Page 3 of Gulfside Girls
Before she entered the parking garage, Ali called her husband. Cell service in the garage was terrible.
Ted Harris, Ph.D., usually didn’t answer. He, like Jerry, was too important to handle every call.
She left a message.
“Hey, just checking in. Thought I might grab a bite with you before I head back out?”
She hadn’t seen Ted much lately. Between work and her dad, she hadn’t paid much attention to her husband. But they’d been married for over twenty years. There were ebbs and flows in their together time as a couple. This was an ebb.
Ali was planning to make it up to Ted with a cocktail party next week to celebrate his tenure.
Oh, dang!That was another call she had to make: confirm with the caterer whether she wanted hot hors d’oeuvres or, the charcuterie board, or both. Well, it was after five. That would have to wait.
She figured her absence of late gave Ted more free time to tool around in his vintage 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera. It was impractical and obscenely expensive, and Ali wasn’t allowed near it.
“You’ll scratch it,” Ted said.
He loved that car, and it was the first thing he got after they were done with their mini-van era. Since the kids had free tuition via Ted’s job at the university, he said he’d earned the car.
Ali had her own favorite vehicle. Ali’s Dad was a Chrysler retiree, so she’d bought her Grand Cherokee on the friends and family plan at a good discount. She had since paid it off, and she kept it nice. It had four-wheel drive and could haul what she needed. Ted’s Porsche was red, and Ali’s Jeep was black forest green pearl. She’d keep that Jeep as long as she could. It really was her mobile office.
She got behind the wheel and hit the ‘80s channel on her radio. A little Bon Jovi to clear the stress of Archie and Jerry out of her mind as she made her way home.
Downtown Toledo was a quick twenty minute drive from just about everywhere else in Toledo, Ohio. The house that she and Ted had restored over the course of their marriage was in a neighborhood called Old Orchard.
She loved her neighborhood of historic homes. The sidewalks were lined with trees, and Ted could even walk to the university if he wanted to. Though he usually drove his flashy car these days.
That was a perk, too. The University of Toledo was a stone’s throw away, where both her kids, courtesy of Ted’s job and their good grades, were getting college free and clear. Katie and Tyewere in their senior and sophomore years in college and despite the poor planning of having two in school at the same time, they were managing the finances better than most. Thanks to that tuition situation.
Ali knew that the big old Tudor-style home might be too big for her and Ted soon, but for now, the kids popped in and out whenever they were on summer break, needed to do laundry, and when they ran out of food in their apartments. Plus, she’d touched every inch of the house during a lifetime of renovations to turn it into this home. DIY and decorating were her therapy.
Ali parked her Jeep in the driveway and made her way into the backdoor. As she walked through the mudroom and into the kitchen, she sighed when she saw what was left there. Dishes in the sink.Why in the heck didn’t Ted ever put them in the stupid dishwasher?
Alas, that would have to wait. She wanted to change clothes and grab a bag for tomorrow in case this was the last time she’d be able to pop home with her own busy schedule.
Her big house was creaky. The wood floors crackled and shifted under her shoes as she headed up the stairs to their bedroom.
Ali heard Ted’s voice.Ah, he’s on the phone, she thought.
And then the door to her bedroom opened up.
A lovely young woman, maybe her daughter Katie’s age, walked out of Ali and Ted’s room. She was wearing one of Ted’s polo shirts. The nice one they’d gotten him for Father’s Day last year.
“Uh, oh.” The girl stopped, clearly startled by Ali’s appearance in the hall.
And then a few things shifted into focus that hadn’t dawned on her at first.
The woman did not have pants on. Or shoes. And she looked a bit tousled. The evidence mounted up as to what exactly she’d interrupted.
“Star, make sure to order the extra side. I’m hungry.”
Ted walked out into the hall, and he had no shirt but, thankfully, did have pants on. Her aging husband looked like Tom Cruise without the HGH. She marveled at how he still looked very much like he did when they met. His jaw was only slightly softer, and his brown hair had a just a tiny sprinkle of white at the temples.
Ali was taking information in, and her brain tried to process it. Maybe she was just as dumb as Jerry indicated. She sure felt dumb right now, incredibly dumb.
“Ali. You said you were going to be gone all night.”
“Ha, yes, I did. My apologies.” She’d just apologized for interrupting her husband’s dalliance in her own house. This would earn her a gold star in the grade book of people pleasing.
