Surfacing
Part 10
By Lauren
Haze filtered through Drew’s darkness like tiny particles of dust, then little pinpoints of light punched holes in the black. They look like stars, Drew decided. Daddy used to tell me that stars were windows to heaven. Am I going to heaven?
The lights grew into large holes, and Drew could peer through them, like windows. Not windows to heaven, though, Drew thought ruefully. The image of the Country Club reminded her of yet another reason that she would not be going there.
The blackness disintegrated, and Drew stepped out into the bright light of the February day. To her surprise, she was barefooted, and she had stepped onto a wet tile floor. The new indoor pool, she remembered, wiggling her toes and feeling the brick-like tile gently scrape the bottom of her feet.
It seemed that the entire town had turned out for the Valentines’ Day celebration. “I’ve never been to a pool party when there was snow on the ground,” Jesse commented from her side.
Drew turned and smiled. “You know what? Me neither.”
She had been shocked when Jesse had responded enthusiastically to the mention of the party. He was looking worse and worse lately, and Drew secretly wondered if he would last until Easter. His breath was always labored, and his lips were becoming bluer from lack of oxygen every day. “This place really looks great,” he said with a smile. “The architect did a really great job with it.”
“Yeah, I was talking to Marah about it yesterday,” Drew disclosed. “She’s been down here with Reva a few times since they started construction.”
“Are they speaking again?” Jesse frowned. “Last time I talked to Ben they were still completely at odds.”
Drew shrugged, walking toward their group of friends, who were gathered around a set of lounge chairs. “I don’t know. Reva sounds kind of off. I really pity Marah.”
“Yeah, you’re lucky, honey,” Jesse replied. “You ended up with a great mom.”
And hopefully, a great dad, Drew thought nervously. Michelle had managed to track down one of the men in Selena’s book who could possibly be Drew’s father. She couldn’t find his real name, but the alias had led to a man in California. Apparently, he worked for a large company, and was married.
“Okay?” Jesse asked, his voice tinged with concern.
“Yeah,” Drew assured him. “I was just thinking about that tip that Michelle gave me.”
“You’ll find him,” Jesse said with certainty, reaching for her hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. “I know you will.”
Drew stopped walking long enough to give him a soft kiss on the lips. “Thank you,” she replied quietly.
Jesse grinned at her with tired, yet strangely vibrant eyes. “Come on, let’s go. We can’t keep everyone waiting.”
“You’re sure about this, right?” Drew asked for the umpteenth time that day.
“Of course I’m sure,” he replied, kissing the back of her hand and leading her toward the assembled group.
“Hey, Drew!” Michelle called out. “Hi…Jesse….”
“Hey, Michelle,” Jesse returned brightly, sitting down next to her. She was reclining on a lounge chair, rubbing her belly in slow circles. “Where’s Danny?”
“He had to make a phone call,” she explained softly, her eyes fixed to his gaunt form. “Are you sick or something?”
Jesse’s eyes momentarily glassed over, but then he blinked and smiled again. “Nah, I’ve just been overworking myself on the new exhibit,” he clarified.
Drew sat down next to him and reached for his hand. “Between me, Max, the club, and his art, I don’t know how he manages to get up in the morning,” she said with a forced grin, though her voice caught and raised an octave on the last few words.
Michelle raised an eyebrow and scooted herself into an upright position. “Look, tell me what’s wrong now, or I’ll go to Rick and have him find out for me,” she ordered.
Drew was mildly taken aback. It wasn’t like Michelle to be so forceful. She and Jesse were in love once, a nagging little voice in Drew’s head reminded her. Of course she’d want to know.
Then Drew had a hideous, strange pang of jealously, sitting with a very pregnant Michelle and a very sickly Jesse. Oh, you’re being stupid, Drew scolded herself. That’s crazy to even think about.
Jesse opened his mouth and then clamped it shut again. “Jesse’s got the flu,” Drew blurted, standing up and walking toward a window, watching the snow fall.
Michelle’s eyes flashed as Drew turned back around. “Are you going to tell me the truth or not?”
“No,” Drew said suddenly and snidely.
Michelle’s nose wrinkled. “What the hell is going on?” Then her eyes paled with realization and she turned to Jesse, fear coloring her face. “Oh, my God, it’s your heart.”
Jesse hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not my heart,” he mumbled softly, closing his eyes briefly and then looking up at Michelle, stricken.
“Oh, my God,” Michelle could only stammer. “Oh, my God.”
“Your mother’s heart,” Jesse stated painfully.
Tears dripped from Michelle’s eyes. “Oh, God, Jesse, what’s wrong?”
“The doctors aren’t sure,” Drew lied, coming up behind Jesse and wrapping her arms around him. She rested her chin on his shoulder and rubbed his back comfortingly.
Michelle shook her head, sniffling and wiping away tears. “Are you…are you okay?”
Jesse nodded, forcing a smile. “I’m doing pretty well,” he replied, resting his head on Drew’s.
Michelle nodded, a hand clutching her stomach protectively. “I just…I just can’t believe this…this came out of nowhere…”
“I find it hard to believe too sometimes,” Drew agreed. “We’re doing great, Michelle. We’re just being patient and calm about the whole thing.”
Waiting for Jesse to leave me, Drew’s heart cried, her soul aching.
“That’s probably the best thing to do,” Michelle concluded. “You just need to be patient and wait for the doctors to find out what’s wrong.”
Drew nodded absently, her eyes focusing on the pool, where Dahlia and Ben were racing. Marah sat on the edge of the shallow end, dangling her feet in the water.
“Hey,” Danny said shortly, coming up behind Michelle and kissing her cheek. He wrapped his arm around her bulging belly protectively. “Jesse, man, you look like hell,” he commented quickly.
“Yeah,” Jesse said with a weak smile. “So I’ve been told.”
“So, Michelle,” Drew began, desperate to change the subject, “have you and Danny decided on any names yet?”
“Oh…” Michelle started, trying to control her voice. “Ah…we’ve talked about a few, but we’re not really sure yet.”
“We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet,” Danny pointed out, and Michelle’s eyes darkened.
“Yeah, once he or she is born, we should have a better idea of what we want,” she added.
Danny looked up into Michelle’s tear-streaked face and frowned. “Something wrong?” he asked softly.
Michelle shook her head. “No, not really. I’m just being emotional.”
“Uh-huh,” Danny said, sounding unconvinced. “You, admit to being moody? No way. What’s going on?”
“Drop it, Danny, it doesn’t concern you,” Drew spat, her eyes narrowing.
Danny glared at Drew, which never failed to unnerve her. “Never mind, then,” he replied coolly and calmly.
Marah stood up at the edge of the pool and walked over to the two couples, leaving wet footprints on the red tile. “Hey, everybody,” she greeted warmly, sitting down on an empty chaise.
“Hi, Marah,” Drew replied with a smile. “How’s the water?”
Marah wrinkled her nose. “It feels fine.”
Drew recalled the day she had overheard Andy and Marah’s heated exchange at the Journal. She remembered Andy’s words vaguely: something about Marah not being able to swim. “You don’t swim?” Drew asked.
Marah looked at her, surprised. “No, I don’t. When did I tell you that?”
“Hm, I don’t remember,” Drew fibbed. “Oh, well. I’m surprised. Aren’t all you Lewises supposed to be down home country people?”
“Contrary to popular belief, we don’t having a watering hole or anything like that,” Marah bristled. “And besides, the fact that you all think my family was transplanted here from Hee-haw has nothing to do with my inability to swim.”
“Okay, Mar, tone the lawyer down,” Michelle suggested, leaning against Danny, who was slowly and methodically stroking Michelle’s tummy. “It’s because of your mom and the bridge in Florida, right?”
Marah’s eyes took on a far-away glaze, then she shook her head and snapped back to reality. “Yeah. That’s pretty much it.”
Danny and Jesse both looked puzzled, so Marah continued, “To put it shortly, Mama was upset and drove off an unfinished bridge while we were on vacation.”
Danny raised an eyebrow. “And she lived?” he asked incredulously.
Marah nodded, and Jesse laughed. “Need to go hunting for some supposedly dead colleagues, Santos?” Jesse asked mockingly.
Danny and Michelle set their jaws simultaneously. “Don’t go there, Jesse,” Michelle hissed.
Jesse held up his hands in surrender, and both Danny and Michelle visually relaxed. God, they’re turning into a scary old married couple who mirror each other, Drew thought. I wonder if Jesse and I do that.
“Hey, listen, babe, I’m going to go walk around the place for a while,” Danny said to Michelle, tangling his fingers in her honey-colored curls. “Come with me?”
Michelle nodded. “You’re going to have to help me out a little,” she pointed out.
“I’d love to,” Danny said with a smile that Drew had never seen before. Danny seemed to be a completely different person when he was with his wife. Drew watched, envious, as he gently helped Michelle to her feet and wrapped his hand around her expanded waist. He whispered something in her ear and she laughed, leaning into him.
He’ll live past Easter, Drew thought bitterly, looking over at Jesse, who was talking to Marah about something.
The midafternoon sun waned in the sky, and the crowd around the pool thinned until only Jesse, Marah, and Drew sat poolside. Jesse was dozing on Michelle’s vacated lounge, and Marah sat on Drew’s other side, reading a file folder full of papers.
“Are those on the Santos case?” Drew couldn’t resist asking.
Marah looked up, her eyes wide. “What—what are you talking about?” she stuttered.
“The Santos case. The Santos vs. Spaulding case,” Drew clarified.
“What…how in the world did you know about the case?” Marah asked.
Drew’s brow furrowed. “I thought a lot of people knew about the case.”
“No, Drew, no, a lot of people do not know about this case,” Marah said, her voice growing louder.
“Oh, sorry,” Drew said, turning back to Jesse, who stirred in his sleep.
“Uh-uh, no way are you just going to drop this now,” Marah pressed. “How the hell do you know about the case I’m working on? And how in the hell did you know that I was working on it?”
“I just…God, Marah, get your panties in a wad about something like this,” Drew said under her breath.
Marah sat up and turned to face Drew. “Obviously, obviously, Drew, I am not making this clear. You are not supposed to know about this. You are not supposed to know. And if you picked up this tantalizing piece of information from one of your patrons at Millennium, then I have a very big problem.”
“You don’t have a problem,” Drew returned sharply. No way is this smarmy little law student going to mouth off to me, Drew thought snidely. “Well, apparently you do have a little bit of a problem, but I didn’t hear about this at the club.”
“Well, then, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to pry it out of you?” Marah asked, her voice quick and slightly annoyed.
“I heard…I overheard…” Drew started, but Marah cut her off.
“The Journal,” she said with certainty, a smug look on her face. “Because that’s…that’s how you knew I couldn’t swim! You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Andy!”
“Guilty as charged,” Drew admitted. “But what I want to know is, how can you know about this and not tell Michelle?”
“You told Michelle?” Marah asked incredulously, rising and standing in front of Drew.
“Oh, my God, you think I would have told Michelle about something like this?” Drew spat.
“I should have listened to Dahlia about you,” Marah stated. “But no, I gave you the benefit of the doubt because you and Michelle are civil.”
“Yeah, you’re an idiot, Marah,” Drew replied snottily. “My God, I overhear one conversation and you’re condemning me?”
“I knew, I knew that you couldn’t be as nice as you put on to be,” Marah shot back. “With all the bad things you’ve done to the people in this town, it seemed too unreal. And I guess it was. You put on a good act though, Drew, I’ll give you that.”
“Oh, shut the hell up!” Drew yelled. “You’re one to talk about being double-faced. You’re just as big a bitch as everyone says your mother is.”
Marah’s eyes narrowed, and Drew stood up to face her. “How dare you?” Marah responded coldly.
“Oh, trust me, I dare,” Drew replied with a smile. “Just like I would dare to tell Michelle when you were too worried about your upcoming law career to say anything. You’re just lucky that I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re not even being coherent anymore!” Marah accused. “So I didn’t tell Michelle what I knew. So what? You don’t think that maybe Danny could have said something?”
“Danny? Tell Michelle that she was in danger? You really haven’t lived here long, have you?” Drew questioned.
“Worry is the last thing Michelle needs right now anyway,” Marah pointed out. “I guess you know about the still-undiagnosed problem with the baby.”
“Yes, I’m quite aware,” Drew said tightly.
“And you want me to stress her out more?” Marah asked.
“I never said that,” Drew defended.
“No, but you’re getting in my face about my case and then you’re telling me all my wrongs about it. What gives, Drew?”
Drew stepped closer to the pool’s edge. “Nothing gives, except that you’re dealing in the Santoses dirty business behind one of your friends’ back. Don’t you think that’s a little wrong?”
“This is insane,” Marah said, starting to stalk away from the pool area. She walked past Drew, but as she did, Drew turned to watch her leave and accidentally threw her off balance. She tumbled backward into the deep end of the pool.
Marah panicked in the water, and Drew, who had a fairly healthy fear of deep water, stood, frozen, not knowing what to do next.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Drew saw a figure jump into the water and swim toward Marah.
Jesse.
He grabbed Marah, who was still struggling, and managed to help her out of the pool. As he did, though, his hand slipped from the wall of the pool and his head disappeared under the water.
The last sound Drew heard before her memory claimed her again was her own, hoarse voice screaming. “Jesse!”