Plain Jayne

by Hillary Manton Lodge

  “How is your bag Sara’s fault?”

  “Have you met her? I’m barely qualified to wear my clothes, much less choose them and pack them with the care they deserve. So I bring everything these days. Sara’s doing, all the way. When I went to stay with your parents, everything I needed fit into my motorcycle panniers.”

  “And then Sara.”

  “And then Sara.”

  “I think your clothes always look good.”

  “I’ve been letting Gemma pick out stuff for me lately.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Trying to compliment you here. Are we going to sit in the car and talk about your wardrobe or go inside?”

  “I have a choice?”

  “Jayne—”

  “Because I can talk buttons.”

  “Let’s go.” He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss on my lips before opening his door and stepping out.

  I sighed and opened my own door.

  He held my hand on the way up the walk. When we arrived at the door, I knocked.

  Loudly. Because I could.

  Two footfalls and the door opened. I had to wonder if someone was peering out the kitchen window.

  “Jayne!” My mother’s face glowed. “Come in, both of you.” She closed the door, shutting out the wisps of the damp night breeze.

  Levi extended his hand. “I’m Levi. I’m very glad to meet you, Mrs. Tate.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Levi.” She clasped his hand. “May I take your coat?”

  “Oh, thank you,” Levi shrugged out of his jacket. When his back was turned, Mom winked and gave me a thumbs-up.

  She liked him. I knew she would.

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Beth and Gary in the living room.

  Poor Emilee. With any luck, she was asleep upstairs, curled up with Beth’s old stuffed dog, Sniffy.

  The rundown of the following events:

  Gary shakes Levi’s hand. I admire Levi’s firm grip.

  Beth eyes Levi, presumably checking him for, I don’t know, suspicious rashes. When he turns to greet her, her face transforms into the smiling visage of the girl-next-door.

  Emilee stumbles in, hair mussed, eyes half shut. She must have conked out on the couch.

  Levi kneels and introduces himself. The women in the room not already in love with him are now.

  Or at least, they ought to be.

  “We should be going,” Beth said. “We just stopped by because Mom said the car’s brakes were making noise.”

  Yes. And what better time to check them out than eleven p.m. on a Friday night? She probably mentioned the car to Gary at least a week ago.

  “I just need to replace the brake pads,” said Gary. “I’m going to come back over and work on them tomorrow.”

  “Want a hand?” Levi asked. “I’ve spent some time under cars.”

  “I never turn down free help.”

  “I’ll throw in lunch,” Mom said. “I don’t expect you to work on the car for free.”

  Beth pulled Emilee’s coat from the closet and began the fastening process. Gary reached for his jacket.

  “We’ll walk out with you,” I said innocently. “We need to get our luggage.”

  “We can help with that,” Gary volunteered. “Come on, Beth.”

  Score.

  The men left for the bags. I stayed inside with the warmth. “Are you ready to go home and sleep, Miss Emilee?” I knelt and tugged on Emilee’s left braid.

  She shook her head. “I’m not sleepy.”

  “She’ll fall asleep in the car.” Beth pulled the hood to cover Emilee’s head.

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Okay, you won’t.” Beth patted her back.

  “If the guys are working on the car tomorrow,” I started, wondering how such words could trip from my mouth, “would you all like to go shopping with me?”

  “Of course,” Mom answered right away. “I’d love to.”

  “Shopping?” Beth said the word as if I’d just suggested a skinny-dipping trip off a jetty.

  “I could use some new items…and help picking them out.”

  Beth tilted her head and studied me.

  I refused to flinch under her gaze.

  “I can be there as long as Emilee holds out. She can be a pretty good shopper. Can’t you, Emilee?”

  Emilee nodded absently.

  Maybe she was right. She wouldn’t fall asleep in the car, but on the way to the car.

  I never felt like this with Shane. I scrubbed my face in my mom’s guest bathroom, door closed, washing off the day’s makeup and travel grime. The feeling of vulnerability was new to me. I didn’t know how I felt about it. Would I be able to sleep knowing he was down the hall?

  A knock sounded on the door. I cracked it open, mouth full of toothpaste foam.

  “You okay in there?” Levi asked.

  I wanted to smack the look of amusement right off his face, but it might have caused the toothpaste to splatter. I nodded instead.

  “Can I brush my teeth at some point?”

  I spat into the sink. “Sure. Of course. I’m about done.”

  “Really.”

  “You know, there are other bathrooms in this house.”

  “I didn’t want to dirty up another sink. I thought you’d be done…” he checked his watch. “Twenty or so minutes ago.”

  “I’m done.”

  “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

  I tucked my hair behind my ear, noting its slight oiliness. “Why would you think that?”

  “Because you’ve never struck me as the kind of girl to hold herself hostage in a bathroom.”

  “You think you’re so funny.”

  “You’re not answering my question.”

  “You grew up around girls who never spent any time hogging a bathroom. Your parents don’t even have a mirror in there.”

  “You weren’t like this when I stayed at your apartment.”

  I put my toothbrush down. “It’s just kind of weird.”

  “My being here? How is that different?”

  I shrugged.

  “If you want me to leave, I will. I won’t be mad.”

  “No—not at all. I’m sorry, Levi.” I folded my arms across my chest. “We’re just so…new. When you were at my apartment before, we weren’t, you know, together. I mean, we had our first dating kiss just a few hours ago.”

  “Still doesn’t make sense, but okay. What can I do to help you feel more comfortable?”

  “Tell me something embarrassing about yourself.”

  “I used to have the same haircut as my brothers.”

  “That’s not embarrassing. That’s who you were.”

  “I found a toy in town and kept it hidden from my parents. I realized a couple years ago it was just a little McDonald’s toy with a cartoon character.”

  “You don’t have any embarrassing stories, do you?”

  “Wanna go for a drive?”

  “Right now?”

  “Sure.”

  “It’s almost midnight.”

  “You’re all keyed up. I doubt you’ll sleep anytime soon.”

  “My teeth are all brushed.”

  “The car won’t change that, unless you find gummy bears under the seat.”

  “Mom’s already in bed.”

  “Leave her a note. You’re not seventeen.”

  “Not seventeen, Amish, and climbing out of windows with boys? I almost pulverized one of Sara’s callers.”

  “He probably had it coming.”

  I forced my shoulders to relax. “Let me throw on my coat.”

  “You’re okay working on the car tomorrow?” I asked, as we curved down Highway 101.

  “I like to be helpful. I want to get to know your family. It seemed like a good place to start.”

  “This whole night-drive in your pajamas is very comfortable. You should try it sometime.”

  He squeezed my hand.

  The sky had grown even darker, but this time I could just
make out the line of ocean foam against the sand as we drove down the coast. The rain had lessened and the sky had cleared. A couple of stars peeked out from behind black clouds.

  I’d forgotten how dramatic the Oregon Coast could be. After moving to Portland, I’d spent much of my time reviling my roots. Now I found comfort in them.

  We didn’t talk during the drive. Before I knew it, I felt a gust of cold air and strong arms reaching around me. My eyes opened, which meant they must have been closed.

  “Was I asleep?” I asked, except that I’d been sleeping, and I wasn’t quite awake, so it came out “Wha ay as-eep.”

  With horror I realized I had a line of drool on the left side of my chin.

  If Levi noticed, he didn’t say anything. “You relaxed.”

  I nodded, and surreptitiously swiped at my chin.

  Levi helped me the rest of the way out of the car, borrowed my key, opened the front door, and gave me an arm up the stairs.

  “Are you ready to go to bed? Anything else to do in the bathroom?”

  To his credit, there was only the tiniest shred of irony in his voice. I shook my head.

  He nudged my bedroom door open with his foot. I leaned into the door-frame while he turned my bedcovers down. When he finished, I shrugged out of my coat, sank into the bed, and nestled my head into the down feather pillow.

  I think he may have brushed a kiss against my lips, but I could have been dreaming.

  The next thing I knew, it was morning.

  Morning, and someone was using tools. Loud tools. Either loud tools, or Mom was having it out with a cast-iron pan.

  Against the wall.

  What was so important that it had to make this much noise on a Saturday morning at…I checked my watch.

  A quarter till eleven? I checked again.

  Still quarter till. How did that happen? I never slept that late.

  I pulled the covers back and sat up. Too fast—I laid back down. Sat up again, this time slower. Okay so far. Two feet on the ground…check. I stood with unsteady legs.

  I checked the lower half of my face for drool. Negative.

  The noise continued. It was lower than the sound of a cast-iron pan. It sounded like a hammer. A hammer being used by someone with a steady swing.

  My mom didn’t handle a hammer like that, unless her upper-body strength had suddenly increased overnight. Protein-enriched night cream, that sort of thing. Not likely. That left…

  “Levi!” I called from the top of the stairs.

  The racket stopped. “You’re awake?”

  “This relationship isn’t going to work!”

  “Oh?”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Fixing your mom’s shelf.”

  “Why?”

  “It was falling down. Do you want to come the rest of the way down the stairs?”

  “If I come down, I might be angry with you for waking me up.”

  “It’s almost eleven.”

  “You woke me up.”

  “I helped you go to sleep.”

  “Hammer!”

  “Jayne—” my mother’s voice floated up the stairs. “Would you like to come down for some breakfast?”

  “Hammer!” I ignored the petulant, four-year-old tone to my voice.

  “I made caramel-pecan rolls.”

  Oh. I thought about it. Weighed my options.

  Weighed my options until I was in the kitchen, smelling the rolls.

  “Hi.” Levi’s face creased into a wide smile. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Fine, until you woke me up.”

  “Eat a roll, Jayne.” My mom handed me a plate with an oozy, gooey roll, a fork sticking out of the top.

  “You knew I’d come down.”

  She patted my shoulder. “It’s not rocket science.”

  I pulled the fork out and cut a bite. The caramel melted in my mouth the way I’d remembered. “Mm-mm-hm-mm-hmhm.”

  “I thought it was good too. Did you sleep all right until your boyfriend helped your mother with a shelf that nearly fell and crushed the rolls?”

  I clutched my plate, horrified that my yummy, yummy caramel-pecan roll had nearly met with a certain, flattened end. I swallowed my bite and looked to Levi. “Boyfriend?”

  “I’m sorry.” Mom’s forehead creased and her face flushed. “Are you not…”

  “We are,” Levi interrupted. He snagged a pecan off the side of my plate.

  I didn’t look at him. “My boyfriend has courage.” Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. The word rolled around my head. I tried it again, to see how it felt on my tongue. “Boyfriend.”

  “Want to sit with me?”

  I nodded, hair falling in my face and dangerously close to the caramel residue on my lips. He reached over and tucked it behind my ear before kissing a bit of the caramel off.

  I looked around. Mom had disappeared from the kitchen.

  Sneaky.

  “I didn’t mean for you to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but your mom said these were your favorites.”

  “They are.”

  “I didn’t think it was that loud.”

  “Sound carries in this house.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “If you’re my boyfriend, does that make me…”

  “My girlfriend? I think that’s the way it works. I don’t know. I never went to a traditional high school.”

  I wove my fingers through his. “I really…” I sighed. “I want this to work.”

  “Me too.”

  Looking into his eyes I felt hope. “If this is going to work…” I locked eyes with him. “You have to keep away from my pecans.”

  Chapter 29

  My sister was a shopping machine. I think even Gemma would have been impressed by her skills. My original intention for the trip to the outlet malls was to pick up some nice pieces that would allow me to create decent-looking outfits without much effort in the morning.

  Beth created a “wardrobe scheme,” finding me a pile of clothes that all seemed to coordinate and yet not look like a bad mix-and-match puzzle. She managed to do all that and keep me under budget.

  “I do it for myself all the time,” Beth said while we stopped for lunch in the deli section of Sip Wine & Bistro. “It’s not like I can spend a lot of time figuring out what to wear these days.” She glanced at Emilee. “The goal is that I can pick up four things from the floor, and at least two should go together.”

  I reached over and tugged on Emilee’s blond braid. “You’re a very good shopper’s assistant.”

  She pulled her thumb from her mouth. “I get two cookies when we get home.”

  “And you will have earned both of them.”

  Mom pointed at her bowl. “This potato salad is really good.”

  “Speaking of very good,” Beth said, leaning toward me, “when are you going to talk to us about Levi?”

  “What about?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Jayne, the last time you came, you brought Shane. Now it’s Levi. At some point we need to lean in, whisper, and giggle. Where did you guys meet?”

  I didn’t point out that Beth and I had never been whisper-and-giggle sisters. But in the interest of improving our relationship, I lowered my voice and answered. “His woodshop. He was a source for the Amish story I wrote.”

  “Were you instantly attracted to him?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  “Sorry. Trumpets weren’t playing, and I didn’t see an armed Cupid in my peripheral vision.”

  “Well, what changed? Something must have happened.”

  “I stayed with his family for a week and a half. I interviewed him a couple times. We just kept seeing each other. After a while…”

  Let’s face it. After a while, I was gone. Embarrassingly gone.

  “After Shane and I broke up, we had an opportunity to explore things,” I finished.

  “Nothing happened while you were with Shane?”

  Defin
e nothing… I bit my lip.

  Beth snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “You’re doing it. You’re hiding something.”

  I batted at her pointed finger. “Put that away.”

  “You get that look on your face when you don’t want to tell. What did you do?”

  Pined for Levi until Shane and I ended.

  “We met. I really liked him, but we didn’t start having a relationship until after Shane. Shane ended, and Levi and I got together.”

  “Just like that?”

  “He took me out for a really nice lunch.”

  “You like him.”

  “He’s my boyfriend. I’m supposed to.”

  “You really, really like him. You didn’t look at Shane the way you look at Levi.”

  “Beth, you only saw me with Shane over one weekend. We were together for ages. You don’t know how we did or did not look at each other.”

  Mom patted Beth’s arm. “Are you ready to get back to the shops? I’d like to hit Kitchen Collection.”

  Mom was distracting Beth. I knew it. Beth knew it, but no one except Emilee said anything, and Emilee only announced her need to use the ladies’ room.

  We returned home, arms full. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d shopped and returned with so many logo-emblazoned bags. I felt like a character in a chick flick during the scene when she gets a makeover and goes on a shopping spree. Hadn’t felt like that before. I was more likely to return with yoga clothes I’d wear to the gym for a week before using them mainly in front of the TV, utilitarian work pieces, pants I bought because they were long enough for my legs and didn’t pucker oddly in the back.

  Not inspiring stuff. But for the first time I was kind of excited about my purchases.

  Gary and Levi were still working on the car when we returned. Emilee ran to her dad, but Gary lifted his hands out of the way. “Careful there, sweetie. Daddy’s messy.”

  Beth closed the car door. “How’d you both manage to get so greasy? I thought you were just changing out the brake pads.”

  “This is just brake dust,” Gary answered.

  I tilted my head, waiting for the full answer. There were undeniable grease spots on Levi’s face.

  “We decided to change the oil while we were at it,” Levi said, his eyes charged with unreleased laughter. “I dropped the oil plug in the drain pan.” He held his own hands out. “And I got brake dust.”