“They are good, or as far as I know. Katy has finally gotten
Alex in college, so maybe we can talk her into moving on finally. It’s been ten
years, you know, since the accident. She never remarried. Lizzie’s twins are
grown and Marianne is still married to her dreamboat doctor. I hear he is one
of the top surgeons in Dallas now.”
The waiter had brought their salads, so they were quiet for
a few minutes as they started their meal.
“I’m surprised you didn’t have them all come to your resort
for a week,” Michael broke the silence.
“I really needed a week away, as busy as I’ve been. If I had
stayed around, I would have gotten called in to the office several times during
the week for some crisis or another, I’m sure. It was a good time for me to
leave, before we get into the project full force. So we rented a suite at one
of the hotels on the north side near the Galleria for the week,” she answered
as she buttered her roll.
“Dallas, huh.” He smiled to himself. “When are you flying
out?”
“I have to be at Moline at nine tomorrow morning to catch my
flight,” she answered as the waiter brought the two steaming plates of
spaghetti to the table.
They ate in silence for a while, simply enjoying the
delicious food and each other’s company. It seemed so natural to be sharing a
meal with Michael.
When the meal came to an end, he warned her, “I hope you get
some rest and have some fun, because we’ll be hard at it first thing Monday
morning.”
“Which reminds me, I really need to get going since I have
to leave at the crack of dawn in the morning,” she replied, hating to see the
evening end after all.
“Just let me get the check and I’ll walk you to your car.
You were right about the food here. Best spaghetti and meatballs this side of
the Mississippi. I think they have my favorite place in Des Moines beat, and
that’s saying something.” He chuckled. “I’m glad you agreed to meet me. It was
great catching up with you, Angie.” He looked at her tenderly, turning her
insides to instant mush.
Michael signed the credit card receipt, putting his copy in
his wallet. As they were walking to the parking lot, he took her hand in his.
Angie’s heart jumped.
Calm down, he is only
holding your hand
,
she told herself. When they reached her car, he brushed the stubborn tendril of
hair back from her brow, as he had done so often in the past, and leaned over to
kiss her gently on the forehead.
“Have a great trip.” He smiled, and he was gone, leaving her
in stunned silence.
Angie got into the car and hurried out of the parking lot,
heading down the street to her condo. Once in the parking garage, she allowed
herself to catch her breath. She was shaking like a leaf for the second time
that day. This just would not do. She was always in control.
Oh, good grief, Angie girl, it was nothing, it meant
nothing
.
It was
just a friendly
kiss. On the forehead, no
less. Get a grip!
Would she ever get this man out of her system?
Even after all these years, a few hours, a little
conversation, a little kiss, and Angie was a total basket case. She finally
forced herself to get out of the car and walk to the elevator. She pushed the
button to the fifth floor and stepped out into the silent hallway. Somehow, she
made it to her door, unlocked it, and stepped inside. Once inside, she allowed
the tears to flow as she collapsed onto the plush carpeting.
And in an apartment across town, as Michael Gray climbed
between the cool linen sheets of his own lonely bed, he thought about the
evening he had just spent with his ex.
If it’s the last
thing I do,
she will be in my bed again
.
Lizzie Hart looked around the bedroom of her suburban
Columbus, Ohio home for one last, quick check to make sure she had everything.
“I’m ready,” she yelled to her husband.
Rex walked into the bedroom and picked up her bags. He was a
fairly handsome man of average height and muscular build. He leaned over to
kiss his wife and proceeded toward the stairway, Lizzie following closely
behind.
“If we time this right, Babe, we can have breakfast together
before you have to board.”
“Sounds nice, we so rarely have any time together. You’re
always so busy at the agency.”
“I know. I just wish Colt had decided to come to work for me
instead of taking that other job after graduation. That would have freed up my
time.”
“Sweetie, don’t go there. He didn’t want to come right in as
the boss’s son. I still think he will eventually come around to your way of
thinking.” Lizzie often acted as the buffer between father and son these days.
That, and the fact that lately she was suffering somewhat from empty nest syndrome,
had not made her a very happy lady the past several months.
I need
something
in my life to keep me busy
. Perhaps Katy or their other two friends would
have some ideas for her.
They arrived at the airport and, after checking Liz’s
luggage, went in search of a restaurant. Finding one near her gate, they
ordered a light breakfast and watched the other passengers walking through the
airport. Lizzie took a sip of steaming hot latte and sat back to relax. She
looked at Rex and noticed the lines of weariness beginning to show on his face.
If only there was a way to help him.
I wonder what he would think about me
working in the ad agency.
As they made pleasant small talk, Lizzie thought
more about working with him. It would ease some of the pressure for him and
fill her days.
I could kill two birds with one stone
,
as the saying
goes
. It was not like she did not have experience. Writing had always been
her forte and she had helped him in the past with slogans when he was
struggling to come up with something. It was something to think about, and this
week away would give her the chance to do just that. She would bounce the idea
off the girls and see what they thought.
It was time to go, so Rex walked her to the gate, kissed her
goodbye, and watched her walk down the hallway to the plane. Then he walked to
the window and watched the plane until it was out of sight.
Lizzie settled into her seat, buckled her seat belt, and
leaned her head back onto the headrest. Thoughts of working side by side with
Rex came to mind and she spent most of the flight wondering how she would
approach him with the idea when she returned to Columbus next weekend.
I
will find a way
, she thought, smiling for the first time in many months.
She sighed as she thought about the week in Dallas with the ‘Fab Four,’ as they
had always called themselves, and a bright, new career waiting for her at home
to look forward to. What more could she ask for?
And as Katy, Angie, and Lizzie were making their way to
Texas, Marianne Jacobi stood gazing out the window of her home in McKinney. She
filled her crystal glass with wine and carried it to the great room.
The
girls will be arriving this afternoon. I wonder what they will
say when
I tell them what a cheating bastard Jon has become
.
They would probably be like everyone else and think she was
crazy. A friend who worked at the hospital had walked in on him and his slut
one day in the lab. Of course she had promptly told Marianne. That had been
months ago and Mari had been agonizing over it ever since. She did not know
whether to confront him, wait for him to come clean, or ignore it and hope it
ended. Dr. Jon Jacobi did not act like anything was going on at all. He
certainly was a good actor, she’d give him that.
She lay down on the gray sectional and fell asleep, not
hearing her husband come into the room. He looked at the empty wine glass and
sighed.
Why is she so unhappy lately
? He pulled the soft, blue afghan
from the back of the recliner and covered her. Picking up the glass, he carried
it to the kitchen, cleaned it, and put it away. He poured the rest of the wine
down the drain and disposed of the bottle. After that, he made a pot of strong
coffee, poured a mug and carried it into the great room where his wife was
still sleeping soundly. Leaning over her, he gently kissed her and said, “Time
to wake up, Honey. You have to get ready to go to the hotel and meet the
‘Fabs.’”
“What?” she answered sleepily as she slowly sat up. She took
the mug of coffee from Jon and wondered why he was home in the middle of the day.
“I came home early to see you before you left for the week,”
he explained. “It’s a good thing I did. You might have overslept. Seems you
were starting the party a little early, weren’t you?”
“What… oh, the wine… I was just relaxing a little before it
was time to leave.” She finished the coffee and rose from the couch.
“Stay here, Mari. I’ll get your luggage and load it into the
SUV for you. Are you ready?”
“Yes, everything is ready to go. It’s all in the hallway.”
“I’ll drive you to the hotel.”
“I am fine, Jon. And I may need a car. The girls are renting
one, but if some of us go different places at different times, we’ll need an
extra.”
“Well, if you’re sure you’re ok.” He sighed as he picked up
her bags and walked through the kitchen into the garage. After he had loaded
her things, he went back in and poured another cup of coffee for her and one
for himself.
Mari walked into the kitchen. He noticed she had fixed her
makeup and hair as he leaned over to kiss her. She edged away from him and took
the coffee.
“You will spend some time with Jordan while I’m gone and
make sure he does his homework and all that, right?” She wondered how much time
he would actually make for their youngest son during the coming week.
“You don’t need to worry about a thing. I’ve lightened my
schedule this week and will spend some time with Jordan. When he’s home, that
is. He’s the busy one around here.”
“I’d better go. I want to get there early and make sure
everything is ready when they all arrive.” Mari set down the mug and turned to
get her purse.
He stopped her, put his arms around her, and said, “Have a
good time. Don’t worry about Jordan or me. I think this week with the girls is
just what you need, Hon.” He leaned down to kiss her. She returned the kiss,
and stepped away with tears in her eyes. She silently walked out the door,
leaving her husband standing in the middle of the kitchen with a puzzled look
on his face.
As she sped down the expressway, Mari wondered if the week
apart would make them or break them.
Katy raced through the gate at O’Hare International airport.
She had been running late all morning and had just barely made it in time to
catch her flight. She had been thinking about the accident most of the night.
She was glad when the sun had finally made its appearance in the clear Chicago
sky that morning and she could concentrate on more pleasant thoughts. It was a
chilly, sunshiny Saturday morning, as she settled in and looked out the window
of the plane.
Just a few more hours and I will be seeing my old friends
,
she thought.
She went over the agenda once more in her head.
Angie is
leaving from Moline, Illinois and Lizzie from Columbus, Ohio. The three of us
are meeting in St. Louis and flying on to Dallas together. There we will rent a
car and drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to the Prava Suites hotel,
where Marianne has booked a suite for the week. Marianne will be waiting for us
there. Since she lives near Dallas, she is going on ahead to the hotel to make
sure everything is in order for our stay
. It had all been planned
meticulously by Lizzie and Marianne down to the last detail.
Good old Lizzie
,
she thought as she began to feel drowsy, her sleepless night catching up with
her at last.
The flight to St. Louis was uneventful, so Katy finally dozed
to make up for the agonizing night she had spent remembering the past. Not
wanting to start her vacation looking tired and draggy, when she awoke she
touched up her makeup and did the best she could to conceal the dark circles
under her eyes. She asked the stewardess for a cup of coffee and sat back to
enjoy it, deep in thought about her friends. Lizzie had called her last night.
Dear,
sweet, thoughtful Lizzie
.
She calls every year on the anniversary of the
accident. She knows just what to say to make me feel better
. It was
wonderful to have such good friends. Something in Lizzie’s voice last night had
sounded different though, lonely, perhaps.
I really need to find some time
to talk with Lizzie alone and see what is
going on with her
.
And then there was Angie, the career girl of the group. So
career-oriented, in fact, that it had been the cause of her marriage breaking
up. She and Michael had seemed perfect for each other, both ambitious and
driven. They had met in college and the ‘Fab Four’ had all thought he was
wonderful from day one. They had been delighted when Angie had announced her
engagement. They had all been surprised when Angie told them a few years later
she and Michael were divorcing. Marianne had tried to reason with Angie,
begging her to reconsider her decision. She had told Angie that if she and
Michael loved each other, they could work through their problems. She had
attempted to make Angie see that there were ways to balance career with a
personal life, but in the end, Angie had not listened to her and had gone
through with the divorce.
“Marriage, kids, and my career just don’t go together,” she
had explained. None of them could believe she was giving up Michael for a job,
but then none of them had ever been quite as ambitious as Angie was. And her
ambition had paid off. She had a very high powered, high paying job now. But
Katy wondered if, deep down, Angie had ever regretted her decision to leave
Michael.
I wonder what Michael is doing now and if
he ever remarried
.
She had not heard from him for several years. He had kept in touch with all of
them for a while, but she guessed he had moved on by now. He had been so
thoughtful and helpful to her after the funeral. He had helped her deal with a
lot of the financial details in the weeks following.