Hand-Me-Down Love (10 page)

Marla laughed. “Yes,
let’s make a scene,” she said.

“
I didn’t
realize what I said,” Jada said giggling.

Around lunchtime,
Sean came into the shop. “How about I take y’all out for lunch?”
he said. The three of them walked down the street to Steamboat Joe’s,
which was open for business after being closed the entire week like
the shop. They ordered oysters on the half shell for appetizers,
along with crab legs. Sean ordered seafood platters all around for
the entrée and they hungrily dipped the fried shrimp and fried fish
into tartar sauce and popped them into their mouths.

“
Too bad it’s a
work day. We could get some beer or something,” Sean said.

“
It’s a slow
day,” Marla said. I think we could go for a pitcher. Sean ordered
a pitcher of draft beer.

“
I guess we’re
still in holiday mode,” Jada said. She was smiling and laughing and
having a good time.

“
I feel terrible,”
Jada said suddenly. “Derrick is supposed to get there at one and we
won’t even be there.” She pulled her phone from her purse. “I’m
gonna call him right now,” she said decisively.

“
He’ll be here
in a minute,” she said putting her phone back in her purse. She
seemed very excited about that. Derrick walked in a few minutes later
and sat beside Jada in the booth. Sean ordered boiled shrimp and
another pitcher of beer.

“
Did we remember
to put the closed sign on the door?” Marla said. “I don’t
remember doing that.”

“
I did it,” Jada
said with a shrimp in her mouth. “Nobody’s coming today anyway.”

Like children
playing hooky from school, Marla, Sean, Jada, and Derrick spent the
afternoon at Steamboat Joe’s. At one point, Derrick got up to put
some money in the jukebox and music filled the restaurant. The lunch
hour was long past and a few regulars sat at tables. It was basically
a bar when the lunch and dinner times were over.

The bartender
brought another pitcher of beer along with crab legs and boiled
shrimp. They ate like pigs, none of them caring if they looked like
pigs. And they did, sucking on crab legs, peeling shrimp and stuffing
it in their mouths. At one point, Derrick and Jada got up to dance.
Marla giggled watching them do their moves in the confined space.
Then, before she even knew what was happening, Sean had pulled her
out of her seat and they were dancing beside Jada and Derrick. They
switched partners like they were at a square dance, back and forth,
back and forth.

Everyone was
laughing. It was a day that none of them expected and they welcomed
it with open arms. When the dinner crowd started to come in, they
left Steamboat Joe’s and walked arm in arm back to the shop. They
were all a little drunk.

“
Y’all come up,”
Marla said to Jada and Derrick. “We’ve got some beer.”

Everyone went up the
stairs into Marla’s apartment. Sean went immediately to the iPod
player and hit the button to start it. No one wanted the day to end.
When “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed came on, Derrick and Jada
danced close together. Sean looked at Marla on the couch. “I think
something’s going on between them,” he whispered. Then he grabbed
her hand and pulled her up to dance the slow dance. He leaned down
and kissed her as they swayed.

“
They can see us,”
she whispered.

“
I don’t care,”
he whispered back. But he stopped, and they held each other as they
danced. Many songs and dances later, the evening did finally end.

“
I guess we’ve
got to work tomorrow,” Jada said.

“
I guess so,”
Marla said. “Don’t worry if you’re late.”

“
I’ll be on
time,” she said, as she and Derrick opened the door in the kitchen
and walked down the stairs. Marla shut the door.

“
I think they’re
a couple,” Sean said. “Didn’t it seem like that to you?”

“
Definitely. I
think it may have been going on for a while and I wasn’t paying
attention. They seem good together.”

“
I’ll get the
lights,” Sean said. “Be there in a minute.”

Marla visited the
bathroom. As she was walking back down the hall toward the bedroom,
Sean came into the hallway. His tall frame was illuminated by the
lamp in the living room. He pulled her to him and pressed her up
against the wall.

“
I’ve been
wanting you all day,” he said. He kissed her. With one hand on the
wall behind her, he used his other hand to unbutton her jeans and
slid them to the floor. She stepped out of them. He unzipped his own
jeans and pushed against her. She was moaning with desire as he
picked her up. She straddled him and he slipped into her. She held
him tight with her legs as he thrust deeper and deeper until they
both cried out.

“
Oh my God,” he
said as he set her on the floor.

Back in the bedroom,
they pulled the covers back and got into bed. Sean held her hand but
they didn’t talk. Lucy jumped up and nestled herself between them.

The next morning,
Sean got up with Marla. “I’ve got to start doing something. I
can’t stay here all day. Can I come help out in the shop?”

“
Of course,”
Marla said walking over to kiss him.

Sean and Derrick
worked together on several pieces from estate sales, sanding the
furniture and applying paint. Marla and Jada worked on the books. It
wouldn’t be long before taxes were due. It was a slow day. Later in
the afternoon, Sean was sitting on the other side of Marla’s desk
when the front door opened. It was Ceecee Answorth.

Marla walked to the
front of the shop to greet her. She had been a good customer over the
years, but she was a busybody.

“
Hey, Mrs.
Answorth,” Marla said.

“
Hey yourself,”
the old woman answered. She looked beyond Marla to the desk area.
Sean was walking out the back door.

“
Was that Sean
O’Connell?” she asked.

Marla was flustered.
“Yes, he came by for a visit today.”

“
That poor boy,”
Mrs. Answorth said. “How’s he doing?”

“
He’s getting
by,” Marla said. “Is there something you’re looking for today?”

Mrs. Answorth took
her eyes off the back door and looked at Marla for the first time. “I
was hoping to get one of those dough bowls you sell here. My
daughter-in-law is in love with them and I thought I’d get her one
for her birthday.”

“
I’m sorry that
we’re sold out at the moment,” Marla said, wanting the old lady
to leave. She didn’t feel comfortable with her old, peering eyes,
looking into her business.

“
But I can put you
on the waiting list. They go so fast, I can’t keep them in stock.”

Mrs. Answorth was
disappointed. “I really need to get her something and that’s what
I had in mind.”

“
Why don’t I
show you some other things we have here she might like,” Marla
said, leading Mrs. Answorth to the vintage side of the shop. “I’ll
put you at the top of the list and when the dough bowls come in, I’ll
call you. But we can find her something else for now.”

Dammit! Marla was
going to have to deal with Mrs. Answorth seeing Sean. She would have
to talk to Sean. While these thoughts were running around in her
mind, she led the old woman to the vintage side. Mrs. Answorth looked
around with Marla at her side explaining the history of various
objects, but she didn’t buy anything. “Let me know when those
bowls come in,” she said as she left the store.

Relieved she was
gone, Marla walked to the back and went out the door. Sean was
sitting in a chair rubbing Lucy with his foot.

“
That old biddy is
gonna be trouble,” Marla said. “She saw you.”

“
I know,” he
said.

“
We’ve got to
figure this out,” Marla said.

“
Let’s talk
about it tonight,” Sean said. “We’ve got a lot to finish up
here today. I’m supposed to go to Mobile with Derrick to pick up
that furniture.”

“
Okay,” Marla
said. She walked over to Sean and leaned down and kissed him. He
kissed her back. “Don’t worry so much,” he said.

Later that night,
when they were finally in bed, Sean said, “I know we’ve got to
talk about Mrs. Answorth, but I need to talk about something else
first.”

“
Okay,” she
said. “Go ahead.”

“
I realized today
that I’ve got to deal with the house. It’s just sitting over
there empty and I’ve got to deal with it. I can’t really afford
to keep paying for it when I’m not even living there.”

“
What do you want
to do?” Marla asked. She had been checking on the house
periodically since Meredith’s death. She hated going inside, but
she knew someone needed to look after it, make sure water lines
hadn’t burst or the power went out. She had also been starting
Meredith’s car every time she went over, just to keep it going.

“
I think I need to
go over and figure out what to do with everything. Can you come with
me?”

“
Of course,” she
said and put her arm on his reassuringly. “Of course I’ll help
you with it.”

“
Thanks,” he
said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

They slept that
night without making love.

Chapter
Twelve

“
Are you ready?”
Marla said to Sean, who sat in the passenger seat of her car. They
were parked in the driveway of his house.

“
No,” he said.
“But it’s got to be done.”

They got out of the
car and walked to the kitchen door. Marla used her key to unlock the
door and opened it. She went in and Sean followed. The kitchen was
clean but felt hollow and empty. There was no life there. Sean walked
into the room and walked to the stove. That had been Meredith’s
domain, the stove. He stood there staring down at it.

Marla came up beside
him and put her hand on his arm.

“
I still can’t
believe she’s gone,” he said. He turned to her and she took him
in her arms. They fell to the floor holding each other. Sean wept
loudly and unashamedly. So did Marla.

“
Sean, I can take
care of things here for you if you can’t do it,” Marla said, his
head in her lap. “Really, I can do it.”

Sean pulled himself
up. “No, I’ve got to figure this out. It’s not fair to put that
on you.” He got up and she followed him down the hall to the master
bedroom. He opened the closet door. “I don’t know what to do with
all of her clothes,” he said. “What should we do?”

“
I think we should
put them in storage for now,” Marla said. “Figure that out later.
In fact, we can put everything in storage so we don’t have to
figure it out right now. Do you want to do that?”

He turned to look at
her and her heart broke to see him in so much pain. “Can you get
anything that you or your mother might want? Can you take that stuff
out of here? Like family pieces?”

Marla reassured him
that she would take care of that. She would take care of everything.

“
I need to get it
on the market right away. I’ll never be able to stay here again.”

“
Okay,” Marla
said. “As soon as we empty the house out, we’ll put it on the
market.” She hesitated a moment before asking, “What about her
car?”

“
I need to sell
that too, I guess,” he said. “What do you think?”

“
Yes. I know
someone who can take care of that. I can get him over here tomorrow,
if that’s what you want.”

He nodded. “Let’s
go,” he said. “I need to get out of here.”

Marla drove Sean
back to her apartment. He seemed numb and uncommunicative. She led
him to the bedroom and took his clothes off down to his underwear.

“
I’ll be back in
a minute with some tea,” she said, pulling the covers over him.

Sean had propped
himself up on pillows when she came back into the room with a cup of
tea with lemon and honey. He took the cup from her and gave her a
grateful look. She sensed he wanted to be alone and left the room.
“I’m right in there if you need me,” she said.

She sat down at the
kitchen table and put her head on her arms. Wracking sobs took over
her body, but she was careful to keep the noise low so Sean wouldn’t
hear her. She wept for her dead sister, she wept for her parents and
the loss of their child, she wept for Sean, and she wept for herself.
If she could have brought Meredith back and lost Sean in the process,
she would have given him up. She stayed at the table for a long
while.