Chapter 4 - The Future She Left Behind

Late Thursday afternoon a loud thumping sound caught Katelyn’s attention. She shut off the kitchen faucet, dried her hands and then went searching for the noise. She found Shirley peeking out the front window. “What’s going on?”

“He’s destroying our lawn.”

Katelyn shoved the drapes aside. A stout man in black slacks and a blue dress shirt stood on a stepladder and pounded a post into the ground. Once he was satisfied it wouldn’t topple, he attached the For Sale sign to the hooks on the crossbeam, then admired his handiwork before stowing the tools in the trunk of a red sedan and driving off.

“I’ll be in my bedroom packing, if you need me,” Katelyn said.

“You haven’t mentioned the divorce to the kids, have you?”

“No. Don’s going to break the news to them. If you speak with Michael or Melissa before then, please don’t say anything.” Katelyn walked to the stairs. “By the way, I called my mother an hour ago and told her I was coming for a visit.” She intended to tell Birdie about the divorce in person. “I’m leaving on Sunday.”

“This Sunday?”

“Yep.” Let Don worry about his mother. “If you want, we can take a look at your apartment before I go.” Maybe if Shirley saw the place, she’d warm up to the idea of living there—not that it mattered. In a little over forty-eight hours, Katelyn would be free of her mother-in-law and on her way home to Little Springs, Texas.

* * *

Friday morning Shirley waltzed into the master bedroom, where Katelyn was sorting her clothes into three piles—storage, Goodwill and her trip to Little Springs. “I spoke to the manager and my unit won’t be ready until mid-July.”

“How did you get the phone number for the apartment complex?”

“I called directory assistance.”

Who used directory assistance anymore?

“Why the delay?” Katelyn asked.

“I didn’t care for the flooring or countertops that Don picked out.”

Suddenly the room smelled like rotten fish. “You haven’t seen the apartment.”

“The manager described the place and I told him that I didn’t want black granite countertops or beige carpet. I’m having hardwoods and white marble installed in the kitchen and bathrooms.”

Katelyn smothered a smile behind a fake yawn. Don’s mother was going to make him pay dearly for deserting her.

“Is that broken glass in the carpet?” Shirley pointed to the area in front of the fireplace.

“I haven’t had a chance to run the vacuum.” She ignored Shirley’s raised eyebrow and dropped a blouse into the Goodwill pile. “We have a showing later today.”

“It’s too soon to sell.”

Getting rid of the house didn’t bother Katelyn. Don had picked out their home, insisting the elegant dining room with a brick fireplace was the perfect setting to entertain his clients and bosses. All the rooms were beautifully decorated, but they lacked warmth and Katelyn didn’t care to stay in a place surrounded by cold reminders of a life that hadn’t turned out as she’d planned.

“You can’t move,” Shirley said. “You’ll miss your friends.”

“I’ll make new friends.” Katelyn was on a first-name basis with her neighbors and the people she’d met through her work with the Central West End Association, but her other friends were connected with NicorTrune and she saw the women only at holiday cocktail parties.

“The kids won’t have anywhere to come back to during their school breaks,” Shirley said.

“They can stay with me or Don. Or maybe with you at your apartment.”

“Where will you live?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.” She planned to take things one day at a time and not make snap decisions she’d regret later. Her cell phone beeped with a text message and she stopped sorting through clothes.

I have a work emergency. I’m flying to Singapore today.

Katelyn read Don’s text twice. Work emergency? Seriously? In the past she’d never doubted his reason for extending a business trip, but after he’d confessed to having an affair, she suspected those delayed homecomings had to do with his mistress.

The phone beeped again.

Tell my mother I’ll call her soon.

Damn her cheating husband.

“Is that one of the kids?”

“It’s Don. He won’t be home today. He’s flying to Singapore.”

“He’s supposed to take me out for my birthday dinner tonight.”

Who cared about Shirley’s birthday? What about Katelyn’s trip home to see her mother? She’d like nothing better than to leave Shirley behind at the house on Sunday, but she didn’t trust the woman not to do something to endanger herself. But no way was she allowing Don’s change of plans to ruin hers.

“Pack a bag, Shirley.”

“What for?”

“You’re coming with me to Little Springs.”

“I don’t want to go to your mother’s.”

Katelyn played the ace up her sleeve. “Would you rather stay here alone?”

Shirley popped off the bed. “How long will we be there?”

“A couple of weeks.”

With the help of divine intervention and the patience of a saint, Katelyn hoped she wouldn’t be tempted to abandon Shirley on the side of the road before they reached West Texas.

* * *

“You’re driving too fast.”

Oh. My. God. Katelyn muttered the mantra in her head for the hundredth time since leaving St. Louis five hours ago. The needle on the speedometer inched toward seventy. “I’m going five miles below the posted limit.” At the rate they were traveling, they’d arrive in Texas in time for Thanksgiving.

Katelyn eased off the accelerator, checked the rearview mirror, then moved into the slow lane. Shirley had insisted on taking her Mercedes because Katelyn’s SUV was too high off the ground and difficult for her to climb into. In truth, her mother-in-law just liked calling the shots. Katelyn consoled herself with the fact that it was only a matter of time before Shirley would be out of her life—at least on a daily basis.

Katelyn hadn’t expected to make the fourteen-hour trip in one day, but she’d hoped to reach Norman, Oklahoma, where she’d made a motel reservation at a Days Inn, by six p.m. Too many restroom stops had put them behind schedule and Tulsa was only five miles in the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know why anyone would want to live in Oklahoma.” Shirley stared out her window. “It’s ugly and there are too many tornadoes.”

If she thought Oklahoma was ugly, wait until she got her first glimpse of West Texas, where trees were scarce, the wind never stopped blowing and dust was a spice in food. “There’s beauty in everything, Shirley.”

“There’s nothing pretty about scraggly trees and dry prairie grass.” She shifted away from the window. “I’m looking forward to chatting with your mother.”

Katelyn didn’t envision the two women talking as much as she did them circling each other like fighting cocks. “How long has it been since you two last saw each other?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Wasn’t it the Christmas before Robert died?” Birdie had flown into St. Louis Christmas Eve Day, and then that evening Don had opened the front door and there stood Robert and Shirley on the porch, arms loaded with expensive gifts for the kids. “Surprise!” they’d shouted, then barged their way inside, interrupting the board game the twins had been playing with Birdie. Shirley had insisted the twins open their gifts from her and Robert right then—the newest version of smartphones. So instead of finishing their game with Birdie, the kids retreated to their rooms and played with their presents. The day after Christmas, Birdie changed her plane ticket and flew back to Little Springs, cutting her visit short.

“When are we eating dinner?” Shirley asked.

“In a couple of hours when we stop for the night.”

“I’m getting a headache.”

Katelyn squeezed the wheel until her knuckles glowed white. If she didn’t stop, Shirley’s whining would grow louder. “Keep your eyes peeled for a restaurant.” Five miles down the road she passed a billboard advertising a roadside café and took the exit.

“We’re not eating here, are we?”

The faded black-and-red sign on the roof advertised EARL’S: HOME OF THE HOME-COOKED MEAL. “What’s wrong with this place?”

“The kitchen’s probably overrun with roaches.”

Dingy white paint covered the cinder block building, but Katelyn could still make out the orange shadow of a Phillips 66 emblem next to the front windows. Someone had converted the gas station into a restaurant. It wouldn’t have been Katelyn’s first choice to eat here, either, but if food put a cork in Shirley’s mouth, then she didn’t mind dining with cockroaches. She parked next to the only vehicle in the lot—a rusty pickup with a missing tailgate and four bald tires.

“I refuse to go in there.”

“Suit yourself, but we’re not stopping again until we reach the motel.” No sooner had Katelyn left the car than the passenger door opened and Shirley followed her inside.

The strong scent of lemon cleaner greeted them when they entered the café. “Welcome to Earl’s.” A redheaded waitress waved. “Have a seat anywhere.” She topped off the coffee mug of a young man texting on his iPhone between bites of food, then disappeared into the kitchen.

Katelyn steered Shirley to a booth by the door. Once they sat on the black vinyl cushions, she trailed her fingertips across the scratched Formica tabletop, pleased to find it clean, even though scuff marks and coffee stains covered the vinyl flooring along with a few petrified French fries.

Shirley removed the laminated menu from behind the plastic salt and pepper shakers and held it between her fingertips.

If the situation weren’t so ass-backward nuts, Katelyn might have enjoyed baiting her mother-in-law, but there hadn’t been anything humorous about the tears that had welled in Shirley’s eyes yesterday when she’d walked into Michael’s bedroom and found Katelyn packing his swimming trophies.

“Haven’t seen you ladies in here before.” The orange-haired waitress with dark eyebrows and poppy-colored lipstick set glasses of water on the table.

“We’re on our way to visit family in Texas,” Katelyn said.

“Name’s Beth.” The waitress propped her hands on her ample hips. “Can I get you something besides water to drink?”

“I’ll have a Coke,” Katelyn said.

Beth swung her gaze to Shirley.

“Decaf coffee.”

“Be back in a jiffy with your drink order.”

Shirley sniffed. “We’ll probably be infected with intestinal worms after eating here.”

“Pick a fried food and you’ll be fine.”

Shirley scowled. “You can’t afford to put on any extra weight.”

Katelyn’s snarky response was hijacked by Beth’s timely return with their drinks. “Ready to order?” the waitress asked.

“I’ll have the chicken-fried steak.” She ignored Shirley’s pointed stare and asked, “How’s the fried okra?”

“Decent.”

“I’ll have a side order of that, please.”

“Extra gravy?” Beth asked.

“Why not?” Then Shirley could watch Katelyn’s thighs balloon up right before her eyes.

“And for you, ma’am?”

“Turkey on wheat, hold the mayonnaise.”

“Fries?”

“Heavens no.”

“Comin’ right up, ladies.”

Shirley tore open a packet of artificial sweetener and dumped the white powder into her coffee, then stirred. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”

“Thought what through?”

“Not contesting the divorce.”

“Don’s already moved on with another woman.” Jackson’s face flashed before Katelyn’s eyes. Where would she be in life right now if she hadn’t broken up with him after she went off to college?

“I still think my son is having a midlife crisis.”

Midlife crisis or not, he’d cheated on Katelyn, and once a cheater, always a cheater.

“You need to revive your marriage.”

“I’m not asking for your advice. I’ll figure things out on my own.”

“Start by cutting your hair.” Not even a bulldozer across the mouth would shut this woman up when she wanted her opinion heard. “And if you insist on walking around in khaki pants all the time, at least wear bright-colored tops and shoes with a heel. You and Don have two wonderful kids, a beautiful home and eighteen years together. That’s worth fighting for.”

Part of Katelyn wanted to concede those were valid reasons to try to save her marriage, but the words backed up in her throat.

“Every woman needs a makeover when they turn forty,” Shirley said. “Forty is the new thirty. It wouldn’t hurt for you to have a little work done.”

Other than having a tummy tuck five years after the twins had been born, Katelyn had avoided Botox and face-plumping gels, comfortable with the way she was aging. Had Don thought she’d become complacent?

“A mini face-lift will help you compete with younger women.”

She shouldn’t have had to compete with anyone. Katelyn imagined a tall blonde with firm boobs and a smooth, flat belly crawling beneath the covers with her husband.

“If you take ten years off your face, Don will think twice about looking at other women.” Shirley sipped her coffee. “Mark my words, dear—being alone is no fun. At least consider giving my son a second chance. He’s been a good provider all these years, and you and the kids have wanted for nothing.”

Maybe so, but Don wasn’t a man who worked to live; he lived to work. His identity and self-esteem were tied to his career, which had always come first—even before family. And because Katelyn had taken care of the kids, their home and his mother, she’d made it easy for Don to focus on himself. How had she come to believe his happiness was paramount over hers? The Katelyn who’d left Little Springs to find her place in the world wouldn’t have let anyone hold her back.

Beth arrived with their food. “Holler if you need anything else.”

Katelyn sampled a piece of chicken-fried steak smothered in white gravy. Nothing special. “How’s your sandwich?”

Shirley stabbed her fork into the bread—she was the only person Katelyn knew who used a fork and a knife to eat a sandwich. “Not as awful as I’d expect in a place like this.”

They ate in silence, Shirley finishing her meal and Katelyn leaving half of hers untouched.

“You didn’t like it?” Beth said, picking up Katelyn’s plate.

“She’s watching her weight,” Shirley answered.

“I guess that means you’re passing on dessert.” Beth winked.

After gorging herself on Shirley’s birthday cake, Katelyn was swearing off sweets for a year. “We’ll take the check, please.”

Beth set the tab on the table. “Drive safe, now.”

After glancing at the amount, Katelyn left thirty dollars on the table.

Shirley stared across the room where Beth chatted with the young man, then fished a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet and added it to the bill.

Surprised, Katelyn said, “That’s a huge tip.”

“Beth is long overdue for a cut and color.”

Everything came back to the hair.