Unbreakable (4 page)

"No." Emily scowled, knowing she was caught. "I just heard people in the hall," she explained in a weak voice.

An unexpected chuckle erupted from Jacie as she began unbuttoning her lightweight, denim blouse and made her way towards her bedroom. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I told her that you're staying the whole visit this time. She's coming back in a couple of hours."

"Yes!" Emily pumped her fist, a little dizzy with relief.

Jacie grimaced and laid a hand on her stomach when it growled loudly. "We need food."

The girl nodded eagerly. They'd spent most of the afternoon on one of Jacie's jobsites and then at her office. Lunch had consisted of cheese and crackers from the vending machine and sodas. "I'm starved."

"Thanks for being a good sport about my needing to stop by the site for a while today." Jacie sat on her bed as she unlaced her well-worn work boots, then set about peeling off sweaty socks.

"No problem." In truth, Emily loved to accompany her mom to "Priest Tile & Marble" whenever she could. The workmen treated her like one of the guys, teasing her and buying her candy bars when her mom wasn't looking. And Jacie always explained the details of her newest project. Once, her mom had even allowed her to pick tile designs for the hallway of a fancy apartment building on Brentwood Drive. "You can make it up to me by getting us pizza for dinner."

Jacie laughed as she entered her bathroom, leaving the door open so that she could hear Emily over the shower. "Do we ever eat anything besides milk and pizza for dinner on the weekends?"

"Is there anything yummier than cheese pizza?"

"Good point." Jacie shook her head knowingly and opened the shower doors, already dreading the lonely, seemingly endless days between now and their next weekend together.

*  *  *

Present Day
Salt Lake City, Utah

"What do you mean she's getting married?" Audrey Mullins-Chavez grabbed both sides of her own head, fearing it would explode.

Her husband, Rick, looked down at his hands, his eyes wide and uncomprehending. Quietly, he set the phone back on the cradle and dropped down to the bed to bleakly stare at their white popcorn ceiling. "That's what she said. She said ‘I love him, Papa. I'm not pregnant, and we've run off to get married.' They're in Las Vegas and coming home in a couple of days."

"Jesus Christ!" Audrey believed in spontaneous combustion and was sure she was going to be starring in tonight's evening newscast as nothing more than a smoldering pile of ashes on a Berber carpet. "She's gone insane!"

Rick's head bobbed mechanically. "I want to call the police." He whimpered. "But she's 18. We can't stop her." His eyes turned to slits. "I want to kill that boy."

Audrey threw her hands into the air and started pacing around the bedroom. At the moment, the room's neutral blue and crème décor wasn't having its intended, soothing effect. "I knew
we should never have let Tina live until she turned 18! Now look what's happened. This is your fault." She pointed an accusing finger at her husband. "I wanted to kill her when she was 5 and drew that huge picture of a horse in permanent marker on the living room wall. And you talked me out of murder! Bet you're sorry now." She knew she was being irrational, but she couldn't help it.

His brow creased. "I thought it was a pig."

Audrey just waited, tapping her foot.

Rick closed his eyes. "What happened to my baby? I'll tell you what's happened. She's run off with a boy who only two years ago was called ‘Stubby' by the entire senior varsity basketball team." If the students knew how much gossip their principal was privy to, most of them wouldn't be able to meet his eyes in the hallway.

"What the hell sort of nickname is that?" Audrey's brow creased again. "He's six feet four. Doesn't he have all his fingers?"

"Yeeeeees," Rick said slowly. "Uh… that's not it… exactly."

"Well? Don't play 20 questions with me Rick. I'm not responsible for my actions right now. You might not live through me asking you again."

A slow blush traveled up Rick's neck.

"What is wrong? I–" When realization hit Audrey between the eyes, her face twisted in revulsion. "Oh my God. That's gross! I don't want to know things like that. Ick. Ick Ick! I'm the mother-in-law!"

The corner of Rick's mouth twitched upward. "I know."

Then their eyes met, and they couldn't help but burst out laughing. After a few moments, Audrey's shoulders slumped. "What are we going to do, Enrique?"

At the plaintive use of his real name, he sighed and patted the bed next to him. "What can we do, querida?" He wrapped his arms around his wife's sturdy body and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. The 20 pounds she'd needed to lose in college had turned into 40 over the years. But she was still active and vibrant and to Rick's eyes, gorgeous.

"We could go to Vegas?" Audrey offered hopefully.

Rick thought about that for a moment. "We could. But who would watch Ricky Jr.?" Their 13-year-old was outside playing soccer.

"Your mother could watch him." She began to massage his temples, smoothing back the kinky gray hair there with gentle fingers.

He shook his head. "They were just about to go into the chapel, honey. We can't stop them. We won't make it in time."

Audrey closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "But they're just babies."

Rick nodded. "Stupid babies… who are going to need a place to live. Their dorms are not for married couples."

Audrey's face darkened momentarily. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. "I don't want to take any chances on either of them dropping out of school. You'd think straight ‘A' students would be too smart for something like this. I must have dropped her on her head when she was a baby and just blocked it out." She rolled over until her chin was resting on Rick's chest. "We could turn the attic above the garage into a little apartment and they could live there."

"Can we afford to do any remodeling on top of Tina's tuition?"

"I can work some overtime if we can't get a good deal on a loan."

"Mmm…." He began to chew his dark mustache. "Interest rates are good right now." He hummed a little. "Refinancing might be a good idea anyway."

"Yeah." Another sigh. "Maybe." Audrey felt a lump develop in her throat. "Did she sound happy?"

Rick blinked at the change in his wife's voice and pressed his lips to her soft curls once again. "She's on Cloud Nine."

Audrey was at a loss. "I don't understand," she groaned. "No one was keeping them apart. They both love school. They see each other all the time anyway. What's the hurry to get married?"

Rick shook his head. "You're asking me? I'm sorry I let her start dating." He took a deep breath, catching a whiff of Audrey's shampoo. "They don't make any sense," he mumbled.

Audrey sighed. "They're in love."

He took a moment to think about what she'd said, then commented. "They're like us. Except you were not a freshman, and I had a real job. God, my poor mama." He slapped his forehead. "I'm going to call her this afternoon and beg her forgiveness," he decided suddenly, guilt gnawing away at him. He felt Audrey chuckle, and he knew she was reliving the moment they'd broken the news of their own elopement to his mother.

Audrey shifted in his arms. "Maybe we shouldn't have made our midnight run to Reno sound so romantic." Problem was, their elopement
had
been romantic and whether it was amazing luck or fate, that night had turned out to be one of the best decisions of her life. She had no regrets.

As if reading her mind, Rick said, "Maybe they'll be as lucky as we were."

It took a few seconds, but finally, a dreamy grin split her cheeks. "Maybe." She scooted up and brushed her lips against his.

They lingered that way for several long seconds, sinking into the contact and finding comfort and affection exactly where they knew they would… in each other. When they finally parted, they both looked a little less frazzled.

With a groan, Audrey moved off the bed and offered him a hand up. "Why did we have children again?"

"Jack Daniels?"

She snorted at his valiant attempt at humor. "Don't be silly. I'm partial to the dark handsome types." She winked at him. "It was Jose Cuervo."

Despite himself, Rick laughed and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon. Let's go take a look at the garage attic."

He puffed out his lower lip as he swung his feet over the bed. But before he stood he reached out and hugged his wife to him, pressing his face into her soft chest and sighing contentedly; he decided not to move from this wonderful spot for a very long time. "Can I still kill Stubby?" he murmured.

Lovingly, Audrey petted his head, returning the embrace. "Not if I get there first."

*  *  *

Present Day
Clayton, Missouri

"Is that the last box, dear?"

"The very last one." Nina held her iced tea to her forehead and allowed the condensation that had collected on her glass to drip down a pink cheek, mingling with a tendril of perspiration. "Remind me never to move again, will you, Mom?"

Mrs. Chilton laughed. "That would be my pleasure."

Nina reached out for her mother's wrinkled hand, stroking the thin, soft skin with her thumb. She gave a gentle tug and scooted over so that the older woman could drop down beside her on the front steps of the old, but well-kept Colonial home. They both sighed and gazed out into a yard filled with poplars as they caught their breath.

Nina's grandmother's death hadn't been unexpected and as per the old woman's wishes, the family home had been passed down not to her widowed daughter, who would never leave her home in Hazelwood anyway, but to her unmarried granddaughter, Nina.

Nights of soul searching and some cajoling from her own very persistent mother, and Nina's resolve to never move back to Missouri had wavered. Then, when her blanketing of the area museums with résumés just to appease her mother had resulted in an offer from the Missouri Historical Society, a large history museum in Forest Park, Nina had bowed to fate and come home. It finally, she admitted privately, felt like the right time.

The afternoon sky was a bright, pristine blue, and she shielded her eyes from the sun as she glanced around the large yard. "Where's Robbie?"

"The last time I saw him he was in his bedroom unpacking."

Nina frowned. Her 9-year-old son was boisterous, fearless, and rarely quiet. She'd gone far too long without hearing a peep out of him and was only mildly placated by the fact that she hadn't heard a loud crash or smelled smoke yet. "Robbie," she called out as she glanced back towards the house. "Where are you?"

"I'm up here, Mom," a proud voice called from about midway up one of the trees in the yard.

Nina blinked, her eyes widening when she saw the height of the tree. "Shit."

Mrs. Chilton gaped. "Nina!"

"Sorry, Mom." She jumped off the porch and jogged over to the tall tree, her heart beating a little faster as she craned her head and struggled to see through the thick branches and masses of leaves. She heard a creak and her eyes flicked to his slender form, which was about 15 feet off the ground. "Robbie?"

"Yeah?" This time his response was much quieter as he sensed he was in trouble.

"What are you doing in a tree?"

There was a few seconds of silence as Robbie considered his answer before he said the only thing he could think of. "Climbing it."

Nina rolled her eyes, realizing her question had been a stupid one. "I can see that, Son. But you're going to get hurt." Real worry threaded her voice and her mind flashed to a similar scene and a fall. "Come down."

"Aww… C'mon, Mom. I'm not so high. See?" He bobbed up and down on the branch, sending a shower of loose bark down on his mother's head.

"Now, Robbie." She fought the urge to stamp her foot. "I don't want to be taking a trip to the emergency room with you today."
Or ever.

A few moments later, two sneaker-clad feet hit the ground next to Nina. Robbie wasn't quite up to her five feet six inches, and she figured she had a good couple of years left where she'd still be able to glare down at the boy. She decided to put that fleeting ability to good use. "Do I have to even say it?" She gazed at him expectantly.

He trained his eyes on the ground and sighed. "I guess not."

Suddenly, Nina felt like an ogre. He'd been excited about moving from a condo into a "real" house and finally having a place to play that didn't require a trip to the park. They'd only been here a day and she was already ruining that.

She ruffled his short fair hair and wrapped an arm around him, guiding him back towards the steps and his waiting grandmother. "Maybe we could build a tree house," she offered finally, unable to take Robbie's uncharacteristic silence. "But one that's not too high off the ground," she added quickly.

His head shot up, his eyes sparking with delight. "Really?"

"The neighbors won't like that, Nina," her mother warned gently, knowing full well it wouldn't do any good.

Nina's face suddenly broke into an unrepentant grin, and Mrs. Chilton saw a glimmer of the headstrong girl she remembered. Her museum technician daughter usually kept her rebellious side well under wraps, but it was there all the same, simmering, and something she clearly shared with her grandson.

"They'll live, Mom. And if not they can bite my butt."

"Tsk." Mrs. Chilton gave her a stern look. "I didn't teach you to talk that way, young lady."

Nina and Robbie, who was about to burst from excitement, sat down on the steps. She handed him her glass of tea, and he took a grateful gulp, fishing a few lemon seeds from his mouth when he chugged down the remainder of the glass.

"Piggy," Nina chided indignantly, taking back the glass that now held only a few chunks of ice and a soggy wedge of lemon. "I know I didn't teach you to do that, young man." Nina mimicked her mother's Missouri accent to a T.

Mrs. Chilton narrowed her eyes at her daughter's good-natured impudence.

"Sorry." He smiled impishly, wiping his lips with the back of a dirty hand. "Can I go online and look at pictures of tree houses?"