Now I was sorry. Oh, was I sorry. I wish I’d never come home. I wish I’d never been born. Most
especially, I wish I wasn’t with Jackie Hart at that precise moment. Jackie’s reaction was nothing less
than I expected. “I’m going to kill him!” she screamed, and I was hopeful we were still far enough
away that he didn’t hear her, though he looked up and stared in shock when he realized a strange car
was sitting a piece down the road. “He can’t do this!” Jackie hollered, hurting my ear. “He’s stealing
my name! I’m going to call my lawyer!” “Jackie, let’s turn around and go home and talk this over,” I
said quickly. My instinct was to retreat, plan, and return to battle another day. Jackie’s instinct was to
fight first, think later. Instead of gunning the engine, however, she drove like a civilized person
(which, frankly, almost scared me more) until we were close enough to pull up a few feet from him. I
could see that he recognized the car—of course he did. Everyone in southwest Florida knew that car.
“Excuse me, sir,” Jackie said, like she was about to ask for directions. I almost felt sorry for Darryl.
He was entirely flummoxed. “I thought I heard a car horn a while ago,” he said. “I guess that was
you?” “Might have been,” Jackie said with that same edge to her voice. “You’re Miss Dreamsville,
aren’t you?” he asked. “Mrs. Jackie Hart?” “Yes,” she said icily. “Oh, I see you’re in mourning. I’m
sorry for your loss.” “And I see that you have chosen to call your development ‘Dreamsville.’ The
implication is that I am endorsing this project. You will be hearing from my attorney.” This was a side
to Jackie I hadn’t seen. Although she was so mad I sensed she was quivering beside me, she had
reined in her temper.
“Well, actually, it’s going to be called Dreamsville Estates,” Darryl said without emotion. “Our
slogan is Welcome to Dreamsville!” “What nerve you have!” Jackie said, struggling to maintain her
dignity. “I am aghast! Never have I seen such audacity!” Darryl smirked. “All’s fair—” “—in love
and war?” Jackie said, finishing the old saying for him. “And—when it comes to Florida real estate,”
he added. “But you wouldn’t know that, would you? Since you’re not from around here.” “I’m not
brand-new here,” she snapped. “I’ve lived here for two years.” “Well, whoop-dee-do,” Darryl said.
“Two whole years. Lady, if you lived here for twenty years, you’d still be an outsider.” “Go ahead and
laugh at me, sir,” Jackie said, lighting a cigarette and blowing a stream of smoke directly into his face.
“You will be sorry.” “Is that a threat?” Darryl asked, pretending to be taken aback. “Take it any way
you like,” she said, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Never underestimate a woman from Boston, or
do so at your own peril. Oh,” she added, suddenly remembering I was there. “I believe that Dora
here”—she gestured to the passenger seat—“would like to have a word with you before we leave.”
Darryl leaned down and looked in amazement at me, hunkered against the far door. “Dora!” he said,
clearly stunned. “What are you doing way out here?” I took this as my cue. My knees were wobbly,
but I got out of the car. Now was the time. I was hoping Jackie would understand that I needed to be
alone with Darryl for a few minutes, and despite her distress, she got the hint. “Dora, shall I come
back later?” she asked. “No, Jackie,” I said quickly. “Just wait here.” We weren’t at the Dairy Queen,
for pity’s sake, and while I wasn’t particularly afraid of Darryl, I didn’t want to be stuck out here with
him, either. She nodded and moved the car a respectful distance away. “Do you want to talk in the
trailer?” Darryl said, still looking shocked. “Or we can talk in my truck.” “Truck is fine,” I said. I
could tell he was having trouble reading my mood. Angry? Sad? What? Well, the truth was that I was
nervous as a rabbit at a hound dog convention but I was determined to hide it.
He opened the door for me, then went around to the driver’s side and climbed in. The windows
were lowered already, or the truck would have been hot enough to fry bacon. Even so, the seats were
roasting. “Dang, it’s hot,” Darryl said, buying time. “Surely is.” “It’s really hot.” “Darryl, I need to
talk to you about something other than the weather.” “Okay,” he said. “I thought you were in
Mississippi. I didn’t even know you were back.” I cut to the chase. “Darryl, why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” “Ruining the swamp! Paving over the river! And on top of it, calling it Dreamsville!
That’s not fair to my friend!” Darryl laughed. “You came all this way to fuss at me about that?! Let
me tell you something, Dora, you’re just as nutty as your friend there. If you’d stayed with me, you
could have been a rich woman.” “Darryl, what in tarnation has happened to your soul?” “Oh, so now
it’s my soul we’re talking about. Gee, Dora, I never thought of you as being the Bible-thumping type.
You trying to get me back to church? You weren’t there yourself every Sunday, if I remember
correctly.” We had fallen back into our old pattern, the kind of fighting that makes you get madder and
madder and gets you nowhere. “Darryl, let’s stay on the topic,” I said, trying to sound calm and
mature, although I surely didn’t feel that way. “You and me—we grew up around here. We played
here. You helped me rescue turtles, do you remember that? I knew you had changed. That’s why I
couldn’t stay married to you anymore. But this—this development—well, I’m shocked, Darryl. Not
only are you going to wipe out the animals and the birds, there are people living here, too. They don’t
have anywhere else to go. If you do this, Darryl, there’s no going back. The ’Glades have been here
forever; you’re going to change that?” Darryl was silent. “There’s a lot more ’Glades than just the part
I want to build on,” he said finally. “This is just one piece of the ’Glades. Besides, if I don’t build on
it, someone else will. Trust me on that, Dora.” “Well, I don’t trust you, Darryl. And it makes me very
sad to say that.” “So you came here to try to persuade me to change my mind?” “Well, yes, Darryl. I
thought it was worth a try. For old times’ sake.”
“There’s something you should know, Dora,” he said, and his voice sounded different. “I was
going to write to you in Mississippi. I’m getting married.” “I see,” I said as calmly as I could manage.
I wanted to say, Well, that was quick, Darryl, but I curbed my tongue. “Oh,” I managed to say faintly.
“Well, good for you, Darryl. What’s her name?” “Celeste,” he said, without providing a last name. “I
met her in New York on a business trip. Well, her folks live in New Jersey. In Basking Ridge.”
Basking Ridge, I thought. I couldn’t remember where I’d heard that before but at the moment it didn’t
matter. “That’s nice, Darryl,” I said simply. “Thank you. I mean, thank you for telling me.” I suddenly
felt tears stinging the corners of my eyes. Did this mean I still loved him? Or were they tears of a
different kind—humiliation that we had failed as a couple and he had found someone new? I climbed
out of the truck without looking at him, hoping he wouldn’t see. As I walked back to Jackie’s car,
though, I realized he was following me. I figured he just wanted to get the last word. All I wanted to
do was hightail it out of there. “Dora, you shouldn’t judge me!” he said, and now he sounded angry.
He was right on my heels. “Aren’t you going to wish me good luck on my marriage?” This was said
with so much bile that I was sorely tempted to turn around and slap him. “Now, you two settle down,”
Jackie called out. She must have heard the last exchange of words, maybe more. I k ept my stride
steady and marched to the passenger side, got in, and locked the door. He muttered and fumed, then
surprised me by turning and walking around to Jackie’s side of the car. “You know what?” he shouted
in Jackie’s face. “If it hadn’t been for you and your Miss Dreamsville radio show, I wouldn’t have
been able to get the financing. You put us on the map! So thank you very much for helping me get
rich!” Jackie looked stricken. She opened her mouth but no words came out. Darryl turned his back
and stomped arrogantly toward his truck. A second later he was gone, tearing down the road at a
reckless speed. I wondered if he knew how lucky he was. After taunting Jackie, he had walked right in
front of her car. If she had recovered faster, my former
husband could easily have become a brand-new hood ornament on the flashiest car in town.