CHASING SUNSETS
a cedar key novel
By EVA MARIE EVERSON
Revell Books
Copyright © 2011
Eva Marie Everson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3436-7
Chapter One
The Juvenile and Family Courthouse is cold, no matter the
time of year. And it always smells the same, like heartache and
justice, wood polish and sweat, leather and lace. The effect
it has on me, from the moment I turn down the long stretch
of road leading to the white brick building, never changes.
My stomach clenches, then flips. I break into a cold sweat.
My head spins.
Today was no different. I pulled my four-year-old white
Honda CR-V into the parking area, my eyes scanning for an
empty space and, at the same time, my ex-husband's sparkling
new Jaguar XJL. Supercharged and gun-metal gray. I was
unsure as to whether I hoped he would be there before me or
not, but when his car was nowhere in sight, I felt instant relief.
I parked under the shade of a blooming pink crepe myrtle,
turned off the car, took a deep breath, and sighed. "God be
with me," I said out loud. I gave my watch a quick glance. It
was nearly 1:30 in the afternoon; our hearing was set for 2:00.
Set for 2:00, but experience told me we could be sitting
there for several uncomfortable hours before our case was
called. I reached over the console for the short stack of manila
folders I brought with me, each one meticulously labeled.
Divorce Papers
Child Support
Correspondence/Charlie and Kids
Correspondence/Charlie and Me
Evidence Obtained by C. Jefferson
A tapping at my window startled me, and I jumped. I
turned toward the noise as I pressed my hand against my
chest. "Heather!" I let out a breath. "You nearly scared me
to death."
My younger sister stood bent over at the waist, her pretty
face just inches from mine, separated only by the window
glass. She smiled, even as her brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"
I opened the car door. "I am now." I returned the smile as
I swung my legs toward the asphalt. "You're here."
"Where else would I be?" She wrapped me in one of her
delicious hugs as soon as I stood. "You're my big sister and
you need someone to be here with you. So, here I am."
I hugged back then pulled away. "I can always count on
you."
Unlike my relationship with Jayme-Leigh, Heather and I
shared a bond like that of twins. We understood each other's
needs, sometimes even before we knew them ourselves. And,
other than always being right about everything, she was so
easy to get along with. Her laughter came effortlessly, her
close-set blue eyes sparkling. Always.
Sometimes a tad too much. I closed my car door. "What
are the kids up to?" I opened the back door to retrieve the
matching jacket to the flared floral skirt I'd chosen for the
hearing.
"Swim practice. It never ends, even when school is out."
She tossed her head. Her white-blonde curls, which refused
to be tamed, even when clipped at the back of her head,
shimmered in the harsh Florida sunlight. "But don't worry
about the time; now that Toni and Tyler are old enough to
drive, my role as Mommy is dwindling."
We walked toward the courthouse. "What does that
mean?" I asked.
Heather shrugged. "Nothing." I thought I detected a choking
in her voice. "Just that with the twins at seventeen and Lenny
at fifteen, there's not much they need from me these days."
"Other than cooking their meals, washing their clothes,
picking up after them, making sure they're home by curfew
... other than that?"
Heather looped her arm with mine. "You'll know soon
enough, Kimberly-Boo," she said. "Chase is fourteen already,
and with Cody being—what?—eleven, pretty soon the three
of you will be ships passing in the night."
We ascended the courthouse steps as I said, "But doesn't
this give you more time with Andre?"
My sister snorted, an annoying habit she's had her whole
life. "He's always so busy putting in those long hours at the
drugstore ... at least that's where he says he is."
My brother-in-law Andre has worked as a pharmacist for
CVS "since it was Eckerd," as he puts it. While I was sure it
was true his hours were demanding, I was equally as positive
some of his time spent away from home was to avoid a
sometimes overly clinging wife. "I'm sure he is exactly where
he says he is," I said just as we reached the double glass doors,
which I opened for us.
Heather stepped in ahead of me. Viewing her from the
back—and her dressed in a floral sundress, odd-shaped
freckles splayed across her shoulders—I was reminded of
the dream I'd had the night before. I felt an emptiness fall
from the middle of my throat to my stomach, missing Mom
again more than I thought possible.
Of all us girls—Jayme-Leigh, Heather, Ami, and me—Heather
looked the most like Mom. We all had Mom's square
jaw, china-doll lips, and blonde hair. Ami had more of Dad's
oval face and dark features. In recent years, Jayme-Leigh had
taken to dying her hair auburn because—she said recently
during a family dinner—as a pediatrician, she was taken
more seriously.
That comment caused me to frown. After all, I'm not only
blonde, I'm an educated schoolteacher.
"So what does that make me?" Heather had asked across
the great length of my mother's dining room table with our
father at the head and our stepmother sitting properly at
the other end. Quiet and reserved, Anise closed her eyes and
shook her head so slightly I wondered if anyone other than
me even noticed it.
Baited for a fight, Jayme-Leigh merely blinked and raised
her brow. "Exactly what you are, Heather. A homemaker.
And before you start something, I'm not belittling your
role within your family." She looked over at Andre, whose
broccoli-filled fork was suspended between his plate and his
O-shaped mouth. "I'm sure Andre and the kids would be
lost without you."
"Why is it," Heather now said as she dropped her purse
onto the belt of the security scanner, "that I always feel the
family is trying to convince me of Andre's undying loyalty
or my children's need for me?" At the direction of the pretty
but stoic-faced police officer on the other side of the metal
detector, she walked forward.
I gave a smile to the officer standing at the head of the
x-ray scanner as I dropped my purse, my jacket, and my files
onto the conveyor belt. "How are you today?" I asked him.
"Good," he said, not smiling. "And you?"
"Good, thank you." I gave a glance to the officer sitting at
the monitor. He looked to be all of twenty-one. Dedicated,
his eyes never left the screen.
I followed my sister's steps through the metal detector. It
went off.
"Step back through, ma'am," the officer on the other side
of the metal detector said. Her face continued to reflect her
no-nonsense attitude.
My shoulders drooped, but I dutifully went back through.
The officer at the head of the belt said, "It may be your shoes."
I looked down at the black linen strapped wedge sandals
I'd worn in hopes of looking a little less like a teacher and
a little more like a
serious mother. Whatever that meant.
I slipped off the shoes, placed them in a small tray on the
conveyor belt, and stepped back through. This time I didn't
set off any alarms.
Minutes later, Heather and I sat side by side on a hard
bench near Hearing Room 102S. From our position, which I
had purposefully chosen, we had a perfect view of the front
door. My body temperature had already started to drop; I
eased my arms into my jacket just as the front door swung
open, letting in a blast of hot air and blinding sunshine ...
and Charlie. All six-foot-three of him.
"Well, there he is," Heather said under her breath. "Mr.
Suave and Sophisticated himself."
I watched numbly as he casually dipped his tanned hands
into the pockets of his khaki chinos. Ralph Lauren, I'd wager.
He swore by Ralph Lauren. He drew out the contents and
placed them in a bowl on the conveyor belt. His wallet and
brown leather belt followed. All the while he conversed with
the same officer I'd briefly chatted with earlier. To look at
them, one would have thought them old chums. Yet I knew
the chances were slim they'd ever seen each other outside of
this courthouse.
Charlie stepped through the metal detector but not before
sharing a chuckle with both the officer at the head of
the conveyor and the one viewing the monitor. Even the
stoic-faced officer on the other side seemed to be in on the
little joke.
I absentmindedly chewed on my bottom lip. Beside me,
Heather was adding her two cents, but I couldn't make out
a single word she said.
The metal detector sounded in alarm.
Charlie smiled, only one side of his mouth going up as
he looked down at the officer who I could see was smiling
up at him.
"My gosh, he's a charmer," Heather said.
This I heard. Like I needed to.
"I know."
"Even gray hair looks good on him."
"More silver than gray."
"What did he do, have one of those tans you paint on?"
I started to laugh, then muffled it. Charlie returned through
the detector, removed a large gold link bracelet previously
hidden by a starched long-sleeved white shirt. This time the
alarm didn't go off.
"Who wears long sleeves in this heat?" Heather said.
I looked at my arms cloaked by my jacket. "He knows
how cold it can get in here." I glanced at her bare shoulders.
"You'll be freezing before you leave here."
She shook her head. "I'm never cold. I think I'm going
through the change already."
I didn't comment. I couldn't. I could only stare at the man
I'd once pledged my life and undying love to. He slid his belt
through the loops of his pants, adjusted the waist along his
narrow hips.
Oh, Lord ... why does he still have to look so good to me?
"Would you stop staring at him?" Heather chided. "You
act like a timid sophomore ogling the senior quarterback."
I pulled my eyes away from Charlie and to my sister. She
was right. I was acting like a schoolgirl. "I could shoot him
for looking so good," I said.
"How much weight would you say he's lost?" Her eyes
followed him as he walked to the other side of the narrow
waiting area.
"Twenty-three pounds exactly." I looked at Heather, who
had turned her attention to me. "I know because he told
Cody, who made it a big point to tell me."
Heather pulled her eyes away from mine and back to Charlie.
"Not to say that he couldn't have stood to lose a few
pounds. Your good cooking had fattened him up. Nothing
wrong with that ..." Her voice trailed in the mix of courthouse
chatter. "I thought you told me you didn't need an
attorney for this."
"We don't," I said. "We're just seeing a general magistrate."
"Then who is Charlie talking with? Isn't that his attorney?"
I swung my head around to face the other side of the room.
Sure enough, Charlie's ruthless attorney stood next to him
with his wheeled catalogue case at his feet. "Alex Jansen," I
whispered. I looked at Heather. "My attorney said this was
going to be easy. All I had to do was express to the G.M. what
the children have told me, show some of Charlie's emails between
him and the kids and him and me, present the evidence
of the private detective I hired, and ask that his visitation this
summer come with stipulations."
"Stipulations? Personally, I'd ask that the court never let
him see them again."
My mouth gaped. "I'm not trying to keep him from his
children, Heather," I said. "I'm simply asking the court to
remind him that he should keep his partying to the times
when the kids aren't with him. He's setting a bad example
of adulthood. One we promised we'd never set for the boys."
Of course, we'd promised a whole lot of other things Charlie
had conveniently forgotten.
Heather opened her mouth in rebuttal, then closed it. Her
attention shifted to the doors again. "What is
she doing here?"
she said when she found her voice.
I looked over. Anise was stepping up to the security conveyor.
"She volunteered," I said, keeping my eyes on the fortynine-year-old
gentle beauty who'd captured our father's heart.
Their marriage had done as much to shake the core of our
family as our mother's passing only a few months before their
nuptials. "I couldn't hurt her feelings and say no."
"I could have." Heather's shoulders squared, and she
pressed them against the wall behind her.
When Anise spotted us, she smiled, then cut her eyes over
to where Charlie stood watching her. Almost imperceptibly,
she held up a finger as if to ask us to wait one minute,
then stepped to our right, walking toward Charlie and Mr.
Jansen.
Heather sighed so loudly I expected the front doors to
blow open from the inside out.
"Shhhh," I said.
"What does she think she's doing?"
The question was rhetorical. Anise was not the kind of
person to draw lines in the sand. Family was family, no matter
what. Charlie, in Anise's way of thinking, was the father
of two of her step-grandchildren.
Her
grandchildren. Neither Chase nor Cody remembered
my mother, their biological grandmother. Anise had bestowed
as much love on my sons as she did everyone she came into
contact with. While Heather would never fully forgive Dad
for his hasty marriage to Anise, I couldn't fault him. Her
gentleness was, in many ways, an exact replica of Mom's.
And, while Mom had been a stunning beauty, Anise's loveliness
was earthy.
I watched now as Anise reached Charlie. He cupped his
hands around her upper arms; she rested hers under his elbows.
They exchanged the briefest of hugs, a kiss on the
cheek, then drew back. I watched as they spoke ... as Alex
Jansen looked on, concern flashing across the sharp features
of his face. But then Anise turned to Alex, extended her hand
in introduction, and I smiled in spite of myself as the shadow
from his face lifted. He, too, now smiled easily. His shoulders
fell in defenselessness.
Heather continued to grunt.
"Heather, hush." I looked at her. "I don't need any problems
here." I could sense more than see Anise coming toward
me, so I turned to greet her with a smile I knew she'd return.
She moved like a ballet dancer, feet shod in flat slippers, the
hem of her full olive green linen skirt flowing along her calves.
She wore a long-sleeved, pin-striped cotton blouse barely
visible behind an oversized shawl. A gold collar pin winked
in the filtered sunlight.
When she reached us, I stood. Heather remained seated.
Anise hugged me in the same manner as she had Charlie.
She whispered, "You look marvelous. Strong and sure
of yourself."
I stepped back as Anise peered around me. "Heather,"
she said. "Hello."
"Hi, Anise." At that Heather stood. "I have to find the little
girls' room." She looked around as if she actually needed to
go. "Any idea where it is?"
I sighed. "It's exactly where it was the last time you were
here, Heather," I said. I nodded toward Charlie. "It's that
door just past where Charlie and Mr. Jansen are standing."
Heather swiveled toward me as she took her first steps. "I
guess I'll have to make nice talk with Charlie." Her dramatic
flare was almost comical.
When she was no longer in earshot, Anise said, "I've blown
it with her again."
I returned to my seat, and she took Heather's place. "Don't
worry about her."
"I've tried so hard to be her friend but ..." Anise raised
her delicate hands, then dropped them back into her lap.
They lay cupped together as though one supported the other.
"I know." It was all I knew to say. At forty-nine—only eight
years older than me, and twelve years older than Heather—she
certainly
could have been one of our peers. While I do
admit to having been shocked by Dad's sudden marriage, I
wanted him happy. While two emotions conflicted within
me, I eventually allowed the latter to win. Heather had not.
Jayme-Leigh remained much too wrapped up in her own life
to share any opinions. Although, I reasoned, her pediatric
practice
was in Dad's office. She had more reason to stay neutral
than the rest of us. Ami, the baby, was in her mid-teens
when Mom died. Anise became the healing balm she needed,
filling every gap Mom left behind. Back then, Ami was showing
extraordinary talent as a ballet dancer. Anise—though
not nearly as gifted—had spent the better part of her childhood
in a dance studio. This gave them a common ground
on which to build a lasting foundation.
The heavy double doors leading to the courtroom opened.
A commanding bailiff stood in the gap, clipboard in hand.
"Klein," he bellowed. "Anyone here for Klein? We're ready
to get started." Then he looked around at the mass of others
waiting for their legal fate as a handful of people walked
slowly toward the courtroom. "Be with the rest of you shortly
Just sit tight."
I blew a pent-up breath from the deepest part of my lungs.
My chest actually hurt.
"Are you all right?" Anise's hand came to rest on mine.
"You're trembling."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from CHASING SUNSETS
by EVA MARIE EVERSON
Copyright © 2011 by Eva Marie Everson.
Excerpted by permission of Revell Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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