The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday

by Catherine Bybee

  “But the flowers are nice,” Hannah argued.

  “I don’t care if he sent diamonds. Though let’s face it, diamonds don’t die. It’s still only words until time proves that Michael doesn’t screw up again.”

  Karen caught Janice’s smile from the doorway.

  “What are you going to do with all the flowers if you don’t keep them?”

  A slow smile crept over her face. “Ever heard of the Rose Parade?”

  Karen held no guilt sitting on Millie’s bench while licking an ice cream cone. Especially when she realized while on approach to said bench, it already had an occupant.

  She made a quick sweep of the area around the bench to see if there was a bag big enough for a change of clothes. Confident that wasn’t the case, Karen tucked in beside Becky with a smile.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi,” she said, lowering her eyes to the grass at her feet.

  “It’s Becky, right?”

  The smile on Becky’s face said she was pleased that Karen remembered.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry. I don’t remember your name.”

  Karen licked her ice cream to keep it from dripping in the hot Utah sun. “Karen. Though everyone in this town calls me Michael’s wife. It’s like I don’t exist without him.” Years of experience at getting kids to talk told her to open up with something personal to make the teen feel like he or she was special.

  “Well, everyone here knows about Michael.”

  “Honey, I have news for you…everyone everywhere knows about Michael.”

  Becky released a small laugh, but the smile on her face didn’t last long.

  “It must be hard being married to someone so famous.”

  Karen pointed her ice cream in Becky’s direction. “You know what? You’re the first person in Hilton that’s said that. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am, or how cool it must be. But you know what? It is hard. We can’t go anywhere without someone taking pictures or poking into our personal life.” Karen offered a not-so-fake laugh. “It’s kinda like being in a small town where everyone knows what’s going on with everyone. But you don’t want every secret out there, so you try really hard to hide them. Eventually all the secrets come out.”

  “Some secrets stay hidden.”

  Karen thought about Michael. “I guess that’s true. I guess that’s why it’s so important to have close friends…or maybe just one person you can tell your secrets to. Otherwise all those hidden facts clog up inside of you until they burst out in one big ugly mess.”

  Becky looked lost in her own thoughts.

  “Just yesterday I told Michael something I hadn’t told one other person my whole life. And you know what?” She didn’t wait for Becky to answer. “It felt good.”

  “What if your secrets affect other people?”

  Karen held her dripping ice cream away from both of them and gave up trying to eat it.

  “Well, I guess it depends on the secret. I think if your BFF tells you she likes some guy, or she’s kissing on him or…other things, then it might be a good idea if you kept that secret. But if you knew the BFF’s kissing partner is really bad news, then keeping that secret might not be the best thing to do.”

  “But if you tell someone, then that BFF might not be your friend anymore.”

  Karen nodded. “That’s the chance you take. But if she was a BFF in the first place, eventually she’ll come around.”

  Karen wasn’t sure how they’d gotten sidetracked on a conversation about keeping a best friend’s secrets, but it seemed that Becky was thinking really hard and didn’t look quite as depressed.

  “Is there someone you can tell your secrets to?” Karen asked her.

  Becky really was a pretty girl when she smiled. “Nolan. He listens to everything.”

  “That’s nice.” It made Karen feel better that the boy she was obviously in love with didn’t elicit a flash of pain when Becky talked about him. “Where’s Nolan now?”

  “Oh, he’s working. He got an extra job working for your brother-in-law…I mean Zach Gardner.”

  Oh, damn…he actually did it. How sweet was that? She needed to remember to thank Zach when she saw him.

  “That’s great.”

  “Yeah.” Becky picked herself off Millie’s bench and offered a smile. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Karen.”

  “You, too, Becky.”

  After the teenager walked away, Karen dropped her forgotten cone into the trash and ducked into Petra’s salon.

  “Mind if I wash my hands?”

  Petra was sweeping hair from the floor. “Not at all.”

  Karen soaped up her hands and ran them under the faucet in the bathroom.

  “How do you like Hilton?” Petra asked.

  Karen stepped from the bathroom with a paper towel. “It’s a little maddening, to tell the truth. I can’t get over how small it is or how everyone knows everybody.”

  “That does take some time getting used to.” Using a dustpan, Petra swept the hair up and into the trash. “I saw you talking with Becky.”

  “She’s a sweet girl.” Karen remembered Judy’s observation about Petra not gossiping. That didn’t mean the local hairdresser didn’t know exactly what was going on. “Do you know her parents?”

  “Her mom comes in a couple times a year. The father keeps to himself. Sees a barber in Monroe.”

  Just the facts.

  Time to address what they’d both observed. “I wonder how she got those welts.”

  Instead of dismissing Karen’s words, she said, “I asked her outright the first time I noticed them. She said she fell. Then she didn’t come in for six months.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Two years ago.”

  Long before Nolan.

  Karen crossed to Petra’s appointment book and grabbed the pen that was sitting there. “I have a feeling that Becky is going to need a couple of older and wiser women looking out for her very soon. If you see anything, please call me.” She tapped on her phone number. “Day or night.”

  “You’re planning on staying in Hilton for a while?”

  Karen looked directly into Petra’s eyes. “Some conditions are time sensitive.”

  The hairdresser shook her head. “That’s what I thought, too.”

  Neither of them had to voice their assumption to know they were on the same page.

  Karen abandoned Hannah and Judy to their task of decorating a float worthy of the Rose Parade and took a stroll down Main Street. The patriotism of the town was on display everywhere. Flags with the names of the young men and women who’d dedicated themselves to a branch of the service were flown over every light post. American flags hung from every business, and not one storefront said it would be open on Founder’s Day.

  Hilton took their day seriously. Wonder what the Fourth of July is like?

  She passed on the other side of the street from Sawyer’s hardware store but didn’t bother stopping in. Remembering Nolan’s new job, Karen removed her cell phone and sent Zach a quick text.

  Thanks for giving Nolan a job.

  Her phone buzzed in her hand a few seconds later.

  He’s a good kid.

  “Hey?”

  Karen turned to see Michael jogging across the street to catch up with her. “Hey yourself.”

  He glanced around them. “I-I went by the house.”

  Karen spread her arms wide. “I’m not there.”

  The worry on his face started to soften hers. “I’m not good at this part, Karen.”

  “Well let me give you a hint. Flowers don’t fix anything.”

  “I shouldn’t have sent flowers?”

  “I didn’t say that. I said they don’t fix anything.” She noticed a couple walk out of the soda shop and turn to stare at them. Karen started to walk in the opposite direction of the gawking eyes.

  “So I should send flowers?” Poor guy was growing more confused by the second.

  “Flowers, fancy gifts…jewelry doesn’t s
uck. But none of that fixes.”

  He walked beside her and asked, “What does?”

  “Time without a repeat performance.”

  “I can tell you that it won’t. But those are just words.”

  “Now you’re catching on.”

  “My dad advised me to grovel.”

  Karen chuckled. “Smart dad.”

  “What does groveling look like to you?”

  She stopped walking. He took two steps in front of her before he realized she wasn’t beside him. His eyes met hers. “Well?”

  Karen rolled her eyes. “Flowers, fancy gifts, and jewelry, helloooo?” It was hard to keep her expression stoic, especially when Michael started to grin.

  Karen stepped around him and continued down the street in silence.

  He tucked his hands into his pockets. “I’m still sleeping on the couch, aren’t I?”

  She patted him on the back. “You know, Mikey Gardner, you’re a real fast learner.”

  He grumbled and now she did laugh.

  “That couch is uncomfortable.”

  “Sucks to be you.”

  They walked to the end of town and turned to make their way back to the Gardner home.

  “I really am sorry,” he whispered. His eyes never left the road in front of them.

  “I know you are.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Founder’s Day was serious freaking business in Hilton. Families staked their claim on Main Street a couple of hours before the parade with chairs that spilled out onto the road. Watching the town set up for a parade wasn’t so much the shock as the amount of people who started to pile in.

  Karen leaned over to where Janice was setting up chairs in the space in front of the hardware store. “Where are they all coming from?”

  Janice glanced up into the crowd. “Twenty miles in all directions. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone from Hilton staying home today, unless they’re sick.”

  Karen felt more than one set of eyes on her. A common occurrence whenever Michael was around. Only here the kind people of Hilton tried to hide their curiosity.

  Rena waved while pushing a stroller carrying Susie, while Joe had Eli on his shoulders to see above the crowd. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hey, honey.”

  Rena and Joe both said hello to Karen as they tucked the stroller between the folding chairs. Rena and Joe both took turns offering hugs in greeting.

  “Where’s Zach and Tracey?” Janice asked her daughter.

  Karen glanced down the street, trying not to pay too close attention to the mention of Zach.

  “Not sure where Zach is, but don’t expect Tracey.”

  “Oh? Why not?”

  “You didn’t hear?” Rena asked in a way that attracted Karen’s attention.

  “Hear what?”

  “They broke up.”

  Janice’s shoulders slumped with the news and Karen felt three shades of awful for feeling a lift in her chest. Not that she had any reason to be happy for Zach’s breakup…

  Oh, who was she kidding?

  Tracey wasn’t right for him.

  Like I know the woman enough to make that judgment.

  You’re awful, Karen. Awful!

  She knew, on some level, that she was part of the reason for the split. Zach didn’t seem like the kind of guy to lead one woman on while being attracted to another.

  What must he think of her? The fact that she could even be drawn into someone else’s orbit while being married must make her look horrific.

  “Karen? Karen?”

  She shook the fog and questions from her head and realized Rena was talking to her.

  “Yeah?”

  “I asked why you’re not on the float with Mike?”

  She lifted both hands in acute denial. “Not my gig. Hannah and Judy were more than happy to jump on board.”

  “It’s better down here anyway. I think I’ve marched in this thing at least a half a dozen times,” Rena said.

  Janice sat in the chair closest to her granddaughter and corrected Rena. “You marched for six years in a row with the Girl Scouts, then again with the high school marching band, and at least two more times with either Zach or Mike.”

  “Is there anyone in this town who hasn’t marched or rode?”

  “Nope. Even Sawyer has driven the route a time or two, and I was the den mom for Rena’s troop for a couple of years and had to ride with them.”

  Who knew participating in a parade would be a family affair?

  “There you are.” Joe’s voice had Karen swinging around to see who he greeted.

  Zach offered her a warm smile and shook Joe’s hand. “Didn’t think I’d miss it, did you?”

  Joe rolled his eyes.

  Zach hugged his sister, leaned down, and kissed his mother’s cheek. When he turned to Karen and said hello, she stepped into what might look like an impersonal hug, but it felt like so much more. His arms were strong, the pine scent of his skin would linger if he could hold her for just a moment longer, but he pulled away nearly as quickly as he entered her arms. Though a soft squeeze of her arm let her know that he wanted more.

  “Where’s Dad?”

  “He’ll be along,” Janice said. Then she lowered her voice. “I’m sorry to hear about Tracey.”

  Zach drew in a breath and looked directly at Karen. “Stuff happens.”

  Janice continued. “I thought you two were…”

  “We weren’t.” Zach blinked his gaze away.

  Karen twisted in the opposite direction and waved at Petra, who watched them from the other side of the street.

  “Are you all packed for the cabin?” Joe asked.

  “If that’s your way of asking if the liquid is ready for the red cups, then yes.”

  “Hey, I’m asking about the bikes. But good thinking.”

  They settled into the chairs and talked about the trip to the cabin while the parade route began to clear.

  Children lined up with bags in eager anticipation of the candy that would be tossed to them from those in the parade.

  There was a PA system set up along the parade route, which crackled out patriotic music. “Do you guys do this all over again on the Fourth of July?” Karen asked.

  “We sure do. Any reason to party.” Rena laughed at the insaneness of it. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t know. It’s wholesome and not completely commercial.” There were a few vendors running around selling Founder’s Day merchandise, but most of the vendors were charity organizations raising money to support themselves.

  The PA squeaked and the music abruptly turned off.

  A rough voice called into the crowd. “We’re about to begin, can everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.”

  Flags flew everywhere, and soon the formalities were out of the way and the trucks pulling flatbed trailers started the slow pace down the two miles of Main Street.

  Rena tugged Susie from the stroller right as Sawyer emerged from the crowd and took the seat next to Janice. Karen sat at the end of their group and Zach took the seat next to her.

  Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

  But damn he was gorgeous to look at. He always had just a hint of stubble on his face, which gave him an edge of uncertainty. It said, I know it’s sexy and wouldn’t you love it if I roughed up your skin with mine?

  Zach shifted his eyes to hers and she quickly looked away.

  Don’t stare, Karen!

  A line of tractors made its way through first. One was as tall as most of the buildings along Main Street, while the others ranged from a glorified riding lawn mower to the standard issue seen on most farms.

  Zach leaned over. “There are a lot of farms in the area.”

  “I can see that.”

  People waved and kids chased candy into the streets.

  Rena’s old Girl Scout troop marched by, followed closely by the Boy Scouts. Now it was Karen’s turn to impart wisdom. “I see the boys are all chasing the girls.”r />
  Zach acknowledged with a wink that shot straight to her belly.

  After the third flatbed rolled by Karen called out her observation. “I take it American made trucks are the only ones allowed in the parade.” There were Fords, Dodges, and Chevys but not one Toyota anywhere.

  “You got it,” Joe called from the other side of Zach.

  The next Ford that passed had a sticker on it from the dealership. In the window was a sign that read: GET A FREE GUN WITH PURCHASE OF THIS TRUCK. If that wasn’t a testament to the small town, she didn’t know what was. There were Junior Miss Monroe floats, Junior Miss Hilton floats, and Class of 1993 with the high school colors on the truck drove by, too.

  In the center of the parade, Michael’s “float” slowly made its way.

  Karen removed her cell phone from her pocket to snap a picture. Hannah and Judy had outdone themselves with spreading all the flowers he’d had delivered the day before. The crowd cheered on the famous son, and Michael tossed candy and waved with his huge Hollywood smile.

  Surrounding his float were a handful of what Karen assumed were friends of Hannah’s and Judy’s who walked around handing out roses to the older women lining the streets. There were plenty of isn’t that sweet, and how nice comments as his float puttered by.

  Hannah and Judy jumped off the float and hand delivered flowers to both Janice and Rena. Then Judy handed Karen a gift box and laughed.

  The whole family glanced at her as she opened the velvet-lined jewelry box. Inside was a white gold bangle with two rows of small diamonds. It really was pretty but nothing at all like something she would wear. She did, however, know someone who wore exactly this kind of jewelry. Karen glanced at Michael and offered a little wave.

  “Hey, Rena. Michael has something for you.” Then with a grand gesture, Karen handed the box over Zach’s and Joe’s laps and gave Rena Michael’s gift.

  Michael gave her a playful smile and shook a finger in her direction before the float continued on.

  “My God, Karen, I can’t take this.”

  “Sure you can.”

  Zach was watching her, as was Joe. Janice just smiled and acted as if Karen giving away Michael’s gifts was an everyday occurrence. Sawyer, if Karen wasn’t mistaken, was trying to hide a laugh.