by Debra Lee
Mary tried to keep a straight face when her eyes briefly met Nelson’s as he removed his scarf and overcoat and hung them on the corner coat tree. She sensed Nelson’s continuous smile was his way of being polite while avoiding the persistent reporter’s questions about the upcoming kidnap and murder trial.
“You know I can’t give you those details, Reilly,” Nelson finally told him and turned to Paula, the receptionist filling in for Kathy who was on maternity leave.
Oh God, I’m next, Mary reminded herself. How am I going to tell Nelson? How can I tell anyone for that matter? She knew people would whisper behind her back. She must be a real loser to have gotten pregnant to a man who doesn’t love her. Even if one forgoes abstinence there’s still no excuse for an unplanned pregnancy with all the birth control methods on the market, someone else would say. If the pregnancy was an accident, the fool should have an abortion, would be another favorite among the gossipmongers.
“Don’t I have an eleven o’clock appointment, Paula?” Nelson asked.
“The Hendersons. They’re waiting in your office.”
“Good talking with you again, Reilly,” Nelson excused himself with and headed into his private office.
Reilly glanced to Paula, who was already pecking away at her keyboard. Then he focused on Mary.
“So what’s new in Miss Murray’s life?” he asked as he strolled into her office and made himself at home in the chair in front of her desk.
There was no preventing the smile. Something about this fast talking and haphazardly dressed guy appealed to Mary.
“Nothing new here,” she told him and pretended to be reading the paperwork in front of her.
“That hot shot boyfriend of yours ought a take you on a vacation, Mare. Get you some sun. You sure look peekid ‘round the gills.”
Mary had managed to control the urge to break down and cry at least a dozen times since she came into work. She couldn’t hold back any longer.
Reilly knocked over the pen and pencil holder as he scrambled for a tissue from the file cabinet next to the desk and handed it to her.
“Was it something I said, kid?”
Mary dried her cheeks and blew her nose. “I’m not a kid, Reilly Jackson. I’m probably older than you.”
Reilly reached for another tissue, handed it to her in exchange for the used one he slam dunked into the garbage can across the room. Then he sat back down and became genuinely sincere.
“Sorry, Mare. Anything I can help with?”
“Hardly.” She sniffled. “Kyle broke up with me.”
Reilly leaned closer. “Got a tell you, woman, you deserve better than that self-centered jerk anyway.”
Mary gave him an appreciative smile.
“Why don’t you have lunch with me? I’m lookin’ for someone to run the plot to my novel by. So what do you say?”
Mary snickered. “I’m meeting a friend for lunch.”
Reilly eased back in his seat. “And I’m chopped liver?”
“You’re an interesting guy, Reilly Jackson. And I’d love to hear all about the book you’ve been writing for—”
“Okay, so I’ve talked about it for a couple years. Now I’m ready to put it on paper.”
“Then do it.”
Chapter Five
Mary met Carol for lunch. They had agreed on the new restaurant that opened on Market Street.
Carol complained about the state considering a decrease in funding to the Family Planning Center as they ate. Her spirits lifted when she mentioned her upcoming dinner date.
“I can’t wait to get him in the sack.”
“Then what?” Mary asked.
“First, I torture him with my tongue—”
Mary shook her head. “Not that. What happens after the great sex? Do you have a meaningful relationship or dump him for the next pretty boy that strikes your fancy?”
Carol put down her fork and glared at Mary. “If you’re asking when I’m going to fall in love, I’m not. No man’s worth a broken heart. Besides, I’m perfectly content with my one-nighters.”
These were the times Mary wondered what it was between them that carried their friendship this far. They had little in common.
They met at college. The girl originally assigned to share a room with Mary ran off and got married the day before the start of school. Carol became her replacement.
They did not hit it off in the beginning. Carol kept to herself most of the time, staying on her side of the room when she was there. It was Mary who had to strike up conversation.
What are you majoring in? Where you from? Do you have a boyfriend?
Business, all over, and no were Carol’s answers.
It took months before Carol finally explained her all over. It started one afternoon when she stormed into their room throwing her books down on her bed ranting and raving.
“So what if I’m a pessimist. I’ve earned the right.” And she paced. “How dare he tell me I need to adjust my attitude?”
“Who?” Mary inquired, cautiously.
Carol stood in front of Mary’s bed. Her eyes filled with fire when she said, “That idiot Gromlick.”
“Professor Gromlick?”
“Some professor. Maybe if I’d been brought up by two loving parents I’d be the wonderful optimist he thinks I should be. Let him be tossed around to a dozen foster homes and see if he still thinks life’s so grand.”
Mary put down the law book she’d been wading through and sat on the edge of her bed, stunned. “You were in a dozen foster homes?”
Carol’s anger toward the professor instantly shifted to Mary. “I didn’t say that. Did you hear me say I personally went through that?”
“Carol it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. Nobody understands.”
“I’d like to.”
“You’re no different than the rest of those judgmental hypocrites,” Carol shouted and stormed out of the room.
Mary jumped when the door slammed. It took her the best part of the next hour before she felt comfortable enough to return to her book. And then her thoughts kept drifting off to Carol. She felt sorry for her. Her life must’ve been awful. But in no way could Mary comprehend just how bad.
Mary lived in the same house all of her life before college. She had two loving parents and grandparents who had always made her feel special. Even when her brother came along a few years after Mary’s birth there was an abundance of love to go around.
The worst part of Mary’s childhood was twelve years earlier. She came home from school expecting her little brother Michael to greet her in the driveway on his tricycle like he normally did. Instead there were police cars and other vehicles parked everywhere.
“Michael was kidnapped. Snatched right out of the front yard,” Grandma Murray explained through hysterical cries.
The entire town of Watery joined in the search for Michael. Volunteers and trained dogs scoured the woods behind the house. Scuba teams were called in to assist in the search of the river.
Three days passed and still no sign of him. No success on the part of the search teams.
On the fourth day a hunter stumbled over something buried beneath a bunch of leaves. It wasn’t until several years later Mary was told Michael had been sexually abused, beaten and strangled. And to this day his killer was unknown.
Mary knew her parents mourned Michael’s death. But they tried to make her life as normal as possible in the years that followed. So in a sense, she considered her childhood to be a good one.
It was late that night before Mary heard Carol slip into their room. Mary was tempted to get out of bed and apologize, although she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong. But it was Carol who came to the side of Mary’s bed.
“Hey Mary.”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry ‘bout losing my temper this afternoon.”
“It’s okay.”
And it was. That night was the beginning of their friendship. They stayed up the night sharing bits a
nd pieces from their past. Carol confided in Mary some of the gory details of her years in foster care. Mary told her about Michael and how she still missed him.
With no more secrets between them, over time Mary learned to accept important life choices Carol made even when they were opposite hers. So after Carol’s comment about being perfectly content with her one-nighters, Mary dropped the subject and finished her lunch.
She was ten minutes late returning to work. But she knew there would be no reprimand. She’d stayed past quitting time to accommodate Nelson countless days. Instead of overtime pay she was permitted to take extra long lunches or accumulate the time and add it to her vacation. But that hardly added up to the six weeks she was entitled to after the baby was born. She’d have to discuss it with Nelson soon.
She remembered his panic when Kathy sprung her news on him. He finally calmed down when she assured him she’d find an adequate replacement for when she would be off on maternity leave.
Maybe I should find a replacement, then spring it on him, Mary considered. On the other hand, she had seven months to work out all the details. Plenty of time. Or so she thought.
The months swept by much faster than Mary had anticipated.
Chapter Six
Mary shifted grocery bags over her bulging belly in order to get a clear shot at the keyhole to her second floor apartment door when behind her she heard, “Land sakes child, let me help you.”
Mary smiled as the elderly woman from across the hall relieved her of the heavy bags. “Thanks, Mrs. Webber.”
“Ellie child, remember?” Ellie reminded and followed Mary into the kitchen.
Mary continued to smile when she said, “Just put ‘em on the table, Ellie.”
Ellie not only put the bags on the table but took it upon herself to begin unpacking them.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know,” Ellie said and went on with what she was doing. “You just sit down and rest. I’ll have your things put away in no time.”
Mary was too exhausted to argue. Besides, she knew Ellie loved feeling useful.
She lived alone, a widow with two grown children who lived too far away to visit. She recently had learned she was to become a grandmother in the spring and was saving every penny to make the trip west for the birth.
Mary decided if all went as planned Ellie would have the money to buy that plane ticket.
After checking out every day care center that accepted newborns within a ten mile radius, Mary found fault with each one. Financially there was no way she could stay home with her baby. But there was no way she was leaving her infant with strangers and well meaning children who liked to poke and prod at the babies.
“I don’t know, Mary,” was Ellie’s reaction when Mary first approached her.
“Please, Mrs. Webber. There’s no one else I’d feel comfortable leaving my baby with.”
“The money sure would make my trip west more realistic.”
“When I get my raise next month I can pay you more.”
“I used to take care of most the little ones in the neighborhood. Mind you, it wasn’t for the money.” She took a moment. Mary surmised to reflect on that time in her past. Then she turned to Mary with a smile. “Havin’ a baby around sure would fill my days.”
“Then you’ll do it? You’ll take care of my baby?”
“One condition.”
Her firm tone alarmed Mary. With skepticism she said, “What condition?”
“You let me spoil the baby,” she said with a big grin. “I promise not to go overboard. But a baby needs to be rocked and cuddled a lot.”
Thrilled, now all Mary had to do was find a replacement for her position at work. She had promised Nelson she’d have the perfect candidate by the end of the week. With any luck she wouldn’t go into labor before then.
Mary’s doctor said two more weeks to go at her visit yesterday. But Mary’s body was telling her differently.
***
The following day at work exhaustion hit Mary before lunch time. She felt miserable as she stood up from behind her desk to stretch out kinks and cramps from most of her body parts.
She felt good on one front though; the woman who had just left her office would make an excellent replacement for her while she was on maternity leave, which should help calm Nelson.
Mary remembered the day she finally got up the nerve to tell him she was pregnant. Nelson was very understanding. He even insisted she take rest periods during the day on the sofa in his office. The man pampered her far more than she pampered herself. But now that her due date neared he seemed on edge. He freely admitted he depended on her to sort out the confusion of his days much more than he should. That fact came to him when a bad case of the flu kept Mary home from work for a week. When she returned it took her nearly a week to put order back into the filing system and bring the legal documents up to date. She didn’t want to think about what kind of a mess she’d return to after six weeks of Nelson on his own. But now she wouldn’t have to worry about that.
As she eased back down into her cushioned chair, she heard the front door open. She knew it wouldn’t be Nelson. He was going to be in court all day. And Kathy had left for an early lunch. It wasn’t time for her to return. It had to be a client who thought he had an appointment or wanted to schedule one. She never imagined it would be Reilly.
“Reilly!”
“Long time no see, kid,” Reilly greeted, grinning from ear to ear as he burst into her office and plopped a box down on the center of her desk.
Mary eyed the box. “Does this have something to do with why we haven’t seen you in months?”
“I did it, Mare. Go ahead. Open it up,” Reilly encouraged with an anxious pitch in his voice.
Mary lifted the lid and silently read, BEWARE OF THE INNOCENT ONE, by Reilly Jackson.
“You finished your novel.”
“I want you to be my first critic.”
Mary had the hundreds of typed pages out of the box and was leafing through them when she said, “No one else has read it?”
“Nope. I’ve been holed up in my cottage for months. Only time I left was to restock the fridge.”
She glared at him. “I heard you left the paper.”
“Took a leave of absence. So, what do you say, you gonna read it?”
Reilly Jackson always seemed to be bursting with an abundance of energy that was contagious. And now that Mary thought about it she realized she had missed his weekly visits when he’d pop in unexpectedly for updates on whatever case the district attorney was working on so he could report back to his newspaper.
Now when Mary looked at Reilly she saw things that went unnoticed before. It might be that his shirt and trousers matched for a change and he was clean shaven that made her notice. Reilly’s hair was professionally styled. And for the first time, Mary saw it was the same black color and collar length as her own. His eyes were even blue like hers.
With a smile and grunt she stretched up extending a hand across the desk to him.
As they shook hands, she said, “You got yourself a deal, Reilly Jackson.”
Mary watched his eyes zero in on her protruding center.
The surprised reaction from people over her pregnancy had long since passed. Mary no longer felt uncomfortable about the way she looked in spite of the fact she wore no wedding ring. But when Reilly’s mouth opened and no words came out, there was a moment of embarrassment for her.
Reilly’s face paled as he eased into a chair. “Guess I have been away for a while.”
His reaction confused Mary. Where was the wise crack remark typical of him? The news of her pregnancy threw him for a loop. But why?
“You okay, Reilly?”
“Who me, I’m fine. So when’s the blessed event?”
“Not supposed to be till next month.” Mary rubbed her lower back. “I’m betting on August.”
“But there’s only a week left.”
***
The minute M
ary told Reilly Kyle Frederick was the baby’s father she regretted telling him, even though he promised to keep her secret. She didn’t fully understand his comment about her not having to go through this alone, but wished she’d mentioned she wasn’t alone. Carol had stood by her through the morning sickness, mood swings, even the bizarre food cravings.
And now Carol was accompanying her to the prepared child birth classes two nights a week at the hospital, coaching her with the breathing techniques that were supposed to help during labor.
Typical of August Pennsylvania was in the middle of a heat wave. Mary suffered more than most this extremely humid night as she wobbled from the hospital where she and Carol had come from their final prepared child birth class.
“Stay here. I’ll pick you up,” Carol told Mary and dashed for the parking lot.
Mary collapsed on the bench near the entrance. Her feet were killing her. She glanced down at her ankles that resembled two over inflated balloons about to burst. As much as she dreaded the labor and delivery, she was looking forward to getting her slender body back. Not to mention being able to get her hands on the little rascal kicking the daylights out of her for months now.
Carol’s apple red sports car stopped in front of the bench. With much difficulty Mary managed to lower her odd-shaped body onto the bucket seat next to Carol.
“Believe me when I say I’m never getting pregnant,” Carol said and stepped on the accelerator.
“It’s not that bad,” Mary said, then clutched her belly and groaned.
Carol glanced over at her, eyes wider than usual. “Not now, Mare. You know how long I’ve waited for this date I have tonight.”
Mary exhaled with a smile. “Don’t get excited. It’s not labor, just a swift kick in the ribs.” Then there was another one of those sudden cravings. “Would you have time to stop at the store? It’ll only take me a minute,” Mary assured after she saw Carol’s fingers tighten around the steering wheel.