Page 9 of Second Chance Valentine

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Betty is heading for the door and I leap forward, trying to open it before she has time to make a tell-tale scratching sound. I ease the door open and glance over at Branson, who is still curled up on the couch, snoring softly. His brown hair has fallen over his eyes and I resist the urge to brush it away. Somehow he doesn’t seem as threatening in this state.

Don’t go there. We’re moving forward, not backward, I remind myself as I slip silently out the front door.

???

By late morning, the coffee has kicked in and I’m feeling almost human. Hallie and I are finishing up a custom order of royal icing sugar cookies made to look like Conversation Hearts when I see Branson through the plate glass window out front. My mind is telling me that I don’t want to see him, but my stomach betrays me and I feel the same excited flutter that I used to when I saw him in the halls at school. I’m trying hard not to smile when he comes in the door, grinning from ear to ear.

“I’ve got a surprise for you. Can you get away for a few minutes?”

“Oh, I can’t leave work in the middle of the day,” I say, shaking my head.

“You’re the boss,” Hallie says. “So you kinda can.”

“I don’t want to leave you here, Hal.”

“You do it all the time. It’s fine. Go,” she says through her teeth in a way that makes me feel like she’s my boss instead of the other way around.

“Come on. I’ll have you have in half an hour. I promise,” Branson says, gesturing toward the door with a turn of his shoulder.

“Ok, ok. I guess I don’t have a choice.”

Branson grabs my hand and pulls me to his truck, opening the passenger side door for me. Some things may have changed, but he was always been a gentleman. He always made me feel special.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he hops in the driver’s seat and closes the door.

“You’ll see.”

“Are you kidnapping me?”

“Looks like it,” he grins.

He drives just a mile outside of town and turns down a road that looks like it doesn’t get much travel, judging by the weeds that are growing up through the crumbling asphalt. He turns onto a smaller road and I instantly recognize where we are. The site of the old Evergreen School.

“What are we doing here?”

“The school was torn down in the seventies, but the gym was used for an extra practice space until about ten years ago.”

A rusty merry-go-round and a swing set frame are a reminder that decades ago, Evergreen was so small there was only one school for all grades elementary through high school.

“Come on.” He hops out of the truck and I follow him to the old metal double doors out front.

“Wait. Are we allowed to go in there?” I ask.

He produces a key from his pocket and after a turn of the key and a few tugs, the door creaks open. With my first step inside, I’m transported to the old black and white photo in my shop. The mid-morning sunlight streams through the high windows, casting rectangular light bars onto the wood-planked floor.

“It’s pretty dusty from sitting so long. But I think if we clean it up, it will work perfectly,” he says.

“Work for what?”

“For the Valentine’s Dance.” He’s smiling from ear to ear as he wraps an arm around my shoulder.

“Oh, you’re right! It’s perfect.” I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder, lulled by the warm comfort of familiarity. Suddenly, I come to my senses and walk toward the back wall where the bathrooms and concession stand are, turning my head in an attempt to hide my flushed cheeks.Just friends, I remind myself. It’s the best thing for both of us.

“Do these bathrooms still work?” I ask. “We can’t have an event here unless we have running water for the seniors.”

“I made some calls this morning. The building is still owned by the school district so I talked to the maintenance guy. It took some finagling, but he’s going to have the water turned on out here and he’ll test out the pipes for us. Then I went over to see Grant Wilburson, the superintendent. His mother is active at the senior center. He agreed to let us use the facility as long as the plumbing is functional.”

“Granny Pearl is going to be over the moon about this. I can’t wait to see her face when I tell her!”

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