Runaway Mistress (32 page)

It took just a little while for them to snap some pictures and be on their way with Hedda yelling for Joey to be good. Alex draped his arms around Jennifer’s and Rose’s shoulders as they watched the young couple drive off.

“You took pictures,” Jennifer whispered sentimentally. “That is so sweet.”

“Wanna go spy on them?” he asked her.

“Can we?”

He nodded. “We can spy, then we can go park somewhere and make out. If Rose will babysit. I have just the enticement. I have ice cream and a DVD of
Shrek.
”

The high school held their prom in a ballroom at the magical Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas. The night was unseasonably cool and the breeze refreshing. Surrounded by mountains, the resort community was like a glittering gem in the middle of the desert.

Alex and Jennifer were there before most of the teenagers so they walked around, hand in hand, looking for a prime viewing spot. They bought icy Frappuccinos and found a bench inside the Ritz, not very far from the entrance the kids would use for valet parking.

It wasn’t long before they began to arrive. They came in colorful pairs and in groups. Jennifer was delighted to see Max and Hedda come in with another couple. And Hedda, having such a good time, didn’t even notice that Alex and Jennifer were sitting nearby.

“You did a good thing here, Jennifer,” he told her. “She’s going to remember this for the rest of her life.”

“There are lots of similarities between the way I grew up and Hedda’s life. But what about you, Alex? How’d you grow up?”

“Lucky. Nice, Midwestern folks, two brothers, both in law enforcement up north. My dad was a cop and now he has his own locksmith shop. I have to say, I never really struggled. My only struggle was that I was the youngest and the smallest. I didn’t think I would ever hit puberty.”

“Well, you hit it and passed,” she laughed.

He put an arm around her and they leaned back against the wall, enjoying the sight of the young people, formal and so happy, going in and out of the Ritz.

“I know you were married once,” she said. “But what has kept you free for so long?”

“Nothing clicked,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not like I was avoiding women or relationships. Between Paula and my last few female partners, I’ve been fixed up a dozen times. And I’m a real good sport. I’ve always been open to the idea that it could happen again.” He gave her a squeeze. “I figured this time I’d know what I was doing.”

“It shouldn’t have happened this way. I shouldn’t be so lucky,” she said. “You should be married with three cute kids who play lots of sports and drive you crazy.”

A woman in a cocktail waitress outfit stomped past them just as Alex was saying, “That’s pretty much what I expected. What my brothers have. But I—”

Jennifer’s eyes were following the woman. “No!” she shouted suddenly, and leapt to her feet. She ran after the woman to stop her. Alex was right on her heels. Jennifer touched Sylvia’s arm, turning her about. “No,” she said more softly. “Don’t do this.”

Sylvia’s face was twisted with anger. “She doesn’t have
permission!
”

“What do you care?” she asked pleadingly. “It’s one night, it’s not putting you out, it didn’t cost you anything.”

“She’s supposed to be baby-sitting!”

“You’re here—that means you’ve already found out that Joey is with Rose, watching a movie. He couldn’t be happier.”

“I told you to mind your own business.”

“All right,” Alex cut in. “We’re not doing this here. Come on, let’s take it over there, out of the traffic.”

He pulled gently on Sylvia’s elbow and she snatched herself out of his grasp. “Don’t you
touch
me. I’m going to get my—”

Jennifer was gripped in sudden panic. “Sylvia, don’t! Come on, let me buy you a drink. Let’s just talk about this over a drink!” Even as she offered, she knew this was like throwing gasoline on a fire. But it was the only thing she knew would work to get her out of here before Hedda was humiliated.

Her expression changed. “Where?”

“Someplace quiet. My treat.”

She glared at Jennifer for a moment, then nodded and walked out ahead of them.

Jennifer whispered to Alex to find them a quiet bar nearby and leave the women alone to talk this out. And, she added with a cringe, “I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

Lake Las Vegas was not only too regal and sophisticated for what they had in mind, it was also too crowded. Alex shepherded the women into his car, declaring they’d come back for Sylvia’s car later, though in his mind he must have known they wouldn’t. He drove them to Henderson, a quick twenty-minute trip, to a little neighborhood bar close to the interstate.

The only thing Sylvia said from her place in the back seat was “You shouldn’t have interfered.”

“We’ll talk about it over a drink,” Jennifer replied.

The women took a booth in the back while Alex sat at the bar. Sylvia ordered a boilermaker and Jennifer watched as the angry look began immediately to melt off her face. Then Sylvia began to talk.

She talked about the tough childhood she had had, the abusive parents, bad times in school, becoming pregnant at fourteen, delivering at fifteen. She’d been in and out of foster homes, her parents unstable. She’d moved many times, starting in Albuquerque. She’d been married three times and all the bums had run through whatever they could get out of her and left her high and dry. She complained about her job, which she probably had lost from walking out tonight. She hated Boulder City and wouldn’t be there except that the last guy she lived with worked at the dam. She hated Nevada, for that matter, but there was no denying there were good waitress jobs there in the casinos. She went on and on and on about how rotten her life was, how two kids didn’t make it any easier.

She had six boilermakers and an unknown number of cigarettes and was still in the first volume of her life story, but she hadn’t said a word about Hedda and Joey, except to complain that motherhood was hard. It was all about Sylvia. But Jennifer had been able to get a few details.

When Sylvia raised her hand to the waitress one more time, Jennifer said, “That’s got to be it for tonight,” she said. “But maybe we can do this again sometime.”

“You sure?”

“Sure. Let’s get going. Tell you what—we’ll drop you off, and if you give me your keys, Alex and I can ferry your car home for you tomorrow morning. You’ll have to sleep in to get ready for work tomorrow night.”

“Awww,” she said, reaching across the short distance that separated them to run her fingertips along Jennifer’s jawline. “That’s so sweet.”

She was considerably more talkative on the way home than she had been before, much to the annoyance of her hosts. Fortunately it wasn’t a long drive. It was just after ten when they got to the little house and Sylvia was well on her way to being plowed. “Sure you won’t come in for another drink?” she invited.

“No, thanks.” Jennifer faked a yawn. “I’m bushed.”

There was a long silence as they left Sylvia in front of her house. Finally Alex said, “Well?”

“Damn, Alex, I found out way more about Sylvia than I ever wanted to know.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Her life is more of a train wreck than mine—but here are the two things I know that I consider valuable information. One, Joey’s father may be a loser, but apparently he has grandparents who are good-enough people to have pestered Sylvia to see the boy. Hedda seems to have only Sylvia and Sylvia’s dysfunctional parents, who, fortunately, have no interest in her. And two—she’s an alcoholic.”

“You think?” he asked facetiously.

“Maybe someone should contact Joey’s grandparents,” she said.

The opportunity to bring up the subject of Joey’s grandparents came sooner than Jennifer expected. She had not imagined what the onset of summer would bring—the temperatures rose to one hundred degrees daily and the nights were often rent with violent desert storms known as the monsoons. School was out, there was no air-conditioning in the house in which Hedda lived, and the intensity of the heat and the boredom of the days made it difficult to keep Joey occupied, and therefore not easy for Sylvia to sleep. Hedda came in for her shift at one, Joey in hand. There was an angry red welt marking her cheek and her eyes showed the anguish of crying.

Jennifer wanted to storm over to that nasty little shack and knock Sylvia into the middle of next week, but she kept her cool. “Here’s what I want you to do,” she told the girl. “When you get up in the morning, go straight over to my house. Er, Louise’s house. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to stay there, but when that business is all settled, I’ll have to go somewhere.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“I’m sure. But one more thing, Hedda. I know you think you can do everything, but I think you should give yourself a break and consider contacting Joey’s grandma and grandpa.” The girl instantly dropped her gaze. Jennifer lifted her chin. “What’s the problem?”

“They live in Arizona.”

“So?”

“They would take him away,” she said, her eyes watering.

“Arizona isn’t so far away. Look, you don’t have to make a decision right away, but Hedda, you’re almost seventeen. You have to think of Joey, too. Could he have a better childhood in Arizona?”

“Probably,” she said. “But my mom won’t give him up.”

Jennifer almost said, I don’t see why. But she held her tongue.

“You just think about it.” She touched the girl’s reddened cheek. “Meanwhile, just go to my house.”

“You don’t understand,” she said. “She needs me. As long as she has me and Joey, she manages to hold it together.”

“I do understand,” Jennifer said. “I’ve been there. But in case you hadn’t noticed, she’s not holding it together very well these days.”

She shook her head. “She’ll get a grip. She always does.”

It was with Hedda on her mind that Jennifer brought up the subject of the house with Alex. “I wonder if I should be looking for a place to live that will take Alice,” she said.

An expression crossed his face that was almost a wince. “Listen, I didn’t mean to keep anything from you, but the house is to be mine. Louise told me a few years ago that if she didn’t have to liquidate her property to go into a nursing home, she would leave me the house as long as I would watch over Alice.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I don’t know. Because I didn’t want to change anything.”

“But you have to know that things are changing,” she said. “Not the least of which is that Doris is leaving and Jennifer is emerging. I have some explaining to do.”

“There’s plenty of time,” he said, reaching for her.

Alex had a hard time focusing, now that he’d had sex. He appeared to be insatiable, and every second they were alone he was pulling her into his arms, tugging at her clothes. She could keep him under control, but the problem was that every time he touched her, she couldn’t think, either.

“I wish we’d get enough,” she said. “So we could deal with some of these practical matters.”

“There isn’t enough,” he answered. “I’ve been thinking of taking a leave of absence from work.”

Fifteen

J
ennifer took the bike out at first light. The sun was coming up earlier with the lengthening of the days. Although she’d ridden back to the park several times, braving the increasing afternoon heat, she hadn’t seen the bighorns. But as she got to the park at dawn, she saw the first glimpses of them coming over the mountain and down the trail. It hadn’t occurred to her that they would change their grazing habits as the weather changed, but here they were in the cool morning light instead of the midday heat.

She got a spot on the grass, lying the bike beside her, and watched as they approached. She wished she’d thought to bring Alex, but it seemed so unfair to wake him at dawn when he didn’t have to go to work until later in the morning. As for work, Buzz wouldn’t get excited if she didn’t show at five on the dime.

The night before had held the kind of magic she wasn’t sure she was entitled to. In all the fantasies of her deprived youth, her Prince Charming had owned a Jag and a yacht, had a mansion in the Azores and his own jet. And when he swept her onto the dance floor, she was always wearing a long white chiffon gown.

But in reality the man to whom she had given her heart wore chinos and loafers, a cotton polo shirt and a Timex. He was far from rich, except in kindness and humor.

They had been right in this spot last night, in his car, necking like high school kids do. With each touch of his lips, she melted further into his arms. The moon had been high and full and reflected on the lake below, and Jennifer knew her most impossible dreams had come to life.

Just when she found herself begging Alex to take her home and to bed, he had other ideas. They went to the Boulder Hotel, where there was underground dancing in the basement underneath. “This is for the younger set,” he said with a laugh, meaning for folks in their thirties and forties.

“I love to dance,” she said.

“I know. I love to watch you dance.”

On that particular night, swing was the dance of the evening. And Alex, who always seemed one surprise ahead of her, twirled her around very expertly and nearly wore her out. Then home, where Louise’s old bed was made to creak and rock until the wee hours of the morning. Alex was still there, snoring, when Jennifer got up for a quick ride before work and was now, miraculously, watching the sheep descend.

As they neared, she realized with a leap in her breast that the lambs had come. There were three. No, four. No,
eight
little ones trailing along with their mothers. And just as Alex had predicted, the rams were not separating in the same distant manner; they were sticking pretty close to the ewes and lambs.

It was so hard to just sit there and watch. She felt like part of the family and she wanted to get closer, to pet them. But these were not sweet little white lambs like the one that followed Mary to school. These were brown, rather dusty and their new fleece was already getting matted, though she doubted they were even two weeks old, rocking on their wobbly little legs. It had been tempting since first sighting the lambs to jump on the bike and race back to town to wake Alex, but she wasn’t sure she could get back before they left, so she settled for making sure he came with her the next day.