The Empty Nesters

by Brown, Carolyn

  She listened intently for a minute, cocking her head from one side to the other. “Of course I can drive the sumbitch. I drove it home from the dealership, didn’t I? That’s not the issue. I’m not sure I can go to the old house without you. It’s where we spent our honeymoon, and you won’t be there.”

  She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “You could at least give me a sign. If folks can see Jesus on their toast, surely you can throw something out here. Maybe a cloud in the shape of a big-ass RV?”

  Smokey had been gone just shy of a month, and this trip had been weighing on her for the past week. She and her husband of more than sixty years had gone to their vacation place near Scrap, Texas, for a month in the fall to celebrate their anniversary. At the beginning of their marriage, it hadn’t been possible every year, not with Smokey in the military, but they hadn’t missed going for the past two decades.

  “Come on, just a little something,” she begged. “Peace in my heart one way or the other will do just fine.” She got up from her comfortable rocking chair and went to the back door to stare at the enormous motor home sitting in her backyard. What had she been thinking? Using a chunk of their savings for that monstrous thing was pretty silly at their age.

  While she was standing there, she heard the most god-awful sounds—something like a coyote with its foot caught in a trap. She hadn’t heard that kind of noise since she lived in northeast Texas—up there in the rural area around Scrap. Coyotes were a problem in most parts of the state, but she’d never even heard one howling in Sugar Run.

  She threw open the door and realized it was coming from Carmen’s house next door. Without even stopping to put on her shoes, she raced across the lawn, threw open the yard gate, and hurried to Carmen’s back door.

  Having never been blessed with children, she and Smokey had adopted the three army wives who lived on their block. The women had each had a precious little girl when they moved to Sugar Run thirteen years ago, and the kids plus their parents had breathed life back into a tired old neighborhood.

  Without even knocking, Tootsie tried the back door only to find it locked, but that awful sound swelled. Tootsie’s heart pumped so hard that she had to stop a second for breath when she made it to the front porch. Someone had to be attacking poor Carmen, the smallest of her kind-of-adopted daughters. Should she go back home and get her pistol or just use whatever was handy, like a lamp, to take care of the villain? Another scream convinced her that she’d better just take her chances with whatever she could find to fight with. But first she had to catch her breath again.

  She put her hands on her knees and inhaled deeply before she slung open the door and hurried to Carmen’s side. The poor girl was curled up in the fetal position on the end of the sofa. The painfully raw sobs coming from her throat had traveled all the way to Tootsie’s house.

  Tootsie sat down beside her and gathered her into her arms like a mother with a hurt child. “Is it Natalie? Please stop this, Carmen. You are breaking my heart.”

  “Not Natalie,” she said before the sobs overtook her body again.

  “Eli?” Tootsie asked.

  Carmen pointed at the papers lying on the floor. “Divorce.”

  “That son of a bitch.” Tootsie grimaced. “What in the hell is he thinking, serving you with that today of all days?”

  “What am I going to do?” Carmen’s teeth began to chatter. “This can’t be happening. Eli is not divorcing me.”

  “We’ll get through this. I’m going to get you a good strong shot of brandy to calm your nerves.” Tootsie cussed all the way to the kitchen. “I asked for a little sign, Smokey, not a bomb.”

  Coming back into the living room, she put a glass in Carmen’s hand and said, “Drink this. All down in one big gulp. You’ve got to stop shaking.”

  Carmen straightened her legs and took the glass, but her hands shook so badly that she couldn’t get it to her mouth.

  Tootsie took it from her and held it to her lips. “All of it in one swallow. You’re in shock. The first thing we have to do is get that under control. I’ll get a blanket and call Diana and Joanie, and then we’ll all talk.”

  With a nod that looked more like a spasm, Carmen obeyed. “Call them now, please.”

  While Tootsie was making the call, Carmen’s phone rang. She sat up and answered without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello,” she whispered.

  “Carmen, is that you?”

  Eli’s voice brought on more sobs. “Why did you do this?”

  “I’ve been unhappy for months,” he said, “but I held off until Natalie graduated.”

  “But today of all days.” She cried even harder.

  Tootsie handed her a fistful of tissues. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Who’s there?” Eli asked.

  “Tootsie is right beside me. Want me to put it on speaker?”

  “No! I do not. I just want you to sign the papers and get this thing settled. I don’t want to be married to you anymore. And I’m not sure that it wasn’t a mistake in the beginning. It just took me all these years to figure it out.”

  He’d used that bitterly cold tone with her once before.

  When she’d told him she wanted to take online courses to get a degree, he’d disagreed with her, but she’d done it anyway, and he’d been so angry that she thought that frost would fly out of his ears when he talked to her.

  “I’m not signing shit until I talk to a lawyer,” she told him.

  “I don’t love you anymore,” he said.

  She felt as if someone had reached inside her chest, yanked out her heart, thrown it on the floor, poured gasoline on it, and set fire to it. “But I still love you.” Her breathing was labored. “I’m not throwing out our marriage like a sack of garbage.” She stopped and blew her nose. “We can go to counseling and work this out. We can spend more time together now that Natalie is out of school.” Begging seemed so clingy, but this was her marriage, and she’d do anything to save it.

  “It’s too late for that,” he snapped.

  “Not for me it’s not, and now I’m hanging up so I can process this crap.”

  Joanie slumped down on the sofa in her living room, and the memories of the last nineteen years washed over her like a hard-driving rain. She and Brett had been high school sweethearts from the time she was in the ninth grade and he was a sophomore. She’d lost her virginity to him just before he went to the army right out of high school. Then they’d married the next year when he finished his AIT training and she’d graduated.

  Her phone rang, and she fished it out of her purse. Thinking it was probably Diana, she answered it without even looking at the caller ID. “Are you all right?”

  “Good morning to you, too, darlin’. I knew today would be rough on you, so I had to hear your voice this morning before I left.” Brett’s deep southern drawl always helped her on a bad day.

  “I’m sorry. I thought it was Diana calling. She’s having a rougher day than any of us,” Joanie explained. “I wish you were here, Brett. Leaving Zoe at that recruiter’s office was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve cried all morning.”

  “It’s not fair that you had to do this alone,” Brett said. “I should’ve been there to support you. We just got our orders changed this morning. We had thought we’d be home by Thanksgiving, but we’ve got to stay a little longer. The new idea is that we’ll get to be there for Christmas. I’m hoping to arrive in time for Zoe’s basic-training graduation. Maybe we can go away for a week or two, just the two of us, after that. I can put in for leave, and we could spend a week on that little beach in Florida that we like.”

  “Promise?” she asked.

  “As much as I’m able to,” Brett said.

  “Brett, I feel so guilty that I’ve still got you. Diana has no one now but us and Tootsie.” Her voice quivered as much as her chin.

  “I heard a catch in your voice. Please tell me you aren’t crying. I wish I was there to hold you or that we could talk awhile longer, but I�
��ve got to go. I wanted to give you a heads-up so you’ll be there when the mail carrier comes. Eli’s lawyer sent out divorce papers to Carmen. They’re coming in the mail today.”

  “Sweet Lord!” Joanie stood up so fast that it made her dizzy. “Why would he do that? Is it another woman?”

  “It’s been a long time coming. He didn’t want to file until Natalie was through school, but it’s been a tough year on him having to wait this long. I’m glad that he finally got things going for the divorce,” Brett said.

  “I asked you if it’s another woman.” Joanie fell backward onto the sofa.

  “Just go be with her, Joanie. What goes on between Eli and Carmen is their business. He’s calling her before we leave to be sure the papers got there. I really do have to go. I’ll call you as soon as I can, and we’ll be together as a family right before Christmas. Love you,” Brett said.

  “Love you,” she said, and ended the call.

  Joanie tossed the phone on the other end of the sofa and began to pace the floor. Five years ago Gerald had divorced Diana for a younger woman. Now Eli was divorcing Carmen. In five more years would her marriage be on the rocks?

  Her stomach clenched into knots, but she didn’t know if she was hungry or nauseated because of what was happening. This was simply too much drama, too fast, for her to take in. She went back to Zoe’s room, lay down on the bed, and let the aura of her daughter’s presence from that morning soak in for half an hour.

  “Okay, enough,” she said out loud as she got up. “The mail will be here anytime, and we need to be there for Carmen when she gets that damned letter. I can’t procrastinate another minute.” She muttered to herself as she headed out the door, only to see that her mailbox was already stuffed. “Dammit!” She jerked her phone from her hip pocket and hit the speed dial for Diana.

  “You finished crying?” Diana answered.

  “No, but now it’s for a different reason. Meet me on the sidewalk. Carmen needs us,” she said. “And bring the rest of that bottle of wine she was drinking and the rum, too.”

  “Good Lord, did Eli die?” Diana sounded out of breath.

  “No, but it might have been better if he had.”

  Diana met her halfway between their two houses with a bottle in each hand. “What’s happened?”

  “Eli sent divorce papers, and I think they’ve already been delivered. Brett called and gave me a heads-up. The mail doesn’t usually come until after lunch, but it came early today. We should’ve already been there with Carmen.” Joanie charged on to the other end of the block.

  “I should’ve brought more than two bottles,” Diana said, keeping pace.

  Joanie rapped on the door but went on in before Carmen could answer. “Where are you?”

  “In the living room,” Tootsie yelled. “I was just about to call y’all.”

  They found Carmen curled up on the sofa under a fluffy throw with unicorns on it. Papers were strewn about on the floor, and her phone was ringing. Tootsie had pulled up a rocking chair and was holding her hand.

  Joanie pushed the coffee table back a few feet so that she and Diana could sit down in front of the sofa and laid a hand on Carmen’s shoulder.

  “We’re here,” Diana said.

  Joanie held Carmen’s hand. “Brett called. We know.”

  Diana took her other hand. “The sorry bastard picked the worst day in the world to have those damned papers delivered. Have you even talked to him about it yet?”

  Carmen nodded. “He called a few minutes ago. I told him we need to give us another chance. We can’t throw out twenty years of marriage like it’s the garbage. We can go to counseling, and now that Natalie is out of school, we can spend more time together.”

  “Son of a bitch is blamin’ her,” Tootsie said through clenched teeth.

  “How could it be your fault?” Joanie asked.

  “I was too wrapped up in Natalie and didn’t give him enough attention.” Carmen pushed back the covers and sat up. “Did I really do that?”

  “Hell, no! When the husbands are home, they’re showered with attention,” Joanie answered. “Sorry bastard should have at least had the decency to tell the lawyers to wait until you’d had time to get used to the empty nest.”

  “I’m making us all a stiff drink. I don’t care if we just had one at my house. We need another.” Diana headed for the kitchen and returned with four glasses, each with two fingers of whiskey, on a tray.

  Carmen held the glass in her hand for a full minute, then set it down on the end table. “I’ve had enough liquor. It doesn’t make the pain go away, anyhow. I’m not going to sign the papers or get a divorce. I’ll work harder. I don’t want to lose Eli.”

  “Well, I need it.” Diana patted her on the knee. “You are in denial. That’s the first stage of divorce grief, and we’re here to keep reminding you that this is all on Eli. I’ve been where you are, remember? Without a good counselor, and all y’all, I’d have never gotten through it. And, honey, it takes two to want to make a marriage work. One can’t do it alone.”

  “His family never thought I was good enough for him. I barely made it through high school, and I came from the wrong side of the tracks.” Carmen grabbed a fistful of tissues and blew her nose. “Evidently they were right. But I can be better. I’m just a year away from having my teaching degree. And we can get through this; I know we can.”

  Carmen pushed the throw to the side, stood up, and folded it neatly, then began to straighten up the living room. “He’ll see. I can do better. I can keep a better house, make better meals, and give him all the attention he wants.”

  “You raised his daughter, and you’ve always supported him in everything. The only time you even went against him was when you told him you were going to get your teaching degree even if it took you ten years,” Diana said.

  “God, I wish I could just disappear and get my head wrapped around all this. If he would only come home, so we could sit down and talk, we could tear those papers up.” Carmen picked up the glass, threw back the whole drink like a cowboy in an old western movie, and picked up a dustcloth.

  “But he can’t come home for another two months at least,” Diana reminded her.

  “But . . .” Carmen started to cry again.

  “We’ll figure out later what needs to be done. Right now, we’ve got to get through this hellacious day. Stop what you’re doing and sit down. You’re an excellent housekeeper and cook. This is not your fault.” Joanie stood up and took the dustcloth from Carmen’s hands.

  “I’ll let you have my job, and then I’ll get a soup can and stand on the corner collecting dimes if it comes down to it, or you can move in with me if you lose this house. I’ve got a spare room now,” Diana offered.

  “I’m not getting a divorce,” Carmen declared. “My grandpa used to say that anything worth having is worth fighting for, and I love Eli with my whole heart. I’m going to fight him on this.”

  “But, darlin’, from what you’re tellin’ me, he’s not willing to fight, and it takes two to make it work,” Diana said again.

  “You need to get away for a little while and get some perspective,” Tootsie said.

  “Let’s pool our money and blow it all on a trip to Paris. We can shop and have lattes in little bistros,” Diana suggested.

  Joanie sighed. “That’s a pipe dream. We probably don’t have enough money to even get to Paris, Texas, between the three of us.”

  Tootsie leaned down and kissed Carmen on the forehead. “I’m going home now. I’ve got something I have to see about, but I’ll be back either later or tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you, Tootsie, for everything.” Carmen’s chin quivered.

  “No thanks necessary, and no more tears. Any man who’d do this to his wife ain’t worth cryin’ over. Y’all girls are my family—I ain’t got blood kin left with Smokey’s passin’.” Tootsie pulled a tissue free and dabbed her eyes, and then she put the whole box in Carmen’s hands.

  “Joanie, a word
,” Tootsie said as she started toward the door.

  Joanie followed her outside and said, “Don’t worry, Tootsie, we’ll stay with her the rest of the day and tonight. You can come back anytime.”

  “That’s just what I wanted to hear. I’ll have things worked out one way or the other by morning.” Tootsie headed next door to her house without another word.

  Chapter Two

  Yoo-hoo, where are y’all at?” Tootsie’s soft southern voice floated through the house.

  “In the living room,” Diana called out.

  Carmen had finally fallen asleep on the sofa at midnight. What little sleep Diana and Joanie had gotten was in recliners, and that was in fifteen- or thirty-minute spurts. Diana had gone to pieces when she got the divorce papers five years ago, but she’d known they were coming. Gerald had told her weeks in advance about his affair, and she’d had a little time to get prepared. Poor Carmen had been hit with it out of the clear blue sky. Diana remembered thinking that she’d felt like she’d been shot in the gut with a 12-gauge shotgun when the papers arrived in the mail. Carmen probably felt like she’d swallowed a hand grenade.

  Diana had gotten over her ex-husband, but it had taken lots of counseling, both the professional and the friendship variety. It had taken her a couple of weeks to go from denial to the next step, and each one of those levels had been an ordeal that she couldn’t have made it through without Carmen, Joanie, and Tootsie as her support system.

  The aroma of bacon and salsa wafted across the room as Tootsie set the platter on the coffee table. “As you all know, I’m a terrible cook, but I can make a good breakfast burrito, and I know y’all didn’t eat much yesterday.”

  Then from a tote bag she pulled a bowl of cantaloupe chunks and a sack of doughnuts from their favorite shop just down the street. “Now let’s eat up and talk. Things always look a little brighter after we’ve slept on them.” She put a burrito in Carmen’s hands. “One bite at a time. One minute at a time. One hour at a time. That’s the way we’re all going to get through these horrible emotional events we’re having to deal with right now.”