Chapter Five
Riley stood at her front door watching in misery and disbelief as her mother-in-law jumped into her Escalade, gunned the engine and burned rubber down Adams Street.
The curtains in the front window directly across the way parted as sweet old Mrs. Rafferty peered out. Riley raised a hand in a sheepish wave. Mrs. Rafferty waved back before letting the curtains drop shut.
Several minutes went by during which Riley didn’t budge from the open doorway.
She wanted to strangle Annette at the same time as she kept imagining the worst, her mother-in-law wrapping her Cadillac around a cottonwood tree or mowing down some poor innocent fellow out walking his dog at eight thirty in the evening.
Eventually, with a heavy sigh, she quietly shut the door and engaged the lock. At least Annette’s angry exit hadn’t brought Dillon running. There was no sound from upstairs.
Just to be sure he wasn’t lying up there sobbing into his pillow because he’d heard the ugly things his beloved Grammy had said to his mom, she tiptoed up the stairs and peered in on him. The hall light cast enough of a glow that she could see him curled up under the covers, sound asleep.
Relieved that at least her child hadn’t been subjected to Annette’s ugly tirade, she retreated back down the stairs, picked up Annette’s nearly full glass of wine from the coffee table and actually considered chugging the whole thing.
But no. Not good for the baby—or for a pregnant mom, either. With a heavy heart, she carried the glass to the kitchen, where she was just about to pour it down the sink when she thought she heard a knock at the front door. A second later, the knock came again, a little louder this time.
What now? Riley set down the glass and headed for the door, where a quick glance through the fanlight window revealed her mother-in-law, red-faced with puffy eyes, smudged mascara and a look of sheer misery on her usually perfectly composed face.
Annette must have seen her through the fanlight because she mouthed, Please let me in…
Riley couldn’t turn the dead bolt fast enough. “What’s happened? Are you hurt?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Annette cried. “Come here. Come here right now…” She grabbed Riley by the shoulders and wrapped her up in a hug.
“Annette, what—?”
“I’m so, so sorry, that’s what.” Annette talked right over her and continued to hold her tight. “I don’t know what got into me,” she whispered into Riley’s ear. “I had no right speak to you in such a cruel and disrespectful way, and I only hope that someday you’ll see your way clear to forgive me…”
Now Riley was rubbing Annette’s back. “Of course I forgive you.”
Annette sniffed. “Well, you shouldn’t.”
“But I do.” Across the street, the curtains twitched again.
Riley eased free of Annette’s grip and caught her hand.
“Come inside. Take off your coat…” She pulled the other woman over the threshold, shut the door and slid the coat off her slumped shoulders.
As she hung it up, she said, “You got here just in time. I was about to pour out your wine.”
“Heaven forbid!” Annette sniffled again and carefully rubbed at the smudges under her eyes.
“I know, right?” Riley grabbed Annette’s hand. “This way…” She led Annette to the sofa. “Sit. I’ll be back with the tissues and your wine.”
Two minutes later, Riley handed Annette her glass and set a box of tissues in front of her.
After a large sip of wine, Annette took a tissue and cleaned up the worst of the mascara smudges. “Any better?” she asked with another sad little sniff.
“You look fine.” Riley sat down beside her.
Annette gave a wry chuckle. “So then, not so great. But at the moment, who cares?”
“You’re always beautiful, Annette. And I mean that sincerely.”
Annette took a fresh tissue and dabbed under her eyes some more.
“I… Well, there is no defense for what I said earlier.
But by way of an explanation, I grew up in a smaller town than this one.
My dad was the only doctor in our little town, and both of my parents were pillars of the community.
Doing right and always being above reproach were everything in my family.
“I went away to business school against my parents’ wishes and when I brought Trevor Senior back home to meet them, they did not approve.
They said he was slick and untrustworthy, that I would come to no good if I stuck by him.
But I married him anyway, and we were happy, and I was…
righteous about my own goodness, the goodness that I just knew proved my parents were wrong.
“And later, when I lost Trevor, I knew I would never marry again, never be with another man. I felt noble about that. I felt that I was somehow proving my own goodness by vowing to be a widow for the rest of my life.”
Riley wasn’t sure what to say. “You are good, Annette. You’re the best.”
“I’m human, that’s what I am. And I’ve behaved very badly tonight, and I am so sorry for that. Thank you, Riley. For forgiving me.”
“Always,” Riley whispered through her suddenly tight throat.
Annette sipped her wine and carefully set the glass down. “I have something to confess.”
“What? Tell me? Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”
“Perhaps not to you, but to me it’s… Well, as you know I have my rules—about life and how one ought to live it.”
“So…you’re breaking one of your own rules? Is that it?”
“Yes. Exactly. Because I am very much attracted to Miles Crowne.”
Riley barely suppressed a giant, gleeful smile. Instead, she said gently, “Oh, honey. Miles is a great guy. There is nothing at all wrong with you finding him attractive.”
“Except that I don’t think I should.”
“…find him attractive, you mean?”
“Yes. The ugly truth is, I jumped all over you because you did what I’ve only fantasized about doing. You dared to get out there and look for love again.”
Slowly, Riley shook her head. “No. It’s not like that.
It was a fling between me and Josh. He’s a dear friend, and I trust him implicitly—and he feels the same about me.
So for a while, we were…together. But that’s over now.
” Too bad Josh didn’t know it yet. But he would very soon—and where was she?
“Um, Josh and I have agreed to raise the baby as a team. But we’re not in love, and we’re not… getting married or anything.”
“Oh!” Annette’s puffy eyes widened. “But now that you’re pregnant, don’t you think that getting married is the right thing to do?”
“Sorry, but it’s not like that. I’m not getting married again.”
Annette’s mouth was hanging open now. “Are you saying you don’t want marriage, even with a baby on the way?”
“That is exactly what I’m saying, Annette. I loved TJ, and I miss him every day. And I don’t want to get married to anyone else. I’m a single mom now, and that’s not going to change.”
“How does Joshua feel about that?” Annette asked cautiously.
“Josh is a good guy. So, yes, he just might agree to marry me if I wanted that.”
“Well, then. Let’s explore that option.”
“Annette. No. I will say it again. I loved my husband. And I’m not getting married to anyone else.”
“Well, I…” Annette gave a pained little laugh. “Ahem. I think I just might be feeling judgy again…”
They stared at each other.
Annette was the one to laugh first.
A moment later, Riley joined in. They grabbed each other in another hug and held on tight as they laughed together about the wonder, confusion and sheer ridiculousness of life.
“I still don’t approve,” said Annette when the laughter had faded and they slumped side by side against the sofa cushions.
“Got it,” Riley replied.
“But I’m here for you no matter what—for you, for Dillon and for the new baby, too.”
“Thank you. That means so much.” Riley couldn’t resist adding, “And I really think you ought to give Miles a chance.”
Annette pretended to scowl. “I could never…”
“Oh yes, you could. Just think about. That’s all I’m asking. He’s a good man, and if you don’t say yes to him, some other woman will.”
* * *
“Oh, thank God you’re here!” Lenore announced in her usual drama-queen stage voice when Josh and Shane showed up at eleven on Saturday morning. “The party’s in two hours, and the disposal has stopped working…”
Before Josh could decide how to respond to that announcement, Lenore dropped to a crouch and pulled Shane close. “Hello, sweetheart. Happy birthday to my big, strong boy.” She kissed him on one cheek and then the other.
Shane gazed around the family room in sheer delight. “So many balloons, Mom! I can’t wait for everyone to get here. Can I please see my cake?”
“Of course you can, darling.” She took his hand and led him to the table by the peninsula that marked off the kitchen area. The large sheet cake there was decorated with space modules, astronaut figures, rockets, stars, planets and moons—and glitter-dusted blue candles.
“Wow! A space station cake. Cool!”
“You like it?”
“I do, Mom. I really do…”
“I’m so glad.” She bent and kissed his cheek again. “Now, why don’t you carry your things to your room and let me talk to your dad for a minute or two?”
“O-kay!” Shane marched back to Josh. “’Bye, Dad! Hug!” He held up his arms.
Josh dipped to a crouch and pulled him close. “Happy birthday, son.”
“Thanks!” Shane had two packs full of clothes and toys he’d brought from the other house. He picked up both of them and headed down the hallway to his room.
“So.” Lenore braced her fists on her hips and heaved a heavy sigh. “Will you please take a look at the disposal for me?”
He considered reminding her yet again that he was not her handyman. But hey. Sometimes just giving in and doing what she wanted got him out of there faster. And he didn’t really relish the idea of getting into it with her on the day of Shane’s big party. “Sure. Toolbox in the pantry closet?”
She gave him a radiant smile. “Yep. As always.”