Crest & Shield - Chapter Six

Arriving in ripped faded jeans, comfortable brown flip flops, a t-shirt that states “I can’t help it, I was born AWESOME!” and wearing dark shades with a disaster baseball cap sitting backwards on his head, Willoughby announces that he is taking Anne on a trip out of state to attend a Young Adult retreat in another division. He doesn’t ask Mrs. Dashing. Mrs. Dashing asks for more details but gets lost in Willoughby’s complex vague replies. She finally agrees, even though she wasn’t given much of a choice, to let Anne go more out of frustration than actually agreeing to her daughter spending private time with Willoughby.




Anne diligently searches her closet and packs for a three day journey of her most trendy clothes. In the past few weeks, Anne has dropped many hints that she would like to marry Willoughby. Mrs. Dashing finds several bridal magazines and wedding invitation catalogues in the mailbox addressed to Anne. She has spent an entire evening devoted to looking for the perfect wedding dress on the internet. She even discusses with her mom what Majors she would like to perform the wedding ceremony and who should walk her down the aisle.



Recently Anne casually mentions to her family of going to the mall and window shopping for rings with Willoughby. She told him of how she wants a marquis diamond solitaire with small clusters of diamonds in an arrow formation on each side of the center diamond. She even adds the ring to her Amazon wish list to make sure that Willoughby won’t forget exactly what she wanted and her ring size. It appears to everyone that things are getting quite serious between them even though nothing has been directly mentioned of a proposal.



In fact a couple of weeks ago, Ellen catches Anne pulling out the dark blue Ceremonies Book for officers from the Crestwood corps library and seems embarrassed to be found looking at it.



As the clock strikes noon, Anne enters the room with perfect hair and make-up. She is wearing a little black dress with matching kit heels and single strand of pearls with matching pearl drop earrings. She is quite stunning. A car horn blares from the front curb while Anne smiles to everyone “that’s him!” and heads out the door looking much older than she previously ever has before.



After leaving, Maggie, Ellen and Mrs. Dashing sit together in the living room. Ellen found an old British DVD series at Barnes and Noble called “Hallelujah!” a comedy about two single Salvation Army corps officers in England which they decide to watch for the evening with homemade cheesy popcorn and Dr. Pepper.



Maggie sitting cross-legged with a hungry Samuel resting his head on her right knee looking with pitiful eyes at her popcorn bowl starts the conversation “Do you think Anne will make me her flower girl or a bridesmaid? I’d really rather be a bridesmaid so I can wear heels. I’m growing up now. I’m almost a woman. I’m in the sixth grade. Ariel or Alexis can be her flower girl, they’re much younger that I am. They’re only in the fifth grade.”



Mrs. Dashing knowingly smiles at Maggie then turns and asks Ellen, “Do you think Willoughby will be proposing today?”



“Anne appears to think so” reflectively replies Ellen “I think she is quite serious about him. Willoughby is hard to read though. At times he seems quite attentive to her but he still notices the other girls quite a bit too”.



“Yeah, I walked in on him sitting with his arm around Marissa in the corps game room. I asked why he was sitting so close to her. He got really mad at me and told me to get out. But it just didn’t look right. I don’t think Anne would have liked it much if she had been the one to walk into the room instead of me” informatively remarks Maggie.



Ellen raises her eyebrows and bites the corner of her lip but doesn’t respond to Maggie’s comment. She too has witnessed a lot of flirtation between Marissa and Willoughby when Anne is not around, but she doesn’t want to worry her sister or her mother about it. It might be better to just let things die out between them on their own. Mrs. Dashing replies “Sometimes people and things appear different than what they really are. It is probably nothing to worry about.”



They have a good evening of laughter together while watching the old British TV series. Maggie teases Ellen throughout the evening that she reminds her of the corps assistant. Ellen aims and throws popcorn at her head which Samuel willingly obliges in helping with the clean-up.



But something peculiar happens. There is a screech and slamming of a car door outside. The tires squeal as the car pulls away before the front door is opened. Anne is home by 9 pm. She runs through the front door with her hands covering her face to her bedroom where she promptly locks the door. Ellen can’t get into the room to find out what has happened but Anne still won’t let her in either. Tears and sobs fill the entire house. Ellen finally decides to sleep on the couch and hopes that tomorrow they will be able to talk and she will be able to find out what happened. Mrs. Dashing tries to talk to her through the door but Anne tells her to “Go away! I want to be by myself!” through her sobbing.



Anne comes out of her room about 3 pm the next day with her greasy hair and wrinkled black dress still on from the day before. Mrs. Dashing doesn’t say anything but hugs her. Ellen grabs her hand and reminds her that she is there to talk to when she is ready. Even Maggie brings her favorite stuffed animals that she has not been able to part with before and lays them on Anne’s bed for comfort.



After taking a shower and sitting in a baby blue plush bathrobe and a midnight blue towel in her hair, Anne doesn’t share what happened only that Willoughby received a text from his other Grandmother who is the wife of the former national commander that he is to immediately return to territorial headquarters. After speaking privately with her on the phone, Willoughby told her that He doesn’t know when he will be returning to Smithfield. He’s been told to bring all of his belongings with him because he will be moving there.



Anne looks up to Ellen with her bloodshot eyes from hours of crying from a breaking heart, “Why do men always leave us? Why do we have to be lonely? Ted loved you and left you. Willoughby loves me and has left me too. It just isn’t fair. Why can’t two people who love each other be together forever?”



“I don’t know how you stand to have Ted so far away and not hear from him. You just act like everything is all right. It’s not! It’s been so difficult not knowing when Willoughby will be back again!” sobs Anne.



Ellen thinks to herself that it has only been a few hours, the reality of her loss will set in later and Anne will have time on her own to figure out how to cope and deal with it. “Did Willoughby mention how long he thinks he will be gone?” kindly asks Ellen.



“No. All he told me is that we can’t be friends anymore either. His grandma doesn’t like me. He has to move to THQ and work with her there. He told me he doesn’t know when if ever we will see each other again! It is so unfair! She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know anything about me. How can she not like me? He said something about me not being connected enough. What is he talking about? I have my family. We’re good people. I have the best mom and sisters in the world! His grandma is a snob. She’s 9th generation like Fannie. What difference does it make? We’re all Salvationists. We all love Jesus and have dedicated our lives to ministry and serving others.” Defensively exclaims Anne.



Samuel runs into the room and leaps with all his might on Anne’s bed knocking her over with a large paw on each shoulder. “At least you still love me” pitifully Anne says while she nuzzles Samuel between her hands.



“Girls, come here! I made some hot fudge brownies! They’re right here waiting for you!” yells Mrs. Dashing from the kitchen. Ellen and Anne eye each other for a moment in a frozen posture and then race against each other down the hallway pushing and shoving to the kitchen as they did as children when mom would announce that the brownies were fresh from the oven. Ellen slips in her flip flops and falls on her backside with her feet up in the air. Both Ellen and Anne bend over laughing from their antics. Anne offers to help her up but accidently slips and falls right on top of Ellen too.



Mrs. Dashing asks if anyone wants some milk with their brownies. She holds last year’s Home League calendar dish towel with faded daisies in her hand after drying a rinse tray of glasses. All three girls quickly shake their heads. Their mom has a tendency of pouring a glass of milk and leaving the gallon out on the counter to be picked up randomly and placed back into the fridge after who knows how long. The milk from the whole percent gallon rarely tastes right. Ellen buys her own 2 percent in a carton which her mom doesn’t like so she can tell the difference of which one to use in the morning with her Raisin Brand.



The brownies are delicious. They bring back happy memories of former family times. Maggie confirms with the cake like substance between her teeth “Mom, it always feels like home no matter where we are when you make brownies!”



Mrs. Dashing gently turns to Anne, “What would you like to do today? It’s Saturday so we’re free this evening”.



Anne thinks about it and then decides that she would like to go see the most recent indie modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility at AMC. She really enjoys the music and dance of the Bollywood movies even if the words are in subtitles. The four women pack into the minivan and call Jennings to see if she would like to join them. The Major Sue Middleton is out of town at a Women’s Auxiliary conference. Jennings has been a little lonely on her own with her grandchildren. Major Middleton has finally returned home from a corps council meeting and Jennings is more than excited to come along for the ladies-night-out.



Pulling up to her house, Jennings exits her front door in a rather toned down outfit. She is wearing her blue Hawaiian muumuu with large white lotus flowers, with a flower as an accent in her hair and sandals with a lotus to match her dress. A few years ago, she was a special guest at the music camp in Hawaii and brought home the dress as a souvenir. It actually looks quite nice on her and highlights her blue eyes and white hair.



The movie is wonderful and the ladies have a great time together. Anne seems much better as they leave the theatre. The car ride isn’t long back home after dropping off Jennings.



Everyone says goodnight. Anne and Ellen sleepily head to their room. The two twin beds are fitted with bed-in-a-bag comforters from Wal-mart of mint, canary yellow accents, and splashes of baby pink that blend with the newly painted canary walls and white trim. Someone left donated paint at the corps in both an unopened can and half used can of yellow paint. Since the rooms at the corps are being painted in neutral colors, Anne had asked if they could use the paint for the bedroom at the quarters. The room still smells a bit of fresh paint.



Ellen is resting in her bed reading the Count of Monte Cristo next to the light on the nightstand. Anne looks at her phone to read texts from her friends that she missed during the day. She looks over to Ellen, “Why is it that it takes guys longer to respond? I haven’t heard from Willoughby yet. I’ve text him twice and left a message on his phone.”



Ellen sympathetically responds, “Maybe he is just too busy or tired. There are a lot of things to do as you know when moving to a new place. He is probably going to write or call you later. Don’t worry about it, everything will be all right.”



Anne doesn’t look convinced but seems worried. Ellen can tell that Anne knows more than what she is sharing but doesn’t want to force her into talking about it until she is ready.



“How do you know when you love someone?” inquires Anne.



“Um . . . that’s a good question.” Ellen reflects for a moment “I suppose if I was to make a list this is what would be on it: when you don’t mind and want to be with them all the time, when their concerns become your concerns, perhaps when you want the best for them even if it costs you something both literally and figuratively, when they help you be a better person just because they are with you. It also helps to know that they accept you just the way you are without having to make any changes and you feel the same way about them too. It also helps to appreciate your differences as well as encouraging individual strengths. If it were me, I would want to be with someone that I didn’t want to live in the world without”.



“I know all that stuff is important” replies Anne. “Willoughby is always concerned with the way I look and act. He’s always trying to fix something about me. I suppose that is like “encouragement” to be something better than myself”, Ellen murmurs “I’m not sure critiquing or changing someone from who they are, is what I meant.”



“Willoughby is so hot! You know what I mean. All the girls are after him and he’s my boyfriend! All the guys in youth group want to be just like him. He brags to everyone that I belong to him” brags Anne.



“You’re right he has a lot of “charm” in the clothes he wears but he does like to talk a lot about himself and seems very aware that other girls are noticing him” remarks Ellen.



Anne doesn’t disagree and with a moment of insight “Sometimes I wish he paid more attention to me when we go out though. He is always going off trying to impress some group and I usually end up on my own waiting for him to remember that he came with me and that I’m there. He’s good looking and he knows it too. He doesn’t recognize that it hurts me when other girls flirt with him even though I’ve talked to him about it. Honestly, he likes to flirt too. It is not just the other girls either. I’m worried that he is going to find someone else.”



Ellen nods in agreement and then wonders what she thinks of Brandon, “What do you think of Brandon?”



“Oh he’s wonderful! He is so interesting and always has something fascinating to talk about that he’s discovered or doing. We always have a really good time together even if it is just going out for ice cream” immediately responds Anne.



“Are you attracted to him?” asks Ellen.



“Who wouldn’t be? I don’t know if you’ve noticed Ellen, but he is really very handsome. But he is so much more experienced at life. He’s settled. I find myself feeling silly or immature next to him. He doesn’t like Willoughby much either so I can’t talk about him. If Willoughby is around he usually leaves. When it’s just the two of us though, we get along really well and share a lot of things in common with each other. We like a lot of the same things and enjoy spending our free time together. But Brandon would never really be interested in me, I’m too young for him” reflects Anne.



“I don’t know. Stranger things have happened” responds Ellen.



“I’m tired, I need to get some sleep” yawns Anne “it’s been a very long day.”



Ellen turns out the light and a few minutes later hears Anne snoring next to her. “Now if I only I could get to sleep” as Ellen thinks to herself while staring at the ceiling.