When You Read Between the Lines

Faith got home from work Monday evening around five o’clock to an empty house as it always was even when Nick was living there. She sighed as she slid her shoes off and put her purse down next to the door. She walked through the living room, relishing the feel of the plush carpet squishing between her toes with each step. The light in the room coming from the pink and orange sunset cast a glow on some object in the room causing a diamond glitter effect throughout the room. Faith looked toward the mantle for the source of the beauty to see the crystal picture frame holding the photograph of her and Nick on their wedding day. It had been a gift from her parents since they weren’t able to make it to the wedding.

She felt a tear prick at the corner of her eye. The picture and the frame made her think of her parents and how she wished they could have been at the wedding. Even if they had been there it wouldn’t have made a difference. No one would have been able to tell her that she was going to make one of the biggest mistakes of her life. She turned to the kitchen and picked up the phone from the counter and went and sat at the kitchen table dialing her parents’ house back in Connecticut.

At the first ring she thought of her father and his Huntington’s disease; the reason why they couldn’t make it to the wedding. He had been diagnosed a few months back after being brought to the hospital for a head injury caused by fighting with a neighbor. It was abnormal behavior for him seeing as how Faith had never once seen him raise his voice to anyone.

Two days before her wedding she received a call from her mother saying they wouldn’t be able to make it because they were going to be at the hospital. Her father had been walking down the stairs when his legs gave out and he tumbled the rest of the way down. He was now confined to a wheelchair. The thing with Huntington’s is that it physically deteriorates a person. Pretty soon his speech will be gone, they’re already having trouble trying to understand him but he’s determined to talk as long as he can. It kills Faith to live so far away from them.

“Hello?”

“Lizzy… it’s me,” Faith said upon hearing her seventeen year old sister’s voice.

They used to be close but when Faith moved to Texas to be near Nick and the rest of the Jonas’, Lizzy felt lonely. When Faith told them she was going to marry Nick and live in Texas, Lizzy felt angry. When Lizzy called Faith and told her that their father had Huntington’s disease and she really wanted her to move back to Connecticut, Faith said that she and Nick were going to get married soon and wouldn’t be able to up and leave Texas because of his work with the Administration. Lizzy felt abandoned. She stopped calling Faith, she stopped emailing her, she stopped everything.

“What do you want?” Lizzy scoffed and Faith felt her heart ache in her chest.

“Can I talk to Mom?” she practically whispered.

“Hold on,” she sighed. Faith heard a muffle as Lizzy covered the phone with her hand and a slight shout to their mother. “It will be a few minutes. She just finished bathing Dad.”

“Okay,” Faith said and it was silent between them. Faith tried to think of things to say to her sister. She hadn’t been able to wish Lizzy a happy birthday back in September because Lizzy refused to take her call. “So… how’s your senior year going?”

“What do you care?”

“Lizzy…” Faith sighed, putting her head in her hand.

“Here’s Mom,” Lizzy said abruptly and Faith waited to hear her mother’s soothing voice.

“Faith! What a wonderful surprise!”

Hearing her mother’s voice for the first time since her wedding day made tears start to flow from her eyes. Even though they hadn’t made it they had called a few hours before. Lizzy, of course, didn’t go to the wedding. Faith doubted that Lizzy would have gone even if her parents could have made it.

“Mommy,” she whispered, a lump forming in her throat.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” her mother asked and Faith could hear the concern in her voice.

“Nick and I… We’re getting a divorce.”

“What happened?” she asked and Faith could hear the sound of wood on wood. Her mother must have pulled one of the dining room chairs away from the table so she could sit down.

“Everything happened. He made promises he couldn’t keep. He picked work over me countless times. He forgot about his own family more than once. It was just one huge downhill spiral and I had enough.”

“Honey, I’m so sorry. Do you want us to come down there to help you out?”

“You want to what?!” she heard Lizzy shout. Faith ignored her sister’s childish behavior.

“Are you sure Dad would be up for the trip?” she asked, wiping tears away. In other words: Are you sure Dad will be able to fly out to Texas in his condition?

“He’d love to see you,” her mother answered, ignoring the question. Faith sighed and could feel the heart beat faster as it knew what she was going to say next.

“You might want to hear the rest first before making a decision.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes… Mom… I might be pregnant,” she said and she heard her mother sob.

“That’s fantastic!” her mother cried. After all, this would be her first grand-child.

“Wait Mom…”

“What’s wrong?” she asked for the second time in the past five minutes.

“It… it might not be Nick’s…” she said and it was silent as she waited for her mother to answer.

She knew she should have said more so her mother wouldn’t think that she had cheated on her husband. That’s the last thing she needed to worry about. For her parents to think she was an unfaithful wife. Faith smacked her forehead at her own thoughts. The thing was she had cheated on her husband. She had been unfaithful. With her husband’s brother. But… she felt that wouldn’t matter in the long run because she loved Joe and Joe loved her.

“Well… whose would it be?”

“Joe’s,” she whispered.

“Oh honey,” her mother sighed and Faith felt more tears falling. She knew her mother was disappointed. She could tell but she still had to ask.

“Are you disappointed?”

“Of course not, Faith. Actually… you probably don’t want to hear this but I’m going to tell you because you need to hear it. I always knew that you and Joe would be together. I just didn’t think you’d have to marry his brother first to find out,” she said and Faith couldn’t help but wonder if it was obvious to everyone but her that she and Joe should be together. What if Nick had noticed it and never said anything?

“Oh God, Mom. I really screwed up,” Faith sobbed, putting her head in her hand.

“No you didn’t sweetie. You just finally heard what your hear has been trying to tell you the past few years,” she said and Faith sniffed back some tears. “Your father and I will get a flight out as soon as possible. We will stay with you as long as you need us.”

“I’m not going.” Faith heard Lizzy say and her heart broke even more than she thought it could in the past forty-eight hours. She didn’t honestly think her sister could hate her that much.

“Honey, your sister needs us.”

“I don’t give a fuck mother! She abandoned us! I don’t understand why you and Dad don’t get that!”

“Faith, honey, I’ll call you later. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” she whispered as the connection ended. Her mother had told her that Lizzy always threw these kinds of fits whenever her parents talked about flying to Texas to visit Faith. Of course they never were able to fly out and Faith was nervous at the thought of having her Father fly out to her.

She set the phone on the counter and grabbed a bottle of wine and a wine glass from a cabinet. She stumbled her way to the living room, trying to see through her blurred vision from her tears. She set the glass on the table next to the couch and poured some, setting the bottle next to it. She curled herself into a ball on the couch. The tremors from her sobs shook her whole body. The vibrations caused the table next to her to shake and her wine rippled within the glass. She felt like her life was falling apart and the only stable thing was how she and Joe felt about each other. What sucked was that no one besides her parents, Kevin, and Danielle could know. Not yet.

****

The next morning Faith called in sick to work. Vivienne understood even though she knew Faith wasn’t really sick. She shuffled down to the kitchen in her bathrobe and slippers and pulled out the phone book. She searched through the yellow pages for a Family Law firm. This was the next step, to hire an attorney and file for a divorce.

The names Bennett and Hughes: Attorneys at Law popped out at her. She stood up and grabbed the phone from the counter and dialed the number. Five rings in and someone picked the phone up.

“Bennett and Hughes, this is Janine speaking. How can I help you?” a cool woman’s voice said. Her voice seemed to calm Faith’s beating heart.

“My name is Faith Jonas. I’d like to file for a divorce from my husband. Could I possibly come in today?” she asked almost robotically.

“Yes you can if 1:30 works for you,” she said and it was silent as she waited for a response.

“Yes, 1:30 is fine.”

“Alright, we will see you later Mrs. Jonas. Goodbye.”

“Bye,” Faith said, pulling the phone away from her ear and hanging up. She sat at her kitchen table all alone in this huge house that her family had decorated for her… and for him. She looked around at the kitchen that had been designed to fit what she wanted, every last detail, all because of Joe.