A Boy to Remember

by Cynthia Thomason

  “I’ll be here.”

  Alex and Lizzie walked to the exit, and only when she’d opened the door did Alex take a normal breath. She’d felt Daniel’s gaze on her the entire way up the aisle and now had to convince her knees to quit trembling.

  “Why didn’t you want to go to dinner, Mom?” Lizzie asked. “Those guys are so nice. I wanted to go.”

  “Maybe some other time, honey. We’ve just arrived here. Grandpa wants time with you.”

  “Okay, but if they ask again, say yes.”

  Alex nodded. You got away with this, she told herself. No harm done. Surely she could manage a short summer season without Daniel Chandler knowing the truth about his daughter.

  * * *

  “HEY, WE’VE STILL got a bridge to build. Can we get some work done today?”

  Daniel hadn’t realized he’d been staring at a closed door until Richie Parker’s voice echoed off the theater walls. Beside him, Glen chuckled. “Guess Richie doesn’t realize we got something important done today that didn’t include the bridge.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “Hiring Lizzie was a stroke of luck.”

  Both men turned and headed toward the stage, where construction of the romantic bridge had halted. “I don’t know about luck,” Glen said. “I remember Alex having a good bit of talent that summer at the resort. Maybe it runs in the family. At any rate, you and Alex made my job as choreographer run smoothly.”

  Daniel had thought of Alex Foster many times in the past few years. Because of her, that summer was the best he’d ever spent at Birch Shore. He had noticed her right away. In fact, he clearly recalled rushing up to the SUV her father drove and offering to transport Alex’s bags into the dormitory. And it hadn’t been ten minutes after her dad left that Daniel had invited her to go with him to the cafeteria for supper. And so began a relationship that seemed to have been built on days of grinding rehearsals, subpar meals and, what made it all worthwhile, moonlit walks on the beach that led to his eventually making love to Alex.

  Oh, yeah, he’d had it bad for Alex that summer. Unfortunately, she seemed to have developed something equally as bad for another guy as soon as the season ended. The resort closed, the kids left, and except for a few phone calls, Daniel never made contact with her again. He’d searched his brain for reasons to explain her sudden surprising behavior. When logical explanations didn’t come to him, he tried to forget her, to move on with other girls. But he’d ended the best summer of his life with a broken heart.

  Eighteen years earlier

  DANIEL RETURNED TO Ohio State believing that he’d met the girl of his dreams, the one who would make all his hard work and sacrifice worth it. Someday I’m going to marry Alex Foster, he’d told his friends at Ohio State.

  The first phone calls had been exciting, fun, sprinkled with sweet words, and them sharing their dreams. They planned when they would get together again. And then, the last time she spoke to him, everything changed.

  “You shouldn’t call me anymore, Daniel,” she said.

  “Why? What’s wrong? Are you ill?” If there was something wrong with Alex, Daniel made up his mind to leave campus and go to her immediately.

  “No, I’m fine. But I’m moving on.”

  “Moving on? What does that mean?”

  “I never meant to hurt you,” she said. “But I’ve met someone else. Actually, he’s a man I’ve known for quite some time, and we’ve just discovered we’re in love.”

  “I don’t believe you, Alex. Something’s wrong. We don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving. I’ll come to Wittenberg to see you. I can leave tonight.”

  “No, I don’t want you to do that.” She paused for torturously long moments. “I won’t be at Wittenberg. I’m getting married.”

  “So it’s over, just like that? We’re through?” He hated the petulant tone of his voice, but it was so difficult to get the words out.

  “I’m sorry. Really, I am.” Her voice hitched. He wanted to reach out and grab her, shake her, find out what was wrong. “I have to go now.”

  The line went dead, and he held on to the phone even after her voice had faded. It took a long time for him to accept what had happened. That the girl he’d fallen so hard for had joined the insular world of the married, while he became part of the blur of a summer soon forgotten. But Daniel didn’t forget. His grades suffered. His friendships became almost meaningless. No, Daniel hadn’t forgotten.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Glen said.

  His friend’s voice brought Daniel back from a heartache he’d carried for a long time.

  “Something wrong?”

  Daniel shook his head. “No. I was just thinking...it’s a shame that Alex is a widow at such a young age. Must have been hard.”

  “I’m sure it was, but maybe not all that surprising.”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “I heard that she married someone her father’s age, another doctor. That would make him even older than I am.” Glen smoothed a few strands of thinning blond hair from his forehead. “If you can imagine that.”

  Daniel halted, stared at Glen. “Wow, I almost can’t.” Truly, he couldn’t put the young, sweet Alex Foster with a man her father’s age. “Why would she do that?” he asked.

  “Love works in mysterious ways, my friend,” Glen said. “I’m just sayin’...the guy could have died from old age.”

  Daniel didn’t believe that, but still, it was strange. “Incredible,” he said under his breath.

  “Maybe she’ll get another chance with someone her own age,” Glen said, echoing Daniel’s thoughts. “In the meantime, our pal Richie up there is getting grumpier by the minute. Hope you’ve got some time left in your busy day, Senator.”

  “I do. I told my dad I’d be at the hardware store by 3:00. That gives me five hours, minus a few minutes to eat the lunch you’re going to treat me to.”

  Glen laughed, slapped a hand on Daniel’s back. “You got it. Isn’t it nice to have a hiatus from the state capital, Danny? You have all this time to sit around and contemplate the meaning of life.”

  “Right. Between working for you and my father, I haven’t had time to contemplate the headlines in the Greenfield Gazette.”

  Only now he found himself contemplating relationships, especially one from his past.

  CHAPTER THREE

  WEDNESDAY MORNING JUDE breezed in the back door of the house, followed by an energetic Mutt. She grabbed a piece of toast from the platter left from breakfast, poured a cup of coffee and sat in the nearest chair. “Hi, sis. I talked to Dad before he left for the office, and he says you’re going into Greenfield today.”

  Jude moved so fast and with such an economy of effort that Alex’s head was about to spin. “I am, just as soon as I take Lizzie to the Red Barn Theater. Rehearsals start today.”

  Jude munched on the dry toast, alternating taking a bite for herself and offering bits to Mutt. “She excited?”

  “She is. I think this activity is going to be great for her.” Minus the fact that she might be working with her biological father. “And just exactly why are you interested in my trip to Greenfield? I need a few things at the drugstore, so I shouldn’t be long.”

  Dusting crumbs from her hands onto the table, Jude reached into her back jeans pocket. “I thought maybe you could pick up some stuff for me at the hardware store.”

  No way. The only hardware store close by was Chandler’s, owned for years by Daniel’s father, Gus. Alex intended to steer clear of that location. Not that the junior state senator would be there, but why take the chance?

  “I don’t know anything about hardware, Jude,” Alex said. “I live in a maintained condo in the middle of Chicago. I’ve never fixed so much as a loose lightbulb.”

  “You don’t have to know in order to buy,” Jude said.
“Just show the list to Gus, and he’ll gather everything. Anyway, it’s just a slide bolt for the hay bin, some pegs for the board in the tack room, a galvanized bucket...”

  “Whoa. This sounds confusing.”

  “No, it doesn’t. Why are you acting like stopping at Chandler’s is such a big deal?”

  Jude’s ability to see through any ploy had often been irritating, but never more so than this morning. Jude had a sixth sense for sniffing out the truth, and she was right. Going to a hardware store shouldn’t be a big deal. Unless a woman’s old boyfriend, one who barely remembered her and was the key to a life-altering secret, might happen to be there.

  Alex couldn’t think of a reason to avoid Jude’s errand. Besides, rehearsals started this morning. Daniel had said he wanted to coach, so if he was anywhere close, he’d be at the theater. And even if he wasn’t, what were the chances he’d be at the store? Didn’t he have civic duties to perform?

  “Fine. Give me your list,” she said.

  “You’ll be back by 2:30, won’t you?”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “I have to pick Wesley up at the bus stop, and I want to be at the barn when you come by. Thought you might like to see some of the improvements I’ve made to the property.”

  “I would. Lizzie enjoyed her tour yesterday, and she’s even less of a horse person than I am.”

  Jude stood suddenly. “Gotta go. Got a dozen goats waiting for breakfast.” She left by the back door, trailed by a tail-wagging Mutt, and hollered over her shoulder. “Thanks, Allie-belle!”

  Alex smiled. Despite the tension of knowing Daniel was nearby, coming home had its advantages. Like being with her mother and father, and hearing the nickname she’d almost forgotten in the past few years. The Foster sisters were a tight group, each different from the other, yet loving in her own way. Alex missed Carrie. They talked two or three times a week, but even so, her absence felt as if a piece of the puzzle was missing.

  “Mom, I’m ready!” Lizzie came into the kitchen, her backpack over her shoulder, the script she’d been studying in her hand, and her dark hair fastened into two braids. “It’s 8:30. I don’t want to be late.”

  “Let’s go, then.”

  The drive on the rural road to the Red Barn was peaceful. A few farm trucks gave a pastoral feel to the mix of BMWs and other classy cars of Fox Creek neighbors. On the way, Lizzie went over her lines. “I don’t have that big a part, but I want to do a good job. This is my first real acting gig.”

  “And your last before you head off to Bryn Mawr,” Alex said. The two women had carefully considered all the top schools in the east where Lizzie could study literature, and they’d decided on the all-female Pennsylvania college. At first Lizzie had protested the absence of men, but when she discovered she could take classes at the University of Pennsylvania, which was coed, she readily accepted Bryn Mawr’s offer.

  “I wonder if Daniel Chandler will be here today,” Lizzie said as they approached the theater. “I hope he is.”

  Alex took a deep breath. “I don’t know, honey. He didn’t sound as if he’d be terribly involved when I talked to him.”

  “He’s really good-looking, isn’t he?”

  “Ah...” What would be the point of denying what was so obviously true. “I suppose.”

  “Did you notice his arms and hands? He has lots of muscles for a guy who normally wears a suit.”

  Alex didn’t answer, but she definitely remembered those strong, athletic arms.

  “I mentioned him to Grandpa, and he told me that Daniel was elected to the state senate two years ago. He’s really popular with everyone in this district. Grandpa voted for him.”

  “I would imagine that he’s kept busy with his duties. I wouldn’t count on seeing too much of him at the theater.”

  Lizzie sighed with a typical teenage dreaminess. “He’d make a hunky Henry Hill, don’t you think?”

  Determined not to focus on the fact that Lizzie was talking so openly about her father, Alex made light of the question. “I’m sure a state senator doesn’t have time to be the lead in a small-town summer production.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  They pulled into the lot and got out of the car. Lizzie entered the theater first and went right to the stage, where Glen and several other people were milling about. Thank goodness Daniel wasn’t one of them.

  “Hey there, Zaneeta!” Glen called. “Now we’re all here for the first day’s rehearsal.” He smiled at Alex. “You want to stay, Alex? I’m sure we can put you to work.”

  She laughed. “I’ve already been given an assignment from my sister. I’m on my way into Greenfield.”

  “Okay. We’ll probably wrap up around three. But I’ll have Lizzie call you.”

  Glen was introducing Lizzie to the other cast members as Alex left the theater. Okay, so their first meeting was just a temporary snag. Chances were, Lizzie wouldn’t see much of Daniel for the rest of the summer. And Alex wouldn’t, either. Crisis averted.

  Once she’d finished paying for her purchases at the drugstore, Alex drove down Main Street to Chandler’s Hardware. She’d run in, hand the list to Gus and be out in five minutes, tops. She angle-parked in front of the century-old brick building and went inside. Familiar smells made her remember trips to this store with her dad when she was a very little girl, before her studies kept her busy. The scent of freshly cut lumber, the rusty tang of old nails, the smell of tanned leather. All good memories, until she met the owner’s son and hadn’t returned since.

  Gus Chandler was behind the cash register. His gray hair was thinner than she remembered, and his skin had the pallor of an Ohio winter. But in his flannel shirt, loose-fitting denim pants and carpenter’s apron, he looked as if he was dressed for a business he loved. There was something comforting about the perseverance of small-town icons. They stuck it out, didn’t cut and run, like she had.

  Gus gave her a welcoming grin. “Well, well...look who’s here. I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays.”

  “It has been a while. You’re looking good, Mr. Chandler.”

  “You, too. Pretty as I remember. My son told me he ran into you the other day. Said you lost your husband.”

  Alex nodded. Daniel had mentioned her to his father?

  “Sad thing, that,” Gus said. “You’re too young to be a widow.”

  Alex handed him Jude’s list. “My sister needs some things at the barn. Since I don’t know what any of this is, I’m trusting you to get them for me.”

  “No problem.” He moved a few steps from the register and that was when Alex saw the cane leaning against the counter. And the noticeable limp in Gus’s right leg. “I don’t get around like I used to,” he said. “But I’ve got good help here today.”

  He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Danny, can you come in here a minute?”

  Alex’s mouth went dry. She’d thought she might see Daniel at the theater, but she hadn’t expected to find him at the store. She quickly glanced around, nervously seeking an exit. But leaving was ridiculous and would call more attention to herself than staying.

  Dusting off his hands on a rag, Daniel came from the back storeroom. His eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face when he saw her. An honest reaction or a politician’s gimmick?

  “Hey, Alex! Imagine seeing you twice in—what? Four days. Must be my lucky week.”

  “Hello, Daniel. Lizzie was hoping you’d be at the theater today.”

  “Nope. Not today. I’m helping Pop with inventory. I expect Glen will have me working a few hours tonight, though. The sets are pretty complicated for this musical.”

  He removed a Cleveland Indians ball cap long enough to smooth a lock of dark hair from his forehead before replacing the hat and tugging the brim low. “How is Lizzie this morning?”


  “Excited. I dropped her off at the theater.”

  “She’ll love working with Glen. He makes it fun.” Tucking the rag into the back pocket of his jeans, Daniel crossed his arms over an Ohio State T-shirt. His gaze, however, never left Alex’s face. She suddenly felt small and vulnerable. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

  “She’s got a list of things,” Gus said from behind the counter. “If you don’t mind...”

  “Happy to.” Daniel took the list, grabbed an empty box from the floor and said, “Follow me.”

  With the expertise of someone familiar with every nook and cranny of a hardware store warehouse, Daniel went about selecting the items from Jude’s list. When he filled the box and had seemingly exhausted every bit of small talk about Greenfield town life, he turned to Alex and said, “So how’s your stay in Ohio going?”

  “It’s all good. This is home, so you know.”

  “You bet I do. I spend most of my time in Columbus these days, but it’s always nice to come back to Greenfield.”

  Unable to pretend any longer that she knew nothing about Daniel’s career, Alex said, “I heard you were elected to the state senate. That’s quite an accomplishment.”

  “I don’t know about that. I like to think I connected with voters on a basic level of honesty and caring.”

  “I guess you did. Sorry I wasn’t here to vote for you.” As if he needed her one measly vote.

  He smiled. “I would have gotten your vote, Alex? That means a lot to me.”

  Her face grew warm. “I must admit I didn’t know your opponent, but yes, I’m pretty sure I would have voted for you.”

  He made a quick check through the box and set the list inside with the items.

  When the silence became uncomfortable, Alex said, “So, do you have aspirations beyond the state senate?”

  “We all have aspirations, don’t we? But for now I’m content. I’m working on a few projects that I believe will benefit both the citizens of Fox Creek and the Greenfielders. Just need to acquire more funding.”