Serenity

by Dixie Land

  Finally, cars ahead of Ross’s began to creep forward. He started his engine and drove forward slowly. As he reached the site of the accident, the roadside grass looked blackened and barren; the guardrail was a twisted mass of metal, and there was shattered glass all along the roadside. He saw the crumpled mass of what had once been a red sports car still on the shoulder of the road, and the burned out cab of an overturned Semi still smoldered just beyond it. The wreckers were hard at work. Thank God, it wasn’t a white car like Melanie drove. Ross shook his head and wondered if anyone had been fortunate enough to survive, and, as an after-thought, he wondered if survival really would be fortunate, considering the apparent destruction to the vehicles.

  By the time he pulled into Pittsboro, he was more than an hour late. He drove down the main street and pulled into the shopping center wondering if Melanie would still be there. He spotted the drugstore where they had agreed to meet and slowly made his way to it. He looked for Melanie’s car but didn’t see it. He started to pull into a parking place when he thought he spied a car that looked like hers pulling out of the shopping area. He quickly turned his steering wheel and drove in her direction. She turned onto the main thoroughfare and drove on through the intersection. By the time Ross got onto the road the green light had turned yellow. He drove hurriedly through it then chided himself for his recklessness after what he had just witnessed.

  He sped up until he was close enough to the car to see that it was Melanie. He began to blow his horn. He certainly wanted to catch her and find out what was so important that she had to tell him in person. The last thing he needed, or wanted, was to have to make another trip to learn whatever it was she had to say.

  She seemed oblivious to his horn. Finally, he managed to pull into the lane beside her and get her attention. Both vehicles slowed, and he rolled the passenger window down and called to her.

  “Sorry I’m late, Mel. Traffic was held up for an accident. It was a hell of a wreck.”

  “I was wondering what happened. There’s a quiet little commons up a short way on the right. Let’s talk there, Ross. Follow me.”

  He maneuvered back into traffic behind her. When they reached the park, they found a secluded stone bench under a shade tree not far from the parking area.

  “Now. Tell me—why all the secrecy on the phone? What did the report say? I stopped by the house on my way out of town, but I didn’t have mine.”

  “Mine came this morning, Ross.”

  “And?” He could feel his heart rate accelerate.

  She looked at him for a moment.

  “Mel, please. Just tell me.” His impatience came through in his tone.

  She cleared her throat. “She isn’t yours, Ross. You’re not Keri’s father.” She looked somber; her voice sounded weak.

  Ross was silent feeling at once relieved and disappointed.

  “I found myself not wanting to open the letter when it arrived, and then, when I did read it, I couldn’t help but feel disappointment.” Her blue eyes had a far-away, sad look about them.

  “I’ll still be here for you, if you need me. And for Keri, if she needs me, Mel. I’ve told you that. The test results don’t change that.”

  “I know you said that before.” Her blue eyes focused on him once again. “You’re too good, Ross. And, thank you. I mean that sincerely.” She touched his arm gently.

  “On the phone, you said you wanted to warn me about something,” he prompted, looking down into her eyes.

  “Yes, I do. And I’m afraid you’re going to be angry with me. I hardly know where to begin.”

  “Just tell me, Mel. Don’t play word games. Just say it.”

  She sighed. “The person I want to warn you about is Michael Kerns.”

  Ross’s forehead creased in a frown. His suddenly cold eyes now bore into her. “How do you know Michael?” He demanded.

  “Please, Ross, don’t raise your voice. It’s a long story. Michael and I go back a ways.”

  “I’m all ears,” he said coolly. “Start at the beginning, take all the time you need.” Ross crossed his arms tightly across his chest and leaned rigidly against the back of the stone bench.

  She began speaking softly. “It started while you and I were still married.”

  “Not him, too!”

  “No. As I was trying to tell you, I was seeing Richard. I told you I was visiting friends, but Richard and I were actually spending those weekends in Atlantic City. Richard loved the tables, and I played the machines. We did pretty well. Michael spent a lot of time there, too. Richard, being in pharmaceutical sales, knew Michael. He introduced us, and we partied together. There were others too. We used to plan our weekends so that we could all meet. That’s where I met Kevin Williams.”

  “For God’s sake, Melanie. Just what…”

  “Please, Ross. I’m trying to explain. Kevin and Michael were great friends. We all had some pretty wild weekends back then. I found out that Lil was Kevin’s aunt, but he swore me to secrecy. I was never quite sure why. I guess he just wanted to contact her in his own time.” She was quiet for a moment.

  “I have a feeling his time never would have come if Maggie hadn’t shown up in Serenity. But, go on, Melanie. Tell me more.”

  She had been standing for the last few moments, now she sat down. He shifted on the bench to face her.

  “Did Michael put you up to getting in touch with me? Was it his idea for you to say that you still cared for me? That you wanted us to try again? Tell me exactly how he figures in to all this?”

  “Ross, please.”

  “Is that how you were planning to break Maggie and me up?” he cut in. His face flushed as he rose angrily from the bench and turned to face her. “You would condescend to come back into my life? I suppose you thought I wouldn’t be able to resist you if you came back with a child. That I’d take you back with open arms, and that would free Maggie up for Michael to try to move back in on her. Then she could bail him out of the financial mess he’d got himself into. Is that pretty much the scenario, Melanie?”

  “No. No. It isn’t like that.” Her eyes were tearing. “I mean that is what Michael wanted when he approached me, but that isn’t how it was with me. “

  “Give me a break, Melanie. I’m not stupid. Just because you lied to me in the past and I...”

  “Listen to me,” she cut in. “Please hear me out. I didn’t have to tell you any of this, you know. I’m telling you because I truly do care about you. You’ve been terrific, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  He was thoughtful for a moment. “Okay. I guess you’re right. You didn’t have to tell me.” He sounded calmer. “Go on. I won’t interrupt you.” He sat down and leaned back against the bench once again.

  “I hadn’t seen Michael in months. He called me one night. I think it was in August, or maybe it was September. But that doesn’t really matter anyway. He called, and he told me he was in deep trouble, and he just needed a friend to talk to. He wanted to borrow some money, but I told him I didn’t have any to spare, that Richard was out of the picture. He said he needed to get this girl back, that she could help him out of this jam, and the girl turned out to be Maggie. He said she was in Serenity.

  “After that, we talked often—several times a week. Then, all of a sudden, he said he’d just learned that Maggie and my ex were an item. Kevin had told him. He said Kevin was trying to work out an arrangement for him with the IRS. He said they had a scheme they thought might cause you two to break up, and Michael might have a chance of getting back with Maggie, since she was pregnant, and he thought it was his baby. Of course, that plan included me. He wanted me to tell you that Keri was yours. If Michael and Maggie got back together, he thought it would make a considerable dent in the money he owes, maybe wipe out his debt completely. At one point, Michael was scared to death that he might have to do some time for income tax evasion, but that seems to have been worked out.”

  “So, you agreed to help your old friend out?”

 
“No. I didn’t to begin with. But, he kept after me. I even thought of having my number changed so he’d leave me alone. But then, he started sounding so desperate that I didn’t want to make him angry. I was afraid of what he might do. And I couldn’t afford to move.

  “I just kept thinking about you. The more he talked about you and Maggie, the more I wanted to see you again, Ross. And, not to help Michael. Just simply and selfishly for me, because I found myself thinking about you almost constantly. I thought about how it was between us in the beginning, and I began feeling the fool for all I gave up.” She paused for a minute and inhaled deeply. “The choices we make,” she said softly. She looked off into the distance.

  Ross shook his head slowly. “Melanie, Melanie.”

  “I know. It all sounds incredible. Small world and all those cliches, huh? Anyway, I could see after we met again that you had changed. That you didn’t have feelings for me any longer, that you really do love Maggie. And in spite of everything past and present, you were trusting and supportive of me and so good with Keri. I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t level with you, if I didn’t warn you about Michael.”

  Ross sat quietly shaking his head as if he were still trying to digest it all.

  “I’ve talked to Kevin, and he’s worried too,” she continued. He’s pretty much washed his hands of Michael.”

  Sure he has, Ross thought, to save his own butt. He kept his thoughts to himself. Telling Melanie about his meeting with Kevin would serve no purpose. He became aware that Melanie was still talking.

  “Kevin told him to leave you two alone, but I’m not sure Michael is listening to anyone. I’m not sure what all is troubling him. I think he may even be on drugs. He’s very unstable these days. He has tremendous pressure on him. Just seems to be out of control. Kevin says he’s been put on temporary leave at the hospital, and he was on probation before that. He needs a lot of help,” Melanie said shaking her head. “The doctor in charge of the lab I work for said it sounded like borderline personality disorder to him. I didn’t name Michael, but I told him a bit about his behavior. He had a lot of the symptoms of an identity disorder, too.”

  “What you’ve told me seems to explain the threatening phone call I had last night. I feel sure it was Michael”

  “Oh, Ross, he frightens me. This gives me chills. What did he say?”

  “Someone called and told me to call off the wedding. Said it would never take place. It was a man. It had to be Michael. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t having someone go through the mail at the house before I get home. That could explain why I haven’t received my report like you did.”

  “It could be. He really needs professional help! You can see why I had to warn you. Why I wanted you and Maggie to be aware that you need to watch out for him. I’m not sure what he’s capable of at this point.”

  “Thanks, Mel. Sorry I was so tough on you earlier. I do appreciate your honesty, and the warning. We’ll be in touch. You know how to reach us if you need to.”

  “I hope Maggie realizes just how lucky she is.”

  “I’m the lucky one. She’s wonderful, Mel.”

  “I’ve heard she is, Ross. I really do hope you have a long, happy life together. You deserve it.”

  They embraced briefly before Ross turned and walked to his car. If he had looked back, he’d have seen Melanie watching him with tears rolling down her cheeks. But, he didn’t look back.

  ChapterTwentyEight

  he return trip to Serenity was uneventful. Ross reached the town limits within forty-five minutes. All the way back, he was unable to force his concerns about Michael from his mind. Just what was the man capable of? This was too risky for him to handle on his own. Once in town he drove directly to Sheriff George Barton’s office. The men spent nearly an hour together before Ross left and went to Maggie’s.

  When she opened the door he gathered her into his arms and held her tightly to him. She pulled back a little and kissed him. “I think I’ll have to send you up to see Melanie every once in a while, if this is the greeting I get when you come back to me,” she said smiling at him.

  “I’ve missed you today, Maggie,” he said, still holding her. “Saturday can’t come soon enough for me.”

  They went into the kitchen, and she began preparing dinner for them while he filled her in on the afternoon starting with his and Melanie’s conversation, and concluding with the terrible accident that had delayed him on his way to meet her. “Oh, Ross, when will this end?” She sounded weary.

  “Soon, I hope. I stopped by Sheriff Barton’s before I came here. He’s going to keep an eye on you right up until the time you say ‘I do.’ He’ll be there at the wedding with backup, and if Michael shows his face anywhere around that church, he’ll have an official escort out of town.”

  Maggie took a deep breath and shook her head. She served one of Ross’s favorites, pork-chops, stuffing, green beans and yeast rolls. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have a cold beer, would you?”

  “I think there might be one or two left from when we had pizza.” She opened the refrigerator door and moved a couple of containers. “You’re in luck, there are three bottles of Michelob here,” she said, removing one and handing it to him.

  “One will do,” he told her twisting the cap off.

  …

  Thursday was busy for Maggie and the women. She spent most of the day with Caroline, Lil and Marion Townlee. Preparations were well under control. By Friday, Maggie was ready to concentrate on preparing for her aunts’ arrival later that day. Lil had offered to let them sleep at her place since she had two guestrooms, but Maggie said they’d be just fine in her room if they didn’t mind sharing a bed. She planned to take the couch.

  Their plane was due in at two-twenty that afternoon. Ross reached the Raleigh-Durham airport vicinity with time to spare. He decided to stop at a little roadside café near the airport to buy a hot dog and a coke. When the cashier rang up his tab it came to $5.89.

  “This hot dog had better be the best I’ve ever eaten,” he told the elderly woman operating the cash register.

  “It’ll be one to remember anyway,” she said with a wink. “I could almost guarantee that.”

  He took a bite as he left the café. It was tasty but, not $5.89 good. As he drove away, he couldn’t help but wonder how long they’d be in business with prices like that, good or not.

  …

  The U.S. Air Express flight was right on time. Maggie had shown Ross a picture of her aunts, so he was watching for them as the passengers came up the departure ramp. They were the last two people off the plane. Both looked a bit bewildered as they walked, arms linked, into the gate 47 waiting area. There was no mistaking that the two were sisters, and they still looked just like their picture, though Maggie had told him it was a few years old. Tall and slender, both had gray blue eyes and the same short, tightly permed, gray hair with more than a little hint of blue in it. One wore a dark blue coat, the other was dressed in forest green.

  Ross stepped over to the two elderly ladies. “Clara and Emily, I presume?”

  “And you must be Ross. I’m Clara,” the one in blue said. “And this is Emily.”

  Ross extended his hand to Clara first.

  “Nonsense,” Clara said, taking his hand and pulling him closer. She gave him a bear hug. “We’re practically family. The Martin girls have always been huggers, and we’re too old to change now.”

  Ross laughed, “I’m with you on that one.” After embracing them both, he said, “Now, if you ladies will come with me and point out your luggage on the conveyer belt, we’ll be on our way.”

  …

  There was no lack of conversation during the drive back to Serenity. The sister’s were excited about the plane ride. Clara had flown only twice before, and that had been when she was much younger. This was Emily’s first flight. It was quite evident, after only a few moments that Clara was the more gregarious, a “m
other hen” taking care of her older sister whose eyesight was beginning to fade. Both had lively personalities though and seemed genuinely thrilled to be a part of their favorite niece’s wedding.

  The conversation made the ride home seem much shorter than the trip up. As they drove into Serenity, Clara exclaimed, “Wow! Just look at that, Em. I’ll bet this whole place looks just like a Thomas Kincaid painting in the springtime.”

  “Oh my yes. How utterly charming! I’ll bet you’re right, Clara,” Emily chimed in.

  Minutes later, they turned into the driveway and parked in front of Maggie’s apartment. Before they were out of the car, Maggie bounded through the door at the foot of the stairs. There were hugs and kisses, and a few tears shed by all three.

  Ross couldn’t suppress a smile. “You girls go on up,” he told them. “I’ll bring the luggage.”

  Before they reached the top of the stairs, Maggie knew that Ross had won them over.

  “He’s absolutely wonderful, Maggie!” Clara raved, “And is he handsome? Oh my, yes!”

  “Oh my, yes, is right,” Emily agreed. “And such a good conversationalist. You know what I mean, dear. Lot’s of men don’t talk much. You’re Uncle Wiley never did, God rest his soul,” she added quickly. “And what a charming little village, Maggie. I can see why you didn’t want to leave!”

  When they reached the living room, Aunt Clara said, “Stand back young lady and let me have a look at you. I believe there’s something you forgot to tell us.”

  Maggie laughed, “You’re right. I did.”

  “Well,” Aunt Clara said. “I have to admit I’d have had a hard time sayin no to that young man myself.”

  “Oh my, Clara. Shame on you!” Aunt Emily chided. Ross stepped into the living room and carried their suitcases on into the bedroom. Maggie stuck her head into the room. “Guess you already know you’ve got them eating out of your hand. They think you’re Mr. Wonderful.”