The next hour and a half passed slowly until, finally, the last of the parents picked up their children, and Julianne was free to leave. She pulled off her brown flats and replaced them with jogging shoes—her favorites. Then she waved to the director of the day-care center, Betty Anderson, as she paused by her office on the way to the front door.
“Waiting on Warren to pick you up?” Julianne asked.
Betty adjusted her small half-moon reading glasses on her nose. “Yes, we’re going down to Olaf’s Deli for soup and sandwiches.”
Betty was a widow who had only recently begun seeing someone after five years alone, and everyone at the center was happy for her. The new man in Betty’s life, Warren Sinclair, picked her up frequently at the end of her workday so they could have dinner together. Julianne had seen them leave together many times, and had, on occasion, wished she’d found someone to share soup and a sandwich with, too. Since she’d broken up with her college boyfriend, she’d been mostly alone. Too alone, she realized. Not all men were the weak, selfish human beings her old boyfriend had proven to be. She knew too many men of integrity to think that way. Reverend Benjamin Hunter, for one. They had dated briefly some time ago. Although it was always nice to find a new friend, they quickly agreed that friendship was all they had found since the romantic chemistry between them was lacking, leaving Julianne to soup and sandwiches alone again.
“Have a good time,” she said to Betty before heading out the front door of the newly renovated two-story building that was located next door to the church. Julianne pushed her blond hair away from her face as a welcome gust of wind blew over her. This July had been a warm one but Julianne still preferred walking to and from the center rather than driving. It was only a few short blocks to her apartment. She rented the upstairs of an old rambling house owned by Fairweather’s postmaster, and the home was located not far from the south side of the town green. On Julianne’s way home, she passed by the deli where Betty and Warren would soon be enjoying their dinner, then Frank and Maggie Wren’s Book-Stop which was a combination bookstore and café, Swenson’s Bakery and Peter’s Ice Cream Parlor, to name a few of the businesses that lined the path between home and work.
By the time Julianne reached the twentieth step and turned the key in the lock of her silent apartment, her stomach was already growling. She placed her keys on the hook beside the door and headed toward her bedroom where she quickly slipped out of her jogging shoes as well as her long summer dress of pale blues and browns. Tan shorts, a green T-shirt and bare feet felt much nicer as she walked across the cool kitchen floor to pull open the door of her refrigerator. Nothing promising caught her eye. “Why didn’t I stop at Olaf’s Deli or Frank’s Book-Stop, or somewhere, and buy something good for supper?” Then she opened the freezer. The frozen dinner on top was her pick of the evening. “Well, Nora and Todd,” she said aloud to herself as she tossed the red box into the trash can and slid the paper tray into the microwave, “I guess meat loaf and mashed potatoes are on my menu tonight, too.”
Several blocks away, Luke O’Hara discarded three paper trays and poured leftover chocolate milk from red-and-blue cups into the sink, wondering why neither of his children ever seemed to finish drinking their milk. He’d reminded them again and again to do so with no success; but he’d learned by now that he had to pick his battles, and this didn’t seem a worthy one.
“Daddy, can we go see Julianne again tomorrow?” Nora was asking as she came running into the kitchen carrying her pink bunny. “Todd and me like her.”
“I’m glad you do, hon,” Luke replied as he placed the dirty silverware and cups into the dishwasher. He’d become fairly quick about loading the appliance, with practice, especially for someone who’d rarely set foot inside the kitchen before his wife had passed away. “I’ll be taking you there in the morning so you can spend the day with her. And Aunt Maggie will be at the center, too, if you need her.” He looked down into his little girl’s sweet face and reached out to touch her cheek as his heart flooded with emotion. He stood silently amazed that he could feel such love for anyone with this heart that, most times, felt cold as stone.
“Nora!” Todd called out his sister’s name from somewhere beyond the kitchen. Probably the staircase to their upstairs bedrooms Luke estimated from the faintness of his voice. The apartment they’d left behind had been one level, so the idea of steps to climb captivated their interest. They used any excuse they could find to go up and down the polished oak staircase, running their little hands down the wooden railing on each and every trip.
“Coooming, Todd,” Nora called out. Then she turned and ran from her father’s touch, and Luke was almost relieved. If she’d have stood there a moment longer, looking up at him with that baby-blue gaze, his own stinging eyes might have teared up. And Luke O’Hara hadn’t allowed that to happen in a very long time.
So, with the ever faithful Fluffy tucked under one arm, Nora scampered off to join her brother. Luke glanced at his watch. It was 6:00 p.m. Time to watch the news, if he could get away with it. He switched on the small television set on top of the refrigerator, carefully leaving the volume down low so the kids couldn’t hear. Stories that involved sirens, ambulances…anything about death or violence upset Todd and Nora, so Luke had mostly taken to reading the morning newspaper to gather his news of the day. But there were those occasions when he could watch part of the broadcast without the children being aware of it. Like now. The weather forecast for the week said that there would be a string of warm days, with only an occasional passing shower, right into the Fourth of July. Maggie had insisted that Luke promise to bring the children to her house for the holiday and join her church in its annual picnic on the green that afternoon. And it sounded like the weather would be ideal for such an outing.
Julianne switched off the radio in her kitchen after listening to the news and weather and then reached for the pitcher of iced tea. “The Fourth of July is supposed to be a beautiful day, Goldie,” she said to the fish that was swimming around in its oversize bowl on a nearby counter. “And I’m counting on you to still be here to enjoy it.” The tea poured quietly into her glass as she studied the small orange fish. An ordinary goldfish, Maggie had warned. The kind that never lasts long, she’d said when she and Julianne had peered into the fish tank in the corner of the Fairweather Variety Store.
“Ordinary,” Julianne remarked with a shake of her head. “How could Maggie call you that? Didn’t she notice that beautiful flowing tail of yours?” she asked out loud. “And it’s been three days since I brought you home from the store, and you’re doing fine so far.” Though not without the purchase of a second, much larger bowl, a small air filter for a sum of twenty dollars, and a certain amount of prayer.
Julianne’s luck with pets was not the best, so she was determined to keep this one alive as long as possible. The hungry little stray dog she’d taken in last winter had been hit by a car one morning several months ago, and the kitten that a teaching assistant from the center had given her disappeared recently on one of his daily outings. That evening, Julianne had remained on the top of the landing outside her apartment for hours, waiting for the kitten to come home. She’d balanced her checkbook, paid her monthly bills and written letters to all three of her brothers on that warm spring evening as she watched for his return. But he didn’t come back. By the time she stood up to go inside, Julianne’s bottom was nearly numb from sitting in one position so long. That’s when she’d decided—no more pets! And she’d stuck to her decision until this week. Until she stood in the variety store, in front of the bubbling fish tank with Goldie’s big bulging eyes staring right into her own lonely brown ones. Maybe one more try with a different kind of pet wouldn’t be so bad, she’d decided. And Goldie would be someone to come home to…kind of.
Julianne reached into the cupboard over the sink to pull out a bag of chocolate chip cookies and ate a handful of them without counting. Losing pets was nothing compared to losing someone. Little Nora and Todd crossed her mind for the umpteenth time since she’d returned home. How very young they were