The Plan

by Kim Pritekel

  “That was such a wonderfully fun day,” Emma said softly, coming up behind her, a hand resting on Eleanor’s shoulder.

  Eleanor nodded, unable to take her eyes off Lysette, so young, so beautiful. “Our trip to Denver,” she said softly. “I didn’t know you had this.” She looked back to meet her mother’s gaze for a moment before returning her attention to the picture.

  “Yes. Adalyn gave it to me a few years later, before they moved to California.”

  “Why do you have this out?” she asked, setting the framed picture back where she got it and letting out a quiet, centering breath before turning to face her mother, trying to let a wonderful memory go. “It was so long ago.”

  “It’s my favorite picture of you girls. You were both so happy that day, like children bouncing all over the place.” Emma smiled.

  Eleanor nodded, giving a small smile as her emotions were equally bouncing all over the place. “It was a good day.”

  Emma studied her for a long moment before squeezing her arm and turning to head back to the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.”

  Food eaten, plates pushed aside, Eleanor sat at the round kitchen table across from her mother. Her stomach was utterly sated, but her mind was troubled. She sipped her second after-dinner cup of coffee as her mother prattled on and on about getting the property ready to sell come spring.

  “But you love it here,” she reminded her. “You’ve been here for so long now, all set up how you want it.” Eleanor’s eyebrows fell as worry wormed its way into her heart. “Is there something you’re not telling me? What has the doctor said?”

  Emma rolled her eyes, waving off Eleanor’s concern. “Stop it. It has nothing to do with anything like that. And you’re right, I do love it here, honey, but it’s just a lot of work for one person.” She let out a tired sigh, looking around her kitchen, mug of coffee in hand. “I love this little place. But,” she added with a shrug, “I want to be closer to you, too. Without a car, it’s harder for you to come out this way, and you don’t have room for a visitor. It just makes sense for me to get a little place of my own in Woodland.” She grinned, bringing a hand up to run her fingers through hair gone gray before its time. “I’m old, honey. I need simplicity in my life.”

  Eleanor looked at her mother’s hair, cut shorter like her own. She hadn’t thought about it, considering her hair had been almost stark white for so many years, but it seemed overnight she’d aged. It had been a night long ago, but overnight, all the same.

  Rolling over something in her mind, she pushed back from the table and walked to the counter to refill her coffee, topping off her mother’s before sitting back down. Stirring in some milk and sugar, she eyed her mother.

  “Do you remember that student I mentioned, the one I get a real kick out of?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes, the Vaughn boy, right?” Emma asked, pulling the sugar bowl toward her. “The little charmer, I believe you called him.”

  Eleanor smiled and nodded. “That would be him. Jimmy Vaughn.” She shook her head as she finished stirring her coffee and set the spoon onto the saucer plate before bringing the fragrant brew up to her lips. “Great kid. Met his parents at conferences a few weeks ago.”

  “Oh?” Emma responded, an eyebrow lifted as though waiting for more.

  Eleanor nodded, setting the cup down after she sipped. “His father actually came in,” she began, not entirely sure why she was dragging her news out.

  “His father?” Emma asked, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “They do that?”

  Eleanor chuckled. “Apparently, that one does. His mother, Lysette, wasn’t supposed to return to town in time.”

  “That was so wonderful of him to come in—”

  If it hadn’t been such a personally moving situation, Eleanor would have burst into laughter at the look on her mother’s face when realization clicked into place.

  “Lysette? Landry?” Emma almost yelled. “Your Lysette?”

  Eleanor nodded. “The very one.” She grabbed her coffee again. “And she hasn’t been my anything in a very, very long time, Mom.” She looked down into the creamy depths of her cup. “She belongs to James Vaughn.”

  “How do you know it’s her if he showed up?” Emma asked, leaning forward in her chair, almost as though she were hearing some super secret plan.

  “She showed up after all,” Eleanor said with a sigh, sitting back in her chair. “He was my last parent, so I was cleaning up, and she rushed in.” She smirked, shaking her head as she thought back to that night. “She looked like she’d seen a damn ghost and ran out of there as quickly as if she had.”

  “Do you think she was surprised? The husband didn’t tell her?”

  “I don’t think he knows. Really pleasant guy, I have to say. But yes,” she added with a rueful grin. “I think I startled the hell out of her.”

  “You girls haven’t spoken in all this time, have you?” Emma asked gently, sipping from her coffee.

  Eleanor shook her head, bringing up a hand and running her fingers through her hair. “Nope. I sent her a few letters, but they were all returned,” she said softly, looking away. She knew if she looked into the understanding, loving eyes of the woman who had supported her through it all, she’d break. “So,” she continued after a moment and a few calming breaths. “I decided to leave her alone.” She looked back to her mother, who seemed so sad as she returned her gaze. “Figured it was best.”

  “The last time I saw her was about four years ago at Adalyn’s funeral.”

  Those words hit hard. Eleanor could only stare for a moment. “Adalyn died?”

  Emma nodded. “Cancer.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Eleanor asked, hurt.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I honestly didn’t think you would want to know. In all this time, you never once asked about Lysette or her family. I truly figured you’d left that part of your life behind.”

  Still hurt, she understood her mother’s reasoning. After all, she’d done her level best to eradicate that part of her life from her memory. “Did she say anything to you? How’s Mr. Landon?”

  “The funeral was huge. Lysette never saw me, and I didn’t stay long. Just long enough to pay my respects and to see…” Emma’s voice trailed off, and she brought her cup to her lips, waving the topic away. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Now tell me about you and Anne.”

  Taken aback by the sudden change in subject and total one-eighty in her mother’s tone, it took her a moment to redirect. “What about us?”

  “Are you happy?”

  Eleanor let out a heavy breath, giving the question some thought so she could give a succinct answer and not a knee-jerk one. “I have fun with her,” she began, sparing a glance from her cup to her mother. “We can talk, she’s intelligent, that sort of thing. She’s certainly beautiful, but,” she shrugged, “I know she’s not what I want for the rest of my life.” She smirked. “To her chagrin. I think she knows deep inside that I can’t give her what she wants.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Stability, security. A promise that I’ll always be there.”

  “Well, honey, doesn’t she deserve those things?” Emma asked gently.

  Stung, Eleanor’s eyebrows fell. “Whose side are you on?”

  “I’m on yours completely, but it’s not that you don’t have it in you to give those things, Eleanor. Anne obviously isn’t the right woman for you or you’d want to give her what she wants and needs. Don’t you think?”

  Eleanor studied her for a long moment, mulling what she said. Finally, she nodded. “True.”

  Emma reached across the table and took Eleanor’s hands in her own, warm from the coffee cup she’d been holding. “Honey, don’t settle. Trust me on this.” Her gaze bored into Eleanor’s. “Don’t waste your life on someone who doesn’t have your heart. It’s not worth it.”

  ****

  After a leisurely breakfast and a walk around the property on the mild Sunday early afternoon, Eleanor headed h
ome. She pulled the Packard to the curb in front of her building and killed the engine, pulling the key from the ignition and climbing out.

  Smiling at the young man who lived across the hall with his beautiful wife, she accepted his gesture of entering the door that led to the stairs ahead of him. “Thanks, Richard.”

  “Man, what a peach of a day, huh?” he asked, closing and locking the door behind them before following her up the narrow staircase to the second floor.

  “It was. Did Gwen get the job at the newspaper?”

  “She sure did. Excited as a kid in a candy store, she is,” he exclaimed, a smile in his voice, which landed on her lips.

  “That’s truly wonderful, Richard,” she said, reaching her door and sorting out the correct key. “Tell her I said congratulations.”

  “Will do.” He gave her a broad smile, his light brown hair sticking up at odd angles from the removal of the paper cap he wore as the cook for the local diner. “Have a nice day.”

  Taking her time to unlock the door to make sure he’d entered his own apartment, she tapped lightly before letting herself in. To her relief, Scott and Ronnie were fully bathed, dressed, and sitting casually on the couch watching television. She closed the door behind her and walked to the kitchen table, leaving her overnight bag and purse there before shrugging out of her jacket.

  “Afternoon, boys,” she greeted, smiling as Scott pushed up from the couch and walked over to her, taking her in a tight hug. “You guys have a good time?” she asked into it, keeping her voice low.

  “We did. Thanks so much, doll,” he said, leaving a loud kiss on her cheek. “Means the world to me that you let us celebrate our anniversary together here.”

  “Not a problem. It worked out since I was headed to my mom’s, anyway.” She smiled up at him before raising an eyebrow. “You changed the sheets, right?”

  He gave her a devilish grin. “Brought my own.”

  “Even better.” She gave him a return smack to the cheek. “Honestly, I’d rather you guys spend time together here where you’re safe than parked at some lover’s cover somewhere.” She turned to Ronnie, who watched them from the couch. “Hey, Ronnie. It’s so nice to see you again.”

  “You as well, Eleanor. Thanks for everything.”

  Scott returned from the bedroom with his own overnight bag slung over his shoulder. “I hope you won’t be mad, but we drank that bottle of red in the icebox.” He handed her two dollars. “I think you said that was Anne’s, so…”

  She took the money and grinned at him as she handed him his keys. “I stopped at the filling station on the way home, bad boy. Get outta here.”

  He returned the grin before he and Ronnie left, peeking out the door to make sure the hall was empty before, with a flamboyant air kiss, he disappeared, closing the door behind him.

  Chuckling, Eleanor walked to the door and locked it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Already shivering as the blast of blowing snow hit her, Eleanor pulled her wool coat closer to her body as she locked the door to the building. Finished, she pocketed the key and shrugged her purse strap higher onto her shoulder as she headed out into the cold morning for work.

  She’d made it to the end of the building when a car rumbled up to the curb.

  “Hey! Miss Brannon.”

  Stopping, she glanced over to see Jim Vaughn rolling down the driver’s side window of his large luxury car. “Jim Vaughn, Jimmy’s dad.”

  “Of course, I remember,” she said, walking over to him. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Vaughn.”

  “You too. Listen, believe it or not, I was actually on my way to see you at the school before my eight o’clock client meeting. Why don’t we both get something out of this and I get you out of this messy weather by giving you a ride to school and I get to talk to you?” he offered with a charming grin.

  As much as she didn’t want to, Eleanor liked Jim Vaughn. “All right,” she said, returning his smile. “It’s a deal.” Hurrying around the purring car, she let herself in on the passenger side, and he got them moving, making slow progress as the snow overnight had frozen, creating an ice arena for automobiles to navigate. “What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked, getting settled with her purse and satchel resting in her lap.

  “Well, you see, December is just around the corner, which of course means Christmas,” he said, sparing a glance at her from under the brim of his fedora before returning his focus to the road. “Every year, my wife and I have a party at the house. Nothing major, just a little get-together with friends and such that we’re just too darn busy to see much during the rest of the year, you know?”

  She nodded, butterflies batting at her stomach. “Sure.”

  “Well, the first part of the party is essentially kid-friendly. We let the kids invite whoever they want, school friends, whoever. So my wife and I spoke to them about it over the weekend and, wouldn’t you know it,” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. “Jimmy asked if you could come.”

  She felt every single one of those butterflies fall dead and heavy in the pit of her gut. “I see. Isn’t that a little inappropriate, Mr. Vaughn?” she asked, only able to see Lysette’s shocked and horrified face that night in her classroom again. Somehow, she managed to keep her voice calm and reasonable and not reveal the panic she felt.

  “Well, that was my first thought, but I know Lysette would love to meet you, and,” he added with a shrug and another quick glance. “We’ve only been in town a short time, so it would be nice to extend our social circle a bit.”

  Eleanor swallowed as she saw the school looming just ahead. “I’ll consider it. When and where?”

  He gave her the date and address, which she wrote on a piece of paper she had in her purse. “Oh,” he added, pulling to a stop in front of the brick building. “Jimmy says you and Mr. O’Shea are close. Feel free to bring a date, if you like.”

  She managed to hide her smile at that, instead nodding as she met his shaded gaze. “Thank you and thanks for the ride. Have a nice day, Mr. Vaughn.”

  “You do the same, Miss Brannon.”

  She steeled herself to face the cold blast before pulling the door handle and pushing the heavy door open. She stepped out into the blowing snow and pushed the door closed. With a returned wave, she made her way up the long pathway to the school, noting they hadn’t put the flag out due to the weather conditions.

  Her mind was reeling with the invitation she’d been extended. She was flattered, for sure, but there was a huge part of her that had no desire to get any more involved in Lysette’s life than she already was as Jimmy’s teacher and would likely be as Bronte’s teacher in a few years. And from Lysette’s reaction to seeing her, it was obvious Eleanor wasn’t exactly a welcome surprise.

  As she entered the building, her entire body shuddered as the warmth hit her. She unbuttoned her coat as she made her way to her classroom, dodging students and faculty as they crammed the halls. She flapped the ends of her jacket quickly, trying to get the snowflakes that had gathered on the short walk into the building to fall to the floor, her high heels clicking on the tile. She tried to be mindful of the wet footprints, not slipping or sliding her goal.

  She waved to a few teachers and stopped to answer a couple of questions from students who were worried about upcoming semester finals, but finally, she reached her classroom. Once inside, she closed the door behind her and flicked on the light, letting out a heavy breath.

  As she shrugged out of her jacket, the door opened, and Scott stepped in, hair perfectly greased and his bowtie slightly crooked. She smiled, hanging her jacket on the coat tree in the corner behind her desk before walking over to him, straightening it.

  “Much better.” She gave it an affectionate pat for good measure. “You’re here early,” she said, turning away to unpack her satchel for the day.

  “Well, I have an exciting invite to give you. I was going to call you last night, but Mother was on the phone with my Aunt Gilda for an h
our.”

  She smiled and shook her head as she removed her lunch to place in her desk drawer.

  “Hold the judgment on the side with the pickle there, cook,” he admonished. “Anyway, Jimmy Vaughn asked me yesterday if I’d escort you to the Vaughn family Christmas party. Isn’t that a trip?”

  She looked at him with surprise, though he seemed to take it as interest as he continued.

  “Yeah, can you believe it? The Vaughns are famous around here for their shindigs, and if you’re invited to one, well…”

  She nodded, pulling out the family tree projects her students had done weeks ago. As a surprise, she’d done a bit of research for each of them and had added some fun family facts onto each project to hand back that day. “Mr. Vaughn asked me this morning.”

  It was Scott’s turn to look surprised. “You’ve made quite an impression on young Master Vaughn, I see.” He chuckled.

  Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him and pushed him toward the door as the bell for first period would be ringing before they knew it. “I’ll tell you what I told Jimmy’s father,” she said.

  “That you’ll dress up all pretty and I can get my father’s tux out of the moth balls and we can act all heterosexual for an evening of fun and dancing?” he said with a goofy grin.

  “Out!” she exclaimed, unable to hide her smile as she pushed him out the door.

  ****

  The Vaughn house wasn’t as grand as the Landon house in Brooke View or Denver, but it was impressive, all the same. It was decorated for the holidays with large festive wreaths on the double front doors and red bows on the myriad windows. The curved drive was filled with cars, as well as the curb in front.

  “Quite the digs,” Scott muttered as he found a place to park along the curb across the street. “But then, I guess that’s not hard if you’re a pricey attorney, huh?”

  Eleanor could only nod, afraid if she opened her mouth to say anything, her lunch from several hours before would fall out. She glanced over at her date for the evening when she realized it had gotten quiet in the car. “What?”