by Jane Lewis
Victor watched his babies laugh and try to crawl over Frankie. “We had lunch with my parents. Ruth Ann blew into town for the day.”
He put the babies on the floor. He got on his hands and knees crawling around with them. “How’d she get here?”
Victor sat on the couch next to Dottie and held her hand. “Ronald drove her.”
Frankie gathered the twins close to his side. “Are they serious?”
“You know my sister. Ronald’s serious about her, Ruth Ann not so much.”
“Did y’all like him?”
Victor gazed at his wife.
She gave him a stern glare. “He seems like a nice boy.”
Victor corrected, “You mean a nice man. I don’t think he has a chance with my sister. He’s too nice. She’ll run all over him. You know how headstrong she is.”
He stepped into his bedroom and grabbed the sock monkeys he kept for the kids. “It could work. They have a lot in common. They both want to be actors.”
Victor shook his head. “There is such a thing as being too much alike. My bull-headed sister needs someone with balls.”
Dottie put her hand over his mouth. “Victor, please watch what you say in front of the babies.”
“They’re babies, Dottie.”
“Yes, babies now, but they listen to every word. I don’t want them repeating some of the things you say. You need to start practicing reducing your vocabulary…now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He loved how Dottie could reel Victor in with a word. His friend loved his wife and kids. Frankie admired them. He’d hoped for the same life with Audrey. He had to accept the fact he would never have what Victor did. “Who knows. Maybe she’ll marry him, and they’ll move to New York.”
“Ronald told my father he wanted to take her to New York. You should have seen Pa’s face.”
“What’d Mr. Douglas say?”
“Pa said he agreed to let Ruth Ann go to acting school, but he sure didn’t agree to her moving to New York and for him not to give her any ideas.”
Frankie felt a kinship with Mr. Douglas. “So he didn’t like him?”
“No, I don’t think my father took to Ronald Waters. The thing he liked about him is his father’s a lawyer. You know how Pa is with intellectuals.”
His father’s a lawyer. He has so much more to offer her than I do. “Well, I guess Ruthie has the last word, doesn’t she?”
Dottie spoke, “She does, it’s not the business of her brother and his best friend who she marries.”
Victor smiled at his wife and rubbed her cheek with his hand. “I agree. But you have no idea of the hard time she gave us.”
“Yes, she’s quite the actress.” Frankie remembered the mixed signals she gave him. Come hither looks one minute and smart aleck remarks the next.
He sat on the floor with his legs stretched in front. The twins crawled along his legs to his face both trying to get his full attention. They stood, one on each side. He steadied them with his arms. They both grabbed a hand full of his hair and yanked. “Yikes, I guess you both like to pull hair.”
Dottie ran to Frankie, grabbed their hands, and released them from his hair. “They fight over their red blocks. They’ve discovered the bright color.”
He handed the stuffed toys to the kids. He left Dottie to deal with them. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Victor shook his head. “No, I don’t want anything, I’m full from lunch.”
Dottie placed the sock monkeys on the coffee table. “We need to head home. They haven’t had a nap today. They’re getting cranky. Great to see you, Frankie.”
“Good to see you, too. I see this goon every day.” He enveloped her in a bear hug.
“Watch it buster. You’re talking about your boss.” He helped his wife wrestled the kids into their sweaters.
“Sorry, boss. Thanks for dropping by to see me.”
Victor loaded his family into his car. He watched the Ford turn on the next street and returned to his front room through the screen door. The only sound in the house was the tick of the mantel clock sitting on a shelf. He turned on the radio to silence the quiet.
****
Al had the coffee and the chairs ready when Frankie arrived at work. He handed Frankie a cup. “How was your weekend?”
He drank a sip, strong and hot. “Uneventful until Victor and Dottie stopped by yesterday afternoon. How was yours?”
“Swell. Saturday night, I took Ethel to the picture show and to supper at the A&W. Did you do anything?”
“No, almost drove to the tavern, wasn’t in the mood.” He stretched his long legs.
Al studied him. “You need to get out, meet some new women.”
“Yeah, guess I’m not ready yet. Victor said Ruthie blew into town yesterday with that Ronald fellow.”
Al raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Victor says he’s from a prominent family from Alabama.”
Al sat in his chair. “Where in Alabama?”
“Montgomery, his father’s a lawyer. Looks like he comes from money. He has a lot to offer.” Frankie gulped the last sip of coffee in his cup.
“You know all that glitters ain’t gold. He might have a lot to offer, but if Ruth Ann doesn’t want it.” Al held out his cup.
He poured himself a refill and filled Al’s to the rim. “I wonder if Ruthie’ll ever know what she wants.”
“She’s a flighty little thing, that’s for sure. This Ronald feller may have some money. You and I know money don’t buy love or happiness. She’s going to be a tough woman to please. She needs a strong man with balls.”
Frankie swallowed a mouthful of coffee. Some of it felt like it went down his windpipe. He cleared his throat and coughed. “Victor’s exact words.”
“Well, Mr. Balls, appears you’re gonna have your hands full.”
“She doesn’t care about me.”
Al stood gathering the cups and pot. “Son, you are in denial.”
He sat in his chair reflecting on their conversation. Did Al want to make him feel good about himself so he would go out and meet women, or did he see something he didn’t? He’d give anything to have Ruthie in his arms and kiss her lips until she melted like candle wax. He wanted to know how making love to someone you loved and cherished made you feel. He was a red blooded man. He loved sex. Sex with love, now, that must be the grandest feeling in the world. Audrey was the sexiest woman he’d ever met. He’d gone from sex every night to never. He would wait for love this time around.
****
Frankie watched out the door for Lisbeth. He had her flight log and the pre-flight check list ready. Today the lesson plan included take offs. It was a crisp fall day, the sky powder blue with a few white clouds. Perfect day to fly.
She parked her father’s Buick next to Al’s truck. Frankie opened her car door. “Ready for your lesson?”
Lisbeth skipped toward the Cessna. “Can’t wait. Flying’s all I’ve thought about.”
When the preliminaries were done, they sat in the plane. “Lisbeth, put your hand on the stick and feel the motion when we take off.”
She followed Frankie’s orders. The plane lifted from the runway. “Easy enough.”
He turned and gave her a big smile. “Easy because I had the controls. We’re going to fly around, return, land, and take off several times.”
He watched Lisbeth concentrate, she relaxed into the movement of the stick and executed a smooth take off. “Great, I think you’ve got it. Next time, you take the controls.”
Frankie landed the plane. Victor stood outside the hangar watching them. He pointed to Lisbeth and Victor gave a thumb’s up. “Okay, Lisbeth, your turn. Remember, small corrections.” He held on to the stick until she gained control. “Excellent, take the plane to five thousand, watch your compass, and head west.”
Lisbeth kept her hand on the stick glancing at the controls. She spoke above the engine noise. “Ruth Ann showed up Sunday with Ronald.”
Fra
nkie’s grip on the stick tightened. “I heard.”
“I guess Victor told you, huh?”
“Yep.” He relaxed his hold and let her take full control.
“I wish you could have heard Pa giving Ronald the third degree. My sister squirmed like a worm on a hook.” She glanced at the gauges.
“He may be the one, they have a lot in common.” He stared straight ahead.
“Ronald isn’t her type.” She turned to face him.
“What is her type?” He glanced at Lisbeth.
“You.”
He shook his head and wrote in the log book. “I’m not her type she doesn’t give me a second thought.”
Lisbeth kept the stick steady and checked the instrument panel. “Oh, yes she does. Why do you think she argues with you?”
“Because she doesn’t like me?” He watched Lisbeth handle the airplane. She is good.
“No, bickering is her way of getting your attention without admitting she likes you. I think she was disappointed you weren’t at Sunday dinner.” She smiled at him.
“Yeah, sorry I missed it.” He completed his notes and put the log book behind his seat.
“She kept asking me if anyone else would be there.”
I’m glad I didn’t see them together. I don’t like Ronald any better than Mr. Douglas does. “I’m sure she didn’t miss me, she had her family and Ronald. What more could she want? Let’s turn around, the hour’s over. I’ve got some work to do before I go home. Turn the plane around and head east.” He watched Lisbeth command the Cessna.
She concentrated on the stick and the compass. “Are all planes this easy to fly?”
Frankie shook his head and smiled. “No, wait until you fly the JN-Four.”
“I can’t wait. What’s the difference?”
“Difficult to see out, especially when you’re taxiing. You taxi to the runway in a zig zag pattern so you can see if anything’s in your way. On the take off you glance from side to side until you get the tail up so you can see.”
“What will we do in the next lesson?”
He related to her excitement remembering his first lessons in the JN-Four. “We’ll practice take offs. Unlike today, you’ll have total control.”
Frankie landed the plane. Victor strolled toward the Cessna and waited for them to get out. “How was the lesson?”
Lisbeth hugged her brother. “Great. Did you see me take off?”
Victor kissed her head, “I did, great job.”
“I got to fly the plane and turn around and head home.”
He handed Victor the flight log. “She’s a natural, like her brother.”
“See you next week.” Lisbeth ran to her car.
They entered the hangar. Frankie assembled his tools to work on an engine. “She’s doing great, Victor. I’ve never had a student who learned as much in a short time.”
“If I know Lisbeth, she’s reading books about flying. She’ll be teaching us a thing or two.” Victor placed the flight log on a shelf and walked to his office.
Frankie started his work, it helped quiet his mind. Anytime anyone mentioned Ruthie, hours would pass before he could stop thinking about her. He didn’t think she could be any prettier. However, as she got older, she became more beautiful. Whoever married her would be a lucky man.
Chapter Fifteen
Ronald dipped a biscuit in his beef stew. “This is delicious. Thanks for cooking supper.”
“Figured we’d have more time to rehearse if we ate here. Time’s going by fast. We’ll be headed home next week for Christmas.” Ruth Ann drank a sip of tea.
“Well, you’re beautiful, and you can cook. What more could a man ask for.” He reached for the large bowl and spooned a second helping.
“My mother taught me. She always wanted me to settle down and get married and be like her.”
He reached for her hand. “Nothing wrong with that.”
She tugged her hand away, “Yes. There is. I don’t want to settle down. I want to work as an actress or an acting teacher. I don’t know… I want to be more than a wife.”
“Why not both? You don’t have to choose one or the other.”
“You do if you have children.” She placed the spoon in her empty bowl.
“Not necessarily. You can get people to help you with your kids. Baby, if this works between us, we can live in New York and be stage actors.”
She searched Ronald’s face, she envied him. He knew what he wanted. “I’ve dreamed of living in New York since I started reading Theatre Arts Magazines. Now, all I want to do is go home.”
“I think you’re homesick. We could give New York a try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll move to Saplingville.”
She forced a smile. We? Will Ronald make me happy? “Let’s get busy working, we can talk about this later.”
She placed the left over stew in the refrigerator. He pulled her into an embrace and kissed her. “Ronald, stop. We have to work on our lines.”
He led her to the settee. She grabbed her script. “I’ll sit in the chair, you sit there. It’ll work better this way.”
“Whatever you say, beautiful.”
They plowed through the play. She missed a few lines. “I’ve almost got this memorized. I’ll take it with me so I can learn the rest at home.”
Ronald stood. He swept her close and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll miss you. We should be together at Christmas.”
She didn’t want him in Saplingville; she wanted to be alone with her family. “Your family would miss you if you spent Christmas with me, and my mother would kill me if I wasn’t home.”
He kissed her and tilted her head so he could see her face. “I love you.”
She gazed into his eyes and smiled. “Thanks for all the stuff you do for me. You make everything fun.”
“Right back atcha. See you tomorrow.”
She cleaned the kitchen scrubbing the counter until it gleamed. No matter how many times Ronald said he loved her, she didn’t believe him, the words came too easy. They’d known each other three months, and he was an actor. She would wait, see how things were after the Christmas break. He must have a girlfriend in Montgomery. Two weeks will give him time to rekindle the relationship. A plan formulated in her brain she wanted to pursue when she got home. It involved a handsome barnstormer.
Chapter Sixteen
Ruth Ann stood in the crowded terminal watching for one of Victor’s planes. She saw the red airplane land, and Frankie got out. She grabbed her suitcases and raced to meet him. She had an urge to hug him. She dropped her suitcases to the ground.
Without making eye contact, Frankie lumbered toward her and gathered her cases. “How did you get here, did you take a taxi?”
She wanted to lie. “No, Ronald dropped me off on his way home to Alabama.”
“I see.” He walked beside her keeping his gaze anywhere but on her.
She wanted to make Frankie as jealous of Ronald as she was of Audrey. “Yes, we longed to spend Christmas together, but you know how families are.”
He threw her suitcases in the back of the plane. “No, I don’t know how families are, I don’t have one.”
She hated to hit below the belt; he didn’t deserve it. “You have a family, Victor and you are like brothers, and Ma thinks of you as a son.”
He extended his hand and helped her into her seat. “Yes, you’re right. I’m lucky to have Victor and his family.”
Frankie readied for take-off. The Beechcraft Staggerwing ascended into the air in the direction of Saplingville. He raised his voice above the engine noise. “How’s school? I hear you’re in a play this spring.”
“Yes, the end of March. I have a lead role.”
“I heard Ronald’s your love interest in the play, that’s convenient.”
She recognized contempt in his tone. “Yes, it is, makes acting the part easier.”
“Doesn’t that take some of the fun out of acting?”
It’s acting because in real life I have to fight
him off. But in the play, I pretend I want him to love me. “No, acting’s always fun for me.” Now was her time, butterflies fluttered in her stomach, but she had to get the dig in. “What about you, heard from Audrey?”
He inhaled a deep breath and blew it out. “No, and I don’t expect to ever hear from her again.”
A feeling of jealousy started at her feet and rose through her body. “I’m sure you miss her.” She glanced hoping for a reaction to confirm her suspicion. “Talk about an actress, she played the part of a sexy gold digger perfectly.”
“Good Lord, Ruthie, you really know how to beat a dead horse to death.” He glared and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want to discuss this with you. It’s a part of my life I want to forget. We’ve talked about this already, you said you wouldn’t bring it up again.”
She saw the hurt in his face. “I won’t say anything more.”
“Fine.” Frankie concentrated on flying the airplane.
She leaned her head on the seat and closed her eyes. The tension in the cockpit thick as her mother’s potato soup. She peeked at Frankie’s tall frame filling the pilot seat. He commanded the airplane with confidence and skill. She stared at his handsome profile and imagined kissing him. A longing swept through her, and she fidgeted in her seat. Frankie’d been her secret fantasy since her sixteenth birthday party. A summer night she’d never forget. They were at Uncle Walter’s for a hayride. The mule got spooked. and the wagon jerked, she’d almost ended up in his lap. Their eyes locked, longing swept through her body. Since that day, every time she was with Frankie, thought about Frankie, or someone mentioned Frankie, a cloud of longing and desire seeped into her core.
He worked as a mill hand at the Spangler Cotton Mill. She pegged him for an ignorant mill worker, but as she got older, she saw him for what he was. Frankie Howard, a handsome, strong-willed, smart man who could do anything he set his mind to. He didn’t finish high school because he ran away with the flying circus, but he was well read and knew more about current events than she did.
Ruth Ann drifted to sleep and woke when Frankie silenced the engine of the airplane. “We got here quick. I’m glad I missed the landing. It scares me to land and take-off.”