by Rae Walsh
“Frankie, what’s up?” Sheldon asked.
Francisco replied. “I just picked up the flyers for the play. Aren’t they beautiful?”
He held the flyers out for the others to see. The colorful papers read, “Maria and José, a refugee story.”
“They’re done,” Sheldon said, taking one. “That’s great!”
“They’re lovely,” Theresa said. “Who did them?”
“Justine,” Sheldon answered. “It’s a little early, but she was excited about them, and we decided to hold onto them until it’s time to pass them out.”
“I didn’t know she could paint like this,” Reesey said. “She usually paints whales, doesn’t she?”
Reesey was right to be impressed. Justine had done a great job. Maria wore a torn pair of jeans and sat on an old mule, and the look on her face—weariness mixed with hope—was perfect. Theresa leaned in to look over Sheldon’s shoulder, and he held his breath so he wouldn’t ruin the moment and scare her away.
“Do you know who’s auditioning this year?” Francisco asked.
Sheldon looked up. “We have a few people on the list.”
“You’d be the perfect Herod,” Francisco said.
“Herod!? How dare you? Besides, I’m not acting. I’m the writer and director. You know that.”
“I’m serious, Sheldon, your play needs a Herod who can be scary. You know you can be scary.”
Sheldon turned his head slowly to look at Reesey. She was grinning, and even Maddie was smiling.
“I’m not acting in the play,” he said with a mock scowl.
“I asked Lenny if he would be Herod, but he said no because of political reasons.”
The smile had faded from Theresa’s face. She looked off down the street.
“Lenny would say that,” Sheldon said, scowling. “Don’t worry, we’ll find the perfect Herod. What about you, Maddie, will you audition?”
“You would make a great Maria,” Francisco said.
“Me?” Maddie asked, putting a hand to her throat. “I’m a teenager,” she said.
“So was Mary,” Theresa said softly. She pulled her eyes out of the distance and looked at Sheldon. “We should go. I’m exhausted.”
Sheldon nodded, and this time he stepped forward to walk with her, taking her arm like it was no big deal. She allowed it, which surprised him. He felt longing and love wash over him in waves.
“Look for a good Herod,” Francisco called after them. “And consider the Maria thing, Maddie. You’d be great.”
Chapter Fifteen
They reached the house soon after seeing Francisco. As soon as they reached the gate, Sheldon felt Theresa relax. He let go of her arm as she opened the wooden door, and she turned to him.
"Thank you," she said. "I needed support. It's been a long day." She looked at him for a moment, leaning on one foot and then another, as if considering. "Do you want to be there when Maddie sees her new room?"
In response, he reached out and broke a bright clump of bougainvillea off the bush that climbed over the arch around the gate. He leaned close and stuck it behind Theresa's ear. He could see her trying not to smile, but she lost the battle, and a grin spread across her face.
"Don't make me revoke the invitation," she said. "Come on, Little, I've been impatient to show you."
Sheldon gave Maddie a warning look as she slouched by. This was obviously important to Reesey, and he wanted Maddie to stand up straight and be pleasant. What had gotten into the girl today? Teenagers were baffling.
But then Sheldon was distracted because the house was stunning. And not just the bones of the villa, but the warm lights Theresa had placed in all the rooms, the paintings on the walls, the way she had made it home. The kitchen was inviting, with jars of beans and grains on the tall wooden shelf beside the countertop, pots and pans hanging above the stove, and pottery everywhere.
Then Maddie's room. When they got to the doorway, Maddie dropped her surly act completely, gasping and exclaiming like a little kid. Freshly painted cream-colored walls. A hand-woven rug. A four-poster bed with a quilt the color of red wine, and hanging above it, colorful bunting and twinkle lights—twinkle lights everywhere. Baskets on shelves, a desk in the corner, a mirror over the dresser.
Sheldon walked in to get a better look and saw photos of Maddie as a little girl tacked all around the mirror, with a piece of paper that said, "You are beautiful, never forget it," taped to the top right corner. A large ceramic bowl, filled with flowers, sat on top of the dresser.
The window beside the dresser looked out into the garden, and Theresa's progress since moving day was obvious. The bushes had shapes and were separate from their neighbors, instead of tangling together in a mass of weeds. Despite all the work, there was still a mountain of work to be done.
Sheldon took a moment to get his face under control. All of this was new. The old Reesey barely remembered to feed herself. She lived in bare-walled apartments with cinderblock shelves. Sheldon didn't know what to do with all this new information: Theresa, an accomplished potter who effortlessly made a house feel like a home. A lot had changed in ten years.
It wasn't fair. Sheldon wanted to be close to her. His hand tightened on the windowsill.
Since he was a youth, Sheldon had often felt, in his low times, that the whole world was gray and dreary. People were wearisome; work was tedious. People walked around making inane comments about things that didn't matter.
Theresa was not boring. To Sheldon, it seemed as though she walked through a room trailing color behind her. She woke people up by saying things no one would think to say. He felt rather desperate. By becoming more domesticated, had she lost her wild self? By discovering she was autistic, had she dampened down the things that made her Reesey?
It was none of his business, though. By removing herself from his life, Theresa had removed the color from his world. He wasn't going to be able to keep it together. All of this was too much. Why had he even come in here? But then he heard the sound of crying, and he turned quickly.
Maddie was in her mother's arms. Theresa smoothed her hand down her daughter's back, murmuring to her. They stood like that for a long time, before Maddie pulled back to look into her mother's face. Sheldon wondered if he should leave, but they were blocking the door, and he didn't want to interrupt the moment. He stepped softly over to the bed and sat down.
"I'm sorry for being mean," Maddie said in a low voice.
"It's okay, radiant girl," Theresa said. "You can be mean if you need to. I know this hasn't been easy for you." She looked as though she wanted to say more, but stopped herself. After a moment, she said, "It will be better. I know it."
"You made a perfect place," Maddie said with awe in her voice. Her eyes were wide as she gazed around.
"Have a look," Theresa said. "I brought your things. I got rid of clothes that didn't fit you, and things I thought you might not want anymore are in that trunk over there, but most of your stuff is organized on your shelves." She paused, looking shy. "And some new stuff. I hope you like it. I went through your Pinterest boards to see what you like."
Maddie's back was turned to Theresa as she looked through her closet, but Sheldon could see the girl's face, and he couldn't help smiling at her radiance. He gave Reesey a thumbs up. Reesey's face was such a mixture of hope, sorrow, and vulnerability that Sheldon knew he had to leave, or he would kiss her.
Kissing Theresa was hopefully part of his plan, but Sheldon wanted to do it when she was ready, and it would ruin everything right now. He made his excuses and got out of there quickly.
Chapter Sixteen
Out on the boat the next day with Sam and Frankie, Sheldon killed the motor and sat back with a sigh.
“Beer?” he asked. They each took one.
“This new?” Sam asked, looking at the label on the bottle.
Sheldon nodded. “Just in. Tell me how it is, will you? I’m still only on day twelve.”
He picked up a bottle of green tea and op
ened it with a sigh. It was good to be on the boat. The trees were casting perfect reflections over the lake, and the sun was warm on his face.
“How’s married life treating you, Sam?” Francisco asked.
Sam shot them a wicked grin. “It’s… wonderful.”
“Great,” Sheldon said sourly. “Keep it to yourself.”
“I thought you were still a monk,” Sam said. “You shouldn’t be struggling with any jealousy over my wedded bliss.”
“I’m not, that’s for sure,” Francisco said, shuddering dramatically.
“What are you talking about, Frankie?” Sam asked. “You’ve always been against the monk thing.”
“Starting to think it might be a good idea,” Francisco said, after swallowing a mouthful of beer, then grinned when he saw their faces. “Kidding. Sort of.”
Sheldon didn’t say anything. He reached over the edge and pretended to be absorbed in a bit of tar on the side of his boat, but Sam knew him too well.
“Not having second thoughts, are you, Tazzy?” he teased, and as Sheldon whirled on him, he burst out laughing.
“You’re not wrong,” Francisco said. “I think we’re losing Sheldon, and now that I’m coming around to the monk life, I’m trying to recruit Daniel, but I think it’s a losing battle. He says he never makes promises of any kind, ever.”
Sheldon felt his face burning. He frowned at Francisco. “That’s true,” Sheldon said. “He doesn’t. But I don’t know why you want to recruit Daniel anyway. It wasn’t a club. It was a promise made in a difficult time. Easily adjusted. I see no reason to invite more members.”
“You two clearly have no idea of what a vow is,” Frankie responded. “You don’t ‘adjust’ vows.”
“We made vows, Frankie, you didn’t,” Sheldon said, but Sam sat forward, his hands on his thighs, and looked very seriously at Francisco.
“Now,” he said. “Now I can say I know what a vow is. Before, I couldn’t say that.”
“What good is a vow that keeps love inside, anyway?” Sheldon said. “Isn’t it better to pour it outward? If my love can help Theresa, why keep it to myself?”
“How do you know your love can help her?” Sam said.
“She needs to know how loved she is.”
Francisco chuckled. “If you can show her that I’ll give you a job at the church. It’s the number one thing everyone needs to know.”
Sheldon shifted, taking another sip of green tea. “I don’t exactly know how to go about convincing her. But I’m going to start by helping her with her garden.”
“She agreed to that?”
“She will.”
Francisco set his beer down in the holder on the side of the boat and leaned forward, also intense. “You have it all wrong, Sam. It’s not about holding love in. It’s about spreading it around. Having time for people. You have chosen to channel most of your love into one person. I also did that, and my love was taken to the grave with my wife. Now I feel that I want to offer love to my neighbors, my friends, and the refugee families when they come in the spring.”
“I don’t think it works that way, buddy,” Sam said. “I don’t think you have less love if you offer some to a person.” He raised a hand when Francisco would have replied. “But, I want to get back to Sheldon.”
“Me?” Sheldon said, frowning. He stared at his bottle. The glass caught the light and threw it into starbursts. He wished the tea were something stronger.
“You did this before,” Sam said. “You thought you could fix her. Thought you could be Maddie’s father when Theresa was terrified of Maddie’s father, whoever he is.”
Sheldon felt his stomach lurch. How could Sam bring up the most painful point in his life?
“You’re not Maddie’s father either,” he said.
“No, I’m her uncle.”
“I’m not doing it again. No one needs to fix Theresa. She’s fine the way she is. I just want her to know that.”
They fell into silence. Sheldon watched the light play across the ripples on the lake as a breeze grew, marring the perfect reflections of before. The wind chopped the water into shapes that glittered with sunlight. Sheldon closed his eyes and let the breeze blow over him, fighting the anger that rose up inside him toward his friend. Sam thought he knew, thought he understood love, now that he had Katie. But love for Katie didn’t make him an expert in Sheldon’s life, or in the long sad story of Sheldon and Theresa.
“So, Sam, are you going to audition for the play?” Francisco asked finally.
“I’m not. Katie might, though. She likes acting.”
“Can I get your help with the set?” Sheldon asked. It felt as though he had to force himself to speak.
“Of course. Don’t I always help you?”
“You do.”
“Frankie’s obsessed with the play, even though he doesn’t have to do a thing to get it ready. That’s all me.”
Francisco held his hands up. “Hey, I printed the flyers out. I am obsessed, though. This play is important for our refugees. Few people remember that Mary and Joseph were poor, unwanted, and ended up fleeing to a nearby country for their lives. It will be good to tell that story.”
“I heard that Cam threw the script and backed out of the play when he saw it,” Sam said.
Sheldon looked up at that. “Cam, too?” At Sam’s quizzical look, he said, “Lenny did the same.”
“Yeah,” Francisco said. “I was shocked. I thought Cam and I were friends, and surely he knows my parents were refugees from El Salvador. But he started spouting all this vitriol about the dangers of immigrants.”
“Cam’s mainly a good guy, I think,” Sam said. “He hears this stuff from Lenny.”
Sheldon frowned. Cam had grown up in Aveline, become successful as a banker, and was generous and friendly, giving to fundraisers and supporting the town, even though he had moved to Billers long ago. Sheldon had always felt funny about Cam. Maybe he had sensed the hypocrisy that seemed to be showing now.
He tapped the side of his boat, his anger turning into irritation. “Why do those who have nothing to worry about yell the most about danger and jobs? And why does he care? He doesn’t even live in Aveline anymore.”
Francisco sat forward. “Well, he moved back to Aveline not too long ago, Shel. And let’s not dig into him when he’s not here. I’ll continue to pray that he changes his heart and mind about the families who are coming. God knows we need everyone to support this if they’re going to feel welcome.”
“Do we know where they’re from yet?” Sheldon asked.
“We don’t. We know we’re hosting four families, most likely from the Middle East, and we know a general timeline, but nothing is certain yet. And the organization I signed up with is sending someone to help with the transition. She’ll be here before Christmas.”
“Four refugee families in this little town,” Sam said with a low whistle. “You’re right, Frankie. The play is important.”
* * *
That night, Sheldon searched his loft apartment for the perfect thing to wear to help Theresa garden. Something to blow her away. He made his way through his shelves of antiques, every one of them with a story Sheldon wished he could know. Sam had made him shelves that divided the big loft, and he walked through the aisles of collections of model cars, stacks of books, and strange sculptures from different places in America. An old gas pump sat in one corner of the big room.
Tomorrow would not be an ordinary gardening day. Sheldon needed to show Theresa that he was serious. He opened his wardrobe, eyes scanning the clothes hanging inside. His eyes landed on the perfect outfit, the one that would change Theresa’s mind about him.
“Yes,” he said, and reached out to grab it, grinning.
Chapter Seventeen
Theresa walked to meet Katie at the end of her street, moving quickly, so she didn't have a chance to chicken out of their date. Remus trotted along as well, making his rounds of the trees as usual. Aveline didn't have strict leash laws, and Rem
us was very well behaved when he was out with her, so Theresa felt comfortable leaving him off-leash.
She noticed, though, as she approached the corner, that Katie had Sirius on a leash. Theresa had a momentary flicker of dismay, as though dog etiquette was going to be another one of those things, like having a kid in primary school and trying to socialize with the other moms. All the rules that Theresa neither knew nor understood. She had a brief flashback of standing with a group of moms outside the playground and being asked if she was okay.
"Yes, why?" she had responded.
"Oh, you just have such a weird look on your face."
She had stared at the woman, who was blond and tanned, even in the winter. "This is just my face."
Actually, Theresa had been trying to figure out what the women were talking about. It was something about playdate rules of engagement, like which parent should feed the children, who should ask who, what should be reciprocated... and on they went. Theresa was hopelessly lost. And apparently, the feeling was right there on her face. Which didn't seem fair, because she couldn't read their faces. They all looked like blank sheets with eyes.
"Hey," Katie said, and Theresa snapped back to the present.
"Hey," she echoed.
Katie was frowning at Sirius, who was walking around her legs in circles, tangling her in his leash. "Sit, Sirius."
Theresa laughed. "People are going to think we're crazy when we're calling our dogs."
Katie grinned at her. "I guess that's what happens when you let a fourteen-year-old name your pets."
And just like that, Theresa relaxed. This was just Katie, not another situation where Theresa couldn't find her footing.
"To the lake?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Katie said.
Theresa thought they must have looked funny, walking along the lakeshore. Katie was so much taller than her, though Theresa didn't find it hard to keep up. She'd always been a speedy walker. Also, Katie threw a stick again and again for Sirius, who brought it back diligently, with Remus tearing back and forth and around in a frenzy of joy. If Remus ever found the stick first, he grabbed it and then took it somewhere else, prompting Sirius to turn and stare at Katie in confusion. Katie and Theresa fell into fits of giggles over the strange, lopsided game of fetch.