Dancing Hours (23 page)

5

Vanessa
had dinner with her daughter’s family
several times a week from the moment Andrea was born.  She wished Samuel had lived long enough to see the tremendous happiness in their home.  He would have been overjoyed.

Sometimes it was difficult to manage to fit dinner with them in.  She volunteered at the senior center and often
visited
with the people in town who couldn’t get out and didn’t have family of their own.   And
y
helped with
the
meal deliveries for the church, but there was so much that needed to be done.  Sometimes, if
Nessa
wasn’t busy working at the coffee shop, she would spend an entire day helping an elderly person try to find something that they had lost and mistakenly thought a nurse or relative had stolen.  Almost all of the time, they found the precious item and Vanessa would help them calm down and maybe write a note of apology if they had gone so far as to accuse someone of something.

Other days, she volunteered at the hospital in Greenville giving directions to visitors, bringing toys to the children and helping out whatever way she could.

In the summer after And
y
graduated high school,
Nessa
began to feel the weight of all her activities.  It was harder to catch a breath those days, she couldn’t dance as long and she felt her age closing in on her.  But she wouldn’t share that with her family, she didn’t want to scare them – not now.  Andrea had just come alive.
She was looking out into her future
, excited,
and then those two handsome boys came to town. 

It was a warm and humid day and Vanessa had been feeling pretty tired.  She went in to talk to the pharmacist about what they might have to give her a little energy
boost
, but the pharmacist told her to schedule an appointment with her doctor.  As far as Vanessa was concerned a pharmacist was just as good.  They knew what all the conditions were and what all the drugs were supposed to do,
didn’t
they?  She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that they couldn’t help her, but there was no way she was going to go to that new young doctor that took over after her regular doctor retired.  He didn’t even have any gray hair yet.  She was making a mental note to get in to see one of the doctors at the hospital when she heard the motorcycle go by.
  It sounded like freedom to her, but around these parts, motorcycles were kind of a rare noise disturbance.

She looked up just in time to see Andy staring at the young man with a look on her face that
N
essa knew right away. 
N
essa quickly sized him up – not a threat to her granddaughter’s life, but perhaps just a broken heart waiting to happen.  Unlike Andrea, she did notice the nondescript sedan following the motorcycle and another, slightly older but more handsome young man driving.  It didn’t take her long to put two and two together.  These were Rosalie Merchant’s grandchildren.  She had met the two boys playing here one summer years ago.

The younger boy, Noah, was a wild one.  She caught him alone at the creek once with a turtle that had pulled itself inside and he was poking at it with a stick.  She looked around to see if she could find his parents, but they were nowhere to be found.  She grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back to Rosalie’s house, but only Theresa was home. 
Theresa
apologized half-heartedly and Nessa could smell that she was drunk.   
Young David came out from the back with a book in h
is
hand and watched
them
, looking helpless.  Theresa’s
husband returned with two cartons of beer and
Nessa
couldn’t leave those boys there. 
She made up an excuse about needing help folding pamphlets at the church and
Theresa
was quick to let the boys both go with her.

Noah walked like he had electricity running through him.  Every once in a while he would start running backwards and do a cartwheel only to run back and kick the underside of his brother’s shoe as he took a step.  David was quiet, but eager to help.  He spent two hours folding brochures with Nessa and making polite conversation about his favorite subjects in school.  He became particularly animated talking about his favorite video game.  Noah disappeared into the church and Nessa figured he couldn’t get into too much trouble there.  Several other ladies were volunteering that day and everyone kept an eye on kids around
t
here. 

Unfortunately,
he went and hid among the pews.  The congregation later discovered that all of the pencils for the donation envelopes were missing.  Nessa replenished them immediately, but by the time she went to talk
to
little Noah
Bastion
about it
he and his family had already left town.

Rumors had flown, of course, although none were started by Nessa Moore.  That summer, Rosalie Merchant withdrew from the church and started keeping to
herself
.  She had
a sadness
in her eyes, but there was still some bitter in there with it.  Rosalie had really enjoyed being around those children.

Nessa knew her life was about to get exciting
when she saw those boys a little more grown up coming back to town
.  The look in Andy’s eyes guaranteed it.

6

Timing was everything and Nessa knew it better than anyone.  She was known for her impeccable timing. 
Nessa
let Andy meet both boys on her own before she went to introduce herself again and make up her own mind about them. 

She
had just finished teaching a dance class at the s
enior center
when her chance to
talk to
David presented itself.  He and Jessica had come in
to use the computer room and he stopped at the bulletin board to look at Help Wanted ads.

“Hello.” She said to him brightly.  Jessica hid behind his leg.

“Hello.” He responded a little startled.

“I don’t think you remember me.  I met you once when you were a young boy.”

“Yes, of course I remember you. But, I’m
sorry,
I don’t recall your name.”

“Vanessa Moore, but most folks around here just call me Nessa.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

“Likewise.”

“I’m David
.”

“I didn’t forget.
And who is this?” she bent down to get closer to the little girl’s eye level.

“Go ahead and tell her your name.” David said to Jessica

She twisted and turned and muttered “Jessica”

“Well hello, Jessica.  Do you want to play a game on the computer?”

Nessa showed Jessica to a computer where there was a simple game for her to play and chatted a little longer with David.  She did a lot of reading between the lines on his very carefully crafted story about how he came to stay with Mrs. Merchant.  People had a way of talking when they were telling you the things they wanted you to know and keeping from you the things they didn’t want to share. 

“So, I understand you’ve met my granddaughter, Andy.”

“Oh, yes.  I didn’t know she was your granddaughter.”
David’s expression gave away his thoughts on Andy and Nessa wasn’t at all concerned about that.  He was an older boy,
that was true, but he was clearly more responsible than any young man his age should have to be and she was quite sure he could be trusted.

“Yes, well… family relationships aren’t always cut and dried are they?” Nessa glanced over at Jessica and David’s eyes followed hers.

Cautiously, he agreed, but the conversation ended shortly thereafter.  It told Nessa everything she needed to know about David and Jessica.

Noah came into the coffee shop that same afternoon and she was pleased at the stroke of luck.  It was always best to assess a situation early on and then work out the details.  She had pegged Noah as a small time troublemaker.  Now that
he was back in town
, she was determined to give him another chance.  Around here, most people assumed that if you were a troublemaker as a boy, you were always a troublemaker.  But Nessa was all about second chances and Noah deserved one.

He came in and sat
alone
at a large table, putting his feet up on the chair across from him and pulling out his
cellphone
to send messages.  Nessa gave her hair a pat to make sure it was in place and strolled over. 

“Hello.” She began, but Noah didn’t hear, or pretended not to hear as he tapped out a message on his phone.

“Waiting for some friends?” she asked
, a little more loudly

“Huh?” he looked up at her over the sunglasses he still hadn’t removed.

“I asked if you were waiting for some
friends?
”

“I am, yeah, is that okay with you?”

She didn’t like the tone in his voice. 
Rude and defensive.

“Yes, it’s quite alright with me.  You probably don’t remember me.”

He took off his sunglasses and looked at her carefully “Am I supposed to?”

“My name is Vanessa Moore.  Most folks around here just call me Nessa.”

Several of the
gentlemen in the coffee shop w
ere watching
their
interaction
with curiosity.  Nessa gathered they felt he was not giving her the respect she deserved.

“Sorry. I don’t know.” He shrugged

“That’s alright.  I do know.  We met once when you were a young boy here.  How have you been?”

“Uh, good.
  Could you get me a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, just a moment.”
  She left and came back with two cups of coffee, cream and sugar.  She set them on the table in front of him and as he looked at her strangely, she pulled the chair out from beneath his legs and took a seat.

“Hey!”
he exclaimed as his feet awkwardly hit the floor.

At that point, several men stood up and one asked Nessa if she was okay.  She responded “Just fine, Rodney,
thank you for your concern.  G
o get yourself some more coffee back there.  I just made a fresh pot.  Mr.
Bastion
and I are just going to have a little chat here.”

Rodney nodded and the other men sat down.  Most people turned back to their tables, but their attention hovered near the odd couple.
  Nessa leaned in so that she could be heard by Noah, but not the rest of the room.