by Mya O'Malley
Suddenly, a turn in the road revealed their destination. Annie’s mouth hung open, shocked and secretly thrilled he could pull this off. Turning to smack him playfully on the chest, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Never hit a man while he’s driving!” Aaron joked, wiggling his eyebrows, thrilled he had made the right decision coming here. He knew tonight was exactly what Annie needed to get back on track. Besides, he could use a little bit of Beth and Jerry Morgan’s words of wisdom tonight as well.
Pulling into the driveway, Annie could see her mom and dad coming out of the house. Her mom was wearing her old apron with her dad’s arm around her shoulders. Practically leaping out of the car like a child, Annie ran and hugged her parents. Aaron hung back a bit, wanting to give Annie and her parents some space. Beth Morgan reached out her arms and included Aaron in the embrace. Annie glimpsed a look at Aaron and she could have sworn that he was blushing.
“Oh, come on. You’re family now!” Jerry gushed.
“Thanks, Mr. Morgan.”
“Call me Jerry.”
“Hey, you know, if you and Annie here ever got married, you could call me dad one day.”
Laughing at the ridiculous thought of the two of them together, both Annie and Aaron made a face and stated in unison, “Nah!”
The Morgan family was at its best, with Jerry and Beth comforting both Annie and Aaron. Annie’s spirits were lifted, but nothing anybody could say would change the way she felt about Shane. If anything, after witnessing the love between her parents, she felt even stronger about her theory of love at first sight. It saddened her to think that it would pass her by.
Annie was deep in thought the entire ride home. Even though she was cloaked in darkness, Aaron could tell that something was amiss.
“Are you okay?” Aaron rubbed Annie’s leg driving home
“Yeah, I am. Tonight was just what I needed, thanks.” Smiling up at him, she felt safe and warm with Aaron.
“Me too.” The rest of the ride was silent, save for the quiet, melancholy music filling the air with lost love, lost chances and regret.
* * * *
Several days later, Aaron called. He was excited, upbeat. Annie wondered what could have possibly gotten into him, he was acting like a teenager.
“We have to talk.”
“Talk, Aaron.” She laughed out loud.
“Melanie and I got back together. She called me today, I told her to come over and we talked. We’re going to try it again. She’s willing to give me another chance.”
Annie was happy for him, she was. But, of course she wished her story with Shane would have the same happy ending. No such luck.
“Oh, Annie. I’m sorry.” Realizing how this must make her feel, he toned down his happiness.
“Oh, Aaron. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t happy for you? You deserve the best.” Her heart sank a bit. But why should misery have company?
“I have a confession.”
Oh boy, where was this going? “Something tells me I’m not going to like this.”
“I ran into Shane a few days ago.”
“Oh, am I going to want to hear this?” Annie’s pulse quickened. She sucked in her breath.
“Annie. We had a long talk. He’s a good guy, but I’m telling you he’s one stubborn…”
“I know, I know.”
“He loves you, I know it. But he’s been hurt before. I’m good at reading people. He also feels the two of you have trust issues.”
“We do.”
“I know. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing else I can do without making a complete and utter fool of myself.” Resigned to the fact that she was destined to live apart from Shane forever, she sighed.
“You could always try again.” He sighed heavily. “Honestly, I don’t know what good it would do.”
“It wouldn’t.” Her head bent down as she picked at her fingernails.
“You’re probably right. Listen, do you want to get together tomorrow night, maybe get some dinner?”
“Nah, you go spend some quality time with that girl of yours. She’s special, don’t mess it up.”
“Annie. You’ll be okay.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I will.” And she would be, she would make sure of it.
Chapter Twenty- Nine
The school year wound down. Shane packed up the box of personal items to be stored in his garage for the year. Most of his materials were okay to stay in the classroom. The room would be his again, come next year. Taking a last look around, Shane gently closed the door to his classroom.
Knowing this was the right decision on so many levels, he headed home with a renewed spirit. Missing Tiny would be the hardest part; would he forgive Shane? Of course he would, he was a dog, after all. But that little nagging in his heart stopped him fast. If he left town, he would undoubtedly lose Annie forever. Shaking his head, he breathed in deeply; he had already lost her. There were no more loose ends to tie up except for his house. He had decided to rent out the house so that he wouldn’t have to bother asking Kevin to go over and check on the place. This way, he could be sure that everything was in working order and his house wouldn’t be empty for a year.
Still having a few weeks to go before he needed to leave, Shane slowly packed the boxes of shirts, bathing suits and other light clothing he would need for the trip. Informed that he would be renting out a one-bedroom cottage, he was secretly thrilled not to have a roommate. Having heard horror stories about men living together in dorms, he was glad he would have the privacy he was used to. Who knew, maybe he’d get himself a cat or something to keep him company. Thinking back to his college days, he often wondered if he had made the right decision to go to school locally instead of leaving like most of his friends did. He was probably better off staying close to home, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken his work as seriously. Besides, by staying, he was able to keep his job at the pizza place, delivering food. He had saved every dime he made at the time, knowing that being a homeowner was a goal he wanted to accomplish sooner rather than later.
His ad for the house had been in the realtor listings for about two weeks now and he had only one family who was interested so far. Supposing it was challenging to rent out an entire house for only a year, he figured he might experience some difficulty. Worst case scenario, Kevin and his buddy Nick from school had offered to drop by from time to time, check the house, and grab any mail that hadn’t made it to the post office as requested. He had ordered all of his mail to be stored at his town’s post office until his return. Anything important, such as house bills and the mortgage came electronically anyway, so he wasn’t too concerned.
Checking his watch, he had about an hour before the potential renter came by to look at the house. It was a family who would be in town for approximately a year. The man worked as a chemist, and his company had transferred him from Germany to help get the U.S. branch of the company up and running. It seemed like the ideal situation, so Shane kept his fingers crossed.
He kept himself busy doing some light cleaning and checking the attic for any items he might need for the trip. He needed to pack lightly, as he could only bring what would come with him on the plane. Think of this as an adventure, he told himself, over and over, whenever he thought about how much he was going to miss his family, friends, Tiny, work, and last but not least, Annie. Knowing she was close by was so different than being thousands of miles away from her. The distance between the two would finalize their relationship in Shane’s mind. It killed him to think of Annie all alone, but it upset him more to imagine her one day with another man. He needed this trip; it was like a lifeline for him, he would grab it and hold on with everything he had.
The sound of somebody knocking on the door reminded Shane once again that he should get the doorbell fixed. Perhaps today he would run down to the hardware store and take care of it. Glancing at his watch, he noticed the family was about a
half hour too early. No matter, he would get this over with and then run to the hardware store.
Opening the door, he saw that it wasn’t the realtor with the potential clients, it was Jennifer. Smiling widely, she stepped into the entrance foyer.
“Shane!” She hugged her little brother and held on just a moment too long.
“Jen! It’s so great to see you!” It wasn’t like his sister to just show up, out of the blue, unannounced.
“Come on in. I have the realtor coming soon, but come in. Would you like some coffee?”
Suddenly Jennifer was serious. “That’s what I came to talk to you about. I think you’re making a big mistake by leaving.”
The statement hung in the air like a precipice.
“Jennifer…”
“No, hear me out. I don’t think you should go.”
“Let me make some coffee, come on.” Leading her into the kitchen, Shane grabbed two coffee pods and started the coffee maker. The sound of coffee brewing was the only sound in the room.
“You like it black, right?”
“Yes, please.” Jennifer wrung her hands. “Shane…I’ve been talking to Mom, she agrees…”
“Listen, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you and Mom, it’s not your life we’re talking about, it’s mine.”
“Shane…you’re running away from your problems! They’re not going to go away, you need to stop and figure this out.”
“What I need is to put some distance between myself and Annie, between me and this town…”
“And then what? A year later, you’ll come right back to this town, right back to reminders of Annie and then where will you be?”
That gave Shane pause for a moment. “I’ll be…I’ll be better, I’ll have gained perspective.”
Getting right up into her brother’s face, Jennifer spoke slowly. “You are making a huge mistake by letting that girl go, by not facing what happened with Jana all those years ago. It’s time to deal with your problems.”
Shane paced the kitchen, his hands raking through his hair. “This trip, Jen. This trip is what’s going to heal me. I need to go.”
“But then you’re going to lose her. She’s a good one, Shane, I can tell.”
“Don’t you see, I’ve already lost her.” He stood looking out the kitchen window.
“Shane, listen to yourself.”
The sound of someone knocking at the door stopped Jennifer mid-sentence. Shaking her head, she rose to look at her brother before leaving. “You always were stubborn. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Shane reached out to grab his sister in an embrace. “I have no idea what I’m doing, but this is what my head is telling me to do right now.”
Wiping a tear from her eye, Jennifer took in the full height of her little brother. “I’m going to miss you, little brother.” She sobbed into Shane’s shoulder.
Shane couldn’t stand it when anyone cried, it always provoked tears from him as well. This time was no different. “I love you, big sis. I’ll be back in the blink of an eye.”
“You’d better be.” The knocking continued as Shane went for the door.
“Now, go ahead. I’ll see you before I leave.”
“Bye.” He led Jennifer to the door, opening it to find the realtor and a couple who appeared to be in their late thirties.
Jennifer stole one last glance at her brother.
* * * *
The couple seemed to like the place. Tiny was pestering them. He was at their feet and as much as the couple claimed to love dogs, Tiny was making a pest out of himself. Shane let the dog out back by himself and finished up his brief tour of the house.
“We’ll take it. As long as the price includes heat and hot water, that is.”
“Yes, you’d have to pay for electricity, but everything else is included.”
Maryann, the realtor, glanced at Shane, knowing they had a deal. The couple did state they wouldn’t have to be back in Germany until the following August. Shane could handle that; he could either shack up with Kevin or his sister for a month when he returned the following year. The realtor opened her briefcase and asked if Shane and the couple would like to sign off on the deal and get all of the paperwork out of the way.
Annie’s face came to mind as Shane signed away his house and his life in this country for the next year.
“Well, it looks like it’s all set.” Maryann stated and they all shook hands to seal the agreement.
“So, when can we move in?” His tenant rubbed his hands together, stating that he would like to settle his school-age children into the house as soon as possible.
“I’ll be leaving July tenth, so you’re free to come in any time after that.”
“We’ll be ready to move in around the fifteenth. Sounds great, thank you.” The wife spoke up. “Your home is just lovely. Are you married, kids?”
Did it look like there were any signs of kids around the house? “Nope. Just me.”
“Oh.” The woman looked away as if she was embarrassed. Shane suddenly heard whimpering and howling coming from the back yard. Running to the sliding glass door in the kitchen, Shane gasped.
“Tiny!” Flying down the back stairs two at time, Shane stumbled at the bottom, righting himself quickly before charging towards Tiny. The scene before him was pure chaos. The neighbor’s dog, a pit-bull mix, had Tiny down on the ground. Tiny wasn’t moving and there was blood everywhere.
“No!” Shane charged at the dog, yelling. Shane threw himself in the midst of everything. The other dog backed up and then ran off, back to his yard. Leaning down to look at Tiny, Shane felt his adrenaline pumping. The dog was unconscious, covered in blood and losing more by the second. Shane silently cursed himself for not fixing the gate to the fenced in area. Knowing that the gate could swing open from the outside, he figured that the neighbor’s dog must have charged it.
Looking around at the realtor and his future tenants, Shane pleaded for help.
Maryann moved quickly, instructing the couple to run upstairs and grab some towels from the bathroom. She guided a distraught Shane to her car. The towels arrived and Shane pressed one against Tiny’s neck. It seemed the other dog had bit into an artery. The blood pumped furiously out as Shane cried out to his dog.
“Hang on, Tiny, come on. You can do it, hang on!” he cried.
“Where’s the closest vet, Shane?” Maryann yelled, pulling out of Shane’s driveway onto the main road.
“Keep going! Drive!”
Putting the gas petal down hard, Maryann, an older woman closing in on sixty, raced down the road.
“Next light, make a left. Come on, Tiny!”
Tiny lay motionless, his breathing shallow. Shane felt a slow pulse and hoped that meant something.
“Hurry up!” He yelled as Maryann, spotting the veterinarian office, flew up to the front door of the office.
Shane jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop; Tiny was wrapped in his arms. He burst into the office as the receptionist yelled for help. Annie appeared in the waiting room, her face white as a sheet. “Dr. Peters, quick! Emergency!”
Without missing a beat, Annie grabbed Tiny out of Shane’s arms and ran into the examining room. She spoke clearly and loudly as she gave directions to Shane.
Shane listened in tears as he held pressure to the dog’s wounds. Dr. Peters came flying into the room as Annie finished hooking up the IV to the dog. Without speaking, Dr. Peters and Annie worked in unison, quickly and efficiently until there was nothing else they could do. Tiny remained in critical condition, but he was still alive.
Walking Shane out to the waiting area, Dr. Peters informed Shane that they just had to sit back and wait to see how Tiny responded to the transfusion. The doctor informed Shane that Tiny had lost a lot of blood and if they arrived here even minutes later, the dog wouldn’t be alive right now.
“Please. Go home, get some rest, you’ve had a lot of stress. We’ll call you as soon as we know anything.”
“I understand.” The doctor walked in the back to check on Tiny.
Kristen, the receptionist, was packing up for the day, as it was closing time. Shane sat with his face dirty from blood and tears. His shirt was soaked in blood, but he didn’t even notice.
“Sir? Sir? We’re closing up. We’ll let you know when we hear something.”
* * * *
Shane appeared not to have heard the woman, as he sat unmoving, much like a statue. Annie walked out into the waiting area, took one look at Shane and nodded to Kristen. “I got it. Go ahead, I’m going to stay awhile.”
“Are you sure? Dr. Peters told me to lock up.” Kristen could be a stickler for rules and it was starting to get on Annie’s nerves.
“I said, go.” Annie’s voice rose with irritation.
Backing off with her hands in the air as if in surrender, Kristen sighed. “Okay, if you say so.”
“I do.” Annie shook her head at the woman as she watched her walk toward the door to leave.
“Shane. We’re doing everything we can.”
Finally, he snapped out of his trance. “I know you are, Annie.”
Taking a chance, Annie leaned over and pulled Shane into her arms. He loosened up and went slack into her embrace. They sat for what seemed like hours, together on the bench in the waiting room, wrapped in each other’s arms. They didn’t speak; no words were needed. Annie broke the embrace and stood, her smock also stained in blood from the dog. Shane’s weary, bloodshot eyes rested upon Annie.
“Want to go check on him?” Annie offered her hand and led Shane to the back room. Tiny was sleeping soundly, but he appeared to be stable. Taking his vitals, Annie released a deep breath.
“He’s doing a bit better. Our guy just might pull through this.”
Suddenly Shane grabbed her and they melted into a slow, sad kiss. It spoke of heartache and regrets, of love that could never be.