Lisa Schroeder - The Bridge from You to Me

In front of me, two women are talking. Not just any women, but women who walk around like they own the town. One is the wife of the best-known realtor in Willow, Mrs. Landry, and the other is a doctor’s wife, Mrs. Poole. They both serve on the school board. My dad told me he’s been to a couple of meetings and apparently, they are not afraid of speaking their mind.

Even though they’re trying to keep their voices down, I can’t help but overhear their conversation.

“Well, I think it’s strange,” Mrs. Landry says. “You don’t take a teen into your home when you have three small children of your own unless the circumstances are truly dire.”

“What did he say again?” Mrs. Poole asks. “When you asked Josh why the girl is living with them? Word for word. What did he say?”

“He said his niece had a bad situation going on at home. So he and his wife offered to take her in for a time. That’s how he put it. ‘A bad situation.’ ”

“I bet she does drugs,” Mrs. Poole says. “Or worse. Poor man. I bet he’ll end up regretting that decision.”

Mrs. Landry’s about to say something else, but she suddenly gets the bright idea to take a look around to make sure no one’s listening. I want to tell her it’s a little late for that. I quickly turn my eyes toward the floor, but it’s not enough to keep her from seeing me.

“Well, look who it is, Marianne,” Mrs. Landry says. “Colby Pynes. Fancy running into you on the first day of football practice. Getting yourself a little snack, huh? I don’t blame you. I hear they work you boys hard.”

“Hello, Colby,” Mrs. Poole says. “Why, my husband was just talking about the team this morning. Said he feels like this is going to be your year.”

“I hope so,” I tell them.

“Ladies, may I help you?” the clerk calls to them, and they walk up to the counter, saving me from having to say anything more. Thank God.

After they’ve ordered, they tell me it was nice running into me and take their coffees and pastries to a table, where they’ll no doubt come up with a hundred and one more reasons why Mr. McMann’s niece moved in with them. I’d bet money that not a single one of those reasons will be right.

I step up to the counter and order two scones and a bottle of water to go. Once I’m in my truck, I check the clock before I start flipping through my new book. It’s three-twenty, which means I have a little time to enjoy some peace and quiet before the second practice of the day starts at four.

The bridges transport me to a place where there is no small-town talk, and no football to worry about. For a few glorious minutes, anyway.

“Is this yours?” the cashier asks me, holding out a small silver key.

“Mine?” I ask. “No. Must be that girl’s. Want me to give it to her?”

She smiles. “Would you mind? Since you’re going out there anyway?”

“No problem.”

When I get outside, the girl is searching the pavement. “You looking for this?” I ask her, holding out the key.

She turns around and lets out a big sigh of relief. Though she has a Giants baseball cap on, I can see she’s good-looking. Big green eyes, high cheekbones, and a real pretty smile. Her cheeks turn pink as she stands there, looking at me.

“Oh God,” she says. “I dropped it in there?”

“Just left it on the counter.” I walk closer and hand it to her.

“Thanks,” she says. “Maybe that’s why my aunt and uncle got me a bike, instead of a car. Losing car keys would be a lot worse.”

When she says “aunt and uncle,” I realize why I’ve never seen this girl before. “Wait a second. Are you Lauren?”

She looks at me funny. “Yeah. How’d you know that?”

“I was at Whispering Willow earlier today, and your uncle was asking me to watch out for you when school started. You know, to say hi or whatever.”

She groans. “He did? Well, that’s kind of, um, embarrassing.”

What would she think if she knew people were talking about her? Wondering what her story is and how she ended up here? Well, I’m not going to tell her. I’m guessing she’ll find out on her own soon enough, anyway.

“Nah. Don’t worry. He didn’t mean anything by it. Just cares about you, that’s all.” I decide I should change the subject, so we don’t end this chance encounter on a bad note. I point to her bag of Bugles. “Do you think it’s weird I’ve never had those before?”