Jess closed the car hatch and headed back toward the house with the envelope as a VW Bug with floral decals on both side doors pulled alongside her car in the driveway. A young woman moved smoothly out of the car and extended an arm.
“Hi, I’m Melody Barnes. You must be Jess,” she said in such a well-modulated, sweet voice that Jess wondered if her parents had waited until she could talk before they’d named her. Not only that, but Jess couldn’t stop looking at her hair, and then, when she was over the shock of seeing a bright purple stripe of short hair cut on a diagonal on one side of Melody’s head, she couldn’t stop looking at Melody’s clothes. She was dressed in a bright pink camisole nearly covered by a black silk blouse, and a rainbow-checkerboard short skirt with purple leggings and matching bright orange clown shoes.
Before Jess could respond, Melody quickly went on, “You probably think I’m kinda freaky. But I just got off work at the puppet theater, and this is how we were dressed for the finale. I wanted to keep this appointment and didn’t have time to go home and change into other duds. Sorry to surprise you.”
Jess realized she must have been standing there with her mouth open to have received such an explanation, so she quickly responded, “I’m happy to meet you, Melody. Claire is so excited that you’ll be helping her out. Come on in.”
Jess peeked into the nursery and found Claire awake and nursing PJ. She greeted Melody with a huge belly laugh, which threw poor little PJ off the breast, and then they all started to laugh, except for PJ, who whimpered a bit until he was repositioned.
“Melody’s a playwright for a puppet theater, and she sometimes works as a puppeteer. I know we talked about her as an artsy type who was looking for steady work, but maybe we never really got into much detail about her. Given that I’m such a right-brain, focused person, I wanted PJ to have a presence from another sphere with him in his early developmental stages. And, as you can see, I believe Melody will add a lot of color to his life!”
“I’ve worked as a nanny off and on for four years,” Melody said. “Babies are my specialty. He’s adorable. Can I stay a bit and hold him when you’re done nursing?” she asked.
Claire walked Melody to the door and found Jess checking the giveaway stack in the porch. “I see you’ve been busy.”
“I have. I went through that big storage box from the lake and sorted stuff. Do you have any interest in any of those books? No big deal if you don’t.”
Claire smiled. “If I ever have time to read again, you mean? What’s that?” She pointed to the envelope. “Are you getting stir crazy?”
“I’m not sure what it is, but they tracked me down from the office. Guess they miss me.” Jess raised her eyebrows, tore open the envelope, and scanned the contents. “Unbelievable.” She sat down and read more closely.
“What?”
“It’s a contract offer from Dick for that project he wants me to do. I more or less told him off when he asked me about it.” Jess paused and looked up at Claire. “And not only does he want me to do it, but the terms are open. He wants me to name my price.”
“Wonderful! Another reason to party. We’re celebrating your last night sleeping over with takeout. I just ordered pizza; it should be here in fifteen minutes.”
Just then, PJ’s cry alerted them. Claire was halfway to the bedroom when the crying stopped. She returned, happy for a few extra minutes of freedom.
Diane arrived before the food. She carried a bottle of wine into the den and presented it to Jess with a flourish and a warm squeeze. “It’s time to recognize another new beginning. For Jess, the divorce is final. Ready to move on to the next chapter?”
The doorbell rang, pulling Jess out of her momentary lapse. “Wow, it’s hard to believe this one’s really over.”
Diane went to the kitchen for a corkscrew and glasses, and Claire answered the door for the delivery guy and then called out to Diane, “Hey, a glass for me, too! I’m more than ready to have my first wine after childbirth!”
Jess exhaled deeply and let her mind unwind. Between PJ’s birth and getting him and Claire settled at home, she hadn’t had much time to think about the true end of the marriage. How did anyone really celebrate the end of a marriage, anyway? The papers were finally signed, so the deed was done. At best, it was bittersweet.
The marriage had ended long ago for Arthur. She found it ironic that he could leave his family as easily as he had because he knew how strong she was. She had developed that strength early in life to help her survive the melodramatic failure of her parents’ marriage and their inability to shield her.
“You didn’t tell me it was final,” Claire said. “When? And, more important, how are you feeling?” Claire carted the pizza box to the dining room table, and Diane reappeared with tableware.
“The news from my attorney came in while you were still in the hospital. Arthur finally let go of the air miles.” Jess paused. “More easily than I expected, actually. And that was the last issue.”
“OK, that’s the ‘when.’ But how are you feeling?” The question stopped time, like suspended animation in a movie. Diane was poised to pop the cork from the wine bottle, and Claire was just about to sit. They waited.
“Relieved, but sad, too,” Jess started slowly. “Not sure how I’ll feel about it next week or next month. It’s somewhat anticlimactic right now, yet still a bit raw,” she finished with a trembling lip.
Claire and Diane both started toward her, but Jess headed them off. “But right now, I’m very excited about having my first taste of wine in a week.” She picked up her glass and held it toward Diane. “Pop that cork, please!”
Over dinner, Jess told them that Tom and Beth were going to Portland for Thanksgiving. “I know it’s what Arthur wants. The kids are hesitant to go, but they did agree. And I’m not going to make it hard for them, any of them.” She looked up at her friends and found the support she needed.
“But they’ll be here for three full weeks over winter break at Christmas. Yay!” Jess cheered. Claire and Diane joined in. “Claire, is there any chance you would consider having the christening when they’re home?”
“What a brilliant idea! Yes, let’s do that.”
“They’re both so excited to meet PJ!”
As Jess was drifting off to sleep during her last night in Claire’s guest room, she was pleased that she had kept her cool when she had shared the news that the kids wouldn’t be with her for Thanksgiving. Just as well that there had been so much activity. It kept her mind occupied. Her last thought was of the envelope sitting atop her suitcase.