closed her eyes, expecting to feel a rush of bittersweet nostalgia for the father she remembered so well and had loved so much. Instead, she felt only gladness that her mother had discovered this new happiness.
“Congratulations, Mom.”
“Do you mean that?”
“With all my heart. When’s the wedding?”
“Well, actually...” Her mother hedged again. “Honey, don’t be angry.”
“Angry?”
“We’re already married. I’m calling from Reno.”
“Oh.”
“Are you mad?”
“Of course not.”
“James has a winter home in Arizona and we’re going to stay there until April.”
“April,” Ellen repeated, feeling a little dazed.
“If you object, honey, I’ll come back to Yakima for Christmas.”
“No... I don’t object. It’s just kind of sudden.”
“Dad’s been gone ten years.”
“I know, Mom. Don’t worry, okay?”
“I’ll email you soon.”
“Do that. And much happiness, Mom. You and James deserve it.”
“Thank you, love.”
They spoke for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. Ellen walked down the stairs in a state of stunned disbelief, absentmindedly tightening the belt of her housecoat. In a matter of months, her entire family had disintegrated. Her sister and mother had married and Bud had joined the military.
“Good morning,” she cautiously greeted Reed, who was sitting at the kitchen table dressed and reading the paper.
“Morning,” he responded dryly, as he lowered his paper.
Her hands trembling, Ellen reached for a mug, but it slipped out of her fingers and hit the counter, luckily without breaking.
Reed carefully folded the newspaper and studied her face. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“My mom’s married,” she murmured in a subdued voice. Tears burned in her eyes. She was no longer sure just what she was feeling. Happiness for her mother, yes, but also sadness as she remembered her father and his untimely death.
“Remarried?” he asked.
“Yes.” She sat down across from him, holding the mug in both hands and staring into its depths. “It’s not like this is sudden. Dad’s been gone a lot of years. What surprises me is all the emotion I’m feeling.”
“That’s only natural. I remember how I felt when my dad remarried. I’d known about Mary and Dad for months. But the day of the wedding I couldn’t help feeling, somehow, that my father had betrayed my mother’s memory. Those were heavy thoughts for a ten-year-old boy.” His hand reached for hers. “As I recall, that was the last time I cried.”
Ellen nodded. It was the only way she could thank him, because speaking was impossible just then. She knew instinctively that Reed didn’t often share the hurts of his youth.
Just when her throat had relaxed and she felt she could speak, Derek threw open the back door and dashed in, tossing his older brother a set of keys.
“I had them add a quart of oil,” Derek said. “Are you sure you can’t stay longer?”
The sip of coffee sank to the pit of Ellen’s stomach and sat there. “You’re leaving?” It seemed as though someone had jerked her chair out from under her.
He released her hand and gave it a gentle pat. “You’ll be fine.”
Ellen forced her concentration back to her coffee. For days she’d been telling herself that she’d be relieved and delighted when Reed left. Now she dreaded it. More than anything, she wanted him to stay.
“ELLEN,” DEREK SHOUTED as he burst in the front door, his hands full of mail. “Can I invite Michelle to dinner on Friday night?”
Casually, Ellen looked up from the textbook she was studying. By mutual agreement, they all went their separate ways on Friday evenings and Ellen didn’t cook. If one of the boys happened to be in the house, he heated up soup or put together a sandwich or made do with leftovers. In Monte’s case, he did all three.
“What are you planning to fix?” Ellen responded cagily.
“Cook? Me?” Derek slapped his hand against his chest and looked utterly shocked. “I can’t cook. You know that.”
“But you’re inviting company.”
His gaze dropped and he restlessly shuffled his feet. “I was hoping that maybe this one Friday you could...” He paused and his head jerked up. “You don’t have a date, do you?” He sounded as if that was the worst possible thing that could happen.
“Not this Friday.”
“Oh, good. For a minute there, I thought we might have a problem.”
“We?” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a problem, but it sounds like you do.” She wasn’t going to let him con her into his schemes quite so easily.
“But you’ll be here.”
“I was planning on soaking in the tub, giving my hair a hot-oil treatment and hibernating with a good book.”
“But you could still make dinner, couldn’t you? Something simple like seafood jambalaya with shrimp, stuffed eggplant and pecan pie for dessert.”
“Are you planning to rob a bank, as well?” At his blank stare, she elaborated. “Honestly, Derek, have you checked out the price of seafood lately?”
“No, but you cooked that Cajun meal not long ago and—”
“Shrimp was on sale,” she broke in.
He continued undaunted. “And it was probably the most delicious meal I’ve ever tasted in my whole life. I was kicking myself because Reed wasn’t here and he would have loved it as much as everyone else.”
At the mention of Reed’s name, Ellen’s lashes fell, hiding the confusion and longing in her eyes. The house had been full of college boys, yet it had seemed astonishingly empty without Reed. He’d been with them barely a week and Ellen couldn’t believe how much his presence had affected her. The morning he’d left, she’d walked him out to his truck, trying to think of a way to say goodbye and to thank him for understanding the emotions that raged through her at the news of her mother’s remarriage. But nothing had
