Bridge to a Distant Star - Carolyn Williford [18]
Vanessa and Maureen spoke little at first as they drove back to the church, both overwhelmed with Emilie’s news, lost in the enormity of it all. Finally Maureen was so uncomfortable with the void that she spoke up, confessing.
“I’ve been so selfish, Vanessa, thinking about my own silly problems when Emilie has this. Did you suspect … did you see it coming?”
“Oh, Maureen. No, not at all, though like I told you—Ed had been bugging me lately. But I doubt that anyone saw this coming.”
“I feel bad about the way we talked about Emilie …”
Vanessa turned to Maureen, shaking her head. “Look, we’re not gonna wallow in guilt, because we didn’t know, did we?”
Maureen agreed, reluctantly. “There’s just one more thing. Yesterday, when I was on the phone with Emilie. I think she was about to tell me … to admit there was dissension or distance or discord … something she was feeling between her and Ed. And I cut her off, Vanessa. I was so caught up in my own problems that I—”
“Maureen, again: You didn’t know. I bet anything yesterday you had no idea what Emilie was going to say on the phone when that happened, did you?” When Maureen didn’t immediately respond, Vanessa pressed her, “Did you?”
“I guess not. Not really.”
“And what did you mean by ‘cut her off’?”
“Oh, the kids were arguing.”
“So you weren’t cutting off Emilie to go watch soaps and eat bon-bons?”
Maureen grinned, sheepishly.
“And I saw your face, Mo, when Emilie told us about Ed. You were just as blown away as Sherry and I.”
Maureen nodded. “Yeah. Oh my gosh, Nessa. It still … I still can’t believe it’s real.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it, Maureen, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Vanessa turned into the church parking lot, pulled into the space next to Maureen’s van. She turned to face Maureen, reached over to take her hand. “The only one who could’ve stopped this—how I wish I were a cussing woman at times like this—this you-know-what from happening to Emilie was Ed himself.”
“Ed. How could he? Talk about making no sense. After all these years … all they’ve been through together. How could he just throw it all away?”
“The kids. Doesn’t your heart just break for them? What does this say to them? About God?”
They reached out to each other, clasping in a hug of desperation. When they finally pulled apart, Vanessa stared off into the distance, wistfully asking, “All those years ago when we first met, could we ever have envisioned that—that any of our lives would’ve taken the paths that we’ve been down?”
Maureen thought of Sherry … and now Emilie. But she also heard Colleen’s strident accusation, and the pain of it was fresh again, causing her to wince. “No, I wouldn’t. Never.” Colleen. Maureen jumped as though startled from a daydream. “What time is it? If I’m late picking up Colleen—”
“What? She’ll stop speaking to you? With teens, that could be a definite plus—” Vanessa stopped, seeing the very real look of panic on Maureen’s face.
“Oh no, it’s two thirty already. I have to run.”
“Maureen? We’ll get through this. The three of us will get Emilie through this.”
Maureen nodded. But the hand she used to open her door was shaking.
When Bill walked in the door later, Maureen moved immediately into his arms, only able to say, “Oh, Bill. You just won’t believe it.”
Alarmed, he held her out from him, searching her face, asking, “What? What’s happened? Are the kids—?”
Maureen quickly put a finger to her lips, gesturing toward Aubrey. “Shh. The kids are fine.” With a nod toward the hallway, she beckoned for Bill to follow her.
They nearly ran right into Colleen standing in her bedroom’s doorway, shooting Maureen an accusatory glare. “The Estebans are getting a divorce, aren’t they,” Colleen said. A statement, not a question.
Bill looked over at Maureen, his expression obviously asking if it were true. She merely shook her head slightly.
“How did you—?” Bill questioned Colleen.
“Eddie. He told me about the other woman a month ago.” Noting Maureen’s shocked response, Colleen added, “You mean Mrs. Esteban didn’t know this was coming before today?