“I don’t know if I can wait that long,” Mindy said, adjusting her voluptuous bosom.
Lauren couldn’t hold back the giggles any longer. “What do you have in there? No, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“I’ll tell ya’ a little secret,” Mindy said, winking her long false eyelashes and moving closer to Lauren. “It’s a little more than what the good Lord endowed me with.”
“A little!”
Both women laughed, and Lauren wondered how she ever let Mindy talk her into this crazy scheme.
“I can’t wait for you, Lauren. Everyone will be arriving in a few minutes,” Mindy said, glancing at her watch over her protruding chest, which was draped in a tight, glittery silver dress.
“Go ahead. I’ll meet you there,” Lauren said. “I have Leon’s present wrapped and everything. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”
“Remember to park away from the front of the restaurant so he won’t notice your car.”
“I will.”
“And hurry!”
“I will!” She shut the door as Mindy wiggled her way down the stairs. Then dashing to the bedroom closet, Lauren grabbed her costume and muttered to Hawthorne, “I can’t believe I’m going to wear this in public!” She pulled on the simple blue, button-up-the-front dress she had picked up at the same thrift store in which she had found the “Don’t Mess With Texas” sweatshirt. Next came ankle socks and clod-hopper shoes. With a quick tuck of a few bobby pins, her hair was up. For the final touch, she reached for the hat waiting on the bathroom counter and adjusted it so that the gaudy flowers showed off the most and the long dangling price tag hung down on the right side. She gave herself a big smile and laughed aloud. “No need to bother with makeup,” she told herself. With a couple of quick squirts of Vanilla Fields perfume, she was out the door.
At the bottom of the stairs she remembered Leon’s gift. She took the stairs in her clunky shoes, two at a time, unlocked the door, and was greeted by Hawthorne’s questioning “meow.”
“I forgot his present!” she hollered, reaching onto the top shelf in the hall closet and pulling down a large wrapped box. “Okay, I’m really leaving now. You be a good boy, and I’ll be back before you have a chance to miss me.” She locked the door and hurried to the car.
Driving like a maniac, Lauren arrived in less than ten minutes and spotted an empty parking place right by the front. She whipped into the parking lot, not even noticing a customer who was walking out of the restaurant. She nearly hit him.
He jumped to the side and held up his hands as if surrendering. That’s when she noticed it was Justin. The easygoing smile spread across his jaw proved he wasn’t upset. Lauren rolled down her window and called out, “Sorry!” She pulled into the empty parking space and hopped out saying, “Are you okay, Justin?”
“I’m fine,” he said, coming closer with brows furrowed, trying to figure out who it was who had almost hit him and knew his name. “Lauren?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She felt self-conscious and silly. So she blurted out, “Pay no attention to the woman behind the funny hat with the dangling price tag.” Justin didn’t seem to get the joke.
“Are you eating here tonight?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, aware of how ridiculous she must appear to him. “Mindy put together a birthday party for her husband, and we’re planning to surprise him.”
“I imagine you will.”
“Dinner is free, you know, if you dress up like a country-western star,” she explained.
“I didn’t know that,” he said.
“Well, it is. Are you eating here?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, Amy was supposed to meet me here. I guess I’m a little early.”
Lauren felt her heart sink. Here she had planned to make dinner for Justin this weekend, but he had wasted no time in asking Amy out. With intense effort she tried to keep her emotions buoyed up. This was what she had promised herself, wasn’t it? No guy would have the power to control her emotions.
“Hey,” he said, “I got your message about dinner sometime. Umm, it wouldn’t work out for me tomorrow night. I’m not sure—”
“That’s okay,” Lauren answered quickly. “It was a fleeting thought. I wanted to say thanks, that’s all.”
“I appreciate it.” Justin’s dazzling smile led her to believe he had been asked out by more than a few women in his lifetime, and he had found a way to turn on the charm while turning them down. She wasn’t interested in being one of many on his long list.
Lauren smiled back and dropped the conversation. She reached back into her car to retrieve Leon’s gift off the passenger seat. A car stopped behind Lauren’s, and the driver leaned his head and arm out the window and yelled, “Are you coming out?”
She peeked over her shoulder and saw that Leon was in the car.
“Mindy’s husband is in that car!” she whispered to Justin. “Tell the driver I’m not leaving. Don’t let Leon see me.”
“She’s not leaving,” Justin called out. “There’s more parking in the back.”
The car moved on. The next car was Amy’s.
“Justin!” she called out.
“Hey, Amy!” he answered, walking toward her. “You look really nice tonight.”
“I’ll go park and meet you at the entrance.”
“Okay, darlin’.”
Lauren still had her head inside the car. In the darkened quiet she thought, Is it my imagination, or was Justin calling me “darlin’ ” only last week?
She backed out of the car, inwardly gratified she wasn’t part of this dating game. “I have to go.” She shut her car door with her foot, and with the gift in her arms, she marched past Justin in her orthopedic shoes, clomping her way into the restaurant. He followed right behind and at the door said, “I’m going to wait here for Amy. I’ll probably see you in there.”
Giving him a “Pearly” smile, she slipped into the lobby and was relieved to see Reba look-alikes and a bevy of Dolly-wannabes. The most humorous one of them all squeaked at her from the side hall that led to the restrooms. “Lauren, what took you so long?” Mindy’s wig was crooked, and her ebony hair stuck out from the fake platinum around her forehead. Lauren reached a free hand to straighten it, trying hard not to laugh.
Loud, funky country-western music blared from the belly of the restaurant. “Leon’s here!” Lauren said. “He’s going to walk through that door any minute. Where’s everyone else?”
“In the back. Come on.”
They peeked around the corner, checking the front door, and as they did, it opened. In walked, not Leon, but Justin and Amy, hand in hand. Mindy stopped in her tracks and reached over to squeeze Lauren’s arm.
“I know,” Lauren said calmly. “I saw them in the parking lot. I introduced him to Amy at my apartment last Sunday afternoon. It’s okay. Come on, before Leon sees us.”
Mindy looked stunned.
Lauren nudged her toward the crowd inside the restaurant. “It’s like you always say, ‘God is in control,’ right?”
“How do you do that?” Mindy said, taking quick, tiny steps next to Lauren and yelling over the music. “You turn your emotions on and off like a faucet. That can’t be healthy.”
“Oh, so now that I’m trying to trust God, I’m not healthy. Make up your mind, Mindy!”
“Whatever you say, Cleopatra.”
“I’m not dressed like Cleopatra,” Lauren said.
“Oh, excuse me. I thought you were the queen of de Nile.”
“I’m not denying anything!” Lauren said furiously.
Mindy stopped, turned toward her, and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.”
“Just because my life isn’t like yours …,” Lauren began. She was stopped when the false eyelash on Mindy’s right eye came unglued and fluttered into her cleavage.
“There’s a bug in my dress!” Mindy shrieked, beginning to pull out wadded up panty hose and tossing them at Lauren.
L
auren found it difficult to remain upset with a person under such circumstances.
Chapter Fourteen
Leon was more than surprised. Shocked wasn’t even quite strong enough a description. Mortified almost hit the mark. Lauren felt sorry for him. He couldn’t eat, socialize, or even think straight. He kept staring at his wife, obviously more embarrassed about her appearance than she had ever been about anything in her life.
Mindy moved through the evening undaunted. With her outfit restuffed, she carried the conversation around the table at dinner and was the first to ask the waiter if they had a dessert tray.
Lauren hadn’t spotted Justin and Amy the entire evening. The restaurant was large enough that they could have disappeared into some corner booth. Or perhaps they had decided the place was too noisy for a first date and went somewhere quieter. Like Clementine’s.
Don’t feed yourself that stuff. It’ll upset your stomach. And it’s not worth it, remember?
The desserts arrived. Leon opened his gifts and was appreciative of them all. He seemed as eager as Lauren to leave. Mindy had other plans. She wanted them all to join the line dancers out on the floor and have a real hoot. It was a hoot, all right. Mindy in her fancy dress and wild wig, Lauren in her clodhoppers and floppy hat, and the rest of the group, who all had chickened out and had come dressed as they normally did.
Lauren ended up in line with a Garth look-alike and two big-haired Rebas. What made the whole experience so fun and crazy was that the music at Jake’s was country-western hits from the ’50s and ’60s. Leon began to enjoy himself and actually ended up begging Mindy to stay for “just one more” about eight times.
Exhausted, but still smiling, Lauren arrived home after midnight. Hawthorne was curled up in his new bed by the fireplace and didn’t budge when she came in. However, he had obviously been busy while she was gone. Shredded papers were scattered on the floor, twisted blinds hung from the windows, his milk dish had been dumped, and the rose- colored cover on her easy chair had nearly been pulled off.
“So you had a wild party while I was out, did you?” She stroked his fur, and he began to purr. “I guess that’s all part of the deal. You keep me company, and I endure your rambunctious years. I can live with that. Just try to not break anything, okay?”
Even though she was tired, the computer beckoned her to turn it on and check her e-mail. She felt like a compulsive gambler, unable to walk past a slot machine without dropping in a nickel. She turned on the computer and went into the kitchen to heat up some water and make herself something hot to drink. The Irish Breakfast tea caught her eye, and she decided to try it. Something in her memory said to drink it with milk and sugar, so she placed those items on the kitchen counter. The microwave beeped, signaling that her water was ready. She poured the steaming water over her tea bag, steeped it a few minutes, and then added the milk and sugar. It smelled wonderful.
“Okay,” Lauren said to her sleeping kitten as she headed to the computer with a cup of tea and a bowl of candy corns, “a little midnight snack and hopefully a letter.”
There it was. Just as she had hoped. She nibbled off the white tip of a candy corn and began to read:
DEAR WREN:
THANKS FOR YOUR LETTER. I APPRECIATE YOU, TOO. AS FOR THE CAMEL RIDE, YES AND NO. I DIDN’T GO FOR AN ACTUAL RIDE, BUT I DID HAVE MY PHOTO TAKEN ON ONE WITH THE PYRAMIDS IN THE BACKGROUND. IT’S QUITE THE TOURIST THING TO DO. THE REST OF MY TIME IN EGYPT WAS ALL MEETINGS AND INTERVIEWS AND HOTEL FOOD. nOTHING NEARLY AS INTERESTING AS YOUR TURN OF EVENTS WITH JUSTIN. ARE THINGS PROGRESSING WITH HIM AND THE YOUNG LADY?
YOUR BROTHER COULD BE RIGHT ABOUT RESOLVING ISSUES WITHIN YOURSELF. AT LEAST THAT’S A GOOD PLACE TO START—IN YOUR HEART, BETWEEN YOU AND GOD. I’LL PRAY THAT YOU EXPERIENCE A NEW LEVEL OF PEACE IN CHRIST. I’M A FIRM BELIEVER IN THE PEACE OF CHRIST AND OUR POSITION AS SAINTS TO PRAY FOR THAT PEACE TO COME TO OTHERS.
MAY THE PEACE OF CHRIST SURROUND YOU, KC
Lauren found her heart pounding and a smile resting on her lips like a pink satin ribbon. KC’s words had a powerful effect on her. She sipped her tea, and then it came to her. KC was the one who had recommended Irish Breakfast with milk and sugar.
Trying another sip, she decided this was the tea for her. It even tasted better than coffee. She had to tell him. With another sip of her soothing tea, Lauren tapped out her reply:
DEAR KC:
I’VE JUST RETURNED FROM A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR MY FRIEND’S HUSBAND. GUESS WHO WAS AT THE RESTAURANT? JUSTIN AND AMY. HOLDING HANDS, EVEN. THEY MAKE A DARLING COUPLE. I SAY, “BRAVO AND MAY THE PEACE OF CHRIST BE UPON THEM.”
THIS WAS A FULL DAY. I FOUND A GARAGE SALE AND BOUGHT A NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE BOOK (DID YOU KNOW HE VISITED ROBERT AND ELIZABETH AT CASA GUIDI?), SOME ELEGANT TABLE LINENS, AND THE CUTEST KITTEN THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
AND JUST TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU’RE INFLUENCING MY LIFE, AT THIS VERY MOMENT I AM DRINKING A CUP OF IRISH BREAKFAST TEA WITH MILK AND SUGAR. MY FIRST EVER, AND WHAT A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE IT IS. THANKS FOR THE TIP. NOW YOU MUST TELL ME: DID THEY HAVE ANY IRISH BREAKFAST IN EGYPT?
SMILES, WREN
With a tap of a few keys her letter was sent. Lauren prepared a short note for Brad, telling him about Hawthorne, and sent it off to him within five minutes. She was about to close down her computer when she noticed she had a letter waiting for her. Checking her box, she found a second letter from KC. Amazing! It was after one o’clock in the morning her time, and wherever KC was, he was at this very moment sitting at his computer, and the minute he had received her letter, he had turned around and written her back:
DEAR WREN,
ARE YOU A NIGHT-OWL, TOO? I SHOULD BE FINISHING AN ARTICLE I’M WORKING ON FOR AN EARLY MORNING DEADLINE, BUT SPENDING SOME TIME CHATTING WITH YOU IS MUCH MORE APPEALING. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I HAD TO TAKE MY OWN TEA TO EGYPT, BUT I USUALLY DO THAT ANYWAY.
I HAVEN’T BEEN TO A GOOD GARAGE SALE IN AGES. A CAT, HUH?
YOUR BOOK SOUNDS INTRIGUING. I HAVE TO ADMIT I’M NOT SURE I’VE EVER READ ANY HAWTHORNE. DICKENS IS MY MAN. I HAVE A FIRST EDITION OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES, WHICH I UNDERSTAND MIGHT BE WORTH SOMETHING. I’LL NEVER SELL IT, THOUGH.
DO YOU SUPPOSE DICKENS AND HAWTHORNE MIGHT HAVE E-MAILED EACH OTHER, IF THE TECHNOLOGY HAD EXISTED THEN? I DO KNOW THAT RALPH WALDO EMERSON AND THOMAS CARLYLE KEPT A CORRESPONDENCE GOING FOR YEARS. I GUESS KINDRED SPIRITS FIND EACH OTHER AND ARE DRAWN BACK TIME AND AGAIN THROUGH LETTERS. I CERTAINLY LOOK FORWARD TO YOURS. KEEP ’EM COMING.
PEACE, KC
If she had any hesitation about opening up to this man before, that concern had flown. The opportunity for a non-threatening, stimulating relationship with this unknown man felt safe and wonderfully romantic.
In the months that followed, without anyone else knowing about this correspondence, Lauren launched into consistent communication with KC, discussing volleyball, literature, music, movies, friends, family, and God. She noted the subject of cats didn’t come up again, and she wondered if KC approved of cats. She hoped he did.
Chapter Fifteen
A chill winter wind chased Lauren across the campus of Belmont University. In her right hand she clutched her admissions papers. It wasn’t likely that she would be admitted at this late date for the next semester, but she was ready to plead her case. She had just learned a few days ago that only Belmont offered the upper division course she needed before she could apply for her teaching credential in Tennessee. She had come this far in her schooling, and she didn’t want to stop now.
Striding through the center of the campus, Lauren couldn’t help but notice the big white gazebo with elaborate ironwork and scrolled pillars. A couple bundled in long coats stood close together in the center, their laughter echoing off the dome ceiling. She smiled at the young couple and kept walking. They were in the spring of their relationship, and they were standing in the gazebo the hairstylist-hacker had told Lauren about last summer. Thoughts of Jeff and planning their wedding in a gazeb
o were far, far away, buried beneath the cold winter turf. That all had happened during another time when she was another person.
Lauren found the admissions office, turned in her paperwork, set an appointment to talk with an admissions counselor the next week, and walked briskly back to her car. A light snow began to fall as she pulled out of the parking lot. The Friday evening traffic was a mess, and Lauren wondered if she should try to run some more errands before going home. Christmas was in two weeks, and she hadn’t finished her shopping yet.
As the windshield wipers furiously fought to keep her window clear, Lauren signaled for a right turn into a strip mall shopping center. She turned in and noticed a scruffy looking man poking around in the dumpster.
Lauren parked and dashed into the dry cleaners to pick up her clothes. Writing out the check for the four cleaned items, she thought of the man. He was probably homeless. She did a rough calculation of how many meals could be purchased for the outrageous amount she was paying for her dry cleaning. It bothered her.
Unlocking her car and hanging the clothes on the hook in the back, Lauren noticed the man was now standing under the sheltering eaves of the video store next to the dry cleaners. He looked cold.
Lauren got in her car and, with a sense of purpose, drove to the Long John Silver’s fast food restaurant across the street. She waited in a long line before ordering enough food for two, or maybe even three, people. With the bag of hot food beside her in the front seat, she drove through the busy intersection and parked in the snow sprinkled parking lot.
The man was no longer by the video store. She drove slowly, checking out the dumpster area and the dark alley between the hardware store and the insurance office. Something moved in the alley.
Lauren slung her purse over her shoulder, reached into her glove compartment, took out her leather gloves, a gift from Jeff last Valentine’s Day, and tucked them into the sack of hot food. Then, carefully balancing the large coffee in one hand and the bag of food between her teeth, Lauren used her free hand to lock her door and then to pocket her keys.