Chapter 41
JUSTINE SAID GOOD night to her date and waved as he drove up Wetherly and then rounded the corner at the end of her block. She stood in her driveway for another moment, watching taillights and fireflies, thinking about the evening, the temptation, and the many reasons why she should stop this while she still could.
Then she walked up the flagstone path to her darling little cottage in the flats, cute and low maintenance, protected by neighbors on all sides, perfect for a single working woman with a dog and a cat.
Her house was simple and uncluttered. She wished she could say the same for her mind.
Justine punched in the alarm code and opened the door, and her dog, Rocky, bolted out, jumping and generally making a fool of himself. She returned the joyous greeting, then led Rocky through to the rear of the house, and let him out into the backyard.
She was in her updated 1930s kitchen preparing dinner for Rocky and a purring, rubbing, lip-smacking Nefertiti when the phone rang.
Justine said to Nefertiti, “This better not be work. I am done for the day.”
It was her mother, Evangeline Pogue, calling from her sailboat somewhere off Tortuga. Justine pictured Vangy in her shorts and halter top, drink in hand, sitting cross-legged on the bowsprit under the night sky, her third husband down in the galley.
Vangy said, “Justine, I’ve called and called.” When it came to her only child, Vangy had high anxiety.
“I was out, Mom. Haven’t even kicked off my shoes.” She did that now, then put Rocky’s and Nefertiti’s food on the floor, went to the sitting room, threw herself into her favorite chair, and put her feet up on the hassock.
“Is everything all right?” Vangy asked.
Justine sighed. “Jack’s car was set on fire.”
“Oh Lord. Is Jack…?”
“He’s fine, Mom. We were inside the house when it started. I’m trying to find out who did it.”
“So, you and Jack? Thanks, Bernard. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Sound of Mom sipping something through a straw. “Sorry, darling. What were you saying about Jack?”
“I love him, Mom. I’m not going to lie. But it’s the same stuff, different day. I’ve started seeing someone else.”
“You are? You can do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he married, Justine?”
“No, Mom, no. So, how are you and Bernard? What’s the plan for the next couple of months? Any chance of coming out to the coast?”
“Oh gosh, sweetie. We go where the winds blow us. And right now, my dear hubby-dub is serving dessert in the aft. Will you promise to take care?”
“You bet, Mom. Don’t worry about me. All is well.”
That was a lie.
She loved Jack, but her heart was in play, which was uncomfortable and weird. She said good-bye to Vangy and as soon as she disconnected the line, the phone rang again.
It was Jack.
“I’m home. Do you want to come over to my place? I’d like you to,” he said.
It was too much.
“Oh, not tonight, Jack. I was just dozing off. Sorry, honey.”
She hung up before she weakened. She cupped her face in her hands and shook her head. She wasn’t made for double-deal dating, not for long. It just was too confusing, hurt too much, made her feel too bad.
She was going to have to make a decision before she went crazy.