Joy Argento - Carrie and Hope (23 page)

“Both,” Hope answered honestly.

“What if we were married? Would it be so hard?”

“If you and I were married?”

“Yes, what if you and I were married?”

Hope thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think that would be so hard.”

“And why is that?” Carrie asked.

“Because I love you.”
Hope said sheepishly. “All right, it was harder for me because I didn’t love Tom. But, it’s still hard work. I hope that Derrick and Erin are up to it. I keep going back to the same thing in my head. They are both so young.”

Carrie got up, grabbed Hope’s hand, and pulled her up. “Come on,” she said. “We are going to go look at baby clothes. They make the cutest stuff, nowadays. There’s a great store in here where I bought a bunch of stuff for my niece and nephew.”

Hope started to protest, but decided that Carrie was right. There was a baby coming and looking at cute baby things would probably be fun. She might even buy something for her new grandchild if anything caught her eye.
My grandchild
, Hope thought. She followed Carrie into the store and picked up a tiny pair of canvas sneakers. She held them up for Carrie to see and smiled.

Chapter 30

Hope placed the silverware on the table. She ran her hand nervously through her hair. Derrick sat in the family room playing his video games. Hope yelled for him to lower the volume for the third time.

Hope was making just about the only thing that she could cook with any confidence, spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce was from a jar, but Hope had used that brand many times before and it always came out fine. The pot of water on the stove was just starting to boil.

Once the dining room table was set Hope went back into the kitchen to turn down the flame under the sauce and meatballs.

“Hi,” Carrie said, making Hope jump.

Hope put her hand over her heart. “You startled me. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. The door was opened so I didn’t bother knocking. Is that okay?”

Hope gave Carrie a kiss on the cheek. “Of course it’s okay. Want some wine?”

“No,” Carrie said holding up a heavy plastic bag. “I brought soda pop. I’ll pour us both a glass. Where’s Derrick?”

“He’s in the family room. Can’t you hear the video game?” Hope added salt to the now fully boiling pot of water.

“Yeah, I can hear it. I just thought someone was in your house shooting a machine gun.” Carrie handed Hope a glass of ginger ale. “Want some help?”

“No,” Hope said, looking at Carrie with her hands on her hips. “I am perfectly capable of cooking us a meal.”

“I have total…partial faith in you and your cooking abilities,” Carrie said with a grin.

Hope opened the box of pasta, poured it into the pot of boiling water, and stirred it. Carrie sat at the kitchen table with her glass of soda.

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” Carrie asked Hope.

Hope turned toward Carrie, spaghetti fork in hand. “Yes. How did you know? Does it show?”

A grin spread across Carrie’s face. “No, it doesn’t show. I just know you and I can tell.”
    

“I love you and I love my son. I want the two of you to be all right with each other. I really want you to like each other. Are you nervous at all?” Hope asked her.

Carrie thought for a moment. “Let’s see. I love you…and you love Derrick. I’m sure I’ll love Derrick and look at me.” Carrie put her arms out wide. “What’s not to love?”

Hope put the fork down and went to Carrie. She put her arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “There is nothing not to love. I think. Did that make sense?”

Carrie lifted her head and pulled Hope’s face to hers and kissed her deep.

“How come every time I walk into a room I see something I shouldn’t?” Derrick asked, leaning against the door jam.

“Because you just walk in without any warning,” Hope said, stepping away from Carrie to go back to her cooking.

“So I should yell something, like, ‘I’m coming in!’ before entering any room in the house?” Derrick joked.

“Something
like
that,” his mother said.

“Hi Derrick, how are you doing? I brought soda.” Carrie held up her glass. “Would you like some?”

“Hi, Carrie.
Sure, I’ll get it.” He poured himself a glass of soda and sat across the table from her. They sat in relative silence and watched Hope cook their meal. She turned to catch them watching her.

“It’s hard enough for me to cook in general. It’s harder with an audience. This will be ready to eat in about ten minutes. The two of you go watch TV or play a video game.”

“Sure, Mom,” Derrick said as he got up. Carrie followed.

“I’m going into the living room now,” Derrick said loudly. He turned to his mother.
“How’s that?
I warned everyone I was going into the living room.”

“Good job, smarty.”

The two left the room and Hope could hear the television set turn on.

Derrick sat down on the couch, television remote in hand. “Anything you want to watch?” he asked Carrie.

Carrie sat on the other end of the couch. “Whatever you want is fine.” They sat in silence for several minutes. Finally Carrie spoke again. “It’s very important to your mom for the two of us to get along. I would like that, too.” She looked over at Derrick.

“I know,” he said.

“You need to know that I love your mother and I want her to be happy.”

Derrick’s eyes remained on the television as he spoke. “I want her to be happy too. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I don’t plan on hurting her. I will do my best to make sure that never happens. I promise you that.”

“I guess me and you got no problems then,” Derrick said.

Five minutes later Hope set a plate of garlic bread on the dining room table and called them to eat.

“I’m coming into the dining room now,” Derrick called loudly a moment before he walked into the room.

“Okay, Derrick, very funny. Sit down and eat,” his mother told him. “Carrie
sit
here,” Hope said pulling out a chair.

“Thanks,” Carrie said. “Everything looks good.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Hope smiled. “I’m pretty sure it’s edible.”

“I’m sure it will be great,” Carrie told her. “It smells really good.” She used the tongs to put a helping of spaghetti on her plate and added a meatball. She passed the tongs to Derrick and took a bite of her food. “
Mmm
, this is good, Hope.”

“Yeah, it is, Mom,” Derrick added after he took a bite.

“Thanks.” Hope passed the plate of garlic bread. “So Derrick, tell Carrie about your art class at school. She’s an artist you know.”

Carrie looked at Derrick waiting for him to respond. He swallowed a mouth full of food and said. “It’s a figure drawing class. We did some gesture drawings the other day. We get to work from a live model. It’s actually pretty cool.”

“That’s great,” Carrie said. She glanced briefly at Hope.

“Carrie does oil painting. She did two figure paintings using me as a model. She’s almost done with the last one. They are going to be in a show in New York City in April.”

Derrick looked from his mother to Carrie. Hope was trying to read his reaction to her statement. “Isn’t that great?” she added.

“Yeah, that’s really cool. Is it at some sort of museum or something?” Derrick said.

“It’s at a gallery in Manhattan. I’ve had several of my paintings in exhibits there before. I was hoping to take your mom there for the opening weekend of the show. You’re more than welcome to come along if you want…Erin, too.”

“I don’t think we can go because of school and Erin being pregnant and all. But thanks.”

“So, where is Erin, Derrick? How come she didn’t come with you for this visit?” Carrie asked him.

Derrick reached for a third piece of garlic bread. “She’s been throwing up so she went to her house. Her mom wanted to help her out and take care of her. I’m going there tomorrow, and spending Christmas with them. Mom told me you guys are going on a cruise for Christmas.” He stuffed a large chunk of garlic bread into his mouth.

“Yes. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve never been on a cruise before,” Carrie said.

“It should be very exciting.”

“Yeah,” Derrick said through the bread in his mouth. “
Me and
Mom and Dad went on a cruise when I was ten. It was really fun.”

Hope looked at Carrie to see if hearing about her going on a cruise with Tom bothered her. If it did Carrie didn’t let it show.

“Where did you go?” Carrie asked him.

“To the Caribbean,” Hope answered.

“Well, I can’t wait to go.” She rubbed Hope’s knee under the table and smiled at her.

This is going well
, Hope thought and she let herself relax.

Chapter 31

Hope took the sheet of paper she had printed out early and folded it in half. She put it, and the envelope that arrived in yesterday’s mail into the front pocket of her soft leather carry on case and zipped it closed. She pulled her matching suitcase out of the hall closet and put it on top of the bed. She carefully packed her clothes into the suitcase. The last thing she added was a lacy lingerie nightgown that she had recently purchased from the Victoria’s Secret store at the mall. A smile crossed Hope’s face. She was sure she would put the nightgown to good use. Not that she thought she would be wearing it for long. She had never had a desire to put on something sexy to go to bed in before. She definitely had the desire now. Carrie brought out a lot of desires in her. She felt herself get moist just thinking about it.

When she had finished packing she brought her suitcase and
carry
on
bag down the stairs and set them by the front door.

Hope took a mental inventory.
Bags are packed and ready to go…timers on the lights are set so it looks like someone’s home…thermostat is set lower …back doors are locked… I’ll lock the front door when I leave
.
 
Anything else I’m forgetting?
She asked herself.
No, I think that’s it.

She put on her coat and gloves and headed out the door with her suitcase and bag. She could see her breath in the bitter cold air. She would be happy to be in warmer weather soon. Cold air shot out of the heater as Hope started the car. She quickly turned the fan off to stop the rush. She pointed her car in the direction of Carrie’s house and two full weeks of togetherness.

Carrie was all packed and almost ready to go when Hope arrived. She put homemade cookies into a Ziploc bag and put them into a small backpack. “A snack for later,” she said. “Okay, I think that’s it. I’m ready to spend time with my ladylove. That’s you,” she told Hope and kissed her.

Carrie picked up the backpack.
 
Besides the cookies, it contained the zebra wood pen that she had bought for Hope nearly three months earlier and a small diamond pendant on a delicate gold chain that she had purchased just last week. Both were wrapped for Christmas.

Carrie added her suitcase to Hope’s in the trunk of Hope’s car and got into the passenger seat.

Hope reached for her hand. “Ready for our adventure?” she asked.

Carrie squeezed Hope’s hand. “Yes,” was her simple
answer.
Hope backed out and they drove to the airport to catch a flight to Florida and the port where they would depart for their cruise.

About thirty minutes into their flight Carrie took the cookies out of her bag and offered one to Hope.

“Thanks,” Hope told her. “I have something for you, too.” She pulled her leather case from under her seat and opened the pocket in the front, extracting the envelope she had put there earlier. She handed it to Carrie.

“What’s this?” Carrie asked her.

“Open it and see.”

Carrie pulled the flap of the envelope open and pulled out a neatly typed letter. Carrie began to read the letter to herself. Her face suddenly lit up with the realization of what she read. She looked at Hope. Hope’s face broke into a wide grin. “You’re having one of your poems published. You’re going to be a published author.” She gave Hope a tight hug. “I am so proud of you. You did it. See I told you
you
were good.” Her smile was as wide as her face would allow.

She leaned back in her seat and reread the letter. The smile overtook her again. “What a great way to start this trip,” she said to Hope.

“ I
have one more thing for you.” Hope told her as she pulled out the printed sheet of paper. “It’s a poem I wrote for you,” she told Carrie as she unfolded the paper and handed it to her. Carrie read it and her eyes filled with tears.

My hearts been handled carelessly

In ways ugly to tell

So I’ve bombed all the bridges and armed the battlements

Safely ensconced in my shell

Like a fugitive

Too combative

This no way to live

Now I wish I could say that I treat myself kind

But that would be a lie

Cause
I hold myself tight and grasp and fight and I
self crucify

Can a soft caress bring me
happiness

End this loneliness

The only thing I know for sure

To avoid regret and strife

Is to not let fear run and rule your life

I’m going to put my faith in you

I’m going to put my faith in me

I’m going to put my faith in the greater powers that be