Spring Broke

by Melody Carlson

  “Spring cleaning?” Kendall frowned. “That sounds like work to me.”

  “But it’s work that pays off.” Megan stood up. “You get a clean house and then you use the money from the garage sale to pay your bills.”

  “I don’t know.” Kendall still looked doubtful. “What could I possibly sell in a garage sale?”

  Megan eyed that costly designer handbag again. “Oh, I’m sure we could find a few things, Kendall.” Then Megan told Kendall to think about it and that she needed to get back to work. She controlled herself from adding, “Someone has to work around here.” But as she left, she couldn’t help but shake her head. Really, what would it take to knock some sense into that girl?

  Two

  Lelani Porter

  “Why don’t you just go back to Maui and see her?” Gil looked at Lelani with an intensity that was slightly unnerving. “Emma is your daughter. You have every right to see her if you want.”

  They had met at Demetri’s Deli for lunch, and Lelani had been stealing glances at a baby across the aisle. Dressed in pink corduroy overalls with bunny buttons, she appeared to be about the same age as Lelani’s baby. The mother seemed oblivious to the baby sleeping sweetly in her stroller, but Lelani was captivated by the child—staring at the dark lashes on the rosy cheeks, the sweet little pinched-up lips. Once again, Lelani wondered what her own daughter might look like now. Emma would be almost nine months old.

  And, not for the first time, Lelani wondered why her mother never sent photos of the child. How difficult would it be? They had a state-of-the-art digital camera, and her parents knew how to send photos online. But in their rare conversations, her mom always made excuses. They were too busy. Caring for Emma took up a lot of time and energy. The business was demanding this time of year.

  But as time passed, Lelani began to doubt these pretexts. For one thing, Lelani knew that her mother had help. With a nanny, housekeeper, groundskeeper, and cook, her mother couldn’t be that busy. Lelani began to draw her own conclusions. She had a pretty good idea why her mother was acting like this. She simply wanted to erase Lelani from Emma’s world. She hoped that time and distance would eventually separate Lelani from Emma permanently. Perhaps from Lelani’s parents as well. It had taken Lelani months to come to grips with this harsh reality, and she had never spoken openly of it to anyone, not even Gil, but she suspected she was right.

  “I’m sorry,” she told Gil. “I know I must seem distracted.”

  He nodded and reached for her hand. “And I don’t blame you one bit, Lelani.” He smiled sadly. “Sometimes I wonder how you do it.”

  “Do it?”

  “Keep up such a strong front when I know that a part of you is hurting inside.”

  She sighed. “A strong front? Do you really think so?”

  “Not so strong that I can’t see through it.”

  “It’s just that I thought … by now.…” Lelani paused to take a breath. She didn’t want to cry, but for some reason she felt close to tears. Of course, it was that baby. She shifted her chair so not to be distracted by it and looked directly at Gil. “I just figured that after this long—I mean it’s been nearly nine months. I just thought I’d be over it. I thought I’d be able to move on.”

  “And forget that you have a child?”

  “No, of course not. But that I’d be able to think of Emma as my parents’ child … my little sister.”

  “And that’s what your parents are hoping?”

  “I’m sure they believe that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

  “So, really, Lelani, why don’t you just go back there? Visit your parents and see your daughter—and figure out how you really feel about the situation.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It is easy. Just ask for time off. Book the flight. And go.”

  “But when I get there?”

  “One step at a time, Lelani.”

  She sighed and looked at her watch. “My break is almost over.”

  “And you’re glad, aren’t you?” His dark eyes twinkled. “You can escape me and my nonstop pestering.”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to escape you, Gil. But sometimes I just want to escape myself.”

  “Are we still on for dinner tonight?” He helped her with her jacket.

  “You’re sure you want me there?”

  “Absolutely. The sooner my mother figures out that we’re really a couple and that she can’t scare you off or drive us apart, the easier life will be for everyone.”

  “Okay.” They were out on the sidewalk now, about to go their separate ways.

  “I’ll pick you up around six.” He leaned over and kissed her. “But, really, Lelani, think about taking that trip back home. It seems like you need to resolve this one way or another. Hanging in limbo is making you crazy.”

  “I know.”

  “And if I thought it would help matters, I’d offer to take time off from the restaurant and go with you.”

  “You would?”

  “Sure. If it would make it easier for you.”

  She considered this. As tempting as it sounded, it might only complicate things if Gil came along. She just wasn’t sure what to expect from her parents. On one hand, they were gracious people; on the other hand, they were still disappointed in her. “Thanks,” she told him. “I’ll think about that.”

  He grinned. “I mean it’s not like you’d have to twist my arm to go to Maui. I’ve been to Oahu before and that wasn’t exactly a hardship.” Then he got more serious. “But it would probably be more fun to go there under happier conditions.”

  “For you and me both.” She looked at her watch again. “I better run. See you around six.”

  As Lelani hurried back to Nordstrom, she tried to imagine what it would be like to have Gil accompany her to Maui. What would her parents think of him? How would they treat him? Would they assume that her involvement with him was her way of relinquishing parental rights to Emma? Would they encourage the relationship, pointing out that she and Gil could have other children? Or would they perceive his presence as some kind of threat? She could imagine that. She could just see her mother’s dark eyes filling with dramatic fear. Then she would feign a helpless expression for her husband, the same dad who used to stand faithfully by Lelani, drawing him in to play her protector.

  That seemed the most likely possibility. Her mom was territorial and slightly paranoid. She would assume that Gil and Lelani had come to snatch Emma away. Lelani wasn’t a fool. She knew how much her mother loved that baby. She’d seen it in her eyes right from the very start. It was no secret that her mother had always wanted more children. In some ways it seemed that Lelani’s mistake had turned into her mother’s reward. Not that her parents ever said as much. If anything, they acted as if they had rescued Lelani from her own foolishness.

  As a result, she was being punished—sent to the mainland for bad behavior. In some ways it was laughable. But not quite. And she knew that the longer she stayed away, the more time that lapsed between the already infrequent notes and phone calls, the harder it would be to return. Even now it seemed nearly impossible.

  As Lelani put her bag in her locker, she overheard several female coworkers gently pestering Mr. Green about taking time off. This wasn’t surprising, since a few of the part-time employees were also college students and still lived for the madness of a spring break in some “exotic tropical paradise.” Just the same, it was irritating to hear their phony sweetness, their sugar-coated words as they attempted to cajole him into granting their wishes. They competed with each other in a slightly flirtatious way—very irksome, since Lelani was well aware that these same girls talked freely about him behind his back, calling him Mr. Mean, among other things. They loved to ridicule his clothes, poking fun at an outdated tie or slightly worn shoe
s. But the main reason they picked on him was because Mr. Green ran a tight ship, played by the rules, and didn’t put up with slackers.

  “And how about you, Lelani?” Mr. Green asked her in a pleasant voice.

  “What’s that?” She turned and smiled at him.

  “I don’t see you clamoring for a vacation. And you didn’t take any time off during Christmas,” he reminded her. “Don’t you have any plans for spring break? You know what they say about all work and no play.”

  Something about the expressions of those catty girls made Lelani pause to reconsider her answer. Something about the way they looked at her, slightly askance, as if they were thinking, Why would Lelani need time off? A workaholic like her couldn’t possibly have any kind of a life.

  “You’re probably right, Mr. Green,” she said slowly. “I think it’s about time I had some down time. I’d be happy to take a week off during spring break. Is that a problem?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. I’ll put you down.”

  Meredith, a particularly snotty girl, looked at Lelani with slightly narrowed eyes. “Really?” she said suspiciously. “And what are you planning to do for spring break?”

  “I think I’ll go home for a visit,” said Lelani.

  Mr. Green nodded with even more satisfaction. “Well, I must say I feel a bit jealous now, Lelani. Maui sounds delightful right now. Especially since we’ve had such miserable weather this year. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time.”

  “Your parents live in Maui?” This came from Margot. She was one of Lelani’s friendly coworkers, and she’d paused to listen as she put her purse away. “I absolutely adore Maui. My husband and I go over there about every five years or so. Although I think it’s been around six now. Where do your parents live on the island?”

  “Western Maui.” Lelani told Margot. “Not far from Lahaina, near Baby Beach.”

  “Oh, you lucky, lucky girl,” gushed Margot. “I wish I could fit into your suitcase and come along.”

  Lelani laughed. “Well, with airport security what it is, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  As Lelani left the employees’ lounge and headed down to work, she couldn’t help but feel slightly smug. It was probably wrong of her, but it had been fun to watch the expressions on the girls’ faces switch from catty superiority to what seemed like open envy. Not only had Lelani snagged some precious vacation time, but she actually had a rather cool place to go.

  But as soon as Lelani slipped behind the cosmetics counter, her self-satisfied smile faded. This joke was on her. She had just asked for time off to go home, but she had no intention of actually doing such a thing. How could she? What would she say to her parents? What if they told her the timing was bad? Her mother would surely invent some kind of excuse to keep her away. And so what would Lelani do during that week off? Hide out in Kendall’s house to avoid being seen by any of her coworkers, who would enjoy making jokes at her expense?

  And what about the week’s loss of pay? It wasn’t as if this was paid time off. She’d managed to save up a bit of money, but it would be eaten up by her phony-baloney vacation. Oh, why hadn’t she considered these things when she’d been showing off for the girls she usually considered to be foolish? She was just as bad as they were. Just a proud and silly fool who had just gotten stuck with a week of no pay and nothing to do. Brilliant.

  Lelani’s shift ended at five. As she walked home, she tried to think of a way to gracefully decline her time off. She could make some excuse, like she’d been unable to book a flight, or that she’d decided to wait until a later date to attend a friend’s wedding, or that she’d forgotten a previous commitment here on the mainland. But no matter which story she concocted, it sounded lame … and it was a lie. And Lelani had discovered long ago that deception only gets a person into deeper trouble. Not that she always remembered this, which had been made obvious by her stupidity this afternoon.

  When she got to the house, she opened the front door to be greeted by piles of junk heaped all over the living room. Kendall was coming down the stairs with a cardboard box in her hands and Tinkerbell dancing around her feet.

  “What’s going on?” Lelani asked Kendall as she picked her way across the cluttered floor. “What is all this old stuff doing all over the place?”

  “I brought it down from the attic,” huffed Kendall as she set the dusty box on the dining room table. “I’m exhausted.”

  Lelani frowned as she hung her Ralph Lauren jacket on the hall tree. Then, reconsidering, she took the jacket back. Already the living room smelled musty and dusty and she didn’t want it to absorb the odors. “Spring cleaning?”

  “Getting ready for a garage sale.” Kendall opened the box and exposed a bunch of old magazines.

  “Oh?” Lelani nodded as if this was a great idea. “This weekend?”

  Kendall’s mouth twisted like she was thinking. “I’m not sure when exactly. Megan is helping me with it. She just told me to start finding things to sell.”

  “So … are you going to leave all this, uh, stuff in here?”

  Kendall looked puzzled as she surveyed the messy room. “I hadn’t really thought about that yet.”

  Now Lelani noticed a beat-up bird cage. “You know, this is kind of cool, Kendall. I might buy it from you.”

  “Really?” Kendall looked hopeful.

  “Sure. I think it would be cute cleaned up. I saw one almost just like it made into a floor lamp.”

  “A floor lamp?” Kendall didn’t look convinced.

  “If you decide how much you want, let me know.”

  Kendall nodded. “Sure. I’ll see what Megan says. She’s the garage-sale expert.”

  “Really?” Somehow Lelani hadn’t thought of Megan in quite that way. But it would be interesting to hear the rest of the story. “Well, I need to get ready. I’m going out tonight.”

  Kendall sighed. “Some people have all the fun.”

  Lelani couldn’t help but laugh. “Some people might say that you’ve already had more than your share of fun, Kendall.”

  Kendall kind of smiled. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

  Lelani hurried off to her room, worried that Kendall might think about what she’d just said and take it the wrong way—or maybe it would be the right way. Lelani wasn’t even sure, but she didn’t want to go there. Instead, she opened her closet and stared at its rather sparse contents, hoping to spot something that would be perfect for this evening with Gil’s family. Naturally, that was not happening. Most of her clothes were either for work or more appropriate for Maui. Not that she wanted to think about Maui at the moment. Besides, her Maui clothes weren’t warm enough. Despite a few signs of spring, the damp air still felt chilly to her.

  Finally, she pulled out a red Tadashi dress, a cast-off from Kendall, who decided that she didn’t look good in red. But perhaps it was too dressy for tonight. Lelani held it up in front of the mirror and frowned. It showed more skin than she felt comfortable with around Gil’s mother. But, if she topped it with the pretty black cashmere cardigan that she’d found on the markdown rack, it might be acceptable for a family dinner.

  Tonight was a fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration for Gil and Anna’s maternal grandparents. The Castillos had flown up from Southern California, and it would be Lelani’s first time to meet them. She had tried to beg out, but Gil wouldn’t take no for an answer. As it was, Lelani hoped to play the wallflower. She knew how these family gatherings could get. If Gil or Anna or any of the unwed cousins brought a date along, it was assumed that the relationship was very serious. Several of the meddlesome aunts considered this their free pass to inquire as to whether a date had been set. Or they might actually grab Lelani’s left hand to search for a ring. It all got a little tedious after a while. Gil had told her to take his relatives in stride, but that was easier said than don
e.

  “Your prince is here,” called Kendall as she tapped on Lelani’s door.

  “Thanks,” said Lelani as she turned off the light and emerged.

  “That’s what you’re wearing?” Kendall frowned at her outfit.

  “It’s that Tadashi dress you gave me,” said Lelani in defense.

  “But with a sweater?” Kendall shook her head as they went into the living room where Gil was waiting. “You look like a librarian or a school teacher.”

  Lelani just smiled. “Thank you very much.”

  “If Lelani looks like a school teacher, I want to be teacher’s pet,” teased Gil as he hugged her. “I think she’s hot.”

  Kendall waved her hand. “You guys are so corny. You deserve each other.”

  “What’s going on in here?” Gil asked as they made their way around the boxes and strange items.

  “I’ve been bringing things down from the attic.” Kendall smiled proudly.

  “It looks more like the attic threw up, and it landed in the living room.” Gil made a face as they gave an extra wide berth to a box coated with dust and spider webs.

  “Kendall’s having a garage sale,” Lelani informed him as the door opened and Megan walked in. “And it was her idea.”

  “Huh?” Megan looked at them and then at the piles of junk behind them. “What is all this?”

  “Apparently it’s your garage sale,” Lelani said quietly.

  “My what?” Megan looked past Lelani and Gil over to where Kendall was opening another dusty box and peering inside.

  “Oh, Megan,” called Kendall. “Look at all the great stuff I found.”

  Megan tossed Lelani a worried look, then made what appeared to be a very forced smile. “Where did you find all this?”

  “In the attic,” proclaimed Kendall.

  “And you brought it all down here?”

  “Yes.” Kendall nodded. “And now I am exhausted.”

  “And we’re going to keep all this junk in the house?” asked Megan in a slightly higher pitched voice. “Until the garage sale, which is going to happen when exactly?”