Finding Amy

Copyright – 2002 Sharon Poppen (
www.sharonpoppen.com
)

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

ISBN:
-13: 978-1484906996

I can look back now and thank God that we, that is Susie and I, came through it all with the few scars we have.  In fact, looking at Susie and Jeff’s baby lying there in his crib, I can even say it was well worth it.  Susie is happy and I am finally beginning to feel good about my life.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let me take you back about twenty years to where everything began.  I had just been discharged from the Army and getting back into the swing of working alongside my dad and two brothers on our Texas cattle ranch.  My oldest brother Phil was married.  The other brother Tom enjoyed the single life and wasn’t looking for anything permanent, despite the fact that he was prominent on the list of potentials for many of the local girls.  I am the youngest.  I had all the hell raising I wanted when I was in ‘Nam.  All I wanted now was to settle down, raise a family and do some ranching.  We had a big spread and there would always be plenty of work for the four of us to keep the place rolling.  The ranch was doing very well in bringing in money so I felt I had something to offer a girl.

It was the first day of summer 1971 and I was attending a dance at the old armory.  The place looked quite festive despite the pale green walls and ceiling that showed blotches of rain seepage.  The decorating committee had strung pastel streamers from the light fixtures to the four corners of the room and matching pastel balloons blanketed the base of the stage.  Refreshment tables were laden with cookies and punch.  June 21
st
is the day of our annual celebration of the founding of Sparta, Texas.  Our little hometown is just north of Houston along the Trinity River.  It has been home since my birth.

I knew most of the girls at the dance.  Sparta has only one elementary school and one high school.  The girls were home from college for the summer and most of the guys were just out of the army, like me.  I spied Barbara Allen heading in my direction.  She’d been a cheerleader in the class ahead of me and had dated the football hero.  I’d heard he went off to Stanford and was now engaged to some big politician’s daughter.  Barbara had the eyes of a predator as she smiled and grabbed my hand.

“My, my, Danny Lawrence!  I wouldn’t have believed that the army could have improved on the looks of my favorite quarterback, but um, um.  You look terrific,” she purred as she pecked me on the cheek.

I laughed.  “Flatterer.”

“Absolutely not!”

“You mean you liked me under six foot, telephone pole skinny and don’t forget my shoulder length stringy hair.”  When I had graduated from high school, the Vietnam War was escalating and many of the guys in our class had the misfortune to draw selective service numbers that were among the first to be called up.   Patriotism is big in Texas, so we went willingly, if not exactly thrilled.  Boot camp had been a shock and there was nearly a riot when they took away our cowboy hats, shaved our heads and gave us camouflage Casey Jones hats to cover up our baldness.  We all knew we were going to die that first six weeks, but Texas boys are tough.  Our crew cuts and buffed up bodies bragged out a 'we can do anything' attitude at our boot camp graduation.  I’m still not sure where my extra two inches in height came from, except maybe those damn hanging chin-ups.

“Well, I must admit, I do like the hair cut.  And, you’re a little taller. And, I like these.”  She smiled while running her hand down my biceps as she continued to flirt.  “And, here we were worrying ourselves sick about you boys when you were probably having the time of your life.”

“In a war zone?” My attempt to smile in total innocence morphed into a self-satisfied smirk.  Because, in truth, she wasn’t far off.  My unit was assigned duties around the base, so for the most part, we saw very little fighting. In fact, there were days when we experienced a lot of off duty time and this led to some serious partying.  The exotic culture was enticing and helped the time pass quickly.  In no time at all, my discharge came through and here I was back home.

“You’re teasing me.”  She giggled.  “Now you owe me a dance.”

While we danced, Barbara filled me in on college life and how much fun she was having being away from home.  She had just finished her junior year at Princeton working toward a degree in some kind of engineering.  Her father owned and operated a large oil field and without sons, he was depending on Barbara to take her place in the management of his operation.  She was a smart girl, but I remembered her as a little loose and always ready to party.  She had brought a couple of her college friends home to spend a few days at her ranch before they all split for their respective homes for the summer.  She asked me if I would like to meet them.  She didn’t have to ask twice.

When the dance ended, she held my hand and led me to a corner table where she and her three friends had a table.  She introduced me to the girls, but as soon as I caught a glimpse of one brunette I was no longer interested in the others.  It was a classic case of love at first sight.

Amy Harrington had long brown hair and dark brown eyes, eyes so big and yet so sad, mesmerizing and hypnotic.  As soon as all the formalities had been met, I asked her to dance.  I was elated when she took my hand.  Her five foot two, slim body molded into mine like we were made for each other.

I monopolized her for the rest of the evening.  When the dance ended, I offered to drive her back to Barbara’s place.  She insisted that she go home with the rest of the girls, but I did get her to say it would be alright if I came to see her the next day.

*****

As I drove home, Tom pumped me about her.  “Liked that brunette, huh?”

He broke into my preoccupation of remembering her body in my arms.  “What… oh yeah. She’s something.”

He laughed.  “I guess!”

I turned to him.  “What does that mean?”

“Hey, keep your eyes on the road.”

I turned back in time to see the red lights of a pick-up in front of us come on as the driver slowed to make a right turn.

“Want me to drive, Romeo?”

“Hey, cut me some slack.  She was really special.”

“I guess.”  He repeated himself.

“Well, she was.  I mean did you get a good look at her?”

“No.  Someone monopolized her time.”

I smiled smugly.  “I did, didn’t I?”

Tom smiled back, then issued some advice.  “Danny, you never do things halfway.  You get a look in your eyes, then you move mountains to make what you want happen."

“I do not.”  I protested and glanced over at him.  He was only three years older than me, but he had always been my sounding board and protector.  I respected him and valued his opinion.  And, truth be known, he had saved my butt on more than one occasion where I’d done something stupid.

“Yeah, right.”  He snorted, then continued.  “All I’m saying is that if you’re stuck on this girl, don’t go running off half cocked and scare her off.”

“I won’t.”

“I hope not.”

“I won’t.  I’ll be cool when I see her tomorrow.  I’ll keep my head on square.”

“Good.  Now do me a favor.”

“Yeah?”

“Turn around.”

“Why?”

“’Cause you missed our turnoff about a mile ago.”  He reached over and slapped the back of my head.  “You’re hopeless.”

I didn’t sleep much that night.  I couldn’t get her out of my mind.  There was something about her that seemed surreal and untouchable.  Kind of like a goddess.  The eastern sky was turning gray before my brain shut down.

*****

I found myself knocking on the Allen’s door just a little after noon.  After pleasantries with the Allens, Barbara and her friends, I asked Amy if she would go riding with me.  To my surprise, she’d never been near a horse, let alone rode one.  Oh well, it was something I could teach her.  All I knew was that I wanted to be with her, only her.  Unfortunately, I ended up spending most of the afternoon with all the girls.  My only consolidation was that I got Amy’s agreement to go to a movie with me that night, alone.

I left the girls late afternoon and spent the time before my date washing and polishing my truck.  I picked her up at seven and took her to a local Mexican restaurant, only to find out that she couldn’t eat hot spicy food.  The proprietor whipped up a grilled chicken salad for her.  Amy was a quiet girl, not quick to smile, but when she did, the whole room lit up.  We made the eight o’clock feature at the movie house.  I have no idea what movie we saw because I spent the entire time watching her out of the corner of my eye.  After the movie, I asked if she wanted to go for a walk.

“If you do.”  She smiled.

“I do.”  I took her hand and we started down the street.  Saturday night on Main Street in Sparta is always lively.  Town folk of all ages wander the five or six blocks shopping, eating, strolling or cruising.  I noticed a lot of envious glances as we walked along.  She was wearing a yellow spaghetti strap dress with a full skirt, a small bolero jacket was draped over her shoulders and matching yellow pumps graced her feet.  Her dark hair fell loosely around her face and settled just below her shoulder.

“So, you’ve always lived on the East Coast?”

“Yes.  We live in Boston, but I’ve gone to boarding schools since I turned eleven.”

“Boarding school?  Does that mean you don’t live with your parents?”

“Well, I live with them during school holidays and summer breaks.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely?”

“Not really.  I’m an only child so being at the school allows me to be with other girls my own age.”

“Just girls?”

“Yes.  Until Princeton, I went to all-girl schools.”

“Gosh.  I can’t imagine living away from home.  I’d miss my brothers and my folks.”

She smiled.  “You get used to it.  What about you?  No college?”

“No.  I got drafted.  Spent a tour of duty in Vietnam.  Now that I’m home, all I want to do is work the ranch.  We’ve got a large herd of high-grade cattle and we also raise Palominos.  It takes the four of us to work it.”