Valentine's Day

Chapter 10

Why ruin what had been a perfectly wonderful day by dealing with Ranger's gift? I could deal with it tomorrow. Right after I hit the mall with Lula.

The days passed by. I got through every one. I picked up files from the office. I went after skips. I turned in my body receipts. I went home. I ate dinner. Watched TV. Went to bed. Alone. I still hadn't opened Ranger's gift. I had heard from Tank that he and Deborah Fairbanks had gone to Miami for Christmas and wouldn't be back until after New Years. That meant I still had time. I didn't know why I was avoiding the issue. I guess in Denial Land we don't have to open presents from Ranger.

New Year's Eve was going to be a quiet affair this year. With Ranger gone, Tank was in charge and had to work, so Lula was free. Connie was between men, so the three of us decided to do Girls' Night In. We were going to Connie's house for food, drinks and gossip. Sounded good to me. I wasn't up to the usual hoopla, and didn't want to face the scrutiny of the Burg tonight. But I certainly didn't want to ring in the New Year alone.

All was going well. We were into our third pitcher of Margaritas when my mouth got the better of me. "Well," I said, "I still haven't opened my gift from Batman."

My innocent comment was met with shrieks of dismay, "What?!?!?!?!?!? Batman got you a present and you haven't opened it? WTF not?" Lula demanded.

Connie wasn't much better, "Steph, why haven't you opened it. Aren't you dying?"

I knew I'd get no peace now, so I just sat back and let them have their say. Finally after about 10 minutes, they realized I wasn't going to say anything more about it. When they both shut up and started glaring at me, I knew it was safe to speak again.

"Oh, alright. I'll open it tomorrow. It can be my New Year's Resolution. To get over Ranger."

"Now, white girl, why would you want to do that?" Lula wanted to know.

"What? Open the gift or get over Ranger?" I sulked. I was being a brat, but I didn't care. I wish I would have just kept my big mouth closed.

"Oh, you be wanting to know what's in that present, but what I meant was, why would you want to get over that fine piece of man?"

"Well," I whined, "seeing as Ranger is now with someone else, it does seem to be time I get over him. Don't you think?"

Connie gave me the eye for a minute before she began. "I've seen him with Deb-whore-ah, but I'm not buying it. Something's not right there. They're together all the time, but they sure don't seem like a couple. He's not the same with her as when he was around you. I think we need to get to the bottom of what's going on before we let you write him off. Once we figure out what he's really doing, then you can decide what you want to do about him."

I was speechless. Connie was right. I still felt that something wasn't right with Ranger. How could I just pretend I didn't care, when I did. At the same time, I wasn't going to pine away for him if he were truly involved with someone else. I might be pathetic, but I'm not that pathetic.

"So," I began hesitantly, "what do you to propose we do about it?"

We put our head together and began to plot. Soon it was time to watch the ball drop. We toasted the New Year with our final pitcher of Margaritas and were soon asleep. As I drifted off, I couldn't help but wonder what the coming year would bring in way of answers.

The next day dawned bright and early. At least, I'm assuming it did. Lula, Connie and I slept until noon. Lula had the pull-out, and I was crashed in the guest room. I heard stumbling out in the hall, and figured Connie was up. A few minutes later I smelled coffee and decided it was time to face the day.

Connie looked like she had been up past midnight drinking. So did Lula. I wonder why. I'm sure I looked just as dreadful. We sat around, drank our coffee and ate some cheesecake left over from the night before. The office was closed for the holiday, so Connie and I didn't have anything pressing we needed to do. Lula, though, needed to get home and change. She was meeting Tank for a late lunch at Haywood at 2:00. We said our goodbyes, Lula left for her place, and I started back to mine. Nobody had mentioned the gift again, and I was grateful.

When I got home, I picked up the present and held it in my hand. I don't know what I was expecting, but it gave me no clues as to its contents. It wasn't ticking. It didn't rattle. It didn't scream, "Don't open me. I'll break your heart." I took a deep breath, pulled off the ribbon and opened the lid. Then I put it back on the table, went into the kitchen, drank a Coke, and then took a shower. And shaved. And blow-dried. And moisturized. Then I called my mom. And my sister. What? It's New Year's. One must keep in touch with family on all the important holidays. I was debating whether I should call Vinnie, you know, to wish him Happy New Year's when I decided I had stalled enough.

I went back into the living room and looked at the box for awhile. I could see the tissue paper on the top of whatever was inside. I took a deep breath. I wondered if I had any Endust. Maybe I should polish that table. It was looking a little ragged. I wondered if any stores would be open today that sold Endust. Or end tables. Maybe I should just buy a new table.

"Enough," I said to myself. I grabbed the box, tore off the paper, looked inside, sat back down and cried. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it.

The evening Ranger and I had spent in Point Pleasant was spent just walking and talking, like a normal couple. We had strolled around hand-in-hand, poking into some of the little shops along the way. That's where I had spotted the painting I had bought him. In a different shop I had admired a necklace made up of beach glass. It had little pieces of the glass in blues, greens and clear, all interspersed with silver beads. It reminded me of the colors of the waves. It was pretty, but nothing extravagant. I hadn't made a big show over it, just looked at it and then moved on. I hadn't given it another thought since that night.

But Ranger must have noticed. He must have remembered. He must have gone back and bought it. For me. When? Why? Had he bought it before he left and then just given it to me now to get rid of it, kind of like I had done with the painting? Or had he really still wanted me to have it? Was it just a coincidence? I couldn't bring myself to believe it was a coincidence. Did it mean anything? Should I think it means something, or just put it in the bottom of my drawer and forget about it?

Now I knew what was in the box, but still not what was in Ranger's head, or his heart, for that matter. Being as I'm a girl and sentimental it's easy for me to read a lot into this gift. But, knowing Ranger, sentimental isn't a word I would use to describe him. I decided the only safe thing for me was to assume it really doesn't mean anything. Maybe it wasn't even the same one I saw in Point Pleasant. Maybe pigs fly.

I lifted the necklace from the box and noticed a small card flutter to the floor. I picked it up and saw it was in Ranger's handwriting. It only had the one word, but it made me gasp. It said: Remember.