Sue (28 page)

“Yeah,
hysterical.”
She didn’t bother to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Eugene
shoved his hands into his pockets and pretended interest in a skiff with its
lone fisherman anchored near a point, line hanging lazily in the water.

Sue glanced from his bulging
waistline, to the open-necked shirt where sparse red curls showed near his
throat, and finally at his homely face with its heavy sprinkling of freckles.

He shifted uncomfortably under her
gaze. “Well, anyway, did you hear I got engaged? I’m set to be married next
spring.”

Sue let the tension drain from her
shoulders. “Congratulations. What’s her name?”

“
Retha
.
She wanted to be here today but had to work.
She’s a cashier in a restaurant and this is one of their busiest days.” He
fumbled for his wallet. “Here. Let me show you her picture.”

Sue eyed the pudgy woman in the
photo. From the background, it appeared to have been taken at the Jersey
Shore.
Retha
had one hand around the neck of a stuffed animal and the other gripped a puff
of cotton candy, pink and fluffy as a cloud. She wore a wide, crooked smile,
and a tattoo on her thigh peeked out just below the hem of her shorts. Her
expression was open, full of good cheer. Sue didn’t know what to say so she
settled for a noncommittal murmur.

“This one’s a keeper for sure.” Eugene
beamed as he stuffed the wallet back into his pocket. He looked at Sue for a
moment as if waiting on her approval.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it, Eugene.
Good for you. For both of you, I mean.”

“I guess I ought to get back to the
party. Mom wants me to help take Derek’s kids over to the petting zoo.” He took
a few steps and paused to face Sue once again. “And hey, I’m really sorry about
all that stuff when we were kids.”

“Forget it.” Sue gave him a tight
little smile.
“Water under the bridge.”

He turned and waddled back to the
picnic area, hiking his pants as he went. As Sue watched him go, a strange
sense of relief came over her. She’d confronted Mean Eugene, all on her own,
and it hadn’t killed her. In fact, it hadn’t even been that difficult.

When Melvin caught up with her, she
told him about it. Brown eyes curious, he said, “Point him out to me.”

“Over there, tubby guy in the
orange polo shirt.”

“
Geez
,
Sue. I think you could take him in a fair fight,” Melvin joked.

“I probably could now,” she agreed.
“But not when I was a kid.” She poured the rest of her lemonade on the rocks
below and eyed her empty glass. “
Awww
, my drink’s all
gone. Maybe I’ll have a beer.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They
strolled
hand-in-hand back to the group to enjoy the rest of the day. Besides having
countless conversations with relatives and playing games with the kids, they
also attended the festival activities. The evening ended with Sue and Melvin
lying flat on their backs on a blanket, gazing up as the sky exploded in blue,
red, gold, and green. Later, they fell into bed, pleasantly tired, a bit buzzed
from the beer, and filled with fire for each other.

At her next appointment with Dr. Camden,
Sue discussed her conversation with Eugene.
“So, another dragon from my childhood slain,” she finished dryly.

“How’d that feel?”

Sue considered the question. “At
the time I said those things to him, it felt pretty good. But a little later,
after Eugene had walked away, I
felt kind of bad about it. He acted as if he didn’t know how mean he’d been to
me. And he seemed genuinely sorry. I still don’t like him, though.”

“We don’t have to like our
relatives, no matter what anyone says. We don’t choose our family. We’re stuck
with the luck of the draw on that one.”

“I wish I could’ve stood up to him
as a kid, but I guess better late than never.”

“Sometimes that’s the best we can
do.”

Chapter 40

As the weeks rolled by Sue’s
life continued to stabilize. Her appointments with Dr. Camden were reduced to
twice a week, then once a week, and finally once every two weeks, a sure sign
that Sue’s mental state was improving.

One morning in August, Sue gave
Melvin a call.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Working on files.
I can take a little break, though. Roxie and Will are out on jobs. What’s up?”

“Since the last time didn’t work
out the way I planned, I thought we could give it another shot.”

“What are you talking about?”

She leaned back in her office chair
and stared out the window at the bright summer day.
“Dinner.
My place.
Six o’clock
tonight. Be there or be square.”

Melvin laughed. “Shall I bring wine
again?”

“Absolutely.”

“Anything else?”

Sue let her voice go tender.
“Just your sweet wonderful self.”

“I’ll be there,” Melvin said
softly. “Hey, how’s Gray Baby doing?”

“She’s good.
Didn’t
much care for her trip to the vet, though.”

“So she
is
a girl?”

“Yep.
You
can anticipate a bill for spaying down the road.”

“Wow. That’s something to look
forward to.
For her, and me.
How
exciting.”

“Well, I’ve got to get back to
work. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

They said goodbye and disconnected.

At the end of the day, Sue hurried
home and fed Gray Baby. Then she took a quick shower and dressed in shorts and a
tank top. Before Melvin arrived, she lit scented candles and checked the roast
she had started in the crock-pot that morning. Everything looked delicious and
she gave silent thanks to her mom for walking her through the steps.

When Melvin knocked on the door,
she nearly fell into his arms. He balanced a bottle of wine in each hand while
she hugged him. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

“
Mmmm
. Raspberry?”

“Close.
Strawberry-vanilla lip gloss.”
She took the wine from him
and walked toward the kitchen.

He whistled in appreciation as he
followed her. “Those shorts look good on you.”

“Thanks.” Sue put a little sway in
her step to entice him. She felt better than she had in a long time and it
showed in the way she moved, the carefree tone of her voice, the glow on her
face. She threw him a sultry look over her shoulder.

In the kitchen, he poured a glass
of wine for each of them and then settled at the small table to watch her work.
Gray Baby wandered in and mewed at Melvin’s leg. He picked her up, nuzzled her,
and put her against his shoulder where she clung with miniscule claws to his
shirt. He tried to pull her away, causing his shirt to come with her. “She
doesn’t want to let go,” he remarked.

Sue swept over and kissed the top
of his head. “I know the feeling.”

Melvin smiled, delicately
extricated his shirt from the kitten’s barbs, and placed her in the crook of
his arm. He grimaced as she kneaded his skin a few times. Then she settled
herself and fell promptly asleep.

As Sue busied herself at the stove,
Melvin sipped his wine. “My folks are moving back to Cyrus.”

“Really?”
Sue
turned,
a large spoon in one hand.
“When?”

“As soon as they
get my grandparents into assisted living.”

“Here?”

“No, Grandma and Grandpa want to
stay in Kansas. It’s been hard
enough to talk them into giving up their home. There’s no way they’d move clear
up here. My uncle got them on a waiting list for a really nice place in Topeka
and they were recently accepted. It’ll be a couple of months before my folks
move home, though.” He got up and topped off their glasses, stood behind Sue,
and kissed her neck. “I’m thinking about getting a place of my own once they
move back. Maybe I could find something close by and we could be neighbors.”

“That would be good, but I may have
a better idea.” Sue didn’t turn around, but a smile spread across her face.

“What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later. Why don’t you
put Gray Baby in her bed and we’ll eat?” she suggested as she thickened the
gravy.

When dinner was over, they made
love with even more intensity than usual. Afterward, they cuddled and Melvin
stroked Sue’s hair. “What was your idea?”

“Hmm?
Oh,
well, I’m really quite terribly fond of you.” Sue affected an English accent.
“I thought perhaps we might consider sharing a place.”

Melvin chuckled. “Jolly good idea,
old chap!”

Sue rose on one arm and looked down
at him, a sneer on her face. “Old chap? Do I look like a guy to you?”

“Sorry.” Melvin blushed. “It was
the best I could do on the spot; I’m not very good with impressions.” His
expression grew serious. “Did you mean that, Sue? Do you really want to move in
together?” He caressed her cheek with his fingertips.

She placed a kiss on his forehead.
“I think we should discuss it. How do you feel?”

“You know how I feel, Sue. I’d love
to wake up next to you every morning, go to bed with you each night. But, I
keep some strange hours sometimes. Would that bother you?”

“No. I mean, it might, but I’d get
used to it. By the time your parents move back, I think we’ll know if it’s
something we ought to do or not.” She lay back down beside him. “You told me
once that you aren’t comfortable with me, but you wouldn’t tell me why. Will
you tell me now?”

“That’s simple. The reason was that
I was attracted to you and I knew you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Well, that’s not a worry anymore.”
She laid her arm across his waist.

He put his arm behind his head and
stared at the ceiling. “I haven’t told you this, but my dad is kind of
pressuring me to change my major.”

“To what?”

“He thinks I should study law. He wants
me to be an attorney. Says the pay is better, more job security.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to own a business like
Will’s someday. I don’t know if this town can support another one, so that
could mean moving. Maybe even out of state. Then again, I guess I could go into
law enforcement. I wouldn’t mind that too much.”

“Be a cop?” Sue shook her head.
“Too dangerous.”
She had a thought. “What about
your
boxing? Do you know I haven’t ever seen you fight? I
mean, not inside a ring.”

“I haven’t kept up on it. In fact,
it’s been more than a year since I competed.
Too busy with
work and school.
It’s just something I had to do at one time, but now
it’s
run its course. Know what I mean?”

“I think so.” She snuggled in
beside him. She knew exactly what he meant. Rolling onto her side, Sue propped
her head in her hand and looked down at Melvin. His hair was tousled, his
expression tender. She said, “I love you, Melvin.”

His eyes widened. He reached
up and gently cupped her cheek. “I love you, too. I have for a long, long time.
You have no idea how long.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I was worried I’d scare you
away.”

She looked thoughtful.
“Maybe at one time.
But I’m not afraid anymore.”

He pulled her in for a long
kiss.

Chapter 41

“Dr. Camden recommended I read
Reversing
the Damage
by
Nella
Cain. It’s an older book but
I called Re-Books and they have a copy.” Sue gently rubbed her temple with one
finger.

Melvin studied her a moment. He was
sprawled on her sofa. They’d just returned from dinner at Applebee’s. “Did you
check the library?”

“Of course.
They have it, too.”

“So what’s the problem? Just get it
from the library.” His eyes followed her as she walked to the window to close
the blinds. “Is this why you’ve been so quiet this evening?”

“Yes.”

“I thought maybe you were mad at me
or something.” He stood and walked to her, turned her to face him.

“Mad at you? No!
Not
at all.”
She caressed his cheek before stepping away. “It shouldn’t be a
big deal, but the idea of going into Re-Books again makes me nervous.” She
paced a few times.

“So, don’t go.” He looked puzzled.

“That’s the thing. I need to.” She
fidgeted with her fingers and looked away from him at a point over his
shoulder. “I used to love that store. Have you ever been in there?”

“Yeah, but not
often.
I heard it’s under new management. I haven’t been in there since
it changed hands.”

“I didn’t know that. But it’s still
called Re-Books?”

“Far as I know.”

“Well, nevertheless, there was a time
when I enjoyed hanging out there.
Poking around the shelves.
Relaxing in the reading area.
The
smell of all those books.
Just the whole dusty old
atmosphere of it.
But since Zeke, I haven’t been there. I figured it
would be too upsetting, full of too many memories.”

Melvin’s expression froze.

Sue noticed the look on his face
and rushed to reassure him.
“Oh, no.
Not happy
memories, Melvin. It’s not like that. It’s nothing to be jealous or hurt over.”

“Well, what then?”

“I hate it that Zeke stole that pleasure
from me. It’s true the store reminds me of him. But it seems to me, the best
way to deal with that is to start going there again. You know how it is. The
more you’re exposed to something, the more desensitized you get. I need to do
that with Re-Books. I need to create new memories in the place. It’s just that
I dread the first time.”