Finding Hope in Texas (31 page)

“Brad, we need to talk.”

“Okay.”

I sat beside him and Jody continued to stand.
“Let me just say, and Jody will agree with me, that we have worked
out our problems with each other, and it’s all because of you.”

“Because of me? What do you mean?”

“Well, funny enough...” O
h, just tell
him
. “...all this started because Jody thought I was flirting
with you on my first day here. And after that, things just soured
into an all-out war.”

He looked up at Jody and she nodded.

“But it’s over now. The only reason Jody
hated me was because she really likes you, and she was trying so
hard to keep you that she lost you instead.” Did that make any
sense? I guessed in teenage talk it did because he looked up at her
with caring eyes once again.

“Why do you have to be such a bully
sometimes?”

“I don’t like to be, it’s just that...” Jody
trailed off, not knowing what to say. “Brad, I do love you, and I’m
sorry for what I did to Hope. She really is a good person. I just
went crazy.”

“But who’s next? Don’t you trust me enough to
think that I care so much for you that I wouldn’t go after other
girls?”

Man, didn’t I say that right before Jody
punched me in the eye so many weeks ago?

Jody must’ve remembered, too, because she
gave me a
you-were-right
glance. Still, I couldn’t let the
conversation get sidetracked about how Jody probably needed to be
on meds.

“The fact is, Jody has apologized for
everything she’s done to me and I’ve accepted it. And now she has
come to apologize to you as well.” I gave her a look to tell her to
sit down and work her magic on him, which she did. In a few
minutes, they were smiling, with Brad running his fingers through
her golden locks.

Ahh, teenage love, it’s probably the
stupidest roller coaster ride out there.
But what could I say?
If it was Jason and me, I would have probably felt the same
desperation.

With my job apparently done, I slid away and
went down the steps, leaving the two lovebirds, smiling about the
good deed that I had just accomplished for the day. I also skipped
the rest of P.E., figuring it was better to be given an unexcused
absence than showing up halfway through class to get in trouble by
some female coach that wanted to be there about as much as I did.
Instead, I snuck into the little concession stand and waited for
the bell. I was getting pretty good at this bad girl routine.

Hey!
I texted Jason.
Did you mean
it when you said you would go to the prom with me?
It was a few
minutes before I got a reply. Time seemed to slow down waiting on a
text.

Of course, sweetie. I served in Iraq. I’m
sure I can handle a high school prom.

I smiled at the comparison. There was no
telling what kind of devastation he hadn’t told me about, what he’d
witnessed firsthand—the war, the destruction, the death. Was prom
like a war? Probably. Kids wore fancy clothes and hired limos,
spending too much of their parents’ money so they could look just
right, then playing out their drama on the dance floor, making a
public fiasco of themselves. It sounded wonderful.

Like the comparison, lol.

You know what I mean. Would love to take you
– didn’t go to mine.

Oh? Didn’t he have enough money? With his
looks, he could have asked any girl to go. My poor Tom Sawyer.
Okay, let’s do this.

Then you’ll have to take me. ;-)

Thank you.

LOL, I should be thanking you.

Not just for prom, sweetie. Thank you for
helping me find my way back.

Aww! How could a silly little text be so
powerful? Now I wanted to cry.

And no crying after that one. ;-)

Man, he already knew me too well.

Ok, you caught me, then a-proming we shall
go.

Wonderful, but proming is not a word, silly
head.

Me, silly? Only for him.

True, talk to you this evening?

Can’t wait till then.

Even his texts made me smile. Yep, I was on
the road to being a redheaded Jody and didn’t give a crap.

Mags picked me up after a while and I spilled
the beans about why her store was being torn down in the first
place, but then told her the good news, that Jody was going to make
good on her promise to move all the antiques for us. Even though
she was upset that her livelihood had been the near-casualty of a
teenage drama fest, she was thrilled that the next day there would
be moving trucks out in front of the old store, with men gingerly
taking away all the antiques and placing them neatly in the new
location. Even though Jody had caused all this trouble to begin
with, she was going to come through when we needed her.

“I can’t believe this is really happening.
Our own store, Hope. Can you believe it?”

Her happiness was contagious. No, I really
couldn’t believe it, and if we survived the first year, I was going
to be floored.

“There is still so much to do. We need to
advertise in the newspapers, plan for a big grand opening, and send
out postcards to the neighborhood. Oh, and what was that name you
had thought of?” She looked at me with anticipation.

Crap, I’d forgotten all about a name.

“Um, I was thinking. How about Valued Times
Antique Mall?” The name bounced around the Ford POS like a brick.
In my brain, it didn’t sound as bad as it did coming out of my
mouth. As Mags took it in, she slowly began to smile.

“I think that’s a wonderful name for an
antique store.” She began to tell me how she would have the words
displayed on the sign to hang on the front of the old building. “We
can get that ordered soon, I hope.” I nodded, thinking that Jody
had saved me from going over budget, so making a better sign and
putting out more advertisement would be that much easier.

“Now, we probably want to open up on a
weekend, but what can we do to get the customers to show up?”

“Why don’t you ask your new boyfriend?”

Mags gave me a tense glare. “Hope, are you
still mad that I kissed your teacher?”

“No. I only meant that you should ask him to
get his Civil War reenactors to come out and put on a show. They
could set up a couple tents in that open lot next to the store and
show off their equipment while you handed out 10% off coupons to
everyone.”

“You think he would do that?”

“For you, most definitely. Plus, they like to
put on their little shows for the public. It’s how they pick up new
recruits.”

“Sounds like they got one out of you.”

I thought about that for a moment. Would I go
back to a Civil War reenactment? Probably, even if it was just to
have the entire weekend to hang out with my Tom Sawyer. Heck, just
call me Scarlett O’Hara.

That evening, Mags used her sweetest voice on
the phone with Mr. Peet to coerce him into the advertising gimmick.
He didn’t need much persuasion though, thinking it was a great idea
and that he was sure he could get four or five other guys to come
out for the Saturday. I knew one that would be willing as well and
called Jason.

“That sounds like fun. When is it going to
be?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet. But you would be
willing to come?”

“Sweetie, I wouldn’t miss it for the
world.”

A giddy smile streaked across my face.

“But you have to wear a hoopskirt.”

“Wait a moment, who said that was in the
deal?”

“I did. You will be 1860s beautiful.”

Yes, yes I would, all for you,
soldier boy.
“Only for you,” I replied, nearly being able to
see his smile through the phone.

Like clockwork, the company trucks owned by
Jody’s father pulled into the parking lot of the old building. The
men meticulously moved the antiques out of the building and hauled
them to the new site without one scratch. Everything was done
within the day and Mags texted me throughout, keeping me abreast of
the progress. I relayed the news to Jody herself.

“How can we ever repay you for doing this for
us?” I asked.

“Hope, it’s the least I could do. Besides, I
got what I wanted.” She looked across the room and caught a glimpse
of Brad. “I should be the one thanking you. You know he asked me to
go to prom with him in April.” She gleamed. “Are you going?”

“Um, I think so. I mean, I have a date for
it, so yeah, I’m going.”

“Well, good. Maybe we could get a limo
together or something?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.”
Was I a hypocrite
or what?
Oh well, it was supposed to be the night of my life,
right?

Chapter
Thirteen

Two weeks is a lifetime in a teenager’s life,
but it wasn’t enough time to get ready for the opening of Mags’
store, especially for two people who were new at the whole
entrepreneurship thing. Mags actually went with the name I picked
out, why I don’t know, and we had a large sign created that we hung
on the front of the building. Another smaller, but just as vivid
sign read “GRAND OPENING” and listed the date. We had purchased
advertising in the local newspapers and printed postcards to place
in neighborhood mailboxes. With any luck, we’d actually get a
little business.

When the date rolled around, Mr. Peet and a
few other reenactors, including Lizzy, Hunter, Mike, and Daniel,
dressed up in their blues and grays and showed off for the stream
of customers that made their way in and out of the store. Jason and
I were there too, him in his dingy gray and me in my ball gown.
Yes, people referred to me as Scarlett O’Hara a few times, and more
than that, took our picture together, telling us what a beautiful
couple we were. So I guess overall, I couldn’t complain. I was
mostly happy to see that people were actually attending the opening
of the store and was even more ecstatic to know that we wouldn’t be
putting up an “Out of Business” sign on the door any time soon. My
expectations were already surpassed. After all these years, Dad’s
final investment in his sister might just be the one that paid
off.

Mr. Peet, Hunter, and Lizzy joined Mags,
Jason and I back at home after the big day. We were all foot-sore,
but happy that things had gone so well and ready to get back into
some regular clothing. Mags found a package addressed to me sitting
by the door as we entered. It was from Richard and I immediately
opened it, finding a note from him and a DVD inside. The note
read:

Dear Hope,

I hope Texas is treating you well
.
I’m sorry this is the wrong time, because I really don’t know
how you’ll take it so soon after the accident, but your father was
videotaping Tyler’s game the night he died and I feel strongly that
you should have it. Much of the original footage was distorted in
the crash, but I felt it was right for you to see the part we were
able to retrieve from the camera. Hope, as always, if you need
anything from me, please do not hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Richard

Kilpatrick, Sneed, and Scott Attorneys at
Law

I looked at Mags and Jason after reading the
note, handing it to them, but not sure what I should do. In my
hand, I held the last few precious moments of my family’s lives. I
could feel my heart vaulting to my throat and tears begin to sting
my eyes. Seeing their happy, jovial selves one last time was all
I’d ever wanted. But now that the sudden chance had come true, I
wasn’t sure I could do it. Mags spoke first in the nicest voice
possible, but all she could muster was, “Oh, honey.” A few more
moments passed before anyone spoke. This time it was Jason, who
grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

“Hope, I can’t make this decision for you,
but whatever you want to do, I’m going to be right beside you the
entire time.” I looked at him as the first tear began to stream
down my face. Everyone else in the room gave me reassuring
smiles.

“Would y’all like to meet my family?” I
finally said, handing the DVD to Mags, who popped it into the
player. She sat down on the other side of me and also gripped my
hand.

At first, there were some grainy scenes of
the basketball game with a few cheers from the crowd, but nothing
you could make out distinctively. Everything went dark for a moment
until a clear shot of the empty gym floor showed what we all waited
silently to see. The camera wheeled around quickly to Tyler’s
smiling face as he stood there in his jersey, but it was my dad’s
voice behind the camera that I heard first.

“Hey, Tyler, tell Hope how many points you
scored.”

“Eighteen, Sis, with a double-double in
rebounds, just like you asked for.”

“And where are you going tomorrow?”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “To your Christmas
musical thing.”

Dad chuckled. “Alright, tell her bye.”

“Bye, Sis. Tigers rule!” He got close to the
camera and held up one finger with a silly grin on his face, which
made me smile through the tears.

“Alright,” Dad said as the camera strolled
around and found my Mom, sitting in the bleachers, but looking
away. “And here is your beautiful mother in all her shyness.” She
smiled, but I could tell she was miffed.

“John, put that away,” she said and looked
up.

“Okay, but say hi to your daughter before you
do.”

“Hi, Hope. I hoped you enjoyed having the
house to yourself tonight,” she quipped. “We will see you soon as
your dad gets done playing with his toy.” The camera whipped around
quickly, back to Tyler for a second, who struck a pose that made us
all laugh for a moment. Then it spun around again, now directly
looking at my father, his eyes bearing into mine as they had done
so many times before. He gave a quick smile to the camera as I felt
Mags’ hand tighten around mine. This was her brother, my father,
the man who was the epitome of all that was great, all that was
right with the world, and this would be the last time I ever saw
him.