After all this time, p.2
After All This Time, page 2
Marsha knew that selling her school and moving to Spring Falls was probably the right move for her, but now what? She was no closer to knowing what to do with herself than she was months ago when Cindy invited her to stay with her.
Something had to change. Inactivity and boredom were not something she had ever indulged in before and she had to stop it now.
Maybe tomorrow, Marsh mumbled to herself as she rolled over, pulling the covers around her and went back to sleep.
Four
April May Zane stared at the house her husband Ron bought for her and asked herself why. Why did he think she would want this monstrosity of a house?
When she asked for a house, she had been thinking of a small two-bedroom house where they would sit by the fire at night in the winter and talk over their day together. Perhaps in the summer, they would step out onto a lovely porch and watch the town walk by.
That’s what she had asked him to get her, a house in town where she could be part of the community and could walk to work at the art gallery if she wanted to.
But this? This was a monster of a house. Two stories, five bedrooms, three baths. It was the biggest house Ron could find that fulfilled the one criteria she had said was non-negotiable. She wanted to be able to walk to work. What Ron managed to do was buy the one place in town that, to her, stood out like a sore thumb. Much too big for a cozy town.
April sighed. Ron had supplied what she had asked for, and she couldn’t fault him for wanting to make a good impression. Being seen as successful was important to him, and she wanted him to be happy. Especially now, because she felt as if she was finally coming into her own and if he was happy, it meant she had more freedom for herself.
Working at Cindy’s art gallery brought her more pleasure than she could have imagined and it was sparking ideas for what she wanted to do—maybe as an artist herself. As April stared at the house, trying to love it, it occurred to her that perhaps Ron was right. She might need a bigger house. Maybe she could use one bedroom for a studio, and they would still have extra bedrooms in case their two children wanted to come visit.
Smiling at that thought, April reached out and held her husband’s hand, trying to feel the joy that he wanted her to feel at his gift to her.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Ron said, “I know it’s bigger than you wanted, but I had to get the best for you. I’m sure you will make it into something perfect for the two of us.”
April turned to look at her husband. They were standing on the lawn that would be green in the summer but was now covered in a thin layer of snow underneath a massive red maple, leafless at the moment. April loved this tree even leafless, so she decided if she loved the tree, she could love the house.
Besides, she loved her husband, and he was only trying to make up for losing his temper the day he threw everything out of the refrigerator onto the floor. She had been terrified and fled back home to Spring Falls.
Her decision to stay had upset Ron at first, but she was grateful that he was willing to move with her and they weren’t fighting anymore about her decision. However, they had also kept their other house in Silver Lake. A housekeeper came once a week to clean it, and a landscaper came every few weeks to maintain its look. She had complained about how much that cost, why not sell it?
Ron said no, he had the money to keep it up. Besides, he could stay there while he worked, and they had left it at that. Looking at how huge the house was they now owned in Spring Falls, April was afraid to ask how much this house cost and how much it would cost to maintain it. She couldn’t do it by herself. And she didn’t want to either.
Once again, Ron must have known what she was thinking because he said he had already hired a housekeeper and landscape company for her. All she had to do was tell them what she wanted. And he had contractors standing by, waiting for her instructions to fix or change anything she wanted in the house.
How could can I not love him for this? April thought. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, then leaning into his chest, his arms around her, she said thank you and meant it as visions of what she could do to this massive house to make it welcoming to everyone started forming in her head.
April’s phone beeped, telling her she had a message, but she ignored it. She knew that Ron wanted her full attention when she was with him. She had always known that, even though for years she had thought nothing about it. Until her friends commented on it.
“Well, it’s kind of controlling,” her friend Judith had said when April had told her why she never responded right away to texts and calls when she was with Ron.
“It’s just a small thing,” April had answered. “It keeps him happy, and since he isn’t in town for long periods of time, it seems like a simple thing to do to keep him happy.”
Judith had mumbled in response and let it go. But April knew it was only because Judith was her friend that Judith both worried and let it go. It had been Judith who had talked her up off the floor after Ron’s temper explosion, and got her to Spring Falls.
And then all the Ruby Sisters arrived, and she felt safe and loved again, just as she had with them all throughout their years growing up together.
Now they were long past grown up, and were sliding into the other side of life, having passed the big divide between young and getting old. For years the five of them had been apart, and now they were back together again thanks to Bree’s husband leaving a letter for all of them that they received after he died.
His last gift to all of them was to unite them, but to his wife Bree, he had given the best gift of all. He had led her back to her daughter, Mary, who Bree had given up for adoption twenty-eight years before. Now Bree had a grandchild and all the Ruby Sisters were her aunts.
Thank you, Paul, April whispered just in case he could still hear her.
Suddenly, April knew why her phone had beeped. It wasn’t a phone call. It was a reminder that today was the day she had promised Bree she would come over and watch little Rhoberta Nora Patterson while Bree met with her agent. Bree’s daughter Mary had gone back to work, but now only worked at the restaurant at lunch so she could be home at night, and Bree babysat while she worked.
Once again, Ron knew what she was thinking. He glanced at his watch, and said, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at Bree’s? Want me to drive you there?”
A few minutes later, April leaned over and kissed her husband before sliding out of the car. She turned and waved as he drove away and then wondered if she had told him she was babysitting that day. She hadn’t thought she had, so how had he known? Shrugging it away as a memory lapse on her part, she turned to wave at Ron as he drove away.
Ron waved back and smiled to himself, thinking that April was still as beautiful as the day he met her. He was such a lucky man. He would do whatever it took to make her happy, because she was his forever, and he really couldn’t live without her.
Five
Ron stayed in the car outside of Bree’s house until he saw Bree, holding the baby against her shoulder, open the door and let April in.
Behind her, Ron could see the clean, open hallway. Knowing Bree, he knew her entire house looked that way. It was one thing he appreciated about her. Everything in its place. Nothing wasted or useless. He liked that. He tried to live with that idea in mind himself.
Bree waved, and he waved back with a smile, appreciating that Bree was trying to be friends again. Ron knew that all of April’s friends were making an effort to be friendly to him, and he was doing everything he could to give them reasons to trust him, as they once did.
When Ron first met the women who had made a pact together in elementary school and then named themselves the Ruby Sisters, they had been as charmed and delighted by him as he was with them.
But it had been April who stole his heart the moment he sat beside her history class at the community college.
From the moment he saw her, he was hers, and she was his. It had taken him by surprise that he could care so much about someone. Even though they both had only been nineteen, he had already planned out a life for himself. He would become wealthy and powerful. Not necessarily famous. The type of wealth he wanted would be quiet and private.
And although he knew he would have a wife—because that would be expected of him—he didn’t know he would love her so much. The children were an afterthought, and if he was being honest with himself, he loved that they had lives of their own now, and lived far enough away they would only see them from time to time.
April had been enough for him for his entire adult life and he had almost blown it all with one mistake.
Now he had but one focus. To have April fully trust him again, and that meant he also had to recapture the trust of the Ruby Sisters. He knew he had screwed up getting mad at April last spring when all she had wanted to do was help Bree after her husband Paul’s death. But he hadn’t been really listening as she prattled on and on about Judith and Bree and Paul’s letter.
He only really heard her when she said she was going to Spring Falls to assist the Ruby Sisters help Bree as Paul requested in his letter. As her words sunk in, they felt like a stab to his heart and his first thought was that April was not choosing him first and that meant he was losing her.
And he had lost control. At home. In front of April. He could barely think about it now, knowing what it might have cost him. And it hadn’t been her fault it had happened either. It was entirely his fault that he lost control, especially over such a minor thing.
It was simply the wrong day to stand up to him, otherwise it would have been just an ordinary discussion. He would have explained how going to Spring Falls wasn’t a good idea, and April would have listened as she always did because she understood they belonged to each other and chose each other first. He needed her at home in order to function well in his business. And it was his business that gave her everything she ever desired.
However, that morning, while she prattled on, he had been thinking about the client who informed him the day before that he was moving his investment money to another firm. He had let that feeling of betrayal upset him, and had spent the entire night barely sleeping, thinking of ways to dissuade the client from transferring his funds. Then April had asked the wrong question at the wrong time.
After his temper tantrum at home, laying waste to the contents of the refrigerator, he had gone to the office and pulled himself together. By the end of the day and a few well-placed phone calls, the client had changed his mind. And he had forgotten the whole nasty business at home.
Returning home after work and not finding April at home was shocking. And it woke him up. He had been complacent. Everything in his life and business had been going so well for so long, he had forgotten how easily things could fall apart with one minor mistake.
That tantrum had cost him more than April would ever know. But he had moved quickly to fix it. Finding April in Spring Falls, he apologized, and she accepted—with a few conditions. She wanted to work at Bree’s art gallery, she wanted to live in Spring Falls, and she wanted to walk to work.
He agreed to all of it, even though he was worried what would happen when he they came back. But all his worries fell away when nothing terrible happened. Although her friends had given him the cold shoulder at first, he knew they would eventually forgive him for his outburst. If only for Alice’s sake, which was fine with him.
All he needed was for them to accept him enough so he could rebuild his life with April. He would do whatever it took to make sure April was happy and their unit of one would stay together.
However, the move to Spring Falls meant he had to think of how to continue to run his business in Silver Lake.
April believed he worked for someone else. She, like most people, didn’t know that he was the owner of the business and he wanted it to stay that way. It gave him greater leverage, being the power behind the business rather than the face of it. Since April didn’t know he was the boss, she believed he had to stay in Silver Lake sometimes in order to keep his job, which meant it made sense to keep their house there. It gave him a place to stay while seeing clients at the office.
Yes, at first he had disliked the arrangement that April had forced him to make. But it didn’t take long to see the advantages of letting April stay in Spring Falls and buying her the house she deserved there. Because now had a private home all to himself in Silver Lake.
April said she had no interest in returning to Silver Lake, so he had done what she asked. He had moved all their furniture to the new home in Spring Falls. He kept only what he needed for himself. Now that everything was settling down, April’s decision to move was turning out to be a fantastic stroke of luck for him.
Before pulling away from the house, Ron glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw the handsome man he had become reflected back at him, and smiled at his good fortune.
Sometimes you need to let go to have good things happen, Ron said to himself. He expected more to come his way, but first he had some plans to make.
Six
By the time Bree turned from locking the door, April had removed her coat and shoes and was reaching out for the baby.
“I’ve been looking forward to spending a little time with this sweet one,” she said as she snuggled into the neck of month old Rhoberta Nora Patterson, known as Rho, breathing in the baby smell and feeling all her worries fade away.
She would have loved Mary’s baby even if it hadn’t turned out to be Bree’s grandchild. They all would have, because Mary Patterson had become part of their world before the big reveal that she was the daughter Bree had given away.
When the Ruby Sisters discovered that Bree and Paul had left Spring Falls and disappeared from their lives was because Bree didn’t want them to know she was pregnant, or more to the point, why she was pregnant, they were all heartbroken and angry. Didn’t Bree know that she could have turned to them for help? They would have stood by her, they would have understood.
Even now, after all the healing that had taken place, Bree remained silent about Mary’s father. She said some secrets must remain secret, and who was Mary’s father had to be one of those secrets. Except now that Mary had taken a DNA test to find her parents—which is how she found Bree—all of them felt as if it was only a matter of time until Mary’s father and the secret was revealed.
April wondered if Bree had thought that through, and decided that the ever logical Bree must have. But then everyone turns a blind eye to the inevitable once in a while, even Bree, April thought to herself.
“Thanks for watching her, April,” Bree said. “I made coffee for you, and Judith dropped off some of her famous cinnamon buns. It’s all in the kitchen. I’ll be in my office for about an hour. And Mary left some milk for Rho in case she gets hungry again.”
“Take your time,” April said. “Cindy isn’t expecting me at the gallery today. So I am all yours, and Rho’s.”
Before Bree stepped into her office, she turned back to look at April and Rho and wondered why she had ever thought they wouldn’t accept her after what happened. But that was all over now. They were all safe and together in Spring Falls. Now all she had to do was convince her agent she knew what she was doing.
April smiled back at Bree, giving her a thumbs up and holding Rho against her shoulder, went into the kitchen to get the promised treats. She loved being in Bree’s home. It was not full of stuff. Partially because Bree was starting over, but also it was how Bree liked things. Simple, uncluttered, and comfortable. Bree had kept the house colors muted with dark green and blue hues that blended well with the dove gray walls and polished wood floors.
After getting a coffee and a cinnamon bun April returned to the living room and settled into one of the large comfortable chairs, slipped off her shoes and let her feet sink into the large throw rug, plush and thick that sat between the couch and the chairs. Bree had planned everything for comfort, but also safety for when Rho started to walk, with rounded corners on everything.
April knew if she looked, all the wall socks would be covered. She already knew the drawers and cupboards were baby proof. Almost April proof, she laughed to herself. It had taken her a minute to figure out how the drawer worked the first time she came over.
A gas fireplace glowed beneath a large TV Screen. Last week, all the Ruby Sisters came over to watch a movie with Bree, eating popcorn, feet propped up on the large coffee table in front of the couch. Even Bree’s feet were on the table, which any other day she would not think of doing such a thing.
The house was small, solid, and quiet. Small enough for Bree, but comfortable for when the Ruby Sisters came to visit. Just the kind of house she had wanted. Not the large one Ron had bought for her.
Bree’s office was at the end of the house, facing out to a small garden. The same garden that the kitchen dining room area also opened up to. It was too cold to eat out there now, but they had roasted marshmallows over a fire one night right after Rho was born.
Snuggling into the lush chair that rocked, April patted Rho’s back. She could see the wind whipping around the trees outside the large window that faced the street. The sky had become a dark gray. Snow was on the way. She closed her eyes and let herself relax and daydream about how she could make her large, overbearing home feel like this.
Less than an hour later, Bree returned, smiling at the sight of April and Rho asleep in the chair. It was something she had never dreamed she would see, and tears formed in her eyes. Slipping away into the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee and took another cinnamon bun.
It was a day of celebration, and besides, she was still trying to put back on some of the weight she had lost after Paul’s death. It made her happy that now she looked in a mirror. She was beginning to look like herself again. Not the ghost woman she had felt like before returning to Spring Falls.
