July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (29 page)

Alan waited for my answer. Tired of turning guys down and the same old arguments, my mind scampered off to the nut farm.

I chuckled inside. “I can't, my husband wouldn't like it.”

It was hard not to giggle while I looked at his stunned face. Of course, Drew's uproarious laughter didn't help, either.

“You're married?” His shoulders slumped. “You're not wearing a ring.”

That's right, what do I say?
“Oh, I don't in public.” I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder. “He doesn't want people knowing he has two wives.”

Alan's eyes grew as he looked over my shoulder. “You married him, the old fart?”

“Please don't tell anyone, it would make it very unpleasant for me.”

“I won't tell anyone, but it's not right that he even asked you.”

Drew now rolled across the suitcases, holding his sides as he gasped for air.

“Actually, I asked him to marry me.”

Drew kicked his feet in the air, still trying to breath.

“You what? … Why?” He was incredulous.

“It seemed like the best thing at the time.” I was going to get in so much trouble for this.

Alan’s deep brown eyes searched my face. “Are you happy?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “I'm happy enough.”

“Happy enough isn't good enough.” He reached across the cart, took my hand, and Drew stopped laughing. Alan’s arm pinned him down. “You deserve better. I would make you very happy.” His sincere words touched my heart and a sigh leaked out. I was so lonely.

“Hey! Take your hands off of her!”

From somewhere behind Sue, a guy with his fist raised pushed forward. Dad stepped in his way, but the short, stocky man had momentum. Dad fell back against the wall. Sue tried to catch him, and ended up on the floor, too, with the twins beside her.

The short, stocky man came to a halt beside me, pulled Alan's hand from mine and threw it back at him.

Alan frowned. “Are you her husband?”

“No.” He turned to me. “I would be glad to become your husband.”

“Back off, Bozo, she's already married.”

“No!” The smaller man’s eyes bugged out. “Please tell me it's not true!” He grabbed my arms and shook me.

Alan helped free me of the man's vice grip.

“Sorry.” My arms hurt.

The man stepped back holding his chest. “Who's the creep that stole you from me?”

I gave Alan a warning look before I replied. “He's not here. Now would you please go away? You're scaring me.”

Dad stepped between me and the man. “You heard her, you're scaring her.”

The man snapped at Dad. “Who are you?”

“I'm her father.”

Alan huffed. “Uh-huh.” His voice was deep and solemn as he narrowed his eyes at Dad and stood to his full height.

Dad did a double take at Alan before turning back to the short man. “Please move on before I call a porter.”

The man heaved a snort. “Sure, I'll go. I might as well throw myself over board.” He flung his arm out theatrically, barely missing both men.

“If you don't throw yourself over, Oliver, I'll throw you over myself.”

I jerked my head back to the crowd and there stood a small woman with curly brown hair and smoky eyes that were set on fire. With hands on hips, she tapped her toe.

Oliver held a hand up. “Don't start, Michelle.”

“Start?” She wagged her finger at him. “No, I'm in the mood to finish!” She turned on her heel and the gawking crowd split to let her through.

Dad put his hand on Oliver's shoulder. “You'd better go after her. That little ball of fire is worth the effort.”

Oliver took one last wistful look at me before reluctantly following Michelle through the ocean of people. When the heartsick man was swallowed by the crowd, Dad and I both exhaled in relief.

He put an arm around my shoulders. “Sorry he got by. That little one was surprisingly strong.”

“It's okay, Alan here was a lot of help” I turned to the fuming young man. “Alan this is my
father
, Len.
Dad
this is Alan.”

Alan just glared at my father’s extended hand.

Dad breathed in. “Okay … well, it looks like they're almost ready for us.”

Sure enough, the line moved. Alan kicked his duffel bag so hard it slid past the next three people. He didn't bother retrieving it.

Dad looked at me. I just shrugged as I pushed the cart forward. This explanation would have to wait until we were safely in the car and zipping down the highway, where my dad would have to concentrate on the road. With any luck, he’ll forget about it. Have I mentioned that my luck isn’t very generous?

Drew stayed on the cart until we arrived at the van. Only then did he climb down. Unfortunately, he didn't go away. He wouldn't allow me to ignore him.

“
Sylv, you're not really going to go with them when you could go with me and have freedom
.” He sounded sure of himself.

I shook my head, trying not to be obvious that I was communicating with my imaginary friend. He followed me around as I helped load the car top carrier, never stopping his incessant badgering. The longer I knew him, the more irritating he got.

When we all piled in I watched him closely. Being the last one, I barred his way so he couldn’t enter. As I backed into the van I kept my eyes on him. I wasn't going to let him get in and pester me all the way to Talkeetna. He wasn't happy, and couldn’t do anything about it while in Phase.

Out the window I mouthed good-bye. All the affected guys in the bay thought I was waving at them and waved back. The frowning Drew just stood there and looked dejected. I felt terrible for him. He must be very lonely in the life he’d chosen to live. I would’ve liked to help him, then again, this year I was barely able to help myself.

We found our motel outside Talkeetna as the sun should’ve been going down.

Dad explained. “During the summer the days are very long. June 21
st
was the Summer Solstice and the longest day of the year with less than five hours of the sun not being seen in the sky, though it’s still light out. In July, night is only around six hours. The sun won’t set until eleven tonight. The time from sunset to sunrise is called Civil Twilight. We’ll have to have light blocking curtains on our bedroom windows so we can sleep.”

Something else I should’ve researched.

Tim unlatched his seatbelt and grabbed his tote. “Does that mean we get to stay up until eleven?”

Sue shook her head at him. “No, and there will be no discussion on this.” She got out and stretched her back.

Everyone was tired and cranky. The twins and I had one room. Dad and Sue had the other. After unloading our suitcases, Dad looked around for somewhere to eat. I scoped out the area to make sure Drew hadn’t found a way to follow, or that someone hadn’t gotten a whiff of me, yet.

Just down the road, a small diner with a neon sign blinked “Tony's” and glowed invitingly in the dim light. My stomach growled, even though I’d consumed enough junk food since Whittier to choke a large elephant. It didn’t want to be forgotten. With no one in sight, we walked the short distance to the diner to stretch our cramped legs and give the twins a chance to run around some. The last fifty miles had been a real strain with the twins’ non-stop talking and bickering. I still wasn't feeling completely back to normal after last night's episode, and wished for the quiet and comfort of my small room in Oklahoma. I didn‘t have my sanctuary any more. I didn‘t have anything, only a fading promise.

The diner, almost empty when we stumbled in, had a cheery, carefree air. Actually, the air was filled with grease and fried-everything aroma. My stomach was in heaven. We took the large booth with the seventies geometric design on the ripped Naugahyde that wrapped around the bright, windowed corner. Though the menus had seen better days the selection was good. I ordered their biggest burger and fries.

The waitress, Paula, according to her name tag, looked me over. “That’s a pretty big burger, darlin'. You may want to order something smaller.”

My stomach growled. “I think I can handle it. I’ll take the big one.” My iron-clad sentient being of a stomach wouldn't break a sweat on this morsel.

She looked at Dad, who nodded. She shrugged and shook her head. “Okay, but we do have to-go containers when you need them.”

Dad smiled. He knew I’d be able to finish off any size they threw at me. This year had been different in many ways. One of those ways was I’d never been a big eater … until now. Now I could eat a whole cow, hooves, horns and bell. To say The Change did weird things to my appetite was an understatement.

While we waited for our food, I entertained myself by looking at all the stuffed and mounted animals, photos and old memorabilia the owner had collected over the years, with the twins by my side. Tim’s favorite was the old baseball cards and pictures of star athletes that had eaten here. Tam liked all the small lady statues. I liked the old record album covers that filled one wall. I’m an oldies fan and got a kick out of seeing what some of those singers looked like. My favorite group is Three Dog Night. I have three of their records that had been my grandmother’s. Plus, I have four of their tapes and five of their CDs. It disappointed me that Tony’s didn’t have any Three Dog Night.

Two rough-looking guys at the counter kept their eyes on me. Dad was here. Two to one weren’t good odds which made me apprehensive. I didn’t stray far from our booth while trying to not look at them. The last thing I wanted to do was endanger my father, again.

When the waitress brought our food, she saved mine for last, wanting to watch my reaction.

She put before me
the
biggest burger I’d ever seen. I smiled with glee. Here was a meal that just might fill me up.

Paula grinned. “Tony said that if you can finish everything by yourself, dessert’s free.” Her voice spoke of doubt that I would get the free dessert. She was in for a surprise.

My eyes widened. “Alright! What do you have for dessert?” I grabbed the ketchup and mustard. She didn’t say anything. I looked up to see why she hadn’t replied. She stared at me.

When we made eye contact, she stammered, “Uh … as soon as you’re done, I’ll get you a menu.”

I smiled wide. “Okay.” A filling meal and dessert. Life was good.

The hamburger, almost as big as the plate, came with a large basket of fries. There were eight tomato slices, a pile of lettuce, twenty pickles chips, and half an onion. I put everything on the burger, and cut it into fourths so I could handle it better. I didn’t want to lose any of this juicy bad boy down the front of my blouse. What made it even better was it was cooked to perfection and tasted like real hamburger. You wouldn’t believe how many places used mystery meat.

The diner filled with their evening customers. Even so, Paula kept an eye on my progress. I even caught a man, who I assumed was Tony, peek out of the kitchen, amazed that I was actually able to eat so much.

I popped the last fry into my mouth and Paula brought over the dessert menu.

“The only others I’ve ever seen finish off one of those by themselves are the big guys from the Village.” She laughed and handed me the menu. “I’m going to have to tell them they have competition.” She shook her head. “Wow.” She shook her head again and turned her attention to Dad. “Are you here on vacation?”

Dad sat back, wiped his mouth and placed the paper napkin on his empty plate. “No, we’re moving to Talkeetna. I’ll be managing the waste water plant.”

Paula was very friendly and patient as I had trouble deciding what to get. “Ah, I heard they hired from out of state. Where’d you come from?”

“Oklahoma.”

“You sure came a long way. I hope you like it here.” She sounded sincere.

Dad patted his stomach. “I’m sure we will.”

I looked up, still undecided what to get. “If the food is always this good, I’m going to like it.”

Everyone laughed … except Sue.

Paula pulled her pad out. “Is anyone else going to have dessert?”

The twins ordered ice cream cones, Sue was full, and Dad wanted apple pie a la mode. I finally chose the brownie sundae.

Tony, the owner, was a short, light skinned black man with short curly hair and a round belly that never stopped shaking because he never stopped laughing. He brought out the desserts and a digital camera. He wanted a picture of the
little girl
to prove to everyone that someone so
skinny
finished one of his Klondike burgers. I posed for the picture even though it was embarrassing. With any luck it would be forgotten by tomorrow.

The brownie sundae was great and I could actually say I was full when we left. It was a good feeling. We walked back to our rooms, the twins jabbering and the sweet aroma of the woods filled the space between the diner and the motel. The tantalizing smell of food cooking wafted on the wind as it shifted and blew over us. My stomach rumbled approval.

By the time I fell into my bed, I was already halfway to sleep.