by Robin Janney
5
A ngela checked the time on her old microwave when she returned home to her apartment. Her new boss had let her go once the display was completed, and she was hungry. But she also needed to talk to Michelle.
Quickly fixing herself a cup of herbal tea and a bowl of ramen, she settled at her small kitchen table and slurped it down. Her new job came with an employee discount, so hopefully she could expand her dinner options. Placing the bowl in her sink, she pulled the phone across the counter and picked the receiver up.
It would be nine o’clock where Michelle lived in California. Almost too late to be calling, but time of night had never been a factor in their friendship.
“Costner’s,” a warm female voice greeted her, the slight accent still audible.
“Michelle! It’s Angela!”
Laughter rang across the line, bringing to Angela’s mind a picture how her friend had looked the last time they’d met. Tall and dark of hair and complexion, their long hair blowing in the summer breeze as they ran across the field as the bull chased them.
“Ange! Hi! I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks, I was beginning to worry.”
“Sorry about that. Doc Maynard’s been keeping me busy at the clinic, there have been a lot of calves born this summer. He said he might let me do more than assist with the next one!” Angela decided to take her tea and the phone into the living room. The cord trailed behind her like a tether. “Summer’s always busy. When I wasn’t at the vet clinic, I was at the dojo helping with the kiddie classes.”
“I don’t know how you do it. Quenton doesn’t even want me working during my summer vacation, says this time will be gone before we know it.”
Her friend’s husband was a good man, but too controlling for Angela to like him completely. But he had a point this time. “Well, he’s right. It was just yesterday we were freshmen in high school.”
“I know. So, what new with you? You sound excited.”
Curling her legs under her as she sat on the couch, Angela wondered where to begin. “Excited, worried, worked up. Shell, the bank’s talking about taking my parents’ farm away.”
“Are you serious? That place was my second home!”
“Very. I’m also serious about trying to save it. You know how Doc Maynard won’t let me work during the school year, so those hours were going to be dropping soon. So, I had to find some place where they would work around my classes and not limit me. It’s even a higher pay rate, so those extra hours will add up quicker. I’ll still be working at the dojo on Saturdays too.”
“Sounds like you’re biting off a lot, Ange.” Worry carried over the line, loud and clear. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle working so many hours on top of your classes? I mean, you’re only one woman and I don’t want to see you work yourself to death.”
“You worry too much,” said Angela, vaguely pleased. “I’ll be fine.”
There was a doubtful silence, but Michelle didn’t argue. “So, where’s your new job at?”
“You’ll never believe me.”
“Try me.”
Angela smiled. “The Country Cupboard.”
“I thought you said you weren’t allowed in there?”
“I wasn’t, not really. Even though Mr. Moore had forgotten all about it. But I tried everywhere else. From Sawyersville to Jordan…I even tried Millerton, and you know the only thing there is that crazy bar. Nobody was willing to work around my college schedule.” She straightened her legs and stretched out on the couch. “The Cupboard was my last hope. It was weird; Mr. Moore didn’t even recognize me until I reminded him about Stinky and the fight.”
Michelle laughed again. “Well, you’re not a kid anymore. Stinky himself wouldn’t have recognized you even three years after the fight if he hadn’t seen you at school. You filled out so prettily over that one summer.”
Angela snorted. “Yeah, and that’s the only filling out I did. I never came close to rivaling you.”
A sigh echoed across the line. “That’s not true. You, Ellie and Meredith were all the prettiest in our grade. I was just more exotic than the rest of you. Grandma Trang’s genes were kind to me.”
“I still think you were the prettiest of us all.” She was beginning to feel tired. The events of the day were beginning to catch up to her.
“Then we’ll agree to disagree still.” The laugh Michelle gave sounded sad to Angela. “Once you have your mind made up, there’s no changing it.”
“Hey,” argued Angela, sitting up. “I changed my mind about Derek. Almost too late, but I did.”
“That doesn’t count.” Michelle’s voice changed, became teasing. “Which reminds me, is there anybody you’re looking forward to seeing at the start of semester? Other than those friends you eat lunch with I mean.”
“I just eat lunch with them, which hardly makes us friends. But no.”
“So, you’re telling me there aren’t any good-looking guys in any of your classes?”
Groaning, Angela laid back down on the couch. “Oh God Michelle…of course there are. Some of them are even nice. But I’m not interested in any of them. You know I’m not interested in falling in love anymore, not right now, maybe not ever. I just don’t have the time.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Her smile was clear in her voice, and Angela knew her friend was smiling at her husband.
“I don’t care,” she said defiantly. Defiance hid the anger, the truth, and the fear; from Michelle as well as herself.
“Oh please. You’ll care someday and then you’ll look back on these words and call yourself a fool. I just hope it doesn’t happen too late.” There was a sharp intake of breath. “Love is gonna sneak up on you, Ange. You’ll never even see it coming until it’s too late.
“What? Is that even possible?”
Michelle laughed again. “Yes silly. A person doesn’t always have to go out looking for love, sometimes it will find you. God is in control.”
“Well, don’t hold your breath waiting for love to hit me like a Mack truck.” Angela sat up again and reached for her tea. The first sip told her she’d neglected it too long. She hated cold tea.
“Oh, I won’t. But I won’t stop praying for you either. And the farm.”
“Thank you,” said Angela gratefully.
“I’m going to let you go so you can get to bed. You sound tired, and I know what time it is there. Take care of yourself, Ange and don’t work yourself too hard.”
“You too. Tell Quenton I said hi.”
“I will. Goodnight Angela.”
“Night.”
The two friends hung up.
Mildly disgusted with her friend Angela took her phone and the tea back to the kitchen. She placed her tea into the microwave and hit the 30 second button twice.
She knew her friend meant well, but neither Michelle nor her own mother could accept her lack of interest in romantic love. It cost too much to care for someone, and romance only opened the door for someone to hurt you. It was one chance Angela was unwilling to take.
She jumped as her microwave suddenly sparked, then died. The perfect ending to this day. She unplugged it and left it for morning.
“A ngela still not interested in love?”
Michelle turned in her seat to look at her husband of almost two years. His book was half closed as he spoke to her, he always gave her his full attention. “Not in the least,” she answered, smiling sadly. “Truthfully I think it frightens her.”
“Now wait. Isn’t this the girl you said was called the Fearless Angela Carman?”
“Yes. Afraid of no man, animal or act of nature. The one who strung the tightrope up, chased a tornado, broke Bruno Havens’ arm, and got us chased by a neighbor’s bull. She doesn’t scare easy.”
Quenton chewed his lip, a sign he was thinking. “Suffice it to say then, her fears about love won’t necessarily be the same as normal people go through.”
“Correct.”
Her husband left
his book in his seat and came to sit next to her. “Micki, has it ever occurred to you that no amount of talk from you is going to change Angela’s mind and heart? There’s only One who can do that.”
She wiped tears away from her soft brown eyes. He hated to see her cry. “I know Quenton, I know. It’s just I know so much of her loneliness is self-induced and it kills me to see her in pain. It’s why I pray for her so often.”
“It’s the best thing you can do for her.”
The mixed-race woman laughed suddenly as a new thought occurred to her. “I almost feel sorry for the guy who sets his heart on Angela…he’s going to have to work hard to break through those walls she’s built around herself.”
Quenton chuckled, a pleasant sight to her. “Maybe you should start including this mystery man in your prayers. Might help prepare him.”
“Maybe I should.”
He stretched, and she knew it was time for bed.
A ngela and Michelle were not the only ones up late discussing the farm and her new job. Her parents sat up in bed long after midnight, waiting for their youngest daughter to come home from her date. Cassie kept pressing her curfew, staying out later and later. Every time they gave her a chance to regain their trust, she only dug herself deeper.
“I talked to Flo earlier today,” said Maude as she flipped through her gardening magazine. The way the magazine snapped every few moments, her husband knew she wasn’t really reading it.
“And what bit of juicy gossip did she have to share today?” Philip asked, not drawing attention away from the mystery he was reading. Over half of what Flo talked about was nonsense and he often wished his wife would end her friendship with the older woman.
“Angela’s gotten a job at the Country Cupboard.”
“Is that so?” Philip closed his book at the information. “I thought she didn’t like the Cupboard. Something about Craig, I thought. She never did really say.”
“Whatever her hang-up was, she seems to be over it.” Maude’s disapproval was clear by the way she snapped her magazine again for emphasis.
Philip decided to take the bait. “What about it don’t you like?” He put his book away for the night, knowing he wouldn’t learn who killed the countess tonight. It certainly wasn’t the butler.
“According to Flo, Angela has Harry Flynn’s position.”
He paused in his act of setting his reading glasses on his nightstand. “Tough job,” he grunted, setting the glasses down. “It’s about time Craig got rid of the drunken lout.”
“No doubt you’re right. But Philip – our Angela with Harry’s job? And during the school year? She’ll flunk out of college!” The tired mother shook her head. Her soft brown curls were showing some gray, but they bounced around her face with their usual flair. “You need to tell her you’re selling the farm, Philip. That will stop this nonsense of trying to save it.”
“I can’t,” he confessed, his voice quiet. He’d been dreading and avoiding this conversation all day.
“Then I will.”
“No, you don’t understand, honey. I can’t sell the farm.”
She looked at him, having caught the difference in tone this time. “I thought it was a done deal?”
“I followed Angela earlier today…yesterday, now.”
The entire tone of the conversation changed. Her magazine lowered, and Maude reached for her husband’s hand, old grief washing over them anew. “Did she stick to form?”
“Mostly. She took her walk to the spot, picked her daisies and laid them on Randy’s grave. But she didn’t walk away afterwards.”
“She didn’t? She lingered?” Her dark brows raised in surprise.
“Angela talked to him. Still can’t say his name, but she talked to him. Told him about the farm and the bank. She promised him she’d save the farm, because it had been their dream. How can I give up after hearing that?” Philip gave her hand a squeeze and looked over at her, seeing tears glimmering in her eyes and then disappearing.
“I don’t know whether this is a good idea or not.” Concern still graced her face. “I don’t think we should let her do this. It can’t be good talking to a dead boy after years of not being able to even say or hear his name. Who would we be saving the farm for? Our living children, or the dead one?”
He gave her question the thought it deserved. It was a fair question. The sound of wheels on gravel was heard, and he knew their youngest daughter was home. “For all our children,” he said, thinking Angela would agree with him. “And for whatever grandchildren we may end up having.”
Maude’s expression softened. He could tell she wasn’t satisfied, but was going to let it drop for now. “I love you.”
“I know.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss. The car outside hadn’t driven away yet. “And I love you enough to go down and haul Cassandra away from her boyfriend. We don’t need grandbabies yet!”
“No, we don’t. She’s getting as bad as Angela ever was as a teen, but hopefully she’s being safe about it. Don’t forget to lock the door.”
“I won’t.”
6
A week had passed before Angela called in asking about the attendance policy. She was going to be late because the vet clinic wanted her to help deliver a calf. She was relieved when David told her not to worry about it and gave it no further thought.
She blew into the break room two hours late, drenched from the falling rain, and out of breath. “Hi guys!” She quickly shoved her purse in the cupboard under the coffee pots.
“Wow,” replied the teenaged Larry, flipping his black bangs out of his eyes. “You’re soaked.”
“Where’ve you been?” asked Cori, casually taking a sip from her coffee. She still remembered the last dressing down for being late, and it had only been by ten minutes. So she hadn’t taken the time to call and warn them, big deal!
“At the Desmond farm.” She was bubbling with excitement. “Doc Maynard let me help with the delivery of a calf.”
“Sweet.” Larry turned in his seat. “Was there a lot of blood?”
“Some. He let me do most of it, even when I had to reach inside and…”
“Whoa,” interrupted Cori. “That is gross, and I don’t want to hear it. Why don’t you go away and tell someone who cares?”
“What?” Angela was taken aback by the coldness of the other woman.
“I’d say she already is,” said their boss.
All three employees jumped at the sound of his voice and looked to see him leaning in the doorway.
Cori cursed breathlessly. “I hate it when you do that.”
He didn’t smile even though it always pleased him to catch his employees unawares. “If you don’t like the story, you can always leave the break room.”
The blonde woman frowned at him angrily. “Yeah, and she could also respect my wishes and save the story for when I’m not around.”
“What about me?” Larry bravely protested. “I like animal stories, even when they’re gross and vets always have good stories. If Angela’s story is anything like what I see on Animal Planet, it’ll be worth it.”
Cori swore again, and gave them all an icy look, lingering on Angela as she left her seat. “Fine. Since I’m outvoted, I’ll leave.” She stormed past Craig quickly with a toss of her loose hair.
Craig watched her go, to make sure she was returning to work. He turned his gaze back to Angela and nodded encouragement. “Go on. You have a rapt audience.”
She smiled broadly, her excitement returning. “Okay, where was I? Oh yeah…reaching inside…”
He had no idea what she was saying. Her smile had been like a punch to the stomach. Her entire countenance had lightened, and he realized it was the first time he’d seen Angela smile fully since he’d hired her. She always had such a serious expression as she went about her job, though he had heard plenty of laughter when he sat out on the back deck. It never seemed to happen when he was around. He’d been waiting to see what her smile would look like, and now he wanted t
o see it directed at him again. Something was missing when she wasn’t smiling.
Unsure how to handle this new emotion, the store owner almost walked away. But how could he after kicking Cori from the room? How could he risk missing another smile from her?
Craig remembered to breathe. He forced himself to tune back into the young woman’s story, which didn’t sound as bad as Cori made it out to be. He ignored his emotions because what he was feeling was out of the question.
Larry was nodding in satisfaction. “Sweet! Did you like doing it?”
Wrinkling her nose, she said, “It was so gross! But when the calf took her first steps, I was so happy. I helped bring her into the world. I can’t wait for the semester to start back up, so I can tell the rest of my class. They’ll be so jealous!”
The teen laughed. “I bet. I can’t wait for football scrimmages to be over and the games to start. Cool story, Angela.”
Craig chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “Alright you two. If you’re done, Angela, Larry needs to get back to work.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m done.”
However, Larry groaned. “Susan’s gonna be pissed.”
Craig looked at the clock. “Tell her she can have ten extra minutes. That should sooth any hurt feelings.”
“Will do.” The teen hopped to his feet, almost dancing his way out of the room. “I’ll be sure to mention your name too.”
“Good idea,” he commented as the youth passed by him. Angela, he saw, was looking at him with a questioning expression and he wondered if she’d be brave enough to voice her thoughts.
Angela was wondering nearly the same thing. Her eyes were clearly measuring him. “If Cori and Susan are such trouble, why do you keep them around?”
He shrugged. It wasn’t the first time someone had asked him this. “They’re good workers most of the time.”
“Are they worth it? I mean, seriously, everyone else is scared to death of them. They go out of their way to avoid a confrontation with the two of them. Even you do it, and you’re the boss.”
There was truth in what she said, but Craig wasn’t going to tell her so. “We’re a small town. It’s hard to find good help.”