Page 12 of Gulfside Girls
“Yeah, the day Dad died, I caught Ted with a grad assistant in my house.” Ali’s jaw was clenched. A deep frown line had set in between her blue eyes.
“I’m going to kick him in the?—”
“Faye, that’s ridiculous. I already hit him where it hurts the most,” Ali interrupted.
“His car?” Blair guessed.
“Ha, yeah, dumped a bag of potting soil all over it. Well, in it.”
That was so unlike Ali! Faye was proud.Take that; you rat bastard cheater!
The sisters encircled Ali. She accepted the hugs briefly but then brushed them off.
“I don’t have time to break down, you know? If you hug me I might—” She stopped and put the back of her hand to her mouth.
She was holding in so much, Faye knew. It couldn’t be healthy.When would Ali get a chance to grieve? Or even a day off?
“Look, we’ll do the flowers. You go deal with your boss. I will try not to assault Ted in the meantime and then take out JoJo’s Pizza at Dad’s.”
“I can’t promise thatIwon’t assault Ted,” Blair added.
Ali gave a little chuckle.
That was good, at least, a little laugh.
“Okay, okay, see you tonight.”
Five
Ali
Ted was smart enough to stay out of Ali’s way. That was the best he could muster in terms of love and affection. It had dawned on her in the last few days how much she didn’t need this man in a practical sense. The man she’d spent her entire adult life with would only slow her down right now. She had things to do. The business of closing out a man’s life was full-time work, and Ali already had a job.
They didn’t really have any additional words or a fight about the cheating.
Ted had called in a rage about the car, but then she’d trumped his dirty car with her dying dad.
“My Dad has hours, Ted. Call a car detailer and send Star the bill.”
Ted had made respectful appearances at her dad's funeral services. He’d made himself scarce when she packed a bag so she could live at her dad’s place for a few more days. It just made sense. She did not want to be near Ted, and she had a lot to do to pack up the old house for sale.
Eventually, they’d need to talk. Ali knew this. But she didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for it.
She’d managed the funeral, spent a little time with her sweet sisters, but then rolled right into the home show. She knew Jerry couldn’t manage it without her, so she was there.
By Sunday afternoon, after a week of nonstop competency in the face of disasters, Ali was cooked. Death, divorce, and home show mini disasters had frazzled her usually very patient nerves. She hadn’t gotten more than four hours of sleep a night for a week.
The last of the home show booths were finally being packed up when Jerry and the Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Toledo, strolled through.
“Huge success, huge!” boomed Jerry.
The Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Dale Zarecki, had ushered the mayor in and out for handshakes on the final day. Zarecki wore a Strong for Toledo t-shirt with the mayor’s name on the back. Election season was never over, she knew. This event was successful, so somehow, the mayor’s office was going to add that to their list of accomplishments. Even though Frogtown was privately owned, politicians liked to call Frogtown their crown jewel.Whatever.
Ali didn’t have time to shmooze. She couldn’t remember when she’d last sat down to eat a meal since the pizza with her sisters. She needed to get out of here sooner rather than later. Let Jerry deal with the bigwigs.
“I hear Ali here signed a record number of builders,” Dale said. “Impressive!”
“Oh, Ali, ha, well, she is a great assistant and executes my vision,” Jerry said to Dale.
