She was singing in the shower, humming along, shampooing her hair, when she heard the phone ringing in the bedroom.
She grabbed a towel and ran for the phone, catching it on the fourth ring. She was out of breath, naked, and shampoo was dripping down into her eyes.
“Mary Bliss?”
It was Randy. “Do you guys have any charcoal over there? Like a dope, I forgot to buy any. Guess I’m still adjusting to buying groceries. And bachelor life in general.”
“We’ve got a gas grill, so I never buy charcoal,” Mary Bliss said.
“That’s okay. I’ll just run over to the Jiffy Mart. Can you think of anything else we need? Do you like steak sauce?”
“Oh, don’t bother with going to the store,” Mary Bliss said. “It’s getting pretty late. Why don’t you bring the steaks over here? It’s just as easy to cook at my place.”
“What? And pass up the chance to show you what an appalling housekeeper I am?”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Mary Bliss assured him. She felt lighthearted, close to happy, but maybe not quite.
“Okay, it’s your house, then,” he said. “How soon should I come over? I’ve pretty much got everything ready.”
“Give me fifteen minutes to dry my hair and set the table,” Mary Bliss said.
She was still humming while she dressed: loose drawstring pants, a sleeveless top, even a little eye makeup. She decided her feet deserved to go bare for a while, after all they’d been through that day.
They’d eat in the kitchen, she decided, taking plates and glasses out of the cupboard. The dining room seemed too formal. Too datelike.
She was washing lettuce for the salad when Randy knocked at the back door.
Kicked at it, really, since his hands were full.
“You’ll have to light the gas grill,” she said apologetically. “I’ve always been afraid the thing might blow up on me.”
“So you’re willing to experiment with me? Thanks a lot.”
“You’re a man,” Mary Bliss said. “All men like to play with fire.”
God. Was that her? Was she flirting?
He did manage to get the grill lit; she poured the two of them a glass of wine and took it out to the little brick patio, where Randy was sitting on one of her Adirondack chairs.
It was full dark. They could hear the soft cooing of mourning doves coming from the trees at the back of the yard, and the thrumming of cicadas, and the hum of tires on the street out in front. Mary Bliss had a wind chime hanging from the eaves of the back porch, and its ringing kept time with the slight breeze blowing through the treetops. When the wind shifted, you could smell the night-blooming jasmine Mary Bliss had planted on the fence around her vegetable garden.
“This is nice back here,” Randy said, looking around at the expanse of lawn and flowers, shrubs and vegetable patch. “Who’s the gardener?”
“Me, I guess,” Mary Bliss said. “Parker usually keeps the grass mowed when he’s home, but I’ve been having to do it lately.”
“Me too,” Randy said, and they both laughed companionably.
“I’m an outlaw,” Mary Bliss said. “I’ve been watering on off days. You won’t turn me in, will you?”
“You can have my water,” Randy said. “My lawn is so far gone, I’ve given up on trying to get it to stay green. Anyway, if I watered it, it would just grow, and I’d just have to keep cutting it.”
“It’s not that bad,” Mary Bliss said, but they both knew she was being charitable.
“I can’t seem to get things together with her gone,” he said suddenly, staring down at his wine glass. “Our house is the biggest dump on the block. I guess people are starting to complain.”
“It’s not that bad,” Mary Bliss said.
“Yes, it is,” Randy said. “But there’s so much to do. Get the kids to school and baseball practice, make sure there’s food in the house, clean clothes, the bills are paid. Not to mention my job. I never realized how much work there is to keeping a family going.”
“It’s a lot,” Mary Bliss said, thinking of her own recent struggles.
“You don’t want to hear me bitch and moan,” Randy said, straightening up. “Let’s see about those steaks.”
She went inside to get everything else ready.
“Hope you don’t mind ’em overcooked,” Randy said, bringing in the tray of steaks. “Guess I lost track of time out there.”
She’d put candles on the table. Should she light them? What was the protocol for a married woman entertaining her nearly divorced next-door neighbor?
“Wow,” Randy said, looking at the table, set with her everyday china and a little vase of red-and-yellow zinnias she’d cut earlier in the day. “Do you always fix things so nice?”
What the hell. She decided to light the candles.
They were just spooning the Zippee Dip over their salads when Erin came in through the garage door.
“Hey there!” Mary Bliss said brightly.
“Mom?” Erin looked from her mother to Randy. “Hi, Mr. Bowden.”
There was a question in her voice.
“Dad?” Josh Bowden stood behind Erin. His voice had the same question.
“Look who’s here,” Randy said. “Where have you kids been?”
“We went to Blockbuster after I got off work, to rent a DVD,” Erin said. “It’s the new remastered Star Wars. What are you two doing?”
“Having dinner,” Mary Bliss said. “I ran into Randy at Bargain Bonanza. He was buying steaks, and I was selling salad dressing, so we decided to join forces.”
“There’s lots more steak at the house,” Randy said, his voice a trifle too jolly. “Why don’t you kids join us?”
“We ate,” Josh said.
“I don’t eat steak,” Erin added, her voice flat. “We’re just going to go in the den and watch the movie. That’s okay, isn’t it?”
She was giving Mary Bliss an accusing look. We’ll watch the movie while you two make out in here, it seemed to say.
Now she had Mary Bliss feeling all defensive about an entirely innocent dinner. “Restriction normally means no company, Erin. You know that.”
Her daughter’s face clouded.
“But since Josh is here, I guess it’s all right.”
“Thanks.” Erin’s voice dripped sarcasm. “We’re gonna make some popcorn. Unless that’s against the rules?”
Mary Bliss wanted to smack her. “Go right ahead.”
Randy offered the little plate of carrots and celery sticks Mary Bliss had so carefully arranged. “If you’re hungry, try some of these veggies and Zippee Dip.”
Josh looked down at the cup of dip. “Gross. No thanks.”
“You might have to learn to like it,” Mary Bliss said. “Your dad bought a couple gallons of it today.”
“Oh yeah,” Josh said. “Hey, Dad. Mom’s over at the house. She needed to get some stuff. She wants to know if I can go up to the lake with her this weekend.”
“What lake?” Randy asked, pushing at the bridge of his glasses.
Josh shrugged. He looked so much like his father, tall and lanky, with the same light-brown hair and milk-chocolate eyes. “I dunno. Some lake up in the mountains. A friend of hers has a house up there. And a boat. We’re gonna go water-skiing and stuff like that.”
Randy grimaced. “What friend? What’s his name?”
“God. I don’t know,” Josh said. “It’s just a lake. No big deal. Can I go or not?”
Erin was watching them both with interest. She saw the look that passed between her mother and Randy.
“Fine,” Randy said. “Just make sure to leave a phone number where I can reach you.”
Now it was Erin and Josh exchanging a look. They popped their popcorn in the microwave while the grown-ups ate their dinner in silence.
The steak was overdone. But the potatoes were warm and buttery, and the Zippee Dip was surprisingly good on it.
“I take it Nancye’s friend is a man-type person?” Mary Bliss asked after the kids were in the other room.
“You could say that,” Randy said wryly. “I’m assuming it’s this professor over at Emory. According to the kids, he’s old enough to be Nancye’s father. And rich, of course.”
“What does Josh think of him?” Mary Bliss asked. “Is he step-father material? Or has it gotten that serious yet?”
“Josh doesn’t talk a lot to me about his mother,” Randy said. “I guess he wants to protect me. Or he’s so angry at both of us he can’t bring himself to talk about it.”
Mary Bliss nodded sympathetically. “What’s happening with the divorce settlement? Is she still trying to keep you from getting custody of the kids?”
Randy dipped a bit of steak in the salad dressing. “She’s done a complete turnaround. Now she doesn’t want the kids and she doesn’t want the house. Just a big old pile of my money. And my retirement benefits.”
“Wow. Why the change of heart? Did the kids convince her they want to stay with you?”
He sipped some wine. “No. I think the folder of photographs and the sworn affidavits from the PI I hired to tail her helped convince her to let the kids stay with me.”
“Photos.” Mary Bliss let the word sit there. So he knew. And Nancye knew he knew.
“Photos,” Randy said. He stood up abruptly.
“Dessert?”
Mary Bliss was astonished. She hadn’t even finished her steak.
Just then the back door swung open. “Mary Bliss,” Katharine called, sticking her head in the door. “We need to talk. Right now.”
But she stopped talking when she saw Randy Bowden, scraping his plate in Mary Bliss’s sink.
He was still dressed in his suit pants. He’d removed his tie and unbuttoned his collar, and the sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled to his elbows. He looked pretty damned at home.
“Hello,” Katharine said. She gave Mary Bliss an accusing look. “I didn’t know you had company.”
“Hey, Katharine,” Randy said. “Looks like the whole neighborhood is around tonight. Josh and Erin just came in to watch a movie.”
“Yeah,” Katharine said, a bit of malice in her voice. “And I saw Nancye’s car parked in your driveway too.”
Mary Bliss could have kicked her.
“She’s picking up some things for her new apartment,” Randy said. “Want some dessert? It’s chocolate praline cheesecake. We’ve got nearly a whole pie here.”
“No, thanks,” Katharine said, leaning against the kitchen counter. But she did pour herself a glass of wine. Clearly, she intended to stay for a while.
Mary Bliss decided to ignore her. She finished her steak, poured herself another glass of wine.
Randy sat down across from her and looked miserable. They each ate a small slice of cheesecake, while Katharine worked on opening another bottle of wine.
“I’d better go,” Randy said finally.
“Coffee?” Mary Bliss offered.
“Better not,” Randy said. “If Nancye’s still over there, I should go supervise. There’s not much left for her to take, except for my easy chair and my bed linens. But she’s probably loading those up even as we speak.”
He gathered up his platter and barbecue tools, said good-bye, and left.
From the other room, Katharine and Mary Bliss heard Erin and Josh laughing uproariously at something.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Katharine whispered.
Mary Bliss started to load the dishwasher. “He came over here to screw me,” she said flippantly. “We started here in the kitchen, then we moved upstairs to my room, then we were getting ready to do it in the den when the kids came in. So we stopped and grilled some steaks. What the hell do you think he was doing here?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think. I know you wouldn’t do anything skeezy with Randy Bowden,” Katharine said hotly. “This just looks bad, M. B. I mean, Nancye’s car is right across the street. She knows Randy’s over here. By tomorrow morning, all of Fair Oaks will know you two are an item. And do I need to remind you that you’re still married? God. You’re ruining everything.”
“We are not an item,” Mary Bliss whispered, her eyes blazing. “It was a perfectly innocent dinner. He was shopping at Bargain Bonanza, and he ran into me, giving out samples of Zippee Dip. He was hungry and lonely, and so was I. And that’s all there is to it.”
“Oh yeah?” Katharine said. “You’re wearing eye shadow, Mary Bliss. And lipstick. I haven’t seen you this fixed up all summer. And another thing. What was he doing at the Bargain Bonanza way down in Riverdale, when there’s one not five miles from here?”
“He was shopping for the kids,” Mary Bliss said. “And we have all these grand-opening specials down in Riverdale.”
“Bullshit,” Katharine said. “They offer those specials at all the stores when they open a new one. He followed you down there. He’s hot for you, Mary Bliss. He’s single, and he’s on the prowl, and the lonely lady across the street is all of a sudden looking mighty good.”
“You’re disgusting,” Mary Bliss said, throwing down her dish towel. “Go home, Katharine.”
“No way,” Katharine said. “Forget about Randy for now. We’ve got something more serious to discuss.”