Long Memory (5 page)

“Oh, Miss Wilson, are you ready?” Becky asked.

Beth smiled, but didn’t answer. She thought her three books on the counter with her library card on top was answer enough. After the books were checked out, she led Nonie and Jean toward the car trusting James to follow.

“Imagine those hussies acting that way,” Jean fumed, clutching Nonie’s arm as they crossed the parking lot.

“Indeed,” Nonie agreed.

Beth was glad she hadn’t had to say it. She did have to wonder how James was taking the rant. So far he hadn’t said anything. Curiosity drove her to look back to check his expression and fought against it. No need to make him think she was interested.

“Pathetic. You’d think James was the last man on earth and their biological clocks were ticking time bombs.”

Nonie nodded.

Beth grabbed the door handle and pulled.

Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Nothing happened. He’d locked the doors.

“James, you locked the–” Beth stared over Nonie and Jean’s heads at the empty parking lot.

“What’s the matter?” Jean demanded.

“Where did James go?”

“He’s probably still in the library in the clutches of those tramps,” Jean muttered. “Why, I should call those girls’ mothers and tell them what they act like. Of course, Linda Kavanaugh was a little tramp in her day too. She was pregnant when she and the Raney boy married, you know. I was at the wedding.”

“Wait here. I’ll go get him.” Beth dodged around them and trotted back inside. James was still leaning against the counter chatting with Becky and Andrea. “James?” she asked, breaking into a detailed list of Atlanta’s many charms. “We’re locked out.”

“Locked–oh, are you ready? I didn’t notice. Sorry, ladies, I have to go.”

“Come back and visit us,” Andrea called.

“Bye.” Becky settled for waving.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were done,” James said as they walked out the door.

“Listen, every woman in town is going to want to talk to you.”

“Fine with me.”

“No, not fine. Jean is getting all torqued up about it, and if that happens your grandmother will be stressed. Capische?”

“No.”

Beth stopped halfway between the building and the car. She hoped Jean wouldn’t hear her, but the woman had poured all of her lost eyesight into her hearing. “Every woman in town is going to swarm all over you, fresh blood. Normally I would stand back and watch, but if Jean upsets Nonie, Nonie is going to have a bad night. If Nonie has a real bad night, it might mean another trip to the hospital in an ambulance. I’m not up for it, and I don’t have her hospital bag repacked yet. So just cool your jets, Casanova.”

“Why would you stand back and watch? You don’t want to join in?” He quirked one eyebrow.

Beth searched his face, trying to decide if he was that egotistical or if he was fishing for information. It was too hard to guess, and she didn’t have the time to waste figuring it out. “Just humor me and try to keep the flirting to a minimum. You are welcome to visit the local hot spots trawling for women when we don’t have your grandmother and great-aunt in the car. I’ll draw you a map.”

He shrugged and started for the car. Beth watched him go, debating whether to walk to the diner. Jean could direct him, and Beth thought she could use the time to clear her head. It was a pleasant enough walk, but she still didn’t like leaving James alone with the girls.

“Everybody loaded up?” she asked, pulling open the passenger side door.

“We’re ready,” James answered. “Where are we going?”

“Out to the road and up to the circle. The diner is down the road on the right.” Beth pointed up.

“There’s a circle in Weaver’s Circle?” James asked, backing the car out of its space.

“Have to make up for the fact that there aren’t any Weavers,” Beth said.

“The last Weaver died when I was just a girl. You remember old Miss Weaver, don’t you, Violet?” Jean asked.

“Miss Weaver?” Nonie answered. “I remember Miss Weaver. She lived out on the farm.”

Beth watched the high school slide past the window. “Out on the farm” really narrowed things down in a community that was still seventy percent farm country. It didn’t deter Jean, who had launched into a lopsided conversation with her sister, trying to stimulate her long-term memory. Beth wanted to clap her hands over her ears. These conversations tended to be long and fruitless with Jean doing all the talking and Nonie agreeing with her.

“Are you feeling all right?” James asked.

“Who? Me?” Beth shook her head. “I’m fine. You see the restaurant?”

“If you’re fine, why did you shake your head and change the subject?”

Beth gusted a breath out her nose. “Don’t worry about it. Do you see the restaurant?”

“I see the restaurant.”

“Good.” Beth stared out the window. People were starting to get ready for the festival. Mark Wallace and Frankie D’Angelo were painting the gazebo in the middle of the circle. Sarah and Belinda Cruz and Linda Raney were tidying the flower beds. Elaine Hammersmith stood to one side, clipboard in hand, talking to the women working on the flowers, referring to her list and no doubt doing three or four other things at the same time. Allen Finch climbed a ladder beside the video store, probably checking the rings that would hold up the Girl Scouts’ tent. As they passed the church, Beth could see a small mob milling around inside the open front doors. Last year, she had still been able to help, but when Elaine asked this year, she’d begged off.

James turned into the crowded diner parking lot. Beth bit her lip wondering how she was going to get through this charade. She wasn’t. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep and had gotten far too many shocks for one week. As soon as they walked through the door, Judy waved.

“Hello, girls. You sit down at your table and I’ll bring you a menu.”

Beth scooped the “reserved” sign off the table beside the window and helped Jean sit down. “I’ll be right back.” James tried to catch her eye, but she avoided him. Diving past the kitchen, she called, “Judy, the usual.”

“Sure thing, hon.”

She slid into the bathroom and shot the lock just before the tears came. Everything seemed to rain down around her at once. Nonie’s dementia, the trip to the emergency room the other night, the three trips they’d taken in the last two months, Jean’s encroaching blindness, the limited time they had left, the coming festival that she couldn’t help with, fighting with Donna, her own age and Jean’s dire warnings about becoming a spinster, the arrival of James. Here it was safe to cry. Other people were watching Nonie and Jean. They couldn’t see her upset. She leaned against the bathroom door sobbing silently until someone knocked.

“Out in a minute.” She splashed cold water on her face. It didn’t help. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Looking like this, Nonie would say something, which would alert Jean. She cupped cold water against her eyes, holding it there until the water drained away.

A firmer knock sounded at the door.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” she snapped. The hand towels were gone so she wiped her face off with toilet paper.

“Beth, it’s Judy. Everything okay in there?”

“Fine. Everything’s fine.” Why was Judy banging on the door? She usually left well enough alone. Unless it wasn’t well enough. “Is everything all right at the table?”

“Fine, fine. We just started to worry about you.”

We? Beth checked her watch. She’d been locked in here for ten minutes. Normally five was enough. No wonder her eyes were so screwed up. Jean wouldn’t take this lying down. She opened the door. Judy peered in at her with Zack Jarvis looking over her shoulder. They both gasped when they saw her face.

“Honey, is it that bad?” Judy asked.

“Could you go over to the table and make sure they’re all right? I just need you to stall them for a minute.”

“Of course. You know if you ever need anything, you can just ask.” She hurried away.

“Beth, is everything okay?” Zack asked. He wasn’t in uniform, but he had a professional tone. “I see there’s a strange guy at the table. Is something going on out at your house?”

“Nothing I need the police department for.” She didn’t need the biggest Romeo in town to decide to rescue her either.

He leaned closer and she could see why half the women in town were in love with him. He exuded a gentle protectiveness she wanted to pull around her like a heavy quilt in the winter. “It’s got to be hard with them going downhill the way they are. Is this guy coming around to help you out?”

“He’s Nonie’s grandson. He’s visiting.”

Zack glanced toward the table. “I don’t think he knows what he’s getting into.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Beth pressed forward to see the table and ended up in the middle of Zack’s cologne. She had been alone too long if Zack Jarvis was starting to look good.

“Nothing.” Zack put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. “He just looks like he’s lost in a cornfield and doesn’t know which direction the road is. You need some help out there.”

“I don’t need help.” Beth took a deep breath, reminding herself not to get angry. She got angry too much lately and ended up picking fights she didn’t want to be in.

“I was talking to my mom about this. She said you should have someone come out and sit with them sometimes so you can get out. Elaine told me you couldn’t help with the festival this year. It’s not good for you to be out there all alone with those two old women all the time.”

“Zack, when did you become so knowledgeable? You’re a regular agony aunt.”

“I’m trying to help.”

“I know you are, but everything is fine.” Beth jammed her hands in her pockets. She hated the fact that his hands felt good on her shoulders.

“If everything is fine, then why are you locked in the diner bathroom crying your eyes out?” He reached up and brushed her cheek.

“What’s going on?”

Beth leaped away from Zack at the sound of James’s voice. She tried to compose her face so she didn’t look guilty. “I was just talking to a friend.”

Zack shot her a funny look. “Friend” was probably not what he was hoping for, though whether he wanted more or less was up for grabs.

James studied Zack before turning back to Beth. “The food’s at the table. Aunt Jean is wondering where you are.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Beth. Hope you have a good visit,” Zack said to James. Then he wandered away.

“What was that all about?” James stepped to one side, blocking her exit.

“What was what?”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“My boyfriend? Never. I’m not going to get that desperate.” Beth crossed her fingers inside her pocket. “Why?”

“You two looked pretty cozy together.”

“You jealous or something?”

James shrugged. “I just wondered what was going on.”

Absolutely nothing. “What business is it of yours?” Beth asked. She could feel her anger coming to a rapid boil. Another deep breath did nothing to rein it in.

“I just wondered,” he repeated but his eyes narrowed. “I wanted to know what kind of people are around my grandmother.”

“Are you questioning my judgment?”

“I’m paying attention.”

“You’ve known me for a little more than a day. You’d better pay attention a little longer.” Beth pushed past him and walked across the restaurant to their table. She pasted on her happy face for Jean and Nonie. “Everything looks great. Sorry I took so long. I ran into Zack Jarvis and he wanted to talk to me.”

“About what?” Jean asked.

“The Summer Festival.” It was close enough to true.

“Are you working on that again?” Jean paused with her knife and fork hovering over her open face roast beef sandwich. “You can’t be if it’s next week. How come you aren’t doing the festival this year? You always had such fun.”

Beth bit into her sandwich. Phil made the best Reubens in the universe. Tender and flavorful. Exactly the right balance of sauerkraut and dressing. Jean was still waiting for an answer. She wouldn’t let up until she got a satisfactory one. James was waiting too. Probably hoping for more ammunition for his mother. “I didn’t feel like doing it this year.”