Athena's Daughter (21 page)

Mid-morning found her going over the previous
month’s sales, and she caught herself nodding off. The store was as
slow as a record store on a Monday morning when all the kids were
still in school could be, and not even the copy of Aerosmith’s
Toys in the Attic
spinning on the sound system could liven
things up. Besides, every time Athena heard the song “Sweet
Emotion,” she wanted to grab the record from whatever player it was
on – including those at every radio station in Memphis – and smash
it to bits. Her own emotions were anything but sweet, and the song
grated on her nerves, no matter how good it was.

Tammy stomped past, her arms filled with
crumpled faded posters, and dumped them in the waste basket behind
the counter. Athena ignored her and Hal who had finished stocking
the new records and was trying to look busy by dusting the cash
register. When the phone rang, Athena let him get it since he was
closer.

“Stax of Wax,” he drawled.

“And platters that matter,” Athena muttered
under her breath.

“Oh! Yeah, sure.”

An odd tone in Hal’s voice made her look up
to find him regarding her with bemusement. “Hang on a sec.”

He put his hand over the speaking end of the
receiver. “Athena, there’s a veddy British man on the phone for
you, love.”

She jumped up from her chair and took the
phone. “Thanks, Ringo. You’ll want to work on that accent, by the
way.” She took a deep breath and put the receiver to her ear.
“Hello?”

“Hi,” Derek’s voice came down the line. “It’s
me.”

“Yeah, I figured it was, despite Hal’s crappy
English accent.” She bent and grabbed the phone base unit from
under the counter, and carried it into the back room, stretching
the long cord to capacity. The moment she had both been looking
forward to and dreading was here at last. “Are you in Memphis?”

“No, not yet. My flight arrives at
eight-thirty tonight, and I’ve booked a room at the Holiday Inn
near the airport.” He cleared his throat. “Can you bring Elizabeth
round then?”

“Tonight?” It was a relief not to detect any
anger in his voice, and she didn’t want to piss him off, but he was
being ridiculous. “Derek, she’ll be sound asleep by then.”

“So early?” He sounded truly startled, and
she couldn’t help but laugh a little despite her trepidation.

“You’ve gotta remember that she’s only six
years old, and she’s still in school. She’s usually in bed by
seven-thirty or so.”

“Oh, Christ. I didn’t even think about
school. So, um, when can I see her?”

“I’ll keep her home tomorrow, and we can be
at your motel about nine. Is that all right?”

“It’s fine, but…Well, I don’t want to
interfere with her schooling.”

The tentative way he said it brought a small
smile to Athena’s lips. He was trying so hard, and it touched her,
erasing some of the panic she’d lived with the past week.

“It’s okay. It’s near the end of the year,
and she’s only in first grade. It’s not like she has final exams or
anything. Besides,” she added. “She’s so excited about seeing you,
and if she finds out you’re in town there’s no way I’ll be able to
hold her back.”

“She wants to see me?”

“Very much. She even drew a picture for
you.”

“Athena, I…” There was eagerness in his
voice, but a good bit of doubt along with it.

“Derek, you’ll do fine,” she assured him.
“I’m sure of it. Now, do you know what room you’ll be in?”

“Oh, yeah. Hang on.” The sound of shuffling
papers came down the line for a moment. “Okay, I’ll be in
two-oh-five.”

Athena took the pen from behind her ear, and
wrote the number on the back of her hand holding the phone base.
“Got it. Okay, then. Have a safe flight, and we’ll see you in the
morning.”

“Okay. See you.”

That went better than she could have hoped.
Braced for another outpouring of hatred and disgust, Derek’s
tentative, almost shy manner was a relief. Maybe, just maybe, they
could be friends again. They might even…

No. She’d blown anything more than that by
keeping Elizabeth’s existence from him. She’d been prepared for his
anger when he heard the news, but his level of hurt and betrayal
was something she hadn’t counted on. And more the fool she for not
even thinking about the pain he might feel at missing out on the
first seven years of his daughter’s life. Those last ten glorious
days of basking in Derek’s love was all she was going to have. Any
love he felt for her vanished the instant he realized what she’d
done.

The pain of that loss went too deep even for
tears; all she could do was put on a brave front and learn to live
with it. She went back into the front of the store, gathering up
the phone cord as she walked, and found Hal grinning at her.

“Getting phone calls at work from members of
Wolf now, are you?”

“Yes,” she said shortly, stowing the phone on
the top shelf under the counter again. “Derek. He’s coming to town
tomorrow to see Elizabeth, so I’ll be taking the day off. And if I
come back here on Wednesday and find out y’all did nothing but goof
off and not do any work around here, heads are gonna roll. I mean
it.”

Hal’s grin faded and changed to a confused
frown. “Why is Derek Marshall coming to see your daughter?” he
asked, ignoring her dire threats about his job security.

“He’s her father.” Athena shrugged like this
was nothing new and not the best kept secret since the Watergate
break-in.

“Your daughter’s daddy is Derek Marshall? The
guitar player from Wolf?” Tammy’s eyes shone with excitement and a
kind of reverent awe that made Athena want to roll her eyes. Oh,
good grief. However, if this was what it took to get Tammy to
listen to her, she might as well play it for all it was worth.

“Oh, my God!” Tammy squealed and bounced up
and down on her toes. “Is he coming here?”

“No,” Athena sighed in irritation. “He’s
coming to see his daughter. We’ve already done the whole stopping
by the record store bit.”

“Where’s he staying?” Tammy asked with a look
of calculation.

“He has a house here in town,” Athena lied
through her teeth. All they needed was a gaggle of sorority girls
in the front lobby marring Derek’s visit with Elizabeth.

As Tammy’s mouth drew down in a disappointed
pout, Athena turned back to Hal.

“Like I said, I’m taking tomorrow off. And I
may just be in and out for the next couple of days. I’m counting on
you to step up and run this place the way it should be run while
I’m gone, and to keep the other employees in line, too. If you
can’t do that, we’ll have to make some changes around here. Got
it?”

A hint of panic in his eyes told her she’d
finally gotten through to him. “Don’t worry, Athena. We won’t have
any more problems.”

“Good.” She hoped he meant it; she didn’t
have the luxury of worrying about the store right then. The
following day was going to be worrisome enough.

As they entered the elevator at the Holiday
Inn, Athena gave Elizabeth one last going over. Hair smoothly
pulled back into pigtails on either side of her head – check. Face
and hands clean and free of smudges – check. Cute little outfit
bought hurriedly at Goldsmith’s the night before on straight and
mostly wrinkle free – check. Most beautiful little girl to ever
walk the face of the earth – check.

Unmoved by her mother’s nervous adjustments
to her clothes and hair, Elizabeth watched the numbers over the
door, humming Electric Light Orchestra’s “Can’t Get it Out of My
Head” under her breath. It was Athena’s current favorite song, and
apparently she’d been playing it too much. In her hand Elizabeth
carefully held the picture she’d drawn for Derek. Stick figures of
a man and a little girl held hands among a grove of trees, the
man’s free hand holding what Athena assumed was supposed to be a
guitar, though it really resembled a medieval instrument of
torture. Just to avoid any confusion, Elizabeth had written names
under the stick figures; Daddy under the man, Elizabeth Marshall
under the little girl. Athena just hoped Derek wouldn’t freak out
when he saw that one.

A soft chime announced they reached the
correct floor just before the doors slid open. Taking a deep
breath, Athena steered her daughter from the elevator and into the
hall.

“Okay. Can you find the room? Remember, it’s
two-oh-five.”

Elizabeth gazed at room numbers as they
passed the doors, whispering the numbers to herself with deep
concentration.

“Here it is,” she exclaimed, stopping at the
correct room. “Can I knock on the door?”

Adrenaline shot through Athena’s body,
leaving her shaky and a little sick. She waved a trembling hand at
the door. “Go ahead.”

Elizabeth rapped her knuckles against the
door, and despite the lack of force behind it, the sound of the
chain being slid back came almost at the first contact of her hand
on the wood. Derek must have been standing on the other side
waiting for them.

Athena held her breath, and met his eyes as
the door opened. “Hi,” she breathed.

“Hi.” He nodded briefly at her before his
eyes dropped to the little girl. Athena saw the muscles in his
throat moved as he swallowed. “Hello, Elizabeth.”

“Hi, Daddy!”

He melted. That was the only way Athena could
describe what happened to Derek when Elizabeth called him Daddy.
Every bit of tension in his face dissolved, leaving him slack-jawed
and speechless. His body sagged, and Athena bit her lip as he used
the doorjamb to keep himself upright. It didn’t last long, though,
and his blank expression was replaced a blazing happiness so
intense that Athena could feel its warmth, even though it wasn’t
directed at her. Her hand rose and settled over her racing
heart.

Derek’s smile was so bright it could have
been seen from space. He took a step back. “Want to come in for a
bit?”

Tilting her head, Elizabeth gave him a look
of mild exasperation. “You’re apposed to hug me first.”

Looking startled, Derek stuttered. “I,
um…well…” Recovering, he knelt on one knee and held out his arms.
“You’re absolutely right. Come here, then.”

With no hesitation, Elizabeth flung herself
at her father, laughing with delight. Derek gathered her close and
hid his face in the silky strands of her hair, eyes shut tight.

An emotion too deep for words flooded Athena
as she watched her daughter hug him for the first time. Her hand
rose from her chest to hide the trembling on her lips, and she took
a half-step back, feeling somehow that she was intruding on this
private moment.

Eyes still screwed shut, Derek stood with
Elizabeth in his arms, and the little girl wrapped herself around
him like a vine. After several deep breaths, Derek raised his head
a fraction of an inch and looked at Athena. His mouth moved in a
soundless “Thank you.”

Lowering her hand, Athena gave him a
tremulous smile and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. With a
barely discernible tilt of his head, Derek indicated he wanted her
to follow him into the motel room before he turned away, still
clutching Elizabeth to his chest. Athena followed, pulling her
little Instamatic from her purse. When everyone calmed down she
wanted to get a picture of Elizabeth and Derek together, a proper
replacement for the photo of Steve on Elizabeth’s nightstand.

Derek pressed his face against his daughter’s
neck, and his chest expanded as he breathed in, causing the little
girl to draw back a bit.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Derek looked up, blinking like a man who just
awakened from a dream. “I’m sorry.” A lopsided grin curved his
mouth. “It’s just that you smell really good.”

“It’s Ivory soap,” Elizabeth informed him.
“Mama made me take a bath.”

Athena smothered a laugh at the dumbfounded
look on Derek’s face as he tried to come up with a response.

“Well,” he finally said. “It smells
nice.”

“You smell pretty good, too, even though you
talk funny. But that’s because you’re from London, England and
y’all talk funny over there. The Queen lives there and she talks
funny, too.” A small vertical line appeared between Elizabeth’s
brows as she studied his bemused face. “Your eyes are really
blue.”

“So are yours. They’re just…” He paused to
swallow. “They’re just like mine.”

Moving with stealth so as to avoid notice,
Athena edged closer to try to see Elizabeth’s reaction better, so
she had a bird’s eye view of their reflection when Derek turned to
face the mirror over the dresser.

“See?” He nodded toward the reflection. “Just
alike.”

For a moment they studied each other in the
mirror. Then at the same moment, two dimples appeared on two left
cheeks as half-smiles curved their lips, and Athena had her
picture.

Elizabeth whipped her head around at the
camera’s flash and regarded her mother, mouth twisted with
exasperation. “Mama! You’re apposed to tell us to say
‘cheese.’”

“Didn’t have to.” Athena advanced the film on
the camera with her thumb. “You were both already smiling. I just
want you to have a nice picture for your pink frame.”

“Oh!” Evidently the word ‘picture’ jogged
Elizabeth’s memory because she turned back to Derek with shining
eyes. “I drawed you a picture, Daddy. See?” She held up the piece
of sketch paper for his perusal.

Derek studied it with the concentration he’d
give a new piece of music. “It’s lovely, Elizabeth.”

“It’s you and me,” she explained. “I wrote
our names so you won’t forget. Daddy and Elizabeth Marshall.”
Unaware of her father’s glistening eyes, she continued her
soliloquy. “That’s my new name. Mama helped me learn how to spell
it.”

“That’s right.” His voice broke on the last
word, and he paused to clear his throat. “It is your name now.”
Over the little girl’s head he looked at Athena, and nodded with a
small but grateful smile.