Discovery
Page 26
Nell walked over to Livi and gave her the usual welcoming hug. “I think I might have just the thing for our Elizabeth,” she said, motioning for Livi to follow her.
Like Livi, Nell had grown up in Millersville and moved away for college, but after graduating with a degree in art history, she and her college sweetheart had settled back into her familiar Millersville life. Nell’s husband, Richard, was an entry-level bookkeeper at Hampton Steel, so Livi saw at least one of them almost every day and considered the couple two of her closest friends. Nell appeared to effectively balance her sole proprietor image with that of soccer mom to her three children, and, at times, Livi envied her. Nell had succeeded with the two-sided life Livi envisioned for herself, maintaining a career on one side and a family on the other. But being raised Baptist in a small southern town meant that before Livi could check “having children” off her Life List, she needed to check off “find true love and get married.” So, while she had maintained control of the career side of her life, Livi had been unable to find the socially acceptable order of her life’s personal side. Nevertheless, whenever she felt her envy of Nell creeping back in, Livi rationalized to herself that Nell was a few years older and had had more time to develop her perfect life. Livi liked to believe she still had a few more years for her Life List to establish its own proper order.
“What about this?” Nell said, holding up an antique brooch enameled in candy-apple red — an appropriate gift for an elementary school teacher.
“Perfect.” Livi smiled.
As Nell wrapped the gift at the front counter, Livi’s eyes glanced at the framed photo hanging over the cash register. It never failed. Every time she stood at that counter, her heart beat faster as she tried not to look at his green eyes. The photo showed Nell’s younger brother, Jake, dressed in his desert camouflage posing with his friend, Ben, both grinning from ear to ear despite their obvious surroundings. The dust on Jake’s face made the green of his eyes more intense and, although the photo appeared to be somewhat recent, Livi thought Jake’s eyes looked just as they did in high school.
The military and rugged sands of Iraq had not dimmed the sparkle and mischief radiating from those eyes, and they still revealed an old soul that held a special place in Livi’s heart. Today especially, with the barrage of reminders of what Livi’s life lacked, these green eyes attacked Livi’s heart more than usual and she allowed herself to wander through her minefield of memories while she waited on Elizabeth’s gift to be wrapped.
By all accounts, Jake Cooper was Livi’s first love, and except for a mistaken stint with a fellow law student that truly did not count, Livi probably considered Jake her only love. All of Livi’s other beaus had been measured by her “Jake” standard and, unfortunately for them, none had ever reached Jake’s level in Livi’s heart. They began dating at the end of their sophomore year of high school, and the following summer taught Livi the joys of young, carefree love with a boy who admired her as much as he adored her. They spent that summer swimming in the lake, hiking the local hills and learning how to hold hands in a way that made Livi’s heart take precedence over her mind’s legal ambitions. Over time, Jake taught her to fly-fish and she taught him which fork to use with shrimp at her graduation dinner. For their senior prom, they even learned to dance the shag together just like Livi’s parents used to dance on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk in their younger days.
The two teenagers made a beautiful couple. Livi had long, dark hair and “girl-next-door” looks. Jake was ruggedly handsome with his green eyes and tall, broad build. His obvious strength contrasted with the sweetness he showered on Livi, and her blue eyes melted whenever he gave her that special look. Their relationship was the envy of the high school gossip mill, for they met the clichéd definition of opposites attract. He was star player of the football team. She was star member of the debate team. While Jake spent his afternoons in the gym, Livi spent her time in the library. However, for whatever reason, when they were together it was as if heaven had thrown a star around the two of them and each one glowed brighter than when they were apart. The laughter they accumulated over the two and a half years they dated was immeasurable, and Livi’s memories of their time together had become more romanticized in recent years, pushing aside the realities of why their time together had ended.
When all was said and done, Livi blamed herself for their break up. The summer after their high school graduation had been a confusing mix of plans and memories. Both fully intended to stay together but each knew that fall was closing in on them. As summer ended and Livi packed her bags for Charlottesville, she and Jake told each other that distance would not affect what they had.
However, time had different intentions and, while they tried to keep in touch, the calls and visits became fewer and fewer. Livi worked to maintain her grades and Jake searched for his lot in life assuming Livi was quickly leaving him behind. By the time her exams were over that first semester and she returned home for Christmas, Jake had already left for California with Ben. He had told her that he had a line on a great job but that he had to be out west before the first of December. Thus, Livi came home to an empty holiday realizing she and Jake had broken up without either really saying the words.
Deciding to ask the question that had never been asked in all her time spent in Nell’s store, Livi’s remembrances forced her to blurt out, “So, how’s Jake?”
Nell stopped wrapping the gift and looked up with a grin that competed with the Cheshire Cat’s. “Do you have ESP or something?” she said.
“No.” Livi was confused.
“Then why don’t you ask him yourself?” Nell loudly called out, “Jake!”
And with that one word, Livi turned to see her past rounding the corner out of the back storeroom and looking better than anything she had seen in quite a while.
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