The Promise (17 page)

 31 

J
ean quietly opened the front door to let Michele in. “Carly is still sleeping, but I can't imagine that going on much longer. She's been down for two hours already.”

Michele stepped past her into the foyer. “How about Tommy?”

Jean closed the door. “He's coloring in the family room and watching a cartoon on the Disney channel. But I'm sure he'd love it if Aunt Michele wanted to interrupt that. I know you're great with kids, so do whatever you're in the mood for.” She looked at her watch. “Hopefully, I won't be gone more than an hour. I've never been to this doctor before, so I don't know if she's one of those who fills up the waiting room or gets you right in there.”

“Don't worry if you go over a little,” Michele said. “After you called, I called Allan, and he's fine with us just grabbing some dinner out when I get home. So don't rush on my account.”

“Well, before too long Tom will be home from picking your folks up at the airport. He's just planning on dropping them off at their place in River Oaks, then coming straight home.”

“There's an idea,” Michele said. “I'll call my mom after I leave here, see if they want to join Allan and me for dinner. I'm sure her cupboards are bare from being gone ten days.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Jean said. “Well, I better be going. Thanks again for coming on such short notice. I just called the doctor's office yesterday, and they're squeezing me in at 4:00.” She reached for the doorknob.

“Jean, Tom knows you're going to the doctor, right? You did tell him about the pregnancy test.”

Jean stopped, then turned slowly to face Michele. She shook her head no.

“You're kidding. You didn't tell him?”

“I couldn't, Michele. I don't have time to explain. I wanted to, I really did. But Tom's been—” She had to get hold of her emotions. “He's been so difficult lately, way more than usual. I decided just to make an appointment with the doctor first. But I promise, I'll tell him tonight when I get home.”

“I'm not mad, Jean. Just concerned. I really think you guys need some help. Allan and I've been going to the same church my folks started going to after they reconciled last summer. It has a lot of ministries geared to help families. My parents are going to a small group set up to help married couples.”

“Tom would never be in a small group with your parents. He'd rather jump off a bridge.”

Michele laughed. “They've got several of those groups and one pastor totally devoted to married couples. Really, you guys should check it out. It's only twenty-five minutes from here. And it would be so nice if we were all going to the same church.”

“I'll think about it,” she said. “But really, I've gotta go.” She gave Michele a quick hug then walked out the door. She couldn't imagine how a conversation like that would go; she couldn't even talk to Tom about being pregnant
.

Jean almost tripped on the curb leading up to the doctor's office. She had to calm down. They were sure to take her blood
pressure inside; it was probably through the roof right now. But she had no reason to be upset. She'd been through this kind of exam twice before; it was no big deal.

As she stepped through the doorway, she knew what was really bothering her: Tom, and his reaction to the news.

She walked into the waiting room. Flashes from conversations when she'd told him the news about Tommy and Carly came to mind. Both times, Tom had been elated. He'd made Jean feel like a queen. That wasn't so long ago; Carly wasn't even two years old. How had Tom changed so much in so little time?

Was it her fault somehow? She'd been wrestling with this for days but couldn't come up with anything she had been doing differently, any irritating habit she had started. Was it her looks? She'd never felt secure about her appearance. But she had lost all the pregnancy weight and even let Tom pick out her hairstyle. She never wore outfits he didn't like.

No, stop this.
There was only one explanation that made any sense, and she knew it. It was a wife's worst nightmare—that she had lost him to someone else.

“Can I help you?”

Jean didn't even hear the glass window slide over. She looked down at the receptionist smiling at her. “Uh, sorry. My name is Jean Anderson. I have an appointment with Dr. Evans at 4:00.”

The receptionist scanned the computer screen. “There you are. Is this your first time with us?”

“Yes.”

The girl reached behind her, slid out a clipboard from a cubbyhole, and handed it to Jean. “Could you fill this out, both pages, and bring it back to me?”

“Sure.” Jean took the clipboard and found a seat in the mostly empty waiting room. At least she wouldn't be left in here too long. She spent the next ten minutes filling out the forms then gave them back to the receptionist.

The receptionist looked them over. “Thanks. Do you have insurance?”

“Yes, with my husband's work. Let me find the card.” She hadn't used the insurance card in so long. Well, that was one thing to be thankful for, how healthy they had all been. “Here it is.”

The young woman took it and was just about to run it through a card reader when she said, “Um, it looks like your card's expired. See the date here?”

Jean looked at it and saw that it was. “I'm sorry. I don't know how that happened. They must have given my husband new cards at work and he forgot to give me mine. Could you call the number there on the back? I'm sure they'll tell you the new expiration date.”

The girl handed her the card back. “I'm sorry, but you better. I'm not sure they'd give that information to me.”

“Oh, you're right. All these new privacy laws. Just give me a sec.” Jean backed away from the window and dialed the number, then worked through the automated system until she was talking to a human being. “Yes, my name is Jean Anderson. I'm here at a doctor's office, and we just realized my insurance card is out of date. My husband is insured at work. He must have forgotten to give me the new card.”

“What's the policy number?” the woman asked. Jean gave the woman both the policy and Tom's member number and was put on hold.

“I'm sorry,” the woman said a few moments later, “but that member number is no longer valid.”

“I don't understand.” Jean reread her the number. The woman confirmed that was the number she keyed in. “Can you try it again? It has to work.”

She heard the keyboard clicking over the phone. “I'm sorry. I'm getting the same message. It's an invalid number.”

“But that doesn't make any sense,” Jean said. “Is the policy number right? The number for the bank?”

The woman looked it up and said, “The bank's policy number is still valid. It's just your member number that's not.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the bank your husband worked at is still insured with us. I'm afraid, for some reason, his insurance with them has lapsed.”

“You said the bank he
worked
at. He still works there.”

“I wouldn't know about that, ma'am. You'll have to take that up with him. And why his insurance has lapsed. According to my records, it happened over five months ago.”

“Five months ago. But how can that be? Tom never said anything to me about losing his insurance.”

“As I said, you'll have to take that up with him.”

“Oh, I intend to. So . . . what you're saying is, as of this moment, our family is uninsured?”

“I'm afraid so.”

“And you're absolutely sure there's no mistake?”

“None that I can see. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, thank you.” She hung up.

What in the world?
She turned and stepped back up to the window to face the receptionist. “I don't know how this happened, and I don't think there's anything I can do about it now, but it looks like somehow we've lost our medical insurance. I guess I'm going to have to cancel my appointment today.”

“I'm sorry,” the young woman said.

“Thanks.” Jean turned and headed toward the door. A sickening feeling began churning in her stomach.

Tom, what have you done?

 32 

L
ife was so much simpler when he lived here.

Tom sat in the driveway at his parents' house in River Oaks—his old house—looking through the windshield. He'd never appreciated it then. This house was just the place you came home to after school, where you ate your meals. Most of his friends lived in houses just as nice, so he never got the sense of how huge it was. Now it looked like a palace. Three families could share the space and not get in each other's way. Tom's place was barely one third the size, and he couldn't even afford to keep it afloat.

He'd never achieve a fraction of his father's success.

He looked up at the wraparound porch, saw his mom waving through the living room window. She had that same concerned look on her face. During the car ride from the airport, he tried to keep the conversation centered on their Italy trip. Thankfully, his dad was in a talkative mood. But his mom kept trying to redirect the conversation back to Tom. How was he doing? How was Jean, how were the kids? Was everything okay?

No . . . everything wasn't okay.

Tom had given her short answers, then quickly asked his
father more questions, trying to shift the focus off himself. It had worked. For now. He pulled out of the driveway, waved one last time, and drove off.

The car almost drove itself through the glorious streets of River Oaks. Tom had made the drive so many times he didn't need to pay attention. Before long, he'd be back in their Lake Mary subdivision—an equally familiar place but, lately, one that felt like anything but home.

Jean had pulled over at a nearby parking lot to use her cell phone. She was driving Tom's car so he could use their SUV to pick up his parents. She'd left the hands-free gizmo in the SUV. Her hands trembled as she worked through the contact list to find the number for Tom's bank. She didn't want to call Tom right now. After what she'd learned at the doctor's office, she wasn't sure she could trust anything he'd say. “Hi, this is Jean Anderson. My husband Tom works there at the bank, in the IT department.”

“Would you like to speak to him? Do you know his extension?”

“No, not right now.” She laughed nervously. “I mean, I know his extension. I just don't need to speak with him at the moment. Could you connect me with whoever handles medical benefits?”

“I can do that,” the girl said. “That would be our HR department. I'll put you through.”

A few moments later she was talking to someone else, a man.

“Hi, my name is Jean Anderson. My husband works there. I was just at the doctor's office, and they told me something strange. Somehow, our medical insurance got canceled. They said it happened five months ago. Did the bank cut employee benefits for some reason?”

“No, Mrs. Anderson. In fact, after the merger six months ago, our health insurance benefits actually improved.”

“Really?”

“Yes, except for a few dozen layoffs, everyone around here is pretty pleased with the changes.”

“Did you say six months ago?” she asked.

“Yes. That's when the merger became official.”

“Did anything significant happen a month after that? That's when the insurance company said our policy lapsed.”

There was a short pause. “Well, most of those layoffs I mentioned happened around then. What did you say your husband's name was?”

“Tom Anderson. He works in the IT area.”

“Yeah, we had a number of layoffs in that department. Guess there was a lot of overlap over there. Here, let me check.” She heard some keyboard clicks. “I'm sorry, Mrs. Anderson. But your husband's name is not listed as one of our current IT employees.”

Jean's heart sank. How was this possible? “You mean Tom was laid off? Five months ago?”

A longer pause. “I don't know what to say. It looks that way. I don't work in that area, but I could put you through to the IT supervisor if you'd like.”

“No, that won't be necessary. Thanks for your help.” She hung up.

Tom had been laid off? Five months ago? This was horrible. But it didn't make any sense. Why wouldn't he say anything? He'd been driving off to work every day for the last five months, just like he always did. If he wasn't going to work, then where was he going? Where was he spending all that time?

Tears streamed down her face as the next question formed.

And with
whom
?

It took Jean more than twenty minutes and all the napkins in the glove compartment to finally regain her composure. She
was glad she hadn't made that call to Tom's employer while driving.

Fear and confusion filled her heart. She had to calm down, reason things out. Tom had lost his job. Okay, that happened sometimes. The economy was in bad shape. Lots of people had lost their jobs. But it had happened five months ago, and he hadn't told her. Why, why hadn't he told her? Why would he keep something like that from her? She couldn't think of a single reason.

It suddenly felt like she was married to a complete stranger.

She glanced down at the digital clock on the dashboard. Tom should be getting home in about twenty minutes. She was only ten minutes from home now.
The kids.
She had no idea what she'd do or say when she confronted him. But she knew she didn't want the kids there when it happened. She quickly dialed Michele's number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Michele.”

“What's wrong? You sound upset. What did the doctor say?”

“I didn't even see the doctor. I—”

“You didn't?”

“Let me explain.” She released a sigh. “Oh Michele, it's just awful.” She had to get control of herself. “I didn't see the doctor, because our insurance was canceled five months ago.”

“What? Why?”

“Why? Because Tom was laid off five months ago. That's why!”

“What? You're kidding. I'm sorry, of course you're not kidding. How did you find out? Did he tell you this?”

“No, I found out the first part at the doctor's office. And I just got off the phone with Tom's bank. They confirmed it. The insurance was canceled because he was laid off five months ago, after that big merger.”

“And he didn't say anything about it? Oh Jean, I'm so sorry. I can't believe he'd do something like this. What's he been doing all this time?”

“Exactly.” That was the question, wasn't it? “Listen, we don't have a lot of time. I'm heading home now, and Tom should be home in about twenty minutes. I don't want the kids there for that. I hate to ask you this, but could you watch them a little longer . . . somewhere else? Could you get their things together and get them ready to leave?”

“Sure,” Michele said. “I'll do it right now.”

“I just realized, this is going to ruin your dinner plans with your folks.”

“No, it won't. I never called them. I wasn't able to reach Allan to make sure he'd be okay with it.”

“Thanks so much for helping me out here. I don't know what I'm going to do, or what's gonna happen in the next twenty to thirty minutes . . .”

“I'm so sorry, Jean. Allan and I will be praying for you. It's okay if I tell him, right?”

She put the car in gear. “Sure, tell Allan. Everyone's gonna find out about this soon enough.” She hung up.
Find out about this.
The words repeated in her mind. Find out about
what
exactly?

She had no idea. She only knew she had no desire to listen to any of Tom's lies or excuses.