Missing Your Smile (37 page)

Who on earth had ever invented parallel parking!

What had started as a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration earlier in the day was quickly turning to frustration.

After the sumptuous turkey feast, Robby had insisted today would be a great day for another lesson.

“Everyone's home either eating or watching football,” he had said. “The streets should be empty.”

He hadn't told her he wanted her to practice parallel parking. Now her nerves were more than a little raw. All week long she had managed to hide from Laura her disappointment with Duane on Sunday night. Now her emotions were finally bubbling over.

“I can't do this.” She threw her hands in the air and brought them down to pound the steering wheel. “There is no way. No way.
No way!
”

“Well, well,” Robby said. “Have you been out on your broomstick?”

“I've been on my broomstick since Sunday night,” Susan said. “And don't ask why.”

“Not that it would be any of my business.” Robby clucked his tongue. “Me? Why, I'm just the innocent, sweet fellow who offers to give the poor Amish girl driving lessons. A fellow, mind you, who risked his life. And now, on the last leg of the long journey, just when victory is within sight, she goes bonkers on me. All because she had a bad night with her boyfriend.”

“He's
not
my boyfriend,” she asserted.

“Oh,” Robby said. “You could have fooled me. Now would you please get my car off the street before we get run over? There's a car coming.”

Susan gave up on the parking attempt and slammed the car into drive. She mashed the gas pedal. With a squeal of tires, she jerked the steering wheel to the left and out into the lane, bringing the car to a sliding halt at the light.

“The light's red,” she said, staring up through the windshield.

“It must have been a very, very bad night,” Robby said. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“No, I do
not
.”

“I'll listen to you and not say a word. Now, how many handsome young men would do that?”

“Ha! You didn't take me out to the ocean—even when you promised.”

“Now, now,” Robby said. “This is about him, not me. I don't need razor blades run across my back.”

“What do razor blades have to do with anything?” Susan glared at him and then stomped the accelerator when the light turned green.

He hung on to the door handle. “Sweet heaven, get me out of this alive, and I'll pay my tithe faithfully every Sunday! This woman has turned into an Amish Frankenstein.”

“Who is Frankenstein?”

“Don't worry about that! Just take it easy. There are cars parked all along this street.”

“And you don't think I can see that?” she snapped.

“Yes,
sweetie
, I know you can see them. Just don't hit them.”

“Don't
sweetie
me,” she said, turning right onto another side street. “Now there are two empty spots. More room. I'll try this again.”

Robby placed both hands on the dash as Susan pulled alongside a car. She put the car into reverse. She swung the vehicle backward into the parking spaces, rubbing the tires against the curb. She then straightened the car and drove into the first space.

“See, that wasn't all bad,” she said. “All I needed was two spaces to get my courage up.”

“Take three, or five, or six,” he said. “Just calm down.”

“I
am
calmed down.”

“And you have parallel parking mastered,” he said. “Now you're ready for the test tomorrow.”

“No,” she said. “I have to back into a single space, don't I?”

“Yes,” he said. “But you'll do fine. I think you'll pass with flying colors.”

“I hope so! I've studied and I've practiced. I can't do anything more.”

“True,” he said. “I'll pick you up tomorrow morning early, and we'll get all this taken care of in no time.”

“Maybe you should drive back to the bakery,” she said. “My nerves are kind of shot.”

“Sure,” he said, getting out of the car. She did the same.

“I have just one more, teeny tiny little request, Robby,” she said when he had climbed behind the wheel and she was in the passenger seat. “Then I'll let you go.”

“Really?” he said. “And from where would you remove the pound of flesh?”

“Pound of flesh?” she asked, snapping her seat belt in place.

“Forget it,” he said. “It's just an expression.”

“Robby, I need help with my math. I thought that…well…maybe you could tell me just a little bit about it. And then I can do the rest. It's the last thing I haven't figured out on the GED sample test. Will you help me?”

“I guess if it doesn't take too long. But why are you taking the test tomorrow, the same day as your driving test? Isn't one test a day enough for you?”

“It won't take long…and I'm taking both tests so I get this over with. I'm so tired of studying! If I don't know it now…” She settled back into her seat.

“I'd probably do the same,” Robby agreed. He quickly navigated the streets, pulling up to park near the bakery door.

Silently they got out and she led him up the stairs, showing him to a chair at the kitchen table. She retrieved the printed test papers, slapping them down on the table.

“This!” She pointed with her finger. “What is a number line? And what are these symbols?”

“You've never seen a number line before?” he asked.

“Robby, please don't tease me. I just need answers. The Amish don't teach stuff like this.”

He bent over the sample booklet, muttering under his breath.

“So do you know?” she asked.

“Yes. And don't beat me over the head. I was thinking, refreshing my mind about these math symbols.”

Moments later he smiled up at her. “Ready?” When she glared at him he continued, “A number line is the same thing as what you're used to, the difference is that this goes both ways from zero. That way you have negative and positive numbers. For example, you have two here, and you have minus two here on the left. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so. Isn't it more complicated than that?”

“Nope! Now for the symbols,” he said. “You have to think in terms of the number line. The problems will usually compare left and right sets of numbers with a symbol in between.”

“I knew that number line was the key,” she said, glaring at the paper.

“It's not that hard.” Robby scribbled with the pencil as he talked. “There is the equal sign between the two sets. That means they are the same.”

“Yes, they equal each other.”

He nodded. “Then there's the minus sign, the plus sign, the subtract sign, and the multiplying sign, all the usual math symbols. A
y
or an
x
stands in for the missing number.”

“Is that all there is to it?”

Robby laughed. “No, but that should get you by. I doubt if they go too deep for the GED.”

“So…” Susan did the calculations out loud. “Two times three equals seven minus x. The answer would be one.”

“See!” He tilted his head. “It's easy. Just follow the logic.”

“Thanks, Robby!” she said. “It's nice of you to take the time. I really needed the help.”

“That's because I
am
nice,” he said. “Now, if some decent female in this town would agree with your assessment of me, that would be helpful.”

She patted his arm. “They will in time. Remember: All good things take time.”

He snorted and got up to go. Susan followed him downstairs. Stepping outside, she watched as he got into his car, started it, and pulled away from the curb. Turning back inside, she made her way back up the stairs and sat down at the kitchen table. With pencil in hand, she stared at the practice problems based on the number line.

Moments later she was scribbling away. The problems were still hard, regardless of what Robby had said. Deep into the numbers, she jumped when what sounded like a rap or bang came from the door below. Walking over to the window, Susan looked out but didn't see anything unusual.

I'm just jumpy, that's all
, she thought. The purse scare from Sunday afternoon had rattled her, but she didn't want to allow one man to affect her this way. She decided she should be sure no one was at the door. She walked slowly downstairs to investigate. She opened the door far enough to see out and was relieved to find Duane standing outside.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she said warily.

“I saw Robby's car pass me. Was he helping you with something?” he asked.

“Just the math problems you were going to help me with Sunday.”

“I'm sorry, Susan. I really am. That's why I stopped by. I'd like to explain the reason I left so suddenly. Can I come up?”

Susan paused, thinking.
Should I let him in?
She decided and opened the door wider. “Okay.”

He walked past her and started up the stairs, not waiting as she closed the door. She followed him.

“May I sit down?” he asked.

“Of course.”

He squirmed a moment before speaking. “I can't tell you how foolish and stupid I feel. You are a wonderful woman, Susan. Beautiful, talented—especially considering your background. I had no reason to treat you like I did.”

“Really?” she said, still standing. “I thought you were here to explain the reason you left so abruptly.”

He looked out of the window for a moment. “Well, it caught me by surprise, I guess. How you fixed supper for me. I mean, that was a gigantic, delicious, full meal. When Laura said supper, I was thinking soup or sandwiches or something.”

“You didn't think I could cook a real meal good enough for you?” she asked. “Is that what was wrong? Well, I'll have you know that no one at home on the farm, from the greatest to the least, would have found anything wrong with my supper.”

“Oh, I know! That's not what it was, Susan. The supper was delicious.”

“Then what was the problem?”

Duane looked Susan in the eye. “It was the seriousness of it. That's what suddenly hit me. I didn't know our relationship had gotten that far along in your mind.”

“What?” she said. “This is what we do in Amish country. We eat good meals!”

“So that's all that was, then? This wasn't you moving us on to the next level in our relationship?”

“I don't even know what that means.”

“Well, dating seriously,” he said. “I thought…well, that you might be thinking…um…marriage.”

Susan laughed. “Marriage! Sorry, Duane. No! It was only supper. An Amish supper.”

He took a deep breath. “Then we're okay like we are?”

“Duane, I really don't think so. I'm sorry,” she said.

“We're not?”

“No, we're not,” she said. “In the first place, I have a few problems to work through. I won't bore you with them other than to say that I have a trip home coming up, which could lead in any one of several directions.”

“I don't want you to be angry with me.”

“Okay,” she said. “I won't be angry. But let's let it end with that.”

“Well, we've had some good times together,” he said, getting to his feet.

When she was silent, he said, “Are you sure you're not angry?”

“No, Duane, I'm not angry.”

“Then goodnight, Susan. Perhaps we'll see each other sometime again,” he said, turning to go.

She followed him down the stairs and stood on the street by the open door.

“Goodnight,” he said again and waved before he turned to go.

When she was back upstairs, Susan felt the tears. She washed her face and cried some more.

They are skunks, all of them! Men are nothing but barnyard skunks
.