My Sunshine (19 page)

He felt something tickle his cheek. He lifted his hand to
wipe it away and was surprised when he felt the moisture of a tear. He cleared his throat. “I gotta tell you, man. When I saw you at the door, I thought you were here to kick my ass. There’s no way I could handle this the way you’re handling it.”

“Would you feel better if I kicked your ass?” Matt asked.

John smiled slightly and gave a small nod. “I think actually I would.”

“Sorry,” Matt said. He bit his lip. “I would like to know
why, though, from your side. Why did you do it?”

John
shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I mean we were just talking and we had kind of separated ourselves from the rest of the group. All the rest of them were couples, you know. We were just talking and I made some joke about sex and she said she wouldn’t know anything about that. I told her that she must know something about it because she had eight kids, and she just laughed. Then she told me that…well, she just told me that she wasn’t completely satisfied. One thing led to another, and I know it sounds so cliché, but it just kinda happened. I think we just both knew after a certain point that it was going to and neither of us fought it.”

“That's wha
t she said.” He nodded and stood up. “Thanks again, John. I’m going to take you at your word about Tommy.

I don’t want to fight for him.” He extended his hand.

John shook his hand. “You don’t have to worry about that.

I meant what I said.” He walked Matt to the door.

“Have a great Thanksgiving.”

“You, too, man.”

Matt walked out the door and John closed it behind him. He leaned against the back of the door and closed his eyes
.
Than
k
you Go
d
, he silently prayed.

He headed back to his bedroom, cutting through the dining
room on the way to the kitchen. Tyler, Christine and Chloe had been studying a passage in the Bible the morning before the women left. John had been there, listening in, but he never had much input on that kind of conversation. True, he was a

Christian; he had come to know the Lord not long after meeting
Tyler in high school, but he had strayed far from a Christian life since then. His parents, as far as he knew, didn’t know the first thing about Jesus. John, had never been a church goer, but since Chloe had moved in, he had been a regular there. If she was going to be there, so was he

Chloe
had left her Bible on the table and he picked it up and carried it to her room. He opened her door. The smell of her drifted out. In the month that she had lived there, he had  never been in her room alone. He laid her Bible on her bed and looked around. Out of curiosity, he pulled open her top dresser drawer, and then feeling guilty, closed it again.

She wouldn’t keep secrets from m
e
.

Once getting into Nashville,
John rented a car at the airport and drove to the nearby Gaylord Opryland Hotel where he had already booked a room for them. He checked into the room and dropped off his things before driving to Catherine’s house.

“Hi,
John,” she greeted. She put a finger to her lips. “Shh, Kidd’s asleep.”

He nodded as he entered the house. He gave his sister a
small hug. “How have you been?”

“Good. How about you? You never call, you know.” She
led him to the kitchen table and poured him a glass of iced tea.

“Neither do you,” he argued. “You know my numbers.”

“I know. So Mel tells me you have a girlfriend. Still true?” He nodded. “Yep. Still true.”

“Tell me about her.”

John spent the next fifteen minutes telling Catherine about Chloe. When he finally stopped, she shook her head and smiled. “I can’t believe it. John Bernett has fallen in love.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m in deep.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows. “For what?”

“Last time you were here, I told you to quit fooling around and get yourself a girlfriend.”

“I think it might be just coincidence,
Catherine.”

“And she’s coming here?”

John nodded. “She and Christine are flying in, in the morning,” he said.

“Are y’all staying with Mom and Dad?”

He shook his head. “I got us a hotel room.”

Catherine
frowned. “You didn’t have to do that. You two could have stayed here with us.”

“It’s okay,” he said with a wink. “I think we’ll be okay in
the hotel.” He paused. “Is Garby going to be here, or is she visiting Cliff?”

Catherine
frowned. “They’re going to be here. She’s going down to his place for Christmas.”

“What do you think of all that?”
John asked, shaking his head. “I’ve let her know how I feel, but what do you think?”

“She won’t listen to me. I worry about her so much. She’s
only seventeen. I just pray that she won’t start sleeping with him.”

“It’s too late.”

“No,” Catherine protested. “She told you that?”

“Pretty much. What do Mom and Dad say about this whole
thing?”

“Not much. You know I’m not real sure that they even
know he’s HIV-positive.”

“How could they not know? I’m sure I’ve told them when
we’ve done things for the Pediatric Aids Foundation.”

Catherine
nodded. “I remember Dennis standing right in their living room and talking about Cliff, but they never say anything.”

“Do you think they don’t care?”

Catherine shrugged. “They never butt into my life, either.

Maybe they’re just done raising us.”

“Maybe,” John said, rubbing his chin. “Well, I guess I

should go by there for a little while and break the news that I’m
not staying at home. Are you coming over later?”

“Probably not. I have to be there all day tomorrow.”

“For what?”

“She wants me to come over in the morning and help her
cook. She wants me there at six o’clock.”

John
raised his eyebrows. “Damn, it sucks to be you.”

“Tell me about it.” They heard the sound of crying coming
from the baby monitor on the counter. “I’ve got to get him. Are you leaving now?”

John
nodded. “I’ll see you later, Meg.” He left her house and drove to his parent’s house, dreading the trip the entire way.

His stomach knotted up. It would have been so much easier to
just stay in Orlando.

He let himself into the house. His mother and father,

Isabella and Arthur, were both sitting in the dining room, reading the paper. “Don’t you get enough of the news?” John asked, sitting down in an empty chair.

His parents barely glanced up at him. “Hello, son,” his
father said. His mother didn’t speak.

“Did I do something wrong?”
John asked cautiously.

Isabella looked up and put down her paper. “We’re sorry,
John, that we didn’t jump for joy when you walked in the room.

We’re so glad that you are here.” The sarcasm was thick.

Oh bo
y
.
This is not going to be a fun visit home
.
He quickly thought through his options. He and Chloe could just stay holed up in the hotel until they returned to Orlando; they could go back to Florida early; they could really infuriate John’s family by spending Thanksgiving with Tyler and his family; or he could smile and make nice and hope for the best. The first three choices sounded like winners, but for some reason he forced a smile on his face.

“You look beautiful, Mom. Have you lost weight?”

She frowned at him and picked her paper. “No,” she said, trying not to smile. He had always been able to charm her out of being mad at him by complementing her. It wouldn’t have been that easy if she hadn’t been so self-absorbed.

“I had Clara get your room ready,” she said. “I had her
make up both beds. Cliff will bunk with you.”

He shook his head. “Cliff can have the room to himself.

I’m staying at the Gaylord.”

She threw down the paper, offended. Even Mr.
Bernett lowered his newspaper. “What did you just say?” she asked.

“You had better be joking.”

He shook his head. “I’m not joking, Mom. I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but I’m living with a girl now. Her name is Chloe Boston and she’s coming tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with us. I wanted her to meet my family.
”
Wha
t
the hell was I thinking?

“I hadn’t heard,” Isabella said. “You can stay here. You
don’t have to stay in a hotel.” She rolled her eyes as if she already knew what his argument was going to be. “I’ll let you sleep in the same room.”

“It’s not that, Mom. I just thought it would be easier on you
if we weren’t staying here. You wouldn’t have to worry about entertaining us. I’m just looking out for you, Mom. I know you work so hard and you’re going to be so busy tomorrow. We just don’t want to get in your way.”

“It’s getting deep in here,” Arthur muttered. He put his
paper down and left the room.

Isabella didn’t seem to notice. “Well, I am going to be busy,
but please come by early so I can spend some time with this young lady of yours.”

“I will.” He stood up from the table. “I’m going to get a
drink.” He went into the kitchen, where Clara, the long-time, live-in housekeeper was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.

She jumped up when she saw the kitchen door swing open.

“It’s just me, Clara,” John said.

She laid her hand on her chest. “I thought you were the
barracuda,” she said. “I’m taking an unauthorized break.”

John
laughed and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of beer. “She’d shit if she heard you call her that.”

Clara sat back down at the table and
John joined her. He really liked this woman. She had been hired when he was seven and had lived with his parents ever since. She was warm and caring, thoughtful and nurturing, everything his mother was not.

She was native of Mexico, and a distant cousin of
John’s on his mother’s side. She had been only twenty-one when she was hired. John had had a huge crush on her, never mind that they were related, and she was the subject of many of his prepubescent dreams. In recent years, they had flirted quite a bit, not because either was interested in a romance, but because it made Mrs. Bernett fume.

“What’s new?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Not much. Your mother isn’t letting me have the day off tomorrow. I think she wants me to serve you all dinner.”

“Good grief. How many of us are there going to be?”

Clara counted on her fingers. “Your mom and dad, Catherine, Jeremy and Kidd, Garby and Cliff, you, your grandparents. So that’s ten.”

“Eleven,”
John corrected. “I’m bringing a date.”

“Yeah?” She looked up at the kitchen door when she heard
Isabella’s voice on the other side. She stood up. “I’d love to hear about her, but I’ve got to get back to work.”

“You’ll meet her tomorrow.”
John took his beer and pushed though the kitchen door, almost knocking down his mother. “Oh, Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were there.”

“Is Clara in there? She is supposed to be working,
John, not flirting with you. She gets off at 6:00pm. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t have sex with the help while they are on the clock.”

John
suppressed a smiled. “You think I had time to have sex? It’s only been a few minutes. You terribly underestimate me.”