“Wake me when you get up,” Peter said. “I'll keep you company when you start the turkey, if you want.”
Tanya looked at him and shook her head. “How did I ever get so lucky?” she said, kissing him. “No, I'm not going to get you up. Are you kidding? You need your sleep. But thank you for offering.”
“You need your sleep, too. Besides, I enjoy hanging out with you.”
“So do I, with you. It won't take me long. I'll come back to bed.”
They went to bed shortly after, and Tanya cuddled up next to him until she got up. He slept with his arms around her, as he always did, and a peaceful look on his face. He was happy to have her home, as happy as she was to be back. Despite her sense of failure and loss with Megan, it felt wonderful to be home.
Tanya got up on schedule to put the turkey in the oven, did everything she had to do, and went back to bed for another four hours. She slept as close to Peter as she could get, and when she woke up, they were a tangle of sheets, blankets, legs, and arms. It was so much nicer than sleeping alone in her bedroom in the bungalow in Beverly Hills. She stretched, and smiled as she looked at him. It was the perfect beginning of their day.
“It's nice to have you home, Tan,” he said happily. They made love then, and got up shortly after that. Peter showered and dressed and went downstairs. Tanya followed him down in her robe, to check on things in the kitchen. She was surprised to see Megan sitting at the kitchen table engrossed in a serious conversation with Alice, who had made herself a cup of coffee. Alice looked totally at home in the kitchen, and surprised when Tanya and Peter walked in. She had a book next to her on the table, and looked at Peter with an easy grin.
“I brought you back your book. It was great. Funniest thing I ever read … Happy Thanksgiving, by the way,” she said to both of them, but Tanya once again had the feeling of being an invisible person in her own life. Almost as if she had died and come back as a ghost. For a minute, she had the impression that Alice had looked right through her.
“Can I make you breakfast?” Tanya offered, trying not to feel resentful or jealous of the deep conversation she and Megan were obviously having.
“No, thanks. I already ate. James and Melissa were up at the crack of dawn.” Jason and Molly were still asleep. They had stayed up late. Only Megan was up, after a nasty phone conversation with her exâ€best friend Donna early that morning that she had just told Alice about. Alice had come to the kitchen door with Peter's book, and was about to leave it there, when Megan saw her and asked her to come in. She told her all about her conversation with Donna after that. “That's a gorgeous turkey you've got in the oven, Tan,” Alice said admiringly. “I couldn't find a decent one this year. They were all gone.” She chatted amiably as Tanya poured Peter a cup of coffee, made tea for herself, and they sat down at the kitchen table with their daughter and neighbor. Peter asked her about the book, and Alice told him again how much she had loved it, and how funny she thought it was. He seemed pleased.
“I told you it was just your cup of tea. He wrote another one that's even funnier. I have to look for it. It's upstairs somewhere. I'll give it to you later,” Peter said, with the comfortable tone of great familiarity.
Listening to him chat with Alice, Tanya wasn't sure a casual observer would have been able to figure out which of them he was married to, except that he had just made love to her. Barring that, he seemed equally comfortable with both women, and there was a tone of intimacy between him and Alice that suddenly unnerved her. She knew he wasn't sleeping with her, but he was certainly familiar and comfortable with her. Almost too much so, for Tanya's taste. They seemed to have gotten friendlier since Tanya left for L.A. She was in and out of the house constantly, checking on the girls, bringing all of them food, or had them over to dinner at her place. She had become more family than friend to the children, and even to Peter. And Tanya realized now that Alice's name came up in almost every conversation. She had either brought them something, done something for them, or gone somewhere with one or both of the girls. It was a huge help to Peter, but it also irked Tanya.
She sat looking at her now, and asked herself a question. She thought she knew the answer to it, but she wasn't quite as sure as she might have been before September. She decided to ask Peter later, and went on sitting at the kitchen table, listening to them, until Alice finally got up and left, and went back to her own house and children. Megan left the kitchen almost as soon as she did. There was a moment's silence in the kitchen after she went upstairs, as Tanya looked at Peter, hoping her fears were unfounded. She had never questioned him before, not even in her own mind. And she felt guilty about it now. This was all her fault, she knew, and no one else's. But Alice certainly seemed to have become comfortable in their house, and with Peter, far more than she ever had been before.
“I know this sounds crazy, and more than a little paranoid,” Tanya said carefully, as she looked at him. They had made love less than an hour before, and everything seemed fine. But you never knew. People did stranger things. Maybe he got lonely without her, and he knew Alice had been looking for a man since Jim died. “But you're not having an affair with her, are you? I'm sorry to even ask you that, but it's beginning to feel like she's moved in.” She had never been as evident in their lives before, no matter how close she and Tanya were. Alice had never been as close to Peter, and now she was.
“Don't be ridiculous,” Peter said predictably. It was the appropriate answer, as he stood up to get himself another cup of coffee. Tanya was watching his face. “Whatever made you think that?”
“You guys see a lot of her during the week, and you're over at her house a lot. She's practically adopted Megan. I felt like I was walking into her kitchen just now when we walked in. I never felt that from her before. As though you and the kids belong to her, and not to me. Women are funny that way. They get possessive of the men they sleep with, and even their families.” She looked troubled as she said it, and he shook his head.
“She's been a big help while you're away. But I don't think she has any illusions about me and the kids. She knows you're coming back.” There was something about the way he said it that made Tanya feel uneasy.
“What does that mean? That she knows she has to give you back when I finish the movie, or that nothing is happening now?” There was an ever-so-subtle difference, a nuance that Tanya had picked up from him that she didn't like.
“I'm not sleeping with her. How's that for a simple answer?” Peter said succinctly, and then put his cup in the sink. He kept moving around. Tanya wasn't sure why, although the subject was uncomfortable for them both.
“Good. That's simple. I'm glad,” she said, leaning over to kiss him on the mouth. “I'd be extremely upset if you did. Just so you're clear about that.” He looked at her strangely then.
“What about you, Tan? Are you tempted in L.A.? Has anyone crossed your path that you'd want to have a quick fling with, or even a long one, for the duration of the movie? I know a lot of crazy stuff happens on movie sets, and you're a beautiful woman.” She smiled at what he said, and didn't hesitate for a beat when she answered.
“No. Not for a minute. You're the only man for me. They all look like shit compared to you. I'm in love with you.” Still. After twenty years. He looked pleased.
“I'm in love with you, too,” he said softly. “Don't be mad at Alice. She's lonely, and she's nice to our kids.”
“I just don't want her being overly nice to you. She acts like I don't exist when you're around,” Tanya commented again.
“She's a good friend. I really appreciate her help. I couldn't manage without her sometimes. She keeps an eye on things when I can't get home early enough. And the girls like her a lot. They always did.”