Be My Guest

by Caroline Clemmons

  Mattie went away only slightly placated by Aurora's confidence, and Aurora's attempts to organize a selection of wedding and graduation gifts met with the same resistance. A very determined Aurora persevered and an unconvinced Mattie sulked. Aurora could visualize the speed with which Mattie would report to Peggy every change she made at the store.

  That evening over the phone, she told Will, "I think I'll do her bodily harm the next time she tells me how they've always done things before."

  "Don't give up yet, Aurora, Peggy's surgery isn't until tomorrow. Four weeks will seem like a year if you let her get under your skin now. Maybe you shouldn't try to make any changes. Just keep it status quo until Peggy comes back. It'll be a lot easier."

  Aurora paced back and forth in frustration as she spoke. "But I can't stand it, Will. It could be such a great shop."

  "You don't need to make waves when you'll be there such a short time. Peggy will only resent it."

  She stopped her pacing and shook her head, perplexed at his tone. "It is not in me to do less than my best. Surely you can understand that."

  His voice smoothed, placating her. "Yes, but you're probably only causing hard feelings for no long-term benefit or result. Why make a fuss? Just coast along until Peggy comes back. If she wants to run a messy place, that's her business. Why kill yourself for nothing?"

  How could he say such a thing? His remarks ignited the temper that accompanied her red hair. "Will Harrison, I resent your lack of trust in my ability! I accepted the responsibility for the shop's performance and I will do what I think best. How you can suggest I do otherwise is beyond me."

  "Damn, but you're stubborn. I'm only trying to save you unnecessary trouble.”

  "Stubborn? Well, that does it. Good night, Will." She resisted the urge to slam the receiver, but replaced it more firmly than she intended. How could he have so little faith in her ability?

  At his ranch, Will spoke to an empty line. "Aurora?" He held the receiver out and stared at it, unwilling to believe she had hung up on him. Damn. She is stubborn! Of course, the same had been said about him. Why did he have to say anything? Let her work herself to exhaustion if that's what she wanted. He just wanted to take care of her, to advise her as he did the other women in his family.

  But she was not family. He had absolutely no claim on her, she made that clear just now. If he had his way, though, she would soon be a major part of his family. Soon he would be able to take care of her, to safe guard and shield her from the harshness of the world.

  All her work now will be for nothing when Peggy comes back, he told himself. Peggy will change everything back the first morning she returns--everything but the dirt and dust, that is. Time will take care of that soon enough.

  * * *

  Aurora glanced up as the bell of the front door jangled. As soon as she saw Rose's face, she knew the older woman bore bad news. She rushed forward to greet Rose at the front of the store, but Rose held up her hand to quell any questions.

  Rose had aged several years in this one day. "Could we go back to the office, dear, and sit down?"

  "Of course, Rose." Aurora led Rose to the office at the back of the store. Mattie followed anxiously behind them.

  Aurora pulled out the chair of her desk for Rose. "Sit here and I'll start the electric kettle for tea."

  "No, no tea. I've had enough coffee and tea today to float a battleship." Rose pulled herself up and took a deep breath. "As you may have guessed, things did not go as well as expected this morning."

  Mattie's face paled even more, "Is Peggy all right? She didn't...she's not..."

  Rose reached over and patted Mattie's arm. "She's going to be all right. It's just going to take a lot longer than we first planned. The operation went very well, but Peggy's heart began fibrillating just as they took her to the recovery room."

  Aurora reached for the chair in the small eating area and sat down. "You mean she had a heart attack after the surgery?"

  "Something like that, yes. I found this all so upsetting that I'm afraid I became flustered and some of the details may be a bit jumbled in my mind." She rubbed her cheeks with her hands.

  "Take your time, Rose. Get your breath and then tell us what happened." Aurora hoped she sounded calm even though her nerves zinged with overshadowing trouble.

  Rose took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair. "Martha Devon and I went to the hospital in Lubbock this morning to see Peggy before the surgery. We wanted to tell her that we would be waiting with her minister during the surgery."

  Rose explained, "Martha and I have been friends with Peggy for over forty years, you know. Since this all happened too fast for her daughter to get here for the surgery, we wanted her to know there'd be someone there waiting to see that things went well."

  "Is she conscious now?" Mattie stood in the doorway, wringing her hands, as she continually glanced toward the front of the store to watch for customers.

  Rose nodded. "Peggy's in intensive care now, but she awakened just before I left the hospital to come here."

  Aurora stood and ushered Mattie to the chair she used. "You sit here, Mattie, and I'll stand in the doorway and watch for customers." To Rose, she said, "People have been calling for a couple of hours to ask about Peggy. What shall we tell them?"

  "She'll probably go to the cardiac wing tomorrow. Then she'll have to stay in the hospital for a week or two. After that, she'll have to go to a nursing home until she's able to stay alone."

  Rose paused, then grabbed Aurora's hand and gushed, "Oh, Aurora, I'm sorry. It's going to be at least eight weeks before Peggy can return to the store. Even then, she'll have to take things very easy and probably work only half days for a while."

  "Poor Peggy! She must be devastated." Aurora said instantly. Slowly the realization of what this meant for her sank in. "Oh, Rose! Not eight weeks? Eight weeks?"

  * * *

  Still in shock hours later, Aurora pondered her choices. Eight weeks of "we've always done it this way" loomed before her. The prospect of delaying her travel plans for that long appeared unavoidable. After Rose left, Aurora sat at Peggy's desk in the back of the store with her head in her hands. That would put her in Post until the early part of July. By that time she planned to be in Colorado honing in on her business site.

  Aurora realized she owed Will her life, and she supposed that extended to his family. Certainly, Rose treated her as if she were a member of the family. Oh, Lord, she thought, I gave my word to Peggy, too, that I would be at the store until she healed enough to return. I promised. Why did I promise? How can I go back on my word?

  Aurora wanted to yell "foul" to Rose and remind that formidable woman that four weeks was the agreed upon time, and not a day longer. Aurora reminded herself she committed to help in order that Peggy would have the surgery she desperately needed. Now obligation forced her to remain until Peggy returned to work. You are trapped, my dear, neatly trapped!

  Well, one positive thought occurred to her. At least this would give her a thorough chance to see if this was the type of business she wanted to establish for herself. By the time Peggy returned to work, Aurora would have gone through a couple of holidays. In that time she would have formed an opinion of the card and gift business based on a good deal of practical experience.

  Nagging thoughts forced Aurora to admit she wouldn't mind the extra time with Will. That thought in itself presented other troubling thoughts. She viewed her growing attraction to Will Harrison with something akin to panic. Why did she feel so happy and secure when he was near? It bothered her that any man could affect her that much.

  What did he feel for her, she wondered? Even after three years, he appeared deeply in love with his wife. Was there really room in his life for another woman? Was he just showing interest in me to placate his family or to satisfy a physical need?

  With Will she found herself by turns shy as a girl with her first beau, as comfortable with him as an old and trusted friend, and as bold and frank as one is only wit
h one's most intimate companion. You are out of your depth here. Her mind whirled with mixed emotions too complicated to sort out with all the new problems Peggy's heart condition presented.

  Toward her, Will acted as if she were a very valued friend, with only brief glimpses of the fiery passion underlying his calm and easy-going exterior. Except when he kissed her.

  She touched her lips softly as the memory of Will's fervent kisses seared her mind. His calm exterior belied his hidden passion. Not hidden far beneath the surface. His kisses quickly changed from gentle to fervent. Pink tinged her cheeks as she remembered the abandon with which she responded to Will's embraces and returned his kisses.

  He never referred to her future travels. When she brought up the subject, he said something noncommittal and managed to turn the conversation to another topic. It was as if he thought by avoiding the subject he could stave off their parting.

  She also worried about wearing out her welcome with Rose. From the first day Aurora insisted on paying Rose rent for the room and her food. Was she a burden to Rose? After all, Rose valued her privacy, and only volunteered to have Aurora with her to indulge her favorite nephew and, perhaps, to help her friend Peggy. Aurora broached the subject to Rose one evening a couple of days after Peggy's surgery when she and Rose were talking of Peggy's convalescence.

  "Rose, I've been thinking you might be less inconvenienced if I found a motel or somewhere else to stay. I know you were only trying to humor Will when you offered to let me stay with you. Neither of us had any idea that this would turn into such a lengthy stay."

  "Nonsense. Aurora, I'd be terribly offended if you moved elsewhere. I enjoy having you here"--a knowing twinkle glistened in Rose's eyes--"and I must say I've never seen so much of my nephew as I have since you've been here." Rose reached over to pat her hand. "I always regretted that I never married and had children, so I'll just sort of adopt you as my daughter, at least temporarily.”

  Aurora turned to her in surprise. "Why, Rose, I didn't realize. I thought you chose to remain unmarried to devote all your attention to your career and travels."

  "Well, that's a misconception shared by many. I must confess I usually do nothing to enlighten people." She held up a hand in protest. "Oh, I don't mean that I haven't had a good life, mind you. Between my teaching and all of my travels, in fact, I feel I've had a rich and varied life."

  Rose searched around the room, her hand toying with the button of her blouse. "I've always wondered, though. I think I would have been a good wife and mother. You see, the truth is, the only man I ever really loved married someone else." She gazed into the distance wistfully a few moments before she became herself again. "Well that's neither here nor there. The fact is, though, that I enjoy having you here."

  Rose reached out to squeeze Aurora's hand again. "I realize that you're probably feeling trapped because of this extended time for Peggy's recovery. When we learned of her heart problems after surgery, I feared you would tell us this negated our agreement. It's good to find someone who still honors commitments."

  Trapped, she had considered telling Rose the change in the situation voided their agreement, but hoped her voice disclosed none of those thoughts. "Surely Peggy would have had to have this surgery soon even if I hadn't come along?"

  Rose fidgeted as if embarrassed. "Well, to tell you the truth, it is I who am indebted to you as much as Peggy. Martha and I together planned to try our hands at running the store while Peggy had surgery as soon as school dismissed for summer."

  Her eyes lit up as she laughed. "Frankly, I hated the idea, but we didn't know what else to do to help our friend. You can see why I'm especially grateful to you. I hope you'll plan on staying here as long as you're in Post. I'll just consider you one of the family while you're here.”

  A cozy warmth spread through Aurora at Rose's words. "Thank you, Rose. You don't know how much I appreciate that." She spoke the truth, yet a net closed ever closer and closer around her.

  * * *

  Aurora recruited Will and Raul to help her after closing on Friday. Aurora needed Raul to climb the stepladder to replace the burned out fluorescent tubes in all the light fixtures. She tried not to wonder why she included Will when his crutches and cast prevented him from actually being of any real assistance.

  Kelly, Lily and Catrina accompanied the two men into the store. Juan and Hector chose to wait on the sidewalk outside the store near Raul's double cab truck. Raul explained that the two boys said it just was not cool to hang out in a gift shop. Kelly and Catrina seemed to find it a great adventure to be in the store after closing. They read all the funny cards and picked up gift items without having to worry about becoming a nuisance to customers.

  Lily used the toe of her right shoe to scuff at the worn and shabby carpet near one of the card showcases. "Now you know I would never interfere, Aurora, but the extra light shows this carpet is mas sucio, more dirty." Both men nudged one another and laughed when Lily said she would never interfere. She shot them a glare and then ignored them.

  Aurora decided it best to ignore the laughs of the two men also. "Isn't the carpet terrible, Lily? I've arranged for a carpet cleaner to come in after closing tomorrow to clean the carpet. That should give plenty of time for the carpet to dry thoroughly over Sunday before we open the store Monday morning."

  "Ha. This is bueno. But why are the walls so dark? This woman was loco when she chose these colors." Lily stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head as she surveyed the store.

  "I don't know if Peggy will let me paint them or not. A nice light color would really improve the store, though, wouldn't it? If I had been decorating this store, I would have painted the walls such a pale pink they appeared almost white and used a heavy grade of industrial carpet in a medium gray."

  Lily nodded her approval of those colors, and the men announced they were through with all the light fixtures. Amazed at the difference even the additional lighting made for the store, Aurora's spirits lifted. She and Susan had cleaned and polished most of the day. The now gleaming glass shelves presented a pleasing sight.

  Juan's and Hector's adrenaline level soared too high from their earlier soccer game for the two boys to sit quietly while they waited for the others. When Aurora looked out the front window of the store, she saw the two playing soccer on the grassy median of the street. Lily saw them at the same time, and rushed out to tell the boys to get back near the store. With all the adults watching, the boys reluctantly trudged back to the sidewalk in front of the store.

  Before Lily could give the boys the sharp edge of her tongue, Aurora raced into the street and across the median. The others watched in puzzled surprise as she ran down the street for half a block.

  In her rush to read the license plate of the truck disappearing down the street, Aurora neglected to explain her rush from the store. The passenger of the truck turned around and Aurora confirmed that it was the scraggly blond man who had tried to open her car door. Unfortunately, that meant he had probably identified her also. The truck speed accelerated and she brought her run to a stop.

  Hair flying in the wind and hands on her hips, Aurora watched the truck turn off Main Street onto Highway 84. She never got close enough to decipher the rear license plate. The passenger had definitely seen her. Angry and dejected, she turned and walked briskly back to the store.

  The three adults waited at the front sidewalk of the store, probably puzzled by her behavior. Aurora addressed Will, "It was that truck again, but I couldn't get the license plate number before he turned."

  Alarm showed on his face, though his remained voice calm. "Did the driver see you?" When she nodded, he ran his hand through his hair. "Damn these crutches and this cast!" How like Will to direct his anger at his immobility, certain he could have hopped into his own truck and caught up with the two men if only he were not hampered by his cast.

  Aurora put her hand on his arm. "It wouldn't have mattered, Will. They would have disappeared just like they did the other time.
Anyway, since I have a different car now and park in the alleyway at the back, they won't even know I'm here. They won't be searching for a green Jeep Cherokee."

  Will didn't appear convinced. "You may be right, but you need to be careful, Aurora. They may drive down Main Street every day at this time, for all we know, and they may not have recognized you. However, even if they don't know where you are, they know we've been asking questions about them and that you're in Post."

  Raul looked from Will to Aurora and back at his friend. "What is this, amigo? Is there a problem here?"

  Will filled Raul and Lily in on the previous sighting of the truck at the convenience store. "I'd like to find out who they are and where they live so we can let the sheriff know."

  Thoughtful, Raul nodded. "So would I, amigo. We don't need men like this in our town."

  Will's concern for Aurora grew now that one of the men must have seen her. He badly wanted to take her home with him and keep her there under his surveillance where no harm could reach her. He knew how she would react to that suggestion and restrained his impulses once again.

  Raul clapped his friend on the back. "Hey, amigo, let's go get some pizza. I promised these two rowdy champions that I would buy them all the pizza they could eat when they won their ballgame. Maybe over pizza we can work out a plan to catch these two men in the disappearing truck. Aurora, while we eat, you must tell me all about the first time you saw them."

  Will tried to ease the gravity of the sighting of the truck in front of the store. "I can hardly wait to see Aurora eat pizza."

  At the pizza parlor, Aurora explained in detail to Raul and Lily the little she knew about the two men--seeing them at the coffee shop in Sweetwater, their attempted abduction, and seeing one of them at the convenience store. Raul promised to ask around among his friends and relatives about the two men.