Chapter 5
5
T abitha was officially finished with work. She had a week until she packed up the Prius and headed to Maine. She had a few stops planned along the way. One was to visit her cousin Oliver, his family, and Flossy, the beautiful Border Collie. Next was Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to spend a couple of days with her friend Nan from college. Then, she would stop in Boston to visit her brother Roth and his family.
Before that, she had to go with Deenie to take her driving test, and the next day, Greg would pick her up to drive to Texas. After she was taken care of, she’d have a final dinner with Maxim. It would be a teary farewell that she wasn’t looking forward to. Tabitha needed time to herself now that her divorce was in the rearview mirror.
“Deenie, do you want to drive for a little bit before tomorrow?" Tabitha called upstairs.
“No, I’m pretty confident. Can we just chill together and eat breakfast?” Deenie asked. “It’s not often that you don’t have to go to work, and I don’t have plans.”
Tabitha was about to break out into tears. Her little girl wanted to spend time with her. If she allowed the waterworks to come, they would begin as tears of joy but quickly turn to anguish because she was going to miss her even more.
“Sounds like a plan. Do you want a smoothie and peanut butter on toast?” Tabitha asked.
“You know me so well. I’ll be down in five minutes.”
Tabitha reached for the coffee filters and found a love note from Maxim. He must have snuck it in the last time he was over. It was something he did often, and it never failed to put a smile on her face.
You deserve every good thing that comes your way. You're my dream girl.
XOXO M
Tabitha set the table with coffee and a bagel for her and Deenie’s usual. They were beginning to talk about senior year and everything that would come with it. Her daughter had avoided the topic of college applications, and Tabitha figured she had something else in mind.
“I used to think I knew I wanted to go into nursing, but then I changed my mind a zillion times.”
“I know. You went from fashion design to engineering and then beauty school. I said it was okay if you wanted to take a year off. You could take a couple of classes at a community college and work part-time. Your father and I want you to have some direction before we send you to a four-year college,” Tabitha said. It was a financial thing, but she wasn’t going to bring that up. She and Greg would pay tuition anywhere if she had a plan.
“I’ve made up my mind. I want to go to a four-year college that offers a nursing program. I went off on all these tangents, but deep down inside, I knew I’d return to nursing.”
Tabitha leaned across the table and squeezed Deenie’s hand. “I’ll support you every step of the way, and so will your dad. I’m so proud of you. Do you have schools in mind?”
Deenie shook her head and chuckled. “When have you known me to be that organized? My counselor will have a packet ready for me that she’ll leave in the office. School is open because half the kids I know failed at least one class, and they’re in summer school.”
“Your grades were impressive this term. I’m sure getting into a good school won’t be an issue,” Tabitha said. “I just heard the front door. Were you expecting anyone?”
"No. Dad just started from Houston, so he can’t be here yet. I'll see who it is, and don't worry, I learned self-defense in the gym this year,” Deenie said.
Tabitha did worry, especially when Deenie grabbed the butter knife before going inside. The next thing she heard was a scream. Tabitha barreled inside to find her daughter in the arms of her cousin Kylen. His mother, April, was close behind. April was Greg’s sister, and at the moment, they weren’t talking, but that happened every few years. They always managed to find a way back to one another.
“We were coming back from Miami on a campus visit and thought we would stop in and say hello. Our decision was very last minute, so we didn’t text or call. Sorry about that,” April said.
“You’re family, and we would have been mad if you hadn’t come by. Deenie and I were just having breakfast. Do you want coffee? I can make something for…” Tabitha looked around, and the kids were off to Deenie’s room.
April smiled. “They haven’t seen each other in a few months, but they talk nearly every day. I can’t believe Deenie and Kylen have that much catching up to do.”
“Things change so quickly in their world. There is a lot of urgent news to catch up on,” Tabitha said sarcastically.
April was a single mother to Kylen. His father had never been in the picture, and no one talked about what happened to him. He did, however, sign over all his parental rights before he was born, and Kylen had no interest in meeting him. That might change when he got older, and April was prepared for that eventuality. She was a physician at an urgent care clinic. She had worked in an emergency department but wanted something with hours she could control. April worked two or three days per week, which kept her head in the game and allowed her to be there for Kylen. She said, and she was right, that Kylen needed her more in the tween and teenage years than he did when he was two. Unfortunately, there was so much trouble they could get into in middle school and beyond. Peer pressure and temptation were lurking behind every corner, and without a vigilant parent, things could go very wrong.
April personified independence. She ran, which was perfect for her because team sports were out of the question. Depending on a teammate wasn’t something she did well. April was closing in on having run one hundred marathons from Boston to Beirut.
“Are you heading up to Maine soon?” April asked.
“I am. Right after Deenie leaves for Houston, I’ll drive up there in my Prius,” Tabitha said. “The highlight of last summer was going to Tampa and spending a week with you. Deenie flew in from Houston, and the four of us had an epic time. We hung out by the pool, ate, and I cried about my divorce when it was just the two of us.”
“I hoped we would do it this summer, but instead, we’d be on Melbourne Beach. It was my dream to stay in one of the quaint bed & breakfasts on the main street. We could roll out of bed, grab a coffee, and make it to the beach,” April said dreamily. “That won’t happen, though, because you had to choose Maine – you’re nothing more than a traitor.” She laughed.
“I’ll make it up to you when I retire. I’d like to own a shack on the beach and have a revolving door so friends could come and go all summer.” Tabitha handed her a mug of coffee, and they sat outside.
“I doubt you’ll get a shack on Melbourne Beach. It’s not the well-kept-secret it once was. Most shacks have been demolished to make way for nicer homes. They have a lot of restrictions on what can be built in a sensitive marine area, so they aren’t too garish,” April said.
“It’s something to keep in mind. I won’t say money is no object because it is, but I have a healthy 401k and stock portfolio. My brother is in banking, and he directed me to invest early on. Greg got none of my investments, and I kept my hands off his,” Tabitha said.
“I guarantee my brother’s portfolio wasn’t as healthy as yours. What he did have was probably taken by the second wife he had for a minute,” April said.
“I love you, April, but I can’t turn this into a gripe session about your brother. I’m in a good place. I don’t want to rehash what was wrong with my ex-husband. We co-parent Deenie, so it helps to keep things civil.”
“I respect that, and thanks for checking me. It doesn’t make things better by trashing Greg. My falling out with him has nothing to do with you. In many ways, he's like a father figure to Kylen, and things between us will have to be worked out eventually. I do love my brother, and I hate carrying around this anger – it’s heavy,” April said.
“I’m sure it is for him, too. Anyone of the male persuasion that you find interesting?” Tabitha asked. “I know you were trying out a new long distance running group.”
April shook her head. “It’s mostly women looking for men and a few married guys who joined with their wives. I know what I’m looking for, and I don’t really want a fellow runner. I want someone different from me – I don’t want to date myself.”
“I get that. Maxim and I end up talking about work a lot. Sometimes, I wish he were a lumberjack or a chef.”
April burst out laughing. “Those are some diverse careers.”
April and Tabitha chatted until Deenie and Kylen made their way downstairs. Tabitha was going to miss her group of friends while she was in Maine. She got different things from each friend. Mel was an excellent listener, Deb was bawdy and honest, and April knew her in a way others didn’t, as she was her sister-in-law. Of course, there was Maxim, too, and he would be missed for a litany of reasons.