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A woman tries to find herself and security in a small town. |
| “He asked you out! And you said yes!” Linda practically squealed when Lillian told her about lunch. “We'll be volunteering at the Run-a-thon tomorrow, Lin. Its hardly a date, “Lilian dropped her keys and suddenly remembered her car, “I guess I will be seeing him before tomorrow, you’ll be happy to know. I need to get my car. He drove me to the restaurant.” “Lunch too,” Linda gushed. Lillian shook her head and opened the door again. “The walk will do me good. I’ll be back soon.” The walk did her good, and she was happy to see that John was ringing in a couple in the office. She smiled. It was a fine motel, and it was good to see him get some business. She drove back to Linda’s with a smile still on her face. She was looking forward to tomorrow. Saturday was warmer than expected, but Lilian decided on a jogging suit just in case. She looked at the bedside clock in Linda’s guest room. It read 8:00. She must be too early. Anyway, it was fine to retain some of the good habits left over from her engagement. Early rising never hurt anyone. It was Linda’s day off from the Gym, but when Lillian got to the kitchen she was just boiling the kettle. “Do you know John’s number?” Lillian asked. “Why would that be?” Linda teased. Lillian rolled her eyes, “I forgot to ask him when the run-a-thon started. Don’t start getting any ideas.” Linda rhymed off the number from memory. Lillian punched the keys on her cell phone. She hoped she didn’t wake him. “Hello,” his voice was either tired or curious. She couldn’t tell. “Hi. It’s Lillian. Linda gave me your number,” she explained. “Hi. I didn’t think I would hear from you until the run-a-thon started,” he said, now sounding definitely curious. “You probably would have but I forget to ask you when to be to the run-a-thon,’ Lillian admitted. His laugh was hearty and very pleasant. “Of course. It’s starts at 10. They’ve got Elm Street and Trudeau Drive cordoned off for the event. Can you find it?” “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, I’ll see you there, “she said. They said goodbye and she hung up. “I have to get breakfast and get there by 10. I’ll just grab a shower,” Lillian said. “I’ll start some eggs,”Linda called after her as Lillian ran to the bathroom. A short hot shower was in order, she thought. She dressed quickly after deciding on a blue jogging suit. The eggs started to smell delicious, and Lillian’s stomach rumbled. She bounded to the kitchen to get them while they were hot. Linda had scrambled them and added toast and sausages. Her favorite. They ate and chatted. After they had eaten, Linda looked at her watch. “Quarter after nine. Are we walking? It's not far.” she asked. Lillian nodded and they set out. It was only three streets away. The sun had decided to make an appearance. A good day for running. Lillian thought. Elm Street was lined with spectators and it went on around the corner to what Lillian assumed was the beginning of Trudeau Drive. The excitement permeated the air. Large crowds usually made her nervous, but today there was an atmosphere of fun that made her feel so good inside. Everyone seemed enthusiastic. John was at a small table situated by the starting/finishing line. It looked like runners would be going down Elm, turning the corner, running Trudeau and circling back. John smiled when he saw Linda and Lillian. “You made it,” he said. On the table sat two jugs of lemonade and one of water. “The water is for the runners to take when they finish their run,’ He poured up two glasses of lemonade and passed each one to Lillian and Linda, “The lemonade is for the volunteers to enjoy.” Father Green appeared from the crowd on the side of the street. He beamed as he walked over to them. “Hello ladies. So glad you could make it,” he said. “We wouldn’t have missed it,’ Lillian answered, “ My God, this is great for the kids.’ Father Green looked at his watch. “We’re about ready to start. Have a good day.” The runners, it looked like about twenty-five or so teenagers, lined up at the starting line. Father Green walked to the end of the line the runners made. In a loud voice he started them off. “ Before I start this off, I want to sincerely thank everyone for coming today. The support is really appreciated. Now to business. On your mark,” The runner crouched ready to run. “Get set! Go!” The runners set off and din of encouragement rose from the crowd of spectators. Lilian watched the runners speed off. It looked like they had actually trained for something like this. “Does Grand Rock have a Track and Field team?” she raised her voice to ask John and Linda. John answered, “Not officially. The kids have just been training every evening after school for this.” “They seem so good,” she said. The kids disappeared around the corner onto Trudeau Drive, and Lilian, John and Linda sat at the table. The din from the crowd continued but lessened a bit as some of the spectators moved to the next street to watch. Lillian sipped from her lemonade. “This is good. Not too sweet.” “Just like lemonade should taste,’ Linda said. “I didn’t get a mix,” John said, “I wanted to limit the amount of sugar that went into it. I’m glad to see it turned out alright.” “Delicious,” Linda and Lillian said at the same time. “Doesn’t this remind you of the baseball games we went to when we were kids?” Lillian asked Linda. “For sure. It always seemed they picked the hottest days for them,” Linda said. “You guys grew up together, then. I got that right?” John asked. Lillian and Linda grinned at each other, “We’ve been friends since Grade Two when we ended up in the same class,” Linda explained. “I thought it was something like that. You seem so close,” he said. At the other end of the street, a man was starting to barbeque wieners. A table filled with buns and condiments stood behind his old fashioned barbeque. Lillian wondered how he ever got coals. “Want something to munch on?” she asked Linda and John. They both nodded. “You want me to go with you Love?” Linda asked. “It’s okay,” Lillian assured her. She got up and walked to the man with the barbeque. “It smells delicious,” Lillian said. When the man looked up and smiled she recognized Sam Brown. “Hi,” she said, surprised. “Ms. Dwyer, hi!” He said, “It's so nice to see you getting into things. These will be ready in just a while. I wanted to bring fries, but there wasn’t any place to cook them. You have everything you need to put on top, though. Oh! As soon as I chop up the onion!” He grabbed a bag of onions that lay on the table along with the condiments. Lillian reached for the knife beside the bag. “Let me,” she offered, “You concentrate on the wieners. Make srue they don’t burn.’ “Thanks,” Sam said, “Chopped into small bits is good for hot dogs I always thing.” Lillian peeled and chopped, grabbing a napkin from the pile Sam had brought. They chatted as the wieners sizzled. Lilian thought about asking him why he was helping at a fundraiser for the Parish School, but thought against it. It was customary for everyone to pitch in no matter what. She didn’t see Mayor Fleming there, though. “You’re going old school today, “she said and motioned to the coal barbeque. Sam smiled and nodded, “Mine’s too big to transport, and the parish had this in the Rectory attic. It works just as well. The convenience story still has charcoal. It seems.” A cry rang out and Lillian looked up to see the runners approaching the finish line for their first turn. They would cross now and continue until they did three laps around the circle both streets made. The crowd roared out as the kids races over the finish line. Some waved as the runners continued on. The wieners were done as the runners disappeared around the corner again. She beckoned to John. John said something to Linda and walked over to the table. “These are almost done. I never did ask you what you liked on your hot dog.” Lilian said. She looked astonished as Sam and John said in unison, “A little ketchup and onions.” She laughed, “I could have just asked Sam.” “No problem,” John said and picked up the ketchup bottle. He passed the bun to Sam for the wiener and onions. Lillian put mustard and ketchup on hers and Linda’s. She passed hers over for some onions. When she finished dressing the hot dogs her and John found some plates and brought the hot dogs over to where Linda sat. “Looks fantastic,” Linda said and almost attacked hers.   |
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