The Empty Nesters

by Brown, Carolyn

  Diana fidgeted with the rows of chenille on the bedspread. “This could just be an attraction between us because we’re the only two unattached people in this group and we’ve been spending a lot of time together.”

  “Maybe so, but it might be something more. Don’t close the door to opportunity,” Tootsie said. “Just think about it. Now let’s talk about Linda June. Lord have mercy. She’s past fifty and looks like a hippie. I hope I never get stuck in an era like that!”

  Diana glanced at Tootsie’s hairstyle and bit back a grin. “Me, either,” she said.

  Carmen’s phone rang, and she whispered, “It’s Eli.”

  “Thank you, Lord.” Tootsie raised her hand to the ceiling. “At this time of night, I was afraid it might be Natalie.” Tootsie slid to the side of the bed.

  “Don’t leave.” Carmen’s heart leaped into her throat as she hit two buttons at once, one to answer and one to put it on speaker. Could she really tell him that she was willing to go through with the divorce?

  “Hello, Eli. I’ve got Tootsie, Diana, and Carmen with me.”

  “I need to speak to you privately,” he said.

  “Whatever you say, I’ll tell them anyway, so this just saves a step in the process. Kind of like you talking to Gerald. Why are you calling so late anyway?” Carmen asked.

  “I’m at our house in Sugar Run,” he answered. “I came to get my personal belongings and my truck.”

  “You left the team for that?” Dammit! She should string him on for six months to a year. He wouldn’t take a week off to tell her to her face what he’d done, but he could do it to get his things. Right now she’d like nothing better than to beat him half to death with a cast-iron skillet.

  “I took personal leave time. I had thirty days built up, and the team doesn’t need me for what they’re doing right now, so . . .” He paused for several seconds. “I’m having the lawyer draw up new papers. All I want is what I’m taking out of the house tonight and my truck. You can have all the equity in it, but you’ll have to keep making the payments to keep it. Other than that, I don’t think we have anything else to fight about, do we? Will you sign the new revised papers when they come?”

  “How dare you go in the house without me there! Is that woman with you? Is she in my house? You better tell me the truth.” Carmen felt her throat close up, sending her voice all high and squeaky.

  “Hell, no,” Eli said. “She’s at a hotel in San Antonio. Her son is staying with my mother.”

  “Oh, I bet your mama just loves that.” Sarcasm dripped from her words.

  “I didn’t call to talk about Mama. I just want to know, now that you’re getting everything you want, if you’ll sign the papers so this can be finished,” Eli said.

  “This is damn sure not what I wanted,” Carmen said through gritted teeth.

  Diana laid a hand on her shoulder. “Eli, this is Diana. You could have waited until she got home to get your things.”

  “I remember what you did, so I wasn’t taking any chances.” His tone was cold enough to give them all frostbite. “Gerald was the one who told me this would be a good idea.”

  “I just bet he did.” Diana’s tone wasn’t a bit warmer than his. “So where are you going? Moving in with the new woman?”

  “We’re going to Kentucky to live close to her folks,” Eli answered. “We’ve got a U-Haul loaded with her things, and we’ll be pulling the truck behind it.”

  “Are you still coming to Natalie’s graduation?” Carmen asked.

  “Probably not. She’ll need some time to process this whole thing. When she’s ready, she’ll get in touch with me,” Eli said. “Kate and I are getting married as soon as the divorce is done. I’m hoping that Natalie understands and keeps in touch.”

  “Why so soon?” Joanie asked.

  “Because.” Every one of them could hear Eli suck in a lungful of air. “Kate and I both are getting out of the service. I put in my twenty-year papers last week. She’s already got an offer for an IT position in a firm not far from where we’ll be living in Kentucky. I’ve been offered a job in a security firm.”

  “So she’s been in for twenty years, too?” Carmen asked.

  “No, she’s only been in for two hitches, but it was time for her to reenlist or give it up, and since she’s got a ten-year-old son and . . .” He took another long breath. “Since she’s pregnant, we decided to get out now.”

  Carmen heard the word, but processing it was such a shock that she picked up the phone and hurled it across the room. “You son of a bitch,” she screamed.

  Diana crossed the room and picked it up. “How can you do this to her over the damned phone? You could’ve been a man and told her months ago.”

  “I don’t need any of y’all’s opinions,” he said.

  “How could you?” Carmen yelled.

  “That’s why I want the divorce. We’d like to be married by Christmas. The baby is due in February,” Eli said.

  “Sweet Jesus.” Tootsie moved over to put both her arms around Carmen.

  “That means you knew she was pregnant that last night you were home and had sex with me.” Carmen’s voice was barely audible now, and tears ran down her cheeks. “Does she know you did that?”

  “No, she does not . . .” He paused.

  “When I get home, I’ll sign the papers, and good luck to Kate. She can have you, but she’ll wonder where you are every single time you walk out the door, because if she got you this way, then someone else can steal you from her the same way,” Carmen said.

  “That’s a mean thing to say. I was hoping we could be civil, for Natalie’s sake,” Eli said.

  “Goodbye, Eli, and good luck with colic, diapers, and selling Girl Scout cookies or whatever. You’ve never had to do much of that before because you were gone all the time,” Carmen said.

  “I’m ready to enjoy all that now. Kate is having my son, and I’m adopting hers, so they’ll both be mine,” he said.

  “I don’t ever want to see you again, or talk to you, or hear anything about you, so this is the final goodbye.” Carmen ended the call.

  “I’m so, so sorry,” Diana kept saying over and over again.

  Carmen hopped off the bed and began to pace. “I wanted more children. I wanted to try to give him a son, but he said one child was enough since he was gone so much of the time. I can’t believe this—and he’s adopting her kid—and she was pregnant when he was home last time? God, I’m such an idiot. Looking back, I can see that something wasn’t right, but I thought I was doing something wrong. How do I ever tell Natalie all this? And how’s she going to feel when her dad, the man she loved so much that she signed her name on the dotted line for six years of a life like his, isn’t even there for her graduation?”

  She threw herself on Diana’s bed and covered her eyes with a pillow. “I can’t think. I can hardly breathe. I need to chop wood or bake cookies or do something. I damn sure can’t sleep.”

  “Okay, then.” Tootsie got off the bed and shoved her small feet into her slippers. “Let’s go clean house. I try to do a deep cleaning every year, and if none of us can sleep, then we can get on with it. I’ll clean out my closet, and you girls can wash windows and woodwork.”

  “I’ll do the ceiling fans since I’m the tallest,” Diana offered.

  “And I’m volunteering for the woodwork.” Carmen tossed the pillow to the side. “But y’all don’t have to stay up all night working just because I can’t sleep.”

  “You think we can rest knowing that you’re in turmoil?” Joanie asked. “We’ll all work until we drop, and then we’ll have a living room slumber party.”

  “I can’t”—Carmen’s voice broke, and she sobbed—“even begin to thank y’all for standing by me.”

  “Just payin’ you back for doin’ the same for me,” Diana said.

  Luke awoke while it was still dark. He laced his hands behind his head and stared at the shifting patterns the clouds made on the ceiling as they moved across the moon.
Joanie was putting her house up for sale, and it was on the same block as Diana’s. He could locate his new business anywhere, even in the living room of his house, to start out with. And he’d be close to Aunt Tootsie if she needed him.

  Would it be awkward if you and Diana had a fling and then it didn’t work out? That was clearly Uncle Smokey’s voice in his head.

  “You’re probably right, Uncle Smokey,” he said out loud. “I can’t imagine living in the same town with Amelia.”

  It had taken five years to get over that woman—after he’d gotten down on one knee with a three-carat diamond in his hands and visions of circumnavigating the globe with her on a honeymoon, and she’d said, “I’m still in love with my old boyfriend, and we’ve decided to give it another try.”

  The sun was rising over the top of the trees off to the east when he stepped out into the yard. He’d gone only a few steps when he heard a noise out in the back. He eased around the side of the house to find Carmen out there with an ax in her hands, chopping wood into fireplace logs.

  He dragged an old rusted metal lawn chair over and sat down in it. “You upset about something?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she answered.

  He sat there patiently, amazed that someone as small as she was could wield an ax like that and split the wood almost every time.

  She tossed the ax on the ground and sat down on the splitting stump. “She’s pregnant.”

  “Who?” His blood ran icy cold. If Diana was pregnant, then she would probably want to be with the baby’s father.

  “Eli’s new woman, Kate. She’s going to have his baby, a son, in February. That’s why he wanted a divorce so quick,” she said.

  He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until it came out in a whoosh. “And that’s why you’re out here at the crack of dawn splitting wood?” He got to his feet, picked up an armload of wood, and put it in a wheelbarrow to take to the woodshed.

  “We cleaned house until three this morning. I pretended that I was tired enough to sleep so they’d all get some rest, but I’ve been out here ever since,” she said.

  Luke didn’t claim to know anything about women, but he was a good listener, so he kept piling up the wood until the wheelbarrow was full. Then he took it to the shed and brought it back empty to find that she’d already split several more logs.

  “I’m still angry. I wanted a lot of kids, but he only wanted one. Now he gets more, and I’m left with an empty nest.”

  “Can you have more? I mean, physically, can you?” He began to gather it up as it hit the ground.

  “Of course, but I’m thirty-seven years old. And besides all that, after this I’m not sure I’d ever trust anyone again.” She laid the ax to the side and wiped beads of sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt.

  “Ever thought of fostering?” He removed his jacket and hung it on the wheelbarrow handle.

  “I want my own.” She picked up the ax and went back to work. “And now I’m too old, and my attitude toward men stinks. Bad thing is, I didn’t cause it. He did.”

  “Just remember that when you get to feeling guilty over the way you feel right now,” Luke told her as he brushed a few chips from the front of his shirt.

  “I’m already there,” she said. “I shouldn’t deny that new baby or that little fatherless boy a daddy. My child is grown and has left home, and Eli would be miserable knowing he had a child that he couldn’t be with. It’s not the baby’s fault. He deserves a father. But why should he have a full-time dad when Natalie didn’t? Guilt is about to smother me.”

  “Kill that pile of wood, and then walk away from it,” Luke said.

  “Will that fix me?” She shook the ax.

  “It will if you do the same with your feelings. Kill them and then walk away. As long as you’re in this state of mind, Eli still has power over you. Take it back and be your own person. If you want babies and can’t trust anyone, go to a sperm bank and have babies. If you want to finish your degree and teach little children to fill the void, do it, but shake this off and move on.” Luke went back to sit in the old rusty chair. He’d learned a long time ago to get past the hurdles life threw at him—looking back at those lean college years and those humiliating months after his botched proposal, sometimes he felt like he should be fifty years old.

  Carmen dragged another chair over beside him and sat down. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “How do I do that? How do I shake it off when it’s all I can think about?”

  “You need to get a notebook and write your goals in it, then set about making them happen instead of fretting.”

  “How’d you get to be so smart?” she asked.

  “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. I had a T-shirt with that on the front a few years ago. If I’ve got any intelligence at all, it’s because I didn’t get what I wanted.” He thought again of how awkward he’d felt when he’d been kneeling in front of Amelia and she’d said what she did. He took a deep breath and told Carmen about the only woman he’d ever loved enough to want to give his heart to and share his life with.

  “Good Lord! Does Diana know that?” Carmen gasped.

  “No, and I’d rather she didn’t until the time is right. I don’t want her pity, Carmen. I want her to like me for myself, not how much money I have in the bank or any materialistic things I can provide—just for me. So can that be our secret?” Luke asked.

  She stuck out her hand. “Yes, it can. Thanks for listening to me rant.”

  He shook her hand. “Thanks for keeping my secret. Shall we sneak in and cook breakfast? They’ll be hungry when they wake up. But I’m starving now, and I bet you are, too. We’ll leave their food warming in the oven.”

  “Sounds great.” She stood up, picked up the ax again, and slung it hard enough that half the blade buried into the stump. “Don’t want to leave it on the ground. That dulls it.”

  “Want to go to the store with me later today? Monday is the day I go for supplies,” he asked as they walked side by side to the back porch.

  “Nope.”

  “Why? It might help you to get away for a while.” He opened the door for her.

  “Because you should ask Diana.” Carmen switched on the kitchen light.

  The smell of cleaning fluid and a scented candle burning on the table filled the air. He was instantly taken back to his house in Houston. He loved the day the cleaning lady came and made everything all shiny, but what he liked most was that aroma when he first entered the house. He always kept either a vanilla or a sugar-cookie jar candle for her to light when she finished cleaning. Today, the scent seemed to be something spicy, like maybe pumpkin pie.

  His stomach growled so loudly that Carmen giggled. “Scented candles always trick my stomach into believing that there’s food cooking. Let’s make pancakes and sausage, and then when the others get up, I’ll cook for them. It’s not my day to have kitchen duty, but I’ll do it anyway.”

  “I’ll start the coffee and get out the skillets,” Luke said.

  “Diana should fall for you.” Carmen grinned.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because you are a good man, and she deserves someone like you. I’ll whip up the batter if you’ll start the sausage to cooking.”

  “Nah, I’m really just a computer geek and a nerd. I’ve never been popular with the women, but I really do like her.” He set a cast-iron skillet on the burner and washed his hands while it heated up.

  “Leave the water running, and I’ll do mine next,” Carmen said. “My advice is to not rush her. Let her work all this business about age difference out in her mind. Meet Rebecca and maybe spend some time at Tootsie’s so y’all can get to know each other outside of this place.”

  “I’m kind of thinking about buying Joanie’s house,” he blurted out, and wondered if maybe he should have kept that to himself.

  “That’s a great idea. Tootsie will be ecstatic. Joanie will have it sold. And
it’ll give you and Diana a lot of close time.” Carmen tossed a hand towel toward him.

  He caught it in midair. “What if things don’t work out between us and it gets awkward?”

  “Have faith. You’ll still be near Tootsie.” She put her hands under the water and sucked air. “Dammit! I forgot to put on work gloves, and now I have blisters.”

  “The blisters will turn to calluses by the time your day rolls around again,” he offered.

  She shook her head. “Nope. I can work around them for one day. They’ll remind me to work on what you said about leaving the firewood and all this anger behind.”

  “Hey, I thought we were all sleeping until noon.” Tootsie yawned as she entered the room and went straight for the coffeepot.

  “I’ll get some coffee going and bring you a cup.” Luke winked at Carmen. “I woke up early, so I thought I’d make myself some pancakes.”

  “But it’s my day to cook, and I couldn’t . . . ,” Carmen started, then stopped and held out her hands. “Truth is, I couldn’t sleep after we got the house cleaned, and I’ve been chopping wood the past three hours.”

  Tootsie took Carmen’s hands in hers. “You poor baby. I’ve got some ointment in the bathroom that’ll heal these up in a couple of days. Smokey hated wearing gloves, and I’ve seen him with blisters just like this too many times to count. Come with me. Luke, you get that coffee going. Then you can help her make something simple for breakfast. We don’t have to eat gourmet three times a day.”

  “Hey, what’s going on in here?” Diana asked.

  “Pancakes and sausage. Coffee will be done in a few minutes. Want to be my girlfriend one more day and start off the day with a kiss?” He couldn’t help poking fun.

  “You think that’s wise?”

  She looked so damn cute in her pink-and-black plaid pajama pants and pink tank top that he was afraid if he kissed her once, he’d scoop her up and take her to the motor home for more than a make-out session.

  “Probably not.” He grinned. “But it would be a helluva nice way to start the day.”

  Chapter Fifteen