his work sites, this was the first time she'd been inside one of these trailers. She glanced around and took note of the blue-prints, empty coffee cups and general disarray. The place resembled a pigpen.
"You'd better tell me everything." Reese poured coffee and silently held out a cup. She declined with a shake of her head, afraid the cup hadn't been washed in weeks.
"Why do you assume I said anything more than the fact that I was disappointed?" she asked.
"Because I know you."
"Well, thank you very much." Her throat was thickening but she refused to let him see how his rebuke had hurt her. "To make matters worse, Tammie Lee's nearly six months along. Naturally Paul had a convenient excuse for keeping us out of the picture. He said they didn't want to say anything until they could be sure the pregnancy was safe."
"And you don't believe him?" Reese crossed his arms and leaned next to the open door.
"Of course I don't. People usually wait three months before they share their good news," she said sarcastically, "but six? You and I both know he put off telling us because he knew how I'd feel. I've said from the first, and I'll say it again, this marriage is a very big mistake."
"Now, Jacquie..."
"What else am I to think? Paul goes off on a business trip to New Orleans and meets this girl in a bar."
"They were both attending the same financial conference, and met for a drink later that evening."
Why did Reese have to drag up unnecessary details? "They were together all of three days and the next thing I know he announces that he's married to a girl neither of us has ever met."
"Now I agree with you there," Reese conceded. "I do wish Paul had told us, but it's been almost a year."
It still upset Jacqueline that her son hadn't had a large church wedding the way she'd always envisioned. Jacqueline felt it was what Paul was entitled to - what she was entitled to. Instead she hadn't even been invited to the wedding.
That wasn't territory she particularly wanted to revisit. Her son's only excuse was that he was in love, knew he wanted Tammie Lee with him for the rest of his life and couldn't bear to be apart from her any longer than necessary. That was the reason he'd given them, but Jacqueline had her suspicions. Paul must've known she wouldn't be pleased - and he must have realized that his in-laws would be an embarrassment. She could only imagine the kind of wedding Tammie Lee's family would hold. The reception dinner would probably consist of collard greens and grits, with deep-fried Hostess Twinkies instead of wedding cake.
"Tammie Lee got pregnant within six months of the wedding." She didn't hide her contempt.
"Paul's over thirty, Jacqueline." Reese had that disapproving look in his eyes. She'd always hated it.
"And old enough to know about birth control," she snapped. Paul had sprung the news on her the same way he had the marriage: over the phone without a moment's warning.
"He told me he wanted a family," Reese murmured.
"Not this soon, I'll bet," she burst out. Talking to Reese was impossible. He didn't seem to care that Paul had married beneath him. Her daughter-in-law was nothing like the woman she'd envisioned for their son. Jacqueline had honestly tried to welcome Tammie Lee into the family, but she couldn't bear to be around her for more than a few minutes. All that sweetness and insincere southern charm simply overwhelmed her.
"But Paul's pleased about the baby, isn't he?"
Jacqueline leaned against the table and nodded. "He's thrilled," she muttered. "Or so he says..."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He...he doesn't seem to think I'm going to make much of a grandmother."
Reese's eyes narrowed. "What did you say to him?"
"Oh, Reese," she said, feeling terrible now. "I couldn't help it. I told him I thought he'd made a terrible mistake in marrying Tammie Lee and that this pregnancy complicates everything." She'd assumed that a year or two down the road, Paul would recognize his lapse in judgment and gracefully bow out of the marriage. A child made that a whole lot less likely.
"You didn't actually say that to Paul, did you?" Reese sounded furious and that only made Jacqueline more defensive.
"I realize I should've kept quiet, but really, can you blame me? I'm just getting used to the fact that our only son eloped with a stranger and then he hits me with this pregnancy."