“I feel much better. I think I have a touch of the flu.” Mrs. Makowski took a saucepan out of the cupboard and placed it on the electric stove. “I am going to make some Mrs. Grass soup for dinner. Would you like some?”
“I can do that for you, mom.” Amy added four cups of water into the saucepan with the contents of the box. She remembered how Joey and her used to argue over who could put the little golden egg in the pot. Amy shared all the gossip with her mom that she heard at the grocery store from the customers. She placed a bowl of soup for each of them on the table as well as a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Joey told me you are going out with Adam.” Mrs. Makowski took a spoonful of soup. “To be young again. I remember the time your father and I went horseback riding. He was such a show off. Acted like Mr. Big shot and ended up in the mud, horse and all! I knew then he was the one for me!”
She smiled listening to the story her mom had told her many times. Before, Amy only recognized the sorrow she’d experienced from losing her dad. But now that she was older, she understood her mother had suffered even more for having lost the love of her life at such a young age.
After they ate dinner and finished up the dishes Amy decided it was time to go home. She went into the living room where her mom watched Family Feud. “That man sure likes to kiss all the pretty girls,” laughed her mother.
Amy gave her mother a hug and kiss. “Bye mom, I love you.” She chatted for a couple minutes as she put her coat and boots on then headed out the door into the cold January night.
***
Amy could see the lights were on as she walked up the path to the back door. She climbed up the steps then entered the house. Amy hung up her coat on a hook on the wall and kicked her boots off. When she walked into the room she saw Joey and Angie at the kitchen table as they played Easy Money.
“You owe me $88.00.” Joey laughed at Angie. “Pay big daddy.”
Angie rolled her blue eye-shadowed eyes as she handed him a hundred dollar bill. “I want my change.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“If you think this is bad,” Amy popped the tab of her Diet Pepsi she grabbed out of the refrigerator. “You should see him when he loses.”
Joey pointed towards the phone. “Janet called earlier. I told her you’d call her back. Her number is up there.”
Amy removed the thumbtack from the note that was stuck on the corkboard next to the phone. “Thanks, Joey. It was nice to see you again Angie.” She headed up the stairs to her room. “Goodnight.”
Amy went to her room and shut the door. She plopped down on the bed as she reached for her yellow princess phone. She punched in the number and waited as the phone rang.
On the third ring Janet answered, “Hello?”
“Hi Janet. It’s Amy. Joey told me you called. Sorry I didn’t call sooner but I just got in the door.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I had called to see if you wanted to go to lunch.” Janet paused as she waited for Amy’s reply.
“Sure, my lunch is at noon and I get a forty-five minutes,” Amy twirled the phone cord around her finger. “Where do you want to go?”
“There’s a Denny’s up by your work,” Janet answered. “I can meet you up there at noon.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” Amy hung up the phone as she jumped out of bed. She decided she was going to take a nice warm bubble bath. Then she would make herself some popcorn for when she watched Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.
***
Adam pulled up in the long dirt driveway of his parents’ farm. He finished his hockey practice and had something on his mind he wanted to discuss with his folks. He parked the truck next to the tool shed and headed towards the barn.
“Hi dad, did she calf yet?”
“Evening, Adam. I just checked her. It’s not her time yet.” He slapped the heifer on the rump as she mooed at them.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Adam nervously cleared his throat. “I was thinking about going back to school to get my GED. Then I thought I might try to go to college.”
“You do what you got to do son,” his father looked seriously at him. “You are a grown man and need to start thinking about your future. I still wish you’d farm this place.”
“That is what I wanted to talk to you about.” Adam’s chest heaved as he let out a heavy sigh. “If I do go to college I might need to sell the acreage you and mom gave me.”
Adam’s father took off his cap and scratched his head. “Your ma and I intended that for you to settle down on and start a family. I tell you what. You get you GED and then come talk to me. A man does need an education nowadays whether he farms or not.”
“Thanks dad.” Adam patted his dad on the back. “I’ll make you proud of me I promise.”
Father and son walked back to the farmhouse that had been in their family for over a hundred and twenty five years. Many generations walked this path to the house with the sun setting behind them. Mr LaPointe wondered if this would be the last generation to do so.
Chapter 3
“Hello Mrs. Dunn. I haven’t seen you in awhile.” Amy weighed the bananas then rung up the price on the cash register. Mrs. Dunn belonged to her church and was in charge of the annual rummage sale.
“Oh I’ve been busy watching my granddaughter. She is growing up so fast. She’ll be four next week.” Mrs. Dunn searched through her denim purse for her pocketbook. “Are you going to be able to help out again this year?”
“I’ll be glad to help out. I’ll let you know what days I have off as soon as I find out.” Amy finished Mrs. Dunn’s order. She placed all the groceries in paper bags then back in the shopping cart. “That will be $56.41.”
“Thank you so much Amy. I do appreciate your help.” She handed her the exact change. Mrs. Dunn slung her purse over her shoulder and pushed her cart towards the exit. “Say hello to your mother for me.”
“I will. Thanks for shopping at Farmer Jacks.” Amy placed the closed sign on her conveyor belt and shut the overhead light off that read aisle three. She untied her orange smock, rolled it up and placed it on the shelf underneath her register. She removed her money drawer. “I’m going to lunch Sandy.” The girl working at aisle four nodded her head in acknowledgement while she continued to ring up her order.
***
When she arrived at Denny’s, Janet was already seated and skimming over the menu. Amy sat down across from her.
“Hi Amy”. Janet took a sip of her ice water. “I don’t know about you but I am famished.”
“You and me both.” Amy glanced up at the waitress as she approached their table.
“Hi my name is Crystal. I will be your waitress today. Are you ready to order yet or do you need a few minutes?” She had curly red hair and the prettiest smile you had ever seen.
“I’m ready to order. I will have a tuna melt with fries and a Pepsi.” Janet handed her the menu back.
“And I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries and a diet Pepsi, little ice.” Amy slipped her coat off.
“How would you like your cheeseburger cooked?” She scribbled on her pad then looked up at Amy.
“Medium well, please.”
Crystal took Amy’s menu and placed her pad and pen in her apron. “I’ll be back with your drinks.” She walked over to the kitchen and put their order up on the carousel.
“So what’s this I hear about Adam and you going out?” Janet turned giving Amy her undivided attention. “And who’s the blonde bombshell I seen Joey with?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we are going out this Saturday!” Her hazel eyes shone with excitement. “I was just about ready to give up on him!” The waitress placed their pops on the table. “Thank you.” Amy took a sip then picked up where she had left off. “As far as Joey and Angie, I don’t know too much about her. But I think he really likes her. In fact, he had her over the other night. What about you and this new guy, Peter?”
Janet dug in her purse and pulled out a photo album. “He
re is a picture of us.” She slid the picture across the table. “We went to a New York Ranger’s game.”
Amy picked up the picture to examine it. Janet was snuggled up to a man wearing a thick, cable knit sweater which was in contrast to his jet black hair. His smile was perfect except for a chipped front tooth. He also had a noticeable scar above his right eye. Even with those flaws, he was a remarkably handsome man.
“We’ve been dating about six months now.”
“Wow Janet, he’s gorgeous! Are you two serious?” Amy raised her eyebrows in question. She handed her the picture back.
“Well I guess you could say so. He is serious enough to ask me to move to New York to be with him”
“Wow, are you going to go?” Amy sipped on her pop which was now melted ice.
“I am leaning towards yes. I’m not a hundred percent sure yet.” Janet placed her elbow on the table as she leaned on her hand. “Not only would I be able to spend more time with Peter, but if I move to New York I will have a much better chance of landing an acting job.”
The waitress came their way as she carried a tray with their order on it and refills of pop. “Tuna melt and fries for you.” She set an oval platter in front of Janet as well as Amy and their drinks. “And a cheeseburger, medium well and fries. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, I think we’re good.” Amy said as Janet nodded in agreement.
While they ate their lunch they caught up on each others’ lives since the last time they’d been together. Janet told Amy how she set up an audition for a new soap opera called My Generations which was going to be filmed in New York. “So I’m going to fly to New York for that and get to spend some time with Peter. I miss him so much.”
Amy filled Janet in on all the local gossip being spread around town. “Wait until you hear what I heard from Rosie this morning. Sarah Picelo was with Tony Russo, remember?
Janet nodded yes.
“Well,” Amy continued. “She left Tony for Larry Stolowski. The whole time she knew she was pregnant with Tony’s baby. She had the baby while she was with Larry. He of course assumes it is his. Meantime, she had a little thing going on with Tony on the side while she is knocked up for real with Larry’s kid. And as if that wasn’t enough, rumor has it she is messing around with some other guy from Deckerville!”
“You can’t be serious?” Janet looked at Amy with disbelief and shock. “Well, if my acting career flops I could always write a script for My Generations.”
Both girls laughed at Janet’s joke. They enjoyed the rest of their lunch as they continued to talk in between bites.
“Would you like some dessert?” She placed their tab on the table face down as she reached for the dirty dishes. “Hi Bob.” The waitress said as she smiled up at him.
Both girls turned to see Bob’s huge 6’3”, 225 pound frame standing over them. Bob scooted into the booth next to Amy. “Can I buy you two beautiful ladies dessert?”
“I think I’m all set,” Amy said as she checked her watch. She realized she had only ten minutes to get back to work.
“Me too.” Janet rose as she grabbed the bill to signal it was time for her to leave.
Before Bob let Amy out of the booth he placed his hand on top of hers. He patted it lightly. “Sooner or later I’ll catch you at the right time.” He winked at her.
“Bye Bob.” Both girls said in unison. They proceeded to the register up front to pay their bill. The bell on the door jingled as Amy and Janet left the restaurant and Bob behind.
***
Adam had his feet propped up on the wooden coffee table. He still had his uniform on with his name sewn above his right pocket. He tapped the pencil on the crossword puzzle. What’s an eight letter word for cute? A certain strawberry blonde, with hazel eyes and a cute little ass. He picked up the phone and dialed Amy’s number. As he waited for someone to answer, he wrote A D O R A B L E to fill in his answer. And that she is. He smiled.
“Hello,” said a voice on the other end.
“Hi, Joey. Is Amy there?”
“Hold on.” Joey covered the receiver with his hand as he yelled. “Amy, phone!”
“I got it,” she hollered from her room. “Hello?”
“Hi. I called to see if we were still on for Saturday?” Adam tapped the pencil on the coffee table as he nervously waited for her answer.
“Sure what time? I have to work until five, so any time after that would be fine.”
“I thought I’d pick you up around seven. We can go to dinner first then catch a movie.” He sat back and relaxed again.
“Sounds good to me. Guess what?”
“You finally got a raise?” Adam figured it had to be something good since she was excited.
“I wish. I get my car this weekend!!”
“That’s great. If you want me to check it out for you just bring it up to the station.” He lay back on the couch paying attention to every word Amy spoke.
They talked for another forty-five minutes before Joey interrupted their call to use the phone.
“Well I better get off the phone before Joey has a fit. I’ll see you Saturday.” Amy paused briefly before she added. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“So am I,” said Adam. “Good night, Amy.”
He hung up the phone and smiled. He’d known Amy for a long time, but lately he’d seen a different side of her that he never noticed before. Or maybe, he had never taken the time to look. Well, she definitely had his attention now.
***
Amy and Janet had made plans to get together Thursday for a girls’ night. Amy walked up to Janet’s place. She carried a Tupperware container, a bag of nacho chips and a bottle of wine. She stood in front of the green door which was outlined by white shutters. Christmas lights still hung from the awning that covered the front porch. Amy knocked three times before Janet answered it.
“Hi! Come on in.” Janet wore jeans and a yellow tie dyed t-shirt. The smell of pizza permeated through the house. “Tell me that is your infamous taco spread?”
“We couldn’t have a girls’ night without it!” Amy set the container and chips on the table. “Here’s some wine to wash it down with.”
Janet took two wine glasses out of the cupboard and popped the cork off the wine. She poured them each a glassful. “To best friends.” She held her glass up for a toast. “Cheers!”
They clicked their glasses together and each took a sip. The timer went off for the oven. Janet put on her oven mitts and brought the piping hot pizza out and set it on the counter to cool.
“Guess who called last night?” Amy clapped her hands with delight as she smiled from ear to ear.
“Gee, I wonder who.” Janet laughed as she fished a pizza cutter out of the kitchen drawer. “So tell me all about it.”
“There’s not much to tell. We talked and then we talked some more,” giggled Amy. “Nothing major but it seemed like we clicked. At least that’s how it felt to me.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself Amy. You have guys chasing you left and right.” Janet cut the pizza in quarters and put a slice on each plate. She handed a napkin with the pizza to Amy.
“Yeah, right.”
“Oh come on. Adam has been flirting with you for years and Bob is always following you around like a little puppy dog.”
“He does not!” Amy playfully smacked Janet’s arm.
“Don’t play all innocent with me Amy Marie Makowski!” Janet teased as she pulled the mozzarella cheese off her pizza. “You know damn well what I am talking about.”
“How’s Peter doing?” Amy was quick to change the subject. “And most importantly, when do I get to meet this love of your life?”
“Soon. Real soon. I promise.” Janet poured them each another glass of wine.
After two games of Scrabble and another bottle of wine they called it a night. Amy decided to crash at Janet’s house then she would drive her home in the morning. She gave Amy a comforter and a pillow so she could sleep on the couc
h.
“Goodnight Amy.” Janet turned the lamp off. “It was great getting together again.”
“It was.” Amy smiled. “See you in the morning.”
***
“Give us another round.” Joey hollered to the bartender. Dream on by Aerosmith blared from the jukebox. The bartender placed a Budweiser and a shot in front of each of them.
“Bottoms-up.” Adam raised his shot glass to Joey. They drank them in one gulp and slammed them down on the bar. Adam signaled to the bartender for yet another round.
A girl with a painted on blue mini skirt accessorized with a wide black belt and platform shoes sat down next to Joey.
“Hey, good looking. Care for a drink?” Joey flashed his charming smile and went into overdrive with his pick up moves.
“I’ll have a Lemon Gin if you’re buying handsome.” She batted her false eyelashes and made sure to give Joey a nice peek show of her cleavage as she turned her barstool towards him.
Her friend sat down on the other side next to Adam. She was as obvious as her friend about what they were looking for tonight. She had on a purple dress with long, dangling earrings to match. She crossed her legs to show them off as well as her white boots. She was a little plumper than her friend and not quite as pretty, but the worst was the way she chomped on her gum. It hurt Adam’s teeth just watching her.
“I’ll have a Lemon Gin too, if you’re offering sweetie,” she snapped her gum in his ear.
Brick House by the Commodores blasted throughout the bar. This was about the third time someone had requested it tonight.
“Come on guys. Let’s dance. I just love this song,” she jumped up from her seat as she bounced up and down and all around.
Joey smirked his I’m about to get lucky smile as he put his arm around her waist. He placed his hand on her booty as he escorted her to the dance floor. He turned around and winked at Adam motioning for him to dance with her friend. Exhaling slowly, he got up from the bar stool. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out on the dance floor. The song couldn’t have ended too soon for Adam.
Wings of Love Page 2