Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
“My first part in a play, I was the incomparable Sylvia. She died in the first scene. But I made sure her death was memorable.”
—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,
Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes
The heat wave started that next week with temperatures well over a hundred degrees of humidity and scorching hot sun.
Hallie and I weren’t willing to go anywhere that didn’t involve close proximity to ice water and air conditioning.
So, the two of us were parked in front of the television, watching one of my guiltiest pleasures—The Beautifully Broken.
It was only the cheesiest, over-the-top, best soap opera to end all soap operas. It had been on for decades. Grammie watched it every day religiously and some of my best memories came from being home sick from school when she’d let me watch, too.
“Wait, is Juliet dating the doctor or his brother?” Hallie asked from her spot on the couch.
“Okay, keep up.” I shoved popcorn in my mouth and spoke around it. “Juliet is dating the doctor, his brother the lawyer, and their cousin, who’s a… I’m not sure what he does, but he does it on a motorcycle. None of them know that they’re all dating the same woman.”
“But I thought the doctor was married to that nurse.”
“Oh, he is.”
“Whoa.” She grabbed a handful of popcorn and stared at the television. Juliet had just arrived at a secret doctor’s appointment to find out if she was pregnant. Like she even knew who the father was. Man, I loved this show. “That’s a lot of boyfriends.”
“Pffst. She’s an amateur. One season, Beverley juggled six different men besides her husband. She’s a legend though.”
“Dad probably doesn’t want me to watch this, huh?”
“Technically he didn’t say you couldn’t watch it.”
Hallie grinned and stuffed more popcorn in her mouth.
My phone rang. “It’s your dad.”
“How’s it going?” he asked. In the background, I could hear the clang of metal against metal.
“We’re good. Sounds loud there.”
He sighed. “Yeah, trying to get the hot water heater working.”
“By beating it?”
“Something like that.” The shop repairs were not going well. That was an understatement. It seemed like once they fixed one problem, they found five more to replace it.
“She is pregnant,” Hallie said. I held a finger up to my mouth in the universal sign for quiet.
Hallie giggled and slapped a hand over her mouth.
“What was that?” Abe asked. “Is someone pregnant?”
“Nature show.”
“Right,” he said slowly. “I was calling to see if you’d be willing to stay late.”
“Hot date?”
“Just a couple of friends wanted to catch a movie. I know it’s last minute, so I understand…”
“No problem,” I said. “I don’t mind. Hallie and I will keep ourselves busy.”
“Iris, look,” Hallie said. “It’s triplets.”
“What was that? Triplets?” Abe asked.
“Oh, you know. Animals. Have fun.” I hung up before he could hear Hallie and me break into giggles.
We watched another episode of The Beautifully Broken, then made grilled cheese for dinner.
Bedtime was at nine and Hallie asked me to read the next chapter in the book she and her dad were reading together.
I lay next to her on the bed. She snuggled into my side as I read and fell asleep before I finished half of it.
But I stayed next to her for a while, listening to her steady breaths.
This kid had stolen a piece of my heart with her constant chatter and complete lack of guile. She was fun and I realized I hadn’t let myself have a lot of fun lately. I worked, I went to Shady Cove, I watched movies. And then did it all again. When had my life become so mundane?
Gloria was always telling me to get a life, and maybe she was right. Not that I would ever tell her that. She wouldn’t be able to lift her head, it would get so big.
After a few more minutes, I gently extracted myself from Hallie and wandered into the living room.
I stretched out on the couch and pulled up The Article.
It had been a while, and I had two more steps until my perfect career would reveal itself.
Step Four: Name it and claim it. Stand in front of a mirror and say out loud what you want to be. Manifest that new career.
I grimaced, but I’d come this far. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror was just too cringy. So, I lay on Abe’s couch and muttered to myself.
“My name is Iris and I want to be a…” But this was the problem. How did I complete the sentence? “I want to help people.”
Good start. Lots of ways to help people. I’d be good at that. I thought.
“I want to help people who need help.” Ah, yes, brilliant. Absolutely narrowed this down for me.
I was really starting to hate this stupid article. How was this helping me figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up? Muttering nonsense to myself didn’t seem to be working.
With a grunt, I turned on the television and flipped through the channels until I discovered one of my favorite movies. Abe got home about the time the Pontipee brothers were breaking into a dance number in the middle of a barn-raising. As one does.
“What are you watching?” he said, sounding amused.
“Only one of the greatest movies of all time. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”
With a smirk, he glanced at the TV and back to me. “I’ll have to take your word for that.”
“I’m serious. This is cinematic gold.”
He shook his head. “You like musicals. This is fascinating.”
“Yeah, so? I like musicals.”
“Whoa. Don’t get all defensive there, tiger.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I just never would have taken you for a musical lover.”
“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “And what did you take me for?”
“Something violent, for sure. Maybe with an angry woman who’s out for revenge.”
I scowled. “Whatever. Everyone seems to know me so well.”
He sat down on the opposite side of the couch. “But musicals?”
“Yes, I like musicals. And I like old movies. You know, classics. They’re all about the story and the characters. No one is blowing anything up or whatever.”
“You mean like Gone with the Wind or Casablanca?”
“Yes, exactly. I haven’t seen Casablanca yet though. I’m saving that one.”
“For what?”
I fidgeted with the hem of my t-shirt. “That movie is the stuff of legends. I’m saving it to watch with someone special, I guess.”
“That wasn’t the ex?”
I huffed a laugh. “Ah, no. Aidan is not a fan of old movies.” In fact, I could count on one hand the times I’d been able to talk him into watching one with me.
It had always made me a little sad but I couldn’t expect my partner to love the same things I did, right?
It wasn’t like I was knocking down walls to watch his boring financial news shows.
Abe kicked his bare feet up on the coffee table. The shorts he wore showed off a large eagle tattooed on his calf. I tried not to stare. He pointed at the paused television screen. “What’s it about?”
“Mostly kidnapping and Stockholm syndrome.”
“But with dancing?”
“And singing.”
He grinned slowly. My stomach fluttered and I looked away. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this giddy.”
I made a sound of disbelief. “I’ve never been giddy a day in my life.”
“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said very seriously, but his eyes shone with amusement.
Our gazes caught and held for a beat, then another. He smiled slowly and it felt like I could feel it in my toes. I blinked and hastily set the remote on the coffee table. “You’ve had a long day. I should get out of your hair.”
He touched my arm. I froze and tried to ignore the way his fingers felt on my skin, warm and callused, strong. Heat traveled down my arm at a slow, sultry pace. I frowned, confused at whatever this feeling was. Did he feel that?
My eyes darted in his direction and he seemed unfazed. I almost laughed out loud at myself. It had been a long time since I’d been out on a real date. A little male attention and I got all flustered. After this fake date, I needed to find a real date. That’s all there was to it.
“Wait,” he said. “You have me interested now. Wanna finish it?”
“Um…” It was probably not a good idea. “Sure.”
Abe picked up the remote. “Have I missed the kidnapping? That sounds like the best part.”