Marriage Seasons 01 - It Happens Every Spring (36 page)

"Heard you took a trip to Arkansas," Pete drawled as he ambled
to the pumps. "Pretty down there this time of year. Thick forests
and lots of streams. Do any fishing?"

"Some," Steve said. "I needed a little break, time to think things
over. So I mostly just put up my feet and rested."

"I don't blame you a bit. That agency of yours is going great
guns day and night. I see your signs and billboards everywhere."

"We're busy, but I decided to make a few adjustments. Get
home a little earlier, take Sundays off, visit the kids now and
then-that kind of thing."

"Sundays off? Now that does surprise me." Pete spat a thin
stream of chewing tobacco from the side of his mouth. "I thought
that's when most people came to the lake to look at properties."

Steve shrugged. "My agents have keys to the office. But you
won't see me there."

Pete smiled. "I like a fella who knows his own mind. If I could
afford it, I'd do the same thing. You may not rake in as much
money as you used to, but some things are more important."

"Brenda and I talked it over. I realized we could make do with
less. When I sold auto parts, we barely got through the month.
Now college is paid up for the kids, and we don't have but two
mouths at home to feed."

"What about that young fellow? You know the one that's a little
bit. . ." Pete pointed his index finger at his ear and drew a few circles. "You don't like to say someone's dumb or retarded these days,
but what else could you call him?"

"Cody? He's slow, but I don't think he's had much of a chance to
show what he can do. Brenda's been working with him, teaching
him a few things. Turns out he's smarter than we all thought."

"No kidding? Well, don't that beat all? You think you've got a
fella pegged, and then he up and surprises the socks off you. Like
you shutting down your agency on Sundays." Pete leaned on the
gas pump and gestured toward the strip mall. "Anything come of
your idea about buying this place? The video-store guy has been
getting boxes delivered every day. I think he's about to open up.
And the chiropractor is threatening to shut down. He gave notice
that he's looking for new digs. It's a mess."

Steve finished pumping gas into his tank and settled the nozzle
back in its holder. "I seriously considered purchasing the mall," he told Pete. "I even had a financial backer. Someone from St. Louis
came down to the lake to work out the details with me, and I
thought I could make a go of it. We had a few meetings, but I finally
called off the deal."

"Didn't like the terms, huh?"

"It wasn't that so much as the time. If I go into commercial real
estate, I'll have to work even more hours than I do right now. I hate
the idea of an adult-video store moving into Tranquility as much
as the rest of us around here, but I just couldn't see adding that to
my load."

Pete nodded. "Well, if I had the wherewithal, I'd buy it, but
there you go. Spent my best earning years drinking up my wages.
Sacrificed two marriages and my good health, all for booze. My
second wife, when she left me, she told me I was married to beer.
That really got me, you know? Married to beer. But she was right ...
I loved getting drunk better than I loved her, better than I loved
myself. Now here I am trying to make a living selling minnows, gas,
and hot dogs."

Though Pete's story was different from his own, Steve could
relate. Brenda had accused him of being married to his work, and
he couldn't deny how much he loved selling real estate. It was
almost an addiction-writing advertising copy, ordering billboards, convincing sellers, reeling in buyers, finalizing sales.

As he thought about the vocation to which he had given his
time, energy, and passion, his gaze wandered over to the beauty
shop next door to Rods-n-Ends. Before his last haircut, a group of
Patsy's regular customers had dragged him into the tearoom to tell
him their feelings about the video store. At the time, Steve had paid
scant attention. But now he recalled what Kim Finley had said: "If a
man wants a real woman to meet his needs, he has to do his part."
Steve had always considered "his part" to be earning money and
providing for the family. But that wasn't what the ladies were after.

"Real women want to be loved and cherished, not treated like some
kind of object," Patsy Pringle had told him. Esther Moore had chimed in with her view on men: "My husband has learned that he
had better listen-and listen good-if he wants me to feel any affection for him." Even the usually quiet Kim Finley had an opinion on
what a woman truly wanted. She described how Derek was supportive and did all he could to help make her life easier, despite his
heavy workload with the Water Patrol. "Derek is always trying to
figure out how to be a better husband," she claimed.

Pretty rigorous standards, Steve thought. But if other men had
learned to please their wives, couldn't he? With a lot of effort, Pete
Roberts had managed to overcome the things that were destroying
his health and ruining his relationships. Steve had begun to look at
repairing his marriage as a similar kind of challenge. His first step
had been to start coming home early and spending time with
Brenda. While it had seemed impossible at first, he was actually
learning to enjoy their evening walks. He figured all the steps ahead
would also be difficult and require hard work, but he had never
backed down from obstacles before.

Recalling Pete's regret at the way he had wasted so many years of
his life, Steve clapped the burly man on the shoulder. "Don't be too
hard on yourself, Pete," he said. "You've turned your life around,
and that's more than a lot of people can say. You don't drink, you
work hard, and I've seen you in church every Sunday. I think
you've even won Patsy Pringle's heart."

Laughing, Pete shook his head. "Not even close! That woman is
more stubborn and hardheaded than I am, and that's saying a lot.
Aw, we're on speaking terms since I built that soundproof wall
between our businesses. But she won't hardly give me the time of
day."

"Don't give up," Steve urged Pete as he climbed back into his
car. "One of these days, if you and I listen to our women and spend
enough time with them, we'll know exactly what they're looking
for in a man."

"Good advice," Pete said, waving as Steve pulled out of the
parking lot. "I'll try to remember it."

"Mercy sakes, look what just walked in the door!" Patsy Pringle
exclaimed from her station inside Just As I Am. "If that isn't the
handsomest young man in the world, I'll eat my hat."

Cody paused, confusion written on his face. "You don't have on
a hat, Patsy."

"It's just an expression," Brenda told him. "She thinks you look
wonderful."

"That's because I take a shower every day," he announced, loud
enough for everyone in the salon to hear him. "I don't have any
more mice in my hair, and I wear clean clothes, and I can almost tie
my shoelaces."

"Well, IT be," Patsy said. "A shower every day? Why, that's just
about the best news I've heard this century. And learning to tie
your shoes too? Are you sure your name is Cody Goss?"

He chuckled. "You know who I am, Patsy Pringle."

"And I couldn't be happier about it." She smiled at the sight of
Brenda Hansen, who was starting to look a little more like her old
self. "What are you two doing here today? Did I goof up my schedule book again?"

"It's Wednesday," Brenda reminded her. "We have a meeting of
the TLC."

"The Tea Ladies' Club," Cody said. "It's for ladies, but Brenda
said I could come today. I want to see if you have any chocolate
cake, because my daddy said-"

"Are the others here yet?" Brenda asked, cutting off Cody's
recital of the holy benefits of that particular dessert. "Esther
dropped by on her golf cart this morning to remind me."

"Any time now," Patsy sang out. "In fact, Kim may be back there
already. I forgot about the meeting, but I'll see if one of the other
stylists will take my three o'clock manicure and pedicure. We're
always filling in for each other."

Brenda ushered Cody back to the tearoom, where Kim sat browsing through a magazine. They greeted her and settled their
belongings before heading over to the pastry case and the urn.
Brenda selected a peanut-butter cookie and some Earl Grey tea
while Cody agonized between a slice of pecan pie and a helping of
apple cobbler.

"I guess it won't be long before school's out for the summer,"
Brenda remarked to Kim as she returned to the table. "I remember
my kids could hardly wait for vacation to start. They would get so
antsy and excited, but by mid-August, they were always ready to go
back to class and see their friends."

Dark-haired Kim closed the magazine and stirred her tea. "Are
yours coming home from college soon?"

Brenda glanced away for a moment, swallowing down the ache.
It wasn't quite as sharp now, but it still hung on. "Jennifer doesn't
complete her mission in Africa until the end of August. The other
day, she sent us a message that she had finally made the decision to
commit to full-time service."

"You mean she'll be a missionary? And live in a foreign country
for the rest of her life?"

"That's what she says." Brenda reflected for a moment on her
lovely, golden-haired older daughter. So dedicated and selfless.
What would Jennifer think if she knew what her mother had done?
Even the fact that Brenda had stopped going to church until just
recently would shock Jennifer. The idea that her parents might still
separate-even divorce-would dangerously tilt her view of life.
Of the three children, it was Jennifer whose face Brenda most often
saw when she thought about the incident with Nick LeClair. Struggling to hold her emotions at bay, she took a sip of tea.

"Jennifer believes God has called her to teach at a boarding
school for missionary kids," Brenda informed Kim. "She's already
getting her paperwork ready to enter a seminary in Texas. When
she graduated with a teaching degree, I pictured her in a classroom
full of kindergarteners here in Missouri. But evidently that's not
what the Lord had in mind."

"I guess I never thought about young single women becoming
missionaries," Kim said. "You must be very proud of her."

"We are, but we miss her a lot. And as it turns out, both Justin
and Jessica will be spending the summer in Springfield. Jessica
wants to take classes toward an early graduation."

"Jessica? I can still see her running down to the lake with her
friends. Skinny young girls in bathing suits, giggling and acting so
silly. It's hard to imagine that she's old enough to be thinking
about college graduation already."

Brenda nodded.

"And Justin?"

"Believe it or not, he got a job at a car dealership in Springfield.
He's still so goofy that I can't imagine why anyone would hire him,
but I guess he convinced them. At first, he'll just be moving cars
around on the lot and that sort of thing. But he's hoping to get into
sales by the end of summer."

"Takes after his father," Kim said. "Everyone's predicting Steve
will win Realtor of the Year, and his agency is sure to be honored at
the chamber of commerce banquet this Christmas. How is Steve,
by the way? I heard he went to Arkansas on a business trip."

Brenda had been fielding this question often enough to have the
answer down pat. "He took a little retreat to do some thinking
about his work and how it's impacting his life. He's decided to cut
back on his hours and close the agency on Sundays."

"Wow, that's a radical change." Kim's dark eyes softened. "How
are you, Brenda? When the TLC visited your house the day we cut
Cody's hair, your condition really concerned me."

"I'm better, I think. At least ... I'm not spending most of the day
in my rocking chair. All of you really helped by getting me up and
forcing me to stay busy. I've had a hard time lately. The kids left
home, and things just became awkward, confusing ... overwhelming.

"I understand, at least a little. During my divorce, I got very
depressed. It took a lot of work to recover. Now we're facing some thing that might knock the wind out of me again. I could use your
prayers.

"What's going on, Kim?" Brenda reached across the table and
closed her fingers over Kim's hand. "Is there anything I can do?"

"It's Luke," she said. "We took him up to St. Louis. The doctors
ran all kinds of tests. It seems like things aren't working right ... his
pancreas and his endocrine levels. Things I never even heard of
before. Brenda, they think Luke has diabetes."

"Oh, Kim, I'm so sorry."

Kim began to speak again, but Esther Moore and Ashley Hanes
arrived together at the table. Cody had finally made his selection,
so he took a chair and settled in.

"Well, you ladies look as sad as a fallen cake," Patsy said, setting
down her teacup and joining the group.

"Chocolate cake?" Cody asked. "Because my daddy says that-"