“I used to try to climb some of these trees when I was little,” she said, interrupting his train of thought. “Of course, they were much smaller then. But I remember how my grandmother used to get so mad at me because I was usually all dressed up in Sunday clothes and pretty shoes, and it was really no way to dress when climbing a tree.” Unable to help herself, she chuckled at the memory. “I can still hear the weekly lecture on how that was not a way for a young lady to act.”
James chuckled at the image in his head. To him Selena had always been such a girly-girl, and the picture of her doing anything quite so tomboyish made him smile. “No, it’s not,” he said with a grin. “How far up did you make it?”
“Never very far,” she sighed. “Turns out I don’t have a whole lot of upper body strength, and I certainly didn’t have speed on my side, so by the time I actually figured out how to get myself going, Grandma usually found me and pulled me down.”
A quick glance confirmed that she was more appropriately dressed today. The jeans, sweater, and boots Selena had on certainly wouldn’t hinder her movements. Without giving her a chance to protest, James pulled her in the direction of the trees.
“James?” she said with a laugh, trailing behind him. “What are you doing?”
“You’re not in your Sunday best right now, and there’s no one here to stop you.”
“Oh, you can’t be serious! I’m too old for this sort of thing!”
“Nonsense,” he said as they stopped in front of the first grand tree they came to. Cupping his hand in front of him, he nodded to her. “You can do it. I’ll give you a boost.” He could see a hint of excitement on her face along with indecision. “What have you got to lose?”
“My dignity for one!” she said. “What if I fall?”
“I’ll catch you.”
“What if I get stuck up there?”
“I’ll help you down.”
“What if I get scared?” she asked quietly, her eyes steady on his.
“I’ll be right there beside you to protect you.” If it were up to him, James knew he would do that forever. Now was not the time to get into that whole line of thought though, so he did the only thing he could do. He taunted her.
“You’re not…chicken…are you?” he said with a sly grin, knowing that Selena never said no to a dare.
“What are you, twelve?”
“Hardly. It just seems to me that if you truly wanted to climb this tree, you wouldn’t be talking so much; you’d be up there already.” He was about to make chicken noises when Selena stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders.
“You better not drop me,” she warned.
“You better not drag this out.”
She stepped into his waiting hands, and he lifted her until she reached the lowest branch and pulled herself up to perch on it.
“I did it!” she cried. “I’m really up here!” She shrieked with delight when James jumped and swung up beside her. “How did you do that so fast?”
“Practice, lots and lots of practice. It’s a guy thing.”
They sat up there on that large branch, side by side, and watched the birds fly, the clouds move, and the occasional car drive by. Selena reached over and placed one of James’s hands in hers. “Thank you. It’s pretty amazing up here.”
“You do realize there’s like another fifty feet of tree to climb, right?”
Looking up, Selena paled. “Actually, I’m fine right where I am. It’s higher than I’ve ever gotten.” She looked over at his knowing smirk. “Baby steps.”
He nodded and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Baby steps.”
They sat in companionable silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts. Selena looked around the grounds and noticed the shift in the shadows and knew it wouldn’t be long until the sun would start to set. Time was running out to show him what she had brought him here for.
“What are we doing here, Selena?” he asked carefully.
“Let’s climb down. I’ll show you.” When she didn’t elaborate, James climbed down and then guided her into his arms.
While she wanted to take another moment and just enjoy the feel of having him wrapped around her, it was more important for them to do what they set out to do. With her feet solidly on the ground, she took one of his hands in hers and led him back toward the greenhouse.
“Are we allowed to be here?” he asked.
“My grandmother was in charge of the committee who built this. They considered putting her name on it. If anyone stops us, I can use her name.”
James rolled his eyes. Because he was a cop, it didn’t sit well with him that they were on church property with no one else around, but when she reached for the door, the knob turned without incident.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s never locked.”
That did little to relax him.
Once he was over the initial reaction to their possible trespassing, he looked around in awe. The structure was a thing of beauty. The Tudor-style greenhouse featured a steep roof pitch and many decorative touches. The wood-and-glass greenhouse had an efficient layout with lots of overhead plant-hanging space. James walked around silently admiring all that had been done with the space. It had a cedar base wall and decorative vents, and although it was maybe only twenty feet wide, it was nearly double that in length.
“This is amazing,” he said more to himself than to Selena. He touched the different plants as he walked, stuck his fingers in the soil, lost in the moment. If his life had gone as he had originally planned, he would have had something like this to call his own.
“James?” Selena said softly from across the room. “This is what I wanted you to see.”
Confused, James made his way over to her. There was something specific she wanted to show him? It wasn’t the greenhouse itself? He caught up with her near the back of the space, standing in front of a beautiful, ornately carved park bench flanked on each end by two enormous butterfly bushes. He looked from the bench to the shrubs and back to Selena. “I don’t understand.” He shoved his hand into his pockets and watched as tears formed in her eyes.
“After the accident, I couldn’t stand to be at home much. I fought with my parents all the time, and once I was well enough to drive again, I used to do whatever was possible to stay out of the house. I went back to the routines of my childhood.”
“You spent your weekends with your grandmother.” It wasn’t a question; he somehow knew it to be fact.
She nodded. “We would spend hours just sitting and talking. She knew all about you; well, I had been telling her about you ever since we’d first met, but she was the only person who continued to let me talk about you—about how I felt and all I had lost.”
It was like a sucker punch to the gut. Her voice was so soft, so frail, and he wanted to stop her from upsetting herself too much, but he knew she needed this, this one moment in time to share something profound with him. Patiently, he stood by and let her continue.
“Some weekends I would be fine and we’d shop or get our nails done, and everything would seem normal. Other times, I would just cry all weekend. Grandma explained to me that it was okay to grieve, that it was completely normal. But I needed some closure. She was the only one who understood that.
“She had this project going on at church; they were building the greenhouse and it was near completion when I started my weekend visits again. I would come here with her every Sunday after church and we’d talk about the progress and what was left to be done.” She touched one of the delicate blooms on the bush in front of her before leaning in and inhaling its fragrant perfume. “I don’t know if you noticed,” she went on, “but the path outside is lined with benches similar to this one.”
He hadn’t, but he looked over his shoulder and toward the entrance of the house and saw several. “They look wonderful,” he
said, still unsure where this was going.
“Grandma and I picked them out. That was our job one weekend, to find benches for the path. The church had raised enough money for six of them, and those donors were each going to get a plaque put on their bench with their names on it. I thought it was kind of a silly thing, but it meant a lot to the people who gave their money for it.
“So we went, we shopped, and as we were walking out, I saw this one here, and I just sort of felt drawn to it. Crazy, right?” she said with a small laugh. “I mean, what sane person feels drawn to an inanimate object?”
“Lots of people do,” he said, stepping closer and really looking at the bench. It was beautiful, of that there was no doubt. The curves and the pristine white paint made a striking contrast against all of the greens and the colorful blooms around it.
“I remember turning to her and saying how if I ever had a garden of my own, this was the bench that I’d want. I didn’t want a plaque with my name on it, though. No. I’d want it to remember someone I loved.”
And then he saw it.
In loving memory of Baby Montgomery.
It felt as if a fist were squeezing his heart. His mind raced, his heart pounded, and his mouth went dry. He looked over at Selena frantically. She really had been telling the truth; no one would do something like this if they had done what he had accused her of. Hell, he couldn’t even make himself think of the words he had said to her!
Tears streamed down her face, and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. He stepped in closer, but she held up a hand to stop him. “Without a word, she took me by the hand and led me back to the salesman, who had already rung up the rest of our order. She told him that she wanted this bench too, and to deliver it with the others to the church. I remember thinking, Why? Why would she take my bench? I thought she was going to let some other family put their name on it; I didn’t want to share it with the others. I was completely emotional over the whole thing, and she let me rant and rave and carry on.” She wiped away her tears. “I didn’t go back to her house for several weeks after that.”
“You felt betrayed.”
Selena nodded. “All over again.”
Knowing that she wasn’t ready for him to touch her or even for him to talk, James took a step forward and, with a shaky hand, touched the plaque that was a memorial for his child. They had never discussed names; they’d never had the chance. It had probably been too early in her pregnancy for the doctors to tell if their baby had been a boy or a girl. It didn’t matter; this simple little plaque on this beautiful bench sitting in this amazing greenhouse was far more of a tribute than he’d ever even imagined.
“The day of the dedication, Grandma insisted that I come. I was still sulking, but I was curious as to how it all turned out. I sat through the sermon, and I stood by Grandma’s side during the ribbon cutting, and when it was time to come inside for a tour, I wondered why she didn’t join me. When I got back here and saw this, I sat down and cried.”
James turned toward Selena, took her hand in his, and pulled her close to him and then they both sat down. “I didn’t know about the plaque,” she said tearfully. “I didn’t expect that she’d do something so beautiful. When she finally found me, she sat down right here with me and told me she remembered how much I talked about butterfly bushes after I first met you. It was funny how she always remembered everything that I ever told her.” James reached out and wiped away the fresh tears that began to trail down her cheeks.
With glazed green eyes, she turned and looked at him. “It had been so long since anyone in my family had shown any kindness to me, and it was the first time that anyone had acknowledged what we had lost. This was her way of acknowledging you and me and our baby.”
His throat was too clogged with emotion to speak, so he simply leaned back and pulled her close. They sat there until it was well and truly dark, until the only thing they saw when they looked up were the stars in the sky.
As one particularly bright star continued to shine brighter than the others, James imagined that it was a sign, that the universe was telling him that their baby knew he had been loved.
Chapter 10
“I think it’s going to be a little bit tight in there, don’t you think?” Selena said the next day as she and Jen walked around the local bowling alley that was going to host the first night of reunion festivities on Friday. Keith Mitchell, a former classmate and reunion-mate, was now the owner of the Island Lanes bowling alley and had offered the use of it for a unique meet-and-greet party.
“Nah. Keith does this sort of party here all the time. Don’t you think he’d know if there wasn’t going to be enough space?” Actually, Jen wondered the same thing herself—she just didn’t want to alarm Selena with her thoughts.
Selena shrugged. “It just seemed so much bigger back then.”
Jen laughed. “Welcome to every day of my world. I feel like a giant as I walk the halls of the elementary school.”
“I kind of feel like a giant right now.”
“This place wasn’t even built to scale for kids, Selena. You just have a poor memory.”
She was about to argue, but maybe Jen had a point. “Maybe. I still feel kind of bad about him closing for business for the night.”
“Please.” Jen snorted. “He’s not doing it for free, and you know it. Everyone coming had to pay a small fee, and the food isn’t free. He’s going to make a killing Friday night.” As she looked at the condition of the place, she figured that any money Keith made was going right into his pocket rather than back into the business; the entire building was in need of a major rehab job. But this place was synonymous with having grown up in this town.
“Still, it’s unlimited bowling…” Selena added, trying to sound optimistic.
Jen shrugged. “Woo…somebody pinch me.”
Selena laughed. “You have to admit, not many people can say they started off their reunion weekend with a bowling party.”
“There’s a reason for that.” They finished their tour of the facility and went over the itinerary with Keith.
“Doors are going to open at six,” Selena said as she read down her list. “We’ll have greeters near the door with a check-in table, so people can pick up their name tags and so the public can be informed that the alley is closed for a private event.” She looked up at Keith. “Is that all right with you?”
He nodded. “I’ve had signs up for the last couple of weeks and already notified the members of our leagues that we were going to be closed Friday night. You shouldn’t have to worry too much about anyone other than reunion attendees showing up.”
“That’s great. Thanks.” With one final glance at her list, she felt like they were good to go. “Thank you so much for being willing to donate the place for the event. I think people are really going to get a kick out of being back here. I’m sure just about everyone coming has a memory of bowling here as a kid.”
Keith laughed. “You’d be amazed by the stories I hear from people…”
She could only imagine. Selena had some good memories of her own of the place. As a matter of fact, she had shared her first kiss with Billy Malone somewhere back by the pinball machines when she was fourteen. Not that she was going to share that with Keith right now, but as she looked in that direction, she caught Jen’s knowing smirk.
Clearing her throat, she thanked Keith again, and before heading out, she told him they’d have people there beginning at four on Friday to set up. With a wave and a smile, they walked out toward their cars. “Well that was fun,” Selena said, glad to cross that meeting off her to-do list. A quick glance at her watch showed it was still early, and now that they were finally alone, she and Jen could talk.
Jen had agreed to meet Selena at the bowling alley immediately after work; it had been their first chance to get together since Jen had gone back home. They stood by their cars and Selena
could tell there was something on her friend’s mind.
“So you must be feeling relieved by now,” Selena said, hoping to see relief on Jen’s face. “Todd is in custody, and you have your order of protection against him because he admitted to throwing the bricks through the windows. Your life can return to normal.”
“I guess,” Jen said with a lack of enthusiasm.
That so wasn’t the reaction she was expecting. Leaning against her car with her arms crossed, Selena voiced her concern. “Okay, what gives?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This guy has had you freaked out for quite some time. I mean, between the calls and the harassment and all, you were starting to come a little undone. You used that as an excuse to get me to come home. And now that it’s over, your reaction is a little lackluster. So come on, what gives?”
“Believe me, I am very relieved that it’s over, and I was thrilled when James let you call me with the news late last night. It’s just…”
“What?”
“I guess I had hoped that Mike would be the one to come over and tell me, and then maybe I could have invited him to come to the reunion with me.”
It took every ounce of strength to not reach over and strangle her friend. Sometimes she had to wonder how it was that Jen managed to live on her own without getting into some kind of trouble. “So all of this is over a guy?”
Jen had the good sense to look at least a little ashamed. “Clearly, I have a problem.”
“Most women would not be even the slightest bit interested in dating after what you went through, and here you are whining because you just got rid of a crazy stalker ex-boyfriend and you’re already looking for a replacement!”
“Yes, but Mike wouldn’t be crazy!” Jen said in her own defense.
“Look, why don’t you just go to the station, thank him for all of his help, maybe bake him some of your famous chocolate chip cookies, and then ask him to come to the reunion with you?”
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