That Man of Mine (16 page)

Crap like that
. She took a deep breath and tried to get control of herself. This wasn't about her. It was about
him
.

“Why didn't you just tell me this a year ago?” he continued. “Why didn't you just say, ‘Hey, Zeke, did your asshole dad call you?' Because guess what? I would have said, ‘Yeah, he did.' Case closed and we could have saved ourselves a whole lot of money in marital counseling.”

“Because I didn't know a year ago. I only found out a couple of months ago and I wanted
you
to tell me,” she said.

“Okay, so now you know.”

“Imagine how I felt when one day out of the blue you came home and it was like someone else had gotten inside your body. You were so…moody. And then you started running at night and I got worried. And I kept asking you what was wrong and you said that nothing was wrong. But I knew it
wasn't
nothing. And I thought maybe you were having trouble at work or…I even thought maybe there was someone else.”

He looked at her like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. “I would
never
cheat on you, Mimi.”

“I know,” she said. “But I couldn't imagine what was wrong, and at all those counseling sessions you never opened up and I didn't know what to do.”

“So what? You spied on me? Went through my phone?”

“
No
. I was taking out the trash and I saw
this
.” She pulled the letter from her pocket and handed it to him. It was from his father, Sam Grant, and dated two months ago.

Zeke stared down at the letter. “I take it you've read this, then?”

She nodded.

He ripped it into tiny pieces and tossed it into the kitchen trash.

“That doesn't change anything,” Mimi said.

“Maybe not, but it feels good doing it.”

“Zeke, he says in the letter that he's been trying to get in touch with you for over a
year.
”

“Yeah, he's a persistent SOB, all right. I'm getting a restraining order.”

“A restraining order? On your own father? I read the letter, remember? He just wants to talk to you. To get to know you and Allie.”

At the mention of Allie, his eyes hardened. “You haven't told her about this, have you?”

“No, of course not. That's your call, but don't you think she deserves to know that her father is trying to get in touch with her?”

“Why? He never cared about us before.”

“Because it's her right, Zeke!”
God, he was so stubborn
! If it wouldn't hurt her more than it would hurt him, she'd seriously kick him in the shin.

“I know you don't
get
this, Mimi, because you grew up with a mother and a father and yeah, I know, your Mom can be a whack job on occasion, but it doesn't change the fact that she acts the way she does because she loves you. They didn't leave you. They didn't run out on you and Luke, so sorry, but I don't think you have the right to tell me how I should feel about this. And I know you love Allie, but she's
my
family. She's my responsibility. And I'm not about to let that mother fucker screw with her head. Got it?”

“So, what? That's it? You're the only one who has a say in all this?”

“Basically, yeah.”

She wanted to scream the house down. It took all she had not to. “So, where does that leave us?”

He blinked. “It doesn't have anything to do with us. Like I said, I'm getting a restraining order on this guy. Let me take care of it. He's not your problem.”

The crazy thing was, he actually believed what he was saying.

“At least now that it's out in the open we can talk to the counselor about this and see what she thinks,” Mimi said.

“The counselor? I'm not talking to her about this.”

“But you're the one who wanted to go back! You even made an appointment.”

“Yeah, but not to talk about my
daddy
. It was supposed to be about us.”

“Don't you see? Your dad
is
about us. I'm your wife. I'm supposed to be your partner, the person you trust more than anyone else in the whole wide world. If I was going through something like this, you would be the first person I would tell. You'd be the person I wanted to help me get through this. Aren't I…that person for you?

“It's not the same thing.”

“But it is.” She hated how her voice cracked. She was losing him. Right here in front of her and there was nothing she could do to bring him back.

“So what does this mean? Either I step in line like some good little soldier and go to counseling with you so we can talk about how I feel about my father, or what?” he demanded.

“Or…” she shook her head. “Or I don't know what. But I'm not going to be with you this way. And you need to tell Allie. You're making a big mistake there, Zeke. Believe me, she'll find out about this one day and she'll never forgive you.”

“There's where you're wrong. Number one, she's never going to find out, and number two, she doesn't want to see him so I'm saving her the trouble of telling him to go to hell.”

“And you know all this for a fact?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, good for you. I guess that makes you smarter than me.”

He shook his head and scooped up the car keys he'd dropped on the kitchen counter last night. “I think we're through here. If you need me for anything I'll be at the cabin.”

“
Great
. Yeah, thanks.”

She waited till she heard the door close to let the tears fall. He was impossible! She
knew
he would react this way. The thing was, she was hurting, yes, because he was her husband and he'd shut her out, and boy,
that did not feel good
. But she was also hurting for him. For that thirteen-year-old boy who'd never forgiven his father for abandoning him. She wanted to help him. But she couldn't. Not if he wouldn't let her.

The whole thing would be so easy if she didn't love him. Or if she only loved him a little. If she was content to let him come back home and pretend that everything was all right. But she would never be satisfied with just a part of him. It hurt too damn much.

 She was more in love with him now than she'd ever been. And therein lay the problem. If she didn't have one hundred percent of Zeke Grant, then she didn't want any of him.

M
onday morning Mimi walked
into police headquarters with her arms loaded down with baked goods. There were cookies—chocolate-chip, sugar, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter, a couple of pies, four loafs of fresh bread, brownies, and Rusty's favorite magical coconut bars (with extra coconut). Mimi knew they were his favorite because she made them every year for the office Christmas party and he always ate so many that he got sick.

Not that she wanted Rusty to get sick. She just wanted to show her gratitude to everyone who'd come out to help her. And homemade cookies and treats were the best way she could think to do that.

Zeke had been gone all of five minutes Saturday morning when she began pulling out the baking sheets from her kitchen cabinets. She'd been angry (at him) and mortified (at herself). Half of Whispering Bay's emergency services had been at her house because she'd called to report a possible break in by two horny armadillos. The National Enquirer couldn't have come up with a better story.

Of course, she hadn't known who was making that God awful noise when she'd called, but it didn't matter. The end result would still be the same. By Saturday afternoon, the whole town would know her business. And thanks to Mrs. Manley from across the street, they would also know that Zeke had spent the night. Somehow, baking always made everything better.

Mimi had gone to the Piggly Wiggly to stock up on flour and baking soda. She was unloading groceries from her minivan when Mrs. Manley came limping at full speed up the driveway. Pretty spry for an eighty-year-old who'd recently had a hip replacement.

“What on earth!” Mrs. Manley laughed. “All that commotion last night. I thought the street was burning down!”

“No, thank God for that,” Mimi said. “I'm so sorry you got woken up.”

“Oh, honey, it wasn't your fault. I mean, you had no control over those
armadillos
. Of course, it was awful convenient that Zeke had to come out, too.”

Mimi shifted from foot to foot. “Well, yes, I'm grateful that so many first responders showed up, because, I mean, you never know.”

What was Mrs. Manley getting at
?

“And now the two of you are back together! So all's well that ends well. And I don't for a minute believe you schemed up this whole damsel in distress routine. Men!” She winked at Mimi. “They do love helpless women, don't they?”

Mimi could feel her blood sizzle.

“You think I staged that whole scene last night to get my husband out here?”

“Oh, honey, don't get upset. I'm totally on Team Mimi!” Then she scurried off, stopping only to wave before she went back inside her house.

Baking phase one began after that. Mimi punched dough until her knuckles felt raw. Then the kids had come home. She'd been thinking all morning on how to tell them the story, but of course, they already knew.

Claire was mortified. “Mom, please tell me you didn't call the cops because two armadillos were doing the nasty by the side of our house.”

Cameron was unabashedly gleeful. “I think it's awesome. I wish I'd been here to see it. I could have taped it and put it on YouTube.” He gave Toby a hug. “And this guy! Dad said it was his barking that woke you up, so now we know he's a good watchdog!”

“Yep, Toby's the best. So…your dad told you?” Mimi would love to know exactly how Zeke had recounted that little story.

Cameron nodded. “Uh-huh. He took Henry and me out to lunch.”

“Oh, that's nice.”

Baking phase two had followed shortly after this conversation. And now, two whole days had gone by and still no word from Zeke. She hoped he wouldn't think she'd brought all these baked goods to the station in hopes of running into him.

Cindy jumped up from her place behind the reception desk to help her. “Well, aren't you sweet?” she crooned, taking the pies out of Mimi's hands. Between the two of them they arranged all the goodies by the coffee pot, so everyone could help themselves.

It had been a long time since Mimi had been to the station in the middle of the day like this. Momma was right. Cindy
did
look good. She'd lost weight and her skin was absolutely glowing. As for the extensions, Mimi thought they were a bit much, but hey, who was she to rain on anyone's parade? If Cindy was happy, then that was the important thing.

“I want to thank everyone for all they did the other night,” Mimi said. “I know this isn't nearly enough, but it's a start.”

Cindy bit her bottom lip like she was trying not to laugh. “Girl, I've worked here ten years and I thought I'd heard some pretty weird 911 calls in my life, but yours beats the cake.”

Mimi had dialed the police station directly, not 911, but it basically amounted to the same thing, so it would have been churlish to correct Cindy on that.

“Is…are people talking about it this morning?”

Cindy was staring at a sugar cookie with lust in her eyes. “What? Oh, well, uh, yeah.” She shrugged. “But don't worry, this is Whispering Bay. Something new will happen and it will all blow over.”

“True.” Mimi glanced at the closed door to Zeke's office.

Cindy followed her gaze. “So…is it true? Are you the chief back together?”

“No, we're still separated,” Mimi admitted.

“Oh! I thought. Well, that explains it then.” Cindy lowered her voice. “Mrs. Manley was at The Bistro this morning telling everyone that the chief had spent the night back at his house.”

“She was, huh?”

“Made a big announcement and everything. The whole place cheered.”

Mimi felt queasy. “Nice to know.”

“But then, when he came in to work this morning he was grumpier than a bear in winter. I thought maybe Mrs. Manley had gotten it all wrong. Usually the chief is pretty even-tempered, but boy did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!” Cindy blinked. “
Not
that I'm inferring anything about his bed. Or your bed. Or
anyone's
bed. Because, you know, that's none of my business.” Her face went bright pink.

Mimi wondered if Cindy had heard the rumors about herself and Zeke.

“And, just to clear the air, you know that the chief would never in a million years put a move on any of his people. He's
way
too professional for that.”

So, yeah, Cindy had definitely heard the rumors.

“Good to know,” Mimi said.

“So…should I tell the chief you're here? Not that you need to be announced or anything. Nope. Just walk through the door the way you usually would.”

“Thanks, but I need to get to a meeting this morning.”

“Mayor stuff, huh?” Cindy looked impressed.

“Exactly.”

“Well you go, girl. And remember,” Cindy glanced discreetly from right to left to make sure no one was listening, “Team Mimi! All the way!”

*~*~*

T
he
Spring Into Summer
festival committee met once a month during the year until March. Then from April to June they met on a weekly (and sometimes bi-weekly basis) to ensure that everything for Whispering Bay's most important day of the year went smoothly. As mayor, Mimi was automatically head of the whole thing. It was her first time ever on the committee and to say she was a little intimated by the other members was putting it mildly. In some ways, they were worse than the city council because everyone here smiled in your face. At least at the city council meetings, Bruce and Larry didn't pretend to like her.

Bruce's wife Bettina was on the committee, as well as a couple of other women, Wendy Tallman and Sherry Ackerman from Bettina's Bunco group—the Bunco Bunnies (and how anyone could say that with a straight face was beyond her). They also met on Thursdays and considered the Babes their prime competition in recruiting subs for their group. It was another reason Bettina didn't like Mimi, besides the fact that Mimi had beaten her husband in the mayoral election.

Frida had graciously allowed the committee to use The Bistro by the Beach for their meetings. The café closed at two p.m, and the meetings were scheduled for three. Mimi arrived early and was able to get a latte before Frida cleaned out the machine for the day. Besides Bettina and her cronies (who Mimi had quickly discovered were nothing but Bettina's
yes
women), Viola Pantini, president of the Gray Flamingos, and Doreen, the city receptionist were also on the committee.

Everyone was already there and waiting when Bettina came waltzing into The Bistro, still dressed in her tennis gear. Tofu, her little white shitzpoo, poked her head out of the top of Bettina's Louis Vuitton handbag. That was another thing Mimi had learned her first day on the committee. Bettina didn't go anywhere without Tofu if she could help it.

“Am I late?” Bettina frowned at her watch. “Okay.
You're
all early.” She sat down at the table and began pulling out folders and handing them out. “I know that officially, Mimi, is our leader, since she's now
mayor
and all, but it's also her first year on the committee and we're basically down to just two months. If we don't get this show on the road then we're in for a huge disaster.”

“Agreed,” said Sherry.

“Yes! I agree as well,” Wendy chimed in to say.

“Excellent,” Bettina said. She looked at Doreen, who was charged with taking the committee meeting minutes. “Are you ready?”

Doreen held up her pen. “Go ahead.”

“Let me draw your attention to the map in front of you,” Bettina said, referring to the first page in the folder. “From year to year nothing really changes, except of course we do make a few new banners, that sort of thing. But you'll see from the map I've made, all the businesses that have participated in the past will be back again this year. Food court in the center, arts and crafts booths on the east side of the quad, rides and bouncy houses on the west side and the non-profits scattered throughout.” She smiled, obviously pleased with herself.

“Fabulous!” Sherry said.

Mimi took a minute to study the diagram. Yep. Everything looked in order, all right.

“As usual, Wendy will be in charge of coordinating the entertainment stage.” Bettina snapped her fingers at Wendy, who immediately jumped up on cue.

Poor Wendy. She always seemed so nervous.

“Thank you, Bettina! You'll see on page four I've worked out a schedule for all the groups that will be participating. Starting with Miss Becky's Little Tappers at ten a.m, and working our way up to a bit more sophisticated entertainment, the Whispering Bay Reparatory Company. They'll be doing some short scenes from
Romeo and Juliet
.” Wendy frowned. “Or maybe it's
Hamlet
. I always get those two mixed up.”

“As long as you make sure they don't do any of those grisly death scenes,” Bettina said. “That's just such a…turn off.”

Wendy lowered her eyes. “But don't you think we should let the company decide—”

“Write that down,” Bettina ordered.

Wendy lunged for her pen and began scribbling. “No death scenes,” she read back aloud.

Mimi noticed the eight p.m. slot had been left blank.

“What about the big show?” Viola asked. “Please tell me that Harry Tuba isn't coming back.”

“That's Mimi's responsibility this year. Isn't that right?” Bettina said. Tofu stuck his head out of his hiding place in the handbag and bared her teeth at Mimi. Her little beady dark eyes reminded Mimi of Gollum from
The
Lord of the Rings
movies. Bettina giggled. “Isn't she just the cutest baby in the world?”

No, not really. But then Toby drooled, so Mimi probably wasn't the best judge.

Mimi cleared her throat. It was action time. “Thanks to a tip I received from Bruce,” she stopped here to smile at Bettina, because Mimi did like to give credit where credit was due, “I've been in contact with Billy Brenton's assistant and we've been emailing back and forth but there's nothing set yet, so, I think to be on the safe side we need to go ahead and book another act as soon as possible.”

“Like who?” Doreen asked.

“There's a country-western band called Fatback Bubba and the Rattlesnakes out of Panama City that's available. The reviews for them have been fantastic and almost everyone loves country music, so I think it's a good bet they'll be a crowd pleaser.”

“How much?' Bettina immediately asked.

Mimi tried not to wince. “They charge ten thousand for a two hour performance.”

“Ten thousand!” Viola said. “Isn't that a bit…much? I mean, do we have that in the budget?”

“Technically, no,” Mimi said. “And I know it sounds like a lot, but that includes their travel and set up and clean up time. And they have a CD out. Of course, they're not a big act like Billy Brenton, but I think they're making quite a name for themselves in the panhandle.”