The Empty Nesters

by Brown, Carolyn

  Joanie followed behind her. “Do you think that maybe that’s been a problem all along? Eli didn’t bond with Natalie—she was two months old when he held her for the first time.”

  “No, I think there’s another woman. He’s acting the same way Gerald did, refusing to go to counseling and try to work things out. The main difference is that I had the money saved to buy Gerald’s equity in the house since I’d worked the whole time we were married. And he had to pay child support, which helped with all of Rebecca’s school activities. Poor Carmen would be out in the cold if it wasn’t for us.”

  “I’m with you, but I’m basing my suspicions on the fact that Brett won’t tell me that it’s not another woman. Code of brotherhood and all that shit,” Joanie said out of the side of her mouth.

  “Why are you whispering?” Diana asked.

  “I see Carmen and Tootsie headed this way. Tootsie’s bright-orange pantsuit stands out really well,” Joanie told her.

  “Hey, y’all!” Carmen called out from no more than six feet behind them. “Tootsie and I have been lookin’ for you. I was just thinking about taking home a side of ribs for supper tonight.”

  To see Carmen in a good mood lifted Joanie’s spirits. Bless Tootsie’s heart for what she was doing to help them get through all this turmoil.

  “Remember now. I won’t be having supper with y’all,” Tootsie said as they made their way to where Luke waited. “I told you about Delores, my friend—she lost her husband a while back, and now that Smokey is gone . . .” Tootsie hesitated and wiped a tear from her eye.

  “Did she have kids?” Diana asked.

  “Yes, she did, and none of them live close to her. I’m lucky to have y’all on the same block. Smokey and I didn’t always go this route, but when we did, we stopped to see her. Anyway, she’s going to pick me up tonight, and we’re going out for supper, so y’all are on your own,” Tootsie answered.

  “Y’all want some corn anyway? Luke is saving us places at that table over there.” Joanie pointed. “And, Tootsie, I know how much you love ribs, so we’ll save one for you.”

  “Thanks, darlin’. Carmen and I already had our ear of corn. We’ll just sit with y’all and Luke while you eat yours,” Tootsie said.

  Tootsie, Joanie, and Carmen sat down across the table from Luke, and Diana took a seat next to him. Other than when she was going through the divorce, Joanie had never seen Diana fidget with nerves. She was the rock in the friendship, always taking the bull by the horns. She’d been sad when the girls had left last week, and angry at Eli, but to show vulnerability—that wasn’t Diana’s style.

  Now all Joanie could see was a bundle of nerves, and it had to do with Luke. The guy was kind of cute, but nothing like hunky Gerald with his jet-black hair and dark-brown eyes. Add that to the fact that Diana hadn’t been interested in dating since her divorce, not even when she’d had several chances. Every one of those fellows had been sexier than Luke. It didn’t make a bit of sense to Joanie.

  “How much longer y’all want to stay?” Luke asked.

  “I’ve seen all I need to and eaten more than I needed to.” Tootsie covered a yawn with her hand. “It’s only a two-hour trip over to Beaumont, so there’s no rush.”

  Carmen stretched and then checked her watch. “It’s almost one o’clock already, and I could use a long nap.”

  Diana shot a knowing look across the table toward Joanie. Carmen never slept during the day. She was the hyper one of their group—the one who was always up and doing something. If she wasn’t studying for her degree, then she was making some craft to take to the church arts-and-crafts show to support mission trips.

  “Then I’ll stop by a rib wagon and buy supper and meet y’all at the motor home.” Luke waved over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd.

  The buzz of conversations, children’s laughter, and tired babies fretting all blended together and slowly faded away as the four women made their way back to the motor home. They’d removed their jackets and were settling in for the ride to Beaumont when Luke walked through the door carrying a paper sack. He put it in the cold oven and went straight for the driver’s seat. “Next stop, Beaumont, where Aunt Tootsie will run away to her friend’s house for the evening and supper.”

  “That was fun, but I ate far too much. I’ll have to jog six miles tonight for the corn alone. I bet each ear had a whole stick of butter on it, and I ate two of them in addition to a barbecue sandwich at lunchtime,” Diana said.

  “Smokey would have loved it.” Joanie settled into her place behind the table.

  Joanie could hardly wait to get Diana alone that afternoon, but they were more than an hour down the road before Carmen and Tootsie both declared that they couldn’t keep their eyes open another minute. Carmen crawled up on the top bunk, and Tootsie left her seat and went to her bedroom on the other end of the motor home.

  Before Joanie could say a word, Diana opened her laptop.

  “Hey, you don’t work on Saturday, and you already mentioned that you were caught up until Tuesday morning, so what’re you doing?” Joanie asked.

  Diana shut it and smiled. “Old habits die hard. I keep thinking maybe I’ll hear something from Rebecca or that she’ll post on Facebook. What’s on your mind?”

  Joanie peeked around the wall to be sure that Luke had his earbuds in place. His head was bobbing to whatever music he was listening to, so the coast was clear. “What was that at the festival? You got all antsy when you sat down beside Luke, and y’all came in at the same time last night after you’d gone out for a walk.”

  Diana shrugged. “It’s time for me to start dating. I feel something stirring inside my heart, but it’s not Luke.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Guess how old he is?”

  Joanie drew her brows down and pursed her lips together. “Since Smokey was past eighty and he’s a nephew with the Colbert name, he has to belong to a brother.” She drew numbers in the air with her forefinger. “He’s forty or forty-five, and that’s saying he belongs to a younger brother.”

  Diana shook her head. “He has to be the son of the youngest of Smokey’s brothers. He’ll be thirty-two next month. He’s seven years younger than I am. Do you realize that he wasn’t even shaving yet when Rebecca was born? That’s kind of weird. Nature might be telling me that it’s my time to have a relationship now, but she’s also yelling at me to do it with a man my age.”

  “I’ve been telling you that for the past four years. A year of mourning is enough, especially when it’s the death of a marriage. There’s life to live.” Joanie lowered her voice. “Now what about Carmen? Is she going into depression? She never takes naps.”

  “I remember after a few days, I decompressed. Slept every afternoon for a week,” Diana whispered. “Then one day I woke up and the anger had set in. This is pretty normal.”

  Joanie nodded. “I know depression is one of the steps to healing, but I can never remember the order.”

  “It’s right before acceptance. I think that’s where Tootsie is. Talking to her friend tonight will be good for her. Want a glass of tea? I’m going to make one for myself.” Diana got up from the table and in a couple of strides was at the refrigerator.

  “I’d take one,” Luke called out from the driver’s seat.

  Diana instantly blushed. “Coming right up.” Then she turned back to Joanie and mouthed, “How much did he hear?”

  Joanie raised a shoulder in a shrug. Diana was so much in control that she never blushed, so what was really going on between her and Luke?

  Diana poured a disposable cup of tea, put a lid on it, and carried it to him. “There you go.”

  “So you think Aunt Tootsie is depressed?” Luke asked.

  “It’s all part of the process,” she said.

  He motioned toward the passenger chair. “Sit with me. I got tired of music about the time y’all started talking about depression. I’m bored. I need someone to talk to me so I don’t fall asleep at the wheel.”

  Yeah, r
ight, Joanie thought as she opened her Kindle to read. There is nothing between them. Seven years’ age difference might be a problem at thirteen and twenty, but they’re both over thirty now, so the issue isn’t there anymore.

  “Well, we can’t have our driver falling asleep, can we? Would you rather have some strong coffee?” Diana asked as she went back to the kitchen area to pour glasses of tea for herself and Joanie.

  “No, this has enough caffeine to keep me awake for another hour,” he said.

  She set her glass in the cup holder, then sat down, adjusted the seat so that her long legs had more room, and buckled herself into the passenger seat. “You ever wonder why you can get a ticket if both parties sitting in these chairs aren’t strapped in, and yet, all four of us can wander around back there without a seat belt?”

  “There are definitely strange laws on the books,” Luke answered.

  “I’ve noticed that you’ve been listening to country music most of the time. Why did you turn it off?”

  “They were starting to play more alternative rather than classic country. I like Strait, Jones, and Travis Tritt. Guess Uncle Smokey kind of marked me in that area, too. I like to cook, like his kind of music, and love spending time outside when I get the chance.” Luke put on the blinker to get off at the next exit, then turned it off.

  “Why’d you do that?” Diana asked.

  “What?”

  “Almost get off the highway on that last exit?”

  “Aunt Tootsie,” Luke answered. “She needs to rest. I was camped out right below her window last night, and she spent most of it talking to Uncle Smokey. If I stop, she’ll wake up.”

  Cold chills chased down Diana’s spine. “Is she all right? You don’t think she needs to see a psychiatrist, do you?”

  “She’s fine,” Luke answered. “I talk to him, too, sometimes, just not out loud. It’s all part of her healing process. Go back to music for a moment—what kind do you like?”

  “Hard metal rock,” she said.

  “For real?” Luke’s blue eyes widened out as big as saucers.

  “No, I’m joking,” Diana laughed. “I like country music, mostly the old stuff like you mentioned, but I do like some new artists like Midland, Blake Shelton, and Luke Bryan.”

  “Blake isn’t exactly new. He’s been around for years now. Remember when he had a mullet?”

  “Oh, yeah, he’s always been a pretty boy,” Diana answered.

  “You go for the pretty boys, do you?” Luke slowed down and checked the GPS on the dash. “It’s only a few more miles before we turn off to go to the campground.”

  “How far off the road is it?” Diana suddenly realized that she’d put her entire life in Tootsie’s and Luke’s hands. Now that was trust she didn’t even realize she had after her divorce.

  “Another five miles, but it’s got an indoor heated pool if y’all want to do a few laps. Believe me, when we get to the old house, there won’t be any swimming this time of year.”

  “Just how big is Scrap, Texas?” Diana asked.

  Luke chuckled and then laughed out loud. “There is no more Scrap, Texas. It’s not even on the map and doesn’t have a city-limits sign anymore. It’s not even in the ghost-towns-of-Texas listings. There’s just an old map hanging in the living room that dates back to the early part of the last century. It used to hug the Red River.”

  Diana frowned. “Not even a convenience store?”

  “Nope,” Luke replied. “We’ll have to drive to Paris or Clarksville to even get gas for the motor home or groceries.”

  “But . . .” Diana had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start.

  “Aunt Tootsie’s grandma and mama grew up there. When her grandma moved to Clarksville, she left the house to Tootsie’s mama, and then it was passed on to Aunt Tootsie. There’s no town. I don’t think there’s even a zip code—just miles and miles of farmland and five acres of timber with an old two-story house set back in the trees.”

  “Why has she kept it?” Diana asked.

  “She and Uncle Smokey honeymooned there, so it’s a special place. Here’s our exit.” Luke tapped the brakes. “Ten minutes and we’ll be parked and set up for the night. Want to take another walk after supper?”

  “Love to,” she answered.

  She always walked at least a mile in the evenings—in the summer heat or the bitter cold winter. It cleared her head of all the clutter and got her ready for another day. Nothing said that she couldn’t be friends with Luke, and it would be rude to tell him no when he was driving them.

  Nothing says that you can’t be more than friends, too. Smokey’s gruff voice popped into her head.

  He’s too much younger than I am, she argued. Good Lord! Now I’m talking to Smokey, too.

  Chapter Five

  Tootsie was surprised to see Delores behind the wheel of the same old big boat of a car that she’d been driving the last time Tootsie and Smokey stopped by her place. She leaned into the driver’s-side window and gave her friend a quick hug. “You want to come inside and meet the kids?”

  “Another time, darlin’. It’s a chore for me to get in and out, and going up those little steps into your motor home—well, let’s just say I’m still clumsy, and I don’t want to break a hip. Get in. Supper will be ready when I get you back to the house,” Delores told her.

  “How are you holdin’ up?” Delores asked as she backed her bright-red car away from the RV park and headed into town.

  “Pretty good, I guess. I still talk to Smokey a lot, and I mean I talk out loud to him. I prop up his picture and pretend he’s right there with me,” Tootsie admitted.

  “Honey, it’s been ten years since Jimmy died, and I still talk to him all the time. Those old soldiers were our life. We can’t just turn it off like a water faucet.” Delores stopped at a traffic light and then made a right-hand turn. “Talking to them keeps them alive to us, and that’s all right.”

  “So you still live in the same house? You talked about downsizing last year when we stopped by.”

  Delores pulled into the circular driveway of a two-story redbrick place. “Yep, this is where Jimmy’s spirit is. I looked at a couple of smaller houses and even at a retirement home at the kids’ insistence, but I couldn’t do it.” She got out of the car, picked up her cane from the back seat, and slowly made her way to the porch. “Come on in.”

  Tootsie followed her inside and closed the door behind them. She removed her jacket and laid it on a chair in the foyer. “I hope you didn’t go to any trouble. I was really just expecting you to send a car, and we’d visit in a restaurant.”

  “Where’s the fun in that? I can still drive. I still make a mean bologna sandwich, and it is Saturday night.” Delores hung her cane on a hook beside the kitchen door.

  “You remembered!” Tootsie rushed across the floor and hugged her. “Saturday-night supper at your place was my favorite time of the week, especially when Jimmy and Smokey were off to God only knows where.”

  Delores had to stoop a little to wrap her arms around Tootsie. “I thought we’d keep our tradition. Sandwiches with all the fixin’s, potato chips, Kool-Aid, and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Then we can have a glass of cheap wine and pretend the kids are all in bed asleep.”

  “You are the best. What can I do to help?” Tootsie asked.

  “You can make your own sandwich and fix your own plate. We’ll take it out to the screened-in porch. We can use those trays over there.” She pointed to the other side of the cabinet. “We’ll put them on our laps like we did when we started the tradition. It’s a lovely evening. You can almost smell the salt air coming off the bay tonight.” Delores set out a platter with meat, cheese, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and onions. “This is just like when we were neighbors in base housing.”

  “Your four kids sat around the little kitchen table, and we put our plates on our laps in the living room.” Tootsie set about making her sandwich. “How are the kids?”

  “Strung from h
ere to hell,” Delores answered. “One in England, where he retired after getting out of the service. One in upstate New York. Third one is in Florida. She moved down there to be near my folks when they got older. My baby boy is finishing up his last year in the army. He says he and his wife are retiring in Arizona.”

  “Do they ever get home at the same time?” Tootsie asked.

  “Not since Jimmy’s funeral. I miss those days when they were little and I had to depend on you to help me raise them,” Delores said. “But enough of that. Let’s eat and talk about what’s going in your life since Smokey passed on. I missed getting a letter from you this month, but I’m not fussin’. I know you’ve been busy.”

  Tootsie put her sandwich, her drink, and a fistful of chips on a tray and carried it out to the porch. “We should be trying to change our thinking and learn to take advantage of this new modern-technology world, where we can pick up the phone and call someone without paying long-distance fees.”

  Delores followed her. “My hands go to sleep after I’ve written three sentences, but I just wait a little while and go back at it.”

  “Gettin’ old ain’t for the weak,” Tootsie said. “But we could start calling every month instead of writing.”

  “Yes!” Delores said. “First Saturday of the month good for you?”

  “Sounds great. You’ve got my number.” Tootsie made a mental note not to forget.

  Delores nodded in agreement. “Now tell me about things in your world. Are you driving that big-ass RV? You still got the same neighbors?”

  Tootsie caught her up on everything, in between bites of the best bologna sandwich she’d had in years, ending with, “And now I’m on the road with those girls and Luke. I think there’s a spark, or ‘vibes,’ as the younger generation calls it, between him and Diana, but there’s also an age difference. She’s about six or seven years older than he is.”

  “Pffft!” Delores threw up a hand. “What’s age when it comes to love? I was two years older than Jimmy.”