Actions Speak Louder (12 page)

“So that I’d what?” he asked, straightening in the chair, his features crunched in confusion.

Thomas shook his head, shrugging to demonstrate his own confusion.  “Look, I don’t pretend to understand how a woman’s mind works, but anyway, she told Holly it felt to her as if you were no longer
present
—whatever the heck that means.  Anyway, when she suggested that you two break up, she never believed you would jump on it.  She figured you would be so stunned, and shaken up, you’d beg her for another chance, and thereafter, get with the program.  Instead you agreed to the time apart.  She’s devastated, Ethan.  Particularly since you don’t seem inclined to consider a reconciliation.”

He remained silent, processing his brother-in-law’s words.  Thomas was more than a relative by marriage.  He was one of his best friends.  Ethan knew that it wasn’t easy for him to address personal issues like these, since, well, he was a guy. 

He sighed, suspecting his sister Holly was the impetus for this conversation—her desire to see him happy.  She told him that enough—that she wanted to see him happy.  Of course, she was convinced she knew exactly what he needed to be happy, and insisted on filling him in on that fact at every turn.  He couldn’t help the frustrated sigh that escaped his lips.

“So, Holly thinks I should get back together with Gwen?” he asked, scowling.

Thomas winced.  “Actually, no.  The truth is, she always felt like you two were kind of an odd match.”  He shifted nervously in the chair.  “You know, you’re really different people, but Holly—and the rest of us—well, we all kind of figured you two fell into the ‘opposites attract’ category.”

Ethan nodded with weary understanding.  “Yeah, we’re opposites all right.  I should have realized it much sooner.”  He sat in quiet contemplation for a moment or two.

“Maybe the two of you should talk,” Thomas suggested, breaking into his thoughts.  “Do you … know what you want?”

Ethan shook his head, unsure how to respond.  He had thought he loved Gwen—that the two had a future, but the time apart had shown him something else.  Separate of her, he finally felt as if he could take a proper breath, as if he hadn’t been able to breathe for some time. 

He had thought he wanted business success, and had attained it beyond his wildest expectations.  Gwen had the same ambition.  Their shared drive to succeed had been the glue that had held them together. 

While he knew he couldn’t blame her for his discontent, since he knew that he’d subscribed to the same work ethic she did—the same notions of success she did—he realized that his life had somehow veered off course.  Somehow, happiness hadn’t been a byproduct of his success, but instead, he felt weighted down by success—and by Gwen’s constant assertions that
more
equated to… 
What
?  Happiness?  Fulfillment?  Atta boys from the people who counted… 

He shook his head, to ward off the latter notion.  Everybody counted—not simply those in her social circle.  This knowledge was core to his belief that to whom much is given, much is expected.  It’s why he donated his time and resources to a variety of local charities. 

He sighed loudly, feeling confused.  His thoughts were just too jumbled right now.  “I always believed success to be the cure all,” he murmured, snaring Thomas’s gaze.  “Turns out, I was wrong.”

“Oh, yeah?” he said, shaking his head confusedly.  “Hey, are we still talking about Gwen?  Or … something else?”

Ethan sighed.  He knew he wasn’t making much sense.  He turned to Thomas.  “I’ve realized that what Gwen and I had in common was our drive for business success.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Thomas conceded with a nod.  “You’re both driven, all right.”

“And, I figured that once we got here—to this place—I’d have everything I ever wanted.”

“And…?”

He smiled sadly.  “I’ve realized the thrill is in the journey,” he said, shaking his head.  “When I look around, at the things we’ve accomplished, I have to wonder, what next?  What can we possibly do—possibly
build
—that can top what we’ve already accomplished?”

“Who says we have to top anything?” Thomas asked.  “Maybe it’s time to settle in and enjoy the ride.”

Ethan laughed without humor.  “Can you see Gwen
settling
—settling
in
or settling
on
anything?”

Thomas met his eyes, nodding as if to convey that he understood.  He smiled sadly.  “You need to tell her.”

Ethan nodded.  Thomas was right.  It was time to tell her once and for all that they didn’t have a future together.

***    

The next morning, Ethan took to his back yard with a vengeance, mowing, edging, pulling weeds, and trimming hedges.  He had called Gwen first thing, to set up a meeting that evening, and the yardwork was a diversionary tactic—a means to take his mind off of the upcoming conversation. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have the conversation.  On the contrary.  He wanted it over and done with.  He simply dreaded the part about hurting her, although, on some level, he was confident she would rally.  He knew if he was unable or unwilling to tow the party line—hers—then she wouldn’t want him anyway. 

He yanked a tall weed out of the grass and aimed a glance at Marcia’s house.  He knew she was at work, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t get his mind off of her.  When she showed up at lunchtime, letting the dogs into the back yard, he tossed a handful of weeds into a debris pile and walked over to the fence.  He gave a wave in her direction.

She waved in return, and then walked toward him.  She smiled as she sent a glance at his back yard.  “Wow,” she uttered.  “You’ve been busy.”

“I figured it was time,” he said.  “I can mow yours if you like.”

She cocked her head to the side.  “I know it looks bad but…”

“It’s not that,” he assured her, giving her a chagrined glance.  “I just know how busy you are.”

“That I am,” she conceded with a smile.  “But I’m off work now.”

“You are?  What time is it?  Noon?  You closed the shop early?”

“Angie is holding down the fort.”  She glanced down at the dogs, dancing around her feet, and smiled fondly.  “The girls’ folks are coming home this afternoon.  We’re going to pick them up at the airport.”

The dogs seemed to understand her, since they became even more animated, each barking eagerly and running in tight circles around her feet.

“It’s as if they know,” Ethan mused.

“Oh, they do,” she said with certainty.  “They always seem to know when it’s time to pick up Dan and Tammy.”  At the mention of their folks’ names, the dogs began howling and dashing around her feet with even more enthusiasm.  “See what I mean,” she said.

He nodded.  “When are you leaving?  I, uh, really need to talk to you.”              Interestingly, the conversation he needed to have with her weighed heavily on him, perhaps even more so than the impending dialogue he faced with Gwen.  That was strange, he realized, since he hardly knew Marcia.  Why then did he worry so much about how she was going to react to what he had to tell her? 

She checked her watch.  “Well, I should scoot.  I have to leave in twenty minutes.  I just need to change and then we’ll be on our way.”  She directed the latter to the dogs.

Ethan smiled.  “The girls are going with you?”

“Of course,” she said.  “You should see them.  When we get to within a mile or so of the airport, they go nuts.”

He cocked his head slightly and narrowed his gaze.  “I, um, well…”

“Yes?” she prompted.    

“I … hmmm?  I know I shouldn’t do this, since it probably isn’t very polite, but, may I ride along with you?  There’s something I’d like to talk to you about?”

He suddenly realized it might not be in his best interest to have the conversation while in a vehicle, but then, she would be a captive audience, which would give him time to fully explain himself.  He hoped she wouldn’t be upset with him, but something told him he’d made a mistake by not being forthright from the get-go. 

“Well, if you’d like to ride along, I suppose you can…”

He grinned.  “Great.  Give me five minutes and I’ll be right over.”

She grinned back.  “Give me ten minutes, and then come over.”

“Okay,” he said, and then jogged off and into the bungalow. 

Inside her house, Marcia slipped out of her overalls and into a pair of walking shorts and a yellow top.  Dashing into her master bath, she ran a comb through her hair, and then grabbed a mascara wand and hurriedly applied a light coating to her already thick lashes.  After a quick application of lipstick, she slipped into sandals, and after checking herself in the mirror, went downstairs.

Within a couple minutes, Ethan was at her door, his hair damp from a shower.  Like her, he wore shorts.  “Ready?” he asked, his eyes passing over her slim form. 

He had never seen her in anything other than the overalls and big robe, and had to concede, she looked beautiful in the yellow top that emphasized her thin, but curvy figure.  Her legs were long and tanned, and he found himself swallowing.  “You, uh, look great,” he told her.

She laughed.  “Well, thank you.  You do too.”

He smiled.  “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and turned to call the girls, who came bounding up behind her, their tails wagging like helicopter propellers.  “They know,” Marcia mused with a smile, which promptly fell from her face.

Ethan noticed.  “Everything okay?”

“I’m going to miss them,” she said with a sigh.  “After a week with them, they feel like my own dogs.”

“You need a dog of your own,” he said adamantly.

“Someday…”

He nodded and followed her to her car.  He paused.  “I should have offered to drive.”

She quirked a smile.  “You don’t like my car?”

He laughed.  “Your car is fine.  It’s just, I invited myself along, so I should have offered to drive.”

Marcia glanced over at his extended cab truck, parked in his driveway.  It was loaded with debris from his yard.  “I don’t mind driving,” she assured him, and to her surprise, he walked around the driver’s side of the car to open the door for her.  He put Allie in the car, bent to pick up Tootsie, and then nodded for her to climb in after them.  He closed the door behind her.  She watched him round the front of the car. 

Was she mistaken or was he wearing a grim expression on his face?  He looked as if he had something serious on his mind.

When he climbed into the passenger seat beside her and buckled up, she glanced his way.  Sure enough, his face looked troubled.

“Are you okay?” she asked tentatively.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he quickly assured her, and then glanced down at Allie, who slowly climbed onto his lap.  The dog stared him in the eye briefly, did several circles in his lap, and finally settled in.

“She really likes you,” Marcia observed, still stinging slightly from the dog’s developing fondness for Ethan.  If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought Allie liked him better than she liked her. 

Tootsie, beside her, stretched alongside her thigh and gave a contented moan.  At least Tootsie still liked her best.  Suddenly, however, the little dog rose up on her short legs, trotted over to Ethan, and stretched out beside him instead.  He didn’t miss the cross look on Marcia’s face when the dog abandoned her for him.

He laughed.  “Hey, I’m just a novelty item,” he said.  “I’ll be old news soon enough.”

“Uh huh,” she replied dubiously, as she backed out of the driveway.  As she steered away from her house, she spotted Mrs. Jamison across the street, watering her lawn.  She lifted her hand in a wave, which the elderly woman ignored.  She also smiled her way, but received no smile in return.  “What the heck was that about?” she wondered aloud.

“What?” Ethan said.

“Oh, Mrs. Jamison just gave me the cold shoulder.”

He shrugged.  “Maybe she didn’t see you.”

“Oh, she saw me all right.”  She turned to give him an assessing glance. 

“What?” he said.

She waved off the question.  She could speculate as to the reasons her neighbor had turned unfriendly, but decided not to worry about it for now.  Instead, she steered to neutral territory.  “Hey, did you find anything in the traps you set in your attic?”      

He grimaced.  “Yeah, I found the traps empty of the food I baited them with.  Those raccoons are too smart for their own good.”

Marcia nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve heard stories about their clever antics.”  She furrowed her brow.  “Is there anyone you could call to help out?”  She searched her mind.  “Animal Control?  Fish and Game?”

He shook his head.  “I’m going to give it a few days, because…”  His words trailed off as Allie abruptly rose in his lap and kissed him soundly on the mouth.  He chuckled, staring into the dog’s eager face.  “Thanks,” he said, sounding as if he meant it.  She responded by kissing him again.

He turned back to Marcia to speak, when Tootsie stood up and climbed into his lap.  Allie gave a low, warning growl.  “Hey, girls,” he chided, “there’s room for everybody.”  The dogs apparently decided to share him, since both settled down for the ride.  He began stroking both as he spoke.  “I figure the raccoon problem will be remedied soon enough because…”