by JoAnn Durgin
Ron grinned. “Present company excluded.”
“I wasn’t asking for a compliment. Let me see what I can do.”
“I’ll owe you forever, Vara. I didn’t mean to boss you around or anything. Since you said you’ve done some acting before, I thought you might need a little stage direction or whatever.”
“I’m happy to help, Director Ron. And I might make a new friend. How can I lose?”
“You’re swell.”
How about that? She was swell. Vara prayed she could help promote the Laura and Ron love story. She removed her gloves and hat as she entered the adjoining room. She zeroed right in on Laura as she settled in a chair at a table close to the roaring fireplace. Even better. This room was crowded, as always, so it shouldn’t seem out-of-line if she asked Laura to share her table.
Here goes. “Excuse me?”
The pretty blonde glanced up at her. “Yes?”
“Good morning. I was wondering if I might share your table for a few minutes?”
“Of course. Please.” She gestured to the other chair.
“Thanks so much. I’m Vara Alexandris.”
“Hi, Vara. That’s a pretty name. I’m Laura Soccorsi. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” As Vara waited for her coffee, they fell into an easy, comfortable conversation, and she welcomed the opportunity to get to know another woman close to her own age. After a few minutes, she glanced toward the counter. “I wonder if that handsome blond man who works here is going to bring my coffee. Should I go over and check?”
“No, no. Stay,” Laura said. “If Ron said he’d bring it to you, then he will. He’s very good at what he does.”
“Yes, he seems wonderful. So sweet and friendly. Where do you work?”
Laura more than carried her end of the conversation, telling Vara she’d lived in St. Louis for a number of years and about her plans to open a specialty gift boutique in town. “I know opening a boutique in such a small town might be risky, but it’s always been my dream.” Laura shrugged. “All I know is, I have to try, or I’ll always wonder what might have been.”
“Since you’re a hometown girl, I’m sure the townspeople will support you,” Vara said. “Have you chosen a name for your boutique?”
“I’m calling it Cherish You. I’ve filed all the legal paperwork and put in a bid for an empty storefront five doors down from here. It’s the perfect size for the shop, and it doesn’t need much work—only a coat or two of paint and the floor polished—so I’m hoping it works out.”
“That’s a perfect name, and it sounds like you’ve done a thorough job getting all the paperwork filed,” Vara told her. “I’ll pray you get the space, and I’d love to be one of your first customers.”
What was she saying? No matter how much progress Charlotte made, she wouldn’t require her services for long. This was only a temporary arrangement, after all. Still, she could always come back to Cherish to support a new friend’s business, right? Chances were, Thornton would be long gone on assignment by then, anyway. A zing of disappointment ripped through her at the thought.
Laura smiled. “Thanks, Vara. It’s nice to have a new friend who’s so encouraging. Since you’re working with Charlotte, then you must have met Thornton. I heard he’s in town again. Isn’t he a great guy?”
“We’ve met, yes.” Oh oh. Did Laura have her eye on Thornton? This could get sticky real quick. Ron would be crushed and Thornton…well, she had no idea what he would think other than he’d seemed gung-ho to promote the Laura-Ron love match.
“I knew Thornton growing up.” Laura shook her head and laughed quietly. “He was quite a handful when he was younger.”
“I’m getting that idea.” It wasn’t difficult to imagine. Thornton in adult form was plenty interesting.
“He got in trouble at school some, but even back then, he was charming and talked his way out of punishments most of the time. No one ever minded because Thornton was a friend to everyone. He wasn’t incorrigible or anything, but he was definitely mischievous. He’s one of those people who radiates natural charisma and has since he was a kid.
“I remember one time, he superglued the stapler to Mrs. Greene’s desk. It was pretty funny when she kept trying to pick it up.” Laura laughed at the memory and mimicked the teacher’s actions. “She knew right away it was Thornton’s handiwork. We all did. He was also the smartest kid in the class. He graduated at the top of his class in high school even though there was talk he might not graduate on time after he and some of his friends got into trouble.”
Laura waved her hand. “That’s all water under the bridge now. Everything worked out fine. Anyway, after the incident with Mrs. Greene, we felt sorry for Thornton because he was confined to a chair in the corner, facing the wall. Kids kept sneaking him pieces of candy and telling him corny jokes just to get him to smile.”
“He didn’t have to sit outside the principal’s office?”
“As I recall, Principal Morris was teaching another class since one of the teachers was in the hospital with her husband who’d broken his foot. Not that Thornton didn’t sit outside the principal’s office a lot.” Laura shook her head. “How I remember all that is beyond me.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re interested in Thornton?” Vara hoped the question sounded neutral.
“Me?” Laura had taken a drink of her coffee but sputtered, moving one hand over her chest. “Mercy, no. I mean, sure, I think he’s attractive. Who wouldn’t? He’s funny, handsome, and sweet. He’s got his life together, and I’m sure he makes a ton of money making those models or whatever it is he does. Plus, he gets to travel all the time. What’s not to love?”
The other girl released a sigh. “It’s not like he does good deeds now to make up for his past, either, and he’s done a lot to help the town. I think everyone’s always known, deep down, that Thornton’s a genuinely good guy at heart. It’s not like he played pranks on people and got in trouble because he was bad to the bone. I think it’s more that he was lonely.
“His parents were gone a lot. I remember they didn’t come to the school programs much, but Charlotte was always there if she was in town. You’d think she was his mother. In a way, I suppose she has been since Thornton’s mom died when he was only 10.” Laura’s brows knitted together. “I personally think he was one of those kids who acted out because he wanted attention.”
“That could very well be the case,” Vara mused, trying to process this wealth of information. Her heart ached for the lonely little boy he’d once been. “The first day I met him, Thornton showed me his prototypes and models. They’re amazing.”
Vara’s chair faced the other room, and she gave a slight nod to Ron after he did the head-bob in her direction. She figured it was his code for Is it safe to make my appearance now? This should be fun.
Within a couple of minutes, he appeared beside their table with a pasted-on smile. Minus the red apron. Vara caught a whiff of cologne, and his hair was smoothed down without it looking like he was trying too hard. He looked handsome, but Ron could use a shot of Thornton’s confidence since Mr. Fielding clearly had some to spare.
“Here’s your latte espresso, Vara.” Ron carefully lowered the cup to the table. “I cut back on the chocolate chips per your request, but I hope you don’t mind that I added a cherry on top this time. Okay, then. Enjoy your death.” The poor guy flushed beet red and nearly choked. “I mean…”
“I know what you mean. Thank you for bringing it.”
Ron began to back away like a lost puppy with big, sad eyes. She needed to say something. “Ron? I might want to place an order to go in a few minutes. Shall I come back to the counter?”
He appeared visibly relieved. Bless his heart. “How about I come back and check with you in a few minutes? You can give me the order then.”
“Would you? I’d appreciate it so much. Thanks!” Vara purposely watched as Ron left the table before looking at Laura again. “He’s such a doll. Now, you were saying?”
Laura
took another drink of her coffee. “On top of everything else, Thornton’s a hero.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Thornton Fielding? A hero?” Vara had started to sip her drink but then set her cup on the table. This story she had to hear. Not that the notion sounded far-fetched in the least.
Laura nodded. “He sure is. As the story goes, he was driving back from Michigan for Christmas break during grad school. He noticed tire tracks in the snow that veered off the side of the highway and felt God’s nudge to stop. He discovered a car overturned in a ditch with a young couple and their baby inside. They were headed into Minneapolis for the holidays.
“The man had been driving, and he was banged up with a broken leg and disoriented. The mother was unconscious, and the poor baby boy was screaming in the back of the car. Thornton called for help and stayed with them. He had some blankets and covered them, and he kept the man talking so he’d stay awake and not go into shock. I don’t know how long they were there in the ditch, but the police report said Thornton arrived on the scene pretty soon after it happened. That was another huge blessing.”
“That poor family. I can’t imagine.” Vara shook her head. “I’m thankful Thornton followed that nudge, and I hope everything turned out okay.”
“Oh, it did. Praise God. The doctors said if he hadn’t come along when he did—the temperatures were subzero—there might have been a very different outcome. Anyway, some national news people came to interview him. It was during the time I lived in St. Louis, but I heard all about it. It was a huge deal here in town, as you might imagine. A couple of well-known national news anchors stopped in here at Andrea’s, it made the online news services, and some of the big newspapers in the country featured articles on the story. It was a near-tragedy that turned into a Christmas miracle, and people totally love stories like that.”
“It is a great story,” Vara agreed.
“Thornton is actually incredibly humble. He comes from money, but he’s always been a down-to-earth, approachable guy. He didn’t want the publicity, but it had a way of finding him. It also brought Thornton a lot of attention from ladies in the Minneapolis area and even across the country.”
Vara stiffened. Why should that bother her? “I don’t know Thornton that well, but I imagine he enjoyed the attention without allowing it to go to his head.”
“From what I know, Thornton’s dated quite a bit, but he’s still single, so obviously nothing has ever worked out. He’d do anything for his grandmother, but that man needs someone special who can keep up with him and doesn’t mind all his traveling. And he’s always spouting about Valentine’s Day and how it shouldn’t be reserved for just one day of the year. Thornton feels love should be celebrated every day of the year.”
“That’s actually a very good philosophy, don’t you think?” Vara took a sip of her espresso. The drink was sweet without the overkill of the chocolate chips. She’d request her death this way from here on out.
“Of course,” Laura agreed. “On the other hand, I think his intensity scares some women off. I’m sure he’ll find the right woman in time. Thornton’s too great a guy to be single much longer.” Sitting back in the chair, she crossed her arms and frowned.
“Is something wrong?”
“I was thinking how life can be so ironic sometimes. Here I’ve spent all this time telling you about a wonderful man I have no interest in romantically.” Laura glanced up at her. “Vara, have you ever felt a nudge, and you knew you were supposed to do something? Like Thornton when he stopped to check out those tire tracks?”
Vara nodded. “Yes, several times, but nothing on as grand a scale as that.”
“Me, too. Don’t think I’m crazy or anything, and I have no idea why, but it’s like I somehow needed to tell you those things about Thornton. I know we just met, but I feel like I’ve known you a long time.”
Laura’s sweet sentiment made Vara smile. “I feel the same way.” And she did. She’d had girlfriends, but her sisters had always been her closest friends. They still were and always would be, most likely. “It’s nice to meet someone and feel an immediate kinship with them.”
“Right! Like a kindred spirit,” Laura said. “Do you believe in how God guides our lives?”
“I know He does, and I love it when He pursues us even when we ignore Him.”
“Amen,” Laura breathed. She looked in the direction of the front counter. “I prefer a man who’s more…”
“Like the blond man in the red apron?”
“Someone more local.” Laura met her gaze. “And yes, someone like Ron. Or…Ron.”
Vara smiled. “I think there’s a reason I’m sitting here, too. I think he’s terrific. Would you like me to put in a good word for you?”
Laura’s eyes lit. “Would you? If you don’t mind, maybe you could drop a hint or something that I’m interested in him. I’ve tried to be subtle about it, but the silly man apparently has this crazy idea that I’m looking for a corporate type of guy. I don’t know why he’d even think such a thing. If that’s what I wanted, then I would have stayed in St. Louis.
“My mom died a few years ago, and I wanted to be here for my dad.” Laura absently fiddled with the sleeve on her coffee cup. “I’m more of a small-town girl than a city girl. I liked living away for a few years, but I knew it was time to come home again. Home’s comforting, and it’s”—she shrugged—“home. So, I clicked my ruby red shoes together, made a wish, and here I am.”
“You made your dream come true,” Vara said softly. “Cherish seems a great place to do that.”
Laura nodded. “I know I’m probably being way too obvious. Ron and I were good friends in high school, but we never dated. Maybe he has a problem wrapping his head around the whole friend zone concept, you know? I want someone who has a stable job and, to be honest, a guy who’s looking to settle down and start a family. I’ve actually been praying for that to happen. I realize that sounds ridiculously old-fashioned in today’s world. If I’d said that to my friends in Missouri, they’d have laughed me out the door. Not the praying part, but the idea of actually asking God to send a man who wanted to marry me.” She smiled a little. “Do you think that’s too unrealistic?”
“Not at all,” Vara said. “Keep praying, and I’m sure God will answer that prayer. I’ll pray for you, too.” Glancing toward the doorway, she was thankful to see Ron headed her way again.
“Vara, Andrea said to meet her at the counter on your way out and she’d fix your to-go drink order right away.”
Good job, Ron! Vara checked her watch. “Oh, my! Would you look at that? Time is getting away from me this morning. I’d better get moving. Laura, it was such a pleasure getting to know you. I’m sure our paths will cross again soon.”
“Same here.” Laura’s smile was warm. “Thanks. I’m so glad we chatted.”
Vara aimed a smile at Ron. “Are you on your break? Why don’t you sit here with Laura and chat a bit?” She patted the back of the chair. “I kept it warm for you.”
“How’d you know I was on…?” When she tilted her head and widened her eyes slightly, Ron picked up on her hint. “Would you mind, Laura?”
“Not at all. Have a seat.” This girl would be good for Ron, and vice versa. “Vara, you should come back to town this Saturday,” Laura said as she prepared to leave. “They’re having a big event over at the library to raise money for the Valentine Dance.”
Vara hesitated. “I know about the book sale, but how does it raise money for the dance?” Besides Andrea’s, the Cherish library must be the happening place in town.
“It’s a way to help couples or singles who might not be able to afford the ticket price,” Ron added. “They also have a chili and cornbread lunch that’s really good, as well as a silent auction. Myrna keeps the kids occupied with activities while their parents browse.”
“Besides the ticket cost, the proceeds also help those who might not be able to buy a special dress or rent a tux,” Laura chimed in. “This is als
o the one event in town every year that’s for adults 18 and older only.”
Ron chuckled. “There was a big town debate about that a few years ago. More like a brouhaha. It got pretty heated and vocal between those for and against the minimum age restriction.”
“I can imagine,” Vara said. “Sounds like the Valentine Dance must be a more formal event than I’d envisioned.”
Laura nodded. “Oh, it’s a huge deal. There’s also a committee of ladies who discreetly distributes money to those with the greatest financial need. There’s also free childcare so more parents can attend if that’s an issue. Some of the older teenagers and ladies watch them over at Cherish Community Church.”
Tears pricked Vara’s eyes. “It’s heartwarming to know the townspeople rally around their own. It sounds very well-organized.” She sniffled. “That’s, um…just absolutely wonderful.” She needed to get moving and hoped she wouldn’t burst into tears. The whole thing was so sweet it nearly overwhelmed her. Why was she on emotional overload all of a sudden?
“Please say you’ll come on Saturday. I think you’d have a great time.” Laura looked so hopeful, how could she refuse? Ron mirrored her expression. Now that she could see these two together, Vara had to admit they seemed compatible and even looked great together. They’d get married and have adorable, fair-haired children with sunny dispositions.
If only everyone should be so blessed.
She blinked back tears. “I’ll be there Saturday. What time?”
Chapter Fourteen
As soon as Rosalinda opened the door, Vara greeted her and stepped inside the house. Slipping off her boots in record time had become a science. Zip, zip, right foot, left foot. Pulling her heels out of a small bag, she dropped them on the floor and then shoved her feet into them. Finished, she gave Rosalinda a bright smile. “How’d I do today?”
“Personal best, I’d say. Good job, Miss Vara.”
“Thanks. Thornton around?”
“Yes, he is. He’ll be bringing Charlotte down in another 30 minutes or thereabouts. May I take your coat?”
