Chapter 12: A Welcome Visitor
Junie had spent the better part of a day taking down the chains and the pulleys from the basement ceiling and together she and Bob had moved the cross, swing and the other furniture out to the garage and discretely stacked them behind some other furniture Bob was working on. Junie chattered enthusiastically, "It will be so nice to have Tammi visit. Thank you so much for letting me do this."
Bob gave her an affectionate swat on her bottom, "Family is important. I am looking forward to meeting Tammi."
Junie pulled up in front of her ex-husband's house and took a deep breath. He had not called her or tried to contact her via email. His last words echoed in her mind, 'stupid fat cow'. That had always been what he would call her when he would rage at her. She told herself they were just words and they could only hurt her if she chose to let that happen.
Her steps were determined as she walked up to the door and knocked. Greg was the one that opened the door. Junie looked at him warily, "I am here to pick up Tammi."
"Yeah, I know. It's been all she can talk about, going to visit you."
"Well, let her know I am here." Junie turned on her heel and began to walk back to her car, silently berating herself that she had not thought to just call Tammi on the phone or just honk the horn. An impish smile curved her lips as she visualized herself parked out in front of this house, her old house, leaning on the horn. That had been how Greg had always picked her up the short time they had dated before the unexpected pregnancy had forced their untimely marriage.
Greg's voice followed after her, "Junie, I'm sorry. Don't be like that. Come on back."
She stopped and whirled around. Her voice was icy, "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Junie, I owe you an apology. At least give me a chance to say I'm sorry. I should never have lost my temper with you on the phone. I promise to behave myself. Please come in and talk with me."
Junie wavered, looking at him and then back towards the scant safety of her car. His manner was confusing. He had never apologized for his words before. It had always been up to her to crawl back pleading for his forgiveness, forgiveness for her inadequacies and failures.
Greg's voice was coaxing, "Come on, Junie, for old time's sake. We can catch up on what's going on with the kids. We owe them that much, to be able to talk about how they are doing, to be parents."
Junie's defenses crumbled at the mention of the children and she slowly came back into the house. "Where is Tammi?"
Greg shrugged, "She remembered she needed to refill a prescription and had to run to the drug store. She will be back pretty soon. Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink?"
Junie looked around the inside of the living room of the house that had been her home for so long. The room smelled strongly of cigarettes. Junie tried to keep from grimacing. That had been the one thing that she had always insisted on, that he not smoke in the house. The room had been remodeled. The walls painted a dark burgundy color and heavy leather furniture dominated the room. She could not see anything that indicated she had ever lived here. She carefully sat on the edge of one chair and shook her head, "No, thank you."
Greg shrugged and sat down on the couch and to her dismay, lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, almost defiantly blowing the smoke out in her direction. His voice was hoarse, "So how have you been?"
Junie let herself look at him for the first time. He looked a lot older, his dark tanned skin seemed blotchy and wrinkled and when he smiled his teeth were brown and stained with nicotine. A tiny spark of satisfaction rose up; he had gained a lot of weight. A pronounced belly hung out over the waist of his jeans. "Fine, I've been fine."
"You look good. You've lost some weight."
"Have I? I don't really keep track of that." Junie wondered at his words. She had not been on a scale since she had gone to live with Bob and Donna. She had noticed that she had had to adjust some of her sewing patterns down a little.
"You kind of threw me for a loop. First that police thing and then you just left town. What are you doing?"
"I just got a different job. I decided I didn't like it here anymore."
"What are you doing?"
Junie felt a wave of nervousness. "I thought you wanted to talk about the kids."
A flicker of irritation flashed over Greg's face, but he smiled and laughed, "Can't blame me for being curious. I mean one day the cops are looking for you, saying you may have been abducted by some sexual predator. And then you flat disappear off the face of the planet."
"Tammi mentioned you have been asking lots of questions about me."
"Like I said, you can't blame a guy for being curious."
"Well, it's not a big mystery. When that guy broke into my apartment, it scared me a lot. When I had a chance to start a new job and move out of the city, it seemed like a good idea."