A Small-Town Reunion

by Terry McLaughlin

  He glanced at his watch. A nurse had escorted Addie into the treatment area nearly fifty minutes ago, and there had been no word yet on her mother’s status. Dev considered whether if he could chance a search for coffee without missing Addie if she came looking for him. He supposed the receptionist could get a message to her to ask if she’d like something more to drink, or perhaps a snack—that is, if visitors were allowed to eat in the treatment area.

  As he stood, intending to check at the counter, Tess strode through the wide door. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Addie called and asked me to bring her a change of clothes and something to read.” Tess lifted a bulging canvas bag. “She says she’s very grateful for all your help, but she may be here for several more hours. You’re free to go.”

  “Ordered to go, you mean.”

  “I refuse to get caught in the middle of this.” Tess shook her shaggy black bangs out of her eyes. “I’m just the delivery girl.”

  Dev muttered a curse. “Lena probably threw another fit when she found out where Addie had been this evening. And with whom.”

  “You both knew she’d find out eventually, anyway. Didn’t stop you from going.” Tess shrugged. “Don’t worry. You’re too old to be grounded.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Suit yourself.” Tess shoved the bag into Dev’s arms. “Tell Addie I love her, and ask her to give me a call when she gets a chance.”

  “Wait.” Dev set the bag on the chair behind him. “What’s the number for the phone Addie used to call you?”

  “Clever,” Tess said, “but that won’t work. Cell phones are forbidden back there—too much interference with too many finicky machines. She called me from a pay phone down the hall.”

  She’d left her mother’s side to use a pay phone, but Addie hadn’t come to the waiting room to talk to him herself. Either she didn’t want to see him, or Lena didn’t want her to see him.

  The fact that he couldn’t guess which scenario was more likely made him more determined to stay and find out. Addie was going to have to talk to him—to deal with him—if she wanted her things. “Did she say anything else?”

  “They’ve run a couple of tests, and there’s one more to go. No one is saying anything for sure until they get the results, but the doctor who’s been talking with them back there thinks Lena had a TIA. Transient something-or-other. Serious, but not life-threatening.”

  “Are they going to admit her?”

  “Probably not. The fact that she snapped out of it so fast is supposedly a good sign.”

  “Thank God.” Dev released a long sigh. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been, waiting and hoping to hear something positive. “Hard to imagine Lena in a hospital bed.”

  “She’s a tough lady. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Besides,” Tess added, “she’ll have Addie fussing over her.”

  The image warmed him clear through. “I’ll bet no one fusses like Addie.”

  “Like mother, like daughter.” Tess ran a finger along the edge of his lapel. “You look nice tonight.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Too bad things worked out the way they did.” She flattened her palm over his chest and gave him an affectionate pat before dropping her arm to her side. “Okay. Gotta run.”

  “I’ll make sure Addie gets her things.”

  The corners of Tess’s mouth curled up in one of her catlike smiles. “I’m sure you will.”

  IT WAS NEARLY TWO O’CLOCK in the morning when Dr. Tripathi told Addie she could take her mother home. The initial tests indicated cholesterol was the culprit, but Lena’s personal physician would schedule more tests, on an outpatient basis, during the coming week.

  Addie thanked the emergency room doctor for his help and pulled the privacy curtain closed. Behind her, Lena swung her legs over the side of the gurney to step into her shoes. Addie lifted the extra sweater Tess had brought, waiting for her mother to slip an arm into one of the sleeves.

  “I can dress myself,” Lena snapped.

  “Sorry.” Addie handed her the sweater and backed away, already dreading the next battle. They were both exhausted and on edge. “Got your purse?”

  “Right here.” Lena pulled it from beneath the thin cotton blanket she’d shoved to the foot of the gurney. “We should call for a cab, although I’m not sure we can get one in this town at this time of night.”

  “We don’t have to take a cab.” Addie slung the straps of her canvas tote over one shoulder. “Dev is still waiting to give us a ride.”

  “We don’t need his charity.” Lena rummaged through her purse and pulled out a small compact.

  “He knows that. But he chose to wait all this time for us.” And though he must have suspected his assistance wouldn’t be welcome, he’d arranged for the receptionist to smuggle in candy and a deck of playing cards in addition to the drinks and magazines. “The least we can do is be gracious about accepting his help.”

  Lena didn’t respond. But the way she freshened her lipstick and tugged a comb through her hair told Addie she was preparing herself for the inevitable.

  “I thought I’d have Dev take us both to my place first,” Addie said. “I need to get my truck. And then I want to spend the night at your apartment, so I can keep an eye on you.”

  “You heard the doctor. I’m fine, for now. There’s no need for you to worry about me.”

  Addie rested a hand on Lena’s arm. “I love you. I can’t help but worry about you.”

  They walked together to the nurses’ station, where they listened to a brief discharge lecture and Lena signed the paperwork. And then they moved through the wide double doors and into the noisy waiting area.

  A young woman paced the room with a bouncing step, crooning to the squalling infant in her arms. In one corner, Dev sat in a plastic chair, hunched over a low table. Beside him, a pajamas-clad toddler ran a plastic truck over a stack of magazines, up Dev’s sleeve and down again. The two of them growled silly truck sound effects.

  Addie halted near the doorway, staring. She’d never imagined Dev interacting with a young child. Somehow he’d always seemed disconnected from the minor distractions and discomforts of everyday life, as though he’d never repaired a leaky sink or mowed a lawn or camped in a waiting room, tolerating the attentions of a little boy. “Dev.”

  He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Just a minute.” After the truck rolled noisily off his arm, he murmured something to his playmate and then stood and stretched. “Good evening, ladies. Lena, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “Hello, Dev.” Her mother’s back was so stiff and straight Addie wondered if it would crack when she moved. “Thank you for waiting.”

  “No problem.” He pulled his car keys from his pocket. “Ready to go?”

  Lena nodded, turned and headed toward the door.

  “That’s a yes, then.” Dev jogged to the entrance to push the door open for her. “I’m parked in the emergency area, to your right.”

  He waited until Addie walked through and then fell into step beside her. “Your place?” he asked. “Or Lena’s?”

  “Mine. I’ll get my car and take her home myself.”

  “Figured that might be the case.”

  He lengthened his stride, leaving Addie behind, and opened the passenger door for her mother.

  Lena hesitated. “What kind of car is this?”

  “A Maserati.” Dev took her elbow and helped her inside. Addie caught a glimpse of her disapproving expression before he closed the door.

  “It’s a sedan,” he told Addie as he guided her to the driver’s side and reached for the handle on the back door. “A family car. Very suburban. All the Italian race car drivers’ wives use these to haul their kids to soccer practice.”

  She smiled as she climbed awkwardly into the backseat. Though there was much less leg room, the leather seats in the back still felt as though they’d cost a fortune.

  “Addie says I’m taking you to her shop, so that’
s where we’re going.” He switched on the ignition and backed out of the spot. “Let me know if you’d like me to turn on the heat.”

  “I’m fine. Thank you.” Lena turned her head toward her side window. End of conversation.

  Dev glanced at Addie in his rearview mirror and gave her a sympathetic smile. She smiled back and settled against the cushiony seat, determined to endure her mother’s silence without letting it tie her stomach in knots.

  It felt so good to let someone else handle the driving for a change.

  ADDIE AWOKE WITH A GROAN the following morning and shifted to her back, trying to find a more comfortable position. The sofa in her mother’s living room wasn’t the best place to spend the night, but she’d been too tired to care much where she slept, as long as it involved a horizontal surface.

  A thump overhead told her Lena was up and out of bed. Addie slitted one eye open and checked the time on the cable box beneath the television. Seven o’clock. It appeared that four hours’ sleep was all she was going to get.

  She tugged the blanket under her chin and snuggled against the cushions, craving a few more minutes of drowsy warmth and relaxation before heading back to her shop and all the chores waiting for her there. Just a little while longer to float on memories of last night before facing the day—and her mother.

  Dev had been so sweet last night. So patient, so kind. So different than what she’d expected. First dates were all about making a good first impression, but she and Dev were years past that point. Besides, they’d already shared an impromptu dinner. And spent the night together.

  The fact that he’d tried so hard to make the evening special for her was endearing. Nearly suspicious. What was he up to?

  She groaned again, upset with herself for searching for reasons to explain his behavior. What did it say about her, that she’d carried a torch all these years for a man she had believed was a terrible human being? That she’d looked forward to spending the evening with someone she’d once suspected might treat her badly? That she’d gone to bed with him?

  The truth was far too complicated to understand without several more hours’ sleep and at least one cup of coffee. Addie shoved off the sofa, folded the throw she’d used for a blanket and headed into the kitchen to start the coffeemaker.

  A few minutes later Lena padded in on her fluffy slippers, wrapped in a pink robe and looking better than Addie felt. “I’ll make you breakfast before you go.”

  “Thank you.” Addie focused on the promise of food and ignored the invitation to leave. She opened her mouth to ask her mother how she was feeling but decided Lena was probably tired of hearing that question. “I was going to settle for a cup of coffee, but breakfast sounds great.”

  “All I have to offer is a bagel and fruit.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  Lena sliced through the roll and dropped the two halves in her toaster. “Do you plan on seeing Dev again?”

  “I’m sure I’ll be seeing him often this summer, with Charlie’s wedding, and all.”

  “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Lena turned to face her, leaned against the counter and folded her arms. “Are you thinking of becoming involved with him, socially?”

  Socially. Addie frowned. She was in no hurry for a rerun of the scene in the ladies’ lounge at The Breakers. But she’d survived the encounter with Courtney Whitfield. And dancing with Dev had been worth enduring all the uncomfortable moments of the evening.

  Being with Dev was worth anything.

  Except jeopardizing her mother’s health. “He hasn’t asked me,” Addie told her.

  “But if he does?”

  “It depends, I suppose.”

  Lena turned away to deal with the food. She pulled a bowl of grapes and some cream cheese from the refrigerator, dropped the toasted bagel halves on a plate, grabbed a couple of paper napkins and set everything on the table. “Sit and get started. I’ll get the coffee.”

  Addie slid into her chair, wishing she’d chosen a drive-through breakfast over this continuation of last night’s argument. She didn’t want to do anything more to upset her mother. She snapped a few grapes from their stem and popped one into her mouth.

  Lena set a mug in front of her with an angry-sounding clunk and filled it with coffee. “You’re making a big mistake, getting mixed up with Dev Chandler.”

  “I’m not mixed up with him.”

  “What do you know about him, anyway? He’s never settled down. He probably never intends to.” Lena sat and wrapped her hands around her own mug. “He has different values than you do.”

  “What can you possibly know about his life or his values?” Addie lifted her mug and blew on her coffee to cool it. “He’s a grown man. He’s not the same person he was ten years ago.”

  Lena spread cheese on her bagel. “Did you see that car?” she asked. “What kind of a car is that for a grown man with sensible values to drive? He probably paid more for that car than you make in goodness knows how many years.”

  “Is that what’s troubling you? That Dev has money?” Addie set down her coffee. “That’s not fair.”

  “It’s not the money. It’s how he chooses to spend it.”

  “If he promised to sell that car, would you be happy to hear that he’d asked me out again?”

  “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

  “Mom.” Addie shoved her half of the bagel aside. She wouldn’t be eating anything here this morning. And it seemed there was no way to avoid any unpleasantness. “I’m trying to understand why you have this prejudice against Dev. He’s never done anything to harm you. And he was extremely kind last night. Kind to us both.”

  Lena pressed her lips together and shifted her gaze to the window.

  Addie tried to think of something else to say, some way to break through her mother’s irrational resentment, anything to get this discussion back on track. She twisted her mug in a tight circle on the table, feeling the familiar, gravitational pull of her mother’s wishes suppressing her own desires, distorting their shape and meaning.

  Sometimes pieces never fit together, and certain patterns never seemed to make sense. They simply existed.

  WHEN DEV STEPPED THROUGH the door of A Slice of Light on Sunday afternoon, the look on Addie’s face told him exactly how hard he’d have to fight to get things back where they belonged. He stopped at her counter, separated from her by the barrier. “How is she?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  “How are you?”

  “Fine.” Addie hid a yawn behind a hand and then touched her soldering iron to another spot on one of Geneva’s windows. She wasn’t wasting any time getting them finished.

  “Fine enough to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

  “I should take something over to my mother’s.”

  “I could arrange for another takeout dinner.” He leaned an elbow on her counter, hoping he looked more casual than he felt. “I think I’m a pretty good takeout cook.”

  “Yes, you are.” She gave him a brief, wistful smile and then quickly glanced away. Too brief, too wistful. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  He wanted to leap over this barrier between them, to stalk into her work space and haul her into his arms and make her understand the real reason he’d come here today. He gripped the edge of the counter, his muscles bunching, but his feet stayed stuck in place. “Because your mother doesn’t approve of me?”

  “I don’t know why she feels the way she does.” Addie frowned and bent closer to her work. “You were very considerate last night.”

  “Damn it, Addie.” He shoved away from the counter, searching for control of his temper. He’d never raised his voice to her, that he could remember, and he was ashamed he’d done it now. She was obviously exhausted and unhappy. “I wasn’t being considerate. I was—”

  Trying to prove his love? Trying to get into her mother’s good graces? Taking care of her? Courting her? Which explanation would she want to hear? Which explanation cou
ld he bear to admit?

  She lowered her head and scrubbed at a bit of glass. One of her clips slid to the side, and her hair draped softly over the back of her neck. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like my mother and I are some kind of charity case.”

  “Good. Because I didn’t mean it that way.”

  He watched her work for a few minutes, while a strained and miserable silence stretched between them. “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

  “I’m waiting to see if my mother will be scheduled for any testing tomorrow. I’d like to go with her.”

  Medical testing that would likely be finished well before the dinner hour.

  He’d give it one more try. Because it seemed, after all, that he had no pride where Addie was concerned. “Will you have dinner with me any night this week?”

  She slowly raised her eyes to his. Just for an instant, like the click of a camera shutter, he saw in her features a mirror of the same emotion that was coursing deep inside him. And then the shutter came down, and it was gone.

  “No,” she said.

  ADDIE’S HEART BROKE a little when Dev sent get-well flowers to her mother on Monday. It broke a little more when he sent a bouquet of lemon-yellow daisies to her shop on Tuesday.

  On Wednesday, Tess stopped by with coffee. Just for a prewedding check, she claimed. Just to make sure the bridesmaid dress was ready to go and that Addie was still planning on joining her friends for the salon appointment on the morning of the wedding. And by the way—did Addie know Dev was thinking of sticking around after summer? Geneva had mentioned he’d talked with her about a long-term stay in her guest house.

  On Thursday, Charlie charged in at lunchtime, dropped into one of Addie’s work stools and complained about the salon appointment. And had Addie heard that Dev was meeting with the chairman of the English department at the local university about a teaching job?

  On Friday morning, Dev called while Addie was in the shower. He wanted to find out how Lena was doing, he said. And he had to check on the progress on the windows, because Geneva was nagging him about it. And he missed Addie, more than he could say on the stupid telephone to some stupid machine. She listened to the recording of his voice seven times before erasing his message.