Teaberry Class Reunion

by R A Wallace

  “I’ve never attended any of my own,” Ross said, mostly to himself. It had simply never been something he’d considered.

  Susan patted his hand. “You’ll get lots of bonus points for coming to mine.”

  “Oh, look! Here we are.” Bev pointed to a page and passed the book to Ross. “That’s me on the far left. Susan is around the middle of the group and Vince is in the back row.” She didn’t mention that her husband was also in the picture. They’d had a happy marriage and had made a beautiful family together, but he’d passed away several years ago.

  While Ross glanced at the group photo, Bev turned to the waiter and placed her order. The waiter continued taking orders around the table then left. Ross had set the yearbook aside while placing his order.

  “Is that a yearbook?” A tall woman with short, dark hair stopped near Ross. “Hello, everyone.”

  “Libby Danes, this is Ross McMann. You’ll be seeing him again at the reunion.” Susan smiled up at the woman as Ross and Libby exchanged greetings.

  “How are things going with the event so far?” Vince asked. Libby had been the class president and was technically overseeing the reunion.

  “I know that everyone thinks I’m doing all of the work, but I’m not,” Libby said honestly. “Thankfully, Verna is doing most of the heavy lifting on this project. I wouldn’t have been able to manage all of the details without her help.”

  Susan turned to Ross. “In real life, Libby is a physician at the hospital here in town.”

  “I’m not surprised that organizing a class reunion on top of your schedule would be overwhelming,” Bev added.

  “Well, fortunately for me, I have good people like your son, Justin, to help me at the hospital also.” Libby glanced at her watch. “I have to run. It was nice meeting you, Ross. I’ll see you all at the reunion.”

  ***

  Irlene Lasinski nodded her agreement at the image in the mirror. “Courtney always was a smart one.”

  Although it was wise for a businesswoman to say only good things about her customer’s children, in this case Irlene didn’t have to lie. Courtney John had gotten into computers at a young age and was now working at an internationally-known company as one of their top programmers. She was a whiz-kid who had been known to help Irlene with her computer problems even when Courtney was just in high school.

  Brenda John turned her head slightly so that Irlene could reach the hair on one side a little easier. When she did so she caught a movement in one of the mirrors. They were all over the salon and looking in one meant you often saw a reflection that actually originated from another. In this position, Brenda could see people walking on the sidewalk in front of the salon.

  “Looks like more people are in town now that we’re getting closer to Thanksgiving,” Brenda commented.

  “Oh, that’s the truth. I’ve had several people stop in to say hello that I haven’t seen since this time last year.” Irlene lowered the hydraulic chair a little and began teasing out the curls on the top of Brenda’s head.

  “I’m sure I’ll see several of them at the class reunion.” Brenda reached up and dusted a tiny snip of hair from her cheek. She was at the salon for her monthly color and trim. Irlene always styled it for her after.

  “Hard to believe how long ago it was that we graduated from high school,” Irlene said.

  “You were a couple of years behind us,” Brenda said. She always figured there was no use lying about your age when everyone in town knew exactly how old you were.

  Irlene fluffed up the last curl and set down her comb. Then she walked over to a dryer and lifted the lid.

  “You’re up next as soon as I finish with Brenda,” Irlene told Carol Jiblonski.

  “Brenda, you look like a million bucks,” Carol said. “All spruced up for the reunion.”

  “I’m sure we aren’t the only ones wanting to primp. Irlene’s salon will be swamped from now until the reunion.” Brenda left the money on Irlene’s workstation as she stood and faced Carol. “Is Stan coming with you?”

  “Oh, yes. You know Stan. He never misses a chance to mingle with potential clients interested in buying a house. You just never know when someone is going to need a realtor. He’ll have a whole pocket full of business cards.”

  Carol stood and crossed over the salon to take a seat at the sink. Irlene joined her and quickly removed the foil from the highlighted sections before rinsing her hair. As Brenda left the salon, Libby Danes entered.

  “See you at the reunion,” Brenda said as she passed Libby.

  Libby walked in and took the seat that Carol had just vacated.

  Irlene returned to her chair with Carol following. There was a towel loosely wrapped around Carol’s head. “I’ll just be a few more minutes.”

  “Thanks for squeezing me in at lunchtime,” Libby said. “I’m way past due for a cut and my hair is driving me crazy.”

  “I’ll bet you’re swamped right now getting everything ready for the reunion,” Carol said to the image of Libby in the mirror.

  “I would be if it weren’t for Verna. She’s handling a lot of the work. I tell you, I’d be in serious trouble if it weren’t for her. I never knew how detail-oriented she was until we worked together on this reunion.”

  Libby watched as Irlene dried Carol’s hair. The highlights looked nice on Carol, Libby thought. Maybe she should let Irlene try something new on her someday. She mentally shook her head. She knew she didn’t have the time to fuss with her hair. That’s why she wore it short and let the gray run its natural course. It was easy to care for. She was lucky she could get the time to keep it trimmed. She picked up the magazine on the chair next to her and began reading. It was one of those food magazines full of recipes. She found one that looked quick and easy and took a picture of it with her phone. Irlene turned the blow dryer off a minute later.

  “I’m sure you’ll be glad when this reunion is over,” Carol said as she watched Irlene put the finishing touches on her hair.

  “I will. Even though Verna is doing a big part of the work, I’ll be happy to let someone else have the honors next time. I’m just hoping to make it through this year without any major problems.” Libby set the magazine back down as Carol stood.

  “I’m sure everything will go smoothly,” Carol said with a smile. “It’s just a group of old friends getting together for one night. What could possibly go wrong?”

  Chapter Three

  He leaned forward and frowned at the computer screen in front of him. The library had configured the monitor to show large text, so seeing the information in front of him wasn’t the issue. It was understanding what the contraption wanted him to do this time. He was certain that the steps changed each time he tried to download another book to his e-book reader. Everything nowadays seemed so much more complicated than it had in the past.

  Used to be, when you wanted to read a book you just carried it over to the counter and they stamped it with a due date. That way, you always knew when you had to bring it back. These days, you had to fight with a computer to download a file. Of course, he liked the fact that there seemed to be more books to choose from than what their local library could physically hold on their shelves. Archie rubbed his bald head as he considered the instructions. Finally, he grabbed the mouse and clicked. The screen in front of him changed and he could no longer see the book he wanted. Sighing loudly, he looked through the glass wall toward the front desk.

  The library had been inundated with a rush of book returns late in the afternoon, but things had begun quieting down toward the end of Linda’s shift. She glanced over at the computer room through the glass wall to check on the patrons and saw someone trying to get her attention. She smiled at the elderly man to acknowledge that she’d seen him then nodded to the part-time librarian to let Becca know that she was leaving the front desk.

  Linda entered the computer room and approached Archie from behind. As usual, all of the computers in the room were currently being used. Archie was staring at
the desktop and Linda could see that he had accidentally minimized all of the other screens. She knew that grabbing the mouse and restoring them was the quickest way to solve the problem. She also knew it wouldn’t help Archie in the long run.

  “Lose something, did you?” Linda asked.

  Archie spun the chair around to face his helper. “Well, I knew you wouldn’t want to leave for the day without a chance to talk to me.” His bushy brows were animated as he spoke.

  Linda couldn’t help smiling. “You just need to click on the icon at the bottom of the screen to restore the window.”

  Archie spun around and followed her instructions. The window returned but still had the confusing instructions. “I’m trying to download this book. I always read it this time of the year. It puts me in the right mood for the holiday.”

  Linda noted the title of the book then explained what Archie needed to do to download the book. “You’re a Dickens fan?”

  “I imagine you are too. Your father was a pretty impressive Bob Cratchit.”

  Archie logged off the computer with satisfaction and picked up his e-book reader.

  “My dad?” Linda frowned. Maybe Archie had gotten confused.

  Archie spun around in his chair again. “Sure, you remember, don’t you? You were just a little thing then. Your dad played the part at the Teaberry Theatre one year.”

  Archie began to push off of the arms of the chair to stand. Linda moved to his side to take his arm and help him up as she tried to remember. There was a brief image of herself as a child sitting in an audience next to her mother. She hadn’t really understood everything that was happening on the stage, but she remembered being completely enthralled.

  “Oh, I’d forgotten all about that.” Linda looked at Archie with surprise. “I guess I was too young.”

  “That’s a shame,” Archie said as he slowly moved out of the computer room. “He really lit the stage up.”

  ***

  Linda unlocked the door of her sister’s house and let herself in. Hilary should be home from work any minute and they’d agreed to have dinner together. After the recent death of Hilary’s husband, the two sisters had been spending more time together. Since Linda usually made it to Hilary’s house before her sister did, she would begin cooking dinner.

  As Linda worked in the kitchen on the salad, she heard the front door open. Hilary appeared in the kitchen a moment later. After setting a bag down on the table, she unzipped her coat and went back out to the hall closet to hang it up.

  “What do you need me to do?” Hilary asked as she returned.

  “I think we’re pretty close to ready. It’s just a salad again.” Linda looked down at the bowl and realized they’d had it three days in a row now. “Maybe we should do something different tomorrow.”

  “Not a bad idea. I’m all for losing weight but I think we’re in a rut.” Hilary put her hands on her hips and frowned. “I wouldn’t mind some barbeque.”

  “We could meet after work tomorrow. That would be a nice change for us. It will be the night before Thanksgiving. We can bring some takeout home for the next day and feast on that.” Linda looked over her shoulder at her sister. “How was your day?”

  Hilary was removing a bottle of wine from the bag on the table. “It was okay. Several people mentioned the upcoming class reunion. How about you?”

  “It went.” Linda turned and carried the salad bowl to the table. “I did have a pleasant reminder about something I’d forgotten about.”

  “What’s that?” Hilary handed her sister a glass of wine.

  “The play dad was in.” Linda took a sip.

  Hilary wrinkled her face in confusion. “What play?”

  Linda slid into a seat at the table and thought back. “Oh, it was right after you were born I guess. Mom held you during the whole play.” She’d forgotten about that too.

  “Wait. Dad was in a play? Which one?” Hilary slid into a chair and glared at her sister.

  “A Christmas Carol. They did it at the theater here in town. Dad played Bob Cratchit.” Linda reached for the salad bowl and began serving herself.

  “He did? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me that?” Hilary looked upset.

  Linda put the salad bowl back down on the table and shrugged. “It wasn’t a secret. You were there at the time.”

  Hilary sat back in her chair, still glaring at her sister.

  Linda didn’t understand her sister’s reaction. “What?”

  Hilary frowned. “I don’t know. I just feel like I was kept from knowing part of our family history. You know I hate secrets.”

  Linda gave Hilary an understanding look. Although Hilary had always disliked secrets in the past, she had an excellent reason to dislike them even more now. She had recently learned that her husband had been living three different lives with three different women prior to his death.

  “It wasn’t a secret, honest. It’s just that no one ever thought to mention it to you because you were there at the time. Everyone just felt like you already knew.” Linda picked up her fork.

  Hilary took a deep breath and tried to bring her emotions into check. Ever since her husband had died, she’d been on an emotional roller coaster.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t stand the idea of anyone keeping secrets from me again.” Hilary reached for the salad bowl. After serving herself, she returned the bowl to the table and looked up at Linda. She was surprised at the look she saw on her face. Her sister looked guilty.

  “What?” Hilary asked.

  Linda found that she had trouble meeting Hilary’s gaze. “It’s just… Well, with the reunion and everyone coming back to town.” She set her fork down next to her salad bowl. “You’re probably going to hear about it from someone.”

  “Hear what?”

  Linda’s shoulders sagged as she sighed. She wasn’t particularly proud of her past and telling her younger sister the story wasn’t something she really wanted to do.

  “My secret. I did something really stupid when I was younger. You were too little to know what was going on at the time.” Linda pushed her salad away and began playing with her wine glass. “Do you remember Claire?”

  Hilary frowned again as she tried to remember. “Claire Estelle? She moved away, right?”

  Linda nodded after taking a sip of wine. “It was Estelle. She’s Claire Jennings now and, yes, she moved away. But I guess she’s moving back to Teaberry now. Her mom is going to live at the retirement community. Claire is moving into her old family home.”

  Hilary watched the emotions cross her sister’s face. “That’s a problem?”

  Linda nodded. “I’m not proud of this. When we were younger, Claire and I were best friends. Until I ended up stealing her boyfriend from her.”

  “Ouch.” Hilary wondered why she’d never heard this story. How much of her family’s past was she clueless about?

  Linda nodded. “It ruined our friendship, obviously.”

  “What happened to the guy?” Hilary didn’t remember her sister ever discussing marriage.

  “He cheated on me the same way he’d cheated on Claire. In the end, we both lost him.”

  “Ah.” Hilary wondered if this mystery man was the reason her sister had never married. “Was he the one that got away?”

  Linda huffed out a laugh. “No. No, he wasn’t. He definitely wasn’t worth my friendship with Claire.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this before?”

  Linda shrugged. “I didn’t want you to think less of me. I’m your big sister. I’m supposed to be smarter than that. Besides, who wants everyone to know about their worst moments.”

  Hilary laughed. “You’re talking to the woman who was married to man that cheated on her with two other women who thought they were married to him too. Everyone in three states now knows about that. So what? It happened. And I discovered who my real friends are. It wasn’t all bad.”

  “I guess.”

  “What are you worrie
d about now?” Hilary’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. “The reunion? They’re both coming back for the reunion?”

  Linda crossed her arms and nodded.

  Hilary saw the sadness on her sister’s face. “Are you worried about seeing him again?”

  Linda looked surprised. “Who, Clay? Hardly. I couldn’t care less about what happened to Clay Freemont. No, it’s Claire I’m worried about. She was my best friend and I ruined that. Now she’s moving back to Teaberry.”

  “Maybe it’s time to mend some broken fences,” Hilary suggested as she pulled her salad closer and picked up her fork.

  Linda shook her head. “I wish I could but I’m sure it’s way too late for that. She probably still hates me.”

  “You don’t know that,” Hilary pointed out. “She might have come back because she missed the life she had here and she wants it all back.”

  ***

  Claire Jennings stood in her old bedroom of her childhood home and listened to the silence. The room looked much the same as it had when she’d lived here decades ago. Long before she’d married the man who couldn’t wait to be rid of her now. What on earth made her think that moving back to Teaberry was a good idea? She was every bit the failure now that she had been back then.

  Sighing, she turned and walked out of the room. Going down the hall to her parents’ room, she tapped on the door.

  “Are you ready?”

  Claire looked at the elderly woman now standing in the middle of the room looking lost. Her mother was in her mid-seventies now. She had lived in this house ever since she’d married Claire’s father. That had been over five decades ago. He had died a few years ago, leaving Hattie Estelle alone. Claire had returned to Teaberry to be near her mother. It had made sense at the time. Her mother would be living in the retirement community and Claire needed somewhere to live after her divorce. Claire would be close enough to watch over her mom and visit her. Idly, Claire wondered who would be around to take her to the retirement community when it was her turn.

  Hattie turned and smiled confidently at her daughter. “Yes. I was just looking around to see what I might have missed. But you can always bring it to me if I remember later.” She took the small travel bag sitting on her bed and left the room.