6. Chapter Six
Chapter 6
Linda took Sorcha to the airport for an early Sunday send-off, then returned to the condo for a long nap. Feeling refreshed, she entered the condo building’s recreation center at noon to help Meridian facilitate the afternoon’s bingo session. Bingo was at two, and the residents would come early for refreshments. The ladies needed to get the tables set up before anyone arrived.
“How many of these are we setting up?” Linda asked, walking backwards with the ten-foot-long table bouncing against her upper legs.
“Six,” Meridian responded. She was shorter than Linda, so the table sloped towards her. “It may be more than we need, but I’d rather have too many than not enough.”
“Sure.”
“Whoa! Stop there,” Meri commanded.
Linda stopped, and they leaned over to put the table on its edge before pulling out the squeaky, metal legs.
“Thanks again for volunteering, Linda.”
“Not a problem. I don’t mind staying out of the sun in the early afternoon.”
“Smart girl.”
Meri stood up and pushed her dark brunette bangs out of her eyes. She wore a short-sleeved denim top, and Linda wondered if it was as warm as it looked.
They quickly set up the rest of the tables, then Meri got out the bingo supplies, stored in a twenty-gallon plastic tote. The residents were serious about bingo!
The door to the lounge opened, and Linda looked over to see Mason walking in. He was wearing a light blue T-shirt and board shorts with dolphins on them.
The sight of him made Linda’s heart flip-flop. She wanted to be indifferent to him. It had been a long time since he’d walked out of her life, and she thought she’d made peace with it. But seeing him was wreaking havoc on her resolve.
His eyes still radiated the warmth and charm that had initially attracted her to him. And his smile made the lucky recipient feel special. How did he still do this to her, after he’d hurt her so badly?
“Hello, ladies!” he called as he entered.
“Mason!” Meri called. He approached and gave her a big hug. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”
“I know. Haven’t been here for a while. It’s good to be back.” He looked at Linda, and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She wished they were hangover spasms!
“We’ll have to catch up,” Meri said, patting his arm. “Hey, did you hear about the Blueberry Festival?”
“No.” Mason shook his head. “What’s that?”
“A big to-do. We need more volunteers this week, and I was planning to ask Linda today.” She turned towards Linda with a plea in her eyes. “But since you’re here, I’ll ask you both.”
“What do volunteers need to do?” Mason asked.
“Many things. But I need two people to sell raffle tickets for the festival and the Saturday night gala. I think the two of you would be perfect!”
Linda shook her head. “Meri, I’m not only on vacation. I have to work a few hours every day.”
Meri looked at her quizzically. “What time?”
“It fluctuates, but usually ten to one or noon to three.”
Meri smiled. “Not a problem! I need you from seven to ten each morning, Monday to Thursday. Please say yes. I’m desperate. I thought I had a couple of locals lined up, but they called yesterday and backed out. I don’t know what I’ll do if you two can’t help!”
Mason looked at Linda. “I’m game if you are.”Meri held her hands together in front of her chest. “Pretty please!”
Linda rolled her eyes as she smiled back at Meri. “How can I say no to your sweet face?”
“You can’t!” Meri clapped and raised her hands overhead in a victory gesture. “I got you now, suckers!”
“What did we get ourselves into?” Linda groaned.
Mason leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “Now I’m worried!”
Meri laughed again and said, “Now, let’s get ready for bingo!”
For the next hour, they helped Meri set up—she did not want to face disappointment or anger from the residents if bingo wasn’t ready to go on time.
Meri glanced at her watch. “We’re ready with ten minutes to spare. Now let me tell you about the gig.”
Linda smiled to herself; Meri made it sound like they were going to be performing. Meri would be sorely mistaken if she thought Linda had any musical or acting talent.
Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson entered the lounge as Meri explained how to sell gala tickets to the Blueberry and Blues Festival. Meri abruptly stopped talking to Linda and Mason and welcomed the residents to bingo.
Mason looked at Linda and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Sounds easy enough.”
“Agree.” Setting up a table and selling tickets in front of the grocery store would be easy, but sitting next to Mason for three hours every morning might not be.
“Are you staying to help with the bingo game?” Mason asked her.
“Yes. You?”
“No. I’m going for a jog. I saw you two in here and thought I’d stop in. Say hi.”
“You underestimated Meri’s skill at leveraging able bodies into doing her bidding,” Linda said as she waved to Ms. Esquivel, who was walking in, carrying her tiny Pekingese dog under one arm. Poor dog.
“Yes, I did. Hope you don’t mind being stuck with me the next few days.”
“Anything for Meri.” Linda stressed the last word. She wanted it to be clear to Mason that she was doing this for Meri, not to spend time with him.
“Yes, of course,” Mason agreed. “Hey, how was Sorcha this morning? Make it to her flight on time?”
“She did. I sort of feel sorry for whoever had to sit next to her. I’m sure it was a rough flight.”
Mason laughed. “Well, why don’t we go to dinner tonight and catch up?” he asked. He paused and shook the hand of Mr. Green, who’d tapped him on the shoulder. After exchanging pleasantries with the octogenarian, he turned back to Linda. “Then we can make plans to meet up and drive to the location this week.”
You mean clear the air. Make it not so awkward. “Fine. We need to coordinate.”
“Great. Seven-thirty?”
She nodded.
“I’ll knock on your door then. I’ll drive.”
As always, the jog helped clear Mason’s head. The pounding of his feet on the sand and the pounding of the waves hitting the sandy shore helped clear the pounding in his head whenever he remembered the way Linda seemed to tense up whenever he got near her.
He strategized about how to approach dinner as his legs hit their stride and his body ran on autopilot. He would need to address the reasons he’d left. And why he hadn’t stayed in contact all these years.
It’d been too much. He’d needed to run emotionally back then, much as he needed to run physically now: to clear his head and gain perspective.
How would Linda understand his need to find himself? She always seemed comfortable in her own skin. Comfortable enough to color her hair pink, or blue, or purple. It had started as a way to distinguish herself from her sister, but she had fully embraced it, and it had become ingrained in her personality.
While the twins might have looked alike, their personalities were so different that Mason had never mixed the two of them up after knowing them for a couple of weeks.
Laurel was no nonsense, a driver. A natural leader. Linda always said Laurel was a bossy big sister. He’d seen the number of times that Laurel had overstepped and been a brat, so he understood Linda’s feelings.
Being the baby of the family was something he and Linda had in common. It was probably the main thing that made them close as kids. Laurel and Erin would team up and decide what the four of them would do. Half the time, Linda and Mason would rebel and take off to do their own thing.
A seagull swooped low in front of him and seemed to hover in his face, staying five feet ahead of him as he ran forward.
“What?” he asked the floating bird. “I don’t have any food.”
The bird launched itself back into the sky.
He would have to apologize to Linda as a start and try to explain to her how emotionally frail he’d been back when they graduated from college. Losing his mom to cancer had been devastating. The pressure from his dad to be a doctor was relentless and unnerving.
Deciding to change his major from pre-med to nursing was the start of Mason’s rebellion. Deciding to be a traveling nurse and get the heck out of central Illinois was the icing on the rebellion cupcake.
He’d never wanted to hurt Linda. He’d been the one to ratchet up their relationship when his mom got sick. Linda was supportive and caring and kind to him when he needed it most. It had seemed inevitable to fall for her.
But just when he had geared himself up to tell her he was going to take a position in Atlanta, Georgia to put some distance between himself and his dad and battle his way out from under the funk he’d been under since his mom died, she’d told him she loved him. The timing was awful.
He loved Linda, but he needed time on his own. He knew if he’d stayed and they’d proceeded down the path they were on, they would’ve been married within a couple of years and had kids a couple of years after that. Then he’d never know if he’d pursued nursing because it was his calling or because he’d chickened out of becoming a doctor.
Once he was married and a dad, he wouldn’t know if it had been the right decision or not. He wouldn’t have been able to go back to school and become a doctor with a family to provide for.
That’s what he’d wanted to tell Linda that night he told her he was taking a position in Atlanta. But she’d blurted out “I love you” at the same time he’d said, “I’m moving” and then chaos broke out.
He’d been mature enough to know that he wasn’t ready to settle down, that he had big questions about his future to sort out before he brought a serious relationship or a wife into his messy life. But he wasn’t mature enough to tell Linda all of that.
He hurt her, and then he ran. Ran from Illinois, ran from his dad and his sister, ran from Linda—the best thing about his life, then and always.
A cramp gripped his side. He stopped and bent over, trying to control his breath and the pain. Glancing at the watch as his hand dangled between his face and the sand, he saw that he’d been jogging for forty-five minutes. No wonder he’d cramped up.