Being Emma (11 page)

“Quit telling me what to do, Mr. Ferguson…
and fire!” Craig started laughing and his arrow missed the mark.
Janie puffed up.

“Ha… Told you I was better.” She grinned at
him.

“You had to cheat again to best me – please
note that.”

All the archers had finished shooting and a
whistle blew for them to retrieve their arrows. Smiling, Janie and
Craig walked down the lane together.

“It’s nice to see you again, Janie.”

“It’s nice to be seen…”

“We should probably talk transportation,
hotels, and all the logistics of travel to Vegas. Don’t you think?”
She stopped in her tracks.

“I just thought of something. I forgot to
send in my entry…” She gulped.

“… Did it last week – I sent yours in too.”
She looked at him in gratitude.

“
Thanks.
Wow… that completely slipped my mind.” He smiled at her.
Doing what, he
thought, but didn’t say.

They arrived at the targets and began pulling
their arrows out. She glanced at him and said shyly.

“Craig, I appreciate all the help you’ve
given me with archery. I wouldn’t be half as good as I think I am,”
she smiled, “if you hadn’t coached me constantly. Thanks…” He
laughed at her.

“You’re welcome, but you are that good. I
expect great things out of you in this competition.” He handed her
the last arrow. “You’ll do great.”

They walked back up the lane.

“Okay…” she started. “Let’s put in a good
hour or two and then go somewhere to talk logistics. You know, I
think Dad and Uncle Bill are going to Las Vegas about the same time
as we are.”

“No, not ‘about’ the same time. They’re going
to be there at ‘exactly’ the same time. They’ll probably come watch
a bit.” She swallowed.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want them to
watch?”

“No… It’s fine... I just wasn’t expecting a
personal audience. Strangers I don’t care about.”

“They’re just a rooting gallery… It’ll be
good.”

She
looked at him and smiled. As he watched her, he thought he could go
a long ways on that smile. When they prepared to shoot again, Craig
glanced at her again.
We’re not saying the big stuff… I’m not telling
her how I feel and she’s probably still not sure how she feels…
Better left unsaid for now.

She
glanced back.
I’m not rocking the boat… we’re back being friends and
that’s priceless
…

They turned to face their targets, nocked the
arrows, drew the bows back and shot clean. Both hit the yellow
circle in the centermost part of the target – Bulls-eyes… And
together… Janie looked at Craig out of the corner of her eye while
he did the same. A slight smile from both of them, and they set up
to shoot again…

* * *

Work the next day was hard and never-ending…
Janie had one call after another – all the deputies did. All of a
sudden, crime and turmoil were everywhere and all at once. She’d
never heard so much crying, wailing, and complaining as she did
going on all her calls. The new equipment had come in, which
pleased the office staff very much and their new weapons were in as
well. Janie was itching to head back to the gun range. However, it
wouldn’t happen tonight. She and Diane were taking Sharon, her
former attempted suicide call, out for a drink at the Naples Bar
and Restaurant. Sharon had called and Diane wanted to meet her.
They were all meeting up about seven.

Janie finished up late, about 6:30. She
rushed home to take a quick shower and change, run a comb through
her hair and fasten another ponytail.

She thought of archery practice last night
and how well she and Craig had gotten along. Almost like the old
days… almost… There were things left unsaid in the air – She could
feel them fluttering around her face like butterflies. She knew he
was waiting for her to take a step towards a relationship beyond
friends, but Janie also knew that any man would wait a long time
for her. Craig seemed to have the stamina… and the patience. He’s a
good man…

Great! Look at the blooming clock…
While she daydreamed about Craig, it was
now past seven. She beat it out of the apartment, into her car and
back downtown to the bar. She was looking forward to a girls’ night
out…

“Well, look who decided to show up…” Diane
and Sharon were in a booth at the back. Janie waved at Jake, the
bartender, on her way to them. He held up a bottle of beer at her
and she nodded. She made a little detour toward the bar to pick up
the beer and went over to sit down by her friend and their new
friend.

“I’m only a little late…”

“Miss Punctuality, we started without you.”
Diane held up her margarita.

“I see that.” Looking at Sharon, she said,
“So you met Diane…”

“Indeed. We had a nice talk already.”

“Really? About what?”

“She wanted to hear my ghastly little story,
so we got that out of the way already. No need for you to hear it
again…” Janie looked at her seriously.

“I’m glad things turned out like they did,
Sharon.”

“Me, too,” added Diane.

“Me three…” smiled Sharon.

Janie held up her bottle to clink with their
glasses.

“Here’s to us…”

“Here’s to life,” said Sharon.

“And here’s to men…” They laughed and clinked
glasses with one another.

Janie
settled back in the booth. “Men?” Diane looked mischievous to
her.
What was
she up to?

“Okay. First things first… Janie, you’re back
to archery practice with Craig, correct?”

“Yup.” She raised her bottle to take a
sip.

“So what’s happened to Mike Church?” The
bottle froze in midair, not quite reaching her mouth.

“Ah…”

“So now you will hear, Sharon, what my friend
Janie does when she’s ready to ditch a guy.”

“Is Mike that bad?” Sharon looked
confused.

“No, he’s great. Mike’s a nice man.”

“So… What’s the plan?”

“… Um… Actually, he called me this morning.
He’s got a job in Alaska and is leaving town tomorrow afternoon.”
Diane laughed.

“Well… That’s certainly handy. You won’t have
a mess left on your hands after all.”

“Not nice, Diane. I told you this was
probably going to happen. Drilling any and everywhere is what the
man does. It’s his profession…”

“Besides…” She looked a little guilty.

“Besides what?”

“He wants more from me than I’m willing to
give him. I told you that.”

“Like what?” asked Sharon. Diane looked her
in the eye.

“Like sex…”

“Oh, I understand. Well, if you don’t want
to, you don’t want to.” Janie gave Sharon a big smile.

“Thank you, Sharon. At least one of you is
understanding.” She took another sip of her beer. Diane looked at
her empty glass and then over at Jake. She wiggled her glass at him
and he mixed her a fresh margarita. He brought it over to their
table.

“Anyone else need something?”

“I’m good, Jake. Thanks.”

“Maybe one more glass of Merlot, thank you.
And that’s it for me tonight.”

Diane looked from Sharon to Janie.

“Flyweights, both of you.”

“Gotta drive, Diane. You need to take it easy
yourself.”

“Listen, ladies, as soon as you have your
drinks, I have something to share with you.” Just then, Jake
brought Sharon’s Merlot. “All right. Let the fun begin.”

Diane reached into the pocket of her jacket
and pulled out a picture. She laid it on the table for them to
see.

“Who’s this?” Sharon picked it up to get a
better look. “He’s cute…”

Diane snorted as Janie laughed.

“He’s a fellow deputy sheriff at the
Sheriff’s Office with me.”

“Why are you in the picture with him, Diane?”
Diane narrowed her eyes at Janie.

“… Because my roommate here decided to match
me up with him. She turned out to be a pretty lousy matchmaker. I
printed up this picture that she emailed to me and kept it around
for far too long. Apparently, our love affair was not to be, and it
culminated with him snubbing me at the dance.”

Sharon looked at Diane. “I am so sorry to
hear that. That must have hurt.”

Janie’s eyes softened toward her friend.

“It did and I’m sorry to have had a hand in
your getting hurt. I promise, ‘No more matchmaking.’ How’s
that?”

“Apology accepted and now for the finale.”
She got out a lighter. “Should I burn it or rip it up?”

“If you burn it, make sure the flames don’t
go on the floor. Jake would be mad if you started a fire in the
sawdust.”

“Ha…” Diane flicked the lighter and a small
flame appeared. “Okay… Bye, bye, Ethan Moody.” She lit the edges of
the picture. The paper started to crinkle with the heat…

“Wait!” Sharon snatched the picture from
Diane and threw her wine on it, putting out the sparks.

Janie and Diane both blinked in surprise at
her. “What?” Diane started to say something.

“If you don’t want the picture, I’d like it.
He’s cute…” She gazed at the photo.

“… You can have him, Sharon. Good luck…”

“He’s not such a bad guy… Maybe he and Sharon
would get along.” Janie smiled weakly. Diane’s eyes rolled up into
her head.

“Is that another feeble attempt at
matchmaking, Deputy?”

“Nope. Delete my last comment, Sharon. I have
nothing further to say.”

Sharon laughed. “I could get you to take a
lie-detector test to get it out of you.”

“Damn waste of a good glass of Merlot too.”
Diane wiped the table off with their napkins.

Sharon glanced at her watch. “Gotta get
going. I have an early shift tomorrow. This was fun, ladies. Thanks
for letting me tag along.” She smiled at them.

“Pleasure was ours, Sharon. Let’s do it
again.” Janie smiled back.

“Absolutely. I’ve got your number. We’ll do
something next week.”

Sharon got up, slipped a few bills on the
table and left the bar. She waved at them before she went out the
door.

“Nice woman…” Diane counted the money she
left. “She gave Jake a good tip. He’ll be happy to see her again…”
Janie laughed.

Janie sipped her beer and looked around the
restaurant. Diane was ready to launch into the second part of her
little plan… She raised her eyebrows at Janie and began her attack.
Janie saw her look.

“
What’s
the matter with you? You look like the cat that swallowed the
canary…”
How
right you are, thought Diane.

“Oh, nothing… Really…” Janie thought she was
hedging.

“You’ve got something else to say. Out with
it.”

“It’s just…” She put on her best innocent
face. “I tell you, I was so mortified when Ethan snubbed me at the
dance.”

“Yeah… that wasn’t very nice of him.”

“No, indeed, but then Craig came along and
asked me to dance.”

“Yes, he was very gallant, wasn’t he?”
Diane’s voice went a little lower.

“It was more than that…” Janie took another
sip.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“…Craig… When he touched my hand, I went all
mushy…” Janie sat up straighter.

“Mushy?”

“Yes, mushy?”

“Why did you go all mushy?” She looked
confused.

“Why does a woman go mushy over a man?”

“… Ah…”

“I mean, he comes along and rescues me like a
knight in shining armor – You said that yourself.”

“Don’t start quoting me, Diane.” She set down
her beer. “Do you like him?”

She asked so softly that Diane had to lean
over.

“What?” Janie cleared her throat.

“Do you have feelings for Craig?” She
practically whispered.

“… You’re okay with that, aren’t you? I mean
you two are just friends, right? Isn’t he fair game?”

“Fair game?”

“Well… he doesn’t have a girlfriend and maybe
he’d like one.”

“Are you volunteering for the job?”

“Sure, why not? Don’t you think we’d be a
good match? You didn’t like John and Ethan didn’t work out, so why
not Craig?”

Janie’s mouth dropped open and she was
stupefied. What could she possibly say to that?

Diane
smiled.
She
thought the kick in the pants was definitely in action.

Janie looked wiped out
.

“Janie, are you all right? You don’t look so
good.”

Janie couldn’t catch her breath – The full
meaning of Diane’s words knocked the wind out of her. Diane was
almost sorry to see Janie change from confused to distraught in the
span of a few minutes, but knew it was for her own good. And
Craig’s… the poor guy needed a hand here.

Janie tossed some money on the table and got
up to leave.

“I’ve got to go, Diane.” She started for the
door.

“Janie, wait. Are you all right? Can you
drive?”

“Yes… sure.” She walked to the door and
leaned against the doorframe to catch her breath.

“Do you mind if I call Craig tomorrow and ask
him out?” Diane knew she was pushing it.

“… Um… You mean like a date?”

“Yes.” Diane smiled.

“Diane, I have to go. I’m going to throw up.”
That said, Janie stepped outside and threw up on the sidewalk. She
bent over, feeling faint.

Again, Diane would have been sorry, except
she knew Janie was in love with Craig and just couldn’t see it.
Forest for the trees type of deal…

“Here… Sit down.” Diane parked her on an
outside bench. “I need to tell Jake about this mess.” She hurried
inside and came back in a few minutes.

Janie still looked awful.

“Wow, are you catching the flu?” Janie walked
stiffly to her car and got in.

“Night, Janie,” she heard Diane call. Diane
smiled broadly and went back into the bar. “She can thank me
later…”