Unconventional Scars (4 page)

Suddenly feeling very sleepy, Anna decided any further exploration could wait. It had been
such
a long day. Flicking off the light switch, she crawled into the sinfully comfortable bed and fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

3

Friday morning, Lisa Hamilton sat in the breakfast nook with Philip, lightly tapping her manicured nails on the kitchen table while he filled her in on the previous day’s events.

“Then she just starts bawling like crazy!” he was saying. “I didn’t know what to do. She just sat there and cried and says she doesn’t
know
why she’s crying. I had no idea
what
was going on. Is that normal?”

Lisa smiled and rolled her eyes. She loved Phil, but like any man, he could be so clueless. “Yes, it’s perfectly normal. Guys get angry when they’re confused. Girls cry. After all she’s been through, believe me, it could have been worse.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s almost
eleven-thirty
. Her hair appointment is at one. Do you think we should wake her up? She needs to eat something before we go.”

“I hate to wake her. She looked worn out last night. Can you maybe change her appointment time?”

“
Well . . . w
e’ll give her fifteen more minutes. Maybe she’ll be up by then. What are your plans for the day?”

“I have to take her transcript to the school and talk to the principal. Hopefully she’ll be able to start on Monday.” Philip laughed wryly. “Man, it feels strange to know I’m the guardian of a teenage girl. I never would have imagined it.”

Lisa laughed too, then paused as they both heard a faint noise from upstairs. “Sounds like Sleeping Beauty has awakened. Looks like your days as a swinging bachelor are now officially over, huh, Papa Bear?”

****

Anna awoke feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to begin the first day in her new home. After hastily brushing her teeth and hair and washing her face, she dressed in jeans and her least-
scruffy
blouse and hurried downstairs, humming to herself. What a great night’s sleep! That bed was like sleeping on a cloud
of marshmallows
. She stopped short upon bursting into the kitchen, surprised to see a striking blonde woman at the table with Uncle Phil. “Good morning,” she said shyly.

“Good morning, Sunshine!” Phil said with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Very well, yes, thank you.”

“Great! You look a hundred times better than you did. Anna, this is Lisa Hamilton. Lisa, meet
the new woman in my life,
Anna.”

This introduction made Anna and Lisa both laugh. “It’s nice to meet you,” was all Anna could
come up with
.
She always felt awkward around new people.

“So nice to meet you too, Anna,” Lisa replied. “I guess we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well, since we’ll be spending most of today and tomorrow together.” At Anna’s puzzled expression, she explained, “We’re getting your hair done today, among other things. I hope you like shopping too, because we’re about to hit the stores hard.”

“That . . . sounds great.” Actually
,
it sounded freaking unbelievable
!
Nobody had ever made a fuss over Anna before. Maybe with a decent haircut and new clothes, she wouldn’t look like a bum at school. What a nice change of pace
that
would be.

Lisa pushed her chair back and stood up. “How about a sandwich? I don’t want to rush you, but your appointment is at one and you need to eat something before we go.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Philip leaned forward and said conspiratorially, “One thing you’ll learn about Lisa is she’s the most well-organized person you’ll ever meet. I guarantee she has the next two days mapped out to a tee.”

“Ham or turkey?” Lisa was rummaging through the refrigerator, pulling items out and setting them on the counter. She seemed perfectly at home here.

“Doesn’t matter. Um . . . I can do that if you want.”

“I don’t mind. I already made one for Phil. Mayonnaise and lettuce?”

“Sure.”

Lisa put a paper plate containing the sandwich and some chips in front of
her
, along with a glass of iced tea. Anna thanked her politely.

“You’re very welcome. Philly, you want some more tea while I’m up?”

Philly??

“No, I’m good,” he said. She returned to her place next to Phil and took a sip from her own glass of
iced
tea. Then she started talking to him about
some
completely unreasonable
w
oman she was trying to sell a house for.

Anna ate quickly while
studying
Lisa. She certainly was very well put together, from her creased slacks to her blue silk blouse to her gold jewelry. Her shoulder-length straight hair was an enviable shade of blonde that looked natural, not dyed, and her makeup was flawless. She wore diamond earrings that looked real as well. She seemed unaffected, too, as
if
she didn’t know or care how attractive she was. No wonder Uncle Phil was dating her. Spending the afternoon with her should be interesting.

Phil was rifling through his wallet looking for something. He pulled out a credit card and handed it to Lisa, saying, “Get her whatever she needs.”

“What’s the limit?” Lisa asked.

“No limit,” Phil said, winking at Anna. “Spoil her. If she’s not the prettiest, most well-dressed girl at school come Monday, I’m holding you accountable!”

****

Anna twirled in front of the dressing room’s three-way mirror, still unable to process what she saw. The girl looking back at her was nearly unrecognizable.
I can’t believe that’s me! I’m actually kind of
pretty! Who knew?

Lisa had taken her first to a hair salon, where Anna watched her
light brown strands
fall to the floor until she began to worry that she might have none left. The stylist knew what she was doing, though, and the results were amazing.
Once
she was done, she showed Anna how
to
style it
and
which products she should use. Lisa
couldn’t help but laugh
at her
as she constantly shook her head back and forth just to feel her hair move. It
felt so light and bouncy now!
S
oft as silk, too. She couldn’t believe what a difference a simple haircut could make.

She was then whisked next door and given a makeover, with instructions on how to apply the makeup so that it looked fresh and natural. Makeup had always been a luxury she couldn’t afford, so it was a new and interesting experience.

While
trying on clothes
, i
t didn’t take her long to discover that Lisa had impeccable taste. She let Anna pick out things she liked, but Anna found that the
items
Lisa suggested inevitably wound up suiting her the best. The woman definitely had a flair for fashion. And Uncle Phil wasn’t kidding about her being organized. She had come armed with a
well-planned
list of items to purchase.

After pulling on her old jeans and blouse for about the ten trillionth time that day, she was relieved when Lisa suggested they
wrap
things up since they were
supposed to meet Phil for dinner at seven.
Shopping was fun,
sure,
but she was tired of getting
dressed and undressed
over
and
over
. Besides, her stomach was growling. That ham sandwich and chips had long since worn off.

Exiting the dressing room once
more
, she found Lisa paying a saleslady for the items. She entertained herself by sniffing perfume sample bottles while waiting. One of them had a delicious scent that reminded her of the beach and she sprayed some on her wrists.

“I actually have some of that at home,” Lisa told her as she joined her by the cosmetics counter. “It smells heavenly. You want to get some?”

She did, more than anything, but already felt guilty about all the money being spent on her. Before she
answered
, however, Lisa motioned to a saleslady and requested a bottle. They wound up not only purchasing the perfume, but the dusting powder and body lotion as well. Anna had never known such bliss.

Twenty minutes later,
the car loaded with bags, they met Phil in the parking lot of a seafood restaurant. When he caught sight of Anna, his mouth
fell
open. “
Well, paint my toenails and call me Mabel!
You don’t even look like the same person. Wow!”

Lisa beamed. “I think we got a lot accomplished today
, Mabel.
We should be able to finish up tomorrow with no problem.”

Anna threw her arms around Phil’s waist and hugged him. “Thank you, thank you so much! I hope we didn’t
max out your card or anything.
”

He squeezed her back and told her not to worry about it, that he was by no means hurting for money. Anna couldn’t even imagine having so much money that you never had to worry. It was a novel idea, that was for sure.

The three of them enjoyed a pleasant meal of grilled seafood and afterward, they went back to Phil’s house. He helped them unload all the bags from Lisa’s car and carried them upstairs to Anna’s room for her. Then they relaxed in the living room, with Phil and Lisa on the couch and Anna curled up in the recliner.

Lisa was
examining
her list. “Okay, we got most of your wardrobe taken care of today. Tomorrow we need to focus on lingerie, shoes and school supplies. And some accessories.”

“Sounds a lot easier than trying on clothes all day,” Anna commented. Then she quickly amended, “Not that I’m complaining. I really appreciate all your help today. I know you probably had better things to do.”

“I’m a shopaholic, so
trust
me, it was fun,” Lisa said, stifling a yawn. “I am pretty tired, though. I think I’m going to head home. See you guys tomorrow, say, sometime after lunch?” Standing, she dropped a
light
kiss on Phil’s head.

“That’ll be fine,” he agreed. “Thanks again,
honey
. See you tomorrow.”

After Lisa was gone, Phil and Anna chatted and watched TV for a while until she began to yawn and decided it was time to go to bed. Not before another nice long soak in the tub, though. As she lowered her tired body into the hot water, pleasantly
fatigued
by her busy day, Anna had only one thought.

This is the life!

4

Saturday’s shopping trip proved to be less strenuous than the previous day’s excursion. To Anna’s relief, the only items she had to try on were bras and shoes. They were done by four o’clock, and this time they weren’t completely
wiped out
when they arrived home. They walked in to find Phil marinating
meat
in the kitchen.

“Thought we’d grill steaks,” he said, rinsing his hands off in the sink. “It’s so nice out today.”

“Sounds great,” Lisa agreed. “Do you have stuff for salad?” Without waiting for a reply, she began to forage through the contents of the refrigerator. “Didn’t you get any Italian dressing? Please tell me this isn’t all you have.” She held up a half-empty bottle of Ranch dressing that looked questionable at best.

“Want any help?” Anna offered.

Phil wiped his hands on a dishtowel
,
pulled an unopened bottle of Italian dressing out of a grocery bag on the counter,
and handed
it to Lisa. “No thanks, honey. Why don’t you go put your things away and come back down and we’ll go out on the patio.”

Anna scurried upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, and deposited the handfuls of bags onto her bed, then ran back downstairs for the rest. It was a lot of stuff. She had shoes, socks, underwear, bras, nightwear, fashion jewelry to match some of the outfits they’d already purchased, and two additional brands of perfume. She was on cloud nine. There were also school supplies and a
cute
canvas backpack to put them in.
Maybe
school here would be different, after all.
It
just
had
to be!

Back in the kitchen, Lisa was busy washing lettuce. “Phil’s out back. Why don’t you go join him?”

Already, as Anna pulled the sliding glass door open, she could hear the sounds of
people
playing basketball, presumably next door. Mingled with the
thump
of the bouncing ball was the laughter and banter of the boys playing, the trilling of a robin somewhere, and a scrumptious aroma coming from the grill. The sky was a flawless sapphire blue. Even above the tops of the trees at the edge of the back yard, she could see in the distance the
breathtaking
, hazy
Blue Ridge Mountains
.
Norman Rockwell, you must have lived someplace like this. My gosh, it’s too perfect to be real. Have people always lived in
neighborhoods
like this
one
? I can’t believe what I was missing. If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up. Not ever.