A Pinch of Salt

  “You need to go handle this; it’s time. It’ll still be my birthday later, and I’ll see you at Dru’s party.”

  “Are you sure?” Jackson asked, obviously torn.

  “Positive,” I said with a nod.

  “Okay, but I will see you later, and we’ll celebrate your birthday after Dru’s party, just the two of us.” Jackson frowned, then leaned down to press his forehead against mine. “I really hate to do this to you on your birthday, but I have to see her, face to face, and now that I know where she is, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else until I did, and that wouldn’t be fair to you either.”

  “I understand.”

  “You’re amazing,” he whispered, pulling back to look down at me as he smoothed my hair back in a sweet gesture. “I’ll save your present until tonight. I don’t want it to be tainted by this.”

  “Okay,” I agreed with a somewhat forced smile. “I look forward to it.”

  I stepped back, and could see Jackson still warring with indecision, so I pointed down the street and ordered, “Go, and I’ll see you tonight.”

  Jackson nodded, then walked away. I stood there watching, smiling for real when he looked back over his shoulder, then blew me a kiss.

  After a couple seconds, I went back in to the restaurant and sat at the table.

  “What’s going on?” Dru asked, looking over my shoulder for Jackson, then frowning when she realized he wasn’t with me.

  “His PI found his wife. He’s going to go see her and give her the divorce papers.”

  “Now?” Tasha cried. “Couldn’t it have waited until after lunch?”

  “He left your birthday lunch?” Dru asked incredulously.

  “You guys, I told him to go. He would have been thinking about confronting her, and I’d be worrying about how he was doing and everything. It’s just better that he goes and handles everything now. Get it over with. I’ll see him at the party tonight, and he said we’ll celebrate my birthday after.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Dru asked, her hand reaching for mine.

  I grasped it gratefully and admitted, “I’m happy he’s found her, and hopeful that he’ll get the answers and closure that he needs . . .”

  “But, you’re worried,” my twin guessed.

  “What if they see each other and realize they should still be a family?” I asked softly.

  “Then you’ll get through it, with us by your side. Together, we can do anything, right?”

  “Right,” Tasha confirmed.

  “Would you like to order now?” our waiter asked.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “It’ll just be the three of us. Can you get me the Butter Chicken, and change this Thai Tea for dirty martini, extra dirty, with three olives?”

  “Yas!” Dru exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Make that three martinis’ and I’ll have the curry.”

  “Me too,” Tasha said, and we all handed the waiter our menus.

  Inadvertently, my eyes drifted back toward the door, then I felt Dru squeeze my hand and Tasha grab my other one, and I turned my attention to my sisters.

  “It’ll be okay,” Dru assured me, and I prayed she was right.

  Jackson

  MY HEART WAS POUNDING, STOMACH cramping, and I felt a little light-headed as I followed the GPS to where Julie had been hiding for the past year.

  As I eased up to the curb, I noticed Mick getting out of a beat-up old Army Jeep. As his large body lumbered toward me, my gaze kept darting to the large house to the right of us. There was nothing homey or cozy about it; no, it was nothing like the home we’d build together. This one was flashy. Ostentatious.

  “She’s in there,” Mick assured me as he approached. “I saw her come back about twenty minutes ago and she hasn’t reemerged.”

  I nodded, unable to find my voice quite yet.

  “I’ll wait out here, unless you need me to come with you,” Mick stated, his eyebrow raised. I wasn’t sure if that eyebrow was him daring me not to be a wuss, or him simply waiting for my reply, but I took a deep breath and dug deep.

  “No, I’ve got it,” I replied, clutching the manila folder that held my key to freedom.

  Mick leaned against the side of my truck as I rounded it and walked slowly up the sidewalk, as if I were walking The Green Mile. I felt an adrenaline rush at the thought of finally having this confrontation, months and months of questions and a myriad of feelings swimming through me, as I approached the door and knocked.

  Nothing . . .

  I rang the doorbell and waited.

  Nothing . . .

  “Are you sure she’s still here?” I shouted back at Mick, who gave me a look like I should know better than to question him.

  A second later, I heard noise from the other end of the door, and was adjusting my glasses nervously on my nose when it opened. My breath caught, but it took me a full three count to realize that the woman standing in front of me was, in fact, Julie.

  Everything about her was different.

  She was wearing a string bikini, which showed off the fact that she’d had her breasts enlarged and that she was tiny, like really, really tiny. I could probably wrap my arms around her waist if I wanted to, which I didn’t. Her naturally dark hair had been bleached to almost a white blonde, and her nose looked different. Not a drastic change, but enough that I knew she’d had work done.

  Her skin was dark, tanned, which highlighted the stretch marks that had developed when she was pregnant with Kayla. Those marks, along with her eyes, were the only evidence that this was the Julie that I’d been married to.

  “Jackson?” Julie breathed out, her smile faltering. “What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

  I looked over my shoulder at Mick, and Julie leaned to the side to see around me, then righted herself as I struggled to make the words come out of my mouth. To say I was shocked, flabbergasted, reeling, would be an understatement.

  “Well, at first I thought you’d come back,” I began, my voice scratchy as if I’d just woken from a long slumber. “Then I worried you’d been hurt. Eventually, I just stopped caring.” Her flinch told me that I’d hit my target, but even though I’d wanted to inflict pain on her, just as she had on me, I realized that this wasn’t why I was there, and it didn’t make me feel any better to hurt her. “Once I hired him,” I gestured over my shoulder at Mick with my thumb, “it wasn’t that hard. You’ve been here the whole time?”

  “Why don’t you come inside,” Julie offered, stepping back a bit and gesturing behind her.

  “I don’t want to,” I said, a little more forcefully than necessary. “I just came here for some answers, and to give you this.” I held the envelope up in between us, then dropped my hand again.

  “What’s that?” she asked, but I shook my head and said, “Answers first.”

  Julie sighed, as if I were the one being unreasonable, then stated, “I already told you when I left, I needed time to find myself. To be me.”

  “But you never said why, or how you weren’t already being you . . . I don’t understand, and Kayla surely doesn’t. Do you remember her, your daughter? She just turned nine, did you even remember it was her birthday?”

  My emotions were getting the better of me, and I couldn’t stop, even though I saw her flinch again at my rant.

  “How was I holding you back? How was being a mother? I don’t get it? I never denied you anything, or told you no when you wanted to do something. Our relationship wasn’t like that, at least I didn’t think so. I thought we were partners, that we shared everything and used each other for support when we needed it. You totally blindsided me, Julie. One second I thought everything was fine, and the next, you were gone. What happened?”

  I realized I needed to actually breathe and pause, to let her respond, and I needed to gain control before I embarrassed myself by crying in front of her. Or, God forbid, in front of Mick. Heaving with emotion, I watched her face. She crinkled her nose up, just like she always did
when she was nervous, then shifted her weight from her left foot to her right.

  “I read this book, then watched a YouTube video, about settling. About becoming something you want for the sake of others, and I realized that I’d never gotten to live the life that I’d always dreamed of as a kid. I never sowed my oats, or went wild, or just, you know, lived. We never meant to get pregnant and married like that, neither of us did, but we did what we had to and you seemed to thrive, Jackson. It was obvious you loved being a father and a husband, and your job . . . you really enjoyed teaching. You were happy. And the happier you were, the more I began to resent you.”

  “Why?” I asked, the question coming out strangled.

  “Because I wasn’t happy. I loved you and Kayla, I did, I swear, but it felt like you were sucking the life out of me. And the more time that passed, the less of me there was. Reading that book was like waking up after sleeping for ten years. We only get one life, and it’s pretty short, and I knew if I didn’t leave, and go figure out what I wanted, who I wanted to be, I’d be lost.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you felt that way? I would have helped you try and figure things out. I never wanted you to be unhappy,” I asked imploringly, because she was right, I had been happy and I’d had no idea that my wife wasn’t.

  “I don’t know, I just couldn’t. I’m sorry that I left like that, sorry that I hurt you, but I’ve found what I was looking for, Jackson. I am happy.” Julie attempted a smile, shifted again, and I knew she was as ready to be done with the conversation as I was, but I still had to ask . . .

  “And, Kayla? What about our daughter? Don’t you miss her? Want to see her?” I’d already come to terms with things being over between the two of us, but I couldn’t understand her not needing to see Kayla.

  Julie bit her lip and looked away.

  “I think it’s better this way . . .”

  “Better for her to grow up without her mother?” I pushed, my tone conveying my disbelief, my anger.

  “I don’t have anything to offer her right now, maybe some day . . .”

  Holding up my hand again, I shoved the manila envelope at her.

  “These are divorce papers. I’m asking for full custody, the house, everything . . . everything you left behind. If you want to fight me for Kayla, I’ll fight, but if you want half of the house or anything in it, we can sit down and draw up new papers.”

  I was done. Angry, heartbroken for my daughter, and eager to get back to Millie, her sisters, and my friends. I needed a strong drink, the arms of the woman I was falling for, and tomorrow, I would hug my daughter until she had no doubt in her mind that I loved her enough for two parents.

  “I don’t want anything,” Julie said, taking the papers from my hand.

  “There’s a pen in there, and a yellow tab next to everywhere you need to initial and sign.”

  She nodded and began doing just that.

  “You should call your parents, they miss you terribly,” I informed her as I watched her sign.

  Julie looked up at that, her eyes flashing.

  “How are they?”

  “Not good. Your mom’s getting thinner and she’s always sad. Your dad spends a lot of time tinkering in his garage. They’re both hurting. You need to call them, Julie.”

  She let out a breath and said, “I will.”

  I took the papers she offered and flipped through them, making sure everything was signed and initialed according to my lawyer’s instructions. When I was satisfied they were, I put everything back in the envelope and looked at my soon-to-be ex-wife one last time.

  “If you wake up and realize what your missing, give me a call and we can figure out how to reintroduce you into Kayla’s life. You do not try to go around me and contact her yourself. I need to be involved and we need to do what we can to make things comfortable for her.”

  Julie nodded, but didn’t respond, so I said, “Goodbye, Julie,” and turned to go back to my truck.

  “Jackson,” she called, and I turned in the middle of the sidewalk to look back at the stranger who used to be my wife. “I’m sorry.”

  Without a word, I turned back to my truck, told Mick I’d follow him back to his office, then left Hampton, and Julie, behind.

  Millie

  MY FLAPPER DRESS WAS PURPLE with lots of fringe, which swayed any time I made a move. I absolutely loved it, along with the amazing decorations our team had come up with.

  The banquet room had been converted into a speakeasy, compete with whiskey barrels as tables, a mugshot photo station, prohibition signs everywhere, and you even had to use the secret code word to get in.

  Dru, in a dress identical to mine, only black, was already having the time of her life, and we’d only been here for about thirty minutes. Louis Armstrong was playing in the background and everyone was eating, drinking, and laughing. Having a great time.

  But I couldn’t stop watching the door, and checking my phone. I was worried about Jackson, wondering if he’d spoken to Julie and how that had gone.

  “Everything okay?”

  Tasha came up next to me, a drink in each hand, and passed one to me.

  She looked adorably sexy in a black pinstripe suit with nothing but a camisole underneath, her bright-red hair styled perfectly for the era in finger waves, her lips a bright red.

  “Thanks,” I said, accepting the glass. “And, yes, I’m fine.”

  “Haven’t heard from him yet?” she guessed.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Don’t worry, he’ll show,” Tasha assured me, her voice full of more confidence than I was feeling.

  “I know,” I lied.

  Commotion toward the entrance had me looking over to see a motley crew walking in. Ty, Rebecca, Rob, and Jan, all decked out and looking dapper in their twenties costumes. My breath caught as I looked behind them, hoping to see Jackson, and there he was, except he wasn’t wearing a twenties costume.

  No, he was showing off a lot of skin in his tiny white board shorts, Hawaiian shirt, which was, no lie, tied at his waist, with a captain hat on his head.

  Jackson’s eyes caught mine and he grinned, then did his best saunter all the way to me. By the time he reached me, I was laughing so hard that I was practically bent over. When he stopped in front of me and attempted to gyrate, I clapped a hand over my mouth as I guffawed.

  His eyes were twinkling as he watched me, and when I finally had some control, I uncovered my mouth and said, “That’s some Elvis costume.”

  “Thank you, thank you very much,” was Jackson’s reply, which had Tasha groaning next to me.

  “Oh my God!”

  “I know, right, it’s awful,” Ty said, giving his friend a onceover and grimacing.

  “I love it,” I purred as I put my arms around his waist and tilted my head back to look at him. “You look amazing.”

  “Don’t encourage him.” This came from Rob, as he picked up a cigar off of the table next to him and ran it under his nose. When Jan snatched it out of his hand he said, “Hey . . .”

  Jan just gave him a look, and he closed his mouth and pouted, causing the rest of us to laugh.

  “How are you?” I asked softly, while everyone else teased Rob.

  “Never been better,” Jackson said with a huge grin. “It’s over.”

  I leaned in to hug him tightly, then looked back up at him and asked, “And Kayla?”

  Jackson shook his head sadly, then his face cleared and he asked, “Can you step out for a minute? I want to give you your present.”

  “Now?” I asked, looking around at the party in full swing. “Don’t you want to wait until we get home?”

  Jackson picked me up, causing me to laugh as he answered excitedly, “I can’t wait that long.”

  “Okay,” I said as he put me down, then took my hand in his and led me toward the door at the back of the room, which led out to a balcony.

  The party was muted when he slid the sliding glass door shut behind us and we stepped out into the
night.

  “Wow,” I said as I looked up at the stars glittering in the sky. “What a beautiful night.”

  “Only more so because you’re in it,” Jackson replied, pulling me in close to his side, and my heart melted.

  I leaned my head against his shoulder, enjoying the moment, a happy sigh emitting from my lips, when he nudged me and asked, “Don’t you want your present?”

  “Oh yeah, that’s why we came out here,” I said with mock surprise, then put my hands out in front of me and closed my eyes. “What is it? Gimme?”

  Jackson chuckled at my exuberance, then laid what felt like paper in my hand. I opened one eye and peeked at him, saw his excited face, and looked down at my hand. My other eye popped open and my jaw dropped.

  There was a brochure for Graceland in my palm.

  “Oh my God, what does this mean?” I asked, hopeful, but unable to wrap my head around what I was holding in my hand.

  “I talked with Dru and Tasha, they’ve got you covered. It’ll be a couple months before school’s out, but that gives us time to plan it all out, and then, we’re going to Graceland, Ba-by!”

  “Oh my God!” I squealed this time, jumping up and down three times before jumping into his arms and squeezing as hard as I could. “This is the best gift anyone has given me in my life.”

  Jackson laughed and said, “Good, that’s what I was going for.”

  When I was back on my feet I looked at the brochure, hugged it to my chest, and told him, “You are getting so lucky tonight.”

  To which he replied, “I already am.”

  Gah, this guy . . .

  Jackson

  I WAS DOING MY BEST to wrangle two drunk, and one buzzed, sisters out of my truck and up the stairs to their apartments, without someone falling on their face. It wasn’t as easy as one might think. These girls were wired and super affectionate. They kept stopping to hug each other, and me, then sat down on the steps when they deemed the climb too far.

  “Come on, ladies, you’ll feel better once we can get some aspirin and water in you, and you get in your comfy clothes,” I cajoled, thinking the comfy clothes bit always worked on Kayla.