Page 84 of Gulfside Girls
Eventually, Bruce answered one of Belinda’s calls.
“I am sure that she won’t understand. She’s too addled to understand anything. But I will not let her near my girls. You can convey that to her. We aren’t at the house. And won’t be for some time.”
Belinda’s only hope was that Bruce would calm down, that he just needed time. She’d take care of Joetta. Get her healthier, and then when they went back to Toledo for the court date, Bruce would see reason, and Joetta would see the girls. This had to be true.
Joetta was in awe of Belinda’s life. Belinda liked her life, but it didn’t seem awe-inspiring by any stretch.
“You have your own apartment?” Joetta was amazed that Belinda didn’t live in the big house with their parents anymore.
“I mean, it’s not fancy or anything, but my salary at the country club is good, enough to pay for this place and for cute outfits.”
Belinda grabbed a few clothes for Joetta to wear. Joetta was smaller, but the smock dresses would work.
“How is Banks?”
“Banks is good. He’s a good boss. Way better than his dad was.” Banks Armstrong had inherited the club from his father. And while he was their age, he had matured into a good person, one who had never stopped asking Belinda how Joetta was.
Belinda made it her mission to nurse Joetta back to something resembling the baby sister who’d left Florida in a hurry with a star-struck idea of love and life. Joetta’s life had become all too real, all too fast.
Belinda made sure that Joetta slept; she was there when Joetta cried, and she was relieved when her sister slept again. This was a reset. That was what was needed, a do-over for her sister’s life.
Joetta didn’t drink at all since she’d walked out of the courtroom. That was new.
After a few days, she looked more like herself. Gorgeously so. Joetta’s blue eyes were free of bloodshot red. She seemed clearer each day she spent in Florida. Her pale skin began to get a little glow as Belinda encouraged her to sit by the apartment complex pool.
After a week of rest and care, Joetta said she felt and looked good enough to want to go to lunch at the club. Joetta, looking beautiful and refreshed and so thin you’d think she was a movie star, turned heads when they walked into brunch at the Armstrong.
The sisters enjoyed the brunch, with only a few staffers coming over now and then to ask Belinda this question about a day off or that request to leave early.
“You’re so important,” Joetta said.
Belinda wasn’t necessarily important, but she did love her job here. She loved making the Armstrong better, taking care of guests, and knowing the answers to the questions she was asked. It gave her a sense of purpose and accomplishment.
It was something that Joetta didn’t seem to have, confidence. Where had that gone? Did it evaporate when you became a mother? Was it because of Bruce? Or was it that accident? They’d avoided talking about what could have happened. That, really, Joetta was lucky. Her girls were alive.
Now, though, Joetta was feeling strong enough to bring it up.
“I called him, got through this time.”That was good. Bruce had answered her call!
“And?”
“He said he was changing the phone number. I want to talk to the girls, but, well, that’s a no-go. He just doesn’t know that I’m sober. That I’m never going to drink again. Maybe when I show him that, he’ll see reason.”
“You can’t drink ever again; you have a real problem.”
“I know. And, well, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to clean up this mess with me. I’m sorry that my girls—” She stopped and put her hand up to her mouth. There was a lot of sorry, too much sorry to cover in one brunch.
“You don’t need to apologize to me. I’m your sister. I’m always going to be here for you.”
“And I’m going to go to those AAA meetings, I am. That’s the next step. The judge will see that, too.”
“AA.”
“That’s what I said.”
Belinda laughed with her sister over the number of As she needed to manage. Joetta took a drink from the little juice glass filled with freshly squeezed Florida oranges. Nothing tasted this good, Belinda knew.
“The trouble was, I was a teenage mother in a town with no one I knew, with a husband who, well, I didn’t have what he needed in a wife. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of babies, I was not so good at it. I liked to decorate and shop. You saw that.”
