Last Chance Summer: A Short Story

by Hope Ramsay

  Amanda coughed up several more dollars and failed, spectacularly, to win any fishes.

  “Can I just buy one of the fish?” she asked the attendant after she’d spent a whopping ten dollars with no result.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we don’t allow that. We’d run out of fish if we did.”

  A little wave of anger shuddered through her. Damn it all. Where the hell was Tom when you needed him to win his boy a fish, or ride with his boy on a Ferris wheel?

  Standing there facing down that idiot attendant, she felt helpless and incompetent. And she hated feeling that way.

  She swallowed back all those toxic emotions and squatted down so she could look Ethan right in the eye. She plastered a smile on her face and said, “Well, kiddo, I think I’m going to have to go to the pet store tomorrow and buy you a fish, because your mama throws like a girl.”

  She took Ethan by the shoulders. “Are you disappointed in me?”

  He gave her an amazing smile. “It’s all right, Mama. Next year I’ll win one for myself. I’ll be taller.”

  Yes, he would be taller. He was growing so fast. And Amanda hated the idea that next year she would be sending him off to kindergarten. And pretty soon he’d be going off to college.

  And she’d be alone.

  “I’ll get you a fish, honey, I promise.” She could manage a fish. If a fish died on her, it wasn’t really all that big of a deal. It was hard to get emotionally attached to a goldfish. And when one died, you could just flush it down the drain. She remembered her own mama flushing a fish that way.

  Boy that was an old, old memory from before the time she’d come to live in Last Chance.

  Amanda stood up and took Ethan’s hand. “We need to get back to the Cooking and Kissing Booth and see about Granny.”

  “Okay, but then can we ride the Ferris wheel?”

  “We’ll see.”

  * * *

  “Oh Amanda, thank God,” Savannah Randall exclaimed as Amanda and Ethan made their way back to the Ladies Auxiliary booth. “I’ve had Dash looking all over the fairgrounds for y’all. I thought you were going to the pet show. That ended half an hour ago.”

  For a moment, Amanda felt as if she were being scolded by an unhappy parent. But then she realized that Savannah was utterly alone at the booth, as if the ladies of the Auxiliary had abandoned her.

  “Where’s Granny?” Amanda asked.

  “I don’t know.” Savannah’s voice rose in pitch. She sounded worried. Panicky even.

  “She’s wandered off, hasn’t she?”

  “Honestly, Amanda, I took my eyes off her for two seconds, and she was gone. She was happily selling kisses, and I got busy selling cupcakes. And then, when I looked over, she was missing. I’ve got Dash looking for her. Everyone else is off enjoying the fair. I’m so, so sorry.”

  Just then Grant Trumbull’s deep bass voice interrupted Tim McGraw, singing “It’s Your Love.” “Sorry to break into such a sweet love song, but I’ve got a note here from Sheriff Rhodes that we’ve got a gray alert. Ms. Luanne Howe has gone missing. I’m sure most of you know Luanne. She’s Russell Howe’s wife. I never knew Russ, but the WLST family misses him and have nothing but kind things to say about Ms. Luanne. So we need your help to find her. When last seen she was wearing a watermelon scarf, green pedal pushers, and watermelon print sneakers. Seems she wandered away from the Christ Church Kissing and Cooking booth where I understand she had been kissing all comers. Her friends and family are worried, folks. So if you find her, please bring her to the Lost and Found. And Ms. Luanne, if you can hear me, I want you to get yourself to the Lost and Found. I’m getting ready to head over there myself. I’ve got a kiss waiting for you, honey.”

  “I sure hope Luanne hears that announcement and follows directions,” Savannah said.

  “I don’t know, Savannah. Granny doesn’t much like the new WLST announcer. She’s always wanting to know why Russell isn’t broadcasting. Oh God.” Amanda took a huge breath, closed her eyes and exhaled. “I’m going to have to put her in a nursing home, aren’t I? I can’t keep an eye on her all the time anymore. I’m losing her.”

  Emotion swelled in her throat.

  “Oh, honey.” Savannah gave her the shelter of an arm and a little reassuring rub on her back. “We’re going to find her. And, as for the rest, I know it’s hard. But I hear the Blue Horizon Retirement Village in Allenberg is a real nice place. Mary Latimer moved there a few months ago. And she’s been bending Miriam’s ear about how much fun they have with bingo and dances and all kinds of stuff. And they get a ride to the Purly Girls meetings on Tuesday. You know, it might be just what Luanne needs to get her out of her funk.”

  Amanda nodded. Savannah was right. “I just don’t want to let go of her, you know?”

  “I know.” Savannah continued to rub her back. “And I’m so sorry that I failed you and let her wander away. But we’ll find her. Don’t you worry. Now, let’s think. Where would she go?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Mama, can we ride the Ferris wheel now?” Ethan tugged on the hem of Amanda’s shorts.

  She squatted down to be on Ethan’s level. “Honey, Granny’s missing. We have to find her before we can go to the Ferris wheel.”

  “Oh.” Ethan’s brow furrowed, and Amanda could almost see the cogs and wheels turning in his sharp little mind. “You think she’s gone to find Granddaddy?”

  “Honey, I told you. Granddaddy passed away.”

  “I know that. We lost him. So maybe she went to find him at the Lost and Found.”

  Amanda stood up. “Well, his logic is a little warped, but maybe she did hear Trumbull’s message. Maybe she’s headed there.”

  “It’s as good a place as any to start,” Savannah said.

  * * *

  The Lost and Found was located in the fairgrounds office building, a low, cinder block structure that stood beside Exhibit Hall A and also housed the first aid station and the Watermelon Festival headquarters of the Allenberg Sheriff’s Department.

  Frigid air-conditioning enveloped Amanda the moment she crossed the threshold. It appeared to be a slow day. There weren’t any sun stroke victims, or any broken bones, or scraped knees. Just a room with several canvas cots, a cupboard with medical supplies, and a small radio playing the ubiquitous WLST broadcast, which was featuring Lee Brice singing “Love Like Crazy.”

  There didn’t seem to be any lost people in the room, although there was a big box labeled “LOST & FOUND” filled with all sorts of items—mostly sunglasses, hats, and children’s toys.

  “Look, Mama, it’s a Decepticon,” Ethan said as he made a beeline to the box and fished out a sizable Transformer. He sat down on the floor and started playing with it, Ferris wheels and missing grandmothers completely forgotten.

  Annie Jasper, the regular duty nurse at the Last Chance clinic, was sitting on a folding chair beside several empty cots. She looked up from her e-reader. “Oh, hey, Amanda, I heard that Luanne wandered away.”

  “I was hoping she’d come here.”

  “Well, that would be direct, wouldn’t it? Wandering away to the Lost and Found?” She shook her head. “But I’m sorry. I haven’t seen her.”

  Of course Annie hadn’t seen Granny. Now that Amanda stopped and thought about it, Granny had no illusions about Granddaddy being lost. Granny believed that Granddaddy was still alive. So obviously she wouldn’t come looking for him at the Lost and Found.

  And then it struck Amanda that she was using a five-year-old’s logic. Which was not logical at all. In fact, it was mildly embarrassing to admit that, for a space of a few moments, Amanda had thought it made perfect sense for Granny to come to the Lost and Found looking for Granddaddy.

  She let go of a sigh. “Could you keep an eye on Ethan for a second? I want to talk to the police.”

  “Sure.”

  Amanda headed for the door at one end of the room bearing the seal of the Allenberg Sheriff’s Department.

  She had ex
pected to find one of the deputies on call, but what she got was Sheriff Stone Rhodes himself, all neatly starched and pressed in his buff-colored uniform, and looking utterly in charge.

  “Hey Amanda, I’ve got four deputies and a bunch of volunteers looking for your grandmomma. I’m sure we’ll find her. So you just make yourself comfortable here in the AC.”

  Yup, big, in charge, and used to issuing orders.

  “I’d just as soon go look for her myself. Let me give you my cell phone number, so if you find her, you can give me a call. And if I find her, I’ll let y’all know.”

  He kind of scowled. “You should stay right here.”

  “I’m not going to stay put when my grandmother is missing.”

  He let go of something that sounded like an exasperated sigh, punctuated by a grunt. But he gave in.

  They were halfway through the process of exchanging numbers when the quiet shattered. The front doors slammed open, and the sounds of people shouting reached all the way into the sheriff’s office.

  Sheriff Rhodes went into action, jumping up from his desk and heading through the door. Amanda followed into a scene of utter chaos.

  At her feet, a trail of blood led to one of the cots, where a school-aged boy was wailing and bleeding from a gash in his forehead. Two other kids were sitting on cots, crying and obviously in terrible pain. Their parents had crowded in, and at least two mothers were crying too. Three deputies were standing there; one of them had blood all over his shirt.

  “What happened?” Stone asked one of the deputies.

  “One of the show horses got out of his stable and made a run for the midway. There are no life-threatening injuries. But the horse ran through the line of kids waiting to get their faces painted.”

  “We’ve got at least two fractures,” Annie said. “And Jeremy’s going to need stitches. Someone needs to call an ambulance to transport these guys to the clinic. I’ll let Doc know they’re coming.”

  It was clear that Amanda was in the way. So she turned from the wounded, intent on getting Ethan away from the scary scene.

  But Ethan was not where she’d left him.

  “Ethan?” She turned and walked back into the sheriff’s office.

  Nothing.

  She returned to the crowded main room. “Ethan,” she shouted above the din.

  Sheriff Rhodes turned. “You had your son here?”

  “I left him here by the box playing with a Transformer.” She looked down at the box. The toy was missing too. “Annie said…”

  She turned toward the nurse, who was working feverishly over the kid with the head injury. Obviously, Annie’s attention had been diverted.

  “Oh my God, I’ve lost them both.” Amanda’s voice curled up into the higher registers while her heart started pounding like a marathon runner’s.

  She could not lose her son. She would not lose him. How could she lose him? She stumbled from the Lost and Found back out into the bright, hot, August sunshine.

  “Ethan!” She half-screamed, half-sobbed his name.

  But he was nowhere to be found in the crowded area around Exhibit Hall A. The prospect of finding him seemed suddenly overwhelming.

  “Don’t you worry, we’ll find him. He couldn’t have gotten very far,” Sheriff Rhodes said, putting his hands on her shoulders. She wanted to believe him but her emotions were tumbling and whirling. She had lost everyone. Every single person she loved. All lost.

  The Sheriff gave her a reassuring squeeze, and then he was on his radio, reporting in the latest Watermelon Festival problem.

  He stopped issuing orders for a moment and asked, “Do you have any idea where Ethan might have wandered off to?”

  “He wanted to ride the Ferris wheel,” her voice trembled. It was so hard to breathe. “I should have taken him, but I’m afraid of heights.”

  “It’s okay. We’re going to find both of them. I’ll get Grant Trumbull to make another announcement. And in the meantime, you and I are going down to the Ferris wheel to see if we can find Ethan.”

  * * *

  Keeping up with Sheriff Rhodes proved difficult. Amanda ran so hard that, by the time she reached the Ferris wheel, she had a stitch in her side and was wheezing.

  One of Stone’s deputies had already reached the scene and was questioning the ride’s attendant. One look at the attendant’s face and Amanda knew that he hadn’t seen Ethan.

  She turned and starting asking the people lined up for tickets, but no one had seen her little boy. She was getting more panic-stricken by the minute when Cassie Nelson, a former student, came rushing up to her.

  “Mrs. W., I just heard the announcement that Ethan’s missing. Don’t you worry, we’re going to find him.” She pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her very short shorts.

  “I’m texting my friends. What was he wearing?” Cassie's green nails flew over the keys of her phone, and Amanda gave her all of the relevant information, right down to the Transformer Ethan had apparently lifted from the Lost and Found.

  “I thought he’d come here. He’s been whining all morning about taking a ride, and I’ve been putting him off. I don’t like heights.” Amanda cast her gaze up to the top of the wheel, almost sixty feet in the air.

  “Oh, Mrs. W., you should have told me. I would have been happy to take him on the ride.”

  Amanda nodded but she couldn’t say a word. It felt like someone had put a noose around her throat. She couldn’t manage to get enough air.

  She was all alone. She was lost.

  Cassie put her arm around Amanda. “Mrs. W, we’re going to find them both, don’t you worry.”

  Sheriff Rhodes joined them. “He’s not here. Where else might he have wanted to go? Anything you can think of will help a lot.”

  She inhaled, trying to stop the quivery feeling that assaulted her. Even her hands were shaking. “It’s stupid.”

  “Anything, Amanda. Even something stupid might help.”

  “Granny thinks Granddaddy is still alive. And Ethan kind of believes it too. He wanted me to go to the Lost and Found to find Granddaddy. I don’t know what he thought when we got there and Granddaddy wasn’t there. I should never have left him alone. I should have found my courage and taken him on the Ferris Wheel. I should never have left Granny at the Kissing Booth.”

  And with that the tears exploded. Stone put his arm around her, and she leaned into his hard chest.

  “It wasn’t your fault. Kids and old folks wander off all the time.”

  “Do you think Miz Luanne got confused and went to the WLST broadcast booth?” Cassie said. “I mean, when Mr. Russell was alive, she always hung around the booth. Mr. Russell’s broadcasts ended at noon. And then you’d always see them having fun on the midway.”

  “Cassie, you’re a genius,” Stone said. He set off across the fairgrounds, barking orders into his radio.

  Amanda and Cassie ran after him, just as fast as they could.

  * * *

  There seemed to be millions of people in Amanda’s way as she sprinted down the midway, heading toward the WLST broadcast booth.

  She dodged and struggled to breathe. It was damned hard to run when tears were smearing her vision and choking her.

  What if she lost Ethan for good? What if some terrible thing happened to him? What if Granny got hurt?

  What if… What if… What if…

  Her mind invented one awful thing after another until she was spinning out of control, sobbing and running at the same time.

  She had to find them. Her life depended upon it. She would never forgive herself if she didn’t.

  It was almost noon, and a knot of people clustered around the WLST broadcast booth.

  Amanda had to elbow her way through the crowd.

  Please, let them both be safe.

  This was not a new prayer for Amanda. But this time, God really needed to listen.

  Chapter Four

  Nancy Cosgrove’s gravelly voice sounded in Grant’s ear. “We’ve got a sur
prise interview for you.”

  He flipped the switch to talk to his producer, who was sitting in an air-conditioned trailer right behind the Demolition Derby track. “Bring it on, Nancy. I’ve never had so much fun in my life. Who we got?”

  “Someone who might actually challenge you. Lester’s bringing him over.”

  “Him?”

  “You know, Grant, Miriam Randall’s prediction for you is going to come true, but maybe not immediately. And I’m willing to bet that it will have nothing to do with the actual Lost and Found.”

  Grant chortled. Miriam Randall had sure stirred up a swarm of busy bees this morning. And Grant was enjoying every minute of it. He sincerely hoped that what people said about the little old matchmaker was true. Grant was ready to find a soul mate. His first wife had been anything but.

  And until that miracle happened, Grant would be forever grateful to the God of crazy notions who had blessed him six months ago. One morning, he’d awakened in his Chicago penthouse apartment and realized that his day was going to be the same as it had been yesterday and there wasn’t anything in that day that was making him happy.

  He was lonely in a big city, dating women who were more interested in what was in his bank account than what was in his heart. His successful career as a broadcaster had given him a comfortable life, with lots of savings, and a virtual black book with the phone numbers of many eligible, long-legged women, none of whom he liked very much.

  He had awakened that morning and stared out his picture window, with his beautiful view of the lake, and felt a hole in his middle. He missed Galena, the little town northwest of Chicago where he’d grown up. He was sick of city living.

  Two weeks later, he retired from his top-forty radio job and was deep into a search for an inexpensive, low-powered radio station located in a small town somewhere in the middle of nowhere. He’d wanted to move to the Midwest, but when WLST became available at a price he could afford, he packed his bags and moved south. He’d only been here a few months, but he thanked the lucky star that had led him to this place.