by Emma Miller
“No, thank you. We haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time,” she said, “and from what he says, you haven’t even been on a real date.”
Laura couldn’t control her surprise. “He told you that?”
“Not voluntarily, but as a mother, I’ve learned what questions to ask. I bet you’ll figure out how to do the same with your girls.”
Laura thought about the future conversations she’d have with her daughters. “I’m sure I will.” They left the bedroom and found the two men waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
“I get it,” David said. “I told you I couldn’t cook, and you were trying to make me feel better.”
“Very funny.” Laura tried to stomp past him, but he tossed an arm around her and pulled her close.
“It was sweet of you to want to fix a pie, but they will have plenty of food. I bet they won’t even miss it,” he said as they passed through the semi-smoky kitchen and walked outside. “But I bet you’ll make some stray cat’s day.” He pointed to the garbage can behind the studio and the charred pie balanced on top of the bags.
Laura laughed, with David and his parents joining in, and then they drove to the church and she had her best Thanksgiving dinner ever.
* * *
The next morning, the bookstore opened at 8:00 a.m. to join in the Black Friday “Sales on the Square.” Laura’s father called shortly after and said he was on his way, and she looked forward to him arriving and being part of today’s fun. Customers filled the store and were steadily purchasing all of the inspirational gift books Laura had recommended David order for the holidays, as well as many other books in the store.
“The Christmas favorites display is a hit,” David said, placing a large stuffed snowman in the chair beside the display. “I’ve always advertised the classics at Christmas, but you were right—putting the modern stories here as well has really been popular.”
“Adults love the classics, but the teens are typically looking for something a little more trendy,” his mother said. “Laura got it right.”
“Thanks.” Laura helped another customer looking for Destiny’s book. “And it looks like Southern Love in Claremont is going to be a popular stocking stuffer this year.”
“That’ll make Destiny happy,” David said.
Mr. Presley stayed behind the counter ringing up and visiting with customers while Laura, David and Mrs. Presley replenished the items on the displays and helped customers find their desired books. It didn’t seem like four hours had passed when Laura’s dad walked in.
She didn’t realize how much she’d missed him until she saw him enter the store. “Daddy!” Laura hurried to him and hugged him tightly.
He kissed her cheek. “Hey, princess. How’s it going?”
“It was going good, but now that you’re here it’s going great!” she said.
“Now that’s a smile I’ve missed seeing,” he said. “I can’t wait to tell your mom how good you’re doing.”
Laura was often mesmerized by her father’s love toward her mom. Obviously, Marjorie Holland wasn’t easy to love, but that never stopped either of them from loving her just the same. “Mom called me this morning,” Laura said. “Just to let me know she was sorry she couldn’t come with you and that she’d call me again tonight after she got done at work.”
He nodded. “I wish she could’ve come, too.”
“Mr. Holland,” David said. It took him a moment to maneuver past the children crowding around the boxcar to get to Laura’s dad. He extended a hand. “We’re glad you’re here.”
“Thanks, David. I’m glad to be here, especially because I get to see my Laura smiling again,” he said. “Thank you for that.”
“Happy to help.” David winked at Laura then glanced down to see the child tugging at his arm.
“Hey, Mr. David, can you come help us?”
Laura recognized the boy as Matthew Hayes, one of the twins. “Matthew, is there something I can help you with?” she asked.
“Nah, I just threw one of the pillows up high and it got stuck on the top shelf. Can you get it down, Mr. David, like, before Daddy sees it?”
David laughed. “Duty calls,” he said, following Matthew to the scene of the crime. “I’ll be right back.”
“I like that young man,” her father said as they watched David retrieve the pillow and then hand it back to the kids.
“I do, too.” And that had become a major understatement over the past few days.
Laura watched as David made certain the kids knew the pillows should stay at ground level then returned smiling. “Hey, since my folks are here to help me out in the store, why don’t you go show your dad around the square? Take some time to visit, and go have lunch or something.”
Laura did want to spend some time alone with her dad, but she didn’t want to abandon David on the busy sale day. “You sure?”
“Of course. Besides, my dad and I need to run to the building supply store later for a project I’ve got going upstairs, so we’ll trade. You and your dad can help my mom out here when we leave, and we’ll call it even.”
“When does your mom get a break?” Laura asked.
“Are you kidding? She’s on cloud nine around all of these kids.” He pointed to Mrs. Presley, sitting in the children’s area and animatedly reading to the kids, who were captivated with her rendition of Frosty the Snowman. “I’ll be lucky if I can talk her into retreating to the kitchen long enough to eat a sandwich.”
Laura had to agree. David’s mom appeared to be having a blast. “Okay, then, we’ll head out and then tag team with you and your dad in an hour or so.”
“Make it two hours. It’s going to be a long day, and you’ll want that extra break,” he said. Then to Laura’s dad, he said, “Don’t let her overdo it on the walking. I try to watch and make sure she sits down and rests often, but she doesn’t always listen.”
“Sounds like he’s got you pegged.” Her dad wrapped an arm around her and then looked back to David. “Don’t worry, we won’t overdo it.”
Laura liked the fact that both of them wanted to take care of her. “Thanks, but I will stop if I get tired.”
“And we’ll make sure you keep that promise,” her father said.
Laura didn’t argue. There had been a couple of afternoons that David practically had to force her to take a break. She’d wanted everything perfect for the sale today and hadn’t wanted to waste any time. But they were right. She was at the point in the pregnancy where she had to be careful and not overexert. Early labor was always a possibility with twins.
“So, you ready?” her dad asked.
“I am.” She led him out of the bookstore and into the square. People filled the sidewalk, and signage advertising each merchant’s Black Friday sales covered the storefronts. “What do you think?” she asked.
“I think your mother should’ve come,” he said. “She would’ve loved all of this. Marjorie has spent so many Black Fridays at Macy’s that she doesn’t even realize there are more activities going on, like this type of old-fashioned thing. Look at that fountain and the geese. And all of these detailed storefronts. The architecture is remarkable. It’s like someone plucked the entire town out of the fifties.”
“I know. I love it here,” she admitted.
“I’m glad for that. I really am. I meant what I told David. It’s wonderful to see you smile again.”
“I’ve been smiling a lot lately,” she said, saying hello to several shoppers that she recognized from the bookstore and church as they walked down the sidewalk. Everyone was so friendly, and she realized that she already felt at home in Claremont. “So for lunch, how about one of the best cheeseburgers you’ll ever taste?” She pointed across the square. “You’re going to love Nelson’s.”
“Lead the way.” He walked beside her, an
d when they reached the variety store, Marvin Tolleson met them at the door.
“Miss Laura, great to see you!” he said. “I’ve had several customers come in with bags from the bookstore. Looks like y’all are having a good day.”
“We are.” She nodded toward the packed booths and soda fountain. “And it looks like you are, too.”
“God is blessing us,” he agreed, “but don’t worry. We have an open booth in the back for you. And I don’t believe we’ve met.” He smiled at Laura’s father.
“Thomas Holland. I’m Laura’s dad.”
“Well, then, I believe I met your wife here a few weeks back,” Marvin said, ushering them toward the only vacant booth. “Nice lady, but I’ll admit, I thought she was Miss Laura’s sister when she first came in.”
Her father grinned. “We get that a lot, but I take it as a compliment, as does she.”
“Well, here are your menus.” He handed them each a laminated sheet. “Do you know what you want to drink?”
“I’ll have sweet tea,” her dad said.
“I’ll have the large lemonade,” Laura said, “and we can go ahead and order, if that’s okay.”
“The babies hungry?” her father asked.
Laura grinned. “Always.”
“Well, we can take care of that,” Marvin said. “What would you like?”
“Cheeseburger and sweet potato fries.” It’d become one of her favorite meals.
“I’ll have the same,” her dad said as his phone started up with the “Rocky Top” ring tone. He withdrew it from his pocket and glanced at the display. Laura knew before he answered that it was her mom.
“Hey, how’s work going?” He nodded a few times as she apparently told him about her morning, or night would be more accurate, since the sale started at midnight. “I’m sitting at a table with her right now for lunch. Yes, it is really nice here.”
He continued talking for a few minutes and then said, “You get yourself something to eat while you have a chance. I’m glad you’re having a good sales day.” Another nod. “I’ll tell her.” He smiled. “I love you, too. ’Bye.” He pocketed the phone. “She wanted me to tell you she loves you and misses you, and that she’ll be back down here soon.”
“I’d like that,” Laura said as Marvin’s wife, Mae, hurried toward the table with two plates of food.
“Marvin said your babies are hungry—” she placed a plate in front of each of them “—so we moved your order to the top.”
Laura laughed. “I could’ve waited.” She plucked a fry from the plate and started eating it.
“But we didn’t want you to,” Mae said. “And Marvin told me you’re Laura’s dad. We’re glad you’re here.”
“Glad to be here,” he said.
They started eating, but Laura didn’t have her food on her mind. True, she was hungry, and she’d eat, but she also wanted to talk about what had been bothering her ever since her mother’s visit. “Dad, when Mom came down, she seemed to really enjoy herself and we had a great day,” she said.
“That’s what she said. I wished she’d have told me she was coming down here, but I am glad you two enjoyed some time together.”
“Me, too, but—” she decided just to tell him what happened “—but before she left, she said some things that confused me.”
He was about to take another bite of cheeseburger, but he placed the sandwich back on his plate. “Something about why she keeps leaving? Because I asked her, again, and I got the same answer.”
“What answer?”
“That she had to get away.” He shrugged. “Same answer she’s been giving me for nearly twenty-four years. Did she tell you something different?”
The eagerness in his tone hurt Laura. He so wanted to know what caused his wife to head out every now and then, and Laura wanted to know, too. Over the past few weeks, ever since she spent that day with her mom, she’d thought about the best words to convey everything her mother said, and she selected them carefully now. “She started off talking about you, the two of you, and how you were the love of her life, and that she thought she fell in love with you the first time she saw you.”
His mouth flattened, and he nodded. “She’s told me that before, and I believe her. I felt the same way. There’s something to be said for love at first sight.”
Laura imagined her parents young and so in love, and she liked the image. She almost didn’t want to tell him the rest, but she knew how desperately he wanted to figure out what caused her mother to run. “But then she said something else through the day that I couldn’t stop thinking about, something I didn’t understand.”
“What’d she say?” He’d pushed his plate forward, having lost all interest in eating until he and Laura had this conversation.
“She said that she wanted me to find someone who chose me. A couple of times she mentioned how important it was to be with someone who chose you.” Laura shook her head, not understanding it any more now than she did that day. “Is there something that has happened in your marriage to make her think she wasn’t your first choice? Or when you were dating?” Laura asked. “That’s all I can think of.”
He sat there for a second then ran his hand down his face while Laura took in his instant reaction. Maybe he did know what was going on with her mom.
“Daddy?” she asked while he straightened in the booth then leaned his head back against the seat and whispered something to the ceiling.
Laura couldn’t hear his words for all of the chatter in the five-and-dime, but she read his lips.
“Oh, Marjorie, what do I have to do to make you believe me?”
Laura leaned forward in her seat and lowered her voice, though that hardly mattered with the crowd and the noise today. Even so, she didn’t want to draw undue attention to whatever her father was about to say. “Daddy, did you—was there someone else that you loved?”
He slid his hand across the table, took Laura’s in his and squeezed. “Honey, there has never been anyone else. Like I said earlier, I think I fell in love with your mom the first time I saw her.”
“Then what is she talking about, wanting to be the one someone chooses? Why doesn’t she feel like you chose her?” Laura was so thankful for Marvin’s crowd now. Normally, it’d be impossible to have this conversation at the restaurant, but thanks to the Black Friday shoppers, that wasn’t a problem. And Laura was glad; she didn’t want to wait to hear his answer.
“She isn’t talking about another woman,” he said. “She’s talking about...you.”
Chapter Twelve
“Me?” Laura didn’t see that coming. Her mother had never seemed jealous of her relationship with her father; she was certain of it. They were all close in spite of her mother’s quirks. But surely if her mom didn’t like the fact that Laura and her dad were close, Laura would have been able to tell, right? “What do you mean...me?”
He took a deep breath, let it out. Then he glanced at the surrounding tables to apparently make sure no one was listening to their conversation.
No one was. Everyone was busily chatting and eating and absorbed in discussing the activities of the day.
“Daddy, tell me what you’re talking about.”
He nodded. “Honey, you know that your mom was several months pregnant when we married.”
Laura, of course, knew. Her parents were married in August, and Laura was born in February. It hadn’t been a secret. She nodded and waited for him to continue.
“Back then, when she told me, and I said we’d get married, she said she didn’t want me to marry her just because she was pregnant.”
The pieces clicked into place, and Laura suddenly felt sorry for her mom. “She didn’t think you would have married her if she hadn’t been pregnant.” Laura knew times had changed over the years. Back then, when a girl was preg
nant, the couple typically married. Nowadays, for example with Jared, marrying Laura hadn’t even occurred to him; he’d merely wanted her to end the pregnancy.
“I told her then that I had already known I wanted to marry her. Sure, it was quicker than we planned. She was only seventeen, and I was eighteen. But we would have married anyway. I’m sure of it, and I told her so. I thought she believed me.” He shook his head. “All of these years, that was why she kept running away?”
Laura remembered more of what her mother said during her visit. “She said that everything had been harder this year, because of me and Jared. I didn’t understand what she meant, but now I do. Me getting pregnant, and then Jared not even considering marriage to me—even marrying someone else—probably made her wonder if that’s what you wanted back then.”
“But it isn’t, Laura. I always wanted your mother. I’ve always loved her, and I always will.” He exhaled thickly. “I just don’t know what I have to do to prove it to her.”
Laura had pushed her plate to the center of the table, but she pulled it back and picked up a fry. She felt better, somehow, at least knowing what was going on in her mother’s mind. And she was determined to help her father show his wife that he’d always chosen her. Pointing the fry at her dad, she said, “Well, then, that’s our goal today, to figure out how you can prove it.”
He’d looked miserable a moment ago, but his eyes lit up, and one corner of his mouth lifted as he also reached for his discarded plate. “You have any ideas?”
She ate another fry then picked up her burger. “Not yet, but I’m not letting you leave here today until we figure something out.”
He laughed. “Your determination. You get that from her, you know.”
Laura smiled. “I know.”
“And your good looks from me,” he said with a wink, which caused both of them to laugh. Laura was the spitting image of her mother, and her father would be the first one to say so.
“I love you, Daddy,” she said, then continued working on her cheeseburger.
“Love you right back,” he said, then did the same.