Chapter 10

After that, I started keeping ice cream treats in the freezer. Marcus and Tammy were more than happy to come over and help me eat them. I always enjoyed baking so I laid in ingredients the next time I shopped and started baking cookies. Chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin seemed to be the favorites. The kids would come by almost every afternoon when I got home and I’d give them one apiece and a glass of milk. One doesn’t sound like much but I made really big cookies.The kid network kicked in and word got out there were fresh cookies to be had. I’d often have half-a-dozen swarming in the backyard until the parents came to get them or Mark got home. They usually vanished pretty quickly when he arrived. He’d grumble about somebody else’s rug rats, but he never turned down the cookies.

The mothers would take turns gathering them up before he arrived. Chloe once told me if I had a swing set in my yard she wouldn’t see hers until it got dark, then asked if I had any cookies left over. “Not for me, I swear those things have a million calories apiece. I’ll dangle them in front of the hubby as a reward for doing things around the house.”

For the first time in a long time I was truly happy with my life. There were a few incidents now and then. Mark became enraged when he saw my cellphone and found out I had our bank balance emailed daily. “Why are you snooping?”

“I’m not snooping. I’m putting my money in the same account, so that makes it our money. I just don’t want any more overdrafts or bounced checks.”

He grabbed my phone and scrolled through it. “Who’s Charlie? Got a workplace romance going? What did I tell you about that?”

“Charlie is Charlene. I work with her. What is wrong with you?”

“I’m warning you Jenny. If I find...”

“You can stop right there Mark. We’ve been over this before and I’m tired of hearing it. I tell you what, give me your cell phone and let me look through it and you can explain all your calls to me and we’ll call it square.”

His answer to that was to take my phone and throw it as hard as he could against the kitchen counter. It flew into pieces and I almost grinned but caught myself. I had insurance and would have a newer phone tomorrow.

He saw the look which made him even angrier. I saw his fists ball and shocked him totally when I smiled. “I bet right about now you’re wanting to knock some sense into me, aren’t you? Well go ahead, take a swing. Then it will all over but except signing the papers.”

He went white. I had never before been so forceful. He let out a strangled scream and stomped off to bed. I picked all the pieces of my phone up, mentally grinning. Having a backbone felt good. I slept in the guestroom that night. As I was about to drift off I had a sad thought. This room would have made a great nursery.

We drifted on in an uneasy peace for three more weeks. Mark told me he no longer took a cart when he golfed and walked the course instead. He said he did it to save money and get some exercise. I secretly thought his tummy was getting bigger instead of smaller but was wise enough not to say it. Because he walked, it took him longer to play and he was usually gone for about five hours. I think a lot of the time was spent at the Nineteenth Hole, the bar at the club. He’d have beer or liquor on his breath every time he came home. He almost always took a shower, saying he had to wash the sweat of his exercise off.

I was in one of my flower beds when he came home. Chloe was a big time amateur gardener, and she was always sharing cuttings and seeds. She taught me how to plant and care for the flowers. I even had a little vegetable garden, three tomato plants, two squash, and two cucumber vines. I was inordinately proud when I picked my first cucumber.

I thought about asking him to help me when he came in but he walked right by without even a hello. I giggled, thinking about him on his knees in the dirt. That would never happen in my lifetime.

Done, I walked into the kitchen and heard the shower running. His phone was on the counter and when it rang I picked it up to tell whoever called he was in the shower and would call them right back. I didn’t get a chance. I was about to say something when the man on the other end started in.

“Mark! Man, you need to get back to the motel! There was a knock on the door and I thought it was you so I opened it. It was her husband and he was really pissed! He slapped her around a little and knocked the hell out of me, then he left. The bitch is here crying, saying she can’t go home.”

I was trying to digest what he said as he droned on. “You need to handle this! We already lost our manager jobs over the sexual harrassment complaint and now this. She’s the boss’s great neice! How you think he’s gonna react? We’re toast if you don’t help me here.”

Mark walked in just then and I handed him the phone. “It’s for you.”