A Heart of Stone

by Lyn Cote

  Lucy didn’t waste any time. “So why did you tell Cash he could see Angie at your parents’ cottage tomorrow? What’s happened?”

  Jane tried to deflect her grandmother’s words by teasing, “I’m so glad you are capable of subtlety.”

  “Well?”

  Stalling while she thought of her answer, Jane took a bite of her burger. She barely tasted it, and her empty, nervous stomach moved her near nausea.

  Under her grandmother’s thoughtful scrutiny, Jane suddenly wanted to cry. She battled herself and controlled the urge. Someone had told her once, Be careful what you pray for, you might get it. She had once prayed fervently that Cash would ask her to be his wife. Now he had, and she felt as if she were chewing a mouthful of ashes. She put down her sandwich and wiped her fingertips with a napkin. “I can’t seem to get my emotions under control today.”

  “What happened in Wausau?”

  Jane shook her head. “Please let’s talk about something else.” Her love was a foolish hope, and not even to her grandmother could she reveal her emotions for Cash.

  “About Angie?”

  Jane wanted to shout, No! About Cash. I love him, but he doesn’t love me. Tears did come to Jane’s eyes then. They ran freely, and she wiped them away with her hands till Lucy handed her a flowered handkerchief from her pocket.

  In a rush of sensation Jane remembered Cash’s kisses as the final cloudburst had shielded them from the world. In that private moment she had thought she and Cash had finally come together. But in light of his subsequent proposal, his kisses had only amounted to a test drive of a wife he intended to negotiate for.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, dear?”

  Jane sucked in a deep breath and resolutely picked up her sandwich. “I just miss Dena so,” Jane spoke her only alibi. ‘I’ll be all right.”

  Lucy gave her a look of heart-rending concern. “Yes, dear, I pray so.”

  Jane hoped and prayed they’d be right.

  The final evening hours of Crazy Days, Eagle Lake’s sidewalk sale, came at last. Main Street had been blocked off with wooden barricades. The stores had all moved their sale merchandise out onto the sidewalk and the street itself. Though the month was July, Christmas lights had been wrapped around the city light poles. Shoppers milled around in the street and huddled around the store displays. Two clowns circulated through the crowd, amusing the children and giving away candy. Jane sat at a card table in front of her shop.

  “Hi, Tish. Hi, Mel.” Three teenage girls stopped to browse. Hearing Hi, Tish. Hi, Mel one more time made Jane’s jaw muscles clamp together painfully. Recalling the agony of the tension headache she had after the trip to Wausau, she consciously tightened and relaxed her muscles from the top of her head to the end of her spine.

  “Miss Everett, is there anything here that my mom would like for her birthday next week?”

  Jane opened her eyes. Del Ray Martin’s daughter had unhooked herself from her two friends, who were giggling with Tish.

  Jane stood up and picked out a few bright scarves that would suit Del Ray’s taste. The girl chose a bright-red-and-black scarf from Jane’s selection. Jane let Mel take care of the sale.

  One more hour, just one more hour and I can close. Shutting her eyes once more against the garish lights and the noisy combination of carnival and lounge music, she leaned back against her display window.

  “Hi, I like your jewelry.”

  Jane opened her eyes. “Hi, Rona. Glad you like it.”

  Rona was referring to the fact that some shop owners were dressed up as though it were Halloween to add more color to Crazy Days. Jane had decided that costuming for the event did not fit the mystique of her or her shop.

  But over the past three years, she had collected a fine assortment of junk jewelry. So on this the final day of Crazy Days, she and her two assistants sported a rainbow of gaudy, plastic bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings. Tish wore all shades of blue and purple. Mel had chosen reds and pinks, while Jane had opted for white, silver and green.

  “How do you like my specs?” Jane asked, tapping her frames.

  “They really do it. Whatever it is.” Rona grinned.

  This year Jane had added the piece de resistance, three pairs of fifties-style glasses, without lenses, that she had picked up at a flea market. The pair Jane was wearing were silver and shaped like butterfly wings and encrusted with rhinestones.

  “Did you hear?” Rona asked conspiratorially.

  “What?”

  “The word is that after dark last night Hallawell’s crew dumped off trash at the entrance of The Shores.”

  Jane made a face. “Isn’t this getting a little childish?”

  “I agree. Carmine says some of Cash’s crew have had it.”

  Jane shook her head. “What will be, will be.” Her words were casual, but a tremor of warning shivered through her. She sent up a silent prayer for a peaceful end to these hostilities.

  Rona gestured toward the two circular racks and one table that Jane had moved outside. “Is there anything I should buy now, or should I wait till your Labor Day fifty-percent-off, final-summer-clearance sale?”

  “Take a look at the swimsuits. There are a few left you might like.” Jane pressed her fingers to her temples.

  Rona nodded and began intently going through the rack nearest her daughter.

  “Bye, Tish. Bye, Mel.” The latest trio of teens departed.

  Then two high school boys paused, obviously eyeing Tish and Mel.

  I will never again hire teens to work during the summer, Jane vowed silently. “May I help you gentlemen find something?” she asked pointedly.

  “Uh, no, just looking.” The youngest of the two blushed. They left quickly. Tish gave their backs a look that stated they weren’t in her league, anyway.

  Carnival music from the nearby park floated to them. The band at the Wildcat ’n’ Lace, a lounge restaurant across the street competed with the carnival’s taped calliope music. Every time its door swung in or out, rock music with an overpowering bass pounded, giving a throbbing background beat to the evening’s atmosphere. The painful pulsing at Jane’s temples picked up the same rhythm. She observed a few of the carpenters and a plumber who worked for Cash go into the lounge.

  A sudden gust of wind tossed dust up. Jane sneezed. “Bless you, my dear,” Lucy said.

  “Grandmother! Where did you come from?”

  “I planned my route carefully, so I could sneak up on you.” Lucy had “dressed” for Crazy Days. This annual event always sparked her wearing of an outrageous lime-green-and-white sundress from the seventies.

  “How long will this dress last you?” Jane asked, shaking her head.

  “I know. It’s so delightfully atrocious I look forward to wearing it every year. I can’t help it if I’m still crazy after all these years. And you should talk. Look at those glasses.”

  Jane posed artfully. “I think I should have worn them for the portrait, don’t you?”

  “What portrait?” Tish asked, standing at Jane’s elbow.

  “Never you mind, young lady,” Lucy said primly. “Jane, please have someone take a picture of you in those. My cousin Dulcy had a pair just like that in 1953. I’d love to send a photo to her of you wearing them.”

  Tish turned her back and walked away.

  Jane rolled her eyes. “I’ll try, but I won’t promise.”

  “All right. But getting back to business, I really came in to settle some of the final arrangements for your parents’ party. We only have a little over a week, you know.”

  “I know.” The wind gusted again, and Jane winced at the escalating ache at the top of her skull.

  Lucy frowned at the sky. “If I’m not mistaken, we’re going to get another storm tonight.”

  “I’d bet money on it,” Rona said, stepping close to Lucy. “Here, Jane, I’ll take this one. Would you put it on my account?”

  In a loud stage whisper to Jane, Lucy said, “I don’t think I would
let her charge anything. She looks shifty to me.”

  Jane smiled and took the mocha-brown-and-tan swimsuit from Rona. Sitting back down at the card table, she began writing out a receipt.

  “What did you decide on for the entree for Phil and Marge’s anniversary party?” Rona asked Lucy. “Veal piccata or prime rib?”

  “I decided on the prime rib. I really wanted crab linguini, but I decided to be traditional. My son would prefer straight steak and potatoes.”

  Jane handed Rona her receipt and bagged the suit.

  “Jane, you’ll be asking Cash to be your escort, won’t you?” Rona asked.

  Jane frowned. Her neck tightened another degree.

  “Oh!” Rona put a hand to her mouth. “I did it again, didn’t I? Stuck my nose into your business. On that note, I’ll move on.” Rona walked briskly away.

  As Jane’s gaze followed Rona walking down the street, she saw three men who worked for Hallawell push their way into the lounge across the street.

  Voices from behind made her look over her shoulder. Two tall high school boys had stopped to chat with Tish. Mel, with naked envy in her eyes, glared at them. Jane turned back to her grandmother. She told Lucy in an undertone, “I don’t know how much more I can stand of ‘cruising’ teens. There were a few earlier, but tonight since around six, it’s been an endless teen parade.”

  “In the future I suggest you don’t hire such pretty girls,” Lucy murmured. “A pot of honey can’t help attracting bees.”

  Jane nodded glumly.

  “I’m glad you turned Angie over to your parents for the evening. They are enjoying her to the hilt. I think they took her on the merry-go-round five times.”

  “I’m glad they were able to come up early this weekend. It’s so nice they could take a turn with Angie. I always feel like I ask you too often—”

  “Tut, tut, my dear. She’s an angel and you know it. But I’ll be off now. I haven’t had my venison burger yet this year and I never miss it. I do so love telling all my vegetarian friends about it. It drives them crazy!” With a wave of her hand, Lucy walked briskly away.

  Jane waved in return and sighed.

  “Bye.” The latest males took their farewell of Tish. Jane watched Mel’s eyes crackle dangerously with jealousy and wondered when the next Mel-Tish spat would begin.

  Then she looked down the street and saw Uncle Henry and Aunt Estelle, heading straight for her. Jane put her head in her hands, moaning inwardly.

  “Hi, Jane,” Uncle Henry launched the duet.

  “We wanted to stop by—” Aunt Estelle put in.

  “And warn you that a severe weather watch—”

  “Is in effect—”

  “Till ten p.m.,” Uncle Henry finished triumphantly. Jane’s eyes widened. How did they do it? Did they practice at home in front of a mirror?

  Jane swallowed, then replied, “The wind has changed direction, and we’ve been getting strong gusts, too.”

  Estelle and Henry asked in unison, “Where’s Leticia?”

  “She had to go to the bathroom,” Mel answered. She folded her hands together and a half dozen plastic, bangle bracelets slid down her arms and clanked loudly together at her wrists.

  “Your jewelry is quite striking,” Estelle said.

  Jane smiled at the pun her aunt had uttered without realizing it.

  “Thanks,” Mel said, making the bracelets slide and clack again on her arms.

  “Well, we have to be moving on—” Henry began their last comments.

  “We haven’t bought our Aquarama tickets yet. This might be our—”

  “Year to win the boat!” The two hurried away toward the raffle booth.

  After they had gone, Mel said, “Tish wanted to try for Aquarama Queen this year, and her mom and dad wouldn’t let her. That’s why she wouldn’t stay out here. She’s not talking to them.”

  Jane shook her head.

  Mel went on without encouragement. “They said she had to wait till she was a junior at least. Is she ever mad.”

  “I’m sure waiting a year won’t harm Tish’s chances.”

  “Yeah, but she’s still mad.”

  Tish came outside then. Jane told the girls to check the racks to see if any sizes had been moved into the wrong places.

  And after her uncle’s weather warning, Jane now noticed placards on the racks, windows and tables begin to flap ominously.

  Jane scanned the twilight sky. In another half hour it would be dark, and she could close up. At ten p.m. there would be the Aquarama draw, which was the yearly boat raffle, and then the crowning of the Aquarama Queen, the girl who had sold the most raffle tickets. This year, at least, Tish would not be crowned.

  At the far end of the block, Jane caught sight of Hallawell, sauntering in her direction. When he turned into the entrance of a men’s shop, Jane excused herself and escaped inside the shop for a few moments of peace. Her headache by now was firmly entrenched. She took two aspirin, then reluctantly forced herself back outside.

  The wild wind had gotten worse. Along the gutter across the street, an aluminum pop can skittered, making quick, metallic taps against the concrete curb, giving a sound to the wind. A little boy ran after the can, but the wind pushed it faster than he could run. His mother caught up with him. With an eye to the sky, she swung him up in her arms and called to his father.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance. A flicker of lightning to the west caught the corner of her eye. “We may be moving in on short notice,” she said to Mel and Tish, glancing at her watch. “It’s only twenty minutes to closing. We’ll see if we can stay open till then.”

  Mel nodded. Tish sighed and leaned back against the store window.

  “Jane!” Lucy walked quickly toward Jane. “That weather looks threatening. The carnival is shutting down. I heard one of the carneys say they’d had too many nights end up with them tying everything down in an electrical storm.”

  “Don’t worry, Grandmother. It will only take us three minutes to roll this stuff inside.”

  Lucy waved farewell and hurried by them.

  After her grandmother was out of sight, Jane turned again toward the western horizon. The sunset clouds were deep purple and gray; the final rays of the sun were losing the battle to the surging clouds of the new front.

  “Jane!” Tish said sharply.

  She turned to see Cash, hurrying toward the lounge across the street. Tish didn’t need to say more. An uneasy acknowledgment niggled in Jane’s mind, too. Construction workers from both crews and now Cash were all in the same lounge on a Friday night, and a storm was coming.

  Jane looked into her cousin’s eyes and saw worry there, too. Tish’s concern touched Jane unexpectedly. It was the first time she could remember ever feeling close to Tish. She reached out and took Tish’s hand.

  Tish pointed with her free hand.

  Jane followed the direction just in time to see the back of Roger Hallawell going into the Wildcat ’n’ Lace. “It’s as dark as the black hole of Calcutta in there. Maybe they won’t even see each other.” Dear Lord, make it so. She squeezed Tish’s hand and was surprised to feel Tish return the pressure.

  “Jane! I’m closing now!” the pharmacist across the street called to her. “I think this one’s moving in fast!”

  To save herself from shouting over the wind, she waved to him. “Girls, that does it. If conservative Tim is closing up, we are, too.” She motioned Tish to roll in the first rack nearest the door.

  She went over to get the cash register herself. Carrying it inside, she put it back in its usual spot on the counter. Mel came in with the second rack of clothing. Jane went back out to help Tish carry in the table of scarves and accessories. One scarf fell from the table top, but never reached the sidewalk. It flew up high and away. Jane watched it fly away.

  As the three of them moved more quickly, their junk jewelry bracelets clacked together up and down their arms, but now they could barely hear the bracelets above the wind. After the tables were in
side, Jane went out to check if anything had been left behind in their rush.

  Loud shouts caught her attention, and she turned in time to see a man propelled out the door of the Wildcat. He stumbled backward and fell heavily onto the cement sidewalk. Jane took a few steps forward as though going to his aid.

  But immediately on his heels came another two men: one of Hallawell’s and one of Cash’s carpenters. They were brawling. Jane sucked in her breath.

  More fighters poured out of the entrance. The music blared onto the street. The wind picked up the sound and tossed it high. Jane watched as six more men came out, slugging. Some were construction workers, but not all.

  “Look! Cash!” Tish exclaimed right next to Jane’s ear. Glancing to each side, Jane realized she was flanked by both girls.

  “And Mister Hallawell,” Mel said with satisfaction.

  In horror, Jane watched Hallawell and the plumber exchanging punches. Cash was hovering beside them yelling at them both.

  Jane took another step forward, but was halted by Tish’s hand, gripping her elbow. “No, you could be hurt.” Again, Jane felt the tie of family to Tish. She put her hand over Tish’s and nodded.

  Vaguely Jane thought that Tish’s and Mel’s parents would prefer that their daughters not be witnesses to this brawl on Main Street. But she could think of no way to force them back inside, and she could not make herself go in, either. Her pulse pounded in her ears, making it hard to concentrate. She tried to pray, but all she could whisper was “Cash, Cash...”

  The ruckus continued. More and more people streamed out of the lounge, some fighting, some just trying to get clear. Men cradled their arms around dates. Some pushed aside fighting pairs to make way for themselves. Through it all, the pounding beat of the band never faltered.

  Though completely ignored, Cash continued yelling at the brawlers and moving around the fighting men, who now filled a good portion of the street in front of the lounge. He returned to the plumber who was still mauling Hallawell. Cash shouted at his man and dodged a stray punch. “Stop right now!” The words came across to Jane on a violent gust of wind.

  The strident sirens of the sheriff’s cars came in blasts on the buffeting wind that was tossing up dust and paper refuse. Jane shaded her eyes from the force of the wind, but stood her ground.