Chapter Two
Russ came into the kitchen as Kit loaded flatware into the dishwasher. She glanced at the clock. Eight on the nose. She could set her watch to Russ in search of dessert.
“Well, it could be a challenge, living with a small child again, but having Benny around might cheer you up a little. You know how he always makes you smile. Something,” he reminded her, “you’ve done precious little of lately.”
“Beth’s illness hasn’t left me much to smile about. And Mom hasn’t even been gone two years.” She turned her back on him and began to rinse the dinner plates at the oversize farm sink, which he’d insisted on when they’d had the kitchen redesigned the year before.
Wally wagged his tail and sauntered to the back door. Russ followed, opened the door, and let the dog out to make his last rounds of the backyard for the night.
“I thought Beth told your mother she’s going to be fine.” Russ smirked.
“She told Mom she wasn’t ready to die.” Kit heard the freezer door open. The nightly assault on the stash of ice cream had begun. “And it was only a dream, Russ,” she added, regretting having told him. She should have known he’d find a way to make her feel foolish.
“Want some ice cream?” He paused, his hands on his hips, contemplating the possibilities.
“No, thank you.” Kit watched him study one carton after another, knowing in the end, he’d go for the rocky road.
“So you really think your dream means Beth’s cancer has been cured?”
“I don’t know what it means, Russ,” Kit snapped. “I only know that, in my dream, she told Mom she wasn’t ready to join her.”
“Hey, you don’t have to get testy. You just sounded pretty sure about Beth’s prognosis when you were telling me about the dreams you had.”
“The cancer isn’t her only problem right now.”
“What else is going on? Don’t tell me that Kevin is giving her a hard time about something?” He grabbed the rocky road, then closed the door.
“Her ex is so far behind her right now, I doubt she ever thinks about him. As far as I know, she hasn’t heard from him in over a year.”
“You have to admit it was nice of him to wait until after your mom’s funeral to tell her he wanted a divorce.”
“Yeah, he’s a real stand-up guy.”
“Hey, he let her keep the coffee shop.”
“He didn’t let her do anything. The coffee shop was hers before they met,” she reminded him. “She bought it with money Dad left her. The shop is totally hers.”
“True, but he could have given her grief about it.”
“He just wanted out as quickly as he could get out,” Kit muttered, “so he could move to Oregon and live in a yurt on that ten acres of wooded land his grandparents gave him and write poetry inspired by the forest and nature and ‘a simpler way of life.’” Her tone made it clear what she thought of Kevin’s midlife crisis. “Who does that?”
“Apparently people like Kevin.” He opened a cabinet and took out a bowl. “Are you sure you don’t want ice cream?”
“I’m positive, but thanks.” Kit took a few deep breaths. “There’s something else. Beth told me this morning she’s probably going to lose the coffee shop. She hasn’t been able to work more than a few hours each day, if that, and she’s losing money like crazy.”
“I thought the shop had been doing so well. It always seemed to be busy anytime I stopped in. The coffee’s great, free Wi-Fi, the scones and muffins are really good.
” He scooped ice cream into the bowl with a large spoon, which he licked before tossing it into the sink.
Apparently thinking twice about that action, he reached around his wife and rinsed the spoon before he added it to the dishwasher.
“You’ve been pitching in for her almost every day.
Have you noticed a decline in customers? ”
“No, and that’s the oddest thing. It is always busy.
” Kit had given up her position as a children’s librarian when her sister was diagnosed so she could be with her whenever Beth needed her.
After having lost their mother just two years earlier, Kit valued her family ties more than ever.
“The café’s location is perfect. Just a few storefronts down a small side street, right off the main, close to the college, and not far from the high school and the town library.
She has customers from the schools, the local businesses, parents dropping off or picking up their kids at the elementary school a few blocks away.
Before she got sick, she was talking about putting in a drive-through window. ”
“So what happened?”
Kit shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Taking a smaller spoon from the drawer, he asked, “Who’s keeping the books?”
Surprised by the question, Kit turned and leaned back against the counter. “What?”
“Who’s taking care of the money? Making the bank deposits, keeping track of the credit card receipts, paying their creditors, the employees? Has Beth been able to keep up with all that?”
Kit shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. I assumed it was Beth. I’m only there for a few hours in the mornings. I never thought to ask her what happens to the money at the end of the day.”
“Might be good to find out. Maybe someone’s been helping themselves to a little cash when no one’s looking.”
“I can’t imagine who would do that to her.
” Kit felt dazed. She didn’t personally know everyone who worked for Beth, so she couldn’t swear to their honesty, but the very thought of anyone taking advantage of her sister’s condition and trusting nature made her sick to her stomach.
“I know she has someone who manages for her, someone who’s been with her from the beginning who closes for her at the end of the day. Someone she trusts.”
“Maybe she’s too trusting. You might mention it to her.”
“I don’t know how I’d do that without upsetting her.” What would she say?
“If she’s worried about losing the shop, she’s already upset.”
“It’s been a tough few years for all of us.”
“Well, there again, having Benny with us will keep us all smiling.” Russ came up behind her, encircled her waist with his arms, and rested his chin on top of her head.
“Except of course when he’s throwing mashed potatoes and string beans on the floor and kicking the underside of the table at the same time. ”
“He was trying to get Abby’s attention after she started to cry while trying to explain what was going on with Evan. And Wally was more than happy to do the cleanup.”
“I never did trust Evan with all his literary affectations. Who always refers to himself by three names? I think someone’s forgotten where he came from.” He stepped back when she shook him off and began to stack the plates methodically. “Hmmph. Trenton,” he muttered. It sounded like an accusation.
“There are some very nice areas of Trenton.”
“It’s not Bryn Mawr.” Russ’s tone took on that haughty air he sometimes had, the one that made her cringe at the sound of his snobbish pronouncement.
Talk about someone who’d forgotten where he came from.
Kit turned and reminded him, “You didn’t grow up in Bryn Mawr, either.”
“True, but we live here now, and you have to admit, we’ve had a good life.” He ran a hand through his softly graying once-dark brown hair, and Kit noticed he needed a haircut, unusual for him.
She nodded slowly. “Yes, we have. The kids got to go to good schools and the neighborhood has always been lovely and safe. And this house is all anyone could want to raise their family in.”
“Thanks to me working my ass off, we’ve done very well,” Russ said pointedly. “Maybe not as well as your dad, but good enough to provide if not a cushy life, then at the very least a comfortable life for our family. You, Abby, and Ned never wanted for anything.”
“Also true.” Kit wanted to roll her eyes the way Abby had done since she was six.
Had Russ ever missed an opportunity to remind her that while she’d come from a wealthy family—her father’s family had money going back generations—he was a self-made man?
She wasn’t in the mood to defend a heritage that needed no defending.
Time to move on. So she said, “True enough. Though Ned has never asked for much. Abby might be a teensy bit spoiled.”
He held up a hand. “Your fault as much as mine, and it’s not unusual for the youngest child to be spoiled. And remember, she came along after I’d been promoted to partner, so we had a lot more to spoil her with.”
“Is there a point to this conversation?” Kit asked. “Where is this leading?”
“Just thinking about my job and the fact that it’s served us well over the years, and how quickly my retirement date is approaching. Another few months and I’ll never have to look at another stock portfolio unless I want to look at my own. I’ll have all the time in the world to do as I want.”
“And what do you want? How do you see yourself spending all that time?”
“I have some ideas on that,” he said coyly.
“Are you going to share them?”
“When the time is right.” Smiling, he retreated to the family room, leaving her to finish cleaning the kitchen.
Minutes later, she heard the musical intro to Hiking and Biking Through Europe drifting from the TV room.
Kit stooped to pick up a green bean off the floor that Wally had somehow missed. She’d just tossed it into the trash when Abby shuffled into the room.
“Let me do that. Oh, looks like you got it. Sorry, Mom.” Abby took the paper towel from Kit’s hands. “I’m sorry about the mess, and I’m sorry I blew into your house like I still lived here and I’m sorry—” She burst into tears again.
“This is still your home base, sweetie, and it always will be. You and your brother will always be welcome here. No matter the circumstances. No questions asked. No need for apologies.”
“Oh, Mom, you were right about Evan.” Abby sank miserably into a chair at the table. “He is a jerk.”
“I don’t remember having called him that.” Not exactly.
“But you thought it, I know you did. Dad certainly did, right from the start. And Evan is a jerk. I should have known something was up with him and that . . . that . . . stage manager.”
Kit took the seat across from Abby and let her daughter ramble about all the nights Evan had come home late from rehearsals.
“It doesn’t take three hours to drive to Swarthmore from Philadelphia. I just should have—” Abby stopped, apparently not sure what she should have done, a new flood of tears bursting forth.
“What are you thinking about doing?” Kit asked when she thought Abby had calmed down sufficiently to have a thoughtful conversation.
“I’m not staying with him, that’s for sure.” She got up and grabbed the tissue box from the counter. “I’m going to call that lawyer you and Dad are friends with. Mr. Walls.”
“Leo isn’t a divorce lawyer, honey. He’s financial planning and estates.”
“But he probably knows someone, right?”
Kit nodded. “I would imagine he does. So yes, give him a call in the morning. But don’t feel you need to rush. You might want to give yourself a little breathing room. Think things through.”
“What is there to think about? Cheating is nonnegotiable. What would you do if Dad cheated on you?”
Not willing to open that particular can of worms in front of her daughter, Kit merely nodded her agreement. This was not the time to tell that old tale. Did any child really want to know about their father’s past indiscretions?
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll get a job,” Abby assured her. “I can substitute teach for now while I look for a permanent position and I can pay rent. First thing in the morning, I’ll find a preschool for Benny—that’s assuming you and Dad are okay with that? For a while?”
“Of course, and rent isn’t necessary. But are you sure that’s what you want? You have that lovely house . . .”
“I’m absolutely sure. I don’t want to live in that house anymore.
Evan not only cheated on me, but he’s been lying to me for weeks.
It’s taken me too long to admit it. He left blatant clues, but I didn’t want it to be true, so I let myself pretend they really were having rehearsals all day and most of the night.
” She shook her head. “When I confronted him, he acted like it was no big deal, like I should be okay with ‘sharing him,’ as he put it. Like what was my problem—after all, he’d married me.
Like somehow I was the lucky one and should be honored.
Mom, I can’t live with someone who has so little love and respect for me. ”
Kit nodded. “Of course you can’t. Call Leo Walls tomorrow. And of course you’ll stay here for as long as you need or want to.”
Around ten the next morning, Kit’s phone vibrated once on the counter, then stopped. She glanced at the screen and caught sight of a different number but the same area code as from the previous day, the one that she’d blocked.
She smiled with satisfaction and said aloud, “Go sell that car warranty to someone else.”
She blocked this latest number and dropped the phone into her pocket.