“Ah! What a shot!” Seth moaned with a grin. He and Tommy had just joined Jake at the store, and they all decided to rack up some balls in the pool room. It had been nearly a week since all the excitement had taken place. Most of the media had left town in search of new stories to pursue, and Cold Creek had, once again, become just a speck on the map. The townsfolk were glad things had settled down after all the frenzy of cameras, microphones, and law enforcement personnel everywhere. They preferred their quiet little town, although everyone was still buzzing about the events that had unfolded. If nothing else, it had provided them with a lot of things to gossip and visit about for quite some time, as well as generating some unexpected revenue to boot.
“So, Seth,” Jake began then took another shot. He sunk a ball and walked around the table to take aim on another one. “Have you and your mom had much time to talk yet?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t feel real comfortable getting out right now. People stare at her and avoid speaking to her. She figures they all think she’s a tramp of some kind. They just don’t understand things.”
Jake stopped in mid-aim and stood up looking at this friend. “Do you think you’re going to move then?”
“She wants to, but I don’t know where...except she has a sister living in the Midwest and thought we might at least go for a visit, just to get away for a while.”
“That might be a good idea, Seth, especially after all she’s been through...and you too.” Jake took his shot and missed. “Your turn, Tom.”
While Tommy lined up a shot, Jake walked over to Seth and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I’d sure miss you, but things can’t always stay the same, can they?”
“Nope. They can’t.” Seth blew out a breath of air and watched as Tommy sunk a ball with great delight, then asked Jake, “Have you heard anything about Janet or her friend?”
“Not a word,” he replied, then congratulated Tommy on sinking another ball.
Uncle Pete poked his head in the doorway. “You boys want something to eat or drink?
They each asked for a soda, and Uncle Pete said he’d bring them something right away. The little bell at the front door to the store rang indicating a customer had come in, so Pete hurried back out.
Tommy missed his next shot, and it was Seth’s turn again. He lined up his cue and sent the balls scurrying all over the table.
“What d’ya call that?” Jake laughed. He laughed even harder when two balls dropped into opposite pockets. “Geez! Maybe I should try that!” All three laughed heartily. It felt good to laugh.
“Do you think she’ll ever come back?” Seth asked Jake.
“Who?” Tommy wanted to know.
“Janet,” Jake and Seth said in unison.
“Did I hear someone mention my name?” All three boys whirled around and stared at the doorway. There stood Janet, struggling to hold on to four bottles of cold soda. “Someone wanna help me with these?” They quickly walked up to her each grabbing a bottle.
“Wow!” Seth exclaimed. “Look at you!” He let out a low whistle. “You’re all... all...”
“Cleaned up?” Janet laughed and opened her soda, taking a swig.
“Well, y-yes,” Seth stammered, “but you’re so...so...pretty!” he finally blurted out. Everyone laughed, and Seth felt stupid.
“Why thank you, Seth!” she replied and smiled at him.
“How’s Sally doing?” Jake asked, trying not to stare at Janet, but Seth was right. She was very pretty. Her hair was fixed nicely, and her clothes were definitely better looking than what she was wearing a week ago. Even so, he thought she was pretty even then.
“She’ll be fine. They kept us both in the hospital for observation for a couple of days and ran a lot of tests checking for...well, you know, for stuff."
Jake understood and nodded. “So where are you off to now?” He tried to sound casual.
“Uh...well, we’re all flying home first thing in the morning. Sally’s folks and mine are all here. They came as soon as the authorities got a hold of them. They were all quite worried, you know.” She took another sip of her soda and slowly walked around the room, looking at the miscellaneous posters and other odd assortment of items tacked to the walls.
"You know, we don't even know your full name," Jake said then suddenly felt embarrassed, almost ashamed of his place, now that Janet was standing here. “Hey, why don’t we all step outside in the fresh air?” He motioned to the door. Everyone agreed and walked to the front of the store and out to the graveled lot where Janet had parked. “They found your car?”
“No,” she replied offhand. “This is just a rental.” Now she felt a bit awkward. “I told my folks that I needed to come back here long enough to say goodbye and thank all of you, again, for all your help…I mean with Sally and all.” She looked at the ground for a minute. “I mean...you guys saved my life and Sally’s too.”
“We know!” Tommy stepped closer and grinned. “We’re heroes!”
“Yes you are!” She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Tommy touched his cheek and grinned real big.
“Wow!” He was pleased.
“You all are!” She gave each of them a hug and stepped back, but she looked at Jake. “You really are...”
“You wanna have dinner with us?” Tommy asked, still smiling.
“I wish I could but I have to go.” Reluctantly, she walked to her car and opened the door, standing there for one last moment. “Bye, guys.” She started to climb in behind the wheel then stopped long enough to say, “It's Feldman. Janet Feldman.”
All three boys stood still and watched her disappear down the road. No one spoke for several minutes, each playing with their own thoughts.
“Do you think she’ll ever come back?” Seth finally asked Jake once again.
“Oh...you never know,” he replied. But deep down, he doubted he’d ever see her again. She was a pretty city girl, who was used to bright lights and excitement. And he was just a backward county boy who owned a little county store and a filling station in a little town that was a tiny black dot on a map. With a loud exhale, Jake looked at both his friends and smiled. “You guys hungry?”
“Yeah!” they replied together.
“Well, what d’ya say we all go up to Rosie’s for some supper. My treat.”
“Sounds good to me!”
“Me too!” Tommy grinned.
“So, Tom,” Jake began, “you say your folks were proud of you?”
“Yup! They said they couldn’t believe I was so brave and everything!” Tom bubbled on about his parents’ reaction to everything while they had been away. Actually, Jake had already had a long talk with Tommy’s folks, trying to reassure them that he hadn’t ever intended that Tommy, or any of them, for that matter, would have gotten involved in something as dangerous as what had happened but that things had just kept getting more and more complicated.
Tommy’s parents had taken their turn trying to reassure Jake that they knew he wouldn’t have intentionally put their son in harm’s way and were actually very grateful to him for protecting him as he did and very relieved with the way everything turned out.
Seth and Jake walked along with Tommy, happy to listen to his chatter and grateful that he was still allowed to hang out with them. The sun was beginning to dip behind the looming mountain range to the west. A slight breeze had picked up, and the few streetlights in town started to flicker on. A lone local vehicle drove past. The driver honked his horn and gave a big wave. The boys waved back. They would be celebrities for a while longer until the excitement would finally wear off. Jake was hoping it would be sooner rather than later. Even so, it sure was good to be home again.
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