by Kim Pritekel
With only a sullen nod for acknowledgment, Bronte accepted the cup with her two dice in it.
Lysette was amused. Her daughter was a competitive soul and definitely not a good loser. She shook her cup, rattling the dice inside when she heard the return of Jim and Jimmy after a day of fly fishing.
“Jimmy!” Bronte exclaimed, hopping up and running toward the kitchen and back door where her brother and father had entered. “Come help me beat Mom!”
Lysette chuckled, leaning back on her hands as she waited for the cavalry to appear.
“What, did she beat the pants off you again playing Hearts and that’s why you’re wearing a dress?” Jimmy’s disembodied voice joked.
“Jimmy!”
“All right,” Jimmy said, appearing in the living room. He glanced down at Lysette and the game as he cracked his knuckles dramatically. “Backgammon, huh?” He nodded with exaggerated confidence. “I got this.”
Lysette rolled her eyes at his theatrics. “Get down here so I can beat you and declare a night of victory.”
He grinned, lowering himself to the floor where Bronte had been sitting, his sister joining them to watch.
“You’ll be so jealous, Jimmy,” Bronte taunted.
“Why?” he asked, eyeing the board as Lysette made her opening move.
“We met Miss Brannon for lunch today and her mom, Miss Emma!”
Lysette sent a surreptitious look first to her son, then over to the couch where Jim was getting settled with the newspaper in his hands. She noted that he glanced their way as he noisily shook the daily post open.
“What? How?” he asked, looking from Bronte to Lysette with wide eyes.
“Don’t fib, Bronte,” Lysette said with quiet warning in her voice. “We ran into them at the restaurant, so we all ate lunch together.”
Bronte gave her an apologetic look before continuing with her story excitedly. “Did you know Mommy and Miss Brannon were best friends when they were my age?”
Jimmy looked to Lysette, shocked. “Seriously?”
“Well, we were a little older, but yes, we were close.”
“Well, hot dog!” He sat back away from the backgammon game for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief, making Lysette smile. “My whole life, it’s all been a lie.”
She laughed outright, reaching across and slapping his leg playfully. “It’s your turn, drama queen.”
By the second declaration of “I win again!” by Lysette, the kids lost interest and wandered off to go work on a jigsaw puzzle together upstairs.
“You are a sore winner as a mother,” Jim said from behind his newspaper.
Still on the floor as she cleaned up the game, Lysette glanced his way. “Hey, the contract I remember signing while in labor was that I had to feed them and clothe them, not let them win at backgammon.”
Jim lowered the newspaper. “Must have been in the fine print.” He folded the paper and set it aside. “You should’ve seen Jimmy out there today,” he said conversationally, crossing his ankle over the opposite knee. “Really did well. He’s a natural.”
“That’s great,” she responded with a smile as she closed the game closed and clasped it. “He’s been wanting to learn for ages.”
“So you and Bronte had a good day today?” he asked, his foot falling back to the floor as he sat forward, elbows resting on his knees.
“We did.” She nodded as she repositioned her own body, curling her legs behind her as she leaned over to rest her weight on her hand and hip.
“You made it to the skating rink then?”
She wanted to roll her eyes, hating his fishing expeditions. “Yup,” she said, hiding her irritation behind a smile. “Got the bruises on my butt to prove it.”
“Listen, I was going to ask you if you wouldn’t mind organizing Rita’s retirement dinner for next Saturday,” he asked, fingers spread out as he lightly tapped fingertips and palms of both hands together.
“She finally decided to do it, huh?” Lysette asked of the woman who had acted as a receptionist to Jim when he took over the firm, as well as the original lawyer. “Good for her and, sure. How many, what time, and where? I told you I was taking the kids to Denver next Saturday.”
“Why again?” he asked, seeming irritated at that.
“The man at the jewelry store called and said my necklace should be fixed then, and the kids want to see Daddy.”
He nodded, sitting back against the couch. “All right. I think seven is a good time to start dinner, so you’ll have to be back in plenty of time.”
She hated the tone that had entered his voice. It was one he used with her often when they were first married—that he was the man and therefore knew best. He would, however, humor her but would be watching carefully to make sure she didn’t screw it up.
“Jim,” she said, wrapping her fingers around the handle to the clasped backgammon case as she pushed to her feet. “Don’t treat me like a child. I’ve kept your ass on time for fifteen years.”
With those words, she walked out of the room.
****
“One, please,” Lysette said, pointing at the medium-sized bag. “And yes, lots of butter.” She was given her total and slid the coins across the counter. As she waited, she felt her nerves act up. She could feel her heart beat a little bit faster, a few beads of sweat trickle between her breasts.
“Here you are, ma’am.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking the hot buttery popcorn with a smile. She gathered several napkins and headed to the theater.
There were several people already in the large dim room, but it wasn’t hard to find the one person she was looking for. Lysette smiled, her heart once again fluttering slightly. Since the surprise—and absolutely wonderful—lunch the previous day with Eleanor and her mother, Lysette had been on cloud nine. There was something about Eleanor that, as much as she made her heart skip a beat and palms sweat, brought comfort to her. She had such a calm, quiet nature that put Lysette at ease, made her feel she could be herself, but her better version.
That feeling increased when she sidestepped her way down the aisle where Eleanor sat, the two making brief eye contact before Lysette turned her focus on what she was doing so she wouldn’t step on any toes or do a header over the row of seats ahead of her.
“Hey,” Eleanor said, moving her jacket from the seat next to her. Obviously, she’d been using it to save the seat.
“Hello.” Lysette handed the popcorn to Eleanor. “Would you mind?”
“Nope.”
Lysette shrugged out of her jacket, leaving her in a fitted sweater in a deep green that she felt did good things for her eyes and for her figure. That was to say, she hoped Eleanor thought so. She knew it was wrong to think that way, and even if she never said the words out loud to anyone else but her own conscience, she hoped Eleanor still saw her as beautiful.
Getting settled, she took the popcorn back. “Thank you. Want some?”
Eleanor grinned at her, producing two bottles of Coca-Cola out of the pocket of her purse.
“Oh, still cold,” Lysette murmured, taking one. She laughed outright as Eleanor wiggled her eyebrows when she pulled out a church key.
“I feel like high school kids who snuck beer into class,” Eleanor murmured, reaching over to pop the top off Lysette’s bottle before turning to her own.
Lysette grinned. “Have you had to deal with that one before? As a teacher?” she asked before taking a cool, refreshing drink.
“You have no idea,” Eleanor muttered, tapping her bottleneck to Lysette’s before sipping.
They remained silent for a moment, Lysette watching some of the concession advertisements that were flashing across the big screen. She was barely paying attention to the message as she could smell Eleanor’s perfume. It wasn’t a scent she was used to smelling on her. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on that smell as opposed to the strong scent of buttered popcorn.
“Mama is moving in three weeks,” Eleanor said, unwittingly p
ulling Lysette from her thoughts.
Lysette’s eyes blinked open. “She is? That’s wonderful!” Lysette glanced behind her when she was shushed by a man sitting behind them. “It’s a dancing hot dog, mister,” she said with a raised eyebrow before turning back to Eleanor, leaning in close to continue their chatting. “Is she excited?” she murmured into Eleanor’s ear, surprised when she felt a small tremor go through Eleanor.
Eleanor nodded, turning slightly toward her. “Very.”
“If she needs help, let me know.” They sat in silence for a long moment, each taking turns dipping her hand into the bag of popcorn on Lysette’s lap. A couple of times, their hands brushed going in or out. Lysette felt a little charge each time, sometimes unable to withhold her gasp. She felt like a child and had to laugh at herself. Finally, she leaned close again. “What are you doing Saturday?” she whispered.
“This coming one?” Eleanor whispered back. “Nothing,” she said after Lysette nodded. “Why?”
“I’d like you to come to Denver with me and the kids,” Lysette said, meeting Eleanor’s gaze in the darkness of the theater, the vibrant light and colors from the big screen reflecting in Eleanor’s eyes. “Please?”
Eleanor leaned in, her hot breath washing against the side of Lysette’s neck. “Will the kids mind?”
It took Lysette a moment to bounce back as the heat began to extend far beyond the breath coming out of Eleanor’s body. She swallowed. “Yeah,” she managed. “They’ll love it, I think.”
Eleanor looked at her, her gaze holding for a long moment before she suddenly looked away, the hand that had been draped casually along the arm of the chair that separated hers from Lysette’s moving to her lap, her hand wrapping around her soda bottle. “Okay.”
****
“How did you know all that stuff?” Bronte asked, trailing her French fries through the blob of ketchup. “You knew more than the museum lady did.”
“Well,” Eleanor responded, setting her malt down after taking a long, slow sip. “I was a history major in college,” she explained. “I specialized in European history.”
“I told you I’d bring you back here,” Lysette said so softly that Eleanor wasn’t sure the kids heard. She met and held Lysette’s long, steady gaze, so many emotions passing through her before the spell was broken by Jimmy’s voice.
“Did you go to CU in Boulder?” Jimmy asked, his cheek leaning on a closed fist like a little lovesick puppy. More than once that day, Lysette had given him “the look” to be a gentleman. “I’m going to CU,” he announced.
Lysette’s eyebrows lifted. “You think so, do you?” she asked. “You know your dad wants you to go to his alma mater, Stanford.”
“No,” Eleanor admitted, shaking her head. “I went to Wichita State University.”
Lysette was surprised to hear that. “In Kansas?”
Eleanor met her gaze and nodded, popping her last French fry into her mouth. “Yup.”
Lysette knew she needed to be careful, as she was pretty sure Eleanor didn’t want the kids to know about what happened. “When did you leave Colorado?”
“In 1942,” she said softly, though loud enough not to seem like a secret. “I was twenty-three, and some of the other ladies that were leaving at the same time decided to go to Wichita. There were tons of jobs with the war going on, so we worked making B-52s.”
“Wow, really?” Jimmy asked, eyes wide with excitement. “You built those?”
Eleanor nodded. “I did. I worked there while I went to school to become a teacher.”
“And then you came back here to teach,” Lysette said. She felt so much pride and admiration in her heart, knowing where Eleanor had just gotten out of only to turn around and go into service to educate young people.
Eleanor met her gaze. “Eventually, yes.”
“Someday, I want to hear the whole story,” Lysette said softly, hoping Eleanor would be willing. She wanted to know more about that time in her life but knew sitting at lunch with her children wasn’t the right time.
****
“Come make this shot for me, Mom!” Jimmy whined, holding his croquet club out to her like an offering from where he stood on the manicured lawn thirty yards away.
“Nope,” Lysette called back, shaking her head. “As I recall, you told me you never, ever, ever wanted to play games with me ever, ever, ever again.”
“You’re missing a couple of evers,” he groused, turning his attention back to the game he played with his sister and grandfather.
“I see a lot of Adalyn in him,” Eleanor said from where she sat under the tree next to Lysette, watching the trio play. “That same spunky personality.”
Lysette tilted her head slightly as she studied him, then nodded, looking over at her friend. “Yes, I can see that. Come on,” she said, reaching out to lightly slap Eleanor’s knee. “Let’s go take a walk.”
The afternoon was gorgeous with robin’s egg-blue skies above and not a cloud in sight. The grass was returning from winter yellow to the emerald green of spring. They walked in silence away from the game, able to hear Bronte’s high-pitched laughter float across the late afternoon.
“It’s so peaceful out here,” Eleanor said, her voice quiet.
“It is. I don’t really come here all that much unless Daddy’s here.” Lysette gave her a small smile. “No time.”
“It’s amazing to see him today,” Eleanor said. “Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
Lysette smiled and let out a contented sigh. She reached out and hooked her arm through the bend of Eleanor’s, bringing their casual steps closer together. “So I haven’t seen you with the pretty blonde in a while,” she said conversationally, knowing full well she was fishing with a pole that bore flashing lights. She hadn’t even intended to ask, but the words had fallen out of her mouth. “Do you teach with her?”
The smallest of smiles touched Eleanor’s lips before she responded. “No, she wasn’t a colleague.”
Lysette hoped there would be more, but when there wasn’t, she knew she had to cast again. “A friend?”
“Anne and I were more than friends but weren’t exactly on the fast track to forever, either.” She spared Lysette a side glance. “She dumped me to become Mrs. Patrick Something-or-other.”
Lysette felt that like a stab to the heart, both that they had in fact been intimate, that Anne had broken up with her, and that she’d done so for a man. Her own marriage to Jim had weighed heavily on her over the years, especially when she’d come across the few women like Eleanor and Danny Felts who had remained true to themselves and hadn’t taken the easy way out, as she had.
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly, about to pull away, but Eleanor covered her hand with her own, keeping her where she was as they continued to walk. “That must have really hurt.”
Eleanor shrugged. “The truth is, I think she’s selling herself short, but that’s her choice, it’s her life. I think ultimately what bothered me the most was how she went about it, sneaking behind my back. I just can’t condone cheating like that. If you’re not happy, leave,” she said simply, unwittingly driving another stake through Lysette’s heart.
“Do you miss her?”
Eleanor shook her head. “No, not really. But I do miss knowing there’s someone out there that thinks I’m special. Someone out there that I know is going to think about me at least once a day and maybe even smile or,” she gave Lysette a sheepish grin, “blush a little when thinking about a memory regarding me. That’s what I miss. It’s not something tied specifically to Anne, but yeah.” She shrugged again. “That’s what I miss.”
Lysette stopped them, deciding it was the right time. “Turn around,” she said softly, gently guiding Eleanor to turn her back to her. She reached into her pocket and withdrew the cross necklace she’d picked up when they’d first arrived in Denver that morning. “I got this fixed for you,” she explained, taking the beautiful piece, which had been cleaned and polished to brand new perfection
out of the ring box, tucking that back into the pocket. “The clasp was broken, and it was in bad shape.”
Taking the ends in both hands, Lysette raised her arms high enough so the chain cleared Eleanor’s head, then brought them down and back until the cross pendant was in place before she clasped the chain home.
“I love that you cut your hair,” she said, quickly running her fingers through the short strands at the base of Eleanor’s neck before turning her back to face her. Her gaze dropped down to take in the cross, which glistened beautifully against the paleness of Eleanor’s soft skin. “Looks beautiful,” she whispered, looking up to meet Eleanor’s gaze.
“I told you to keep this,” Eleanor said, a bit of emotion in her voice as her hand fluttered up, fingers immediately wrapping around the cross as Lysette had seen her do a hundred times when she was a teenager.
Lysette nodded and gave her a soft smile. “Yes, but now I have the real thing back. I don’t need the cross.” She leaned in and left a small kiss on Eleanor’s cheek. “And,” she added, moving away just enough to look into her eyes. “Tonight when I’m at Jim’s dinner party, I’ll remember the look in your eyes right now, and I’ll smile.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
“It’s wonderful to see you, Jeffry. I think it’s been since Mandy’s birthday dinner that we saw each other last,” Lysette said, turning her head to accept a kiss to the cheek by one of the three partners from the law firm.
“It’s nice to see you, Lysette.” He took the empty seat next to her at the three tables that had been pushed together in the reserved back room of the restaurant. “I apologize for being late.”
She smiled politely at him as he scooted his chair closer to the table. The dinner had been going on for nearly forty-five minutes now, yet only drinks had been served in the open bar that was manned by one of the restaurant employees.