Arlene James - Falling for a Father of Four

Mattie was pretty well convinced that Jean Marie was right by the time Orren’s truck turned into the driveway. She felt a wave of panic as she heard the engine die away in the carport and the cab door open and close as he got out. Jean Marie waited at the corner of the dinner table, the gleam of retribution in her eyes. When the door opened and Orren pulled himself sluggishly into the house, she launched her offensive.

“She tore up everything!” she declared, pointing an accusing finger at a quaking Mattie. “She took down Mama’s pretty curtains and put up a dirty old horse blanket, and she moved everything around, and she punched holes in things! And she got out stuff she wasn’t s’posed to, stuff you said we couldn’t even get out!”

Orren stood with a hand on the back of his neck, staring at the belligerent child. “What on earth are you talking about, Red?”

Mattie stepped forward, arms rigid at her sides, chin up and confessed. “I redecorated your bedroom.”

His mouth fell open, his blue eyes widening. “You what?”

“It was presumptuous of me,” Mattie admitted, bowing her head. “I don’t know quite what came over me except…well, it was depressing, even after I cleaned and reorganized it, and I thought…” She blinked, deciding it was better not to say exactly what she’d thought, that it’d be of benefit to everyone to remove every trace of his ex-wife from the room in which he slept night after night—especially of benefit to her. “If you don’t like it,” she said with a sigh, “I’ll put everything back the way it was. I’ll even repaint the walls.”

Orren stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, then he rubbed a hand over the top of his head and said tiredly, “Guess we’d better go take a look at it.”

Jean Marie ran ahead and smugly threw open the door, while Chaz rushed forward to exclaim that he liked the new room, he thought it was swell, he wished it was his room. Orren paused to apologetically pat his son’s head and say, “One of these days it will be your room, Chaz, just as soon as I finish the new master bedroom. Promise.”

The rather forced smile that Chaz gave his father in return for that promise made it clear that the boy didn’t figure it would be kept anytime soon. From the grim expression on Orren’s face, Mattie concluded that Chaz was correct; a conclusion which did nothing to calm the butterflies beating madly in her stomach. She held her breath as Orren moved into his room and abruptly stopped, shock registering on his face. Mattie closed her eyes, biting her lower lip to stifle a moan of distress. Suddenly Orren rounded on her.

“I don’t believe this!”

Feeling sick, Mattie pressed a hand to her abdomen and quickly said, “I’ll put it all back, I swear. I’ll do it before I go home tonight.”

Orren lifted his hands to his hips. “No way!”

“But—”

Throwing his arms out, he whirled. “This is great! It’s wonderful! I can’t believe you did this without spending a cent!” Suddenly he whirled back. “You didn’t, did you? Spend any money, I mean, because if you bought stuff, it’ll have to go back. I can’t afford—”

“No!” she interrupted. “I didn’t buy a thing! I just sort of…rearranged stuff.”

He grinned and pivoted to take another look. “This is amazing. You’re a genius, Mattie, I swear you are! Man, I’m sure glad I didn’t throw any of this stuff away. I nearly stomped that pail there, and I can’t tell you how many times I meant to burn those old crooked fence posts!”

“I he’ped!” Yancy said around the thumb in her mouth.

“Me, too!” Chaz admitted proudly.

“They all did,” Mattie said, tossing a glance in Jean Marie’s direction.

Jean Marie clamped her jaw and glared at her, tears gathering in her eyes. She advanced on her father. “You don’t like all this junk, do you?”

Orren smiled, completely missing the import of the question. “I like it real fine, Red. Y’all did a good job.”

“But what about Mama’s curtains?” she cried.

Orren turned a confused face at Mattie. “I put them away,” she said softly. “I thought if…when the girls get a room of their own, they might like to use them in there.”

“Now that’s a good idea,” Orren said a bit too heartily, finally having divined the problem. “You’ll like that, won’t you, Red? Maybe we can put up one of those borders you see in all the stores these days, too.”

“And we can dye the curtains and bedspread to match,” Mattie offered helpfully. “With some pretty throw pillows and a nice scarf or two we could—”

Crying out in frustration and rage, Jean Marie tore from the room and out of the house. Sighing, Orren bowed his head in defeat.

“I’m so sorry,” Mattie said. “I didn’t realize how sensitive she is about her mother’s things. I shouldn’t have made any changes without consulting you first, either. Maybe we should put everything back.”

Orren shook his head. “Mattie, I owe you a debt of gratitude. You read me just right, figuring what I’d like and all, and you did a fine job in here. I never imagined what all you could do for us when I hired you! Makes me wish I could keep you on past the end of summer, but since everybody will be going back to school, you included…. Well, never mind that. The thing is, I like this room a whole lot better now than I ever did before, and Red has to accept the fact someday that her mother isn’t ever coming back. I wish I knew what to say to her to make her understand. Lord knows I’ve tried, and I reckon I’ll just have to keep on trying. But you don’t owe anybody any apologies. Now, if it’s all right with you, I’ll wash up and go talk to her while you get dinner on the table. My belly’s beating against my backbone, I’m so hungry, and whatever you’ve cooked up in there sure smells good.”

Mattie smiled and nodded. “All right. It won’t take long. The meat loaf’s done, and the macaroni’s almost ready.”

Orren licked his lips and made hungry noises while she turned away and headed for the kitchen. He slipped out the door a few minutes later, and soon after that returned with a pouty Jean Marie in tow. Her eyes and nose were red from crying, and her attitude had not noticeably improved, but she said nothing as she sullenly ate her dinner, then disappeared into the back of the house.

Mattie made short work of the post-dinner cleanup, while Orren spent time with the youngest two girls before putting them down for the night. When she gathered her things to make her usual low-key departure, however, Orren appeared to thank her once again for all she’d done.

“You are one talented young lady,” he said. “I don’t know anyone your age anywhere who could do what you’ve done. One of these days you’ll make a fine wife and mother.”

He hadn’t the least idea how dismaying his words were to Mattie. None of her efforts, she realized, had made him see her as the adult she was inside, if not outside. Perhaps it was time for another sort of transformation, this time of herself.

It was just a sundress, and that’s exactly what Mattie told her father, patiently, unconcernedly, determinedly. He didn’t buy a syllable of it.

“That thing’s indecent!” he exclaimed, walking a circle around her, the better to become outraged by the strapless bandeau top and the short slit skirt that exposed the matching short-shorts. “You’ve worn bathing suits less revealing than that!”

“And will again,” she assured him nonchalantly. “In fact, if you prefer, I could wear one today and save myself the same hassle.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She sighed and flipped the long tail of her hair over her shoulder. “We’re going to lie out in the sun today,” she explained, delivering the well-thought-out excuse. “The kids should start swimming lessons soon, and I want us all to get a little sun first. I don’t want to have to change my clothes twice to manage it.”