Page 70 of A River of Crows

Libby, as always, smelt of Christian Dior’s Poison, Oil of Olay face cream, and Doublemint gum. A strange combination that Caroline was unsure how she’d live without.

Caroline’s entire body shook. “You’re only doing this for Vince. One day you’ll wake up and realize it was a mistake. That he got everything, and you got nothing.”

Libby pulled back from Caroline and looked her in the eye. “I’m not only doing it for Vince. I’m going back to school so I can counsel domestic violence victims.”

Caroline wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “You’ve always wanted your degree. I’m sorry. I’ll just miss you so much.”

“Oh, honey.” Libby tilted her head. “We’ll talk every day.”

Caroline turned away when the screen door scraped open again. The kids didn’t need to see her like this.

“Come on,” Libby said. “Dry your eyes. Let’s feed the kids, and we’ll open up a bottle of wine.”

Jay seemed distracted, and Caroline couldn’t figure out why. Maybe the transition into fall made him restless too.

“Did you get Ridge signed up for soccer?” he asked as Caroline sat in bed reading.

Not this again. Caroline glanced up from her book. “Ridge doesn’t want to play soccer, Jay.”

He pulled his shirt off. “Well, he needs to do something.”

“And I can’t find his birth certificate,” Caroline added, staring up at him. He was getting soft around the middle, his stomach bulging over his jeans. “Signups are Tuesday, and we’d need it.”

“So, go to the clerk and get a copy tomorrow.”

Caroline took off her glasses. So much for reading. “He isn’t interested in sports. He’s interested in birds.”

“And you’re fine with him growing up to be antisocial?”

Caroline sat up straighter against the headboard. “Am I antisocial?”

“Yeah, a little.” Jay slipped off his jeans and threw them toward the hamper. He missed, but he didn’t seem to care. “I mean, you’re depressed because Libby’s leaving. I’ve told you all along you spend too much time with those birds and not enough time with people. If you’d listened, you’d probably have more friends.”

Caroline slammed her book closed. “Well, that’s a shitty thing to say. My father died, and now, I’m losing my best friend. Forgive me if I’m a little sad.”

Jay slipped into bed. “Fine, be sad. But instead of spending hours out with the crows, try actual people. Join a church, volunteer for one of Libby’s charities, and meet some of her other friends.”

Caroline heard a pounding in her ears. “What’s this about? I hardly spend any time at the creek. You’d realize that if you were ever around.”

She looked Jay in the eyes, daring him to say something else, but he remained silent. He switched the lamp off on his side of the bed and reached toward her. She pulled the covers up to her chest, wishing she hadn’t chosen her thin silk nightgown. She had nothing in mind when she put it on and certainly had nothing in mind now.

But Jay didn’t try to touch her; he just stretched past and turned off her lamp.

“Hey,” she said. “I was reading.”

“Goodnight.” He rolled away from her. “Don’t forget to pick up the birth certificate tomorrow.”

Caroline left the house before anyone else was awake. She didn’t want to deal with Jay when he woke up. He told her to get the birth certificate, which meant driving to Tyler. She took her time, stopping for breakfast and a coffee. Jay could feed the kids and get them ready for the day. He probably didn’t even know what time school started.

At least she only had to put up with him for the afternoon. Jay would leave after dinner to drive wherever he had to be for the next morning’s sales calls.

She and Jay rarely fought. And they’d never fought about how much time she spent at the creek. Something else had to be bothering him, and he’d taken it out on her. Still, that knowledge wasn’t enough to quell her anger.

By the time she made it to the public health office, she was fuming. When she got home, she was going to the creek. If Jay needed more clothes washed for work, he could handle it. If Ridge needed help with fractions, Jay could handle that too. As Caroline saw it, if she was going to be accused of being an absentee parent, AWOL at the creek, she might as well be one.

“Good morning.” Caroline set her purse on the counter. “I called about a birth certificate for my son.”

“Oh, yes, ma’am.” A young woman in a business suit stood, handing Caroline a clipboard. “There was static on the line, but you said Hadfield, correct?”