The Best Friend (3 page)

Tony spun on his heel and stormed out of the grocery store. Let Donny bag his own stupid groceries. That was beside the point; most of the groceries were for him; and his mother was paying the bill.

Chapter Two

“You won’t believe what happened to me.”

Gretchen sighed deeply, stepping back as her younger sister burst through her front door as she was opening it. Trailing behind her was Tracy, her other sister.

“Hi Tracy. And hello to you too, Vickie,” Gretchen muttered to Vickie’s back. She was already pacing Gretchen’s living room in agitation as her blond curls, similar to Gretchen’s own, bounced around her shoulders.  Vickie stopped and waved her hand in the air. “Don’t be so prudish. We’re sisters. We don’t have to be polite to each other. Anyway, do you want to know what happened or not?”

She rolled her eyes and shut the front door. “I don’t know? Do I want to know, Tracy?

Vickie glared while Gretchen and Tracy exchanged a weary glance. Tracy stifled a smile.

Something was usually happening to their youngest sister. “Well, you’ll tell me either way. So what is it?”

Vickie was back to pacing. “They cut up my credit card! Right there. In the store. In front of
everyone
.”

Gretchen winced. Not at the news her careless sister, once again, wasn’t paying her bills, but that she should feel sorry for her. “Where?”

Tracy rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t everyone. It was one other person. She was at The Clothes Closet, downtown.”

“It was more than one person. How dare they?”

“Have you paid your bill?”

Vickie stopped pacing and glared at Gretchen. “It’s a credit card. What good is it if you can’t use it for credit? You’re supposed to get some time to pay.”

Gretchen shut her eyes. Lord, the economics of paying for one’s purchases totally escaped Vickie, in addition to her inability to keep any job, ever. Vickie never saw it as her fault, however.

“We’ve talked about this. Why were you even at The Clothes Closet? That place is way beyond your budget.”

Gretchen, Tracy, and their parents spent years taking turns and trying to get Vickie’s lethal spending habits under control, while encouraging her to keep a job. She got them easily enough, she could just never hold onto them. She never worried about them or how she’d pay her bills. Somehow, some way, Vickie usually landed on her feet.

Vickie stiffened and cast a dirty look at Gretchen. “
You
shop there.”

Tracy saved Gretchen from having to point out the obvious. “Gretchen works full time at a high paying profession. You don’t even have a job.”

Vickie nearly screeched. “Well, how am I supposed to get a decent job without decent clothes? It’s an investment in me, and how I project myself.”

Gretchen coughed to cover her laugh. As if Vickie ever got an interview at any kind of place that would care how she “projected” herself.

“Tell her the rest of it.”

Vickie frowned at Tracy. “Why do you sound so sarcastic? Well, I just used another credit card.”

“You still bought the stuff? Even after one credit card was declined?”

Vickie rolled her eyes. “Of course. I told you, it’s an investment in me. I deserve it after all I’ve suffered from Parker.”

Gretchen wearily turned and started for her kitchen. There was no arguing or reasoning with Vickie. Her twenty-eight-year-old sister never learned, never matured, and never got a clue. She had a four-page resume of past employment listings. She managed to work in every conceivable retail job, from beauty consultant to fast food. There was nothing Vickie hadn’t done. She had also been married three times, so far, with three divorces under her belt. The first was at age twenty, and lasted less than a year. The second was at age twenty-four, and lasted a year-and-a-half. Her most recent nuptials lasted less than nine months. For each wedding, she had all the trimmings, and loudly claimed that “this was it,” so didn’t their love deserve the grandest of celebrations? After all, it was the last wedding she’d ever have. Each of her poor, unsuspecting grooms was never married before, so for all of them, it was their first wedding. That was how Vickie justified it; didn’t her grooms deserve to experience a first big wedding? Gretchen’s parents quit footing the bill after the second one. The last groom, Parker, paid for it. Parker’s family was overjoyed at the news Vickie was joining their family and marrying their son. She was a charming, delightful, and beautiful girl. Everyone liked Vickie. Most however, didn’t realize, until it was far too late, that she invariably bled them dry of their money, their love and their patience.

The worst part was: she didn’t even know she did it. She didn’t
mean
to be so materialistic, flighty, manipulative, careless, or lazy. She just was.

Gretchen didn’t feel like arguing the same old battle again. Vickie left Parker, claiming he was too boring and set in his ways. She needed more color and excitement. He was currently paying alimony for her boredom. “You guys want some coffee?”

“Sure.” Tracy set her ginormous handbag down on the couch and wandered closer to the breakfast bar. Tracy was thirty years old with two kids, ages nine and eight, and a loving husband of ten years. She could not have been any more different from Vickie than if they were born to different mothers. Then again, neither could Gretchen.

Vickie was a preemie baby and almost died due to lung complications. She stayed in the hospital for five weeks. From the time she came home, their parents never once treated her like the other two older girls. Vickie was fragile, vulnerable, and therefore, special. Unfortunately, that label never changed, not in her twenty-eight years.

Gretchen loved Vickie. Both sisters also babied and protected her. Not until she was divorcing her third husband did they begin to really see the narcissistic, needy, forever unhappy, always seeking what she didn’t have, monster they all helped to create. But hating her was like hating a young child. No matter how mad they got, or how much she screwed up, and how fed up they got with her theatrics, it never stopped them from trying to help her. They couldn’t turn their backs on their sweet, kind-hearted, almost stupidly naïve, and selfish, little sister.

Vickie rummaged around her fridge. “Got any diet pop?”

Gretchen poured the coffee. “There’s some in the back.”

“So, what’s new with you?” Tracy asked, sipping the coffee and watching Gretchen over the rim of her cup.

Gretchen walked over to the bank of windows that flooded her condo with natural, bright sunlight. The big squares looked like warm puddles over the light carpet. Looking through the windows, she stared down at the grass, trees, and specks of people now enjoying the green city park below her.

“I had an interesting day at the market, too.”

Tracy swiveled on her stool. “Oh, yeah? What happened?”

“I ran into Tony Lindstrom.”

“Oh my, that’s a name from the past. Will’s best friend? How is he?”

Gretchen nodded. “Yes, actually, he was both Will’s and my best friend,” she said blowing out a deep, weary breath before she continued. “The thing is, he… he lost his left arm. And I was so shocked by it, I froze up and acted like an immature jerk. I pretended it didn’t happen. I never even asked him about it.”

Tracy’s jaw dropped open in disbelief. Vickie stopped pouring her can of pop into a cup and blinked in stunned shock, asking, “Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“Like he lost it in the war. Like it was amputated. What else could I mean?”

Vickie stuck her tongue out. “You don’t have to get so bitchy. I just wasn’t sure you meant that. Wow. Holy shit.”

“That’s so tragic,” Tracy said, much more appropriately.

Gretchen stared down at her hands. “He isn’t well. I mean, he is nothing like the Tony you remember.”

Vickie wandered out and sat on the loveseat, pulling her legs up underneath her. “He was so hot and so sweet. Remember? He always tagged along with you and Will. He was always the first to help you with anything. That’s so awful.”

He was?
Gretchen frowned and tried to envision her past. She couldn’t get a mental picture of Tony doing such things for her. Did he? Had she really never noticed before? He had always been there for her… for years and years. He and Will came over together to hang out with her; to do anything from going to dinner, to the movies, to simply hanging out and doing nothing. The three of them used to spend all their time together. Will was never one to ditch his friends just because he had a girlfriend. Gretchen and he used to fight about that, even after they were married. She needed more one-on-one time with him, although he didn’t with her.

“Not well? How?”

Gretchen shook her head and sat down across from her sisters. “His whole attitude, I guess. I mean, he’s fine mentally. He just seemed… so angry. The rage fairly dripped off him. His disdain in talking to me was as obvious as his arm being gone. He made it pretty clear he did not want to see me.”

“That’s weird. Vickie’s right. He was always so solicitous of you.”

He was? Where was this all coming from?
And if Vickie even noticed it, how did she fail to see it?

“His brother, Donny, was there too. He was exactly as you remember.”

Vickie suddenly sat up. “Donny Lindstrom? I haven’t seen him in years. Oh, he was to-die-for-hot. Remember?”

Gretchen rolled her eyes. Vickie thought every man who breathed was to-die-for-hot. “Donny? Yeah, he’s cute still. Funny. Nice too. He invited me to dinner.”

Vickie frowned. “You? What? No! You can’t date Donny Lindstrom.”

Gretchen glanced at her sister. “Well, I’m not. But if I were, why would you object so?”

“Because you’re like old and responsible, and shit. Donny is fun and the life of the party material. He can’t be interested in your type, no offense.”

“Oh, no offense taken. Besides, he doesn’t appear that way anymore. Donny is all grown up. He was nice, normal, and sounded much more responsible.”

“Vickie! You can’t talk like that to Gretchen,” Tracy admonished her sister.

Vickie looked around, her eyes big. “What? I didn’t mean anything negative by it. Just that Donny was
the
guy to date. I never even stood a chance with him. And yet, you do?”

Gretchen didn’t know whether to throttle her little sister or laugh at how oblivious she was when insulting someone. “No, don’t worry, he doesn’t want to date me. It was an invitation to come over to his mother’s house, where Tony apparently now lives. I don’t think Tony sees too many people. Donny wanted me to try and… well, I don’t know what he wanted me to do, actually.”

“Are you going to?”

Gretchen cradled her coffee cup, pulling a foot under her. “I don’t know. It was so awkward for the five minutes we talked. He is really angry. And so different. How would an entire dinner go? Yet, he was such a dear friend of mine for so many years. I had no idea this even happened to him. Now that I know, how can I not try and reconnect to him?”

“Well, you
are
a therapist.”

“A child therapist. Big difference.”

Tracy shrugged. “Same principles. You’re a sensitive, caring person. You should do this, Gretchen.”

“That’s the other thing. What is wrong with Will? How could he not tell me about it? And get this: Will and Tony aren’t even talking anymore. I never dreamed Will could be so cruel.”

Vickie snorted and nearly spit out Will’s name. “
Will Hendricks
. Why are you so delusional about him? He recruited you to save his second wife. That’s not only weird, but so selfish. To ask you to deal with his new wife. You think I’m narcissistic, but I would never do that to you.”

One reason Gretchen found it easy to forgive Vickie’s considerable carelessness sometimes was because of her unending loyalty. She hated Will Hendricks for how he treated Gretchen, although Gretchen had long forgiven him for breaking her heart. Vickie, however, did not.

“Vickie, it was so much deeper than that. Which is beside the point. Why did Will turn his back on Tony? First off, I need to talk to him, I guess.”

Tracy nodded. “I think you should pursue this. He was a good friend for a long time. He and Will practically lived with us when we were all young. So if you can help him, you definitely should.”

Vickie’s expression suddenly brightened. “Hey, can I come? To the dinner? Ask if I can come along. They all know me. And I’d love to see Donny. Is he married?”

Gretchen could not restrain her eye roll. Everything comes right back to Vickie. “I have no idea. He wasn’t wearing any ring. Vick, you’re not going to try and date Donny Lindstrom? I’m simply trying to rekindle an old friendship with someone who became the victim of a horrific injury.”

Vickie waved her hand around. “Oh, you should do that, Gretchen. You should try to save Tony. You should be his friend. Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy some nice eye candy in Donny Lindstrom. Please? I’ll be a great icebreaker.”

Gretchen’s lips tugged into a reluctant smile. Yeah, Vickie could be counted on as a great icebreaker.

“I’ll think about it and let you know.”

Vickie got up to use the bathroom and Tracy quickly sat next to Gretchen. “Anything new on Olivia?”

“Nothing new. Helen’s getting very weak. She had to quit work, finally.”

Tracy grabbed her hand. “What you’re going to do… it’s wonderful; you know that, right? You’re the perfect person to do that.”

Gretchen stared at their linked hands and the doubts weighed heavily on her chest. Only Tracy, Lindsey, her parents, and Helen knew of the impending adoption. Helen Carver, Olivia’s paternal grandmother, suffered from stage four breast cancer. She had recently asked Gretchen to become Olivia’s adoptive guardian when she died. Gretchen tried to argue, and reassured Helen she would beat the cancer, but quickly stopped when Helen begged her to simply “get real.” She needed to know that Olivia would be okay, and the only way that could occur was if Gretchen promised to take her permanently. Gretchen was stunned. But how could she refuse the bald, skinny, pasty and feeble Helen, now begging for a little peace in the knowledge that her granddaughter, whom she raised since infancy, would not end up in foster care?