Channel 20 Something (20 page)

“Maybe you could do the landscaping?” I giggled.

Jane Elaine pointed a threatening finger at me. “Do. Not. Say that within earshot of anyone from the church,” she hissed. “I’ll find myself with a rake and shovel in my hands faster than you can say ‘Amazing Grace.’”

I laughed and grabbed a beer from the fridge before joining the rest of my family in the den. My two huge brothers were exactly where I knew they’d be, one stretched out covering the entire sofa and the other sprawled on the floor. Unless they were at football practice, at a game, or at the table, Gordy and Tee seemed physically incapable of being vertical these days.

Daddy was in his recliner, dangling his latest acquisition, a gelatinous black and tan creation. He jumped up when he saw me and brought it over for my admiration. “Hi Jellybean. Check it out—the Zoom Baby Brush Hog—got a five star rating online.”

“Look out catfish,” I joked.

Daddy reached me and kissed my cheek. “Glad you could make it tonight, sweetheart. Where’s Aric?”

“I don’t know. He should be here any minute I guess. Where’s Mom?”

“I think she’s checking her makeup or some such thing. Just a warning, she’s rehearsing
The Sound of Music
this month,” he said.

From the floor, Tee added, “Hide before she recruits you into a rendition of
The Lonely Goatherd
.”

“Yodel-lady-yodel-lady-yodel-hoo,” Gordy sang, way off-key. No drama club in that boy’s future. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about Aric having too good a time tonight and becoming attached to my family.

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Mom’s voice sang through the house. I rushed toward the front foyer, cutting her off before she got to the door. She had on a nun’s habit, a costume from the play. I hoped.

“Great dress, Sister. I’ll get the door. You should probably check on whatever’s in the oven—it smelled like it might be getting overdone.”

“Oh—the ribs! I hope they haven’t dried out. Thank you sweetheart—I’ll be right back.” My mother speed-walked toward the kitchen, crossing herself and humming
Climb Every Mountain.

I opened the door, and there stood Aric in all his Norse-god glory, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt and a smile that belonged on a billboard in Times Square.

Inhale, exhale. It’s not that hard, Heidi. You see him every day.
“Hi. You found it. And you brought beer. And flowers.” I sounded asthmatic.

Aric stepped into the foyer and brushed a quick kiss on my cheek. He held up the bouquet of sunflowers mixed with autumn blooms. “For your mom. See? I told you I wouldn’t embarrass you. I know how to do the meet-the-family thing.”

“Yes. You sure do.” I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. My family wasn’t even aware Aric and I were seeing each other, so why did I care so much what they thought of him? And what he thought of them? I felt like a tenth-grader on her first date. “Well, come on in—everyone’s in the den.”

Mom intercepted us as we passed the kitchen. “Oh my. Aric. It’s so nice to meet you in person. Of course we see you every weekend on TV. Goodness, you’re so tall. And even more handsome in person. He’s even
more
handsome, isn’t he Heidi?”

I choked on an answer, but Aric saved me by presenting the flowers. “For you, Mrs. Haynes. And may I say I can see where Heidi gets her beauty from.”

Wow. He could even smooth-talk a matronly nun.

“Oh… you.” Mom blushed deeply and took the flowers, clearly pleased and utterly charmed by him. Even Hale, with his nice Southern manners had never brought her flowers. “Thank you. These are lovely. How nice. Oh, and you brought some beverages, too. Gordon,” she called out as she steered us toward the den. “Aric brought beer.”

“I knew I liked that boy. Send him in here,” Daddy called back.

As we entered the den, my dad came toward us, hand extended. “Good to see you again, Aric. Glad you could make it.”

Aric gripped Daddy’s hand in exactly the kind of firm, manly handshake that would impress my father. “You too, sir. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Here—let me put these in the cooler.” My dad took the beer from Aric. “Boys—this is Aric Serrano.”

My brothers sat up slightly from their sprawls and acknowledged Aric. He lifted a hand in a casual waved greeting.

“And this is my sister Jane Elaine and her husband Phil. They live here in Aberdeen.”

My sister and brother-in-law came over to greet Aric. Phil had a gleam in his eye, spotting a potential new member of the flock. “I’m the pastor at the Oak Creek Community Church. You should come on by next Sunday and visit with us. We’d love to have you.”

Aric seemed unfazed by the whole family spectacle. “Thanks, man. Maybe I will.”

We found a place to sit, and everyone watched the game while I darted glances at Aric all night. He seemed perfectly comfortable, quite at home, and reacted as enthusiastically as the rest of them, cheering and slapping hi-fives with Tee when the Forty-Niners scored and razzing my dad and Gordy whenever the Saints turned the ball over or missed a big play. He even made easy conversation with Phil about church stuff. Jane Elaine, on the other hand, kept grinning at me and giving him lecherous looks behind his back that would definitely have ruled her out permanently as a Bible study leader.

At half-time Mom called us to the table where an enormous platter of barbequed ribs was surrounded by bowls heaped with potato salad, corn on the cob, green salad, fried okra, and black-eyed peas. A plate of cornbread and a tall pitcher of sweet tea sat on the side. Melinda Haynes knew how to feed boys.

“Good, Mom,” Gordy mumbled through a mouthful of food.

“Mmmph,” Tee agreed.

“Thank you, Neanderthal and Cro Magnun. Aric, do you need anything? Can we pass you something? Speak fast—more evolved human beings run the risk of going hungry with this crowd.”

Aric gave her a dazzling smile and asked to try the fried okra. “This all looks really good. I’ve never had this before. Or those little beans.”

“Black-eyed peas. They’re really something, but you’ve gotta have them the way Melinda makes them, with bacon fat and hot sauce,” Daddy explained.

“No cardiologists in the family, I’m afraid,” I said to Aric across the table. He grinned back at me, obviously having a great time. He chatted easily with my brothers about every sport they mentioned. When my dad produced a gross fishing lure from his pocket, Aric engaged him in conversation about a local bass-fishing rodeo he’d covered. When mom mentioned her current play, he quoted her some of Captain Von Trapp’s lines and confessed a childhood crush on Julie Andrews. He had them all eating black-eyed peas (with hot sauce) right out of his hand.

How did he do it? Blend in so easily? It had been a while since I’d first brought Hale home, but if memory served, it had taken him a couple years to really settle into my family. His was so much more formal, the atmosphere in his family home dominated by his rather exacting and hard-to-please mother. It had always kind of freaked me out the way she insisted he call her “Mother,” and I preferred for us to come here rather than go to his house. He seemed to prefer it, too. I used to suspect he came here mostly to escape the tension there.

As if my memory had summoned him, the doorbell rang. My father answered it and came back into the room with a slightly worried expression and Hale by his side.

I sucked in a breath, the crumbly cornbread going down the wrong pipe and making me cough. Mom pounded me on the back as I reached for my glass of sweet tea.

“Hey everybody.” Hale had started speaking before even rounding the corner into the kitchen. “I brought some chips, though it looks like you’re already having…”
Dinner
was probably the word he’d intended. “Company,” was the word that came out when he caught the whole picture, including Aric sitting at the table, flanked by my father and Tee.

“Hale!” Everyone called out his name in that where’ve-you-been sort of way.

“Heidi didn’t tell us you were coming by tonight, sweetheart,” Mom said.

“Oh, well, Heidi didn’t really know, I guess.” Uncertainty colored Hale’s voice.

The last time he’d called, he’d asked about my family, and I’d mentioned I would probably go for dinner and football Monday night. I hadn’t expected him to feel comfortable dropping by at this point in our non-relationship.

Clearly he
wasn’t
comfortable now. “Listen, looks like you’ve got a pretty full house here…”

“Don’t be silly,” Mom said. “You know I always cook enough to feed a couple of armies.”

“Hi.” I coughed again, standing up and pushing away from the table. “You know there’s always room here for one more. Take my seat. I’m finished.”

Aric stood up as well, extending his hand over the table toward Hale. “Good to see you again, man. Aric Serrano.”

Hale gripped his hand and let it go, sliding into my spot at the table. He cast an evaluating eye over Aric. “Sure. I remember. You work with Heidi. You’ve been doing a nice job on sports.”

“Thanks. So, you come by to see the game?”

“Yeah. The game. I was watching at home and figured I’d drop by and see what the guys were up to.”

Of course, Hale would have to drive an hour and fifteen minutes from Louisville to Aberdeen in order to “drop by” my parents’ house and “see what the guys were up to.” No doubt he’d assumed he would find me here with my family, alone. Oh, this was not going to end well.

It was way past time for me to cowgirl up and make it clear our break was a permanent one. Not just because of Aric and me. But because I’d probably be moving away soon—if not this year then the next, when contract time came up again. And because Hale would never leave his family’s farming business in Louisville. And mostly because when I looked back on the past few months, I’d done too well without him. If you were really meant for someone, wouldn’t time apart make you feel the opposite way?

Unfortunately, Hale got up to leave before Aric did, before the game was even over, preventing an in-depth conversation. He politely thanked my parents for their hospitality and asked me if I’d walk him to the door. I threw a quick glance at Aric, who seemed engrossed in the fourth quarter action, before standing to follow Hale.

In the foyer, he turned to face me and rested his hands lightly on my hips, a position that would’ve felt very natural for us three months ago. Tonight it produced a strange prickling aversion in me. I fought the urge to step back from him, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Hale dipped his head, bringing his face close to mine so I could hear his quiet tone. “It’s good to see you. Feels like it’s been a long time.”

“Yes, it has,” I agreed, not lifting my eyes to meet his.

“So… you invited your co-worker over tonight?” he asked, an invitation for me to confirm or deny a relationship with Aric.

I avoided answering the real question. “My dad did.”

“I see. But you don’t mind having him around.”

“No. Um, Hale, we need to talk.”

Hale took a step back, his hands going to his hips. “About Aric?” His voice had acquired a hard edge.

I looked around. Faint sounds of cheering and guy-voices drifted from the den. This was not the ideal time or place, but here we were.

“About us. This break has given me time to think, and it made some things clear to me. You love your land, and you want to stay here and run your family’s business. I know I’ve probably given you the impression that I’m the same way—a person who wants to stay put. But I’ve changed lately. I’m becoming more like my old self, the one you never met. And I want the career that I decided on back in seventh grade, one that will probably mean leaving town, leaving the state.”

“I guess I didn’t realize how serious you were about the TV thing. I thought—well I hoped—you’d do this job for a little while and get it out of your system.” He stepped close again, placing his hands on the outsides of my arms, rubbing lightly. He dropped his chin and looked at me under his brows with warm sympathy. “I’m still not sure you really
do
want it.”

I shrugged away from his grasp. “Hale—you sound like my dad. Don’t tell me what I want, okay?” I kept my voice gentle in spite of the irritation that spiked in me at his knowing, paternal-sounding tone.

“Okay, but you’ve always talked about the crappy pay and terrible hours and working holidays and weekends and how hard it would be to have a family with this career. How hard it is to actually make it and move up the ladder.”

“I know. I know I did. Those things are still true, but the thing is—I don’t care. I still want to do it. I want to give this my best shot. Or I’ll never know. And I need to really be on my own and find a job—a TV job—that pays enough to get me out of my parents’ pocket.”

“You know you don’t have to depend on them, that
I
want to take care of you. But you’re right, I do have to stay here.”

“And that’s great for you—that’s your dream, that’s what makes you happy. I have to follow my dream, too.”

“So… it’s about your career then?”

I hesitated. I almost owned up to my attraction to Aric, but then I chickened out. And I rationalized there was no reason to hurt Hale by telling him I wasn’t
dying
without him, that my feelings for him just weren’t what they’re supposed to be when you consider marrying someone.

“Yes, my career and the dreams I’ve always had of traveling, doing something exciting, meeting new people, seeing new things.”

He nodded and leaned down over me, wrapping his arms around me in a good-bye hug. He buried his face in my neck and said in a low murmur, “You know I don’t want to hold you back. But I still think there’s a way for us. I still feel the same way about you. I loved you from the night you walked into the frat house—”

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were still here.” Aric’s deep voice echoed off the foyer’s high ceiling.

Hale and I sprang apart, staring at Aric, Hale with obvious irritation at having been interrupted, and me with wet eyes and awkward stuttering.

“Hale was, uh, just leaving.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Aric’s tone was brusque. “Good to see you again, Hale. Heidi—I’ll see you at work.” He brushed past us and left, closing the door forcefully behind him.