Part 21 (1/2)
Vivi heard Marty stop talking but she was still several beats behind. Because now she was thinking about how she would have felt if she'd not only lost Stone but had allowed him to die without ever knowing he'd fathered their child. Her hand stole to her stomach as it often seemed to now of its own accord. At just over six months, her stomach was well on its way to the watermelon stage, already football shaped and surprisingly firm. The baby seemed to have a trampoline in there with it; right now, with all her juices stirred up, the acrobatics felt of the extreme variety.
”Are you there, Vivi?” She could tell by Marty's tone that she hadn't responded again when it was her turn to speak.
”Yes, sorry. I should be used to this by now, but I've been so worried.”
”I know. It's some scary s.h.i.+t,” Marty agreed. ”A darkened parking garage is about as far out on the line as I'm prepared to go.”
Vivien would have liked to acknowledge the joke, but her sense of humor had deserted her completely when those first confused reports had started to filter out of Afghanistan.
”Stone's worried, too. But not about himself.”
This time Vivien's lack of response was intentional.
”He wants me to come check on you. He's convinced something's wrong.”
This time Marty waited her out; she'd forgotten that he was almost as good at that as she was. ”Well, he's wrong. I'm fine. Couldn't be better. You are not my mother, and you don't need to check on me.”
”How is Caroline?” he asked now, and she offered up a little prayer of thanks that he hadn't already spoken to her. ”Maybe I should give her a call and make sure that's true.”
Vivien gritted her teeth. That was all she needed, Caroline having an audience to pour out her disappointment in Vivien to. Not to mention her pregnancy. ”I'm not speaking to my mother at the moment.” If she started trying to prevent Marty from making contact it would be the first thing he'd do; just as she would if their positions were reversed. ”But feel free to give her a call. I'm sure she'd love to have someone to complain about me to.”
There was a pause. ”Seriously, Vivi. You know you can call me anytime if you want to talk or need anything.” His voice sort of trailed off in embarra.s.sment, but Vivi was touched by his sincerity.
”Thanks, Marty. I know and I appreciate that. I'm going to have to go, but before I do I'd like to hear one story about Regina Matthews looking bad.”
”Hmmmmm, I don't know,” he teased. ”She's looking awfully good. Do you want me to make one up?”
”I'll get back to you on that,” she said and as they said good-bye she was surprised to realize she was nowhere near as upset about Regina Matthew's competence as she should have been.
This time when she got through to Stone's voice mail she couldn't hide how worried she'd been. ”I'm so sorry about Deke and Jonathan.” She hesitated, trying to get her emotions under control, but her voice broke midsentence and she couldn't seem to stop the waver in it. ”I know it's selfish, but I've been thanking G.o.d it wasn't you.” She paused, swallowed. ”I'm counting on you to come back to me,” she said. ”I won't accept anything else.”
A few mornings later Vivien dallied over her morning tea in her robe and slippers waiting for Melanie to leave for the Magnolia Ballroom, where she was slated to begin teaching the new cardio/salsa exercise cla.s.s she'd added to the weekday schedule.
”What are you doing today?” Melanie asked as she searched the counter first for her keys and then once she'd located them, for her cell phone.
”Nothing much. Maybe a few errands. Do you mind if I take the RAV?” She yawned as if it didn't matter either way.
”Of course not.” Melanie finally found the phone in the pocket of her jacket. ”Any special requests for dinner?”
”No. But I'll take care of it.”
”You?” Melanie stopped in her tracks. ”You're going to cook?” She didn't look as happy about that as someone who'd been carrying the load single-handedly at meal-time might.
”I can't guarantee cooking,” Vivi said. ”But I can guarantee food. And if you need me to handle kid pickup or anything, just call me on my cell.”
”Wow,” Melanie said. ”You mean I just come home and walk in the door and food will be on the table?” The note of wonder in her voice made Vivien realize that she should have offered this long ago.
”That's the plan,” she said.
”Wow,” Melanie said again as she walked out the kitchen door to the minivan. A large smile was spread across her face.
As the garage door closed behind her sister, Vivien banished her guilt over her deception. Torn between going through J.J.'s phone and credit card bills and getting dressed for her appointment with Grady Hollis, who'd been the president of Sigma Sigma Fraternity when Clay and J.J were at Georgia, she chose a shower and makeup.
Dressed in the most businesslike of her maternity clothes, she made her way downstairs and out to the car, telling herself that if her suspicions about Clay playing some sort of role in or hiding information about J.J.'s death proved true, there'd be nothing to apologize for. If she was wrong, Melanie need never know she'd asked the first question.
By the time she turned south on Highway 400 for the drive to Macon, the morning rush was over. An hour and forty-five minutes later, after only a few wrong turns, she found the law office of Hollis & Hollis in downtown Macon. A receptionist invited her to take a seat, and she'd barely sunk into the cracked leather-backed chair she was shown to when Grady Hollis came out to greet her. The attorney had the bulk of a former athlete who'd run up against the wall of middle age, a receding hairline, and an easy smile. ”Good ole boy” could have been stamped in gilt letters on his gleaming forehead just as surely as Hollis & Hollis was stenciled on the front door.
His handshake was firm but not bone crus.h.i.+ng and as she followed him back to his office he chatted amiably, though she could feel his curiosity simmering just beneath his jovial surface.
”So you're Melanie's sister? I sure can see the resemblance,” he said. ”In fact, when I first saw that video on YouTube I thought . . .” His voice trailed off as he realized what he'd said.
”That's all right,” Vivi said. ”I don't think there's a man, woman, or child in this country who didn't see me take that bullet. It wasn't exactly my proudest moment.”
He laughed. ”I get that,” he said, looking her up and down. ”I didn't realize from the video that you were pregnant. I guess it's actually a lucky thing that bullet hit you where it did.”
Vivien realized with a start how right he was. Her first thought was always of the embarra.s.sment that went along with the shooting. She hadn't really stopped and thought what might have happened to the baby she hadn't known she was carrying, if the bullet had entered from the front. ”Good point. I'll have to remember that next time I'm feeling like a moron for being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Sitting back in his chair, he steepled his beefy hands in his lap and asked, ”So how are Melanie and the kids? I haven't seen them since the funeral.”
”They're doing as well as can be expected,” Vivi said. ”It takes a while to bounce back from a loss like that. And, of course, it was so unexpected,” she said, making it both a statement and a question.
”Yeah. I couldn't believe it when I heard,” Grady said. ”J.J. was practically born with a rifle in his hands. He grew up hunting with his uncles.” Grady shook his head. ”Terrible thing all round.”
Vivien nodded her agreement, then allowed a bit of silence in hope that Grady would fill it, but the attorney just looked at her expectantly.
”As I mentioned on the phone, I'm doing a small doc.u.mentary on up-and-coming politicians cut down in their prime,” she said, sticking to a cover story similar to the one she'd used on Professor Sturgess. ”It's going to be dedicated to J.J.” She noticed that her lies were getting more outrageous, but Grady nodded approval.
”I wondered if you could tell me about J.J. in college. You know, your perspective as the president of his fraternity.”
Grady nodded again and sat a little straighter in his chair. ”Well,” he began, ”J.J. was a real cla.s.sy guy and really motivated. h.e.l.l, he knew he wanted a career in politics before the rest of us had the first idea what we wanted to be when we grew up. Well, I mean I knew I was expected to go into law like my daddy, but I can't say I was particularly pa.s.sionate about it, you know?”
”I spoke with one of J.J's professors, who said the same thing.”
”Yeah, the rest of us would be sitting around the dining room talking trash to each other or going on about girls and who got lucky. J.J.'d be talking about the electoral college and the importance of being involved in the political process.” He shook his head. ”It was like a religion to him. I mean he lived and breathed that stuff.”
”Clay Alexander was really into all that, too, wasn't he?”
A tiny flicker of discomfort registered in Grady Hollis's eyes. ”Yeah,” he said.
Vivien waited for more, but that was it.
”He and Clay pledged Sigma Sigma at the same time, didn't they?”
Grady nodded, but she could feel him treading carefully, like he'd shown up for a beach party and all of the sudden noticed that the sand was strewn with mine-fields.
”They were good friends, right?” Vivi tried again. ”Clay ran J.J.'s winning campaign for student council president?”