Desperate Times (46 page)

“When?” asked Jimmy. “When did this all
happen?”

“Yesterday!” answered Julie, shouting to be
heard over the roar of the crowd. “The Guard has gone home! The
local governments have started up again! We’re saved, Jimmy. We’re
saved!”

Jimmy turned to Burt, who was now wearing a
huge grin. “Really?” Burt asked. “We can all just go home? Just
like that, this thing is over?”

“It’s over!” shouted Julie, excitedly. “It’s
really over!”

Do desperate times call for desperate
measures? Yes. It is usually by desperate means that we survive
desperate times.

“They’ve got buses running up and down the
highways! Greyhounds, school buses! They’re giving free rides back
down toward the cities!” shouted a young officer, from the hood of
a squad car. Jimmy could see the guy’s partner standing next to the
cruiser, nodding his head and smiling. “We thought everyone knew!
God bless America, people! The worst is over!”

Jimmy was suddenly tackled by Bill, who was
cheering like a maniac. “We’re going home, Jimmy! We’re going
home!”

Jimmy pried himself free and Bill continued
to leap around, hugging everyone in sight. Jimmy turned, but Julie
and Burt were gone, having been swept away by the crowd of
overjoyed people. Jimmy couldn’t believe his eyes. Could they be
right? Was it really all over? He took a few moments to digest the
information.

Jimmy spotted Paula and Carl. They stood
alone next to the wall. Carl held a folded sheaf of papers. He was
pointing to them and saying something to Paula. She seemed to be
listening with great interest. Jimmy waded through the crowd to
join them.

“Hey,” Jimmy said, uncertain of what to say.
He knew that Paula had seen him kissing Julie inside the fence.
Everyone had. He was suddenly embarrassed by that. He knew he
should’ve ended things differently. Paula deserved better than
that.

“Look who’s here,” said Paula, a bright smile
on her face.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” said
Carl, in an insolent tone.

“What?” asked Jimmy, confused by the sudden
return of the butler’s arrogance.

“Look Jimmy,” said Paula, pointing to what
Carl was holding. “Do you see that? It’s my dad’s Will! Can you
believe it?”

“That’s great,” said Jimmy, wondering why she
seemed so excited about that.

“Look what it says, Jimmy! I’m going to be a
billionaire! My parents left it all to me! Daddy left his money in
a Swiss bank. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“That’s great news,” said Jimmy, forcing
himself to smile. He looked at Carl and was still more confused by
the way the man was looking at him. There was something else; Jimmy
was sure of it.

“I can’t actually have the money until I’ve
married, Jimmy. Isn’t that odd? I can’t imagine why Daddy put that
in there. But it’s there. It’s all there in black and white. Isn’t
that something? I can’t believe it!”

Jimmy swallowed hard. He should’ve seen
something like this happening. He couldn’t marry Paula, not now.
Not for all the money on earth. How could he explain this to her?
She could never understand how he really felt. His heart belonged
to Julie and would always belong to her. Paula was going to be
crushed. Jimmy tried to find the words to tell her.

“Well?” asked Carl with a leer. “What do you
have to say about that?”

Jimmy felt his heart drop. They were waiting
for him to ask for her hand in marriage. Jimmy wanted to crawl
under a rock. He took a breath and gave it to her straight up. “I’m
sorry, Paula. I can’t do it. I’m so sorry.”

Paula and Carl exchanged glances. Suddenly,
they burst into a fit of laughter.

“What?” asked Jimmy, “what’s so funny?”

Paula fought to control herself. She held her
stomach with both hands; her face had gone bright red. Finally, she
regained her composure. “You don’t know the rest, Jimmy. That’s the
best part. My dad wrote that I had to be married, but to anyone
except you! Can you believe it? Well, you’d better. Carl and I are
going straight to the courthouse. With any luck, we’ll be married
by the end of the week and on a plane to Switzerland. What do you
think of that, Jimmy?”

“You didn’t think that she’d actually marry
you
, did you?” hissed Carl. “I’d have died first. You’re a
loser, Jimmy. You know that, don’t you? You’ll never amount to
anything more than you already are: A total loser.”

Paula giggled and threw her arms around Carl.
She had never looked happier to Jimmy, and he turned away. Julie
was standing right behind him. She took him by the hand and led him
away. A few feet away, Jimmy looked back and saw the two of them
kissing.

“Did you hear that?” asked Jimmy. “All of
it?”

“I did,” answered Julie.

“I couldn’t do it; I’m in love with you.”

“I heard you. That’s a good thing.”

“I want to get married. I want a family. I
want it all, Julie. Will you be my wife?”

“I’ll think about it,” said Julie, coyly.

“What?” asked Jimmy, “What do you mean by
that—you’ll
think
about it?”

“I haven’t forgotten our little walk, Jimmy.
Remember, at the campground? I hate to say it, but I told you
so.”

“Oh crap,” muttered Jimmy. “But that’s all
changed, now. Can’t you see that? Didn’t you hear what I just said?
I’m sorry, baby. I really am. I couldn’t go with you then. I had to
make sure she was all right. You can see she’s more than all right.
Paula looks like she’s died and gone to heaven!”

“Good for her,” said Julie, her expression
had grown composed and serious. “You couldn’t go with me then, and
I’m not going with you now. Not yet, anyhow. You’ve got a lot of
ground to make up, Jimmy. We’re back to square one.”

“Come on, Julie.”

“I mean it. I do love you, Jimmy, but you’ve
got a lot to prove. You should’ve asked me this when we were at the
clearing. I would’ve said yes. I would’ve screamed it. You really
blew it back there, buddy.”

“I’m sorry. That was a mistake.”

“Not as big as the one Paula just made. She’s
giving up the best thing she ever had.”

“Do you mean…?”

“No. I meant what I said: square one. Can you
handle that?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Nope.”

Later, long after the crowd had vanished down
the road, the sky began to hint at a brilliant sunset. Jimmy stood
with Ken at the gate. They embraced. Gone was the awkward feeling;
after all they had been through, he now felt as if he were hugging
his father.

“Are you sure?” asked Jimmy.

“Take it!” ordered Ken. “We’ll be fine. We’ve
got the Mack if we need anything from town. Come back in a week.
Look at this mess, Jimmy. I’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do.”

Patty took Jimmy into her arms and hugged him
tightly. “I love you, Jimmy,” she whispered into his ear. “May God
be with you, we’ll see you soon, okay?”

“I’ll be back a week from today, whatever day
today is,” said Jimmy, honestly. “You can set your clocks by
that.”

Patty nodded. Jimmy could see that she was
crying.

Jimmy turned and was quickly embraced by Doc.
“I’ll be here when you get back. Ken’s going to help me bring
everything back to the hospital. Right now, I’m going to fill my
stomach and get about sixteen hours of sleep. Thank you, Jimmy. You
and Jon saved my life.”

Jimmy shook his head. The pain was still
there. He couldn’t think of Jon without the air rushing out of him.
He remembered what Doc had said about that type of pain, and it
helped him keep his composure.

“You’d better get going,” said Ken. “You
should have plenty of gas. Just be careful out there, okay?”

“I promise. Goodbye everyone. I’ll see you
soon!”

They stood and waved at the gate as Jimmy
hopped up into Ken’s Tahoe. Julie and Burt were waiting, having
already said their goodbyes. Bill was waiting in his car with Rita
and Cindy riding along with him. Jimmy thought that he might see
something blossoming between Bill and Rita. He did know that Cindy
would do whatever she could to make it grow.

They drove away and Jimmy tooted the horn as
they rounded the corner of the gravel road. That was tradition.
They rode along in silence, each thinking about what they would
find when they finally returned home. They reached the highway and
Jimmy pressed down on the accelerator. He was excited about the
future. He was anxious to prove himself to Julie. As much as he
liked Burt, he couldn’t wait to be alone with her.

Jimmy watched Bill in his rearview mirror.
Bill seemed to be laughing as he told one of his many stories.
Jimmy groaned at the thought of that. How many times would he have
to listen to Bill tell of their exploits during the crisis. Jimmy
knew Bill all too well; the stories would grow longer as Bill
stretched the truth, until it was as thin as a human hair. Like it
was necessary to do that, after all they had experienced. Jimmy
would have to move. As much as he liked Bill, they just couldn’t be
neighbors, not anymore. Jimmy hoped he and Julie could get a place
together. He didn’t care where.

They rounded a corner with the sunset blazing
before them. Burt stretched his arm over the backseat and pointed
out the windshield. “Remember that place, Jimmy? What a view. I’ll
bet it’s beautiful this time of day. Someday, I’m going back
there.”

Jimmy had a sudden urge. He spotted the
little driveway and pressed hard on the brakes. He turned the Tahoe
down the driveway and they bounced down the little road. Bill
followed.

“I didn’t mean right now,” said Burt. “I just
said
someday.”

“Who invited you?” asked Jimmy. “I want to
take Julie up there. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Go where?” asked Julie. “I just want to get
home, Jimmy. Seriously, I’m beat.”

Jimmy turned the Tahoe around and slapped the
gearshift into park. “Come on,” he pleaded. “I need to talk to you.
It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“Jimmy, I don’t know…”

“Come on, you’ve got to see this,” Jimmy
said, opening his door and stepping outside. “We’ll be back in a
few minutes, Burt. You can visit with Bill.”

“Can I please?” asked Burt, without
enthusiasm.

Jimmy laughed and stopped at Bill’s car. He
quickly explained what he and Julie wanted to do. He stopped Bill
every time he tried to interrupt. If possible, Bill would make them
miss the sunset; he was sure of it. Jimmy grabbed Julie by the hand
and led her back down the driveway. She followed, reluctantly at
first.

They crossed the highway and entered the tall
pines where they had before. Jimmy remembered both trips up to the
top of the lookout. This one would be different. This time he was
going to drop to one knee when they reached the top. This was the
place where he really wanted to ask Julie for her hand. He couldn’t
imagine a better spot to do it. He had no doubt how she’d respond.
She would remind him that they were back to square one, but that
didn’t matter. What really mattered was that she’d always remember
when he popped the question; and that he’d done it right.

They talked a little, making idle
conversation as Jimmy led her through the woods, toward the spot
where the rocks jutted from the earth. Once there, they began to
climb. They took their time, Julie’s face brightened as they neared
the top. This place seemed almost holy, unblemished by men, the
pines glimmered in the orange sunset. Jimmy stopped here and there
to lend a hand to Julie. She took it gratefully, staring directly
into his eyes. That electric current had returned and it ran
through their bodies whenever they touched. Jimmy knew that she
could feel it. That current was as real as the rocks they were
climbing.

Jimmy stopped near the top. They were ten
feet away. He wanted her to go first, that way he could watch her
expression as she caught the breathtaking view. “You first,” he
said. “Take a look and tell me what you think!”

Julie smiled and took Jimmy by the waist and
kissed him gently. “This is beautiful, Jimmy. Thank you. Thank you
for everything.”

“You can thank me later,” said Jimmy with a
wink.

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
Julie asked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

“Ouch,” Jimmy said, rubbing the spot,
playfully. “Get up there. I’ve got something to ask you. It can’t
wait.”

Julie nodded and Jimmy thought she knew what
was coming. She gave him a smile and continued up the final ten
feet of the steep grade. Jimmy watched her climb, her athletic
limbs working in unison, scaling the rocks to the top of the
precipice.

“Oh my God…” she said with a shocked
expression.

Jimmy had expected some sort of a reaction.
This definitely wasn’t it. He scrambled up the rocks and joined her
at the top.

“Get down!” he hissed. “Oh shit!”

Julie did as he asked. Her face was twisted
with confusion. “What’s going on?” she asked. What the hell are
they doing down there?”