The Nearness of You

by Dorothy Garlock

  Boone paused, thinking, but a smile began to slowly spread across his face. “All right. Then this is your last day in Hooper’s Crossing for a while,” he explained. “Tomorrow, we leave for the city.”

  Nervous excitement coursed through Lily. Even though she’d spent her whole life here, a lot of that time spent dreaming of being somewhere else, Lily was finally ready to go. She felt it deep inside. She would miss her father, friends, and familiar places, but with Boone at her side, she was determined to see what the rest of the world had to offer.

  “I’ll be ready,” she said. “But that’s tomorrow. What about tonight?”

  “What about it?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Tonight is the Halloween party, the end of the festival,” Lily answered. “You have a costume, don’t you?”

  “Costume? No one said anything about a costume. Besides, I’ll be busy working.”

  “You can do both at the same time.”

  “I don’t know…” he said, looking a little uneasy.

  “Don’t be a stick in the mud,” Lily told him. “Come over to my house this afternoon and we’ll see if we can’t come up with something.”

  “Clive’s going to need one, too,” Boone said, as if he didn’t want to suffer alone.

  “I’ll come up with a costume for Daisy if I have to.”

  The photographer laughed, then lowered his head and gave her a gentle kiss; out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed that Sally Lange was watching them, a pleasant smile on her face. But Lily didn’t mind the attention. She no longer worried about who might notice them. Not now. Not ever again.

  But when Lily stepped back, ending their kiss, she saw something over Boone’s shoulder that made her realize she’d been mistaken.

  There, at the edge of the crowd, wearing his policeman’s uniform, was Garrett. He was looking right at her.

  He’d seen everything.

  Lily stared at Garrett, horrified to think of what he’d just witnessed. He looked hurt, angry, even disappointed, all at the same time. Briefly, she wondered if he would come over and make a scene, but he did the opposite, turning on his heel to walk away. Lily knew that she had to talk to him. Right now.

  “I have to go,” she told Boone.

  “Why?” he asked, then looked over his shoulder, trying to understand what had grabbed her attention. All he caught was Garrett’s back as he disappeared into the crowd, but it was enough. Lily thought he might not want her to leave, that he might be a little possessive, jealous even, but Boone surprised her. “I wish he hadn’t seen that,” he said with a grimace.

  “Me, either,” Lily agreed, suddenly realizing that she’d never told the photographer about Garrett’s declaration of love for her. In the end, she decided that it didn’t matter; the trouble between she and her lifelong friend didn’t interfere with her love for Boone. It was her problem to fix.

  “Are you going to tell him that you’re leaving town?” he asked.

  Lily nodded. She had to. By this time tomorrow, it might already be too late. She couldn’t imagine leaving Hooper’s Crossing without settling things with Garrett. He was too important to her.

  They quickly made plans to meet later that afternoon to work on costumes, but when she turned to leave, Boone put a hand on her arm. “Good luck,” he told her. “I hope things work out, for the both of you.”

  “Thank you” Lily said, then set off in search of Garrett.

  She entered the crowd, pushing her way in the direction Garrett had gone. Her head turned this way then that, hoping for a glimpse of his uniform. She craned her neck but saw nothing. It was as if the parade had swallowed him up. But just when Lily was about to give up hope, the throng of people briefly parted in front of the drugstore and she saw him. Garrett was talking with someone; from the way he pointed down the street, it looked as if he was giving directions. Seizing the opportunity, Lily hurried to him.

  “Garrett, wait,” she said as he turned from the out-of-towners.

  He seemed genuinely surprised to see her, then looked around as if he expected Boone to be there as well. “I’m working, Lily.”

  “I don’t care,” she replied defiantly. “We need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t,” he disagreed with a shake of his head. “Not anymore,” he added and made to walk away, but Lily grabbed his arm, holding him fast.

  “That’s the way you’re going to deal with this?” she demanded. “By ignoring me?”

  “What do you expect me to do?” Garrett snapped, finally showing some of the emotion she was sure was churning around inside him. “Should I take it all back, tell you that I don’t really love you, that it was all a joke? Would that make you feel better when you’re kissing him?”

  Lily recoiled from his hurtful words. But she wasn’t going to back down. “Of course not,” she said. “I’m glad you told me.”

  “Glad?” he repeated incredulously. “What, did you enjoy breaking my heart?” His pain overflowing, Garrett tried to pull his arm from Lily’s grasp, but as strong as the young policeman was, her determination to mend what was broken between them was stronger.

  “I didn’t know you felt that way!” she insisted. “Maybe I was too blind to see it, maybe I was stupid, but all these years, I had no idea! To me, you were—”

  “Like a brother to you,” Garrett finished for her, then sighed deeply. He looked tired, worn down, as if revealing what he’d kept hidden in his heart had aged him. “Can’t we talk about this later?” he asked. “Once the festival is done, I’ll come over and we can sit on your porch and—”

  “It can’t wait,” Lily interrupted. The first blow she’d struck against Garrett had been when she hadn’t returned his feelings, but what she needed to tell him now would be just as much of a shock, maybe more. She took a deep breath, then said, “I’m leaving town…”

  “What?” he blurted, as stunned as Lily had expected him to be. “When?”

  She looked him in the eyes. “Tomorrow.”

  Garrett’s initial surprise quickly turned into anger. “This is all because of Boone, isn’t it?” he demanded. But rather than give her a chance to answer, he kept on. “No. No, you can’t. It’s too much, too fast. You don’t know him well enough to make a decision like that. If he’s pressuring you to go—”

  “It isn’t like that,” Lily told him, her voice steady as she tried to calm him. “I’ve wanted to leave for a long time. For years. As a matter of fact, I should already be gone.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you remember that night you scared me with your flashlight out in front of my house?”

  He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “What about it?”

  “Twenty minutes before, I’d been in Jane’s car, both of our suitcases in the backseat, headed out of town to try to make it in New York City.”

  “You’re joking,” he said with a skeptical chuckle.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Garrett’s brow furrowed. “So why are you still here?”

  “Because I was afraid,” Lily admitted. “I couldn’t bring myself to leave my father, you, the only life I’ve ever known. I got cold feet and Jane went by herself.”

  “And now you’re no longer scared?” he asked.

  Lily shook her head. “I’m still afraid, at least a little,” she answered. “But I’m not going to let it define me or keep me from doing what I want.”

  “I suppose you have Boone to thank for that…”

  “He’s the reason for some of it,” Lily agreed. “But this is about more than Boone. If I don’t take a chance now, then I’m going to spend the rest of my life wondering about what might have been. I don’t want those kinds of regrets.” She paused, then gave him a thin smile. “And maybe I’ll fail,” Lily said, echoing what she’d told her father. “Maybe the city and all the cars and people will be too much for me and I’ll come back home, but at least I would’ve tried. Can’t you understand that?”

 
But then, just as Garrett was about to answer, a man rushed over to the policeman and pointed back in the direction he’d come. “Officer, there’s a woman over there who feels faint,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s too much sun or too many people, but I think she needs a doctor.”

  Garrett turned back to Lily. “I have to go, but we’ll talk again soon,” he said, already rushing away. “Whatever happens, don’t leave until we do.”

  Lily watched him go as the band continued to play, the crowd still cheered, and the monsters on the Halloween floats kept doing their best to scare, little changed from last year, and the year before that, and so on.

  But for Lily, nothing was the same, and she doubted it ever would be again.

  Randall took one last look at Lily’s picture before putting it in his duffel bag. He and Leo had spent the morning and early afternoon packing up all their stuff, checking and rechecking the cabin to make sure they hadn’t left anything behind. No trace of them being there could remain, not even their trash. After tonight, after they’d robbed the Hooper’s Crossing Bank and Trust of piles of cash, the police would be looking for them, so the fewer leads they had to go on, the better.

  “Let’s go over the plan again,” Leo said, taking a seat at the small table.

  His partner sighed. “We been over it plenty.”

  “One more time won’t hurt.”

  “Look, I know you think I’m impulsive, that I don’t pay as much attention as you’d like, but I could do this job in my sleep,” Randall told him. “We can talk ’bout whatever you want on the ride to town, but you gotta trust me on this. I ain’t gonna let you down.”

  The older thief looked at him for a long moment, his expression hard to read. Randall expected him to start in on the plan anyway, but Leo surprised him. “Fair enough,” he said, then added, “You got your costume?”

  “It’s in the car,” Randall answered, though he wished it was in the bag with the rest of the trash. He felt like a goddamn idiot with it on, even if he had to admit that Leo had a point, that by dressing up in Halloween getups they’d be able to move among the crowd without attracting attention.

  “How about your gun?”

  Randall pulled the pistol from the rear of his waistband and held it up to catch the light of the slowly setting sun. He’d diligently cleaned it, swabbing out its chambers, and putting every last bullet back where it belonged; he might run wild with his own body from time to time, but he’d always taken immaculate care of his weapons. “It’s ready to be used if needed.”

  “Let’s hope it don’t come to that,” Leo said. “The last thing we want is to shoot someone. It’d bring all the sorts of attention we’re lookin’ to avoid.”

  Randall nodded even if he didn’t share his partner’s concern. If someone was stupid enough to get in his way, they’d catch a bullet, attention be damned.

  Leo got up out of his chair. “Let’s go.”

  They had a bank to rob.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I’M GOING TO look like an idiot.”

  Lily looked up from where she sat on the floor of her living room, surrounded by a pincushion, scissors, pieces of cardboard, masking tape, pens, and a dozen other items she was using to create a pair of Halloween costumes. Boone’s face was full of displeasure as he stared at the white sheet in his hand; a couple of holes had been cut into the old, worn fabric so that its wearer could see.

  He wouldn’t be a particularly scary ghost, but a ghost he would be.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” she replied.

  Boone’s frown deepened. “I think I’d prefer the mystery of never knowing.”

  “Do you want to trade?” Clive asked from the couch.

  The writer had been braver than his colleague and actually tried on the costume Lily had come up with. With a liberal use of aluminum foil and cardboard, she’d made him look like a robot from outer space, something straight out of a Saturday matinee. His helmet, with two huge antennae made from an untwisted coat hanger, sat beside him, as of yet unworn. He hadn’t been that brave.

  “No thanks,” Boone answered with a laugh, making no effort to hide how ridiculous he thought his friend looked. “I’ll keep the sheet.”

  “Come on,” Clive pleaded, shaking his silver arms. “Be a pal.”

  “Forget it.” Turning his attention to Lily, Boone asked, “Are you sure we have to wear these silly getups?”

  “You want to fit in, don’t you?” she replied.

  “Technically, we’re supposed to be working tonight,” Clive chimed in.

  “What he said,” Boone agreed.

  “You can do both.”

  “I wonder what Walter would say about this?” Clive asked.

  “He’d probably fire us on the spot,” Boone answered.

  Lily smiled. As much as the two of them complained now, she was sure that they’d be singing a different tune later. After all, they’d never been to the festival’s Halloween night celebration before and didn’t know what was in store for them. “If you’re coming with me tonight,” she said, “then you’re going to have to dress for the occasion.”

  “You still haven’t told us what you’ll be wearing,” Boone pressed.

  “That’s because it’s a secret.”

  “I suppose that means we’re supposed to guess,” the photographer said with a shrug. “How about the Bride of Frankenstein?”

  “Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz?” Clive suggested.

  “How about Rita Hayworth in a slinky dress?” Boone asked. “Now, that’s an outfit I’d be all in favor of and then some.”

  “Guess all you want,” Lily told them, “but my lips are sealed.”

  But as fun as the afternoon had been, Lily felt distracted, her attention periodically torn from the good times and taken back to her conversation with Garrett. She had wanted to fix what was wrong between them and didn’t like that she’d failed, at least for now. Would she see her old friend tonight? Or would she leave town without making one last attempt to heal Garrett’s wounded heart?

  Shaking off her nagging thoughts, Lily got to her feet and took the sheet from Boone’s hands. “Enough complaining,” she said. “Try this thing on and make sure it fits.” Lily draped the sheet over the photographer’s head, adjusted it so that the eyeholes were where they were supposed to be, and stepped back to examine her work.

  “I can’t see a thing in this,” Boone grumbled.

  “Then I’ll make the holes bigger.”

  “How am I supposed to take pictures?” he kept on, raising his arms as if he wanted to bring a camera to his eye, finally managing to look a little spooky.

  “You’ll figure something out,” Lily said.

  More than likely, Boone would just take off the sheet and that would be that. Still, that he’d go along with it even for a while, that he was willing to have some fun, said a lot. It was one of the things she liked most about—

  Lily was interrupted by the opening of the back door near the kitchen.

  “Honey? Are you here?” her father called out.

  Even as she’d extended the invitation to Boone and Clive to come to her home, Lily had known that her father could appear at any moment. After their talk the day before at the bottom of the stairs, she felt as if they’d taken a step forward, but if Morris was in the same room as the photographer who had captured his daughter’s heart, there was no telling what might happen. But that didn’t necessarily mean it shouldn’t.

  “I’m in here,” she answered.

  Morris came through the door focused on the folded newspaper in his hand, then stopped short when he realized that Lily wasn’t alone. “Oh, I didn’t know you had company,” he said.

  Clive managed to stand up in his robot costume, then tottered, finally losing his balance and falling back onto the couch. “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Denton,” he offered.

  “That’s some outfit you have on, son,” Lily’s father said with a chuckle.

  “Th
ank you,” the writer replied, clearly feeling plenty foolish.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. Tonight, you’ll fit right in.”

  Boone pulled off his sheet, crossed the room, and extended his hand to Morris. “I hope we aren’t intruding, sir.”

  Lily’s father hesitated a moment before taking the offered greeting. “Not at all,” he said pleasantly enough, although Lily noticed that some of the humor had left his voice. “As a matter of fact,” Morris continued, “I’m glad you’re here. I was hoping the two of us might have a talk.”

  “Dad…” Lily said, not liking the idea one bit.

  “It’s all right,” Boone told her, then turned his attention back to the older man. “I’d be happy to.”

  “Why don’t we step outside?” Morris suggested, then headed for the front door without waiting for an answer. Boone followed, showing no hint of concern, as if having a chat with Lily’s father was the most natural thing in the world. Before he closed the door behind him, he gave Lily a smile and a wink.

  “Is that something to be worried about?” Clive asked after they were gone.

  Lily didn’t reply.

  For the life of her, she had no idea how to answer.

  Boone followed Lily’s father outside, then shut the door behind them. Morris walked to the far end of the porch, his hand running along the railing.

  “You know, I always wondered what you would look like,” he said, his back still turned to Boone. “I didn’t know if you’d be blond or dark-haired, tall or short, heavy like me or thin. I hoped that you’d be a lawyer, a doctor, or a policeman,” Morris explained, staring across the street. He paused, then looked directly at Boone. “I never considered that you would be a magazine photographer from New York City. The thought never crossed my mind.”

  Though Boone’s first instinct was to speak up, it was obvious to him that Lily’s father had more to say.

  “I’m talking about the man who would come along one day and steal my little girl’s heart,” Morris continued. “The man who’d finally convince her to leave the only home she’s ever known.”