A Sister's Promise (Promises) (7 page)

CHAPTER NINE

“I had a terrible day,” Joely said.

Kate tried to take off her coat without dropping the telephone. “Sorry to hear that. Have you read those books I got you about lupus?”

“No.”

Kate was so frustrated she wanted to growl. “You need to learn everything that you can about this disease. It will help you cope.”

Joely sighed. “Actually I’m feeling a little better. Yesterday I went to my stones and crystals class for the first time in weeks. The teacher recommended some new crystals for me to try. I’m going to try and go back to work in a couple of days, I think.”

“That’s wonderful.” Kate kicked off her shoes and thought that Joely no longer sounded upset like she had on the answering machine. Squeezing the phone between her ear and shoulder, Kate opened the dishwasher and started unloading. She felt a twinge of irritation, realizing that Mitch had put her Metropolitan Museum of Art mug on the same shelf as the juice glasses. “You might not be up to running, but maybe you could walk your favorite route through the city. I read that exercise can help prevent flares.”

“How am I supposed to exercise when every step feels like a knife cutting through my knees?”

For a moment Kate couldn’t breathe. “Oh, wow. I didn’t realize. . . I’m sorry.” Frozen, she held a glass in mid-air. “Maybe you need some different medicine.”

“Can’t we talk about something besides lupus for a change?”

Her annoyance made Kate defensive. “You’re the one who called me, remember? What do you want to talk about?”

Joely hesitated. “Guess who I ran into today.”

“Who?” Kate re-arranged the glassware as quietly as possible.

“Jake.”

“
The
Jake?” She almost dropped a cup.

“Yes. He was in town for his dad’s fiftieth birthday. He lives in California now.”

As Kate searched for something neutral to say, she heard the garage door open. “I assume he’s still an accountant.” She pulled out a kitchen stool and sat down.

“Yes. And he’s married to another accountant.”

“That doesn’t sound very interesting.” Kate was still angry with the man who hurt her sister so deeply she never allowed herself to fall in love again. Boy, did he ever fool them with his grand gestures.

Thinking she had found the ideal man, Joely had recounted the story of his proposal innumerable times—to Kate, to her friends and to anyone who commented on her glimmering diamond. Starting in the dorm cafeteria where she and Jake had first noticed each other across plastic trays piled high with meatloaf and mashed potatoes, Jake’s friends led Joely on a memory lane scavenger hunt. Following clues, Joely traveled to other locations significant in their courtship:
 
the local diner where they had their first official date, a fraternity house where they often attended parties, and the library where they studied together, until she arrived at the lake where Jake stood holding a bouquet of red roses. He got down on his knee and asked if Joely would continue the journey by his side. Joely couldn’t have been happier and neither could Kate. A few months later, however, Joely’s carefully planned life shattered like a champagne flute dropped on a marble floor.

“I’ll tell you what’s interesting,” Joely said, her voice quivering. “What’s interesting is that Jake has twins. . . two-year old twins. . . a boy and a girl. He showed me their picture in his wallet.”

Mitch walked in and kissed Kate on the cheek. She smiled at him then returned her attention to Joely. “Really?”

“He told
me
he didn’t even
want
kids.”

“I know,” Kate said gently.

“That’s the whole reason I broke up with him.”

Feeling a stab of guilt, Kate nodded her head. “I remember.” She had been looking forward to adding Jake to her family tree as much as Joely had. When he came to Kate asking about her parents, she hadn’t held anything back. He seemed especially interested in her mom’s illness and apparently Kate mistook the look in his eyes for sympathy.

The next day at pre-marital counseling, he told Joely that he no longer wanted to have children. Although Joely was crazy in love with him, she was torn up by the thought of never having her own family. Despite the loss of non-refundable deposits and the embarrassment of already-sent invitations, somehow Joely found the courage to cancel their engagement.

If only Kate had downplayed her mother’s illness or insisted Jake get all of his information from her sister. . .Joely might be the one with twins now. Instead Kate’s frankness destroyed their union.

And she had never told Joely.

As if Joely’s life wasn’t difficult enough right now, Jake had to come waltzing in boasting about his offspring. Kate took a deep breath. “How about I play hooky tomorrow and come visit you?”

“No, you don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to,” Kate insisted, without a thought to how much she hated driving at night or to how Mr. Mohr would react when she missed another day of work. “It will be nice to have a day off in the middle of the week. And we can do whatever you want. What sounds like fun?”

“I don’t know.” A minute later Joely had an idea. “The neighborhood down the road is having a garage sale,” she said, sounding a little perkier. “Abina said one guy is selling all of his ex-wife’s stuff since she ran off to Montana with the Olive Garden manager. Who knows what bargains we might find? Kate, stop rolling your eyes.”

“I’m not,” Kate said, mid-roll, already dreading rummaging through other people’s cast-offs. She didn’t understand why anyone bought used when they could afford new. However, she couldn’t deny her sister such a small thing—no matter how unpleasant it might be for her. Even if it meant participating in an activity she would prefer to avoid for the rest of her life. “I said we’d do whatever you wanted and I meant it.”

After Kate hung up, she looked out the window and bit her lip, realizing that the sun was sinking fast. Ever since her LASIK eye surgery, oncoming headlights blurred her vision. “I had better get packed.” She went upstairs and was loading the suitcase when Mitch walked in.

He smiled, revealing the dimple in his left cheek. “I’ll help you pack.” He threw in underwear, jeans and a sweatshirt for himself.

# # #

As Mitch drove them out of town, Kate saw a woman in a plaid flannel shirt walking along the road, her collar turned up against the wind. Foxworth didn’t have very many homeless people since the churches worked together to offer counseling and shelter to anyone willing to take it. But they wouldn’t tolerate on-going drug use. Kate suspected that was why this woman was adrift. Kate barely caught a glimpse of the woman’s thin face, but something about her seemed familiar.

When she thought about everything—this poor woman, Joely’s run-in with Jake, her own disappointing encounter with Nancy—Kate couldn’t help feeling blue. “I wish there was something I could do to make it all better,” she lamented.

“I know.” Mitch took one hand off the steering wheel to pat her knee. “But there isn’t anything you can do except what you’ve been doing.”

Maybe he was right. She spoke to Joely daily on the phone and stayed with her every weekend. Now she was using one of her few personal days just to cheer her up.

Mitch took a drink of his Mountain Dew. He’d told her once he was afraid of being drawn into a semi-comatose state by the white noise of rotating tires and the monotony of cruise control driving. His solution was to never go on a road trip without liquid caffeine.

She looked at his profile. He had light tan skin, a perfectly straight nose, and of course, that hidden dimple. Any child of his would be beautiful.

She couldn’t help but smile a little. Was there any chance he’d ever had similar thoughts when he’d looked at her? Maybe she could pump him for information. “Let’s play Desert Island.” Wanting to ease into things, she started with, “Name three DVDs you would want with you if you were stranded on a desert island with no hope of being rescued.”

“
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian
and
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.”

She chuckled. “You have no need for variety, huh?”

“They’re hilarious.”

“They’re kind of old. You’re telling me they haven’t made a movie in the last several decades that is better than Monty Python?”

“Nothing can compare. How about you? Three DVDs.”

“
Girl Interrupted, Silence of the Lambs, Single White Female.
”

“Movies about crazy people. You’re all alone and you want to be reminded that there are mentally ill people out there, somewhere, in need of you—Super Counselor!”

She laughed. “That’s not it. The human mind fascinates me.” Mitch casually swerved around a bicyclist, barely visible, who hogged the road. She cleared her throat. “They’re also movies with female leads.” She wondered why she didn’t value movies about motherhood:
 
The Joy Luck Club, Freaky Friday
or Terms of Endearment
. They had strong female characters, too.

When he continued the game by asking her about three foods, the only thing that came to mind was her mom’s chicken salad. Kate wished she had her recipe because all she remembered was that her mom always made a smiley face on top of it with apple slices and raisins. Thinking of mothers, she decided it was time to make her move. “If you knew you would never be rescued, what would you regret having never done?”

“That’s a new twist.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought. “I would regret that I never went on a safari in Africa.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“You just said I’m going to die on this island anyway.”

“Good point.”

More drumming of the fingers. “And I would wish I had told Peter what an idiot he is.” Peter was their nickname for Mitch’s boss. He was a classic example of the Peter Principle, which asserted that when a person no longer performed well, the promotions stopped and they were stuck in the position where they were the least competent. Mitch’s boss knew the technical stuff, but didn’t have the social finesse to lead his staff.

Kate realized she was going to have to dig for the information she was seeking, hopefully without being too obvious. “What about kids? Would you regret that we never had kids?”

“What does it matter if I procreated if I’m alone on an island?”

She sighed. He didn’t really offer her the answer she needed and she was afraid if she pursued it further, she would end up saying something she wasn’t ready to say.

CHAPTER TEN

Joely and Mitch hit it off so well the first time they met, Kate had worried that Mitch might dump her for her little sister. “What makes you think she's a witch?” Joely had quoted when somehow Monty Python came up in the conversation. “Well, she turned me into a newt,” he replied. “A newt?” she shot back. He paused then said, “I got bett-ah.” Grinning as if sharing an inside joke, they both chimed in saying, “Burn her anyway!” After being prodded, Mitch assured Kate that the fact her sister was so cool only made Kate more attractive.

When Kate and Mitch arrived at Joely’s that night, Kate suggested the three of them watch something from Joely’s Monty Python collection. Quickly Kate fell asleep on the couch to the sound of British accents and her two favorite people in the world laughing hysterically.

Early the next morning Kate and Mitch were dressed and ready before Joely. At 7:35 a.m. instead of talking to juniors about the importance of taking the PSAT, Kate was sitting in Joely’s living room wondering why she appeared more anxious to go to a rummage sale than the person who invited her. The sale officially began at eight, but last night Joely said she wanted to be at the vindictive divorced man’s place before that, in case he opened early. So where was she? Kate waited a few more minutes then looked at her watch. 7:43. “Hello? Joely? We’re ready.”

She did not respond. Kate walked to the bedroom door and noticed a line of light underneath. “Joely?” She knocked then walked in without waiting for an answer. Joely stood between the bed and her dresser, rigid. Kate spotted and picked up a hairbrush lying on the floor next to Joely’s left foot.

“Thanks.” Joely wrapped her swollen fingers around the handle slowly. “I dropped it and I couldn’t bend over just yet.”

“If you’re not feeling well, we don’t have to go.”

“No, no. I want to go.” She slowly raised her hand and pulled the brush through her long hair. “My body just isn’t cooperating. Once I get moving I’ll feel better. It’s just getting started that’s difficult.”

“Is it like this every morning?”

“This is a particularly hard one. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night.”

Kate couldn’t help but feel responsible since she was the one who suggested the Monty Python marathon. “Here, let me.” Brushing Joely’s hair reminded Kate of how she pinned it up into a bun before Joely went to her first junior high formal. Joely was worried that no one would ask her to dance since she was taller than some of the boys and Kate had to admit, she was nervous, too. Fortunately all it took was one guy, drawn to Joely’s dynamic personality, to make the evening a success.

Kate looked at their reflections in the mirror. She hated that her face needed assistance from the Clinique counter to achieve the same warm glow her sister woke up with every morning.

Joely shook her head. “I wonder how Kelly will feel if I’m late to work all of the time.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Kate said, even though she had no basis for this assumption. How many bosses would be OK with you showing up an hour late because your legs wouldn’t work or it hurt to lift your arm? Not many. “Anything else I can do?”

“Will you help me put on my quartz crystal necklace?”

Kate opened the jewelry box, selected the one Joely pointed to and used her thumbnail to open and close the tiny clasp. “What does this symbolize?”

“It’s supposed to be healing—not only of physical pain, but also emotional wounds from childhood.”

This time Kate wanted to believe in the power of crystals. “Maybe I should get one of these, too.”

“I’ll have my friend, Abina, make you one.” She sighed as if tired from a long day. “After I brush my teeth, I’ll be ready.”

As Kate put the brush on the dresser, she noticed a business card that said,
Jake Mahoney, CPA, San Diego, California
. Why did he give her his card? Anger burned inside her.

She went into the living room to sit and wait with Mitch. She heard the water running for so long, she wondered if Joely had dropped her toothbrush. When she went to check, she saw Joely holding her hands under the faucet’s vertical stream. “The warm water feels good. Just give me another minute and then we can go.”

When Joely finally emerged from the bathroom, Mitch offered to drive, jangling the keys in his pocket.

“We won’t all fit in the Mustang,” Kate said.

“We can take my SUV,” Joely offered, getting her keys off the pegboard in the kitchen. “You know, when you two have kids you’re going to have to get bigger cars.”

Kate’s face heated. She was hoping Joely wouldn’t bring this up in front of Mitch.

“I suppose we would,” Mitch replied, diplomatically.

“When can I expect to hear the good news?” Joely asked.

Kate sucked in her breath.

“I’m ready to be an aunt,” Joely continued.

“Rest assured, you’ll be the first to know,” Kate said.

Relief swept over her when they climbed into the vehicle and Mitch changed the topic to what kind of mileage Joely’s hybrid got.

It was a temporary reprieve. Kate knew she couldn’t keep this from Mitch much longer.

# # #

As Kate walked toward card tables overflowing with costume jewelry and perfume bottles, her shoes became damp from the dewy grass. Joely limped forward as if fully confident that treasure awaited her. Kate lagged behind.

Boxes filled with a pair of heels and flats in every color sat on the driveway. Kate wrinkled her nose in disgust. Then she looked through a bin full of old yearbooks and wedding photographs, wondering if a woman several states away could feel a piece of her history being purged. She became awash in melancholy, wishing she had her mom and dad’s wedding pictures. What had happened to them after Dad died and Mom went into the nursing home? Some things you could never replace once they were lost.

After a few minutes of scanning forty-some years’ worth of accumulations, Kate moseyed over to Mitch and asked if he had found any watches. Carefully disassembling timepieces so he could figure out how he could fix their gears gave him the same satisfaction his co-workers gained from hitting a hole in one.

“No,” he replied.

“Thanks again for coming with me,” she said, bumping his hip playfully.

“Glad to.” He picked up an old answering machine and pushed its buttons.

“Hey, Kate,” Joely half shouted-half whispered, as if hoping to get her sister’s attention but no one else’s. A woman wearing a black pea coat looked her way, but only momentarily.

Kate approached Joely and a table covered with dishes.

Joely glanced up. “Look at this.” She pointed to a red Fiesta ware ceramic pitcher. She pulled a tape measure from her pocket and pulled its yellow ribbon. “It’s their disc juice pitcher. I’m afraid I might drop it. Would you turn it over so I can see if the H on the bottom is raised?” It wasn’t. “Probably vintage. And finding one in red is rare. I bet his ex-wife would just die if she knew he was selling this.”

“How much is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s not marked.” Joely went to the unshaven man leaning against a tool bench and tried to negotiate a price. A few minutes later she walked back to Kate, stroking the pitcher’s handle. “I think a red one is worth five-hundred dollars. If only his wife hadn’t told him it was worth money. . . I bet he’d be asking for ten.”

“So why don’t you buy it?”

“It’s still two-hundred dollars. Maybe if it hasn’t sold by the end of the day, he’ll go lower.” She put it down and exited the garage.

“But it’s worth twice what he’s asking.”

Joely shook her head. “I’ll wait.” She was always waiting for something better.

“Do you want to walk or drive to the next one?” Kate asked.

Joely sighed. “I usually walk, but I think we should drive. I don’t know how much I can depend on my body these days.”

At the next place Joely spotted a wicker couch and pulled Kate over to it, trying to convince her it would be perfect for the sunroom. All Joely saw was that it cost fifty dollars and all Kate saw was the broken piece on the armrest and a cushion that looked more like a Hawaiian shirt than the subdued palette she had envisioned.

Joely reached into a box next to the couch. She picked up a baby quilt embroidered with puppies. “Kate, I’m getting you this.”

“Don’t be silly.” Kate shook her head, glancing at Mitch to make sure he wasn’t listening. He was across the driveway with his back to them.

Joely snuggled with the powder blue cloth against her cheek. “It looks like something Mrs. Pilo would’ve made.”

How was Kate going to explain a baby quilt to Mitch? She needed to steer him away from Joely, who like Winnie the Pooh, was willing to shake a beehive in order to get what she wanted. Knowing
she
would be the one who would end up getting stung, Kate had to do something. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She walked over to Mitch. “How much cash do you have on you?”

“I don’t know.” He opened his wallet and counted by twenties until he reached one hundred.

That wasn’t enough. She pulled sixty dollars out of her purse and handed it to him. Turning her head to make sure Joely wasn’t nearby, she whispered, “Go back and see if you can talk that guy down on the red pitcher.”

“Seriously?” he asked. When she nodded he said, “That’s at least four blocks from here.”

“Please?”

He took a deep breath. “You owe me one.” He started walking.

An elderly woman sitting in a lawn chair pointed her cane at a hodgepodge of home goods. “If you see anything you like, just make me an offer. Everything must go.”

Joely placed the quilt over her forearm and dug through a box of silk scarves. “Awesome.”

Kate remembered the real estate sign out front. “Are you moving?”

The woman nodded. “My husband died and I can’t handle the upkeep of a house. I’m moving into an assisted living community.”

“I’m sorry.” Kate decided she would definitely buy something, even if she didn’t want it.

“No, it’s OK. I’ll be even closer to them.” She pointed toward two girls in the grass blowing bubbles. A smile filled in the wrinkles on her face.

Joely stopped browsing to look at the children. “They’re adorable.”

“I tell you, the only thing better than kids, are grandkids.” The old woman rubbed her knee. “Just watching them play makes me forget all about my own troubles.”

A girl in pigtails giggled as she caught an iridescent bubble in her palm. In an instant it disappeared. The smaller girl accidentally dropped the bottle, spilling the magic liquid all over the lawn. “Grandma, we need more bubble stuff!”

Easing herself up onto her cane, the woman said she would be right back.

Kate tried to find something on the table that she wanted to buy. A few minutes later she looked over to see Joely in a trance; she stood in front of a pink stroller cradling a baby doll. Kate walked quickly to her side and examined her solemn face. Joely stroked the doll’s hair as if it were real. The doll’s thick black lashes fluttered closed.

Kate placed her hand between Joely’s shoulder blades and rubbed. “Are you OK?”

“It’s just a lot all at once,” she said, looking up at the giggling girls running through the yard.

“Yes, it is.”

Joely shook her head. “I’ll never have kids. Never have grandkids.”

“I know.” Kate also knew that Mitch was wrong. There was something more that she could do for Joely.