Mended Heart

by Mary Manners

  She looked up and her eyes locked with his. “Shane. What a nice surprise!”

  “I’ll bet. You’re not supposed to be out here digging in the garden.” Dirt smudged her cheeks and forehead, and though her face looked every bit that of a woman in the winter of life, her eyes shone like newly-minted pennies.

  “Shh...don’t tell Jade. She worries too much as it is. She’s not here, by the way.”

  “I know. I’m sorry to come unannounced, but I needed to speak with you.”

  “I’m glad you came.” With Shane’s help, she struggled to her feet and peeled off her gardening gloves. She set them on the garden mat and brushed clumped soil from her knees. “Come inside, out of the heat. Sure is a warm one. Summer’s upon us, I gather. Let’s have some iced tea.”

  “That sounds great. Thanks.”

  He followed her into the kitchen. Dessert plates and glasses tinkled against one another as she gathered them from a cabinet over the sink.

  “Don’t go to any trouble, please,” he said as he took the plates from her hands and set them on the table. “The tea’s more than enough.”

  “Nonsense. It’s no trouble. Sit down and talk to me.” She set out a platter of cinnamon rolls glazed with generous swirls of sugary-white icing and a pitcher of tea garnished with lemons. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I don’t really know where to start.”

  She filled his glass with tea and offered him a cinnamon roll. “The beginning is always a good place.”

  “Yes, right.” He drew a deep breath. “OK, let’s see...” A long pause ensued. He rocked back in his chair, caught himself, and set the front legs down gently before continuing. “I, um...”

  Mrs. McAllister lifted an eyebrow over her tea glass. “You care for my daughter, is that right, Shane?”

  “Yes. Very much.”

  “Are you here to ask my approval?”

  “No. I mean, yes, in a way.”

  “You have reservations?”

  “No. None.” His voice was emphatic. “But Jade, well, I hurt her badly in the past, I’m afraid.”

  She took a delicate bite of her cinnamon roll and chewed slowly before swallowing. “She’s had a lot of hurt in her past, Shane. But that mustn’t dictate her future.”

  “I agree. But I feel a need to come clean with you, Mrs. McAllister.”

  “Have you ‘come clean’ yet with Jade?”

  “I’ve tried. But she’s very—”

  “Hard-headed?”

  He grinned slightly. “You could say that.”

  “She comes by it honestly, in case you haven’t noticed.” Mrs. McAllister sipped her tea and stared at Shane over the glass. “I suppose it’s time to forge a new path. Make your peace, Shane Calkin, and then I’ll make mine.”

  ****

  Traffic was light on I-40 east out of Knoxville. Once over the Henley Street Bridge and onto Chapman Highway, Jade swung into the Burger King drive-through to get Susie a Sprite. While they waited for the order, she speed-dialed home from her cell phone to let her mother know she and Susie were on their way to bake the cake.

  “Oh, hi honey,” Mama answered. Her voice sounded overly cheerful. “I’m so glad you called. Shane stopped by to check on me. He’s here in the kitchen, right now.” There was some static on the line, and Jade pictured her retreating from Shane’s earshot. “We’re sharing a conversation over iced tea. I guess he knew you’d be late tonight, since you took Susie. The lawn is about to overrun my garden so he’s going to mow the yard again. Isn’t that nice?”

  “Yes, it is.” Jade glanced in the rearview mirror to see Susie clapping her hands in tune to the song on the radio. She wondered what in the world to do now. They couldn’t go home, or Shane would surely guess his surprise. She could always bake the cake on her own later, but Susie would be heartbroken if she didn’t get to help. “I guess we’ll switch to Plan B.”

  “What is Plan B?”

  “I don’t know.” Claire was working at the hospital and there was a group using the kitchen at the church, so that was out of the question. She sighed. “Any ideas?”

  “You’ll figure it out. I’ll see you later, honey.”

  Jade pondered only a moment after hanging up before she keyed in Carly’s number and hit the send button.

  “Hello?” Music played in the background, and Jade pictured her sprawled across her bed doodling drawings to go along with the latest children’s story she was working on. Her English teacher was spot-on. The girl could write.

  “Carly, I need your help.”

  ****

  “I admire you for coming here, Shane.” Mrs. McAllister loaded him up with a second cinnamon roll before splashing fresh sweet tea over the ice in his glass. “I always knew you were something special.”

  “Thank you.” He hesitated only a moment before adding. “The last time I was here you asked if Jade had ever met my parents. Why?”

  She studied him. “Are you aware that Jade’s father committed suicide?”

  “No.” The words were like a stab to his heart. He pictured her the afternoon he’d driven by the trailer with his friends, remembered her weeping on the lopsided, wooden stoop like her heart had just shattered into a million pieces. “How awful.”

  “She was seven years old, a little older than Susie, I gather. It hit her hard, and me as well. She doesn’t know the details, even now. It’s my fault. I just wanted to shelter her from the pain for awhile, but the days grew into weeks, then months and years. And I got lost in guilt...and grief. Now, it seems almost pointless to say anything at all.” She drew a shaky breath and dabbed the corner of her eye with her napkin. “You see, we’re just beginning to rebuild the bridge that I burned over the years. I don’t want to destroy that. So even now, since she’s returned home, I haven’t told her what really happened.” Her face looked pained. “I should have. It’s wrong not to. So wrong.”

  Shane took a swig of his tea and waited a moment, two. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. “It’s never too late to take that first step, you know.”

  She lifted her hands, palms up, and shook her head slightly. “Easier said than done.”

  “I know all about that, believe me. You’ve taken the brunt of her anger, haven’t you?”

  “Yes. And I’ve deserved every bit of it, I’m afraid.”

  “Why? It’s bad—what caused your husband to commit such a desperate, hopeless act— isn’t it? Please tell me what happened. My parents have something to do with it, don’t they? I need to know.”

  Shane waited. A clock over the oven ticked like gunfire through the still room.

  ****

  Jade stepped back from Mrs. D’atello’s kitchen counter.

  Carly and her grandmother surveyed the two-layer birthday cake Susie had just placed the pink Barbie four-wheeler atop.

  “Wow, you did a great job decorating.” Carly grinned and patted Susie’s head. Her bright eyes shone like two amber jewels beneath sleek bangs clipped back by a pretty silver barrette. The severe black hair dye that had become her signature trademark was fading to a more natural brown-sugar hue, complimenting pale, clear skin. “Shane’s really going to like those sprinkles.”

  “Yeah. They look like a rainbow.” Colorful candy pieces blanketed the frosting in a layer of confetti.

  “And you wrapped the gifts so pretty,” Mrs. D’atello added. “Shane will never guess what they are until he tears them open.”

  “Thank you.” Susie’s face was smudged with chocolate frosting from licking the batter-covered spatula and mixing bowl. A milk moustache draped her upper lip. “I hope he likes them.”

  “Oh, he will.” Jade smoothed wisps of hair that had slipped free from Susie’s braid. “And thank you for the paper and bows, Mrs. D’atello. We forgot all about getting anything to wrap the presents with.”

  “You’re welcome.” The elderly woman’s smile was warm. “Now, would you like some dinner? Carly helped me bake a pan of lasagna earlier.”


  “We ate at the mall,” Jade watched Mrs. D’atello settle into a chair at the table. She knew weariness was settling in, and she didn’t want to strain the woman any further. “But thank you for offering, and for letting us use your kitchen at a moment’s notice.”

  She grasped Jade’s hands with her frail fingers. “I’m so glad you did. It’s been a real treat.”

  Jade squeezed her fingers gently. “I hope you’ll come by the church tomorrow morning, for the surprise party.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Carly scooped the last remnants of batter from the bowl with her index finger and slid the creamy mixture into her mouth. “I’ll call everyone in the youth group tonight, and we’ll be there early tomorrow morning to decorate the fellowship hall before Shane gets to the church. I’ll make sure all the kids are there to help, so don’t worry about a thing, Jade. I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t, Carly. I can count on you.” She hugged the girl. The sweet scent of chocolate lingered on her skin. “Thank you for all your help.”

  “Daddy’s gonna be so surprised.” Susie clapped her hands and the band holding her braid together slipped off. Blonde hair swirled as she spun in circles across the kitchen. “Happy birthday to Daddy!”

  ****

  Shane swept fragments of plastic and electrical wire into a dustpan. His mind was still reeling from the soul-baring conversation with Mrs. McAllister. How on earth was he going to come to terms with what she said? And what would happen when Jade finally learned the truth about what happened to her father?

  He could hardly fathom Mrs. McAllister’s confession. He went over the details once more. Jade’s father had worked for his father as an executive during the infancy of his parents’ company. Her father had been loyal, with a brilliant business mind. And Mrs. McAllister, barely into her thirties at the time, had played the part of the perfect, supportive wife. But somewhere during the course of dinner parties and corporate vacations, an infatuation had sprung up between Jade’s mother and his father, and that infatuation had grown to become more. Much, much more. Ugly secrets and scandal, followed by heartbreak, ensued.

  According to Mrs. McAllister, when Shane’s mother learned of the affair, she demanded his father fire Jade’s father on the spot. Since she had brought the “old money” into their marriage, her power was far-reaching. She had Mr. McAllister blackballed throughout the business community with little if any thought to the effect it would have on his family. The shame of his wife’s indiscretion coupled with the severe loss of income and social standing drove Mr. McAllister away from his family.

  Eventually, in the solitude of a lonely hotel room two towns north, he took his life with an overdose of sleeping pills. The loss was nothing to Shane’s parents but a brief citation in the obituary column of the local newspaper, a minor blip on the radar of their lives. But the loss of her father was devastating to Jade...and to her mother.

  Shane felt sickened by the memory of how he’d treated Jade in high school. She’d needed a friend, and he’d offered nothing more than lewd comments and condescension. Oh, if only he could go back and change things! All these years, his parents had gone on with their lives as if nothing had happened...without a single backward glance. How could they be so callous, so unfeeling?

  Jade had no idea the events surrounding her father’s death. But now he did, and what was he supposed to do with the knowledge?

  “Naughty dog.” Shane averted his thoughts by muttering to Maggie, who crouched warily in the doorway of his bedroom. He shook the broom at her, and rattled the dustpan that was full of mangled plastic and bits of chewed wire. “You eat your Kibbles and Bits, not the alarm clock. I should give you a time out. Maybe I’ll hide your wading pool for a day or two.”

  His attempts to maintain a stern voice were ambushed when Maggie cocked her head to the side as if to say, “Oh, no! Not my pool.”

  “OK, OK. I won’t hide your pool. But you’d better behave.”

  Maggie wiggled over as Shane dumped the clock’s fragments into a trash bag. She lowered her haunches, her tail thrashing the floor, and nudged his thigh with her snout.

  He propped the broom against the wall and dropped the dustpan beside it, then knelt down to give her ears a good scratching. “How about a run? Huh, girl?”

  Maggie let out a high-pitched whine and rushed to the door. It suited Shane just fine. He needed to run off the uneasy feeling that had settled deep in the pit of his stomach. He grabbed Maggie’s leash off the night stand and she barked with excitement. “OK, girl. Let’s go.”

  ****

  “Are you sure this is your street?” Jade asked as she turned right onto Morning Glory. The quiet road was lined with modest brick and vinyl-sided homes sheltered by generations-old shade trees.

  “Yeah, that’s my house. The white one on the corner.” Susie bounced in the car seat. “And there’s Daddy and Maggie. They look like they’ve been runnin’, but now they’re sitting on the front porch waiting for us.”

  As Jade pulled into the drive, Maggie lunged across the lawn and circled the car to bark a greeting.

  “Hush, Maggie,” Shane chastised mildly. “You’re going to deafen the neighbors.” He loped toward the car.

  “You have a nice house.” Jade took in well-manicured yet modest flowerbeds accented by neat black mulch and river rock that adorned the front of the house. “Such pretty flowers.”

  “They’re tulips.” Susie slid from her booster seat to peer out the passenger window. “I helped Daddy plant them. He dug the holes and I got to drop the bulbs in and cover them up with dirt. I found worms. Lots and lots of worms. Daddy says worms are a plant’s friends, but I don’t like ’em. They’re all squishy and wiggly and they like to live in dirt. Yuck!”

  “Well, the tulips are beautiful.” The petals formed a colorful quilt woven through holly bushes and willowy trees that swayed in a gentle breeze. “You did a great job.” Jade eased from the car to stand beside Shane, who waited near the driver’s door. The sun sinking low on the horizon turned the sky to strawberry sherbet. Blades of grass danced in a gentle breeze.

  He smiled at Jade and scooped Susie into his arms when she bounded from the car. “Did you girls have a good time?”

  “Oh, yes, Daddy. We ate dinner at the mall. They had my favorite pasta on the salad bar. And I drank raspberry tea in a frosted glass. It was ’liscious. And we had a chocolate volcano sundae with extra whipped cream.”

  She hopped down to hug Maggie and squealed when the dog licked her face.

  “You smell like chocolate cake.” Shane patted her on the head. “Run inside and wash up. It’s getting close to bedtime.”

  She knelt down to pet Maggie. The dog lapped remnants of milk moustache from her face, eliciting giggles. “Aw, do I have to?”

  “Yes, you most certainly do.” He crossed his arms and gave her a look that warned arguing wouldn’t be tolerated. “And don’t forget to brush all that sugar off your teeth.”

  “Even the wiggly one?”

  “Let’s see.” He knelt to take a look. Susie opened her mouth wide and wiggled her top front tooth with the tip of her tongue. “Hmm...It’s almost ready to fall out. Maybe tomorrow.”

  “And then the tooth fairy will come?”

  “You bet she will.”

  “An’ she’ll sprinkle pixie dust on me and leave something special under my pillow?”

  “That’s the way the story goes.” He dug a peppermint from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. “But she only takes the sparkly teeth, so you’d better go brush. Then hop into bed and I’ll be in to read you a story soon.”

  “Oh, can Jade read me a story tonight? Please?”

  His gaze met Jade’s and she nodded slightly. “I’d love to read you a story, honey, if it’s OK with Shane.”

  “Oh, please, please, please, Daddy. Can Jade stay and read me a story?”

  His blue eyes slid over her. “I’d love for
Jade to stay.”

  Susie dashed up the front stairs and let the screen door slam while Shane took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Thank you for today. She had a great time.”

  “I did, too.” She was relieved he didn’t ask what they’d done. She didn’t want to lie to him.

  “It’s been hard on her, not having a woman around.”

  “No girlfriends?”

  He grinned ruefully and slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “None.”

  “What about grandparents?”

  He rocked back on his heels. “It’s complicated.”

  “What isn’t?”

  He looked unsure. “You really want to know?”

  She nodded.

  He rocked back on his heels and rubbed his chin. “Here’s the deal. Reid got pregnant while she was away at UT Martin. She was in her last semester of pharmacy school. When she found out she was carrying Susie, she came home. But she never told us who Susie’s father is. Oh, I have my theories, but it doesn’t matter anyway, now. If Reid had wanted Susie with him, she would have said so near the...end. She had time to talk about it, to work things out in that department.”

  She swallowed hard, sensitive to his pain. “And your mom?”

  He simply shook his head. “We have some things we need to work through.”

  Mrs. McAllister’s soul-baring confession about the indiscretion. How easy would it be to unleash his anger on Jade’s mom for dumping this load in his lap? The old Shane would have, but the new Shane sought a more productive way to deal with the situation of her mother’s affair. It would have to wait for another time. “It’s a long story. Come on inside and I’ll get you something to drink.”

  She followed him up the stairs and into the living room. Rust-colored throw pillows were scattered across an overstuffed brown faux-leather couch. A soft cotton throw graced one arm; its corners had been chewed to gnarled threads. Jade imagined Shane stretched out with Susie on his lap, wrapped in the blanket, and Maggie curled comfortably at their feet while they watched polar bears roam the Alaskan Frontier on Animal Planet. The scent of buttered popcorn lingered on the air, and rumpled newspapers were scattered across a scarred oak coffee table.