Chapter 7

Tuesday, June 23, 1987

Trixie was bored. She’d spent the past three days taking it easy and she was starting to get antsy. No, not started, she was already there. The doctor told her she needed to be off work until at least Thursday. Her injuries were healing well. The pounding headache she’d had for a few days was practically nonexistent. She was almost able to walk without a limp and had been able to return to her own bedroom last night. She was grateful to Hallie for offering her bed but they were both happier to be back in their own rooms where all of their belongings were. It would be six weeks before her shoulder was properly healed. She was able to take it out of her sling throughout the day and would begin physical therapy at the end of the week.

Her family had been very supportive. Despite her frustrations she had managed to remain pretty upbeat and positive. Bobby had half-jokingly volunteered to read her Peter Rabbit. Brian had spent several hours distracting her with a marathon game of Monopoly. She had been surprised that he hadn’t gone all medical on her and hovered over her to make sure she was all right. Mart was just himself. He made sure he irritated her at least once a day. That was his way of letting her know he knew she would be okay.

She and Hallie had a heart to heart talk the day before. Hallie was having some mixed feelings about dating Dan and needed someone to just listen as she talked things out.

“Do you ever think about your future?” Hallie asked. She and Trixie were both lying on the bed in the guestroom, staring at the ceiling.

“All the time,” Trixie replied. “You know Honey and I have plans to become detectives after college.”

“I wish I had some kind of idea what I want to be when I grow up. I like so many different things, but that’s not what I mean. Do you ever think of your future and where Jim is in it?”

Trixie sighed. She was glad she didn’t have to look Hallie in the eye when she answered. She didn’t want to show her vulnerability. “Most of the time, I know in my heart Jim is the one for me and that we’ll grow old together. Some days, however, I wonder if I’m just imagining things. Why do you ask?”

“This is just between you and me, right?” Hallie asked. Trixie agreed. “Deep in my heart I know Dan is the one for me as well. I don’t know why I know this, but I do. Then I think I’m just sixteen and I have my entire life ahead of me. Dan’s starting college and I’ll be thousands of miles away from him for most of the year. He’s not going to want to wait for me.” Tears formed in Hallie’s eyes and she brushed them away.

“Have you told Dan how you feel?” Trixie asked, struggling to sit up so she could look into her cousin’s eyes.

“I’ve tried but I just can’t seem to get him to understand what I mean. I don’t know how to explain it to him. And I’m not sure what I’m going to do next month, not to mention what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

“You know, Dan has the reputation about being a ladies’ man,” Trixie started.

“Yeah, that’s part of the problem. I keep thinking of all of the girls that have thrown themselves at him,” Hallie said.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Trixie chided. “It’s all urban myth. Dan doesn’t give any of the girls even a second glance. It’s hard to explain. I do know that somehow the two of you will work it out. You might have your ups and downs, but in the end you will end up together. ”

“You’re kidding, right?” Hallie insisted.

It had taken Trixie several minutes to convince Hallie that Dan really only had eyes for her and that she should discuss her concerns with him again.

She wished her issues with Jim were as easy to figure out. Something had been bothering him and she couldn’t put her finger on it. He hadn’t stopped by on Saturday night after she had gotten settled at home. He said he knew she needed some rest, but even her parents had told her she could spend a few minutes with him. It wasn’t like he had to drive hours to get to her. He just had to walk down the hill.

When he finally had shown up on Sunday night he looked horrible. He had dark circles under his eyes. He tried to act like nothing was wrong, but Trixie could see right through him. They had spoken for a few minutes before he turned to leave. She tried not to take offense by his actions, but she had thought he would have at least spent some time with her, even if it was just sitting next to her while they watched mindless TV. Instead, he had placed a very chaste kiss on her forehead, asked one more time if she was okay, and left.

Monday hadn’t been any better. Jim claimed he had several students to tutor. The male Bob-Whites would be heading out to camp late Sunday afternoon, so he wanted to get as much time in with his students as he could. It seemed like a valid excuse, but something just didn’t seem right.

So here she was on Tuesday morning going stir crazy. The house was quiet. Mart was working the early shift at Wimpy’s, Brian was with Jim in the city finishing up their summer school course, Hallie was at Diana’s, and Moms had taken Bobby into town to do some shopping. It was peacefully quiet. In fact it was almost too quiet.

She tried to take her mind off her problems with Jim. She knew if she didn’t she would imagine all sorts of horrible things. Hopefully tonight she would be able to talk things over with him. Nothing on TV appealed to her. She really missed her job and not just the fact that her paycheck would be smaller next week. Reading the different titles of books was interesting. There were so many books she wanted to read but even that didn’t hold her attention today.

Finally, she decided to review her notes that she had about Mr. Lytell. She had considered just throwing them in the garbage, since he had asked her not to open up that can of worms. She almost had, but something pushed her on.

She carefully made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. At her desk she pulled out the articles she had found and reviewed all of the information she had found. As she re-read the articles from the Sleepyside Sun, several things didn’t seem to be making any sense. Over the past week she had looked through the archives of the Sun looking for anything that reported on John Manydeeds’ claims about the land being on sacred Indian land. After the proposal for the A&P was turned down, it seemed he had disappeared. She was also a little confused because the article never specified which Indian Nation the land belonged to. Something wasn’t adding up.

She had found an article, dated November 1969, buried in the back of the second section of the paper, indicating Fred Murphy had submitted a plan to the zoning commission to build a bowling alley at the same site about a year later. The article was written by David Trent and made no mention of the sacred land controversy.

Trixie was getting frustrated. Hadn’t Fred Murphy been on the zoning commission when the A&P permit had been approved and then revoked? Her brain was going in ten different directions. She knew the answers were out there somewhere but she felt a headache coming on. She stood up and stretched, then carefully made her way downstairs to find something for her headache as well as lunch.

She’d just sat down to eat the sandwich she had made, when the kitchen door opened and Mart walked in. He didn’t look happy at all.

“Hey,” Trixie said. “You look upset.”

Mart went to the refrigerator and opened it, looking for something to eat. He shut it without taking anything out and began pacing the floor. Trixie wondered if he had heard her and she started to ask him again. Before she got a word out he said, “Dad’s gonna kill me. He said I could use his car this morning since I only had to work the breakfast shift. I parked the car where I normally park it and when I went out to leave there was a huge dent in the driver’s side back door.”

Trixie hesitated, not quite sure what to say. Then she slowly said, “Mart, Dad’s not going to get mad at you. It wasn’t your fault someone was so careless they dinged your car.”

Mart finally sat down on a kitchen chair, empty handed. “I guess I know that, but I still feel guilty. He trusted me with his car.”

“And you’ve never given him any reason not to,” Trixie reminded him. “Did you report it to the police?”

Mart let out a sigh. “Yeah, I did. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Of course I had to deal with the new officer. I think his name’s Gary Jackson. He’s straight out of the police academy and by the book. I thought I would tear the hair out of my head as he took down all of the information. You should have seen the diagram he made. You would have thought it was a multiple homicide he was documenting instead of a simple door ding.”

Trixie chuckled. “Better you than me. I probably would have lost my patience and ended up facing Molinson.”

That brought a slight smile to Mart’s face. “Well, I really shouldn’t complain. He did do a thorough job looking for evidence. He was even able to recover a paint chip from the car. Of course, I don’t know how much it will help. How many brown cars are there in Sleepyside?” Then, changing the subject, he asked, “So how are you doing today?”

“Trying not to go stir crazy,” Trixie replied. “I’ve still got a slight headache and my ankle feels a lot better. I wish I could use my arm more though. I think I’ll just die before the six weeks of healing are up.” They both laughed at Trixie’s all too familiar saying.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

“So, what are your plans for the afternoon?” Trixie asked.

“Well, I’ve got to do a little packing for camp and take inventory of what I have and what I might need. Then I promised Hallie I’d stop by where they’re building sets for Sound of Music. They’re trying to build a terrace and need some manly men,” Mart explained.

“And they asked you?” Trixie teased lightheartedly. “I wish I could go. I’m so bored that I’d volunteer to help sew costumes. At least it would take my mind off of things.” Trixie’s voice suddenly became forlorn.

He looked at her sharply, tuning into his almost twin sister. “Wanna talk about it?”

She blushed and couldn’t meet his eyes. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. Maybe she was just imagining things and Jim was just really busy. Finally, she said honestly, “I don’t know.” Then she mumbled under her breath, “The person I really need to talk to seems to be avoiding me.”

“Well, if you decide you need to talk, let me know. I promise it will be in confidence.” He got up and headed upstairs to his room.

She went into the family room and turned on the TV. She channel surfed for several minutes and couldn’t find any show that interested her. She went to the linen closet and found a dust rag. She started to dust the living room but it was difficult with her arm in a sling. Her ankle started to ache as well. Frustration set in and then she began to chuckle. “I never thought I’d see the day where I was frustrated because I couldn’t dust,” she said to herself.

“Talking to yourself again?” Mart asked. Trixie jumped in surprise. She hadn’t heard him enter the living room.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But I haven’t resorted to answering myself yet.”

“I’m heading over to Diana’s to pick her and Hallie up,” he said. “Then we’re heading to the theatre to work on sets. Diana has a dance rehearsal. I told Moms we’d be home by dinner.”

“Have fun,” Trixie said enviously. She walked with Mart into the kitchen, where she placed the soiled dust rag in the laundry room.

As Mart went out the door, Trixie slowly made her way up to her room to get a book she had picked up at the library the week before and then headed out to the terrace to get some much needed fresh air. Settling herself into a lounge chair, she attempted to read. For about five minutes the book held her attention. Then her mind started to wander again. First, she thought of Mr. Lytell and how she could help him. When she ran into a roadblock, she thought about Jim and wondered what was bothering him. She would try to force herself to concentrate enough to read two pages of the book and then she would be thinking of something else. Finally, she gave up and decided to take a quick nap.

Something brushed against her arm and she tried to swat it away, not wanting to wake up from the dream she had been having. In her dream, she had no injuries and Jim had taken her into the city and up to the top of the Empire State Building. Somehow he had managed to rent the observation deck and had arranged for a meal to be catered there. He was just about to pull her into his arms when something brushed her arm again.

“Go away,” she said. “I’m having a wonderful dream.” This time instead of a brush she was pulled into a gentle embrace and kissed gently on her lips. “Hmm,” she sighed. “This is better than a dream.” Gradually, she opened up her eyes. Emerald green eyes stared back at her. “Jim!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Did you get out of class early?”

“We went the whole time, but since it was the last class we didn’t have to stay in the city to study,” he said. “It’s just three o’clock.”

Trixie gasped, “It can’t be. I was only going to take a catnap and it’s been over an hour.” She looked at her arms and her legs and groaned. “And I didn’t put on any sunscreen.”

“I can tell,” he replied but said nothing more.

She looked at him sharply.

“What?” he asked.

“Aren’t you going to give me a lecture about the dangers of not wearing sunscreen or taking naps in the sun?”

Jim took a deep breath and released it. “Nope,” he said. “I know you know what to do and that you hadn’t planned on being out here so late. You don’t need me to be big brother. You’ve got enough of those already.”

She smiled, “That’s for sure. And it won’t be long before I have a little big brother as well.”

Changing the subject, Jim asked, “How was your day?”

Trixie sighed, “Pretty boring. I spent some time thinking about the information I have about Mr. Lytell. I need to decide if I should move forward with it or not. Thinking about it started to give me a headache so I tried to distract myself with reading, but instead I fell asleep.”

Jim sat down on the lounge facing her. He started to pull her back into an embrace but she winced.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to hurt your shoulder.”

Trixie pulled back. “It’s not my shoulder so much as it is this lovely sunburn. Look I have a mark where my book fell on my legs, as well as one from my sling. Won’t I look lovely?”

“Do you have any aloe vera lotion?” he asked. “I’ll help you put it on if you want me to.”

Trixie thought for a minute, “I don’t think so. Bobby had a bad sunburn a few weeks ago and I think he used it up.”

“We can run up to my house and get some. I packed some in my gear for camp yesterday. You can have that and I’ll pick up another bottle tomorrow,” Jim volunteered.

He stood up and reached for her good hand to pull her up.

“I don’t think my ankle is quite ready to take the path up to Manor House,” she said.

“Never fear, fair maiden,” he said. “I have my trusty steed, Mustang, to carry you there. Perhaps you could join me for dinner. It’s nothing spectacular. After having grilled hamburgers here for Mart and Dan’s graduation, Dad decided that we needed a gas grill as well. Of course he had to buy the biggest, fanciest model. Cook loves it and doesn’t miss a chance to use it. Tonight, I think she’s making kabobs.”

Trixie’s eyes lit up. She would have been happy riding down the driveway to the mailbox and back she was so stir crazy. She glanced at the driveway and didn’t see her mother’s minivan. “Let me leave a note for Moms. I don’t think she’ll mind,” she said.

Ten minutes later they were headed up to Manor House. She sighed as she sat back in Jim’s car. She felt like she was breaking out of jail.

Trixie waited in the library while Jim found the aloe vera lotion. Gently, he helped apply the lotion, taking care not to hurt her shoulder.

“Mmm,” Trixie sighed. “I forgot how good that feels on sunburned skin. I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

“I’m sure you will,” Jim said. He gave one last gentle brush across her shoulders before he stood up and wiped the residue on a towel.

Dinner was simple. Honey had to work late and would be meeting Brian later in the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had just gotten back from a business trip. They were glad to see for themselves how Trixie was recovering.

After dinner, Trixie and Jim went to sit out on the veranda. For several minutes they sat in uncomfortable silence. Finally, he said, “I think I owe you an apology.”

She looked at him, not sure what he was talking about.

“I haven’t been a very good boyfriend, or even friend, the past few days. In fact you might say I’ve kind of avoided you.”

Trixie wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She knew he was right, but she knew if she said the wrong thing he would clam up. In the end she said, “I kind of noticed.”

He stood up and started to pace. Then he stopped and looked directly into her blue eyes. “I was having a hard time dealing with some irrational feelings. Remember how I reacted when Reddy died?” Trixie nodded.

“Well, I haven’t told anyone but Mart this,” he continued. Trixie was startled that Mart knew whatever it was Jim had to say and Brian didn’t. “After Reddy died, I decided that I needed to find a way to deal with my fears of losing everyone I loved. I started to see a counselor. It was hard to go the first day, but once I got there I found it was helpful to talk through my feelings with someone who didn’t have a vested interest in them.”

“That’s wonderful,” Trixie said. “I remember talking about it. I’m so glad you had the courage to follow through.”

“You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you right away?” he asked.

She sighed, trying to find a way to express her feelings without sounding hurt and upset. “Part of me wishes you would have shared this with me sooner,” she began. “But I know that, had I known about it, I probably would have bugged you about how you were doing and you didn’t need that.”

He bent over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Thank you for understanding.”

After a few more minutes of silence, she asked, “So you’ve told me about seeing a counselor, but you haven’t explained what happened last week.”

“I’m not really proud of myself, but after your accident I kind of started to shut down. I was so afraid of losing you, and even started to blame you for it. Your brothers very firmly pointed out that you were a big girl and that you’d been running that same route for over a year. I knew then I needed to talk to someone to get my fears out of my system and to work through them. Yesterday, I was able to get into see my counselor. I’m not going to sugar coat it and say I’ve gotten over my fears, but I’m working on it. All I ask for is patience.”

“I suspected something like that was happening,” she said. “I’m not making promises, but I’ll try to be patient. I know you’re trying and I’ll try not to take offense if you start to go all protective on me.”

They both knew that there would be days when Jim was overly protective but they were both going to work on it. Trixie did appreciate his concern and secretly hoped he wouldn’t get to the point that he didn’t worry at all.

They sat side by side on chaise lounges, holding hands for several minutes. The silence was a comfort. Pretty soon Trixie said, “I don’t really want to leave but I think I’d better go. I don’t want Moms worrying I’m overdoing it.”

Jim carefully helped Trixie to her feet and then gently placed a kiss on her sweet lips before driving her back to Crabapple Farm.

 

 

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