Friends and Lovers Page 12

He shook his head, put his phone away, and stepped out of the trailer.

  “Let’s pack it in for the day, men,” he called. “I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  He went to his pickup and drove to Calhoun Elementary School, where Teddy was a few grades ahead of his sister.

  He parked outside the front of the building and waited for them to be dismissed. The bell rang, and shortly afterwards, the large front doors were thrust open, and an ocean of kids poured out.

  When his own kids spotted him, their faces lit up, and they ran to the pickup. He leaned across the seat and opened the door.

  Cath got in first. “Hi, Daddy. I missed you yesterday.” She planted a noisy kiss against his cheek.

  “I missed you too, peanut.” He flinched when he saw Teddy’s face. “That ball did break your nose, huh, son?”

  “Nah. Dr. Jacobs says it’s just a…” His brow furrowed in concentration for a moment. “… a bruise. Momma makes such a fuss sometimes. I’m okay, Daddy.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” He ruffled his son’s hair. “Buckle up.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I thought we’d go to Jahn’s.” The ice cream shop had relocated from somewhere in New York, and although they’d all been uncertain originally as to what it would offer, they’d been pleased, even Cath, who was very particular about what was put on her ice cream.

  “Banana split! Banana split!” she chanted now.

  “Teddy?”

  “That’s fine with me, Daddy.”

  “Okay, then. We’re on our way!”

  And then it was Saturday, faster than he expected. His kids, dressed in their Sunday best, did him proud. The ceremony went without a hitch, everyone enjoyed the food, and after the reception, while he waited for his new bride to change from her wedding dress into something more comfortable for the drive to Myrtle Beach, he and Tom had a last glass of wine together.

  “We’ll be dropping Teddy and Cath at my Daddy’s house, and then we’ll be off to South Carolina. Julie’s always wanted to see Myrtle Beach…”

  “Jack.” His best friend put down his glass. “I’ll be going home to Tallahassee soon.”

  “Tommy, no.” Jack didn’t like hearing him call somewhere else ‘home.’ Now that their friendship was on the right track again, Tom should be living here in Savannah.

  “I’ve got a life there…” Tom gave him a crooked smile. “… my job.” He handed him an envelope.

  “You already gave us a wedding gift, buddy.” A sterling silver demitasse set, including tray, spoons, and tiny cups. Julie had been impressed in spite of herself.

  “This is just for you.”

  Jack opened the envelope. In it was a card and a quarter. He held up the coin, his eyebrow arched in question.

  “Use it to call me collect if you ever need to talk.”

  Jack frowned and took out the card. It didn’t read ‘Best Wishes,’ as he’d expected. Instead, written in Tom’s neat handwriting were the words, ‘My condolences.’

  “Tom?”

  “I think it’s a mistake, buddy.”

  “This is what I want, Tom.”

  “I know.” Tom’s smile was rueful. He looked as if he were going to say more, but he didn’t.

  Tom doesn’t like Julie any better than she likes him! It hit Jack like a ton of bricks.

  “I’ll see you around, Jack.” He gave him a brief, hard hug, then walked out.

  Jack stared after him, bemused. He shook himself out of it and was about to go after him and demand an explanation when Julie appeared at the top of the stairs.

  The unmarried females gathered below, giggling and jostling each other for position, waiting for her to toss the bouquet.

  “You stand down in front, Cathy,” Julie called.

  Cath’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head, her hair a riot of blonde ringlets. “Please. I don’t want to.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a…”

  Before Jack could intervene, Teddy took his sister’s hand and led her to him. “Daddy? You remember what happened at Miz Tina’s wedding.”

  Jack ruffled Teddy’s hair and stroked Cath’s. Tina, who had lived next door to Jack and Sarah while they’d been growing up, was a friend of his sister’s. She’d seemed happy to be unmarried until she’d realized her biological clock was ticking, and then she’d been desperate to land a man. Her daddy had pulled out all the stops for her wedding, inviting everyone – family, friends, business acquaintances. When Tina was ready to throw the bouquet, a melee ensued, with a number of the women actually injured. Cath had seen it.

  He crouched down beside her. “It’s all right, peanut. I’m not ready to lose you to some lucky young man. You wait here with me.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.” She took his hand and leaned against him. Teddy stood on her other side.

  “Oh, all right.” Julie huffed. “Ready, girls?” She turned her back and tossed the bouquet over her shoulder.

  Jack looked toward the door and sighed. I’ll talk to Tom about it when Julie and I get back from our honeymoon next week. I’ll make him understand…

  He wasn’t able to though. By the time the honeymoon was over, Tom had returned to Florida.

  A little less than a year later he ran into Tom again. Jack was driving home from a site and saw him walking down the street. He parked his pickup haphazardly at the curb, hopped out, and enveloped his friend in a bear hug.

  “Tommy! I’m so glad to see you! What are you doing here? It isn’t your momma’s birthday.” He grinned

  “Jack. Hello.” Tom’s lack of exuberance shocked Jack.

  “Buddy?”

  “My grandfather died.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jack wanted to kick himself. He’d heard that Tom’s granddaddy had passed away. The surprised pleasure of seeing his friend had driven everything out of his mind.

  “So am I.” Tom eyes were bright with unshed tears. “He was the best man I knew.”

  “Oh, buddy.” Jack patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, nonplussed.

  He remembered when Granddaddy Sweet had died. His brother Sam had cried, even though he was a big boy, and Daddy had gotten very red in the face. ‘Don’t you cry! Your granddaddy is safe and home in the arms of Jesus, and that’s something you should be happy about!’ Sam had tried to stop crying, because of course they were happy about that, but he couldn’t, and Daddy had sent him to his room and wouldn’t let him come down to supper for a week.

  “How long will you be here in Savannah, Tom?”

  “I just took a short leave of absence. I’m staying with Mom until she’s feeling better. This has been hard for her.” Tom cleared his throat. “By the way, Mom got the card and the flowers. Thanks. It meant a lot to her that you sent them. It meant a lot to me too.”

  Jack squeezed his shoulder. “I would have come to pay my respects, but I didn’t find out he’d passed until after the funeral.”

  “We had to bury him as soon as I brought him home.”

  “You brought him home from Florida?”

  “Yes. I moved back to his house in Jacksonville when he started to fail. I didn’t mind the commute.”

  A two hour trip both ways? He wouldn’t, Jack thought. When Tommy cared about someone…

  “I thought we’d have time, y’know? – but he went so fast.” Tom’s voice broke, and he looked away, but not before Jack saw a lone tear spill over. He handed his friend a handkerchief. “Thanks. I was glad I was able to be with him at the end.”

  “And you’re going back?”

  “Yes. As I said, as soon as Mom feels better. Lizzy’s not able to help much, what with living in Atlanta and…” His mouth tightened, and he shook his head. “She just doesn’t deal well with stuff like that.”

  “It’s hard to believe you have a twin sister.” He’d met her once or twice back in the day. “There’s no resemblance at all.”

  “For which Lizzy is eternally grateful.”

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nbsp; “Don’t know why, Tommy. You’re a good-looking guy.”

  Tom just smiled at that. “Listen, do you have time for a drink?”

  “Sure.”

  “Julie won’t mind?”

  “No. She’s out of town visiting with her cousin over in LaGrange.”

  “In that case, why don’t you have dinner with me? Mom’s fridge is stocked, but I’m in the mood for something that isn’t suspended in green Jell-o.”

  “Will Miz Honey mind?”

  “No. She’s been after me to get out of the house for a bit. Says she’s not used to having someone hovering over her.” He smiled a little. “Although she doesn’t seem to mind so much when it’s Charlie doing the hovering.”

  “Charlie?”

  “Friend of hers.”

  “Oh, right.” Miz Honey had been a widow for a long time, although from the few things Tom had said, no one had really mourned his father when he’d died, killed in some sort of accident at work. “Uh… do you want to go back to that place on Bull Street?” Jack wondered if that waiter was still working there. He hadn’t been back to Jimmy’s since the previous year.

  “What place on Bull Street?”

  “We went there last year. I’m pretty sure you… dated… the waiter.”

  “You mean I fucked him. You’ll have to do better than that, buddy. I’ve… dated… a lot of waiters. Not to mention soldiers, sailors, Marines. Construction workers.”

  Jack felt his mouth drop open. Tom had never been so open about his activities before. “Uh…”

  Tom raised an eyebrow.

  He shut his mouth. “Tell me you’ve had an Indian chief and a cowboy too, and I’ll think you’ve been screwing the Village People.”

  Tom started laughing. Jack was pleased. He had a feeling it was the first time his friend had laughed since his granddaddy had passed on.

  “On second thought, maybe we ought to go somewhere else. How does Loueller’s grab you, buddy?”

  “Works for me.”

  The dinner rush hadn’t started yet, so they had no trouble finding a table. Fern, the waitress who had been at Loueller’s since it had opened, grinned at them around her chewing gum.

  “Today’s special is chicken fried steak. It comes with okra and yams. Sound good to you boys?”

  “Sounds very good, Miz Fern.”

  “And a couple of glasses of wine?”

  “You’ve got an unbelievable memory.”

  “Gets me the tips.” She winked at them and left to put in their order.

  “So, how are you doing, Jack?”

  “Fine, fine. Julie’s stopped working.”

  “Oh?”

  “Well, she wanted to concentrate on getting the place ready for a baby.” He’d found a small, two-bedroom house that would do them for the time being. Julie had insisted the second bedroom be for the baby, but he’d told her there was plenty of time for that once they found out she was pregnant, and he’d put twin beds in there for when Teddy and Cath spent the weekends.

  “Are you gonna be a daddy again anytime soon?”

  “No.” Jack was glad Tom felt comfortable enough with him to ask such a personal question. “We’ve been trying, but… Well, it’s early days yet, and if it’s destined to happen, it’ll happen.”

  “You believe that, buddy?”

  Jack shrugged. He didn’t tell Tom how disappointed he was each month when Julie told him she wasn’t pregnant.

  “Tell me how Theodore and Catherine are doing.”

  Jack’s face lit up. “Teddy wants to be a ball player, and Cath wants to be a vet!” He pulled out his wallet, which overflowed with pictures of his kids – dressed up for holidays, in Halloween costumes, in swimsuits when he’d taken them to the beach.

  Fern brought them their wine and a basket of biscuits. “Those are handsome kids you’ve got there. Seems to me they take after their daddy.”

  “Thanks.” He blushed. “They get their coloring from me…” Teddy was as blond as his sister, and they both were blue-eyed. “… but they get their looks from…”

  “Their daddy,” Tom cut in. “Trust me on this. He’s one handsome devil, as you can see.”

  “Tommy!” Jack blushed even deeper.

  “That’s the truth!” Fern laughed and went to wait on another table.

  “I’m really glad you agreed to have dinner with me, Jack.”

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  “Yeah.” Tom reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Yeah.”

  Every year after that, when Tom came home for his Mom’s birthday, Jack made a point of calling him, and they’d go out for dinner, a movie, a glass of wine afterwards.

  And when he went home to his wife, it was to find he’d been relegated to the couch once more. He knew he’d have to buy her a charm for her bracelet, or some expensive trinket or other, but that didn’t matter.

  It was worth it, seeing his best friend again.

  Five years after he married Julie, Jack took out the quarter Tom had given him on his wedding day. He tucked it back in his pocket, picked up the phone, and called him in Tallahassee.

  “Tom…”

  “Jack! It’s so good to hear from you!”

  “I’m getting a divorce, Tom.”

  “Shit. Hang in there, buddy. I’ll be there as soon as I can arrange for a leave.”

  Jack hung up the phone, sat down on the crappy bed in the crappy apartment he’d rented after he moved out of the little house, and he cried.

  He hadn’t even had to ask. In spite of once having shut Tom from his life, in spite of hurting him, as Jack knew he must have, Tom was dropping everything and coming home.

  Just because Jack called.

  Tom came awake in increments. “Didn’t you sleep at all, Jack?”

  “Nah. I was watching you.”

  Tom blushed. “Couldn’t you find anything better to do?”

  “I like watching you.”

  “I can’t imagine why.”

  Jack leaned over and kissed him. “Didn’t any of the guys you slept with do that?”

  “We didn’t sleep, Jack.” His stomach rumbled, and he rubbed his abdomen absently. “Room service or the restaurant?”

  “The restaurant. I’m in the mood to show you off.”

  Tom flushed, and Jack recognized it not as embarrassment but as lust. Jack rarely became aggressive – partly because of his size, although mostly because he just wasn’t an aggressive kind of guy – but he knew Tom loved it when he did. Just hearing that tone in Jack’s voice was almost enough to make him cream his jeans.

  He raised an eyebrow, and Tom licked his lips and gave a jerky nod.

  They dressed in slacks and short-sleeved polo shirts and went down to dinner. Jack was relieved to see everyone there was clothed.

  A young man was seated at a baby grand piano in front of the bay window, playing show tunes. His white tuxedo jacket was folded beside him on the piano bench.

  “Is that the parking attendant?”

  “If he’s not, he looks enough like him to be his brother.”

  “Good evening, gentlemen. If you’ll follow me?” The host who led them to their table was the desk clerk who had simply worn the bowtie. Now he was wearing a black tuxedo.

  “Are we underdressed?”

  “Not at all, Mr. Sweet.” His eyes were on Tom, though. He grinned at Tom and touched his tongue to his upper lip. “One can never be underdressed here at Clinch House Inn.” He unfolded their napkins and placed them across their laps. “Enjoy your dinner, gentlemen.”

  Jack glared at his back. “Did he cop a feel?”

  Tom looked startled, then snickered. “No, Jack. He did not cop a feel.” He picked up the leather-bound menu that was lying across his plate.

  Jack growled under his breath and looked around the room. It was large enough to seat all the guests, should they decide to forgo room service, as well as anyone stopping by. Snowy white tablecloths and napkins were on each table, a
s well as centerpieces of Bird of Paradise that added vibrant color. Scattered around the room were potted ferns and palms adding to the Florida feel.

  Their waiter came to bring them two frosty goblets of ice water with a wedge of lemon on the rim. “Did you enjoy your scooter ride?”

  “Jeff!”

  He grinned at them. “We all wear a number of hats around here. Let me take your drinks order, and you can study the menu and see what you like.”

  “I’ll have a daiquiri.”

  “Me too.”

  Jeff nodded and hurried off.

  “I like it all,” Tom murmured.

  Jack picked up his menu and began to page through it. “Yes. The poached artichoke halves look good for an appetizer.” He read the description. “On, no, on second thought, I guess not.”

  “You like artichokes, buddy.”

  “Yeah, but they’re stuffed with crabmeat. You can’t eat that, can you?”

  “You’re right. How about the mushroom phyllo instead? ‘Sautéed mushrooms baked in golden phyllo…’” He looked up, smiling. “That’s dough used in thin layers to make pastries, like strudel or baklava.”

  Jack smiled back at him. He loved when Tom went into professor mode.

  “And it’s served warm, with scallion-vermouth cream.”

  “Sounds good.” He looked up at Jeff, who had returned with their daiquiris as well as a basket of rolls. “The mushroom phyllo, please. For two.”

  “And for your entrée, sir?”

  “I’ll have the prime rib, medium rare.”

  “That comes with the house salad, which has a vinaigrette dressing, baked potato, and pan-roasted broccoli. What would you like on your potato?”

  Jack grinned. “Load it down.”

  “Your arteries, Jack! Your arteries!”

  Jeff coughed and swallowed his own grin. “And you, Mr. Hansom?”

  “I’ll have the duck breast with crème fraiche and roasted grapes.”

  “Would you care to order a wine?”

  “Yes.” Jack had been looking over the wine list. “The Chateauneuf du Pape, ‘88.”

  “Very good choice, sir. That’s a Rhone red that will go well with both your entrees.” Jeff took their menus and went to put in the order.