Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart (2 page)

Kit

Her computer dinged.

Sarah - You’re kidding. Tell me you’re
kidding.

Kit - I wish I was.

Sarah - How horrible! Come to Willow Falls.
Stay with me and the kids for a few days until you know what you
want to do. You can still write, you just have to find a new topic.
You can spend some time with Zoe. The train leaves at 11am
tomorrow. Be on it. I’ll pick you up at three. After all, you’re
all packed, ready for a trip anyway.

Kit - I’ll be on the train. But I’ll stay at
the Willow Falls motel. Can we have dinner together?

Sarah - Sure. I’ll make my little sister’s
pot roast recipe. It cures anything. See you tomorrow.

Kit got into bed exhausted, but not too
tired to cry herself to sleep.

* * * *

When Kit stepped off the train in Willow
Falls, she perceived the small town with new eyes. Her last trip
had been to bring Zoe to her new school. Kit had barely noticed the
town, being completely preoccupied with getting her daughter
comfortably set up. She took a deep breath, pulling fresh, clean
air into her lungs.
Beats New York City air by a mile.

Her smile faded quickly. She found Willow
Falls lacking when compared to Paris, London, Rome and other
capitals of the world she’d have visited if on the tour with
Johnny. Reminding herself the option to take the journey no longer
existed made the tiny town become more appealing.
It must be
cheap to live here. I can’t afford New York anymore.

She checked into the Willow Falls Motel,
within walking distance of the train station. After placing her
suitcase on the bed, she left the modern three story edifice to
stroll through the town.

Kensington State University anchored Willow
Falls, population about five thousand. The little town had had a
renaissance resulting in many beautifully renovated Victorian
houses plus large brick homes with businesses on the first floor,
apartments above. These buildings showcased the town’s charming
history.

In the center of town, an intriguing
hundred-year-old, three-story bed and breakfast called Gracie’s
Mansion commanded attention. The inn, a three-story Victorian with
burnt orange and gold curtains billowing through open windows in
the warm August breeze, had inviting rocking chairs on the porch.
The proprietor, Grace Cooper, a former New York City school
teacher, perched on the porch sipping a tall, frosty glass of iced
tea. Drawn to the inviting atmosphere of the house over the sterile
surroundings of the motel, Kit warmed to Grace’s friendly
greeting.

Right across the street from Gracie’s sat
Bon Appetit, an excellent French restaurant. She and Johnny had
eaten there with Zoe when they arrived to drop her off at school.
The cuisine was as good as any in New York City.

Perhaps Kit would spend some time in Willow
Falls. After all, she had no place to live back in New York City.
Her city friends had been warm, gracious, sympathetic, but most had
little enough space for themselves. “Bunking in” with her friends,
as Johnny had suggested, meant sleeping on a couch and disrupting
the lives of people she cared about—not an appealing solution.

Sarah picked her up in front of Bon Appetit.
Dinner with Sarah, her seven-year-old son Scott and her
eleven-year-old daughter, Laura, promised to be a lively one. She
marveled at the difference in Sarah’s children with Scott being
talkative and Laura the quiet one. Keeping her thoughts to herself,
Kit tried to guess what had happened to Sarah’s husband. Her friend
had never mentioned him. At dinner the children didn’t either.
“Callie’s pot roast”, as the kids called it, tasted out of this
world to Kit, soothing her as promised.

The two women stayed up late drinking wine,
sorting through the mess Kit called her life.

“A make-over would help…nothing wrong with
the way you look. Hey, I’d love to have your figure. But a change
might make you feel better. Some new clothes, haircut, manicure?
Wadda ya say?”

“I can’t afford much. I don’t have a
job.”

Kit didn’t feel much like getting made over.
How can you make over a disaster, a failure like me?
Any
way you dress me, I’m still a woman who’s been dumped.

“I think I have a coupon for a mani-pedi.”
Sarah got up and rooted around in a small wicker basket on a table
by the door.

“Got it! Special two for one. Let’s go
together tomorrow. Then a haircut.”

“Okay, but I have to face Zoe.”

“Can’t you wait one more day?”

* * * *

Kit looked in the mirror at her newly
shaped, bouncy, shoulder-length straight hair. She tossed her head
from side to side to watch the way her locks swished. Her head felt
lighter. Her nails were perfect with a dark pink polish. The new
look included a new t-shirt and skirt set plus new sandals.
Well
done, Sarah. I do feel better. I look better too, at least on the
outside.

Now, the hard part—telling Zoe, a task she
dreaded. Despite Johnny’s shortcomings, Zoe adored him. Kit had no
idea how to break the news to Zoe her father had blown apart their
family. Since he’d be away until Christmas, maybe Zoe wouldn’t miss
him so much anyway. Fat chance.
Typical Johnny move, take
off…let me clean up the mess he left behind plus take all the
heat.
Another reason he landed on her shit list.

She arranged to visit Zoe the next afternoon
after classes. During the day, the women continued their shopping
as Kit had little informal clothing. Her days had been spent in a
bank, wearing a dark-color conservative suit with a white blouse.
Sarah encouraged her to buy some sexier outfits. The new clothes
lifted Kit’s spirits a bit.

“Now, perfume!”

“Must we?”

“You need to smell different…for a different
guy you know?”

“Guy?” Kit burst out laughing. “I’m a
retread, Sarah. Washed up at thirty-three.”

“Uh uh. Positive vibes.”

Sarah dragged her friend to the perfume
counter at Franklyn’s, the town department store. After sampling a
few different scents, they put their heads together. Kit picked one
in a small, elegant bottle that put a smile on her face.

Sarah dropped Kit at Willow Falls Academy.
After accepting a hug from her new friend, she left the car feeling
shaky, uncertain, not typical for her. Seeing Zoe’s puzzled look
didn’t boost her flagging confidence.

“Weren’t you guys leaving yesterday? What
are you doing here?”

“Can we take a walk?” Kit reached for her
daughter’s hand.

They strolled around the beautiful grounds.
The soccer fields were thick with lush grass, green and
surprisingly cool in the August sun. They walked the entire
perimeter, chatting about events at the school. The smell of fresh
mown lawn tickled her nose, reminding her she no longer walked in
the concrete and steel capital of the world.

“Okay, Mom. So why are you here?” Zoe
stopped to face her mother.

“Well…your father made a decision. He
decided to go on the tour alone.”

“Without you?” Her eyebrows rose with the
octaves of her voice.

“Yes.” Kit picked a leaf off a tree.

“Why?”

“I don’t know why.” Kit shook her head
slightly while her fingers finished stripping the leaf down to one
stalk.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s divorcing me, Zoe,” she confessed.

“Divorcing you?” Her daughter’s lower lip
trembled as tears filled her eyes.

“I’m so sorry to tell you.”

“Why?” Zoe asked. Tears overflowed,
streaming down her face.

“I wish I knew.” The sting of emotion behind
Kit’s eyes made her blink but she fought to keep her composure
while plucking a tissue from her purse.

“What about me?” Zoe accepted the tissue
from her mother.

“A parent never divorces their child. He’s
still your father and will still come see you at Christmas, like we
planned.” Kit stopped to take a breath to steady her voice.

“Oh, God. Divorce. Why? Why, Mommy? Why” Zoe
said, throwing herself into her mother’s arms, sobbing.

Kit couldn’t hold back her own tears anymore
as she held her daughter tightly, stroking hair.

“I don’t know, baby. I just don’t know. But
we’ll get through this.” She tried to remain calm for her
daughter.

As suddenly as Zoe fell into her mother’s
arms, she pulled away.

“What did you do to him? What did you say to
make him leave us?” Zoe asked, anger flashing in her eyes. Zoe
wiped her eyes one more time.

“I didn’t do anything, sweetheart.”

“You did. You must have.”

“I don’t think I did. He didn’t say
anything.” Her brow furrowed.

“What did he say?”

“He said he wanted to be free…he didn’t want
to be married anymore,” she said, her lip trembling as she stopped
to take a breath. Zoe covered her face with her hands and ran off
toward the woods. She stopped at a big oak for support, leaning
against the sturdy tree, sobbing. Kit caught up to her.

“So I’m going to be staying in the U.S,
Zoe.” She put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Are you going back to New York?” the girl
asked, her voice shaking.

“I’ve no place to live there.” Quickly she
regretted her admission.

A look of fear swept over Zoe’s face.

“You won’t leave me, will you?” Her eyes
teared up.

“Of course not, sweetheart. I’ve been
thinking about spending some time here in Willow Falls. Being
closer to you’d be good. What do you think?” She forced her lips to
curl into a tight smile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I think I hate you both. I don’t care where
you live,” Zoe spat at her mother, then ran off returning to the
school building. When Kit arrived, Zoe had locked herself in her
room. Her mother knocked repeatedly but got no answer. Pain at
leaving her daughter to lick her wounds alone, stabbed Kit’s heart.
Zoe’s silence left her mother no choice but to go back to the
motel.

The next morning at 29 James Street.

Sarah Morgan sat at her computer waiting for
inspiration, but nothing came to her. She forced herself to sit
there every morning after her children went to day camp. Her novel
with fifty-six pages already written had stalled.

Frustrated and overwhelmed the
thirty-five-year-old woman refused to give up. She had made up her
mind to become a writer. Sarah paced, got another cup of coffee and
called her friend.

“How did it go with Zoe?”

“Not well.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. What are you doing
today?”

“Trying to write. Nothing’s coming.”

“Don’t give up, Sarah.”

“Easy to say…”

“I mean it.”

“Yeah…thanks.”

Sarah hung up and sank down into her chair,
placing her hands on the keyboard. Still nothing. She tapped her
red pencil on the desk, chewed a fingernail, then overcome by
frustration, dissolved in tears.

* * * *

Jim Caterson, head of the English department
at Kensington State, saw his next door neighbor Sarah Morgan,
through his bedroom window. She looked a lot like her beautiful
sister, Callie Caldwell, but instead of chestnut hair, Sarah had
dark brown hair, almost black. Her large, turquoise eyes were like
Callie’s. Jim, a widower, had noticed her generous curves when
Callie introduced them. At the time, her beauty struck him but he
found her air of sadness puzzling.

Jim had recovered from the death of his
beloved wife, Nancy, only to be devastated by the desertion of a
fiancée who left him for a Russian ballet dancer. After the turmoil
died down, he settled into a quiet life, running the English
department, reading, writing, and socializing with friends. He
spent many a happy afternoon at the Caldwell house with Callie, Mac
and their kids.

Through the window, Jim saw Sarah reach for
a tissue. She looked up, noticed him and smiled. He pushed the
window open to call to her.

“Writer’s block?”

“Big time.” She walked over to her open
window, leaning her elbows on the sill.

“Can I help?” His gaze settled on her
bow-shaped lips while a new hunger crept through his body.

Although Jim had sworn off women for a
while, he grew increasingly lonely. The companionship of an
attractive woman in and out of his bed became a preoccupation. When
he tried dating again, love eluded him. Though sexually attracted
to several women, the relationships never evolved into anything
deeper.

“I don’t think so.” She rested her chin in
her hands.

“Want to go for a walk? Always helps
me.”

The warm, caressing August breeze coming in
the big window enticed her.

She nodded.

Jim met her on the front lawn.

“What are you writing?” he asked as he
steered her to a narrow path leading to the woods.

“A novel. I have the first fifty-six pages
but can’t seem to get started again.”

“What’s in the way?” He glanced at her. Her
small hand appeared lonely dangling by her side.

“Everything. My kids, my finances, knowing
I’ll have to get a job in six months, Bob’s death…”

“I lost my wife several years ago. The
adjustment takes time.” He positioned himself closer to her.

“Do you have children?” she asked.

“I don’t.” He took a chance, moving his hand
over to capture hers. She didn’t move away.

Although he was attracted to Sarah
physically, caution held Jim back, protecting his heart. Her
beauty, unequaled by any of the women he had met before, drew him
like a moth to a flame.

“Mine are having a hard time adjusting.” The
joining of their hands caused Sarah to move closer.