Why not? she thought and scooped up the whole box of a dozen or more candy bars. She plopped the box down on the counter in front of the white coated elderly gentleman and nonchalantly placed the pregnancy test next to the mound of candy bars. The pharmacist eyed her purchase suspiciously and said, “Will that be all for you today, miss?”
She smiled at him. “Yes, thank you.”
The bell over the door chimed again. Meredith hoped the guy would hurry up and finish. He was ringing up each candy bar separately. For the first time she realized how embarrassing it was to buy a pregnancy test and understood why Shelly didn’t want to come in here to make the purchase herself. Even though no one in Glenbrooke knew Meredith and she knew she had nothing to apologize for or be embarrassed about, she still felt her cheeks beginning to heat up with more than the tinge of sunburn that graced them.
Come on, come on! Hurry up!
“This doesn’t have a price on it,” the man said, holding up the pregnancy test and looking on the underside and all around the box.
Meredith was aware that whoever had entered the drugstore a moment ago was now standing behind her in line.
Put down the box, mister! The price is right there on the top. Can’t you see it?
Before Meredith could point it out, the pharmacist found the sticker and punched the numbers into the cash register. The total appeared in the register’s window. Meredith suddenly realized she didn’t have enough money.
“I’m fifteen cents short,” she said, aware that she was holding up the person in line behind her. “Could you please take off one of the candy bars? Or wait, just take off this pack of gum.”
The pharmacist gave her a blank look, as if she had just asked him to recite the Declaration of Independence backwards.
“Here’s fifteen cents,” said the calm male voice behind her.
She knew that voice. Meredith bit her lower lip and turned around slowly. “Hi,” she said to the reluctant movie star behind her.
“Hi,” Jacob replied.
Meredith remembered that Shelly had made her promise not to tell a soul about the pregnancy test. So she just turned back to the pharmacist. He was stuffing the goods into a paper bag. Certainly Jacob had seen the pregnancy-test kit.
“It’s not for me,” she said quickly, looking at Jake again.
His expression didn’t change.
“And the candy bars aren’t for me, either.”
Neither the pharmacist nor Jake said a word.
Then, because she didn’t know what else to do, she bolted toward the door.
“Meredith!” Jake called out.
On impulse, she turned around and said, “I’m sorry about what happened in the parking lot.”
Jacob headed toward her, the bottle of aspirin he was about to purchase still in his hand. “It’s okay,” he said calmly.
She felt nervous. This was Jacob Wilde talking to her. He was looking at her with those warm brown eyes. What was he thinking? She hadn’t felt nervous like this when he was Mr. Wartman.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, glancing at the bag and back at Meredith.
He’s changed his opinion of me, too. I can tell. He’s standing here, trying to be polite, but he’s not intrigued or charmed anymore. The tiny bit of electricity that sparked this morning is gone.
“I had a good time at the waterfall,” Meredith said, nudging herself forward. “I’m sorry I reacted the way I did and drew so much attention to you.”
“It’s okay,” Jake said. “I probably should have said something to you earlier, but, to be honest,” he paused and his voice softened, “I was enjoying being Jay for awhile.”
Meredith nodded her understanding.
“I would have gone up to the lodge with you, but sometimes it can get a little crazy in a crowd. I went back to Kyle and Jessica’s to make some phone calls, and—”
“Hey,” Meredith cut in, “I wasn’t trying to say that I thought you should have stuck around. I understand completely.”
“Good,” Jacob said.
An awkward pause hung between them. It felt to Meredith that the contents of her bag were burning a hole in her arm. She wanted to say something to him—anything. Did he think she was pregnant? All her thoughts wadded up like a ball of gum and stuck to the roof of her brain, making it impossible to think. He looked as if the same malady had struck him as well.
The door opened, and a teenage boy walked in. He stopped and stared at Jake. “It is you! My sister said you were here. She said you were driving a black Mustang, and I was going home, and there was your car, and—oh, man, I can’t believe it! Here you are!” He excitedly spilled his words all over Meredith and Jacob.
Once again Meredith knew what it was like to be cut off from Jake. And right when things had the potential of being patched up, too.
“Man, oh, man! Can you wait here one second? I have to get Russell. He’s never going to believe this. Don’t go, okay? Just one more minute. Stay right there.” The boy burst out the door and took off running down Main Street.
“I’m sorry,” Meredith said.
Jake put on a smile as if the camera had just turned on him and it was time to play the closing scene. “Don’t give it another thought. This is how it goes sometimes.” His voice lowered, and he tilted his head to the right. “None of this is your fault or your responsibility.”
Before Meredith could add her closing thought, the door burst open, and seven teens came rushing in with the young guy who had left a few moments earlier.
“See, I told you it was him!”
“Can we have your autograph?”
“Are you going to make any more movies?”
“How come you’re in Glenbrooke?”
“Here, sign my arm. I don’t have any paper.”
“This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened in my whole life!”
“You’re the first movie star I’ve ever seen!”
Meredith was once again brushed aside as Jake was ambushed by the young fan club. He looked over at Meredith and smiled.
“I owe you fifteen cents,” she said.
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, signing a pad of paper. His words seemed like the closing line.
You don’t owe me anything.
“Well, bye, then,” she said, carelessly tossing her words into the huddle of admiring teenagers.
Jake glanced up. A boy was pulling up his T-shirt sleeve and begging Jake to write on the back of his arm with a permanent marker.
“Good-bye, Meredith.” His voice carried a bittersweet echo as she left the drugstore and stepped into the Jeep. Jake’s rental car was parked four spaces down from hers.
Good-bye, Meredith. Did he mean that as in good-bye forever or good-bye until our paths cross again?
Slowly backing up the Jeep, Meredith cranked the wheel and headed to the conference center with the pharmacy bag on the seat next to her.
Chapter Eight
Do you want me to come in?” Meredith asked Shelly half an hour later as she stood outside the door of Shelly’s bathroom.
“Sure,” Shelly said, opening the door. She held a white plastic stick in her hand. The box for the pregnancy test rested on the sink’s corner.
“Now what?” Meredith asked.
“It says here to wait three to five minutes. If one line shows up on this stick, it means I’m not pregnant. If two lines show, then I am.”
“Three to five minutes, huh?”
“Yes,” Shelly said, glancing at her watch. “This is going to be the longest five minutes of my life.”
“I’ll tell you a little story to pass the time,” Meredith offered.
Shelly gave her a mildly irritated look. Stories were not Shelly’s way of getting her mind off life.
“I think you’ll like this story. It’s about a loving sister who goes to the drugstore in a small town and buys her precious sis a home pregnancy kit. Then the customer in line behind her turns out to be a friend of the potent
ially pregnant woman. But he, of course, thinks the pregnancy test belongs to the loving sister.”
“Who was it? Kenton?”
“No,” Meredith said slowly.
“That’s right,” Shelly said. “Kenton and Lauren are gone this week. Who was it? Everyone else was at the conference center.”
“Almost everyone else.”
Shelly definitely looked irritated now. “Who was it, Meredith?”
“Try a certain Vivaldi-loving man with gorgeous hair and a trail of crazed fans following him all over Glenbrooke.”
“Jake was at the drugstore?”
“He came in after I did, but I didn’t see him until I was at the register.”
“You didn’t tell him the pregnancy test was for me, did you?”
“No, I told him it was for me,” Meredith said sarcastically. She could see her sister beginning to perspire.
“If you told him,” Shelly said, her face turning red, “and he tells Brad, this will be on the six o’clock news before I have a chance to talk to Jonathan.”
“Don’t worry. He didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell. Can you imagine how I felt with him standing there looking at me with a pregnancy test in my hand? Just what we needed to make sure there was never any possible, slightly hopeful chance of a relationship developing between us.”
“Oh, Meri, I’m so sorry.” Shelly calmed down and glanced at her watch.
“It’s okay. Really. I thought you should know so you can give your crazy matchmaking plans a rest.”
“I won’t say anything about it again. I’m sorry you were stuck in that embarrassing situation because of me.”
“I’ll remember that the next time I want a favor out of you,” Meredith said.
Shelly quickly glanced at the stick. She didn’t say anything. Meredith came closer. The two sisters stood with their heads touching, staring at the plastic stick, willing the second line to appear. A full minute and a half passed.
“It’s only one line,” Shelly said.
“How long has it been?” Meredith asked.
Shelly looked at her watch and then placed the test stick on top of the box. “Seven minutes.”
“Are you sure?” Meri said, trying to offer hope.
“Yeah. Seven minutes,” Shelly said with a sad sigh. “There’s definitely only one line.”
They were quiet for a moment. Shelly gathered up the instructions and put all the pieces back into the box.
“It’s probably all the stress you’ve been under lately,” Meredith suggested. “You’ve had a lot of strain on you getting ready for this grand opening.”
“You’re right. I’m sure that’s it. Besides, we really aren’t ready to have a baby. We talked about trying in a year or so. We have a lot going on right now, you know, with the opening of the conference center and everything.”
Meredith spotted a solitary tear on the rim of Shelly’s eyelid.
“Don’t be so brave. You were almost pregnant, and you have every right to be emotional about that.” Meredith opened her arms, and Shelly received her comforting hug.
“And who knows,” Meredith said as Shelly pulled away and wiped her tears. “You still could be pregnant, but you’re just not pregnant enough for it to show up on the test.”
“That’s true. Except I don’t think I can stand the suspense of doing another home test. If I haven’t started by the end of next week, I’m seeing a doctor.”
“Good idea. Are you going to tell Jonathan?”
“Yes, of course. I eventually tell him everything. Do me a favor and don’t say anything to Mom, though, okay?”
“I won’t,” Meri promised. “Do you want to get back to your lodge full of guests now?”
“I suppose I should. There aren’t that many people left, I don’t think.” Shelly tossed the remains of the home test into the bathroom trash can. “I’m sorry you missed the dedication ceremony while you were at the drugstore. It was really wonderful. Dad prayed, Kyle said some very nice things about Jonathan, and I cut the ribbon. Wish you could have been there. But I appreciate your going to the pharmacy for me, even though it ended up embarrassing you.”
“That’s okay. I was glad to do it for you.”
Shelly opened the bathroom door. Bob Two was sitting there, panting and waiting for them. Scooping up the little fur ball, Shelly said, “For now you’ll be our baby.”
He licked her cheek, and Meredith cringed. “How can you stand to have dog saliva on you?”
“Haven’t you ever heard how clean a dog’s tongue is?”
“You have to be kidding. No offense, Bowser, but I saw you licking around the kitchen trash earlier. You’re a big ole slime-ball, you know that?”
“Don’t talk to my baby that way!” Shelly said, putting Bob Two down. “You stay here, Bob Two. We’ll be back later tonight. I can’t let you out because too many sweet old ladies are around here, and you might scare them to death.”
“Yeah, right,” Meredith muttered.
Bob Two barked as they slipped out the screen door.
“He doesn’t like you,” Shelly said.
“Of course he doesn’t. He’s a male. Tell him to get in line,” Meri said.
“You know, I was thinking. Why don’t you call Jake?” Shelly suggested as they walked back to the central lodge.
“Why? And I thought you weren’t going to mention him again.”
“Well, I changed my mind. I think you should call him to tell him the pregnancy test was for me and you promised not to say anything. It doesn’t matter now because I’m not pregnant.”
“You don’t think you’re pregnant.”
“Same thing at this point.”
“I don’t think my calling him would change anything,” Meri said. “It wasn’t just the questionable appearance of my buying a pregnancy kit. I terrorized the guy all day long. He doesn’t want to hear from me again; I can guarantee that.”
“Terrorized? What did you do?”
Meredith cautiously described the early morning encounter with the avocado face and blue bonnet. Shelly burst out laughing.
“There’s more,” Meri said and proceeded to share the part about the puppet show, the smashed muffin, and the immature outburst in the parking lot.
“You know,” Shelly said after she managed to control her laughter, “if nothing else, you made a lasting impression on the guy.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Meri muttered.
They stopped just outside the lodge and beyond the hearing of the dozen or so people sitting on the front porch visiting. “You know what I think?” Shelly said. “I think your picnic must have been a refreshing experience for Jake after battling the attention he’s gotten ever since Falcon Pointe came out. No one expected that movie to become such a big hit. He was a no-name, out of nowhere, and now he’s suddenly famous and being assaulted in parking lots and drugstores. It must be frustrating. I can see why he didn’t want you to know who he was for as long as possible.”
“I wish I could turn back the clock and start this day over.”
“No, you don’t. This is life. This is your crazy, amazing life, and nothing happened to you today that didn’t pass through God’s fingers before it came to you.”
Meri smiled. She used to be the one who was quick to offer spiritual insights and encouragement to her sister. Now Shelly was the one counseling her.
“If God is really in control, then I think he must be in a very strange mood today,” Meri said.
Shelly looked serious. “Do you really think God has moods?”
“I’m kidding,” Meri retorted. “Let’s go inside. Do you suppose any food is left?” Then she remembered the candy bars. “Oh, I bought all those Milky Way bars. Where did I put them?”
“You left them on the counter in the kitchen. They’ll be fine there. Jonathan will thank you profusely. You’ve brought him a two-week supply, you know.”
“Just so your mutt doesn’t get to them.”
“Don’t
worry. Bob Two hasn’t figured out how to climb up onto counters yet.”
“When he does, you’re in big trouble.”
They walked up the front steps together, and Shelly warmly greeted all the people on the benches and in the rocking chairs.
“Your mother was looking for you, Meredith,” one of the older women said.
“I bet she was,” Meri muttered under her breath. Then she smiled and said, “Thank you.” Something inside of her started to shrink down to junior high size all over again. She knew the minute she saw her mom she would be lectured about missing the dedication ceremony. And what would she tell her mother? “I was at the pharmacy, but I can’t tell you why”?
Fortunately, Mom was busy in the kitchen and didn’t pay much attention to Meredith until the long day came to a close, and Meredith and her mom and dad drove back to Kyle and Jessica’s after nine. Mom nonchalantly said, “I didn’t see you at the ceremony, Meredith. Where were you standing?”
She took a deep breath. “I had to run an errand in town. I didn’t get back in time.”
“What kind of errand?” Mom wanted to know.
“Whose car did you take?” Dad asked.
“I took Shelly’s Jeep, and it was nothing. A quick errand to help out Shelly. That’s why we came down, isn’t it? To help out? Well, I was helping out.”
Mom turned around and gave Meredith a disapproving look. “I only asked a simple question,” she said. “You don’t need to be so defensive.”
Meredith thought about that line as she washed her face and prepared to crawl into her comfy bed in the Patchwork Room. But I do need to be defensive with you, Mom. How can I tell you that? Don’t you see how much you’ve changed in the last few weeks? You’re trying to tell me what to do all the time, and you’re not treating me like an adult.
Meredith placed the warm washcloth over her face and drew in the steamy water with a deep breath. Maybe she’s treating me like a child because I let her. I turn into a little girl whenever I’m around her. Why am I doing that? I didn’t used to.