The Blackout (19 page)

He stood abruptly, breaking her concentration.  “Anyone for a swim?”  His shirt melted off him and landed on the towel he’d laid out. 

“No thanks.  I’m not warm enough yet,” Beth said.

“Molly?  Come on!  You’re no wuss like Beth here,” he goaded.

“Yes, actually I am a wuss like Beth.  I think I’d like to just chill in the sun for a bit.” 

“Suit yourself.  You girls can giggle about me behind my back.  That’s fine.” 

“Hey, you chose to spend the day with a couple of women.  This is what you get.”  Molly said, not letting him play the feel-sorry-for-me-card. 

He turned smug and dashed towards the shoreline. 

“What the hell?”  Molly said as soon as he was out of earshot.

“I know.  I don’t know what to tell you, except every other time I’ve seen him act like this around a girl, it’s because he likes her.  You better stay on top of it.”  She caught herself immediately.  “NOT SETH!  The problem!  Keep it under control!”

Molly smiled as she got more flustered. 

She sighed.  “You know what I mean.  I’ve seen him with girls he’s interested in.  Despite the fact that he’s a total turd bucket to me, he can be pretty charming when he wants to be.  He’s pretty indiscriminate when it comes to whether a woman is taken or not.  If he likes a girl, he goes after her, simple as that.”  She paused.  “What I’m saying is, don’t let your guard down if you care at all about Gary.”

“Problem is, my guard tends to disintegrate around him.  I don’t even realize I’ve let it down until I’m alone, replaying the events.” 

“Yes, well, this I can see,” she said as they watched Seth wade into the ocean, hooting and hollering about how it wasn’t that cold, although they could both see him on his tip toes, trying to keep the important parts dry as long as possible. 

“What am I gonna do?”  Molly asked, a hint of desperation leaking into her voice.

“Not make a move on my brother.”

“That’s the easy part.”

“And don’t let him make a move on you.”

Molly sighed.  “That part will be a little more difficult.” 

29.

It was over a week before she visited again.  Every night Gary went to bed hopeful, and in the morning he woke devastated that he had no more answers than before.  Julia said to be patient, that these things couldn’t be rushed.  But Gary didn’t feel he could afford patience. 

She’s waiting for me.
He hoped. 

He felt terrible having forgotten such an important aspect of his life
.  What kind of husband was I to have completely forgotten a woman I may have spent years with? 
he thought.  Every moment the memories stayed out of reach was agonizing.  He threw himself into work on the farm, trying to exhaust the guilt away.  But even that didn’t help.  

When he finally saw her again, he dreamt he was in a nice restaurant.  It had a modern feel to it, with dark tables, a waterfall with white flowers floating in the pool at the bottom as its centerpiece, and fresh red roses everywhere, decorating the tables.  The plates were a slate color with red napkins to match the roses, and the finest crystal he’d ever seen for glassware.  He nodded his head in approval as he appraised the place.  Then, his eyes fell on her.

She approached from the opposite side of the room.  She wore a sleeveless wrap-around dress, the color of the roses, which hugged her curves beautifully.   The bottom of it flowed mysteriously around her as she walked, giving her a mystical air.

She approached the table and clasped her hands in front of her.  “Hi,” she said.  Her voice was like music to his soul.  It wasn’t deep, but it was lower in tone than he had expected for her size.  It also had a fair amount of confidence, making her even more attractive. 

“Hi.”  Gary cleared his throat.  “Welcome.  Sit down!”  He gestured towards the seat across from him.

“Thank you.”  She sat and paused for a moment, smiling casually.  Gary could feel his hands becoming damp.   “So, Gary, what do you do?” 

Gary launched into the story of his budding career as a pilot, and she rewarded him frequently with a dazzling smile.  She explained she was moving north in August to finish out her degree in English.  They sat and chatted for hours, and the scene began to blur.  Key words floated past his mind’s eye, like
writer
and
college professor
. 

He woke more slowly than he had from the first dream about her.  He felt heavy, weighed down with information he didn’t understand. 

In the morning, Gary relayed everything to Julia.  She sat quietly across from him, drinking her tea.  After he finished telling her everything, he waited impatiently for her to give an assessment.  When she didn’t offer any words of wisdom, he prompted her. 

“Well, what do you make of it?” 

“I think the more important question is what do
you
make of it?” 

“Maybe it was our first date.  I wish she’d said her name.  The entire night I didn’t say it once.  I wonder if she thought that was strange.” 

“Now, don’t you go overanalyzin’ it.  This is just your version of what prolly happened.  It’s possible you’ve forgot or just plain left out some of the details.  We know fo’ sho’ you left out a pretty important one – that child’s name.”  Gary frowned.  “Well, you think some more on it.  Everything’ll come back in its own time.  You’ll see.  Now, quit crowdin’ my kitchen.”

She shooed him out the door and he landed on the back porch, surveying the acres of work in front of him.  He was torn between the happiness of seeing her again, and the frustration that he really didn’t know any more than he did yesterday.  He didn’t know anything important, like what her name was, or where she lived.  Those were the things he needed if he was ever going to find her. 

He didn’t even know how long ago the dream was. 
Did I ever become a pilot?  Is that what I did?  Is that why we weren’t together?  Was I away from home during the Blackout? 
He felt like screaming.  Every time he got an answer, twenty more questions popped up. 

Feeling defeated, he looked up at the sky.  It was a deep purple with brilliant shades of red cresting over the horizon. 
Please God, let me find her,
he prayed. 
Please.

30.

Molly was successful in avoiding Seth for most of the week.  She and Beth stayed busy with school, and after school Molly kept to herself, so as not to attract unwanted attention.  It worked until Saturday.

Molly was busying herself trying to dust and sweep and basically get the house fairly clean without any kind of assistance from an electric appliance – which was a frustrating task in and of itself – when someone knocked on the door.  She leaned the broom against the door jam and went to see who it was.  She hadn’t spoken much to Jimmy since her outburst, so she knew it wouldn’t be him.  To her surprise and horror it was Seth, unaccompanied. 

“Uh, hey Seth.  What’s up?” 

“Hey stranger.  Everything OK?  I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other.  “Yeah, we’ve been sort of busy this week.” 

“So I noticed.  But, since it’s Saturday, I thought you might want to hang out.  No school today!  No excuses!” 

“Ya know, I’d love to Seth, but I’m kinda in the middle of something here.” 

He playfully brushed at the bandana containing her hair.  “So I see.  Come on, that can wait!  It’s beautiful out!” 

She folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe.  “What do you have in mind?” 

“We could ride bikes, or go for a hike, or go to the beach again.  Whatever you want.”

“No, because what I want is to stay here and finish cleaning.” 

“OK fine.  How about this?  I help you finish up and then we enjoy this glorious day?” 

He drove a hard bargain, but Molly wasn’t wild about the idea of spending the day alone with Seth.  It offered too much temptation. 

She eyed him suspiciously.  “What’s Beth doing today?”

“Helping Mom go through some stuff, old clothes and stuff to give to the Center.”  The Center provided all kinds of things for anyone who needed them; canned goods, clothes, sheets, pots and pans.  Although the store-bought canned goods were running low, a few of the residents who had Mason jars and knew how to can the old-fashioned way would leave extras for the Center.  People were also going through their attics and coming up with all kinds of things to help each other out.  Everyone had been down to the Center at least once for something.  Molly went for some new towels when the salt water had finally destroyed hers.  Since they put the well in, the towels were lasting much longer.

“I see.”  So, she was alone in fighting this. 

“Hey, if you don’t want help cleaning, I can go find some other woman to help with her weekend chores.” 

Molly sighed.  She was too old for that kind of drama.  So she let him turn and start to walk away.  She smiled. 
This is win-win for me.  Either he’ll keep walking and my problem would be solved, or he’ll turn around and start begging.
 

When he reached the bottom step of the porch, he chose option B. 

“Come on, Molly.  You don’t really want to spend the whole day alone, do you?”  It was bordering on whining.

“Wow.  Sounds to me like
you
don’t want to spend the day alone.  If you’re so eager to help someone, why don’t you help your mom and Beth go through the stuff for the Center?” 

“They’re not as good company as you are.”  He looked Molly straight in the eye when he said it.  He was laying it on thick. 

She threw her hands up.  “Fine.  But you have to help me!  You can’t distract me, or keep me from finishing this!” 

“Great!”  He bounded up onto the porch, skipping all three steps.  Dug greeted him happily once he was in the house, and Seth sat down on the floor to shower him with attention. 

“Boy, that looks like help if I ever saw it.” 

He laughed.  “Wow, you’re quite the slave driver, Mrs. Bonham.” 

When he said her name that way it brought her back to reality. 
Don’t forget who you are,
she thought. 
You are Mrs. Gary Bonham.  Very much a devoted wife in a loving relationship.  Any day now, he will be home and you can pick up where you left off.

“And don’t you forget it.” 

He laughed.  “So, where do you want me to start?” 

“I’m almost done down here.”  She handed him the broom.  “Just finish sweeping, and meet me upstairs when you’re done.”

“Yes sir!”  He saluted her in a ridiculous fashion and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

And so, that was how she spent the better part of her Saturday.  Cleaning her house with a very attractive friend.  Occasionally they bumped into each other, and shared a moment of eye contact.  But, for the most part, they worked in quiet company.  Molly decided it was nice to have help, and also not to be alone.

When they were done, they stood next to each other in the entryway, surveying their work.  “A job well done if I do say so myself,” Molly said.

He put his arm around her and she tensed a little.  “We make a good team, you and I.”  

“Yup.” She squirmed out of his grasp to go put the broom away, grateful it was still in her hands.  When she closed the closet door, he was standing there watching with a half-smile on his face.  He seemed content.  She looked back and forth, unsure of what to do next.  “OK, so now what?” 

“I tell you what, get cleaned up and meet me out front of my place in half an hour.”

“For what?” 

“It’s a surprise!” he said, already on his way out the door. 

So she cleaned up and put on some jeans and a tank top.  Nothing fancy.  This was just some time with a friend.  She didn’t need to impress him. 

She decided to take Dug along for whatever excursion Seth had in mind.  He’d mentioned wanting to spend time outside, so she thought Dug could serve as a good distraction, and an excuse if she needed to extricate herself from an uncomfortable situation.

Seth was waiting at the end of his driveway when they walked up.  He looked puzzled for a moment, but recovered quickly.

“Hi.  I thought I’d bring Dug, since you seemed so gung-ho about doing something outside.” 

“Yeah, that’s great.”  He had a canvas bag over his shoulder, and was dressed casually – dark blue jeans and a t-shirt.  Nothing fancy.  He pointed towards the direction he wanted to go and moved to put his arm around Molly, but she acted like she didn’t notice, and maneuvered Dug between them. 

She smiled internally. 
Already having Dug is proving to be a good idea.
 

Dug walked happily along, and Seth calculated his next move. 

To break the tension, Molly asked, “So, you wanna tell me where we’re going now, or are you gonna make me wait until we get there for a dramatic reveal?” 

He laughed.  “Hmm…dramatic reveal sounds like fun.  I opt for that.” 

So they walked along, settling into a comfortable silence.  The birds sang beautifully as they took a turn onto a wooded path.  The trees made a magical-looking canopy over their heads, and the sun dappled the ground. 

“Huh,” Molly said. “All the years I’ve lived here, and I didn’t know this little trail was here.”  It was hard to believe this little gem was inside the wall, so close, just waiting to be discovered.  Dug was having the time of his life, tail in the air and nose to the ground.   

“Well, stick with me, kid, and you’ll learn all kinds of things.” 

“Well thank you.  That’s rather haughty of you.” 

He laughed.

Then the woods opened up and the canopy became a prelude to something more beautiful than Molly could have imagined.  There was soft grass stretched out before her, and to the left a beautiful blue pond that glittered in the sunlight.  In the distance, a single tree with branches that extended farther than it seemed they should stood near the shoreline, providing the perfect amount of shade and beauty.  They were the only ones in the clearing, with only the whisper of a breeze in the grass and the songs of the birds for company.