Authors: Christa Maurice
“That someone shouldn’t have been you and if it wasn’t for Bear, it wouldn’t have been,” Tony insisted. “You’re a wonderful teacher. Everyone says so. At least they used to.”
“I don’t get why you don’t just quit,” Eric said.
Tony turned on him, growling.
The sixty thousand dollar question. Just quit. “I can’t. I’ll look guilty and I’ll never be able to get another teaching job.”
“So? Bear makes a lot of money.” Eric shoved his hands in the pockets of his coveralls.
“Shut up. She’s not going to stop teaching. She’s a great teacher.” Tony spun around. “You’re not going to, are you?”
What was he getting at? Why did he care if she kept teaching? “Nicky isn’t going to be in my class next year.”
“I know, but if Bear— If you and Bear split up.”
She bit her lip. Tony’s pause had volumes in it. Tessa and Connie had been certain Michael was too young to settle down. Tessa claimed to have turned him away from three disastrous marriages. Just because she’d passed their test didn’t mean Michael had. Greasy insecurity slithered through the back of her mind, towing behind it the answer to the sixty thousand dollar question.
And she didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now. “Michael’s coming to town today.”
“I heard.”
“I’m sure he’d like to talk to you.”
Tony folded his meaty arms. He looked like an older, tired version of Michael. “I’m not sure I want to talk to him. Especially not now.”
She hadn’t planned on having an audience for this conversation or even knew what she was going to say. “It’s hot out here. Can we talk inside?”
“There’s no air conditioning,” Eric said.
Rusty turned toward Eric and pointed toward the garage. Eric rolled his eyes and stomped back inside with Rusty following him.
“Miss Donnelly, I know what you’re trying to do.”
“It is fairly transparent and you might as well start calling me Maureen. I am going to be your sister-in-law.” Who knew for how long, but that was beside the point.
“Maureen.” Tony pursed his lips.
She held up her hands before he started to speak. “I know you don’t think it’ll last. I’m not sure it will either. But I do love him and I plan to stay with him.”
“I believe you. Unfortunately, I know him. When he was a kid we used to call him Flip-O-Matic because one day his favorite ice cream flavor was chocolate and the next it was vanilla and the day after that it was cherry or some other fucking thing. The only things he’s ever stuck with in his life have been drums and that band, and I don’t think the band gave him a choice.”
“He’s stuck with you.”
“I don’t count.”
“You’re his brother.”
“So he had no choice.”
Maureen sighed. “I just don’t want to come between you and him. Especially if I’m only temporary.” Her words cut though her like a laser beam, but she kept the pain off her face.
“Bear has been trying to get something between us since we were kids. It’s not your fault.”
“I really wish you would talk to him. It bothers him that you aren’t speaking.”
Tony scuffed his steel-toed boots on the pavement. “He say something?”
“Yes. Many times. He’s going to be at Mama Lena’s tonight at six. I know he’d be happy to see you.”
Tony shrugged. “I’ll talk to Pam.”
“Thank you, Tony.”
“Yeah, good luck. You need it.”
Maureen climbed back in her car. She suspected a promise to talk to Pam meant he would be there. They were already on the guest list. Driving back to her house, she decided not to tell Michael just in case.
A strange white car sat in her driveway. She let her car coast. Maybe it belonged to a particularly persistent reporter wanting to get her side of the story or twist her side of the story, depending on what would sell more papers. Two people sat on her front stoop, smoking.
Michael and Marc.
Her foot slipped on the brake. Her car bucked and Michael turned to look. He stood, flicking away the cigarette and met her in the driveway.
“Hey, baby, those brakes giving you trouble again?”
She threw her arms around his neck. Temporary. She needed to be reminding herself she was temporary. “What are you doing here?”
“We flew in early.” Michael buried his face in the curve of her neck. “I missed you, baby.”
“He bitched and moaned until we agreed to fly right after the show instead of waiting until morning,” Marc said.
Maureen breathed deeply. He smelled wonderful—and like he needed a shower. They must have flown straight from the stage. And he tasted like an ashtray. “I can’t believe you’re here.” She glanced over his shoulder. No, she could believe he was here. Marc was another story altogether.
“He came to keep me company on the drive down.” Michael turned to Marc.
“Uh yeah, I wanted to apologize to you, Maureen.” Marc shuffled his feet and took another drag on the cigarette. “I was sort of a jackass to you and I’m sorry.”
Michael looked pleased with the apology. What had he had to do to get it though? “Apology accepted. Did you guys want to come in? Are you hungry?”
“We thought we’d take you out.”
“That might not be a good idea. I never know when people are going to show up with rotten vegetables.” She slid her hand into Michael’s big warm one, and his fingers closed around hers. The whole scandal had seemed insurmountable until he’d shown up. Now she could conquer the world, with or without the help of the newspaper.
“It’s that bad?” Marc asked.
“It’s not good. Michael, when did you start smoking?”
“I didn’t.”
“You were smoking when I pulled up.” She stepped around her car door so he could close it.
“Oh yeah, I was kinda— I’ll get the butt out of the yard.” He bumped her door closed and loped to the middle of the yard to retrieve the cigarette butt.
Marc dropped his cigarette and mashed it out. Then he picked it up and peered around as if trying to figure out what to do with it. “Did you call Tessa?”
“Why would I call Tessa?” she asked.
Michael walked past and took Marc’s butt on the way to the trashcan at the side of the house.
“She’s a lawyer. What they’re doing might not even be legal.”
“No, they’ve been very careful.” Maureen started for the door. “I’ve talked to my union lawyers. The reasons they’re giving for not renewing my contract are that I’m in danger of losing my teaching license due to not meeting relicensing requirements and some nebulous number of complaints they haven’t produced.”
“Are you in danger of losing your license?” Marc followed her.
“No. I need four more credit hours to renew. I’ve been working on a Master’s Degree, but I took the last year and a half off because I was house hunting. I had planned to start back this summer, but I met Michael.” It had seemed like a perfectly plausible reason at the time.
While she was house hunting, she hadn’t had the money or the mental focus to be sitting through graduate level classes and getting decent grades. Spring semester she’d taken off to save up and relax. Then she met Michael and the idea of not being able to see him over the summer because of some stupid seminar…
“So when do you need to have these credit hours?”
“I have until next June to get one, maybe two classes.” She unlocked the front door.
“So that part’s trumped up.” Marc followed her inside with Michael behind him.
“Yes.” She kicked off her sandals by the door.
“What about the complaints?”
Maureen headed for the kitchen to put on coffee. At least she had food in the house this time. “They’ve dug up about a dozen complaints from parents over the course of my career.”
“Is that a lot?” Michael asked.
“Some teachers get a dozen complaints in a year.” She sat down in the chair next to Michael and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Might not be a bad idea to get your own lawyer. This all sounds like bullshit.” Marc pulled out his phone. “This isn’t Tessa’s field, but I’ll call her and see if she knows anybody.”
“You don’t have to. I have the union lawyers.” Maureen tensed. Was it the coffeepot making noises or her stomach? She really should have had breakfast this morning.
“I’m not sure the union lawyers are going to do their best for you.” Marc put the phone to his ear.
“I can’t afford my own lawyer.” She glared at him. Might have been better to have him as an enemy.
“I can. Don’t sweat that.” Michael squeezed her shoulders and stood up. “I’ll get the coffee.”
Maureen clasped her hands in her lap. Her stomach was making an impressive bid to crawl up her throat. Marc chatted with Tessa, giving her the details. He wanted to help, which was nice. Michael poured coffee for all of them. He wanted to pay for the lawyer.
Between them, they were making her depend on them and she was only temporary. Michael was going to get bored and move on right about the time she’d come to need him. She already needed him. The kitchen started to sway. The bitter scent of the coffee scorched her nose. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Michael chased her down the hall. “What’s wrong?”
She threw herself into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Pressing her hands to the wall, she fought for breath. When had she stopped being the one who controlled her life? She’d stopped in at the garage to get her brakes fixed and ended up speeding down hill. The school board wanted to fire her because they didn’t like her lifestyle. Michael, who’d gotten her into this lifestyle, wanted to hire a lawyer to fight them. The lifestyle really wasn’t anything more scandalous than any other person’s; it just happened six hours later and involved more travel, but no one would ever believe that. If she went with him, she’d be wholly dependent on him for everything, knowing he was going to get bored and cast her aside. If she walked away, she’d be trapped here dealing with the aftermath and she’d be without him.
She’d be without him.
“She pregnant or something?” Marc asked in the hall.
“Fuck off.” Michael knocked on the door. “Baby, what’s the matter?”
14
Maureen yanked open the door. “I asked you to stop calling me that.”
Michael and Marc both reeled back.
“Okay,” Michael said. “You gonna come out of the bathroom now?”
She clutched the door. Her lip started to tremble so she clenched her teeth hoping to make it stop.
“I’m gonna go outside.” Marc strode down the hall as fast as his long legs would go.
Michael stepped closer and put his hand on her cheek. “Maur, what’s the matter?”
“How long is it going to take you to get bored with me?” Her stomach, unable to escape through her throat, started in the other direction.
“I dunno. Never?” He slid his hand to the back of her neck. “I love you, Maureen.”
“You’ve been in love before.”
“So have you. How long is it going to take you to get bored with me?”
An excellent question. Was he worried about the same thing? She let him pull her closer. “At the moment, I wouldn’t mind a little boredom.”
“Me either.” He leaned his forehead on hers. “Remember when we talked about the pre-nup and you said you didn’t want to use it? I don’t either. I’m a ’til death do us part kinda guy.”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
She kissed him, drawing him tight against her. The power of his broad shoulders fed her, making her stronger. Opening his mouth with her tongue, she explored him. The rich, exotic flavor and heat. He groaned, the sound vibrating through her.
“We are not in my manager’s bathroom,” he murmured around her lips.
“Marc is outside.” With the cold tile wall behind her and the hot man in front, she didn’t want to move.
Michael slipped his hand under her shirt. “Where are your condoms?”