Autumn Leaves (8 page)

“You didn’t say ‘hot’?”

“Sorry. No.”

Her face was burning as they were standing too close in the dimly lit hallway, uncomfortable truths coming at her all at once. The way scenes from Callie’s book lingered on her mind, time and again.

“Okay then.”

The way Maria had been all over Callie. There was no reason to go all crazy, was there? Maria was touchy-feely with everyone.

“God, look at me. Drunk on a Saturday morning.”

Callie reached for her hand, and Rebecca stepped back so quickly she nearly hit her head against the wall behind her.

“What do you want, Rebecca?”

Get so drunk I won’t feel the pain of curiosity anymore—or I won’t care...Order more of those books of yours. Go, before I can take a good look at what the answer to your question is.

“You have to understand!” she said heatedly. “I’ve never been…I’m not normally that way. I’m not as narrow-minded as you think I am. ”

“Are you done with that private chat of yours?” Maria had joined them before Callie could answer. “Craig will drive you home if you want.”

“No thanks,” Rebecca said. “I think I’ll take a walk.”

* * * *

If Rebecca was troubled, Callie felt sorry about it, but she had no idea how to help. With every step forward, she was taking quite a few backwards herself. She saw Maria in church before. They greeted each other and exchanged a few words. When they ran into each other in the grocery store and Maria mentioned choir, it seemed like a great idea to meet more people. To stop defining her days by whether or not Rebecca would drop by, which, of course, she hadn’t since Callie gave her the speech.

Then Maria had suggested brunch with friends. It was when she mentioned that her last name was Lowman that Callie had realized she might be in trouble. How ironic was it for her to come to this conclusion only now? She was in trouble for some time. Back at home, she turned on the computer listlessly, the blank page staring back at her.

The ringing of the doorbell was welcome. If Rebecca had something to say, Callie wanted to beat her to it. Determined, she got up to open the door.

“I think you and I should talk.”

Any movie-like, love-struck, and utterly foolish confession would have to wait. The visitor was not Rebecca, but Betty LaRue who seemed pretty mad.
At me?
Callie wondered. She couldn’t remember having done anything against small town etiquette other than...existing.

“Come on in. Can I offer you anything?”

Somehow, she knew it wouldn’t be the pleasant banter she had shared with Rebecca, before everything became really complicated. Callie thought Maria and Roz were mostly intrigued and curious. Maria was quite a bit too curious for her comfort. Betty, though, made her wary.

“I won’t stay long,” Betty said.

Just as well.
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“This.” With vehemence, Betty slammed a couple of books on the table. They were brand new copies of
Heart Fever
and the follow-up.
Here we go
.

“Oh. Right. I’ll sign them for you if you want me to.” Callie just couldn’t help it. Betty seemed speechless, and Callie almost expected her to turn on her heel and go. Of course it couldn’t be that easy. Callie remembered Rebecca saying, “
No one hates you here
.” Hate was hard to understand for someone like Rebecca who gave affection so easily, a kiss on the cheek, a hug that lasted a tad too long. The wave of longing hit her unexpectedly, at this most inappropriate moment. She couldn’t wait for anyone to stand up for herself though. Callie had learned that the hard way before.

“How can you dare bring this dirt to our homes?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Betty seethed. “Rebecca can’t be in her right mind to let her children anywhere near you.”

“Why wouldn’t she? What is this—are you jealous because she didn’t ask you to babysit Maggie? No, wait, she did. You said you didn’t have time.”

“I found this in the bookstore. We don’t like your kind here.”

“What are you gonna do about it, gather a mob to drive me out of the city? You know what, Betty, I actually like it here. Most people I’ve met aren’t hung up on their prejudices. I don’t have to come to Saturday brunch, if that makes you feel any better…but you know what? I don’t care!”

Of course, in order to find out what exactly Callie’s kind was, Betty had certainly read the books, cover to cover. Chances were, she was afraid to like what she’d read.

“Church choir,” Betty snorted. “That’s such a joke. You’re laughing at everything we believe in.”

“Betty, I believe you’ve made your point. Please leave now.”

“People like you are making me sick. Stay away from my family!”

If her vision was blurring now, it was all anger, or at least Callie hoped it was. She certainly had the right to be angry. She hadn’t always led a particularly sheltered life, but somehow, she’d managed to escape homophobia pretty well. To her, it had presented itself more as a practical thing, the lack of equality in law, health care, and so on, which was bad enough. She never had someone as determined as Betty LaRue in her face before.

“You have no right—”

“There was a time when people like you wouldn’t dare talk like this,” Betty yelled.

It made something within Callie snap. “This is my house, and I won’t let anybody with a stripper name insult me here, not to mention someone who’s a walking cliché out of
Desperate Housewives
!”

The sound rang obscenely loud in the room when Betty slapped her.

“That’s it. You leave right now, or I’m calling the police.”

Callie wasn’t sure if Craig Lowman, whom she’d met briefly, would be of help here. At least the idea had a slight impact on Betty. Before she left, she made a point of wiping the books off the table, then she all but ran to her car. Callie picked up the books again, smoothing the edges before she carefully laid them back on the table. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

She cried.

* * * *

“Mom?”

Rebecca quickly closed the lid of her laptop when Dina came into her office, unusually subdued. She was on the phone for nearly two hours.

“Yes, honey, what’s up?”

Dina didn’t even roll her eyes at ‘honey’. This was serious, then.

“Could you drive me to Anna’s later?”

Rebecca regarded her daughter attentively. Anna was the friend out of town with whom things were rocky lately. Dina hadn’t wanted to go into detail before, but Rebecca wondered what might have been the reason for the girls’ breakup. It had always bothered her that she didn’t know Anna’s parents too well. They moved out of town right after the girls finished elementary school.

“Everything okay there?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m an idiot,” Dina said.

“Oh, no. That’s not true.”

“It is. She’s my friend. I shouldn’t have let her down.”

It sounded ominous enough to make alarm bells ring for Rebecca. Also, trying to be a good parent was a welcome excuse not to think about her own shortcomings in friendship. She saw Betty’s car in front of Callie’s house. Betty had not stopped to say hi. It couldn’t be good.

“This wouldn’t be any problem where adults should be involved? You’d tell me if it was?”

“Of course.” Dina looked weary. In a fourteen-year-old, it was heartbreaking.

“You want to go right now? I’d run some errands and come get you tonight.”

“Actually...” Dina hesitated. “I was wondering if I could stay the night.”

“What about school?”

“It’s an emergency.”

Rebecca thought of Betty and her struggle to connect with her son. She thought of her own struggle, and how irrelevant it became when at this moment, one of her girls really needed her.

“Please, Mom, just this one time. I promise I’m okay. I just really have to make up for being a shitty friend.”

Knowing exactly how that felt, Rebecca was inclined to go along with her daughter’s plan. Dina had many friends in school. Her grades were usually good, except she didn’t have much of a grasp of sciences. One day wouldn’t really bring a major change to that.

“Her parents know?”

“They said yes.” Dina smiled sheepishly.

“Well, what choice do I have then?”

“I love you, Mom.” Dina all but jumped to her feet, hugging her tightly. A wave of emotion came over Rebecca with this unusual display of affection.

“I love you too, honey. Why don’t you pack some things while I finish up here? You know, we should get you some tutoring for chemistry...”

Dina made a face at her, and Rebecca laughed. “Come on, get going.”

When her daughter had left, she went back to the windows open on the screen, the HTML editor, and the online bookstore.
Praise for Callie Bryan...

The church was lit up when Rebecca drove by on her way back. Making her decision on the spur of the moment, she made a U-turn and parked, not quite wanting to go home yet. Maggie would stay with David’s mother until the weekend. He’d bring her back when he returned from the current trip. Rebecca didn’t feel like facing an empty house yet, and going over to Callie’s didn’t seem like an option.

The choir practice was open for everyone interested, whether they wanted to join or just listen for a moment. Rebecca quietly walked down the aisle as the women’s voices rose. Maria played the piano. She sang the most solos, and her voice never failed to send shivers down Rebecca’s spine, especially in this setting. Maybe it was a bit out of jealousy that Rebecca had never tried to carve out some time for this. It wasn’t like Maria hadn’t made the effort. She was always trying to get people to join. Maybe one of these days Rebecca would just get over herself and give in.

Rebecca sat in the third pew, letting the music embrace and comfort her. She had always loved church, the idea that there was a place where she’d always be welcome, a place she’d always leave with the certainty that things would be all right in the end.

Finally, she found the courage to seek out Callie in the group. She was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, her hair bound back in a ponytail.

Rebecca thought she was beautiful. It didn’t even seem to be an inappropriate thought in church as the haunting tune continued.

She left before the practice was over.

Chapter Four

Choir practice was only a temporary reprieve. At least it until Rebecca showed up. That moment Callie wondered what possessed her to think that she could find peace in a place where a lot of people weren’t too kind about the lives of others. Autumn Leaves. This church. If Asha thought Callie had a masochistic streak, she might be right about it.

When she came back to her house, Callie found herself unable to settle. There was the unpleasant conversation with Betty she’d tried her best to just forget about. Maria, Rebecca’s sister-in-law, seemed to be interested in practicing more than singing. Then there was Rebecca, not even knowing she was playing with fire.

It was all too much.

Callie sat down to work, but after an agonizing session of writing paragraphs and deleting them again, she picked up the phone. After two rings, it was answered.

“I thought you made out with your gorgeous neighbor. Sorry. Made up is what I meant.”

“About that. If you could just be polite the next time and not insult anyone?”

“Ah, small town people are so sensitive,” Asha said disapprovingly. “Wait. What did you mean, next time?”

Callie tiredly leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. “I really need you here.”

“Oh, I understand. No making out, no making up either.”

“It’s complicated.”

“I bet it is. Look, I think I can justify this as checking up once more on our favorite author, so I could be there in a few hours. Would that be okay?”

“Perfect,” Callie sighed. “I’m sorry. I owe you.”

Asha laughed. “Don’t worry, baby. I plan to collect.”

All of a sudden, Callie’s mood was greatly improving. She and Asha hadn’t made a very good couple, but at least there had never been any confusion as to what they could expect from each other.

“Stay up all night, sleep all day? Oh, to be a writer,” Asha teased.

“Stop that and get your ass over here already.”

“Right. I can’t believe you’re complaining about my vocabulary.”

* * * *

Having dinner all by herself was strange, or at least it felt that way tonight. There were times when Rebecca wished for a moment like this, between playing chauffeur for the kids, keeping the house in order and meals on the table at the right time. It was like back in the days as a grad student, when she was losing time and forgetting the sandwich sitting on the table next to her over work. Rebecca genuinely looked forward to working on her commission for Father Langdon, but now, she was distracted. There was still a light on over at Callie’s.