1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [28]
Rachel shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Rach, you have to tell your husband.”
Rachel shrugged. “I agree. I just want to preserve what peace there is for as long as I can.”
“You can’t allow Jolene to run your life—which is exactly what’s happening now.”
“Then tell me how to change that and I’ll be happy to do it.”
Teri sat down at the kitchen table, and Rachel took the chair across from her. “Have you tried taking Jolene out, just the two of you?” Teri asked.
Rachel nodded. “But she isn’t interested in going anywhere if I’m along.”
“I thought she liked to shop?”
“She does, but not if I’m with her.” Part of the problem was that Jolene preferred to be with kids her own age rather than an adult. Like almost every young teenager, she was far more influenced by her friends and their opinions than by her parents. Granted, she idolized her dad, but Rachel had become the evil stepmother.
“That’s too bad.”
“I’ve also tried to get her interested in taking a class with me.”
Teri’s eyes shone with approval. “Great idea!”
“I signed us up for cake decorating. You know how much Jolene loves to bake. Bruce thought it was a good idea, too, but it backfired. The night of the first class she pretended to be sick and stayed home. Bruce said the minute I was out the door Jolene experienced a miraculous recovery.” She sighed. “So it’s not like he hasn’t seen some of her bad behavior, but he doesn’t see the whole picture. Anyway, I finished the classes without Jolene attending a single one.”
“Why? Did she get ‘sick’ every week?”
“No, she flat-out refused to go. She said she missed too much the first week and would always be behind. Besides that, she said she wasn’t interested in decorating cakes. That was for retards like me—her word, by the way.”
Jolene was free with her insults but smart enough not to say them in front of her father. And so far, Rachel hadn’t been able to bring herself to tattle.
“How are things between you and Bruce?” Teri asked.
The kettle whistled then and Teri got up to make the tea—decaffeinated, in deference to Rachel’s pregnancy—and assemble a plate of crackers and various cheeses. They carried everything back into the family room and sat down on the sofa again.
“Bruce is…Bruce,” she murmured.
“Oblivious, right?”
Rachel nodded, making a wry face to hide her unhappiness. The pregnancy was playing havoc with her emotions. In the past, she’d never dissolved easily into tears but they sprang to her eyes now. She fought to hold them back, blinking furiously. “He’s got a one-track mind,” she whispered, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin.
“And that one track leads directly to the bedroom.”
Rachel nodded again.
“The fact that he wants to go to bed at eight o’clock every night infuriates Jolene, too. The girl isn’t stupid. She knows why her father’s suddenly so tired.” Rachel had tried to explain to him that his sexual appetite wasn’t helping the situation between her and Jolene, but Bruce said his love life was none of his daughter’s business. He was right; nevertheless, it made Rachel’s relationship with Jolene even more difficult.
Rachel loved the way her husband desired her. The hours they spent locked in their bedroom were the only peaceful times she had. Whenever they made love she had the urge to tell him about the baby…but she hadn’t. She simply couldn’t. And she hadn’t told him he could dispense with using protection. Even Bruce might’ve been able to figure that one out.
It didn’t help, either, that Jolene was often still up, slamming things around, making sure they knew that she knew what they were doing. And Bruce himself often went right to sleep afterward. So…she hadn’t found a natural opportunity to tell him.
Rachel tentatively chose a sliver of cheese from the platter Teri had set on the table. “I dread going home at the end of the day,” she said.
“That’s not good.”
“No, it isn’t, and I feel helpless to change anything. I don’t know what to do, Teri.”
“Well, you could try family counseling.” Her friend pulled up her knees, resting her feet on the edge of the sofa.