Who Needs Cupid?

by Debra Salonen, Molly O’Keefe

  “I’ll take those to the post office tomorrow morning so they go in the eight o’clock mail,” Lucky said.

  They both watched Mrs. Simmons carefully put the check in the envelope and then lick the flap. She sealed it with a definitive rub of her fist. “I’ve got stamps in that drawer.” She pointed to the telephone table.

  Lucky fished through the drawer and found a half used sheet. “Christmas stamps?”

  “Yes. Those are the ones.” Mrs. Simmons nodded as she took it. “Got too many, so many of my friends are dead.” Both he and Lucky watched as Mrs. Simmons’s trembling hand carefully peeled off the stamp and stuck it to the envelope. After she repeated the action, she gave Lucky the envelopes.

  “Thank you so much for coming to visit an old woman,” Mrs. Simmons said. “Would you like more cocoa?”

  “No, thank you.” Lucky patted her hand.

  “Is there anything else we can do for you?” Josh asked.

  The elderly woman shook her head.

  “How about the toilet?” Lucky asked. “Are you still having problems with it?”

  Mrs. Simmons brightened. “No, Seth Conner came and fixed it.”

  “Seth did?” Lucky sat down. “When did he do that?”

  “Wednesday.”

  “How’s he doing?” Josh asked. “I haven’t seen him lately.”

  Mrs. Simmons frowned. “Not very well.”

  “Really?” Lucky asked. “What’s up?”

  “The baby, little Rachel. She’s sick again.”

  Lucky sat up straight. “I thought she was in remission.”

  “She was.” Mrs. Simmons sighed. “But she needs more tests and he’s having trouble with the insurance people. He didn’t say that, but I’m sure he is. I tried to give him money for fixing my toilet but he wouldn’t take it.”

  “I’ll talk to Herb Chambers. He’ll know if Seth needs anything,” Josh said as he handed Lucky her parka.

  “He won’t take money. Too much pride,” Mrs. Simmons warned them.

  Lucky planted a gentle kiss on her wrinkled cheek. “He won’t even know.”

  Now it was Mrs. Simmons patting Lucky’s hand. “You’re a good girl. I’m so glad you two are back together again. Never let something like a little quarrel get in the way of a good friendship.”

  Lucky just waved as she walked out, heading quickly to his truck, getting in, without saying a word.

  Josh started the truck and let it idle while it warmed up.

  “How are you going to tell her that you’re closing the church?” Lucky asked. Her mouth was tight, the way it always was when she disagreed with him.

  “I can’t wait for Mrs. Simmons to die before I leave,” Josh replied, his tone more terse than he intended. “I never said that it would be easy.”

  “You could have better timing.” Lucky was equally terse.

  “Tell me, Lucky. When is a good time to leave?” Josh couldn’t help the sarcasm that crept into his voice. “After the roof of the church collapses and kills the eleven remaining members of the congregation?”

  “We can raise money for a new roof,” Lucky countered. “For that matter, the Duck is doing okay. I have plenty in savings. I can give you all of it.”

  Josh exhaled. “It’s not just the money. It’s everything. It’s the fact that I’ve been tied to the church since my dad died. I’ve been working my tail off and—”

  “And we appreciate you for that.” Lucky’s tone changed. “Everyone knows how hard you work, how much you contribute. That’s why this is unthinkable.”

  “It’s not getting better, Luck. It’s not.” Josh shook his head. “We’ve got to let it go.”

  “I don’t want to let it go. It’s our history, Josh. Even much more yours than mine.”

  “Then you should believe me when I say it’s done.” Josh revved the engine as he put the truck in gear.

  LADEN DOWN with several bags of groceries, Lucky staggered up the icy walk to the small bungalow, Josh following right behind her. Seth Conner opened the door for her and took Lucky’s load, and his children crowded around them.

  “What’s this?” Seth asked.

  “We’re starving,” Lucky said, leading the way to the small kitchen. It was neat and clean. No one would ever suspect that a family of eight lived here. She looked meaningfully at Josh who was doing a quick survey of the children. “And I was saying to the pastor here that I hadn’t seen you folks since before Christmas.”

  “Lucky got the idea to have a picnic,” Josh finished, rolling his eyes to Seth. “You know how Lucky is when she gets a crazy idea. If she wants a picnic it doesn’t matter if there’s snow.”

  Lucky made a face at him and turned her attention to the children. They were looking a little thin, and she made a mental note to drop by later in the week with another load of groceries. She summoned a cheerful smile.

  “We could have a picnic in the living room,” Lucky said in inspiration. She looked at the preteen who was standing shyly in the corner. “Missy, there’s got to be a blanket that we can use.”

  The eldest of the children smiled. “I know what we can use, Miss Lucky. We have a large sheet.” She darted out of the kitchen and two other children followed her.

  “Where’s Em?” Lucky asked. She fished through the paper bags and brought out a loaf of bread. As if choreographed, Josh started unpacking the rest of the groceries and recruited the middle boys to help him stock the refrigerator, which was painfully empty. Assembly-line fashion, he passed gallons of whole milk, cartons of eggs, packages of lunch meat and fresh vegetables to the boys. She felt as if she could cry. How could Josh think his work was done?

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to call up the most cheerful smile she could. Then she focused her attention on Seth. “So Emily left you in charge, huh?”

  “She’s at her folks’,” Seth answered, averting his eyes.

  “She’s with Rachel until the day after the day after tomorrow,” piped up Christopher. His head barely reached the large table that was wedged in the kitchen nook. He climbed up on a wooden chair to get a better view.

  “Really?” Lucky asked casually, though she felt for the little girl.

  Seth stood in the doorway, his arm raised, his hand hanging onto the frame. “Rachel’s got to have more tests.”

  “She’s sick again,” Christopher informed them. “And has to be at the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry,” Josh said. He put his hands on the heads of the two boys. “Is there anything we can do?”

  Seth shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “Is it bad?” Lucky asked as she handed Josh a jar of mustard, which he opened for her while she found a knife.

  “Not too bad,” Seth hedged.

  As if they’d done it a thousand times, Josh tossed her a package of lunch meat, which she caught with one hand. “Not too bad means?”

  “Her white blood cells are lower than they should be.”

  “I am so sorry.” She opened the lunch meat and started layering generous portions on the bread. “Are you sure that there’s nothing that we can do?”

  After a long silence, Seth passed his hands over his eyes. His voice cracked just a little and he said, “Just pray for us. Josh, you must have the emergency line up to Big Man, right?”

  Lucky couldn’t help herself. She stopped what she was doing and went and gave Seth the biggest hug she could muster. “We’ll all pray for you and Emily and Rachel.” Seth’s returning squeeze confirmed that a hug was exactly what he needed.

  “And for me, too!” Christopher put in, clambering off his chair to squeeze Lucky’s leg.

  Lucky patted the little guy on the back. “I’ll send a very special prayer up for Christopher Conner.” She looked up at Seth. “If you need to be with Emily and Rachel, call me and I’ll come and look after the kids.”

  Seth backed up with a tight smile. “We might have to take you up on that.” He cleared his throat and then clapped his hands and said loudl
y, “So where’s Missy-Meister with that picnic blanket?”

  Missy burst into the kitchen with an old sheet, and Seth went to help her spread it out.

  Missy came back in. “Can I help?”

  “Sure.” Lucky shot her a big smile. “You can open those bags of potato chips. Josh, where’s the cheese?”

  “American or Swiss?”

  “American,” she answered, winking at Missy who had grabbed the chips. Josh came up behind her, the package already open, giving a slice of cheese to each of the children who carefully removed each slice from its plastic wrapper. “Put it on here,” Lucky instructed them and soon there was a whole pile of sandwiches.

  “Carrots and celery, too.” Josh came up with two bags of precut carrot and celery sticks and gave one to each of the boys, while Lucky carried the sandwiches to the living room. She sat down on the sheet and before long the sandwiches had disappeared and chips were scattered everywhere.

  “Sorry about the mess,” Lucky apologized. “I didn’t mean to make more work for you.”

  Seth shook his head. “Nothing a vacuum won’t take care of.”

  Missy, who was sitting next to her father, wriggled her way under his arm.

  “Thanks, you guys,” Seth said meaningfully. “You’ve helped a lot.”

  Lucky just shrugged and shot a look at the too-quiet Josh. “We’re glad to. That’s what neighbors are for.”

  After they’d cleaned up and heard the gossip from Missy, Lucky and Josh were ready to leave. All the Conner children gathered around the door to say goodbye. Seth and Josh exchanged handshakes and Lucky gave Seth another reassuring hug, which led to a series of hugs with each the children. “Remember if you or Emily need some time, just call. I’d be happy to come over,” Lucky said as she gave Christopher one last squeeze.

  “And let us know about Rachel’s test results,” Josh added.

  Seth nodded. “Will do. You both be safe out there. We’re lucky to have the two of you.”

  Lucky shot a glance at Josh to see if Seth’s words had made any impact, but his face didn’t reveal anything. Could she go with Josh, even if she didn’t think he was doing the right thing?

  “Where to next?” Lucky asked as they pulled away from the Conner house.

  Josh didn’t reply. And she could see he was a million miles away. Lucky didn’t interrupt his thoughts. She was starting to feel bad about what she’d said. She’d been speaking out of her own hurt, from her need to cling to what had always been between them. She was doing a disservice to Josh if she thought he’d made any of these decisions lightly. She knew he felt the Conners’s pain as much as if Rachel were his own child.

  “I’ll take you home.”

  “You sure?” Lucky didn’t want the drive to end. She didn’t want Josh to be silent.

  But he only nodded and returned his gaze to the snow covered landscape in front of him. As they drove up the hill to the church, Lucky said, “You want to come over for a movie or something?”

  Josh shook his head. “No, thanks.”

  “Okay.” Lucky opened the door and slid out. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

  “Luck?” Josh called before she could shut the door.

  The way he said her name had her heart beating hard with hope. “Yes?”

  “Thanks for coming today.” His eyes remained enigmatic, but she could tell he was being sincere.

  She could only manage to nod.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Thursday, January 18

  OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS, Lucky had tried to make an effort to be optimistic. But her mind was stuffed full of plans and contingencies. She had a page of all the reasons why she should stay in Fenelon Falls. On the other side, she’d written one word. Josh. Cupid wasn’t helping her much here. If he was on the job, he’d somehow convince Josh to stay. Maybe she shouldn’t have threatened to assassinate him.

  Running into him—Josh, not Cupid—at the post office, the supermarket, in the street right outside her shop made her even more confused. When she’d gotten home the previous day, her driveway and the walkway up to her front door had been shoveled. She knew Josh had done it. She’d also seen a slew of repair trucks in front of the church and that puzzled her even more. She’d tried to coax out of Mr. Chambers the reason he was at the church, but the electrician was uncharacteristically closemouthed. Her heart did a little jig. Maybe Josh was reconsidering.

  She wanted to talk to Elle and Becca, but she just couldn’t. Now, she was pondering her life, as she rearranged her store window, putting in Valentine’s Day notepads and stuffed animals and large Mylar hearts. The display was her favorite kind of work. She changed her store window every few days, giving centerstage to different products. It was an effective strategy that got more people to come in. She also put Becca’s poster in the window, much to the artist’s chagrin, but Lucky had already had many people put in their order for the special handmade cards, even though they didn’t know Becca created them. The added benefit of working on the store-front was that she could see all sorts of comings and goings, including Herbert Chambers parking his truck right in front of her shop.

  Lucky was surprised when he opened the door and walked inside. This had to be the first time he’d ever been in her shop. She’d known him and his wife, Cora, for her entire life. When she was younger, the Chambers had sat in the front every Sunday, but when Tommy, their only child, was killed, they’d become active members, the most stalwart of the group.

  Without a hello or how are you, the electrician got right to the point. “Came to pick you up.”

  “What for?” Lucky smiled her greeting.

  “We’ve got to go.”

  “But I can’t just leave,” she protested.

  “Put the Gone Fishing sign on.” Mr. Chambers obviously wasn’t taking “no” for an answer.

  “Can I at least get my coat?” Lucky asked, although she was already heading to the storeroom. When she returned, Mr. Chambers had already put the Will Be Back sign in the window. Mr. Chambers wasted no time, scooting her into his truck after she locked the door and started it up.

  Before he could put the gear in Drive, she asked, “What’s this all about?”

  “The pastor wanted me to pick you up.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s calling a meeting.”

  “A meeting?” Lucky felt her heart drop to her stomach. Josh was going to make the announcement about the church, about his new job. And he’d known that if he asked her, she wouldn’t attend. He was right. She would have found a reason not to go. She didn’t want to watch him throw away Fenelon Falls.

  When she and Mr. Chambers walked into the church, Josh looked up, and she saw the firm determination in his face. Lucky greeted everyone in the small group. Jane, Elle’s sister and also the church treasurer, had taken time from her busy accounting practice to be there. So was Ginny, who organized the after-service reception, as well as Cora, Mr. Chambers’s wife, who did double duty as secretary and Sunday school coordinator, when there were enough children to have Sunday School, which there hadn’t been in well over a year.

  As she took her seat, Lucky felt helpless. She knew in her heart that if Josh had just held out a few more years, the congregation would rebound and once again thrive as it had when his father was alive.

  After clearing his throat to gain everyone’s attention, Josh began to speak. “First, let me thank you all for coming out on such short notice,” he said to everyone, though he gave Lucky a meaningful glance. “I know you’re interrupting your workday to be here. Jane, especially, you.”

  Jane did look a little frazzled. Lucky knew because Becca and Elle were such close friends, Jane often felt ignored. Part of it was her personality, which was strong, even overbearing at times. But inside, Jane had a good heart. It just seemed that when it came to Becca, Jane never truly listened to what Becca wanted. And Elle did.

  Josh coughed and then said, “This is probably the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do.�
� He rushed his words. “Many of you were here with my grandfather or my father. As you know, we’ve been having problems with our membership.”

  “Who’s the problem?” Lucky asked and looked around teasingly. “I think we can take ’em.”

  Everyone chuckled, even Josh. Good. She got a smile out of him. But it wasn’t enough.

  “After a lot of hard thinking,” Josh continued, “I’ve decided to take a new position at another church.”

  Before anyone could make more than a small gasp of dismay, he added, “In another town.”

  Josh cast a quick glance in Lucky’s direction as if asking her to help him out, but she kept her expression as neutral as possible. If Josh was going to do this, he was on his own.

  “So what happens to the church?” Jane finally asked.

  “As you all know, the church property is owned by me and my family,” Josh carefully replied. “I’m selling the church property and the rectory.”

  Lucky sucked in her breath in shock. That was news to her. Now, they wouldn’t even have a location. Josh was really ridding himself of Fenelon Falls, as if the town was his albatross.

  “I’ve talked to the other ministers in town,” Josh offered them. “And they are more than happy to welcome those of you who want to join them. You know, they’re all good churches, newer churches with more programs…” His voice trailed off as he looked at the faces of his parishioners trying to digest this new information.

  “Do you have a buyer?” Mr. Chambers asked.

  “Nothing’s final. But I’ve been offered a good sum for the property. Things are different now. People have lives that are so jam-packed there’s little time on Sunday for church. And with the layoffs—” He cut short the rest of the sentence.

  “What do the buyers want to do with the church?” The question shot out of Lucky’s mouth. Even to her ears, it sounded sharp and critical, and she saw Josh wince.

  However, he hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before replying, “It’s a warehouse store that will bring new jobs to Fenelon Falls.”