Long Memory (14 page)

“James, is she your girlfriend?” his mother asked.

“Mom, would you just drop it?” As he crossed the street, he saw Johnny McMannus walking up toward the circle with a determined expression on his face. “Hey, Johnny!”

Johnny didn’t hear him. He kept walking up the street like it was the Bataan Death March.

“I can’t imagine what you are thinking. Beth Wilson. Do you know what her family was like?”

“Lazy and shiftless?” he offered.

“A bunch of worthless, useless human trash.”

“And Beth was the only one worth a damn.” James held the elementary school door open for his mother and three other people. Zack Jarvis stood holding the other one, wearing his uniform and a cockeyed grin. He nodded at James as the flow passed and walked in behind them.

“Who told you that?”

“Aunt Jean.”

“See how that girl has her brainwashed?”

“Aunt Jean is the last person in the world who could be brainwashed.”

“She saw a good gravy train and she jumped on board.”

“Aunt Jean?” James scanned the cafeteria. No Beth. He knew who his mother was talking about, but he hoped to distract her from her crusade.

“No, Elizabeth Wilson. She’s a gold digger.”

“Then she doesn’t have very good taste in mines. Neither Nonie or Jean has that much, and I’m unemployed. Shouldn’t she have gone after somebody with the same last name as a chain of hotels or restaurants?” James followed the crowd to the gym.

“James Andrew Leoni, how dare you?” his mother sobbed. “Carlton Fresco was very good to you.”

“Carlton Fresco?” Of Al Fresco Italian Restaurants?

Her mouth fell open. “How can you not remember your own stepfather?”

James shrugged. “I’ve had a couple. Was he the one who paid for boarding school?”

“Yes, he was. He got you into that school as his legacy. You should be grateful to him.” Her voice was starting the squeak with the stress. “I miss him every day. He was the kindest, gentlest man I ever knew.”

Several people had stopped to witness the drama. James wished he had left his mother at home and come to the festival alone. She was fond of histrionics, but he’d hoped the public setting would curb her. No such luck. An audience fueled her. “Mom, please. I just forgot.”

“He was a wonderful man, and he did so much for both of us. Now you’re going to throw it all away.”

James put his arm around his mother, towing her into the gym so they wouldn’t be clogging up the hall. “I’m not throwing anything away.”

“You lost your job and now you’re going to move back here because you’re in the clutches of some small town floozy who wants to steal everything your family has worked so hard for.”

“She’s not a floozy, Mom.” James hated the whine sneaking into his tone, but he couldn’t stop it.

“She’s a floozy. I left this town so you wouldn’t get stuck here. I sacrificed for you so that you would have opportunities I didn’t. And now you’re going to give everything I’ve worked for to that woman.”

“I’m not, Mom. Will you stop, please?”

“I won’t until you promise me you’re going to get a job soon. Someplace better than this.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“I can’t control that, Mom. Soon.”

“How soon?”

“When I can.”

“Someplace far away.”

“Yes, Mom,” James wondered if the Witness Protection Program could get him away from his mother. Unlikely. Even the federal government wasn’t up to dealing with her. A little white lie to placate her would at least postpone the onslaught. Worded correctly, it wasn’t even a lie. “I’ll get a job as soon as I can and move away from Weaver’s Circle.”

“And you’ll get rid of that girl.”

James licked his lips. He wasn’t ready to make that promise.

Chapter 9

“There they are,” Beth said.

“Who?” Nonie asked.

“James and Donna?” Jean asked.

“They’re right by the door.” Beth hooked her arm through Jean’s and started toward the door. James seemed to be deep in conference with his mother. The bow of his shoulders made her nervous. Last night after they made love, he promised he wouldn’t let his mother get to him. He was staying in Weaver’s Circle for a while. Up to a year. He would help her get Nonie and Jean through one more year in their own homes. It might be all they had left. After a year, they could figure out what to do next. She’d never been able to imagine leaving Weaver’s Circle before, but in a year she might not be able to imagine James leaving without her.

She didn’t want to think about any other alternatives right now.

James and Donna were standing by the table of displayed jars of pickles. They had attracted a crowd of curious onlookers. Beth didn’t recognize most of them so they must not be local, but there were a few faces she knew.

“Someplace far away,” Donna said.

“Yes, Mom,” James mumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. “I’ll get a job as soon as I can and move away from Weaver’s Circle.”

“And you’ll get rid of that girl.”

“You son of a bitch,” Beth shrieked. She threw herself over the table knocking jars of pickles to the floor like bowling balls. “You promised you would stay for a year.”

“Thief!” Donna screamed. “You thought you could steal my son, but I won’t let you.”

“You promised.” Beth grabbed something off the table behind her. “You said you would make sure Nonie and Jean could stay home for another year.”

Donna grabbed Beth’s arm, skewing her aim, and James ducked. The pumpkin pie sailed over his head, splattering Zack.

“Beth, give me a minute to explain.” James held out his hands like a shield.

She snatched something off the baked goods table again, but Donna had her arm. She spun around, jerking away. “Let go of me, you harpy.”

“Harpy!” Donna protested.

Beth twisted, heaving the plate of frosted brownies at James. He deflected most of them with his hands, but enough flew past them to stick to his shirt. “You promised, last night you promised me.” Her hand closed on a glass jar of fudge sauce.

He grabbed for the jar before it left her hand. “Listen to me.”

“Why, so you can lie to me again?”

“No, so you can hear the truth.” He put his arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him. “I love you and I’m not leaving. No matter what I tell my mother to shut her up.”

“Shut me up!” Donna wailed.

Beth seethed with fury, but his arms around her kept her from continuing to fly apart. She closed her eyes. “You’re not leaving.”

“No, baby. I’m not leaving.” He kissed her forehead. “I couldn’t leave now anyway. We’re both covered in chocolate.”

Beth looked down. When he hugged her, the frosted brownie she’d thrown at him mashed between them. “I have a problem with my temper.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe it,” Donna wailed. “My only son. Lost to the town tramp.”

“Mother, if you don’t stop, I’m never going to speak to you again.” James didn’t loosen his hold on Beth. “Beth is doing something we should have been doing all along. You should be glad someone is taking care of Nonie and Aunt Jean.”

Beth scanned the crowd. It had grown. She found Jean still standing on the other side of the pickle table, but not Nonie. Panic climbed her throat. “Where is Nonie?”

“Nonie?” James released her. “Where would she go?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Beth climbed back over the table. “Jean, did you notice when Nonie wandered off?”

“No.” Jean started twisting her hands. “I wasn’t paying attention to her.”

“She’s not a two-year-old,” Donna protested.

“She’s worse,” Jean snapped. “You kids go look for her. I’ll stay here with Donna. Donna, come here.”

“Zack, can you radio lost-and-found to let them know Nonie is missing?” Beth asked. “Sorry about the pie.”

Zack shrugged. “It’s probably the best thing that’s ever been thrown at me. I’ll put the word out. She can’t have gone far.”

“Come on, we’ll look together.” James grabbed her hand.

“Sorry I got so angry.”

“The first step to fixing things is to admit you have a problem.”

Beth tensed. “What does that mean?”

“You don’t get angry, you blow up. Do you do this to your students?”

“No.” Beth looked at the floor as they walked through the hall toward the front doors. She never exploded on her classes. They were kids. They did dumb things. You accepted it, you figured out how to deal with it and you moved on.

“I don’t want to make idle threats, but I don’t think I’ll last long in a relationship where my girlfriend throws heavy objects at me on a regular basis.”

“We have a relationship?”

James put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t we?”

“I don’t know how long I’ll last in a relationship where my boyfriend answers all my questions with questions.”

“Am I your boyfriend?”

“Am I your girlfriend?” Butterflies swooped in formation around her stomach. He had used the words
girlfriend
and
relationship
first.

James kissed her forehead. “The way things are around here, I think the entire town would be disappointed if you weren’t. And you know how the town can be.”

“Can’t disappoint the town.” Beth searched the crowd for Nonie. She couldn’t have gotten too far, and plenty of townspeople would take care of her if they found her wandering. “What about your mother?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to work on that too. Along with my running away.”

“There she is.” Beth pointed. Nonie stood at the foot of the Ferris wheel looking up at it. George stood beside her waiting sheepishly.

“Nonie!” James released Beth and hurried to Nonie’s side. “We didn’t know where you’d gotten to.” Beth joined him a second later. She felt loose and wobbly from the past few minutes. From screaming rage in the gym to relief here by the Ferris wheel. Her throat tightened.

“I found her out here by herself a minute ago so I figured I would just stick with her until I could find you folks,” George said. “She’s just been kind of staring.”

Nonie smiled, still staring at the Ferris wheel. “Frank proposed to me on the Ferris wheel.”

James reached for Beth’s hand. “George, could you stay with Nonie for a few more minutes?”

“Sure.”

James pulled her toward the Ferris wheel.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to ride the Ferris wheel.”

“Why?” The butterflies must have taken lessons from the Blue Angels. They were roaring around like they had jets strapped to their backs.

“Because I want to talk to you privately.”

Beth tried to get free, but he had her hand too securely. “You’re not going to ask me to marry you, are you?”

“No.” James got up to the ticket taker and handed over two tickets. He waited until they were in their seats and on the rise before he put his arm around her. “I wanted to talk to you privately because I wanted to ask you a question.”

“But it’s not to marry you.” Her imagination was stuck. She had no idea what he wanted. It probably wasn’t to talk about her anger problem because this had to be the worst place in the world to address that.

“Beth, you and I both have a lot of things to deal with. I have to testify in front of the SEC and I don’t have a job. You have a really bad temper. We both have my grandmother and great-aunt to deal with.”

“And your mother.”

“She’s on my list. What I want to ask you is–” He took a deep breath and kissed her temple. “You have chocolate everywhere.”

“James, I love you, but if you don’t spit it out, I’m going to have a Hulk moment.”