His moist tongue flicked out, and I offered my cheek, then gave him another hug.
My thoughts turned to Rob, and an encore of disappointment and sadness saturated my chest. But I couldn’t deal with Rob’s situation yet. Not while my mother sat alone, brokenhearted.
My life had been built upon the fact that Dad was an honest man. He’d been one of the stone pillars supporting my world. I now knew he was a fake, a fraud, and my bones ached as I tried to accept the truth. He was a liar, I told myself. If he’d been dishonest with Mom, what else had he covered up? Was he living a double life? I felt lopsided, as if one leg were suddenly shorter than the other.
I carried Charlie into the living room and sat on the couch. The weight of the dog’s warm body in my lap comforted me. I stroked his ears and felt my pulse slow down a notch. With my free hand I lifted the phone. I wanted to talk to Mom, but she’d promised to call if she heard from Dad. Had the scumbag still not bothered to call home?
I dialed Laurie’s number and Dave answered on the second ring. When I asked for Laurie, he said, “I thought she was with you.”
“Uh, no.” I stopped patting Charlie and sorted through my memory bank. I was sure Laurie and I hadn’t made plans for today. “Maybe she’s with Susan or Erika.”
“No, she said you two girls were going shopping together.” He sounded perturbed. “Some big sale.”
“Maybe we got our wires crossed. I’ve been at work, then at my parents’.” But Laurie knew my work number, and she would have tried to call me on my cell phone if I hadn’t shown up for a date.
“If you see my wife, tell her to come home right away.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No, I have an important meeting today and can’t find a pressed shirt. Laurie was supposed to go to the dry cleaner, and is probably driving around town with my laundry in her trunk. In the meantime I’m looking like a bozo wearing the same shirt I wore yesterday.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her.” I heard the line go dead as Dave hung up. I scratched Charlie between the ears, then my fingers stiffened as I contemplated if Laurie was lying to Dave and using me for an alibi. If so, where was she? I considered calling Dave back to warn him now was the time to work on his marriage, not worry about wrinkled shirts.
Charlie whined softly as he waited for me to continue. I tickled him under the chin. “Sorry, boy.” I closed my eyes and envisioned Laurie sifting through a rack of clothes at Chico’s, her favorite shop, spending a bundle. But was Chico’s or any other store holding a sale this week? I hadn’t received a notice in the mail or seen any ads in the newspaper.
The phone chirped, and I stuck the receiver to my ear, expecting to hear Laurie’s voice.
“Marguerite?” a woman’s wire-thin voice said. “It’s Lucille Walker, Andrea’s mother.”
When I spied Alice sitting across the restaurant table from Dad, I was furious enough to walk out of my father’s life forever.
Alice, her lime green satin dress barely covering her knees, leaned toward him and spoke with intensity. Her hand reached to take his as though they were two lovebirds. Mom sat at home crying, I thought, while Dad was out on a date with his girlfriend.
Finding him had been no easy chore. I’d spent an hour phoning every major hotel in town and finally located him at the Washington Athletic Club, with its fitness rooms, spa, restaurant, and overnight accommodations. Was this why he’d held onto his membership there? So he could use the club facilities for his rendezvous with Alice?
The hostess approached me. “Would you like a table?” she asked.
“No, I won’t be staying.” I took a step toward the door. But leaving would make things too easy for them. I should stay and confront the two lowlifes, never mind the other people in the restaurant. I would march over to Dad and Alice’s table and overturn their luncheon plates in their laps, then toss ice water in their sorry faces.
Thinking how good that would feel, I noticed Alice shoot to her feet, then pitch her napkin down on the table. With squared shoulders and arms swinging like a soldier, she charged toward the door, almost colliding with me. We stood face-to-face for a moment. Hatred spewed out of her eyes, and I glowered right back at her, almost hoping she would give me an excuse to pop her in the nose. Her mouth flapped open, but she flounced past me without speaking.
Dad, clad in his favorite tweed sports jacket, still sat at the table. He didn’t seem to notice me when I stalked over with my arms folded across my chest. A roast beef sandwich, looking as if it had just come out of the kitchen, sat on a plate in front of him.
I cleared my throat, forcing my voice to sound like his when he demanded someone’s attention.
He finally glanced up, and a half smile formed on his thin lips. “Hello, honey.”
A whirlwind of condemnations danced on the tip of my tongue, but all I could say was, “Shut up.”
He shot me his patriarchal look, which used to make me melt into a puddle. But not anymore. All respect for him gone, I glared down at the reprobate with disgust. He looked older: His face bore a cobweb of craggy lines, and the top of his head shined through a thinning mat of hair.
A waitress appeared at the table, cleared Alice’s empty plate, and asked me if I wanted a menu.
“No thanks, I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Please sit down,” Dad said, gesturing to Alice’s seat.
I lowered myself gingerly, leaving my chair several feet from the table.
Dad played with his spoon, flipping it over and back several times.
