Scott Wittenburg - The May Day Murders

“I guess it’s time for me to ask the same question: Have you had any trouble adjusting to Columbus?”

Ann balked a moment then replied, “Frankly, it hasn’t been easy. I have a fourteen-year-old who’s giving me fits right now; but it’s understandable in a way. After all, she’s been forced to start high school in a new town and is at that awkward age, anyway. My recent divorce no doubt has a lot to do with it, too. And on top of everything else, my best friend recently passed away. I’ve had a very difficult time dealing with that.”

“My God, Ann. I didn’t realize… It sounds as though you’re going through some pretty tough times right now. Do you attend church?”

The question caught her off totally off guard, and for a moment she was unable to speak. “No, not lately, anyway,” she finally replied.

“I see. I was just curious, and hope I haven’t somehow offended you by asking. It’s just that the church has helped me get through some hard times in the past, and I was simply wondering if you’d found the same thing to be true. At any rate, we’ll drop the subject right now before you start thinking I’m some kind of religious fanatic or something!” he chuckled.

Ann had to admit she was relieved. “No offense taken, Jerry. We used to go to church regularly when Amy was younger but we sort of got out of the habit over the years. Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn’t hurt either of us to start going again,” she added thoughtfully.

“Your daughter would probably resent it, if it was your idea. Kids her age tend to resent any kind of adult intervention in their lives.”

Ann laughed. “You’ve sure got that right. It sounds like you’ve had some experience with kids.”

“I don’t have any of my own unfortunately, but I’ve done some volunteer work for the church in the youth fellowship program. These kids nowadays have a lot more challenges to face than when I was a kid, it seems. These are tough times to be a kid, in my opinion. What with drugs, AIDS, crime and so on.”

“I agree. Our idea of a good time when I was a teenager was hanging out at the malt shop and going to teen dances. These kids today seem absolutely bored with everything-they sit in front of the television most of the time and spend the rest of their time trying to see what kind of trouble they can get themselves into.”

Jerry gasped. “I would never have guessed you’ve been around so long, Ann! You certainly don’t look as old as you’re implying you are.”

Ann melted from his flattery. “Thanks, Jerry. That was very kind of you. But believe me, I’ve been around awhile.”

“Well, it doesn’t show.” he declared. “What kind of work do you do, by the way?”

“I’m working at a travel agency right now, but I’m hoping to go back to college sometime in the near future and get my law degree.”

“I think that’s wonderful, Ann! I admire your ambition.”

“Well, you can tell me that if and when I actually follow through with it. I’m not sure it will pan out, but I’d like to think it will someday.”

“You’ll succeed, Ann. You remind me of the type who has set goals for herself and will stop at nothing to achieve those goals no matter what. Correct me if I’m wrong.” he challenged.

“Well, I guess you’re right-in a way. I appreciate your vote of confidence, at any rate.”

“My pleasure.”

There was an awkward pause in the conversation and Ann sensed that Jerry Rankin was rapidly running out of small talk. She felt comfortable talking to him and was in fact enjoying it, but she didn’t want him to feel obligated to continue.

“Well, I guess I’d better let you go. It’s been really nice talking to you, Jerry,” she suddenly said. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

“I’ve enjoyed it too, Ann.” he said, his disappointment more than evident. “If by chance you’d like to chat again, you can usually reach me any weekday around this time. And just for the record, that dinner invitation is still open,” he added.

Ann decided there was no longer any reason to continue playing the coy divorcee. She liked what she’d seen and heard so far, and had no doubts that Jerry Rankin was a good, decent guy. She replied, “In that case, I wouldn’t be opposed to chatting again over dinner sometime.”

There, she’d done it.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed. “I’ll be honest, Ann. I’m really glad you said that because I’m not really very keen on telephones-they seem so impersonal and all-and I’ve found that I can relate much better when I can see who I’m talking to, as opposed to staring at the walls. Anyway, just tell me when would be convenient for you. My time is always flexible.”

“I’m free on the weekends… any weekend,” she added, perhaps a little too quickly.

“Would tomorrow be too soon?” he asked.

Ann hadn’t expected such short notice. She thought for a moment and decided that Friday would be just as good as any other time. “No, tomorrow would be fine,” she said.

“When shall I pick you up?”

Amy was going to the football game tomorrow, she recalled. She could fix her an early dinner and still have time to get ready by eight. “How about eight o’clock?”

“Terrific! I’ll swing by at eight then,” he said. “What’s your address?”

“It’s 724 Meadow Lane-in Century Hills, Woodcrest.”

“I know the neighborhood well-it’s one of the few left in Franklin County that still has any character, in my opinion,” he said. “Oh, and I’d better get your phone number as well.”

Ann recited her number, and then Jerry said, “Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow evening at eight o’clock.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Jerry. See you then. ‘Bye.”

“Goodbye, Ann.”

Her head was spinning when she hung up the phone. Then it suddenly hit her.

Amy! How was she going to react to all of this? she thought in a sudden fit of panic.

Ann’s first impulse was to call Jerry Rankin back and immediately break the date with him. She picked up the phone and started to dial his number, wondering how she could be so selfish to make a date with someone without first discussing it with her daughter. Then she suddenly stopped herself, hung up, and dialed Karen’s number instead.

“Karen, it’s me. I’ve just done something really awful!”

“Good Lord, Ann, what’s happened?” her friend asked.

“I just made a dinner date with Jerry Rankin for tomorrow night and I didn’t even talk to Amy about it first!”

“You what? You’ve made a date with him already?” Karen asked incredulously. “Ann, that’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you!”

“Well, I’m not proud of me. It all happened so fast, Karen! I talked to him for a few minutes, got to know him a little better, and before I knew it I was accepting his invitation for dinner without even giving a thought to Amy. I’m so ashamed…”

“Settle down now, dear.” Karen consoled. “It’s not the end of the world. The important thing is that you actually followed through with this thing and now you’re actually going out on a date. That’s good, honey-not bad. Now tell me exactly what happened.”

Ann managed to get a grip on herself and proceeded to tell Karen about her phone conversation with Jerry Rankin. When she was finished she said, “I’m going to call him back right now and break off the date.”

“Don’t do it, Ann,” Karen advised. “Listen, if you call him back and cancel out now, you may never get this opportunity again. Not only would it be rude, but you’d probably scare him off in the process. I truly think you’re over-reacting to this as far as Amy is concerned. After all, you’re just going out to dinner with this guy, right? It’s not like you’re jumping right into a relationship or anything. He could just as well be one of our clients at the travel agency, for all intents and purposes. The point I’m making is, wait and see if something develops with this Jerry fellow before confronting Amy with it. For now, just tell her you’re going out to dinner with one of our clients and leave it at that. You’ll save both Amy and yourself a lot of unnecessary tension that way, Ann-believe me. I’ve gone through the very same thing you’re going through now and one thing I learned is this: don’t dare tell the kids about a relationship until you’re absolutely sure that you have a relationship in the first place.”