Jeff rose and snatched the mug, sucking down a scalding mouthful of hot chocolate that left him wearing the whipped cream and sporting a burnt tongue. “For fuck’s sake, Daze.”
“Who told you to wolf it down?” She set the tray on the coffee table and looked over her shoulder at him, her fringe of copper bangs falling into eyes the exact same shade of gray as their mom’s. “Where’s Lon’s phone?”
He gulped more cocoa. “Thanks for the drink. Gotta go.”
“What do you mean you have to go? You said you were staying ’til tomorrow night. What about the exterminators?”
“Technically I only had to stay away one night. As a precaution.”
“But you said you’d spend the weekend with me. I thought we could hang out.” She pouted. “We hardly ever see each other anymore. You’re almost as bad as Mom, always too busy.”
Guilt kicked him in the shins, hard. “She’s trying to start her new business, you know that.”
“Yeah, yeah. She’s a high-powered career consultant now. Yippee. What about you?”
“What about me?” Hearing his defensive tone, he set down his half-empty mug and backed toward the door. “I’m around.”
“Right. You’re always at the office, though we both know you only stay late because there's no one left to bother you.”
She had an excellent point. His job at Cedar Hollow Form and Print jibed perfectly with his desire to avoid as much extraneous human contact as possible. The end-user software manuals he edited didn’t excite him but at least they were predictable.
People weren’t. His ex-wives hadn’t been. The few friends he’d managed to keep in contact with since his school days never let him down but they were far-flung across the globe and busy with their own lives.
Something he wasn’t, by and large. By choice, granted, but he didn’t have a lot to offer to conversations about white-water rafting trips or sojourns to Africa.
He worked, he watched TV, he slept. Occasionally he dated—very occasionally—or visited friends out of town. Since his last divorce, he’d been content with his mostly solitary lifestyle. It didn’t require too much thought and he didn’t have to wonder if he lacked in some way. Working on his relationship were words that never entered his personal lexicon anymore.
Thank God.
“Is Lon coming over tonight?” he asked, not commenting on her assessment. Daisy knew him too well.
When she didn’t answer, he nodded. “Just as I thought. I’ll catch you later.”
“Wait. Wait! What about his phone?” She followed him to her front door and leaned into the hall when he kept walking. “What are you doing with it?”
“Don’t worry. He’ll get it back,” Jeff called over his shoulder, his hand going to the cell in his front pocket.
One way or another.
* * * * *
Karyn paced back and forth in front of a window at Shay’s Coffee Shop, certain she was making a huge mistake. Smart women didn’t meet total strangers who claimed to have their husband’s—estranged husband’s—phone. He could be holding Lon for ransom somewhere. This Jeff could be a hulking thug with an eye patch and a team of backup thugs to do his bidding.
“Too many late-night movies,” she whispered to herself, rubbing her arms over her cardigan to ward off the chill. She’d already chugged a tall snowflake latte and the peppermint from the syrup still clung to her lips. She wanted another one but her waistline wouldn’t appreciate it. Nor would her wallet. Even if she didn’t care too much about her diet at the moment, she stuck rigidly to her budget, planning for those rainy days that insisted on showing up.
“He’s late,” she added a moment later. She grimaced as she realized she was talking to herself again, precisely why she stayed home with her movies most of the time. Mornings teaching preschool at the local Montessori school made up the bulk of her social excursions, and for good reason. Three- and four-year-olds didn’t mind that Mrs. James had a few quirks.
Regular people, on the other hand, just might.
She fumbled for a tissue, just to give herself something to do. She had all kinds of things in her pockets. Bandages, a mini highlighter, spare change, throat lozenges. Though it was Saturday, she’d helped host her school’s open house and still wore her teacher gear. The only thing that marred her tidy appearance was the streak of yellow paint on one thigh of her khakis. Served her right for painting the minute she got home instead of changing into a smock. But she’d been wrapped up in thinking about the release of throwing paint on canvas, desperate to put the long day of hyper kids and parent-teacher conferences behind her. Though she loved showing off her school and meeting her kids’ families, today had been more trying than usual. For once her heart just hadn’t been in it.
She glanced at her watch again and sighed. One hell of a way to spend her wedding anniversary. And her divorce papers sat on her grandparents’ antique table in her dining room, just where they’d sat since the process server had handed them to her.
She hadn’t been able to look yet. Tomorrow she would. She’d handle what needed to be done. First she had to get through today.
In a moment of weakness, she’d called her soon-to-be-ex-husband. She didn’t want to reconcile. Far from it. She’d just wanted to know if he had noticed the date or if he’d left her to shoulder that burden alone like all the rest he’d dumped in her lap.
Lon had been typically reticent to discuss the significance of the date or anything else. Once upon a time, she’d found his strong, silent routine a turn-on. In those days she’d found everything about him sexy. His personality, his intelligence, the way he made love to her in such a strong, focused way, as if he knew exactly how to give her pleasure.