"I think so. Cindi's cursed quite loudly at it a few times. I also think she's given it a few solid kicks." Brooke winced as though she hated snitching on her assistant. "I'm afraid she's not too good at following directions. Mine or a machine's. But she's a single mom and I just don't have the heart to let her go." She laughed humorlessly. "I swear I do both our jobs most of the time."
Unused to being watched as she worked, Cooper began loosening the screws that secured the back panel to the main body of the copier.
"Unlike poor Cindi," Brooke rambled on, "I've been blessed. My husband is my best friend. We were high school sweethearts, raised a terrific son together, and are celebrating our thirty-year anniversary to night. That's why I'm so desperate to get my ring back today."
Cooper glanced up at Brooke's face. She was gazing out a window beyond Cindi's desk, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. "Wesley, my husband, is picking me up after work today in a white limo. We're going out to dinner at this little hole-in-the-wall where we had our first date. He doesn't know that I know, but he also reserved the bridal suite at the Jefferson." She shook her head dreamily. "We couldn't afford anything like that when we got married, so I guess he's trying to make it up to me, but I wouldn't trade our first years of struggle for anything." She grinned at Cooper. "Are you married?"
"No, ma'am," Cooper answered without taking her eyes from her work. "My boyfriend of over five years left me six months ago. Really suddenly," she added and then instantly clammed up. People didn't usually speak to her once they had directed her to the machine they needed fixed so she was surprised to find herself sharing such an intimate exchange.
"I'm so sorry," Brooke answered sincerely. "Five years is a long time. Many marriages don't survive that long, so you two must have been doing something right."
"I thought so." Cooper sighed. "And I'd do anything to have my life with him back. All that time, he was my only friend, my whole world. I'm living with my parents again and just trying to figure out how to start again."
Brooke put her hand on Cooper's shoulder. "You're young and pretty and I can tell you must be awfully smart to be able to do what you do. Once time heals your wounds a bit, you're going to find that men will line up around the block just to take you out on a date."
"Really?" Cooper looked over her shoulder. "Where's the front of that line?"
Brooke smiled. "If you can laugh about your pain, you're on the road to getting the best of it. And I have an idea about a place that might help you in the whole recovery process. Hold on a sec." She pulled open a desk drawer, retrieved a marigold-colored brochure, and handed it to Cooper.
"This is the church I go to. I would love for you to attend a service with me. Come as my friend. Any Sunday you'd like. Just walk on in and find me and we'll sit together."
Cooper stared at the yellow brochure. It was from Hope Street Church and simply had the church name, address, and the words
Welcome Friends
on the cover. Brooke's invitation was filled with warmth and hospitality, but the idea of attending an unfamiliar church wasn't something Cooper could immediately agree to. "I'll think about it. Thank you, ma'am."
"Please do. And no more of this ma'am stuff. We're just two women trying to make our way in the world. Brooke and Cooper." She pointed at the brochure. "Take a look at that when you get a chance and feel free to call me if you have any questions. Now"--Brooke tugged on the bottom of her stained blouse--"
I
will stop blithering away like a chatty magpie and let you work your magic. I'll be in my office, so please let me know if you need an extra pair of hands--to hold the flashlight for you or something."
"Thanks, but I'm like an octopus when I'm working." Cooper grinned and watched the other woman walk away. She then folded the Hope Street brochure in half, tucked it in her pants pocket, and returned her focus to removing the bottom paper drawer so that she could get a better view of the copier's underbelly. After she detached the tray, she directed the powerful beam of her Maglite into the cavity and swept the light all around the base. A twinkle in one of the far corners alerted her to the presence of Brooke's ring.
Plucking the ring from the dark, Cooper cleaned it off using a fresh rag from her toolbox. A dozen tiny diamonds embedded in a band of yellow gold glistened as Cooper wiped away spots of toner and dust. As she rubbed the inside of the ring, she noticed an inscription. It read
Forever, I Corinthians 13:13
.
Cooper knew that I Corinthians 13:13 was a popular biblical quote to use for wedding ceremonies. Sitting on the floor of the quiet office, she called to mind the cover of her younger sister, Ashley's, wedding program. It showed the bride and groom as children inside a heart-shaped cutout. Above the photograph were two doves flying toward each other and the words,
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Folding the ring carefully inside another clean rag, Cooper set the precious package next to her toolbox and began the process of removing the jammed sheets of paper. She made a pile of torn strips of paper along with an anthill of bits and scraps that had likely collected inside the copier over the last few weeks. It only took her a few minutes to restore the machine to working order. She checked under the lid to see if Brooke's original document was still laid out on the glass. It was, so Cooper programmed the machine to make five duplicates in order to test the copier. It ran them through without a hitch.
Cooper didn't even glance at the pages that were so critical to Brooke Hughes. She had never examined the contents of a single document in her four years as a repairwoman and didn't plan to start now. Clearing her throat, she stood in the threshold of Brooke's office and unfolded the rag containing the wedding ring.
"Here's your ring, ma'am--um, Brooke. No harm done to it either."
Brooke plucked the ring from the rag, pushed it on her finger, and threw her arms around Cooper. "God bless you! I can't tell you how much this means to me!"
Though surprised by the woman's quickness, Cooper still managed to press the documents against her thigh so they wouldn't get crushed by Brooke's embrace.
"Your copier's back in order too," Cooper declared once Brooke had released her. "I made five copies just to test the machine, but you're good to go if you'd like to run off some more."
Brooke accepted the papers. The joy that had shone from her eyes upon seeing her wedding ring was instantaneously transformed into a mixture of worry and fear. "Thank you," she said softly.
The phone on her desk began to ring, and Brooke glanced in its direction. Once again, she began to pick nervously at her fingernails.
"I'd better get that." Her tone was regretful.
Cooper was accustomed to abrupt dismissals by busy and important people, or at least people who viewed themselves as busy and important, so Brooke's desire to linger was unusual.
"Have a nice day, ma'am," Cooper stated politely. She wished she could think of something more comforting to add but nothing came to mind.
Retreating toward her desk, Brooke gave Cooper a bright smile infused with warmth and then wiggled her ring finger. "I hope that one day a good man gives you a ring and a promise and makes you very, very happy. Maybe I'll see you at church some Sunday. I'll keep an eye out for you."
It took a moment for Cooper to move, as a vision of Drew bending down on one knee and offering her a velvet jewelry box had her so captivated that she almost forgot where she was. Finally, she blinked and Drew's handsome face and pleading eyes evaporated.
"Most folks don't talk to me when I'm working," Cooper found herself telling Brooke. "I kind of walk around as if I'm invisible. So ... it was really nice to have done work for you today. Thank you."
"
No
one's invisible," Brooke replied firmly and smiled again. She then picked up her phone and her smile disappeared in a flash.
Sensing that Brooke needed privacy, Cooper returned to the restored copier and packed up her tools. Because the only trash receptacle in sight was the overflowing Rubbermaid can under Cindi's desk, Cooper folded the paper scraps she had removed from inside the copier into her rag and headed outside to the van. As she walked, she considered how her regular interactions with office workers were brief and impersonal and in general, she preferred it that way. Yet for the first time, she had met someone who had spoken to her openly, as an equal, and it had felt really good. And though part of Cooper felt touched by Brooke Hughes's attention, the other part of her wished that she could have remained anonymous. That way, she could drive off into the sunshine without fretting over the welfare of someone she barely knew.
Heading toward another area of Capital City's mammoth campus in order to deliver the Hewlett-Packard 7410s, Cooper parked the van near the delivery entrance of Building F and turned off the engine. She felt like enjoying a cigarette beneath the plump buds of one of the lot's largest dogwood trees, but then remembered that she had smoked her last one that morning.
Cooper got out of the van and leaned against the tree trunk. She propped her leg against the smooth bark, enjoying the sun on her face as she opened a Ziploc bag containing two of her mother's homemade cookies. Suddenly, she felt an inexplicable urge to say a quick prayer before returning to work. She hadn't prayed for someone else for a long, long time. In fact, she couldn't remember praying much at all until Drew had left her, but now she said a nightly prayer that she might be re united with him and soon.
Maybe I should focus on somebody else for once
, she thought, folding her hands together and closing her eyes.
"Lord," she began hesitantly and then felt words flow more easily from her mouth. "I hope that Brooke's husband is all that she says he is. I hope he rides up in his white limo and sweeps that nice woman away in a tide of happiness so powerful that what ever is troubling her will be completely washed away. Amen."
Not bad
, Cooper thought and felt some of the tension she was holding on to ebb away. Chewing on one of her mother's chocolate pinwheel cookies, she got back to work.
2
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Ephesians 5:28 (NIV)
"I can't believe my only sister works as a copier repairman!" Ashley complained to their mother, Magnolia "Maggie" Lee, as Maggie finished up her daily baking that Sunday afternoon. "Do you know how weird that sounds when I tell people what my sister's job is?"
"Why?" Maggie momentarily paused in rolling out a ball of cookie dough for her Chinese almond cookies and gave her youngest child a perplexed look. "What's wrong with Cooper's job with Make It Work? Your sister is
very
talented with her hands. She can fix most anything, just like her daddy. Though she's a whole lot prettier."
Ashley tossed a thick lock of glossy, radiant blond hair over her shoulder. "It would be one thing if she just did administrative stuff, but she actually gets
greasy
and wears a uniform with an embroidered
name tag
! What's next? Coveralls? Steel-tipped boots?"
Mrs. Lee shrugged. "Someone has to keep those complicated machines workin' smoothly. Lord knows how much folks seem to depend on them these days. And someone has to be strong enough to tell those stingy business owners when their machines have reached the end of their road and need to be replaced." She teared up. "Oh, now you've got me thinkin' about what I'm gonna do when Grammy is called by the angels!"
Ashley rolled a pair of captivating cerulean eyes. "There's nothing wrong with Grammy, Mama. Don't get all worked up. Besides, I don't think the angels are going to be able to handle her. She's going to be with us forever."
Maggie ignored that last bit and brightened. "You're right, dear. Grammy's plucky as a hen in springtime. Now"--she wiped her hands on the seat of her pants instead of her apron--"I've got to get these cookies ready for the folks at the Alzheimer's home." She glanced at her watch. "I want them to have a special treat with their Sunday afternoon tea."
"Why?" Ashley's perfect lips screwed into a smirk. "They won't remember eating them."
"Ashley Elizabeth!" Mrs. Lee shook her rolling pin at her daughter. "Don't you say ugly things like that in
my
kitchen!"
"Sorry, Mama." Ashley shot Cooper a look to let her sister know that her apology was less than genuine, but Cooper wasn't paying attention. She had a mug of hot coffee in her right hand and was lost in the pages of the Sunday paper.
"Back to Cooper," Ashley persisted. "How is she ever going to meet a new man when her job is so ... so macho?" She put her manicured hands on her narrow hips. "It's been six months since
he
left, ya know. It's time for her to start living again. She's pretty in that all-natural kind of way and has a body most girls would kill for, and what does she do with it? She just hides out above the garage like a nun.
Someone
will have to drag her out of there or she's going to turn into an old maid."
"Help me bag up these pinwheels while you're frettin' over your sister, Ashley."
Ashley obediently stuffed two cookies each into plastic bags decorated with gold stickers reading
Magnolia's Marvels
. As she tied them using a small gold ribbon, she occasionally glanced over at Cooper, who was still engrossed in an article in the
Richmond Times-Dispatch
