Standing in nothing but his white cotton briefs and a bathing cap, he went into a ten-minute diatribe about how bad my knees and ankles were going to be when I reached his age, and how I should try swimming instead of jogging. After which, he told me I looked ‘cute with a bit of extra weight’ because it reminded him of when I was a toddler.
Sufficiently emasculated, I went home and chopped a cord of wood.
Summer or not, Orion liked a fire in the fireplace, and I had every intention on luring him into staying over tonight after we went to check out the shoe store that would be his shop. I was over the moon that we’d reconnected, and was looking forward to spoiling the hell out of him before taking him to bed and making more fun bruises on his body. Yesterday morning, after I’d slept over at his apartment, he’d stood naked before me, grinning as he pointed out all the marks I’d made, saying he loved knowing they were there under his clothes during the day because it felt like a sexy secret. I had to admit I enjoyed seeing them myself, but that was probably a caveman response to having marked him as my property or some shit.
After showering, I’d just turned on the coffee maker when my doorbell rang. That was twice in a week now—I was becoming downright popular. Of course, the first time it had been my dad, but I was beginning to feel like a functioning member of society again. But when I opened the door, my mouth went dry.
The woman with the long red hair. A bit older than she looked in the photos. Or maybe it was just a fragility the camera’s lens didn’t catch. She had beautiful skin, a healthy freckled look that made it hard to guess her age, and she had striking blue eyes—a feature also not captured in the photographs. And she was supposed to be in Florida, not Hillock Beach.
She wrung her hands. “Hello, Kurt. Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. Hello Claudette.”
“Can we talk a little? I won’t take up much of your time.”
An icy rage-storm whistled through me, but I tamped it down with all my willpower, and tried not to let it show. Any emotion I showed, even anger, would give her too much acknowledgement. In an instant, I became the paladin of my mother’s pride, and I would not give this woman the satisfaction of thinking she mattered.
She wore long shorts, blue sneakers, and a green tee shirt with a parrot on it, silver bracelets on each wrist, and a strand of black beads that looked like something Orion would wear. I could see Chapel in her features, though she had a longer, narrower nose.
I kept my tone pleasant as I asked, “Do you have the ring?”
“Yes. I was hoping to have a quick chat though, I won’t take up much of your—”
“Give me the ring. Now, please.”
Her lips tightened. She nodded, and reached into her pocket. As she handed me a small velvet box, her shoulders trembled, and she began to weep, big, gasping sobs. “I’m sorry,” she said, and turned around, heading for the street where a white Mini Cooper was parked.
Damn it. I cursed my own soft heart as I called out, “Claudette.”
She turned around, wiping her eyes.
I sighed. “Meet me in the back yard at the patio table.” I had a soft heart, but there was no way I was inviting this harpy into my house. “Would you like some coffee?”
She nodded. “Yes, thanks.”
I went inside and closed the door, heading for the kitchen. I set the ring box down, then took out two mugs. Before pouring, I opened the velvet box, and my eyes widened. “Dayum.”
It was some ring. Not sure what the base material was. It looked like white gold but I didn’t know my ass from my elbow when it came to jewelry. But I knew I was looking at a swath of diamonds and rubies. One hell of a wedding band. My grandfather must have really loved him some Janeane.
I hoped my daughter was responsible enough at eighteen not to lose the damn thing. I was tempted to hock it myself to pay for her education.
I brought two cups of coffee out back, and found Claudette sitting with her hands folded on top of the patio table like a good student waiting for class to start. I slid a mug over to her and sat.
“Thank you.” She kept her eyes down as she sipped the coffee. “I appreciate you sitting with me. I’m sure you look at me and see the devil. But I ain’t no devil, I’m just a fool who’s made a lot of mistakes, all right?”
It was like listening to Orion speak, the clipped inflection and creative grammar. I assumed she hadn’t had much influence on him because she didn’t raise him from a baby. But hearing her speak drove home a truth I’d been more or less ignoring, because I’d seen her only as the vehicle of one act—screwing my father under my mother’s nose. But she was also Orion’s foster mother. She’d taken him in as a child and raised him to manhood. I knew this, of course, but I’d always shoved her into the periphery of my mind, where I wished she’d remained.
“What did you want to say to me?” I asked.
She cupped the mug in both hands, blue eyes studying me cautiously. “I didn’t intend to take the ring that day.”
“Did it just grow legs and jump onto your finger?”
“I know you don’t like me, Kurt. You got those expressive eyes like your daddy. I can see just how you feel about me. What say we save time and not bother with you trying to convince me of that.”
“Say what you came to say, Claudette. That’ll save us both some time.”
She nodded. “Sorry.”
“Did you steal that ring the day of my mother’s funeral, like Chapel said?”
She shrunk into herself. “Yes.”
“How?”
“I told Jasper I wanted to bring some food by the house, I made a casserole. I felt like I had to do something. I know it sounds crazy, but even though I didn’t know your mom personally, she was part of my narrative for so long. Spent so much time wishing I was her.”
“You were at my dad’s house after the funeral? At the reception?”
“No, before the reception started. Your dad didn’t want me to come by the house, but I insisted. He told me I could drop the casserole off early when just the aunts and neighbors were there setting up food. Then he wanted me out of sight by the time you and your sisters came back from the funeral. Nobody paid me any attention, just thanked me for the casserole and added it to the table. Must have figured I was a friend.”
“So then you decided to…pillage my father’s house?”
“Kurt, you ever been so in love it feels like punching yourself in the face?”
I shrugged, thinking of Orion. “I suppose.”
“I just wanted to…look around. It was the house. The place Jasper lived with his wife. I just…I wanted to experience it, just for a minute. I went to the bathroom upstairs, then I saw the open door to the bedroom. Their bedroom, and I just…I just went in and stood there. I saw the jewelry cabinet on top of the dresser, and that ring box was sitting right on top.”
“Did you take the ring as revenge or something? To punish my father for not choosing you?”
“No. Well, not at first. I just wanted to try it on. I have psychic gifts, you know. I could sense all this energy coming from that little velvet box even before I opened it. All this love and happiness and…loyalty. So I opened it up. Chapel told me last night the ring actually belonged to your grandma. But at the time, I didn’t know that. I just saw it looked like a wedding ring, and assumed it must be your mom’s.”