by Anne Hagan
Janet nodded. “I get that.”
Barb waited several beats but when the woman standing on the other side of the counter didn’t say anything else she got a little antsy. “I’m not going to beg you. If you don’t want to…”
“I accept,” Janet said simply and then she gave the blonde a shy smile of her own.
“Good,” Barb said, drawing in a relieved breath and letting it out quickly. “I can give you my key and you can start moving stuff now, if you like. I’m uh, stuck here though until closing tonight.”
“There’s not much. I lost most of my stuff that isn’t in storage in the fire. There are a few things I’d like to have out of storage for now…if that’s okay.”
“Whatever you need.”
“Um, are you going to call ahead and tell your mom and dad I’m coming? I uh…” She trailed off, not knowing what to say.
“You’ve met my mom. She really liked you. I do have to warn you though…how to put this? She, uh wasn’t aware we were dating at the time you met.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry,” Barb rushed to add. “It won’t be awkward, I promise. She does know that we’re friends and I’ve told her about you selling your house. You can tell her whatever you want from there but, I warn you, she loves to play 20 questions.”
Janet smirked. “I sort of miss that.”
“Hmm, I guess I hadn’t thought of that. Is…is this going to be hard for you being around my mom and an ailing parent again?”
She shook her head no. “Actually, it will be nice being around other people besides cops and Walmart shoppers.”
“Walmart?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Okay then. Um, one last thing…”
“What?”
“Mom’s been hinting to me that there’s more to life than looking after them and this bar. She keeps telling me I need to start putting myself out there again and meet someone nice. Don’t be surprised if she already suspects something and digs deep into your personal life and then decides a little matchmaking is in order.”
Now Janet’s grin spread wide. “I’m okay with that.”
Barb held out a hand, palm up. “Maybe so, but I still need to focus on dad, for now.”
###
Janet dug through the storage unit for a couple of boxes of clothing she’d set aside as not essential to lug to the extended stay. Before she knew it, her trunk was full and she was on her way back out of Zanesville headed to Barb’s old Colonial in Morelville.
The thought of having a regular bed to sleep in delighted her but, as she passed the Boar’s Head, just before the turn that would take her to the sleepy little village, she shuddered. The idea of living with Barb, parents or no parents present, was disconcerting. ‘What if we end up not getting along at all?’ she thought to herself.
Her cell rang. She hit the Bluetooth button on the dash and listened as Dana’s voice came over the speakers.
“Where are you sweetie?”
“I’m about two minutes out of Morelville, you little sneak.”
“Who me?” Dana’s laugh filled the car. “You know you needed a place to stay, you know you like Barb and, you know she likes you and just between you and me, I think you’ll be a good buffer between her and her folks.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“She won’t admit it, but they’ve gotten to be a bit of a handful for her. She could really use the help.”
“Oh.”
“You up for it?”
Janet nodded to herself but then realized Dana couldn’t see her. “Yes, of course,” she answered instead.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a lot to unload?”
She smiled sheepishly to herself. “A trunk full but that’s all.”
“I’ll meet you there and give you a hand then.”
###
“Have you ever been married dear?” Amy Wysocki asked.
“No ma’am,” Janet said, smiling patiently. Barb had been right about her mother’s inquisitiveness.
“Engaged?”
“Now you’re just being nosy Amy,” Tomasz Wysocki chided his wife.
“It’s fine,” Janet said smiling at the man sitting in the lounge chair across from her, under a heavy blanket. “No Mrs. Wysocki, I’ve never been engaged either.”
“Call me Amy dear.” She got right back on track quickly. “So, do you like men or women?”
Tom chose that moment to have a coughing fit, drawing Amy’s attention away from her quarry. Janet, meanwhile, tried to hide her own blush. She’d been warned.
Amy rushed to her husband’s side but he waved her off. “Just breathed wrong, is all,” he said.
“Maybe it’s a bit too chilly out here after all dear. We should probably get you inside.”
He shook his head and crossed his arms defiantly. “I’ll be fine. Just throw another log on the pit there; the fire’s getting a little low.”
Barb stepped out of the house just then. “It’s after 9:00 Dad. Have you had your meds?” She looked at her mother pointedly.
Amy’s only response was, “You’re home early dear.”
Janet smiled to herself at Amy’s favorite way to address everyone as Barb responded to her mother.
“Billie’s going to close for me. I wanted to make sure Janet got settled in all right.” Her eyes slid over Janet’s face and briefly held before she looked back at her mom.
“Thanks for letting me stay here,” Janet said in response. “The room your mom set me up in is very nice and I appreciate it.”
Amy batted a hand at her. “You two girls did all the work, I just led the way.”
“Two?” Barb asked.
“Dana came by to give me a hand with my stuff. It took us all of five minutes but she insisted on helping.”
“It was so nice out here,” Amy said, glossing over Dana’s participation in whatever events brought Janet to them, “we thought we’d just come out and enjoy the evening.”
“And play quiz bowl,” Tom added.
Barb came back out onto the patio and watched as Janet worked the poker to keep the flames of the fire going just a bit longer.
“Dad’s down for the night and mom’s soaking in the tub. I thought we might talk for a couple of minutes, if that’s okay?”
“Janet glanced over her shoulder at her but then focused back on her task. “Sure. What about?”
“I was a little short with you today and I’ve been a real bitch the past couple of weeks…”
Janet spun in her squatting position to face her. “No. it’s fine, really. I was out of line a couple of times myself.”
“That’s just it; you were concerned for me and for my business every time. The hooker?”
Janet nodded saying, “What about her?”
“She was back last Saturday night. I met her and a John at the door just as they were leaving. I told her I knew what she was about and she wasn’t welcome back.”
“Her pimp…You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Too late. It’s done. He can sit and spin, whoever he is. He’s the last person I’m worried about.”
“So,” Barb said, drawing in a deep breath and blowing it out quickly, “how about we agree to a truce of sorts. I’ll try to be more understanding and a better friend and not tell you how to do your job. Okay?”
“Deal. And I’ll keep my nose out of the bar business.”
Barb smiled. “We’ll just start all over. How about that?”
Janet stood, leaned the poker against the side of the pit and moved over to Barb. She gave her a very brief hug in response but then she pulled away and sat back down in her chair.
‘I know she has feelings for me,’ she thought, ‘but I’ve been down this road before I’m just going to wait it out. I’m not going to say “I love you” first again.’
Chapter 11
Thursday Afternoon, May 28th
“I moved that last loa
d into the dryer, Amy,” Janet called out. “If you’re done, I have a load of things I’d like to run.”
Barb’s mom ducked her head into the laundry room. “Thanks, I appreciate that. It’s all yours but, you know, you could have just brought your stuff down earlier and let me run it all with all of our stuff.”
“Oh no, you have enough to do without taking care of my wash too.”
“Nonsense!” Amy flipped a hand toward the younger woman. “You’ve been such a huge help. You have an effect on Tom that’s just short of a miracle. I don’t know what it is, but when you tell him it’s time for his meds, he doesn’t fuss at all. When I tell him…” Her voice trailed off as the oven timer dinged in the kitchen behind her.
“What are you making in there? It smells amazing,” Janet asked, her mouth watering.
“That? That’s just a pie crust sweetie. Barb got some nice looking strawberries in her delivery yesterday and she’s certainly not going to use them at the bar. I think she was just wanting some of my strawberry pie.”
“That sounds good.”
“Do you like strawberry pie?”
“I like strawberries.”
“Are you telling me you’ve never had strawberry pie?”
Janet shook her head no. “My mom wasn’t a baker. There was always food on the table but fresh baked anything just wasn’t her thing. After working six, sometimes seven days a week to keep us above water, it was all she could do to make supper most nights. We ate a lot of crockpot dinners and casseroles she’d put together in advance and have me put in the oven when I got home from school.”
“She didn’t teach you to cook?”
“No,” Janet said as she cast her eyes to the floor and then mumbled, “but it’s something I’d really like to learn. Frozen pizzas and take out get old.” She looked back up and smiled sheepishly. “It’s been kinda’ nice coming home here for the past week and having a nice dinner on the table or a plate waiting for me in the oven.”
Amy smiled. “Come on in here when you’re done there. I need to get that crust out of the oven.”
Janet finished stuffing her dark colored clothing into the machine, added laundry soap then dropped the lid with a clang and twisted the knobs to the correct settings. She felt satisfied that at least she’d managed to master laundry over the years being on her own. She wandered into the kitchen to see not one but two crusts sitting in pie dishes on a cooling rack.
“Are those pie plates yours or Barb’s?” she asked, pointing at the pair.
“Barb’s. I don’t have any of my own stuff here but Barb always has had nice stuff. Her and Lisa both liked to cook. They were in the bar business but I think had a restaurant come along first, they’d have been all over that instead.” She got quiet then.
“Barb told me about Lisa,” Janet supplied. Changing the subject back, she said, “She does pretty well with the pub food at the Boar’s Head. Lots of people eat there.”
“True, but her staff does most of that. She just lends a hand when they’re swamped. Most of the stuff here looked like it hadn’t been used much before Tom and I moved in. She doesn’t seem to cook much for just herself; at least, not here at home.”
“I can understand that. For so long, for me, it’s been just me. There wasn’t really any reason to get more creative than taking something out of a box and throwing it on an oven rack or nuking it.”
“Oh honey, that will never do! Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore, even for just one person. If you like, I can show you a few things whenever you’re off or home early enough, for as long as we’re here, that is?”
Janet grinned. “I’d like that.”
“It’s a deal then. What about right now?”
“I have no plans.”
“Let me show you quickly what I did with those strawberries to get them ready and we’ll get them into those crusts. The pie is easy but dinner will be just a bit more involved.”
Barb called out, “Anybody home?”
“In the kitchen,” Amy responded to her daughter.
She walked through the house to them but stopped short when she found Janet standing at the island in the center of the kitchen concentrating hard on mashing a pot of Yukon gold potatoes while her mother hovered about like an anxious hen.
“What’s up?”
“Just getting dinner ready to go on the table,” Amy said. “I didn’t expect you home though. Is everything okay?”
“Fine,” Barb said, nodding. “I just thought I’d come home and lend a hand this evening. Since Janet’s been here, I feel like I’ve been taking advantage of her a little, especially on her days off…like today.”
“You’re not, they’re not,” Janet said as she continued to work the masher up and down. “I’m happy to help out.”
Amy moved to her side, looked in the pot and then added a dollop more milk. “Just a couple of more swipes and we’re set.”
“Your mom is t…”
“Famished,” Amy interrupted Janet. Let me just grab another plate for you dear,” she said as she looked toward Barb. “Why don’t you go on into the family and tell your father we’re ready to eat?”
She waited until her daughter was out of sight to whisper to Janet, “We’ll let me teaching you how to cook be our little secret, for now.”
###
Sunday Evening, May 31st
Janet stepped inside and closed the heavy wood door behind her, shutting out the rain and the chill of the evening. She was glad she’d grabbed her windbreaker that morning when the dawn had promised a much warmer, early summer type of day.
She took it off and gave it a little shake over the entry mat before she hung it on the old fashioned coat tree to the left of the door.
As she sat down heavily on the wood bench placed conveniently for shoe removal, Tom called out from the family room, “That you Janet?”
“Yes. How are you this evening?” she called back to him.
He didn’t answer directly instead saying, “Mother and Barb are upstairs working on some sewing project or such. Amy said to tell you there’s a plate in the oven for you and, I’m telling you, if you hurry and get it, you won’t miss the beginning of Mad Max.”
“The first one?”
“Yep.”
They were nearly forty minutes into the movie when Barb made an appearance in the room. “Well, hi. I didn’t know you were home,” she said to Janet.
Not taking her eyes off the screen, she replied, “Yeah. A while ago.”
“Did you eat? Mom left a plate.”
Janet just nodded.
“I see you’re all engrossed here so I’ll leave you alone, I guess.”
“Ohhhhh!” Janet yelled.
“Ouch!” Tom cried out. “That’s going to smart.”
Turning to Barb finally, Janet said, “Why don’t you stay and watch the movie with us?”
Barb pulled a face. “Action adventure movies really aren’t my thing.”
“Her and her mother like that wishy-washy girly stuff,” Tom put in. “Not like me and you.”
Janet shrugged and played aloof. “They actually help me wind down after a long day but, suit yourself.”
Chapter 12
Late Wednesday Evening, June 3rd
“I’ll be back!” Janet and Tom called out in unison.
“Dad what are you still doing up? You should be in bed. You need your rest.” Barb shot Janet a pointed look.
Tomasz Wysocki rolled his eyes at his daughter. “I’m not a child and I’m fine. Your mother and Janet here made sure I had my pills before your mom went up to bed. We’re just watching The Terminator and shooting the breeze, is all.”
“You know what the doctor said. And, you really shouldn’t be getting all wound up like this.”
“I saw him today. He said my pressure is down and everything else is improving. Didn’t your mother call you and tell you?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“He said I could start getting out more and
walking, even without the cane if I can manage it, too.”
Barb threw her hands up. “Just promise me you won’t overdo it, okay?”
Tom sketched a wave at her in response.
“Janet, could I talk to you for a minute,” Barb asked next, her voice tinged with irritation.
“If it’s about me,” her dad responded before Janet could, “Save your breath. She’s no more in control of me than you are and you don’t need to be hard on her for hanging out here and keeping me company from time to time.”
“No, that’s not it.” Barb crossed her arms and waited impatiently while Janet extricated herself from an overstuffed arm chair and crossed to her. She led the slightly taller woman down the hall to the kitchen and stood at the island herself but indicated Janet should have a seat.
Janet wasn’t having it. “What’s going on? Why’d you drag me all the way in here, out of earshot of your dad if this isn’t about him?”
“It is about him, okay? I’m just really concerned.”
“He’s on the mend and he’s not over-doing anything. He’s been taking his medication…”
“But he’s not resting, he’s eating heavy meals...”
“Your mom has been cooking everything from scratch, Barb. Everything. She’s been substituting for salt, she’s cut out butter. He’s getting good stuff; not a lot of preservatives and junk.”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with both of them.”
“Is that a problem?”
Barb leaned left into the island and rested an elbow on the surface. She lifted her gaze to the other woman’s eyes and shook her head. “I suppose not. It’s just…”
“Just what? Am I stepping on your toes?”
“No…no. Both of my folks seem to like having you around I just feel…I feel bad that you kind of got stuck with more than you bargained for. I mean, maybe we’re taking too much advantage of you.”
Janet cleared her throat and looked away. She didn’t want Barb to know what she was really thinking in that moment.
