Fatal Deduction (15 page)

“So you’re out of business.”

“Let’s just say I’m exploring other possibilities.”

Rick laughed. “You are the man, Eddie. You are the man!”

“You had both of them?” That was Jim Sarnoff, true to his one-track mind. He thought himself a modern-day Casanova, but he lacked any of the charm and charisma of the legendary ladies’ man. He made my stomach curdle with his “accidental” brushing against the girls, his groping hands touching anywhere they could. “Which one was best?”

There was a silence. With my neck prickling, I could feel them
right behind me. Even as I told myself not to turn, I was unable to help myself. Rick and Jim had their backs to me, so only Eddie saw me. His eyes locked with mine.

He smirked. “Which one do you think?”

“Tori,” Jim said right away. “She’s got fire.” He wasn’t quite drooling, but close.

“Poor little Libby.” Rick shook his head. What was so awful was that his pity was genuine. Dumb Rick pitied me!

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed, his smirk deepening. “A distant second.
Very
distant.”

Even today that spear of agony hurt, which I knew was absolutely ridiculous, but there it was. Fortunately I rarely had occasion to think of that scene. Still, Eddie’s deliberate nastiness had always made me extremely leery about letting Chloe know anything about him. What if he turned that ruthless cruelty loose on her?

And here I was living with the one person besides Madge who could bring both Chloe and me great pain. And given last night, apparently she planned to, though I had no idea why. Try as I would, I could see nothing for her to gain by bringing Eddie around.

Though as I thought of the puzzle Eddie’d delivered, maybe I had it backwards. Maybe Eddie had sought Tori out, which was not a comforting thought.

I finally managed to fall asleep around five. I dragged myself out of bed at nine and went down for some tea. When the best thing about the day so far was that Tori appeared to be sleeping in and I didn’t have to deal with her, I once again felt like a bogus Christian. I certainly wasn’t loving my sister as Scripture said I should.

Chloe came to breakfast full of limitless curiosity.

“Aunt Tori says you guys knew Eddie back in high school.” She shook cinnamon and sugar onto her toast.

“We did.” I forced myself to take an unhurried sip of tea. What else had Tori told her?

“She said you both dated him.”

“We did.”

“Mom! He’s slimy.”

I grinned at her unexpected comment. I was just shallow enough and unspiritual enough to love her insight. “Let’s just say it was at a time when I wasn’t very perceptive.”

“Why’d you break up with him?”

I made a little puff of self-disparagement. “I didn’t. He broke up with me.”

She looked at me in surprise. “Really?”

I nodded. “For Aunt Tori.”

She laughed.

I gave her the eyebrow. “And what’s so funny? It broke my heart.”

“It’s sort of like a TV soap. Over-the-top family drama and deceit. Sister against sister, the eternal triangle, all that stuff.”

If she only knew. “Yeah, well, it’s almost time to leave for church. Ready?” I had to get her moving before she asked how old I’d been when I went with Eddie and then did some math. I stood and collected our dirty dishes.

“Just gotta brush my teeth.” She rushed from the kitchen, only to come rushing back. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “He didn’t know quality when he had it.” And she raced away again.

I had tears in my eyes as I brushed my own teeth.

The soothing calm of the sanctuary at the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church was balm to my frayed emotions. It was a spiritual adventure to be in the place where the renowned James Montgomery Boice had
preached for years before cancer took him prematurely. Even today, several years after his death, his raspy bass could be heard preaching on the local airwaves every Sunday morning.

Oh, Lord, forgive me for resenting Tori so. Help me find where the boundaries should be. And help me tell Chloe
.

By the time the final chords of the music died and it was time to go into the world again, I felt much calmer. I turned and came face to face with Jenna and Drew.

“Hey,” Drew said.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

He just looked at me with a slow, slightly mocking but totally nonoffensive smile. “Going to church?”

I put a hand up, acknowledging what a stupid question I had asked. I decided I’d chalk it up to the sleepless night.

“Bad night?” The man saw way too much.

I shrugged and gave a pathetic little smile. “I’ll be fine.” Maybe some day a million years from now. Of course, by then I’d be in heaven, and I would be fine. Something to look forward to. I wondered uselessly if you could ask stupid questions in heaven or if I’d be spared that embarrassment—if you even got embarrassed in heaven.

“Guess what?” Jenna bubbled as we went down the front steps to the sidewalk. “We’re going to a Phillies game tonight. More fireworks. Want to come? We’ve got extra tickets.”

I glanced at Drew. Did this invitation mean Chloe, or did it mean both of us?

He nodded. “A friend at Penn has season tickets, but he’s away this weekend. He gave them to me. We’ve got four, and we were thinking it was a shame to waste two.”

Both of us. How very—nice. Understatement. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone anywhere with a single man on an almost date, if you can count going somewhere with two thirteen-year-old chaperons even an almost date.

“Oh, I don’t know.” I tried my best to look uncertain. “Chloe was so tired when she got up this morning. I’m not sure she can manage another late night.”

Chloe looked at me, horrified. Jenna looked distressed. Drew grinned. How did he know I was kidding?

“Gotcha!” I pointed a finger at Chloe.

She and Jenna looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“The game starts at seven thirty,” Drew said. “I’ll find out the best way to get to the stadium. I don’t even know where it is.”

“It’s down by the river in the sports complex where the old Veterans Stadium was, but I couldn’t tell you how to actually get there.” We exchanged cell phone numbers as we walked back home.

“Look! McDonald’s!” Chloe pointed at the fast-food place sandwiched between two stores. “Chicken McNuggets!”

You’d have thought it was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I realized I didn’t have to worry about Aunt Stella’s Wedgwood completely turning her head, though someday I would have to take the child to a classier eatery just so she got comfortable smiling at a server and leaving a tip. And eating something besides Chicken McNuggets.

Drew looked equally delighted. “Big Mac with cheese.” He pulled the door open, and we all stepped inside. Once we collected our food, we sat at a table for four. I had a momentary fantasy about how much we looked like a real family as Jenna talked about the hunky guys next door back home and Drew did his best not to shudder.

When we left, the girls walked ahead, and I had a chance to thank Drew for his rescue the previous night. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a white knight ride to my rescue before.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been called a white knight before.”

“No?”

“Never.” He was emphatic. “Usually I’m called dull and pedantic.”

I laughed. If ever there was a man who was not dull and pedantic, it was him.

“You shouldn’t take your students’ comments to heart. They wouldn’t know a knight if they saw one.”

“Oddly, my students seem to like me. My classes always fill quickly.”

I did not find that odd at all. “Jenna calls you pedantic? That’s not a word typically used by thirteen-year-olds.”

“That’s the truth. Nor by many college freshmen. But Jenna’s never said that. She and I do pretty well together.”

And I understood. The missing wife with the red and green hair. “Ah. Amazing how it hurts, isn’t it?”

He gave a tight little smile.

“Even when it’s untrue. Even when it was said years ago.”

He looked at me, and we acknowledged the shared experience of being run through by those we had loved. We walked the next block in companionable silence.

We made the final turn for home in time to see Tori’s limo pull away. Tension that I hadn’t even been aware I was carrying left, loosening my shoulder and neck muscles. I sighed mentally. I didn’t have to confront her about the puzzle just yet. Instead I had two restful days, including an exciting evening with Drew. And Jenna.

Drew was smiling as they turned into the lane. Not only had he been blessed by the service and delighted to see Libby—and Chloe—sitting two rows in front of Jenna and him, but the walk home had given Libby and him a chance to talk, really talk. He was still surprised that he’d told her about “dull and pedantic,” and it was probably pretty sad that the thing they shared was pain, but having someone understand was such a relief.

And he’d get to spend time with her—them—tonight.

She looked so fresh and pretty in her yellow top and blue and yellow swirly skirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a yellow flower sitting on it, all jaunty and feminine. Little wisps of hair had worked their way loose to curl around her face and neck, and he kept wondering what those curls felt like. Would they wrap around his finger like Jenna’s baby hand had? Would they be silky or coarse or somewhere in between? And what business was it of his?

Still, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at ease with a woman. Usually he felt either guilty or hunted when anyone single spent time with him. The guilty feelings were ridiculous, he knew. His marriage had been dissolved over ten years ago. Ruthie had long ago killed any affection he’d ever had for her. All he felt now was sorrow, pity, and a vague sense that if he’d been more of a man, he could have prevented her from leaving, which he knew wasn’t true, but guilt was funny that way.

The hunted feeling came when a woman got that predatory look, one eye on him and the other on
Modern Bride
. Granted, he was as lonely as the next guy, but he wasn’t anyone’s answer to the husband hunt. Once burned, forever smart, or so he liked to think.
Or as Ben would say, “Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other.” And he’d learned.

But Libby was different from all the others. Restful. She’d had a hard time of things too, and look at how she’d turned out. Warm, charming, and brave, committed to the Lord.

He opened his mouth to tell Libby that he’d call about the time he would stop for her when he saw someone rise from his front step.

“Where have you been?” The strident voice rang through the lane. “I’ve been waiting here forever!”

Ruthie had found him. He sighed mentally and tried to dredge up the emotional stamina to deal with her. And Jenna.

His daughter stood frozen. “Mom?” He couldn’t tell if she was more upset, surprised, or delighted. She didn’t see Ruthie much, and every time she did, it was an adventure into the unknown.

Ruthie rushed at him, ignoring Jenna. She threw herself into his arms and began sobbing. “He’s dead, Drew. Mick’s dead. He was murdered!”

Drew closed his eyes. All he wanted was an orderly life, a place for everything and everything in its place. Instead he had Ruthie and all her melodrama. Like Mick had really been murdered. He’d probably gotten tired of being called whatever was his equivalent of “dull and pedantic” and taken off. If he was wise, he wasn’t coming back.

For want of a better idea, Drew patted Ruthie’s back. “I’m sorry, Ruthie.”

“Who’s Mick?” Chloe whispered to Jenna, who watched her mother with a look of resignation and sorrow that seemed to say,
“Ignored again.”

“Her boyfriend. Number 554.”

Chloe blinked. “Oh.”

The hurt and bitterness in Jenna’s voice broke his heart.

Drew looked at Libby over Ruthie’s head and was surprised by the sympathy he saw there. He’d expected distaste at the very least. Ruthie looked like a wild woman. Her bleached hair hung over her shoulders like straw. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her too-tanned skin was lined from hard drinking and smoking as well as the elements. She was much too thin, her cami drooping on her, her legs mere twigs hanging out of her shorts.

“Don’t worry about tonight,” Libby said. “Take care of her. She needs you.”

He glanced from lovely, kind Libby to Ruthie who couldn’t even say hello to her own daughter. “No.”

Libby looked confused.

“I mean, no, don’t forget about tonight. We have a date.”

Ruthie had gone still and wasn’t wailing to the skies anymore. She pulled back and stared over her shoulder at Libby, her expression hard. “What are you doing here?”

“She’s Dad’s girlfriend,” Jenna blurted. “They’re getting married next month.”

“Jenna!” Drew was horrified.

“I know it’s supposed to be a secret and all,” Jenna continued, her eyes full of tears. “But I had to tell.”

Chloe saw the panicked look on Jenna’s face. “Yeah, and we’re going to be bridesmaids. We’ve got these great dresses.”

“Pink,” said Jenna.

“Blue,” said Chloe.