A Fresh Start

by Grace, Trisha

  Mrs. Seymour came out with her apron on. “An—” She immediately saw their intertwined hands and arched her brow. “Oh, okay.”

  “How was dinner last night?” Mr. Seymour asked as they joined him at the dining table.

  “Good,” both of them echoed.

  A corner of Mr. Seymour’s lips sneaked up, but he didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll drive Paige to church later,” Justin informed Mr. Seymour.

  “Okay.”

  “All right, let’s eat.” Mrs. Seymour took out the plates and continued. “You’re picking Jane up on the way, right?”

  “Why make it sound like a question when you already know the answer?" Justin asked.

  Mrs. Seymour reached over and pulled his plate back.

  Justin tugged on it, refusing to let go. “All right, we’re picking Jane up.”

  “Thanks, Paige.”

  “Why is everyone thanking me?”

  “Jane has always been bullied by them, she never had a real friend,” Mrs. Seymour explained.

  “I’m just doing what anyone would.”

  Mrs. Seymour scoffed. “You’d think so, but no one ever did. I mean her mom is always telling her that she’s pretty and she should trust herself. But it makes a lot of difference when someone her own age tells her so.”

  “Just accept her thanks. Otherwise, she’s going to confiscate your breakfast.” Justin reached over and pushed her hair back behind her ear.

  Paige could sense Mrs. Seymour’s eyes on them.

  She pursed her lips to stop herself from smiling like a fool and turned to her food.

  After breakfast, Justin drove Paige over to Jane’s house.

  She had expected Jane to be waiting for her outside the house, but she was nowhere in sight.

  “Did you tell her I’m driving?”

  “Yeah, I texted her this morning.” Paige pulled out her phone and called Jane, informing her that she was already outside her house.

  Jane was out in an instant, her head down as she hurried over to the car.

  She must’ve been waiting inside because she didn’t want to be seen.

  “Hi, Jane.”

  Jane glanced up for a moment, then at the surroundings. She quickly slipped into the car before replying. “Hi. Erm, hi, Justin.”

  “Hey. You look great.”

  Paige beamed at him and turned back to look at Jane.

  “Really?” Jane brushed down her hair.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll trip and fall in the heels. I’ve been practicing at home.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be beside you. We won’t let you fall,” Paige assured. “You can use me as your crutch.”

  Paige had thought that going into church was the easy part. Before the service, most of the churchgoers would be shuffling in, mumbling some form of greetings, then quickly settling onto their seats.

  But today, the change in Jane’s appearance had everyone staring.

  Paige could sense Jane’s nervousness. A few steps into the church’s compound, Jane froze, looked down on the floor, and began fiddling with her hair.

  Paige quickly moved to her side and looped Jane’s arm around hers. “Here, you can lean on me if you’re unstable. Don’t worry about them, just keep your head high. They won’t come over with Justin around.” She turned toward Justin and grinned.

  She was uncomfortable with all the attention, but it wasn’t about her. She made Jane dress up today, so she was going to stick by her.

  “Yeah, come on.” Justin led the way, allowing Jane to hide behind him.

  As they moved over to the section where they usually sat, several of Mrs. Seymour’s friends went up to Jane and told her how beautiful she looked.

  Paige couldn’t stop smiling when she saw the relief and the smile Jane had.

  Eventually, they got to the seats that Mrs. Seymour had saved for them. Paige looked at Jane and asked, “You all right?”

  “I guess so,” she said nervously.

  “Good.” Then she leaned over to Justin. “Thanks for coming.”

  Justin gave her a peck on her forehead and immediately, Paige heard several gasps behind her. Even Jane was surprise. Her eyes popped wide open, and she raised her brows when Paige turned to her.

  Paige suppressed the instinct to turn around. She gave Jane a smile and forced herself to look right ahead.

  As the service began, the drowsiness from the lack of sleep was quickly overpowering her. She tried keeping her eyes open, but her lids were so heavy.

  So when Justin draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close, she leaned onto him and gave up the fight against the drowsy spell.

  She only opened her eyes when she heard the claps.

  She ran her hand through her hair and smiled sheepishly. “I slept throughout the service?”

  Justin helped her up to her feet. She pinched her cheeks, trying to get rid of the sleepy look on her face. Remembering Jane, she turned and checked on her.

  Jane patted down on her hair as they moved out from their seats and headed out to the compound where the congregation always gathered. Paige was sure that if it were up to Jane, she’d make a beeline for home.

  Once they were in the compound, different groups of people began coming up to them. Most of them were rather nice, telling Jane how nice she looked and commenting how surprised they were to see Justin.

  But those were friends of the Seymours.

  Then came Mrs. Bradley and Gloria.

  Both Jane and Paige drew in a deep breath when they saw the Bradleys moving toward them.

  “So, looks like you did keep him around your house on purpose.”

  Paige forced a small, polite smile.

  “She isn’t like you. She doesn’t have to do the chasing,” Justin said.

  Gloria fumed while her mother continued. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, dear. You’d better keep your eyes on this one.”

  “It takes two to have an affair. Maybe you should direct your anger toward your husband instead of Justin and his mom.”

  “How dare—”

  “Okay.” Justin stepped between Paige and Mrs. Bradley. “Mrs. Seymour is waiting for us.” With his arm over her shoulders, he gently nudged her forward.

  “Jane! Where do you think you’re going? I’m thirsty, get me something to drink.”

  Paige eyes widened when she heard what Gloria said. She couldn’t believe anyone could be so rude. Paige was about to pull Jane away when she noticed her hesitation.

  Paige sighed softly, she was being insensitive. Gloria was probably the only friend Jane ever had.

  “What are you waiting for?” Gloria shouted.

  Jane glanced over at her and back at Gloria.

  “It’s okay, go ahead if you want to. Don’t worry about us.” Paige didn’t want to make Jane choose. This whole situation was ridiculous, they weren’t in high school anymore.

  Jane smiled and nodded. Taking in a deep breath, she shook her head and said, “No.”

  “No?” Gloria snarled.

  “No. Get your own water.” Then Jane turned and walked toward Mrs. Seymour.

  “You—”

  Gloria stepped forward, trying to grab Jane, but she tripped over something and went sprawling forward.

  Instinctively, Paige reached out and stabled Gloria before she fell flat on her face.

  Instead of gratitude, once she’d averted the fall, Gloria slapped Paige’s hand from her, sending Paige’s bible skiing across the floor.

  Paige straightened as Justin picked up the bible for her. The moment their eyes met, they started laughing.

  “Everything okay?”

  Paige looked over and saw Keith standing beside Gloria.

  Jane had cracked a small, hopeful smile, but that faltered when Keith moved closer to Gloria.

  If Justin was going to tie someone to a flag pole, she’d want it to be Keith. She clenched her jaws and held Jane by her arm.

  Glor
ia uttered something about them being crazy, then stormed away.

  Hoping to distract Jane, Paige recounted her story of her unfortunate bully as they made their way over to Mrs. Seymour.

  Thankfully for Jane, the confrontation was juicy enough to keep the gossipers talking among themselves and away from them. Paige didn’t know if they should stay and socialize or if she should make up some excuse to get Jane out of there.

  After what had happened, Paige didn’t think Jane would want to hang around.

  But Mrs. Seymour and Mrs. Cassell’s friends kept coming up to Jane, telling her how different she looked and how beautiful she was.

  There wasn’t a chance for her to slip in an excuse, so all she could do was to watch Jane with concern.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Hmm?” She glanced up at Justin. “What do you mean?”

  His head tilted to the side, and he stared at her. “You’re worried about something.”

  She hated keeping secrets. She sighed softly, took a glimpse of Jane, then back at him. “I promised I won’t tell.”

  “That she’s in love with that jerk?”

  “How…When—”

  “She had a crush on him since high school.”

  “It’s more than that now, but I’m not entirely sure.”

  After nearly an hour of socializing, Jane finally voiced out how tired she was.

  On the way back, the smile that Jane had displayed in church disappeared. No amount of compliments in the world would make Jane feel better when her hope was simply for some kind words or gesture from Keith.

  “Thanks for the ride, Paige, Justin.” Jane stepped out and said before closing the door, “You guys look cute together.”

  Paige sighed and got out of the car, closing the door behind her. “Jane, listen. You look amazing, you can do so much better than him. You can have someone who will treat you like the queen of his world.”

  Jane swallowed as her eyes reddened.

  “I know; I know it’s hard to hear, but he’s a jerk. You deserve better.” Paige leaned over and gave her a hug. “I understand if you hate me for this, but I think you needed to hear those words.” Paige took a step back and gave Jane a small smile.

  “Thank you.” Jane brushed her tears away.

  “Find a new job away from here,” Paige said. “You have a degree in anthropology, you can be more than a librarian. Go out there, meet someone new.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “You won’t know until you try. Give it shot, you deserve that much. What’s the worst that can happen?” she asked. “The most is you will continue to be your librarian.”

  Jane laughed dryly.

  “Think about it.”

  “Okay.”

  Paige gave her another quick hug. “All right, see you soon.” She got back into the car as Jane trotted into her house.

  “Everything all right?”

  “Yeah, I think it will be.”

  “You sound confident.”

  She nodded. “Do you believe in coincidence?”

  God always had a plan; a plan for good; a plan much bigger and greater than what she could ever conceive.

  So many things had converged in this little town over the past few months.

  God had moved things such that Justin was back here at the same time she was. If Amy hadn’t had to go to the hospital, Justin and her would never have met. Their lives would’ve passed by each other like any other stranger in the world.

  She got her fresh start, not just away from her stalker, but to learn how to live a real abundant life.

  And maybe it wasn’t just about her. Maybe part of God’s plan for her to be here was to help Jane.

  “I’m not sure.”

  She turned her face to the side and said, “I think our paths could’ve easily passed each other without crossing, but God made sure we met.”

  “So you’re glad we met?”

  “Why make it sound like a question when you already know the answer?” She grinned mischievously. “Yes, I am glad we met.”

  “Good,” he said. “I’m glad we met, too.”

  “Thanks for coming along today.”

  “Where do you think I can find a flag pole around here?”

  She laughed again, shaking her head. “Let’s give her a chance. I think she had a pretty bad day herself.”

  Justin and Paige took the next two days off. They spent two days doing nothing but talking and watching movies. Since she hadn’t gotten her TV, the two days were mainly spent at Justin’s place until it was dinner time with the Seymours.

  Jane had called Paige, asking if she could accompany her on a shopping trip for some working clothes.

  Paige wasn’t sure if it was the makeover, the confrontation, or her talk that had impacted Jane. Whatever it was, she was glad that Jane was going to try something new.

  The first step was of course to get herself looking more professional.

  Paige was glad to help.

  And so, after two days of doing nothing, she spent Wednesday shopping with Jane, getting their nails done, and even getting a massage.

  Pine Bluffs ended up being better than she could imagine. A slower pace. A dashing new boyfriend.

  “How are things going with Justin?” Jane asked as they strolled into a cafe.

  “Good. Very good.” She chuckled at her own answer. “And you? How are things between you and Keith.”

  “We met on Monday. He said he like my new look.”

  Paige nodded though she wanted to roll her eyes. She’d always thought deeds were more important than words. If he had truly thought so, he should’ve stood up for Jane on Sunday.

  They settled into their seats, placing their bags down.

  “We met at Lion’s park; the same place we always meet. Nine-thirty at night.”

  Paige sensed something significant about the time, but she didn’t know what it was.

  “I had dinner on my own and walked around to kill time. That was when I saw him having dinner with Gloria. I stood outside like an idiot, watching them chat and laugh.”

  “Is he seeing Gloria?”

  “I don’t know.” Jane pushed her fringe aside.

  “You didn’t ask?”

  Jane closed her eyes and sighed. “What right do I have to ask?”

  Paige drew in a deep breath and pursed her lips. It was so tough to hold her tongue. Just then, her phone buzzed. She took a glance of it and saw Justin’s name across the screen, but she turned back to Jane without picking up the call.

  “It’s all right, answer that. I’ll get us some coffee. What do you want?” Jane stood from her seat.

  “Mocha latte. Thanks.” She picked up the call as Jane plodded over to the counter. “Hey.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.” She laughed, incredulous at how sensitive he was to even her voice. “Do you need something?”

  “I need to hear your voice.”

  She laughed softly. “Seriously.”

  “I seriously needed to hear your voice.”

  “Stop it,” she said, even as her grin continued growing wider.

  “I’m calling to ask if you want to spray paint the deck on your own or do you want me to do it?”

  “You’re done? That’s fast.”

  “So? You seemed to enjoy spray painting.”

  “Yeah, let’s do that together. Maybe later?”

  “Okay, am I allowed to ask what time you’re coming back?”

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’ll text you when I’m leaving the mall?”

  “All right.”

  She dropped her phone into her bag and helped Jane with the coffee. “Thanks.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah, he was just checking something with me.”

  Jane nodded with a wistful smile.

  “Jane,” Paige said, staring right at her. “If Keith even cares that little bit for you, he won’t be tre
ating you this way. There’s nothing wrong with you, except for the fact that you’re allowing him to treat you so horribly.”

  “He is different when he’s with me.”

  “That isn’t enough. And I don’t believe you think that it’s enough. If you didn’t want more, you won’t be looking so sad. Forget him, find someone else. Find someone who’ll call you up for no apparent reason, who’ll put you as priority instead of having to meet you secretly in a park.”

  Jane cupped her hands over her neck and stared down at the coffee.

  “I’m sorry,” Paige muttered, feeling guilty for upsetting Jane. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “No,” Jane interjected. “You’re right. Each time he calls me up to meet, I’ll get so happy. I don’t really care where we meet, I’m just glad he called. But when I get home, I can’t help loathing myself.”

  “Then why do you still meet him?”

  “When we’re together, he makes me feel special. He’d say things like I’m the only one who truly understands him.”

  Keith was more of a jerk than Paige had thought him to be. “Do you believe that?”

  “I used to.”

  Paige nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m not trying to force you to make a decision, but how about this? Stop picking up his calls and stop meeting him for a while. See how you feel about it. Besides, absence makes the heart grows fonder, right? Maybe your sudden absence will finally make him realize that he wants to be with you.” Or that you don’t need him.

  Jane’s head bobbed up and down as she considered what Paige was saying. “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Paige smiled, praying that Jane would stop subjecting herself to be tortured emotionally by Keith.

  She wished Jane had a brother like Andrew.

  If anyone ever treated her this way, Andrew would definitely make sure the guy learned what an idiot he was.

  After all those times when she had been frustrated with Andrew for being overprotective, she now truly realized how blessed she was.

  His overprotectiveness allowed her to be who she was without getting pushed or forced into feeling inferior about herself.

  As they left the cafe, Paige was determined to pay it forward. She would do whatever she could to help Jane.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Ne voglio. Voglio comprarne.” She checked her answers against the PDF on her phone and grinned when she got it right.