Georgia Summer

by Heather Colleen

  Duke spoke to them first, but Georgia couldn’t hear him in the busy room as he exchanged words with the family. Then she saw her dad move closer to them, extending his hand towards Mrs. Young. He leaned down to say something closer to her ear and she nodded, her eyes downcast. Her dad then moved on to Landon, shaking his hand briefly and offering his condolences.

  It was now Georgia’s turn. She stood in front of Mrs. Young. Mrs. Young gazed at her, her blue eyes full of silent suffering. Georgia didn’t know whether to shake her hand or if she should just offer her condolences. Instead, she moved in closer, and without fully thinking her actions through, she put her arms around Mrs. Young’s thin frame and hugged her. Mrs. Young didn’t say anything, but Georgia felt her arms wrap around her in response. They stood there for a moment before Mrs. Young stepped back, her eyes misty.

  “I am so very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Young,” Georgia said, the corners of her mouth tugging down into a frown as her eyes threatened to cry.

  Mrs. Young nodded. “Thank you,” she said. Though her voice sounded delicate and sweet, it was laden with sadness. She turned to greet the next person, and Georgia moved out of their way, stepping over to her left in front of Landon.

  Unable to meet his eyes at first, Georgia looked down, fumbling with her purse as she reached for the letter inside. “I-I-I have something for you,” she stammered as she continued to look down, her hand in her purse. She could feel Landon watching her, no doubt judging her and her clumsiness. She felt her hand touch the letter inside her purse, but as she pulled it out and began to hand it to Landon, the letter slipped from her clammy hands, fluttering to the floor.

  Georgia felt her cheeks flush as she bent down to pick it up, ashamed that she was making such a fool of herself. Just as she snatched it up off the floor though, she felt his hands on either side of her, taking her arms and helping her up. His grip was firm, strong. She let him help her stand, and finally looked up, meeting his eyes. Up closer now, Landon’s eyes seemed to ensnare her with their intensity. She gazed at them, lost in the depths of his cool grey eyes. He looked at her intently, as if he could see into the abyss of her very soul.

  Suddenly, he let go of her arms. “You have something for me?” he asked. His deep voice was smooth and self-assured.

  “U-um, yes. I do.” Georgia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and handed him the letter.

  He took it from her, a confused expression on his face as his dark brow knitted together.

  “It’s from Dr. Young,” she added hastily, not knowing if she should explain further as to how the letter came in to her possession.

  Raising an eyebrow, he began to ask, “How did you….?”

  Georgia opened her mouth to try to explain, but one of the pallbearers came over, touching Landon’s arm as he leaned in to whisper something to him. Landon’s eyes looked over to the door as the man whispered to him, and he nodded in response. The pallbearer left, making his way to the front door.

  Landon looked at her again. “Well, thank you for coming today, Miss…?” His voice trailed off in a questioning tone, and Georgia realized he was asking for her name.

  “It’s Georgia. Georgia Summer,” she answered, looking up at him. She thought she saw the corners of his mouth lift as she answered him, as if he were fighting back a smile, or even a laugh, and for a moment she could see an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Young with that barely-there grin. But just as quickly as she glimpsed his smile, it vanished, and he was once again stolid, his composure cool and collected.

  Landon turned to his mom, leaning in closer to her ear. “Mom, the driver is ready to take us to the cemetery.” Faye Young didn’t respond, and he reached out to hold her arm.

  Georgia stepped back to let them pass.

  As Landon brushed by with his mother on his arm, he dipped his head, nodding briefly. “Georgia,” he murmured.

  Georgia began to open her mouth to say ‘Goodbye,’ but stopped as they quickly moved well out of earshot in the crowded room. She watched them as they walked through the congested lobby, the crowd silently parting as they approached the front double doors. Georgia could sense that most, if not all eyes were on Landon as a hush fell across the room.

  Two of the pallbearers opened the double doors for them, and the weak sunlight from outside outlined Landon’s tall silhouette in the doorway. Georgia looked on as the doors shut slowly behind the mourning family, finally concealing them from view.

  Chapter 15

  Rumors

  The volume in the lobby soon returned to a more comfortable level once the doors shut behind the Youngs, and Georgia felt herself relaxing as her breathing slowed to a normal pace. She exhaled with relief. She had done it. She had given Dr. Young’s son his letter, and she would never have to see him again.

  Georgia looked around the lobby, realizing that she hadn’t seen her dad in several minutes. She began to make her way through the lobby towards the exit, and was almost to the double doors when she overheard a snippet of conversation between two middle-aged women.

  “My, Landon sure has turned out to be a handsome fella!”

  The other responded, “Ain’t he, though! He looked mighty sharp in his Dress Blues. I hear he’s been on active duty in Afghanistan. Came all the way home for his daddy’s funeral.”

  “Mmhm. I’m so glad he’s straightened out a bit since high school. You know, he sure caused Dr. Young a bit of grief growin’ up.” She clucked her tongue disapprovingly and shook her head. “Bless his heart.”

  The other nodded in agreement. “Well, I think the military has been a good way for Landon to channel his, let’s say, more aggressive tendencies.”

  “Aggressive! I think the word you’re lookin’ for is violent. And you know what they say!”

  “What’s that, Lula Mae?”

  The other, Lula Mae, responded in a know-it-all-voice, “I hate to say it, but after what Dr. Young did to hisself, nothin’s been truer than the sayin’, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’”

  Georgia looked up at the two women as they exchanged knowing looks. Annoyed by their small-town gossip, she shoved her way past them to the doors.

  As she stepped outside, she saw her dad across the parking lot, leaning against his car, his cowboy hat donned once again. She walked over to him briskly, hoping he wasn’t irritated for having to wait on her.

  “You ready to go, Georg?” he asked.

  Seeing that he wasn’t bothered by her delay, Georgia’s expression softened. She nodded, ready to go home.

  ✽✽✽

  The next couple of days were thankfully uneventful for Georgia. She was glad to return to the diner and feel a semblance of normalcy after the past week. Throwing herself into work every morning, she busied herself by sweeping and mopping behind the counter, helping Duke bus tables, refilling drinks, delivering hot trays of food to hungry folks, and making coffee for the caffeine-deprived customers.

  Georgia had just arrived home from her shift at Duke’s when she heard the phone ring. As she strode into the kitchen, she was enthusiastically greeted by Millie. Keeping one hand on Millie as she petted her, she reached for the phone with her other hand and answered, “Hello?”

  “Hey, Georg. It’s me.”

  She heard her sister’s familiar voice. “Hi, Virginia. How are the girls today?”

  Her sister sighed. A lot better than they were Sunday. They had some stomach bug that kept them from keepin' any food down. Between that and the diarrhea, the poor things have had a pretty rough couple of days.”

  Georgia made a face.

  As though Virginia could see her expression, she added, “Welcome to the world of motherhood, Georg.” Virginia laughed.

  Georgia smiled. “So, they’re better today?”

  “Much better. In fact, I just put them down for a nap. I expect they’ll be asleep for a while since they’ve been sick. Do you wanna come over?”

  “Sure!”

  “Great. Maybe you can help me wr
ap a few presents for their birthdays, too,” Virginia suggested.

  “Oh, that’s right. Their birthdays are coming up! Next week, right?”

  “Next Friday! Can you believe it? They’re gonna be four years old!” Virginia exclaimed.

  Georgia shook her head. “I can’t. The time has gone by so fast,” she said sentimentally.

  “Oh, I know. Seems like only yesterday I was bringin’ them babes home from the hospital,” Virginia said reflectively.

  Georgia checked the time on the microwave. “Should I come over now? I can be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Sounds perfect. See you in a few.”

  “See you soon.” Georgia hung up the phone.

  ✽✽✽

  Over at Virginia’s house, the sisters busied themselves wrapping presents for the twins.

  “So, how was the funeral service last Sunday?” Virginia asked as she folded up matching yellow summer dresses and put them into a gift box.

  “It was…fine,” Georgia answered. She was unsure as to how much she should tell Virginia without disclosing the letter she had hand-delivered to Landon.

  “Was a lot of Dr. Young’s family there?” Virginia asked, now cutting a long, pink ribbon.

  Georgia shook her head, holding out her finger so that Virginia could use it to tie a bow around the box. “No, only two members that I saw.”

  Virginia stopped, holding the bunny ears of the bow in mid-tie. “Just two? Who?”

  Georgia swallowed, thinking of her uncomfortable meeting with Landon. “Mrs. Young and her son, Landon.”

  Virginia dropped the bunny ears of the bow, forgetting all about the wrapping. “Landon was there? I thought he was far away somewhere, like at school or something,” she said, her face puzzled.

  “Well, it was his own father’s funeral. And he has been far away, I think. Like overseas...on a deployment,” Georgia added hesitatingly.

  Virginia picked up the ribbon again and commenced tying the bow. “So, he’s in the military now? Well, I guess that’s a good thing. A good thing for him, anyways.” Virginia double-knotted the bow as Georgia retracted her finger.

  “Why? What do you mean?” Georgia asked, confused by Virginia’s comment.

  “You didn’t know him much in high school, did you?” Virginia reached for a roll of wrapping paper.

  “No, I didn’t. He was in your class though, wasn’t he?”

  “He was, yes. I didn’t talk to him much, but he was always gettin’ into some kind of trouble.” She shook her head. “I don’t think he had too many friends, but he did date some girl for a while...What was her name?” Virginia paused, biting her lip as she tried to remember. “Emily...wait, no. Amelia? I can’t remember. I wonder what happened to her…” Virginia’s voice trailed off as she became lost in thought. She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, lucky for him he had his daddy to always get him outta trouble.” She placed a puzzle box onto the center of the wrapping paper and began to cut a strip off the roll.

  “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Georgia bit her lip as she tried to match this new description of Landon with the calm, cool Landon she had met on Sunday.

  “From what I hear, he got himself into some hot water just after high school. Right after graduation, in fact,” Virginia went on, cutting a large square around the puzzle box.

  “What happened?” Georgia asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

  “Well.” Virginia paused for effect, the scissors stopping mid-cut. “He tried to steal a gun.”

  Georgia felt her eyes widen.

  “And not just any gun.” Virginia shook her head and then added, this time in a softer voice, “His father’s gun.”

  Georgia felt her mouth drop open in shock. “What? Really? Landon tried to steal Dr. Young’s gun?” She shook her head in disbelief, wondering if it was the very same gun that Dr. Young had shot himself with.

  Virginia nodded factually. “That’s what I heard. Landon was goin’ after somebody else. Another kid. Thank God they found him tryin’ to break into Dr. Young’s. ”

  Georgia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Why would he need to break into his dad’s place?”

  “Well, Dr. Young and Mrs. Young had already been separated for a while, and I guess Landon had decided to live with his mom while he finished up high school. He and his dad weren’t very close, from what I remember.”

  Georgia nodded slowly as she tried to comprehend this.

  “The thing is though, Landon gettin’ caught didn’t even stop him from goin’ after the guy. I hear he found him later that same night and beat him to a bloody pulp.” Virginia shuddered.

  Georgia felt her heartbeat stop as she imagined this. “But he didn’t…” She faltered. “He didn’t kill him though, did he?” She was afraid of what the answer might be as she recalled Landon’s muscular build and large frame.

  Virginia shook her head. “No, he didn’t kill him. But if he had stolen that gun, then I might be tellin’ you a different story today. ” Virginia finished cutting the paper and began to wrap up the box, taping the paper together.

  Georgia shook her head, unable to believe what she had just heard. “So how do you know all this?” she asked Virginia, her voice incredulous.

  Virginia sighed. “Well, dad told me that Landon was arrested that night. The rest is just from what I’ve heard around Willow Creek.”

  Georgia bit her lip, remembering what she had overheard in the funeral hall between those two women. She wondered if this is what they had been talking about when they mentioned Landon’s violent and aggressive behavior.

  Georgia sifted through this new information. Something about it just didn’t add up right in her mind, especially when she thought of meeting Landon only a couple of days ago. She remembered his piercing blue eyes, and the way they seemed to see to the bottom of her soul, and how he helped her stand up with his firm, yet gentle grip. She bit her lip in thought. He didn’t seem like the violent type at all, not to her. "I met him at the service,” Georgia said as she handed Virginia another piece of tape.

  Virginia took the tape from her and paused, looking at her. “You did?” She sounded surprised. “Well, what’d you think?”

  Georgia shrugged her shoulders. “He seemed…nice. I think he’s changed from what you remember. He’s different.” Virginia was watching her closely, making Georgia suddenly feel self-conscious. “I mean, different from other guys,” Georgia said quickly as she thought of the other, arrogant boys she had met in college.

  “Did you think he was attractive?” Virginia asked, not beating around the bush.

  Georgia felt her cheeks grow warm as she blushed. “I mean, any guy looks good in uniform,” she mumbled as she grabbed another piece of tape and handed it over to Virginia again, hoping she would stop asking so many questions.

  “What'd he say to you?” Virginia pressed, taking the tape from her.

  “He just thanked me for coming. That’s all.”

  Virginia pressed her lips together and nodded, looking relieved at this news. “He must not be in town for long then, if he’s on a deployment.” She grabbed another ribbon, glancing at Georgia.

  Georgia shrugged her shoulders.

  “Where do you think he’s been deployed to?” Virginia asked.

  “Probably Afghanistan, where all our boys are going to these days,” Georgia replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

  Virginia was still eying her carefully, gauging her for a reaction.

  “Need more tape?” Georgia offered, holding out the roll to her.

  Virginia shook her head. “Well, the sooner he leaves again the better. That boy is trouble and always has been,” she said, her tone more of a warning than just an opinion.

  Georgia didn’t say anything, letting Virginia’s words hang in the air between them for a few moments. Georgia grabbed the roll of wrapping paper and began to wrap up a book.

  She didn’t care what Virginia said, or what anyone else said for that matter. The
Landon she had met was different.

  Chapter 16

  The Break-In

  Four Summers Ago

  Shifting the weight of the heavy box to one arm, Landon reached out to open the car door with his free hand. He then grasped the box again with both hands and leaned down. Shoving the box into the backseat of the old sedan, he was able to squeeze it in amongst the other overflowing boxes.

  He slammed the car door shut and leaned back against the car, sighing. It was a beautiful summer morning, and while the temperature was still bearable at this hour in the day, it was climbing quickly and promised to be another scorcher. He looked around at his mother’s familiar front yard and driveway.

  He knew he wouldn’t miss Willow Creek, but he would miss his mom when he and Emmarie left tomorrow morning for Boston. He wiped the sweat from his brow as his thoughts strayed back to Emmarie. He hadn’t seen her since yesterday when he had dropped her off at her house. He had tried calling her last night after returning from his dad’s, but no one answered. Reasoning that she may have been at the store, he decided to try again this morning, but again no answer.

  An image of Emmarie in her jean mini skirt and tank floated through his mind. How excited she had looked as she said goodbye, knowing that the next time they saw each other they would be one day closer to their departure, sharing an order of cheesy fries at Duke’s Diner.

  Landon went back inside, determined to get a hold of Emmarie. Striding into the kitchen, he picked the phone up off its cradle and dialed her number again. He let it ring at least a dozen times, but no one picked up. Frowning, Landon hung the phone back up.

  “I’m sure she’s just busy finishing the packing,” Landon’s mom said.

  Landon looked up. He hadn’t noticed that she had come into the kitchen while he had been calling Emmarie. “I’ve called her twice this morning, though,” Landon said, his dark brow furrowed with confusion. “Maddox didn’t answer either.”