriend. I said I didn’t want to discuss it.”
She’d not been mad all night, so he decided not to press his luck. “Okay. I admit your doctor friend was right about the mnemonics. The nastier, the easier.”
Maggie tapped the cards on the table and shuffled them. “We’ll know soon enough. Your first major test will be next week and I bet you do great.”
~~*~~
With only fifteen minutes before curfew, Jace got back to the dorm.
“How’d the dinner party go?” Sam asked.
“Just great. My mom loves her. My dad loves her. My dog loves her. And my brother wants to date her.”
“You’re shittin’ me. Jared wants to date her?”
“Yeah. Before dinner, he and I talked on the back porch, and he pointed out she wasn’t my type. Said she was too nice for me and he wanted to ask her out.”
“And, what did you say?”
“I said I didn’t want him to.”
“And what did he say?”
“Nothing, but then he asked her under the pretense of a business meeting.”
“What’d Maggie say?”
“She’s too damn naïve to understand he’s playing her, so she said she’d call him.”
“No shit!”
“Yeah, like I’m going to let that happen. I’m telling you, Sam. She’d done her homework. At dinner, she talked to Mom about cooking. She discussed some of the buildings Dad and Jared designed. She googled them. Hell, she google’s everything. You should have seen Jared. He practically drooled when she asked about his mall project.”
Sam laughed and caught a quick breath. “I don’t think he’s the only one interested in her.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“C’mon, man. At first, I thought you only wanted to screw her. But you’ve changed your tune. Besides, having another man interested only gets you more interested, right?”
Jace stripped to his boxers, threw back the cover and climbed into bed. “Yeah, maybe.”
“What are you waiting on? You need to bang that thang before big brother does. You know she wants it.”
“No, I don’t. She doesn’t flirt with me like other girls. She’s all business even with those damn nasty mnemonics. When I flirt, she ignores it. She doesn’t realize I’m doing it. She teases me, but it isn’t seductive. It’s playful.”
“Hell, you mean like a puppy?”
“No, not like a puppy, you idiot. It’s innocent, friendly, you know, two good friends trying to always one-up the other. Why do I talk to you about this stuff? It’s clear you don’t have a clue. But you’re right. I need to make a move.”
He sat up and slung his feet to the floor. “Hell, we’ve been meeting for weeks and tonight, she finally talked when I brought up dancing. It’s time I raise the ante. I’m going to ask her out.”
He reached for his cell, and she answered on the second ring. “Hey, Magpie. What? Oh God, Maggie. I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do? Are you sure? I could go with you. Okay, call me if you need me. Bye.”
He clicked off and let her words sink in. “Oh my God.”
“What was that?”
“Maggie’s mother—she died”
Footfalls echo in the memory, down the passage we did not take toward the door we never open.
~ T. S. Eliot
Her mother’s elephant collection, trunks raised in a gentle curling fashion, lined the bookcase like merchandise at Wal-Mart. How ironic those two shelves of good luck figurines hadn’t changed her mother’s run of bad luck: An unwanted child. A string of failed marriages. An untimely death at forty-six.
When Maggie thought of how the obituary should read, she couldn’t help but laugh. Audra Kay Fielding Shelton Wade Perry Garrison. No, since her mother wasn’t married at the time of her death, she listed her as Audra Kay Fielding.
Maggie stood like stone, closed her eyes and pretended the house held wonderful memories. But it didn’t. No recollections of birthday parties, sleepovers, or family Christmases. No family photos. No bean or macaroni artwork. Before she could stop them, tears spilled and she was sixteen again, filled with all the loneliness she’d kept buried for years. Sobs retched from the deepest part of her soul.
She walked to the shelves, and one by one, grabbed the figurines and hurled them at the wall, the floor, the furniture, until only shattered pieces remained. She staggered to the sofa, lay down, and curled into a ball, and as darkness closed in, one question plagued her. Why did her mother keep her? Now, she’d never know.
Her heart pounded. Her stomach churned. Time passed with no significance. She didn’t remember going into the bathroom. But now she stood at the sink, splashed cold water on her face and gazed at the reflection in the mirror. Almost the image of her mother, barely five-foot-three and a hundred pounds, but her body never developed the voluptuous curves or full rounded breasts like her mother’s. Instead, she’d gotten her hair, which most of the time looked as if an explosion had occurred on top of her head.
She dried her face and stepped into the bedroom. Opening her bag, she removed the navy blue dress, and hung it on the closet door. Exhaustion overtook her. She lay across the bed and sleep came easily.
The day of the service, after the minister told the second lie about what a good person Audra was, Maggie tuned him out. She scanned the small crowd at the graveside ceremony and thought how strange, not an ex-husband in sight. At least Sarah and Sam were with her, and to her surprise, so was Jace. By five o’clock, the service ended. Maggie told everyone goodbye then returned to her mother’s house along with her study partner.
“Thank you for coming,” she said.
He reached for her hand and held it. “I came because I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“It wasn’t necessary. I’m fine.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
She slid her hand free. “I lost her a long time ago.”
“Come on, let’s go inside. You look tired. Are you hungry? Sam, Sarah, and I ate on the way down here, but I could order a pizza.”
She unlocked the door and he held it open.
“No, I ate earlier. My feet hurt, so if you don’t mind, I want to get out of these shoes.”
He spied the broken glass. “What ha
ppened here?”
“Oh, I dropped them.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me a broom and I’ll sweep them up while you change.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind.”
Why is he here? Pity, she guessed. She gave him the broom, then went to her bathroom. As she rummaged through her suitcase, she realized both tee shirts she’d brought had Jace’s name and number on them. For a moment she hesitated. What would he think? Don’t be silly. They were study partners and she was a fan, so it wouldn’t be natural to wear another player’s jersey. Grabbing a pair of black sweat pants, she pulled the Texas Tech tee shirt over her head. She tucked, untucked, and then re-tucked the shirt, and finally decided to let it hang loose. When she came from the bathroom, he lounged on her bed. A lump formed in her throat.
He lurched forward. “If it makes you uncomfortable for me to sit here, I’ll move.”
“No, don’t be silly,” she said, willing her voice not to quiver. She joined him and crossed her legs Indian style, grabbed a pillow, and put it in her lap.
He piled pillows against the headboard and relaxed his back against them. “Nice shirt. I hear that guy’s pretty good.”
The way he smiled made her heart flutter and even though she couldn’t work up a spit if she tried, she managed to say, “Yeah, he is.”
“On the drive down here today, it occurred to me, you’ve met my family, but I know nothing about yours or much about you.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t. I mean, you’re smart, you dance, you’re a nurse, but I don’t know about you. So tell me the whole Maggie Fielding story.”
“It isn’t nearly as interesting as the Jace Sloan saga.”
“I doubt that.”
Her heart slammed against her chest. He was the first boy—man, to ever be in her room, much less her bed. She reminded herself: I’m not his type. First she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, then dropped her hands into her lap and clasped them. Every movement seemed more awkward. Finally, she ran her palm over one of the pillows and smoothed the fabric. Swallowing hard, she began. “Well, I don’t know my father. I have no idea how he looks. My mother married four times but none of her husbands were my dad.”