Tulip ignored that, because they both knew the outcome to this conversation.
~~~~~
I hate playing softball. Kelly is so much better, having played in high school, but when our church team is short a player I step up.
Mondays and Wednesdays are reserved for ladies softball, while Tuesday and Thursdays was men’s. This, like all things in Holland, was attended by most everyone in town, but today the whole town really was here.
The Fourth of July picnic is a big deal in Holland. It’s the town’s anniversary and we’re always looking for a legitimate excuse to gather. The softball tourney always draws a large crowd. It’s free and parents get a break when the kids spend most of their time playing on one of the playgrounds or running behind the fence hoping to catch a homerun ball.
The churches had agreed to further help the Dutch and Tulip cause by featuring the couple on this year’s shirts. Tulip for the women’s and Dutch for the men’s. But you’re smart enough to have figured that one out.
Each team could add two non-members to their teams. This meant some serious competition when the ones they added were usually former college players. To say I was in trouble is putting it mildly. Sometimes when Kelly is off, I can talk her into playing for me, but she had to work tonight. Fourth of July, always good for a firework injury or two.
Somehow I managed not to strike out and got walked. This is my usual strategy. Not to actually hit the ball. Now I was on third, praying that I wouldn’t have to slide into home plate. The catcher waiting for me was a frightening sight. I didn’t know her, so I knew she was a heavy hitter the Methodists had brought in. She was a brick house.
There were two outs and I was hoping our next batter would strike out. She didn’t and I took off, fast as I could for home. Brick House was waiting for me with way too much enthusiasm in her eyes. Pumping my little arms, I did the unthinkable and slid. Unfortunately for me, the catcher held her ground.
I heard the pop and felt the pain before I landed on top of what felt like a pile of bricks. I must have cried out, because next thing I knew Dr. Rob was kneeling before me, my foot in his lap. I closed my eyes, trying not to cry, but what the heck it hurt.
“Lily. I’m going to remove your shoe and sock and have a look. I doubt it’s broken though.” Rob’s wife played for the Methodists, lucky for me he supported her softball efforts.
“How’s it look, Doc?”
Oh God. Please let that not be Jay.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the concern in his. I knew he’d been working at the concession stand. He’d smiled and wished me luck when I’d gotten my Gatorade before the game. Now I imagined that when he saw me go down, he’d jumped over the concession table, rushing to my aid.
While Dr. Rob examined my throbbing ankle, Jay continued to voice his concern, while rubbing my shoulders. Supporting me with his delicious body, he used the end of his t-shirt to dab the tears from my eyes.
I risked a look at my ankle. Big mistake. It looked bad. Swelling was setting in and it was starting to turn colors that weren’t natural.
“Someone get some ice.” Dr. Rob instructed before turning his attention to me. “Not broken, but it’s a pretty nasty sprain. Once you get home, RICE it for the next 48 hours. Did you drive here or walk?” Dr. Rob asked.
Sniffing and sneezing, probably from the dust I’d kicked up with my ill-fated slide, “I rode my bike.” After three more sneezes and an offer of a tissue, “What’s RICE?” I asked.
“Rest, ice, compress and elevate. You’ll need to ice it for 20 minutes every three or four hours and you might want to take something for the pain.” Dr. Rob asked his wife, who along with a dozen other people, were crowded around me, to pull their car around. “We’ll give you a ride home. Do you have an Ace bandage?”
“I think so.” I lied. As we all know, I’m not the best prepared for emergencies. “If not Tootsie or Ruth will,” I added. Tootsie had everything and, even if Ruth didn’t have a bandage, I bet she still has some whiskey.
“I’ll take her home and make sure she gets settled in.” Jay gently pushed me from the comfort of his chest and took off at a run before I could stop him.
“You don’t by chance have a pair of crutches, do you? If not, I can run some by in the morning on my way into the office,” Dr. Rob offered.
Only in Holland could you expect your doctor to make house calls. And who in the world keeps a spare pair of crutches just lying around?
Trying to get up, I didn’t like all the attention, but my ankle did. I stumbled around, before admitting defeat and setting back down in the dirt. Brick House apologized, but she was grinning sadistically as she said it.
I knew this would be a topic of discussion at the Works in the morning. All the men in town analyzed every softball game and my error was bound to make the Holland Top Ten Plays.
Then Jay was back, picking me up in his arms. Brick House handed me my shoe and sock, but I was too wrapped up in Jay’s arms to be offended by her smug look.
“You don’t have to do this, Jay. It’s the Fourth. Go celebrate with everyone else.” Where was Britni? Jay had played his game earlier. Surely, she should be here cheering him on. I had. He’d looked so cute in his black athletic shorts, he’d cut the arms off his t-shirt, exposing most of his chest in the process.
“Nah, I got this.” By now we were at his truck. His non-company truck. A newer model black Chevy extended cab complete with blue light on top. Carefully, as I was breakable, he put me in and then leaned over me and fastened my seatbelt. After loading my bike in the back, we were on our way.
In my driveway, I tried unsuccessfully to get out on my own, but Jay would have none of it. He picked me up again. “You got your keys?” Jay asked.
“It’s not locked.” It’s Holland; no one locks their doors.
Jay shook his head. Taking me straight to the bathroom, he sat me on the toilet, removed my other shoe and sock and washed my feet, even the good one. While he rummaged around in the cabinet under the sink, I hoped he ignored the box of tampons. Jay located an Ace bandage and wrapped my ankle with such tenderness that I felt butterflies in my stomach.
“Let’s get you on the couch, get that foot elevated, and I’ll get some ice and ibuprofen.” Jay started to walk away, but stopped when he looked at my watery eyes. “Do you want something for your sinuses too?”
“No. They’ll settle down now.” I hoped. Nothing like a leaking nose to attract the attention of a man.
Minutes later, I was lounging on my plush velvet couch like a lady of leisure with Jay as my servant.
“How about something to drink?” Jay asked.
“If it’s not too much trouble.” Stupid. I was already troubling him, what was one glass of water?
“Mind if I make myself something to eat?” Jay asked politely.
“Sure. Whatever. I think there’s some deli turkey in the fridge. Just look around till you find something you want.” Me. Me. Want me.
“You want something?” Yes, but I shook my head at his real question. My stomach felt off. I didn’t want to risk it by eating something other than the butterflies I was already snacking on.
I could hear him in the kitchen, the fridge door and drawers opening and shutting. I looked around the living room, grateful that it was picked up, but my kitchen was another story. I’d spent so much time on the Dutch and Tulip effort lately that my housework was being neglected.
What if I didn’t have any food? What if Jay preferred organic food like Kelly? The last time she was over, she’d eaten the last of my hummus and oat crackers. Well nothing I could do about it now.
Grabbing the remote, I surfed through the channels and decided on HGTV. I love watching House Hunters. It’s neat to see the way people decorate in different parts of the country. And the prices. Yikes! How did people afford homeownership? Look who’s talking. The girl who got her house free, along with most of the furnishings.
Apparently, Jay liked the show too, becaus
e after washing my dishes, he sat down with a sandwich, I was grateful I had bread that wasn’t moldy, and watched with me. He kicked off his shoes and made himself at home in a way that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter till I thought they’d take flight.
Not that I didn’t love having him here, though. Sitting on the opposite end of the couch, he held my feet elevated by a pillow in his lap, every now and then rubbing the good one. All the while asking how the other felt.
“Where’s Britni?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted asking.
He looked uncomfortable, but answered. “She and Seth went to her parent’s cabin on Patoka Lake. They’re coming back tomorrow.”
“Oh. She won’t mind this then?” Not that I had the ability, but I didn’t want to be the cause of any trouble between them. Maybe a little trouble?
“What’s to mind?” Jay looked at me, still rubbing my foot.“It’s kind of like the time I walked you home after that black eye. Remember that?” As if I could forget.
“Yeah. Thanks to you, I got my one and only black eye.” My foot twitched. My feet are ticklish, but I didn’t want to lose out on Jay’s touch, so I was trying hard to control the urge to wiggle my foot, which also hurt my injured ankle.
Ah, the price we pay for love.
“Sorry about that. It was an accident, though.” He looked like a little boy. Mischievous.
“I know. I’m kidding. I shouldn’t have been playing anyway. Obviously, I was terrible then and not much has changed.” I was in love with Jay at seven and at 25, I still was.
Yep. Not much has changed.
“How about you? Anyone special?” Jay was looking at the TV, but the pressure in his rub had increased and was no longer ticklish.
“Me? Oh no. Not with everything else going on right now.” But I’m sure I could find the time. Go ahead and put me down for the rest of your life.
“Ah. Well you’re young.” Still not looking at me.
“Young? I’m 25.” Hint. Hint. See me all grown up. Not a child anymore. Nope. There’s a full-grown woman sitting on the couch with you.
Oh, who am I kidding, I can’t compete with Britni. I grew up years ago, have lived in the same town with Jay all my life and he’s yet to see me as a woman. Why would he now?
“You’re right. I guess I just remember you as that cute little girl running around the neighborhood.”
At least, he thought I was cute at one point.
“Feel up to watching the fireworks?” Jay asked. The abrupt change of subject startled me. “You’ve got chairs on the front porch right? We could sit outside and watch them.”
He didn’t pick me up this time, but did lend me his arm, which I took full advantage of, leaning on him heavily. Sitting outside with Jay by my side, my ankle didn’t hurt so badly anymore. The fireworks display, which was partially blocked by trees, was marvelous all the same. Next year’s would be even better.
It was after midnight when Jay left. He made sure I took something for the pain and iced my ankle one final time before he all but tucked me in.
Not once did his cell phone ring, maybe he had it on silent, but at least I never had to endure Katy Perry taunting me.
Chapter 10
“Now that we have money, let’s buy something.” Tulip had never considered shopping before, but now that they knew they were worth millions, she was very interested.
“But we don’t have any money.”
“Yes we do. Didn’t you hear Lily say we have a bank account now?” Tulip didn’t know what a bank account was, but assumed it had something to do with money. Lately, all everyone did when they came to the park was talk about money.
“What would you like to buy, flower?”
“A new dress. Purple maybe. And you could use some new pants.”
“I don’t think purple’s my color. How about blue?” Dutch knew he had to dress to match his love, but purple? And Tulip was right. He did need new pants.
The mid-summer sun was out, white puffy clouds in the sky, as Dutch looked into Tulip’s blue eyes and smiled. He wanted very badly to give his girl something nice. The bouquet hidden behind his back wasn’t doing him any good.
Maybe flowers weren’t the answer after all.
~~~~~
My ankle slowed me down some. Dr. Rob did stop by with those crutches, which the kids thought that was “way cool.” I let them all take turns walking around with them the following Monday. It was our last week of Park and Rec and we were finishing with a bang by having a picnic.
Ruth insisted on helping me out. “You can’t do everything on your own sweetie. It’ll be fun for me.” Ruth and her late husband never had children, which was too bad. They would have been great parents.
The Dairy donated ice cream and Gloria brought sugar cookies in the shape of Dutch and Tulip. Glen surprised me by showing up before the picnic with an inflatable bounce house he’d rented.
“I thought the kids would like this. We rented it for our last family reunion.” He began setting it up and stayed for the picnic, making sure not too many kids got in at one time and that the bigger kids didn’t trample the smaller ones.
I was dying to get in myself, but couldn’t. Hobbling around on crutches, I made sure all the kids received the projects they’d made over the summer, while Ruth tried to persuade Glen to let her have a turn in the bounce house. He had his hands full.
I laughed, imagining Ruth jumping around with the kids, but laughed harder by the looks on Glen’s face as he pleaded with me to help him with Ruth.
Jonas was manning the grill and he was the one who saved Ruth from a broken hip by offering to take her for a ride on his motorcycle instead.
“Jonas.” I said, pulling him away from a now eager Ruth. She wanted her ride right now. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Ruth’s in her 80s.”
“Trust me. She’ll wear a helmet and I’ll go slow.” There was that wink again. “I’ll take her for a quick trip through town later. No biggie.”
But it was a biggie to me. I worry about Ruth. Sure, she seems healthy enough, but I’m not sure she could survive a motorcycle accident. She’d be safer in the bounce house.
I lost, and after the picnic was over, Ruth got her ride. I prayed the entire time Jonas and Ruth were gone on their grand tour. Pacing back and forth outside the shelter house. Not pacing so much, as gimping I guess.
“Thank you, Jonas. That was lovely.” Ruth’s hair was a mess from the helmet and I was sure she’d go straight to the bathroom to fix her bun. “I can still feel the motor humming.” Giggling like a girl, she weaved like a drunk and sat down at a picnic table. “Haven’t felt vibrations like that since Gerald died.”
Jonas looked embarrassed by this tidbit of information and I beat him by winking first.
~~~~~
A week after the motorcycle sex, Ruth and I were cleaning out her attic. Glen had made a very good suggestion and had taken it upon himself to do all the planning and advertising for a town-wide yard sale.
“I need to clean out my garage and Linda keeps too much stuff as it is,” he explained. He’d put up flyers, which impressed me, since he hadn’t bothered with them during the vote. Glen also put an ad in the paper and yard signs around town. Everyone who took part agreed to give a portion of their earnings toward Dutch and Tulip.
Not having anything to sell, I volunteered to help Ruth. She couldn’t get into her attic herself, so I was lugging out boxes and heaving them down the pull-down stairway, sneezing the entire time. Years of dust layered every surface and the ventilation was nonexistent.
My ankle was better now. Still ached sometimes, but I was walking without a limp. This would likely do me in, though. Her attic was like stepping back in time and some of the boxes weighed as much as I did.
We sorted through years of junk and sentimental items. One box, in particular, contained her brother’s WWII uniform, helmet, gun and letters he’d written home before being killed on some European ba
ttlefield in 1943. It was neat to read the letters, imagining what life must have been like then.
Germany was our enemy, yet we were a German community. Many people in town still spoke German at the time. How must that have been? When I asked Ruth, she didn’t have a good answer. Instead, she was fascinated with the helmet and wanted to know if she could possibly wear it for her next ride with Jonas.
I wasn’t aware there was to be another ride.
“Oh yes. I called Jonas last night. He’s taking me again this weekend.” She had the helmet on now; the anticipation was evident in her eyes.
Jonas could be expecting a phone call from me.
Another box caught my attention. It was a treasure trove of Dutch and Tulip memorabilia—blueprints, sketches, artist renderings of the couple. I could see that they’d had several kissing couples to choose from. In them, Dutch looked the same, but the Tulips varied. Short hair, pigtails, various colors for her apron detail. Not sure who made the decision to have her with braids, but I was glad. The braids suit Tulip.
The box also contained a copy of At the Park with Dutch and Tulip. “Ruth, look!” I said as I sneezed, pulling out the book. “How did you end up with this stuff?”
“Gerald was on the original committee. They were going to throw this stuff out, but I just couldn’t bear it.” Ruth smiled, taking the book from me.
“This is amazing. Would you mind if I borrowed these and made copies?” I’d have them framed and displayed in the windmill. It would be a pictorial history and would be a nice touch.
Ruth handed me the book and patted my hand. “You can have them, sweetie. They mean more to you than anyone else. Besides they’re not doing anyone any good boxed up in the attic.”
Perfect. Now I have five.
Ruth, who hadn’t driven in years, was also selling her car and donating the money. So I spent the next day cleaning it out. The car was in decent condition, but it had the same problem the rest of Ruth’s house did. It smelled.
The yard sale was a financial success, which was a good thing. Donations had slowed. The windmill gauge which had risen so quickly in the beginning, was slowing in its rise to the top. $20,000 is all that was needed to save my wedding, er, Dutch and Tulip I mean.
I thought about taking out a loan, but Dad stopped me, insisting that we had months to go. “Calm down, Lily. You’ll get there,” he’d said.
A Holland Kiss Page 8