Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
“Howdy, Daddy,” Lizzy said, planting a kiss on “Big Tom’s” cheek when they hugged. “Thanks for coming out on such short notice.”
“Howdy, ladybug. Anything for you, darlin’.” Setting her back from him, he pushed his cowboy hat back on his head, stating, “You look the picture, as always.”
“Thank you.”
“Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my little pigtail-wearing mutton buster.”
“Sometimes I miss her too, but I’m a big girl now,” she said, having new confidence and finding the inner peace she’d been missing for far too long.
“Big girl, alone, in the big city.”
“I’m not alone, and I’ve been here for ten years! It’s not that big,” she laughed.
Guiding him to a table in her favorite Italian restaurant she said, “Let’s sit. Jane’ll be joining us shortly.”
“This sure is fancy.”
“Not really. It’s just not Roy’s greasy spoon diner.”
“True. I might be a little underdressed, though.”
“Don’t worry. Trust me, no one cares about blue jeans and boots. You can even keep your hat on if you like.”
Feeling uncomfortable because too much time had passed without a real conversation between them, she sat across the table from her husky father. He looked old and weather-beaten—or maybe beaten down by his wife’s thirty-five-year emotional abuse and enslavement. “Are you well, Daddy?”
Smiling tightly, he said. “As well as can be expected. I just spent three hours in a silver tube, crammed into a tiny seat beside a mouthy woman who didn’t stop talkin’ about her cats the entire trip.”
“I’m sorry. I had no choice but to call you out here to clean up a long-overdue mess. Now that I’m engaged and embarking on a new life, it needs to be resolved.”
Leaning back, he took his hat off and placed it beside him on the table. Over the years, he’d lost a lot of the thick, wavy hair she loved. “Oh yeah, with that rich fella, George, your mama’s been going on about for three months. When are you gettin’ hitched?”
“That wedding is canceled. I’m now engaged to my ex-boyfriend, William.” How odd, yet wonderful, that sounded to her ears.
“Well, I’ll be. Two serious fellas in one year. That’s sure more than Janie ever had. How’d that happen?”
“We were fated, I guess. I’ve never been happier, Daddy.” She grinned from her heart.
“I can see that, but your sister and mama like that fella George and all his money.”
“They can have him. He’s a terrible person, a grifter, and far from rich.”
His gaze switched to her left hand. “So, I take it, your sister hasn’t seen that monstrosity on your finger yet. You know she’s gonna be itchin’ for one. Why, even Mary and her lazy eye have had better luck with men than that poor child.”
“She hasn’t seen the ring because she doesn’t know William is back in my life, and that’s where you come in.”
He nodded. “By the way, your mama says hello.”
“That’s nice.”
“Ladybug, tomorrow ain’t promised to no one.
You really should bury the hatchet and apologize just to make her happy.
She doesn’t mean half the things she says and forgets them if you call her out.
It’s just her way after years of your grandmama’s shameless torment.
That old hag, may she burn in fiery brimstone. There, I said my piece about all that.”
“I don’t mean to be insolent, but I don’t want to talk about my relationship with Frances or make excuses for anyone’s generational trauma, mine included. I need your help with another pressing familial issue born out of that dysfunction.”
“Well, then, pop your corn. Let’s hear about this emergency that made me drop everything to travel across the country. I’m missin’ bible study.”
Bible study? Putting her shoulders back, she said.
“Jane’s instability is a four-alarm emergency.
I asked you to come because she’s overstayed her welcome and my bank account.
She did something so despicable, I don’t think I have it in me to forgive her, and that says a lot.
She needs to leave Manhattan and never return to my world. There, I said my piece about all that.”
“You goin’ no contact again?” He sighed, then chuckled wryly, shaking his head.
“Limited contact. I’m sorry, but I can no longer allow the abuse of my sisterly affection. My life and agency are no longer up for debate. Our relationship has devolved to transactional, and my love isn’t currency.”
“I don’t know what this agency thing is you speak of, but I’m glad to see you stickin’ up for yourself, Ladybug. But if you think I want her to return to Laramie, you’re expecting too much of me. Bless your heart.”
“I don’t care where she goes, so long as it’s outside New York’s tri-state area.”
“That ain’t gonna be easy on me because I finally succeeded in marrying off Kitty and Lydia, the two silliest girls in Wyoming, to the two dumbest, most desperate buckaroos that side of the Mississippi. Do you want to finally kill your daddy by having your mama’s clone return to the ranch?”
“But you’ve always liked Jane.”
Serious as a heart attack, he looked her straight in the eyes without so much as a blink.
“I only liked Janie’s pretty face, but I love you and your soul—and my sanity.
Darlin’, I don’t have it in me any longer to take on your big sister and mama—together—under the same roof.
Uh-huh, that train has left the station. ”
“I understand, I do.”
“I’ll be settin’ up house in the barn ... with my horses and that rancid donkey if that happens.” His pointed index finger poked at some unknown destination to his right. “Hell, I’ll go live out on the range in a tipi before I spend one night in that house.”
“Then find her an apartment in Rock River.” She pointed at the table to counter his argument.
Big Tom continued to resist. Shaking his head, his voice lowered.
“Best thing that could happen is if they both give each other the silent treatment, because there ain’t no way I’d survive those two cackling hens fightin’ over control of every damned thing, no matter where in Albany County she lives. ”
Honestly, she didn’t expect this amount of objection over the return of Mama’s golden child, but he’d apparently come to an epiphany.
“Well, I need someone finally in my corner, and you are the only one Jane is afraid of. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but .
.. you’re partly responsible for enabling Frances and creating Jane. ”
“You might be right, I suppose.” He knit his brow, then rubbed his neck.
“It’s easier just to remain silent in that damn house filled with five crazy women—until you can’t—and then you get a burr in your saddle and just explode like you ate some of your mama’s miserable chili.
I don’t like frightenin’ the shit outta anybody, but there you have it.
” He calmed, closed his eyes, and then took a cleansing breath.
She could almost hear him counting to four, then exhaling for four at the prospect of Jane’s return to Wyoming.
“But I’m trying to be a more peaceful man now that your sisters are gone.
I even got myself one of those shrinks for psycho people, and I visit that church on the corner of Lark and Meadow Streets every Sunday, for sure.
God is good, and so is life, right now. Don’t go messin’ it up on me!
” He bore his eyes into her to make a point, but she stayed the course.
“I’m glad you finally woke up and even found peace in the Lord, Daddy, but please accept that you’re not psycho.
It’s not you—it’s them. It’s real. Trust me, I know.
And, if it’s any consolation, I have a therapist, too, but no therapist has been able to advise me on how to kick Jane out of New York.
She’s an adult, and I can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. ”
“That’s true. She’s bound to boil over, for sure, but there are more ways to skin a cat than stickin’ its head in a bootjack.”
“Like I said, that’s where you come in. It’s the only way to get through to her.
Please just play along with what I say because it’s not going to go well for her if William intercedes.
He’s as savage as a meat axe when it comes to my happiness or his family’s reputation,” she exaggerated, but it was mostly true. “Here she comes,” she softly said.
Her father squeezed out of the chair, then stood. “Baby girl! Look at you! The first apple of my eye,” he greeted, turning to face her sister with a beaming smile.
“Dad! What on earth are you doing here?”
He hugged Jane tightly, but Lizzy could see the disappointment on her sister’s face.
“I was just talking with your sister about that. She’s got some good news!”
“Hey, Jane,” she said.
“Lizzy,” she cooly snubbed, sauntering—not limping from the purported broken toe—to the table. “How was Paris?”
“Best time of my life.”
“How nice for you,” she sneered. “While I sweated it out in Queens with a broken air conditioner and a faulty lamp. I’m surprised I didn’t get electrocuted from your crappy leftovers.” She huffed, then took a seat. “I can only stay a minute or two. I have a date.”
“I come all this way and you can only spare a minute for your daddy. Boy, big city livin’ has sure changed my girls. Lizzy tells me you’re workin’ in a coffee shop as a waitress, is that right?”
“I’m a barista on the Upper East Side, big difference. They love me so much that I’ll probably be promoted to manager soon.”
“Aw, Roy’s looking for an experienced counter girl down at the diner. You’d be a shoo-in if you came home to your mama. She’s been cryin’ for you. Still bellyachin’ about how you abandoned her to her poor nerves―even talks about throwin’ herself off Devil’s Tower unless you come home.”
“Never,” she falsely smiled.
“Wow, manager, Jane.” She thought quickly. “That’s wonderful and perfect timing since I didn’t renew the lease on the Queens apartment.”
“Why not?” Jane asked.
“Go on, Lizzy. Tell her your big news.” Big Tom circled his thick index finger at her.