Lucinda – Chapter Fourteen

Grammy was real excited when I graduated school. She let me get my driver’s license and she bought a new car for herself and gave me her old one, which was good since I started working in a little stationery store in the next town. It helped to have a discount on all the art supplies I went through.

The art was really therapeutic for me. I loved drawing and sketching people.  It was a way of capturing people in their happiest moments and people around town loved to give my portraits to them for gifts. I worked on a commission basis so people paid only what they could afford and often I would do a family’s portrait for free if they were  low on cash.

Cleo had stayed at school to attend summer classes so that she would get her degree faster. I was disappointed but I wanted Cleo to do what was best for her. She had spent way too long under the thumb of someone else and now it was time for her to blossom. She sent me a card and letter for graduation. It sounded as though she was having the time of her life.

Dear Lucy:

Hi! Sorry that I was not able to make it home for your graduation and it looks like I will not be coming home this summer either. I know, I know I will miss you too, but look at it this way…the sooner I get done here, the sooner I can come home. Some of my psychology professors would tell me that I am using school to avoid the issues at my parents’ house.  It might be possible. The only thing that I will miss is you.

Things are going well here, though incredibly warm. Oh, I have something to tell you. You can’t be in California too long without going to something that involves Hollywood. I have been to parties where I caught fleeting glances of celebrities. Of course, I have not talked to any of them. I keep my distance, but I have seen Elizabeth Taylor and her new husband Eddie Fisher (though I have to admit, I liked him better with Debbie Reynolds.) I have been in the same room with Marilyn Monroe and Ricky Nelson.  But you know me, if I had to go to any parties with celebrities; I would prefer they were rockers.

I can’t believe that Joe married Pam. Wow! He must be the first of our friends to be married and he has a kid already. That is so typical of Joe, for the most part; he always did the honorable thing. I hope they will be very happy. I have not seen Donny’s name anywhere in lights by the way. I know that you’re over him, but I thought it might give you some satisfaction to know that he is not a star. I bet he has tried to open the doors of Hollywood, but his ego keeps getting in the way. (HA HA psychology humor.)

I met a guy out here. His name is Greg…so California like. Anyway, his father is really wealthy. I don’t see it being a long-lasting relationship, but we’re having fun so far. He drives a 1958 Thunderbird, my dream car! He’s tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He loves to surf and his dad just bought some new contraption called a snowmobile. It actually rides on the snow…so much for sledding. His father is in the medical field and apparently, they are on the brink of something that will totally revolutionize medicine for women. It’s a tiny pill that a woman can take and it will alter her “monthly visitor” so that she won’t get knocked up. In other words, Free Love!

Well, I am going to go now. Greg is taking me to some movie premier. I think it is called Rio Bravo. It stars John Wayne and Ricky Nelson. Unfortunately for Greg, I’ll be too busy staring at the actors to pay any attention to him!

Have a great day. Write to you soon.

Love ya kiddo,

Cleo

I finished the letter and laughed out loud. Cleo would always be Cleo, and nothing would change her. At least, I hoped it wouldn’t.

Jessie wrote to say that he was indeed stationed at Guantanamo Bay and that he still had two years left in his enlistment before he could come home. He was coming up in October though and bringing Willa with him.  He wanted her to meet us and if all went well, they would be married in a small ceremony before they left. There was very little family besides us to attend so it would be a simple affair.

In August I made a portrait of my parents. I had pushed them to the back of my mind until then. I hadn’t heard from momma in over a year. I didn’t even know if I had the right address. It wasn’t until I made that portrait that I realized that I wanted to get in contact with her. I had painted them as they once were, or I tried to. But when I looked at the painting, I realized that my father’s eyes were guarded as if even the painting was holding secrets that it would never tell. My mother’s eyes were tired and wary like she was afraid of being hurt.

I wrote to her and asked her about that night we left town. I asked her about the money that they said daddy stole. She never responded. I let it go for a while.

The money that I made from my stationery store job went to buy art supplies. The money that I made from the portraits was building up fast enough. Word had even spread to neighboring towns and I was getting calls from all over. I wanted Stevie to be able to go to college. I wanted him to have the opportunities that Jess and I never had. Stevie was smart and his dream was to be a doctor. I knew Grammy had some money, but it would never be enough to get him all the way through. We talked about it, and I decided to put some of my money away to help him out. Grammy told me how proud she was of my decision.

I went into the bank on a warm afternoon in the end of August. I was excited to open up my first bank account. I sat down, not paying any particular attention to the man on the other side of the desk. He had his back to me, and I cleared my throat to let him know that I was there. When he turned around, I was too stunned to speak. Looking back at me was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. He has brown hair that was highlighted with red and blonde. His chocolate-colored eyes were so deep that I could get lost in them for hours. His smile was warm and engaging, but he gave me no hint that he found me as attractive as I did him.

“Can I help you?” he asked grinning at me like a satisfied cat after it had eaten its prey, which coincidentally, is pretty much how I felt.

“I’m…uh…um…here to open a bank account,” I said and turned bright red, aware that I was making a fool out of myself.

“Okay…Ms…Mrs?”

“O’Brien,” I said and extended my hand, “Ms. Lucinda O’Brien.”

“Oh no! Not the infamous Lucy O’Brien? The artis? The one with the never-ending wealth of information?” and there was this wonderful warm, rich quality to his voice, even when he was teasing. “Can I have your autograph please? I feel like you’re a celebrity.”

“There’s no need to be rude!” I all but shouted at him, disappointed that our meeting was going down in flames.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I have the disadvantage over you. You see, I’ve heard everything about you and nothing but all about you for the last two years. I expected to one day meet a vision of perfection and you know, I’m not disappointed.”

The confusion must have been evident on my face. Who was this guy?

He extended his hand to me, “Ryan… Ryan Montgomery.” I must have looked lost for a second because he clarified, “Cleo’s brother.”

I smiled in welcome, “I’m so glad to meet you finally. Cleo told me all about you.”

“All good I hope?” he asked.

“Well, mostly, though I hear you’re quite the ladies man.”

He cringed, “Well how about we get to know each other? I’ll take you out to lunch. You’re the person I want to thank for the change in Cleo. I’m so glad she’s finally using those brains of hers.”

“Well, okay, but don’t you have to work?” I asked, hoping against hope that this was his lunch hour.

“Nah, that’s one of the advantages of having your father as head of the bank, you can leave whenever you want.”  After we set up my account and deposited my money, we did just that.

The lunch was long and leisurely, and I felt like I had known Ryan my whole life. We made plans to go out that weekend and I introduced him to Grammy who approved of him the second she met him. “He’s the one.” She said after he left, and I wondered if she had the gift of prophecy too.

Ryan and I went out together all the time. We did all the things that Cleo and I had done together: roller skating, riding horses, picnics on the beach, drive-in movies, regular movies, eating in diners and fancy restaurants. Every date was better then the one before and I knew that I had found not only my soul mate but also my best friend. He gave me his fraternity pin to wear on my sweaters; I had been “pinned.” We were going steady, the precursor to marriage.

We decided to keep our relationship a secret from Cleo; we wanted to surprise her when she came home from winter break. What better fortune could she have then to have her best friend and her brother dating one another?

Jessie and Willa came home in October as he said they would.  He was right too. We all loved Willa. She was funny and smart and charming. The icing on the cake was that she was absolutely in love with my brother. I mean head over heels starry-eyed in love with him. They were married before they returned to his base, where they would set up in married housing. Grammy gave Willa the pearls that momma wore on her wedding day. I just hoped they weren’t jinxed.

Ryan came to the wedding and won the full approval of Jessie. Stevie and Soldier already adored him. Ryan had won Stevie over right from the start. He took the time to play ball with him and do all the things that boys love to do with the men in their lives. He never failed to come to my house that he didn’t have a ball or a magazine or something for Stevie, who was now nearing ten, and a treat for Soldier who had turned into a lazy, roly-poly puppy.

One night Ryan took me out to an especially nice restaurant. We ate dinner and then went for a stroll along the bay. The moon was casting a beautiful glow on the calm waters. It was one of those warm nights when there is just enough of a chill in the air to remind you it’s autumn but summer still lingers, unwilling to surrender to the newest season. It was meant for declarations, for promises.

We walked side by side on the beach for a while. The air between us was filled with electricity. He was longing to say something serious, but he was so hesitant, so shy. I wanted to break the ice and so I tapped him on the shoulder. “Tag, you’re it!” I yelled and went running down the beach, laughing with reckless abandon.  I felt like a child again.

He chased after me helping me to capture some of the carefree youth that I was missing. Of course, it took him no time at all to catch me. Perhaps he was fast, or perhaps I let him. Either way we fell into each other’s arms, laughing. We stood there; a moment suspended in time like one of my paintings. Ryan cupped my chin softly and tilted my head until our eyes locked. He whispered so softly, so unsure of himself, “I love you.” And then we kissed, that soft, sweet gentle kiss that symbolizes love.