Chapter 15
T
he first ray of sunshine cast a hazy glow across the road. It burned off the fog that had hovered since daylight. Taking advantage of the change in weather, I walked into town, feeling like a night creature coming out after a long sleep.
Since the Fourth of July, it had rained for over a week. The Chamber of Commerce had postponed the fireworks twice. They finally decided to light them off after the Timberfest in August. The rain had put a damper on everything. Summer residents watched reruns on TV, played cards inside, and took off to movie theaters and shopping at the outlet stores near I-75. It was like Truhart went dormant.
For his part, when he wasn't in bed with me, J. D. said that the rain at least helped him get caught up on a dreaded pile of paperwork that had been piling up on his desk. But even with that, he had a bad week. Two cantankerous speeders insisted they would see him in court. A bonfire on Reply Lake burned a cottage down and sent the owner to the hospital. And Dylan Schraeder lawyered up.
J. D. and I ate dinner together or at Nestor's, and went to a movie in Gaylord one night. We spent several sweet nights listening to the rain on the roof and sharing secrets. He helped me with my homework from my therapist. And my own self-imposed homework. We had fun imagining what kind of risk I should takeâespecially during lovemaking.
As I walked along, dodging puddles, I wondered how many times my mother had traveled this road. Were there any happy memories here for her? My mother and Grandma always seemed to fight. It was one of my last memories of the two of them together.
Grandma had made a rare visit to stay with us one cold weekend in the middle of the winter when I was a senior in high school. On the second evening, Grandma came down the stairs wearing heels and a red dress with matching lipstick. I was used to seeing Mom and Dad leaving the house dressed up for the fund-raising crowd, but it was strange to see Grandma that way.
“I'm going with your parents to a swanky party for one of your dad's campaign donors. Do I look fancy enough, sweetpea?” Grandma had asked me. I made her pose for a picture and when I finished she grabbed the camera and took one of us both.
Later that night I woke up to the sound of angry voices. Grandma came into my bedroom and hugged me. “Good-bye, darlin'. I have to go.”
I rubbed my eyes and threw my arms around her. “But we were going to play cards all morning.”
Grandma kissed me on the top of my head. “I am so sorry, hon. You know I love you. We'll play loads next time you visit. I promise.”
But that never happened. I heard later that a major donor of Dad's kept making disparaging remarks about homosexuals at the fund-raiser. Grandma poured her Manhattan on his head.
I went to college the next year, thinking I would be back in the summer. We kept in touch with phone calls and birthday cards. But I never saw Grandma Dory again.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I reached Main Street before I knew it. I stopped at the drugstore to buy shampoo and Twinkies, fooling myself that it was about homework rather than the fact that I had grown fond of them.
It was Wednesday. Ladies' day at the diner. I had gotten in the habit of joining them, enjoying the conversation that ranged from raising children, to diet tips that never worked, to menopause.
When I entered the diner the bell over the door jingled. Mac, the cook, passed me on his way out. He usually left the diner to Corinne when the ladies invaded. Cherry and Ellie sat at the counter with Sandy, eating grilled cheese. They waved me over.
“Can we make bracelets this afternoon, Elizabeth?” Ellie asked. A few days ago I had brought up an idea that had been brewing in my head for a while. I thought the girls should set up a small booth in the Timberfest craft tent and sell their bracelets. Ellie was all in, but Cherry was still skeptical.
Cherry put her head in her hand. “Here we go. She won't give in, you know. Now that your house is clean, I knew you were going to come up with another scheme to keep us busy, Elizabeth.”
I turned to Cherry. “Well, I was getting worried I was violating child-labor laws.”
Cherry popped a potato chip in her mouth. “Aren't we going to look stupid sitting next to grannies who display their crocheted blankets and men who carve owls out of tree stumps?”
“Believe me, Cherry, no one looks silly when they count their cash.”
“I don't know . . . maybe. As lame as the festival is, at least it's something to do,” she admitted.
I stole a chip from her before Sandy and I joined the rest of the women at the booths. I sat down across from Marva, who was busy adding packs of sugar to her iced tea. “Sorry again about your stove, Elizabeth.”
“Thank Joe again for not billing me.”
“Oh, honey, don't worry about that. Joe never charges my friends,” she said, stirring the tea.
“Wait a minute! He charged me last year when the worm refrigerator went bad,” Flo complained from the seat next to her.
“Don't start on that, Flo. You can afford it. Besides, Elizabeth here has already dealt with a busticated washing machine. She needs a break.”
I wasn't denying it. Making car payments was hard enough, but my bank account couldn't handle new appliances and I refused to ask my parents for a dime. Despite what the media said about me being rich, working for a nonprofit hadn't been very lucrative.
“Well, between the stove and the washing machine, I guess it's time to get a job.” I pulled the paperwork for the Timberfest closer and started looking through Marva's forms.
“Can we have a milkshake now, Mom?” Ellie asked from the counter.
Corinne spoke up. “I still see a corner of that sandwich left, Ellie. I'll make it when you clear your plate. And don't throw your piece away when I'm not looking, Cherry. I'm watching you.” Corinne saw me smiling and winked. She had raised four boys. She was tough as nails. “You are doing a great job getting us organized for the Timberfest, Elizabeth. Even the acting sheriff is helping us out. J. D. got the fire truck from Harrisburg to put that sign that's been hanging in the middle of the street to rights again.”
“And he's organizing security at a much cheaper rate than anyone Regina Bloodworth was trying to hire,” I said. A few ladies nodded. But others looked away. Corinne and I were on an unspoken stealth mission to break down the old resentment against J. D. But we weren't having much success.
“I still can't believe you got a refund for that horrible Eiffel Tower that Regina Bloodworth bought,” June Krueger said. “I hear we might get a giant slide to go with that bouncy house.”
“Well, let's wait and see what our expenditures look like before we commit,” I said, looking back over the papers. “The inflatable company only needs twenty-four hours' notice.”
Corinne leaned over and set a cup of coffee in front of me. “Exactly what did you do before you came here, Elizabeth?”
“Uh, well . . . I worked for a small company.”
“I don't know what it is about you, but you just don't seem the type to work in the secretarial pool,” said Flo.
Marva nodded. “Were you around last week when Elizabeth tried to get me to start a book club? She was dead serious. Now, a magazine club I would enjoy.
People
or the
National Enquirer
. But all those thick books that make you cry and get mad at the world? No, thank you.”
“Well, I like those books,” said Flo. “I just finished
Atlas Shrugged
for the third time. Elizabeth and I had a nice discussion about it two days ago.”
I was still amazed by Flo's literary knowledge. “I don't know how you have time, Flo.”
“Business is a little slow in the winter. Summer's harder.”
“I guess you aren't hiring at the bait store then, huh?” I joked.
She shook her head. “Sorry, hon. Speaking of which, I have to get back. Call me if you ladies need my opinion or anything.”
When Flo left, I turned back to the ladies. “Well, I do have to find a job eventually, so let me know if any of you hear of any openings. There was nothing at the library in Harrisburg.” The librarian looked like she should have retired ten years ago. But she'd narrowed her eyes at me when I asked, as if she was offended by my question. Too bad the old bookstore on Main Street was closed.
“A library does seem to be your style, Elizabeth. Of course, when you get dressed up to interview you might want to tone the makeup down a bit for that one,” June said.
“Well, my bank account is shrinking, so I am getting a little desperate.”
Marva grinned. “After watching you at that pole-dancing party you might be barking up the wrong tree. I'll bet you could get hired to mow lawns in your bikini.”
“Hey, there's an idea! At least it would get me a paycheck.”
Corinne walked over with a coffeepot and put her arm around my shoulders. “You wouldn't want to do that, honey. Believe me.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“You'd be cleaning grass clippings out of your navel all the time,” she said with a perfectly straight face before topping me off.
I almost dropped my cup.
“In all seriousness, if you decide you want to sell something, I can help,” Marva said. “As you know, there's a new party coming up. You ladies ever heard of Sneaky Peaky?”
A low moan echoed in the room as the ladies turned their backs on Marva and pretended not to hear.
June hugged her chest. “Those Sneaky Peaky bras you tried to sell me were awful, Marva. They made me feel like Dolly Parton. I wanted breast-reduction surgery after thirty seconds of wearing one.”
“And let's not forget, we still have the Timberfest to work on,” Sandy said. “I've got to get back to the department soon. So can we finish our plans?”
Marva sniffed the air defensively. Then she brought the subject back to the Timberfest. We spent the next half hour reviewing our plans when the bells above the diner door went off.
“Hey, J. D.!” Ellie yelled.
“Hey, kiddo!” J. D. dropped down on the stool next to Ellie. He sent a wary look our way and waved. He was still sensitive about the Fourth of July.
I could hear Ellie explaining all about our plan. I tried not to blush as a dark, tall officer of the law glanced at me over her head. I wondered if that funny magnetic pull in my chest would ever end.
“Are you hot, Elizabeth?” Marva asked.
“Just a little. The sun is strong through the windows.”
Sandy took a sip of her coffee and smiled at the table. She stood up and fished in her purse. “I have to get back to work,” she said. “Come on girls, I'll drive you home.”
“Can you give us a ride in the police car, J. D.?” Ellie bounced up and down, begging. “I haven't ridden in it in a long time.”
“Girls, don't give J. D. a hard time,” Sandy said.
“Why not, everyone else does,” Marva mumbled. I kept my mouth shut.
Sandy handed Corinne a few dollars, but she waved her hand away. The rest of us rose to pay. Marva pulled several coins out of her purse and handed them to Corinne, who slipped behind the cash register.
“I don't suppose you're going to leave a tip for once,” Corinne said to Marva.
“Why should I do that? You don't tip me at the Family Fair.”
They were still arguing when I left the diner. I squinted in the sunshine and saw Ellie and Cherry in the back seat of J. D.'s SUV.
J. D. stood by the truck and smiled. His eyes raked me from head to toe and his nostrils flared as he held open the passenger door. “Your carriage awaits, madame.”
When he said it like that I couldn't refuse.
His hand lingered over mine as I accepted his help, sending a flash of electricity to my bones. How did he do this to me?
Cherry snickered from the backseat and I refused to turn around and meet her gaze. As he drove, J. D. kept his eyes on the road, which gave me a chance to admire my own kind of scenery. The stubble was starting on his cheeks and his hair was curled around his hat.
“So, how are the plans for the Timberfest coming?”
I knew what he was getting at. I kept telling him I wasn't doing much for the festival. But he teased me that I was the chief. “I'm just helping. That's all.”
“I heard from Corinne that you've been doing everything.”
Ellie kicked her feet against the seat. “We're gonna have a bouncy house this year andâ”
The radio interrupted her. “Property check requested at Flo's Bait Shoppe.”
J. D. picked up the radio. “Affirmative. I'm just around the corner.”
“Flo was just at the diner with us. Do you think everything is all right?”
J. D. nodded. “It's probably nothing. Flo gets nervous sometimes. She calls at least twice a month. Being across from the Greyhound bus stop means she gets occasional strangers through.”
“Well, she is getting up there in age. And she's all alone a lot of the time.”
“That's what I'm here for,” J. D. said. We pulled into the circular parking area in front of the bait shop. I saw Flo gazing out the front window with anxious eyes.
“Stay here for a moment. This shouldn't take too long,” J. D. said, rolling the windows down.
The girls and I sat impatiently as the minutes ticked by. Ellie speculated on all the things that could be happening inside the store. “What if there is a lady having a baby? Or maybe a mean old man who's trying to steal worms from Flo? And J. D. is wrestling him to the ground. Or maybe there's someone with a gun and he's holding Flo and J. D. hostage.”