Brenda Novak - Big Girls Don't Cry

Pulling her gaze away from the silver sheen of wet pavement that lay beyond her big, sloping front lawn, she extricated herself from Bailey, who padded after her as she answered the phone in the kitchen. She hoped Keith wasn’t calling to say his plane had been forced to land elsewhere.

“Hello?”

“Reenie?”

It wasn’t Keith; it was Gabe. She knew her brother well enough to guess he was feeling badly about this morning. That was why he’d brought the girls a tree swing. But she’d already promised herself she wasn’t going to forgive him too easily.

“Hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No. Keith’s getting in soon.”

“You haven’t talked him into quitting that lousy job yet?”

“It pays the bills.”

“It makes you miserable.”

She raked her fingers through her hair. “He’s afraid he won’t be able to replace his paycheck. And he says he’s used to the traveling, that I should be used to it by now, too.”

“Are you?”

“Mostly I’m tired of having him gone. But I’m not sure it’s fair of me to demand he give up what he feels successful at, what he loves. Besides, what if he’s right and he can’t find anything better?”

“He’d be fine. It’s time he started thinking of you and the girls.”

“He’s good to us.”

“When he’s around.” Gabe fell silent for a long moment, then drew an audible breath. “I’m sorry about this morning,” he said, offering the apology he’d probably been working on all day.

Because the words sounded as though he’d had to drag them out of some place very deep, they melted Reenie’s heart almost immediately. So much for not forgiving him too easily.

Oh well. Maybe they argued often. They were both passionate people. Stubborn. Opinionated. But their arguments never lasted long. Regardless of their ups and downs, Reenie knew Gabe would do anything for her, and she felt the same way about him. “I know you’re still having a hard time with what Dad did,” she said. “But it happened so long ago, Gabe. And Lucky really is—”

“A nice person,” he interrupted. “I know. You’ve told me that before. I keep thinking I’m over whatever it is that makes me dislike her. But then I see her and…” His sentence trailed off.

Bailey, tired of waiting for Reenie to return to their cozy spot in the living room, lay across her feet.

“She’s your best friend’s wife,” Reenie said, trying to approach the situation from another angle.

“Which only complicates the situation,” Gabe replied. “Dad. You. Mike. I’m cornered.”

“Sometimes it’s better to accept what we can’t change.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Considering the accident that had stolen so much from him, she guessed it was more a matter of her poor brother reaching his “tough luck” threshold before they’d even learned about their father’s affair with the infamous Red.

“Hannah thinks I should give her a call in the morning,” he said.

Hannah. Gabe’s wife was so immovable in her love for him. If not for the strength of the relationship that had developed between them, and Hannah’s two boys, he’d probably still be closeting himself away in the remote cabin where he’d lived for two years after the accident. Instead, he’d bought a house in town and was coaching football at the high school.

Reenie wondered if she was expecting too much of him. Her brother was making progress. But it didn’t hurt to encourage him. “I’m sure Lucky would be glad to hear from you,” she said.

The sound of a car in the driveway brought Reenie’s head up. Bailey, who was hardly an excitable animal, lumbered to the door and gave a rare “woof!”

Finally. Her husband was home. She was going to talk to Keith about the Higley farm. Again. She knew having him around more often would be good for the family. Not only were his long absences driving her crazy, but she had this…this terrible sense that his traveling threatened her and their children in some way.

She knew he’d laugh at her the moment she admitted it to him. Until recently, she wouldn’t even admit it to herself. But she could no longer ignore what she felt. She wasn’t being insecure or overly possessive. Keith was becoming increasingly distant. Sometimes she’d be talking to him, possibly speculating on what their lives could be like if he did something else for a living, and his mind would just drift off. She needed his attention again. She needed him to concentrate more on her and the kids and less on work.

Hearing Keith’s key in the lock, she told Gabe she’d call him tomorrow. Now that she and Keith would be face-to-face, and alone, she was going to sit down with him and tell him exactly how she felt. His job—or his marriage. He’d have to choose.

But as soon as her husband walked through the door, she found herself in his arms and knew she wouldn’t bring up the subject tonight. She didn’t want to argue. He was whispering how much he loved her, how much he’d missed her, and his hands were slipping beneath her robe, seeking the places on her body that craved his touch.

She’d already put up with his traveling for nearly eleven years. She supposed her ultimatum could wait one more night.

ISAAC SAT in the back seat of the taxi he’d hired at the airport and stared across a narrow country road at the house Keith had entered only a few minutes earlier. A quick glance at the clock on the dash next to the meter in front told him it was 11:58 p.m.—a little late for Keith to be visiting a friend.

Frowning, he let his eyes rove over the house. Made of wood and painted white, it had been built some years ago but, like the yard, it was well kept. He could see the top of a swing set over the back fence. A tricycle with pink tassels dangling from the handlebars waited near the front door. A detached garage took up a large section of the right-hand side of the property, but it didn’t look as though it was being used to house vehicles. There was a Jeep, parked beneath a tarp and sporting a For Sale sign. A minivan sat in the driveway next to the blue SUV Keith had driven.

“You gettin’ out?” the cabby asked when Isaac made no move to open the door.

“No.”

“You want I should take you somewhere else?”

“No.”

The license plate of the minivan said, 1 I LUV. Keith’s license plate was pretty conspicuous, too. It read, MY3GRLS, which had made him quite easy to follow.

Isaac lightly rubbed his lip. He’d risked his grant to follow Keith across two states, but he still wasn’t sure what his brother-in-law was up to. He only knew it didn’t look good. Especially when two figures, a man and a woman, appeared in the window. The glaring porch light made it difficult to see much detail, but a softer light coming from another room in the house threw both their bodies into relief.

They were kissing. The man was Keith. No question. The woman he didn’t recognize. He couldn’t discern any specific features, not even the color of her hair.

“Meter’s running,” the cabby reminded him.

When Isaac made no response, the driver rolled down his window and lit a cigarette while Isaac watched Keith shove the woman’s robe off her shoulders. When Keith bent his head to kiss his partner’s neck, Isaac looked away. He felt sick. Elizabeth was going to be devastated. This would hurt Mica and Christopher, too.

What should he do? Dropping his head in his hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think.

“That’s not your wife, is it?” the cab driver asked, smoke curling from his nose as he spoke.

Again, Isaac didn’t respond. He was too busy searching for an answer. But no answer presented itself.

When he glanced up again, the figures in the window were gone. No doubt they’d moved to the bedroom.