by Mary Cantell
“But why…why would she do that? Break into my apartment?”
“Madison knew there was trouble between Angie and me, and she said she wanted to see who the new woman in my life was.”
“Seriously? But how did she know where I lived?”
A line drew to his lips. “She followed you, Liss.”
“Followed me?” What is this, a soap opera?
He nodded. “She borrowed Angie’s car. That’s what she said…she admitted it in so many words, that is.” He paused. “Angie drove a white SUV.”
Lissa stared at him in disbelief. The white SUV. A chill crept up her leg. “So you’re saying all this…the stalking, breaking open the lock…it was all because she was upset and…and curious…about me?”
“Appears so. That’s her alibi, anyway.”
“Sounds like she was just trying to make trouble.” She folded her arms across her chest.
He abruptly stood. “And she did. Big time. Not only for herself but for—well, for everyone.”
“I’ll have to agree with you there.”
“I even caught her at my computer—she made an excuse, but she turned three shades of red while explaining what she was doing.”
Lissa moved toward the front window and she looked out into the early evening sky. Their first date came into focus, the day they met at the restaurant by the train station, and the overwhelming feeling of being watched by the tracks while waiting for him to show up.
She turned to him. “What was she doing on your computer?”
He lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Possible scenarios circled in Lissa’s mind, including the fact that Madison may have snooped into her father’s FB account and read his personal messages. If so, she knew exactly when and where her dad would be that day. And who he’d be with. Clever girl.
She let her feelings about it settle. Brian had enough going on right now without her throwing the misdeeds of his daughter into the mix. What did it matter how she’d come to know about their relationship? She did and that was that.
“But, you know what?” Lissa began. “I feel more upset for her than for me. If I look at it from her perspective, she must have really been disturbed…” Lissa’s voice trailed off.
Brian moved into her space. She wanted to push him away but something stirred within her. She fought her feelings to keep him at bay, frightened at what was happening right now.
“Lissa—I,” Brian’s voice faltered. “I want you to know that I never stopped thinking about you or—wanting you.” His mournful eyes drew her in.
His words stunned and she braced herself, not knowing whether to give in or keep her guard up. Once bitten, twice shy. Though, for her, it was twice bitten. Secretly, she put her heart out there for him more than once. Maybe if she’d let him in on her feelings back in school, things would be different. The idea of having her heart slammed chafed her sensibilities. She assured herself it wouldn’t happen again.
“I never wanted to hurt you or—” He glanced away.
When he looked back, his eyes shone glassy. “I love you, Lissa.”
The peaceful calm of a deep river unleashed inside, releasing her anxiety.
“Brian—I don’t know what to say.” A floating sensation came over her as he reached for her hands and pulled her forward.
“Don’t say anything, Lissa. Just give me a sign that you feel the same way.”
With that, he took her in his arms and kissed her like she’d never been kissed before.
Chapter Forty-Seven
“Hannah and Lacy really get along well,” Lissa said as she looked out the window into the back yard where the girls were tossing a Frisbee with Drew. “We are so blessed, Bri.”
Brian came up behind her and put his arms around her waist and she leaned into him.
“So where do you want to go for lunch?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Have any suggestions?” she cooed.
“I want you for lunch,” he said, nuzzling her neck. Lissa playfully slapped his face. “Seriously.”
“I am serious.” He kissed her deeply and then pulled away. “What?”
“We haven’t been to The Train Stop in a while,” she said.
He sighed. “Ah, the little caboose. I thought you didn’t like the noise level in there.”
“I don’t, but that’s the first place we went before we—well, all this,” she said before they locked lips for another long, lingering kiss.
“I guess the Train Stop it is,” he said. “Although I’m not sure I can wait that long.”
“Brian Pickering, you let me go.” Lissa mock whined and squirmed her way out of his arms.
“Or how about a ride to Baltimore?” he asked. “We could go to the harbor for lunch?”
“Oh, I don’t know, it’s kind of late to be heading all the way to the harbor. Let’s ask the girls. I know Lacy’s been asking about Sugarloaf Village,” Lissa said brightly. “Oh, wait. There is one place I definitely want to show you.”
“Okay, you ready?” he asked.
“Yep, let’s go.”
****
Lissa and Brian’s former elementary school sat forlorn in the afternoon light.
“It’s closed,” Lissa explained to him with a mock frown. “Lacy and I were here not too long ago.”
“Wouldn’t be the first school to shut down,” Brian offered. “Sometimes, it’s just a temporary thing. It could open up again later, you never know.”
A wistful feeling came over her. “I wonder if it’s locked.”
“Probably is.”
A nostalgic feeling tugged within, and she had an overwhelming desire to go inside. Turning to Brian, she said, “Mind if I get out? I want to get a closer look. I’ve wanted to ever since we moved back to Pinewood. It’s silly, but it won’t take but a minute.” She held up her index finger to punctuate her words.
“Can I come, Mom?”
“No, Lacy, you stay in the car with Brian and Hannah. I’ll be right back.”
Standing at the top of the steps, Lissa paused. The door’s dark green paint appeared chipped and faded in spots, begging for a fresh coat. She reached for the knob. The tarnished brass felt smooth in her palm. Unlocked. She hadn’t expected an abandoned school to have an unlocked door. With a strong sense of curiosity in gear, she turned the knob and entered.
Upon stepping inside, the familiar scent of dusty cinderblock lingered in the hushed interior, same as it had over two decades ago. Goose bumps ran up her arms. I can’t believe I’m standing here.
To the left stood the stairwell tucked within the narrow entryway. She took the stairs to the second floor and walked down the dimly lit hall. The last time she stood here, Miss Keogan was busily engaged with her students, hugging and waving goodbye for the summer. Knowing she wouldn’t be coming back again in the fall because of her mother’s decision to move to Pennsylvania, Lissa approached the young woman and thanked her for being such a wonderful teacher. Miss Keogan smiled and replied how fortunate she was to have such a lovely class, “and especially a student like you, Lissa.” Lissa blushed at her teacher’s remark and, later, embarrassed by her own words, thought it corny for a kid to call a teacher wonderful.
Lissa glimpsed inside the classroom. Everything looked tiny. The windows, the blackboard. Modern metal one-piece desks in neutral beige with attached chairs replaced the old wooden ones, and the American flag no longer hung in the corner. She pictured her classmates in their seats; the most memorable being Bobby Prince, Robbie Oleberg, Patti Cotter, and Brian, who sat in the back row.
Down the hall, she observed the rest of the classrooms on the opposite side of the hallway. The open blinds in the back-to-back rooms revealed a view of the schoolyard. The blacktop sat adjacent to an overgrown grassy hill bearing a copse of shade trees along with a row of dense brush. She recalled the day when one of her classmates claimed to have witnessed a man lingering by the trees wearing a raincoat. Frightened, the girl ran back inside.<
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Another image rose of the time one of her classmates dared her to look inside the boy’s room. Through the girl’s coaxing, Lissa almost came close to following through with the brazen act of stealing a glance inside the male domain, though at the last minute, she didn’t. Now, the boys’ room bore the modern logo of a male figure on the front. Never seeing the inside, she reached for the handle and as she opened it, quickly realized she had absolutely no desire to look at all. She released the handle. The action met with a harsh squeal akin to a strangled cat, and the eerie sound reverberated throughout the cavernous hallway. Startled, she ran back down the hall, took the stairs two at a time, and barreled through the double doors. The sunlight and sweet spring air brought a sense of calm as she flew down the narrow steps to the car.
“See anything interesting?” Brian asked when she plopped down on the seat.
“No, nothing, really,” she said, breathless. “Just nostalgia.”
“Must have been some strange nostalgia. You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”
“Just my imagination.”
“Seen enough?” he asked, resting his hand on her knee.
“Yep, I’m good, thanks.”
As he pulled slowly around the circular driveway, he asked, “So why did you want to come back to see the old school?”
Lissa paused. “It’s…well, it’s kinda weird, really. But it’s where we met.” She glanced back at the school. “And there was a picture on Facebook that kind of hit a sweet spot with me about school days. Remember May Day Fun Night…fourth grade?”
“Vaguely.”
She leaned back. “I couldn’t get your attention for anything.”
A puzzled look came over him. “What are you talking about?”
Lissa blushed, embarrassed at bringing it up.
“We were pretty tight as I recall,” he said.
“No, no, I mean like a girlfriend,” she said coyly.
“We were only, what, ten years old?”
She grinned. “You liked Patti Cotter that way…I could tell.”
“Patti Cotter?” He blew out a puff of air. “I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“How so?”
“Patti Cotter liked Bobby Packard.”
“Bobby Packard?”
“She was only using me to get to him.” He relaxed his head on the back of the seat and turned his eyes toward her.
Lissa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You mean…” she said, shaking her head, “after all these years…I had the story wrong?”
“Guess so,” he replied with a smug grin.
“Now that’s funny,” she said, amazed at the revelation.
She gazed back at the school as they drove off and wondered how Patti and Bobby were doing. “Anyway,” she began, shifting her gaze to him, “I just wanted to be here…with you—I don’t know. Silly, right?” She shrugged. “Just something I needed to do. Besides, I thought you might want to see your old neighborhood. You used to live not far from here, remember?”
“Yes, I did.”
“I even remember your house. We had enough play dates. Remember your club?”
“You had play dates with Brian, Mom?” Lacy leaned forward.
“Yes, honey, we did.”
Brian grinned. “Your mother was the fastest runner in the whole fourth grade, Lacy.”
“Cool,” she replied, as he drove them down the residential street through the tree-lined neighborhood to his old house.
Chapter Forty-Eight
At The Train Stop, Brian, Lissa and the girls dined al fresco on veggie burgers and sweet potato fries on the upstairs patio tucked under a canopy of trees.
“Not bad,” Lissa said of her burger. “You like yours?” she asked the children.
Lacy and Hannah, mouths full, nodded.
She turned to Brian. “So what’s next on the agenda for today?”
He put down his coffee. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “It’s up to you. I’m outnumbered.”
Lissa nodded. “True, you are.”
Brian pulled out his credit card and turned to signal the waiter.
“Okay, girls, we have the power here according to Chief Pickering.” She nudged him with her elbow. “What do you think might be a fun thing to do this afternoon?”
The children tossed ideas back and forth, and when the waiter approached, they giggled. Lissa teared up at seeing the rose and little black box on the tray he placed on the table.
“I have an idea,” Brian began. “How about somebody proposes?”
Lissa froze. The reality of the moment practically knocked her over. She blushed, stammered, and began to tear up.
“Lissa, you mean the world to me.” He reached for the ring and held it in front of her. “Will you marry me?”
Through her tears, she nodded yes, and he slipped the diamond onto her hand and kissed her squarely on the lips. The waiter and the rest of the wait staff cheered and clapped along with the girls.
“We knew, Mom. Brian told us to keep the surprise a secret.”
“He did? You kept the secret so well. How long did you know?”
“When you went to the ladies’ room, he told us.”
“That long?” she said with a grin. “I’m sure it was hard to keep it to yourselves for all of three minutes.”
Brian leaned in close to whisper, “I wanted to ask their permission, to make sure they were okay with it.”
“That was sweet,” Lissa said, wiping a tear away. She stared at her hand, unable to pull her gaze away from the generous diamond. “I think they approve.” Lissa felt so blessed in the moment. Lacy and Hannah’s ease with each other gave her joy in knowing they would soon be sisters. How fortunate for Lacy to be gaining a father and Hannah, a new mother. She hoped Brian’s eldest daughter Madison would welcome the union as much as the younger girls.
“So you want to marry me?” she asked, with a giggle.
“Oh, I don’t know.” He gave her a mockingly curious look. “Maybe.”
She slapped his arm. “Well, if you’re not sure—”
“I’m very sure.” He pulled her close.
“So when do you want to get this party started?”
“Whenever you want. I’ve only known you since second grade, so I think our engagement period has practically expired by now.”
“I have an idea,” she said. “But I’ll tell you later.”
On the way out of the restaurant, as they walked back to the car, Lissa grabbed Brian’s hand and said, “Hey, I wonder how Donny is? Last I heard, he was cleared from the trespassing charges and out of the hospital. Maybe he’s back to work.”
Around the corner on the way back to the car, Lissa craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the bus depot. Two cabs idled. “Be right back,” she said hastily.
“Where you going, Mom?” Lacy called out.
“Hold on, I just want to see something,” she shouted back.
“Your mom is so pretty,” Hannah said to Lacy.
“That she is, honey,” Brian said and wrapped his arms around both girl’s shoulders.
As Lissa approached the cabs, she peeked inside the first one where an older man with a graying beard sat smoking a cigarette. Directly behind, another cab sat idle. She turned around to go back to the others when Donny McCall came around the corner.
“Hey, Donny,” Lissa called, smiling. “So glad to see you.”
“Likewise,” he said, eyeing her with the same soft expression he had as a little boy when he asked her to dance.
“How are you doing since the accident?”
“Better,” he said with an exaggerated nod. “Much better.” He pulled his hand around and pointed to the exact vertebrae. “I still have some numbness in my lower back…right here. But all things considered, I’m doin’ good.” He paused and shuffled his feet. A shadow fell over his eyes. “How’s your daughter?”
Lissa smiled. “Oh, she’s great, absolutely fine. She’s done a c
omplete turnaround.” She emphasized the word complete, hoping to assuage any lingering guilt he may have harbored over the road accident.
He brightened. “Glad to hear it, really glad.”
She nodded, and then remembered his situation with the police. In a soft voice, she said, “We heard about the police and all…the case…” She bit back the rest of her words.
Donny straightened and adjusted his cap. “Oh, that,” he began. With an edge in his voice, he described the details the county police had taken regarding the stalking case against him. “But when they got their act together, they realized I was no stalker.” He shrugged. “And I’m not.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“What a relief. I’m so happy for you,” she said, holding her hands together under her chin as though about to pray.
“Yep, sure is,” he said with a nod.
“Listen. I was hoping to find you,” she began.
“Don’t tell me you’re having car troubles again.” He shielded his eyes from the sun. “Where’s your car?”
“Oh, no, not today.” She chuckled. “Hey, do you have a minute, or are you on your way to pick up someone?”
“Nope, just waiting on dispatch is all.”
“Good,” she said, taking him by the arm. “There’s something Brian and I want to ask you.”
****
“This looks familiar,” Brian said as they drove along the winding road through the park.
“It should. It’s where the annual fair came to town every year,” Lissa said, pointing to the field where a covered bridge spanned a small stream in the distance. “They’re called kissing bridges, those old covered bridges from back in the 19th century.”
Brian slowed the car and pulled over onto the overlook as the girls pressed their noses up against the windows.
“There was a legend in town about them. Apparently, they said that in Pinewood, more people fell in love there than in any other town in Maryland after they’d driven over one.”
“Sweet,” Lacy said.