Chapter Four

The phone buzzed as she sipped her coffee. "Have you told them?" sjk asked.

"I need more time."

"By the end of Derby week," sjk insisted.

She drummed her fingers on the table. It was too soon. Damn that sjk. She dialed a number. When the call was answered, she said, "Meet me in Louisville. We need to deal with our little problem."

The next day was the beginning of Derby week in Louisville, Kentucky. Emily knew that Kenton was probably already in Louisville attending all the parties leading up to the big race. She had gone with him to the Kentucky Derby the first three years they were married, but she hated the parties and couldn't understand why so much fuss was raised over watching twenty horses run around a circle. The actual race lasted all of two minutes, but the festivities leading up to it lasted two weeks. Kenton hadn’t asked her to go the last two years. When Damon had moved back to town, he started going to the race with Kenton. Emily was thrilled that she didn’t have to go anymore.

Since she expected Kenton to be gone all week, she decided to have a little get together of her own at the house. She invited her parents, Ashley and Kim, Barbara, Carol, Sonja, Fernando, and Mario. It was a Friday night so everyone would have tomorrow off if the party ran late. She didn’t expect her parents or Sonja and Fernando to stay late, but everyone else might be there until the early morning hours.

Dinner was going to start at six, and everyone would probably stay for drinks afterward. Even her parents enjoyed a mixed drink every once in a while. Emily was extremely excited. She’d never had a party of her own here, and her parents had never been at the house when Kenton wasn’t there.

At five, Sonja went home to change clothes while the food was in the oven. Fernando, Mario and she came up to the house at five-thirty. Both men were wearing pressed black slacks and short-sleeved, button-down shirts. Fernando's was a mix of colors, browns, reds, purples and blues in triangular and striped designs. Mario’s was a solid dark blue shirt that clung to his muscled form. Sonja was wearing a sundress with colors similar to Fernando’s shirt.

Emily ran upstairs and changed into comfortable tan slacks and a pink, short-sleeved, button-down shirt, with ruffles down the front. She slipped on low beige heels and put on the slightest bit of makeup. She let her hair down and sprayed a small amount of perfume on her neck and wrists. She found herself thinking that she hoped Mario would think she looked nice, and then stopped herself. She wasn’t dressing up just for him. She wanted to look nice in general.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She did look good. She was still as trim as she had been when she and Kenton got married. She only had a few strands of gray hair, but they weren’t noticeable. And she did want Mario to find her attractive. She hated to admit it, but she was very attracted to him. He was so different from Kenton. He didn’t go out of his way to flirt with women. He liked to work with his hands, and they could talk about flowers and plants for hours, something Kenton wouldn’t waste his time with.

Taking a deep breath, she headed downstairs. Sonja was in the kitchen taking dinner out of the oven. She looked up at Emily. "You look nervous."

Emily smiled. “Maybe a little, my parents have never been here for a party, and I’m going to be meeting Ashley’s partner for the first time.”

“It will be fine,” Sonja assured her.

The doorbell rang, and Emily went to answer it. She opened the door to her parents' smiling faces. She stepped into her mother’s arms, hugging her tightly and then hugged her dad. “I’m so glad you guys came.”

“Well, you said Kenton wouldn’t be here, and we really wanted to see you,” her mother said.

“Come in,” Emily motioned them into the family room. “You’ve met Fernando and Sonja before,” she said, pointing at the two of them, and then at Mario. “This is their nephew, Mario. He’s the one I’m helping to start a landscaping business.”

Emily’s parents both shook hands with all three of the Rodriguez's. “Would you like a margarita?” Sonja asked.

“That would be fantastic,” Emily’s mother said. “I hear you make the best.”

Sonja beamed at the compliment. “And you?” she asked Emily’s dad.

“A beer if you’ve got one,” he said.

“Of course,” Sonja said. Fernando followed her into the kitchen to help fix the drinks.

“So, Mario,” her dad said. “It sounds like you have an extensive background in construction and landscaping.”

“Yes, sir,” Mario said.

“I might be able to throw you some more work if you‘ve got time to fit a few small yards into your schedule.”

“I think I could fit a few more in,” Mario said. “Once we finish the big landscaping jobs here and at Emily’s friends’ houses, I’ll have plenty of extra time.”

“Excellent,” her father said. “I’ll get Emily the details for you.”

“Thank you.”

The doorbell rang, and Emily went to answer it. Carol and Barbara were on the other side. She hugged both of them. “Thanks for coming,” Emily said.

“I never pass up free food and alcohol,” Barbara said with a laugh.

“I want to meet Ashley’s partner,” Carol said. “You know, just to make sure she’s not playing on both sides of the fence.”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t think Ashley would do that, even if she didn’t have a partner.”

Barbara moved past the two of them, toward the kitchen. “Sonja, Hon, have you got some of those fabulous margaritas made up?”

“Absolutely,” Sonja said, motioning for Barbara to follow her into the kitchen.

Carol leaned closer to Emily. “Damon came home a couple of days ago in a mood. It was the worst that he’s ever been. He practically raped me. He went to his weight room and worked out for hours. When I asked him about it, he said he was sick of being screwed over. He left this morning to go to Louisville for the Derby Festival. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he comes home like that again.”

“Leave if you to have, Carol. Don’t let him hurt you like that,” Emily said.

Carol shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure what to do. I'd hate to leave him, but I will if I have to. My parents really want me to move back to Atlanta to be closer to them."

Emily nodded. She was concerned for her cousin and wondered if his being friends with Kenton had something to do with what was going on with him. "Come by tomorrow, and we'll talk more."

Carol nodded and then went to the kitchen in search of alcohol.

The doorbell rang again. Emily opened the door, and Ashley was standing there with her partner. Emily was stunned because the short, stocky blonde was not the kind of woman she had expected to see with Ashley. "Hi," she said. "I'm so glad you guys came." She gave Ashley a hug.

Ashley said, "Emily, this is my partner Kim. Kim this is my friend Emily from college that I've been telling you about."

Kim extended her hand, which Emily took. Kim gave her a strong handshake and looked up at her with warm and friendly green eyes. "It's so nice to meet you finally."

"And you," Emily said. "Come on in. Sonja has margaritas made up in the kitchen. Would you two like one?"

"Absolutely," Ashley said. "I'm dying to try one. You said that she makes the best."

"She does." Emily motioned them to follow her to the kitchen.

Sonja was taking the tortillas out of the oven where she had been keeping them warm.

"I've got everything outside on the buffet tables, so we are ready to eat."

"Excellent," Emily said and handed Ashley and Kim margaritas.

Mario and Fernando had brought Emily's parents, Carol and Barbara outside where they had pushed several of the small party tables together to make one large table next to the pool.

"Oh my gosh!" Kim exclaimed. "It is beautiful out here."

"Thank you," Emily said, handing her a plate. "My gardens are my pride and joy. Mario is helping me redesign them. You'll have to come back later in the summer to see it then. It should really be amazing with the flowers and plants we are planning to put in."

"That would be great," Ashley said and then touched Emily's arm. "Now that we've reconnected, I hope we spend a lot more time together."

"Me too," Emily said with a smile. She looked toward Kim who was filling her plate. "Will Kim be okay with that? I don't want to cause any problems for you."

"Kim will love it. You'll love Kim after you get to know her. She is the sweetest, most fantastic person I've ever met."

Emily smiled, "I'm glad you've found someone to make you so happy."

"Thank you," Ashley smiled. "Now, let's get some of this food before it's all gone."

Everyone filled their plates and sat down at the table. The doorbell rang again, and Sonja jumped up. "That should be my helpers for the evening." She looked at Emily. "I didn't think you would mind if I hired a few girls to help with serving and clean up."

"Of course not," Emily said reassuringly. "That was a fantastic idea."

Sonja left to go get the door, and Emily said to the group, "I honestly don't know what I'd do without Fernando and Sonja, and now Mario. They take such wonderful care of me."

"I'm so glad you have someone here to look after you," Emily's mother said. "It really upsets us that Kenton keeps you so isolated."

"You know, Mom," Emily said. "I didn't even really realize that was what was happening until recently, and I have plans to make changes. It just occurred to me the other day that Kenton has intentionally been rude to you guys to keep you away, and I let him." She squeezed her mother's hand. "I won't let him keep me from seeing more of you guys from now on. He's not around that much, and he's just going to have to deal with me spending more time with you two."

"Now that's the daughter I remember," her dad said. "We have been so worried, and we are so glad you've decided to make changes. We knew that if we had pushed you to try to see us or go against Kenton that it might have pushed you further from us." He took Emily's mother’s other hand. "We had hoped you would realize what he was doing and come back to us."

"I'm sorry it took so long," Emily said.

"That is so sweet," Kim said. "Family should always try to work things out."

"Are you close to your family?" Emily's mom asked.

"Yes, thank God," Kim said, taking Ashley’s hand. "Being gay can really isolate you from your family but, fortunately for us, my parents have adopted Ashley as if she were their own daughter."

Emily's mom smiled sadly at Ashley, "Emily told me about your parents having trouble with your lifestyle. Hopefully, they will come around."

"Sadly, I doubt that is going to happen.” Ashley squeezed Kim’s hand and smiled at her. "But Kim's parents' love has more than made up for my parents being the way they are."

Sonja came back to the table and sat down between Mario and Fernando. "It sounds like we should make a toast to family and good friends."

"I agree," Emily's dad said.

They all lifted their glasses. "To family and friends," Sonja said. They touched glasses around the table.

Mario smiled affectionately at Emily as she touched his glass. "I'm glad you decided to make your parents a part of your life again."

"Thank you for encouraging me not to be afraid of what Kenton would say," she said and touched his glass again.

Everyone began eating, and conversations flowed easily. Emily looked around the table at her friends and family. She smiled. This was the happiest moment she had had in a very long time.

“Emily,” Kim said, looking around at the flowers. “I have been admiring your amazing garden. I’ve been doing some freelance photography for an article in a Tennessee gardening magazine. Would you mind if I came by and took some pictures?”

"No, not at all, just let me know when you want to come by.” Emily pushed her plate away. “So is landscape photography all you do?”

"I do some photojournalism, mostly because it pays more," Kim said. "It's not one of my favorite things to do, but when it comes to paying the bills, you do what you have to."

"True," Mario agreed. "I've had some pretty crappy jobs, but, as you said, you do what you have to do."

Sonja stood up, motioning for her helpers to begin clearing away the plates. "I hope you all saved a little room for dessert. I have made my famous flan and fry bread covered with powdered sugar."

It was approaching nine-thirty by the time everyone finished eating. "Oh my God, Sonja," Carol said rubbing her stomach. "Everything was wonderful."

"Gracias, Carol. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Sonja said. She was about to get up when she looked up, and her face went completely white.

"Sonja? What's wrong?" Emily asked. She turned to follow Sonja's gaze to see Kenton standing in the frame of the sliding glass doors.