Chapter Three

When she woke up the next morning, Tami expected an apology from Eric, but he'd already left for work. He hadn't even left her a note, not even two words, a simple "I'm sorry."

And then she'd happened upon Shelley comforting her daughter.

Tami sat at the kitchen bar with her coffee. Julie didn't even respond to her when she said, "See you later, hon."

Shelley told her that Julie was really upset, and Tami got defensive: "I don't think I need a mediator to help me with my daughter."

Then Shelley started talking about Tami reaming Mr. Cute and Cultured a new one in front of the whole school.

The whole school? Such exaggeration. Tami had been in a classroom when she'd confronted that English teacher. No one else was in the classroom. Shelley had no idea what had really happened. Shelley had no idea what it was like to be a mother, how hard it was.

After the sisters had argued a bit more, slinging insults like old familiar rivals, Shelley went around the bar to the kitchen to get a coffee mug. She stood across the bar from Tami and asked, "Seriously, Tami, if Mom had done that, how would you have felt?"

Tami had embarrassed her daughter in a way she would have hated to be embarrassed by her own mother. "Mortified," she admitted.

"Exactly," Shelley said.

Tami rubbed her temple. She was trying so hard not to cry, but she did cry. Those tears must have inspired Shelley to let go of her anger, because after she got her coffee, she sat next to Tami and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm a horrible mother!" Tami cried.

"No, honey, you're not. You're not."

"You don't know. You don't know. I'm turning into Mom!"

Shelley removed her arm and held her coffee cup between her hands. "Well, Mom was under a lot of pressure. She did the best she could."

Tami wiped the tears under her eyes. "She told us we'd go to hell if we even lusted after a guy."

"She told you that." Shelley sipped her coffee. "She was different when I was in high school. She was different when she started dating again. And you know what? Even before that, she was fine with you dating Eric."

"Only because she really liked Eric."

"Speaking of which…Why was he on the couch last night? I came out for a glass of water, and he had four empty beer bottles on the coffee table, and he was still in his clothes, and he was just lying on his back with nothing but a pillow, snoring. I draped a blanket over him."

Tami tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "How sweet of you, Shell."

"Seriously now. Are you two okay?"

"Oh, Shelley, he was just so petty and ridiculous last night." She told her little sister the whole story, beginning with Eric walking in on her and Glen in the office and ending with their conversation last night. She omitted the part where he'd said, "You need to pay more attention to your family." After the discussion about Julie, she was still feeling like a bad mother, but she emphasized how silly jealous Eric had been about Glen.

She expected her sister to sympathize with her. After all, Shelley loved to pick on Eric. Instead, Tami's little sister sipped her coffee silently.

"Wasn't that ridiculous?" Tami asked.

Shelley shrugged. "I don't think he's jealous of Glen. I mean, I haven't met this Glen guy, but he sounds kind of dweebish. And Eric's… well…masculine. I can't imagine he sees Glen as any kind of competition."

"Well he sure acted like he was jealous," Tami said.

"Honey, you've had sex with him once in the past two and a half months."

"I'm tired!"

"Not tired enough not to go out and play Bunco and have some beers with Glen. And…Tami…you said Eric suggested taking you out to a romantic dinner."

"He just wanted to liquor me up. He just wanted to get a hotel after so he could get laid."

"Of course he did! But he was going to put the effort into it. He was going to take you out to a nice place and buy you some nice wine and romance you for a couple of hours first. Do you know how lucky you are that he still bothers to make an effort? I've had boyfriends who stopped bothering after two months. And you're talking about two decades, Tami."

Tami looked into her coffee cup. "I can't believe you're defending Eric."

"You told him you'd rather play Bunco than spend a romantic evening with him."

"That's not what I said!"

"Maybe you're right, Tami. Maybe it's not what you said. But you're a fool if you don't understand that it's what he heard." Shelley shook her head. "You're a counselor who doesn't even give your husband a right to his own feelings."

"Excuse me?"

"You've always diminished me, Tami."

"Diminished you?"

"You and Eric both. Because I didn't go to some four-year college like y'all. Because I've chosen jobs that are fun for me. Because I haven't gotten married. Because I haven't had kids. Because I've had a lot of boyfriends over the years. But I'm not stupid, Tami. You don't have to be a wife or a mother to be able to understand people." Shelley slid from her stool and went and put her coffee cup in the sink. "Eric's a good-looking man," she said. "Some woman's going to pay attention to him one day. And if you're not…"

Tami was staring intently into her coffee cup when Shelley walked by her. "Just think about it, Tami."

[*]

Tami did think about it. All day long.

When she got home from work, she asked Shelley to clear out the house for her so she could be alone with Eric, so they could have a serious conversation, so she could listen to him and hear him, and so they could tear down this awful wall that had somehow grown up between them.

[*]

When Eric came home from work, Tami was sitting alone on the couch. She was staring into space and clicking a pen open and shut. She didn't look happy. He wished he hadn't said what he'd said last night. He wished he'd said something more like what he actually meant. "Hey," he said softly, wondering how mad she still was.

"Hey."

It was then he noticed how quiet the house was. Did this mean they were going to have a talk? And did that mean he was in serious trouble? "Where is everyone?"

"Shelley took Julie and baby Gracie to the mall to buy her some new baby clothes, which is very sweet."

He opened a beer. She turned toward him. "Hon…"

O God. How much trouble was he in?

"I can't not have a friend at school that I…you know…spend time with twenty minutes a day."

He walked toward her. He steadied his nerves by repositioning a chair in the breakfast nook. How did he say this? How did he explain how he felt? And would she even hear him if he did?

He sat down and sighed. "It's not about Glen. I don't give a damn about Glen. I'm supposed to be the one you're yucking it up with in the hallways. I'm supposed to be the one that you're laughing with."

He looked her in the eyes. Just say what you mean, he thought. Just say what you really mean. It wasn't easy to say it. It was like calling off your defense. What if she laughed at him? What if she said something like, you can't miss me, I'm right here. He said it anyway. "I miss you."

She didn't laugh. She nodded. She laid her head on his shoulder and said, "I miss you too."

Why had that been so hard to say? He wasn't a teenager anymore, making his first move. They weren't lying and talking on the floor of Buddy Garrity's old salesroom, looking into each other's eyes and exchanging hesitant I like you's for the first time.

He kissed her forehead and held her close. "I like you," he told her.

She laughed, as though maybe she remembered too. "You do?"

"Yeah. I like you. You're a'ight."

"I like you too."

She pulled away so she could kiss him. When their lips parted, she said, "I want you to take me to bed."

He smiled, hesitantly. "Because…you're tired?"

She shook her head. "No. I want you to take me to bed."

"Good. Because I would like to take you to bed."

"You'd like that would you?" she teased.

"I think it could be enjoyable. It could be fun."

She laughed. "Shut up and take me to bed."

He locked the bedroom door, even though no one was at home. He took his time with her. "I missed you," she murmured in his ear when he was moving inside her. "I love you, Eric. I want you. I need you."

They both trembled for a while afterward in each other's arms. She kissed his chest. "There are going to be some changes around here," she said.

"Such as?" he asked.

"Such as more frequent sex for one. I don't know why I let myself forget that just because I'm not in the mood when you ask, it doesn't mean I won't be in the mood once we get started."

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, I'm more than happy to make that change, babe, because I know how important it is to ENFP's that their partners be open to change and new experiences."

"You remember that? Lord, we took that personality test so many years ago, Eric. That was before we were married." She raised her head to look at him. "I was so in love with you back then. I was so afraid you wouldn't go through with the marriage after you got injured."

"Really?"

"I just wanted to get married something awful. Lock you up tight."

He laughed and stroked her hair.

"You know what?" she asked.

"What?"

She kissed him tenderly. "I'm still in love with you."

THE END