Summer In Iron Springs

by Margie Broschinsky

  Norm shook his head. “Stephen’s gonna do that. We’re way behind on thinning out those trees. I gotta get them done this week. Billy will show you what to do.”

  Great. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse. After trudging her way to the truck, she leaned against the passenger door and waited for Billy to finish his lunch.

  “Feebs, we need to talk,” Billy said as soon as they were both seated in the truck. With one arm resting on the steering wheel and the other draped over the backrest, he turned to face her.

  “No, we don’t. We need to get to work. Now, are you driving us there, or should I walk?”

  “Listen, what happened at the restaurant, it wasn’t what it looked like. When I whispered in Sarah’s ear, I was just—

  “I know what you were doing, Billy. Now, if you aren’t going to drive me to the work site, I’ll walk. She reached for the door handle and Billy blew out a long breath and put the truck in gear.

  ***

  “All you do . . .” Billy paused while he positioned the ladder. “. . . Just get rid of any diseased, wrinkled or misshapen fruit.” He reached up and removed a shriveled up apple. “Anything that looks like this has to go. Just toss them in there and we’ll compost them.” He pointed to the large blue tub that held rotting fruit. “Got it?”

  “Yep.” On a normal day, Phoebe would have answered Billy with a sarcastic remark. Something like, I don’t know—it sounds a lot like rocket science. But I’ll do my best. But, this was not a normal day. There would be no banter today.

  Without another word, Phoebe dutifully climbed the ladder and began inspecting the tree for apples that needed to be removed. She didn’t glance down, but she sensed Billy watching her.

  For the rest of the day, Phoebe was on auto pilot. Remove the fruit, throw it in the bin. Remove the fruit, throw it in the bin. Her feelings were blanketed in a thick cloud of sadness.

  After work, Phoebe trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and slip into a state of slumber where she didn’t have to feel anything, but she didn’t. Instead, she took a shower, put on some clean clothes and went with Jenna to the school as planned. She couldn’t afford to lose the precious hours that were allocated for finding the auction record.

  “Do you mind if we stop at Hildi’s real quick?” Jenna asked, turning onto Park Street. “Alyssa asked me to pick that up from the post office and bring it to her.” Jenna motioned toward a box sitting on the back seat.

  “No, that’s fine,” Phoebe said. She was tired and frustrated. All she wanted to do was find the record, prove her father’s innocence and get out of Iron Springs. The sooner she could get away from Billy, the better. She leaned her head against the passenger side window and closed her eyes.

  When they got to Hildi’s, Phoebe looked gloomily around the boutique while Jenna went into a back room with the box. She had just pulled a light blue summer dress from a rack and was holding it up in front of herself before a full length mirror when she heard a voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

  “Well, hello again.” The voice—condescending, stuck-up, self-important—came from Sarah.

  “So nice to see you again.” Sarah gave her signature fake smile. “Still exiled to our little town, huh?”

  “Yep, sure am. But not for long, thank goodness.” Phoebe said, refusing to meet Sarah’s eyes.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t run off the way your father did. My dad told me all about how he left town in a hurry in order to avoid going to prison.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Phoebe said. “Obviously you need to do a better job of checking your sources.” She replaced the dress on the rack and turned to face Sarah.

  Sarah gave a haughty chuckle. “Oh, I don’t think so—

  “I just love your new nose, Sarah,” Jenna interrupted, returning from the back room and standing protectively beside Phoebe. “Now if you could just buy yourself a life, you’d be all set.” She folded her arms over her chest and smiled. Then when Sarah didn’t respond, Jenna added, “I think they sell them at the Purple Unicorn. Isn’t that where the witches hang out?”

  Sarah’s jaw dropped, and her eyes grew wide. She stammered a moment before pointing her nose in the air, turning on her heel and strutting away.

  Jenna took Phoebe’s arm and, while both girls laughed openly, headed toward the exit. “I cannot believe you just said that!” Phoebe said between bouts of laughter. She clapped her hands. “Bravo, bravo,” she said while Jenna curtsied.

  “She’s just jealous of you; you know that, don’t you?” Jenna said when they were both seated in the car.

  “Why? How could a girl like Sarah with her perfect body and her perfect smile and her perfectly plastic nose be jealous of me?”

  “Because you’re pretty, and nice, and Billy loves you. But mostly because you’re real, and anyone who spends thirty seconds around you knows it. Sarah is as fake as they come.”

  Phoebe pulled on her seatbelt. “How can you say Billy loves me after the way he acted?”

  Jenna pulled onto the main road and headed toward Iron Springs High. “Because he does. I know what happened makes him look like a complete jerk—and believe me, I’m mad at him too. But, I know Billy and I really think there has to be an explanation for what he did.”

  Phoebe stared out the window. Jenna was her friend and she meant well but Phoebe had made up her mind. She was through with Billy. Whatever they had—and she wasn’t even sure what it was—was over.

  ***

  As the two girls returned to the drudgery of sorting through piles of paper, Phoebe thought about Billy. Had he been talking—worse yet joking—with Sarah about her? She put a hand to her chest to try and stop the pain in her heart. What did he whisper in her ear that caused her to laugh hysterically? Was it about Phoebe’s arrest? Was it about her father?”

  “Hey Phoebe, look at this.” Phoebe’s racing thoughts came to an abrupt end. Had Jenna found the record? Finally, some good news. She stood up just as Jenna approached her holding a cast picture.

  “It’s from last year’s production of Beauty and the Beast.” Jenna beamed with pride. That’s me. I was Belle.”

  Phoebe glanced at the picture and her eyes zeroed in on Jenna. “I can’t believe how much you look like her.” Trying to disguise her disappointment, Phoebe forced a smile. “You must be pretty good to be cast as the lead.” It was all Phoebe could do to be supportive. She wanted to be the kind of friend Jenna had been to her, but it was hard to be that way when her heart was broken.

  Another hour passed in silence before Jenna jumped up again. “Look what I found! It’s an auction record!” Jenna hurried toward Phoebe waving the document in the air.

  “Let me see.” For the first time in what seemed like forever, Phoebe felt like there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel. She glanced at the date on the record. “That’s from two years ago.” Her optimism vanished. “We need the record from three years ago.”

  “I know that.” Jenna pointed to the words Silent Auction Donation at the top of the page. “But this shows she saved auction records, don’t you see?” She held the document up in front of Phoebe’s face as though doing so would somehow prove her point. “It means it’s only a matter of time before we find the one we need.”

  Phoebe nodded. She realized what the record meant, and she wanted to be happy, but she couldn’t. “That’s great.”

  By ten o’clock, when rehearsals were over and the girls had to leave the building, they still hadn’t found the record.

  Phoebe watched as Jenna crammed everything that still needed to be gone through into two large boxes and used her foot to scoot them out of Ms. Cox’s office.

  “What are you doing with those?”

  “I’m taking one home and so are you.” Jenna put her hands on her hips and smiled. We can get more done in less time this way.”

  “Shouldn’t we ask M
s. Cox before we take this stuff?” Phoebe glanced from Ms. Cox’s newly organized office to the two bulging boxes.

  “Already did. She said it was fine.”

  ***

  Phoebe tried balancing the box on her hip while reaching for her bedroom’s doorknob. When that didn’t work, she sighed and let the box fall to the floor. She let out a yawn and lazily pushed the door open. Her plan was to fall into bed and sleep for as long as her body would allow. But as soon as she flicked the light on, the first thing she noticed was a beautifully wrapped package sitting on her bed.

  “Billy.” She whispered his name aloud.

  She scooted the box from Ms. Cox’s office just inside her room before closing the door. Then, she crossed her room to the spot, beside her bed, where the gift was placed. She leaned forward and removed the envelope that was taped to the box. Carefully, she put a fingernail beneath the flap and pried it open. She pulled out the handwritten note and read it.

  Phoebe, I’m still planning on our hike tomorrow. I’ll be at the trailhead at seven. If you’re not there by seven thirty, I’m coming to get you. Don’t think I won’t drag you out of bed and carry you over my shoulder if I have to. I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be. But we have to talk about this. I promise I can explain everything. I’ll meet you at the trailhead and we’ll work this out then.

  Billy

  What does he mean he’ll drag me out of bed? And what is there to explain?

  She read the note again. Knowing Billy, she was certain he would come to the house if she wasn’t at the trailhead. But he wouldn’t drag her out of bed. Would he?

  She tossed the note to the side and carefully removed the purple wrapping from the box. She lifted the lid and peered inside. It held a blank canvas with a handwritten note attached to it. Phoebe read the words aloud,

  Please use this to paint something amazing. Love, Billy.

  As she studied the canvas, she tried to picture the scene that would cover it. What would it be? Whatever it was, she would use her mother’s brushes and that alone was enough to make her smile, at least until she thought about the note, and the hike, and whether or not she should go. Things between her and Billy were over. Weren’t they? If that were true, why was her heart so at odds with her decision?

  “I’m not going. End of story.” She spoke the words aloud before crawling into bed for a long sleepless night.

  ***

  Phoebe was up by six in the morning and dressed in a pair of faded denim jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, and leather hiking boots. After brushing the tangles out of her hair, she pulled it into a ponytail and headed downstairs.

  Heading downstairs, she noticed that the house was full of the good, warm aroma of breakfast. Phoebe inhaled deeply and made her way to the kitchen. “What smells so good?”

  Anna, who was standing in front of the stove, glanced over her shoulder and smiled. She tapped the wooden spoon she was holding on the side of the frying pan and set it on the counter. Then, after wiping her hands on her apron, she gave Phoebe a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s either the home fried potatoes or the breakfast casserole that’s in the oven.” Anna opened the oven door and inspected the casserole. “It’ll be ready in about five minutes. Would you help me set the table?”

  Phoebe nodded and accepted a stack of plates from Anna. “Where are Norm and the others?” She asked as she arranged the plates on the dining room table.

  “They’re going to be late. Norm and Gina ran into town this morning, and they’ll pick Stephen up on their way back.” Then, with a hint of hesitation ringing in her words, she added “And Billy said he wouldn’t be coming to breakfast.” She gave Phoebe a sideways glance. “Come to think of it, he hasn’t been here for a meal in a few days. I wonder why?”

  Phoebe was silent for a long moment. Should she tell her aunt about what happened? Did she want to get into it with Anna? “We had a fight,” she finally said.

  Anna nodded her head as she carefully arranged silverware beside each plate.

  “I see,” was all she said.

  She removed the vase of fresh wild flowers from the center of the table and set it on the kitchen counter. Then, she placed the casserole dish where the flowers had been. They both took their usual seats and Anna gave a blessing on the food.

  “Would you like to talk about it?” Anna asked as she filled Phoebe’s glass with orange juice.

  Phoebe held her plate up so Anna could serve her a slice of the egg casserole. “We were at the Gold Mine—the restaurant on Park street.”

  Anna nodded.

  “And this girl, Sarah, came up to Billy and started flirting with him.”

  “What did Billy do?”

  “That’s why we’re fighting, he didn’t do anything. And then Sarah said something about how I got arrested—Jenna and Dave were there too. It was awful. Then she said something about my dad being a criminal.” Phoebe’s voice cracked. “Billy didn’t even stand up for me or tell her to stop or anything.”

  Anna pushed her chair back and stood up. She walked over to Phoebe and, after situating a chair so they were facing one another; she sat down beside her. “That must have been terrible for you.”

  “It was. It was embarrassing, and horrible. I still can’t believe Billy just sat there and let it happen.” Phoebe wiped a tear from her cheek.

  “Have you talked to him about it?” Anna reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind Phoebe’s ear.

  Phoebe shook her head. “He tried to talk to me, but I was just too mad.”

  Anna nodded her head. “That’s understandable. I would be upset if that happened to me.”

  Phoebe waited for Anna to give her advice or tell her what to do—the way adults always do—but when a long moment of silence passed, Phoebe spoke.

  “Do you think I should talk to him?”

  Anna looked into Phoebe’s eyes and smiled a patient smile. “Well, I have always known Billy to be a fine young man. I wonder if there isn’t a reasonable explanation for his behavior.” She put a hand on Phoebe’s knee and spoke softly. “It couldn’t hurt anything to hear his reasons for acting the way he did.”

  Phoebe nodded. She was being stubborn and, even though she couldn’t imagine any good reason for Billy acting the way he did, she knew she at least owed it to him to hear him out. At quarter to seven, she headed out the door. As she walked to the trailhead, she thought about Anna. The quiet composure that was characteristic of Anna’s personality made sharing her feelings about what happened easy. She wondered if that’s what her mother had been like. She wished her mother was still alive so she could talk to her. Phoebe’s thoughts caused a pain to shoot through her heart.

  When she got to the trailhead, Billy was there, sitting on a large flat rock.

  She glanced into his eyes. They were tired and puffy. She wondered if he’d been losing sleep.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi." He stood to faced her. "I’m glad you came.” He walked over to meet her. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  He motioned for her to sit on the flat rock and when she did, he sat down beside her. There was silence for a minute and then he stood back up. “I had no idea . . .” He shook his head as if searching for the right words. “You know that Sarah and I dated for a while.” He started pacing back and forth as he talked. “We’ve known each other all our lives.”

  Phoebe listened, waiting for the part about why he introduced her as his friend. Maybe she was wrong in assuming they’d moved on from the friend’s stage—after all, she hadn’t kissed that many boys. Maybe Billy thought that kissing a girl was no big deal. But, it wasn’t just the kissing. It was the closeness, and the sharing. It was the time they spent together—practically every waking moment. Didn’t any of that mean something to him? And why didn’t he stand up for her when Sarah blurted out the stuff about her arrest and about her father?

  “Well . . .” He went on, struggling with every word. “Our mothers got this wild idea that the two of u
s would grow up together, fall in love, and get married.” He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Crazy, I know, but true. I started dating her, because I felt like I was supposed to. I mean, that is how my life went up until I left home.” He combed his hands through his hair and then put them in his pants pockets. “My dad wanted me to date a suitable girl.” He raised his hands and made quotation marks in the air with his fingers when he said the word suitable. “One day, I realized that I was making my dad happy while making myself miserable.”

  Phoebe’s mind reeled with questions—including what on earth was suitable about Sarah—but she sat quiet and waited for Billy to finish.

  “We had fun together and, for a while, it was alright. But, Sarah started wanting to get serious around the same time my dad was pushing me to go to college. I felt like I was being pressured from all sides, and I just couldn’t take it.”

  “So you broke it off?” Phoebe asked the question that was hanging in her mind.

  “Yes. But like I said before, breaking up with someone like Sarah is not as easy as you’d think it should be.”

  “So, you didn’t break it off?”

  “I did. But she wouldn’t accept it. She just kept telling me that I was making a mistake and that I would change my mind.” He stared at the ground.

  “Well, she obviously thinks you two are still together, or something. I mean, what was all that about the other night?”

  “Oh, that was all just for show; it was for you—to make you jealous. That’s how she is. She came home from school for a couple weeks, and I’m sure she heard I had a new girlfriend and . . .”

  Phoebe fidgeted in her seat on the rock. “You called me your girlfriend.”

  Billy smiled, and his face softened. “Yeah, well; I mean, you are, aren’t you?”

  “I thought so, but when you introduced me as—

  “I was just nervous. I wasn’t sure what to say and she took me by surprise and I knew you were going to be upset, and I just . . . it was stupid.” He shook his head. “I should have just told her you were my girlfriend. I’m sorry.”

  He wasn’t going to get off that easily. There was still more explaining to do. “What about that stuff she said about me? How did she know about it?” She looked Billy in the eyes and saw something there. What was it? Shame? Embarrassment? Guilt?