Summer by the River

by Debbie Burns

  There was a look of compassion on Carter’s face that created a knee-jerk reaction in Josie. She did her best to swallow back the wild storm inside her that made her feel like her insides were full of shaken-up carbonation. “From just one meeting? You’re honestly going to tell us you know everything important about him in that short of a time?”

  “Yeah, I am.” For the second time in a few minutes, Carter’s remarkable blue-green eyes were drilling into hers. “Sometimes that’s all you need to learn the important stuff.”

  Chapter 17

  A storm was rolling in; Carter could smell it in the wind. It would be his first one in Galena, and he wanted to savor it but was fighting off a tidal wave of fatigue after a late night writing. After pressing Save, he closed his laptop and sat back in his chair on the lower terrace where he’d taken up residence most of the afternoon the last several days. He couldn’t decide between heading into town for a large cup of coffee and heading upstairs for a quick nap as the storm passed over.

  A glance around the patio showed the last of the diners had spotted the dark clouds to the west and were finishing up their lunches. Josie, Linda, and one of the servers were collapsing the table umbrellas and collecting cups and dishes.

  Carter stood up and closed the umbrella at his table and neighboring ones too. As he did, he spotted a glimpse of one of the stray cats in one of the flower beds down the hill. He’d been leaving small handfuls of Tidbit’s food at the bottom of the yard where they seemed to hang out most. Carter had gotten within five feet of one yesterday evening, but a noise had scared it off at the last second.

  “You’re making friends who will miss you when you leave,” Myra had said. She’d been referring to the cats but, quite possibly, not only them.

  Vacations weren’t meant to last forever. Even knowing this, Carter was leaning toward unpacking the last of his things and staying on like he’d told Josie he would. There were a thousand things he loved about New York. And there were a thousand others he longed for that evaded him in a city with over eight and a half million people, like the quiet expansiveness he felt in the vicinity of more trees and animal life than people.

  The small-town upper Midwest might not be the sprawling plains of the west Texas of his childhood, where the most populated thing around was the star-filled night sky. But he experienced a peace here that eluded him in New York. Back there, he’d been so busy living, he thought it hadn’t mattered. In the never-ending buzz of the city, he was productive and focused. It took stepping away to realize that came with a cost.

  Three months ago, he’d missed a train at lunch and had a dead cell phone and decided to walk the twelve blocks from his client’s back to his apartment on West Tenth. During that thirty-minute walk, he sidestepped to avoid a puddle and ended up glancing through the window of an Indian restaurant. He was stunned to spot Katherine at an undersized table for two having lunch with her old boyfriend.

  Even though they’d never met, Carter knew right away who the guy was. He’d seen a dozen pictures of him on Katherine’s social media accounts in the early months of their relationship. The prick had his hand over hers, and she was smiling and staring into his eyes and not pulling away. And Carter knew in an instant that things between him and Katherine had been over for months, though neither of them had had the courage to acknowledge it.

  He’d kept walking, not because he was afraid to make a scene and bust up their rendezvous; he needed to process all the shit he’d been shutting out that was suddenly rushing at him like a freight train.

  She came home late that evening and he confronted her. Eventually, she admitted to cheating on him that very afternoon. Her excuse was that things hadn’t been the same between the two of them for a while, but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to break off their engagement. They still had something; didn’t he think so?

  Carter didn’t.

  After she’d taken off to find somewhere else to stay for the night—her old boyfriend’s, he had no doubt—he’d gone to the drugstore for a bottle of Jack and a pack of cigarettes. A few weeks of walking the city and letting in thoughts he’d been too busy to acknowledge, and he knew he wanted—needed—to get out of New York for a while. Quite possibly forever. Rolling up his sleeves and helping his dad find out more about his grandfather had seemed like a perfect distraction while he figured out what he wanted to do next.

  And all of that had led him here. To this place that seemed to be lagging behind in time by a few decades. To Myra. The tea garden. Zoe. And Josie.

  He was done smoking now. Done being angry at Katherine. Done with her altogether. Ready to get on with his life.

  And part of figuring out what that entailed included getting a handle on what he was feeling for Josie. And what she was feeling for him.

  He’d not planned on meeting anyone. Not for a long time, and certainly not in this backwater town. But he couldn’t escape the thought that he’d sidestepped that puddle and looked into that window a few months ago for a bigger reason than he’d first realized.

  When he wasn’t writing or interviewing Myra and sitting in awe of her strength and her dynamic life, he was either in town searching for mention of his grandfather in the Galena archives, convincing Josie to let him tag along on one of her afternoon jogs, or playing Uno with Zoe after school.

  And he wasn’t eager for any of it to end.

  The reopening of the tea garden proved interesting. There was Mr. Lange, the neighbor who poked around in the garden every morning, deadheading flowers and trimming plants, then wandered up the hillside for an early free lunch. Carter ate lunch with him on Wednesday and was intrigued enough by Mr. Lange’s eccentricities to want to put him in a novel.

  It was something Carter could count on, the way a dozen things a day presented themselves as story fodder. In Mr. Lange’s case, it was the meticulous way he both gardened and ate his lunch, quiche lorraine with half a grapefruit, five days a week.

  The whole place proved to be a bit of an anomaly, and an intriguing one.

  On days with the nicest weather, the tea garden sold out of the most popular items on the menu before closing. No one seemed to care that, with a little more effort and preparation, they should be able to considerably increase their profits.

  There was a plus side to selling out each day, Carter was beginning to realize. He was doing his arteries a favor by not getting in the habit of eating leftover quiche for dinner every night. And as he became intent on extending his stay beyond the end of summer, the more important that was. It wouldn’t do to eat like he was on vacation indefinitely.

  While she’d seemed against his staying on at first, as the week passed, Josie seemed to be laying down her guard a bit. She’d been letting Carter jog with her, and earlier, when their hands brushed as she handed him a glass, she’d not jerked away like she had the first time or two they’d touched. She was also including him in conversation, looking at him more, laughing at his jokes here and there.

  Baby steps, he reminded himself as he gathered his computer and slipped his paperwork into his laptop case. Baby steps to what? He didn’t know the answer. The only thing he knew with any certainty was that his questions about her were still lining up like dominoes. And the more there were, the more he was drawn in.

  An attention-grabbing rumble of thunder rolled across the darkening skies. Deciding to hold off on the coffee, Carter headed upstairs. He’d doze a bit but not long enough to miss heading out for a jog with her, so long as the rain let up in time.

  * * *

  Josie curled up on her bed after changing out of her rain-wet clothes, listening to the angry storm. If there wasn’t a pile of work waiting for her downstairs, she’d lie down until it passed, letting her mind wander wherever it wanted, even if that meant to thoughts of Carter.

  Finally, knowing the money wasn’t going to count itself, Josie headed downstairs to tally the day’s rece
ipts and compare them to the cash and checks on hand. How long they’d be able to get by as a cash- or check-only restaurant, she wasn’t sure. Most of the customers her age kept trying to pay with their phones. And hardly anyone carried a checkbook anymore.

  Carter stepped into the kitchen when she was halfway through counting.

  “You going for a run before Zoe gets home?” He stifled a yawn as he joined her at the table, sinking into the seat next to her. Aside from Linda, who was in the pantry finishing inventory, the rest of the small staff had gone for the day.

  Josie attempted not to notice how the back and side of his hair was just a touch disheveled like he’d been napping and how it was more than a bit endearing. “Does it look like it?” She meant for her words to come out more playful than they did. And possibly to make more sense. She was dressed in capris, a cornflower-blue tank, and tennis shoes. Clearly, she did look ready for her afternoon jog.

  Carter didn’t seem fazed. “Yes, but it’s still raining. Hence the question.”

  “When it lets up,” she conceded. The blowing winds and thunder and lightning had moved on, but a quenching rain persisted.

  “Great. I’ll join you.”

  She huffed. He wasn’t even asking anymore. He’d run with her almost every day this week. It was clearly getting to be a “thing.” “You know, my favorite time to run is after a storm passes. So, if you don’t mind, I’d rather go alone.” She glanced up from counting for a second to make a point.

  In answer, he scooted his chair closer to hers and leaned over. “You sure about that?” The feel of his breath on her neck made her skin burn. “You know there’s a dozen benefits to jogging with a buddy.”

  “She isn’t,” Linda said from inside the pantry.

  Josie pressed her eyes shut a brief second. Shouldn’t Linda’s loyalty be to her, not Carter? In order not to lose count of the cash, she scribbled on the register tape. Then, she scooted her chair so her and Carter’s shoulders were no longer touching. “Carter…” What did she want to say?

  With that devilish grin lighting his face, he scooted close again and nudged her with his shoulder. “Want me to name them?”

  A half snort escaped before she could pull it back. It wasn’t flirting, she told herself, when she locked one hand over his shoulder and the other on his waist in attempt to scoot him further away. She giggled when she ended up pushing her own chair away in the process and further from the pile of money.

  “That’s basic physics for you, sweetheart. I’ve got forty or fifty pounds on you, at least.”

  “Carter, pleeeeease,” she mimicked Zoe. “You have no idea how annoying you are.”

  “Annoying or vexing?”

  “They’re the same, aren’t they? Except that no one under the age of ninety-nine uses the word ‘vexing’ anymore,” she said, leaning to reach for the stack of bills. “If I don’t finish this, I’m not going to have enough time to jog before Zoe gets home, assuming the rain does let up.”

  “Fine, I’ll leave you to your money and go change. I have a good feeling about beating you up those stairs today,” he said, rising from his chair. “But want to know the difference first?”

  “What difference?”

  “Between annoying and vexing.”

  “There isn’t one.”

  “There is. People you don’t like annoy you. People you like just fine but who’ve gotten under your skin vex you.”

  Josie rolled her eyes, but the truth was it was as if there as a balloon welling up in her chest, making her almost weightless. “I don’t think you’re right, but if you are, then I was right to go with annoying.”

  “She meant vexing,” Linda added from deep in the pantry.

  The phone rang, and Carter headed over to the counter to answer it.

  “Myra’s house of vexing, perplexing, and often-interjecting women.” He grew quiet. “Yeah, sure. She’s right here.” He walked the phone to Josie.

  Josie’s heart skipped a beat when Mark Wington, the principal of Galena Elementary, announced himself on the other end of the line. It was a minor incident, he explained, but Zoe had been brought into his office after a scuffle on the playground that resulted in another child being hit.

  “Zoe hit another kid?” Adrenaline dumped into her system. “You’re certain it was her?”

  “I’m sorry, but there are witnesses,” he said. “Teachers even. Listen, school’s nearly out. Why don’t you swing by, and we’ll talk about it? She’s a good kid. I have faith this’ll be a one-time incident.”

  When Josie powered off the receiver, she sat in disbelief for several seconds, processing the principal’s words. Zoe had hit another child. And now Josie was being called in for a visit to the principal. In her first week of school.

  Suddenly she remembered that Myra had left twenty minutes ago to visit a friend who’d had a hip replacement last week. This left Josie either to embark on the several-mile trek to Zoe’s school on foot or hitch a ride. Finally, she pulled herself together enough to give Linda a pleading look. She’d stopped her inventory and was standing at the threshold of the pantry with a concerned look on her face.

  “Seems like Zoe’s in a bit of trouble. Can you give me a ride to her school?”

  “Sure, but I’ve got to pick Melly up from volleyball at four. Think Myra will be long? Could you stick around and wait for her to pick you up on her way home?”

  “I’ll pick you up,” Carter offered.

  “You don’t know where Zoe’s school is.” Jogging with Carter was one thing; involving him in something like this was entirely too much.

  “I’ll Google it.”

  She debated a few seconds before realizing beggars couldn’t be choosers “Yeah, okay. Thanks. Linda, I can finish the inventory tonight if you’re ready.” Then she looked back at Carter. “There’s a spare booster in the front closet. And I don’t have a cell, so why don’t you just head up to the school in half an hour? But please don’t come inside. I’m not ready to explain you.”

  Carter’s mouth pulled into a lopsided grin. “Yet.”

  Ignoring his banter, Josie dashed upstairs to grab her purse and tug on a light-gray sweater. In less than a minute, she was back downstairs and trailing out the back door after Linda. “Can you put the money back in the cash box for me?” she asked Carter, who was walking them to the door. “Just leave it on the top shelf in the pantry.”

  When Carter agreed, she headed into the rain, shuddering from the cold drops that soaked through her sweater before she climbed into Linda’s van.

  “I can’t believe Zoe hit someone during her first week of school.” She felt like a tire with a slow leak, her shoulders sinking.

  Linda gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. “It probably doesn’t seem like it, but a single punch in the first grade isn’t as bad as you’re thinking. Trust me. I’ve been through this rodeo a few times.”

  Josie buried her face in her hands. “You know what they say. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.”

  “Meaning?”

  “It’s just that, knowing her father, this won’t be the only time Zoe punches someone.” She knew immediately that even saying this much would stir up questions she didn’t care to answer. Not even to Linda. Linda knew the same story Josie told anyone curious enough to ask about her past. She’d grown up in Seattle but had wanted a quieter life for Zoe. Only Myra knew the truth.

  “Temper, I take it?”

  “Not a temper, per se,” she admitted. “He was just impulsive.” Was. Did Linda pick up on it? If she did, she didn’t press.

  “If you ever need an ear, sweets, I’m here.”

  Josie squeezed Linda’s hand. “I know. And right now, that’s enough.”

  “Josie…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I never told you, but
I got pregnant when I was seventeen. I was a junior in high school, and I didn’t even have a committed boyfriend. I was leaning toward adoption, my parents toward abortion. When I see you with Zoe, how natural it is for you, and how good you are at it, well, I realize I could have done it too.”

  Josie stayed quiet, soaking in her words. A natural. She thought back to her early days with Zoe when everything was a battle and nothing she did felt right. “I rose to the occasion, that was all,” she said finally.

  “Yeah, you did. As for me, I ended up miscarrying in my eleventh week, so I didn’t have to make the decision after all, though it tore me up for months. Longer, if you want the truth. Then, seven years later, Kyle came along, and I stepped into motherhood for real.”

  Linda flipped on her blinker as she pulled into the school and rolled to a stop in front of the main doors. “Call my cell if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Linda.” Josie said, pushing her door open.

  “When you go in there, keep your chin up. We all know that girl of yours is about as genuine as they get. If she hit someone, the kid deserved it. And whatever you do, don’t apologize for her. Zoe did it, not you.” Linda gave Josie a mischievous smile. “And if you ask me, you have an entirely different fish to fry when you get back home. A man like that doesn’t come around often. Hardly ever, actually. But I’m pretty sure you know that.”

  Josie frowned. “Yeah, well, knowing something and being ready for it aren’t the same thing, are they?”

  “It’s been my experience that the most significant things don’t wait for us to be ready for them.”

  Chapter 18

  Josie settled into a worn, padded chair in Principal Wington’s office. His desk was crowded with knickknacks. A fuzzy-haired troll, an empty M&M’s jar, and several photos of his family—a middle-aged wife and three kids all older than Zoe—caught Josie’s attention. The pictures were from the same photo shoot, a fall day in a rustic park.