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For A Visit Chapter Four
The stands in the high school gym vibrated with energy from the crowd. On the left side, it was a sea of red and white. Some high school students wore wigs while others used colored hairspray to show their school pride. With every basket scored by the Ashbrook Eagles the frenzy grew. Men hooted and hollered, and women cheered. “Get that basket, Nickerson!” or “Way to go Eagles!”
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A mixture of pride and concern filled Annie. J.R. had been in the game for most of the first and second quarter. He was a good athlete and handled the pressure from the crowd well. However, the momentum could change with one timeout session. The other team could go back on the court with a new game plan. Then, cheers of adoration would take the form of harsh rebukes, “Go for the rebound,” or “Block your man.” J.R. said the criticism didn’t bother him, but he always stayed after and threw one hundred free throws for every one he missed when the team lost a game.
When Noah arrived, he headed straight to the scoring stand and took a seat beside the coach’s wife. He didn’t acknowledge Annie at all. No wave, or head tilt of hello. It was as if she wasn’t in the building. She sank. Perhaps she thought more of the two dinners they had shared. Maybe he was just being friendly. Annie shrugged away the rebuff, concluding that her loneliness clouded her interpretation of the situation.
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After she and Jesse married, things changed. The best friends whittled down from three to two when Jesse and Noah pushed her out of the triangular relationship. She reminded herself that Noah was Jesse’s best friend and was probably making sure the absence of a father didn’t hamper J.R.’s progress.
Annie forced herself to adjust her thinking. Was she attracted to Noah? Of course. Only someone who suffered from blindness or oblivion would fail to notice how handsome he was. Annie overheard Lisa from the donut shop joke about adding some extra sprinkles to Noah’s pastry. The women who sat beside her snickered while agreeing with her.
A woman that had to be at least ten years younger and twenty pounds lighter than Annie sidled up to Noah and confirmed Annie’s conclusion. The smile he offered the young tart, filled Annie with an anger she didn’t know existed. She tasked Noah for being too familiar with someone much younger than him. It should have been obvious that the time they spent together was for J.R.’s benefit. How could she have thought he had any interest in a single mother who had a pie addiction?
Hallmark Channel stories about high school friends reconnecting in their later years happened to other people. Annie stood to go visit the concession stands. Surely, they had something to help her take her mind off the relationship that never was. The quarter was almost over, and if she left now, she’d beat the rush.
The buzzer rang just as Annie reached the counter. Allowing the foul mood she developed to guide her decision, she ordered what she wanted. “I’ll have a Pepsi, a Snickers bar, some popcorn and…” she paused and added, “I should get something healthy to go with this. I’ll also take some nachos in a bag.” Normally, a concoction of Doritos topped with taco meat, nacho cheese, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream would have given her the worst case of the day after consumption regrets. Annie didn’t care. It was her body and her life.
Carly, the cashier, peered around Annie. “Is anyone here to help you carry all this stuff?”
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“I’ll shove the candy in my pockets, and it’ll be fine.” Annie’s voice gave off more confidence than she felt. As she paid the $9.50 for the armful of food to drown her sorrows, impulse eater’s remorse struck her. She grinned at Carly, “I’m sharing the popcorn with some friends.”
“Do you want me to help you carry some of that?” Darryl the auto shop teacher offered.
Annie took one look at the grease under his fingernails and thought better of accepting his help.
She placed the nachos in a bag in his hands. “I bought these for you.”
Darryl’s face brightened. “You didn’t have to do that?”
“It’s the least I could do for your kindness.”
“Why, thank you.” Darryl took his reward and stepped forward in the line. “Can I get a Pepsi to go with this.” He waved the bag in Annie’s direction and nodded a last thank you.
Annie rushed to get into the gymnasium before the second half of the game started. If she hadn’t tried to rush, she might have missed bumping into Noah. This time he stepped back and held his hands in the air to avoid the collision. “You have an interesting way of getting close to people.”
“Sorry about that. I was trying to get back to my seat.”
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Noah’s eyes searched the basketball court where the team was taking practice shots. Annie knew when he found J.R. because Noah’s eyes targeted in on him. His face changed to show his appreciation. “My memory may have distorted facts, but from what I remember about Jesse, I think J.R. plays better than his father.” He turned back to focus on Annie. “And Jesse was one helluva player.”
Smiling at the shared memory, Annie said, “I’ll tell him you said so.”
“Make sure you do. I want him to know he has the potential to play in college if he wanted.” Something behind Annie caught Noah’s eye, and he moved in the direction.
She walked back into the gym and stopped before climbing the stairs to her seat in the bleachers.
The logical conclusion came to her. Noah and J.R. had formed a friendship. She was just a conduit. A pinch of sadness touched the edge of her conscience. The last thing she expected when they reconnected was the distance between them would remain. With the mystery of Noah’s intention being solved, she went back to her place in the stands and waited for the next half of the game to begin.
For A Visit Chapter Three
Seeing Noah the day before added fuel to Annie’s fire to get tone. While he failed to age, she looked like life had put her through the wringer and forgotten to leave her out to dry. She regarded the tiger stripes around her waist and the laugh lines around her eyes with pride. Both marks of aging represented a mother that loved. When she put her head on her pillow, she felt good about herself. Still, she couldn’t help hoping that the 10,000 steps she walked faithfully would magically melt inches from around her waist.
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Before J.R. left for school, she reminded him that they had a crock pot meal for supper. She didn’t want to be tempted by Hazel’s pies. The action proved prudent when she imagined the cinnamon and brown sugar-coated apples tendered by the baking process melting in her mouth.
Annie rounded the corner of the hall and pulled up her wrist to check her steps. It was the same place she always checked her steps. This time the turn surprised her. From out of the blue, a man’s body pressed against hers. He wrapped his arms around her and twirled so quickly Annie didn’t realize what happened until she landed on top of him and exhaled with an “oof.”
She struggled to gather her senses. What had happened? One minute she was walking down the hall and the next she was on the ground in Noah’s arms.
A smile spread across his lips, and his eyes sparkled. “I’ve had women fall for me. But not with as much vigor.”
Uncertainty filled Annie. Her heart raced, and her world lost its balance. Annie pushed at his chest to get away from him. She couldn’t help noticing that someone replaced his chest muscles with rocks. It was like pushing herself away from a wall. “I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention…” She rolled away from him and scanned the area around them to see if anyone else had seen the fall.
The sound of balls dribbling on the other side of the gymnasium wall told her the whereabouts of everyone else. Nobody had seen her make a fool of herself.
Noah stood and offered her a hand to help her up. “J.R. told me you’d be here exercising. I thought I’d join you.”
Annie accepted his hand and pulled herself up. “When did he tell you…” She never finished the question because the answer sparkled through his copper colored eyes. She also understood the sly smiles the two of them had shared over dinner after she returned from the ladies’ room.
She arched an eyebrow in challenge. “Is there anything else I need to know about what you two discussed?”
The dimple in Noah’s chin deepened as he tried and failed to suppress his smile. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
Annie swallowed hard to tamper down the fluttering of the butterflies in her stomach. What has my son done? Because she feared the answer, she kept the question to herself.
Noah eyed her Fit Bit. “How many steps do you have to go?”
Annie pressed the button too hard, and it bypassed the steps and displayed the heart rate monitor. Her pulse read at 142 beats per minute. Twenty over her normal walking heart rate. Her eyes widened, and she pressed the button several times to get back to the home screen. When she skipped it again, Annie dropped her wrist to her side and said, “It doesn’t matter, I have enough.”
His gaze traveled her body, and he smiled his assessment. “Yes, you have enough.”
It had been a long time since anyone had flirted with Annie and she didn’t know how to respond. Heat flushed through Annie’s body, and her face reddened.
Noah cleared his throat and adjusted his tone. “What are you two doing for dinner tonight?”
His inclusion of J.R. in the dinner plans set Annie’s mind at ease. Perhaps she had misinterpreted his intention.
“It’s crock pot, chicken and rice for us. We have extra if you’d like to join us.” Annie always made extra because Jesse’s uncle and brother made it a habit to stop by. When they didn’t have the company, J.R. brought leftovers to school for lunch the next day.
Noah reached over and fiddled with the hair around the base of her neck. “I’d love to, but I promised my Aunt Peggy I’d eat with them. She’s making a chocolate silk pie for dessert. If you’re willing to change your plans, you’re welcome to join us for dinner.”
Just then Al came around the corner. Noah pulled his hand away, and Annie startled. For the brief time they had talked she forgot they were in a building full of people.
“What are you two crazy kids doing in the hall by yourself,” Al’s eyes twinkled through his scowl.
“Pie,” she exclaimed, “we were talking about pie.”
Al’s face changed to reflect his congenial nature when he laughed. “Ha! You should see the look on your face Annie.”
“I can’t wait to see what it looks like when she tells J.R. that they’re not having pie because she wanted to eat crock pot, chicken and rice casserole,” Noah joked.
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Later that night Anne smiled quietly as she looked back on how her plans failed to come to fruition. She only walked 8000 steps and J. R. had to help her pack two lunches of chicken and rice casserole for the next day.
For A Visit Chapter Two
They were half a mile from the Elderberry Cafe when Annie turned the corner of Puckett Street and drove straight into a snowdrift. Her vehicle was high centered and refused to budge. Annie shifted her pickup into reverse. Sometimes it was easier to back out of the situation and add speed. Her engine revved, the wheels spun, and the pickup remained in the same spot where it had stopped.
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“Do you have it in four-wheel drive?” J.R. snapped at Annie.
She sighed in resignation. “We’re going to have to get help.” They were in front of the mercantile. Someone in there had to have the equipment to tow her out of the drift.
“If you had a boyfriend like normal women your age, we could call him,” J.R. grumbled. He shoved the door open and jumped out of the pickup. He craned his neck and peered in the window. “Bob Miller is in there.”
Annie didn’t want to ask Bob Miller. She already asked him for help more times than she wanted. “This snow could stop anytime,” she groaned and prepared herself to go into the store and grovel.
It was so cold the door resisted opening and Annie had to give it a sharp shove. She jumped out with both feet for a safer landing. She turned around to see the last person she expected.
Noah Flynn knelt beside a tire and searched under the car. “I can give you a push with my Suburban.”
“Holy mother of snow!” Annie exclaimed. On any occasion, she’d have been delighted to see Noah. The last time she heard anything about him he was practicing medicine in some tropical location. His arrival at the exact moment she needed help was a sign from above. Everything was going to be okay. “Where did you come from?”
“My mother says heaven,” Noah winked. “But my father says I got here a different way altogether.”
“I don’t care which one is right. I’m just glad to see you.” Annie launched herself into Noah and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
He wrapped his hands around her waist and gave her a warm squeeze. “It’s good to see you too.”
Hugging him felt like home. Like he hadn’t been gone for the better part of fifteen years. Annie pulled out of the hug and said, “Do you remember how to tow a car out of the snow?”
“It has to be easier than avoiding a mudslide,” he stepped away and looked at the underside of her car. “The worst thing that can happen is we can call someone with a plow to get the both of us out.”
J.R. trudged through a snowbank to the sidewalk. He clapped his gloved hands together and folded his arms in front of him. He bent down and examined the car. “It’s caught by the rear axle.”
The three of them worked together. Noah attached the tow rope to the back bumper. J.R. used his right hand to guide Noah and left hand to help Annie. In a matter of moments, Annie was freed from the snowdrift and headed toward the Elderberry Cafe with a teenager who seemed more congenial since Noah agreed to join them.
For a minute Annie’s mind made a trip to the past. A younger Annie, Noah, and Jesse crammed into the front of Jesse’s Ford Courier pickup were walking into the cafe. She’d eat her French fries dipped in her chocolate milkshake while listening to Jesse and Noah talk about plays they learned. She never imagined she’d be doing the same thing close to twenty years later.
Before they got out of the pickup to go into the cafe, J.R. reached for Annie’s hand. When he wanted her undivided attention, he’d anchor her to him with a touch. His voice held the tenderness from when he was a child and wanted something from her. “About what I said earlier. I’m sorry. That was hunger talking.”
Annie offered him a soft grin of conciliation. “Thank you for your apology.” She tapped him on the shoulder and gave a gentle shove. “Otherwise I’d have pushed you out of the vehicle.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” J.R. grinned wide enough to show the blue band on his braces. “I’m your darling boy.” He motioned to open the door and turned back to the conversation. “And, the only one who is able to give you grandchildren.”
“Not anytime soon. I hope.” Annie scowled.
“Don’t worry. I have my eyes on something bigger,” he answered. “Right now, it is a double bacon burger with tots.” He curved his body to avoid the swipe she made at his arm.
With the air between them cleared they helped each other navigate the icy parking lot to the entrance of the diner. Noah was already there and had saved two seats for them. He greeted them with, “J.R. told me the bacon cheeseburger is good enough to make him clean his room.”
J.R. rolled his eyes. “Now she will use it against me.” He pulled out the chair across from Noah and took Annie’s purse and put it in the seat beside him. “You sit on the other side of the table. This will give me room for all the food I want to eat.”
Annie chuckled at Noah’s raised brow. “He’s joking.”
The joke worked at keeping the tone light and opened the door for Noah to get acquainted with J.R.
The last time Annie had seen Noah was at Jesse’s funeral. He came back from a hospital in Panama and returned as quickly as he arrived. They had had little time to catch up. Noah entertained J.R. with stories of injuries and illnesses, and he described in detail the ones J.R. had never heard of.
The conversation gave Annie a whole new perspective on life. If she ever thought about complaining about the snow, she’d remind herself that there were people in the world who needed a doctor to extract fly larvae that had been embedded in their backs.
It was getting late, and J.R. still had homework, so Annie asked for the check. As she signed the credit card slip, she said, “If you’re not too pressed for time, we’d love to have you come by the house.”
“And take in a game,” J.R. added, “We have a chance at taking state this year.”
Annie wanted to give Noah a way out if he was too busy. She knew how visits back home went. People made more plans than they’d ever be able to fulfill. “If you can’t we understand.”
“Jesse made me promise that if anything happened to him, I’d come back and check on you.” Noah’s smile softened. “It’s what I’ve been looking forward to ever since I knew I’d be back in town.”
“How long are you going to be here?” J.R. asked. He stole a fry off of Annie’s plate and shoved it in his mouth.
Noah cast a quick glance at Annie. “I have a month to decide where I’m going next.”
For A Visit Chapter One
Annie stopped in front of the portrait of her graduating class on the wall. She couldn’t help smiling at the younger version of herself. Close to twenty years of life had happened since the portrait had been taken. Crow’s feet accented her amber eyes, and the hairstyle changed. Otherwise, she remained the same. She still loved deeply and gave all she had. Annie laughed out loud at her lie. She power walked the halls of the school three times a week to slim down the hips widened by childbirth and her love of apple pie.
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Portraits for the all the classes that attended the school lined the hall. The picture of her husband, Jesse, who graduated a year earlier hanged adjacent to hers. It was as if something meant for them to be together from the start. Only the frames from the two graduating years of 1995 and 1996 served as a boundary between them.
Her smile faded as quickly as it appeared. Like the pictures, something beyond her control separated Jesse and her. This time it was life and death. Annie shook her head to pull herself back to the present. Her brief visit down memory lane pinched less, but it still hurt. She needed to focus on what she could control—getting 10,000 steps before her son finished basketball practice.
She marched to the end of the hall, circled around, and slowed only to check her steps. Pleased with her progress of 8,432 steps she kept her eye on the prize. Jesse Jr.’s basketball practice ended in twenty minutes. She had more than enough time to get the last 1500 steps. Then she wouldn’t feel so bad about eating a piece of pie for dessert.
The gym door was open enough to allow Annie to peek through them as she made a pass to make sure practice was still in session. The screeching sound of sneakers against laminate answered her question before she watched her son touch the ground with his fingertips and sprint down the court. Annie continued her walk but hadn’t got too far.
With his face tightened in concern, Al, the school janitor, asked, “Is something bothering you?”
In the name of being polite, Annie stopped her routine to talk to Al. “I’m trying to lose weight.” Holding out her arm to show him her Fitbit, she said, “I’m at 9,112.”
“I’m sure it’d be easier if the weather were a little more cooperative.”
A boom of thunder cracked in the sky.
He rubbed the back of his neck and cast a concerned look toward the door. “Lightning in February isn’t common. My mother always said when you have lightning in the winter, a big change is about to come.”
“I could handle a big change right about now,” she tapped her thigh and giggled.
Al shook his head and joined in the laugh.
The pounding of feet running in their direction caught both of their attention. Both looked up to discover that Annie and Al stood between fifteen tired basketball players and the drinking fountain. They stepped to the side to let them pass. Her favorite player stopped in front of Annie and swiped at her water bottle. “I’ve never been gladder to see you than I am now.”
Her time to exercise had ended and her time to be mom began. Annie promised herself that she’d get those last 900 steps before she went to bed.
Coach Evans approached her while she waited on the bench. “J.R. plays just like his father,” To eliminate confusion on who they were addressing people got into the habit of calling Jesse jr. J.R. A tint of sadness mixed in with the pride in his voice. “I’m sure Jesse would be proud if he saw how J.R. turned out.”
“I see him more in J.R. as he gets older,” Annie offered a warm smile. Thankfully she was past the stage where the mention of Jesse brought tears to her eyes.
J.R. came out of the locker room with his duffel bag hanging off his left shoulder. His wavy brown hair still wet from the shower hung onto his forehead. For that brief moment, time transported Annie back to 1994, and she was outside the locker room waiting for Jesse.
“Does that mean no?” J.R.’s voice interrupted Annie’s reverie.
Annie blinked herself back to the present. “I got lost in a thought. I’m sorry what were you saying?”
J.R. frowned, and a crease formed in the middle of Coach Evan’s brow. Impatience flicked across J.R.’s face. “I asked if we could eat dinner at the Elderberry Cafe tonight. I could go for a burger.”
She wrapped her arm around her son’s shoulder. He was having as hard a time as her without his father. It had been three long years. They made it by taking it one day at a time, and when that didn’t work, they tackled life by approaching it from one minute to the next. The scent of fabric softener from his clothes combined with the soap he used made her heady. Her life wasn’t perfect. But there sure were a lot of things in it to make it worth living.
This ends the first chapter. Since the entire book is already written, I can promise that chapter two will release next Saturday morning. Until then I hope the week treats you well.
xoxoxo
M.H.M
The Story Behind The Story: Let The Games Begin
My husband’s mother, Irene, was the kindest, sweetest, softest person you would ever want to meet. I may be wrong, but I believe the woman never raised her voice. Ever. When she baked cookies they were shaped perfectly. It is possible that they appeared out of thin air. Yes, she was that amazing.
And here is where the story begins. Those closest to Irene knew she had some gusto hidden in beneath her sweet personality. My husband told stories. When he played junior high football, she helped him train. One time he mentioned in passing that if they allowed wooden spoons in baseball, she would have been an all-star player. Up until I shared the forthcoming story, I had never seen this side of Irene.
Over the Christmas holiday of 2005, our family binge-watched the entire seventh Season of the Amazing Race. It was an all out, pull all the blankets and the pillows in the living room. Everyone wore their Christmas pajamas. And thanks to Irene who stayed with us in our Arizona home, we had munchies.
If you haven’t figured it out, I’ll just tell you. Irene is the muse for the family matriarch, Aunt Tee. For the entire binge session, Irene quietly commented on the activities but conveyed little emotion about the results. Seriously, she could have played poker. While I hated Rob and Amber, she objectively commented on the method to their madness and assured me everything would work out. My heart wanted to believe her, but Rob’s duplicitous behavior irked me. Why couldn’t he trip in a mud puddle and get stuck?
So we are in the last minutes of the season. And, one contestant doesn’t have money for the cab fare. (No spoilers in this blog) The team could just high tail it to the mat and pay when all was said and done. But this guy had to show good character. Irene sat there quietly and observed the events unfold. I lost my mind.
When the winning team crossed the mat, our family went into full our team just won the Superbowl mode. We’re talking yelling, jumping, hoots of joy, and hugging abounded. Irene broke through her usually calm demeanor and was in there with us adding to the celebration. That stuck with me. The family matriarch enjoyed the Amazing Race! To this day, every time I watch the Amazing Race, she is there with me in spirit.
Twelve years later, she moved on. Our kids moved out. My husband and I moved into his childhood home. I had no job and somehow Nanowrimo came up. Nanowrimo isn’t as stressful as the Amazing Race, but it was enough of a challenge for me to remember that Christmas with Irene. I wrote the story in the house she lived in for over fifty years. I’m sure she was whispering over my shoulder in those three a.m. writing sprints and shaking her head when I gorged myself on Oreos. But we got it done. Three days early.
And there you have it. The story behind the story of Let The Games Begin. People make the mistake of thinking that it’s the earth-shattering moments that change your life. And, yes that is true. But sometimes, life molds the heart by warming it with a subtle gesture of love. I know…the world of Ashbrook, Montana developed out of a quiet, uneventful to the rest of the world, family Christmas.
And, so I close this post wishing you warm moments and smiles.
xoxoxo
M.H.M.
Welcome Home Excerpt
Next week, the first book in the Three Creeks, Montana series will be available at your favorite online book retailer. Here is a little peek at what is inside the cover.
After being away for twenty years, Abigail Cahill is coming home. Her friends and family are going to make sure she feels welcome. And, they have the perfect person to help them make it happen.
There was an unmentioned but widely known truism in Three Creeks, Montana. If you don’t want to be noticed, go out wearing your Sunday best. Venture out wearing yoga pants, no makeup, and a baseball cap, and you will meet eleven of the twelve disciples.
Abigail Cahill got reacquainted with more people in one short trip into town than all her annual visits back home combined. By the third person who hadn’t seen her “in forever,” Abigail’s homecoming was official.
She smiled as she recalled the rule. Of course, they hadn’t seen her. Back then, a younger Abigail refused to leave the house until her hair looked perfect and her outfit coordinated with whatever activity she and her father planned for the day. After sorting through years of “memories” her family saved, she was too tired to care. If people didn’t approve of her I love Montana t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap that she used to control her hair, too bad for them.
Most politely offered condolences on her father’s passing. Others greeted her with a friendly welcome home statement. However, she prepared herself for the one or two people who were sure to remind Abigail why she’d been glad to leave the small town in the first place.
Jadine Renton caught up to Abigail as she walked through the doors of Parker and Son hardware store. The older woman wore a sun hat that hid her eyebrows. Her skin hadn’t changed to show her age. “It’s been a long time since you’ve given us the pleasure of your acquaintance.”
With the conversation beginning on a cordial note, Abigail refrained from mentioning that she saw her father twice a year. She had more pressing concerns. The first on the list was a trailer loaded with her belongings in front of a house full of items that were important to her parents but were of little use to her
It was better to avoid talking with Jadine all together and get home from the hardware store as soon as possible. After a day and a half of work, Abigail emptied the contents of only one closet. In the name of being civil, Abigail replied, “Thank you. It feels good to be in familiar places.”
Through a smile most likely pasted on her lips with dental adhesive, Jadine said, “Too bad you couldn’t have come around sooner. Your father may have lived to get as old as me.”
Abigail’s father passed away a year ago, but the urge to find something that was missing lingered in her mind. She walked around with an ache in her heart and a gray fog that had her second and third guessing every decision she made.
An extensive list of responses formed in Abigail’s mind. Sifting through the first of them rendered her silent. Indignation did not give her permission to reciprocate Jadine’s jab. All of Abigail’s comebacks would have been rude. Instead, she found herself sputtering in search of a dignified response. The only thing that she could come up with was, “I did visit my father.”
“Next you’ll blame her for the extinction of the dinosaurs.” The familiar deep voice that still had the power to make butterflies appear came to rescue Abigail. She turned around to see a man who looked like Hercules, dressed in a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up enough to show the muscles in his forearms. Her stomach melted, and all the air left her lungs. She held her hand over her mouth to keep the “wow” that was in her head from being spoken.
A sparkle appeared in Jadine’s eye, and she coughed out a laugh. Apparently, the voice had a similar effect on her too. She raised her chin to acknowledge the speaker. “Most people don’t remember I’m that old.”
“Close your mouth, Abigail,” Jadine whispered. “He talks to me like that all the time.”
Abigail cleared her throat and averted her glance away from Kent Parker. When she left for college, he’d looked like he needed to eat a couple of good meals. From what she could see over the counter, he’d found a way to accommodate the need.
The only thing that looked the same from the person she knew growing up was how he parted his brown hair to the side. It waved around his ears. Back then she played with the curls and he’d laugh at her silliness. The inclination to play with his hair struck her. The serious look in his eyes warned her to not think about trying it.
Her first impression of him being Hercules may have been an exaggeration, but not by much. The shirt he wore did little to hide his broad shoulders. Abigail was certain that if he flexed, the back of his flannel shirt would rip to shreds. She forced herself to blink away the mental image that made her heart beat even faster.
Her brother Zach mentioned Kent changing over the years, but she’d assumed it was in the same way everybody else grew up. Most people who stayed in Three Creeks after high school settled down, had two kids and a dog, and mirrored the way sitcoms depicted people in small towns.
“What can we do for you?” he asked.
Abigail thought better of sharing her first response of, “I’d like to have something that looks like you help me in the garden.” Even if it was true, it seemed improper. And, that wasn’t why she went to the store in the first place. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to answer. Nothing came out, so she closed it and pretended to search her purse for a list.
Time also blessed Kent with a stony glare that altered her perception of his once affable personality. He probably wouldn’t want to help her anyway.
Jadine gushed, “I came by because Denny McConnell said your cat litter is on sale.” The stark change in the way the older woman presented herself was enough for Abigail to take a second look to see who stood beside her.
Kent stepped out from behind the counter and headed for the kitty litter. In his absence, the spell his presence cast on Abigail broke. Abigail blinked herself back to reality. She had to ask herself why she’d visited the hardware store. Boxes. She needed boxes to separate items her brother or sister might want and trash bags to fill with things that should have gone to the dump, decades ago.
She meandered through the aisles of the hardware store that was small enough to fit in the garden department of the box stores in the larger cities. Yet it seemed to have something for everyone in their community.
As a child, the shelves at Parker and Son were monoliths that formed a labyrinth designed for their entertainment. Now, they were only slightly taller than her. Abigail smiled at the change brought by time. She recalled the numerous times her father and Hank Parker got caught up in a conversation about the latest and greatest tool and thought nothing of Zach, Abigail, and Kent playing hide and seek among the shelves. The memory pricked at Abigail’s heart and she found herself agreeing with Jadine. She should have come home sooner.
“What can I do to help you?”
Abigail pulled her hand away from the cord of rope she’d absentmindedly touched. As quickly as it vanished, the spell Kent’s presence cast on her returned. She said the first thing that came to her mind. “Muscles.”
He blinked twice and responded with a straight face. The man was not impressed with her comment.
With his reaction, Abigail noted her mistake. Her inner thoughts escaped out of her mouth. It was time to get out of this conversation. “I mean, boxes and trash bags.” The more she talked the worse she sounded. Abigail wished for a sinkhole to swallow her.
Abigail pushed through the awkwardness and spoke while she moved away from the conversation. “I need boxes and trash bags to clean out my father’s house.” She pointed as far away as possible from the ropes toward where she hoped the boxes were shelved. “We have a lot of things to send to thrift stores and whatnot.”
The corners of Kent’s mouth turned down slightly. “They’re two aisles over.” He led her in a direction that was opposite of where she pointed and stopped in front of a shelf display of corrugated boxes. “You can get boxes for free behind the general store.”
It was a great idea. However, being prone to the law of “Darn, I should have thought of that sooner,” Abigail could predict the outcome before it happened. “I didn’t know who to ask, and with my luck, I’d ask ten minutes after they stuffed them in the trash compactor.”
He nodded and waited while she tried to decide the box size that would best serve her purpose.
“Do you need help unloading things?” His eyes focused on something behind her.
Her father mentioned that Kent helped with several projects around the house. He most likely offered to help out of duty. Abigail politely declined his offer. “If I knew what half the things were, I’d say yes. But I don’t.”
With one last glance at whatever it was behind her, he returned his attention to Abigail.
Hoping to add a degree of humor she added, “It is as if the ghost of Christmas past left every present my parents received in every available space. Speaking of, I have a plaque your mother gave my mother in 1986. If you want it back, I’d be more than happy to re-gift it to you.”
His lips tightened to convey his disapproval of her answer.
She murmured, “Or, I can just pass it along to Goodwill.”
A trip to the second-hand store jumped to the top of her ever-increasing to-do list. The mental scroll of information unwound like a roll of toilet paper that accidentally got dropped and kept getting longer and longer. “On that note, I have places to be and things to do.” Abigail reached for a pre-bundled pack of boxes. “I’ll just get two of these for now. It will give me time to figure out when the general store will have another delivery.”
Without bothering to ask, Kent grabbed a stack of boxes for her. He made his way to the register and Abigail, lost in her memories, followed behind him. Kent was her brother’s best friend. He probably thought she was a nuisance too.
“It was good talking with you.” Kent laid the boxes beside the cash register. His smile added a measure of politeness to the dismissal. He had things to do as well. Abigail’s eyes followed him until he disappeared somewhere in the back of the store.
She sighed and thought to herself. As much as things change they stay the same.
The Story Behind Sam and Kate
Who are Sam and Kate you ask? They are the characters in the fourth book in the Ashbrook, Montana series. 
But don’t let me get ahead of myself it’s story time. Picture if you will, a beach at the beginning of May. Seagulls are flying overhead. The sun is generating the perfect amount of warmth to feel good on your shoulders.
We were there because our son Christopher graduated with a Masters Degree from Troy University. Several of his friends from the Air Force base joined us for a celebratory barbecue. So now add hot dogs, burgers, ice cold beer and Pepsi, and you have the makings for one of those scenes out of Top Gun.
Mixed in with the families searching for crabs and children building sand castles, Christopher and his friends tossed around a frisbee, played football, and soaked up the sun. We were living one of those Zac Brown “Summer in the Sand,” life couldn’t get any better moments.
Christopher and his friends had taken a break from playing around to eat when we noticed another summer in the south moment. On a different section of the beach, people, dressed much nicer than us, were setting up for a wedding. We’re talking tulle linking chairs together to form an aisle and an arch decorated with flowers. The seagulls played the part of the doves flying overhead.
Christopher was standing with a woman I totally approved of when a plane with a banner flew by. Someone in the group read it. “It says marry me.” The romance writer in me (I had written three books by this time) gushed. But I didn’t say anything. Christopher said to the woman who turned out to be one of his besties, “Oh my Gosh, wouldn’t it be funny if a couple was on the beach and she thought the proposal was for her, but it was for somebody else.”
She laughed in agreement.
The entire story of Sam and Kate popped into my head. Two days later, I came home to Montana and finished the first draft in five weeks. Except Sam and Kate were single parents who helped each other through the teenage years. And, secretly the liked each other. A year later, Marry Me Kate was live for everyone to see.
So there you have the story of Sam and Kate. If you’re curious to know what the story is like the I have attached a hyperlink to their names that should take you to a preview of the first ten percent of the book. Check it out.
And so I close this week’s post with warm summer wishes.
Until the next story
xoxoxo
M.H.M
