6
What do you mean thecard declined?” I ask the cashier.
“I’m sorry, Miss. It just tells me it’s declined.” she replies to me regretfully.
I turn to Megan, “That’s impossible. This is my parent’s credit card. They gave it to me in case of any emergencies.” Tears prick my eyes.
We came to town after we got back with the calf. She could tell I was emotional and needed to step away, so we offered to grab lunch for everyone while Logan and Collin finished checking over the calf and doing chores. I was going to pick up my car and bring it back to the farm with us since it was still at Nana’s.
“Suzie,” Megan says turning to the woman, “Put it on my tab.” The cashier smiles at Megan and gives me a sympathy smile and bags my clothes.
“Megan,” I say with tears in my eyes, “I cannot let you do this.”
The cashier hands us the bag with at least a hundred dollars worth of clothes and I won’t grab it. Megan rolls her eyes and grabs it instead, “Oh it’s no big deal, girl. You pulled your own weight this morning on that mountain. This is my thank you.” She smiles grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the store.
We walk in silence along the main street in Maple heading towards Nana’s to pick up our to-go order for lunch. I have never seen a town so beautiful and simple. Everyone we pass says hello and all of them know Megan.
“This town is so beautiful.” I state in awe.
She smiles. “I’m thankful to call it home.”
“Is your grandfather still alive?” I ask her.
She pauses as if the statement stung her a little and she nods. “He has Alzheimer’s. A few years ago, Grandma put him in the nursing home a few towns over because he got to be too much to handle along with the farm. She was afraid he would hurt himself.”
I nod in silence as we cross the street walking towards Nana’s. It’s a beautiful day and the flowers are blooming all over town. Nana’s is always busy with little parking left in in the parking lot.
A gentleman holds the front door open for us. “Good evening, Meg. Your grandmother”s lunch is the best,” he says to Megan, and smiles at me letting the door go as we walk in.
I turn to Megan, “Your grandmother also cooks here?” I ask stunned. She laughs, “She doesn’t just cook here, she owns it.” She says nonchalantly. “You didn’t taste the similarity when you ate at the house?” She walks behind the buffet and back to the kitchen.
I follow her. “I mean, yeah but also, no. I suppose I never put it together. Is that why you were here the day that I was, and you haven’t been since I’ve been at the farm?” I ask her as she hands me the to go plates sat back for us.
“Yeah,” she looks around and grabs a few rolls from a fresh pile and wraps them up, “They needed extra hands that day. One of the waitresses called in sick so I took her spot. I don’t normally work here but I help out at times.” She smiles saying hey to a few of the workers then leading us back to the front of the building telling everyone bye.
“Why is it called Nana’s?” I ask after a moment, “All I hear you and Collin call her is Grandma.”
She stays quiet for a bit, and we look both ways before crossing the street then she says, “To be honest, I’m not sure. It may have been named that when she bought it or something and just kept it the original name. She owned it before I was born.”
I”m quiet with nothing more to say. Then as if a memory jogs my brain, I say, “Crap! I need to call my parents. I have no money if I can’t use the card.” I pull my phone from my purse and realize the signal is gone. I turn it to Megan, “Does this mean what I think it means?” I ask with a sigh.
“Damn,” she says, “Is that on Stephen’s plan or your parents?” she asks.
I huff out a deep breath, “My parents. Stephen and I planned to go get new phones as soon as we were back from our honeymoon.”
“That’s tough,” she says to me as we reach her truck, “I don’t know what I’d do until I was in the situation, but I’d at least want my child to be able to get in touch with me if they needed to, no matter the situation or their age.” She shrugs to me. “I’m sorry. You can use the house phone to call them when we get back.”
I wipe away a tear, “I don’t know what I’d ever do if I had not found you and this place.”
She gives me a hug and I put the plate of food I was carrying in the passenger seat of her truck. I’ll follow her home in my Altima.
***
We both pull up atthe house and make our way to the front porch with lunch. I notice Margaret writing in her book at the kitchen table through the screen door. We startle her as Megan opens the door and she closes her book getting up from her seat, “Oh girls, back so soon?” she smiles putting the book away in a drawer. “How was the restaurant?” she asks Megan while taking the to-go plates from us.
“Good and busy.” She tells Margaret with a smile.
“I had no idea that was your place!” I tell her, “Your food is the best. But how are you here and not there cooking?” I ask confused.
She laughs, “Oh honey, I cook in the mornings but once we got busier, I hired chefs and taught them my recipes.” She winks at me, “An old lady like me can’t do everything these days.”
I smile at her.
“Heard you had an interesting morning...” she eyes me, and I shuffle my feet. “I just did what I was told.” I explain to her.
“To hear Logan talk, he couldn’t have done it without you.” She grins grabbing plates to sit at the table.
“Where are the boys?” Megan asks her while looking around. “Oh, I see Collin,” she says looking out the window, “I’ll go get them.” I nod and stay in the kitchen with Margaret.
Once Megan is out of sight, I turn to Margaret and ask, “May I use your phone. Mine apparently isn’t working.”
She looks up at me from placing napkins on the table and points to the living room, “It’s in the den.” She says, “Use it anytime you need it, honey.”
I thank her and walk into the living room. It’s a cute little room, full of pictures of years passed and little figurines. There’s a grandfather clock that sits on the far back wall. Beside the couch is a corded telephone and I smile at it. I haven’t seen one of these in years. Sitting down on the couch, I pick up the phone and dial the number I’ve been dreading since I got here. My mother.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Hello?” my mother’s voice rings on the other end of the line.
“Mom?” I ask in a quiet voice.
“Ivy!” she gasps, “Where on earth are you? Your father and I have been worried sick.” I hear noises in the background. “Stephen and Courtney are worried about you too. They are here, now.”
I close my eyes. Perfect timing.
“Mom, I’m fine. I need time to figure out what I want to do.” I pause, “I called because my credit card declined earlier, and my phone is no longer working.” There’s a long pause at the end.
“Yes, well, we thought if we cut off your means, you would come back home.” She sounds proud of herself.
I huff, “We?”
She clears her throat, “Well, your father has been working a lot trying to clean up your mess. But I took it upon myself to cut you off until you return to your senses.”
I roll my eyes. Typical of her. “What if there was an emergency? What if I needed it?” I say louder into the phone.
She clears her throat again, “Should have thought about that when you embarrassed our family name and didn’t show at your wedding day.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Mom, Stephen was cheating on me - with my own sister!” I yell into the phone.
She answers sternly, “No, what you saw was a misunderstanding. But even if you did see what you think, they are sorry and say it will never happen again. He loves you, Ivy, and his family is very wealthy. Where are you? I’ll have your father send a car for you.”
I can hear Stephen’s voice in the background. “Tell her I will buy her a brand-new car if she comes home.”
Anger takes over me and I scream into the phone with all of my breath, “FUCK ALL OF YOU!” My voice cracks and I have to take a breath. “I won’t be coming back home anytime soon if even at all.”
Tears run down my cheek, “If that is how you feel.” My mothers harsh tone says on the other end, “I’m disappointed in you, Ivy. If finding yourself is what you need, then so be it. But don’t come crying back to me when you realize I am right.”
I throw the phone down on the receiver ending the call without a goodbye. Being able to slam a phone rather than just hit the end button felt good, but not good enough to stop what was about to happen. I feel the emotions flooding in and I throw my head into my hands. I want to scream but instead tears flow from my eyes. None of them care about me or how it affects me, all they care about is their own well-being.
The cushion next to me dips and someone wraps their arms around me. The embrace makes me cry harder.
“Shhh, shhh,” I hear Margaret’s voice tell me, “You are welcome here for as long as you need.” I lift my hands and look at her, she wipes away one of my tears, “No boy is worth crying over sweetheart. And the one that is won’t make you shed one single tear. Unless it”s from an orgasm.” She winks at me. I half-heartedly laugh.
“That’s the spirit,” she says, patting my leg. She rises to walk back into the kitchen.
“How long have you been married?” I ask her and the question came out before I even realized what I said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even asked. Megan told me her grandfather has Alzheimer’s.”
She turns to me and smiles. Walking over to a picture frame she picks it up and hands it to me and I cannot help but smile. They don’t look more than eighteen years old. He is in a military uniform, and she is in a simple, yet lovely, white wedding gown. When I look up at her I notice she has tears in her eyes, “He will forever be the love of my life even if most days he doesn’t know who I am.” she sighs, “We had a wonderful life together, two beautiful children and then when our grandchildren came along, the world got even better. Sure, we have had some dark days, but the good outweighs them all.” I hand her back the picture with a smile and she puts it back on the shelf.
“I dream of that kind of love, someday.” I say smiling at her.
“Wait for the man who is your best friend.” She grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Now,” she says pulling me with her into the kitchen, “Let’s eat some lunch.”
The screen door flies open. Megan, Collin, and Logan all come busting in the door and grabbing seats around the table.
“Eat up, city girl,” Logan looks at me with a clesrly amused with himself, “you got stalls to muck this evening.”
I roll my eyes.