Chapter 24

Teresa's arrival as Scott's fiancée changed the plans for the Friday night before the wedding. Raul was to have taken the kids out to dinner and a movie, to give Barbara and Scott some time alone to catch up with each other.

Instead, Raul and Barbara had a barbeque for their kids and Scott and Teresa. They thought about inviting others, but kept it small; the larger rehearsal dinner, with the wedding party and selected guests, would be Saturday night.

As Bobby and Sammy had already been promised a night out, their parents gave the okay for them to go out with friends after they'd eaten.

The plan was for Julie to join them at Bobby's house, where Collette would pick them up. They'd join Dave, Patty and Morton at Collette and Dave's house for a pool party and sleep over. (The kids didn't bother to mention that Collette's parents were out of town for the holiday weekend.)

During Barbara's midday meal preparations, the phone rang. Barbara started for it, but Bobby was the closest to the handset in the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi Bobby," said Julie. Her voice was a flat monotone, with no inflection at all.

"Hi babe!" said Bobby, instinctively mustering as much enthusiasm as he could. "All ready for the pool party?" asked Bobby. There was a long pause.

"I'm not going to make it tonight. I'm still working on my dress for the wedding," she said.

Bobby stopped himself from pointing out the wedding was still two full days away.

"Oh... okay. I'll bet you'll be beautiful in it." He waited for a response, but nothing came back from her. "Do you want to get together tomorrow?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," came the flat reply. He waited for her to explain why she wasn't sure, but that was apparently all she wanted to offer.

"Okay... Are you all right kiddo? You sound a little down," he said, trying again to sound as energetic as possible, as if he could zap her some energy through the phone lines.

The energy he got back wasn't what he'd been hoping for.

"Why the fuck are you always asking me that?" she snapped.

"Uh... I'm sorry. It uh... you sounded... tired or something... is all I meant."

Barbara did her best to pretend she wasn't listening to Bobby's side of the conversation, as she chopped ingredients for a dinner salad.

"I'm fine. If there's ever anything wrong with me, I'll tell you. So don't ask me that anymore. Alright?"

Bobby took a while to answer, fighting back the urge to snap back at her. Once he had fought back the anger, it was replaced by weariness. He realized that they had just fought over what mood they would be in, and she had won. He now felt as tired as she sounded.

"Okay, Julie. Whatever," was all he could offer in response.

Barbara looked up in concern.

"We're already going to see each other at the wedding anyway, right?" she said, continuing her verbal attack.

"Yeah," he said tiredly.

"Besides, I don't like your friends anyway. Do you think I enjoy being around you and Sammy all the time?"

He was stunned. He thought of himself and Sammy as a team that was working together to help Julie out. In his surprise, and with an instinctive reaction to defend Sammy, he answered back harshly.

"What's that supposed to mean? Sammy's your friend, Julie. She's trying to help you, like me."