by Debby Mayne
“So, how’d it go?” Amanda asked. “Find any treasure?”
“My dad bought him a treasure chest like the one I got him.” He knew he still sounded surly, but he couldn’t let his feelings keep him from talking to her.
She tilted her head and studied him then blinked as she looked right past him. “Call me with the item numbers, Matthew. I’ll get whatever you think we need.”
Matthew waved as he sauntered out of the store. “See ya, Amanda. Hope to see you around again soon, Jerry.”
“Likewise.” Jerry waved then turned back to Amanda, who had a very odd expression on her face.
Jerry was acting weird and not at all like himself. Amanda wasn’t sure but he didn’t seem to like Matthew, and there wasn’t any reason she could see. They’d barely met, and Matthew had been polite. In fact, she’d never seen Matthew on such good behavior. Guys could be so weird.
“Did Timmy give you any trouble?” Amanda asked, hoping to break the icy chill in the room.
“None whatsoever. He and my dad got along great.”
“Well, that’s good,” she said. “I’m glad Timmy has a grandfather type in his life.”
“Yeah, in fact, he now calls my dad Gramps.”
Amanda laughed. “That’s cute!”
She watched as he visibly relaxed and glanced outside. “Today was good for him. For the first time in ages, he actually seemed happy. Ever since my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he’s been angry.”
“I can imagine,” she said. “I probably would be, too.”
“Mom managed to keep him from snapping until she found out she had Parkinson’s. Now it’s all I can do to keep them from barking at each other every second they’re awake.”
“Getting old is rough.” Amanda thought about her own mother. “My mom is a bit younger than your parents, but she’s not dealing with aging well, either.”
Timmy and Harold still hadn’t come inside. They stood outside the shop, chatting away, clearly engrossed in a conversation they both enjoyed.
“Might as well make yourself comfortable.” Amanda gestured toward the stool. “Looks like they’re not ready to say good-bye.”
Jerry did as he was told. “It’s the strangest thing. Who would’ve thought that a little boy would be what my dad needed?”
She watched the elderly man pat Timmy on the shoulder, as if consoling him for something. Then she turned back to Jerry. “Looks like it works both ways. I’m really glad they met.”
“Yeah, it’s too bad we only have a couple of weeks left here.”
Amanda instantly felt a sensation of dread as it washed over her. She loved being around Jerry, in spite of the promise she’d made to herself not to fall for another guy. And in a more respectful way, he was doing the same thing that both her father and Eric had done. He was leaving. No surprise. It wasn’t as though she didn’t know before letting herself get this way.
Finally Timmy and Harold finished their conversation and came into the store. Timmy held out the little plastic brown toy treasure chest.
“Looky what Gramps got me!”
Amanda took it, turned it over in her hand, winked at Harold, then smiled at Timmy. “How nice! Did you find any other treasure?”
Timmy made a face and shook his head. “Not yet, but Gramps said he’ll take me out hunting again.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun!”
Harold patted Timmy on the back. “I guess I gotta go home and take my nap, champ. When you get as old as me, you gotta do stuff like that.”
Timmy rolled his eyes and nodded conspiratorially. “Yeah, me, too. My daddy says when I don’t get a nap, I’m a real bear.”
Harold held his hands up like claws and growled. Timmy jumped then burst into laughter before he mimicked Harold. Amanda looked at Jerry, who stood by the door shaking his head.
“C’mon, Dad, we need to get back so Mom doesn’t worry about us.”
“Bye, Gramps!” Timmy waved until Harold turned and followed Jerry out the door.
Once they were gone, Timmy’s shoulders lifted then sagged. “I like Gramps. He’s funny.”
“What did you two talk about?”
He quickly shrugged. “Just stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Yeah, you know, like treasures and pirates and bicycles and God and stuff like that.”
“And God?” Amanda questioned.
Timmy nodded. “I told him Daddy was mad at God ‘cuz Mommy died. But I like to go to church—’specially Sunday school.”
“I’m sorry, Timmy.”
Suddenly, Timmy lit up. “Gramps said he’d take me, if it’s all right with Daddy.”
Amanda smiled. She was glad Timmy had a nice time, but it was getting close to time to go home, and she hadn’t heard a word from her sister.
“What time did your dad say they were coming back?”
“I don’t know,” Timmy replied as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked sleepy.
“I’ll call my sister.” Amanda lifted the phone and punched in Lacy’s cell phone number. No answer. She should have expected that.
“Why don’t you go in the back room and sit in the beanbag? I have some bicycle magazines you can look at.”
“Okay.” He hung his head as he did as he was told. In no time, she didn’t hear a peep from the back room, so she ducked her head into the room to see if he was okay and found him fast asleep in the middle of her overstuffed, twenty-year-old, neon-green beanbag chair.
The next hour passed with still no word from Lacy and Brad. Finally, fifteen minutes after closing time, she gently tapped Timmy on the shoulder. He made a sound, but he was so tired, he didn’t awaken.
“Hey, Timmy, sweetie, let’s go to my house. Your daddy isn’t here yet, and I need to go home and cook dinner.”
He opened his sleepy eyes and gave her a dazed look. “I’m hungry.”
“If your daddy doesn’t come soon, you can eat with me, okay?” She reached for his hand.
He nodded and let her help him to a standing position. Amanda had walked to work, so it took them awhile to get to her house, with Timmy shuffling his feet from exhaustion. Jerry and his dad had clearly worn him out.
Finally, an hour after Amanda and Timmy got home, Lacy and Brad showed up. “I am so sorry,” Lacy said. “We went out in the boat, and I completely lost track of time. You should have been there, Amanda. It was beautiful!” She sniffed the air. “Did you cook spaghetti?”
“Yes, and I fed Timmy,” Amanda replied. “I bet it won’t be too hard to get him to go to sleep tonight. He’s been a very busy little boy today.”
“C’mon, sport,” Brad said as he took his son’s hand. “Let’s go home and get you ready for bed.”
Timmy obediently followed his dad out the door, pausing only to say good-bye to Amanda. As soon as they were gone, Lacy danced and twirled around the living room.
“I think I’m in love!”
Chapter Nine
“Um…Lacy, how long have you known Brad?” Amanda was pretty sure it hadn’t been more than a couple of weeks.
Lacy frowned back at her. “It doesn’t matter. I just know.” She patted her chest over her heart. “I feel it.”
Amanda sucked in some air and said a quick, silent prayer for help in getting through to her sister how important it was to go with more than the first two weeks’ worth of feelings. Love took time. Love wasn’t just a fluttering heart.
“We need to have a talk, Lacy.”
“No, you just want to lecture me about something you don’t understand. You hate when I’m happy.” Lacy frowned and pouted.
Nothing could be further from the truth. “I want you to be happy, Lacy, but I also want you to understand what love really is.”
“How can you tell me anything about love when you don’t understand it yourself?” Lacy glared at her for a few seconds before continuing. “Even you said that when Eric left, it was for the best because you only thought you were in lov
e.”
“That’s all the more reason you need to be careful about your feelings. When you first meet someone you’re attracted to, it’s easy to think that those fluttery feelings are love, when they’re actually just a result of infatuation.”
Lacy closed her eyes then opened them as she shook her head. “I know the difference between love and infatuation.”
“I don’t want you to make the same mistakes Mother made,” Amanda said, her voice barely above a whisper. “She thought she was in love with our fathers.”
Lacy shrugged. “Well, maybe she was.”
“No, I don’t think so. Love involves more than that little quiver in the stomach. You need to see all sides of a man before you can truly love him. How much do you really know about Brad?”
“I know plenty. He’s good-looking, sweet, and fun. Timmy’s mother was killed in a car crash a couple of years ago, so he’s had to take care of the brat all by himself.”
“That’s another thing,” Amanda said. “Timmy lost his mother at a very critical time of his life. He’s not as much of a brat as you think.”
“Maybe not, but he’s always doing something bad.”
Amanda reached out and touched her sister’s hand. “Have you ever thought that all he needs is a little more attention?”
Lacy pushed Amanda’s hand away. “How much attention does a kid need? Someone’s always having to fuss at him.”
“That’s not the right kind of attention. Haven’t you noticed that he’s well-behaved around me?”
“You always did have it easy with kids,” Lacy said with a shrug. “Maybe he’s scared to misbehave with you.”
Amanda laughed. “I don’t think so. I just talk to him and let him know I care enough to listen to what he has to say. You should have seen him with Jerry’s dad.”
Lacy bobbed her head. “Jerry’s dad isn’t exactly Mr. Good-Behavior. In case you haven’t noticed, that old man is grouchy!”
“He was actually pretty jovial with Timmy. They seem to do fine with each other,” Amanda said as something dawned on her. “Maybe they both need attention, and they relate in a way no one else understands.”
Now Lacy rolled her eyes. “Don’t go getting all psychoanalytical on me.”
Amanda chuckled. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Let me enjoy my relationship with Brad, okay?” Lacy said as she averted her gaze. “Don’t try to bring me down just because you can’t find a man.”
“Just do one thing for yourself, Lacy.” Amanda paused until Lacy looked her in the eyes.
“What’s that?”
“Talk to him about faith issues. I know you haven’t gone to church in a while, but I believe…well, I want to believe your faith is still in there somewhere.” Amanda patted her chest over her heart. “Discuss this with Brad. See how he feels. Do you even know if he’s a Christian?”
“How should I know? That would be a rude question to ask,” Lacy replied.
“Not if you’re professing your love for each other.” Amanda shook her head. “The most important thing in any relationship is a common faith. It’ll hold you together when everything else fails—even when that flutter fades.”
When Jerry and his dad got back to the condo, his mom had just gotten up from a nap. She smiled when his dad started whistling.
“I haven’t heard him do that in a while,” she said. “Timmy’s really good for him.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Jerry agreed. “I think they had a good time today. Maybe Dad just needs a guy to hang out with.”
“Someone his age, maybe. I’m not so sure it’s healthy for a man in his seventies to hang out with a little five-year-old boy.”
Jerry thought about it for a minute and then turned to his mom. “If you think about it, though, Dad is at the age when he should be enjoying his grandchildren. Since Steven and Jennifer don’t bring their families around much, he probably misses that.”
His mom’s chin quivered and she pursed her lips at the mention of her other two children who rarely made the effort to visit. She tried to force a smile, but she couldn’t hold it.
Jerry reached out and pulled her to him. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know how difficult it’s been for you and Dad.”
She sniffed. “I don’t understand it, Jerry. We tried to be good parents to all three of you. Where did we go wrong?”
Jerry held her at arm’s length then touched her face and tilted her chin so he could look her in the eyes. He knew she didn’t want him to see the tears, but he wanted her to know he meant every word he said.
“Listen to me.” He waited for her to look him in the eyes before continuing. “You’ve been a fantastic mother, and Dad’s always been there for us. Neither of you did anything wrong.”
“I don’t think they even bother going to church. We raised them to be Christians.”
“Yes, I know, and I wish I could tell you what’s going on with them.” Jerry wanted to do something to fix things, but he was helpless. “All I know is that you and Dad did everything you could do. The rest is up to the Lord.”
She sucked in a ragged breath then slowly let it out. Jerry watched his mother as her chest rose and fell. He made a mental note to contact both Jennifer and Steven when they got back home to tell them what was going on. They needed to know how their lack of attentiveness was affecting their mother. They also needed to understand that the parents who cared for them and loved them through everything—good and bad—were not in the best of health.
Suddenly his mom let out a little chuckle. “And now I wonder if we’re doing right by you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m afraid we’re keeping you from finding a nice girl and settling down.”
“If I find a girl half as good as you, Mom, trust me, I won’t let her get away.”
“Amanda’s an awfully sweet girl,” she said. “You might want to give her a chance.”
“We’re on vacation, Mom.” He hated having to repeat this over and over, but she needed to understand that he wasn’t about to start a relationship he couldn’t follow through with. “I don’t want to get too involved with someone I’m not going to see again. That wouldn’t be fair to her or to me.”
Her chin stopped quivering, and she leveled him with a look he knew too well—a look that let him know she could see right through him.
“I’m afraid, son, that it’s too late for that. You’re already involved with Amanda. I’ve seen how the two of you look at each other.”
Jerry took a step away from his mom and shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’re friends, that’s all. We both like the outdoors, and we enjoy each other’s company.”
“And you both love the Lord, and you have the same values,” she added. “That’s a very good start of a strong relationship.”
His mother obviously didn’t understand how he wasn’t about to do what his sister and brother had done. His parents needed him more than ever right now, and he wasn’t about to abandon them.
“You look peaked,” she said as she lifted her hand and touched his cheek. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Tell you what. After dinner, you can hang out here while your father and I go for a little ride on that bicycle you rented us. I’m thinking it might be good for us to get out of your hair for a while.” She paused and smiled. “Give you some alone time.”
He didn’t argue with her. He wanted his parents to do things together as much as possible for as long as they could. And, being honest with himself, he really could use some time alone.
It was nice having two cheerful parents acting civil toward each other through the meal. Not only had his dad enjoyed the day, but his mother was rested from her nap.
“That Timmy kid is so cute,” his dad said. “Rosemary, did I tell you what he said when I gave him the treasure chest?”
She nodded. “Yes. Several times.”
“He wants to see me again soon. M
aybe we can keep looking for treasure, or I can teach him how to build a really cool sand castle.”
“Dad, I’m sure he knows how to build a sand castle.”
“Nope. He told me his daddy was too busy to take him to the beach.” He shook his head and put down his fork. “It’s a crying shame for a little boy to live so close to the beach and not know how to build a sand castle.”
Jerry hopped up from the table as soon as everyone finished eating. “I’ll clear the table. Y’all go on and have some fun.”
“C’mon, Harold,” his mom said. “You heard him. Let’s go have us some fun!”
His dad did a little dance shuffle with a step back then a double step forward, a silly little grin quirking the corners of his lips. When he lifted his eyebrows and lowered them quickly, Jerry laughed.
“Don’t wait up for us,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
The next morning, Amanda cleared the way for one more clinic that would be the last of the season. These lessons had been the highlight of her summer season in past years, but this year, everything was different— very topsy-turvy. Even though Jerry had been a customer for a couple of years, she hadn’t given him much thought after he left her shop in the past. Sure, she thought he was attractive, but she rarely saw him other than when he rented the tandem bicycle and then returned it before he left the island. This year, however, was a completely different story. All she could think about most of the time was Jerry.
She had all the chairs in place and the snacks on the table in the back when Matthew walked in, grinning. “If my clinic doesn’t get their attention, the food will. You know the way to any boy’s heart.”
“I want to make sure they have all positive associations with my store,” she replied. “Before the clinics, summer was sort of dead around here. But ever since we started these clinics, summer is my best season.”
He shrugged as he lined up on the counter some of the equipment he would demonstrate. “That would probably happen anyway. Summer’s when all the skateboarders are out in droves. They just didn’t know you were here before.”