Hand-Me-Down Love (22 page)

Goodbye, Diary.

Diane took her
reading glasses off and looked at Marla. “Could you hand me one of
those tissues?” she said.

Marla gave her
the box after taking one for herself.

“
That is very
powerful,” Diane said. “Your sister loves you a lot.” Again,
the present tense with the word “love,” not the past tense.

“
She loves
Sean a lot,” Diane continued. “I think she knew the two of you
very well. This is such a selfless request on her part.”

“
I know. I
can’t believe it. Sean and I thought Meredith would be all right
with our being together, but we didn’t really know that for sure.”

“
Now you do.
What do you think you’re going to do about it?”

“
I don’t
know. Sean’s gone. I don’t know what to do.”

“
Your sister
very clearly condones a relationship with Sean. Let me say this,
Marla. Sean needed to go and you released him. That’s real love in
my book. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “let them go and if
they return to you, it’s true love.”

“
I’ve heard
that,” Marla said.

“
What are you
feeling about Sean after reading Meredith’s diary? What are you
feeling about Michael? I know it’s complicated.”

“
Reading that
part in her diary opened up my heart to Sean again. I thought it was
closed for good. But now it’s not.” Marla paused, choosing her
words. “It’s been good to be with Michael. He’s a good person
and he’s been there for me. But I know that I don’t love him, not
in the great romantic way I love Sean.”

“
You just
said you love Sean,” Diane said.

“
Yes. I love
Sean.” And then she started to cry.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Sean left the
mountains behind him and headed down the highway to Bay Point. Cody
stuck his head out the window and let the wind blow in his face and
hair. Sean had been very out of touch with Marla and had no idea what
kind of reception he was going to get. But he didn’t want to call
her. He wanted to surprise her. That would tell him a lot.

He called his
mother once he was out of the mountains.

“
I left the
mountains,” he told her.

“
Are you
coming to Atlanta?”

“
Not yet. I’m
going to Bay Point. I’ve got some things I need to take care of
there.” He couldn’t tell his mother about Marla. Not right now.
But when he did, he was sure that she would be happy for him. She had
been so worried.

“
I know my
car is there taking up space,” he said.

“
It’s all
right. No problem,” his mother said. She was a good mother.

“
I was
thinking of giving it to Caitlin. She’s always loved it. Do you
think she would want it?”

“
What are you
going to drive?” his mother asked. “If you give your car to your
sister?”

“
I bought a
truck. I don’t really want the BMW anymore. It doesn’t suit me.”

“
Oh,” his
mother said. “Well, I think Caitlin would love to have it. Should I
call her when we hang up and tell her?”

“
Definitely.
Tell her she can get it anytime she wants.”

“
Are you
giving it to her?” his mother asked. “Giving it and not selling
it?”

“
Giving it,”
Sean said. He felt good when he got off the call with his mother.
Caitlin was going to be so surprised.

He kept driving
and by the time he got to Mobile it was dark. He decided to stop for
the night and get a fresh start for Bay Point in the morning. He
figured the more expensive hotels wouldn’t allow Cody so he opted
for a Days Inn on the edge of town. In the room, he gave Cody food
and water, which the dog lapped up gratefully.

After a shower,
Sean looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit he was a little
scraggly looking. His hair and beard could use a trim. He’d do that
in Mobile before he went to Bay Point. He fell into the bed and Cody
lay down on the floor beside him. Good dog.

Sean drove
through the streets of Mobile the next day looking for a barber’s
pole. Surely, there were still barber’s poles, he thought. He
finally spotted one and pulled his truck into a parking space. He put
the leash on Cody and the dog jumped out of the truck.

“
Do you allow
dogs in here?” Sean said when he opened the door. An old black man
who was standing by a barber’s chair cutting a man’s hair looked
up at him. He gave Sean the up and down before breaking into a big
smile.

“
Sure,” he
said. “Bring him in. I’ll get to you in a few minutes. That all
right?”

“
That’s
fine,” Sean said leading Cody to a chair against the opposite wall.
He sat down and waited. About ten minutes later, the barber brushed
the man’s back and neck and he left.

“
Come on over
here,” the man motioned to Sean. He and Cody walked over to the
chair.

“
What can I
do for you today?” the barber asked.

“
Well, all I
want is a trim on my hair and beard and mustache. Can you do all
that?”

“
Sure can.”
The barber put a towel around Sean’s neck and removed the elastic
from Sean’s hair. He brushed it out and Sean couldn’t believe how
long it had gotten.

“
You wanna
keep the tail or you wanna go shorter?” the barber asked.

Sean thought
for a minute. “Let’s go shorter, like to here,” he said putting
his hand a couple of inches above his shoulder.

The barber cut
four inches from Sean’s hair, then started to shape it up, creating
layers where they needed to go but not in an obvious and hair-do way.
When he was finished, he removed the towel and brushed Sean’s back
and neck.

“
Let’s go
over here for the beard and mustache,” the barber said. Sean and
Cody moved to another chair that seemed set up for beard trimming.

“
You want it
short or medium?” the barber asked.

“
Between
short and medium,” Sean said.

When the barber
was finished, Sean looked in the mirror. He didn’t look scraggly
anymore. He looked almost respectable. He laughed inwardly, wondering
what Marty and the guys would think about his new look.

“
Thanks,”
Sean said as he paid the barber. He gave him a twenty-dollar tip.

“
You are more
than welcome,” the barber said. “More than welcome.”

Sean and Cody
got back in the truck and headed down the road, toward the bay.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Marla, Jada, and
Derrick were in the courtyard. The day was hot and sticky, but they
had work to do. They only had a couple of weeks until the big Labor
Day sale and a lot of pieces of furniture to refurbish. The buzzer
went off, letting them know someone had come in the shop door.

“
I’ll get
it,” Marla said to Jada, who had on rubber gloves and was scraping
paint off of a dresser.

She opened the
back door and saw the most handsome man she’d ever seen standing at
the front door.

“
Is it okay
if I bring my dog in here?” the man said.

Marla was about
to say they didn’t allow pets in the store and then she froze. Her
whole body began to vibrate and she thought she would faint. Didn’t
know if she could take a step. But she did. She started walking to
the man and when she got there she held out her hands.

He took them.
“It’s good to see you, Sean,” Marla said. Tears were forming in
her eyes.

“
It’s good
to see you too, Marla,” Sean said. He pulled her close against his
chest. She began to cry softly.

“
I didn’t
think I’d ever see you again,” she said. “I thought you were
gone forever.”

“
I’m
sorry,” Sean said. He lifted her face and leaned down to kiss her
on her lips. She knew she should be mad at him for being out of touch
with her for so long, but she kissed him back anyway.

The back door
opened and Jada walked in. Sean and Marla looked at her. Jada seemed
uncertain as she looked at them, still locked in an embrace. And then
recognition crossed her face.

“
Sean!” she
said.

“
Hey, Jada.
How are you doing?”

“
Don’t hey
me,” she said running over to him and giving him a hug. “We’ve
missed you around here,” she said, and Marla saw that her eyes were
shiny. “I’m going to get Derrick,” Jada said, walking toward
the back door. “He’s going to freak out!”

Sean and Marla
and Cody followed her. A few seconds later, Derrick came through the
back door. He and Sean shook hands. “It’s good to see you,
Derrick,” Sean said. “You too, man,” he said back. “It hasn’t
been the same around here since you left. I’ve got to do all the
heavy lifting by myself.” He and Sean laughed.

“
What are
y’all doing after the shop closes?” Sean said. “I was thinking
we could go down to Steamboat Joe’s. On me.”

Jada looked at
Derrick, who gave her a slight nod. “That sounds like fun,” she
said. “We’d love to go.” And then she turned back toward the
door. “Come on, Derrick. We’ve got a few things to do before
then.”

After they
left, Marla said, “Where are you staying?”

“
I’m not
staying anywhere. I guess I can find a place later.”

“
Okay,” she
said. What was she doing? Why was she saying okay when that was not
okay.

“
Or you can
stay here,” she said.

“
Is that all
right?” he asked, looking at her.

“
Yes. You’ve
still got your shaving mug here, but I guess you don’t need that
anymore.” What a dumb thing to say. Could she get any dumber?

Sean laughed.
“No, I guess I don’t.”

“
You know
what?” Marla said. “I’m done for the day. Why don’t we go to
Steamboat Joe’s early and get some shrimp? I could use some
shrimp.”

“
What do you
think I should do with Cody?” Sean asked looking at the dog who sat
beside him.

“
Hey, Cody,”
Marla said, leaning down to pet the dog. “Do you wanna stay in my
apartment for a while? Will he be alright up there?” she said
looking up at Sean. “Lucy’s out on the patio, and I can leave her
there while we’re gone.”

“
He’ll do
great up there.” Marla went out the back door to the courtyard and
told Jada and Derrick she was closing up shop and they were going to
get shrimp. Jada stripped off her gloves. “I’m ready,” she
said.

Sean followed
Marla upstairs and Cody followed him. She opened the door and he
stepped in. “I missed this place,” he said. “It feels like
home.” He turned and pulled Marla into his arms. “I’ve missed
you, Marla.”

“
I’ve
missed you too,” she said. “Come on. Let’s get going. We don’t
want to leave Jada and Derrick waiting.”

“
Are they
officially a thing now?” Sean asked.

“
Definitely.
Ever since that night. The last time we went out together.”

Sean led Cody
into the living room. “I’ll be back soon, boy,” he said. He put
water in a bowl and dog food in another bowl before he and Marla went
down the stairs.

The four of
them walked down the street to Steamboat Joe’s, just as they had on
that January day eight months earlier. They sat in a booth and
ordered boiled shrimp and fried oysters. The waitress brought it all
over on a huge tray and they attacked the food as soon as she set it
on the table.

Just like the
other time they’d gone out together, they danced and laughed. Marla
had been wrong. It wasn’t a one-time thing, the four of them out on
the town. Back at the booth, Jada looked at Derrick and then at Sean
and Marla.

“
We want you
both to be the first to know that Derrick and I are getting married,”
she said. “You brought us together in a way, that night we went
out. So, you are the first to know.”

Marla got up
from her side of the booth and walked over to hug Jada. “I’m so
happy for you,” she said. She reached out and touched Derrick on
the arm before going back to her seat.