A Life Less Ordinary (15 page)

That
evening at supper, after they shared the small happenings of their day and Zeke
learned more than he’d ever thought there was to know about this nameless small
town Manny had insisted on exploring, he decided to confront the elephant in
the room.

“So,”
he said, setting down his beer mug, “let me have it.”

Manny
blinked.  “Let you have...what, exactly?” she asked carefully, a tiny frown
line wrinkling the middle of her forehead.

“Dixie.”

The
frown deepened.

“What
about her?”

“You
don’t want to know if I called her?  Or how it went if I did?  Or why I haven’t
manned up and made the call?  You don’t want the chance to say ‘I told you so’,
or try to play matchmaker – or – or -”  he trailed off as Manny clapped a hand
over her mouth to muffle her laughter.

“I’m
sorry,” she managed between giggles.

“I
sound ridiculous, don’t I?” he sighed.

“
Just a little.”  She
grinned at him.  “I’m sorry I’m not living up to your expectations of a nosy,
interfering old maid but I have no interest in living vicariously through you. 
I get enough of that by talking to Rebecca and Daisy.  Besides, you’re a big
boy, Zeke.  Last I checked, you could walk and even go to the bathroom on your
own.  Most of the time.”

Zeke
gave her his best scowl, which only sent her off into another fit of giggles. 
He rolled his eyes as he waited for her to calm down, but a reluctant smile
tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Manny
shook her head.  “Have you ever thought that maybe you’re expecting me to give
you a hard time about Dixie because you think you’ve done something to deserve
it?” she asked, reaching for her wine glass.

This
time Zeke’s scowl was real.

“I’m
just putting it out there,” she said, waving his scowl away.

“No,”
he snapped and reached again for his beer.

Manny
considered him thoughtfully, then shrugged.  “Whatever you say,” she said
lightly.  “Now, what do you want to do tomorrow?”

Zeke
scowled even harder as Manny easily moved on to other subjects.

~~~~~

“So,
what’s the problem?” TJ asked once he stopped laughing.  “And – for the record
– my mother was a very nice woman.”

“Her
son – not so much,” Zeke snarled.  He shifted to put one arm beneath his head
and stared up at the ceiling of his motel room.

“Hey!”

Zeke
huffed what might have been a chuckle, then said, “I don’t know – doesn’t it
seem weird to you?  I mean, she just dropped her little pithy observation, then
moved on.  You’ve been married forever -”

“Don’t
let Leah hear you say that!”

Zeke
ignored the interruption as he continued, “Do you think she’s just gonna pull
the topic out when I least expect it and try to convince me to do what she
thinks is right?”

TJ
sighed.  “I couldn’t tell you,” he said.  “I haven’t been with the woman
virtually non-stop for almost a month.  If you can’t figure her out, I’m not
sure how I’m supposed to.  What I can tell you is, she isn’t necessarily
wrong.  You do have a tendency to be...well...”

“Firm
in my decisions?”

“Pigheaded
is the word I was looking for.”

“Hey!”

“I’m
just saying, Zeke – I’ve known you for a long time and I’ve never known you to
be the first one to forgive and forget.  How long has it been since you’ve seen
your father?”

Zeke
hesitated, then slowly said, “Fifteen years.”

“Exactly. 
And he only wanted what was best for you.”

“That’s
different,” Zeke protested weakly.

“Yeah? 
How many women have you walked away from because they wanted something you
weren’t prepared to give them?”

“I’m
not the marrying kind, TJ.”

“
I’m not talking
marriage, Zeke!  I’m talking – I don’t know – fidelity!  Hell, I’m talking
respect!”

“
I respected all of
them!”

“
Just not the
relationships?” TJ asked cynically.

“
Look, TJ – I know I
have a reputation – but I’ve never cheated on a woman once it got serious and
long term – you know that!  But I like to flirt and they just couldn’t trust me
enough to let me be myself, and still be faithful to them.  Or believe that I
could do both.  And no, once a relationship is done, it’s done.  There’s no
point hanging around where I’m not wanted, is there?”

“
Or where you don’t want
to be?”

“
Either way, the
result’s the same.  The past is past, and there’s nothing to be gained in
trying to change somebody’s mind when it’s a lost cause.”

TJ
sighed.  “I suppose so,” he conceded.

“But?”
Zeke prompted.

“But
I’m worried that someday you’re going to wake up and regret the people you left
behind without a fight.”

* * * * *

Rebecca
took a sip of her wine, her mouth dry from all the talking she’d been doing. 
She smiled ruefully at Jackson as she daintily replaced her glass on the table.

She
hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him until she saw him in her doorway. 
She felt almost light-headed with pleasure and happiness as she looked at him
sitting across the table from her in their favourite restaurant, his dark,
expressive eyes intent upon her face as he listened to her. 

Jackson
was still boyishly handsome at forty-six, his thick, unruly black hair in
perpetual disarray.  He didn’t look like a successful businessman, with his
messy hair and five o’clock shadow, wearing jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, but
Rebecca thought he looked delicious, and more precious than gold.

Even
after all this time, she couldn’t quite believe they were still together. 
Jackson was an old friend of Max’s and had met Rebecca after he’d separated
from his wife and found himself in the market for a new house for himself and
his two young children, of whom he had sole custody.  The rest, as Rebecca was
fond of saying, was history.

She
sometimes thought that many of her former lovers would be shocked to find her
dating such an unpolished man.  She’d been shocked the first time he asked her
out, and she’d found herself agreeing, when she’d fully intended to gently refuse. 
She later told Daisy and Manny that she couldn’t say no to his eyes, large,
dark and vulnerable, fringed by thick black lashes she would have killed for,
and looking as hopeful as a puppy in a window.  Over the last two years, those
eyes often intently watched her, like she was one of those computer programs he
was paid big money to create or fix.

She
smiled at him now. 

“Jackson,
I’m sorry.  This is our first chance to see each other since you got back, and
here I’ve done nothing but complain.”

Jackson
smiled in return.  “It’s okay.  You need to vent.”

“But
– well, this must be boring for you – hearing about my daughter’s journey to
meet her father, and the day-to-day trials of living with my granddaughter.”

Jackson
shook his head.  “No, no.  I’m just happy you’re sharing these stories with
me.  Finally.”

Rebecca
frowned.  “Finally?  I – I’m not sure -”

“We’ve
known each other for almost three years now, and we’ve been seeing each other
for over two – and you’ve always kept your family strictly off-limits.  I mean,
I’ve never even met them!  Just as you’ve always refused to come home with me
and meet my kids.”

Rebecca
flushed guiltily as she began to stammer out a response.

Jackson
waved her efforts away.  “Oh, I get it – don’t think I don’t.  Dayle and Ryder
are around the same age as Tris – believe me – I
get
it.  But Rebecca,”
he leaned forward, his dark eyes intent upon her face, “sooner or later – you
have to let someone in.”

Rebecca
stared, her eyes wide in consternation.  “You are in,” she protested weakly.

“No,”
Jackson said firmly, “I’m not.”

Rebecca
hesitated, her mind whirling as she desperately tried to think of something to
say.

Jackson
said, “I know this’ll take a bit of time for you to get used to, but...”

He
reached across the table and placed his hand over hers.

“Listen. 
Rebecca.  I’m not planning on going anywhere.  I hope you know that – but I
don’t want to live in limbo, either.  I don’t want to always be on the
outskirts of your life.”

Rebecca
swallowed painfully.  “Wh – what are you trying to say?” she whispered.

Jackson
gave her a sweet, heartbreakingly vulnerable half-smile.  “I’m trying to say I
love you, and I want a real life with you.”

* * * * *

“Oh,
my God – what did you say?” Daisy squealed.

Rebecca
laughed at her reaction, then sobered.

“I
didn’t say anything.  I couldn’t think of what to say!  This is so...so...”

“If
you say this is so unexpected, I swear to God I’ll reach across the table and
give you such a smack!”

Rebecca
grinned.  “No, it’s not unexpected.  I guess.  It’s just so...I never thought
he’d want to move things to a whole different level.  He seemed happy with the
way things were, just like me.  I had no idea he wanted something more than
what we had.” 

She
shook her head.

“So
when are you going to meet his kids?”  Daisy asked.  “When’s he going to meet
Tris?  Maybe you should have the kids meet each other at the same time!”

Daisy
trailed off as she realized Rebecca was once again shaking her head.

“What?”
Daisy asked suspiciously.

“We’re
not meeting the kids anytime soon,” Rebecca said firmly.  “God, his kids are
around Tris’ age!  And if there’s one thing these last few weeks with Tris have
proven to me, it’s that I’m too old to start raising kids again!  I don’t have
the energy, and I sure as hell don’t have the patience!”

“It’s
not like they’re babies,” Daisy protested.

Rebecca
gave her an exasperated look.  “Would you want to go through the teenage years
again?” she demanded.

Daisy
grinned.  “Personally?  Or with my kids?”

Rebecca
groaned and waved the question away.  “Forget it!  You managed to raise two
little saints.  You need to bottle your secret and sell it – you’d make a
fortune.”

Daisy
laughed.

“Enough
about me,” Rebecca said firmly, “let’s talk about you.”

Daisy
raised an eyebrow as she picked up her cup of tea.  “Me?  What about me?”

“I’ve
called you three times this week.”

“You
did?”

“Yes. 
And every time you’ve been out at the casino.”  Rebecca looked steadily at
her.  “Are you in trouble, Daisy?”

“Trouble?”
Daisy repeated blankly.  “What kind of trouble?”

“
You can’t be winning
all the time!  And how can you afford to be at the casino every night?”

Daisy
dropped her eyes to her teacup.  “I’m fine.  I’m not bankrupt or anything.”

“How
are you paying for it?”

Daisy
snorted.  “With my paycheque, of course.  Don’t worry about me, Rebecca. 
Everything’s fine.  It just gives me something to do, and I’d rather not sit
here either waiting for Hub to come home, or simply staring at him when he is
home.”  Daisy squarely met Rebecca’s concerned gaze.  “Everything’s fine,” she
repeated firmly.

Rebecca
frowned, only half-convinced, but she sat back and allowed Daisy to change the
subject.

* * * * *

Daisy
sat at her desk, typing Max’s latest case report, and thought once again that
she really needed to encourage him to learn how to use a computer.  After all,
if she ever won the jackpot at the casino, he’d be out one office manager and
then what would he do?

She
shook her head as she continued typing then glanced up as the door opened and
the man himself walked into the office.  He looked unusually grim, even for
him, a frown on his craggily attractive face.  He carried one of the plain
brown envelopes he used to deliver reports to his clients.

He
stopped in front of her desk and she felt her heart plummet into her stomach as
he fidgeted uncomfortably with the envelope in his hands. 

Finally,
he took a deep breath, said, “Daisy –” and held the envelope out to her.  She
stared at it like she’d never seen one before.

She
swallowed. 

“Oh,”
she said.  “Oh.”

She
didn’t have to ask Max what, exactly, he’d found; his face told her everything
she needed to know.

“I’m
sorry,” he said in his deceptively gentle voice.

Daisy
stared sightlessly over his shoulder and made no move to take the envelope from
his hand.