He handed the pencil back to her, reluctantly abandoning his brilliant idea. “It’s up to you. This weather isn’t what I had in mind, but we could still drive to the city and have lunch. I promise I won’t make you look at wood or fixtures or anything.”
“It’s a long drive.”
“Yes, but—how did you come into town, on the highway? There’s another way, more scenic and only a little longer.” She had a distant memory of her grandfather driving along a green-shaded road and telling her it would take them all the way to Carroll City, although they hadn’t gone that far.
“Or if you don’t want to do that today, I’ll get out of your hair and let you work, and you can come to our place for dinner. Danny would love it.”
She set aside her concern about setting Danny up for disappointment and asked, out of simple curiosity, “Do you cook?”
“Why?” he asked, sounding a bit insulted. “Does Danny look like he’s starving?” No, of course not. Danny was healthy and well-fed, and no doubt Rick cooked meals, probably better than she did, and made school lunches and did laundry and all the other things entailed in being a single father. He didn’t need a woman in his life. He didn’t need anyone.
Jenna gave him a kiss. “My apologies. Let’s hold off on dinner for now. I should work today, but I’m not exactly in the mood, and the light isn’t right anyway.”
“You’re not in the mood? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing, I’m imagining things. Let’s do it—the scenic route, lunch. Should I change clothes?”
He gave her a once-over. “You look great to me,” he said. “I like the—uh…”
Jenna shook her head, amused. She was wearing a simple peach cotton-blend dress with a V neck. No doubt the neckline was what he liked. “I’ll get a sweater,” she said. “If you try the hall closet, I bet my grandfather left an umbrella.”
“Umbrellas are for sissies,” he said, but he opened the closet door. He sounded happy, relieved—because she had fallen in with his plan for the day or because they were getting out of town? He found a big black umbrella, the old-fashioned kind that required a fair amount of strength to force open. A good, macho umbrella, not for the faint of heart.
“Oh, wait,” she said. “If we’ll be in the city anyway, let me call in and renew a prescription.” One she had allowed to lapse.
“Jim might be able to fill it,” he said.
“No,” Jenna said. “I think not.” She dug into her purse for the slip with the prescription number and picked up the phone. The pharmacy was able to fill the order right away, so that would be taken care of.
“We should stop at Sam’s, though,” he said as soon as she was off the phone.
She didn’t ask what he needed. “Don’t go looking for trouble,” she warned.
“I never do,” he said.
The rain had almost stopped when they walked out to the pickup. Jenna was dubious, ready to suggest they use her car, but the cab was roomier than she had expected, the seat was comfortable, and the door had a padded armrest. “This is nicer than I thought it would be,” she said.
“This is a great vehicle, babe. They don’t make them like this anymore.”
“Did you just call me babe?”
“Yeah, babe, I did.”
She had to laugh at his tone. “You’re in a good mood.”
“Yes, I am. I am going out on a date with my best girl in my excellent ride.”
“You love this old truck,” she said.
“This is not a truck. This is a classic Ford Ranger pickup. Have some respect.”
“It really hurt to have it vandalized,” she suggested.
“Yes, it did,” he said. “They’d better do a good job on the refinish. If Danny had done something like that, I would make him strip it by hand, not just pay for it, but I’d rather not let Larry anywhere near it.”
“Rosalie was very upset when she saw the vandalism. I wonder if she suspected he had done it.”
He didn’t answer. They had arrived in the business district of town, and he parked in front of Sam’s Grocery. “Do you want to stay here?” he asked.
“I want you to stay here,” she said. “Let’s not spoil the mood.”
He hesitated briefly, but he got out. She took a deep breath and followed. As they walked into the store, where a group of people were gathered talking near the counter, he took her hand. All conversation stopped. Jenna recognized Gabe Burrows, Megan Wells, and Charlene Dickens, and behind the counter Jim Kelly. She supposed the gossip could now be more about Larry, but they all stared at her and Rick. A large poster on the wall caught her eye:
SATURDAY, MARCH 2
STARTING AT 11 A.M.
BARBECUE AT THE HOPKINS ESTATE
IN CELEBRATION OF THE GULF WAR VICTORY
EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
THOSE WHO STARTED OR KNOWINGLY SPREAD VICIOUS RUMORS ABOUT A VALUED MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY
ARE NOT INVITED.
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND BY SATURDAY WE WILL KNOW TOO.
VIOLET & DAVID HOPKINS
“Good morning,” Rick said to Jim Kelly, who nodded in reply. Rick picked up a bag of nuts from the nearby display and tossed them on the counter. “These are locally grown,” he told Jenna. “You can’t get them in the city.”
The others stood back and waited while they completed the transaction, and then Jim said, “Morning, Jenna.”
“Good morning,” she managed to reply, still reeling from the impact of Violet’s sign.
“You’re looking particularly nice this morning,” Jim continued. “Isn’t she a pretty picture today, folks? Pretty as a blushing bride.” He winked at her.
“Oh, jeez,” said Gabe Burrows, turning away in disgust. Nobody else spoke.
“Thank you, Jim,” Jenna said and let Rick lead her outside. In the pickup, she said, “Did you see the sign?”
“Couldn’t miss it,” he said and gave her his rare, sweet, dazzling smile.
She smiled back and…let go. She was surprised to discover that it was not much like falling in love after all. It was more like flying.
“Do you know Charlene Dickens?” she asked after they pulled away from Sam’s.
“I’ve seen her in church,” he said.
“I don’t think she’ll be at the barbecue. She’s pretty toxic. She was the one who said you killed your wife.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “Have some of those nuts. They’re great.”
“They must be, if we had to stop for them,” she said. In fact they were good, unsalted but meaty and flavorful. She settled back to enjoy the ride. Rick was a careful driver, and she noticed he never took his eyes off the road, no matter how interesting the conversation, a quality she much appreciated. He would not run a stop sign during an argument, as Patrick once had.
It rained on and off all the way, but the road was in good repair and not slick, and the rain only enhanced the scenery, all shining trunks and green boughs. Jenna liked the rhythmic swish of windshield wipers and the intermittent patter of rain on the roof of the car.
“How’s Danny doing?” she asked presently.
“Danny is fine,” he said. “Danny is a pretty happy kid most of the time. I don’t know what I did to deserve him.”
“How is Señorita?”
“Fat and sassy as ever. How are you?”
“Happy,” Jenna said simply.
The conversation took a serious turn only once. “I know I already apologized for kissing you,” Rick said.
“Several times,” she agreed.
“But I need to say something else. I was thinking about it last night—I have a lot of time to think when Danny’s asleep. I realized it was what you said it was—assault. It seemed like a good idea to me at the time, but in fact it was different only in degree from what those bastards did to Celia.”
“Oh, Rick, don’t say that! That’s a terrible thing to say!”
“Yes, but it’s true. I want to make sure you know
I’m capable of more restraint than that.”
“I know. I noticed.”
“Let me finish. I don’t want you to be afraid of me ever again. You can always say no to me—always, Jenna. Sooner is better than later, but always. If you ever feel like I’m pushing you or you don’t like what’s happening for any reason—I will stop. And I will never ever hit you, even if you hit me first. Okay?”
“Okay. But I liked the kiss.”
“Oh, yeah? You could’ve fooled me.”
“It was your presumption I objected to.”
“But you would have slapped me if you hadn’t been afraid I’d hit you back?”
“No, I wouldn’t have—too melodramatic—but I wanted to.”
“Take your best shot—preferably not while I’m driving.”
“I’ll pass, but while we’re on the subject, should I be concerned that the only times we’ve made love were right after you talked about your wife?”
“What? Seriously?” He was silent for a moment. “No—sorry about the timing, but no. I’m never going to forget Celia, whether I talk about her or not, but what happens between you and me is about you, nobody else… What was your name again?” Jenna didn’t laugh. “Oh, come on,” he said, “That was a good one…no?”
“No.”
“Oh, because your husband—I get it. I’m slow, but I get there eventually. I’m sorry, but here’s a news flash for you—I’m not your ex. Okay, it was a bad joke, but don’t blame me for what he did.”
“I’m not,” she protested. “I wouldn’t. Are we having a fight?”
“No, no, I’m sorry. I want to do this right. You want anniversaries? We met on February eleventh. You wore blue, which I’d guess is your favorite color. You introduced yourself as Scott, so I assumed you were unattached.”
“I didn’t mean to mislead you.” She examined her ring finger. There was still a faint line, but he wouldn’t have looked for it.
“No, of course you didn’t. It was none of my business. We didn’t meet in a singles bar. You just wanted your roof fixed. I thought you were cute as hell—but you’re a lot more than that. I know who you are, Jenna. Trust me. You can take it to the bank. You don’t have to laugh at my jokes, though, and if it’s too soon for you to be involved, I can live with that. I can wait.”
“I think it’s too late.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.” She wasn’t ready to say “I love you,” but she did love him. He was right; he wasn’t Patrick, and she wasn’t the terrified girl he had taken to bed on Sunday night. She was una mujer bella y feroz, a fierce, beautiful woman. He knew that; he knew who she was. “I wish I had met you first,” she said.
“No, no, querida, you were too young. You’re probably still too young. And I was a basket case.”
“After Celia died?”
“What’s the quotation—what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? It does, but it takes a while to be sure it isn’t going to kill you.” Jenna put her hand on his on the steering wheel. Even an hour ago she would have bristled at querida, told him she wouldn’t be called anything he might have used with Celia, but now…what the hell; she liked it.
A few minutes later they stopped at an out-of-the-way gas station, one of the few in California where an attendant still provided basic services. The teenage boy who sauntered out to help them knew Rick but didn’t have much to say. They sat in silence while he pumped gas, cleaned the windshield, and made change. When they were ready to leave, Jenna said, “Let’s kiss and make up.”
“We weren’t fighting,” Rick insisted.
“Let’s pretend we were, so we can kiss and make up.”
“Oh, these arduous dating rituals…” They kissed, and his hand lingered on her cheek. “I’m sorry I got upset,” he said.
“I’m sorry I didn’t laugh at your joke.” He kissed her again, and his hand slipped under her skirt to caress her knee, her thigh. It was like high school, but better—the sweet awkwardness of making out in the front seat, but with greater physical confidence and a comforting sense of emotional security. He was not going to break her heart, and he was very good at this…
The young attendant yelled, “Get a room!” Laughing, they drove on.
“So you thought I was cute?” Jenna asked. “When we met?”
“Cute as hell,” he said emphatically.
“Why?”
“Why? Look in a mirror sometime.”
“I think you’re cute too. You’re the cutest boy in town.”
“Oh, God,” he said. “I’ll never live this down, will I?”
“How do you say cute in Spanish?” she asked.
“Oh, no, I’m not touching that one. Don’t make me sorry I asked you out.” She laughed and squeezed his arm. He was so easy to tease, so easy to love.
****
In Carroll City, they started with the large, trendy shopping center, where Jenna could stop at the pharmacy and they could do some window shopping. She was a little disoriented to be in such a busy, crowded place again, surrounded by anonymous people who took no interest in their presence. Newspaper headlines in vending machines shouted WAR’S CLIMAX and IRAQIS IN FULL RETREAT, but judging by snatches of overheard conversation, basketball scores were of more interest here.
As they headed to the parking lot after she picked up her prescription, she shook her head at the ugliness of the blotches of dark green house paint on the driver’s side of the pickup. She wondered how indifferent the strangers around them would be if the lettering had been left uncovered. Would they suppose it a joke, a stupid macho boast?
She pointed to the dents in the tailgate. “How did this happen?” she asked.
“Not in a traffic accident,” he said. “Some clumsy oaf…”
“You?” she guessed.
“Not me,” he said, “The guy I distracted while he was loading. Where do you want to go now? The choice is yours—whatever you want to look at.”
The bookstore was her first thought. It was large and brightly lit, an undreamed of paradise for a young reader like Nancy. “Do you like to read?” she asked.
“When I have time.”
“What do you like to read?”
“History, biography, occasionally fiction. How about you?”
“Mysteries mostly,” she said. “Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, John Wyatt Mitchell…”
“I read The Dictionary Murders,” he said, but didn’t show any particular interest in the mystery shelves. “San Ignacio has a library, you know…of course it’s only open about three hours a week.”
They walked on to the children’s section. “You said Danny liked Heather to read to him,” she said. “Don’t you read to him?’
“Sure, all the time, and now he’s starting to read to me. But I’m not Heather. She does voices and she’s—well, she’s a girl.”
Jenna decided to buy a book as a present for Danny and took Rick’s advice on the choice. It was The Neighborhood Trucker by Louise Borden, the only book about trucks in stock that he hadn’t seen yet. The illustrations even included cement mixers.
Coming out of the bookstore, she remembered to tell Rick about the Hayes children being sent to stay with their aunt and, thinking of Larry’s angry voice in the rain, asked, “Did you ever think Larry was right, that I’m a stuck-up bitch?”
“No, I don’t think those particular words ever crossed my mind,” he said, and for some reason was inspired to stop right there in the parking lot and kiss her, bustling strangers or not. “I think this is going very well for a first date, don’t you?” he asked.
Next she spotted an electronics store, where they both might find something of interest. Rick browsed among the cameras, but he was not impressed by state-of-the-art technology, and then Jenna called him over to see the mobile phones. They didn’t look like telephones at all but like sleek, modern versions of a child’s walkie-talkie. “Look,” she said. “This would be perfect for you. You could carry it in the truc
k and anybody could reach you anytime.”
“I don’t want anybody to reach me anytime,” he said.
“But it would be good for business and for Danny in an emergency. You could turn it off at home if you wanted.”
“They’re expensive,” he said, “and they only work around the towers.” He took the phone out of her hand and put it back in the display. End of discussion.
On the way back to the pickup, Jenna remembered him saying he would buy her a gun for her birthday—so she could shoot him if he broke her heart. Maybe she should buy him a phone for Christmas. A fair analogy? Yes, because in fact she wouldn’t have a gun in the house to save her life, not even now, with a killer on the loose. If he did buy her one, wouldn’t he be saying, “Get ready to have your heart broken”? What would she be saying if she bought him a mobile phone? “I need to change who you are”? Okay, no phone. He would have to come around to the idea on his own or not at all.
At a home improvement store, she unbent enough on the subject of kitchen remodeling to agree to look at microwaves. She found a few she might like, and Rick wrote down the measurements, but she didn’t buy anything. She was getting used to cooking on her grandmother’s old stove.
Rick lingered in front of a jewelry store window. “Don’t!” she said sharply.
“I know, I know,” he said, “I’m just looking,” but before they moved on he had somehow coaxed out of her that she considered large stones vulgar and didn’t much care for diamonds—so much for Patrick’s rock—and would prefer something more colorful, perhaps a small, exquisite sapphire or amethyst. She wanted to ask if Celia had liked diamonds, but didn’t. He was willing to talk about her, but didn’t like comparisons. She was learning the rules of this relationship.
They had to have lunch fairly early in order to drive back to San Ignacio before school let out. Jenna’s first choice was a Mexican restaurant she had been to before, but people were waiting in a long line to get in. They perused the posted menu to see if it would be worth the wait. Rick said, “This might be okay, but…”
Seventeen Days Page 13