Just One Night, page 8
“Surprised you aren’t, Jack.”
“Got carpal tunnel.” The older man said, holding up his chunky wrists. “It’s hell getting old.”
“You’ll never be old.”
“Celebrating my seventieth birthday in a couple of months.”
“Yes, I know.”
“You’re gonna make the to-do at the club, aren’t you?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. They’re combining it with your Citizen of the Year Award, aren’t they?”
Gage waved off the accolade. “You’re a good friend, Zach.” He scowled. “That’s why I asked you here today. I have to make decisions about the plant by Thanksgiving.”
Zach willed himself to relax, but his nerves felt like guitar strings drawn too tightly. If Jackson Gage passed him by for the new project, Lansing’s building community would think Zach was at fault for the collapse of the museum. “I know you do.” Zach held the other man’s gaze. “I hope you’re still considering me.”
“One thing I always liked about you, Zach, was your straightforwardness.” Gage sighed. “I’ll be candid. I’ve been advised to bypass you.”
“By?”
“Can’t tell you that. This Pierce thing doesn’t look good.”
“I know.” Zach set down his coffee. “But I’m convinced I’ll be exonerated.” Except in my nightmares. “My design was safe. Something else caused the collapse. The test results on the beams will show they were adequate.”
Resting his hands across his midriff, Gage stretched his feet out. He stared at his sprawling lawns thoughtfully. “You work much with Corrigan?”
Surprised at the question, Zach shook his head. “No. After the museum, I left Belton’s to start out on my own, and he had all the business he could handle. I hired a different structural engineering staff.”
Gage rose and crossed to a flower box brimming with coleus. Bending over, he plucked off a dead shoot. Silhouetted against his house, he looked every bit the successful entrepreneur. Damn, Zach needed his support.
“Rumor has it Corrigan’s hit the bottle again,” Gage said.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it’s not true.”
Slowly, the older man faced him. “Any chance he was drinking when he was involved in the Pierce project?”
Zach stood, too. “I don’t think so. He’d been going to AA for three years. I believed he was sober when I did the design and for the eighteen months it took to erect the museum. As far as I know, he’s still on the wagon. His life seems pretty on track now.”
“But you knew about his problem?”
Zach stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yes, sir, I did.”
“Not good business sense to use him.”
“People deserve second chances, Jackson.” Zach thought of his own pleas to Annie. He believed in second chances now more than ever.
Gage stared at him for a long time, then looked back out over the grounds. “By the time I was thirty, I’d made some money, and the pressure got to me. I started drinking, pretty bad. A good friend got me into Alcoholics Anonymous. The organization saved my life.”
Zach hadn’t heard that particular story, but he knew Gage had once had a drinking problem.
“I’m still on the board of directors of the local branch of AA.”
Afraid to hope, Zach watched the older man in silence.
Interminable seconds later, Gage turned to look at him. “Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll let it be known you’re in the running for the plant. By fall, we might have more news on the museum. If you come out clean, the job’s yours.”
Relief washed over Zach. “I appreciate that, Jackson.”
“I know you do.” Gage studied him closely. “Corrigan deserved the second chance you gave him.”
“I agree.”
“But, if he’s drinking again, you should stay away from him professionally, though he could probably use a friend.”
Zach suppressed a twinge of regret at no longer being as close as he used to be to Les. He held out his hand. “You won’t regret this, Jackson.”
Gage’s grip was solid. “I hope not.” Shrugging off the moment, Gage said, “Now, walk down to the ponds with me. I want to show you my new stock. And I’d like to hear some of your ideas about the plant.”
Stifling the urge to check his watch, Zach pushed back the guilt. He knew this opportunity to pitch his design was invaluable, even if the job did hinge on what happened with the museum. But he’d agreed to meet Annie at his parents’ and he was already late.
“Unless you have to be somewhere,” Gage added.
Zach smiled. “Not for a while. I’d love to see the ponds. They were my idea, after all.”
o0o
Annie stared out the window of the Sloans’ cramped but homey kitchen, watching the late-afternoon sun set on the maple trees. They’d finished eating, the dishes were done, and she was keeping her mother company while Sonya frosted the dessert she’d brought—all-natural, no-preservatives carrot cake. She’d baked it yesterday after Zach’s mother had called to invite her to dinner.
“Not feeling well, dear?” Sonya asked from the counter.
Annie turned. Her mother wore a peasant dress that she’d sewn herself. Her hair was loose and fluffy and made her look young.
“I’m okay now,” Annie told her, avoiding the sight of the gooey confection. “Though I was sick before you picked me up to come here.”
“When is your appointment with Felicia?”
The Chinese masseuse. “I’ve had one and I have another at the end of the week. She gave me some really good tips.” Annie checked the clock over the sink. She tried to quell her disappointment but was unsuccessful. She’d forgotten what it felt like to wait for Zach. To watch the minutes and hours tick away. To experience the total frustration of his carelessness about his time with her. Or in this case, his time with his family. “He missed dinner. He’s not coming at all, I guess.”
Sonya shrugged. “Maybe he got tied up.”
Frustrated, Annie snapped, “Don’t defend him, Mom. He should have come.”
Sonya’s hand stilled in the act of scooping up another glob of frosting. Finally, she said, “Yes, you’re right. He should have.”
Before Annie could apologize, Zach’s sisters, twelve-year-old Rose and fifteen-year-old Nora, raced into the kitchen, squabbling over a magazine. “He is not the cutest. Annie, what do you think? Is Tyler Posey or Brendan Thwaites cuter?”
“What does she know?” David, Zach’s college-student brother, teased from the doorway. “She thought Zach was handsome.”
“He is.” This from Nora.
“For a brother,” Rose put in.
“Who are we talking about?” Zach’s mother, Martha, asked as she joined the group.
“Zach.”
Maternal tenderness shone in Martha Sloan’s lined face. Seeing that expression made Annie angrier that Zach hadn’t come to dinner, that he didn’t spend more time with Martha in general. Even today, when Annie planned to tell them about the baby, Zach couldn’t make it. Because of work. Just like always.
“Well, are we ready for Sonya’s dessert?” Martha asked, indicating the cake.
“I’m not sure I can manage cake, but there’s something I want to tell you all. Let’s go into the dining room.” Against her will, tears clouded Annie’s eyes. She loved these people, and had cherished being a part of their family. She glanced at the clock again.
“Annie, are you all right?” Martha came to her side. “You’re so flushed.”
“I’m a little tired.”
Zach’s father, John Sloan, was already seated in the dining room when the rest of them entered. Though they lived nearby, the twins, Lucy and Frank, hadn’t made it to dinner, and neither had Ben. But Kent, who was in law school, and David were home for the summer and made an effort to be at Sunday dinner whenever they could. Unlike Zach.
“There you are,” John said. He zeroed in on Sonya. “Ah, and dessert.”
Sonya brought in the cake and set it on the table. Carrot cake used to be Annie’s favorite, but the sight of it and its sugary smell made her stomach churn. When she got her piece, she cut it into slivers and swished it around the plate. She was waiting to deliver her news until everyone was done so she wouldn’t spoil their dessert.
They’ll have a fit, Zach had said.
But apparently he wasn’t concerned enough to show up for support. Damn him.
The back screen door banged.
“Lucy came, after all?” David wondered aloud.
“Hmmph,” John put in, just before Zach appeared in the doorway. His hair windblown, he was dressed in khaki designer shorts and a brown-checked sports shirt and leather Docksiders. He looked cool and sophisticated—and out of place in his childhood home.
Initially no one spoke, the silence was unnerving. Then Kent said, “Well, if it isn’t the prodigal son.”
“Hush.” Zach’s mother glared at her fifth child.
David rose, circled the table and clasped Zach’s hand. “Good to see you, buddy.” The girls shot up and raced to Zach, hugging him warmly. He hugged back, then came to the table to kiss his mother. John Sloan ate his cake in silence.
When everyone reseated themselves, Zach perched on a stool near Martha and caught Annie’s gaze. They stared at each other, Annie trying to rein in her disappointment.
Everyone stilled. It took Annie a minute to realize they thought this was the first time she’d seen him since the divorce. She’d asked Lucy not to say anything.
“Hi, Annie,” Zach said from across the room.
“Hi.”
A chair scraped back. Zach’s father stood and faced his oldest son. “Zach.”
“Pa.”
John turned to the rest of the family. “Excuse me,” he said gravely and started for the door.
“Wait, Pa, will you?” At Annie’s urgent tone, John halted. “I, um, have something to tell you.” She looked around the table. “All of you.”
Sonya smiled encouragement, John sat back down and Martha twisted the strings of her apron. The girls watched her with owl eyes.
“I’m pregnant,” Annie said bluntly. “I wanted you to know.”
It was so quiet Annie could hear the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.
Martha looked at Zach, her expression filled with regret. Slowly she pushed back her chair, stood, went to Annie and hugged her. “Well, this is news. Why didn’t you bring Peter, to celebrate with us?”
“Did you and Peter get married?” Rose asked.
Nora leaned over to whisper in Rose’s ear.
When Annie chanced a glance at Zach, his features were stony. Very deliberately, he stood and picked his way around the table, between his family members, to stand behind Annie. “It’s my baby,” he said coolly, settling his hands on her shoulders.
Annie wished she was strong enough to resist his comfort, but the tension in the room was suffocating and it was hard for her to breathe. She leaned into him.
For long seconds, no one spoke. Then Rose said, “That means they—” Nora clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth.
Rose shrugged it away. “But they’re not married anymore.”
Annie waited for Martha or John to deal with the younger children’s reaction. John stared down at his cake. Martha looked to Zach. It was startlingly clear that they thought an explanation was his responsibility. Annie was struck once more by what life must have been like for Zach growing up in this house.
Squeezing Annie’s shoulders, he circled to his sisters, squatted in front of them and took one of each of their hands. “No, girls, we’re not married. We should have been more responsible with our actions. We haven’t set a very good example for you.” Zach glanced up and over at Annie then back to his sisters. “But I love Annie, and I’d like to marry her again.”
“Are you gonna?” Nora asked.
“There’s a lot to work out first,” Zach said.
They gave him accepting grins. Tears leaked from Annie’s eyes.
Kent was not so easily won over. “I think it sucks. You don’t deserve Annie.”
“Watch what you say, young man,” Martha said firmly. “If you take Zach’s money for law school, you’ll show him respect.”
Another revelation. Annie hadn’t known Zach was paying for Kent’s schooling. And probably David’s. So much seemed to be expected of him by this family.
Still somber, John rose and crossed to Annie. He was a quiet, unassuming man who’d always treated her like a daughter. Drawing her into his arms, he hugged her close. Then he left the room. Without a word to Zach.
Silently Zach stood up and stared at his father’s back. His lips thinned and his face was set in stern lines. His body was so rigid it hurt Annie to look at him.
Sonya went to Zach and hugged him. He remained stiff for a moment, then returned the embrace.
When Sonya stepped back, Martha crossed to her son for her own hug. “Oh, Zach, our first grandchild.”
Zach grasped Martha tightly. Over his mother’s shoulder he looked at Annie. She saw in his eyes all the conflicting emotions that swirled in the room—joy, pain, celebration, old resentments.
And not just between Zach and his family.
o0o
Zach swung his car into the driveway much as he had the night of the museum disaster. But as soon as he killed the engine, Annie threw open the door and got out. He was surprised she’d agreed to let him drive her home, but Sonya had helped him engineer the plan. Annie barely spoke to him all the way from his parents’. She pursed her lips and kept her head tilted like she always did when she was mad. He guessed he deserved the cold-shoulder treatment, though he hated it as much today as he had when they were married. Still raw from his father’s rejection, he hadn’t tried to initiate conversation, either.
He caught up to her at the door. “I’d like to come in.”
“I don’t think so. I’m tired.”
“We need to talk.”
“Not now.”
That had always been his line.
“I’m sorry you’re tired. You can take a nap first, then we’ll talk.”
As he followed her inside, Daisy greeted him with a friendly bark and a warm nuzzle. “I’ll take Daisy out.”
Rounding on him, she said, “You always resort to bullying.”
“When you get stubborn.”
She closed her eyes and swore. “I’m going upstairs. Do what you want. You always do anyway.”
Damn her, he thought as he leashed the dog. “Come on, girl. At least somebody’s glad I’m here.”
He was reading when she came downstairs an hour later. Her color restored, she looked better. She also looked mussed, the way she did after they made love. He felt his body react and covered his lap with the magazine. “Feel better?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“I’m sorry I was late.”
“Are you?”
Don’t ask me to apologize for working hard, Annie.
And don’t ask me to like it.
“Yes, I am.”
Pausing briefly, she finally sat down on the couch next to him. Her sigh told him the old argument wore on her, too.
“How did your meeting with Gage go?”
“As well as can be expected. He said he’d let it be known I was still in the running, and agreed to wait a while to make a decision.”
Pleasure flickered in her still-slumberous eyes. “Oh, Zach. I’m so glad.”
“His keeping me in the running will make a big difference in my standing in the community.”
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Good. This is hard, isn’t it? The waiting.”
“Yes. But I should have been more conscientious about the time today. I let you down again.”
She smiled sadly. “In the long run, it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I meant what I told the girls. I want to marry you, Annie.”
“There’s too much between us to get married.”
“Like?”
“Oh, Zach, the same problems keep cropping up as before. We’re so different.”
“I think we’re making some pretty good compromises.”
“Not enough to get married again.”
“All right. But at least admit we have a chance now.”
“I don’t know,” Annie said. “Some things can’t be fixed.”
“You mean Gina.”
She winced when he said the name. “Partially. Past hurts have a way of interfering with the present.”
“Tell me about it.” He saw again his father’s granite face.
She stared at him, waiting.
Zach’s impulse was to withdraw when the pain hit...
I hate it when you close down on me like that, Zach.
Annie, I’m not like you. It’s hard to talk about things.
You’ve got to find a way. I need for you to share more with me...
He glanced around the room, noticing the stack of baby books on the shelf in the corner. “I want to talk to the baby.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Come on. Lean back and close your eyes.”
For a minute, he thought she’d object. But she sank back against the couch cushions. He reached down, grabbed her ankles and propped them up on the coffee table. Then he placed his hand on her still-flat belly.
“Hi there, sweetheart,” he said. “It’s Daddy again.” He cleared his throat. “Time for a serious talk.”
Annie’s muscles tensed but she said nothing.
“This ‘being a daddy’ stuff’s not easy. When you get out here, it will be hard then, too.” He searched for the words to explain to his unborn child—and her mother—what he meant. “I don’t get along well with my dad, your grandpa. But I did at first. After they had me, my mother didn’t have any other kids for several years. My father was great then. He’d come home from work, play with me, take me places. Then my mother got pregnant with the twins. My father started working two jobs, and when he was home, he’d take care of your grandmother most of the time. She had to stay in bed a lot to make sure the babies made it into the world.”
Zach took in a deep breath, not sure he could continue. He’d never told this to anyone. “When I was five, it was time to register me for school. I sat outside our house on the broken stone steps, waiting for Pa to come home. I’d dressed myself in the cleanest pants and shirt I could find, although I was embarrassed that they were wrinkled. It was August, so it was hot out, and I got sweaty. But I waited there on the steps, sure he would come. It hurt to watch all the kids on the street walk by, holding hands with their moms, laughing as they made their way to the school. It got later and later, but I really believed he’d come. Finally, he showed up, dusty from his job as a foreman at the factory.” Zach could still see his father’s young face lined with fatigue. “I asked him if he was ready. He said, ‘For what?’ Still, I persevered. He tried to cover for the fact that he’d forgotten about me, said he needed to check on my mother, then we’d go, and he went inside. I waited another half hour, and finally he came out. We walked down the hill to Saint Patrick’s, the Catholic school where everyone on our street went.” Zach felt his throat close up. He was five again, facing the stern nun who told his father that registration had filled up. Zach would have to go to Carter School for kindergarten—it was public and couldn’t turn anyone away—then enroll next year at the parochial school for first grade. “It was hard not going to school with my friends for a whole year. But it was even harder knowing I wasn’t important enough anymore for my dad to have remembered to be in time to get me registered.”
