by Mara Jacobs
“I know dear, but you know what they say…you never really get over your first love.”
Lizzie picked her head up from where it had been resting on her forearms. “Finn wasn’t my first love, we only dated a few months.”
Doris reached out and smoothed Lizzie’s hair back, just like she’d done as a child. “He wasn’t? Then who was your first love, Elizabeth?” Her voice was as soothing as her touch and Lizzie realized that her mother wasn’t asking a question, but making a point.
“He wasn’t, Mom.” But she could not give any other name to Doris to prove her mother wrong.
“Anyway, we’ll be leaving in the morning. Water the plants on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Remember the trash goes out on Thursdays. I think we’ll be back in time for your fundraiser, but if not, good luck with it. If you’re still planning on leaving right after it, maybe we’ll stop in Detroit on the way home if we’re still on the road.”
Lizzie’s father poked his head into the bedroom just then and, seeing his wife giving instructions to Lizzie, offered up the only set of rules he had been giving to Lizzie and Zeke since his and Doris’ first overnight trip when the twins were sixteen. “Remember the house rules, Elizabeth. No dope, no dopes.”
Lizzie laughed a “Yes, Dad” as her father retreated from the room. Her feelings for her parents were as warm and cuddly as the worn quilt she was laying on. “Mom, about Finn....”
Her mother rose from the bed and returned to the dresser to gather socks from a drawer, keeping her back to Lizzie. “Just be careful, dear. I think you were in love with him once. I’d hate to see you fall in love with him again, if it would turn out the same way.”
She left the room and a stunned Lizzie behind her.
Was her mother right? Had Lizzie been in love with Finn all those years ago? She had thought it was just hormones or teen angst and pride that had her crying for a week. She hadn’t planned on falling in love until her twenties.
She couldn't think about this, not now. Not when she was so close to achieving her goal and getting back to her life. She tried to picture her office, her condo, even the face of Davis Cummings and was not entirely surprised when no vision of them became clear. Instead, she saw a ten-year old girl pumping the pedals of a bike for all she was worth, and the girl’s father looking at Lizzie with fathomless blue eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
√ Get folding chair, sunscreen, stuff for kids
√ Talk to Petey about Annie Aid
√ Call Sybil
The weather for the Strawberry Festival could not have cooperated more. A beautiful mid-July Saturday shone bright over the Copper Country and the tiny town of Chassell, host to the annual festival.
The day before, two trucks had come to the farm to pick up as many berries as Finn’s pickers could deliver. The crop had been plentiful and everyone agreed that this year’s berries were the sweetest anyone could remember.
Lizzie sat in a folding chair, the kind that came in a pouch that slung over your shoulder, with Annie in her wheelchair beside her. On the other side of Annie was Finn’s empty seat. Lizzie couldn’t believe that she was actually in a “soccer mom” chair. The thought seemed incomprehensible, and yet the reality was very…comfortable. They had arrived at the parade early, to get a good position for Annie’s chair. It paid off, because they had prime real estate for all the festivities while those who were arriving now were relegated to the back of the four person-deep crowd along the main drag of Chassell.
Finn was off somewhere seeing to what would be the last piece of berry business he would have to conduct for the day. Stevie was across the street and down a little ways from Lizzie, but she could see him and his buddies as they elbow jabbed each other with guffaws and chuckles. She noticed Stevie didn’t share in his buddies' merriment. She followed his gaze and came to rest upon three girls that looked to be about Stevie’s age, but were dressed, and trying to act, much older.
Stevie’s eyes never left the girl standing in the middle of the three. She was the tallest and even at that age, Lizzie could tell the girl would be a beauty. She had on a spaghetti-strapped purple tank top that didn’t quite cover her belly button, denim shorts and flip-flops. Her blonde hair was caught back in a tie-dye bandana. Oh no, Stevie, don’t fall for the pretty one, she’ll break your heart.
The girls seemed oblivious to the boys, but Lizzie had seen that act before. Had practiced it to perfection over the years with Katie and Alison. She bet that one of them would let out a fake yawn soon to project a “this is kid stuff, aren’t we above it all” vibe for all to see.
As if on cue, the middle girl arched her neck back and put her hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. Hah! The fake yawn never went out of style! A hair flip would surely have been in order if the girl hadn’t been wearing a bandana.
Lizzie took comfort in witnessing the adolescent mating ritual. It wasn’t much different from the games adults played.
The parade went on for over an hour. Every area high school band came through, along with all local elected officials. Finn and she were kept busy gathering up the thrown candy for Annie who squealed with delight as they dumped new contributions into the increasing pile on her lap.
The queen candidates came by, each one in a separate convertible with the candidate’s sponsor’s banner on the side of the car. Finally, Lizzie and Annie found some common ground. They did what women through time did in order to bond - trashed other women.
“Do you think she looked in the mirror at that hair before she left this morning?” Annie would say.
“No. If this one’s dress is any indication, there were no mirrors to be had in all of Chassell today,” Lizzie would counter and the two would giggle. Finn shot the two females a stunned look, but kept his mouth shut.
In a backward turn, which seemed fitting in the U.P., the grand marshal came last and Lizzie laughed when she saw Petey hamming it up in the back seat of a red convertible. He had to have just gotten into town, she hadn’t even seen him yet. He was wearing his Red Wings jersey and holding a hockey stick like a scepter. Last year’s queen was with him and Lizzie, noticing Petey’s gaze on the young beauty, made herself a mental note to remind Petey that the girl was barely over eighteen.
After the parade, the streets were filled with tables and booths offering strawberry shortcake, shakes, pies, anything you could imagine. Having had their fill of berries, the Robbins contingency decided to head for home to let Annie rest and to get cleaned up before the queen ceremony and dance later that evening.
It wasn’t hard to track Stevie down in the crowd. Lizzie found the girl in the purple tank fairly easily then scanned a twenty-yard radius looking for the boy. Sure enough, there he was, skulking behind a shortcake booth, eyes huge as he watched the purple tank girl enjoying a strawberry ice cream cone. Not wanting to embarrass the kid, she told Finn she’d round Stevie up then meet him and Annie back at the minivan.
She surreptitiously circled the booth until she came up behind Stevie. In her best secret agent voice, while pretending she didn’t see him, she whispered, “Psst, the eagle takes flight in five minutes. I repeat, the eagle takes flight in five minutes.”
She saw Stevie’s body grow rigid, then relax. “Roger that,” he said under his breath.
She walked toward the minivan certain he’d be close behind. No way would he risk his father coming back to get him.
When they pulled up to the farm, Lizzie headed to the back of her car which she’d left there earlier, while Finn unloaded Annie’s chair, then Annie. She grabbed three shopping bags from her car and followed them inside. She didn’t acknowledge Finn’s narrow-eyed glare at the bags as she walked past him into the kitchen.
Finn’s grandmother had seen them pull up and made her way over from the trailer. “I have some fresh lemonade made if you’d like,” she said and went to the refrigerator and got an old-fashioned glass pitcher out while Lizzie automatically began pulling glasses out of the cupboard.
�
�That would be grea, Clea, thanks. We’re all probably parched from the sun, but the parade was great.” Annie showed her candy payday to her grandmother, confirming Lizzie’s review of the parade. Lizzie handed the beverages out to everyone as Clea poured. “Stevie, this is a pre-thank you gift for all the help you’ve been to me with planning the fundraiser. Having your friends volunteer for the golf outing will be a big load off. I’m giving it to you now, because I thought you might like to wear it to the dance tonight.” She handed one of the bags to Stevie and set the other two on Annie’s lap. “And this is for you Annie, for all the hard training you’ve been doing on the bike all week, and for agreeing to go up on the stage tonight when we announce the fundraiser.”
That had been a hard fought battle involving shrieks, tears and tantrums, not all of which had come from Annie. But Lizzie was adamant that the little girl show her angelic face when the fundraiser plans were announced. “Put a face to the cause, Finn, it’s important. When the community sees her as one of their own, they’ll be more likely to contribute,” she’d said.
Finn had hated the thought, of course. It bordered on exploiting Annie to him, but Lizzie had cajoled, reasoned and even begged and had eventually made him see the light.
The kids tore open the bags and Lizzie nearly swallowed a lemon seed when she saw the look of pure joy that crossed their faces. They held up the new, ultra-cool clothes that Lizzie had agonized over in the store. Annie got not only a new dress, but also matching hair accessories and sandals. She’d even found some tweens lip-gloss and body glitter to go with the ensemble.
Stevie started to try on his new Red Wings jersey and khaki shorts right there in the kitchen but Clea drew the line. “Not while you are so filthy, young man. Showers for the both of you before new clothing gets on those bodies.”
It may have been the first time ever that kids raced each other to see who could claim dibs to the bathroom first. Annie pushed her wheels fast so she could block Stevie’s entrance to the bathroom.
Lizzie realized she was just as sticky and filthy as the children, and got up to make her exit. “I need to get going, get cleaned up myself. I’ll meet you at the rec center at seven?” She turned to Finn to confirm the time and was stopped cold by his hard stare.
“What the hell was that, Liz?” he asked, his voice bitter and accusing.
She knew what he meant, of course, had steeled herself for it. “Look, I know what you’re going to say, but really Finn, Stevie has been helping me a ton getting volunteers lined up. And, frankly, we need Annie to look perfect tonight. It wasn’t a bribe, or out of charity, Finn. Just a gift, that’s all.”
His face softened ever so slightly. “Don’t try to buy my kids, Liz, it would be too easy because I can’t give them much.”
“Good God, do you think that’s what I’m doing?” She started to laugh. “I’m not trying to buy your kids. Jeez, I don’t even want to rent them. Trust me, it was a one time thing, okay?”
He let out a breath and gave a curt nod, then got a teasing look in his eye. “Well then, what did you buy me to wear?”
Lizzie chuckled, raising her hands in a fending off manner. “Oh no, I learned my lesson the time I bought you that shirt when we were dating. You wear whatever floats your boat, mister, I’m not getting involved.”
It had been a valuable lesson for her to learn so young. Never buy a prideful man something he couldn’t afford himself. She’d given Finn an expensive shirt that she thought would go great with his blue eyes and that she’d spent hours picking out. They were supposed to triple date the next week with Alison and Katie and their boyfriends and she thought that he could wear it then. He proceeded to read her the riot act about if he wasn’t good enough for her as he was she should find someone else, who did she think she was anyway, miss high and mighty deigning to go out with a mere pauper, yada yada yada.
She never bought him another gift.
It was also the reason she hadn’t pushed harder when he’d refused her offer to loan Finn money. She knew he would never accept money from her. She knew it was hard enough for him to swallow his pride and accept her help with the fundraiser.
“Well, thanks for the stuff for the kids, you didn’t have to do it, though.”
“I know.”
Clea, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, now threw in her two cents. “I think it was a nice gesture, Elizabeth, and if nothing else, it got the kids to the bathtub without a major fight, so for that alone, thank you.”
Lizzie smiled back at Clea. The older woman stood and placed the empty glasses in the sink. She had her back to Lizzie and Finn as she said, “You know, I don’t think I’ll be staying at the dance all that long tonight. I think after awhile I’ll bring the kids home with me. I think I’ll even sleep in here tonight instead of the trailer.”
Finn and Lizzie looked across the table at each other, knowing full well what Clea was saying. He didn’t need to come home tonight. And Lizzie’s parents had left for Florida.
They both leaped up from the table at the same time, Lizzie saying she really needed to get going, Finn murmuring something about checking on the fields before he showered. Both eager to get the afternoon out of the way and get on with the night.
Liz was waiting for them in the parking lot of the rec center. He pulled the van in next to her SUV and realized she held a brush and rubber band in hand, presumably waiting to see what kind of havoc Finn had done on Annie’s hair. Good thing, because he knew it wasn’t pretty. Once Finn had Annie in her chair, Liz sat down on the running board of the minivan and wheeled Annie’s chair in front of her and began from scratch.
“Daddy tries, but he doesn’t know much about doing girls’ hair,” Annie said.
Liz tore down the lopsided mess and brushed out the silky white strands. “Well, I don’t know much about girl’s hair either, but I can do a mean French braid. Actually that’s the only thing I can do.”
While Liz did Annie’s hair, Gran and Stevie pulled up in the Jeep. They’d decided to take two cars so Gran could take the kids home earlier and Finn could take the Jeep to Liz’s parent’s place. Gran and Stevie went into the rec center to get a table.
Finn leaned on Liz’s Navigator, watching the two females talk about the dress that Annie was wearing. How it brought out the blue in her eyes, how it covered her brace, but still showed her arms which were now lightly tanned due to the tank tops Liz had bought for Annie to wear while outside on the exercise bike.
Finn was more interested in Liz’s dress than Annie’s. Oh, he thought his daughter looked like an angel in her new dress, had actually choked up when Clea had wheeled her out after helping her change because Annie’d wanted to surprise him. But he’d absorbed Annie’s appearance on the drive to the Hancock rec center. He was still trying to pull himself together from the impact of Liz.
It was a black, linen dress - shift, he thought they were called - and was simple and elegant, just like Liz herself. Her tan, now deep and dark, was highlighted by the black. The dress came to just above her knees and her long legs were bare. She had on black sandals with just enough heel to put her right at kissing level. She wore her hair up in some kind of twist that Finn thought would come out easily enough later and allow him to sift his fingers through the glorious mass. A brush of mascara and a little lip-gloss was all the makeup she wore. She didn’t need anything else. Tiny pearl earrings, a gold chain with a pearl pendant, and a pearl bracelet that hung down a little onto the back of her hand. Classy as hell, he thought.
Sexy as hell, he had always thought.
He almost wished she’d forgotten about that long ago incident and bought him something to wear tonight after all. He didn’t look too bad, though, he figured. New khakis that he’d bought to meet with the financial people at the hospital and his most presentable shirt, a white cotton button down oxford. Hell, he figured he almost looked like the type of guy she normally dated. Except this outfit was not him at all. It stuck out in his denim and west
ern shirt laden closet like a sore thumb. Which was kind of like them. He probably stuck out in her array of men like a sore thumb.
Too bad. Tonight she’d be crying out his name, not some Poindexter Howell III’s.
She finished with Annie’s hair and rose, closed the minivan door and turned to Finn. “All ready?”
His eyes met hers and he relayed the hunger for her that he felt. “You have no idea how ready I am, E-liz-a-beth.” He took her hand as he pushed the wheelchair with his other and was pleased to feel the shudder of excitement that went through her body when they touched.
She seemed to need to distract herself. Finn guessed he needed to also if he was going to wait till after the dance and not resort to nailing Liz in the restroom of the rec center. “Annie, are you all set? You look great,” Liz asked his daughter.
Annie took in a big breath and released it, and nodded her head. Finn knew she was nervous about this. For a few minutes, when they announced the fundraiser, Annie would be the center of attention, a thought that no doubt terrified her. The level of her anxiety was made obvious when she gulped, then looked up at Liz and Finn, big blue eyes fearful and asked, “They won’t laugh at me, will they?”
He heard Liz’s gasp but was proud of how quickly she recovered. “Why would they laugh? Because you’re in a wheelchair? Big deal. If anything, girls will be so envious over how good you look they’ll be ripping you to shreds over your great hair and cool dress and awesome tan, they won’t even realize you’re in a wheelchair.”
It was the most fucked-up logic Finn had ever heard, but it did the trick. Annie got a huge smile on her face and turned forward, apparently more than willing to be the object of scorn if it was envy-based.
Women. Go figure.
He squeezed Liz’s hand in silent thanks. “Speaking of envy over how good people look, you’re going to be a target yourself tonight, Liz. You look beautiful.” He was rewarded with an eye roll from Liz.