Love Is All Around

by Rae Davies

  It would be here soon, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and Patsy might not be here for any of it.

  She left the elephant and relaxed into one of the rubber-seated swings. Gripping the chain, she pumped her legs and soared skyward. A red VW bug turned into the park and buzzed toward her.

  Just the person she didn’t want to see. Not that there was anyone she did want to see right now. The people she normally confided in seemed to have deserted her. She couldn’t talk to Granny. The job offer would send her into a fit of grumbling that would quickly escalate to lectures. There was something going on with Ruthann that Patsy wasn’t quite ready to deal with. And Will had apparently chosen Jessica over Patsy. Not the first time in Patsy’s life, but it hurt more now. Hard to believe that could be true, but it was. Maybe she was getting softer in her old age.

  Patsy let the swing creak to a stop as she watched Jessica pop out of her bug and traipse across the grass. Even this late in the season, her legs retained a golden tan. Being jealous sucked. It would be nice if just once Patsy had something someone, anyone, envied.

  “Didn’t expect anyone to be here,” Jessica greeted her.

  “Yeah, me neither.” Patsy leaned back in the swing and watched white, fluffy clouds roll by.

  “I come here sometimes to read.” Jessica held out a book.

  “Poems to Open Your Heart?” Patsy asked.

  “Yeah, why?” Jessica’s eyes narrowed.

  “No reason.” Patsy sounded skeptical, even to her own ears.

  “Tell me.”

  “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t see you as the poetry type, and then, love poems?”

  “What’s wrong with love poems? Poetry can help you see things in a new way, open your heart, just like the title says.” Jessica’s face took on a dreamy quality.

  Geez, who knew Jessica was deep? Patsy tilted back again.

  “It can.” Jessica’s eyes looked suspiciously moist.

  Patsy leaned forward and looked at her in surprise. “I believe you.”

  Jessica clutched the book to her chest and leaned against the swing’s metal frame. “Did you get the job offer?”

  “Yeah.” Patsy couldn’t believe she was confiding in one of the people she most distrusted in the world. “They told me I could come up Friday and check the place out, but the job is mine if I want it.”

  “That’s great. Why wait? Why don’t you just take it? It’s what you’ve wanted for a long time, isn’t it?”

  “I guess.” Patsy curled her feet upward and let the swing sway. Jessica wanted her to leave. Not a surprise, but a wasted effort. She already had Will and Ruthann. There wasn’t much more of Patsy’s to take.

  Jessica studied one perfectly manicured thumb. “I have good news too.”

  The chattering of an angry squirrel drew Patsy’s attention. Pugnacious had the poor critter trapped on top of a bird feeder.

  “Pugnacious, leave him alone.”

  “Will’s buying some land, and I’m representing him.” Jessica beamed at Patsy.

  “That’s nice.” Like Patsy cared about Jessica’s next commission check.

  “It’s going to be a huge deal. He’s buying about three hundred acres near Henning, and there’s already another buyer lined up to buy it from Will. We should be able to triple the sales price in a week’s time.”

  Land around Daisy Creek did not triple in value in a hundred years, much less a week. “What’s it for?”

  “Well, it’s a secret, but I guess since you’re going to work for the mines, it’s okay to tell you.” Jessica leaned forward. “It’s for Sunrise. They want to put a smelter in near Henning. Richard Parks approached Will weeks ago. Will’s bankrolling the deal, buying the land cheap, and then reselling it for a huge markup to Sunrise. Will makes a big profit, and Sunrise builds their smelter without the ruckus they’re having down in Sauk City. Everybody wins.”

  Will was buying land from poor farmers for pennies, then reselling it to Sunrise for triple or more? “You’re sure?”

  Jessica looked confused. “Yeah, I talked to Richard about it months ago, but until Will moved back, there wasn’t any one person with enough cash to pull it off. He met with Will to discuss it. Then last night, Will asked me about buying land near there. It has to be for the Sunrise deal.”

  Patsy jumped out of the swing, making it jump up and down on its chain. “Pugnacious, let’s go. We have a call to make.”

  She stomped toward her Jeep, leaving an open-mouthed Jessica in her wake. Another thought stopped her. “Jessica,” she yelled.

  Jessica looked up from her book.

  “Are you dating Will?”

  “He took me to the Dogwood Inn, didn’t he?”

  Patsy waited.

  She grinned. “And he asked me to lunch tomorrow.”

  Good enough. Patsy slammed the door of her car and peeled out.

  o0o

  Today was the day. Patsy had called Sunrise back and taken the job. Not having seen the place or met any of the people, she knew it was a risk, but really, what did she have to lose? There wasn’t much left for her in Daisy Creek, even less than there was a month ago.

  A scowling Dwayne was going to follow her in his truck, which was loaded with essentials that wouldn’t fit in Patsy’s tiny Jeep: Pugnacious’ cage, her computer, pictures, and a few special baskets. Sunrise had found her temporary housing, a furnished apartment in south St. Louis. It was right off the Interstate, an easy twenty-minute drive to the east side and her new career.

  Dwayne slammed the tailgate. “You ready yet? I don’t want to be dragging back here late. Me and Randy got plans.”

  Of course they did. “What, an evening of opera and caviar?”

  “You wanna find someone else to haul your junk?”

  “Don’t be so touchy. What’s got your tail in a knot, anyway? I thought you’d be glad to see me go.” Patsy grinned at him.

  “Who said it had anything to do with you?” He pulled a bungee cord tight across Patsy’s computer box and hooked it to the other side of the truck bed. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with my mood.”

  Yeah, and Granny didn’t put bacon grease in her green beans.

  “What we waiting for?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I just need to go in and say goodbye to everybody.” Patsy knew she was dawdling. It wasn’t that she wasn’t eager to get to St. Louis and get started on her new life. It was just, well, it would have been nice if someone besides family had come to see her off. “I’ll be right back.” Patsy picked up Pugnacious and trudged into the house.

  “Don’t be scarce.” Aunt Tilde gave her a hug.

  “We expect you home next weekend,” Dad said.

  “Make sure you eat right and don’t be going out at night. You don’t know anything about getting around in that city. It isn’t safe.” Her mother’s eyes glimmered with tears. You’d have thought Patsy was moving to the Gaza Strip the way her mother had carried on about drive-by shootings and drug dealers for the past week.

  Granny was last. She sat in her chair, her arms folded over her chest. “Guess you’re doing what you think you need to do.”

  The lump that had been resting in Patsy’s stomach all week surged up between her tonsils.

  “You just remember, there’s no shame in coming home. If’n it don’t work out the way you thinks it will, pack up and come home. We’ll be here and won’t be a person say a word against you for coming back.” A suspicious moisture showed in her grandmother’s eyes too. “You hear me?”

  Patsy gulped down the knot and turned for the door.

  “Don’t you forget where you come from,” Granny called after her.

  Without pausing to think, Patsy dropped onto her knees and rested her head on her grandmother’s bosom. “I won’t forget. Nothing could make me forget.”

  “I know you think there’s something waiting for you up there.” Granny stroked Patsy’s hair. “But don’t lose yourself searching for it.”

  Pats
y sniffed and brushed the tears from her eyes. Leaving was hard, but it was for the best. Picking up Pugnacious, she headed toward her dream.

  A blue Cavalier parked in the drive stopped her.

  “I heard you were leaving today.” Ruthann looked pale and unsure.

  “I called you, but you weren’t home.” Patsy let Pugnacious jump to the ground.

  “Momma must have deleted the message. She’s been, you know…”

  “I know.”

  They stared at each other, neither approaching the other.

  Dwayne leaned out his truck window. “Hell, give each other a hug. I don’t have all day to wait on you.”

  They both rushed forward, laughing and talking at the same time.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I never should have invited Jessica along. I know how you feel about her.”

  “It’s okay. I overreacted. You have the right to have other friends.”

  “But not Jessica.”

  “No, you can be friends with whoever you want.”

  “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just thought if you saw her with Will, maybe you’d...”

  “What?”

  Ruthann’s gaze dropped to her shoe. “Stay. Maybe you wouldn’t leave.”

  “Oh, Ruthann, we’ll always be friends. You know that. We’ve been friends forever, haven’t we? A couple hours’ drive won’t change that. Besides, you have Randy now.”

  “It’s not the same. I love Randy, but he’s not you. I need you, Patsy. Who’s going to tell me I’m doing something stupid or that I need to stand up for myself? Or that I made a bad fashion decision?” She pulled on the bottom of her halter.

  “Like you ever listened to me anyway.” Patsy laughed, blinking back tears.

  “Did you talk to Will? Does he know you’re leaving?”

  “I don’t know what he knows. There was no reason to call him. He has Jessica.” Patsy couldn’t voice her hurt over learning Will was cheating her neighbors. Word would get out about that soon enough. It wasn’t her place to spread it; besides, she knew she’d look hypocritical criticizing him for selling to the mines when she was on her way to work for them herself.

  “Are you sure? I know I brought them to the Dogwood Inn, but to be honest, he didn’t act too interested. In fact, I thought he was pretty tense as soon as he spied you sitting there with Glenn. On the way home, he hardly said two words to any of us.”

  Ruthann was such a romantic. She couldn’t see the truth when it was wrapped in spandex and attached to Will’s arm.

  “I’m sure. I saw Jessica. Besides, he’s not important.” Patsy swallowed the lump that accompanied her words.

  Dwayne rapped on the outside of his truck door with his fist.

  “Listen, I better get going, but I’ll call you as soon as I’m settled, and you have to come up, and we’ll go shopping. I’m not giving up on you yet.” As she choked out the words, Patsy tugged on Ruthann’s miniskirt.

  “You better not.” Ruthann grabbed Patsy in a bear hug, mascara streaming down her cheeks. “There’s nobody like you, Patsy, nobody. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be wearing banana curls and ruffly underwear.”

  “You mean you don’t?” Patsy yanked on Ruthann’s skirt again.

  “Stop it.” Laughing, Ruthann pushed Patsy’s hands down.

  Patsy wiped runny mascara from underneath her eyes and walked toward her car. Dwayne shook his head as she approached. “You two act like you’ll never see each other again. It’s only a two-hour drive.”

  “You don’t understand. It’ll never be the same, never.” Patsy climbed into her Jeep and waved goodbye.

  o0o

  Will maneuvered around the cardboard boxes that were taking over his house as he jogged to the phone. Breathless, he answered, and for one quick second he thought it was Patsy.

  “You ready to look for that office space?” Hearing Jessica’s perky voice sent his pulse plummeting.

  “Office space?”

  “At lunch you said to call today and we’d check out some office space. There’s a great place near the BiggeeMart. You’d have road frontage.”

  “Is there nothing downtown? Maybe near the square.”

  Jessica hesitated. “Yeah, there’s a ton of vacant spaces. Are you sure that’s what you want? Some of them have been empty for years.”

  “I’m sure.” Hopping over a stack of miniature log cabins, he added. “I need storage space too.”

  “That’s easy enough.”

  “And character. I’d like something in an old building, maybe with a view.”

  “A view?”

  “Yeah, a view, downtown or the courthouse would be fine.” He wondered which Patsy would choose. Too bad there was nothing near the river. Of course, if the business went well, he could always build something later.

  “Oh, if that’s all you want, it shouldn’t be a problem…” Jessica replied, sounding about as sure as a two-dollar firewall.

  “Fine. Where and when should we meet?” He was eager to get the details sewn up and move on to straightening out more important things—like what was going on with Patsy.

  “I’ll make some calls and get back to you, or—”

  “What?”

  “Well, it’s eleven. We could meet for lunch again. That should give me enough time to make the calls, and I could fill you in on the details before we visit the properties.”

  “I don’t know. I need to call Patsy. She’s working on some things for me.” He needed them to be working on something.

  “Haven’t you heard?”

  Will’s heart thudded slowly. “Heard what?”

  “Patsy’s gone. She took that job with Sunrise and left today.”

  Patsy was gone? She couldn’t be. He hadn’t called or visited her since that night at the Dogwood Inn. Call it male pride, but he didn’t think it was his place after she showed up there with that Celt. She should have called him. Maybe they didn’t have any kind of commitment, but even friends let each other know when they were seeing someone. Patsy had acted like everything was perfectly normal, like there was no problem. Then the Celt dropped the Sunrise bomb. He’d never figured Patsy to be working for the mines.

  He knew it was unfair to be angry about that, but at the time, he hadn’t been thinking rationally. Patsy was everything he loved about the Ozarks: natural, spunky, unspoiled. To learn she was selling out for cash had rocked him.

  A week had passed though, and he needed Patsy in his life. He could afford to tell Richard to stick his plans to rip off every farmer between here and Henning. He could afford to lose money by paying the farmers who wouldn’t wait to get a fair price for their land, just so Richard and Sunrise couldn’t rob them blind. He could afford a lot of things Patsy couldn’t. What he couldn’t afford was losing Patsy.

  He’d decided to call her and tell her that if all they could be was friends, so be it. If she needed a job, she could work with him. If she had to date other people, he’d… He hadn’t thought that far ahead, but it wouldn’t have mattered, because sooner or later, Patsy would have realized she belonged with Will.

  “Will? You still there?” Jessica’s voice knifed through his reverie.

  “Yeah, what did you say?”

  “I said Patsy is gone. She took the job with Sunrise and left today.”

  Will pulled back his foot and sent a tiny cabin hurtling into his front door.

  o0o

  Will pulled open the screen and knocked on the worn green wood. Nothing. No barking, snarling, or baying. Pugnacious wasn’t here. Did that mean Jessica was right? Was Patsy gone too? As he leaned his forehead against the doorframe, the knob squeaked and the door jerked open.

  Granny stood staring at him, a solemn look on her lined face. “She’s gone, boy. She’s gone and I want to know what you’re going to do to bring her back.”

  o0o

  Patsy was in awe. Staying in the far right-hand lane of the Interstate, she admired the cityscape
in front of her. Downtown St. Louis was a mesmerizing mixture of old and new, buildings of all different heights and materials. Mirror and glass monuments to the millennium were tucked up next to turn-of-the-last-century brick structures. Murals decorated one. Another glimmered green in the early morning sun. She had seen St. Louis before, but this was different. Now it was home.

  She passed the last Missouri exit and waved goodbye to the shimmering city in her rearview mirror. Sunrise’s offices were on the eastern side of the Mississippi, in Illinois. A fact that sent her mother, who had apparently seen National Lampoon’s Vacation one too many times, into perpetual spasms.

  The Sunrise building did not reflect its name. The brown brick structure squatted next to factories that belched smoke and noxious odors. Hopping out of her Jeep, Patsy was submerged in the scent of rotten eggs. She hoped it didn’t linger in her hair like smoke after a night out.

  Entering the elevator, she realized she had no reason to worry. The smell of burning wires trapped inside the claustrophobic space would surely disguise the rotten eggs. After exiting the elevator, she walked to the security desk. The grizzled guard grunted out directions to Kelsey Masters’ office. Patsy wound her way through the halls, the heels of her new, conservative pumps tapping against the ancient, yellowing linoleum.

  When she came to the door the guard had indicated, she paused. This was it, the beginning of her new career. No more canned peas, no more punching a time clock. No more Will.

  She pushed the thought aside. She had a career now and a salary to go with it. Will had Jessica and a wallet full of money from ripping of poor farmers. She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

  In the center of the room sat a massive desk. Stacks of papers, magazines, and fast-food debris covered the top. Perched to the side, a tiny, bird-like woman pecked at a computer keyboard.

  “Excuse me,” Patsy’s voice quavered. “Could you tell me where Ms. Masters is?”

  “Patsy?” Rubbing her wrist, the woman looked up from the screen. “We’re casual around here. Call me Kelsey.”

  This was her boss? For some reason, Patsy had expected someone bigger, grander, neater.

  “Have you looked around yet? Made yourself at home?” Kelsey popped off her perch and began rooting through the stack on her desk. “I have a packet for you somewhere here. HR sent it up.” She continued to dig, shoving a half-eaten Whopper to the side and tossing a wadded napkin onto the floor. “Here you go.” She shook the manila folder, sending a rain of crumbs onto the rug.