by Sarah Turtle
“It was quite obvious that you scribbled in this particular task right before you gave me the list.”
“Cass is running a summer basketball clinic for a group of kids tomorrow. They need fresh nets, and besides, the view is great from down here.”
Willa crossed one leg in front of the other and glowered at Brynn before she playfully threw the old net down towards her head. “My work will never get done with you watching my every move. Don’t you have plans to take some aggression out on a punching bag?”
“Ha, yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
Willa received an unexpected sense of fulfillment from completing the menial tasks around different areas of the fitness center. It was something that she had never been exposed to with her career kicking off at such an early age. Even in her own condo, she hired people to do the more heavy-duty housework to allow extended time for her to be creative. She took great pleasure in checking off items on the list that was originally meant for Griffin, and even caught herself humming with satisfaction while cleaning the pool. The only thing left for her to do was to empty the trash in the bathrooms, which seemed the least appealing to her, so she saved it for last.
Willa pushed a cart around to each of the restrooms in the building, emptying the separate trash receptacles into the larger bins on the cart. After getting to all of the public bathrooms, she remembered, from spending so much time there when she was young, that there was a private bathroom for employees in the office behind the reception desk.
The overhead fluorescent lights crackled to life when she flipped the switch to the office area on. Two desks consumed the majority of space in the room. The one overflowing with protein powder samples and supplement bottles, with weightlifting motivational posters hung above it, she figured belonged to Griffin. The one lacking a chair and plastered with logo stickers from sponsored sporting goods companies had to belong to Brynn.
Willa recalled lots of dinner conversations when Mrs. Reed used to try to convince the twins to major in business so that they would someday run Mussels by the Sea. They both adamantly refused at the time, and yet ironically, they ended up there anyway.
The office space appeared to be smaller than when she last remembered. At first, she assumed that it was because everything seemed bigger when she was young, but after walking into the adjacent bathroom, she realized where the space went. One section of the office had been removed to expand the size of the bathroom. What used to be a tiny shower stall in the corner was now a huge walk in shower, large enough so that a fully tiled bench to sit on fit in the center of it. The entire space was altered to be wheelchair accessible.
Willa started to empty the trash in the room as she did all the others, yet this one devastated her. The receptacle was filled with catheter bags. As she transferred them into the larger bin, she felt as though the pieces of herself that had just begun to heal were tearing apart all over again.
After learning about Brynn’s diagnosis, Willa had spent hours upon hours in the university library researching spinal cord injuries. She had read about so many different aspects of the injury, including surgeries, therapies, and medications, but at the time, the inability to walk outweighed anything else in her mind. Over the years, she had all but forgotten the need to use a catheter to urinate. The remnants of them in the garbage brought the harsh reality back to Willa, especially that she had destroyed a woman’s life before she ever got the opportunity to even live it.
A pounding started to build up in Willa’s chest as her pulse increased and the constriction in her throat began to cut off the air from reaching her lungs. She rushed to the sink and splashed cold water on her face to help settle the panic attack that threatened to control her body. She blinked back at her reflection in the mirror until she felt calm again.
Having used the last remaining piece of paper towel to wipe the droplets of water from her face, she searched the cabinet below the sink for a replacement roll. In the process of using her fingertips to drag a roll forward from the back of the shelf, it hit a plastic container and knocked it out onto the floor. Willa picked up the bright red box marked with a red biohazard symbol on the front of it, along with the words ‘Caution Sharps Disposal’ printed below it. She gently shook the container and about a dozen empty syringes clanked around in the bottom of it. She replaced the container where she found it, supposing that there was a proper way to dispose of something like that which she wasn’t aware of.
To top off an already distressing situation of finding the catheters, she now had to add on the thought of Brynn needing to inject herself with some sort of medication, regularly enough to require a sharps container with her at work.
After a night filled with unpleasant discoveries, Willa searched the gym for Brynn to let her know that the closing list was complete. The main areas of the fitness center were starting to quiet down now that it was getting to be later in the night, and only a few people remained in the cardio area. She made her way into the weightlifting room and found Brynn by herself.
A custom designed pull-up bar was made to be low enough for Brynn to reach it in her wheelchair. She sat below it with a fifty-pound weight leaning against her chest. Her chair was tipped backwards so that she was balanced on the two back wheels and she repeatedly pulled herself nearly to an upright position before tipping back again. Willa watched her from across the room, mesmerized by the pure strength that Brynn had in her upper body. She was perfectly sculpted and the power that she exuded with every movement seemed like an impossible feat to Willa, and yet Brynn kept the motion up repeatedly.
Willa continued to watch in awe as Brynn steadily pushed her body to the brink of exhaustion. Sweat poured down the sides of her face, which was locked in a determined scowl. The knuckles of her fingers, gripped tightly around the bar, were white and the veins in her wrists protruded out. Willa had no idea how many times Brynn was capable of repeating this motion, but something inside of herself told her that she had already surpassed her limit a long time ago.
She moved over to Brynn’s side in hopes that her presence would end the repetitious torture that she was putting herself through. Brynn shot a determined look in Willa’s direction, but then seemingly pushed herself to go faster. Willa boldly reached out and pulled one of the headphone earbuds out of Brynn’s ear to get her attention, but still there was no response.
She knew that Brynn wasn’t showing her a simple display of strength and neither was it a form of exercise or physical therapy. This was a release of pent up anger and sadness over the revelation they both had shared earlier. Willa couldn’t wait until Brynn pushed her body to the brink of exhaustion, or worse, to the point of hurting herself. She took the risk of becoming the object of Brynn’s anger, by stepping in front of her and placing a hand on the weight to make it nearly impossible for her to come back up.
“Give me a few more minutes and I’ll be done,” Brynn said through gritted teeth.
Willa shook her head, held Brynn firmly in place, and looked at her with a softness in her eyes. “It hurts to find out that he lied to you, and what the consequence of that has done to us, for way too many years.”
Brynn clenched her jaw in protest. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“You don’t have to. I’m only asking that you find another way to deal with your emotions, because this scares me.”
Brynn grasped each side of the large circular weight and lifted it with ease to her side, where she dropped it onto a stand. It settled into place with a thunderous bang as metal hit metal.
Willa felt a disconnect from Brynn as her blue eyes studied her with a piercing scrutiny. Brynn had done as she had asked, but now it was as if she was waiting for permission for her next move. Willa wasn’t about to offer her another opening to self-destruct on herself, so instead she intertwined her fingers with Brynn’s and gave her an understanding smile.
“How is it that you can be okay with what he’s done?” Brynn asked.
“I’m not okay w
ith it. There were so many times tonight that it invaded my thoughts. I could have allowed the anger to overwhelm me, but then I would be covering up all the marvelous feelings that you left me with tonight.”
The corner of Brynn’s mouth lifted and a luminous glow brightened up in her eyes. “Marvelous, huh?”
“Hmm.” Willa leaned in and planted a kiss on Brynn’s cheek, satisfied that the fury in her had subsided. “Don’t let it go to your head,” she added with a wink, before standing back upright and unwinding her fingers from Brynn’s.
“I need a few minutes to clean up and then I can drive you back to the truck,” Brynn said, already heading toward the doorway.
“Don’t bother; you look like you need a nice long shower and I could use a little stroll.”
“It’s dark out already.”
“Yes, but I’m parked right down the street and besides, with you in here, I know the sides of the road are safe from dangerous bikers,” she said with a grin before walking away.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Ow, ow, ow!” Willa winced and buried her face into Megan’s shoulder.
“All I’m cutting into is the stitches. I’m not even touching your skin, so calm down,” Shannon assured her while bringing a tiny pair of surgical scissors close to Willa’s knee.
“What about when you have to pull them out of my skin? You can’t tell me that’s going to feel very pleasant, now is it?” Willa whined.
“If you continue to squirm around, you’re going to end up needing another set of stitches for the new wound that I’m about to cause.”
“Now I see why you called me to be here.” Megan rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine what it was like when you were putting them in.”
“I had to call in my nurse practitioner on a weekend to come in and practically restrain her to the examination table.”
“Hey,” Willa pointed her finger, first at Shannon and then Megan, “both of you can stop discussing how big of a wuss I am any time now, especially since I’m right here.”
“Okay, okay, let’s change the subject,” Megan agreed as she adjusted her hand. Willa realized that she was squeezing it so tight that the blood wasn’t flowing into Megan’s fingers under her frightened grip. “How about you tell us all about your date with Brynn?”
Willa’s eyes widened and she turned abruptly to face Megan. “First of all, it wasn’t that kind of a date and secondly, how did you know we were even together?”
“Maybe you didn’t think it was a date, but Brynn most certainly must have. Don’t forget, this is an awfully small town. Not only does word get around fast, but when you didn’t show up at The Anchor for dinner alone, I knew the two you had to have gone somewhere together.”
“Hmm, well, just because someone shows interest in another person, it doesn’t mean that they’re dating. I mean, my Aunt Beth thought that someone at the funeral had a crush on me, and I think she thinks it’s you, Dr. Martin.”
Shannon and Megan exchanged glances and then simultaneously broke out in laughter. Shannon finally took pity on Willa’s pouty look of not being in on their exchange. “The day of the service, Brynn literally came to your rescue in your distraught state, and pushed aside anyone else in their effort to help you, so that she could be your heroine.”
Willa scanned Megan’s face with a questioning look to see if she agreed with Shannon’s theory. “It’s true; we all saw the same thing. That woman still has a thing for you after all these years,” Megan agreed.
“I know she does.” Willa let out a sigh.
“Do you not feel the same way?” Megan asked.
“It’s not that I don’t. It’s more that so much has kept us apart and there are people who continue to do so, to the point that I wonder if it’s worth even putting the effort into trying to be together.”
“For a successful woman, you don’t seem the type to let other people stand in the way of what you want.”
“Not usually, but when one of those people happens to be her twin brother, whom she lives with and owns a business with, well, you get my point.”
“In my opinion, if that man loved his sister half as much as he claims to, then he should let go of the past and let her be happy.”
Shannon had been concentrating on Willa’s knee, but she finally chimed in. “Please be careful around Griffin.”
Megan arched over the edge of the table to get a better view of Shannon. “He definitely looks intimidating, but do you really think that he could be dangerous?”
Shannon didn’t respond to Megan, but slowly and meticulously worked at removing another stitch.
“Good luck getting any further with her. The cryptic message is where it ends, but in case you were wondering, you never have to worry about your personal information being gossiped about by our friend here.”
Shannon eyed Willa like a parent reprimanding a child by means of an expression, followed by a nod to show her loyalty not only to her friends, but also to her clientele.
“At least you know there won’t be a tabloid story popping up about how you need a team of people to support you through a boo-boo,” Megan teased.
“If I wasn’t already crushing the life out of your fingers, I would find some other way to inflict pain on you.”
“I deserve that. Just leave me the ability to pour a drink for us when we’re done.” Megan smirked at her own comment, but then her expression turned serious. “Speaking of drinks, I think I have a way to get some answers without drilling them illegally out of Shannon.”
Soon after having survived the remaining stitch removal procedure, Willa followed Megan into The Anchor and took her usual seat at the bar. “So, tell me again, other than me getting a reward drink for not crying at the clinic, why are we here on your day off?”
Megan took the seat next to Willa and leaned in close to her ear. “This, my friend, is where you will see the power of what a great bartender is capable of.” She waved her hand and within seconds, the guy behind the bar served them each a glass of Willa’s favorite wine.
“While free alcohol on command is definitely a useful skill to have, I don’t see how that’s going to help us.” Willa looked around at the empty bar, other than the old man, still in his usual corner seat.
“Be patient, and while we wait, tell me a little more about exactly what you need to know.”
Willa settled into her barstool and took a long sip of her wine. She waited until the bartender was out of earshot and whispered, “There’s a possibility that I wasn’t to blame for Griffin not using his college scholarship.”
“If you’re not to blame, then that means he didn’t stay to take care of his sister.”
“Exactly, and if Shannon knows about it but can’t say, then it has to be a medical reason.”
“Can’t you ask Brynn? I mean, she would know if her own twin brother was sick, wouldn’t she?”
“I’ve been dealt a lot of verbal abuse from people all over town believing that I kept Laurel Cove’s two star athletes from becoming something greater than local heroes that they were destined to be. Brynn truly believes that Griff stayed in order to help her through rehabilitation or else she wouldn’t let that rumor spread around town.”
“The answer you’re searching for is something that I think I can get. Promise me that you’ll let me do the talking, and if he gets confrontational, know that I won’t let him physically harm you.”
Willa’s heart started racing with unknown anticipation. “Who are you talking about?”
“You’ll see in a few seconds…” Megan turned her head to the door right before it opened, and Willa could tell by the sound of his boots that Craig had arrived for his daily dose of alcohol. Willa stiffened in her seat, but she felt a reassuring pat from Megan on her thigh, so she sat back and put her trust in Megan’s supposed skills.
Craig grunted his dissatisfaction as he passed by Willa and took his place on the other side of Megan. The bartender on duty was preoccupied with making a drink for
a customer dining out on the deck, so Craig impatiently pounded his knuckles on the counter to get his attention.
“I’ll be with you in a second,” the bartender barked back at him.
Craig turned to Megan. “You see the shit I gotta put up with when you ain’t working?”
“Tony, hand me a bottle from the second shelf in the fridge,” Megan ordered her bartender sternly.
Tony shot Craig a piercing glare, set down the martini that he was in process of building, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and shut the door with more force than required to close it. He handed the bottle to Megan and she reprimanded him with her icy gaze. With bartender precision, she popped the cap open using the side of the bar and a quick twisting motion of her wrist, before sliding it over to Craig. “I’m sorry for your trouble. Drinks are on the house today.” Craig made an indiscernible grunt and gulped down a quarter of his bottle. For the time being, he was ignoring Willa and she let out a sigh of relief.
Willa generally believed herself to be a patient person. She used many opportunities during periods of having to wait to go over storylines in her head or to jot down notes for outlines. She rarely found a wasted moment in her day, when the lives of her characters swirled about in her mind constantly. The tension of waiting in suspense until Megan chose to make her move, though, was agonizingly slow, and didn’t allow her to think of anything other than what might come of it. After watching Craig swallow down three beers and having Megan sit in complete silence next to her, Willa was ready to jump out of her own skin for a little relief from the anxiety of it all. She almost lost all hope, when Craig studied the clock on the wall and put his hands on the bar to push his stool back. As if right on cue, though, Tony brought out a plate with a juicy steak and a side of potatoes on it and set it down in front of Craig.
“Did I mention that a meal is on the house too?” Megan said casually without even looking in his direction.
Craig looked at the food suspiciously and almost continued to get up, but then with a little nod from Megan, Tony placed a cold bottle of beer on the bar. The drool was practically falling out of Craig’s mouth, and that, paired with the bloody, rare steak, was a combination that had Willa holding in the need to gag. Craig stabbed the steak with his fork and crudely cut into it with the jagged knife, but Willa turned her face away so she didn’t have to witness his display of open-mouthed chewing.