Abel Lee
I reach over and hold Savannah Mae’s hand on the ride to her house. “Do you need to get Sawyer Jackson tonight?”
“No, Mia and Levi are keepin’ him overnight. They didn’t want me to take him out this late.”
I nod my understanding. When we pull up to her house, I say, “I’ll get your door for you.” I always hold the door open for her whenever I can, but she usually beats me to it. I was almost expecting an argument from her, but she waits for me to walk around the truck to her side. When I open her door, she hops out of the truck. I laugh. She really is quite amusing.
“Did you buy a new truck just for our date?” She holds the blue jean jacket tighter around her.
“I did.” I close her door and lock it.
She stops and her mouth falls open. Her eyes are big with shock. “No, you didn’t.”
I smile and walk the short distance to her. “I didn’t. It’s a rental.”
“Does your momma know about the lies that come out of that mouth?”
I take her hand and lead her to the front porch. “I reckon Momma wouldn’t be much happy with me tonight.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Kissing a beautiful girl on a first date. Momma would expect more from me.” I hold out my hands and give her my dimpled smile. “Keys?”
She reaches in her purse and hands me her house keys.
I start to walk in after her when I hear a glass breaking. We both stop to listen. I look around the street to try to find out where the noise is coming from. Glass breaks again. It’s not coming from inside the house, it’s coming from outside. “Go inside and lock the doors.”
I turn to leave and she says, “Abel Lee…”
“Do it now, and leave the lights off,” I demand.
“Abel Lee,” she says as I jump from the porch. I don’t look back, and I don’t answer. I hear more glass breaking and it’s coming from behind her house, in the direction of the old school. It’s dark and difficult to see. The moon is covered with clouds, giving off barely enough light to see.
I see someone pick up a brick and I wonder if it could be the man who killed Megan Rose. I watch as he throws the brick at the already broken glass window at the old school.
I watch as he throws another brick and bends down to pick up another one. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Why’s that?” he yells.
“Because it’s destruction of property, that’s why.” I walk closer and realize it’s a teenage boy.
“No one cares about this old buildin’.” He raises the brick again and throws it at the already broken window, breaking the rest of the glass.
“I own this building, and I would appreciate it if you would stop.”
“You do not, the township owns it.” He watches me before he bends down to pick up another brick.
“I bought it this week.” I watch him, but I can also see a light come on in Savannah Mae’s kitchen. She didn’t listen. I told her to leave the lights off in the house, “Looks like you’re waking up the neighbors.”
“I don’t care. Why would someone buy a stupid old buildin’?” He throws a brick again.
I take a few steps closer. I have to wonder why he’s out this time of night. “Because I want to turn it into a business with a community park or basketball court or something.”
He looks at me and watches me carefully. “You got kids?”
I expect him to pick up another brick, but he doesn’t. “No.”
“Then why do you want to build a park? You ain’t a pedophile, are you?”
I want to laugh, but I remain stoic. “No, not hardly. I just came back to town and I want to do something for the children in the community.” I figure honesty is the best policy.
He watches me and I wonder if he believes me. “I’ve lived here my whole life. Why haven’t I seen you around here before?” I hear a screen door open and close and I know Savannah Mae is coming out the back door.
The boy bends down and picks up another brick. I’m getting nowhere with this kid. More truth, Abel. “I’m Abel Kennedy. My parents live on top of the hill.” I hear footsteps behind me, so I turn slightly in that direction. I see Savannah Mae getting closer and I really wish she would have listened to me and stayed inside.
“Hi, Savannah Mae,” the boy says. He knows her?
“Johnny, does your momma know you’re out here wreakin’ havoc on the neighborhood?”
“No, Ma’am.” I watch as he lowers his head and drops the brick. Savannah Mae just got here and she is already making more progress than I am.
She stands tall and puts her hands on her hips. “If you take your tail home, I’ll think about not tellin’ her.” She looks down the street. “If you hurry home, you might be able to get there before she does.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he says as he starts to walk away.
Somehow this doesn’t seem right. “Johnny?” I say.
He stops and says, “Yeah?”
Savannah Mae clears her throat and glares at him.
“Yes, Sir?”
I look over at her and her arms are now crossed over her chest. She doesn’t look at me, but she is watching Johnny intently. “Do you have a job?” I ask.
With his head still down, he says, “No, Sir.”
“Do you want one?”
“No one will hire a sixteen-year-old.”
“Johnny, if you want a job and if you want to work, I’ll pay you to help me fix this place up.”
Now Savannah Mae is watching me. Johnny looks up at me, “Really?”
I nod. “It won’t be until March. Too cold to work outside in the winter. Especially with all the broken windows. The first weekend in March, I want you to show up here and be dressed in work clothes and be ready to work.”
“You’ll forget about me by then.” He hangs his head and begins to walk away.
“Johnny, look at me.” He stops and looks me in the eyes. “I’m a man of my word. You show up here and I’ll remember you. Besides, it’s kind of hard to forget the person responsible for this.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“No problem. I’ll see you when?”
“On the first weekend in March.”
“Go right home, Johnny. I mean it.” Savannah Mae taps her foot in the grass, arms still crossed.
“I’m going. Good night, Savannah Mae.”
“Good night, Johnny.”
“Does he need a ride home?” I whisper.
“Nah, he lives two houses down.” She loops her arm through mine and we begin to walk towards her house. “Mind tellin’ me why you told that boy you bought this buildin’?”
“Because I did. I bought it this week. I want to turn it into a business to help the community.” I look over at her and ask, “Do you mind telling me why you didn’t stay in the house when I told you to?”
“Because you didn’t ask me to.” I put it to memory that Miss Savannah Mae doesn’t like to be told what to do.
We walk arm in arm to her house. “You comin’ in?” she asks when we reach the back porch.
“I want to, just not sure if I should.”
I hold the screen and the door open for her.
She says, “C’mon in, your momma won’t like it if you leave me here alone with some hoodlum runnin’ loose.”
“You think Johnny’s a hoodlum?” I ask, walking into the house behind her.
“No, not at all. I just said that so you’ll come in.”
I lock the doors and then start a fire in the fireplace. We talk about the old schoolhouse, and I tell her my plans and she listens. I can see the excitement in her eyes and it fuels me to want to get started on it as soon as the weather breaks.
“I need to leave for a few weeks,” I reluctantly say. “I need to return to New York to sell my condo and get my affairs in order.”
“When will you be leavin’?”
“I plan to leave this week. I want to get things wrapped up there, so
I can move on with my life here.”
“When you come back, you’ll be stayin’?”
“That’s my plan, yes.”
When I stand to leave, I ask, “Savannah Mae, would you lock up when I leave?” I stand at the door, waiting for her to answer.
She laughs instead. “Since you asked nicely, yes, Abel Lee, I will.”
“May I call you while I’m away?”
She looks embarrassed. “I haven’t had a cell phone since my divorce.”
“No landline?” I ask.
She shakes her head, “Sorry.”
I lean in and kiss her, “I’m going to miss you.”
“Me, too, hurry home.”
Savannah Mae
Abel Lee has been gone for two weeks already. He stopped in at work on his way to the airport to tell me goodbye. He said he wanted to hurry up and get his affairs in order so he can begin his life here. I remember the excited feeling I got in my belly when he said that.
It’s Wednesday, our day to work the community supper at the church. I pick up Sawyer Jackson from his daddy’s and head over to start preparin’ supper. Since Abel Lee stocked the kitchen with food, Nelly, Bud, and I have been fixin’ dinner there. I have to admit, it makes it a lot easier than totin’ the food from my house to the church. I haven’t talked to Abel Lee since he left. I’m hopin’ Nelly and Bud have heard from him. I miss him. I’ll have to remember to hold back my excitement if they share anythin’ about him with me.
When we walk into the church, it smells of food. Pearl and a few other ladies are in the kitchen helping Nelly. I wave before I see Bud with a mixer in one hand and a book in the other. I try to hold back my laugh. There’s nothin’ sexier than a man readin’ a book, but there’s somethin’ about the mixer part that brings a smile to my face.
Sawyer Jackson throws his coat and hat on the floor before takin’ off and runnin’ to Larry.
“Hey, little boy, this isn’t where that goes,” I say, pointin’ to the pile of clothes on the floor.
He rolls his eyes and runs back to me. “Sorry,” he says as he picks everything up. I lay my coat and scarf on top of his on the chair in the corner of the room. I watch as he talks to Larry, probably about makin’ him something out of balloons, no doubt.
I walk over to Bud and offer to finish the mixin’. He smiles and it’s a friendly smile. “Readin’ something good?” I ask.
“Abel sent me a box of books the other day. I already read this one, but it’s just as good the second time around.”
I look at the title and it’s an old Western book. Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey. Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane. Zane Grey was a member of the Zane family; in 1872, he was born in Zanesville.
I say, “Western, huh?”
“It’s an old schoolbook. Nothin’ like the cowboys you read about these days,” he says, laughin’.
I’m sure it’s not.
He adds, “Not everyone likes this book. H. Allen Smith once visited a dude ranch, where a cowboy learned that Mr. Smith was a writer of humorous books. The cowboy then said, ‘Never read but one book in all my life … book called Riders uh the Purple Sage … never gonna read another’n’ long as I live.’”
I finish mixin’ the brownies and get them in the oven when a little girl about four or five years old with brown pigtails walks into the kitchen. Her momma isn’t far behind. Pearl stands up and smiles. “I want y’all to meet my grandbaby Jewel.” Pearl picks up her granddaughter and I can see the little girl looks like she has Down syndrome. She has flat facial features, small ears, and upward slanted eyes. I put on a smile and walk over to Pearl and Jewel. Jewel smiles and appears happy. My heart is sad for the little girl, Pearl, and her mother.
“Hi, Jewel,” I say.
“Pearl, I didn’t know you had grandchildren,” Nelly says.
“I have three. Jewel and her momma and daddy are here visiting. They live in Michigan and came for a quick visit.” I look behind me and see that Pearl’s daughter is wearing a toothy smile as she looks at her daughter and her mother.
“She’s beautiful,” I say because it’s the truth.
“C’mon, Jewel. Let’s go and see your daddy,” Jewel’s momma says.
They leave the room and Mia and Levi come in and help with dinner.
Mia places her hand on her pregnant belly while looking at Jewel. “Aww, who’s that little cutie?”
Nelly says, “Pearl’s granddaughter, Jewel.”
Mia smiles. “Pearl? Jewel? Think she’s named after her granny?”
Everyone in the room laughs out loud.
“I didn’t think of that, but yes, I do.”
“Do you need help?” Mia asks.
“No, I believe that we have everything almost done.”
“I’m going to talk to the little girl’s mother,” Mia says.
I wonder why she would want to speak to the little girl’s mother, but I don’t ask. During dinner, I notice that Mia and Levi are eating with Pearl, her daughter and son-in-law, and Jewel. It looks like they are in a deep conversation. Mia and Levi are very attentive to Jewel. I can’t help but feel like something is goin’ on.
Sawyer Jackson and I eat with Nelly and Bud.
“Abel sent you and Sawyer Jackson something to the house today,” Nelly says.
“He did?”
“It’s wrapped up with a note attached.”
My heartbeat quickens and I get butterflies just at the thought of Abel Lee. “How is he?” I try to ask in a monotone voice.
Bud says, “He’s good, he said he thinks his condo sold.”
“That was fast.” To sell a house in Rose Farm would take years if it would sell at all.
When everything is cleaned up after dinner, Nelly gives me a note and two wrapped gifts from Abel Lee. I want to open the envelope now, but I wait until I get home. I’m excited to read what he has to say. I knew I would miss Abel Lee, I just didn’t expect to miss him this much.
When Sawyer Jackson and I get home, I open the card and read it before I give Sawyer Jackson his gift.
Savannah Mae,
I miss you. I didn’t want to begin with that, but it’s the truth. Things are going better than I expected. The condo has a potential buyer, so hopefully I’ll be home soon. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to sell so quickly. New York is beautiful, but it’s cold and dreary in the winter. I think the view of Central Park from the master bedroom might have been the selling point. It really is a beautiful sight.
I saw something and I thought Sawyer Jackson would like it. It’s not much but a little something so he knows that I’m thinking about him.
How are you? Did I say that I missed you? I do. I also found something for you, and I wanted you to have it. Okay, to be honest, it’s probably more for me than for you. I’ve prepaid it for the next year.
See you soon, Abel
I give Sawyer Jackson his gift, and he excitedly takes it. “Momma, I like Abel Lee.”
“You do? Because he bought you a gift?”
“Because he makes you smile,” he says, innocently.
I can feel the smile on my face, and it makes me proud that my son sees it. “Yes, he does, Sawyer Jackson, and I have a feeling as soon as you open your gift, you’ll also have a smile on your face.”
Sawyer Jackson quickly opens his gift and I’m surprised when I see the movie The Toy Story, and a box of six moveable figurines of the characters from the Toy Story films. There’s Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jesse, Bullseye, Rex, and Hamm. I open the box and Sawyer Jackson is excited to play with his new toys. He holds Buzz up in the air and says, “To infinity…”
I finish, “… and beyond.”
I put the movie in the CD player and he watches it while I open my gift. I’m excited and I have no idea what it could be. I’m surprised when it’s a Samsung Galaxy Note 5. It looks like a cell phone, but it’s the size of a small tablet. I remove the item from the box and it covers my hand completely. It’s huge.
I have never seen a cell phone this big before. I don’t know whether to laugh or read the instruction booklet. I turn the phone on and read the instruction manual. It’s even more complicated than I thought it would be. Is there anything this phone can’t do?
After the movie, I put Sawyer Jackson to bed. He insists on sleepin’ with all six of his new figurines. After I shower and get ready for bed, I read the note from Abel Lee again, and then I play with the phone. I download a few free apps and read more of the instruction booklet.
The phone buzzes and I get excited, thinkin’ it’s from Abel Lee.
Abel Lee: Don’t be mad, I needed a way to contact you.
Savannah Mae: Why? Did something happen?
Abel Lee: No, I just missed you.
I get those butterflies in my belly again.
Savannah Mae: I miss you, too. You said your condo may have sold.
Abel Lee: I’ll know in a few days. I want to return home as soon as I can.
Savannah Mae: Thank you for the phone and for Sawyer Jackson’s gifts. He loves them.
Abel Lee: Good, I wasn’t sure what to give him. Never shopped for a little boy before.
Savannah Mae: You did good, thank you.
Abel Lee: No problem. Do you work tomorrow?
Savannah Mae: I work tomorrow night.
Abel Lee: Can I call you tomorrow? I miss that country accent of yours.
I have to laugh out loud. I don’t think I have a country accent. Unless that country is the USA. If anyone around here has an accent, it’s Abel Lee.
Savannah Mae: Abel Lee, I don’t have a country accent.
Abel Lee: Okay, whatever you say. I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll call you tomorrow after lunch.
Savannah Mae: Night, Abel Lee.
Abel Lee: Good night, Savannah Mae.
The next day, Sawyer Jackson and I run into town to get a few things. The store is busier than usual. Campbell’s is runnin’ a sale and I’m thankful I have the money to stock up on a few much-needed items. Sawyer Jackson is too big to sit in the cart so he walks behind me. When I look behind me and he isn’t there, I begin to panic. I search the aisle and he’s nowhere around. I head to the front of the store searchin’ the exits frantically. Just as I begin to ask someone for help, I hear him yell, “To infinity.”
Rose Farm Trilogy Boxset Page 12