The next morning, Anne wakes early before Jennings arrives for their daily walk. On Saturdays only Jennings likes to sleep in and will fortunately start the day two hours later. Ellen is sound asleep and snoring in some weird rhythmic pattern that consistently annoys Anne. Maggie is up though and playing on her PS3. “Come on Maggie, let’s go. I don’t want to stay in the house today.” She grabs the keys off the newly re-attached mantle to the demented van and heads out the door.
Maggie looks at her as they head down the freeway, “I don’t like how you drive. You weave between the lines and get lost too much. I want to go home and get Ellen so she can drive us.”
“Shut-up. You know I drive just fine. I get you exactly where you want to go and out with your friends. You never complain when I volunteer to take you when no one else is available” as Anne sticks her nose to the air in smug response.
“Anne! Watch out! You’re getting close to the curb.” Snap. “You just hit the side mirror on the telephone pole! Can’t you see it’s there? At least you didn’t break the side mirror off but the glass is still broken! You don’t know how to drive! Mom is going to be so mad at you!”
“Just be quiet! You don’t know anything! I know how to drive. I don’t need you to teach me! You’re a kid!” At that exact moment, there is a large popping sound. The van rises and falls as it crashes against the curb and lands again on the asphalt pavement. The steering wheel violently shakes as Anne tries to gain control of the swaying van. Anne slams on the brakes as the van starts to spin in an odd direction against the traffic. The warp speed van comes to a stop as it braces itself against the cement meridian.
Maggie is all right since she is wearing a seat belt. Anne is saved by the release of the emergency air bag but her leg is stuck between the shifted metal of the door. Maggie screams when she realizes that she cannot help Anne. Maggie jumps out of the van to get help but is caught just in time in the arms of a stranger before rushing into traffic.
“I saw what happened. Are you all right?” the handsome stranger asks Maggie.
“I’m okay but my sister, Anne, is hurt. Her leg is stuck. Can you help her?” an anxious Maggie pleads.
He moves to the side of the twisted driver’s door of the fifteen passenger van. He is able to move the metal back enough for Anne to get her leg out. He tells her not to move while he calls an ambulance on his iphone. The EMT explains that they are very lucky not to be hurt more than they were. Maggie has a bruise about an inch in diameter on her arm and Anne’s ankle is sprained and cut. It will most likely be a few weeks before she is able to walk on it but other than that everyone seems okay.
Mrs. Dashing and Ellen arrive at the emergency room as quickly as possible and in great distress inquire about the safety of the girls. Gushing Anne explains that her new friend stayed with her the entire time and he was her “hero”.
Mrs. Dashing asks, “Who are you talking about? Who is he?” as Willoughby walks in with a bottle of Fuji water while munching on a Musketeers candy bar from the vending machines in the visitor break room of the hospital.
Anne’s face lightens as she sees him entering the doorway of the exam room. Anne in awe looks at him and asks, “I don’t know your name. I forgot to ask. I know you ride a motorcycle. How did you know who to call?”
Willoughby takes a second to look around at the others who are now standing in the room “Hi! My name is John Willoughby. I’m the new Youth Worker at the Smithfield Tabernacle corps in your area command. I was taking my bike for a ride when I saw the accident right in front of me. The tire blew on the van. I noticed the shield and phone number on the side of the van and called the corps to let them know what happened.”
“Thank you so much! Your swift attention saved both of them. How can I repay you for your kindness? You must come over to the house for dinner so we have a chance to get better acquainted” anxiously adds Mrs. Dashing while hugging her daughter.
“It would be my pleasure. Tomorrow is my day off. If that would be all right with you I could come over tomorrow. What time would you like me there?”
Anne quickly jumps in, “Come as early as you want to! We’re usually up by six in the morning taking a walk with Jennings.”
“Oh yes, I’ve met her. She is quite a character. Seems like fun. I’ll see you tomorrow then probably around noon. I like to sleep in on my days off.” Willoughby’s eyes meet everyone in the room as he smiles and coolly waves goodbye as he lowers his trendy shades over his eyes and saunters in a well rehearsed pattern of walking out the emergency room door.
Anne grabs both of her hands and squeezes them while grinning with glee. “Isn’t he wonderful? He looks just like he walked out of my dreams. Did you see him Ellen? Did you really see him? He’s hot. Maybe mom will let me transfer to the Smithfield Tabernacle so I can get to know him better”.
Ellen and her mom smile to themselves, it is so good to see Anne finally happy about something even if it is a stranger and to know that in spite of a lack of driving skills she and Maggie are all right. Mrs. Dashing whispers to Ellen “Now to deal with the bigger problem of fixing the sole vehicle of the corps that really needs to be replaced with no money in auto revolving in the budget. I’ll need to borrow your car for a couple of weeks while the van is repaired or replaced.” Ellen nods in sympathy and grabs Maggie by the hand to head back to the house.
The next day lunch arrives and passes but Willoughby still isn’t there. Anne has spent the morning working on her hair, re-applying make-up and choosing just the right outfit to make a huge and memorable impression. Finally the doorbell rings. Anne jumps – this could be him! But instead Captain Brandon walks in.
“Oh, it’s you” Anne recognizes her guest and states without thinking.
Brandon smiles with a laugh, “Well it is good to see you too. I just received a packet of new manuscripts which are being reviewed for publishing which I thought you might want to look at before I send them back. I’ve made an extra copy for you to keep.”
“Thanks. Just lay them on the mantle, I’ll get to them later” Anne nonchalantly replies.
There is a knock at the door as Willoughby walks in uninvited. “Hey, how is my girl doing? I’ve been thinking about you all night and wondering how you were feeling. Oh hi Brandon. What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were stationed anywhere near the area command.”
“Yes, I was appointed at the same time as the Dashing family. We’ve been friends for quite awhile now. As you can see Anne and I share a common appreciation for music.”
“Is that so?” mockingly replies Willoughby “frankly, I thought you were too old to appreciate anything Anne might like” which makes Anne giggle. “This looks like a bunch of brass band junk from Trade. I don’t know why anyone would want to play a brass instrument! Playing a guitar makes more sense. Brass bands are a thing of the past. A praise team is what every church has now.”
Captain Brandon wisely responds “Fortunately I like both. It was good seeing you again Anne, but I have some visitation to do this afternoon at the hospital. I will get back with you in a couple of days to talk about the manuscripts”.
As the door shuts Willoughby leans over to Anne’s ear, “What an old guy. Why do you even let him in the door? By the way, your hair smells good. What brand of shampoo do you use?”
“Thanks. It’s nothing. I like trying all different kinds of scents on my hair. I like to spend a lot of time at Bath & Body Works because it leaves a fragrance in a room” while speaking in a tone of mock-maturity.
Willoughby and Anne chat about celebrities in her fashion magazines, local Army gossip about other officers around the territory, and complain about the ridiculousness of having to work every day when there is so much fun to be experienced instead.
The conversation continues with teasing and joking but not much substance. Willoughby diverts the conversation from anything personal that Anne attempts to ask.
Ellen is busy in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner and putting the pots and pans that have recently been washed and dried in the cabinets. While putting the clean classes away, she moves things to the side on the top shelf to include more dishes. Her hand grasps a mug which brings back memories of her time with Ted. It is a white coffee mug with a bright three colored Crest, the corps address, and phone number with a slogan “Find a Place for you at . . . “ that is given to every new visitor that comes to Norland Park where her half-brother is now stationed. The mug is meant as a gift for the ‘Get Acquainted’ time between Sunday school and the morning Worship Service and to remind visitors to come again during the week.
The mug was given to Ted but accidently left in the dishwasher as he rushed to leave. She intentionally keeps it in the far corner of the top shelf of the cabinet because she doesn’t want to throw the memory away but neither wants to be constantly reminded of the loneliness without him.
She takes the mug and makes a cup of hot chocolate to sip on while she reads her favorite book of poetry by Catherine Baird. She tries to convince herself that it is just another mug and she needs to get over her attachment to it. It’s been several months and no word from Ted. But somehow her heart won’t let her.
Thoughts come rushing into her memory. Driving to McDonalds for a vanilla shake and talking in the parking lot for hours and another day taking him around the city so Ted could see all the spectacular sights of Norland as well as the more infamous ones where the corps has its outreach ministry in full force.
Memories of spending the day at the zoo enjoying time together while feeding the pandas and elephants, and petting the sting rays in the shallow pond come to mind. She remembers taking Ted to her favorite museum and explaining the works of her favorite artists including Monet, Van Gogh, and Andy Warhol. As thoughts of watching tons of movies, walking in the park, trying out local cafes and attending the symphony she relives the tiny moments of happiness.
Conversations as if on rewind play over and over again in her head. Was there something she said to offend him? Was there something he said that she missed? Why does he not like her anymore? It doesn’t make sense that he vanished from her life as if he never existed. She thought they were very good friends or at least it seemed that way to her. It was useless asking her brother if he had heard from Ted. John hemmed and hawed but would never answer her directly and excuse any information with “Ted’s busy. I don’t know what he’s doing” his vague answers she was pretty sure were at the insistence of Fannie.
Something wasn’t right but there was nothing in her power she could do to change it. Ted knew where she was living and he knew her phone number as well as email address too. If he wanted to get in contact with her, he would have by now anyway. She just needed to find a way to get over him but that seemed like an impossible task and her heart was definitely not listening to what her mind was instructing her to do.
As Ellen got up from her chair to shut off the light in the kitchen, she called out for Samuel who was laying and lightly snoring at her feet. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day.
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