Athena's Daughter (30 page)

The can of hairspray toppled onto its side
and knocked the box of tampons over, and she sighed. Why did this
kind of thing only happen when she was in a hurry? She righted the
can and began scooping the tampons back into the box, but stopped,
frowning. Something about that didn’t add up. Why were the tampons
under the sink instead of in the basket beside the toilet where she
could get to them?

The reason why hit her like a thunderbolt,
and she dropped the box, tampons spilling out again into the
cabinet. She sat down on the floor with a boneless thump and
scooted as far away from the evidence as she could, coming to a
stop only when her back hit the side of the bathtub.

Her mind ran like a squirrel on speed, unable
to make sense of it. She tried to remember when she last bought
tampons, and recalled putting a new box in her suitcase before she
went off with Wolf because she had just started her period. That
was in early April, and she hadn’t bought any since. That meant
that the box in front of her was the same one she took on the road.
Which meant it sat untouched in her bathroom in the apartment until
it was packed up and brought to the new house where Andi unpacked
it and stuck it under the sink. Where it sat gathering dust until
this moment. Because she hadn’t needed it. Because that son of a
bitch had knocked her up again.

“No,” she whispered in her new role as
Cleopatra, Queen of Denial. “No, no, no.” How the hell had this
happened? She was on fucking birth control pills for God’s sake!
What did Derek have, super sperm?

Her bewildered thoughts came to a screeching
halt. No, Derek had super sexy moves that kept her naked and in his
hotel suite for two solid days without going back to her room to
get her pills, that’s what he had. In hindsight, using his
toothbrush was the least of her worries. Since that was near the
end of April, that meant…

Counting on her fingers, Athena whispered the
months under her breath. “May, June…July.” Three months. Three
months gone already. Son of a bitch.

Using the wall as support, Athena pushed
herself to her feet and stumbled to close the bathroom door.
Returning to the mirror she turned sideways, and with shaking hands
grasped the hem of her pink tank top and lifted it.

A slight but definite swell rounded her
otherwise flat abdomen. Sweat broke out on her forehead, and she
yanked the shirt down. Moving like an old woman, she made her way
to the toilet and closed the lid before collapsing upon it. Her
hands rose to cover her face, and she rocked back and forth in
confusion.

How stupid could she have been, anyway? She
knew she had to take those pills every single day. She knew that!
Yes, she had been in a state of mindless bliss because of the
blistering hot sex those two days, but that was no excuse. It was
habit to take a pill every morning after she brushed her teeth, so
why did she ignore it then?

Her hands dropped and she stared at the wall,
mouth open. Did she mean for this to happen?

Did he?

She told him she had to get those pills.
Hell, he even told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to
need them because of what he intended to do to her. But then he
kept her there fucking her brains out until two whole days had
passed before he let her go to her room.

And now he was going on dates with other
women? Son of a
bitch
!

Hearing Derek’s voice calling out from the
den didn’t improve her temper, and she charged out to meet him,
pulling her hair into a ponytail.

As she entered the den, he turned around
looking perplexed. “Is that Elizabeth shrieking?” he asked.

Athena pointed toward the stairs. “You go
upstairs and do something with your daughter. She’s been impossible
since last night, and it’s all your fault!”

He couldn’t have looked more shocked if she’d
slapped him. “What are you on about?”

“I hope you had a wonderful time on your
fucking little date last night, because you sure left a shitstorm
here at home.” She ignored his lowering brows and continued. “It
was unfair and unnecessary, and it wouldn’t have happened if you
hadn’t insisted Elizabeth and I live here under your thumb.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. You’re not going to start
in about the house again, are you?”

His disgusted tone pushed her anger higher,
and she put the matter of the baby aside to set him straight on a
few things first. “As a matter of fact I am. I resent being here
with you under my feet every second, and spoiling my child to where
I don’t even recognize her any more. And then you go gallivanting
off with the first slut you see and leave me to deal with the fall
out. I hate this, Derek! If it wasn’t for you, Elizabeth and I
would be in our own home, one that I could afford to buy
myself.”

“Is that what last weekend was then?” he
gritted out with clenched jaw. “Payment for living here? If so, I
regret to tell you that it wasn’t nearly enough.”

She felt punched in the chest by his cruel
words, and couldn’t catch her breath. All she could do was stand
there and gape at him in shock.

“We’ll discuss the living arrangements when I
get back from Muscle Shoals.” He curled his lip and shook his head.
“But until then I’ll be more than happy to get out from under your
precious feet. When you get back from work this afternoon I’ll move
back to the Holiday Inn until I leave for Alabama, and Elizabeth
can come to me there.” His voice rose steadily throughout this
speech until the last few words were almost shouted.

Athena cringed back as he brushed past her on
his way to the stairs. Part of her mind registered that Elizabeth
had stopped crying, and she was mortified to think her little girl
heard her parents fighting. The rest of her mind was trying to make
sense of what Derek said. When the full impact hit her, she bit
back a scream of rage. He had accused her of having sex with him as
some sort of payment for the house! Here she stood pregnant with
another of his children, and he was casting vile accusations at her
because they both got drunk and had sex. And he was going to leave,
which meant she would once again be raising a baby of his
alone.

If she saw him again now she’d punch him in
the face, and that was definitely something Elizabeth didn’t need
to see. Tears of anger and betrayal burning her eyes, she snatched
up her purse from the counter and slammed out of the house.

Derek leaned against the acoustic tiles on
the wall of the vocal booth with a pair of headphones hanging
around his neck, and waited for the producer and engineer to get
things set up. This would be the first time he’d sang lead vocals
on a track since Wolf’s first album four and a half years ago, but
it was something he had to do. He owed it to Athena.

He still cringed when he thought of the
things he’d said to her that last morning at the house. Those
cruel, hateful things that burst out of him with no forethought,
things he didn’t mean. But said them he had, and he could still see
the pain on her face.

He had been so frustrated and so confused.
The night when he and Athena finally made love gave him more hope
than he’d had since acting like an ass in L.A. There were a few
times when he thought she might have forgiven him, and maybe even
wanted him back as badly as he did her, but it was that night when
she’d performed that striptease that he finally thought they could
get back together.

But the next day she was so distant, watching
him with wary eyes, and maintained that distance and a cold
formality that crushed him. That’s why he went on that disastrous
dinner date; he wanted to show her he wouldn’t push himself on her
and would give her the space she needed. The date, though, was the
worst idea he ever had. All he wanted was to be back home with
Athena and Elizabeth, eating chili dogs in the kitchen and reading
the next chapter of
Little House in the Big Woods
to his
daughter at bedtime. Instead, he found himself fending off the
advances of a woman he found repellant and having to endure a
horrible goodnight kiss before he could escape.

Everything boiled over the morning Athena
threw it in his face that he was the one who made his daughter cry,
and he snapped, taking it out on the woman he loved. Moving back
into the Holiday Inn was awful, but it was nothing compared to the
way Athena wouldn’t even look at him the next three mornings when
she dropped Elizabeth off at his room. Trying to apologize was out
of the question; it was crystal clear she didn’t want him to speak
to her, so he’d bitten his tongue.

But those three nights after Andi picked up
Elizabeth gave him the time to write it all out. He’d written the
song for Athena, and even if she never acknowledged it, it was the
least he could do.

He had recorded a perfunctory rendition of
the lyrics when they laid down most of the music. They needed
something so they could get the background vocals on tape. He would
wait until they went to Ardent Studios in Memphis to record the
lead guitar track, but he wanted to go ahead and record the final
vocals as soon as he could.

“Derek? Derek!”

With a start, he finally noticed the tinny
voice coming from the headphones. He pulled them up over his ears
and spoke into the mike.

“Yeah.”

“Thought you fell asleep in there. You
ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

“Okay, give us a quick level check.”

After a brief pause, the music came through
the headphones, and at the proper place he began to sing. A few
lines in, the music shut off and he stepped back from the mike.
Moments later the voice of the engineer came through the ‘phones
again.

“All right, Derek. We’re rolling.”

He drew in a soundless breath, stepped back
to the mike and thought of Athena. The intro to the song poured
into his ears and he closed his eyes, picturing her face, her hair,
her smile.

“
Well, I wasn’t lying when I told
you

No one else could ever take your place.

I’ve learned to love with some
detachment,

But everywhere I look, I see your face.

You secreted away bits of my heart

And left a few holes gaping here, my
friend.

But I often wonder now I’m older

Who I’d be without you way back then.”

The drums pounded in his ears, and he
launched into the chorus.

“
I haven’t learned to live without
you

But my smile has learned never to betray.

Not a day goes by that you don’t cross my
mind.

It’s been so long, we’ve both moved on,

But I can’t seem to forget you today.

And I can’t help but find that I’ve lost this
time.

The music picked up again, and he heard in
his mind the way he’d play the lead guitar line. It was going to
come together just the way he’d imagined. If only she could hear
it. He lifted his head and sang the second verse.

“
Well, I’ve already gone through
grieving

But something keeps you here inside my
head.

I’ve fought the ghosts you left behind

But they still haunt me every now and
then.

I think about the way you spoke,

The way the sunlight danced across your
eyes.

I wonder if you think of me, too;

Do you regret the way you said goodbye?”

Derek sang the chorus again, waited through
what would eventually be the guitar solo, and finished with one
last rendition of the chorus. He poured his whole heart and soul
into the vocals. It was all he knew to do.

The Friday after Derek left was one of those
days that let Memphians know that summer wouldn’t last forever, and
gave them hope to get through the worst of the heat that was yet to
come. Though it was still July, the humidity was almost
non-existent, and the predicted high was in the low eighties.

The door to the record shop stood chocked
open, letting the pleasant breeze in. Athena, Hal and Tammy sat
behind the counter during a midday lull, eating their lunch.
Business had been brisk during the morning as the beautiful day
brought the people out, and they expected another rush in the
afternoon.

Athena ate with the ferocity of a starving
jackal. Morning sickness had finally reared its ugly head, like it
was waiting for her to be aware of the pregnancy before making an
appearance, and she was starving each day by lunchtime. She had
gone to the doctor so she would have confirmation when she broke
the news to Derek, and had been told that morning sickness during
the second trimester wasn’t unusual. Well, God forbid she miss out
on all the fun.

And speaking of fun, it was sure to be a riot
when Derek returned to Memphis the following week to begin
post-production at Ardent Studios. Remembering his reaction when he
found out about Elizabeth, Athena could only imagine the explosion
when he found out Elizabeth would be welcoming a new brother or
sister in January. Unless it was more than one. With her family
history and her luck, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was carrying
quadruplets.

Andi and the kids were all at the Chickasaw
Gardens house while the carpets at Andi’s were being cleaned, and
after Athena got off work they were going to grill burgers out by
the pool. Her sister still hadn’t guessed, and Athena planned to
keep it under wraps until Derek was told. After all, he was the
last one to know about his daughter. She was going to make damn
sure he was the first to know about the new baby.

“Geez, Athena,” Hal remarked. “Don’t eat the
wax paper.”

“Ha, ha,” she retorted around a mouthful of
ham sandwich. “It was a busy morning, and I missed breakfast.”

Tammy spoke up from her other side.
“Elizabeth still not happy her daddy’s gone?”