Читать книгу The Best Of Us - Robyn Carr, Robyn Carr - Страница 17

LEIGH HAD SEEN her aunt Helen several times since moving to Timberlake but only twice had Helen come to Timberlake. Last fall Helen visited and she was very preoccupied with the colorful leaves, plus she was finishing a book. Book deadlines always left Helen a bit antisocial and holed up with the final manuscript. Leigh was excited to introduce Helen to her new friends and colleagues.

This visit would be extended, at least until Helen grew restless. It was obvious when Leigh picked her up and filled the car with boxes and suitcases that she was planning on staying awhile.

“Wait till you watch the news,” Helen said, beaming. “They’re expecting another crippling snowstorm in the Midwest! And I’ll be here!” Then she giggled.

“When will you be traveling next?” Leigh asked Helen when they were on the road back to Timberlake.

“There’s a conference in New York at the end of May, just for a few days. Then I’m going to San Francisco in July. Maureen has a lovely little guesthouse and I can stay as long as I like. I wish you could get away for a little while. We could do the town.”

“We’ll see,” Leigh said. “Maybe I can take a couple of days. I do love Maureen and I haven’t seen her in a long time. But I’m needed here. These people depend on me and it feels...” She smiled. “It feels so good.”

“You’ve gotten so mellow since you’ve come here,” Helen said.

“The quiet and slower pace suits me,” Leigh said. “I was afraid I’d be bored. I’m not.”

“Have you made many friends?” Helen asked.

“There are some. The fire department is across the street and those guys hang around the clinic sometimes. They bring their families to me and sometimes include me in their get-togethers. There are a couple of other medical practices nearby—a pediatrician and an orthopedist—we’re friendly. There’s a neurosurgeon I’ve gotten to know—Maggie. She goes to Denver three days a week for her practice. We’re friends and her sister-in-law, wife of one of the paramedics, has become a friend. Maggie’s dad, Sully, has a great camping outpost on a lake nearby—he’s everyone’s friend.”

“And you’re skiing?” Helen asked.

“Not much beyond the few lessons I took last winter. I went with Maggie’s other sister-in-law, Sidney. This time I’m going to make sure you meet some of these people. You’ll get such a kick out of Sidney. She’s an amazing woman—consults in quantum physics at UCLA. She and her husband are going to move to Boulder at the end of the summer. She’s taking a position at the university and her husband is going to get his teaching certificate. Apparently he’s always wanted to teach high school.”

“I hope he’s got nerves of steel,” Helen said.

“You loved teaching,” Leigh said.

“My current job is much more flexible.”

“After we get all of your luggage sorted out, we’ll go and get something to eat. There’s a little pub in town owned by a guy I know—Sid’s brother, Rob. It’s kind of lively on Saturday nights, especially during spring break, and it’s always spring break somewhere. But I’d like you to meet him. He asked me out on a date. I patched up his son after an accident.”

“Did you go?” Helen asked.

“It’s for tomorrow night. I’m going to introduce you, tell him you’ve come for a visit, and I’m sure he’ll invite you to join us.”

“Have you been seeing him long?”

“No, Auntie—he just asked me. First date, though I’ve known him since I moved here. I think he’s just being neighborly because I put stitches in his son’s hand.”

“What a crock,” Helen said. “If he was thanking you for the stitches, he’d give you a plant or fruit basket. This sounds like a real date. I’ll look him over, and if I like what I see, I won’t join you.” Then she smiled her dazzling smile.

Leigh thought Helen was beautiful. She hoped to be that attractive and youthful looking at sixty-two. Leigh sometimes worried that Helen had never married because of her. As far as Leigh could remember, Helen hadn’t even hinted that she had any interest in a love life until Leigh was in college. After Leigh’s breakup with Johnny, during one of their teary heart-to-heart talks, Helen admitted that some of her many evenings with friends or book club nights or faculty meetings had actually been dates. But none of the men were ever all that serious, not much more than friends.

Helen was tall at five foot eight, her back straight and her head held high. She kept her hair colored a rich dark brown; she was trim and athletic. She was just beginning to show the true signs of aging, laugh lines around her mouth and crow’s-feet around at her eyes, but these little things did nothing to diminish her attractiveness. She had a beautiful, joyful smile. She didn’t look like a woman trying to appear thirty-five, not at all. She looked exactly like who she was—an honest, vibrant, healthy sixty-two. She loved her age and was reaching it with grace and humor. Leigh wanted to be just like her.

Together they unloaded Helen’s luggage and got her partially settled in the guest room. Leigh hadn’t had time to set up a work space in that room for her, since she arrived so quickly. “Just as well,” Helen said. “I’m going to want a small bookcase and a worktop of some kind. Maybe a sturdy folding table or maybe a desk—not a fancy desk. Just a place for notebooks, Post-its, those little things that keep me organized. The boxes contain office supplies—from printer to pens. I don’t actually sit at a desk to work and we don’t work off hard copy anymore—it’s always on the computer screen. I like to move around a lot, sometimes sitting on the porch, sometimes in a cozy chair, sometimes at the kitchen table. Sometimes in a coffee shop or bar.”

“Make this room any way you like,” Leigh said. “I want this to be your house, too. I want you to spend as much time here as you want. If you decide to stay for months or even years, that would make me so happy. If you just want to visit, I understand.”

“I’m going to stay a good long time while I look this place over,” Helen said. “Then we’ll see.”

The pub was warm and woody and the place was hopping, laughter ringing out from the busy bar area. It looked to be populated mostly with college students. They were supposed to be over twenty-one but who knew how many fake IDs were floating around the room.

“Let’s see if we can get a table or booth that’s a little away from the bar,” Leigh said.

“Why are there so many young people here?” Helen asked. “Skiing is over, isn’t it? Please tell me it’s over.”

“It’s almost May, it’s pretty slim pickings even at the higher elevations,” Leigh said. “But the trails and rock climbing all around us call to these young people. A lot of them come here to camp, hike, bike and climb.”

“Let’s spend spring break in Timberlake, Colorado? That can’t sound too exciting on the campuses in the north. I thought the kids all went to Florida,” Helen said. “Or Mexico.”

“The majority probably do, but as you can see, there are quite a few right here. Sully’s campground is always full during holiday breaks and weekends. Lots of families and quite a few students.”

They settled at a table near the front window and Helen immediately picked up a menu. She slid on her reading glasses and scanned it. “You can’t eat here too often and keep your figure. Hamburgers, pizzas, wraps, wings...”

“Pub food. I can direct you to some dishes that aren’t too heavy or greasy,” Leigh said.

“Maybe next time, dear,” she said. “Look at these hamburgers!”

“And I can vouch for them, too. They’re wonderful. You do like your occasional hamburger, don’t you?”

“It might be my favorite meal. I’ve just never been any good on the grill. I can’t do it every time I eat out or I’d be as big as a house. But I’ve worked hard the last few weeks! Time for a treat. Let’s start with wine. What’s good here?”

“You pick,” Leigh said.

A few minutes later, their wine barely delivered, people began to drop by their booth to say hello. First was Eleanor and her husband, Nick. “Auntie, you remember Eleanor, don’t you? The best nurse in the county?”

“Of course! So nice to see you again!”

“I hope you’re staying awhile this time,” Eleanor said.

“I plan to be, until I get the itch to go somewhere.”

“Spring and summer are beautiful here,” Eleanor said.

Just after ordering their food, Connie Boyle approached the booth, carrying a large take-out sack. Leigh introduced Helen and asked about his wife, Sierra.

“She’s ripe as a melon and should pop in around a month or six weeks. She said she was dying for Rob’s potato skins and wings, so here I am. I’ve found granting every wish of a pregnant wife is always in my best interest.”

“Connie and Sierra have a one-year-old son and a daughter on the way,” Leigh explained to Helen.

“That’s cutting it close,” Helen said, sipping her wine.

“Good thing we like kids, huh?” Connie said with a smile.

Just as their food arrived, Tom Canaday and his fiancée, Lola, stopped by to say hello. Leigh explained that they were two single parents who had combined families and together had six kids between them. “We threw a pizza at them and ran for our lives,” Tom said.

“We really needed a night out,” Lola said.

All through dinner people stopped by to say hello and meet Leigh’s aunt. When Helen finished her hamburger and dabbed her lips with her napkin, she said, “That was fabulous. The meal and your neighbors. We often ran into people we knew when we were out at home, but nothing like this. You must feel positively embraced.”

“It doesn’t take long to begin to feel like a part of the community,” she said. “I want you to meet Rob but I only caught a glimpse of him and then he disappeared. I’ll ask about him.”

Before she could do that, an obnoxiously large piece of mud pie covered in whipped cream was delivered by the waitress. “Compliments of the management,” she said.

Leigh craned her neck and saw Rob behind the bar. He gave her a wave.

“Tell him if he has a minute to come over. I’d like to introduce him to my aunt.”

Leigh and Helen shared the dessert, though both of them were too stuffed to make much of a dent in it. Coffee was served and Leigh began telling Helen of the things she might like to explore—national parks, hiking trails, fancy spas, scenic railroads...

“It sounds like this could be a season of outdoor activities,” Helen observed.

Then Rob appeared. He said hello to a few patrons as he passed them, then slid into the booth next to Leigh.

“Ladies, how are you tonight? Everything okay? Can I get you anything else?”

“Everything was wonderful. Rob, I’d like you to meet my aunt Helen. She arrived just a few hours ago.”

“Pleasure,” he said, reaching across the table to shake her hand. “Is this your first visit to Pleasantville?”

Leigh saw Helen smile and could tell she was already charmed.

“I’ve made a couple of quick trips. Last fall, before winter settled in. Beautiful little slice of the world you have here. I’m going to stay a bit longer, see a bit more of it this trip.”

“You won’t be disappointed. Any way I can help, please call on me.”

“Your pub is outstanding,” she added. “And you do quite a business.”

“Thank you. The weekends are busier, of course.”

“Tell me, is it rewarding?” Helen asked.

“I love this place,” he said. “It was in lousy shape when I bought it, but with a little renovation it turned into a top-notch pub. I’ve been lucky enough to find great employees. It’s a small town so there are only two major eateries in town—the pub and the diner—and two different cuisines. The diner is more home cooking, no alcohol, great breakfasts and dynamite coffee. We have the best burgers, but there are plenty of good meals for the nonburger fan.”

“I’m definitely a burger fan,” Helen said. “You must be very well known for them.”

“Locally,” he said. “The best thing about this little business is that it allowed me the flexibility to raise my boys. They’re fifteen and seventeen now. Their mother passed away nine years ago and I needed a job I could escape when there were teacher conferences, sporting events, school programs or those nights they called to say they’d just happened to remember the big project they had to turn in tomorrow...that had been assigned a month ago.”

Helen laughed. “I’m a former teacher,” she said. “You just made my heart sing.”

“It all worked out, despite those emergencies. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m going to have to excuse myself. I want to keep an eye on the bar.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” Leigh said. “We’re going to get the check and be on our way.”

“I’ll have it sent over,” he said.

Leigh and Helen just looked at each other for a moment after Rob left. “I like him,” Helen said. “I suppose he’s very well known around here?”

“I’m sure everyone knows him,” Leigh said.

“Then the chances of him being a pervert and predator are slim.”

Leigh laughed. “I would think so.”

The check arrived. Compliments of the house was scrawled across the ticket. Leigh just shook her head, but she was touched that he would do that. She wasn’t completely sure, but she thought that was a gesture of goodwill and not just because he wanted a date. She left a tip for the waitress on the table. They were on the sidewalk when her phone pinged. She looked at the text and smiled.

If you’d like to include your aunt tomorrow night, feel free.

Everyone has a life story—in fact, several versions of that story, all of which are true but might differ in detail or emphasis. Leigh recognized that first dates were usually the time to share that story and the variations seemed to depend on how much she wanted the friendship or relationship to work. Most of the time she had no real interest in a serious relationship nor cared if it worked. She was very experienced with first dates. In fact, she was way too experienced with only one date. She had merely wanted to enjoy herself with a nice man for an evening but nothing beyond that.

The restaurant he’d chosen was perfect, Leigh thought. It was small, quiet, with a little soft background guitar playing. The chef immediately came out front to shake Rob’s hand and meet Leigh. They were delivered a menu of the nine courses to come. The food was a gourmet adventure designed to last a long time.

“I’m really surprised you’re not married,” Rob said.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“You know,” he said. “Because the good ones are always taken.”

She frowned. “That was a compliment?”

“I meant it as one.”

“Ergo, if you’re not taken, you probably aren’t one of the good ones?”

He put down his drink and smiled at her. “Or, like me, you have avoided marriage. While my kids were young and most of my energy went into building my business and taking care of them, I didn’t take the time to get involved with anyone. I was friendly with everyone in town and thought of the perils of dating any local women because of how small towns are. My sister lived with us for over a year after her divorce, then she met Dakota and within a few months moved in with him. She still helps us out but it was mostly down to me. But my boys are in a whole new place. Finn is graduating and going to college. Sean is a very independent young man. Sid and Dakota are moving north to Boulder. And I find myself with far more personal time than I’ve ever had. So, that’s my story.”

“That’s a very good story,” she said. “I guess you think I was being difficult. I know you meant it as a compliment.”