“Me, too.” She smiled at me. “I still do, kind of.”
“Wonder who found our stones?” I looked down into my tea as if it held the answer.
“I wonder who found my one sewing masterpiece.”
That cracked us both up. A masterpiece that bag was not.
Sloane slapped my leg and said, “Well, my dear, all I can figure is that Hummus found those stones, and they made her a magical baby whisperer.”
“I know. What two-week-old baby sleeps for six straight hours?”
Sloane rolled her eyes. “None that I know, you lucky duck.”
Six hours! I could survive on six hours. I could thrive on six hours and a thirty-minute nap.
“All right,” Sloane said. “I’m heading off to rally my troops for breakfast.”
I smiled at her, but I had to admit that even remembering that day made me feel a little bit off. And I hoped that whoever had found our stones cherished them as much as we had.
I could hear Hummus’s footsteps in the kitchen. James had decided that Hummus needed to stay at least another month. He had no idea what we were having to pay her, but I didn’t argue. I had inadvertently let him spend the night two times the week before when Preston was still waking up every two hours. But that didn’t mean that I was speaking to him. I wasn’t. Only tersely and when absolutely necessary.
We had had a massive fight about Vivi going to school in Peachtree. In the end, Vivi had sweet-talked her daddy. I remembered those days when I could sweet-talk my own dad. Just seeing her with him made me miss my dad so much that I persuaded Vivi to let her father back into her life. Yes, he had hurt her. But he hadn’t meant to. He had only thought he was hurting me—which was totally asinine, by the way. Even still, nothing was more important than family. Luckily, she is less stubborn than her mother. So she conceded.
James arrived at the guesthouse on Preston’s two-and-a-half-week birthday wearing the suit. That was my first clue that something was up. He looked very, very nervous. That was my second clue.
He dove right in. No small talk. “I want to take you out,” he said, rubbing his hands together.
I looked down at myself. Every square inch was covered with either breast milk or spit-up. But that wasn’t the half of it. Mostly, I couldn’t imagine having to sit across the table and look at that jackass for an entire dinner.
“James, have you lost your mind? I’m not going to go to dinner with you like nothing happened.”
He leaned on the kitchen counter. “We don’t have to pretend nothing happened. I just want a chance to explain and to apologize properly.”
“Apologize?” I was skeptical.
“Yes. You deserve an apology. A real, true, long one. And then, if you still want to divorce me, I’ll file the papers.”
I laughed. “There is nothing you can say that will make me not want to divorce you. You will probably make me hate you more, if that’s possible.”
“Caroline, I’m trying to show you that I’m sorry. I love you, but I don’t know how else to prove it.”
I put my finger to my mouth. “Hmmmm. Maybe rewind and don’t sleep with Edie Fitzgerald, and definitely don’t let anyone find out about it if you do, and even more, don’t appear on national television for millions of people to see and judge.”
“If I could, I would,” he said.
“Remember that for your next wife.”
“Caroline . . .”
He didn’t say anything else. And I wondered why Edie Fitzgerald wasn’t going to be his next wife. Maybe she had dumped him. It would serve him right. All I knew was that as of now, I had only one James Preston Beaumont in my life to worry about. And he weighed eight pounds.
TWENTY-THREE
an old sweet song
ansley
To keep expenses down and make things more reasonable for the community, Peachtree Bluff used inmates to do everything from collecting garbage to cutting grass. This used to unnerve me to no end. I had these three girls, by myself, and what if said inmates escaped and tried to get one of them? I used to scold myself for being so unfeeling. They were serving their time, doing their duty, and paying their debt to society. But when the inmate program had to be canceled because townspeople (Hippie Hal) were giving the inmates contraband, I wasn’t sad. No matter how many talks I gave myself, I was still nervous.
I kept chiding myself that night, too, for being so nervous. Get it together, Ansley. It was just Jack. Jack, who had been my first date, my first kiss, my first love. That he would be my first date again forty-something years later seemed fitting. And my girls were loving this. Every second.
Caroline had unearthed the Barney’s bags stashed in the back of my closet, scolding me. “Mom! What is wrong with you? Have you seen these sandals?”
I winced. “Caroline.” I looked around and whispered, “They lace up my leg.”
Taylor and Adam were on the floor in the corner, gleefully tossing tissue paper out of the shoeboxes.
“But it’s a good leg,” Sloane said. “You should work it, Mom.”
I felt a twinge of guilt, because I was sure these shoes had cost more than Sloane’s monthly grocery budget. I constantly asked Caroline not to buy me these ridiculous gifts. To her, they were normal things. Reasonable, really.
Caroline looked at Sloane. “If those kids get drool on those shoes, I am not going to be happy.”
Emerson piped up. “I thought the point of wearing those shoes was to make men drool.”
We all laughed.
Emerson joined Caroline in the closet, while Sloane moved off the bed and onto the floor, pulling Taylor into her lap and snuggling him close.
“I got to talk to Adam this morning,” she said.
Relief rushed through me. “Oh, good! How’s he doing?”
She shrugged. “He’s OK. He’s really homesick.”
“How long do you think he’ll keep doing this?” Caroline asked.
Sloane looked shocked. “Well, forever, I would imagine. Serving his country is what he has always wanted to do. It comes first.”
“Over his family?” Emerson asked.
I gave her a look, but in all honesty, these were questions I had, too. It was hard for me to imagine how someone could sign up for something that caused him to have to spend so much time away from his family. I loved Adam, and I knew how devoted he was to Sloane and his kids. So it was a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around.
Sloane shook her head. “But don’t you see? He serves because that’s how much he loves us. He serves to keep us safe, to protect us and other families, too. It’s what he was born to do. He’s very clear on his priorities.” She paused and tickled little Adam. “It’s what I love the most about him.”
We all looked at her for a second, and I wondered if she always felt like that or if sometimes, inside, she longed to beg him to come home.