10. Henry
“Well, I’m glad you finally answered my calls again, Henry,” Melanie grumbled, her bitterness blatant over his cell phone. “I guess it only took a new phone number.”
Why the hell had he answered? Henry admonished himself, shivering in the vestibule of the diner every time someone entered or exited.
After taking his brother’s advice, he’d had the foresight to block his ex-wife after she had called him the night of the state fair.
His phone had remained blissfully free from her distressing texts and calls until now, when a new number flashed on his screen.
Sitting at the table with DD, he answered it, concerned it could be one of his customers with an emergency.
In the past, he’d rescued farmers stuck in fields with trucks that wouldn’t start, school buses stalled out on country roads, and just the other day the new vet in town was on his way to see a horse with a lame leg when he needed a quick tire fix.
“Melanie,” Henry tempered his exasperation, “do you know how peaceful these past few months have been? Not having to answer a call that I know is only going to aggravate me?” A sharp intake of breath didn’t deter him from adding, “I wouldn’t have answered now if I had known it was you, as I’m sure you’re aware. ”
“When did you get so cold, Henry? When did—”
Henry cut her off. “Don’t start with what I’m doing wrong.
Any reaction I have is based on what you have done.
Let’s not rewrite history, making you the victim here.
” The gall of her, putting any blame on him when she had been the one to leave.
He wished he could be cold; he’d prefer that over the rage threatening to choke him.
This stunt of changing her number was on brand for Melanie, who delighted in skirting around an issue as long as she got her own way in the end.
“Do you know how humiliating it was for me to have to tell your father that you were ignoring me?” Melanie grew quiet, and her sudden change in demeanor caused the hair on his arms to stand up. His ex never backed down, only got louder.
He retaliated, “Do you know how humiliating it was for me to tell my dad that you had abandoned his grandson? You knew how fond he was of you…thought you could do no wrong.”
“Maybe if you had given me some of that grace or understanding, things would have worked out differently.”
“And again, here we are…back to everything being my fault.” Rubbing his arm to keep at least that part of his body from freezing, Henry was about to end this ridiculous call when the inside door opened.
“Henry, are you coming back in?” Concern furrowed DD’s brows.
“Who’s that?” Melanie demanded, and he tensed, worrying that she would recognize DD’s voice.
During their marriage, one of her issues was Henry’s teenage infatuation with DD, despite his repeated assurances that there had been no one else for him since the day they met in Arizona.
Her attitude worsened when DD returned from Ohio with a brand-new husband, with constant digs about how old he was, how DD only married him for his money, and how Melanie swore the other woman couldn’t keep her eyes off Henry whenever they were in the same place.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Henry told DD, who nodded, turning back into the diner. To Melanie, he said, “None of your business. Are we done here?”
“I see you’re back to your old tricks, huh, Henry?
You think I don’t know that voice? Don’t know that your dream woman is the mother of our son’s girlfriend?
William told me all about it. He also said that her husband isn’t well.
” Henry loved his dad, but sometimes he wished he would keep a tighter lid on all information.
“I bet she can’t wait to make you husband number three-”
“Okay, I’m done. My personal life is none of your business.”
“Oh, so your personal life concerns her? I knew it, years ago. She played hard to get when you wanted her, but when you were unavailable, that’s when she wanted you.”
Her audacity shook him. “Need I remind you that you’re the one who left? You walked away without a backward glance!”
“Don’t believe for a minute that I never looked back! I did! I still do! That’s why I called—”
“No, I’m not doing this,” he hissed. “I’ve got to go.”
“To her, you mean, right?” And then he hung up, taking a minute to slow his racing heart, furious with himself for letting her get to him.
Head down, he reentered the diner, only looking up as he slid back into the booth.
Anger gave him more velocity this time, so he found himself all the way in the booth, with his shoulder next to the window.
A slight movement caught his attention, pulling it until landing on Charlotte.
How long had she been there? How had he not noticed her until now?
None of that mattered because she was all he saw now.
Entranced, with everything in slow motion, he instantly forgot about Melanie, automatically tuned out DD, and instead feasted his eyes on Charlotte.
Until Ruth walked by, waving on her way out of the diner.
With Charlotte in his direct line of sight again, Henry did his damndest to pay attention to DD, but it proved impossible.
His eyes locked with Charlotte’s, and his finger rubbed his lip unconsciously.
Charlotte flushed. She was breathtaking, unlike any woman he had ever known, with her grace and easygoing manner.
The day she’d dropped her car off at his shop, too long ago now, had left him wanting more, and he had looked forward to talking with her again.
The day she was picking up her car, he’d gotten to the shop early, installed a new battery for her and, after a thorough inspection of the Tempest, was satisfied it was in top running condition.
Anticipating her arrival later that afternoon, his smile vanished the moment his parts distributor in Sioux Falls called.
With two of his employees on vacation, the shop was short-staffed, and Henry was the only one available to make the trip.
Even though he made it to Sioux Falls and back as swiftly as possible, he had missed her by about ten minutes, according to Juan.
His friend relayed how Charlotte’s smile had faded upon hearing that Henry was out, but encouraged him to call her.
Juan made it sound easy, but every time he tried, he failed.
Everything he thought of saying to her fell flat to his own ears, and he was too humiliated to ask anyone for guidance.
Not helping matters was his sister, who, visiting him out of the blue one day, asked not-so-subtly if her new “friend” had brought her car in.
Blushing as Trixie hid a sly smile behind a steaming cup of coffee, he confirmed Charlotte had dropped her car off.
When that was all he would confirm, his sister asked him what he thought of Charlotte.
What could he say? That he thought she was magnificent?
That he found himself undeniably attracted to her?
That he was drawn to her? That he longed to taste her mouth with his while inhaling her beauty until it filled him?
He hadn’t…he couldn’t. He just grunted in response and answered the shop phone when it conveniently began ringing.
Forcing his attention back to DD, who was using alcohol to quiet her fears about Burnside, he wondered how much she was drinking these days, a habit that, unfortunately, wasn’t new.
In their small hometown of Clover Lake, a secret was virtually impossible to keep, and DD’s day-drinking had progressed over the past few years, the news making it the forty miles over to him in Beverley.
Which was why last night, after first hearing about Burnside from Josh, his initial instinct was to contact her personally to offer his support.
He had hesitated, though, remembering her overly-friendly behavior at the fair last summer.
Despite this, a lifetime of caring about her had him texting his son this morning, asking after the Van Holland family.
Finding DD alone at the diner had surprised him, and even though the hospital was right across the street, she had worn a dazed look, as if she was unsure how she’d gotten there.
While he watched her peel apart her turkey club sandwich, cringing as she tossed aside both the lettuce and the tomato, he ordered a strawberry malt from Sissy when she passed by the table.
“Ice cream in the dead of winter?” DD shook her head, the brittleness on her face giving way to a small smile.
“Henry, you’re no better than a teenager,” she chastised.
“So who was on the phone that had you looking like you could eat fire?”
Not in a million years would he discuss Melanie with DD. Instead, he redirected her. “You mentioned something about Burnside’s business?”
After popping a cheese curd into her mouth, she said, “Yes. I was looking through his files last night after I got home. Henry, what will I do if I have to take care of everything? I don’t have a knack for any of that.
I don’t know business, or stocks and bonds.
I was a teacher, but a million years ago.
Hamilton could help, I guess, but he’s so busy with his college courses.
” Aside from that, unless the young man had been privy to his father’s business, as Henry had been from an early age, he would be in over his head.
“Maybe you could come over to Clover Lake tomorrow and help me understand what I’m looking at? ”