Cupid's Christmas (Serendipity #3)(12)
She stepped from the elevator tugging the suitcase behind her, crossed the lobby and handed Walker the keys. “Would you mind calling the Salvation Army Thrift shop to come and pick up the stuff in my apartment?” she asked.
“Okay,” he answered. “Where you off to?”
“Home,” she said. “I’m going home.”
The old man smiled. “Good,” he nodded, “…real good.”
Eleanor
John is the sweetest and most loving man I’ve ever known, but he’s got a blind spot when it comes to understanding a woman’s feelings. He thinks Lindsay will see me as a second mother, but that’s pure foolishness. She’s a grown woman, not a child. It’s more likely she’ll consider me an adversary, and I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if she felt downright resentful. I’ve been there, and I know how I felt.
I was fourteen years old when Mama and Daddy got divorced. They fought tooth and nail until one day he slammed out the door and never even looked back. Three years later Mama remarried, and I just about hated her for doing it. I hated Mama and my stepdaddy too. Every word out of my mouth was an argument, and if she looked at me crosswise, I’d say she was doing it because of him. It took me almost two years to warm up to the poor man, and when I finally did, he turned out to be a really good stepdad. Matter of fact, he was the one who taught me to drive after Mama gave up, claiming I was hopeless.
Regardless of what John thinks, I’ll bet Lindsay feels about like I felt. It’s something to ponder, that’s for sure. Hopefully, there’s a way to get around what she’s feeling, but right now I don’t know what it might be.
One thing I do know is that he should have told his daughter about us long before this. “I’m gonna tell her tomorrow,” he said and then he suggested we all go out to dinner and get acquainted. I squashed that idea darn quick. You can’t just shove me in Lindsay’s face and expect she’ll like it, I said. She needs time to adjust to the thought of her daddy remarrying. Take her to dinner, I told John, spend some time being interested in what she has to say, and then tell her about me. If he talks about me like I’m just a close friend, she might be less apt to view me with a heart full of anger.
A situation such as this is almost like reaching for a stray dog. You don’t know what hurts that animal’s suffered so if you try to grab hold of it right away the dog is likely to sink its teeth into your hand. The only way to make friends is to wait and let the animal come to you. People aren’t all that different. John’s got to give Lindsay time to sniff me and make sure I’m not looking to harm her.
I’m praying he has the good sense to not even mention the idea of us being married or me being Lindsay’s second mother. The truth is the girl doesn’t need a replacement mother, but after hearing what I’ve heard, I’m betting she could use a good friend.
If Lindsay is willing to let me be her friend, I’ll be way more than happy.
Cupid…The Homecoming
I watched Lindsay walk out of her apartment building and I could see she had no regrets. I’m back to square one when it comes to finding her Mister Wonderful, but she thinks everything is coming up roses. She’s going home, and home to her is a place where things remain the same. To her home is a place where nothing bad can happen.
Lindsay thinks her troubles are over, and she’s totally convinced she’ll find the same happiness she had as a child. What an odd lot humans are. History books, songs and stories are filled with tales of those who’ve made the exact same mistake, and yet every human thinks in their case it will turn out different. Few ever come to realize that love, wonderful though it may be, is not always easy. They look at it through rose-colored glasses and see nothing but blue skies and sun, when in truth love often comes wrapped in a storm cloud. Eleanor and John will soon become painfully aware of this.
Dragging the suitcase behind her and bumping it up and down the curbs as she walked, Lindsay headed toward the Budget-Rent-A-Car on Thirty-First Street. After filling out several forms that were nowhere near as complicated as the job applications, she drove away in a Honda Civic, turned down Thirty-Eighth and pointed herself toward the Lincoln Tunnel.
When she left New York, the sky was overcast and dark grey, the clouds low and weighted with rain. But when she exited the tunnel, the sky had cleared and the sun was now so bright she had to flip down the visor. Lindsay took this as an omen and began to believe her life was going to get better. By the time she reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, she was certain of it, and that certainty increased with every mile she traveled.
Lindsay’s thoughts drifted back to the friends she hadn’t seen in so many years, friends she’d for so long been promising to call. What a terrible friend I’ve been, she sighed, I should have called them more often. Donna Bobbs called me months ago, and I never did get back to her. And Josey Leigh—I just know I missed sending her a birthday card last year. Well, Lindsay reasoned, friends are forever. Donna and Josey aren’t the type to be angry with me for forgetting one birthday or not returning a few phone calls. Why I’ll bet they’ll be so glad to hear from me…
It may have seemed like months ago to Lindsay, but it was almost two years ago that her friends stopped calling. They stopped calling because they almost always got her answering machine and after numerous tries, they simply gave up and moved on with their lives. Lindsay can’t see that now, but she will.