Promises to Keep

by Shirley Hailstock

  Parker checked the closet and bathroom. His clothes were obviously gone and his toothbrush no longer lay on the glass shelf.

  “Everything looks all right,” he said, his smile tight.

  “Thank you.”

  He nodded. Taking a step to the door, he noticed the desk where his computer often sat. The space was clear.

  “I’ll be going. See you in the morning.”

  “Good night.”

  Parker left without a backward glance. He wanted to look back, but if she had the same softness to her eyes he’d seen before they’d come in the room, he’d cross the imaginary line they both knew existed.

  Unlocking his room, he went inside the unfamiliar space.

  He switched the television on for some noise. They’d eaten dinner at the restaurant with Sherry, so Parker wasn’t hungry. But he felt as if he’d left part of himself back outside McKenna’s door.

  * * *

  SOMETHING OR SOMEONE was banging something together. McKenna’s groggy mind tried to shut out the sound.

  “McKenna?”

  Someone called to her. It was Parker. The recognition had her eyes wide open and she sat up in bed as if propelled. Something had happened. Throwing the covers aside, she rushed to the door and opened it.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Aren’t you up yet?” Parker said by way of an answer.

  “What time is it?” McKenna pushed her hand through her hair as she turned and looked at the huge numbers on the digital clock. “I overslept,” she said, stating the obvious. “Come in. I’ll be dressed in no time.”

  She didn’t wait for him to come fully in the room. She hurried into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, pushed a hairband onto her head to hold the strands back and added just lipstick to her face.

  Coming out, she grabbed a pair of pants and a T-shirt from the drawer. Parker sat at the table. His computer lay on the surface in front of him. His eyes followed her from place to place. Quickly she dressed in the bathroom and came out.

  “Ready,” she said.

  Parker got up. “You’re the only woman I know who can get ready in ten minutes and look sensational.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Most certainly.”

  “Thank you, but we have to go.” McKenna didn’t have time to deal with kind sentiments from Parker. He made her nervous at times, especially when he acted nice and got on subjects she’d rather not discuss.

  “What’s on the menu today?” Parker asked as he drove.

  “I’m not sure. We didn’t really do a lot of dishes that weren’t just plain food.”

  “That’s what Sherry sells,” Parker reminded her. “What about a dessert?”

  “I’m terrible at those. I can do the breads, but cakes, cookies, not my thing.” She shook her head. “I’ll check Sherry’s cookbooks and see what’s there that’s simple, and I can experiment with it.”

  “So far you’ve been on the money. And Sherry appreciates it.”

  “With all the new business coming in, she can afford to hire a cook.”

  “Those new customers might only be here because of your recipes,” Parker said.

  McKenna heard the compliment that was couched in his comment. “I’m sure she or her daughter will be able to duplicate the recipes. And her daughter may have specialties of her own. I think it was just a matter of showing Sherry that giving something different now and then would bring people back time and again.”

  “Creating demand,” Parker said.

  “By the time we get to the west coast, I’ll be well versed in economics.”

  “And I’ll have added restaurateur to my list of expertise.”

  At the diner the day began as it usually did. Sherry asked if McKenna had anything she wanted to add to the menu. She’d replied that she did and added strawberry crepes and cherry blintzes to the breakfast items.

  And she’d convinced Sherry to try a theme night. All Italian dishes once a week made ordering easier, and who would think so many people would show up for roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, not to mention breakfast scones with clotted cream? Customers filled the parking lot the minute the place opened. Sherry’s was busy from morning to night.

  “You know, I said you two were a godsend when you picked up those first plates and started working for me,” Sherry said as Parker and McKenna began their final week in her restaurant.

  McKenna nodded, glancing at Parker. Both waited for her to go on.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay on? I’ve never had so much business. And I know it’s due to your recipes and Parker’s having taken over the cooking. I’d be willing to find you a place to live and you could live here permanently.”

  Both of them started to say something, but Sherry stopped them.

  “I was only kidding about the permanent thing, unless you’d really consider it.”

  “Our home is in Chicago,” Parker replied.

  “I’ve given you the recipes and you can make the dishes,” McKenna told her. “They’re not hard. You’ve seen us do it. And they don’t have to be these dishes. You can make what you want. Just change things up once in a while.”

  “Your daughter is due soon,” Parker said. “She is still coming?”

  “I spoke with her yesterday. She’s cleared up some problems and she’ll be here tomorrow.”

  “That’s wonderful.” McKenna smiled.

  “Are you anxious to be on your way?” Sherry asked. “I guess you stayed here longer than you do in most places.”

  “We’re not on a tight schedule,” Parker commented.

  McKenna glanced at Parker. Not long ago she thought he’d want to get the trip over as quickly as possible. But somewhere they’d rounded a bend and were all the better for it. A burst of emotion filled her heart.

  CHAPTER NINE

  SAYING GOODBYE WAS never easy for McKenna. With Sherry it was especially hard. Her daughter, Crystal, arrived as scheduled. She was just as delightful as her mother and McKenna could see the special relationship they shared. For a moment she missed her own mother, both parents actually. They died young. McKenna was a semester away from college graduation when they were involved in a car accident on a bridge near their home. If it hadn’t been for Marshall, she couldn’t imagine how she would have gotten through the loss.

  Crystal was awed by the number of customers seated or waiting to be seated as Parker and McKenna’s final days wound down. They spent part of the week explaining to her what had been going on. The other part was Crystal and McKenna working the floor and Parker and Sherry in the kitchen keeping up with orders. McKenna was glad to see Sherry’s daughter had ideas of her own and she’d brought her favorite cookbook. During the three days before they said goodbye, they made several dishes, which she chose. Those were as much a hit with the customers as the others had been.

  “Things are going to be fine after we’re gone,” Parker commented the night before they left.

  As Sherry hugged her goodbye and asked her to keep in touch, she told her she felt confident and more excited about the restaurant than she had in years. McKenna trembled inside as emotional feelings lodged in her throat and misty tears threatened to take her voice away. She would miss Sherry and Crystal, but she was taking happy memories with her.

  McKenna took a satisfying breath and settled in for the ride. It wasn’t unusual to drive Route 66 and not pass another car for miles. Then suddenly the roadway would be littered with them, everybody driving ten miles an hour when there was nothing to see. McKenna had experienced both scenarios as they traveled this much-loved although sometimes rocky road. The traffic eventually thinned, and soon her Corvette was back to being the only car on the road.

  “What are you watching?” she asked Parker. He wore earbud
s and had his computer propped on his knees, so he might not have heard her. Glancing at the screen, McKenna could barely see anything other than a movie in black and white.

  “An old rerun,” he answered.

  “Of what?”

  “Route 66.”

  McKenna leaned over and glanced at the screen for the three seconds it was safe. Then her eyes were back on the road.

  He cleared his throat. “The stories are very interesting.”

  “I have the entire collection back at home.” She didn’t tell him she knew the episodes by heart. All she needed to see was the opening sequence and she could tell him the entire plotline.

  “In this one, they’re in Boston seeing the sights.”

  McKenna smiled. “To Walk with the Serpent.”

  “What, you have them memorized?” He glanced at her.

  She grinned, but kept her attention on the road in front of her.

  “You do have them memorized.”

  “Most of them. In that one they meet a man named John Westerbrook.”

  Parker pulled the earbuds free. The expression on his face told her he was both surprised and in awe of her knowledge.

  “Do you want me to go on?” she asked.

  “I’ll finish watching it later. I am amazed that you have all that in your head.”

  “What, did you only think I knew about engines, axels and the dynamics of road travel?”

  “Not exactly. I didn’t know that you could cook, that you have a weird sense of humor, that you’re also the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met and that you are so compassionate that a lost teenager could keep you awake at night.”

  Another wave of emotion went through her. There was easy approval in his voice and it made her feel good that he liked what she’d done, how she’d felt.

  “It’s what interests me, although I disagree with you about the stubborn part. But what about you? You told me you once wanted to play in a band. Other than that I know very little about you. You’re a professor of economics. You’ve been married and divorced. And you’re very protective of me.” She kept her eyes down when she said that, but chanced a look at him.

  Parker glanced at her, but his expression told her nothing. “I wouldn’t want you hurt during the trip of a lifetime.”

  “Thank you.” She wondered if that was all there was to his comment. Inside, she suddenly felt hollow. She remembered his arms around her as he pulled her away from the door the night of the robbery. Each time after that, he’d been very aware of their surroundings. Even the night in the motel, when they returned to separate rooms, he’d checked hers to make sure it was safe for her to enter.

  “I’m sure you have a wealth of topics that occupy your attention and have nothing to do with being a professor of economics.”

  He grinned at her. McKenna liked that way he smiled. His mouth wasn’t totally straight, but it wasn’t a lopsided grin, either.

  “So what else do you like to do? And by the way, I’m not the only stubborn one in this car.”

  “We’ll just call it being persistent.” He paused a moment. “I like camping. You know I enjoy skiing.”

  “Can you ice-skate, too?”

  “Who grows up in Chicago and doesn’t ice-skate? It’s practically a law. We used to go to this park every day in the winter.”

  “We?”

  “Gerald and Ellie, my brother and sister. Of course, it helped that there were girls there.” He winked at her and they both smiled. “We’d pull our skates on. Gerald was the better skater than I was, but if you ever meet him I’ll deny I told you that.”

  McKenna was enjoying Parker more and more. She felt he rarely opened up to anyone and she was glad he’d chosen to tell her such personal details.

  “We’d show off our skills to get the girls to notice us.”

  “And did they?”

  He nodded. “Ellie is in China because of one of the guys she met on the ice. Although it was years later that they ran into each other and got together. He was the recruiter when she only had an engineering degree and wanted to make her mark on the world.”

  “What’s she doing in China?”

  “Building a dam. And teaching English to Chinese children.” He laughed. “I never dreamed that my little sister would end up changing the world.”

  We all change the world, McKenna thought. Even if it’s only a small square of earth, it changes us. She was thinking of Joanna and Sherry. Had their lives been altered by coming into contact with her and Parker? And where would the two of them go, now that their lives had been hopefully enriched by someone else?

  “You know what I’ve always wanted to do?”

  McKenna brought her attention back to Parker. “What?”

  Parker looked up at the sky. “Skydiving.”

  She looked up, too. “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you do it?”

  “McKenna, I don’t think they have skydiving along Route 66.”

  “You never know. The route goes south of Phoenix. We could detour for a few days and go there.”

  “Why Phoenix?”

  “They have the best airspace for ballooning.”

  Parker frowned. “This is one of those times when I have no idea how your mind works.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “My thoughts were running ahead of my mouth. We can arrange it so we’re in Phoenix for the balloon show in July. It’s huge and something I’ve always wanted to see.”

  “See, not do?”

  “All right, do. The point is, we can see the balloon show and you can go skydiving.”

  He hesitated. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Think about it,” she repeated. “Why not do it? Come on.”

  “Because I’m no longer that ten-year-old kid zooming around the ice or...”

  McKenna shifted in her seat. “Let me ask you a question. What do you want written on your tombstone?”

  “What? Are you saying skydiving will kill me and you’re preparing for my death?”

  “Not at all. Do you want it to read, Things I Wish I’d Done?”

  “You know, you’re really good at guilting people.”

  “I won’t force you. I’m merely saying think about getting out of your comfort zone and doing something you want to do.”

  “And if I fall on my face, you’ll be there to catch me?”

  “I’ll give it an honest try,” McKenna said. “After all, I owe you.”

  “Owe me?”

  “You caught me when I was about to run into a dangerous situation.”

  Parker thought about that. McKenna saw his expression change when he remembered keeping her from sprinting into her room the night of the theft.

  “When we get to Arizona, we can check into the particulars. I’m sure I can’t just strap on a parachute and jump out of a plane.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she said.

  “I take it skydiving is not on your bucket list.”

  “It’s not.”

  “What about ballooning?”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “But if you need a partner in the sky, I’ll try it.”

  “Our funds are still in question. Skydiving is expensive. For two it’d be twice as expensive.”

  “As an economist you’re not opposed to spending money, are you?”

  “Money makes the world turn round,” he stated, matter of factly.

  “So, it’s money. I always thought it was love that turned the world round.”

  * * *

  “CATOOSA, FIFTY MILES.” Parker read the signpost as they passed it on a lonely strip of Oklahoma blacktop that was cracked and spit shards of gravel against the car’s unblemished paint job. Despite the sign, the landscape didn’t change. It was flat, sporting fields c
olored a goldish-brown.

  “We’re going to see the blue whale, right?” Parker asked.

  “You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?”

  “It’s that tombstone comment that has me wanting to be Bob Cratchit and not Ebenezer Scrooge.”

  McKenna laughed. “You would never be Scrooge.”

  “Does that mean you’ve changed your opinion of me?”

  McKenna checked her rearview mirror. “I have.” Her voice was so low, she wasn’t sure Parker would hear her. She’d changed her mind on a lot of things related to Parker. He was much more than she’d given him credit for. He wasn’t the trapped-in-the-box person she’d accused him of being. He was concerned for her and for other people. He was the first to see that Joanna needed help. And when they arrived at Sherry’s restaurant, he didn’t question McKenna about helping out.

  The only blemish she could see was him leaving the room they shared. McKenna knew their finances were precarious. That had not changed, even though Sherry had given them much more than necessary as payment for bringing in customers and giving her a hand when she was desperate. Yet the bottom line was that she missed his presence, sharing his space.

  “Where are you, McKenna? You look as if you’re trying to solve a hard problem.”

  “I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” Parker asked.

  “You’ve told me some things about you, but you never mention your marriage or your ex-wife.”

  She watched Parker’s shoulders drop as if he was struggling under a huge weight.

  “What happened?”

  He sighed heavily and took a long time before he spoke. McKenna was about to apologize for asking when he began to talk.

  “We were only married for a short time,” he said. “A little longer than a year. Only fifteen months, actually.”

  That was a short time. She and Marshall were married for almost six years before he died. Had it not been for Marshall’s condition and that final trip down the mountain, the two would still be husband and wife.

  “I take it the split wasn’t amicable.”