“That is beside the point. Oh, here’s Sam now. Sam, what is going on?”
Sam took the receiver from my mother. “Millie? I’m hanging up now. I’ll call you later.”
“Bye,” I said gratefully.
Anger at Trish quickly replaced my momentary pity. It hadn’t taken her long to go crying back to Mommy. And my mother! Trish had cheated on Sam, had left him—and Danny!—to go shack up with that jerk from New Jersey. She’d been gone for more than a year, but Mom instantly took her side.
The sickening thought occurred to me that Danny might be with my parents. My heart, so mobile of late, sank to my knees.
The phone rang again. “Hello, princess!” Curtis sang. “Want to come to P-town and sit out the rest of the storm? We’re having an impromptu little party, just cocktails and some little treats, maybe some dancing later—”
“Curtis, you will not believe what’s happening down here.”
“New York minute, honey. I’ve got guests. Go.”
“Sam got hurt and came to the clinic and he kissed me and it turns out that he’s in love with me, too, and then Trish found us in bed.”
“Mitchell! Leave that and come here! Millie shagged the cop!”
Thank God for my friends. My family might be in turmoil, but my friends were on my side. I called Katie next, giving her the quick version, wanting to leave the line clear in case Sam called.
I got dressed, then gently remade the bed. Obviously, things had just gotten very complicated, but I had faith in Sam. He’d calm everyone down. Everything would be okay. I sat at the edge of the bed—on the side where Sam had lain—and smiled, touching the pillow. It had been perfect. The way we were together, the way he made me feel so beautiful, so safe—it was perfect. Everything would be fine.
Later that evening, my dad pulled into my driveway. He lumbered into the house holding his raincoat over his head with one hand, a flashlight in the other.
“Hi, punkin,” he said, hanging up his coat.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“So.” He sat down at the kitchen table and mopped his face off with a napkin. “What’s going on with Sam?”
“Do you want a drink or anything, Daddy?”
“No, thanks, hon. Just the story.”
I sat down, too. “To tell you the truth, Dad, it’s kind of between Sam and me.”
“Your sister was crying her eyes out, practically hysterical. Said that you’ve always hated her and now you’ve slept with her husband.”
“Youch!”
“So? Any of it true?”
I scowled at my father. “I just told you, it’s private, Dad. I’m not really comfortable talking about it with my father.”
My father grimaced. “So that’s a yes?”
“Look, Dad.” I stopped, then sighed. “Not to be rude or anything, but Sam is not married to Trish anymore. She took care of that when she left him for another man last year. I’m not sure why I’m the bad guy here. It’s not like I crept into the marital bed or anything.”
“Spare me the details, baby. But tell me this. Are you going after Sam to hurt your sister?”
“No! Daddy! Come on. You should know better. And Trish is going to have to accept that everything is not always about her.”
“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry, punkin. You’re not like that. And your sister does like to make a scene. But still, Millie. There are a lot of guys out there. Why pick Sam?”
I reached for my father’s hand. “I didn’t really pick him, Daddy. I wasn’t even going to tell him how I felt. But he’s the best guy in the world. You know that.”
My dad gave a little laugh and squeezed my hand. “I guess there’s some truth in that. Okay, baby. Back to the war.”
“Is Sam still over there?”
“No, he took Trish back to their house. Danny was pretty shaken up by his mother carrying on.”
“Shit, Danny was there? Did she have to do that in front of Danny?”
“Watch your mouth, young lady. And yes, apparently she did. It was a big shock, honey.”
We sat in silence for a minute. “Well, thanks for coming, Daddy,” I said.
“Sure, sweetheart. Anything you need? Got enough oil for your lamps? Enough food?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks, Dad. Thanks a lot.”
“All right then. Call me if you need to.”
He kissed me on the cheek and went back out into the storm.
Digger and I had a cold supper, and I played solitaire for a while. Finally, I took the phone into my room so I’d hear it. I wanted to call Sam, but he’d said he’d call me, and I had no doubt his hands were full right now. Digger jumped up next to me, spoiled hound, and I petted his head. Within minutes, much to my surprise, I fell dead asleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
THE POWER WAS BACK THE NEXT day, the sky blue and crystal clear. I barely noticed.
I was dying to hear from Sam. I also wanted to call Danny, but to tell the truth, I was a little nervous about that one. I hadn’t really thought about Danny in terms of Sam and me being together. Hell, there hadn’t been time! Was it just yesterday that Sam had told me he loved me? It seemed like an age ago. The hours ticked past with agonizing deliberation.
When the phone finally rang, I leaped to answer it.
“It’s Sam.” His voice was low.
“Hey! How’s it going? Is everything okay?”
“Listen, Millie, I can’t talk right now. I just wanted to give you a quick call and let you know that right now, things are kind of, um, crazy.”
“Is Danny there?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Is he upset?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, Sam. I’m sorry.”“Me, too, Millie. I have to take care of a few things, but I’ll call you when I can. Okay?” His voice was tight.
“Can I do anything?”
He sighed. “I don’t think so. I’ve got to run.”
I was hoping that his call would reassure me. It didn’t.
Unwilling to sit and fret anymore, I went down to the cellar and brought back the deck chairs and table, then started picking up the branches that had fallen during the storm. The air was rich with the scent of cedar and salt. Birds celebrated their survival, squawking and chirping loudly in the trees. As I was dragging a particularly large branch across the yard, the Digger alarm went off. Trish’s BMW was pulling into my driveway. My pulse thudded sickly in my ears.
What does one say to one’s sister in a situation like this? Where was Mitch when I needed him? I called my dog to me as Trish got out of her car and stood for a moment. She was wearing jeans and a yellow shirt, and she looked younger and more natural than she had in years.
“Hi,” she said neutrally. “Got a minute?”
“Sure,” I said, dropping the branch. A small blob of sap remained on my palm, and as I looked at it, I saw that my hand was shaking.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked.
“No, let’s just stay out here.” Trish pulled a chair out from the table and sat, folding her hands before her as if in prayer. Hesitantly, I sat across from her. Digger stood beside me like a bodyguard, ears pricked, eyes fixed on Trish. I reached out and patted his head.
“I won’t waste your time, Millie,” my sister began, gazing into the backyard. “I broke up with Avery, and I came back here to get back together with Sam.”
I drew in a sharp breath. “Oh.”
Trish tapped her French-manicured nails on the table. “Look, Millie, I know you have a crush on Sam. He said the thing with you guys was brand new. I want you to back off. It really would be best for everybody if you’d just drop it.”
“Well, golly gee, Trish, if you think so.” My casual tone was belied by the fear that leaped to life at her words.
“Don’t be sarcastic, Millie,” Trish snapped, sitting back in the chair, glaring at me from her dark chocolate eyes. “Think about things. Sam and I have been together for eighteen years now—”
“Except that you divorced him—”
“—and we have a son together. A home. A whole life. There’s a lot of history there. You can’t just dismiss that.”
“No, you’re right, Trish, I can’t. And I won’t try. But, Trish, you left him more than a year ago! You cheated on him, you divorced him, you moved in with someone else! You broke his heart.”
“Yes. I did. It was a mistake.”
Somehow I hadn’t imagined Trish saying that. It was hard to counter.
“Millie, Sam is a wonderful man,” Trish said slowly. “I know you two have been spending a lot of time together, and I don’t blame you for falling for him. But can’t you just see that it’s not real? It doesn’t compare to what he and I have together.”
I clenched my teeth. “Trish, you dragged his heart through the dump. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but he’s over you.”
“Are you sure about that, Millie?” she asked gently. Uncertainty flickered through my heart. I didn’t answer.
“Well. Whatever the case may be, let me just say this,” she continued, pausing to adjust her sandal strap. “I’ve never asked you for anything, Millie. But I’m asking now. I want my husband back. I want my son back. I want you to drop this thing with Sam. It’s so new you won’t even miss him, and things will go back to normal.”
Her casual dismissal was like acid. “You don’t know anything about me or my feelings for Sam, Trish,” I snapped. “You have never given a damn about anyone but yourself. I won’t drop Sam, as you put it, just because you want me to. I love him.”
“Millie, you have always been jealous of me,” Trish spat. “You’ve always wanted what I had.”
“You know what?” I barked, standing with my hands braced on the table. “You’re absolutely right! You, Trish, are the only one who’s never wanted what you had. And you had everything. A great guy who married you when you tricked him by getting pregnant. He loved you and did everything to make you happy. You had a perfect baby boy who’s grown into a wonderful kid. A beautiful home. But you just crapped all over that and went off with that as**ole from New Jersey.”
“Well, as I said, I was wrong,” Trish said coolly, standing also and looking at me. “You’re making a mistake, Millie. I feel sorry for you.” She walked to her car and drove away. I went into the bathroom and threw up.
THERE WAS MORE. OH, YES. The fates weren’t done with me yet.
I called Digger and got into my car. Where I was going, I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to be out of the house. I stopped by Katie’s, but she and the boys had gone to the mall, according to her mom. I was still peeved at my own mother for instantly taking Trish’s side, so I didn’t want to go there. I looked at the car clock. It was half past two. High school was just letting out.
I knew Danny’s schedule pretty well. He had basketball practice today, if I was not mistaken.
I was not. I went into the gym and watched the boys until one of the kids pointed me out to Danny. My nephew hesitated, then said something to the coach and walked over, the ball tucked under his arm.
“Hi,” I said, trying for a light tone.
For the first time in his life, Danny wasn’t happy to see me, and it was like a knife in my chest. He stared at the floor, bouncing his basketball a few times. “What do you want, Millie?” he asked flatly.
My face attempted to scrunch up in crying formation, which I tried to convert by contorting my lips to a smile. “I just wanted to see you, see how you’re doing.”
“I don’t think I want to talk to you right now.”
I took a quick, sharp breath. “Oh.”
“What did you expect?” he said, glancing back at his team.
“I don’t know, Dan.” My voice cracked and Danny grew blurry as my eyes swam. He turned to rejoin the others, and I turned blindly toward the door.
“Aunt Mil, wait. Coach, I gotta take a break.” Danny’s voice was defeated as he loped over toward me. Without a word, we went outside and walked over to the split-rail fence that circled the parking lot.
“Mil, what do you want me to say? I mean, come on. How am I supposed to feel good about this?”
“Oh, Danny, I don’t know. Everything is going way too fast.”
He sat on the fence and hung his head. “Mom wants to get back together with Dad,” he said.
“I know. She told me.”
“You gonna mess that up?”
I looked at the ground. “I think…I think your parents’ marriage should sink or swim on its own, outside of anything I do.”
“Mom says she’s learned a lot, that she and Dad could be really happy together now that she knows what she had.”
There it was again. The new and improved Trish, Trish Mature. “What do you think, Danny?”
Danny sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes in a gesture that echoed Sam. “I don’t know, Aunt Mil. But this thing with you and Dad…I don’t know. That’s…I don’t know.”
I swallowed. “I, um, I really love your dad, Danny. I know it’s uncomfortable for you to hear it, but it’s the truth.”
He responded by peeling a shard of wood off the fence and meticulously splitting it.
“Danny, do you want your parents to get back together?”
He tossed the splinter on the ground and looked at me. “Shit, Millie, of course I do. Doesn’t every kid with divorced parents wish that? That Mommy and Daddy would kiss and make up and live happily ever after? I mean, if they could pull that off…sure. Of course I want that.”