by Lyle, Linda;
Randy positioned his chair so he could watch for Rachel, holding a copy of The Canterbury Tales as if deep in the story—though any passerby wouldn’t have been fooled because he was holding the book upside-down. Fortunately he put it aside before Rachel had a clear view.
“Rachel, I’m so glad you came by today.”
“I always come by on Monday afternoon. I have a class. Remember?” Rachel’s smile widened, and her eyes twinkled.
“Of course. Of course. I had forgotten.” That was a lie. He had looked her schedule up on the computer and had committed it to memory. When he paused, Rachel gently nudged him.
“What did you want?”
“Oh, yes. I–I wanted to ask…or actually tell you about this.” He pulled the flyer off his desk, sending his pen and a bottle of Coke rolling to the floor. Luckily the cap was still on the bottle. He rushed to pick them up and threw them onto the chair. Rachel looked as if she were suppressing a laugh. He handed her the flyer announcing that a local historian would be speaking this evening on the history of some local buildings. “I know you have an interest in history and architecture from the presentation on the Victorian era that you did in class. I thought we might walk over together.”
Randy knew that Rachel loved learning about history, especially architecture—he could see it in the way her eyes sparkled whenever the topic came up. “That would be great. When did you want to go? This says the presentation doesn’t start for another hour.”
“I was just about to go to The Magnolia for some coffee. Would you care to join me?” He tried to sound casual, but his erratic heartbeat was making it hard to breathe.
“Sure, that would be great. That way I won’t have to lug this bag around all over the place.” Rachel smiled, patting the bag like a puppy.
“Well, just let me lock up and we’ll be on our way.” He picked up his briefcase and jacket and searched for his keys. Rachel tapped him on the shoulder and moved past him.
“They’re right here, professor.” Thankfully, she kept her smile from breaking out in laughter, causing small dimples in her cheeks to appear.
“Oh, yes. Right where I left them. Thank you.” The keys jingled as he tried to find the right key on the ring and then locked the door. “Okay. Let’s go.”
They walked across the quad in companionable silence, taking in the budding trees and blooming flower-beds. He held the door open for her when they reached The Magnolia. He picked out a table in the corner which overlooked the quad. When the waitress came, Rachel ordered an amaretto cappuccino.
“You like cappuccino?” At her nod, Randy continued, “So do I, but I prefer French vanilla.” The waitress wrote down his order and disappeared behind the counter. The cafe was fairly busy for this time of day with people scattered throughout the room. Randy was looking around, trying to think of something to say when her bag caught his eye.
“What do you keep in that thing anyway?”
“This is what I call my portable office.” She pulled a chair out and heaved the bag into the seat. Opening the front flap revealed a series of little compartments. “Here you have your red pen, blue pen, black pen and a lavender pen for those color-sensitive students. Then, you have your sticky notes, calculator, ruler, and stapler. I also have chalk, dry erase markers, and scissors. You never know what you’ll need.”
“Wow. A veritable stationery store.” His face relaxed into a smile.
“That’s not all.”
“No?”
“No.” She unzipped a large section and pulled back the sides so he could see. “You have your dictionary, grammar guide, thesaurus, textbooks, and various student papers.”
“How much does all that weigh?” he asked, his eyes bulging in fascination.
“I don’t want to know. I do know that it’s giving my arms a workout.” They both laughed.
Talk turned to students and grading. They swapped ideas and lesson plans. After the waitress brought their order, they discussed literature and books in general. They had a lot in common, except he preferred modern and she Victorian. Looking down at her watch, Rachel said, “We’d better hurry or we’ll be late.” She swallowed the last of her coffee and closed up her bag.
“Fashionably late.”
“As an English teacher you should know that there is no such thing as fashionably late. It’s just plain late.” He threw back his head and laughed.
“You are very good with words,” he said. He could see a blush rise on her cheeks at the compliment.
“Thank you very much, kind sir,” she said, giving a mock curtsy. “I had an excellent teacher.” He inclined his head in gracious approval and offered his arm.
In an exaggerated Southern accent, he said, “May I escort the lady across the lawn?”
She took his arm with a solemn smile. “You most certainly may.” They had gone only a few feet when they both burst out laughing.
Randy’s spirits soared as he walked across the campus with Rachel on his arm. It was the first time in a long time that he had had this much fun. After the first awkward moments were over, it seemed they had been friends for ages.
During the presentation, he spent more time watching Rachel than listening to the speaker. He loved watching the sparkle and intensity in her face as she made notes on what the speaker was saying. Her love of learning was one of the things that had instantly attracted him. Tonight he realized that she was witty and funny. Now, more than ever, he wanted to get to know her on a personal basis.
❧
Rachel listened to the speaker intently. Her ears had picked up at the mention of the community center. Dr. Miller was telling how the building had once been the town library, but it had been damaged in the Civil War. A new library had been built across town, leaving the building empty for several years. It had been used for various things over the years until it had been donated as a community center.
When the speaker moved on to talk about the post office, Rachel stole a glance at her companion. There was more to Dr. Harris than she had imagined. He had a wonderful sense of humor and a way of listening to what she said that made her feel special and interesting. No one had ever paid this much attention to what she had to say before, even when they were discussing literature. Kyle never…well, she wouldn’t think about that now. She had vowed she would ignore him and make him see what he was missing. Other men found her intelligent. Although she suspected the professor was just being nice.
Just then their eyes met and he smiled. Her heart gave a funny flutter. It must have been the excitement of the evening. She felt the blood warm her cheeks, and she turned back to the speaker to hide her embarrassment.
Dr. Miller left the stage to applause, and everyone stood. Rachel stretched like a cat. “I can never get comfortable in these seats.”
“I know what you mean.” Dr. Harris pressed his hands into the small of his back with a frown. Rachel’s stomach let out a growl, causing her face to glow and the professor to smile. Talking to her stomach, he said, “That’s a good idea. Dinner would be just the thing.”
“I’m sorry. I’m keeping you from your dinner.”
“No such thing. It sounds more like I’m keeping you from yours,” he said, laughing.
“Well, I didn’t have much lunch because I was late getting out of my other class. One of the students needed some extra help.”
“Then I guess I owe you dinner. Shall we?” He held out his arm again. “I know a quaint little Italian place within walking distance.” He pointed to her bag. “We could share the load.”
“There’s really no need. I can just go home and grab a bite.”
“Nonsense. I’d like the company.”
“Well, if it’s not a bother.”
He picked up her bag with a mock groan and then offered her his arm. Despite his reference to sharing the load, he carried the bag all the way to the restaurant. After a delicious dinner, he insisted on walking her to her door, only relinquishing the bag once they were under the porch light.
“Thanks for dinner and for carrying my bag,” she said, pulling at the strap.
“Thank you. I enjoyed it very much. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”
“Maybe.”
“Good night, Rachel.”
“Good night, Dr. Harris.”
“Do you have to call me that? My name’s Randy.”
“I’ll try to remember, but old habits are hard to break.” He smiled and waved goodbye as he turned to go. She watched him with mixed feelings. The evening had been wonderful, but what did he mean by doing this again? Was he talking about a date? A feeling of excitement welled up inside her, but she wasn’t sure why. Was it the fact that her plan was starting to work without any effort on her part? Or that she really liked Dr. Harris… Randy?
❧
Randy whistled his way home. The smile never left his face. He had taken the first step in his plan and things were going well. The next step was to get her to stop calling him Dr. Harris. He took the stairs to his Victorian house two at a time. For once, coming home was a pleasure, not a prison sentence. He had bought this house with the hopes of filling it with a family. As a year passed, the house itself seemed to mock his loneliness. His plans for the house had ceased to thrill him, and he had left several projects undone. He was realizing just how depressed and defeated he had become. He walked through the house, seeing it with new eyes. Inspiration and energy seemed to pump through his blood. He went inside and changed clothes and then starting stripping the parlor floor with enthusiasm. It was sometime after one o’clock before he went to bed, still whistling a tune. One day he would have that family—maybe with Rachel.
four
The air was warm and a restless wind was blowing Rachel’s hair into her eyes. April in Alabama was as unpredictable as a wild animal. In spite of the muggy weather, she shook off a shiver and quickened her steps across the lawn. The Center’s sign creaked in the breeze, reminding her of a ghost town in a western.
“Hey! What are you grinning at?” Susan called from the doorway.
“Nothing.”
“Well that’s a pretty big grin to be nothing. You’re not thinking about Kyle, are you?”
“Nope,” she answered honestly. “He was the furthest thing from my mind until you mentioned him.”
“That’s progress! Maybe there is hope for you yet.”
“Maybe so. I’ve got a shocker for you,” Rachel said with a grin. “You’ll never believe it, not in a million billion years.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” Susan said, hands on hips. “Spit it out!”
Rachel just smiled for a few minutes until Susan looked fit to explode. “I, Rachel Grant, had a…date.” She watched as Susan’s eyes popped open and her jaw dropped to the step. “Yes, you heard it right. I had a date with an eligible male last night whose first name was not Kyle.”
Susan ran down the stairs squealing and shaking her until she was almost deaf. “When? Who? What?”
“Whoa, slow down. This isn’t the Spanish Inqui-sition.” Rachel chuckled. “When? Last night. Who? Dr. Harris. What? A cappuccino, a lecture, and dinner.”
“I can’t believe it.” Susan was still squealing and several passersby stared. “Let’s go inside where we’re not so obvious.” Susan yanked her toward the stairs.
“We? What do you mean we? You’re the one who’s causing the scene.”
Rachel was forced under threat of torture to reveal every tiny detail of the evening. The questioning went on so long that she was late for class. Rushing down the hall, she went right into the lesson without even a glance out the window, so she jumped as a crack of thunder rattled the walls. Peeking out the blinds, she was surprised to find a massive, dark cloud had completely blotted out the sun. The wind howled around the building and lightning popped. Rachel’s heart began to beat rapidly, but she turned back to her students and tried to resume the lesson. In a few moments, it became apparent that class was over when the power flickered and the room went dark. There was a general cry from the students.
“It’s okay, everybody. It’s just the storm. Lightning probably hit the transformer or something. Hold on just a minute.” Rachel dug in her “portable office” and found a flashlight. Her students sighed in relief when she flipped it on. “Just to be sure, let’s go downstairs to the basement until the storm passes.”
There was a general murmur of gibberish as the women reverted to their native tongues. Rachel looked back to make sure they were all behind her. They looked and sounded like a gaggle of geese waddling down the hall. She started to giggle, but it ended up almost a sob. Rachel wasn’t sure how she was going to get them all down the dark staircase. Just then, Susan came out with a handful of candles, some matches, and another flashlight. In moments, the hallway looked like a festival of lights. The women inched downstairs and made their way into a room at the back of the building. There were no windows because one wall was underground and the other was an interior wall.
Susan had just closed the door behind the last student when a hush fell. No more howling or cracks of thunder, just an eerie silence. Rachel’s instinct told her what she didn’t want to know.
“Everybody. Blow out your candles and get against the wall.” The women looked frightened, but did as she asked. Rachel looked around for something, anything, to cover their heads with. A mattress that had just been donated to the Center was standing in the corner. “Susan, help me.” Together they pulled the mattress over to the women. Rachel and Susan crawled under the crude tent at each end; at the same instant the fury of the storm resumed. The wind roared like a lion and the building began to shake. Cries were heard over the sound of tearing wood and breaking glass. It lasted only a couple of minutes, but it seemed like an eternity.
The howling subsided, leaving only the rain behind. Crawling out from under the mattress, Rachel turned on her flashlight and began to explore. The basement still seemed intact. Susan remained with the women while Rachel went upstairs. She was not prepared for the sight that waited at the top of the stairs. Where her room once had been, a giant oak tree now resided. Rain was flowing steadily in at every corner. She just stood there for several minutes, staring. It must be an illusion. She reached out and touched a limb. It was very real.
After several stunned moments, Rachel made her way back down the now slippery staircase. The women were huddled near the mattress.
“Is it all clear?” Susan asked.
“You could say that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll just have to see for yourself. We need to get upstairs, but be careful because the steps are slick.” Rachel went first, carrying the flashlight. The other women followed with Susan bringing up the rear. Susan looked at the damage, but nothing came out of her mouth. She was quiet so long that Rachel was beginning to get worried.
“It’ll be alright, Susan.”
She shook her head. “Of course. Everything will be alright.” She sounded like a zombie. She walked around, mumbling, the rain soaking her clothes.
“Come in here, Susan. You’re soaked.” She obeyed like a child. Rachel had to tell her to take a towel from the storage room and dry off as much of her hair and face as she could. Her students moved like one massive body, arms hooked together, eyes wide with fright.
It was almost thirty minutes before rescue workers made their way into the building. There were trees and power lines down in every direction. Through a policeman, Rachel learned that the university had been spared. There had been sightings of a funnel cloud, but so far this block was the only one with severe damage. The rescue workers took Susan to the hospital. They said she was suffering from shock. Rachel stayed behind until all the women had been checked and released. Then she arranged for a volunteer with a van to take the women home. When everyone was gone, she stood staring at the building from the outside. The oak tree was resting in her classroom. How was she going to teach her students?
“Miss, do you need a ride home?”
<
br /> “Huh?” Rachel looked to see a man from the power company standing beside her.
“Do you need a ride home? You’re soaked to the skin.” He pulled a blanket around her shoulders.
“I’m not sure.”
“I’ll take her home.” Rachel felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Dr. Harris. “Come on, Rachel. You took care of everybody else. Now it’s time to take care of you.” He pulled the blanket tighter and wrapped his arm around her to keep it in place. Then he led her through the maze of debris and fallen trees to his car.
Her apartment was just as she had left it. A few limbs scattered across the lawn was the only sign of a disturbance. Dr. Harris followed her inside, and she didn’t argue.
He disappeared into the back while she stood in the middle of the floor, dripping. She heard the sound of water running and then he returned.
“You need to get out of those wet clothes. I took the liberty of starting a hot bath. I put some of the aroma-therapy salts in. Why don’t you get some dry clothes from your closet while the tub is filling up?”
She went to her bedroom still holding the wet blanket and finally had to drop it so she could get out some clean clothes. Then she went back into the living room, clutching the clothing. He took them out of her hands and carried them to the bathroom for her. She followed like a puppy.
“Randy? How am I going to teach my students?”
“I don’t know, Rachel,” he said, shaking his head, “but we’ll think of something. Go ahead and take your bath. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
It was oddly comforting to Rachel to know that someone else was here. She sank into the hot, scented water with a sigh. It wasn’t until feeling began returning to her hands and feet that she realized how cold she had really been. She stayed in the tub until the water lost its warmth and then she quickly dressed. She found Randy in the kitchen, cooking.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Cooking. What does it look like?” he replied.