So...no tornados in California...(i think a reviewer mistook me for someone else) Here we just have earthquakes and summers that don't really happen until fall . But meanwhile, in mythical Three Rivers, Pennsylvania, where I own nothing, it's still spring...
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Um, Ricky?" Jordan stops in front of his locker and looks kind of uncomfortable "How're you doing?" he shuffles his feet for a minute, looking down.
"Good..." Ricky looks puzzled "thanks...what's going on?" "This must have something to do with Angela's birthday" he thinks, watching the back of Frank Repnicki's head disappear down the hall. Ever since that afternoon with Delia he's been kind of well, aware, of the football captain, and sometimes he thinks that it might even be mutual.
"You know, I wanted to ask if you could maybe like, help me out, cause, it's Angela's birthday this week and I sort of need to get her a present" Jordan takes a deep breath and tugs at his shirt sleeves, pulling them down over his hands, before saying "and I don't, uh, know, really, what she'd like."
Ricky smiles at Jordan. "Sure...I'm sure we can figure something out...I need to get her something too. We could go shopping one day after school maybe, if you want." he offers, thinking to himself that Angela is one lucky girl.
"Shopping, huh" Jordan looks confused "okay."
"That's how you get gifts" Ricky tells him "nothing to be scared of"
"Yeah...thanks" he smiles, a little embarrassed "maybe tomorrow...? and um, could we keep it kind of a secret that I asked you, too?"
"Yeah, of course" Ricky nods "I'll think about it today..and don't worry" he says "we'll get her something she'll love."
"I know we were going to have Angela's party there Mom" Patti says into the telephone "but she's sixteen this year and she's asked me if she could just go out to dinner with her friend Jordan instead and,"
"Well she is the birthday girl, you know" Patti rolls her eyes.
"And then we can celebrate with a family dinner and a cake this weekend" Patti nods into the receiver.
"No, Graham will have to be at the restaurant Saturday night, I was thinking Sunday afternoon." She bites her lip, and her forehead puckers.
"I'd rather we didn't do a family dinner at the restaurant during the weekend...Graham will be so busy in the kitchen that we wouldn't get to see him anyhow, and it really isn't fair to the rest of the staff." The palm of Patti's hand turns upwards as if to plead.
"No, of course you can't miss seeing Bob and Doreen. I understand. So how about Friday night here, at the house, just you, me, dad and the girls."
"Perfect" Patti sighs "We'll see you then. I'm looking forward to it"
She hangs up the phone and looks around at the office, thinking she's managed that situation pretty well. Now for the Delamere account. She picks up a stack of papers and starts to sort through them efficiently.
"Hi" Rayanne walks into the kitchen, wrapping her apron strings around her waist, and finds Graham with his head in a cook book.
"I'm thinking spring lamb...for spring break and Easter week" he tells her without looking up "sacrificial and all. A stew maybe" he turns and glances at her "but Greek or French...I'm not sure which way to go"
"What's the difference?" she asks
"Well, the Greek will definitely have tomatoes, the French, well, I'd probably do a navarin ..that's with spring vegetables, white wine, little green beans maybe, or maybe I should go with the flageolet, dried beans. Those are more traditional with roast lamb. I can't quite make up my mind."
"Go French" Rayanne tells him "It's more you and people will think it's classier...Do the navarin thing. What's wrong?" He's not normally indecisive about the menu specials.
He looks at her for a minute. What's wrong?"" he thinks. "Besides the fact that my wife has turned into an ice queen and I'm afraid of what will happen when she thaws out? And that my business partner is now part of the problem, and I have yet to discuss with her the fallout of being caught kissing...with her blouse off? Or that my daughter, her boyfriend, their friends, my employee and neighbors all stood in my front yard and watched this unfold? And that all of a sudden the work place that was happy and creative is now yet another problem to be resolved?"
"Nothing's wrong." he says. He's really pissed about this whole situation and the really infuriating part is that there's no one to blame but himself.
"Okay then."
She hadn't realized just how messy this could be. Rayanne hopes she isn't going to lose her job over this, because she loves the restaurant and plus, she's starting to get used to having some money. She was just able to buy a really good birthday present for Angela, and she likes not feeling poor for a change.
"Let's just keep the workplace separate from our personal lives, all right?"
"Sure. I mean absolutely." She nods. If there's one thing Rayanne knows how to do it's to ignore the elephant in the room. "Any special dessert ideas for the spring menu?"
Graham looks at her appreciatively and gives her a little smile. "Why don't you have a look at Georges Blanc?" he tells her, handing her a coffee table sized French cookbook.
Five minutes later Rayanne is rapturously pouring through the color plates and recipes and Graham has his head back in another spring lamb recipe when Halle comes into the kitchen, and the atmosphere shifts drastically.
Graham wordlessly gets up and walks into the dining room and Halle follows close behind, looking serious.
"Have a seat" he says, gesturing to a table.
They look at each other mutely for a minute before Halle breaks the silence.
"Not a lot to say, is there? We messed up." Even though a little part of her has been dreaming that he'll passionately declare his love for her, she also knows how really impossible, in all ways, that would be.
"It seems like it" he almost smiles. Things are easy with her, and even though he knows better, part of him is angry that it's not this easy with Patti.
Graham has never wanted to discuss Patti with Halle. It's been one of his more distinct boundary lines, that his wife is not a subject for conversation, but for now that's going to have to change.
"Patti is pretty upset" he starts, and then he doesn't know quite what else to say because the last couple days have been devoid of any real communication between the two of them, and he's worried.
"Yeah...I mean I figured as much. I mean I had to sit on my hands all day Sunday to keep from calling and trying to find out what happened ...or telling Patti that really nothing had happened." Halle shakes her head "look, I know how awkward this is, as if there's anything in my life that isn't awkward, but if it would help for me to talk to her or anything, I'd be glad to."
"I really don't think so" Graham says, shooting her an "are you crazy?" look.
"I guess not." she nods in an exasperated understanding. "I just meant because I would want her to believe" Halle's voice falters, and she looks down "that it's not some ongoing thing."
"It can't be" says Graham, in a strained voice, and for a minute neither of them can say anything or look at each other.
"I think this has to be really uncomfortable for Patti right now, us working together here every day." Graham finally continues, and his face is clearly unhappy just thinking about it "but for now it's something we can't change.. we can't pay someone else to hostess yet."
Halle feels sick. She wants to be in their restaurant more, not temporarily or less.
"You're a great partner" Graham tells her "I couldn't ask for better" and she nods, almost crying. "And obviously I really like you. But." he looks at her, feeling totally shitty, "We have to be really careful not to let anything like this happen again. I don't want to lose my family."
Halle looks at him , and for once she's at a total loss for words.
"This feels really bad." Graham finally says.
"Yeah." She shakes her head in agreement, and, standing up to leave, she rests her hand on his shoulder for a second.
When he comes in the door that evening the girls are asleep and Patti is watching television in bed.
"Patti?" He sits down on the bed and waits for her to say something, but she seems absorbed in the on screen drama .
"Can we talk?" he asks.
She mutes the TV and looks at him. "Angela's birthday is Thursday" she says, matter of factly.
"I know. I.."
"She wants to go out with Jordan on her birthday, and I said yes" she interrupts him. "My parents will come here Friday night for a family party, and I know you'll need to be at the restaurant, so you luck out there." She glances back at the screen and wonders if she's missing anything important.
"Okay" he tries again "but I was thinking we could talk about trying to spend some time together soon. Maybe go away somewhere without the girls. If we left Sunday and you could take Monday off of work..we could just,"
She interrupts him again, looking puzzled. "That's impossible for me right now." she says, wondering if he's forgotten her life completely. He knows the press is running shorthanded.
"Look" he says, taking her hand even though she seems reluctant to let him, "I'm worried. This isn't like you, to be so removed." Graham pauses, hating what he's about to say "I think, if you want to see a marriage counselor, well, maybe we should."
"I'll think about it" she says, glancing back at the TV. "Could I just finish this program right now, please?" She doesn't want to say so, but being in bed with the television on is the only thing in her day that remotely resembles pleasure right now.
"Do you think you could do a cake for the Friday dinner?" she adds as an afterthought.
"Sure" He heads for the shower shaking his head. He can't believe that on top of everything else he feels bad about now, he actually feels bad about being left out of a dinner with Patti's parents.
"Happy birthday" Jordan says, kissing her on the cheek, and hugging her before coming in to the kitchen.
"Hi" she says surprised and happy to see him there. "Is this special treatment?" Usually he waits outside in the car.
"Somethin like that" he says, giving her a little smile.
"Good" she grins, taking his hand, "Because my dad made brioche and this french custard thing, and you definitely need to have some."
"Coffee Jordan?" Patti says, pointing at the coffee pot.
"Sure, thanks."
"Hi Jordan" Danielle calls from the table, shoveling custard into her face happily
Angela puts a plate in front of him with a cupcake shaped bread thing and some custard and Patti hands him a cup of coffee, and then they both spin around. Angela disappears upstairs, and Patti is out of the kitchen is a split second, which leaves him sitting in the breakfast nook with Danielle.
"So did you get Angela a present?"
"Yeah, " Danielle is kind of irritating, and he knows she drives Angela crazy, but Jordan is actually starting to sort of like her.
"So what did you get her?" She wonders if it's something really good. Maybe jewelry or something.
"Wait and see. I'm not telling" he sips his coffee, and takes a spoonful of the custard thing. "Did you get her something?"
"Well, yeah, that is my mother got her something from me, some bath stuff, she let me pick it out. It's called dirty girl." she says proudly.
"That's pretty cool" he smirks at Danielle "dirty girl, huh?"
"So is she?" Danielle grins at him mischievously and his coffee actually sloshes onto the table while he sputters and tries not to laugh.
"Really not telling" he chuckles, and then adds "no, course not" as Patti comes back into the kitchen, reading her to do list and looking distracted.
Jordan clears his throat and puts on his most polite voice "So tonight, uh, Ms Chase" he starts, hoping this will go over okay, "I was thinking I'd drive Angela out to that place in Bellville for dinner, you know that one she talks about, with the fireplace..and"
"You're taking her to Peachy's?" Danielle asks, in an excited voice "that's her favorite place. But it's really far."
"It's kind of a long drive, don't you think?" Patti says sort of absent mindedly.
"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it..." he pauses. "I was hoping I could bring her home a little later, even though it's a school night and all, and"
"Certainly" Patti nods "I think she can have a late birthday curfew Jordan, that's a once a year kind of treat. Just drive carefully and how about you have her back by ten thirty."
It was the response he'd hoped for, even more than he'd expected, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But he couldn't help noticing that something was wrong with Patti. She wasn't looking at him and she seemed to be sort of mechanical. She'd always been friendly and happy around him, ever since that first night they talked about Angela in the kitchen, but now something was off. She was even walking around a little stiffly.
When Angela comes downstairs Patti throws her arms around her and kisses her on the cheek. "Sixteen" she says and sighs. "Have a great birthday sweetheart"
Before Angela is even out the door, she's helped Danielle find her homework and then picked up a stack of papers to sort through. Just keep going" she thinks to herself. Multi tasking is a perfectly good way of deflecting pain..
"Your mom...is she all right?" he asks starting up the car.
"You saw her..it's like no one's home" Angela says sadly. As much as one part of her hates her mom another part feels fiercely loyal to her, and it's been awful to see her just psychically disappear, to know it's because she's hurt.
"C'mere" he says, slinging his arm over her, and she snuggles up with a sigh. They haven't really talked much about her parents but she knows that Jordan understands how worried she is, and for a moment they drive in silence.
"Hey" he says, sounding inspired "we could just cut the whole day, if you want, you know...drive somewhere, have lunch..."
She sighs, snuggles her face into Jordan's shoulder and takes a deep breath, loving the smell of him, thinking how she would love nothing better than to spend her birthday just being close to him, but she shakes her head reluctantly.
"No, we'd better go" she tells him "I've got a French test, and then Katimsky's too, plus I did that science paper that's due today, so I might as well hand it in... and Ricky and Sharon and Rayanne wanted to do something at lunch, for my birthday, you know, and I think Rayanne's bringing a cake or something, so.." she pauses, looking out the window and wishing she could just blow it all off. " But after tomorrow we'll have all of spring break. I'm sure we can at least have a few days to do nothing together."
She blushes a little, remembering Sunday afternoon and thinking she's pretty sure they'll be doing more of that, and Jordan, almost like he knows what she's thinking, tightens his arm around her. She still can't quite wrap her brain around what happened on the couch Sunday, when she'd put her hand in Jordan's pants. Her timidness had melted away pretty quickly, he had been more than eager to reciprocate and Angela was still kind of woozy with how absolutely delicious it had been. They haven't been alone anywhere private enough for a repeat performance since then and it's been driving them both a little crazy.
He smiles when he sees her blush. He would never have believed a hand job could make him this happy, but hey, it's progress, and then he had made her really happy too, so he's actually kind of ecstatic about it all.
"Hope so" he says. "Josh asked me to work a couple days extra at the garage, and I need to take care of some things with Tino, but we could do anything you want, pretty much. " "Except go shopping" he thinks. He never wants to do that again. He hopes she'll like what Ricky helped him pick out.
"Your mom says we can stay out till ten thirty tonight"
"You're kidding?" she says, in a happy voice.
"So if I pick you up around six, we should be able to get there and back and, you know, maybe hang together at the loft or something after."
Angela goes totally pink and she looks down at her lap. "Uh huh" she squeaks and a tiny grin breaks over Jordan's face.
"Group hug!" Ricky declares, and Angela is surrounded and squeezed by Sharon, Ricky and Rayanne in unison.
"Happy lalala Birthday to you" they all chime in together and Angela laughs in embarrassment.
"Could you please just not sing? It's all I ask" she says "just some slight restraint on your part, please"
"Come with us, birthday girl" Sharon directs, and the three of them herd Angela from her locker down the hall and out to the lunch benches
"You have to break the pinata"
"What? Rayanne!" A miniature pinata comes out of the paper bag and Angela giggles as Sharon puts paper birthday napkins on the table, Rayanne pulls out a cake and Ricky hands her a wooden hammer.
"Cake first" Rayanne tries to insist, but Sharon and Ricky look at her with the hammer in her hand and cross their arms.
"Go on" Ricky tells her.
"Think of it as Ms. Lerner or Mr. Foster." Sharon says
"Okay, but how about Halle Rosenthal instead? Or my dad?" she says, bringing her arm up intently.
They stand back a little as Angela brings the hammer down and colored paper flies up in the air, and then, as Rayanne and Sharon whistle and clap, Ricky opens the flattened pinata and takes out two wrapped packages inside a Victoria's Secret bag.
"This is from us" Sharon and Rayanne smirk happily.
"And maybe you can wear one of them tonight" Rayanne adds.
"Okaaay" she laughs and rolls her eyes up, amazed as always now by Rayanne and Sharon as not just friends, but actual....peers?
"Wow" she says. There's a black lace matching bra and thong set and then a satiny red one too "Uh, these are amazing... thank you both."
"Wear them in good health" says Ricky and they all laugh some more. "And for further beautification" he says dramatically and then sets a small bag in front of her.
She kisses him on the cheek before unwrapping an assortment of nail polish colors, and then they all just stare.
"Oh my god...Hard Candy" Rayanne says reverently "where did you get it? Angela, you have to share."
"Well, yeah" Angela laughs happily, and they spend the rest of lunch hour eating cake and painting their nails blue for the very first time.
"So this is your favorite place?" Jordan looks around at an old brick dining room with leather booths, a fireplace in the corner and a family atmosphere. "I guess I thought it would be fancier."
They're sitting in Angelas favorite booth, the round one nearest the fireplace, the one her family always likes to sit in when they come out here.
"It's a Mennonite place. And a lot of the Amish people come here, and they don't do fancy, remember? Are you disappointed?" She smiles at him, and he can tell she's kind of excited because of the way she's babbling right now. "Just wait. I love this place. Fried chicken. The best mashed potatoes in the world, cause they grow the potatoes here and make them with milk and butter from the local cows. Homemade pies with homemade ice cream."
"No, I um, like that it's not fancy...it's comfortable" Angela and her father are the only people he's ever been around who talk about food the way the Italian side of his family does. He kind of likes it though. It reminds him of his grandparent's conversations.
"What's with the Amish signs, anyway?" he asks. There were billboards all through town with bible verses quoted in big letters, and she had read some of them out as they drove by.
"The Bible verses? The community puts them up. On the way out of town there's one that says "Love not this world" she laughs "My dad always reads that one out loud, and then my mom says it should be "Love this world." A troubled look comes over her face when she thinks of how many times she's sat in the car with her parents, driving out to this restaurant, listening to them read the signs and comment on them.
"What do you think they mean by this world?" he asks, a little bashfully, and reaches over for her hand.
"I guess that's the big question, huh?" she looks at him thoughtfully and forgets about her parents. "Cause if this world was consumerism, and falseness and, like vanity, it would make sense not to love it." She holds his hand under the table, and tries to remember she's sitting in a Mennonite restaurant and that further public displays of affection would probably get them asked to leave.
"Right," he pauses "but if it was the stuff that's real...like fields and you know, seasons, and music and" he looks in her eyes and takes a breath, "uh, people, well, it would be right. Wouldn't it?"
"I think so" she nods and an intense wave of happiness runs right through her "But the Amish definitely don't feel that way about music."
"Yeah, too bad about that"
They both sit there smiling like crazy and not quite looking at each other until Angela picks up the menu and scoots up closer to Jordan so they can look at it together.
By the time dessert is on the table Angela is leaning back in the booth groaning and Jordan is laughing at her.
"Did I really eat all that?" she says, looking down at her stomach and making a face "I mean, it was really good, but..."
"Wuss" he says, swallowing the rest of his milk "eat your pie." He reaches into his pocket and takes out a little box, and all of a sudden she can feel him tense up.
"Happy birthday" he kind of mumbles, sliding the box onto the table.
"Oh" she says, suddenly feeling almost timid "You didn't have to buy me something too..I.."
Her face lights up, and she thinks she might as well die just now from how happy she is, but then she can tell that he's a little nervous, almost like he's worried about whether she'll like his gift, so she reaches over and touches his fingertips for a second and then she picks up the box.
It's a pair of earrings that she's been looking at for months, cascading square green stones dangling from delicate gold chains, and she knows exactly how much they cost. She bites her lip and looks at him with a face full of happiness and sees him relax and smile back.
"How did you know about these?" She'd had them on twice and even though there had been no real hope of ever actually having them, she and Ricky and Rayanne would walk through the store sometimes, to see if they were still there.
"Ricky..knew" he says …... "I wasn't sure, but they matched your eyes, so I liked that part, and he said"
She leans over and kisses his cheek and all of a sudden she's blinking back tears.
"Thank you...I love them. I can't believe you got them for me."
"Is somethin wrong?" He can tell she's trying not to cry because her chin's starting to wobble and she's a little pink, and he can't understand what could be the problem unless maybe he was wrong and.. "If you want somethin else we can take them back...the lady said." he says clumsily.
"Oh, no" she says, shaking her head, "I mean, I'm never going to want to take these off, I love them so much. I just got a little uh, emotional is all. Okay? Help me get them on?"
"Okay" he holds her hair back carefully, while she hooks them through her ears, and when she looks at him for approval he nods his head. They do bring out her eyes, like Ricky said, and he can't help smiling at how incredibly pretty she is.
"Ange, um," he says "could we, uh, get out of here? Not that it wasn't great, but..."
"Yeah," she smiles "sure."
It's getting dark as they drive out of town, but there's still just enough light for them to read the billboard that says Love Not This World.
I think I'd better say that Peachy's, near Bellville Pennsylvania, is a real place. I ate lunch there a few years ago and can definitely vouch for the food. But I kind of decorated it for my story...it's not a cozy dining room at all, more of a large cafeteria, with an attached store selling local products...And the community signs are real too...they obviously made an impression.
Thanks to all of you, for reviewing, putting me on story alerts and/or favorites and for reading and hey..., all you readers out there who don't review..i want to encourage you ... love this world...write reviews!
