A Storybook Finish (10 page)

86 “How did you know where I—”

“Ever hear of the phone book?”

This can’t be happening! “Oh—well, how are you?”

He stared at her rather quizzically. “I’m fine, but what

about you? You look like you got up on the wrong side of the

bed this morning.” His gaze traveled to her clothing before

returning to her face. …

“Huh?” Lindsay peered down to find lines of sewn material

staring up at her. She could feel the heat in her face. I don’t

believe it. My shirt’s inside out.

Ron laughed at her predicament before following her into

the small apartment. Lindsay hurried to the bedroom to put

the shirt on correctly. When she returned, Ron had made

himself comfortable on the sofa, with his head propped up on

Noah’s Ark. “Nice place. So how are you doing?”

Her heart began to thump. Ron looked better than she

ever imagined. Gone were the boyish airs of yesterday. A

grown man had taken over, and a handsome one at that.

Dark brown hair framed the rigid lines of maturity on a face

now absent of freckles. The business clothes made him

appear distinguished. She discovered no wedding band on

his finger. Single, too. Could that be? Lindsay, ol’ girl, you

have Jeff coming in a half hour. She decided to make this

a quick “Hey! How are you? I’ve got a ton of things to do

meeting. I don’t offer him anything to drink. Drinks add on

another thirty minutes. sit quietly for about fifteen minutes

then tell him I have work to do.

Ron opened his mouth and talked nonstop for ten minutes.

He told her about his job in California, the great scuba diving

in Montere) and a hiking trip he took in King’s Canyon,

where he enjoyed the beauty of the Sierra Nevada. His job

87 was next, and the huge income he was making. It was typical

male talk—money, mixed with muscle. “So what about you? I

hear you’re making a little money yourself.”

“Little by little.” She spoke swiftly about her fundraising

business.

His arm rested across the back of the sofa—the same

strong muscular arm that once cradled her close on cool, star

filled nights at Lovers’ Lane. She trembled at the thought.

No, she did not want his arm around her now. She couldn’t.

Her life was different now and taking stranger detours every

day, it seemed.

“Do you keep up with the old crowd?” Ron asked.

“A few. I see Jessica and Kate occasionally. Everyone else

has moved away. You can’t blame them. There’s not much

around here. Did you know they now have a new high

school? They built it four years ago.”

“So I’ve seen. High tech. The old building is some kind of

institution. Not that we didn’t go to one anyway.” His finger

traced the edge of the sofa. “I’ve been thinking about the

times we used to have, Lin. Did you know I drove out to

Lovers’ Lane? Still looks pretty much the same. And there’s

that spot you used to like, by the old stone wall.”

Lindsay felt her cheeks begin to heat up. Her palms started

sweating. “Oh, really. I haven’t been there since …” She

gulped and looked away, hoping he wasn’t staring at her.

He was, with that misty-eyed, melting look of someone

who had not forgotten their encounters back in high school.

“Yeah, we spent quite a bit of time there, didn’t we?”

This is getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Her

stomach began to churn from the tension. Lindsay looked at

the clock. Ten minutes to go before Jeff’s expected arrival.

88 “That was a long time ago. We’re different people now. We

live on opposite sides of the country.”

“We’re not that different. Besides, I hear that opposites

attract. What do you say we grab a bite to eat and go see some

of the old places? We can check out where we once went to

high school in that place that’s now some private institution.

Maybe even Lovers’ Lane and see if there are any sparks left

after all these years.” He rose to a towering six feet in stature

and stepped toward her. “I have a feeling there might be. You

look stunning, Lin, even better than I remember.”

Lindsay felt her eyelid begin to twitch again. She could

kick herself for looking up his e-mail address and shooting off

that initial note. The money she would have saved from joining

the classmates Web site might have been better served

elsewhere. Now the contact had opened up a can of worms

best left hidden in a dark closet and sealed with super glue.

Brilliant Work, Lindsay. Dumb is more like it. He really thinks I

want us back together. “Ron … I … well, as I said in my Email,

I can’t. This is, uh … my work night.”

“I think you can put it aside for one evening, can’t you? I

came all the way from California, not to mention nearly

blackmailing my boss to get me here. Isn’t that worth a night

on the town?”

The doorbell rang.

Saved by the bell. Thank You, Lord. Lindsay ignored the

look on Ron’s face and went to answer the door. Jeff stood

there with the pizza, a movie and five minutes to spare. She

could have kissed his feet for coming to her rescue.

“I hope you don’t mind. I came a little early.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” You don’t know how glad.

Ron came up behind her at that moment. Jeff’s face turned

89

the color of glue. His arm weakened. Lindsay thought he

might drop the pizza on the concrete landing.

“Hi, I’m Ron.” He offered his hand.

“Jeff.” He didn’t offer a hand, both of which were occupied

by the pizza box and the movie.

“Well, Lindsay, I’d better get going.” Ron gave a lopsided

smile. “Good seeing you again.” He scooted past Lindsay and

Jeff and headed for his rental car. The sound of the engine

was like a soothing melody in her ears.

For a moment, Lindsay and Jeff stood staring at each other.

She could see him calculating the encounter by the way his

blue eyes were shifting back and forth, trying to figure out

what was going on.

“I didn’t know you had company,” he finally said.

“It was totally unexpected. Ron is someone I used to know

back in high school. He was going to a conference here in

town and stopped by.”

Jeff nodded. He followed her inside with a hesitation to his

step, unlike the confident Ron who had made himself right at

home. He stood in the foyer of the apartment, waiting for an

invitation, just like a gentleman.

“Make yourself at home,” she invited him. “I’ll get some

plates and drinks.”

She returned to find him sitting stiff and straight on the

sofa. Gone was the confident history teacher of Western

High. In his place was a marble statue, like those found in

Washington, D.C. At least his uncertainty eased any misgivings

concerning this encounter. He hadn’t come here to

strong-arm her like Ron. In fact she wondered why he was

here in the first place. Maybe he was lonely and in need of a

friend. Lindsay knew how that felt. Even though she had

90

grown up in this town, most of her friends had moved away.

She still had family around and her church family as well. Yet

they all seemed so busy, caught up in their own little world.

She was grateful Jeff thought enough to share in a little

world, even if it was filled with musicals and visions of fairy

tales from long ago.

And little did he know, but he had also rescued her from

what might have been a very bad evening.

91 The pizza was just the way Jeff liked it, coated with pepperoni

and stringy mozzarella, yet he hardly tasted any of it. Ever

since he’d stepped inside Lindsay’s house, he felt as if he had

made a huge mistake. The horror at finding another man

inside the apartment was almost too much to bear. He nearly

left, were it not for the guy’s hasty departure and Lindsay’s

cool explanation. At first he was surprised to hear the guy

introduce himself as Ron. Didn’t Lindsay mention a Skip at

the coffee shop? Now he wondered if Lindsay had numerous

guys floating in and out of her life. If that were the case, he’d

rather not be counted as one of many. He didn’t need or want

competition.

Hold on now. You don’t know where any of these guys stand in

her life. As Candy said, for all you know, Skip could be her big

brother and the other man her cousin. You’d better find out what’s

cooking first before you begin leaping to judgment.

Despite all the uncertainty, Lindsay seemed eager to have

him in, so he followed along with the game plan. He sat on

the sofa, slowly eating his third slice of pizza, realizing he

should say something as they watched the Sound Of Music.

What was he doing here anyway? An act of desperation? An

illustrative example to convince his sister he did get together

with other women? Or a test to see if they had any future?

Jeff pushed the questions aside and turned his attention to

the movie. He found his interest sparked at the setting of the

92 movie during the invasion of Nazi Germany. With American

history his specialty, he also held a fascination for the world

wars. His grandfather had stormed the beaches of Normandy

as a young man and lived to tell his remarkable story. When

Jeff mentioned this fact to Lindsay, she focused her chocolate

colored eyes on him. For the first time, he dwelt on her

attractiveness—flowing

hair, high cheekbones tinted red, and large

eyes. No wonder guys were marching in and out of her life.

Yet the real question still remained: Did she care about any

of them?

“I don’t know very much about World War Two,” she said,

carrying dirty plates to the kitchen. Of course, everyone has

heard about Hitler and the terrible things he did to the

Jewish people in the concentration camps.”

Jeff wanted to expound on the details of the war, America’s

involvement and so on, but remembered he was here to scout

out Lindsay’s interests. Instead, he asked her if she liked other

musicals.

Lindsay settled back in an easy chair and mentioned a love

for Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma and another favorite, State

Fair. All at once, she laid her hand against the back of

the chair with the palm extended. With her head tilted up she

began to sing. “I’m as restless as a willow in a wind storm. I’m

as jumpy as a puppet on a string. They say that I have spring

fever, but it isn’t even spring.’”

Jeff stared, mesmerized by her voice and the way she carried

herself with such confidence and pizzazz. For the first

time, he felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her lips with the

sweet melody trickling from them. What am I thinking? He

forced the sensation down deep where it belonged.

State Fair is such a cute movie. The girl refuses to marry

93 some country bumpkin who wants to live in an ultra modern,

pre-fab place decked out in linoleum. Then she meets a newspaper

reporter at the fair, and they fall in love.” Lindsay paused.

Her face turned the color of a poinsettia. She began to cough

as if the words choked her. “Anyway, it’s a cute movie. The

family’s pet pig wins first prize at the fair.”

Jeff picked up his glass of spring water and took a large

swallow. The ice chilled him. So far, he was enjoying this

evening immensely, even if it was centered on simplistic

things like musicals. Why complicate life with woes and confusion?

How he wished every day could be this pleasant.

Suddenly, Lindsay rose and turned off the television. “It’s a

long movie,” she said, “and it’s getting late. I still have to

make a few calls to sponsors, and they hate it if I call too

late.” She picked up the plastic case for the video. “Oh, no.

You rented this, didn’t you? We didn’t see it all, and it’s due

tomorrow.”

“That’s okay. Maybe some other time.”

“I suppose I could make my sales calls tomorrow.”

“No, you need to do your work. I have papers to grade anyway.

Which reminds me. The fundraiser has been going

great so far. We’ve hit the goal of three thousand dollars, and

we’re still climbing. I’m going to give it until Wednesday. The

students loved the cash cards.”

Her face shone. “I’m glad to hear that, Jeff. I’ll bet you’re

relieved.”

“At least this part’s over. When the merchandise comes in,

I’ll still need to collect the money.”

“That should go fine. I’ll guide you step by step.”

“You already have. He took a step forward, only to watch

Lindsay retreat in response. He backed off. Steady. Don’t jump

94 ahead. One step at a time. “I want to thank you for everything.

You do a good job at fundraising. I know I didn’t come off as

the optimist at the beginning of the program, but I’m glad it’s

working out.”

Lindsay smiled. “So you think you’ll make an impression

on your fellow teachers after all is said and done?”

“Without a doubt. And I owe it all to you.” He opened

his mouth, wishing he could tell her how much he liked her and

ask if they could get together again soon. Instead, he picked

up the video and headed for the door. “Maybe I’ll run into

you sometime.”

“As a matter of fact, I’ll be there Thursday. I have another

program to start with the art department. Don’t worry

though. It’s with the sophomores. There shouldn’t be any.

competition with your program.”

“I wasn’t worried. You know what you’re doing.” His fingers

curled around the doorknob. He didn’t want to leave this

pleasant atmosphere that warmed his heart but turned the

knob anyway and opened the door. A blast of cool autumn air

greeted him, bringing with it the scent of fallen leaves. One

leaf circled around before coming to rest at his feet. From the

glowing bulb of the outside light he saw a maple leaf painted

a vivid red. The color of love. If only it were true. “Good night,

Lindsay.”

“‘Bye, Jeff. And thanks.”

The door shut firmly behind him. He walked slowly to his

car, scuffing up freshly fallen leaves as he went. A sudden

loneliness overcame him. Now he had only stacks of papers

waiting to greet him when he arrived home.

Once inside his own place, he looked at the mound of

white paper glowing like an apparition in the darkness. He