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Authors: Drusilla Campbell
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they might mean. I keep thinking maybe his spirit might be trying to get through to me.” Under
the fluorescent light her eyes shimmered. “What if he’s dead and I don’t know it? No, I’m sure I’d know. We’re too connected.
I’d know, I’d have to know.”
Roxanne didn’t know what to say to this. Her own concerns seemed trivial compared to her friend’s.
Elizabeth said, “There are a lot of hard things about military life, but the one you don’t hear so much about is the way it
stalls your life. Couples like Eddie and me who don’t have kids or a lot of years together, we have a hard time believing
in our marriages sometimes. I mean, how long did we have together, just normal married life? Not even four months. And now
we’ve been apart twice that long. We’re missing out on all the little things that build a marriage….” She stared down at her
plate. “Sometimes it makes me so sad, thinking about the years we’re wasting.”
“I don’t know what that means. Build a marriage?”
“Sure you do. It means going to Chicago or wherever. If you had a great job offer in Fargo, he’d go with you. That’s right,
isn’t it?”
Now she was cross with Elizabeth. At this rate she’d end up with no friends and no family except Simone.
“I love my sister.”
Elizabeth groaned. “I am so sick of hearing you say that, Roxanne. The loving thing to do would be to let that girl go.”
Roxanne saw Simone overboard, the
Oriole
flying past. Even Elizabeth could not understand how she was her sister’s life jacket.
“You’re on his side.”
“Side, shmide. Listen to me, Roxanne. It’s time for you to take care of yourself.”
Conversations going on in other booths were a low, congenial hum occasionally syncopated by laughter. It seemed that only
Roxanne had brought her troubles to breakfast.
“Angels are real,” Elizabeth was saying. “I’m convinced of it, only they don’t have wings and halos and all. They take the
form of the people who come into our lives. Like I was an angel for you when we first met because if that hadn’t happened,
you’d probably still be living at home.”
They had talked about this before. Roxanne liked the idea of Elizabeth as a pretty blond angel flying into her life, tucking
her wings and robe away, putting on jeans and a glittery T-shirt.
“And then Ty came and he was the angel who told you it was okay to get married and have a family of your own.” She laughed.
“An angel named Tyrone. But I think you’ve had your share of heavenly assistance. Now it’s up to you, Roxanne. You have to
be your own angel.”
Chapter 6
D uring the rest of July and most of August Roxanne often paused to be thankful that Merell’s 911 call and Ty’s Chicago trip
had occurred in the same week, forcing a crisis that, however difficult, seemed to have given new and stronger life to her
marriage. When Simone whined that Roxanne hadn’t been to see her, when she nagged Roxanne to shop for her, read to her, play
rummy, or wash her hair, Roxanne could say aloud that breaking free of Simone was the most difficult thing she’d ever done,
but it was happening.
There were times that August when Roxanne was aware of the slow unfolding, untwisting of herself. She slept late and read
on the deck while she drank her morning coffee and worked in the garden, up to her elbows in compost and mulch. She’d read
somewhere that gardeners were by nature optimistic because they believed in the future. That described Roxanne that summer.
On weekends she and Ty hiked all their favorite trails inthe Cuayamaca and Laguna Mountains, explored shops and restaurants in beachfront towns from San Diego to Dana Point. They
laughed, made love, and were happier together than they had ever been. They talked about having a baby. No longer yoked to
Simone, no longer the always-responsible sister-caretaker, Roxanne would be a wife and mother, as ordinary and
the fluorescent light her eyes shimmered. “What if he’s dead and I don’t know it? No, I’m sure I’d know. We’re too connected.
I’d know, I’d have to know.”
Roxanne didn’t know what to say to this. Her own concerns seemed trivial compared to her friend’s.
Elizabeth said, “There are a lot of hard things about military life, but the one you don’t hear so much about is the way it
stalls your life. Couples like Eddie and me who don’t have kids or a lot of years together, we have a hard time believing
in our marriages sometimes. I mean, how long did we have together, just normal married life? Not even four months. And now
we’ve been apart twice that long. We’re missing out on all the little things that build a marriage….” She stared down at her
plate. “Sometimes it makes me so sad, thinking about the years we’re wasting.”
“I don’t know what that means. Build a marriage?”
“Sure you do. It means going to Chicago or wherever. If you had a great job offer in Fargo, he’d go with you. That’s right,
isn’t it?”
Now she was cross with Elizabeth. At this rate she’d end up with no friends and no family except Simone.
“I love my sister.”
Elizabeth groaned. “I am so sick of hearing you say that, Roxanne. The loving thing to do would be to let that girl go.”
Roxanne saw Simone overboard, the
Oriole
flying past. Even Elizabeth could not understand how she was her sister’s life jacket.
“You’re on his side.”
“Side, shmide. Listen to me, Roxanne. It’s time for you to take care of yourself.”
Conversations going on in other booths were a low, congenial hum occasionally syncopated by laughter. It seemed that only
Roxanne had brought her troubles to breakfast.
“Angels are real,” Elizabeth was saying. “I’m convinced of it, only they don’t have wings and halos and all. They take the
form of the people who come into our lives. Like I was an angel for you when we first met because if that hadn’t happened,
you’d probably still be living at home.”
They had talked about this before. Roxanne liked the idea of Elizabeth as a pretty blond angel flying into her life, tucking
her wings and robe away, putting on jeans and a glittery T-shirt.
“And then Ty came and he was the angel who told you it was okay to get married and have a family of your own.” She laughed.
“An angel named Tyrone. But I think you’ve had your share of heavenly assistance. Now it’s up to you, Roxanne. You have to
be your own angel.”
Chapter 6
D uring the rest of July and most of August Roxanne often paused to be thankful that Merell’s 911 call and Ty’s Chicago trip
had occurred in the same week, forcing a crisis that, however difficult, seemed to have given new and stronger life to her
marriage. When Simone whined that Roxanne hadn’t been to see her, when she nagged Roxanne to shop for her, read to her, play
rummy, or wash her hair, Roxanne could say aloud that breaking free of Simone was the most difficult thing she’d ever done,
but it was happening.
There were times that August when Roxanne was aware of the slow unfolding, untwisting of herself. She slept late and read
on the deck while she drank her morning coffee and worked in the garden, up to her elbows in compost and mulch. She’d read
somewhere that gardeners were by nature optimistic because they believed in the future. That described Roxanne that summer.
On weekends she and Ty hiked all their favorite trails inthe Cuayamaca and Laguna Mountains, explored shops and restaurants in beachfront towns from San Diego to Dana Point. They
laughed, made love, and were happier together than they had ever been. They talked about having a baby. No longer yoked to
Simone, no longer the always-responsible sister-caretaker, Roxanne would be a wife and mother, as ordinary and
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