“Mornin’, Nora honey. How goes school?” Mr.
Vernor was a portly man with a peaceable nature. His short, white
hair fringed the sides of his baldhead, and frameless bifocals
stayed perched on the end of his nose. He and the Mrs. owned the
building and lived on the second floor. Selling hardware was more
of a hobby than a livelihood.
“Morning Mr. Vernor. School’s fine.”
“Would you mind staying a little late today?
I have an appointment in town, and Mamma’s at her sisters.”
I smiled.
Mamma was the
nickname for his wife. They never had children, and so I always
found it odd.
His appointments when Mamma was away usually
entailed a fishing pole and his best friend that owned the
barbershop next door.
“Sure, not a problem.” Well there goes the
thought of asking off early. At this rate, I’d get to Kate and
Hol’s right at dusk.
“Thanks, you’re a doll.” He went to the small
stock room, and I started working on the insufferably boring task
of sorting nails.
“I’ll be back before five,” he yelled, as he
headed out the door.
“I’ll be here,” ridiculously bored out of my
mind. Really, couldn’t we just close up shop? No one ever came in
on Saturday afternoons.
Rakes beautifully displayed in the storefront
window and all the shelves straightened, I ran out of things to do
and decided to start on English homework.
Getting a fresh cup of coffee, I pulled out a
tattered copy of Shakespeare’s greatest works. I couldn’t help but
grin. In high school, Shakespeare was frustrating and difficult to
understand. But now, the gentle cadence of his iambic pentameter
flowed through my mind, and I understood the complexities of the
Elizabethan verbiage. The cowbell over the door signaled I had a
customer. My stomach flipped.
“Can I help you?” I asked, quickly trying to
dog-ear the page I was on.
“Do you have tack hammers?” asked a rich
baritone voice. The stool tipped as I jumped to my feet. I lunged
for the seat; the book flew across the counter crashing into the
mug. Dark liquid streamed across my notebook, dripping into a small
pool on the other side.
“Hammers are on the back wall.” I muttered,
searching below the counter for paper towels.
Gavin chuckled and went to the back of the
store, mercifully giving me a minute to compose myself. I finally
found some blue shop towels by the stairs. Sopping up the mess, I
noticed a dark headed man standing next to a tall brunette outside
the storefront window. He glanced at me and they briskly walked
away.
Gavin came up to the now slightly sticky
counter with a hammer and some nails in hand. The ancient cash
register’s bell rang.
“That’ll be $27.42,” I said, focusing on the
register. A credit card found its way to the counter, and I copied
the information on the carbon receipt that was so popular in the
seventies. I could feel his gaze as I put the hammer and nails in a
brown paper bag, carefully folding the top.
“Gavin, what are you doing here?” My pulse
skipped a beat when I said his name.
“You said if I was near Lake Junaluska I
would see you then.” He smiled, and I melted. Volatile emotions
made my legs a little weak, and I thankfully sat down on the old
wooden stool.
“How did you know I worked here?” Immediately
there was defensiveness in the room. He faced the front door and
sighed.
“You told your friends you worked on
Saturdays for Mr. Vernor at a hardware store. It didn’t take long
to put two and two together,” he finally admitted.
That was sweet … his eyes warmed. The unknown
overpowered every other emotion, and I blushed.
“This is an interesting place to work. Why
did you choose this establishment?”
“Mr. Vernor was kind enough to hire me when I
was fourteen. He schedules work around my classes.” I noticed my
hands were trembling, and I quickly grabbed a towel and started
circling the counter again.
“Hardware supplies aren’t very popular with
the eighteen year old crowd these days,” he chuckled.
“The farm is old and I can order anything we
need at cost. Working here has saved Edna a ton of money.” I looked
down; the silence stretched.
“Am I keeping you from your
responsibilities?”
I shook my head. “No. I just have to mind the
store.” I realized Edna was the only person I had spoken to this
week. “I’m glad to have someone to talk to, though. I can’t stand
to be alone,” I confessed, the honesty shocking me a little.
“Don’t you have many friends here?”
I looked up from wiping the counter. So lost
in the green, I blurted out the truth again.
“My only friends are over an hour away. I
have no interest in parties, football games, or stupidity, and so I
guess the answer would be no.”
I grimaced. That sounded pathetic, even to
me. He found the nearest stool for sale and sat down on the other
side of the counter.
“What are your interests, Nora?”
Gavin seemed fascinated by everything from
the farm to my education, and so we continued to talk about the
trivial aspects of my life. He laughed as I recounted my excursion
into the area of middle school rock bands and Edna’s reaction to
Kate and Holly’s electric guitars screaming off her ridge. I found
that, as long as I didn’t meet his gaze for too long, talking with
him came extremely easy. If he did fall for Holly, like every other
man on the face of the planet, at least we could be friends.
“Do you have a big family?” Gavin’s genuine
interest in my ordinary life lowered my defenses. The rush of a
different need filled me like never before. I sighed and spoke from
the heart.
“No. I have only one person in my family, and
she’s my foster mom. My mother died bringing me into this world.
My father was in the military and deployed when
mom was just three months pregnant. He came back from his tour of
duty for her funeral. I think the combination of the stress of war
and losing the love of his life was simply too much for him. He
turned to drugs and alcohol, but that didn’t help.” I became lost
in the past; images of my eighth birthday swirled in my
mind.
“My strongest memory of my
father was his hand holding mine while we walked up Edna’s drive.
He’d parked in a public lot close to her home. We were going to
visit an old friend of the family, he said. They sipped tea on the
front porch while I played with Sudsy, her golden retriever. He
didn’t know it, but I could hear him whispering about how he really
couldn’t take care of me. He stood up, walked off the porch, and
patted my head. ‘I need some cigs … I’ll be back’ was all he said.
I watched him walk out of my life forever that day…”
I gasped for air, forcing
myself to stop. I had never, ever told anyone this story. Edna had
lived that horrible day with me, but we never spoke of it. I
twisted the useless paper towel into a torn mess, desperately
trying to find a way to make this seem as if it was no big deal …
like I told this story to anyone who happened by.
Beautiful emotions that
were like a large creature enfolded me in their compassionate
embrace. Sheer understanding, acceptance, and pain
for
me was so
overwhelming, tears finally spilled over. A warm glow that had
started in my chest with the creature’s first caress intensified. I
could feel the strength of it growing, and instinctively, I knew
that confessing this to Gavin was healing me in a way I never
thought possible. I defenselessly peered into his green eyes,
allowing their softness to flow over me. His eyes were brimming
with tears as well, and it didn’t seem to bother him in the
least.
“I am honored you chose to
share your memories of your family with me. I will not betray your
trust.”
He took my hand in his. “Did you ever find your
father and confront him?”
“I’ve always believed that you must be able
to appreciate the things that people can give you, and forgive them
for the things they can’t. My father gave me life, and he gave me
up. Both of these I’m grateful for. Love, security, and a real
dad—these are the things he was incapable of giving, or being for
that matter. Even at such a young age, I understood something was
taken from him that he simply couldn’t live without. He died a few
years ago from sclerosis of the liver. I read it in the paper.”
He stroked the top of my hand with his smooth
fingertips.
I tried not to think about how
much that whisper soft pattern was driving me crazy.
“Can I take you to
dinner?”
The clang of the cowbell interrupted us, and
I jumped, pulling my hand away.
“How are things going, Noh?” Mr. Vernor asked
absentmindedly.
“Great. I just made a sale.” I grinned; it
had only taken four hours.
He stopped when he saw I wasn’t alone, his
expression surprised.
“Joe Vernor, this is Gavin Frey. He goes to
school with Holly and needed a hammer.” I giggled; that made no
sense. Mr. Vernor knowingly smiled.
“Take care of our girl, Gavin,” he said as he
chuckled up the steps. Crimson burned to my hairline; the door
closed above us.
“What about dinner?”
“I’m going to see Hol and Kate tonight. Can I
take a rain check?” The atmosphere in the room tensed.
“When were you going?”
“Right after work.”
“Are you coming back tonight?” He picked up
the brown bag that held the hammer and nails. I searched his hard,
defensive face.
“No. I planned on staying tonight and then
coming back early. I help teach first grade Sunday school … why?” I
asked, telling him way too much as my stomach was promptly tied in
a knot.
“We’ll have to make it another time then.” He
avoided the question.
The older man and woman suddenly were waiting
just outside the door.
“Gavin, who are they?” I had answered a lot
of questions today. It just occurred to me I didn’t know very much
about him.
“That is Elias … my brother, and his wife,
Elaine. They had some shopping to do in town.” That didn’t feel
right, but I let it go.
“Are you sure your Jeep is going to make it?”
he asked. I walked him to the door.
“I’m sure … well, I hope it does anyway.”
Gavin stopped; his eyes found mine.
“Be safe,” he softly commanded. My heart
flipped. He wanted me to be safe … that was sweet.
He grinned again. “I’m sure we will be seeing
more of one another. Good day, Nora.” He walked out the front door
with Elias and Elaine falling in a few paces behind.
I watched them until they slipped out of
sight and then went to give Ed a call. The rotary phone took
forever to dial.
“Lo?” Edna’s voice was thick with sleep.
“Hey, I wanted to let you know I worked late,
and I’m heading out. I’ll give you a call when I get there, and
I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
“Be safe,” she said. My heart warmed
remembering the velvet voice that said it first.
The drive seemed longer as I struggled with
doubt. I could have cancelled with Hol and Kate and gone with
Gavin. What if he didn’t come back? What if he thought I didn’t
want to go?
I had to admit it … I needed a little room. I
was too open. Sharing the story of literally being dumped on Edna’s
porch left me vulnerable. Every time I talked with Gavin, my
feelings for him grew, and it scared me more than a little. I never
met anyone I wanted to date. Holly’s stunning beauty always
demanded center stage, which was how I liked it. She was my shield.
It was a great strategy and worked well … until now.
I headed towards the direction of Hol’s dorm.
Walking quickly up the stairs, I snickered when I passed the slobs
door, which fortunately was closed.
“Hey Noh.” Kate quietly sighed.
“Hey Kate, where’s Hol?”
“She went to party and wanted me to wait for
you. She wants us to join her …” Kate’s voice trailed away.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
It hadn’t occurred to me Hol wanted to go out and play the college
game. “Why don’t you text her and tell her we’ve decided to stay
in. I brought movies and pink pajamas.” I smiled, backpack in
tow.
“That sounds great!” Kate sighed in relief as
she held open the door. Her fingers sped over the miniature
keyboard; a moment later the phone buzzed.
“She called us wusses and said to go on
without her.” Kate’s shoulders tensed.
“Is she alone?” I didn’t like her partying on
her own. She went without us at home, but this seemed different.
Still, it wasn’t our responsibility to be her sitter.
“She’s with Bridget from a few doors down.
Hol promises to stay with her and use the buddy system.” Her voice
lowered as the phone buzzed once more. “Tell Granny Nora not to
worry so much.”
“Does Bridget have her back?”
“I think so …” She grimaced and flopped down
on her bed.
“Okay … what’s wrong with this Bridget?”
Kate’s voice became unusually aggressive.
“She’s like those wanna-be’s in high school. You know, the ones
that always hung around Hol to catch her leftovers? She’s using
her, but Holly doesn’t see it.”
“She’ll figure it out, Kate. She always
does.”
“This time, it seems different, Noh. The
parties here are huge, and the boys aren’t boys anymore, but men.
It’s all about the moment, the thrill of the hunt. You know Hol’s
catch-and-release program?” I smirked and shook my head. Kate
always termed Holly’s dating habits as a conservation program
through the national parks service. “Well, it won’t work here.
She’s going to end up getting hurt.” Kate’s normally quiet voice
rose and rang off the walls in frustration. I patted her
shoulder.
“How are your classes?” I asked, changing the
subject as I popped in a DVD.