Kathryn Springer - Picket Fence Promises

“You two probably have a lot of catching up to do,” Elise said.

“You’ve got that right,” Alex said cheerfully.

As if on a silent cue, we all fell into step together. Bless their hearts, Annie and Elise could sense that I was still poised to bolt and they positioned themselves protectively on either side of me as we walked toward the salon. I was on my lunch break and my next appointment was in forty-five minutes. I calculated the time it would take to push Alex and his luggage back into the limo and finish what was left of my tuna sandwich. I’d probably even have a few extra minutes to clean out my comb drawer.

“I’ll call you two later.” As soon as I get rid of him.

“Sounds great.” Annie linked her arm through Elise’s and she did a funny hop-skip step as they walked away that reminded me of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Lions and tigers and movie stars. Oh, my!

Now we were alone. But not. Alex was oblivious to the attention we were getting as he looked up and down Prichett’s Main Street, absorbing his surroundings. I tried to see it through his eyes and wondered if he’d be able to appreciate it. For the past ten years, this was the view I saw out my window every day, both from the salon and my upstairs apartment. It wasn’t perfect but I loved it. Maybe that’s why I loved it.

Prichett is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it towns. At one point in time, it had been a thriving little farming community but now it was gasping for air, its respirator a farm-implement factory that employed half the town in some capacity. Even though at least one business a year closed its doors and took a piece out of the town’s heart, I never got the feeling that it affected the town’s soul. There was a sameness to Prichett that gave me a sense of stability.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Alex shook his head.

Hiding? That was the trouble with Alex. He always seemed to know things about me that I hadn’t quite figured out for myself.

“I know what you’re thinking…” At least I thought I could make a pretty good guess. “You’re thinking I could have picked a better spot.”

“Are you kidding? I’m thinking that I’m insanely jealous.”

My palms were clammy and I shoved them into the pockets of my jacket. This was not good. Increased heart rate. Sweaty palms. Alex was having that curious effect on me again. The one that should have short-circuited and died about twenty years ago but instead was looking more like it was outfitted with the same batteries as a certain pink, drum-banging bunny. It just keeps going.

Lord, Mayday! Mayday!

We were still the objects of everyone’s attention. People were pretending not to stare, which just made it more obvious that they were pretending not to stare.

“So, what’s it going to be, boss?” the limo driver growled at us. I’d forgotten he was there.

“I’ll catch up with you later, Digger.”

Digger? Some parents have a lot to answer for, that’s all I can say.

The driver’s gaze did a swift once-over down Prichett’s Main Street, just as Alex’s had a few minutes ago. “Are you sure?” he asked doubtfully.

“I’m sure.”

With a disdainful snort that should have gotten his fancy hat taken away, the driver jumped into the front seat and the limo cruised away. Leaving the luggage on the sidewalk. Leaving Alex on the sidewalk.

“Wait a second. Where is he going?”

“I assume back to Chicago.”

“But you’re still here.” All right, I have a genius for pointing out the obvious.

“I’m due for a vacation.” Alex’s eyes had a funny glow in them. For a split second, the glow settled over me. Warmed me. Then I shook it away so I could think straight.

“In Prichett?” I squawked. “Why?”

“Because you called and wanted to know how I was doing.”

“So?” Another squawk. I should have been cast in a pirate movie. The part of the green-and-blue macaw will be played by Bernice Strum….

“So I came to tell you.”

Without thinking, I snagged Alex’s hand and pulled him into the salon.

“This is crazy—”

“You own this place?” Alex immediately began to prowl around, forcing me to follow him. His movements were easy and relaxed, while I did the jitterbug in his footsteps.

“Don’t change the subject—”

“How many people work for you?”

“Three. Me, myself and I,” I said, exasperated. “Now will you just pinch me and wake me up from this dream I’m having so I can go back to my ordinary life, minus the handsome celebrity?”

“Mmm, a dream. That’s promising. You could have said nightmare. And where would you like me to pinch you?” He grinned.

Shields up!

“Aggha.” That’s all I could manage and I know that the spell check on my computer could never have found that particular word.

He grinned. “You look a little shocked, Bern.”

“That’s because, number one, Phoebe said you were in Australia, and number two, she told me she wouldn’t mention that I called. I can’t believe she hasn’t retired yet, by the way. She was ancient when…”

When we met. I didn’t want to revisit the past. Denial, remember? It works for me.

“Phoebe is retired, but she house-sits for me when I’m on location. What a coincidence, huh? That she was there when you called?”

I felt a sudden urge to visit Esther at the nursing home. Maybe she could make sense of this. For the past few months I’d been visiting her at the Golden Oaks and she’d been helping me sort through and discard things in my past that were weighing me down. I knew now that there was no such thing as good luck or bad luck or coincidence. But this was just too…I don’t know what. Terrifying, that’s what it was. Had I missed something? Wasn’t the Christian life supposed to be about tranquility and peace? The twenty-third Psalm, right? “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters.”

I need my green pastures and quiet waters right about now, Lord.

“No coincidence. I just called because I wondered how you were doing,” I said defensively.

“After you ran out on me twenty years ago. Wait, that would have been the first time you ran out on me. The second time was ten years ago in Chicago, wasn’t it? This must be like a ten-year-class-reunion type of thing for you, Bern. It got me curious. Why you called out of the blue like that.”

I knew why I’d called him. It would have been hard enough to talk to him over the phone with a few thousand miles separating us, but with him right here in front of me, it was next to impossible. How was I supposed to tell Alex he’d fathered a child that I’d given up for adoption? And that she was now part of my life and might eventually ask about her birth father?

“So you decided to travel from L.A. to Wisconsin to find out.” The sudden urge to launch myself into his arms was overwhelming. I knew if I closed my eyes, I’d remember how they felt around me. I was on dangerous ground, that was sure, scrambling for a toehold.

I grabbed on to God. What had I done without Him all my life? With all the times over the past few months that I’d clung to Him like a baby opossum, I wondered if He was getting a little tired of it. Annie would probably say no. Well, that was good, because if He was going to continue to tip my life upside down, He had to know that I was going to hang on to Him for dear life, right?

“I told you, I’m on vacation. Where did you find these hair dryers? They look like they belong in Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.” He poured himself a cup of coffee. “Is this decaf?”

“No, it’s regular,” I said through gritted teeth as he shrugged and drank it anyway.