Nonetheless, she tugged a brush through her hair and put it into a nice braid, applied a little makeup and pinched her cheeks before she set out.
She hustled over to the main house at the ranch and used the handrail as she climbed the stairs to the porch.
As her eyes adjusted to the change in light, she saw Bradley at a table toward the back. He stood and waved her over. The restaurant was crowded, and it occurred to her that it was trivia night. She’d been a few times and loved it, but since she didn’t have a ton of friends, she wasn’t a regular.
“Miss Nelson,” she heard from the other side of the room as she passed by. “Hi!”
She turned and saw Kayla and Delanie at a table with their parents—she recognized them from the parking lot of the middle school—and she waved at them as she passed by. The girls were both smiling and Kayla whispered in Delanie’s ear, like she always did.
“Hello,” she said to Bradley as he pulled out a chair for her and scooted her in.
“Hi.” He sat down next to her and smiled, and she noticed again how sincere his eyes were. He seemed genuinely happy to see her.
She cleared her throat, not sure exactly what to say. She looked around the restaurant and then at the menu and was relieved when Bradley spoke first.
“This was a good idea. The next few days are going to be really busy.”
“Oh, I think so, too. That was a really nice touch with the chocolate. This was a good idea.”
“Yes, you are very clever. Thanks for inviting me. The chocolate was good.”
It took Tamlyn a second to realize what he’d just said, and she looked up from the menu slowly and stared at him.
“What?” he asked with a frown.
“I didn’t invite you. You invited me,” she said slowly as she reached into her purse and pulled out the pink note. She hadn’t eaten the chocolate and she held it out to him.
Bradley shook his head slowly, a smile spreading across his face. He reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a piece of paper—identical, but blue—and held it out to her.
She opened it, and it said the exact same thing as hers did.
They both stood at the same time and turned in the direction of Kayla and Delanie, who were trying to hide behind their menus but couldn’t help watching at the same time. Their eyes flew wide open and they lifted the menus again, and Tamlyn could hear them giggling from across the room.
“Well, that explains that,” Bradley said as he gestured for Tamlyn to take her seat again. They both burst into laughter at the same time as they re-read the notes.
“Now what?” Tamlyn asked as she dried her tears of laughter.
“Those kids are really something. But they went to a lot of trouble. I say we stay and enjoy the calm before the storm. What do you say?”
“I’d love that,” Tamlyn said, a little disappointed that it hadn’t in fact been his idea, but at the same time noticing how much she enjoyed his laugh, his smile—and his company.
As they were both on their second piece of pizza—turns out they both loved sausage and onion best, so they were sharing—people started filtering in for Trivia. A lovely older lady slowed as she passed and looked from Bradley to Tamlyn and back to Bradley. She started to say something, but the gentleman she was with guided her to their table by her elbow before she could get anything out.
Bradley and Tamlyn looked at each other and shrugged, but it didn’t take the lady but a minute to be back at their table.
“Hello. My name is Jaclyn, and I don’t believe we’ve officially met.”
They introduced themselves, and Tamlyn noticed that the lady—Jaclyn—smiled, nodded and closed her eyes for a second. It was an unusual encounter, and Tamlyn was a little confused. She’d seen the lady around the ranch, but they’d never met.
“Yes, yes, of course.” She nodded once more and smiled one of the warmest smiles Tamlyn had ever seen.
“This is one of the easiest projects the fairies and I have ever seen. Seems you two already know what you need to. Just a very little bit longer. One more small hurdle and you’re home free. Forever.”
She clapped, and walked back to her table, taking one last glance over her shoulder.
“What do we know?” Bradley asked as he watched her walk away.
“And what hurdle?” Tamlyn leaned forward to see the woman still smiling at them.
“I bet she means the play,” Bradley said as he reached for another piece of pizza.
“Probably,” Tamlyn said slowly, but she wasn’t so sure.
Chapter 16
“Well, Tamlyn, how nice to see you,” a pretty woman gushed as she came over to Bradley and Tamlyn’s table, a man in tow. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
The woman was talking to Tamlyn but her eyes were firmly on Bradley, but he was positive he hadn’t met her before.
“Aunt Corinne, Allen, this is Bradley, the teacher who’s running the drama camp at the middle school.”
Corinne’s eyes didn’t leave him, Bradley noticed, except to glance at Tamlyn once. She raised her eyebrows before saying, “Very nice to meet you finally, Bradley.”
“And you, too, Mrs. Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton.” Bradley stood and shook both of their hands. “Thank you for your help with the costumes. Would you like to join us? I’d love to thank you properly.”
“No, thank you,” Corinne said at the exact same time her husband said, “Yes, we’d love to.”
Tamlyn laughed when her aunt poked her elbow into her husband’s ribs and frowned at him. His eyes widened and he looked from Bradley to Tamlyn and said, “Oh, right. No, thank you. We’re very...busy.”
They both smiled and walked toward one of the open tables on the opposite side of the room.
“Busy?” Bradley asked as he ran his fingers through his hair and looked after them.
Tamlyn shook her head and smiled. “They’re newlyweds. Maybe they just want to be alone.”
“Oh,” Bradley said, and that made a little more sense, although the look on Tamlyn’s face made him think that might not be the whole reason.
They chatted the whole time as they finished their pizza. Bradley told Tamlyn more about the ruins and with all the questions she asked, he was certain he wasn’t boring her with historical details. All the girls he’d dated had stared at him, eyes glazed over, smiling and nodding and pretending to be interested. But Tamlyn actually was interested.
“I bet we’d crush it at Trivia,” Tamlyn said as he finished up his last bit of random information, and he laughed.
“Maybe, if I could make up the questions,” he said, and he impulsively reached out and covered her hand with his.
Her skin was warm and she reached her other hand over and put it on top of his.
“It was fascinating. I hung on every word,” she said, and although she laughed, somehow he felt like she meant it.
Their eyes met, and he was struck once again with the deep brown with flecks of gold in Tamlyn’s. Eyes he’d gotten to know well, and somehow wished he’d get to see more often. Maybe after the play he could ask her on a proper date.
“Ahem,” he heard from the side of the table, and he pulled his eyes away from Tamlyn to look up.
Her aunt stood at the side of the table and tapped a chair. “May I?”
“Of course,” Bradley said as he stood and pulled the chair out for her. “I was hoping you would have joined us.”
Corinne laughed.
“You don’t need two old fuddy-duddies hanging around on your date,” she said.
Bradley hid his smile behind his napkin as Tamlyn drew in a sharp breath.
“It’s not a date—” Tamlyn started. “Oh, never mind.”
She flashed a pained expression over toward Bradley, but it turned into a smile to match his own. They both shrugged.
“Tamlyn, I wanted to remind you of something.”
“Oh? I think we’ve got all the costumes done. There isn’t anything else to do. All the
kids have been fitted and—”
“No, no, not that,” Corinne said as she waved her hand. “I knew you would ignore it.”
“Aunt Corinne—”
Bradley watched as Tamlyn hung her head, looking like she dreaded what was coming next.
“Tamlyn, I think it would be good for you to go. I know you said you forgave him, but something’s not right. You wouldn’t be having all those fainting spells or whatever they are if everything was okay. Every time the subject comes up, you get upset. That’s not normal.”
Tamlyn looked at Bradley with tears in her eyes and he felt his stomach tighten. Whatever this was about was very upsetting to her, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
“Mrs. Hamilton—” he started, ready to put an end to whatever it was that had Tamlyn so upset.
Corinne stopped and her eyes were full of sorrow as she stood and bent over, kissing Tamlyn on the forehead.
“Just think about it, sweetheart. I just think it would help you, or I wouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sorry to have upset you.”
She squeezed Tamlyn’s shoulder and left, and Bradley watched as Tamlyn dried her eyes. He didn’t want to pry—he knew enough from the papers and radio that tomorrow was the sentencing of the man who’d hurt Tamlyn. But he did want to know what was going on. On their road trip, Tamlyn had insisted that she was fine, that she’d forgiven the man and all was settled. What was different now?
“Dessert?” he finally asked.
Tamlyn smiled and rested her hand on his arm.
“Thank you for not pushing. But I suppose I should fill you in about that.”
“That would be great,” he said as he took her hand in his. “It obviously upset you, and I don’t like that.”
She looked up quickly and met his gaze, and he saw pain in her eyes.
“I really don’t know how to explain it. Aunt Corinne loves me, I get it, but she’s really convinced of something that’s not true.”
“What is she convinced of?” he asked slowly, although he thought he might have put two and two together already. If it would help her to talk it out, though, he wanted to give her the chance.
She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“A few weeks ago, I started hearing that Cameron Burton—that’s the man who hit me—was going to be in court for sentencing. Tomorrow.”
She stopped, and Bradley encouraged her to continue.
“Yes, I’ve heard about that.”
“Well, since I heard that—at least Corinne’s convinced that it started then—I’ve been having these weird episodes.”
“Like the one in the jeep?”
“Yes, like that. They’re very disconcerting, and I always feel like I’m going to faint. I’ve even had to pull over to the side of the road while I’m driving.”
“Oh,” Bradley said slowly. “But you don’t think they’re related?”
Tamlyn shook her head fiercely. “No, I don’t. There’s no reason for them to be related. I talked to him. I forgave him. I hold no ill will toward him at all.”
“Hm,” Bradley said. “Are you sure it just happens randomly? It’s not like you have the attacks when the subject comes up?”
She shook her head again. “No. It’s not like that at all. I mean, sometimes it happens then, but sometimes it doesn’t. Like that time in the jeep, we weren’t talking about that.”
Bradley frowned and thought back to that incident.
“Wait a minute. Yes, we were. The subject of the accident had come up and then—”
She pulled her hand out of his.
“You’re wrong. We were talking about something else entirely.”
Bradley stared at her and went over the memory again. He was sure he was right, but he didn’t want to press any more than he already had.
“Okay. Well, you know best. Maybe you should go see a doctor.”
She finally nodded and even though he thought it might be good for her to go—why not?—he decided not to push it.
“Do you want to stay and play trivia?” he asked when the waitress came by with the check.
“No, I don’t think so,” Tamlyn said softly as she folded her napkin and placed it on the table. “I think I need to get some rest for dress rehearsal, and you should, too.”
He sighed as she stood and reached for her wallet. At least he got a smile out of her when he said, “I know I didn’t officially ask you out, but it was a great evening. I’d love to buy you dinner. Please let me.”
As she smiled and looked up into his eyes, he realized that he’d do just about anything to ease the pain he saw there still.
Chapter 17
The alarm rang at six a.m., just like every other day, but Bradley was wide awake when it did. In fact, he wasn’t even in bed anymore. And he wasn’t positive he’d slept much at all.
He’d walked Tamlyn out to her car after dinner the previous night, but she was quiet. She seemed rattled by the sentencing hearing the next day and hadn’t quite recovered from what her aunt had said. He’d been wondering all night whether the sentencing had anything to do with her episodes, but he hadn’t come up with much.
As the sun tipped over the peaks of the mountain surrounding Riston, he brushed his teeth, pulled on some jeans and did what he always did when he was confused. He headed for his sister’s house.
Stephanie had always been an early riser, and he knew if she was just stuck sitting in bed all day she’d be much happier if he brought her donuts anyway. He stopped at the local donut shop and picked up her favorite—chocolate with chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles—and hoped she might be able to shed some light on this for him. Tamlyn had been on his mind all night, and he wanted to help if he could. Stephanie would know what to do.
His little sister waved him in after her husband opened the door and took the donut Bradley handed him with a smile.
“Thanks, big brother. You know how to do it right.”
“Oh, Bradley, it’s great to see you,” Stephanie said as she pulled herself up on her elbows. Her maternity pants and t-shirt made it seem like she wasn’t actually in bed all the time, but Bradley knew Stephanie well enough to know she’d rather be anywhere but here. Especially on such a beautiful morning.
“I hope that your favorite donut might make things a little bit better for you,” he said as he handed it to her.
“Oh, you’re a saint, Bradley,” she said as she reached for the donut. “I’m about to go out of my mind.”
Her husband handed them both a cup of coffee on his way out to work, and Bradley sat on the side of the bed as he filled his sister in about the play. She had a thousand questions, and laughed heartily when he told her about the kissing episode. Her eyebrows rose when he told her about the restaurant set-up.
“Wow, that’s really sneaky even for them,” she said. “They must really be dedicated to your relationship with this young lady.”
Bradley popped the last of his donut in his mouth and nodded. “They sure seem to be. They’ve tried to throw us together at every turn.”
He took a sip of his coffee and looked in the bag to pick his next donut before he realized his sister was staring at him, her eyebrows still lifted.
“And?”
“And what?” He should have known he wouldn’t be able to get away without coming totally clean.
“You like her?”
Now that she’d called him on it, he realized that he’d really come here for advice about Tamlyn after all. Stephanie had helped him with everything he’d ever struggled against since they were kids, and it was the natural place for him to turn now.
He told her about their road trip, gave her a hug from their Aunt Edna, explained the episodes Tamlyn was experiencing and described the original accident.
“Hm. You said she’s already forgiven him?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Yes. Apparently she did in the hospital, right away. Like the next day after the accident. He had to have surgery
and she had to spend the night due to a concussion. She says she knows she was on pain medication at the time, as was he, but she still seems to think that should have taken care of everything.”
“Sounds like she’s a very kind person, Bradley.”
He closed the paper bag and set it on the nightstand. There were more for Stephanie for later.
“She is. She’s taken all of this time to volunteer with the class. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Stephanie nodded.
“It’s not everybody who would do something so helpful. For a virtual stranger, no less.”
“Right. So why do you think she won’t go to the sentencing? Maybe it really might help her?”
“It’s not always that easy. Injuries can be a pretty big deal, at multiple levels. Remember when you got bit by a dog, and you thought you were okay, but Mom brought home that puppy and you wouldn’t come out of your room?”
“Come on. I know it wasn’t my finest hour, but I was like four.”
Stephanie laughed and reached for the bag of donuts.
“I know. What I mean is that some injuries aren’t just like a black eye. Where it heals and you can see it while it does. All on the surface.”
“You’re saying that like the dog bite, you can be afraid of something that you’re not even aware of?”
His sister nodded as she sniffed the bag of donuts and put it back down.
“Exactly. There could be things working in her subconscious that would make her as afraid of this guy, or what he represents, as you were of dogs. For years. And I often thought that maybe if Mom had kept that puppy instead of giving him to Aunt Edna, you might not have been afraid of dogs for so long.”
“It wasn’t that long. And I wasn’t afraid.”
“Okay,” Stephanie said with a laugh as she sighed and reached for the bag one more time. “You sound right now probably like she sounds when she says she doesn’t need to go. Isn’t bothered in the slightest. It’s all ancient history.”
Teaching Tamlyn Page 8