Heart of Gold (11 page)

“She wouldn't do that.”

“But it's okay for you to want her to give up hers?”

“No, but—”

“But what?”

“Honestly, I liked things better when she was home and I was the provider.”

“Back to Neanderthal mode.”

“I guess.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“Can't defend the indefensible.”

“True, but it's either try to or get with the change.”

Reggie sighed audibly.

“How's Zoey handling the undercurrents?”

“Asked me if we were getting a divorce. I told her no. She wanted to know if I was going to turn Roni into June Cleaver.”

Trent laughed. “Roni will become June Cleaver the same day my Lily does.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Talk to her, man. Put all your cards on the table and start there.”

“I need to do something. I started this ball rolling, but I had no idea it was going to roll back and flatten me like somebody in one of those old-school cartoons.”

“Then you need to fix it.”

Reggie knew Trent was right, but he wasn't sure it was fixable. Roni had never slept in the guest room before. This morning when he was moving around, getting ready to leave, he kept hoping she'd show up to see him off, but she hadn't, and he supposed after faking sleep the other night, he was getting what he deserved. Why he thought there'd be no ramifications for hurting her feelings the way he had was tied to the Neanderthal thinking. He'd wanted to prove to her that he held the reins and to show his displeasure, and now those same reins were around his neck, slowly choking him and their marriage to death. “Zoey asked me about go-kart racing. I know you used to take Amari all the time. Do you think she's too young?”

“No. There are girls at the track who are younger. The boys sometimes give them a hard time, but I know she can handle herself.”

Reggie agreed with that. “Okay. I'll talk to you about the ins and outs when I get back.”

“No problem.”

Trent let him out in front of the terminal doors.

“Thanks, man. And thanks for listening.”

“You're welcome. Have a safe trip and a good time.”

“Gonna try.” But as Reg went through the doors, he conceded that having a good time was going to be easier said than done.

C H A P T E R

8

A
fter hearing Reggie leave, Roni lay in the echoing quiet and wondered what her life might be like a year from then. Would she still be Mrs. Reginald Garland? If she couldn't convince him to confront the demons riding his back, the answer could be no. She dragged her hands down her eyes. Sleep had been fleeting. She'd tossed and turned, but didn't chastise herself for opting for the guest room. Why share a bed with a man who pretended to be asleep rather than deal with his wife? His behavior of late was so out of character for the guy she thought she'd married, she wondered if maybe there was something wrong medically. Granted, this distancing hadn't happened overnight; they'd been drifting apart for nearly a year now, and no matter how she tried to fix things, the breach continued to widen. It was frustrating and maddening. Her seven-year marriage was slowly slipping away like sand through her fingers, and all she could do was watch.

A glance at the clock on the nightstand showed 7:00
A
.
M
. The urge to call her brother Tommy was strong. Although he was two years younger, no matter what she was going through she could always count on him to help her find clarity, and he was a good listener. She wasn't sure which version of him she was in need of at the moment, but since they hadn't spoken in weeks, she thought she'd check in.

When the call went through, his first response was a groggy “Big sis, you'd better be dead or on fire. Do you know what time it is?”

She laughed softly. “You're a schoolteacher. You're supposed to be up by now.”

“Boiler issues. School's closed.”

She felt terrible. “Oh, I'm sorry for waking you up. Go on back to sleep. We'll talk this evening.”

“No, no. I'm good.”

She could hear him sitting up

“So, how're things?” she asked.

“Good. Denise is in St. Louis for a conference. Your niece and nephew have apparently gotten too grown to call their old parents—unless it's for money. But since neither has shown up at the door saying they've been kicked out of school, I guess they're okay.”

Her niece Danida was in her sophomore year at Spellman. Her nephew Tommy Jr., the football phenom, was in his freshman year at Notre Dame.

“How're things with you?” he asked. “Zoey and Dex good?”

Roni had two brothers, and both referred to Reggie as Dex—short for Poindexter, because of his short stature, thick glasses, and intellect. “Zoey's good. Reggie and me, not so much.”

“What's going on?”

For the next half hour, Roni spilled her guts and finished with, “Any thoughts?”

“Only that when men don't want to talk, it's usually because they're holding on to something dumb or scary.”

“Scary?”

“Yeah. Although men don't want to admit it, being in a relationship is terrifying sometimes. We wonder about screwing it up—not measuring up, being replaced. Basically, beneath all the chest-beating and posing, we're a bunch of insecure little babies.”

She chuckled. “Seriously?”

“Seriously—but sorry to hear you two are going through this. You want me to give him a call?”

“No. Might make things worse.”

“Might not.”

“I don't want to take that chance.” And she didn't. Things were already bad enough between them.

“Understood. So are you coming this way for Thanksgiving?”

Usually she and Reggie and Zoey went to his parents one year and to Tommy's the next. She and her brothers lost their musician parents in 1991 in a plane crash outside Tokyo. At the time she'd been twenty-two, Tommy twenty, and Randy seventeen. “We're having a townwide Thanksgiving this year and inviting our families. Hoping you and yours might want to come up.”

“Wow. Maybe. Let me talk to Denise and get back. Is Randy coming?”

Baby brother Randy was one of the busiest and best studio musicians in the business. “Haven't talked to him yet. Has he checked in with you lately? He was in Amsterdam when he called a few weeks ago.”

“Talked to him on Monday. He's in London.”

“Okay.”

“But put us down as a strong possibility. Denise and I have been wanting to come out to see your little Mayberry, so this might be perfect.”

“I'd love to see you.”

“Same here. And hang in there. Hopefully Dex will come to his senses, and you guys can get this worked out.”

“I hope so.”

“You will. Give Zoey my love. Dex too, when you talk to him.”

“Will do.”

“Love you, girl.”

“Love you more.” She ended the call.

Although Tommy hadn't offered any eureka-type advice, talking to him had made her feel better. It also made her wonder if his assessment of men held any truth. Considering all Reggie's successes, she couldn't imagine him being insecure about anything, stupid or otherwise.

Leaving the bed, she forced her feet into her slippers and headed for the bathroom. She wasn't the type to wallow, so it was time to get the day under way.

As far as she knew, there were no boiler problems at Marie Jefferson Academy, so after taking care of her morning needs she padded down the hallway to make sure Zoey was up.

She stuck her head in the door and paused with surprise at the sight of her daughter standing in front of her mirrored vanity table, lifting small blue hand weights. “Good morning.”

Zoey quickly placed her hands behind her back, as if Roni had suddenly gone blind and hadn't seen what was in them.

“Why're you lifting weights, Zoey? Did Dad say it was okay?”

Silence.

“Guess the answer is no. Tell you what,” Roni said, coming into the room and taking a seat on one of the chairs. “How about you put the weights down and let's talk about this.”

Zoey stood there for a moment, looking over at Roni as if trying to decide if she was in trouble and if so how much, but finally placed the sky-blue weights on the bed, stood beside it, and waited.

“And you can sit on the bed, too. It's okay.”

She climbed up.

“So, tell me why you're secretly lifting weights.”

“I asked Dad, and he said I was too young—my body wasn't ready yet.”

“So, what, you didn't believe him?”

No answer at first. “I believed him, but—”

“But you wanted to do it anyway.”

Shame-faced nod of agreement.

“Okay. So tell me what is so important that you dissed your dad's advice—who's a doctor by the way. You do know that, right?”

Zoey whispered, “Yes.”

“Just making sure. So give me the reason you blew off what he said.”

Once again, there was silence and much staring at the lap. “I want to be strong enough to lift Rocky's motorcycle.”

Roni stared, confused. “What?”

“Rocky said I could learn how to drive her motorcycle once I was strong enough to lift it.”

Roni folded her arms and studied her remarkable child. “You know, if I ever catch you on a motorcycle, both you and Rocky will need a burial plot.”

Silence—then, “Do I have to paint the fence for disobeying Dad?”

Roni shook her head. “No, but we need to talk about this after school. In the meantime, you get ready for breakfast. I have a taste for blueberry waffles. You want to split a few with me?”

Zoey's eyes widened, and her face beamed bright as the sun. “Yeah!”

“Then I'll meet you downstairs.” On her way down the steps a humor-filled Roni called out, “Lord give me the strength to raise this child!”

As they sat down to eat, Zoey forked up a bit of waffle and said, “These are so awesome.”

“Why thank you.”

“Are you and Dad getting a divorce?”

Roni choked on a swallow of orange juice. Once she recovered, she said, “No.”

“Good. Dad said the same thing.”

“That's good to hear.”

“I told him I wouldn't want you to be like Mrs. Cleaver and that you'd be sad without your music.”

“I would be.” She wondered how Reg reacted to that bit of wisdom.

“If you get divorced, I might turn into a pain in the behind like Tiffany, and nobody has time for that.”

Roni chuckled. “You are so right.” She met the bright eyes of her child. “Thanks for having my back.”

“You're welcome,” she replied, and went back to her waffles.

Once breakfast was done, Zoey and her crew rode off for school, and Roni drove to the Dog for a talk with Rocky. She was pretty certain Rocky would never put Zoey in harm's way, so there had to be more to the story about the motorcycle.

Inside the Dog the morning rush was over, so the place was rather quiet. She waved at Mal, who was bringing breakfast to Marie, Genevieve, and Clay Dobbs, but the sight of Bernadine and Lily sitting in a booth was surprising. “What are you two doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the Plant, doing the Power Rangers thing?”

Bernadine answered. “We're waiting on Gary so we can tour the store.”

Lily moved over so Roni could join them.

Once seated, Roni asked Bernadine, “So how long is your sister visiting?”

She replied over her cup, “Too long. She's going to be with me for a while.”

Before Roni could inquire further, Rocky came over to the table. “Morning, Roni. Can I get you something?”

“Yes, coffee—but let me ask you something first. I walked in on our mini me lifting weights this morning. She said you told her you'd let her drive your bike when she got strong enough to lift it. Is that true?”

Rocky shook her head and blew out a breath. “It was the only thing I could think of to get her to stop pestering me about wanting to learn. No way is she old enough, and no way is she strong enough. I even have trouble getting that Shadow upright.”

Roni understood now. “Okay, gotcha. Girlfriend doesn't take a no real well.”

“Tell me about it. Isn't she too young to be lifting weights?”

“Yes, and apparently Reg told her that, but—”

Rocky finished the sentence. “Girlfriend doesn't take a no real well.”

Lily cracked, “Knowing Zoey, she'll probably make those muscles appear overnight out of sheer will.”

“Well, she'll have to lift in her dreams from now on.”

Rocky moved off to get the coffee, and Roni returned the talk to Diane. “So how long is your sister staying?”

“Maybe until the Second Coming. And her comments to the contrary, my brother-in-law divorced her, not the other way around.”

“Oh.”

“And I told her if she plans to stay, she needs to find a job.”

Lily asked, “What's she qualified for?”

“Other than trying to make me look bad? She headed up her husband's dental office for a few years, so I guess she could do that, somewhere.”

“Reggie's looking for a new office manager,” Roni offered, hoping that info might help. “Do you think she'd like to interview?”

Bernadine replied, “She doesn't have much choice. I'll let her know.”

“He left for Seattle this morning. Be back Saturday.”

“Okay, good.”

Rocky returned with the coffee and she poured the hot brew into Roni's cup. “I know you just finished the new CD,” she asked. “What's next?”

Roni gave her a quick explanation about the tribute CD she wanted to do. “But I told Reg I'd stay away from the studio for a while.”

Her disappointment must have been plain because Lily asked gently, “Still having issues?”