Friends and Lovers (15 page)

Jack frowned, picked up his glass, then put it down and cleared his throat pointedly.

“Well, if y’all need anything…” The waiter smiled and sashayed – he actually
sashayed
– away.

Tom was smiling too. Jack couldn’t help but notice how his eyes lingered on the waiter’s ass.

Was that some sort of secret code? Had Tom just made an assignation?

Tom raised his glass. “Here’s to old friends.”

Jack pushed the paranoid thought out of his head. “To old friends.” He took a sip. “This is a good wine.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Tom set his glass down. “So… What’s new with you, Jack? Other than being divorced?”

“Well, I’m… Tom, I’m getting married again at the end of the week.”

“I heard you say something to Reba, but… Already, Jack? Didn’t your divorce become final only a couple of months ago?”

“Actually, it was eight months ago.” Heat rushed up past his eyebrows. His father had castigated him, first for letting Reba go through with the divorce – not that the elder Sweet blamed her; as far as he was concerned, Reba was right, Jack was entirely too worldly – and then for getting involved with Julie, who, he had no problem in declaring to anyone willing to listen, was trailer park trash if ever there was one. “I guess I’m just one of those fellers who do better when they’re married.”

“Well, you know I wish you the best of luck, buddy.”

“Thanks. Will you… will you be my best man, Tommy?” Jack looked into surprised blue eyes. “You’re still my best friend.”

“Jack, I don’t know what to say.”

“Please say ‘yes?’”

“Your father’s gonna hate like hell to see my face.”

“He won’t be there.” He’d said that his presence would be tacit approval of divorce, and he couldn’t give his congregation that message. “None of my family will be there, except for Teddy and Cath.” And if his father could find a way to keep them away, he would.

“What about your sister?”

“Sarah and Chuck will do whatever Daddy tells them.” He tried to hide how much he resented that.

“Oh, buddy. I’m sorry.”

Jack shrugged. “So will you?”

Tom reached across the table and rested his hand on Jack’s. “I’d… I’d be honored to be your best man.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Jack turned his hand over and squeezed gently, surprised to find Tom’s palm rough with calluses. Shouldn’t teachers have softer palms? “I want you to meet Julie. I’m taking her to dinner at
The Good Ship Anne
tonight. It’s one of Julie’s favorite places. She loves their seafood. Will you join us? At seven?”

“Sure. I’ll even wear my Saturday-go-to-temple suit.”

“Very funny.” He glanced at his watch. “Shit. I’m sorry to drink and run, but I’d better get going. Julie likes me to be…” He reached for his wallet, then paused. “Damn. I forgot I drove you here.”

“Put your wallet away. I’ll get this, Jack. And don’t worry about it.” His gaze went toward the waiter. “I can find my own way back to the car.”

“Are you sure? I invited you… Okay, buddy. Thanks. It really is good to see you again, Tom.”

“Yeah, it is. Now get going. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Jack grinned at him and left, almost giddy with pleasure. Tom had agreed to have dinner with him. And Julie.

Julie wasn’t as thrilled with his dinner arrangements, especially when she learned that Jack had asked his friend to be his best man.

“What about my brother?” She didn’t ask about his own brother, because Sam had taken off when he was seventeen, and the family hadn’t heard from him since. Jack missed his big brother and sometimes wondered what had happened to make him run away.

“I don’t know your brother.” He’d met him once and hadn’t liked him, but he wasn’t going to tell his fiancée that.

“Well, what about one of your other friends?”

“Tom is my best friend.”

“But you told me you hadn’t seen him in years.”

Years apart and miles distant didn’t make a difference when you were best friends, but he didn’t try telling Julie that. “He’s going to meet us for dinner, and you’ll see what a great guy he is.”

“Well. All right.” Her reluctance was so obvious that if it had been for anything else, Jack would have changed his plans, just to keep her happy and see the pretty smile on her face. This time he kissed the pout from her mouth.

He and Julie arrived at
The Good Ship Anne
a few minutes before 7. The maitre’ d smiled at them. “Mr. Sweet, your table is ready.”

“We’re expecting another in our party.”

Tom walked in just then. He grinned and joined them. “Sorry I’m late. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”

“We just got here ourselves.”

Tom was wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and thin gold tie, and with his fair hair lightened even more by the Florida sun, he looked good enough to eat with a spoon.

Jack was surprised by his random thought.

The maitre’ d gave them a professional smile. “If you’ll follow me?” He led them to their table.

And Jack forgot about it.

Tom waited until Jack seated Julie, then sat himself. He’d always had impeccable manners, but Julie didn’t seem to notice.

They ordered. Surf and turf for Jack, twin lobster tails for Julie, a horseradish crusted grouper platter for Tom.

They made small talk. “How’s the company been doing, Jack?” “So you really teach school in Florida?” “How did you and Jack meet?”

They ate. “Isn’t your steak too rare, sugah?” “I declare, they never bring enough butter.” “You really should have ordered the shrimp, Mr. Hansom.”

“Tom, please. I can’t eat shrimp. It’s against my religion.”

“Chef Jeremiah makes a marvelous… Your religion?”

“I’m Jewish.”

“I…” She coughed and sipped the champagne that Tom had arranged to be brought to the table for them. “I didn’t realize.”

“It’s never been a secret.”

Her smile seemed forced, Jack noted in some surprise. When he and Julie had first started getting serious, he’d asked her about her religious beliefs, not wanting another wife who would put religion above him or his children, including any he might have with her. ‘Oh, I think the good lord put women on this earth to take care of their men,’ she’d said, and he’d been satisfied with that.

Before he could begin to wonder, Julie gave him a sweet smile, and he realized he must have misread her expression.

After they finished coffee and dessert – it had been a long while since Jack has seen Tom eat cheesecake, and it was fun to watch him almost come from the first bite – Tom rose from his seat.

“You’re not leaving, Tom?”

“I have to.” He grinned, and Jack remembered the waiter at
Jimmy’s
. Had Tom made a date with him?

“O-okay, then. I’ll be in touch to let you know about Saturday.” He ignored Julie’s frown.

“Sure.” Tom extended his hand toward Julie. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too, I’m sure.”

“Buddy.” Tom squeezed Jack’s shoulder and left.

Jack looked around for their waiter, and waved him over.

“Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?”

“No. I…”

“I trust everything was all right?”

“Yes, it was very good. I’d like the check, please.”

“Oh, the other gentleman took care of that.”

“He did?”

“He did. Will there be anything else?”

“Reba?” Jack’s face turned bright red. He’d never done that before. “I’m sorry. Julie, do you want …”

“No.” She gave him a patently artificial smile. “Take me home, please, Jack.”

Once they got in the pickup, she didn’t give him a chance to apologize.

“Really, Jack. It’s bad enough you call me by your ex-wife’s name,” she admonished in hurt tones, “but you’ve got to have that… that… I don’t think your choice for your best man is a very smart one.”

“Tom’s a good guy.” He could be abrasive, but he’d been on his best behavior at dinner. “What didn’t you like about him?” He’d really hoped that unlike Reba, Julie would get along with his best friend.

“He’s a Jew, Jack!”

“So?”

“And he’s a fag…” Jack’s face hardened, something he knew she wasn’t used to, and she changed what she’d been about to say. “He’s queer!”

“So?”

“So?
So
? He was flirting with the waiter, and with the wine steward, and…”

Tom had been flirting with them? Jack gave her a puzzled look. How had he not noticed that?

“You just see what you want to see, Jack Sweet.”

“You seemed to get along with him, Julie.” He switched on the ignition, hopping she would realize he wanted the conversation dropped.

“I didn’t want to make a scene and ruin a lovely dinner.” She turned her face and stared out the passenger window. “You could at least have talked it over with me. This is the most important day in my life.”

“It’s important to me too.”

She refused to say anything else until he arrived at the colonial house where she lived. It had been converted into apartments, and she rented the one in the rear. “Goodnight, Jack.” She unbuckled her seat belt and reached for the door handle.

“Don’t I even get a goodnight kiss?”

“It’s getting late, and it’s been a long day.” She let herself out, but Jack was beside her before she could get two steps down the walk.

“I’ll still see you to your door, Julie.”

“Well, fine.” She was silent until they got to her door. “I hope you’ll really think about having that man in our wedding party.” She took her key from her purse. “People are gonna talk enough that your family isn’t coming.”

“I’ve thought about it all I’m going to, and my mind is made up. Tom’s my friend, and I won’t turn my back on him.” Not again.

When he tried to kiss her, she turned her face, and his lips grazed her cheek.

“Goodnight, Jack.” She let herself in and shut the door.

Jack sighed and went back to his pickup.
Pre-wedding jitters,
he assured himself. He remembered how bad Reba had had them. He’d had them pretty bad too, especially after his father had talked to him about his responsibilities as a husband. And Julie couldn’t be seriously upset. She hadn’t threatened to call off the whole thing, as Reba had two days before the wedding when he’d accidentally walked in and had seen her in her wedding dress.

Yeah. Pre-wedding jitters.

“Hansom residence.” It was Tom’s mother who answered the phone when Jack called the next morning.

“Good morning, Miz Honey. It’s Jack Sweet. Is Tom around?”

“Good morning, Jack.” Her words weren’t clipped and cool as they’d been for a while after she’d realized he and her son were no longer friends. “Tom is in bed.”

“
Still
? It’s 9 in the morning!”

“My boy isn’t a morning person, even when he’s home before three in the morning, Jack.”

“Three in the morning?” he repeated weakly. In the middle of the week? What had Tom been doing? On second thought, he didn’t think he wanted to know. “Uh…”

She chuckled, the warm sound he remembered. “Would you like to leave a message for him?”

“If you wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not. Just a second.” He could hear her rummaging for paper and pencil. “All right, Jack. Go ahead.”

“Tell him he should be at the Hotel James Oglethorpe by 3 on Saturday. They’ll show him to the Savannah Room. That’s where we’re having the ceremony and the reception.”

“Hotel James Oglethorpe – I know that hotel, Jack. Very nice. – 3 PM Saturday, Savannah Room. I’ve written it down.”

“Thank you. Will you also tell him I said thanks for dinner last night. He didn’t have to do that…”

“Tom doesn’t do things he doesn’t have to. I’m sure it’s what he wanted to do. It isn’t every day that his best friend asks him to be his best man.”

“He told you about that?”

“Just before he left for
The Good Ship Anne
.”

“He didn’t have a problem getting home, did he? I drove us to
Jimmy’s
and then had to leave, so he didn’t have his car.”

“Not at all. He said a nice young man dropped him at the Park.”

“Oh… well, that’s good then.” ‘A nice young man?’ The waiter? Jack felt a stab of something that was like… No, not jealousy. He was just concerned about his best friend accepting a ride from a stranger.

“Do you have a number where he can reach you?”

“Sure.” He recited it to her. “That’s my cell phone.”

She repeated it back. “You men and your new-fangled toys.”  He could hear the smile in her voice.

“Yes, ma’am.” He couldn’t help smiling himself. “Well, I have to get back to work, Miz Honey. It was nice talking to you.”

“Same here. Take care of yourself, Jack. And congratulations on your upcoming marriage.”

“Thanks.”