Page 5 of Second Chance Valentine

“How areyoudoing?”

He freezes like a cornered animal. But when he looks at me out of the corner of his eye and takes a breath, his bodylanguage relaxes. Almost like he had to remind himself who he was talking to.

“Better. Being around the horses helps.”

“That’s good.”

Maybe I can help, too. As I watch the last swaths of pinks and blues disappear behind the mountains, I feel relieved. It feels right to be back home. Now all I have to do is convince the love of my life to forgive all the hurt I caused and give me a second chance.

FIVE

Ginger

Granny Pearl is waiting outside Evergreen Pines, her senior living residence, for me to take her to her weekly hair appointment at the Beauty Nest. I have a sneaking suspicion that when she moved into the Pines a couple of years ago and gave me her house, she hoped I would fill it with a husband and kids. I hope she’s not too disappointed that I have not fulfilled that expectation.

She hops into my car with the exuberance of a twenty-year old, bursting with gossip from the octogenarian set of Evergreen Mountain.

“You’ll never believe what happened, sugar.”

“Do tell, Granny. Spill the tea.”

“Well, as you know, Mitch Harwell’s been sniffing around Nellie Gorman for months now, ever since her boyfriend kicked the bucket this summer. She’s been real snobbish about it. Won’t give him the time of day because she used to be Miss Hoity Toity Queen of the Country Club and he used to be ajanitor at the school. She made a big show of turning him down right in front of everybody. I felt sorry for the little fella.”

“Well,” she draws the word out into about five syllables to build the suspense. “Last night I was walking down the hall on my way to dinner and I saw Kaylee, that sweet young nurse I like so much, come out of Mitch’s room and her cheeks were as red as my fingernails, Ginger!” She holds all ten of them up to show me her set of classic Revlon Reds, just in case I forgot what they looked like and she pauses. Like the magnificent storyteller she is.

“What happened, Granny?” I ask, smiling.

“When poor Kaylee walked in, Miss Hoity Toity was in a very compromising position. And she was naked as a jaybird!” A cackle escapes from Granny’s pink frosted lips. “I guess she decided to get off her high horse and ride Ole Mitch instead!” Granny’s laughter is contagious and I have a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. By the time we reach the parking lot of the Beauty Nest, I’m laughing so hard I can hardly breathe and tears are rolling down my cheeks.

“Granny, you are a hoot,” I say when I finally catch my breath. “Woo, I needed a good laugh.”

“You mean because of Branson?”

I wouldn’t have been more surprised if she threw cold water on me. And it had the same sobering effect.

“You know about Branson being back?”

“Sure, everybody in town knows.” Darn that Trudy Nelson. “How ya holding up, sugar?”

Granny knew I needed a laugh and she pulled it out of me like an expert comedian. Well played, Granny. Well played. There’s no lying to Granny, so I decide to go with the truth.

“I feel like my heart got run over by a truck. Again.”

“Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry. I’m sure it will all work out.”

“We better get in there,” I say, tapping the clock on the car’s dashboard. “You know Marla hates it when people are late for their appointments.”

Every head swivels toward us when we enter the beauty shop and that’s when I realize my mistake. If I don’t want to talk about Branson being back, I’m in the wrong place.

“Hey, Pearl. How ya doing?” Marla barely pauses before her gossip-greedy eyes fall on me. ”Ginger! What’s new with you, hon?”

Six sets of eyes peer at me under silver drying helmets and it’s clear that every one of them knows good and well what’s new with me.

“Not much,” I say. “I’ve been busy planning the Valentine’s Dance and filling all these Valentine’s orders.”

“Well, I guess love is in the air,” she says, her eyes still frozen on mine.

“Uh huh.” I plop down in a vinyl chair in front of the window and hold a big book of hairstyles in front of my face, hoping to avoid any further speculation about my love life. Marla goes through the motions of putting the cape on Granny and pulling out the rollers and I hear the ladies murmuring just low enough that I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I know they’re talking about me.

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