Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 17)

After a restless night, Sunday morning still felt like it came too soon. Puttering around the house all morning, I decided to take myself out for lunch before heading over to my parents’ house. On the way to my favorite Caribbean restaurant, I spotted a bookstore and impulsively decided to stop. I used to love to go to bookstores and get lost for hours in them. It had been years since I done so, but the thought of getting away for even an hour was too tempting to pass up.

Whether it was euphoria or a contact high that hit me when I entered the quaint bookstore, I wasn’t sure. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling and walked around picking up books and reading backmatter for over an hour. Finally, I left having purchased three books, two journals, a cute bookmark, and clip on reading light. Tonight, after everyone was settled in, I was going to indulge myself with a book and a glass of sweet tea.

To avoid receiving a call from Wes, I texted him that I was going to run an errand and then head his way. He replied: Cool see you soon. At the restaurant, I was seated immediately.

After ordering my food from the friendly waitress, I pulled out one of my new books and began to read. I felt a presence approaching and assumed it was the waitress with my food. I looked up and held back the expletive that threatened to slip pass my lips.

“Mind if your ex-mother-in-law joins you, dear?” Mrs. Watson, Jackson’s mom, sat down before I could respond.

“Apparently, I don’t,” I said, closing my book and taking a deep breath. We had never gotten along so I knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant encounter.

“So, are you feeling better, dear?” I tried not to cringe at her use of the word dear. She refused to call me by my name and knew that her referring to me as dear drove me crazy. Her overuse of the word was no accident.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I looked to see if the waitress was near enough for me to wave over so I could tell her to make my order to go. I didn’t want her bringing my food and get stuck eating with Jackson’s mom. She was behind the counter, head down, punching in an order.

“Well, dear, I figured since you didn’t make Jackson’s funeral you must have been sick.” The waitress having spotted my guest made her way over and asked Mrs. Watson if she wanted to order.

“No, I won’t be staying. Just spotted my ex-daughter-in-law here and wanted to stop in and say hi.”

“Can you change my order to go please?” I asked, giving her what I hoped was a hurry please look. She nodded in understanding and rushed off.

“I’m really sorry about what happened to Jackson, but I didn’t think it was my place to attend. I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for you. How are you doing by the way?” I tried to redirect the conversation but should have known better.

“Funny that you say you didn’t think it was your place, dear. See, as I recall, I told you it wasn’t your place to marry my son. Yet you weren’t worried about my being comfortable with that, did you? On top of that, you didn’t even have the ability to keep him so that your little mutt of a friend couldn’t wag her tail and take him from you. Now my son is in his grave and you two are going about your daily lives as if he didn’t even exist.” Her voice cracked a bit, but she pulled herself together quickly. “Speaking of that mutt, if you happen to see her, tell her I want the engagement ring my son foolishly bought for her. I not only have to cover the cost of the funeral, but pay for the storage they purchased until they moved away and found their own place. Oh, and tell her that if she wants her stuff, she is going to hand over the ring, because I already had it moved to another storage facility.” She stood and put her purse on her shoulder. “Well, dear, hope you enjoy your book and food. It must be nice to be able to move on with your life without a thought about my son.” She walked away. My mood was blown.

I entered my empty parents’ house thirty minutes later with my lunch in hand. I checked my phone to see if I missed any calls or texts. During the time of my encounter with the wicked witch, Wes had texted me that he was taking Mel and Joi out for ice cream and they wouldn’t be gone long. I texted him back that I was at the house and decided to use the time to eat since my belly had recovered and was ready.

I was cleaning up behind myself when they arrived. Mel handed me a bag and said, “Wes brought you back a little dessert.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it and peeking in the bag at the small sundae. I looked past her at Wes who was holding a sleeping Joi in his arms.

“You’re welcome. Look, let me get Joi settled and I’ll be right back.” He left Mel and me alone in the kitchen and I used the opportunity to fill her in.

“I had a run in with Jackson’s mom today and she sent you a message.”

“Let me guess. It started out, ‘Tell that mutt.’” Mel shook her head and took a seat at the counter.

“It did. Don’t tell me that’s what she calls you to your face.” I thought dear was bad.

“That’s how she referred to me when Jackson wasn’t around. Otherwise, it was a sarcastic sweetie. She never said my name; it’s always sweetie this or sweetie that. So, what was the message?”

“She wants the ring that Jackson gave you. Says if you don’t give it back, she won’t give you the stuff you have in storage.” I took the lid off my sundae and dipped in with the plastic spoon.

“What? Pretty much everything I own is in storage. Never mind, I have a key and will have to arrange for my stuff to be removed tomorrow.” The slurring of her words became worse.

“She’s already thought of that and says she’s had it moved.”

Wes entered the kitchen. “Who had what moved?”

“Jackson’s mean old mother. That’s who. She is holding all my things hostage until I give her back the ring Jackson gave me.” Visibly upset, Mel burst into tears. Wes hurried over to her and pulled her in for a hug. “Is his mother that mean?”

“And then some,” I said, closing the lid on my sundae and putting it in the freezer for later. I already knew the evening had been blown and Wes would be spending most of it consoling Mel. I left them there to work it out.

Just as I suspected, Wes’ time was mostly preoccupied with calming Mel down. Once he had her settled enough to lay down, Joi was up and demanding his attention. He tried hard to give me some of his time, but between dealing with them, he didn’t have much. Yeah, I could have helped, but I didn’t. I wanted to see how he delegate his time. As I suspected, I was in last place.

When it was time for him to leave, I accepted his kiss and promise to make it up to me with a tight smile. This was for sure one of those promises that was easier said than done, and I needed to find out if I was willing to accept the status quo before going any further in the relationship.

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