by Linda Wisdom
“The girls came early,” Jeff protested, not thinking as he waved the roller in their faces. Both brothers jumped backward but still ended up with flecks of creamy-yellow paint on their faces and hair.
“Hey!” Mark yelled. “I promised Nora we’d have the room finished today. Once it dries I’ve got to figure out how to put up the wallpaper border.”
“I can’t believe it,” Brian chuckled. “Baby brother putting together a nursery. Did you really go into that mega baby store and pretty much buy it out?”
Mark’s face reddened. He returned to carefully painting the molding. “I only got a few things. Mom said Grandma’s knitting an afghan for the baby.”
“She always knits an afghan for a new baby,” Jeff said. His trademark blue eyes turned dreamy. “The girls still sleep with theirs.” His shoulders moved up and down with a sigh that was as heavy as the expression on his face. “I miss them all so much.”
Mark and Brian looked at each other.
“I can’t believe you thought he’d be useful,” Brian muttered to his brother. “All he’s done here today is moan and groan about Abby and the kids.”
“It’s better than his staying in my apartment and moaning and groaning about them.” Mark surveyed the work that was already finished. What should have amounted to half a day of work tops had taken just about all day.
Mark and Jeff had arrived early with the intention of clearing the furniture out of the guest room Nora had earmarked for the nursery. By the time Brian arrived, the two brothers had everything moved into the garage, the closet doors taken off the track and propped against the hallway wall and a tarp laid out on the carpet. After the windowsills and molding were covered with masking tape, the three brothers got busy stirring the paint and painting the walls.
Mark looked upward. “Wouldn’t it look cool if the ceiling had glittering stars on it that glowed in the dark? I found a really neat lamp that looks like a castle out of a fairy tale. If we painted the ceiling to look like a sky with stars we’d have the perfect surroundings for the lamp and the wallpaper border.”
Brian looked at Jeff. “This is downright scary. He’s sounding more and more like us.”
“It had to happen sooner or later,” Jeff agreed.
“Then you’ll help me paint the ceiling?” Mark asked.
“Not on your life. It may look great, but it can be a hassle to do. I found that out when I did it to Jennifer’s room,” Brian groaned. “Besides, you need to do that kind of job before you paint the walls. You said you want to put up the wallpaper border tomorrow afternoon if the paint’s thoroughly dried by then. Wallpaper border, that I understand, not Nora, but you, chose.” He looked at his brother with disbelief.
“It went with the lamp,” Mark defended his choice.
“Abby and I chose the wallpaper for Seth’s room together,” Jeff whispered. His handsome face was grave with sorrow. “It had all those little trains on it.”
Mark and Brian exchanged glances.
“I have never seen anything so pathetic,” Brian murmured.
“Pathetic? This is downright cheerful for him since he moved in with me,” Mark grumbled. “I’m talking two weeks of pure misery for me. I’m ready to pay Abby big money to take him back.”
“I thought you said you’d be finished by now.” Nora stood in the room’s doorway.
“We’re almost done. I’m finishing up the windowsills,” Mark told her. “Why don’t you take a nice relaxing bath while we get this cleaned up in here?”
She shot him a look that clearly conveyed he was an idiot. “If I tried to get into the tub I would not get back out without the help of a crane. I’m going to take a nap.”
“Okay, honey! We’ll make sure to keep the noise down,” Mark called after her.
“I bet you rub her feet too,” Brian kidded.
“She’s on them a lot,” Mark defended himself as he still stood in the nursery’s doorway. “I asked her to marry me.” When he turned around he found his brothers staring at him with equal amounts of shock.
Brian smacked the side of his head with his open palm. “Excuse me, I don’t think I heard you correctly. What did you just say?”
“You’re kidding,” Jeff threw in his opinion.
Mark set down his paintbrush. “I said I asked Nora to marry me.”
“Since you don’t have that goofy ‘I’m getting married’ look on your face I gather she said no,” Jeff said.
“She didn’t say anything. She won’t even talk about it. She acts as if I didn’t ask her,” he said morosely.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Gail kept saying no in the beginning too,” Brian said. “Everything turned out fine for us.”
“But Nora didn’t turn me down,” Mark argued. “She just refuses to talk about it.”
“Then you’ll just have to get her to talk about it, won’t you?” Jeff advised. “While you’re at it, maybe you can find out why Abby still won’t talk to me. I called her this morning and she hung up on me.”
Brian glanced at his watch. “We’re talking world record here, big brother. Only two minutes since the last time you mentioned her name.” He slung an arm around Mark’s shoulder. “We’ll finish up the trim and clean up. You go in there and rub the lady’s back. They love that kind of attention. I’ll drop Jeff back at your apartment.”
“You’re more than welcome to take him to your house for a few months,” Mark muttered.
“Nah, he’s your problem,” Brian said cheerfully.
Mark left him and Jeff to their duties and walked to the room next door. He found Nora stretched out on her side, sound asleep. Brumby lay on the floor next to the bed. The dog lifted his head then resumed his nap.
Mark went into the bathroom to wash up and exchange his paint-splattered T-shirt for a clean one.
When he went back into the bedroom, he leaned over and adjusted the blanket to cover Nora’s shoulders. He toed off his shoes, sitting down on the other side of the bed and stretching out next to her. He lay on his side facing her.
“You may have the red hair, babe, but I’m just as stubborn as you are,” he whispered. “Which means I intend for our daughter to have a pair of happily married parents by the time she’s born.” He smiled when Nora murmured in her sleep and edged closer to him. He slipped his arm under her neck and carefully pulled her against him.
When Mark later opened his eyes, he found Nora awake and looking at him.
“Hi,” he whispered.
She smiled. “It’s very quiet.”
“Brian said he’d take Jeff home. Trouble is, he’s taking him to my place and not his.” He rolled over and switched on the lamp, sending a soft glow throughout the room that had darkened with evening dusk. “Want anything special for dinner?”
“Do you ever think about anything but food?” she teased.
“You.” The sincerity of the one word startled her.
Nora slowly rolled over onto her other side and carefully maneuvered herself up off the bed.
“Have you ever seen those toys that were inflated clowns on these big cardboard feet?” she asked. “The ones you hit, they bounce backward then bounce back up. That’s how I feel.”
Mark was instantly on his feet and around to her side of the bed. He grasped her hands and pulled her upright.
“You need to eat,” he said. “I’ll get anything you want.”
“Coconut shrimp from Syd’s Place?”
He shook his head. “How many times have you had that in the past few weeks? I’m surprised you haven’t turned into a shrimp by now.”
“I’ve heard some women say that after their pregnancy they didn’t even want to look at the food they craved during it. I think I even dream about Syd’s shrimp,” she confessed. “This row of dancing shrimp.”
Mark ran his hands through his hair. Obviously not pleased with his method, Nora picked up a comb off the night table and fixed it herself.
“Would you also see if they have any of their k
ey lime pie?” she asked.
“I guess I should be grateful you’re not going for anything weird,” he muttered, finding his shoes.
“Putting chunky peanut butter on key lime pie is not strange,” she protested. “In fact, it’s really good.” She burst out laughing at his look of horror. “Gotcha!”
Mark rubbed his face with his hands. “You’ve effectively ruined my appetite. You call the restaurant and order the food so it will be ready when I get there,” he told her. “I’ll take the teriyaki chicken with rice.”
After Nora heard the front door open and close, she went into the bathroom to wash her face. Moaning in horror at hair sticking out every which way after her nap, she applied a brush to it and added blush and lipstick.
Marry me.
She determinedly ignored the voice going through her head.
Marry me.
She closed her eyes as if that would stop the seductive voice that could offer so much. Or take away even more.
“I refuse to end up like my mother,” she whispered to herself. “I won’t do that to my daughter.”
She opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She picked up her washcloth and dampened it under the faucet. She wiped away every trace of blush and lipstick.
When Mark returned with their dinner, Nora had plates set on the kitchen table and Brumby’s face was buried in his bowl.
“I took a peek in the nursery. The walls look beautiful,” she told Mark.
“Wait until the wallpaper border goes up,” he told her. “I thought it would be neat to have glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, but Brian said we should have done it before painting the walls.”
Nora unpacked the food containers and laid everything out.
“I should have thanked Jeff and Brian for their help,” she told him as they dug into their meals.
“Don’t worry about it. They’ll talk me into helping them on something. It all evens out.” He shrugged.
She picked up a slice of melon that came with her food and nibbled on it.
“How is Jeff doing?”
“He has to be the most miserable human being in existence. I’d say he’s ready to beg Abby to just shoot him and put him out of his misery. And if she won’t do it, I’m almost ready to volunteer for the job.” He offered a piece of chicken to Brumby, who didn’t hesitate in accepting the gift. “I know you’ve seen her. Ah-ah-ah, no giving me that innocent look.” He waved his fork at her. “She had to have told you why she kicked him out.”
“It’s something he has to figure out for himself,” she replied.
Mark made a face. “Great. That means I’ll never get rid of him.”
Once finished, he helped her clean up the kitchen and carried out the trash. Mark turned on Nora’s stereo and scanned channels until he found music to his liking. He smiled when he heard the mellow tones of the Righteous Brothers flow out of the speakers. He turned off all the lights except one, before walking over to the couch where Nora was seated. He pulled her to her feet.
“Dance with me,” he coaxed.
“Dancing isn’t all that easy,” she protested.
“Sure it is.” He looped her arms around his neck while slipping his own around her now nonexistent waist. He swayed back and forth, his hips bumping gently against her. He cradled her face against his chest so he could rest his chin on the top of her head. “Our daughter might come out dancing.”
“More like doing handsprings,” she said softly.
When the song ended and another started, they didn’t pull apart but kept on dancing.
Nora could hear the steady thump of Mark’s heartbeat under her ear as they slowly moved from side to side. If she opened her eyes, she knew she’d see hula girls dancing under palm trees adorning Mark’s shirt. But she preferred keeping her eyes closed and inhaling the familiar scent of his skin with the warmth of his arms around her.
When had things changed?
Was it the first time they made love?
When he didn’t run in the other direction when he learned he was going to be a father?
She knew she was in love with him, but she feared it wasn’t enough. It hadn’t been enough for her father to stay with her and her mother. Not when there were so many women out there to charm.
She hadn’t missed the way the clerk at the baby store had looked Mark up and down. Or that smile of his directed at her.
What if he got tired of her and the baby the way her father had gotten tired of her and her mother?
Except your father didn’t surprise your mother with an entire room of baby furniture or paint your bedroom. He never went out and got anything she wanted. He never thought of her well-being the way Mark has.
Nora frowned. All right, Grammy Fran, you’ve made your point!
He’d also surprised her with the new coffeemaker. And no matter how much he jokingly complained about Jeff staying with him, he hadn’t kicked his brother out.
“What are you thinking about?” he murmured in her ear.
“Nothing important,” she said, not even realizing that she was speaking the truth. She started to feel that Mark wasn’t as much like her father as she had feared he was.
“Then think about something important.” His breath tickled her ear. “Think about marrying me. Think how happy you’d make my mother if you made an honest man of me.”
His arms tightened around her when she would have pulled away.
“No more ignoring me, Nora,” he ordered. “All it takes is a yes or no. Preferably yes,” he joked. His smile disappeared when she refused to look at him.
This time she was successful when she pulled away. “There’s more to it than just one word,” she pointed out.
“Such as?” He kept hold of her forearms. “Dammit, Nora, tell me! Tell me why you won’t marry me.”
“It’s not a good idea,” she mumbled.
“Oh no, I want more of a reason than that,” he persisted. “We’re good together. I’m in love with you.”
Nora’s head snapped upward. “No, you’re not,” she breathed.
“Yes, I am. Dammit, Nora, look at me!” He shook her gently. “I don’t know when it happened. Just that it did and I refuse to believe you don’t have feelings for me.”
“I can’t.” She stepped back.
“Can’t, not won’t.” He jumped on her word choice. “Meaning something’s holding you back. What?”
“Nothing!” She could feel her respiration increase. Agitation rose inside her.
“What?” He pursued her. “Tell me why.”
“Because in some ways you’re like my father. I’m afraid the day will come when you’ll grow bored with me and with the baby and you’ll look for women who offer a new challenge. And I’ll be left behind. I refuse to end up a pathetic victim like my mother!” She pressed her fingertips against her lips. She was horrified the words had come out so easily.
Mark froze. “After everything you still believe that?”
She nodded. “The baby wasn’t planned. My dad left my mother and I years ago because he hated to be tied down. He never bothered with us again.” She walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. “My mother said he always liked to flirt. He liked to have women’s attention centered on him. He wasn’t happy unless he was charming a woman. He couldn’t have it as easily when we were around. So he left us instead.” The last words were a faint whisper.
Mark stood in the middle of the room, his hands hanging at his sides.
“Sometimes when we were out, you’d suddenly change. You’d become distant, almost cold. Now that I think about it, it happened back when we were dating,” he muttered. His forehead creased in thought. “Is that why you broke up with me back then, Nora? Because you thought I’d grow bored with you the way your dad did with your mother? Did you ever think to just talk to me about it? To tell me how you felt?”
Nora shook her head. “Wouldn’t that have been a good laugh? You would have thought I was using it as an excuse
, or you would have said it was my imagination. Except, we’d go out and you’d smile and joke with our waitress. Those women would practically fall all over you. How many slipped you their phone numbers?”
“I was never unfaithful to you.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “As for phone numbers, I always threw them away. I didn’t want to be with anyone but you.” He spun around in a tight circle. “I drove myself crazy trying to figure out why you broke up with me so abruptly.” He muttered a curse and stalked over to her. He leaned over, bracing his hands on the chair arms. Mark lowered his head until his face was a breath away from Nora’s. “I thought we had something special. Instead, all we have is a lack of faith on your part. You never gave me a chance.” His eyes bored into hers. She couldn’t remember ever seeing them so cold. He shook his head as if he was shaking something off. He pushed himself away. Mark paced the length of the room for a moment. Instead of his usual athletic grace, his movements were jerky. “I can’t do this right now,” he muttered. “I can’t.” He walked out of the room.
Nora remained in the chair. She heard faint sounds from her bedroom then Mark’s footsteps in the hall. He appeared in the archway.
“You’ve got Ginna and my mom if you need anything,” he said in a quiet voice. “Since they’re women, I’m sure there’s no reason why you can’t trust them.”
A moment later, she heard the front door open and close with a soft click. The neighborhood was so quiet she heard the sounds of Mark’s truck as he drove away.
Nora was still in the chair an hour later. One thing that stuck in her mind was the look of sorrow on his face and especially, his eyes. There was anger in them but even more unsettling were the hint of tears. She knew he wouldn’t be back.
For months, she’d told herself she was better off alone.
Now that she was alone, she realized it was the last thing she wanted.
Chapter Seventeen
“One Walker down in the dumps is bad enough. Two is way past pathetic.” Brian snagged a nearby chair and turned it around, straddling the seat as he rested his arms on the back of the chair. He looked from Mark to Jeff and back to Mark. Both men were sprawled on the couch staring at the television set. The only problem was, the set wasn’t turned on. “We’ve always had an upbeat station here, guys. And now…” He paused. “Well, now it’s pretty depressing around here. Which is why I’ve been chosen by our comrades—” he indicated the men standing around in the large kitchen acting as if they weren’t eavesdropping “—to find out what we need to do to cheer things up. Jeff, we already know.” He held up his hand to halt his brother’s outpouring. “Mark, we’re not sure, but we have a pretty good idea it has to do with Nora.”