The walls were now a buttery yellow which complimented the oak cabinetry and granite countertops. The bar stool upholstery matched the draperies, a burgundy fabric with white magnolia flowers. The kitchen was completely unrecognizable from before and very modern. For as long as I could remember Grandma Mae hadn’t changed anything in her home. I wondered if she’d approve of what they were doing to her house.
I felt like someone was staring at me and I turned. A huge wedding portrait of John and Jo hung on a now deep burgundy colored wall in the dining room. The photo perfectly captured the beauty of Jo’s hazel eyes and long auburn hair that flowed ever so gently over her cream colored dress; her slender arms draped delicately around his neck. I remembered the day well and felt guilty for feeling such disdain towards the man she loved with all her heart.
“Where’s John?” I asked, not feeling his actual presence but expecting him to come around the corner any minute.
“He had some things do today and will be so disappointed he missed you, but he’ll join us later for dinner, “she said, while dishing up another batch of cookies to bake in the oven. “What’s new in your life?”
I stood there stunned. I couldn’t believe I’d have Jo’s attention all to myself for the entire afternoon and I didn’t have to insist on it. My mind went haywire for a second, trying to think of where I wanted to start.
“Boys,” I finally said. “I – I don’t understand them.”
Jo suppressed a giggle and smiled appreciatively.
“Yes, I remember what boys were like when I was your age. And that’s what they were – boys. What’s going on?”
I looked in her eyes and sighed as she took pity on me. Her depiction of boys my age wasn’t good news.
“Well…” I thought about Nicholas. He wasn’t what I would classify as a boy, but he sure wasn’t acting like a man “…they can be so immature.
“Ah,” she said, as she put her arm around my shoulder, looking at me with a tender expression. “Have patience, they’ll grow up eventually… just give it a few years.”
“Years?”
My gift constantly reminded me girls matured faster than boys, so I didn’t understand why this revelation shocked me. Maybe it was because I’d compared every guy to Luke, who was very mature for his age and hoped I’d find someone like him someday. No one ever measured up until I met Nicholas. Or at least that’s what I had thought. Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Well, I’m sure you heard about what happened,” I began, my tone somber.
“With your accident? I’ve heard bits and pieces. Tell me what happened.”
I smiled because she really wanted to know and I kicked myself for not fighting harder to have the privilege of sitting in her kitchen sooner. Her kind listening ear was always there through my toughest storms. She never judged and knew exactly when it was time for listening or time for finding solutions.
The non-mountain lion version of the story flowed easily from my lips as I’d told it so many times already, but I fought the urge to tell her everything, knowing she’d overreact and tell my dad, which meant I’d never be allowed to leave the house unchaperoned again. It hurt again to tell her how Nicholas had reacted at the theater, which was a complete flip from the week before. I studied her face and emotions to see what she thought. Her quiet concern bothered me.
“I’m not sure if he really is busy, or he’s blowing me off. What do you think?” I asked sheepishly.
She took another bite of her cookie and thought for a moment.
“Well, I’m not sure Julia. I think young men have a hard time expressing how they feel about things, especially to a woman they might like. You say he seemed rushed and surprised to run into you? I don’t think that’s a good sign.”
I bit my lip to hold back a tear. The honesty hit me like a punch in the ribs.
“Or he might just be acting tough, like men are supposed to act. They may like a girl, but then they don’t show it, possibly because they are afraid they’ll be rejected. You may think it’s easy for them, but it takes a lot of courage to put your feelings out there. Imagine being in their shoes. Take John for example. It took him a whole year to finally ask me out,” she said with a chuckle.
I sighed secretly on the inside.
“I hate to tell you this, but it seems young men don’t get over this until they get some relationship experience. Maybe he was embarrassed because Sam was with you.”
I knew he wasn’t embarrassed. It was more like distracted. He had a legitimate reason to go. And he was afraid too, not the fear you feel when you’re scared, but the one you feel when there’s impending danger.
“It’s hard to know exactly what’s changed. I’m sorry honey. I think you need to try to move on. For some reason, he’s not interested in getting to know you right now.”
Listening to her words, something in my heart broke, but I knew she was right. Even though I still longed for him to stop by my house and end my agony, I knew he wasn’t going to – at least not this new Nicholas anyway. I needed to face the facts. It was over. There would be no us and I needed to move on.
“Julia, these things happen. There will be a few guys in your life that you will have a huge connection with. Some will be poor timing for you; some will be poor timing for him. But one day, the timing will be right for the both of you and hopefully, that will be the one you’ll spend the rest of your life with. I know you’ll find someone who’s as wonderful to you as John is to me; you’ll see.”
She smiled again and I forced a fake smile in return. Her love for him beamed like the sun reflects off new snow and I saw John in a new light – Jo’s light. And I decided, for her, I’d look for the good in John even if it was probably going to kill me. After all, he did make her so happy.
She squeezed me tight and I soaked in her aura’s sensation that I’d missed so much.
“My suggestion is to move on – find someone new to think about. I’m sure there’s got to be another boy at school who you might be interested in perhaps?”
She lifted her eyebrow at me and waited for my reaction. No one came to mind at the moment, so I made a face and shrugged. I’d never felt like that with anyone before, so imagining myself finding another guy like him so quickly seemed preposterous.
I shook my head.
“Well then you’ve got it bad my dear. So give yourself some time to heal. But, if for some reason he does come back around, find out first why he took so long before you get upset. He may have a very good reason for making you wait. John did.”
“Okay,” I said after a short pause, letting it all sink in.
John’s big excuse was that he was a chicken. I refused to think Nicholas was like him, but hopeful it wasn’t completely over just yet. Maybe he did have a good reason and it was something like he thought he was too old for me, or that I had a boyfriend already. But would I have to wait a year to find out?
Oh please dear God. That would be dreadful.
“So, let’s move on, shall we? Get your purse,” she said in delight. “I’m kidnapping you.”
“Kidnapping me? But…” I pointed at my bandaged ankle.
“This won’t require walking and actually might help your ankle.”
I gave her a suspicious look and before I knew it, she ushered me to the car in the garage and made me get in the front seat. Her contagious excitement made me wonder what she was up to.
The entire ride I tried guessing our destination, but she remained tight lipped, not revealing any hints about where we were going until she pulled up into the parking lot in front of a nail salon.
“We are getting pedicures,” I announced in glee.
“Not just any type of pedicure,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “This one will be … different for sure.”
I furrowed my brow. “Okay, now you’re scaring me.”
“You’ll see, come on.”
We walked into the salon and Jo went up to the counter and whispered to the receptionist. I looked a
round and everything seemed like a normal salon. A variety of nail polishes sat in little racks on the counter and pictures of manicured hands and feet hung on the walls. A sign with the pricing of the services was on a wall behind the receptionist. The only thing that struck me odd was the sign saying they offered Dr. Fish Treatments. I sat and waited patiently for Jo to rejoin me.
“Are you ready?” a girl with long blonde hair said as she motioned us to follow her down the corridor. “Please come this way.”
Jo kept watching for my reaction as we followed the receptionist into a room with some oversized chairs. I sat down in one and Jo sat in the other, a Cheshire grin across her face. I was still trying to figure out what the big deal was.
“Okay, what are we going to be doing that’s weird?” I finally asked.
“Just wait. You’ll see.”
Two ladies came into the room and introduced themselves, then washed our feet.
“Is this your first fish treatment?” the brunette asked me.
“I… guess so?” I looked to Jo for reassurance, afraid I was supposed to know something.
“Yes, this is Julia’s first treatment. I’ve had several,” Jo said.
“Fish treatment? As in real fish?” I gasped. Images of soaking my feet in fish guts filled my head and I panicked. “I’m not putting my feet in fish guts!”
Everyone giggled and I blushed.
“No, it’s nothing like that,” the other woman said and she smiled kindly at me. I felt my cheeks return to normal. “You’ll be visiting our famous Doctor Fish tank, where our little friends are going to clean your feet for you.”
Clean my feet? Ewe.
I was not crazy about fish in general, which is why swimming in lakes and streams always freaked me out. I didn’t want any fish within 100 yards of me, so actually letting them bite me was absolutely insane, not to mention much worse than putting one’s feet in fish guts. The only fish I knew of that ate flesh were piranhas.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“I’m not kidding. They are special fish that only eat dead skin. I promise they won’t hurt you.”
Ewww gross!
“Okay?” I said with trepidation. The idea of letting the fish nibble on me just seemed wrong, but the peer pressure kept me from running out of the salon screaming and waiting in Jo’s car.
We stood up and followed the ladies into another room where a rounded bench seat surrounded a shallow tank. A bunch of little gold colored fish swam around in the water.
Jo sat down and plunged her feet into the water. The fish instantly swam over and covered her feet and toes. I gasped.
“Does it hurt?” I asked while squinting.
“No, it actually feels good. Are you going to try it?”
I sat on the bench and hovered my feet over the tank. Was I actually going to do this? The only reason I wasn’t begging for a normal pedicure was because Jo was enjoying herself. So, I closed my eyes and before I could think, put them in the water. It surprised me that the water was warm. I opened one eye. My feet were covered in fish and it tickled. I let out a squeak.
“This is so weird,” I said, trying not to wiggle.
“I know, but just wait. Your feet are going to feel so soft,” Jo said.
The fish worked their way around my cuticles and heals and I fought the urge to flick them away. I didn’t realize I had so much dead skin.
“How did you hear about this?” I asked.
“They suggested it here when I got a regular pedicure. I was apprehensive at first, because I hate fish. But you know me; I’m always willing to try anything one time.”
“Well this is something I never would’ve guessed I’d do and can’t believe I’m doing,” I said while shaking my head still gritting my teeth. “They seem to be finding a feast on my toes.”
“You’ll thank me later,” she said while grinning. “How’s school?”
“Fine, I guess. Algebra is going to kill me though,” I complained.
“Oh, really?”
“Well, Sam’s been helping me a lot because she’s really good at math. I just hope she doesn’t get so frustrated with me that she pulls out all her hair.”
Jo chuckled. “You’re so dramatic sometimes.”
“Hey, I try.” I swished my feet around forgetting that the fish were doing their job and then froze thinking I might have accidentally kicked a few in the process. But they came back unafraid, nibbling hungrily again. I still couldn’t get over how weird it was.
“I do have some good news,” Jo said with a big smile.
I’d noticed Jo seemed happier than usual, both on the inside and the out. She had a huge smile plastered on her face the entire time we’d been together.
She pressed her lips tightly together.
“Yeah?”
“John and I are expecting a baby.”
My eyes grew big and I screamed in delight.
“Oh. My. Gosh. That’s wonderful!” I threw my arms around her neck and gave her a huge hug. She had tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Auntie, I’m so excited for you guys.”
I had an unfair advantage when it came to babies because I knew exactly what they wanted. Mothers were amazed at my ability to get even the fussiest baby to sleep so easily. So the thought of holding my new cousin whenever I wanted was so exciting. Their sweet emotions were up there with the blissfulness of falling in love and it had been a long time since I’d had the privilege of holding one.
“You know, I wasn’t ever sure if I’d get to be a mommy, I mean I will always feel like your mom in a way, but to have a baby of my own. We are so excited.”
“Yeah, this is really awesome. You feeling okay?” I asked
“So far so good. I’m a little tired, but I’m four months along already.”
Jo took out ultrasound pictures from her wallet and handed them to me. I tried to find the baby in the black and white photo, but all I saw was a peanut looking thing.
“The baby is right there. See?” She pointed to the dark blob in the photo. I squinted and it came into focus. The larger part of the peanut shape suddenly looked like a head and I could see where arms and legs were forming.
“Wow. This is truly amazing.” Seeing the picture brought it all to reality and I had tears in my eyes too. “Have you thought of names yet?”
“Well, a few but we want to wait until we know if it’s a girl or a boy. That’ll make it easier.”
I instinctively reached over and felt her flat tummy.
“I think I feel a bump already.”
“No, that’s just the cookies from earlier. I’ve had the worst sweet tooth. It’s horrible,” she complained, but with a giggle. I saw a light in her eyes I’d never seen before.
“Then it’s going to be a girl,” I joked, not sure if that was how the saying went or not.
“We’ll know soon enough.”
After the fish pedicure, we decided to have lunch at a little café in town. We had to fulfill the baby’s craving for Chinese chicken salad and no other restaurants would do. After lunch it started to rain again, so we rented a movie. It seemed fitting for the afternoon. We contemplated going to a theater, but Jo said the popcorn smell made her queasy and I didn’t want to share that feeling with her, so I agreed (with much enthusiasm) to watch a movie at home.
I prayed secretly John would not come home early so we could watch it in peace. The last time, he talked over the entire movie and even ruined the ending by telling us ‘who done it’.
But John didn’t show up until closer to six when Jo just about had dinner ready. They invited me to stay. To my surprise, John and I got along better this time, making dinner an enjoyable experience. However, after dinner, the lack of sleep started to catch up to me and I just wanted to go home. I congratulated them again on the great news of the new baby and then drove home.
When I walked into the house, I planned to head straight for the stairs and my bed, but heard the TV going in the living room. My guilt surfac
ed as I felt Luke’s dread. He had no idea where my moodiness had come from earlier and it wasn’t fair I’d taken my frustration out on him so I swallowed my pride and stood in the doorway. Luke faked like he didn’t see me.
“Hey,” I said.
He flickered his eyes to me and then back to the TV.
“Hey.”
I entered the room and sat down. I didn’t know exactly what to say, so I waited for a minute before speaking.
“Sorry about earlier.”
He hit mute on the remote.
“It’s okay,” he said quietly, while studying his fingernails. He acted tough, but I knew he was more upset than he let on.
“I’m just frustrated.”
“About?”
“You can’t tease me,” I said quickly.
Luke put his hands up, as if an act of surrender and I smiled. It was sweet he wanted to know.
“I just don’t understand guys sometimes,” I said while playing with the string on my sweatshirt.
“Psscht… I could say the same about girls,” he said, rolling his eyes, but then he smiled. He wasn’t being rude. He was trying to sympathize. “So who’s the guy you don’t understand?”
I bit my lip and then let out a sigh still afraid to share. Luke waited intently and raised his eyebrows, encouraging me to continue.
“It’s Nicholas. He said he’d come by a week ago and he hasn’t and then I ran into him last night. He was kinda rude and said ‘I can’t talk now’ and rushed away. I didn’t expect him to be like that, so I don’t get it.”
“Really,” he said, surprised. “Wow. I thought he was a cool guy. I wonder what happened.”
“Me too.”
“Well, it sounds like he’s blowing you off.”
“You think so?” I said disappointed.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. I wasn’t there.”
“Why do you think he did that?”
“Heck if I know, but you can’t just sit around here and hope he’s going to come and see you. You need to move on, have fun and realize, if he’s blowing you off, then he’s a jerk and he doesn’t deserve you.”
It warmed my heart to hear Luke hold me in such high regard. I knew he was right about the moving on part. I just hated not knowing.
Talisman 1 - The Emerald Talisman Page 8
