Chapter Ten
The house was quiet Sunday morning when Tami arose. The refrigerator hummed softly in the kitchen as she stood leaning against her cane, wondering what color she wanted to repaint the cabinets. She'd almost decided when the doorbell rang.
When Tami answered the door, she did not immediately recognize the woman standing before her. The dark brown hair that had been in a ponytail two days before now billowed to midway down the woman's back, and her jogging clothes had been replaced with a black skirt, pale pink blouse, and high heeled boots.
"Hi," the woman said with a smile. She was holding a green, potted plant with some sort of phallic like flower emerging from the middle. "I'm Sharon Middleton. I live three doors down. I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. I saw Eric driving you home the other day, but I was in the middle of a run and couldn't stop." She extended the plant and then seemed to realize Tami couldn't possible claim it while leaning on a cane. She pulled it back.
"Come on in," Tami told her, backed up, and motioned to her grandmother's cherry, gateleg table, which Eric had placed in the foyer. That heirloom, thankfully, had survived the flood, but Tami was still sad that her favorite flower painting from her uncle had not.
"You can put it there," Tami told her.
After Sharon had set the plant down, the woman stood awkwardly in the foyer. "Sorry to come over so early, but I know Eric usually leaves for church in an hour, and I didn't want to miss you before I headed off for work."
Sharon seemed a pleasant enough woman. It was thoughtful of her to bring the plant – unless, of course, she'd really only wanted to see Eric. She had apparently expected him to be awake by now. Sharon knew an awful lot about his schedule. Well, one thing about it, anyway.
Sharon looked down the hall. Was she hoping for Eric to emerge? How often had she been in this house?
"We should have you and your husband over for a barbecue sometime," Tami said, even though she knew full well about the divorce. "Eric makes a great brisket."
"Uh…yeah. That would be lovely. I'm going through a divorce, though. I thought Eric might have told you?"
"Maybe he did," Tami said. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's always sad when that happens."
"Not always," Sharon said. "In my case, it was for the better. He cheated. More than once." She shook her head. "I guess it was a bad idea not to follow him when he went to Korea. But I'd just gotten a serious promotion. I made partner at my law firm."
She was a lawyer? Smart, capable, and attractive? And this was the one Shelley had dismissed as no threat?
"Oh," was all Tami could think to say.
"Eric says you used to be a high school counselor," Sharon said.
"Yes, I was." She hastened to add, "I was supposed to have become Dean of Admissions of Braemore college, but that fell through because of the coma. We were going to move to Philadelphia."
"I think it's admirable Eric would have been willing to follow you. My husband wasn't willing to stay here for my career."
"Well, being in the military is – "
"- Oh, he didn't go to Korea because he's in the military. He's not stationed there. He took a job offer at an international office there. He's a business man. It was only supposed to be a two-year assignment, and then he'd be back at the Texas office, so I figured…" She shrugged. "But two years is just too long, I guess. It's too long for a man to stay faithful."
"It's not too long," Tami insisted.
Sharon smiled apologetically. "Yes. Of course. I didn't mean…Eric's a great guy." She glanced down the hallway again. "Well, I better be going. It was nice to meet you." She extended her hand and Tami shook it. "Tell Eric I said hi."
Just as the door closed, Eric stumbled his way out of the bedroom, yawning. "Everyone still asleep?" he asked. Tami nodded. "Who was at the door?"
"Sharon."
"Oh. Sorry I missed her." He glanced at the plant on the gateleg table. "Well that was nice of her." He turned and began walking toward the kitchen. "Want me to make coffee?"
"I made it," Tami said. "I'm not a complete invalid. I may not be Dean of Admissions, or a partner in a law firm, but I'm not an invalid."
He stopped and turned around and peered at her cautiously. "Good morning," he said. "I love you."
She shook her head at herself. "I love you too. Pour me a cup."
As he stumbled toward the kitchen, he said, "I've got to get Gracie up for church."
[FNL]
Matt and Julie could not be stirred from bed to join them for worship, so Gracie, Eric, and Tami went without them.
An Episcopal service was not the kind of re-introduction to church Tami needed at the moment. There was standing and sitting and kneeling and standing and sitting and kneeling again. (She chose simply to sit through most of that.) Communion wasn't passed along the row in a circular plate – she had to make her way to the altar for it.
Afterwards, she was surrounded by a cloud of curious onlookers, all eager to meet "Coach Taylor's wife." That's what she was again, suddenly, the coach's wife. Not even the counselor, let alone the dean – but the coach's wife.
Two of Eric's assistant coaches attended the church; one looked to be about half Eric's age, and the other twice. It was the priest, however, who chatted with Tami the longest, while Eric disappeared to talk with his young offensive coordinator over coffee and donuts in the foyer. She was a little taken aback when "Father Andrew" (they called the pastor "father" here) said something about "the metaphor of the Resurrection" and "the symbolism we express when we say we believe in God."
Gracie fell asleep on the drive home, and that was when Tami asked Eric, "What do you like about this church?"
"Two of my coaches and three of my players go there. I get that 20% discount on Gracie's school tuition by being a member. And they had a great parish Superbowl party last year."
"We don't go to church for the Super Bowl parties, sugar." She told him about the odd conversation she'd had with the priest. "I don't think he believes the Resurrection actually happened."
Erich shrugged. "Yeah. I think he's an agnostic."
"He's a priest," Tami said. "What are they teaching Gracie at that school you send her to?"
"Math and literature and history and science. A week ago you were worried the school would be too conservative!"
She shook her head. "Listen, I'm no fundamentalist, but I at least want my preacher to believe in God!"
He glanced at her. "Twenty percent, Tami. That's a lot of money. And it's a good school. Also, the church had kettle corn at the Superbowl party." He looked back at the road. "And they have an annual crawfish boil."
"Good Lord."
[FNL]
A row was reserved for them in the front of the bleachers at the stadium. The SAEU Saints were playing some university team Tami hated to admit she had never heard of. Of course, she'd never heard of the Saints two weeks ago either.
She needed a little help from Matt getting up the steps, even if she didn't want to admit it. She waved and blew a kiss to Eric at the sidelines, and he smiled and waved back, but he didn't look to the stands for the rest of the game. She hated to think, that after a full season without her, he was accustomed to her absence.
Tami couldn't quite get used to the color of his cap and polo shirt, which was a strange blue, brighter even than the Panthers blue. She'd been preparing herself to see him in Pioneers dark green and thinking he would look particularly good in the color before she went into the coma. This color didn't suit him at all, although the job must have, because he was in his element this evening. From the surprised sound of the crowd, they weren't expected to win the game, but the SAEU Saints did, just barely.
Eric was a sweaty mess when he came and hugged her after the game, a victim of the early Texas September.
That night, they drove Matt and Julie to the airport, and Tami couldn't help but cry a little when she saw her daughter leave.
[FNL]
Eric drove to Trinity on Gracie's first day of kindergarten. He and Tami walked their daughter to her classroom. The school was attached to the Episcopal church they'd attended on Sunday, but it more or less had its own buildings.
Tami could tell Gracie was slightly embarrassed by her mother's cane, and Tami herself was a little overwhelmed by all the friendly greetings she received from administrators, teachers, and fellow parents who seemed to know Eric, or at least know him as Gracie's father. Everyone expressed their happiness that she had emerged from the coma. "I bet Coach Taylor's ecstatic," Gracie's old pre-K teacher told her. "And Gracie too," she hastened to add.
Gracie hugged both of her parents before disappearing into her classroom, and she didn't have to be reminded to hug Tami this time, though she hugged her father first. Gracie immediately started talking to the girl who sat next to her, which was a relief to Tami, who wondered if the girl would be able to make friends her own age given her rather advanced interests.
Tami counted the desks in the room before they turned away. Twelve. It was a good size. There would have been over twenty in the public school classroom.
They made their way to the fellowship hall, where the principal was holding a parent orientation as the school day started. Tami had a lot of questions, and she could tell the principal was growing a little weary of them by the time the orientation wrapped up.
As they drove back home, Eric to drop Tami off and head to work, she said, "I think you chose well. I think the school is going to be challenging, and I love the flexibility of their educational approach."
"Do you? You sure didn't sound like it the way you were grilling Principal McKinley."
"I just want to make sure I understand how they operate. That's all."
When she got into the house, the au pair was putting away the dishes from breakfast. Tami sat down on the stool at the kitchen bar, her back to the living room.
"Want a cup of coffee?" Carolyn asked. "I just made fresh."
"I'll get it myself." Tami began to slide off the stool.
"Stay!" Carolyn insisted and retrieved the cup for her.
Tami thanked her, but not as pleasantly as she would have if Eric or Julie had brought it to her. She was trying to imagine how humiliating it was going to be to have this girl around, helping her to cook and clean and care for her own daughter. She used to fantasize about an au pair the first year after Gracie was born, but now that she had one, she only felt usurped.
"So," Carolyn said, "Coach Taylor's practice and game and meeting schedule is here." She pointed to a white board attached to the side of the refrigerator. "And mine's here." She tapped the piece of paper next to it, which was printed out and attached by a magnet. "His schedule changes at the last minute sometimes."
"I'm aware," Tami said. "I've been a coach's wife for eighteen years."
"I thought you were married longer that."
"Well, I was in the coma. And he wasn't a coach when we first got married."
"Yeah. Anyway, if you need me to do something…anything…I don't just help with Gracie. I do a lot around the house."
"I hope my husband hasn't been expecting too much of you."
"Oh, God no," Carolyn said. "He's the best employer I've ever worked for. The last kids I nannied…so spoiled. And the parents expected me to do everything for them. I was practically working around the clock." She winced. "Sorry. I shouldn't talk about other people like that. But Coach Taylor makes sure I have plenty of time off. Some of these parents…it's like they don't want to see their kids more than thirty minutes a day. But Coach Taylor wants to spend a good amount of time with Gracie."
"So do I," Tami said. Which begged the question – how much longer would Carolyn really be needed here?
Carolyn bit her bottom lip. "I know." She looked down into her coffee cup. It occurred to Tami that she was perhaps afraid of losing her job.
Tami tried to put her bitterness aside. "What's your major?" she asked in as friendly a voice as she could muster.
"I'm double majoring in British literature and early childhood education. I think I want to teach first or second grade."
"Well, I guess this is a good job for you then. Although, if you weren't doing this, you might be able to work at a preschool until you graduate." If she gave the girl ideas for other jobs, perhaps she could push her gently out the door without seeming to.
"A preschool salary might cover my tuition, but then I'd still need room and board." She looked right at Tami. "I'm lucky to have this job. Coach Taylor says I've been very helpful to him."
"I'm sure you have." But Tami was home now, and this couldn't go on forever. She'd never agreed to another full school year of this girl. That had been Eric's unilateral proclamation.
"I can do laundry," Carolyn said. "You got a new wardrobe, right? I can wash that when I get back from my morning class and before I pick Gracie up from school."
"Oh, I'll pick Gracie up from school," Tami insisted. Granted, she hadn't driven a car yet since she got home. People had been driving her. But if she could walk with the cane, surely she could drive. And she, not Carolyn, should be the one listening to Gracie's report of her first day of Kindergarten.
"Okay, but I'll cook dinner," Carolyn insisted. "You'll be having your physical therapy this evening, right?"
Tami supposed she could let Carolyn have that one task. "Fine." She lifted her coffee cup to her lips and blew softly. "And I suppose you can do the laundry, if you really want."