Truly Yours Contemporary Collection December 2014

by Joyce Livingston, Gail Sattler, Joyce Livingston

  “I like her, if that’s what you want to hear. We have fun together, yet we can both do our own thing when we want to. She takes me as I am, and I take her as she is.”

  “And that’s it? That’s good enough for you?”

  “It works for both of us. Now be quiet. It’s the opening face-off.”

  Phillip stood. “I don’t think I’m going to watch the game. I’m going to go into my room and practice my guitar.”

  “Have fun. Oh! Take it! Take it! Check him! Hey, that’s icing! Where’s the ref?”

  Phillip walked away, leaving Neil to argue all he wanted with the television.

  He picked up the guitar and strummed a few chords before pulling out the lesson book, but he couldn’t concentrate on the lesson. Instead of thinking about the chords and patterns he was supposed to be learning, he thought about his guitar teacher.

  Grace.

  He was fully and completely in love with Grace, but Grace didn’t love him. She should have been in love with Neil, but quite honestly, Phillip couldn’t tell how she felt about Neil. He didn’t see the excitement or the driving need that he felt toward her in Grace’s interactions with Neil. He certainly didn’t see it in Neil. After talking to Neil, he highly doubted that Neil was in love with Grace, especially not the way Phillip was. And that hurt. Grace deserved better. She deserved to be cherished and loved and treated like the special person he knew she was.

  The phone rang, giving Phillip the distraction he needed. When he picked it up, he heard Grace’s voice with the noise and blare of a crowd in the background.

  “Phil, I need your help. I didn’t know that I parked in a no-parking zone, and they towed my car away. I’m stranded. A couple of the people from work I was meeting got sick and didn’t come, so those of us who did show up had a quick burger and everyone decided to finish their Christmas shopping and reschedule the dinner for next weekend. Since I didn’t have any more shopping to do, I went straight to where I parked my car to find it got towed away. Are you busy? I know Neil is watching a hockey game. Can you come and get me? I’m at the mall, at the west entrance.”

  For all the times Grace had dropped everything to help him, Phillip felt ecstatic that now he could finally return the favor, although the circumstances were less than happy for her. He leaned his guitar against the wall as he spoke. “I’ll be right there.”

  He made it to the mall in ten minutes and found Grace exactly where she said she would be.

  “Can we get it now?”

  “No. I already phoned and they’re closed for people who want to retrieve their cars, but they’re gladly towing more cars there. I’m so upset! I didn’t know this was a staff-only area! The only sign posted was up high on the building wall, not even in the spot I was in. I’m going to fight it, but I have to pay the money to get my car back.”

  “Can you get it tomorrow?”

  “Yes. After church. Do you guys mind picking me up for church? I obviously need a ride.”

  “Not at all. You know, while we’re out, Neil and I haven’t bought a tree yet. Since he’s otherwise occupied, how would you like to pick out a tree tonight? We were going to do it tomorrow, but there’s no time like the present. Unless you have something else to do.”

  Her whole face lit up, telling Phillip he had made the right decision to ask her.

  “Yes! I’ve never bought a real tree. We always had a fake tree when I was a kid, and living alone in an apartment, I only have one of those fake two-foot trees. This is going to be fun! Do you want help decorating?”

  Phillip could only imagine Neil trying to watch the game around the fuss while he and Grace set up the tree and organized the decorations.

  He grinned. “Yeah.”

  “I have friends who string popcorn and use that for garland, and it’s really pretty. I guess you guys don’t do that.”

  “Nope.”

  “Do you want to try it?”

  This time, Phillip didn’t want to think of Neil. He only thought of sitting in the kitchen with Grace over a fresh cup of coffee. He imagined the scent of the fresh pine tree filling them with the excitement of Christmas while they shared a fun time stringing popcorn with a needle and thread—which had to be much easier than stringing beads on a wire.

  He grinned wider. “Yeah.”

  “Do you think Neil will mind being interrupted from the hockey game?”

  Phillip grinned the widest yet. “Yeah.”

  They purchased a tree from the vendor in the corner of the mall parking lot, tied it to the roof, and giggled the entire way to Phillip’s house.

  Phillip struggled to turn the doorknob, then nudged the door open with his backside as they dragged the tree into the house, leaving a trail of needles behind them.

  “What in the world are you two doing? Hi, Grace.”

  Phillip dragged the tree between the couch where Neil sat and the television on purpose. “What does it look like we’re doing?”

  “Okay, okay. Redundant question. Why now?”

  “Why not now? We should have had the tree up last week, but we didn’t have time. This is as good a time as any.”

  Neil sighed and shuffled to the other end of the couch. “Let me know when you’re ready for my help.”

  Phillip pulled their box of meager decorations from the closet and set it beside the television; then he lifted the tree, and Grace wiggled underneath to tighten the bolts on the stand to support it. Together they worked on getting it straight, asking Neil if it was right every time they made a minor adjustment.

  After they watered the tree, they retired to the kitchen to make the popcorn garland. That made Neil very happy, as the game was tied in only the second period.

  Phillip found the sewing kit while Grace made the popcorn. He had both needles threaded at the same time the popcorn was popped and ready to string.

  “I’m almost surprised you guys have a sewing kit. I was prepared to go home to bring over my own sewing kit.”

  Phillip poked the needle through the first popped kernel. “Hey. I’m perfectly capable of sewing on a button, and sometimes I have to, although I know some guys who take that kind of stuff home to their mothers or even pay a dry cleaner to sew on a button. That’s such a waste of money. Actually, I know someone who once bought a new shirt because he lost a button.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Grace mumbled as she began stringing popcorn as well.

  “You know, this is so much easier than doing those beads. I thought I was going to go blind. I don’t understand how women do that kind of thing and call it relaxing. By the way, remind me to give you the rest of the beads I didn’t use. I don’t ever want to look at those things again for the rest of my life.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Doing the popcorn is easy, but stringing the beads was really hard. They were so small, I kept dropping them.”

  “Dropping them? You’re supposed to just let them lay on the table and steady the beads against your finger, then poke the wire through. It’s actually very fast.”

  Phillip didn’t dare reply.

  “Oh, Phil. . . You didn’t pick up every bead and do it like threading a needle each time, did you?”

  Phillip concentrated intently on the piece of popcorn in his hand. “I’m not going to answer that on the grounds of incrimination.”

  Grace tried to stifle a giggle, not very successfully.

  “Never mind. Now let’s change the subject.”

  Just like every other time they were together, Phillip thoroughly enjoyed himself, whether they talked or shared moments or even minutes of silence.

  The only part of the evening he didn’t enjoy was hearing the drone of the hockey game and Neil calling out to the television in the background. It was a reminder not only of Neil’s presence, but also that he was the third wheel in their relationship. A month ago, Phillip was content to be there, but not any longer. Things had changed, but he didn’t know what to do about it, which only added to his frustration.


  “Done!” Grace held up her string.

  Phillip tied off his shorter string and bit off the end that didn’t have any popcorn on it. “I’m done, too!”

  “Cheater.”

  “No comment.”

  Together they marched into the living room with the strings. As he walked between Neil and the television on their way to the tree, Phillip purposely walked slower. Neil stopped commenting on the game and craned his neck to see around them as they passed.

  They continued to talk as they wrapped the garland around the tree. When they failed to get more than a grunt of re-sponse from Neil, they gave up, lowered their voices, and talked only between the two of them.

  Phillip couldn’t help but be annoyed at Neil. As far as Phillip was concerned, Neil shouldn’t have been watching the hockey game; he should have been keeping company with his girlfriend, whom he had not been spending enough time with lately.

  Phillip didn’t want to come right out and ask Neil to turn off the game and join them. He wanted Neil to take the initiative himself. Therefore, to give Neil the hint, Phillip made sure that every time he walked around the tree, he moved between Neil and the game.

  When the garland was arranged to perfection, Phillip opened the box of ornaments, not moving it from beside the television. In order to get Neil’s attention, every time Phillip reached into the box, he stood partway blocking the television.

  Neil’s face tightened, but he said nothing.

  Satisfied that he was finally getting a reaction and wanting Neil to turn the game off and join them without being asked, Phillip removed two ornaments from the box and stood directly in front of the television. “Hey, Neil. What do you think? Should we put the red one or the blue one up on this long branch?”

  “I don’t care,” Neil grumbled as he once more shuffled positions on the couch. “Will you get out of my way?”

  “Oops,” Phillip said, perfectly aware of what he was doing.

  He handed both ornaments to Grace, then returned to the box, where he bent over so half of him blocked the screen as he selected the next ones to give to Grace. Over and over, each time he brought another decoration out of the box, he purposely blocked part of the screen from Neil’s line of vision. Neil’s frustration continued to build until it became a challenge for Phillip to see how much Neil would take.

  Finally, at the end of the third period, the game was tied at four each, one team had a one-man advantage, and the other team pulled the goalie with one minute of play left. One player got a breakaway and was heading toward the open goal with no one to check him.

  Phillip reached the end of his patience level. The game was nearly over, and Neil hadn’t made any attempt to join them or even add to the conversation.

  The commentator’s voice blared. “He shoots!” The tele-vision audience went wild.

  Phillip reached into the box for the last ornament, purposely backing up so he completely blocked the screen as he bent over.

  Neil jumped to his feet. “That does it!” he yelled. “What do you think you’re doing? The whole game you’ve been doing this!”

  “He scores!” the commentator’s voice shouted over the top of the crowd.

  Phillip turned around, speaking to Neil through gritted teeth. “I can’t believe you’ve been watching that stupid game the whole time Grace has been here. You should be putting up the tree with us, not sitting there with your face glued to the television.”

  “We could have done the tree after the game.”

  “It’s taken us over an hour. Did you ever think that Grace would like to get home and get to bed at a decent hour since it’s church tomorrow morning?”

  “Then you could have done it just like you did, without being such a pain when I was watching the game.”

  “She doesn’t come here all the time to watch you watch the television. She comes here to be with you, and most of the time you don’t give her the time of day.”

  “If she’s here to see me, it’s strange that she seems to spend so much time with you.”

  “Maybe she wouldn’t if she could spend the time with you. But I’m tired of playing second fiddle, Neil.”

  Except for the drone of the television, a charged silence hung in the air while Phillip waited for Neil’s response.

  fifteen

  Grace couldn’t believe her eyes or her ears. Not only were Phil and Neil fighting, they were fighting over her. She didn’t know what to do.

  “Maybe I should go home. . . ,” she barely managed to squeak out, although she didn’t know how, without her car.

  Phil dragged one hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I was completely out of line. I apologize.”

  Neil sighed, then turned to Grace. “I’m sorry, too, Grace. Phil is right. I have been ignoring you. How can I make it up to you?”

  Grace stared at the two men, her mind reeling too much to speak. First, Phil’s words that he was tired of playing second fiddle echoed in her head. She hadn’t realized he felt like that, but maybe she should have. Twice now she thought he had wanted to kiss her, and now she realized that she had read him correctly the first time, before she talked herself out of it. However, the reason she talked herself out of it so easily was because she had wanted to kiss him, too, and that was wrong.

  And Neil. She’d convinced herself that their relationship was the same as it had been since they first started dating—they were both comfortable with not putting demands on each other’s time. After spending so much time with Phil, every time she saw him, she wanted to see him more. The more she saw of Phil, the more she realized that her relationship with Neil wasn’t merely comfortable. It was stagnant.

  Nothing was happening the way she had it planned, and she didn’t know what to do. Therefore, she would do nothing.

  “It’s okay,” she mumbled. “I have an idea. Let’s pick this up where we left off, and this time, we’ll do it right. There are a few bare spots on the tree to fill up, and then we can finish off by putting Dale on her new home, the place she was meant to be.”

  The relief of the two men that they could carry on and all was normal again was almost tangible.

  Rather sheepishly, Neil turned off the television and hung the last of the ornaments on the tree while Phil left the room, then returned with another box.

  “Where did you go?” she asked as he set the large box on the coffee table.

  “I did like you said and put Dale in a box to keep him safe. It worked, didn’t it?”

  As he spoke, Phil pulled the flaps open and started digging inside for Dale. What she saw made Grace’s heart sink and her stomach tied in knots. “What is that?”

  “It’s newspaper. I used it to wrap Dale up. Pretty smart, huh?”

  “You wrapped up a white crocheted angel in newspaper? Oh, Phil. . . What have you done?”

  Sure enough, when Phil pulled Dale out, she was smudged with gray, especially on the outstretched wings.

  Phil blinked, stared, and rubbed at the dark spots with one finger. “I don’t understand. When Granny moved, she wrapped everything up in newspaper to keep it safe, so I thought I’d do the same with Dale.”

  Grace buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “Yes, your granny would have wrapped up her dishes, but they’re made of glass. She would have washed them before she put them away. You’re supposed to wrap ornaments and things that can’t be washed in towels or white tissue paper.”

  Phil smiled weakly. “I guess we know that Dale can be washed. . . .” His voice trailed off.

  Grace sighed. Fortunately she’d bought another bag of cornstarch because she wanted to make Chinese Lemon Chicken this week. “We should probably do it tonight. You said you have family coming over on Monday evening?”

  “Yes. And if they don’t see that angel on top of the tree on Monday, I’m going to have to come up with some quick explanations. Especially if they bring Granny, which they might.”

  Neil turned to the door, then back to
Grace. “I guess that answers the question of who drives you home tonight.”

  “Yes. We’d better go now.”

  Neil walked with Grace to the door, while Phil went into the bathroom to wash his hands after digging through the crumpled newspaper. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Neil spoke.

  “I know we have to talk about this, but what happened tonight kind of tells me that this isn’t working. I’m going to have to think things through, and then we’ll get together and talk. I mean really get together and really talk.”

  Her heart sank, but Grace did agree. “Yes, I think you’re right.”

  The bathroom door opened, ending their conversation. For the first time since she could remember, Neil gave her a gentle kiss on the lips instead of her cheek. But, it didn’t feel like the kiss of a lover. It felt like a gentle way of saying good-bye.

  Phil didn’t have much to say during the drive to her apartment, nor did he say much as they washed Dale and cooked up another batch of the starch mixture. This time, Phil didn’t master any artwork in the snow on the balcony; he simply did what he had to do to cool the mixture as quickly as possible.

  Conversation wasn’t as stilted as it could have been, but at the same time, nothing with any meaning passed between them the whole time they positioned Dale with the wire mesh and balloons, then propped her up with the books and chopsticks above the heat vent.

  On his way out, Phil was through the door when he stopped, turned around, stepped back inside, and closed the door be-hind him.

  “Do you love him?”

  “I. . . ” Grace let her voice trail off. She wanted to bide some time and ask him what he meant, but she knew perfectly well.

  She’d never thought of Neil in the context of love. She’d thought about Neil in the context of safe.

  Unlike her father and brother-in-law, Neil demanded nothing in his relationship with her. However, in retrospect, that also meant he gave what he expected, which wasn’t much. Grace’s predominant fear in any relationship was having to live under the same strict regime her family had to live under in order to please her father. Neil never expected her to live by a schedule because he wouldn’t follow one himself. Grace hadn’t thought of this as a bad thing until she discovered that the extension of that trait was that Neil was usually late for any planned activity. At first it bothered her, but Grace later learned to live with it, as no one was ever hurt by it. This was simply Neil asserting his autonomy.