Watching Glass Shatter Page 24

  The look between them needed no laughter or explanation. Olivia was a force not to be reckoned with in the past.

  And as they settled in to watch the movie, laughing throughout the entire afternoon, they also covered Zach's past with Katerina as well as how Emma and Ethan first met. Zach didn't know much about Emma when the conversation started but quickly understood why his brother fell head over heels for the woman sitting across from him on the sofa. A chenille throw nestled the curves of her body, draped tightly to retain warmth, given the constant chill from the air conditioning Ethan needed on high to keep from a profuse sweat the medication left behind.

  “Do you need me to raise the temperature, Emma?”

  She shook her head and smiled at him. “Nope, it's nice and comfy under the blanket.”

  As the movie ended, Zach's phone rang. He had forgotten about the custody lawyer until that point but grew nervous when he recognized the number that called him. When Zach answered, Emma muted the television and walked toward the bar to fix another drink.

  Emma watched as Zach navigated his conversation. His eyes grew bright and the side of his mouth curled upward. The way he cupped his hand to his cheek and scratched at his face was reminiscent of Ethan in many ways. Both brothers developed a sarcastic wit and charm about them growing up in the Glass family. While Ethan was more intellectual and pragmatic, Zach more often practiced the art of flying by the seat of one's pants. They both were warm and thoughtful, learning and absorbing it from growing up in a loving family despite some of the barriers that had once existed.

  By the time he'd finished the discussion, a grin ran ear to ear across his overjoyed face. Zach hung up the phone and grabbed Emma's shoulders. As he hugged her, the veins on his arms and hands bulged beneath his skin, bringing life to the tattoos that pensively marked his body. “It's done. The judge ruled in my favor. I have full custody of Anastasia. Katerina won't be able to hurt my little girl.”

  Zach's embraced Emma with fervor enjoying the warmth between them as they bonded. They toasted to the future, but as they finished their drinks, both heard a noise in the hallway. Emma jumped up to check on it, then noted she was going up to bed.

  * * *

  Zach arrived home having ridden his Harley from Brooklyn early the next morning, sweating from the singe of the sun's rays as it rose above the house and cast a hazy shadow across the backyard. He parked his bike in the garage and went straight for the pool, needing to cool off before his body embraced the slumber he longed for.

  It had been a long shift at The Atlantis Lair full of rowdy punks on single's night, where he collected several phone numbers he later tossed in the trash. Upon reaching the pool deck, he kicked off his boots, rubbing his throbbing calves from standing on his feet for over ten hours. Stripping to his black boxer briefs, his hard, sore body ached for the relief of the refreshing water. He stepped into the shallow area, idling at each step, his skin smiling at the sensation of the gentle waves of water as they rippled toward him. He leaned forward and thrust his body into the deeper waters immersing himself in a temporary oasis. When he reached the other side of the pool, he emerged to his Aunt Diane holding two cups of coffee.

  “You could do with a little wake-me-up. I put whiskey in it. It oughtta do the trick,” she said.

  “God, I love you. It was a long night. I needed a swim before catching a few hours of sleep.”

  “Not if you plan on meeting with the school, you won't.”

  Zach rubbed his eyes and downed half the contents of the cup. “Shit, that's good. School? What're you talking about?”

  “You asked me to go with you to the Madison Academy to decide if it was something for Anastasia. Remember, honey?”

  Zach lunged underwater, bubbles percolating to the surface from his stifled screams. When he reached the top, he dried his face, grabbed the stone edge of the pool, and jumped out. “I forgot. Now I understand why you made me the Irish coffee.”

  “You still haven't told your momma, yet, have you?”

  “No. I want to check the place out to see if it's full of rich, white snobby children from rich, white snobby families who only like being around other rich, white snobby people.”

  “Ha! Don't let Margaret or Matt hear you say that. They just finished enrolling Melanie last week.”

  “I know. It seems kinda cool. Not a typical private school. They embrace being different from all I've read.”

  “For once, maybe you and your momma will agree on something. She loves you, Zach. She's been trying real hard to change and let you boys decide on your own.”

  Zach finished the rest of the coffee, his tongue slurping the last few drops in an exaggerated fashion. “I'm gonna need another if you keep saying crazy shit.”

  “Really, she is. Maybe she will surprise you one of these days. Your father's death has taught her a few lessons. Possibly just in time.”

  “Thanks for going with me today. It might be good to get your perspective… not just my own.”

  “Anytime, sweetheart. I care about you boys… a lot.”

  Zach walked to his aunt and threw his wet arms around her, laughing as she squealed from the drops of water falling on her skin. “For the record, Aunt Diane, you deserved a helluva lot more than that ex-husband of yours. Maybe I'll find you some hunk at the club next week. You'd be a good cougar… I could see you busting up the dance floor.”

  Diane stood and moved her arms around her waist. “Like this? I could do the Robot… Go, Teddy! Get your groove on.”

  They both fell back into their chairs laughing and crying at either Teddy or Diane dancing at The Atlantis Lair.

  “Maybe I could hook up with one of them young guys. It's been a long time since this girl's gotten a lil' somethin' somethin'.” She smacked her ass with her own hand and winked at her nephew.

  Zach closed his eyes and slammed his hand to his forehead. “TMI, Aunt Diane. Way too much!”

  * * *

  Later that day while Ethan and Emma stopped at the doctor's office for a check-up, Diane took Anastasia to visit Margaret and the girls. Zach, home alone with his mother, updated her on the news from the lawyer.

  “It's fantastic news, Zachary. I told you it would work out,” Olivia said.

  “Yes. And to answer your question from the other day, I have thought about your proposal. I never told you about my other good news. I wanted to wait it out to first see what happened with the custody battle, but since everything seems to have come together for me these days, it's time I share something else with you.” Zach beamed as if he'd found the Golden Goose.

  “Well, don't keep me in suspense. Out with it, Zachary.”

  “Do you remember how you've been giving me shit this whole year about my working the night shift and disappearing on weekends? And how you thought I was out getting fucked up again?”

  “Don't be vulgar, Zachary. I may have given you a hard time, but we got past all that nonsense with this summer's revelations.”

  “Yes, but I had a reason for working those crazy hours. I've been launching my music career, and I'm finally getting my chance to shine. I met with a producer from LA a few times this summer, and he came to hear me at a club in the city. That's what I've been doing nights and weekends. I've been networking and building a name for myself. And it's worked.”

  “Are you moving to LA?” Olivia' stomach sank fearing the worst if he took her granddaughter far away.

  “No, that's the best part. They want to hire me to produce music on the East Coast focusing on the chill new clubs popping up near the Brooklyn canals. I will still have to go to a few nighttime sets, but it'll be a full-time gig where I have my own team, and I get to stay here.”

  “That's amazing. I'm so glad it's worked out for you. What does it mean in relation to my proposal for you to move back into the house instead of me selling it?”

  “It means I'm on board, or I'll give it a chance. Move back to Brandywine, and we can enroll Anastasia at the Madison Academy with M
att's girls. Instead of you selling the house, I can move in and take care of the place along with Matt and Margaret. That is if you still think it's a good idea for them to sell their home and move in here to focus on fixing their financial problems, Mom. I'm not promising forever or that it'll even work out, but I'm willing to give it a shot.”

  “Yes, it is the best decision for all of us.”

  Olivia hadn't allowed herself to embrace happiness the last few months, but the road before her had started to change before she'd even stepped forward. She placed her hands on Ben's oak desk sensing the letter tease and mock her from the locked drawer. After all the good news Zachary had relayed to her, she wasn't prepared to tell him it might just be a lie. She'd begun to remedy years of anger and endless disagreement with her son unwilling to relinquish it without a fight. She simply couldn't lose Zachary to Rowena now that she'd connected with him again.

  Chapter 24 – Teddy

  Upon learning Zach and Sarah had slept together, Teddy's newly-surfaced ability to express his emotions and to be truthful with his family began to dissipate. It didn't matter his youngest brother was dying. He couldn't focus on Matt checking into a rehab facility. He had no interest in talking to Caleb and Jake nor meeting their newborn son. He didn't want to be anywhere near his brother, Zach, for fear of what he'd do or say to the brother who had wronged him in such an egregious manner.

  Immediately after learning of his wife's infidelity, Teddy spent the following days negotiating with Ms. Davis and Mr. Wittleton, quickly agreeing on a fair price to sell them the remaining sixty percent of the Glass family's law practice. Once they agreed, he worked with a colleague to prepare the papers and presented them to the partners without even running it by any of his brothers or his mother. It was clearly his decision to execute, and he had little interest in getting input from his family. The partners had agreed to forget about the money Matt had taken and would not pursue any legal follow-up. They greatly respected Ben and had wanted to do right by his family. Matt was thrilled as it meant he avoided any embezzlement charges. After the sale happened, the brothers would each receive a useful sum enabling a few of them to move forward with their lives.

  Once he'd settled everything, Teddy emailed copies to his brothers and his mother stating his desire to move forward explaining it would be official as of the middle of the next month. He'd given them two days to notify him, in writing, if they had any objections. Otherwise, he'd considered it a completed deal, all within his power based on the terms of his father's estate. The only approach he knew was to treat his family in a purely business transaction, but only this time, it would contain no lunch with the client.

  While the papers were in their final review, he needed quiet time where he could reflect on his situation and freely paint without interruption. With the door to his office locked and the rest of the staff gone for the day, Teddy retrieved his art supplies from the closet and worked on his next series of paintings.

  * * *

  After the two days had passed, Teddy called his mother to verify she read the email, as she sometimes forgot to check her account. Sitting at a local bar near the office, nursing a Manhattan, he waited for his mother to respond.

  “I received the email, Theodore. You've negotiated a fair deal. I trust no one has objected to it?”

  “Everyone replied indicating full agreement. Even Zach.” He observed the bar crowding, and his body twitched in discomfort. He rustled his fingers against the table, pushing them down as hard as he could.

  “I ate dinner with Zachary yesterday. He mentioned you won't return any of his phone calls.”

  “I'm not ready to talk to him, Mom. I haven't even talked to Sarah. I've been sleeping in the guest room if you must know.” He spent as little time at home as possible avoiding Sarah and any discussion or confrontation he had no energy to address.

  “How much longer are you going to let this go on, Theodore?”

  “I've transitioned all responsibilities at the firm to Dad's partners as of this afternoon. I start art school next week. I will need to do something about Sarah in the next few days.” He paused before developing an angry tone. “Do you need to know anything else, Mom?”

  “I know what they did deeply hurt you, but they had no bad intentions. Theodore… Teddy…”

  Hearing his mother call him Teddy, a courtesy that rarely ever happened even as a child, his exterior shell softened. It was difficult managing his anger and frustration, internalizing his father's death, his wife's betrayal, and his brother's foolishness. “I'm trying to understand it. Sarah has wanted a baby for such a long time, and we had been desperately trying the last year. She never once told me I was the problem, and that's the part I'm struggling with above anything else.” His fingers slipped off the table, and he rested them on his lap with determined ease.

  “That she lied to you or she tried to protect you?” Olivia said.

  “Neither. I'm upset she didn't trust me enough to tell me I was the reason we couldn't get pregnant. If she had only talked to me about it, we could have decided together to consider getting a donor or even asking one of my brothers if they would be willing to do it for us. I was given no choice in any of it. I can forgive her, maybe in time, for sleeping with him. Definitely, not right now. I understand they weren't having an affair. It wasn't a betrayal of our love. It was a betrayal of our trust. I'm not sure I can forgive that.”

  Olivia was in no position to argue with his logic. “Sarah and I talked about it. I know she regrets her actions. I understand why you married her, Teddy. She's a smart woman, even though I said a few bad words in the past. I've recently learned that sometimes you need to go beyond the choice someone made and instead understand the outcome.”

  “The outcome?” Teddy allowed himself to listen to his mother for once. He knew he needed an ally among the snakes hiding in his family. She was the only option at that point despite not telling him the moment she learned of Sarah's infidelity.

  “Yes, the outcome is you are the baby's father. Shouldn't that stand out as the most important reason if you intend to remedy it with her?”

  Teddy reflected on her statement, unwittingly releasing the morbid tension from his body when he stretched his limbs and sunk further into the chair. Internalizing Sarah's ridiculous behavior with Zach had distracted him from the astounding news he would finally become a father.

  “I need to go, Mom. Something just came up.” Teddy hung up the phone, tossed a twenty on the counter, and rushed out of the bar.

  Olivia compared her situation to his and found little difference between the two. Could it be fate intervening, so her son did not need to raise someone else's child only because he would soon learn the people he thought were his parents weren't his real parents? Olivia desperately wanted Rowena to arrive in Connecticut, so they could bring this pain to an end. Why is it taking her so long?

  When Teddy arrived home, he found Sarah resting on their bed. He indicated he was ready to discuss the situation.

  While Sarah lit incense to relax them both, Teddy joined her on the bed, pulling the blanket over them to encourage a more intimate conversation.

  “I'm sorry.” His fingers stretched and rubbed against each other. The sensation had become too familiar to ignore.

  “You didn't do anything wrong,” she said.

  “I did. I forgot to show you how much I love you every day.”

  “I never doubted you loved me.”

  “But you didn't trust me enough to tell me I was the reason you weren't getting pregnant for the last few years.” Teddy tried to crack his knuckles, but Sarah slipped her hand in his to hold him back.

  “I'm not sure it was the only reason.”

  “What do you mean? Low sperm count caused it.” Teddy pulled her body closer to his, her back against his chest.

  “True. That's part of it. I reckon there was more to it. You've been a pretty angry, stressed man for a long time. It took me years to break through your walls.”

/>   “I said I was sorry.” Anger began to fuel the power resonating deep in his voice.

  “That's not what I mean. Don't fly off the handle. Let me talk.” She reached a hand to his cheek and caressed him.

  Teddy looked away. “Go ahead.”

  “I was angry, too. I reckon part of me worried you and I weren't going to last. You worked all the time. I was never around when you were home. We just couldn't find a way to enjoy each other's company and build a stronger relationship during the first few years. I absorbed a lot of that frustration which takes a toll on a woman's body. What's that expression… don't watch a pot of water or it never will boil?”

  “Yes, something along those lines. Are you the pot of water, or am I?”

  “I am. We kept trying to have a baby for so long, fixated on it. I also obsessed over whether you would ever change and be more loving and affectionate. Then I stumbled upon your passions earlier this year. I suddenly saw a different side of you, and I realized why I loved you.”

  “I know. The change was apparent back then, too. When my dad decided to retire, I had to take over the law firm.”

  “Exactly. Our timing didn't sync up, and you wouldn't tell your parents about your dream to be anything but a lawyer.”

  “We decided I would tell him.” Teddy let her hold his hand again.

  “And for a few weeks, I reckon I fell back in love with you, attracted to a stronger, more caring husband. It happened because you started to trust in yourself, and you wanted to focus on your creative outlets. I relaxed, and my body embraced the ability to conceive. I just didn't know it.”

  “But you slept with Zach. With my brother.” Images of his naked wife and brother plagued his mind. He jostled Sarah away and stood from the bed.

  Sarah slunk back against the headboard. “Yes, I slept with him, and I regret it. I regret not believing in you, in us. I am angry with myself for being selfish and not talking to you about my concerns and fears. I'm sorry, Teddy. It's all my fault. I should have trusted in us. I'm not a snake in the grass. I'm your wife. You know me. You have to believe I was tryin' to improve our future.”