“He'll get used to it,” Tammy said easily. “He's part of the family. I assume he's coming out this weekend.”
“Tomorrow. He wanted to give us a night alone. See what I mean? He kind of hangs back when we're all together.”
“I think he's just being respectful.”
They chatted easily on the way out to Connecticut, and got there at nine-thirty at night. The others were sitting at the pool, and the dogs were ecstatic when they saw Juanita. Her sisters and father were happy to see Tammy. They stayed up late that night, as they always did when they got together and hadn't seen each other for a while. Tammy had been gone for nearly six weeks. The time had flown for all of them.
In the morning Chris came out, and it was an easy, fun weekend. They played Scrabble, liar's dice, and read the Sunday paper. But Annie could do none of it, and at one point Sabrina saw the look on her face, and motioned to the others to put the games away. Annie knew instantly what they'd done and why, and insisted it didn't bother her, but it was obvious that it did. They lightened the moment by teasing their father about Leslie Thompson's visit and her gift of an apple pie.
“You girls are heartless,” he said with a smile. “The poor thing just went through a terrible divorce. She started her own business, and the bastard cleaned her out.”
“How do you know that?” Annie looked at him suspiciously. “She didn't say anything about that when she was here.” Unless she had mentioned it before Annie came outside. But that wasn't the case, as their father made clear.
“She came back for her pie plate when you and Candy were in the city, moving into the house.”
“That was fast,” Tammy commented, glancing at Sabrina. Their father missed the look they exchanged. “What else did she say?”
“She's had a tough life. She was married to this guy for seven years. She lost her business to him. And she had a baby that died, of SIDS, her only child. After that she left, and came back here. I think it only happened last year. She said the divorce was just final. But that may be why she felt badly about your mom. She knows what it's like to lose someone now. The baby was only five months old, long enough to fall in love with him, and then he's gone.” They could tell from what he was saying to them that their conversation had been deeply personal.
“How long did she stay picking up the plate?” Sabrina asked.
“Actually, I felt so sorry when she told me all that, I invited her to lunch. She's a sweet kid. She's staying with her parents till she finds her own place. You girls should give her a chance.”
“Yeah, well… maybe…” Sabrina said, feeling sorry for her about the baby she lost, but her memories of her still weren't pleasant. Admittedly it had been eighteen years before, and people changed when they grew up. “That's too bad about her baby.”
“She cries every time she mentions it. I think it's still pretty fresh.” He looked embarrassed then. “I have to admit, I cried too when I talked about your mom.”
“It must have been a real cheerful lunch,” Tammy said under her breath to Sabrina, with a worried look in her eyes. Their father went inside shortly after that, and she commented that he was so innocent that he was going to be easy prey for some woman who wanted to take advantage of him, and she hoped Leslie wasn't it.
“I doubt it. She's too young. That's not his style,” Sabrina reassured them all, and believed what she was saying.
“You never know,” Tammy commented cynically. “You see a lot of that in L.A. Girls her age with men his. It's a pretty standard thing, especially if the man has money.”
“He probably thinks of her like one of us, just a kid. I'm no kid, but Dad thinks of me that way. And she's a couple of years younger than I am,” Sabrina said.
“That's my point,” Tammy warned.
“We can't lock him up,” Annie said. “Maybe we should, until he gets a little wiser in the ways of the world. Maybe there's a school for him too, to warn him about conniving women.” They all laughed at the idea.
The rest of the weekend sped by too quickly, and they all left on Monday morning, so they could show Tammy the house in town. Their father looked sad when he waved goodbye, and Candy and Annie promised to come back soon, and this time they took their dogs with them, since they were settled into the house. He said he'd miss them all.
“Maybe we should buy him a dog,” Tammy said thoughtfully. “He's going to be so alone in that house.”
“I know,” Sabrina said. “I felt guilty taking Beulah back, but Chris misses her too.”
“I feel so sorry for him,” Tammy said. “I really think a dog might be a good idea. If he's willing to take care of it. That's a whole other thing. But it would be good company for him.”
Juanita and Beulah were peacefully asleep in the backseat. Annie had ridden with Candy, and they had Zoe with them. And Chris was meeting them at the house.
Tammy loved the house when she saw it, and said they had already done great things to it. It had a happy, cozy feeling to it. Sabrina's things looked pretty spread around the house, and she and Annie had gone to buy a carful of plants. The basic bones of the house were good, and the decor was charming, as the realtor had said. And when Tammy saw the small bedroom across from Sabrina's, she fell in love with it. Everything in it was pink. It looked like a candy box, and even though it was small, it had a nice feeling to it.
“That's your room for whenever you're here.” Tammy looked delighted, and Juanita did too. She jumped on the bed and went right to sleep. Beulah had been running up and down the stairs, and Zoe was barking at everyone, delighted to have them all under one roof. Annie was less delighted at the constant barking right outside her room. She came out to shout at Zoe, and fell over her, as she got tangled in Annie's feet. Annie fell flat on her face.
“Fucking dog!” she shouted at her, as Zoe came up and licked her face, and Annie smiled in spite of herself as Zoe licked her nose. “Hasn't anyone told you I hate dogs? And if you trip me up again, I'm going to dropkick you into the garden.”
“Don't you dare!” Candy shouted at her from her room. “She was just trying to say hi to you.”
“Well, tell her to stay out from under my feet.” As she said it, Beulah thundered past them, on her way upstairs to find Sabrina. “Oh, Jesus, this place is a lunatic asylum,” Annie said, getting back on her feet. “Thank God I don't have a dog.”
“I love this place,” Tammy said enthusiastically. “I wish I could stay.”
“Come anytime you want,” Sabrina invited her. “You have your room.” Admittedly, Chris liked being alone on the floor with her, so he could walk around in his boxer shorts. But she knew he wouldn't mind Tammy staying for the occasional weekend. He loved her sisters, and claimed them as his own.
They had dinner in the kitchen that night. Everyone pitched in. And afterward Sabrina drove Tammy back to the airport to catch the last flight to L.A.
“I hate to leave,” Tammy said, looking at her sister sadly. They clung to each other for a long moment before she left her to board the flight. It reminded them both of what their mother had so often said, that the greatest gift she had given any of them was each other. They were indeed a precious gift in each other's lives.
“I love you, Tammy,” Sabrina said in a choked voice.
“I love you too,” Tammy whispered, and then picked Juanita up in her handbag, and with a last wave at her sister, she walked through security to walk to her gate and board the plane to L.A.
The flight arrived in Los Angeles at one A.M. Pacific time. It was too late to call her sisters again. When she turned her cell phone on, Tammy had a message from each of them, and as she walked into her house that night, she had never felt so lonely in her life, or so far away. Living in Los Angeles had always been perfect for her. She had been there since college. But now with their mother gone, and Annie blind, it was so much lonelier to be here. She felt guilty as she lay in her bed that night, as though she should be back there pitching in. But there was just no way she could. She loved her house, her job, and the career she had established here, but suddenly she felt cut off from all of them and as though she was letting them down. Even Juanita looked unhappy to be home. She lay down on Tammy's bed and whined. She missed the other dogs.