After the Rains (6 page)

“But it still makes you feel like you’re torn between two families,” Betsy finished for her.

“Yeah. Sometimes it does. And in a way it’s like I don’t quite belong to either one of them. When I was little it used to make me so mad that Mom and Daddy would just drop me off here and then leave. I understood that, technically, Grandma and Grandpa weren’t Nikki and Noelle’s grandparents, but I always wished so bad that the whole family could stay. And—maybe it was just my imagination—but it seemed like every single time I came up here, something wonderful happened back home. I’m not kidding. I think half the kittens on our farm purposely waited to be born until I was gone!”

Betsy smiled sympathetically, and Natalie’s words picked up steam.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ll be sitting around the dinner table and we’ll start talking, and pretty soon someone will say, ‘Oh, remember that Sunday afternoon when we stopped off at that little airport and watched those skydivers?’ Or whatever the memory was. I just want to shake them and tell them, ‘No! I
don’t
remember! Because I wasn’t there. You did that without me, remember?’ ”

Betsy put a warm hand to her shoulder.

“I’m sorry to be such a whiner,” Natalie told Betsy now. “I … I know I have a lot to be thankful for, and I—”

“Hey, we do allow occasional whining in this kitchen,” Betsy cut her off.

Natalie smiled and gave her aunt a hug. She loved Betsy so much. It felt good to voice some of her thoughts. But sometimes talking about her feelings seemed to stir up more questions than it answered.

Five

S
ummer was almost over. Clayton County had gone six weeks without rain. A black cloud of dirt billowed behind Natalie’s car as it bumped along the country road. In spite of the hundred-degree heat and her car’s faulty air conditioning system, Natalie rolled up her windows against the gritty dust. Her Grandpa Camfield had bought her the Camry at the beginning of the summer. It was far from new, but the car was Natalie’s pride and joy.

As she neared the driveway to their farm, Jon Dever’s car was just pulling onto the road, headed back into Bristol. She gave a halfhearted wave as he passed. Jon was leaving for college soon, and she would heave a sigh of relief when he was gone. Though she’d resigned herself to the fact that she would never have a chance with Jon, it stabbed at her every time she saw him and Nikki still together after almost a year.

She parked the car in the garage and went in through the kitchen. The house was quiet, but the savory fragrance of a roast and potatoes filled the air.

“I’m home,” she shouted, leafing absently through the stack of mail on the kitchen table. “Hey, where is everybody?”

Mom’s voice floated down the stairway. “Hi, Nattie. We’re upstairs.”

Natalie raided the refrigerator, taking an apple and a hunk of cheese up to her room. She plopped on her bed with the snack, popped in a cassette from her summer Spanish class, and put on her headphones. A soothing feminine voice was pronouncing Spanish phrases in her ears when Mom appeared in the doorway. Natalie clicked off the recorder and slid the headphones from her ears, letting them hang loosely around her neck.

“Hola, Madre.”

“Hi, Nattie. How was your class?”

“Muy bien.”
She knew her constant use of Spanish since she’d started
the class at the junior college over in Clayton was driving her family nuts. But the instructor had told them to use the language every opportunity they got, and Natalie took him seriously. Besides, in a perverse sort of way, Natalie rather enjoyed getting under their skin.

Mom knew a little Spanish from her days in South America and sometimes she played along, putting Natalie’s knowledge to the test. But now Mom ignored the challenge. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Natalie’s knee. “Hey, do me a favor and be nice to Nikki tonight, okay?” Her tone was serious.

“Why? What happened?”

“Oh, nothing happened really. But Jon’s leaving for K-State tomorrow, and she’s taking it kind of hard. He came by a little bit ago to say goodbye.”

“Yeah, I saw him. He was just leaving when I drove in. Aren’t they going out tonight?”

“I guess not. I’m not sure what’s up, but Nikki’s in her room crying her eyes out right now.”

“Do you think they broke up or something?”

“No,” Mom said, “I don’t think so. She’s just upset that he’s leaving. Things will be different between them now. And maybe her feelings are a little hurt because he didn’t want to go out tonight. Maribeth said they have to leave before six in the morning to take him up there, so I’m sure he has a lot to do tonight.” Mom stood to leave. “Just go easy on her, okay? This is a tough time for her, and she doesn’t need anybody giving her any grief right now.”

Natalie hunched her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug and glared at her mother. “I didn’t do anything.”

“I know.” Mom reached down to pat her knee again. “Hey, take it easy. I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I’m just trying to head it off before—”

Natalie didn’t wait to hear the rest. She pulled the headphones back over her ears, cranked up the volume on the Spanish tape, and turned toward the wall.

She felt the shudder of her door closing and looked over her shoulder to be sure her mother had left the room. Seething with resentment, she stuffed her fist into her pillow and flopped back against the headboard.
She didn’t recall her parents tiptoeing around
her
when she was so upset about Jon asking Nicole out. In fact, their attitude back then had been more like, “Get over it, sweetheart; we all have disappointments in life.” It hardly seemed fair that Nikki was getting the “you poor thing” treatment now that
she
was the one mourning losing Jon.

Natalie thought about calling Sara to complain, but things got too complicated with her when it came to the subject of Jon. Besides, Natalie was over Jon. She’d given up the right to cry over him months ago.

She turned the volume up another notch and rattled off the phrases with the voice on the recording.

¿Puede ayudarme? No comprendo. Me he perdido
.

“Would you like more spaghetti, Nattie?” Maribeth Dever asked, a large spoon poised over the serving dish.

“Oh, no thanks. It was great though.” She turned to Sara. “Hey, Dever, if we’re going to get that book report done, we’d better book it.” Natalie wiggled Groucho Marx eyebrows at Sara.

Maribeth laughed at Natalie’s corny pun, and Sara rolled her eyes. “Very clever, Camfield. Why can’t you ever come up with this stuff when we need it?”

Natalie grabbed her backpack from the floor by the front door, and Sara led the way to her room. They settled themselves cross-legged on Sara’s quilt and spread their books and notebooks between them. Classes now that they were seniors required more homework than they’d bargained for.

“So, did you get invited to Lacey Franks’ party Friday?” Natalie asked, uncapping her pen.

“Uh-huh. Did you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going?”

“What do you think?” Natalie smirked. “You know Daddy. He thinks he has to do a background check on a girl’s entire family before I’m allowed to associate with her. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about going.”

Sara shook her head. “My dad
did
do a background check on her entire family, and they failed the test—miserably.”

“Really?” This sounded juicy.

“Apparently her father has a bit of a problem with”—she etched quotation marks in the air—“ ‘the bottle,’ as Dad so nicely put it.”

“You’re serious? He really checked up on them?” And she thought Daddy was bad.

“Well, not really. Dad works with Lacey’s uncle. He heard all this from him. Did you know Lacey has two older brothers?”

“You’re kidding.”

“Yeah, one in rehab, another one dropped out of school. It turns out her mother manages the liquor store in Clayton.”

“Oh, that’s convenient,” Natalie said wryly. “Well, that cinches it. There’s no way I’ll be going to
that
party.”

Sara giggled. “I wish my parents didn’t always have to make such a big deal about stuff like that, but to tell you the truth, it’s kind of nice to have an excuse. I mean Lacey’s okay and all, but …” Sara cocked her head to one side and wrinkled her freckle-strewn nose. “I don’t know … I mean, it’s not like I have any desire to get in with that crowd.”

Natalie thought for a minute. “You know, if Daddy gave me permission, I probably wouldn’t even want to go. But the fact that he thinks he has to make the big decision
for
me makes me want to go in the worst way.”

“You rebel!” Sara teased, tossing a daisy-shaped pillow at her. “I feel sorry for your poor parents.”

“Well,” Natalie said defensively, “I am eighteen years old. I don’t think I need my mommy and daddy to pick my friends for me.”

“Well, I’m sure glad they picked me,” Sara said, a glint of mischief in her eye.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you remember the first time we met? It was
your
dad who invited us over for lunch that day.”

“Oh, man!” Natalie groaned, suppressing a smile. “That does it. I’m outta here. We are history, sister.”

Sara hurled another pillow her way. Natalie lobbed it back, commencing
full-scale war. Their hysterical laughter and squeals finally brought Maribeth Dever to the room to see why the house was shaking. Two hours later when Natalie got in her Camry to go home, their book reports were still unwritten.

Natalie growled under her breath. Her day was off to a lovely start. Daddy had informed her at breakfast that he needed her to fill in for the receptionist at the vet clinic as soon as school was out. Her plans to go jogging with Sara went out the window.

“It’s okay,” Sara said, when Natalie told her over lunch in the school cafeteria. “Maybe we can go when you get done at the clinic. What time do you get off?”

Natalie ignored Sara’s question and let out a snarl of frustration. “I don’t see how I can stand to be under their thumb for another whole year. They are driving me crazy! Especially Daddy. I can’t make one plan that he doesn’t mess up.”

“Hey, just think about the money.”

Sara had a point there. Daddy paid her well for helping out at the vet clinic. But that wasn’t the issue here. Natalie was tired of always having her life dictated by the schedule at Daddy’s precious clinic or by whatever he and Mom decided the family was going to do. She was practically an adult. She wanted the freedom to come and go as she pleased, to make her own hours.

All day long she fumed about her father changing her plans, but when school was out, she grudgingly went to the clinic to put in her hours.

At the supper table, her father thanked her for helping out. “I know you had other things you wanted to do, Natalie. But with Beth out of the office, I was really in a bind. I appreciate your filling in.”

Natalie tried to keep her voice steady. “Yeah, well, I was wanting to talk to you about that, Daddy. Couldn’t Nikki or Noelle fill in once in a while?”

“Huh-uh!” Nicole said over a mouthful of mashed potatoes. “I already give up every Saturday to work.”

“Well, at least you know your schedule. I’m
always
having to change my plans when Beth calls in at the last minute,” Natalie shot back.

“Well, at least you have your weekends free. It’s not my fault that you didn’t want to be put on the schedule,” Nikki said.

“Well, now I do.”

“Fine, you can have my Saturdays.”

“Cut it out, you two,” Daddy interrupted sternly. He turned to Natalie. “I know it’s been a pain, Natalie, but Nikki’s right. You’re the one who didn’t want to be put on the schedule. I seem to remember offering you a slot and you turning it down.”

“But I didn’t know ‘on call’ meant I’d have to change my plans practically every day,” she whined.

“Well, what did you think ‘on call’ meant, Nattie?” Daddy said in the infuriatingly calm voice he used whenever they argued.

“I don’t know, but I sure didn’t think it meant this.” She pushed her plate back and folded her arms. He was going to take Nicole’s side. Of course. His precious baby.