Paisley's Pattern (6 page)

Nora continued the account. “One of the other customers in the grocery store told the manager Dad had left his underwear on the floor.”

No one laughed. Sara's blue-hazel eyes were huge disks.

“Don't you imagine anyone else would have felt the bulky material on their leg?” Nora asked Paisley.

“I would know something was wrong immediately. But then, I'm a nut when it comes to the neatness of my clothes. I take them off right side out and put them where they belong immediately. I hang them in a certain order and can even find specific folded clothes in the dark.”

“Me, too,” Nora said with a smile.

Oren sided with Rob. “I'd call that OCD.”

“Maybe.” Paisley elbowed Rob in the side to let him know by her expression she was teasing. “Better than being a slob like Rob.”

“That rhymed.” Sara giggled.

“That it did, sweetie.” Nora pulled her daughter's ponytail. “People are so interesting. We all have our quirks. Finish your milk, please, and go take your bath. It's a school night, you know.”

Sara did as her mother asked and cornered the table to give Rob a milk-mustached nuzzle alongside his neck. “‘Night, Uncle Rob.”

He cleared his throat over unfamiliar emotion and turned his attention to the others.

“What about phobias?” Nora continued as they got further acquainted. “Oren works with a guy who refuses to use an electric pencil sharpener. I detest all spiders. Even innocent granddaddy longlegs give me the creeps.”

“For me, it's enclosed carwashes.” Paisley swung her hair over one shoulder. “With fear and trembling, I've managed to go through three times. I won't attempt ever again. I had a hard, nervous time trying to hit the track right. The attendants gestured over and over which way to turn my steering wheel. They yelled for me to hit neutral. My insides were a mess. Then all I could think about was getting stranded inside and not being able to get out of my car while it poured colored soap bubbles.”

Sara skipped back in, giggling. “I love those carwashes. I like to make up stories about what's hitting the windows. I'll go with you next time, Paisley, so you don't have to be scared.”

Paisley hugged and thanked Sara, and she scooted off again.

“You never confessed that carwash phobia to me.” Rob sounded dejected, even to himself.

“A girl has to keep some things to herself.”

Nora asked Paisley about her background.

Paisley flipped her long blonde curls to the other shoulder and, as usual, pooh-poohed her nomadic lifestyle. “Like Rob, I was born in northern California, where my father ran an organic salad-slash-sandwich shop in San Francisco, but he died when I was eight. Mom didn't handle it well, and we moved here to Norfolk to see if Aunt Rainbow could help. Mom preferred sunny California. From then on, we moved around from one place to another. Mom made life changes as often as I change hats.

“Then there came the day she got so depressed I had to do everything for her, until she died when I was in high school. So I guess I learned to go with the flow and don't like to plan things to this day.”

“Does that mean you never went to college?” Nora asked.

“I took some design classes from time to time but they were nothing to use as background for a career.”

“What did you do on your last job in California?” Oren asked Paisley.

Rob caught himself delving into her golden eyes as she pondered her answer.

“I've done a little bit of a lot of things. Mostly enjoyed putting together floral arrangements, and I loved to give decorating pointers in the retail places I've worked. Nothing you'd consider permanent. I've been told I have a knack for color and shape. And was blessed to care for a vast flower garden I hoped to expand by adding herb beds, but the home owners decided to return and not relocate away from California. I was ready to find a new job and look for another place to live. Aunt Rainbow called me back to Nebraska to help.”

“Do you plan to stay here now?” Nora asked.

She turned Rob's way as though he held the answer.

He said nothing, but his answer was for them to establish a home together where they'd set down roots.
Ain't gonna happen unless Paisley changes her pattern of roaming
.

 

 

 

 

5

 

Outside Oren's home, Paisley slowed her steps as Rob escorted her to the passenger side of the car. “Remember how we used to notice people and wonder what their circumstances were to make them behave the way they did?”

“Naturally. It was one of our favorite things to do. Why?”

One of these days, she'd see him wear a full smile. He was more relaxed, though, not so uptight.

Instead of starting the car, he stroked her arm. “They were probably going through something rough. I miss our times together, Pais.”

His comment brought tears to her eyes.

“I've missed you, too, Rob.”

On the return drive to Norfolk, Paisley looked on the evening as a grand success. The blues, pinks, and purples of dusk colored the western sky, gilding a reflection on clouds behind them in the south, spreading to touch the blues in the east. “Mom used to say dusk is God holding His breath between day and night.”

Rob only grunted. He seemed deep in thought, probably over the family photos Oren and Nora had shown them.

In the confines of the rental car, awareness of the only man she'd loved consumed her. What had he done with the chocolate and yellow diamond ring? Rob had designed the gold setting with her in mind, and a friend made it for him to give her.

“Did you mean it when you said you'd like to see what other parts of Nebraska had to offer? You don't plan to fly back West right away, do you?” he asked.

“I'm starting to think my parents' rolling stone lifestyle wasn't the norm. But I grew up moving every six months, so that's all I know. I'm not real excited to return to California. It's become so expensive. And I got spoiled housesitting all those gorgeous flowers. I'd be limited in an apartment and confined to container gardening again. Aunt Rainbow claims there are vast opportunities here.”

She wasn't ready to admit to him that exposure to the expanse of Nebraska made her long for land in the country where flowers grew freely. She was tired of the nomadic way of life.

He only grunted.

The colors of dusk faded. Soon, the ink of night would settle over the land. “Do you miss the millions of people and the fast pace? I sure don't. Speaking of missing, you didn't say. Who's taking care of the lovebirds while you're in Nebraska?”

“My excitement was temporary. Those birds are a whole lot of messy work. They aren't my idea of a companionable pet, anyway.”

“How'd you get into it?”

“Seems like there's a lot of stuff we never talked about. I accepted the first pair of birds in lieu of payment for restoring a giant Victorian birdcage. Then I studied up on lovebirds and grew attracted to the blue and green birds. They were prettier than the ones with the funny eye markings, so I ordered a pair.”

“Where are they now?”

In the dim glow from the dash, she saw his lips thin. “I had a hard time coming to terms with the return of your ring. I sold the blue and green pair because they reminded me of the day they were mistakenly delivered to you.”

“It wasn't a mistake. That's how we began.”
God's timing at work again
.

“Anyway, the new owner of the birds called a few days later and asked if I knew where she could find more. So I unloaded the others as well, and am no longer the owner of lovebirds.”

They continued through the quiet residential area in silence.

Rob shut off the motor and turned to her, reaching out. “Your face is so soft. The memory of your skin, your smell, keeps me awake at night. Don't take this wrong. The only thing I can compare it to is the soft, airy lint in the dryer filter. You know, from new towels or warm blankets.”

She laughed low in her throat. “I'm not offended at all. Thank you. I've compared soft dryer lint to the downy tickle of play boa feathers. Light and fluffy.”

Your caress make me feel as soft inside as marshmallow fluff
.

But she'd tell him another time.

He closed the gap between them.

She met his lips and lost herself in the familiar glow. Her insides dissolved like caramel pudding on her tongue.

The heady swoosh of his touch threatened her control. She went so fuzzy in the head, she had to be head-over-heels again. Reality crashed to the surface, and she gently released her side of the kiss.

As much as she longed to stay in his arms, he had to be content with his life first.

 

~*~

 

Tuesday morning Paisley awakened with a thankful heart and Rob on her mind. Jesus saved them both. She lingered over her honeyed tea in Aunt Rainbow's orange and brown country kitchen, circa 1970s. Bits of disjointed conversation from the previous evening with Oren's family and progress on tagging Mark Waverly's belongings went back and forth in her thoughts.

I wonder what would have happened if Precious had stayed here and Rob was born in Norfolk instead of northern California
.

She finished the last of her chai tea and went onto the deck.

Aunt Rainbow's words wove through her mind. “Love is the only reason I didn't run off, or I would have gone after adventure myself. I waited for my beloved Frank to finish his tour in Vietnam; however, he came home in a box, and I had no ambition to change locations. Unless you're the son of a Nebraska farmer with thousands of acres to inherit, most country kids can't wait to escape the state. Your mom told me how beautiful she thought Nebraska was that short time you lived here.”

Paisley scanned the lingering pinks of the sunrise. “I can see how some people are attracted to the beauty of the Plains. The colors here are amazing, as though God stroked it all with a paint brush.”

“Do you have an invisible friend these days?”

“Yikes! Rob, you scared off five years of my life. What are you doing here?”

“I brought a ream of copy paper. I used up a bunch and probably a lot of toner. So, who are you talking to?”

“I'm going over my conversation with my aunt before she left on her cruise. A confession of sorts from my end.” She leaned her back against the rail. “I left Mom buried in a town I'll never return to in exchange for married housing on a base with a marine I'd only known a few months. I can't remember telling you. It happened really fast the summer between high school and college. We got hitched after dating two months. It's ironic that I didn't send him a Dear John letter. He wrote and asked me to file for divorce because someone else was waiting for him. I had made the appointment with the lawyer. Then I received notice of his death. Meeting you made all the rawness of that episode vanish. Now it's like that part of my life happened to someone else.”

“Is that why you handed back my diamond ring? You didn't want to go through the heartache of another failed marriage?”

“It's probably one of the reasons.” Paisley let her gaze wander until she settled on the curve of a rainbow sun catcher in the kitchen window. “You struck my heart strings the moment we met. At first, I couldn't resist your magnetism any more than the mythical sailors could resist the call of the Lorelei. But, as we've talked before, you have a darkness inside that's not as handsome as your outside. Suppose I fear I'm too happy to be dragged down by your somber moods.”

“I've wanted you from the first time we met.”

“I never doubted you wanted me, Rob. In fact I know you used restraint, and that's why we often met outdoors around people.” She gulped the last of her tea, made a face over the sweet hit of honey that hadn't dissolved, and took her mug inside to the sink.

He followed her and set down the paper. “Did you find out what to do with the knife collection?”

“I checked her instructions and Aunt Rainbow had already contacted a pawn shop owner downtown. He advised to take pictures and advertise online. Oren put a bank co-worker in charge of the whole thing. I haven't seen the guy around, so maybe Oren has snapped pictures of the knives already.”

“Sounds like a plan. Guess I'll see you later. I'm on my way to get some real coffee. Edna Mae's is on the weak side.”

Unfamiliar, twittering birds accompanied Paisley on the jaunt to her tagging job.

Inside the house, she drew in the scent of lemon that replaced the dusty odor as she returned to the bookcases. Now that she'd met Edna Mae, she supposed many of the romance novels on the shelf had originated with Mark's neighbor. The bookshelves on the left side of the wall revealed more masculine tastes. Familiar western authors, a leather-bound collection of the old West heroes, and volumes on Native American Indians.

Such a shame Rob hadn't known the man.

Her time with Rob, especially the ride home in the approaching dark, and their exchange that morning, kept interfering with her work. Thoughts were playing a game in her head. She wanted to tell Rob she still loved him. She prayed for his serious outlook on life to lift. In the meantime, she wouldn't allow him to pull her down emotionally.
Thank you, dear Jesus, for Andria and the clean room I've worked in all morning.

Time crawled and flew in turn. She'd worn a skirt just for her lunch with Rob. It was finally time. Paisley gulped a glass of water, wiped her mouth, and painted on red lipstick for confidence. She made sure the Waverly place was still locked.

Rob rounded the corner of the house from the backyard instead of from Edna Mae's home. The man still tripped her heartstrings.

“Hey. Don't shut the door, please. I need to wash my hands.”

He filled the kitchen with the shed smell—mixed with the masculinity of sweat. It struck her that if God had ordained it, Rob may have grown up coming in from that shed on a regular basis.