THE GREAT PRETENDER (39 page)

Renee’s mind drifted to the days just before he left. He’d been so distant, so…gone. She remembered how he had rushed their sex in the shower, how he’d hurt her. He had already gone back to
her
. The wife…Tracy. His letter said that he loved her.

He
loved
her
.

His letter also said that Denise was now his main concern…

On the verge of tears, Renee kept them at bay with a smile. She found that she was able to do that a lot now, and it felt really good to have confidence and be able to smile again.

It was a feeling she prayed would be lost to Reginald once he realized his precious Denise was gone.

After about fifteen minutes, one of the financial counselors, Warren Hutton, bid his patron good-bye and consulted the sign-in sheet at the podium. “Renee Jameson?” he called out, scanning the row of waiting customers. Renee raised her hand and stood, following him to his desk.

Once they were seated, Warren said, “Good morning, Ms. Jameson. You’d like to close an account today?”

After leaving First
Union, Renee went home. She had a telephone call to make.

Dropping her purse on the counter, she headed for the desk in the den. Picking up the phone, she dialed Reginald’s cell phone number.

T
he soft melodies of pianos and violins seemed to be coming from somewhere far away. Reginald heard it but fought to keep it from disturbing his sleep. Where the hell was it coming from, anyway?

Finally awakened, he raised his head from the pillow and realized it was coming from the alarm clock on the nightstand. He sleepily rubbed his swollen eyes, bringing the large, red digits into focus. It was half past one in the afternoon. Why the hell would anyone set an alarm clock to go off at this hour? He reached over and slammed his hand on the small radio.

After leaving the county jail the night before, Reginald had wearily asked his attorney, Richard Love, to drop him off at the Fontainebleau Hotel. He checked in with nothing but the clothes on his back, his cell phone, and the money in his pocket. Thank God for credit cards. He would need to buy new clothes and toiletries, because only God knew when he would ever set foot in that house again.

Reginald had spent most of the night crying. He could not recall when in all his adult life he had ever cried so much.

He wondered if anyone would ever know how much this shit hurt. Never before had he felt an ache quite like this.
Never.

Tracy…and Frank. The thought filled his eyes with fresh tears.

His Tracy.
He
had taken her virginity.
He
had been there when she gave birth to their children.
His
Tracy.

And Franklin. He cringed to think of how much Frank must really hate him, and of the amusement he must’ve felt, watching him struggle over the years. He had confided
everything
to Frank, everything and anything that mattered. His best friend. He could not remember a time when Frank hadn’t been a part of his life.

And he and Tracy were lovers.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty. And what made it worse was that Tracy hadn’t denied it once.
Not even
once.

Reggie wondered if they had laughed together behind his back. Had they lain together late at night after hot, passionate sex and laughed at his ignorance? Anger brewed in his chest at the thought.

He rose from the bed and went to the bathroom. A look in the mirror told him that his face looked like hell. His eyes were red and puffy around the lids, his nose red and slightly swollen. He could hardly believe that he had spent the night crying…Like a sap.

Crying in the dark.

His eyes fell to the necklace…He stared at the reflection as it shimmered in the mirror. Wearily, he pulled it from his neck and tossed it into the wastebasket.

After using the toilet, he decided to call his sister, Thelma. He needed a soft place to fall, and he could rely on her. He knew without question that she would take good care of him, help him pick up the pieces.

Just as he was dialing her number, his cell phone chirped. He hung up the hotel phone and checked the cell phone’s display—he was certainly in no shape to talk to Tracy.

When he saw that it was the Orlando town house, he took a deep breath and answered the call.

“Hello, Renee.” He sat down on the bed.

“Hello, Reggie. I got your letter.”

Reginald’s eyes fell shut.
The letter.

Was he a victim of the boomerang effect, or what? What goes around comes around? Was this God’s way of punishing him for what he had done to poor Renee?

“Did you hear me? I said I got your letter.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I heard you.” Reggie was at a complete loss for words. “I’m sorry.” What was he supposed to say to her? Everything had changed so quickly. He was clueless as to where his life was now headed.

“Don’t be sorry, honey. That’s why I’m calling. We do need to talk about Denise and what kind of custody arrangement we can agree on.”

Reggie began shaking his head. Damn it, he didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Well, we don’t have to discuss all that so soon. I mean, I’m sure this has all come as a shock to you, so, you know, we can give it some time.”

“No, Reginald. No time like the present.” Renee paused. “I’d like you to come and see us. It won’t take long—I promise. I just need to get this whole mess squared away so I can get on with my life. I think you owe me at least that…some peace of mind.”

Reginald fell back against the fluffy pillows. What the hell; why not? He hadn’t planned on doing anything but hole up in this hotel room for the next few days, anyway. Besides, he had caused Renee enough misery. The least he could do was make things as easy for her as possible from here on out.

“All right,” he half-whispered. “I’ll be on the morning flight up.”

S
miling brightly, Renee replaced the receiver and immediately picked up her pen. She proceeded to write two letters.

She knew this would crush her family, but she hoped they’d come to understand why she had to do it. No, she
knew
they’d understand. It would just take some time, that’s all. Her letter would help. They would come to understand that in the end, this had nothing to do with them.

It was all for Reginald. They were leaving because of Reggie.

Once the letters
were complete, Renee stuck one in her purse for the mail and placed the other carefully on the kitchen counter, where it was sure to be seen. Then she went upstairs to her bedroom.

For the last time, she went toward the walk-in closet and slid open the mirrored doors. Stepping in, she walked along the sides, slowly running her hands all over the clothes, both hers and Reginald’s.

Next, she went into the bathroom. She leisurely touched all of the towels and the toothbrushes and the washcloths. She hadn’t moved any of Reginald’s things since he left, and they hung exactly the way he had left them. She then went back out into the bedroom and opened each and every drawer, touching and examining each garment as though she had never seen them before.

Finally, she lay on their waterbed. She thought of all the nights he’d held her and made love to her in this bed. She remembered how it felt, how
he
felt. Renee began running her hands over her body as she lost herself in the memories…

Some time later
, when she finally left the house to get Denise from her mother’s, Renee felt more stable than she had in months. Everything was prepared.

Reginald’s betrayal stung like a venomous wasp. But she was in
complete
control now—and nothing could possibly feel better than that.

She was taking control—and the son of a bitch would soon be made well aware of it.

“So, did you
get everything done?” Bea asked when she closed the door behind Renee.

“Yeah, Mom. Thanks a lot for watching Denise.” She bent and gave Denise a loving kiss on the cheek. “Were you a good girl for Grandma?”

“’Course I was, Mommy. I’m always a good girl. We left hot dogs for you in the kitchen. I ate mine!” Denise giggled, rubbing her tummy. “Grandma put mustard and ketchup and relish, and I ate it all up!”

“That’s a good girl.” Renee relaxed. She was sure Denise hadn’t said anything about them leaving to her mother.

“You hungry, Renee? I’ve got some food, some real food, if you are.”

“Oh, no, Mom. Thanks. We’re gonna head home now. I’ve got a few things to get done around the house before it gets too late.” Renee paused. “Where’s Daddy?”

“Oh, he’s upstairs taking a nap. He’s been asleep all afternoon.”

Renee reached for her mother and gave her a solid hug. Would she ever get to hug her again? She kissed her on the lips and looked her in the eye. “See you, Mom.”

Bea watched them
drive off.

But it wasn’t until the Eclipse had completely disappeared around the bend and was out of sight that she wondered why Denise had not been in school today…

A
fter leaving Grandma’s, Denise realized they were going home. Her mother had both of the car windows down, and the breeze was making her ponytails bounce. Denise liked that. “Mommy, are we going back home to get our clothes?” she asked, her eyes animated and bright.

Mommy smiled. “No, sweetie, we’re not taking anything Daddy bought for us, except your toys, so you’ll be happy when we go. It should make Daddy want to come after us even more when he sees we didn’t take anything, right?”

Denise grinned mischievously. “Yeah, Daddy’s gonna be really wondering! And then he’ll never leave again, right?”

“That’s right, sweetie. He’ll be with us forever.”

Denise looked at her mom. She was always smiling now. She loved Mommy’s smile. She was so glad that the
new Mommy
was gone…the one that was really mean. Her old mommy was back and everything would be normal again when they went away, and Daddy came to find them.

When they arrived
home, Renee quickly drove the Eclipse into the garage, nearly hitting the barbecue grill, and climbed out. “Come on, Gumdrop,” she said hurriedly, as Denise ran to catch up with her at the door. “You have to go upstairs and make sure you haven’t left any of your favorite toys.” Renee closed the garage door with a quick press of the button near the door that led into the house.

Denise ran towards the stairs, her pigtails bouncing on her shoulders. “Mommy, I didn’t forget anything. We checked and checked before we left, remember?”

“I know we did, but I just want to check one more time, just to make sure, okay?” Renee was smiling. “Don’t you wanna make
sure
you leave with all your good stuff? Now you go ahead, while Mommy gets us some water from the kitchen.”

Denise giggled as she jogged up the stairs. “Let’s hurry up, Mommy. ‘Cuz the quicker we leave, the quicker Daddy will come find us, right?”

“That’s right, Gumdrop.”

When Denise was out of sight, Renee moved quickly into the kitchen and got the water from the refrigerator.

As she went back toward the entryway, the letter she had placed on the counter caught her eye. She squashed the doubts it stirred before they could overwhelm her.

Denise was padding down the stairs. “See, Mommy, I didn’t leave any toys.” Stopping in front of her mother, she asked, “Are we ready now?”

Renee stared down at her. “We’ll go as soon as you drink this glass of water, Gumdrop, okay? Drink up for Mommy like a good girl.”