by Gail Sattler
Roberta tightened her lips. A challenge had been issued. “I’ve got back pockets. I’ll play.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“If they need me to even up the sides, sure I’m sure.” She’d played flag-football before. Once. When she was in grade seven. It was fun, as best she could remember.
Crossing the field on their way to the designated meeting place, a football flew toward them. Garrett jumped and caught it in one fluid motion and threw it back in a long, even pass. Roberta wondered if perhaps she had been a little premature in her enthusiasm to join the game. Tennis was more her speed, especially when she considered the size of Garrett’s ranger friends.
“Garrett’s on my team!”
“You can have him! I want the redhead!”
Molly blushed and giggled but didn’t miss a step. “I’m on his team.”
Gwen and Molly exchanged winks. Roberta shuddered and opened her mouth to protest, but they beat her to the draw. Just her luck, they did need her to play to make the teams evenly numbered.
The tallest one of the bunch approached her and winked very obviously. “If you’re on my team I won’t care if we lose.”
Roberta blushed. Before she could open her mouth to respond, Garrett stood beside her. His fingertips brushed her shoulder, and he stood so close she wondered if she could have slipped a piece of paper between them. “She’s on my team,” he stated bluntly. The man met Garrett’s stare and backed away. Roberta wasn’t quite sure what just happened, but she wasn’t in a position to protest.
Everyone stuffed colored pieces of plastic, which suspiciously resembled pieces of a tarp, in their back pockets. They agreed on boundaries and started to play. She wondered about Garrett’s decision to play football still wearing his sunglasses, but she decided not to question his judgment.
Shorter and slower than everyone else, even Molly, Roberta still did her best. Her strength was catching, so unfortunately she became the recipient fairly often. She quickly became winded being chased all the time, so she didn’t understand why they kept throwing her the ball, because she never got very far.
During a much-needed break, they pumped some water from the well and splashed water on their faces, while a few of the men simply held their heads under the running water.
Refreshed, Roberta continued with renewed vigor. Despite her hesitations, she found herself enjoying the game and having a good time.
Roberta heard someone yell at her to receive a pass once again. Running to catch it, she saw Gwen approaching at full speed out of the corner of her eye, meaning to intercept, with Garrett quickly catching up, since he was on her team.
In a hurry to catch it before Gwen, when Roberta jumped, she misjudged her distance. Her fingertips brushed the football in the air, and she started to fumble the ball. Desperately trying to catch it before it fell out of her hands completely, she forgot about Gwen. Just as she thought she had it, still in the middle of her jump, Gwen crashed into her with a thud. Before she hit the ground, she heard Garrett mumble something, Gwen and Garrett grunted in unison, and the three of them fell to the ground together.
Instead of hitting the ground, she heard as well as felt the rush of air as she landed on top of Garrett. Gwen bounced off to the side, rolling in the grass melodramatically until she came to a stop on her stomach, arms and legs splayed. Having overdone the theatrics so badly, no one gave her any sympathy but laughed instead.
Although Roberta’s landing was softer than Gwen’s, Roberta wished she would have landed on the grass, because now she had to get off Garrett with her dignity intact.
She scrambled to her feet. “Oops, sorry,” she mumbled, as she backed up a step. Something crunched under her foot, twisting her ankle. Still feeling shaky from her recent mishap, she couldn’t regain her balance soon enough. Rather than make it worse, she simply let herself fall, landing with a thump in a sitting position with her legs sprawled out.
She sat inelegantly beside Gwen, who was lying face down on the ground, and Garrett, who was lying face up, as everyone else came running to check for casualties.
Before she checked in the grass to see what she’d tripped on, she noticed Garrett wasn’t wearing his sunglasses.
Roberta felt sick.
She didn’t want to look, but she had to.
Beside her foot lay the remains of Garrett’s sunglasses. Before he got to them first, Roberta grabbed them. One arm stuck out at a horrible angle. She wiggled it just a little, and it snapped off completely. With one piece in each hand, she whipped them behind her back.
Garrett rose to his feet and stared at her. He didn’t say a word.
Roberta gulped, tried to smile, and failed miserably. “You don’t want to see them. It will be less painful this way.”
He didn’t comment.
Roberta scrambled to her feet, still holding the pieces behind her back. “I’m going to go into town now to pick up the groceries. If you come with me, I’ll buy you a new pair. I’m really sorry.”
After a charged silence, Garrett sighed. “No, I probably shouldn’t have been wearing them. It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“I mean it, Garrett. Please? For me?”
She gave him her best puppy-dog look as he hovered above her. She could see the indecision on his face, but finally his features softened, and he nodded. “Okay. I don’t have a spare pair, so I guess I don’t have much choice.”
“If we’re going to be back in time for supper, we had better leave now. Molly, can I borrow your keys?”
Before Molly could respond, Garrett stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his own keys. “If you don’t mind, I’ve been inside Molly’s compact car. I’ll drive.”
He walked away before anyone could protest.
Chapter 11
A beat-up four-wheel drive vehicle of some kind inched into the campsite. Roberta almost told the driver he was in the wrong place when her breath caught. The driver was Garrett.
He leaned out the window. “Hop in.”
The immaculate interior contrasted radically with the exterior, which had apparently seen more than a few mountain adventures.
“Like it?” He grinned.
As Roberta ran her hand along the plush seat, her attention drifted to a large dent on the hood of the vehicle. “This thing looks like you drove it over a cliff.”
Garrett’s smile faded. “It’s been rolled a couple of times when I was off-roading, but I’m a safe driver. I never take unnecessary chances.”
Roberta hadn’t meant to question his driving ability. She rested one hand on his forearm, then almost forgot what she was going to say at the odd squishy feel of the hair under her palm. She yanked her hand back, and he stared down at his arm, as if she’d left some foreign substance on his skin.
“That’s not what I meant,” she stammered. “I trust you. It’s just …” She shook her head. “Never mind. We’d better get going. I’m sure you’re going into serious withdrawal without your sunglasses.”
Saying it out loud made her realize she did trust him, not merely that he wouldn’t do something foolish and get them killed on the road, but really trusted him. For anything.
Upon their arrival at the mall, Roberta led him to her favorite department store and straight to the sunglasses. Within seconds, she spotted the perfect pair, almost identical to the ones she broke.
“Here, try these.”
He put them on without looking in the mirror, wiggled them, then nodded. “Yeah, they feel fine.”
“Aren’t you even going to look at yourself?”
He shrugged his shoulders, removed them from his face, and read the tag. “What for? They fit right, they’re a good quality name brand, and they offer a good level of UV protection.”
“Don’t you want to know what you look like in them?”
He slipped them back on and scrunched up his cheeks as if feeling them on his face, which raised the glasses up along the bridge of his nose, then let them
drop. “No.”
Roberta couldn’t believe her eyes. She found it difficult to believe he could be so handsome in sunglasses he hadn’t even bothered to see on his face.
He took them off and started to walk toward the cashier when Roberta stopped him.
“Hold on a sec,” she said. “Let me see those.”
He handed them to her without thinking. Roberta turned and proceeded to the cashier.
“Robbie? Where are you going?”
“I broke your other ones, so I’m paying.”
“You don’t have to do that.” He held out his hand to take them back, but she didn’t cooperate.
“I broke them, I replace them.”
Since she was unemployed, Roberta cringed at the price. But knowing Garrett worked outside all day, every day, he needed to have good quality sunglasses. She suspected the ones she broke were equally as costly.
While waiting for him to unlock the car door, she removed the price tag. He opened the door and held it for her, but instead of settling in, she handed him the new sunglasses. “You’d better take them now, before I sit on them or something.”
After thanking her politely, he slid them on, nodded, and walked around to the driver’s side.
“Do you mind if we make a quick stop at my place? Since we’re already halfway there, I’d like to check my plants and take in my mail. I live in Coquitlam, not far from Lougheed Mall.”
“Just tell me where to go.”
She directed him to her small rented duplex.
It felt strange to be back. Although nothing had changed, she remembered the state she’d been in when she left. Even though it had been only a week, she felt like she’d done a year’s worth of maturing in the short space of time. She stood in the middle of the living room, staring, feeling oddly out of place.
Garrett followed Robbie inside, closing the door behind him. He left his brand-new sunglasses on the coffee table as he checked the place out. The furniture, while sparse, was well-chosen, comfortable, and well-matched. “Nice place.” He honestly liked it. It suited her. Clean, neat, practical. “You live alone, right?”
“Yes, I do. Is it that obvious?”
“You have one couch, one painting, and everything you have matches everything else.”
She smiled in reply, warming his insides.
He followed her into the kitchen, where she flooded some plants that were sitting in the sink. “I left on such short notice I didn’t ask anyone to house-sit, so I left my plants like this and hoped for the best. Looks like they’re going to live.”
While she fussed with her plants, a rainbow reflection caught Garrett’s attention. He expected to see a prism or crystal ornament hanging by the window, but the window was bare. He followed the path of the light with his eyes to discover the source was on the table. His stomach clenched when he saw it was an engagement ring.
He whistled between his teeth when he held it up and turned it to catch the light. “What a rock,” he mumbled. Even though he’d never priced engagement rings, any fool could see this one cost a small fortune. He would never be able to afford a ring like this as a park ranger, perhaps not even after he graduated and found a better paying job.
Robbie sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Yes, it’s very expensive. I didn’t pick it out, but I did have it appraised for insurance purposes. That ring is worth more than my car. After I found out the value, I was afraid to wear it.”
After a comment like that, Garrett didn’t feel right holding another man’s ring, whether she was wearing it or not. He laid it quickly on the table and turned away, but then Roberta picked it up. She tossed it in the air, caught it, then threw it carelessly onto the counter. Garrett cringed when it landed, tinkling as it slid until it hit the tile wall and stopped.
He’d almost expected her to get all teary-eyed again, but instead, she stared blankly out the window. “For all the money spent on that gorgeous ring, it’s worth nothing to me. All it represents is a hollow promise that’s been broken into a million worthless pieces. To be given a ring a fraction of that value with a sincere commitment of love and trust and loyalty would be worth far more than all the gold and diamonds in the world.”
Garrett couldn’t have said it better, so he said nothing.
Robbie ran her fingers through her hair, stared at her open palm, then grimaced. “I’d feel awkward saying this to anyone else except you, but I think you’ve already seen me at my worst. I need a real shower, not the quarter-a-minute kind. Would you mind if I basked in the luxury of my own shower while we’re here? I think I have some magazines or something if you want to read. I promise to hurry.”
“Your couch looks softer than those wooden picnic benches. Don’t rush on my account.”
To prove his point, Garrett sauntered into the living room, lazed back on the couch, and linked his fingers behind his head. “Wake me when you’re done.” He winked as she appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.
Roberta quickly laid her clean clothes on her bed, then locked herself in the bathroom. She’d always considered the shower to be a place of quiet contemplation, and she’d never appreciated it more than today.
Despite the heartache of a week ago, and though it had been a rough ride, she thanked God for the final result. God was faithful through it all, even though she hadn’t been. She’d pushed God aside and ignored Him when she thought she was pursuing her own happiness. God knew better. God knew Mike and what would have been in store for her had she stuck with him. It had been a tremendous slap in the face, but she now appreciated seeing Mike’s true colors before it was too late.
When she’d felt all but deserted, God put Garrett in her path. He’d taught her a lot about herself, and for that she’d always be grateful. She’d have to do something special for him before their holiday ended, because she’d likely never see him again. The realization made her strangely sad.
Having the burden of Mike’s betrayal lifted almost made her sing the last song she’d sung with Garrett at the lakeside, a song of reverence and respect for God’s enduring love. However, her singing, especially in the shower, was far from professional caliber. God wouldn’t mind, but she thought Garrett might. In fact, if she started singing unaccompanied, knowing the way Garrett so readily appeared to help her when he thought she needed it, he would probably think she was in pain and break down the bathroom door and embarrass them both. She’d embarrassed herself in front of him enough in the past week to last a lifetime.
She had just turned off the water when she heard the doorbell. She scrambled out of the shower to grab her towel and hurry through the adjoining door to her bedroom when she heard the creak of the front door opening. Instantly she relaxed, grateful not to have to hurry. Whoever it was, Garrett could either tell them to make themselves comfortable, or if it was a salesman, send him away.
Her hand froze on the towel bar when she heard an angry voice.
“Where’s Robbie?”
Mike. She sucked in a deep breath and yanked the towel down.
Garrett answered, pointedly polite. “My name’s Garrett. You must be Mike.”
“Yeah, Garrett,” he sneered, spitting out Garrett’s name. “What are you doing here? Where’s Robbie?”
Garrett used the same overly pleasant tone as when he was handling a difficult camper. “She’s busy, and I’m waiting for her. Can I help you with something?”
Roberta didn’t bother with her dripping hair. She frantically tried to dry herself as quickly as possible, scurrying to her bed to collect her clothes.
“I need to talk to her. I want to make a deal.”
She didn’t like the sound of Mike’s voice, an irritated tone she’d heard only once, when he was very, very angry. She’d never been so grateful for Garrett’s presence, although she didn’t want Garrett any more involved in her personal problems than he already was.
Garrett replied, pleasant again, but firm. “I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”
“Well, Mike, I beg to differ. I think you should go. By the way, Friend, have you been drinking? Or anything else that we don’t want to talk about?”
“Look, Pal, that’s none of your business. Where has Robbie been for the past week? With you?”
Garrett’s voice lost its pleasant edge. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
The conversation continued to heat up. Roberta wanted Mike gone, and she wanted him gone now. She tried to slip on her underthings.
“I’m her fiancé. I make it my business.”
Roberta stood on one leg, trying to force one damp foot through the leg opening of her shorts, and nearly fell on the floor at Mike’s words. As usual, he made it his business when he wanted something. The selfish creep. She bounced on the bed, then shoved both feet in while sitting and stood to fumble with the zipper.
Garrett’s voice dropped to a low, even pitch. “You’re not her fiancé anymore.”
Mike made a choked laughing sound, not that it sounded like he thought Garrett’s reply was funny. “Well, well. Surprise, surprise. How long has this been going on? Are you the reason she’s been holding back on me? Hmm, Garrett?”
Roberta’s hand froze, and she managed to yank the zipper up with a jerk, nearly catching her fingers. Couldn’t Mike understand that she wouldn’t sleep with him, or with Garrett either, because she had morals, something Mike obviously knew nothing about.
“That’s enough. Let me show you to the door.”
“I’m not leaving without my ring!” Mike shouted.
“You’re leaving. Now.”
She couldn’t believe the angry sound of Garrett’s voice, and she couldn’t believe Mike wasn’t long gone. Robbie pulled her T-shirt over her head, soaking the neck opening with her dripping hair, then nearly choked herself as it got stuck.
