Detours (26 page)

Ellis twisted her index finger in front of her ear and made a goofy face. “God, this world is a screwed up place. It’s a miracle we’re not all permanently institutionalized.”

Mary kissed Ellis’s cheek. “Forgive me for saying so, but hearing all this about your family gives me comfort.”

“Why? Because misery loves company?”

“Kind of. But it’s more like we can look at ourselves and say, ‘Look, despite all the crap we went through with our families, we’ve made it this far, and we’re still functioning adults. We are what we are in spite of our past, not strictly because of it.’”

Ellis considered for a moment. “Sort of like hope triumphing over doubt.”

“Exactly.” Mary lifted Ellis’s arm so that she could cuddle against her. “How else would anyone ever decide to bring a child into this loony bin known as planet earth?”

“Sometimes I wonder if this thing we call life is really remedial play for retarded third-graders in a distant galaxy.”

“Could be. We can’t know for sure, so we might as well try to enjoy the ride.” Mary pulled Ellis’s other arm around so that Ellis was hugging her. “Now, I want to hear the rest of what your sister had to say.”

Ellis filled her in on the details she’d gathered from her hour-long call with Anika. It boiled down to some major misconceptions between Ellis and her half-siblings due to a glaring lack of information; a bond of love that, although neglected, was still in existence; and promises to find ways to be part of one another’s lives.

“I can’t wait for you and Anika to have your first fight,” Mary said.

Ellis pushed Mary away so that she could see her face. “What an awful thing to say.”

“Not at all. It’ll be nice to have the spotlight on
your
sister’s annoying behavior for a change.” Mary poked her finger on Ellis’s chest as she spoke “your.”

Ellis grinned. “That’s one of Natalie’s favorite ploys—whining about not having a sibling to blame and to boss around.”

“Can you blame her?”

Ellis grew pensive. “Maybe for the first time ever, no I can’t. Every kid should have a brother or sister to help them navigate life’s highways.”

“And detours,” Mary added. “Don’t forget the detours.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

Ellis reread the letter she’d written to Becky. She’d spent much of the next morning striving for the right mix of gratitude and appreciation for their years together, conciliation for her strident behavior when she had run into her and Ruthann in June, and congratulations on finally fulfilling her dream of being a mother. Satisfied that she’d found acceptable words, she opened the small lockbox that held her important papers and took out the promissory note Becky had given her when they dissolved their union. In bold letters, she printed PAID IN FULL across the Terms of Payment section of the note. In her regular cursive, she added a line at the bottom of the page:
Use this for your child’s college education, music lessons, or soccer equipment. Best wishes to all three of you. Love, Ellis.

“I really think it would be better if I stayed home.” Ellis ran her finger around the edge of the pie plate sitting on the kitchen table. “You could leave me a slice of this apple pie, though.”

“Honestly, Ellis, you’re worse than Natalie.” Mary swatted Ellis’s hand to keep her from picking at the pie crust. “Thanksgiving is for families, and you’re part of this family now. We’re going to Mother’s, and that’s the end of the discussion.”

Ellis had managed to avoid any serious confrontations with Mary’s family in her first two months in Clarkesville. Of course, avoiding confrontations meant pretty much avoiding the Moss family altogether. She had spent a strained afternoon with them two weeks earlier to help celebrate Natalie’s tenth birthday. Thanks to the general confusion generated by six children clamoring for more ice cream and squabbling over who got the next turn with Nat’s sing-along karaoke mike, the seven adults in attendance hadn’t talked about anything more pressing than getting the candle wax out of baby Erin’s hair. But now the holidays were upon them, and Ellis’s dodge-and-weave tactics weren’t going to work as well.

“Is everybody going to be there?”

“If by everybody, you mean my sisters and their families and my mom, then yes, everybody will be there.” Mary crimped a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie. “And if we don’t get going, we’ll be late. You do not want to give my mother a reason to declare Thanksgiving a disaster due to a delay in serving her turkey.”

“All right. Message received. What else do we need to take?”

“A large dose of patience and good humor and our adorable ten-year-old.”

“Ten going on twenty-eight, as her dad might have said.” Ellis regretted the words as soon as they’d left her lips.

Ellis watched as Mary distracted herself with checking that the stove burners were turned off and looking out the window over the sink. “Our first Thanksgiving without Nathan. Some days, I still expect him to come through the door calling for Natalie to hurry up.”

Ellis stepped over behind Mary. “I’m sorry. I should have thought before I spoke.” She kissed the back of Mary’s neck. “I’ll try to be smarter from now on.”

“No, I think it’s good we talk about him, especially in front of Natalie. She needs to remember her dad and know that it’s okay to miss him.”

“Do you miss him, Mary?”

“Of course I do. He was a part of my life forever. He was one of my best friends, and don’t forget, without him, I wouldn’t have Natalie. I suspect I’ll miss him every day for as long as I live.”

A tiny wave of jealousy washed over Ellis. Would she always have to compete against Nathan’s ghost?

Mary turned and wrapped her arms around Ellis’s midsection. “But I’m at least a thousand percent happier with you than I ever was with him. My love for you is so real. With him, I was always forcing myself to pretend I felt things I knew I’d never feel.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that. I worry sometimes that you’ll regret asking me to move up here to live with you.”

Mary took a step away from Ellis. “Why? Why would I possibly regret having you with me every single day?”

“Because of what it’s doing to your relationship with your family. I don’t intentionally eavesdrop on your phone calls, but sometimes I can’t help but overhear what you say to your mom and sisters.”

“Sister,” Mary corrected. “Gloria’s come a long way since that day she and I talked about us and Adam’s uncle. She can see how happy I am and how much better Nat is doing now that you’re here.”

“Okay, so Gloria’s come around, but I’m not sure your mother hasn’t convinced Barry to meet me at the door with a shotgun if I show up for dinner today.”

“Barry’s an asshole sometimes, but he’s a harmless asshole.”

“Harmless if you discount the half-dozen hunting rifles he owns.”

“He can’t have you stuffed and hang your head on the wall over the fireplace. I think you’re safe.” Mary glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Honey, I know you’ve got some worries about Naomi and Barry and my mom, and I swear I’m willing to talk to you about anything that’s bothering you, but we’ve got to pull Nat away from whatever she’s messing with in her room and get to Mother’s.”

“All right. I’ll put the pie in your Xterra and make sure Sam’s settled in for the afternoon. You get the rug rat, and we’ll do our version of the Plymouth Rock thing at Anna Moss’s house.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

Seven hours later, Mary, Ellis, and Natalie returned home. Among them, they lugged enough leftovers to last until next Thanksgiving. As they entered through the kitchen door, Sam bolted out past them for the yard.

“Nat, I want you to go to your room and get ready for bed. If you’re going shopping with Aunt Gloria and Amber and Ashley tomorrow, you need to be in bed with lights out by eight-thirty tonight.” Mary crammed containers into the refrigerator.

“We’re not walking to the Mall of Georgia, Mom. I don’t need to go to bed early.”

Mary leaned against the closed refrigerator door. “I’m not in the mood for a debate. Please, for once in your life, just do as you’re told, okay?” She hugged Natalie and gave her a push toward the hallway.

“’Night, kiddo,” Ellis said. “See you in the morning.”

Natalie trudged out of the room.

“Who pooped in your pumpkin pie?” Ellis nudged Mary with her hip. “They’re not leaving for the mall until ten o’clock, so Nat will be up in plenty of time to be ready.”

“I know.” Mary pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and sat down. “I guess since I can’t send the rest of my family to their rooms, I’m taking it out on my kid.”

“I take it something happened between you and your sisters while I adroitly avoided helping clean up after dinner.” Ellis dropped into the chair across from Mary.

“More like didn’t happen.” Mary twisted her face into a snarl. “I’d try to say something about how great you and Nat are getting along, and my mother or Naomi would act like they were deaf.”

“And this surprises you why?”

“Not a surprise, but sure as hell an annoyance.”

Ellis held her hand out for Mary to take. “Let me see if I can balance the ledger.”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me you and Barry and Adam bonded over your touch football game with the kids.” Mary accepted Ellis’s outstretched hand.

“Well, I don’t know about Barry, but Adam and I had a very interesting conversation.”

“Do tell.”

Ellis heard the sarcasm in Mary’s voice. She cleared her throat before replying. “Good afternoon, Miss. Welcome to Moss Motors. I see you’re looking at our newest dual-fuel hybrid. Would you like to take a test drive?”

“Did someone slip a hallucinogenic into your mashed potatoes?”

“Not so far as I know, but your brother-in-law did ask me if I thought I’d like to try my hand at selling cars at your dad’s old dealership.”

Mary reeled in mock astonishment. “Adam asked you to come to work for him?”

“Uh-huh. We agreed it would be on a trial basis for a few months to see if I’m any good at it and if he wants to keep me on.”

“Call me Cliff and do drop over.”

“I’d rather call you sweetheart and ask if you’d let me take you to bed.”

“In a minute,” Mary said as she brushed the back of Ellis’s knuckles. “Maybe my family isn’t a total waste after all.”

“I admit, your mother and Naomi could still double as side-by-side cold storage lockers, but Gloria was really nice to me today, and laugh if you want to, but that touch football game gave me a chance to get to know Barry on his own turf. I can’t imagine he’ll ever be one of my favorite people, nor will I make his top ten, but we talked about the pros and cons of reinstituting the two-point conversion option and the merits of challenging a call and using instant replay to decide. At least we found some common turf.”

“My little jock.”

Ellis saw the light in Mary’s eyes as she spoke.

“It was more than that. I saw how he treated his sons. It was clear he’s absolutely devoted to them. And he was good with his nieces, too, in a clumsy, manly sort of way.” Ellis paused. “And both he and Adam talked about how fantastic Nathan was.”

“That’s nice. I always liked how the sons-in-law got along so well. As big a screw-up as this family is, picture what it would have been like if those in-laws had hated each other’s guts.”

“Yeah, and they said something else that really made me think.”

“What’s that?”

“They said they really wished he’d lived long enough to get that son he always dreamed about having.”

Ellis noticed Mary swallow hard. “It would have meant the world to him,” Mary said. “Not that he didn’t love Nat, but there’s something about men and their sons.”

“It probably would have meant a lot to you, too, huh? And we dare not forget the girl in the back bedroom who claims she’s incomplete without a sibling of her very own.”

“Gretchen Alina VanStantvoordt! Someone
did
lace your green bean casserole with LSD. More than once in recent weeks, I’ve heard you waxing eloquent about the merits of having children.”

“I’m not waxing anything. I’m merely reporting what was discussed on your mother’s front lawn after too much turkey and dressing.”

Mary got to her feet. “Come on. We need to get you into bed before you tell me you’ve got baby names picked out. I wouldn’t necessarily object, you understand, but I want to be sure you’re not trying to cast me in a supporting role in a grade B remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Ellis went to the door. “Let me get my dog in, and then we can do some mutual body invading in the bedroom.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

“You can invade me like that as often as you want to.” Mary exhaled contentedly, savoring the afterglow.

“You make it sound like I’m a hostile nation.” Ellis dragged her fingers through Mary’s tousled hair.

“Not at all. But maybe the prospect of paid employment has boosted your confidence levels in more than one arena.”

Ellis sat up a bit straighter. “Now that you mention it…”

“I was joking.” Mary tugged on Ellis’s close-cropped hair.

“I know, but after the way things went with Naomi and your mother today, we can’t keep putting off talking to the rest of your family about us. If everything is going to blow sky high, I’d rather know it once and for all and get it behind us. It would be stupid for me to go to work at the dealership if your mother is going to make Adam kick me out a week later. It’s still her dealership, after all.”