The Empty Nesters

by Brown, Carolyn

  Guilt dropped over Joanie like a thick fog. She could live on her own, but Brett was coming home in a couple of months. There’d be those first few days when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Then it would settle into a normal routine of him going to work, her going to the hospital and the nursing home to volunteer, and in a few weeks or months, she’d get a call. He’d be gone again—classified. He’d call when he could—he loved her.

  She hated those calls, but at least she would have Brett for a little while. Poor Carmen would never know that elation of homecoming again, and Diana hadn’t had it for years. She picked up her Kindle again and went back to reading.

  Tootsie got up out of her chair, went to the back of the motor home, and came back with a book, which she put in Carmen’s hands. “I’ve found that a good book will make you forget your troubles.”

  “I’m really not in the mood to read.” Carmen tried to hand back the book.

  Tootsie shook her head. “It’s not a request. It’s an order.”

  “She made me read after Gerald left. I thought she was crazy.” Diana smiled. “But after I’d read five books in a week, I figured out that she was one smart cookie. When I was reading, I didn’t think about him at all.”

  “How come no one ever recommended that one to me?” Joanie asked.

  Carmen read the first paragraph and smiled. “You can read it when I finish.”

  Carmen was a slow reader, so it would be Christmas before she finished the book. Joanie settled back in her seat and continued reading the book she’d pulled up on her Kindle.

  At noon, Luke steered the motor home into the parking lot of a barbecue joint. Joanie hated to put her Kindle aside long enough for lunch, but she was hungry. The aroma of barbecue blended with all kinds of other delicious flavors floated across the parking lot as they got out of the motor home.

  “It’s my day to cook, so lunch is on me,” she said.

  Tootsie waggled a finger under her nose. “This is my trip, and you’re doing me a favor by keeping me company on it, so I pay for gas and food. If you want a souvenir or a bag of candy when we make our stops, then that’s on you. But don’t argue with me about food or fuel.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Luke said. “But it doesn’t rest easy on me to let a lady pay for things.”

  “Then we’ll compromise,” Tootsie said. “Here’s my credit card. You keep it, fuel up the motor home when it’s needed, and pay the café and grocery store bills with it. And if I catch you switching cards to use one of yours, I will fire your ass and send you home. I can drive this rig if I need to. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He smiled.

  Joanie bit her lip to keep from giggling. A big handsome man like Luke backing down from tiny Tootsie was truly something funny, but the expression on Tootsie’s face said that she was as serious as a heart attack.

  “Now that we got that settled, let’s go get some dinner, or lunch, if y’all want to call it that. I didn’t eat breakfast because I knew this was where we were stopping.” Tootsie led the way across the parking lot.

  “Bossy, ain’t she?” Luke chuckled.

  Tootsie whipped around with a wide grin on her face. “Yes, I am, and don’t none of y’all forget it.”

  Joanie’s phone rang as they were entering the restaurant, so she stepped back to take the call.

  “Hello, darlin’. Is breakfast ready?”

  “It’s noon here in Texas, Brett.” Her hands shook as she sat down on a bench right outside the door. Just hearing his voice always made her happy, but there was that feeling, just for a second, that he would be calling with bad news.

  “Where are you? I hear traffic.”

  “You’re never going to believe where I am right now.” She told him the same thing that Carmen had relayed to Eli earlier. “I figured Eli would’ve filled you in.”

  “He did, but we decided Carmen was just shootin’ him a line of shit because she’s mad at him over this divorce,” Brett said. “I can’t believe you’re making this kind of move without discussing it with me.”

  “There is a me outside of us, and I’ve had to rely on me a lot more than us our whole marriage, so it never occurred to me to ask your permission.” She was on the defensive and knew it, but there didn’t seem to be a damned thing she could do about it.

  “Hey, don’t go getting radical on me,” Brett said. “I called to tell you I love you, not fight with you.”

  “Okay, then, truce,” she said. “I love you, too.”

  “How’s Carmen holdin’ up?” Brett asked.

  “Not good, but then she got slammed with this thing. I imagine she feels a lot like she got a shotgun blast in the gut. Why’d Eli do this? Is it another woman?”

  “I’m not sayin’ anything, but he’s determined, so Carmen might as well sign the papers and get it over with.” Brett’s brevity spoke volumes.

  “Is it?” she pressured.

  “I’ve got to go now. I’ll be glad when I can talk to Zoe again. I miss her so much,” he said.

  Changing the subject to avoid the inevitable—that’s what Brett always did. And she always, always found out the truth eventually.

  “Well, darlin’, if it is another woman, this is where I draw the line,” Joanie said. “I stood by when Gerald divorced Diana and even went to some family events when he brought his new woman. I felt guilty every time, but I won’t do this again, Brett. I’m not taking another woman into our home and treating her like a friend.”

  “Eli and Gerald have been my teammates for almost twenty years,” Brett said. “I didn’t turn my back on Gerald, and I won’t on Eli.”

  “Well, I’m damn sure not turning my back on Carmen,” Joanie said.

  “I don’t expect you to,” Brett groaned.

  “Stay safe and come home to me,” she whispered.

  It was another woman. There was no doubt in her mind.

  Joanie shoved the phone into her purse, plastered a smile on her face, and went into the café. She spotted her group at a table near the back, pointed toward the restroom sign, and headed that way. She sat on the toilet and leaned her face against the cool metal wall of the stall. Why did life have to be so damned complicated, and what had driven Eli into another woman’s arms?

  “You okay in there?” Carmen’s voice sounded concerned. “Is everything all right with the team?”

  “Everything is fine. He was calling to tell me that he loves me,” Joanie said.

  Idiot! She doesn’t need to hear that. Eli calls to tell her that he’s determined to get a divorce, and you say something like that, the pesky voice in Joanie’s head fussed at her.

  “Okay, then,” Carmen said. “I just came in to check on you and wash my hands. Got lemon juice on them when I squeezed it into my sweet tea. Hey, do you think Luke is kind of cute?”

  “You already looking for a rebound feller?” Joanie asked.

  “Nope, but Diana might be,” Carmen said.

  “No way.” Joanie pushed out of the stall and went straight for the sink. “After Gerald, she swore off men.”

  “I understand that completely, but she didn’t swear ‘on’ to ladies, either,” Carmen said. “I’ve decided that I’m not feeling sorry for myself anymore. I can do this. I could do it better if a rich old aunt would leave me her rundown house like in the story Tootsie gave me, but since I don’t have a single wealthy person in my family, I’ll have to make it on my own. I’m beginning to think I can.”

  “Yes, you can.” And I hope that I’m wrong about another woman because that’ll knock you back into the Ice Age.

  Chapter Four

  They stopped at a lovely RV park that evening that had a gorgeous, albeit narrow, walking trail around the edge of the bay. Several people were out and about, many of them moving at a much faster speed than Diana, who felt like she was holding them back by stopping to smell the brisk air or pick up a pretty leaf every few feet. So she sat down on a bench and let the majority of them go on by. She was engr
ossed with watching the sunset—no artist in the world could ever capture the essence of all those swirling oranges, yellows, and pinks radiating out from the orange ball as it slowly dipped down over the far horizon.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Luke said.

  She jumped and jerked her head around. “You startled me.”

  “Sorry about that. It wasn’t intentional,” he said.

  “But yes, it is beautiful with all the colors reflecting in the water. What brought you out tonight? Tired of all the drama?”

  “Not so much. Tootsie is in her bedroom with the door shut. I think she talks to Smokey, but if that’s the way she copes, I’m not saying a word. Carmen and Joanie are both reading, so I didn’t want to listen to music and disturb them. But mainly, I just wanted to stretch my legs. Driving all day puts all kinds of kinks in my neck and body,” he said. “And you? Why did you disappear right after supper?”

  “I try to take a walk every day,” she answered. “Like you said, riding all day or sitting in front of a computer makes me need to stretch my legs, too.”

  “What kind of work do you do?” he asked. “I noticed that you kept pretty busy, and then when we stopped for gas, you took your computer inside to use the Wi-Fi. I’ve got Wi-Fi installed in the motor home if you need to use it, so we’re covered.”

  “Thank you so much—I hadn’t even thought to turn my wireless on. That simplifies things a lot. I do insurance work. They send me files. I work on them and send them back. Boring once I learned all the codes, but it’s kept the bills paid the past five years.” She slid a sideways glance at him—just the right amount of scruff to be sexy, but not enough to fill in that cute little chin cleft.

  “Five years?” He raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. That’s my biggest fault. I’m a computer geek who hasn’t learned social manners.” The streetlamp beside the bench lit up his blue eyes.

  “It’s okay,” she told him. “I was already working at this job when I got divorced. My daughter, Rebecca, graduated high school last May, and she, along with Natalie and Zoe, all left for basic training last week. That’s pretty much the story of my whole life. Now that I’ve shown you mine, you can show me yours.” She turned to face him, crossing her legs and sitting on the bench.

  “Computer geek pretty much says it all. I graduated high school at sixteen and joined the National Guard at eighteen to help finance the last two years of college. I got my degree at twenty and went to work for a prestigious firm in Houston. Didn’t like having a boss, so I started my own software company. Sold it and made a bundle. Now I’m trying to figure out what I want to do. I’m too young and hyper to do nothing, so I’m thinking of starting up another company after the first of the year,” Luke said.

  “How young?” She’d guessed him to be somewhere close to her age. He’d been at Smokey’s funeral, but she’d seen him only in passing. Someone had said that he was Smokey’s nephew, but like Carmen and Joanie, she’d been busy consoling her daughter.

  “I’m thirty-one,” he answered. “And you?”

  Diana cocked her head to one side. He hadn’t been lying about being socially awkward. “It’s not polite to ask a woman her age.”

  “Sorry.” He shrugged.

  “I’ll be thirty-nine next month.” And that was entirely too much age difference for her to have felt a little spark when they’d shaken hands earlier that day.

  “What day?” Luke asked.

  “The fifteenth.”

  “I’ll be thirty-two on the twenty-eighth. We should have a celebration.” He stood up. “We’ll probably still be at the cabin, so we can make ice cream, and I’ll bake us a cake. Aunt Tootsie doesn’t do too hot in the kitchen.”

  “You cook?” Diana asked.

  “If I hadn’t been so into computers, I would’ve probably been a chef. You need to rest some more, or can we walk together? It won’t be long until dark,” he said.

  “I’m not that old.” She popped up on her feet and headed on down the path.

  “Hey, I’m not calling you old.” Luke fell in beside her on the narrow trail. “Kind of amazed me that y’all all have daughters old enough to enlist in the army. The way Aunt Tootsie and Uncle Smokey talked about y’all, I figured you’d be at least fifty.”

  “Well, thank you for that,” Diana said.

  “You must’ve all married pretty young,” Luke commented.

  “I was nineteen and had a year of medical billing training. Joanie and Carmen were right out of high school,” Diana said. “What about you? Ever been married?”

  He shook his head. “Not many women out there who’d love me for who I am rather than what’s in my bank account.”

  “That’s sad.” Diana drew in a long breath and let it out slowly so he wouldn’t realize that keeping up with his fast pace was making her pant.

  “Here we are.” He pointed at the tent he’d set up when they first arrived. “I’d invite you in for a nightcap, but my space is limited, and I don’t have any liquor.”

  “Thank you, but I’d better get on inside. You could come in with me. We have lots of space and liquor, and I bet we could get a rousing game of gin rummy going.” She put a hand on the outside of the motor home to brace herself.

  Luke opened the door for her. “Well, thank you. That sounds better than reading a book by flashlight.”

  “Hey, we made a little pitcher of margaritas, and we’re getting out the cards. I thought y’all might be showing up soon,” Tootsie said.

  “And I made a pan of brownies.” Joanie pointed to the top of the stove. “I’m surprised at how well stocked the pantry is in this thing.”

  “Smokey took care of doing that before he passed on,” Tootsie sighed. “He did love to cook.”

  “And we all loved to eat his cookin’,” Carmen said. “I’ll pour up the drinks, and then we’ll play cards. Canasta or gin rummy?”

  “Canasta gets my vote, in honor of Smokey. He loved that game almost as much as he loved dominoes. And before you ask, his favorite set is in the dresser drawer. We never went anywhere without cards, dominoes, and a couple of those thousand-piece puzzles,” Tootsie said.

  “Canasta it is,” Joanie said.

  “I remember working those puzzles with Uncle Smokey the fall I spent with y’all up at the old house,” Luke said. “One of my favorite memories. To me, it was like fitting the pieces of computer code together to make a video game.”

  “You always did have a big brain in your head.” Tootsie helped Carmen serve the drinks. “Smokey was proud of you.”

  Luke blushed slightly. “He’ll always be missed. Now about this card game? Shall I deal?” He shuffled the cards with the dexterity of a blackjack dealer in a casino. He was smart, he could cook, and he liked puzzles and card games. Plus, he was downright cute with that chin dimple and those blue eyes.

  If only he were ten years older, Diana thought as she sipped her margarita.

  Fall was the time of year that Joanie would start shopping and sometimes even wrapping gifts. The Christmas tree always went up the day after Thanksgiving, and she liked to have presents ready to go under it. Even if it was only for a day or two, Brett was usually home, and she could pretend that they were a normal family instead of a military one.

  Even though the aroma of barbecue filling the air at the Smokey Cook-Off that Saturday morning was far different from the ham, bread, and sugar cookies Joanie always baked, she was still reminded of the happy days of the past. A gust of wind spun a little tornado of fallen leaves right in front of her. Zoe would have already had her phone out and been taking pictures to send to Brett. She stopped in the middle of the gravel pathway and dug in her purse for a tissue.

  Diana whipped one from her purse and handed it over to her. “It’s tough doing these kinds of things without our girls, isn’t it?”

  “So you were thinking the same thing,” Joanie said.

  “If it was about taking our girls to the carnival or the State Fair of Texas, y
ou know I was.” Diana pointed toward the next vendor. “That looks good. Want to get one?”

  Luke waved at them from a few feet away with an enormous ear of corn. He motioned toward the empty places at the picnic table where he was sitting, and Diana nodded.

  “Zoe loves this kind of place. Corn on the cob is her favorite.” Joanie pointed to a vendor as she and Diana got in line behind a young couple wearing “Just Married” T-shirts.

  “Congratulations,” Joanie said.

  “Thank you.” The young woman smiled. “We just got married yesterday.”

  The guy pulled his bride close and kissed her on the forehead. “And we’ve got a whole week of honeymooning before I go back to base.”

  “Don’t that bring back memories?” Diana whispered.

  The lady snuggled up close to her new husband. “Are y’all military wives?”

  “Were.” Diana nodded.

  “And am still,” Joanie answered. “Here’s wishing y’all many years of happiness.”

  “Thank you,” the guy said as he handed the vendor a bill and he and his bride walked away with an ear of corn.

  “Remember when we shared things with our husbands?” Diana chuckled.

  Joanie stepped up to the window and ordered two cobs with extra butter. “Oh, yeah, but then the honeymoon ended. Remember when that day came in your marriage?”

  “The first time Gerald went on a six-month deployment.” Diana took the stick holding the corn from Joanie when she offered it.

  “You got it. We’d had this meet and greet so the wives could get to know each other. That was the evening the two of us and Carmen became best friends,” Joanie said. “I found out I was pregnant after Brett left. By the time he got home, I was six months and had gained forty pounds. It must’ve been a shock to him.”

  “I was pregnant when Gerald left, and he barely made it home in time for Rebecca’s birth.” Diana started toward the picnic bench where Luke waited. “At least we had our babies’ fathers in the delivery room with us.”