“Are you going to talk to her about it?”
“No. Not now. I’m hoping she won’t be able to locate the owner. Or maybe the price will be too high.”
“That sounds like a mature answer.”
“Don’t you give me any crap after you told me about your flip out right after Justin moved in.”
“He accepts that I’m weird. I’m just going to enjoy the relationship as long as I can.”
Jacki sat up. “See, you can’t picture yourself being with someone forever either.”
Madison sighed, as if resigned to the fact. “I know. He wants a baby.”
Jacki exploded. “No way!”
Madison nodded her head, peering into the neck of her beer.
“That would be a cute baby! Mocha colored skin. Brown eyes, a gob of black hair.”
“It could be white like me.”
“Naw. Dark skin, dark eyes, predominant colors. You lose.”
“Moot point anyway.”
“I thought you wanted babies some day.”
“I do...it’s just...”
“Imagine, look at all the god-mothers it would have. Me, Elvira, Roxy, and Sunday.”
Madison laughed. “You guys would have it spoiled rotten.”
“Free babysitters!”
“Day care; I work and so do you.”
“We could pitch in on the cost.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“How is Justin doing?”
“He’s doing great. There are still issues, but he seems willing to either over look them or else he wants to discuss it. Some things I just don’t want to talk about.”
“You’re happy, though?”
Madison blushed. “Yes. I am. Too happy. It scares me.”
Jacki nodded in response. She felt the same way about her relationship with Elvira.
Chapter 24
Roxy was on pins and needles the last few days. Bud finally called Friday night and they made plans for dinner the next evening. Roxy worked at the motel Saturday, her stomach full of nervous energy. As excited as she was, there were the insecurities that came to her during the day. What would they talk about at dinner? What if she bored him? What if he talked with a mouth full of food? She hated that! No, he didn’t seem to be the type. How long had it been since she had a date? The last one, if you could call it that, was pizza with Sebastian. That didn’t even count as date. Maybe to him...
She had splurged and bought herself a new outfit. The jeans, black, with sequins on the back pockets. Her pale top hugged her tightly, accentuating her breasts. She’d get a scolding from Madison, but it’d be worth it. A thought clouded her mind. What if he was one of those guys that expected a woman to pay for half? Shit! She better write a check for a little cash and be careful what she ordered. If he was that kind of guy, it’d be his last date with her! She wasn’t a high maintenance kind of girl, but she did expect an old-fashioned date.
The day seemed to drag on and on. She was working with Ebby and probably could have asked her to do the last room alone. Except...she would have to give a reason. Roxy could talk to her best friends about Bud, but not her co-workers at the motel. If something happened, if he changed his mind, and they knew...it would be too much for her pride to bear.
At last! She clocked out and hurried home. Her little old Ford puttered along steadily.
An hour later, after the shower, after the shaving of her legs, the gelling of her blonde/red hair, she applied a pinkish lipgloss. A touch of eyeliner, a whisper of green eye shadow. Done. Roxy checked the clock. Six o’clock. She had an hour. Her fingers drummed on the table top. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, echoing through the quiet house. Suddenly, her cell chirped loudly. Roxy looked at the screen. Bud. Why was he calling her? A feeling of dread swept through her. Her hands shook as she picked up the phone.
“Bud?”
“Hello. I thought for a moment you weren’t going to answer.”
“It took me a minute to get to the phone,” she lied.
A thick quiet hung in the air.
“Is something wrong, Bud?”
“Uh...kind of. I have to cancel...”
Roxy heard another voice in the background. A weird noise. Perhaps someone covering the mouth piece. All the while, her heart thumped sadly in her chest.
Bud spoke again. “I’m sorry, Roxy. Maybe another time.” Another voice again, female. Young. “No, you don’t need to talk to her, I...” A heavy sigh. “Someone would like to talk to you.”
Roxy was speechless. Did he have his girlfriend there with him? A wife?
“Hello?” The voice was that of a child.
“Yes,” Roxy answered.
“My daddy was going to take you to dinner tonight but the babysitter is sick. He wants to cancel, but that’s silly. I told him it would be okay if I came along.”
Roxy broke into wild laughter. “Of course you can come along. Let me talk to your dad.”
“Hello, again.” Bud chuckled. “She is a persistent little girl.”
“I would love for her to come to dinner.”
Another sigh. “I’ll be there in about thirty-five minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.” A beat passed. “Bud, why didn’t you mention you had a daughter?”
“There’s a lot of women who aren’t interested in raising someone’s else’s child. I mention it, when...when I think the time is right.”
“Gottcha.”
* * * *
Bud arrived on time. Roxy had been watching out her living room window and met him outside. She glanced at the truck, only seeing a blonde thatch of hair through the windshield. Bud walked to the passenger side and opened the car door for Roxy.
“I can open the door myself,” Roxy stated. She did not want him to think of her as a helpless female.
Bud laughed. “I’m sure you can. Please, it makes me feel good. Humor me.”
Roxy climbed into the truck, sitting beside a little girl, grinning widely. She held out her small hand.
“My name is April, ’cause I was born in April. I’m eight years old and I take dancing lessons on Tuesday afternoons. My baby sitter is Adrian, but she said she was sick tonight, although sometimes when she says she is sick my daddy thinks she may be out with a boy. My daddy says I can’t go out with a boy ’til I’m thirty-five, but I know he’s joking.”
Roxy only nodded, smiling and feeling very relieved.
April looked at Roxy. She turned to Bud.
“How come she’s got those rings on her face, Dad?”
Bud’s eyes glanced at Roxy, a pleading shown in them. He looked back at his daughter. “April, that’s not polite.”
Before he could finish she turned back to Roxy. Her fingers went up to her own little eyebrow, pinching the skin. “Doesn’t that hurt? Why did you put a ring there and in your lip? Does it hurt when you eat?”
Bud’s eyes rolled. His face took on a pinkish hue.
Roxy smiled. “It’s just...who I am. And no, it doesn’t hurt.”
The little hand touched the side of Roxy’s face. She knew April was tracing her tattoo.
“Will that come off when you take a bath?”
Roxy shook her head.
She turned to her father. “Can I have one of those pictures on my face, Dad?”
Bud started the engine and began to back up. “Not until you’re thirty-five.”
April turned towards Roxy and giggled. Roxy winked.
Minutes later, they entered a restaurant. After they were seated, April excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. As she skipped down the aisle, Roxy asked, “Should I go with her?”
Bud shook his head. “She likes to be independent.” He smiled. “I’ll watch the door though. If she’s not out in a few minutes, I’ll go and knock. It always embarrasses her, but at least I know she’s okay.”
Roxy grinned. “She is a little sweetie.”
Bud took a sip of his coffee. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention her sooner...I’m ne
ver quite sure when and how to bring it up.”
Roxy twisted the ring above her eyebrow. “I thought maybe you were married...or...”
Bud shook his head. “My wife and I... When we were younger, we partied a lot. Got into some hard drugs. Then when Barb got pregnant, we quit. Everything was pretty good until April was about two. Barb started to hang with the old crowd again. I hung on for another year or so, trying to talk her out of getting into the drug scene again.” He gazed out the window, perhaps reliving a little of the past. “Finally, I took April and moved in with my mom. Not long after...I heard Barb was hanging with a tough crowd. She was found dead from an overdose before April turned four.”
Roxy didn’t know what to say. She reached over and touched Bud’s hand. “How did April...did she know her mom?”
“Not by then. Barb had visited so infrequently, April didn’t seem to miss her. She had bonded with my mom. I just...had a difficult time...thinking maybe I should have, could have...”
“Guilt is a funny thing. You experience it even when you shouldn’t.”
Bud cocked his head. “Sounds like you know a little about that. Care to share?”
Roxy leaned back and clasped her hands together. “Not today, thank you.”
April skipped back to the table and scooted in beside her father. “Have you ordered my hot chocolate yet?”
Bud chuckled. “It’s coming. They’re pretty busy.”
“Did you ask for extra whipping cream on top?”
Roxy smiled. This date was turning out much better than she had ever anticipated.
* * * *
On the drive back home April took Roxy’s hand in hers and held it. “I don’t have a mommy anymore. She died.”
“That’s very sad,” Roxy replied, empathically.
“Do you have a Mommy?”
Roxy hesitated. “Yes. I still have my mommy.”
“Is she nice?”
How the hell should I answer that? “She’s...nice in her own way.”
“Oh.”
Roxy glanced out the window, not wanting to meet Bud’s eyes. A moment later he pulled into her driveway. He got out and walked around to the passenger side. Roxy had already gotten out of the truck. “It was nice meeting you, April.”
“You too.”
Bud walked beside Roxy to her door. “Thanks for being such a sport...about April.”
“She’s a neat kid. Thank you. I had a bitchin’ evening.” She grinned.
Bud smiled. He turned towards the truck, then back again to Roxy. “I had a good time too. Maybe we can do this again? Just you and me.”
Roxy nodded and shrugged her shoulders. “Sure.”
“I’ll call you later.” Placing his hands in his pockets, he turned and headed back to his truck.
Roxy stuck her key into the lock and glanced back against the glare of the truck headlights. Bud began to back out of the driveway. She waved one last time before she entered the house. Smiling, she fell back into her recliner. Taking her cell out of her purse, she called Madison.
Chapter 25
Jacki lay on the lounge chair, eyes closed, soaking up the summer sun. Birds sang from nearby tree tops. A light, perfect summer breeze whispered among the maple leaves. She sighed, feeling perfectly relaxed.
She donned a light blue bikini top and short shorts Elvira had bought her. She would have preferred shorts coming just above her knees and a tank top. The heat from the sun brought a natural warmth to places on her body that had not been exposed in this manner. Not for quite some time.
Elvira carried out iced lemonade, setting it on the round glass table. The clink of glass upon glass startled Jacki. Smiling, she reached for the drink.
“Thank you.”
Elvira sat on a floral cushioned patio chair. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Jacki nodded, taking a sip of the sweet/tart drink.
Elvira sighed. “I wish they would call me back.”
“Who?”
“The real estate person...Marci...I think her name was...about the house.”
“Oh.” The damn house again.
Elvira sat up in her chair. “Let’s go look at it again.”
“Grrrr. I don’t want to get up. I’m enjoying the feel of the warm sun on my body, just laying here, doing nothing.”
“You can do that later. Let’s go exploring in the old house. There was an outbuilding out back. We can see what’s in it.”
Jacki laughed. “The outbuilding will most likely fall on your head. It was probably built in the sixteen-hundreds.”
“White people weren’t here in the sixteen-hundreds.”
“Someone must have been here to build that damn shed.”
Jacki heard a movement. It didn’t cause her alarm until she felt wet ice cubes cascade down her near naked, warmed body. Her shriek silenced the neighborhood. No birds sang. The breeze ceased. Leaves hung quiet. A second later, Elvira’s fit of laughter broke the silence.
* * * *
Fifteen minutes later they stood at the back yard of the old house, looking at the shed.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Elvira quipped.
“Not from here. I can barely see the hole in the roof,” Jacki noted, eying the building, guessing it to be about twenty feet long.
“It can be fixed.”
“It wouldn’t even hold the weight of new cedar shingles.”
“Don’t be so negative,” Elvira scolded. She walked ahead. Jacki sighed, following close behind.
Wild green thorny vines covered the side of the shed. Some still flowered; tiny buds of green berries; promise of juicy ripe black berries for the late summer months to come.
“Oh look. As soon as they’re ripe we can make fresh blackberry pie and jam.”
“You want to keep the blackberries?”
“Why not?” She eyed them closely.
Jacki crossed her arms. “They grow like crazy and will take over the entire back yard. We can burn them out, or cut them, dig up the roots, or put some nasty stuff on them to make them die. Poisonous though.”
Elvira reached out and lightly touched a thorn. “Very sharp.”
“Huh, uh.” Duh.
“We can keep them contained, here on the side of the building. Cut the rest down.”
Jacki glanced over the outside of the shack. “One good thing about that.”
“What’s that, Babe?”
“The vines will at least hold this side of the building up.”
Elvira muttered something under her breath and stepped around to the front. The door’s latch was only a small piece of wood, centered by a small nail. She turned the latch vertically; the door swung open. She lifted her foot to step inside. Jacki grabbed her and tugged her gently back.
“What?” Elvira asked.
Jacki reached up and swept a cobweb from across the top of the door.
Elvira’s eyes swept the door frame.
“I don’t see any spiders, go ahead.”
Elvira stepped inside.
Work tables protruded from the inside walls. Old rusty tools littered the areas. A hand saw hung from a bracket.
Jacki recognized wood working tools, a small hand planer, sanding blocks, hand drills, a bench vise. She walked to the table and picked up a skill saw. “Someone made a lot of things in here. They didn’t take very good care of their tools, though. That’s a shame.”
Elvira spouted, “See, you could have your landscaping tools in here. This could be your work area.”
“I have a work area.”
“It’s your garage, Jacki. And you rent. This would be yours.”
“I like my garage,” she said quietly, staring up into the rafters, wondering what all she could actually use it for. It did offer some storage. Her eyes drifted upward to the hole.
“Just think of it as a natural sky light.” Elvira perked.
Jacki laughed. The building probably was fixable. Even the roof.
Jacki felt Elvira’s hand in h
ers. “Come on. Let’s sneak inside the house again.”
Chapter 26
Saturday morning, Madison cuddled lazily with Justin. Cartoons flicked across the television screen. Princess sat at the end of the bed, head tilted, watching the colorful images on the screen.
“I think we should have a barbeque bash. Maybe Cory could see if his band wants to come over and play for a few hours.”
“Hmm,” Justin answered, pulling blankets over the top of his head.
“Is there anyone you’d want to invite?”
“Hmm. Let me think about it.” He snuggled down further into the bed. The bottom of his feet stuck out from under the covers.
Reaching over, Madison opened her bedside table drawer and pulled out a pen and tablet. “I’ll start making a list right now. Do you have anything going on next Saturday?”
“Humpff.” He pulled a pillow on top of his head.
“Good. I’ll plan it for then.”
* * * *
Later in the week Roxy sat in her living room, staring at her cell phone. How many times had she picked it up, right on the edge of dialing Bud’s number, when she closed her phone and sat it down again? She took a deep breath. “The worst he will say is ‘no.’ He won’t beat me up, won’t yell at me, won’t make fun of me. Won’t...do anything bad. I can do this. I work two jobs, am catching up on my bills, and own my car. It’s only a silly phone call. Get a grip.”
Roxy held the phone in her hands. Chickening out, she sent him a text instead: “going 2 barbq nxt sat want to come?”
She sat the phone down and stared, waiting for the vibration on her table and the certain ring tone that came with texting. After a few minutes of trying to telepathically transmit her request, Roxy sighed and went into her kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. She went about her evening tasks. She placed a load of laundry in the washing machine. Tomorrow would be her long day with the two jobs. As she turned the knob to start the washer, she heard the sound of her phone. Dropping the laundry on the floor, she raced to her phone. It was a call, not a text. It registered, “Bud.”
“Hello.”
Bud laughed. “You sound out of breath.”
“Yes, I was doing my...laundry.”
(Don't Mess With) Clear Lake Women Page 15