The Memory of All That (14 page)

Chapter 27

Marnie followed the scent of bacon to the kitchen. When she pushed open the swinging door, she saw Jonathan sitting at the island and David at the range flipping a pancake high into the air.

“Oops,” he said as it landed in a pile instead of flat on the griddle. Jonathan was chortling at the failed exploit, and Marnie laughed aloud, too, more at Jonathan’s gaiety than her husband’s act. Father and son turned in unison at the sound of her laughter.

“Good morning!” David said, and Jonathan echoed him.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I didn’t expect to find a cook in the kitchen this morning.”

“Daddy’s a good cook,” Jonathan offered. “He just can’t throw the pancakes up in the air and have them come down right!”

“Let me make up some more batter, and I’ll show you what kind of cook I am,” David said, reaching for a box of mix. “I don’t make them from scratch,” he said to Marnie, who had come up beside him. “Hungry Jack makes them better than I can.”

“Yeah, that’s what I always use,” Marnie said, then looked at David at the same time he looked at her. “Why did I say that? Did I used to make the pancakes?”

“No. Never. Why
did
you say that?”

“I don’t have a clue.” She turned away. “Maybe my mom and I made them when I was a kid. I don’t know.”

David shook his head. “You remember the most useless information.” He threw Marnie a playful smile. “One of these times it’s going to be something important, and when the dam breaks, you’ll remember everything.”

“I hope so,” Marnie murmured, but she wasn’t too sure she wanted to remember
everything
.

As David poured more pancakes onto the griddle, Marnie went to the pantry and searched the shelves.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

“These,” she said as she came out of the pantry holding a bag. Returning to the stove, she opened the bag and took out a handful of chocolate chips. Carefully she arranged them on a pancake. “Let them sink down into the batter before you flip that one.”

David was grinning when he delivered the smiley face pancake to Jonathan, who laughed when he saw it. “I’m eating his eye,” he announced as he took a bite. “Now I’m eating his nose.”

“The bacon is on that platter,” David said, pointing. “Do you want some pancakes?”

“You bet I do!”

“Do you want smiley face ones?” Jonathan asked.

“No, I think I want plain ones this morning. Why don’t you eat those while they’re hot, and I’ll make my own?” she said to David.

“What? And take away my job as chef?” David bantered.

“I’m eating his mouth,” Jonathan declared.

“My goodness, what a charming little scene. So domestic,” drawled a voice from the doorway.

David’s smile disappeared. “Celeste, how did you get in?”

“Your mother gave me a key, David. She thought I should have one in case I was needed. You know, to help with Jonathan or something.”

“We didn’t call for any help, so what are you doing here?”

“Darling, don’t be mad! We’re going out for the day, your mother and I. She needs someone to be her friend. She feels so . . . alone.”

He didn’t comment on his mother’s feelings but rather tersely said, “She’s in her room. You know the way,” and turned back to his cooking.

“If you needed someone to fix your breakfast, you could have called me. I make wonderful breakfasts. You do remember, don’t you?”

“I prefer my own cooking, Celeste. You and Mother have a nice day. Goodbye.”

Celeste glared at him, then turned on her stilettos and left the room.

Marnie felt it wise to keep her thoughts to herself, so she went to the refrigerator to find something to drink.

“Jonathan, do you want milk or juice?”

“Milk, please.”

She placed a glass in front of him and poured it about half full. “That’s so it’ll be easier not to spill. Tell me if you want more.”

David looked at her oddly. “That’s a good idea. He spills it quite often.”

“And what do you want to drink?”

“I have coffee right here, but I’ll take a glass of milk, too.”

She grinned. “Should I make yours half full, too?”

“Maybe you ought to. Sometimes I spill stuff when I get upset.”

“Why are you upset, Daddy?” Jonathan asked.

“Little pitchers,” Marnie said softly as she poured the milk.

“Because I can’t flip a pancake right,” David answered.

When breakfast was eaten and the kitchen straightened, the trio proceeded upstairs to brush their teeth and fetch their jackets.

“It’s a beautiful day, Jonathan. Let’s get out of the house,” David said to his son.

“Can we go to the park, please, Daddy? We haven’t been there in a long time ‘cause it’s been so cold.”

“We’ll go there first, for a little while, but then we’re going to go shopping for some new clothes for you. Mrs. Tucker tells me you’re growing so fast all your jeans and shirts are too small.”

Jonathan was amenable to the suggestion, and they drove to the park where Marnie had found herself that first day. They parked at the curb, and Jonathan raced to the climbing bars.

“Come this way,” David said, taking Marnie by the elbow. “Let’s walk back over where you remember standing. Maybe now that the snow is gone, we can find your cell phone or wallet.”

They looked all over with no more luck than they had the first time they searched. By this time, Jonathan had grown tired of climbing and approached them.

“Daddy, can we go to the other park? There aren’t any kids here, and the stuff at the other park is funner.”

“OK, Sport. We can do that.”

After driving to the other side of town, they reached a neighborhood with newer homes. Ranch style houses and two story colonials mingled with more modern dwellings of stone and glass. They passed a sprawling school on the way. When they reached the park, a throng of children was playing on the swings, teeter-totters, and slides. Jonathan hurried off to a small merry-go-round where an older child pushed it before hopping on himself.

Marnie and David sat on a bench where they could watch the action.

“I’m so glad he could get out of the house today.”

“Yes. The snow and cold this winter has kept us inside on the weekends. He deserves to get out and play,” David answered, hooking his elbows over the back of the bench.

“I think I’d go stir-crazy being cooped up in the house day after day.”

“Maybe that’s why you never stayed home,” he replied sharply.

“Maybe. But why didn’t I take him out with me?”

“Because he would cramp your style? Maybe because you didn’t want people to see you as a mother? I don’t know, Marnie. I don’t know why you don’t, or didn’t, love your son.”

“I love him now, and that’s all I know.”

They were quiet for a while, watching Jonathan move from the merry-go-round to the slide, taking turns with the other children. Nothing more could be said about Marnie’s past that hadn’t been repeated over the last few days.

“This looks like a pleasant neighborhood,” Marnie commented. “Nice homes and lots of children.”

“It is. I lived in this neighborhood before my father and uncle died.”

“I think you or Alice once said something about your moving back home then.”

“Yes. My mother just couldn’t be alone, so I sold my condo and moved back in with her.”

“That was good of you.”

He raised one eyebrow as if to question her meaning, so she tried to reassure him. “Really. It’s what you should have done if she needed you.”

As Jonathan ran to the teeter-totters with another boy about his size, Marnie turned her face up to the sun and closed her eyes. “This feels so good,” she said.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed David was staring at her, but he turned away quickly.

Searching for a neutral subject, she asked. “The school we drove by on this street, is that where Jonathan will start to school?”

“No, his school will be on the other side of town, closer to the house.” He stood and reached a hand out to her. “It’s time we did some shopping.” He called out, “Jonathan, it’s time to go. Come on.”

Jonathan hurried to them. “Daddy, that’s my friend Ricky I was playing with. He wants to know if I can come to this park again sometime.”

“Someday, Jonathan. I’ll try to bring you again someday.”

Chapter 28

When they walked out of the department store, David’s arms were filled with bags. He had purchased everything they could think Jonathan might need: jeans, shirts, socks, underwear, pajamas, and a lightweight jacket. Marnie was stunned by the amount of money David spent without comment.

Why should I be surprised?
she thought.
He is obviously a wealthy man from a wealthy family. From the looks of my closet, I must have spent money the same way.

“Next comes shoes, buddy,” David told the boy who was skipping along beside them.

Marnie was trying to hold his hand, but it was a difficult task with his jumping and bouncing at every step.

“I’ll tell you what, Jonathan. If you’ll walk calmly and not jump around so your mother can hold your hand, we’ll buy you a special treat.”

Jonathan immediately slowed down to a normal pace. He looked up at Marnie for a few seconds and then reached to take her hand.

“What treat?” he asked.

“You’ll see. I have to see if you’re going to behave,” David said in a solemn voice.

They entered a store that sold athletic shoes. Jonathan’s eyes widened when he saw the vast assortment of shoes. The salesman measured his feet, and when they left, he was wearing a new pair of shoes and carrying another.

“Now, let’s go get you a prize for being so good,” David said.

When they entered the toy store, Jonathan’s face lit up.

“I’ve never seen so many toys,” he said. “I didn’t know there were this many toys in the whole world.”

“This is where I bought the things I gave you yesterday,” Marnie told him.

Marnie felt like they had looked at every toy in the shop.
She figured David had had enough shopping when he said, “It’s time to make a choice, Sport. What shall we buy?”

Jonathan hemmed and hawed, unable to decide among all the riches before him.

“How about some more parts for your town?” Marnie suggested. “Like a fire truck and ambulance and police car?”

“Yeah! And how ‘bout some trees? I don’t have any trees,” Jonathan said.

Choices made and paid for, they exited the store and started back along the wide corridor.

“Tell you what,” David said. “Why don’t we stop in the food court and get some lunch? Maybe some pizza.”

“Pizza! Hurray!” Jonathan exclaimed.

“No, not there. Let’s go somewhere else,” Marnie said.

“Where would you suggest then?”

“Anywhere. Anywhere but here.”

When they reached the car, David clicked the remote to unlock it and told Jonathan to get in the backseat while he and Marnie put the packages in the trunk. Once Jonathan was out of earshot, David asked in a low voice, “You want to tell me what that was all about? Did you remember something else?”

“No, it wasn’t that. Yesterday, when I was eating lunch in the food court, some man came up to me. He said he knew me.”

“And you didn’t know him.” It was a statement, not a question.

“No, I didn’t know him, but he was smarmy. I didn’t want him around me.”

“Smarmy? What do you mean?”

“He was dressed like a businessman, in a suit and tie, but he was . . . oily looking. Slick. Not to be trusted.
Smarmy
!” She placed her packages in the trunk. As she started toward the front of the car, she heard David snicker. When she looked at him, she saw he was grinning. “It’s not funny.”

“In a way it is. You meet someone you knew, maybe intimately, and you don’t even recognize him. I’ll bet that was a blow to his ego.” He closed the trunk. “What did you do?”

“I told him to leave me alone, and I threw my lunch away and left.”

“Good for you!” David said. Then he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Marnie’s heart fluttered. It took a lot of self-discipline to keep from deepening the kiss. It was short. Much too short.

David treated Jonathan to hamburgers and fries, a treat reserved for weekends out, as Ruth forbade fast food in her house. They also had sodas, another special treat. “What should we do this afternoon?” David asked when they had finished eating.

“How ‘bout min-min-er golf?” Jonathan asked.

“I think miniature golf is still closed for the winter. That will be good to do when it gets warmer. Would you like to see what’s playing at the movie theaters?”

Jonathan excitedly agreed. There were several choices of children’s movies, and it was hard for Jonathan to settle on one, but he finally did.

Every step of the way, every minute of the afternoon, Marnie relived the kiss.
It was only a peck,
she kept telling herself.
It didn’t mean anything. He doesn’t love me anymore, if he ever did. I’ve messed my marriage up too much to ever salvage it.
Despite her attempt to convince herself it was nothing, she couldn’t stop thinking about his lips on hers and the thrill that had run through her—was still running through her.

How can I forget when he keeps touching me?
she thought. It seemed like he had started putting his hand on her back every time they were close. It was driving her crazy. She didn’t dare make eye contact, certain she would appear love-struck if she did.
Thank heavens Jonathan is sitting between us,
she thought as they watched the movie.
We would have to share an armrest if we sat next to each other.

Marnie spent so much time thinking about David she didn’t realize the movie had ended. When they left the theater, the sun was low on the western horizon.

“Time to go home,” David said. “Or would you rather eat supper somewhere?” he asked Marnie.

“We’d better go on home. We have a sleepy boy on our hands,” she replied as they reached the car.

“I’m not sleepy,” Jonathan said, as he yawned.

On the way home, Marnie tried to keep Jonathan awake by talking about the movie. She didn’t want to admit that it also kept her from having to keep up a conversation with David. A few minutes later they pulled into the garage at home.

“Why don’t you take Jonathan upstairs to put his new clothes and toys away while I see what there is for supper,” she said to David. “And be sure he washes his hands and face before he comes back down.”

Marnie found leftover chicken from the night before, along with a bowl of potato salad and gelatin with fruit. She put it all on the breakfast bar and was putting the finishing touches on the place settings when David and Jonathan arrived.

Supper was a silent affair. While Marnie and David ate, Jonathan struggled to stay awake.

“I think that’s enough. His face will be in his plate any second now,” Marnie said.

David lifted Jonathan from the bar stool, and he was asleep by the time his head reached his father’s shoulder. Marnie trailed them upstairs and helped David get the sleeping boy out of his clothes and into pajamas.

Together they returned to the kitchen, put the remaining food away, and loaded the dishwasher. Few words were spoken between them as they tended to their duties. With the last crumb wiped away, Marnie hung the cloth over the sink divider and stared out the window. She felt so awkward she didn’t know what to do next. Her attraction to David was powerful, yet she knew he didn’t feel the same thing toward her. She had ruined their relationship with her infidelity and disloyalty. The kiss meant nothing to him, she was sure—nothing at all.

“This day has worn me out just like it did Jonathan,” she said. “I think I’ll go up and take a hot bath and get to bed early. Maybe read for a while.” Now she wouldn’t have to sit around and make awkward conversation.

“That’s a good idea. I think I’ll do the same.” Together they went up the massive staircase.

“I’ll just check on Jonathan to see he’s sleeping OK,” she told him.

“I’ll go with you. I like to check on him last thing every night.”

Together, they watched their sleeping boy. Marnie leaned over and kissed his forehead. When she straightened up, David was just inches away. He put his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers.

When he finally released her, Marnie was reeling, but David set her away and took a step back. He looked as stunned as she felt.

“Good night,” he said, as he hurried from the room.