Miraculously, Tandi was able to get through showing a house to her client, but she couldn’t remember for the life of her how the client felt about the house. Back in her office, her tiredness came down on her. She put her arms on her desk and rested her weary head. While she was able to shut out the ringing telephone right on her desk, she could not shut out all that she’d learned about Carline and Sporty.
“Tandi.”
Slowly opening her eyes, she looked groggily at Joan, the office assistant, who had slipped into her office.
“You have a phone call on two.”
Tandi sat up and glanced down at the flashing button on two. “A client?” she asked.
“No. Brent Rodgers.”
She had almost forgotten about that bastard. Like Evonne, she didn’t need Brent in her life. Who was it that said, “Friends come and go, enemies accumulate?” Oh yes. Good old Aunt Gert, God rest her soul.
“Thank you.” She waited for Joan to leave before she picked up the telephone. “Yes,” she said, her voice cold and impatient.
“Baby, don’t sound so cold. I know you’re angry with me for not being in touch, but I had to leave town on short notice. I had some business on the West Coast.”
“What do you want, Brent?”
“You, baby. You’ve been on my mind every minute. I tried to call you before I left but I couldn’t reach you.”
“Don’t waste my time with lies, Brent. I’m not in the mood.”
“Baby, don’t be like that, I really was out of town. I . . .”
“Brent.”
“. . . can’t wait to see you. I . . .”
“Brent.”
“. . . can come by . . .”
“Brent! Shut up and listen to me. I don’t wanna see you. I don’t want you coming by. I—”
“You’re pissed with me, aren’t you? You think I stole your money. Look—”
“Good-bye, Brent.”
Tandi hung up on the past that was never meant to be her future. And only after a silent prayer to God to guide her, she dialed the man who should have been her fantasy.
58
Tandi and Jared lay facing each other, inhaling each other’s breath. They had slept only briefly, but they had slept in each other’s arms. Well into the early morning hours, Jared had gotten his fill of Tandi more than once and wanted her yet again now that he was awake. All was, also, well with Tandi. She was supremely serene. After they had made love the first two times, at one-thirty in the morning, she told Jared everything about Carline and Sporty. Jared was just as shocked as she had been, but he put it all in perspective.
“That would have been a heavy burden for either of them to deal with if they had stayed together. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for them apart and alone in this world.”
“How can you sympathize with them?”
“I’m not trying to sympathize with them, but because I’m not as close to it as you are, I can see how bad it must have been for them. This is an amazing story, and I’m . . .” Jared searched for a word. “I’m flabbergasted.”
“Imagine what I am,” she said.
“I know. Tandi, I don’t have to tell you how I feel about your father, but this explains so damn much about him. Maybe he’s not as bad a man as we thought.”
“He’s not my father.”
“Oh, he is your father, whether you can accept it or not, but I’m appalled that he kept this secret to the detriment of your relationship, and I’m upset that your mother took herself out of the equation completely, leaving you all to think she was deceased. Unfortunately, they made choices that will forever haunt them with guilt and shame. Especially your mother, with her own mother’s death on her conscience. Your father had to be feeling some responsibility for that death, too. It had to be rough for both of them.”
Unexpectedly, the tiniest tinge of pity for Sporty and Carline snuck up on Tandi and saddened her. Maybe Jared was right—it had to be rough for both Sporty and Carline. They were star-crossed lovers whose love for each other was forbidden by society and God. Neither had lived happy lives, and who was to say whether their twilight years together would be any happier? But how sad it would be for them to leave this earth and to have never known true happiness. Just thinking about that brought tears to Tandi’s eyes. Nestled up against Jared, she talked until the first ray of dawn peeked through the window. She was a bit more understanding about how she came into the world, and a whole lot less bitter about the man who raised her when he didn’t have to. It was his anger at her that she was having a hard time forgiving. In fact, she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to forgive him or Carline for not standing strong.
“Forgiveness takes time,” Jared said. “When the time’s right, you’ll know.”
By the time she stopped talking, Tandi was mentally exhausted, but her body was eager to be made love to by Jared. She wasn’t too tired for that. After they made love, no more words were needed. They let the warmth of their naked bodies speak for them.
Knock . . . knock . . . knock.
Tandi covered her breasts. They hadn’t heard Michael Jared come into the house or come up the stairs. Now that Jared had given him his own house key, Michael Jared never again had to ring the bell.
“Come in,” Jared said.
The door swung open. In pranced a smiling, bright-eyed MJ. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully. At the foot of the bed, he climbed up onto the trunk and knelt down.
“Well, hello my beautiful son,” Tandi said, pleased to see the broad smile on MJ’s face.
“Hi, Mommy. Hi, Dad.”
“Good morning,” Jared said. “Are Daina and Herb downstairs?”
“No, they left,” MJ said. “Daina said she’ll call later. Her and Herb were going to church and I didn’t wanna go. I wanted to see Mommy.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Daina called Granddad’s house last night and that lady said you didn’t come home, so Daina said you were probably here.”
“Trust Miss Daina to know,” Tandi said, thinking how good a friend she had been to both her and Jared.
“Mommy, what’s for breakfast?”
“Didn’t Daina feed you?”
“Yeah, but I’m still hungry.”
“No surprise,” Tandi said. “What do you want?”
“Pancakes and sausages and scrambled eggs with cheese and orange juice.”
“You’re not real hungry, are you?”
“I’m starving.”
“Boy, I told you you have a tapeworm living in your body,” Jared said, looking at how beautiful Tandi was. For months he had longed to have her here, and it was a dream come true that she finally was.
“Dad, stop saying that ’cause I don’t believe you.”
Jared laughed.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’m going to make the biggest stack of pancakes you’ve ever seen.”
“Mommy, that’s fine for me, but what’re you and Dad gonna eat?”
“We’re gonna eat you,” Tandi said.
Jared laughed heartily. He couldn’t’ve asked for a better start to his day. He had his family back.
Playful, MJ tweaked Tandi’s big toe through the covers. “Mommy, you used to always say that when I was little. You can’t really eat me. I’m not food.”
Giggling, Tandi pulled her foot out of MJ’s reach. “No, but you certainly feed my pride. So, what did you do up in the Catskills?”
“I went row boating. It was fun. Can you, me, and Dad go up to the Catskills? Daina says we can stay in her house.”
Tandi deferred to Jared. She didn’t want to make a promise that Jared wasn’t going to be able to keep.
“We can go at the end of July.”
“But, Jared, you—”
“We’ll go,” Jared said.
MJ bounced up off the trunk and back down again. “All right!”
Secretly Tandi was praying that when the time came, Jared would not back out because the spa
rkle in Michael Jared’s eyes would surely dim.
Seeing how happy Tandi and MJ were filled Jared with a full, well-fed comfortable feeling in his gut. It reminded him of the long ago early mornings they used to spend together as a family. He should have never let those little things that made Tandi happy slip away.
“Dad, Daina said in the winter that I could go skiing up there. Can I get my own skis?”
“I don’t see why not. But, first, I think we should go away for a few weeks this summer. We need to practice being a family on vacation.”
MJ’s eyes widened. He leaped onto the bed. “Where?”
“A cruise would be nice,” he said, looking at Tandi who was smiling pleasantly.
“On a boat?” MJ asked.
“On a big boat. A ship.”
Tandi got up on her elbow and kissed Jared. They kissed full and long.
“Mommy! Dad!”
Chuckling, Tandi laid back. “Disgusting, huh?”
“No. I just don’t wanna watch y’all getting mushy.”
“We don’t want you to watch,” Jared said. “Hey, I have an idea. MJ, instead of making your mother cook, why don’t we go out for breakfast.”
“Oh, boy!” MJ exclaimed. “The Pancake Hut.”
For Tandi, this was getting to be too good to be true. “But, Jared, don’t you have to rest up for the week?”
“I’ll rest tonight. Sunday is family day. I plan to spend the day with my wife and son. And before I forget, I’ve hired another attorney.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He’s going to lighten my load quite a bit. I had Marci hire a secretary to help her out.”
“Can I come in to work to help out, too?” MJ asked.
“Sure, on Saturday mornings. Why not?”
“All right.”
That feeling of being let down began to creep up on Tandi. “You’re going to still open the office up on Saturdays?”
“One Saturday a month to take care of administrative work for the month. I can never seem to get that done on weekdays. Don’t worry. It’s going to work out just fine.”
He could see Tandi was worried. “I promise,” he said.
MJ grinned from ear to ear.
“The other three Saturdays belong to you, Tandi. Whatever you want to do, it’s up to you. Saturday nights will be our date nights.”
“Jared, don’t make—”
“I made you a promise to put you and MJ first in my life. I will keep that promise.”
She wanted to believe him.
“What will I do on Saturday nights?” MJ asked.
“We’ll find something for you to do,” Jared said.
“I could go with y’all.”
“Once in a while,” Tandi said.
“Maybe,” Jared said. “The funny thing is, MJ, in time, you’ll be begging us to stop dragging you along. Until then, Saturday afternoon, you can hang, but Saturday night, you gotta go. I’m taking my girl out.”
“Jared, we can’t leave him home alone. We—” Tandi saw that they were both smiling at her.
“Gotcha,” Jared said.
“Mommy, we’re playing with you. I’m gonna go stay with Daina or Uncle Glynn. We already asked them.”
Jared smiled smugly. Under the covers, she kicked him. He laughed.
“Dad said we can do whatever I want on Sunday.”
“I agree,” she said, feeling love for them both.
Jared squeezed Tandi’s side.
Turning to face him again, she touched his cheek. His prickly stubble tickled her hand. She had never loved him more, except maybe on the day they wed and the day Michael Jared was born. Last night Jared had asked her once again about Brent, and she had answered, “He was but a memory that I should have left buried. He is no one to me or us.” He didn’t question her any further.
MJ screwed up his face. “What we gonna do after we eat?”
“Since it’s a special Sunday, we do whatever your mother wants to do,” Jared said.
“Mommy, you wanna go to the movies?”
She couldn’t stop looking at Jared. She nodded.
“So, when’re y’all getting up?”
“Soon as you let us,” Jared replied.
“Y’all can get up now. I’m not stopping y’all.”
Jared held Tandi closer. “Yes, you are.”
“You want me to go out the room, right?”
“That would get me going faster,” Jared said, smiling a secret smile at Tandi.
Looking from Tandi to Jared, MJ continued to sit, not moving an inch.
“Michael Jared, would you do me a favor?” Tandi asked.
“MJ,” Jared reminded her.
“Oh, excuse me. MJ—”
“Mommy, you can call me Michael Jared, if you want.”
“Thank you, honey, but I’ll call you MJ since you prefer that.”
“But I don’t mind if you wanna call me Michael Jared. I’m used to you calling me that.”
“Thank you, that’s so sweet of you.”
“That’s my boy,” Jared said proudly.
“Honey, would you do me a favor?”
“Yes.”
“Go downstairs and turn on the television to the Weather Channel. We need to know what the weather is so we’ll know how to dress.”
“It’s hot, like it was yesterday.”
“MJ,” Tandi and Jared both said in unison.
“Okay, but I know y’all just wanna get rid of me.”
“You’re right,” Jared said. “Close the door behind you.”
Nimbly springing up off his knees, MJ landed hard on the floor. “When I get older, I’m gonna go out whenever I want and leave y’all in bed all day,” he said, moseying over to the door.
“Until then, go downstairs,” Jared said. “We’ll be down in a little while.”
“I might starve by then.”
“MJ,” Jared said, “the longer you take to leave, the longer—”
“I’m going. Man.” MJ started slowly pulling the door up behind him, but then he stopped.
They both saw the worried look on his face. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Tandi asked.
“Mommy, you’re not gonna leave again, are you?”
Leaving them was the furthest thing from her mind. Her family was here, not in Sporty’s house where he and Carline would be making a new life for themselves, and not in an apartment with barren walls that had not heard Jared’s passion or Michael Jared’s laughter. Last night after she couldn’t get Sporty and Carline off her mind, she called Glynn’s house and left a message for him to go see his father—immediately—because he and Carline, his home health aide, had something vitally important to tell him that would forever change his life. If Glynn got the message, he’d beat a path to Sporty’s door, especially if he thought Sporty’s money was involved. Who knows? She hadn’t yet heard from Glynn, so all she could do was wait. In the meantime, she was grateful that she was in the loving arms of her man, where she should be.
Jared, too, waited anxiously for Tandi to answer. He had been too afraid to ask that question himself.
“I’m home to stay,” she said finally.
“All right!” MJ shouted.
Jared inched even closer to Tandi. They both felt that sweet intense pull between their bodies and were impatient to satisfy their yearning. They began to kiss.
Although he was smiling, MJ said, “Yuck.”
They heard the door close just as their lips parted. Last night their bodies had come together in a familiar rhythm of passion, their souls had come together in remembrance of times when they shared the same dreams, but, now, their minds, too, came together out of desire. They were in love again.
Sweaty and out of breath, Jared lay on top of Tandi completely satisfied. She lay under him a very happy woman.
Riiing!
“Let it ring,” Jared said, kissing Tandi on the neck. He didn’t want to let the world in just yet.
Riiing!
To Tan
di, the ringing was like the calling of her name. “I have to get that.” With Jared still on top of her, she answered, “Hello?”
A long, drawn breathless wheezing filled Tandi’s ear, disturbing her. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Who is this?”
“Tandi. Oh, God—” the hoarse voice croaked before it broke into deep, painful sobs.
Tandi’s nose began to sting. “Glynn?” She started to raise up with Jared still on top of her. He immediately rolled aside.
“Glynn!” she said loudly, trying to get him to hear her through his crying, while tears rushed to her own eyes. “Glynn, talk to me.”
“What’s he saying?” Jared asked.
“He’s not saying anything. He’s crying.” And that surprised her. It could only mean one thing. He knew. “Glynn, where are you?”
Jared checked the caller ID box. Glynn’s home number was displayed. He took the telephone from Tandi.
“Glynn, hold tight, brother. We’ll be right there.”
A READING GROUP GUIDE
DISTANT LOVER
GLORIA MALLETTE
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are intended to enhance your group’s reading of this book.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Since her husband Jared’s affair three years before, Tandi Crawford felt trapped in their sexless, non-communicative marriage. Could Tandi’s simmering anger, together with the fact that she never forgave Jared, be the impetus behind her fantasizing about her first love, Brent Rodgers? Did this contribute to the widening gulf between them?
2. It was obvious Jared was sincerely regretful of indulging in an affair on Tandi. What could Jared have done differently to convince Tandi of his sincerity?
3. Brent Rodgers was Tandi’s fantasy. Most people often wonder what happened to their first love and wonder, what if? Brent turned out to be not all that Tandi dreamed of. Did Tandi’s fantasy of Brent make it impossible for him to live up to who she imagined him to be? Was the better man for Tandi, the man she had all along?
Distant Lover Page 35