Laura Ray (Ray Series) (11 page)

Finally she had to get another piece of paper just for the math.
Who knew that you had to know math to draw?

After she
determined that the lines of the house looked reasonably right, she decided she could go on to the trees with colored pencils. If she showed the light glistening off the leaves of the trees she would need to use several pencils with different colors. She never could get the hues just right but she was happy that she could tell what she attempted at least. She drew in some shrubs along the front and a few little flowers. So, she decided, even if it was winter, every house needs flowers in the front. She tried to think what the house would look like in the spring.

By three o’clock she
proudly tacked the picture to her kitchen wall by the refrigerator. She stood admiring her first picture. She knew it wasn’t perfect, but she hoped she would improve on the next one.

She put her things away in a pile on the floor beside the refrigerator. It was time to take her bath and get ready for her first date in over twenty years.
She filled the bathtub and got in. She smiled remembering how panicked Nora was on her first date with Jeremy. Nora must have tried on four different outfits trying to find the perfect look. Finally she called Laura in to help her decide and to fix her hair for her.

At this point, Laura reminded herself, she had no idea what she would wear or how she would fix her hair. She only had one pair of dress shoes so that wouldn’t be a problem. The only clothes that fit were in Nora’s closet, she tried to think what she remembered seeing there. In the end she dried herself off
, wrapped a towel around herself, and went to Nora’s room to find something appropriate to wear.

She shook her head searching from one
dress to another. She had a date! Her first date in years and everything she saw in Nora’s closet seemed either out of date or too childish. She could kick herself for not going shopping this afternoon. Here she had a date with this hunky man to go the Performing Arts Center to see the Nutcracker which she had wanted to go see as long as she could remember and she would have to go with a towel wrapped around her because she had nothing to wear.

She heard Danny come in the front door calling, “Mom, where are you?”

“Danny, I’m in Nora’s room.”

Danny took one look at her and broke out in giggles. He laughed until he couldn’t stand up straight.

Laura looked at herself in Nora’s mirror. Her wet hair strung down in her face and all around. She stood there cold with a towel wrapped around her middle. Her eyes looked stark in her white face with purple lips. Her bare legs stuck out below the towel with feet appendages on them. A desperate look emanated from her face because she had nothing to wear.

How she remembered Danny laughing at Nora in times like this! Well, when she thought about it, she could see the humor in it too. “Okay, Danny, I’m glad to provide you with a good laugh, but I need help here.”

Danny tried unsuccessfully a couple of times to pull back the laughter but when he opened his eyes to look at her he took off again. She finally had to laugh with him, his laughter was contagious.

He motioned for her to follow him. He went into her closet and pulled out the perfect dress for her to wear. A dress that she had worn so seldom that she forgot that she had it.

Laura took the dress and pointed toward the door. Danny stopped and took one last look at her and started giggling again. She shut the door, and said, “The little twerp!” Since he was gone she could laugh a little herself.

She fixed her hair and put the dress on. She preened in the mirror a little. Not bad. Not bad at all.
She put on her dress shoes and touched her face with a little rouge and face powder. She outlined her eyes with eyeliner and a few brushes of mascara. A touch of lipstick completed the effort.

It’s amazing what a little makeup can do for a woman
she thought.

Danny wanted to stay home and watch TV. Mary had offered to let him come over to their house but Danny had gotten to the stage that he wanted to assert his independence and show that he could take care of himself.

Laura told him as she left with Art, “Stay in the house. Don’t open the door to anybody. If you get scared or worried about anything, call Mary.”

“I know, Mom. I’ll be alright.”

She blew him a kiss and said, “I know you will, I just have to say that because I’m your mom. It’s my job to worry about you.”

“See you in the morning. Bye.” Danny shut the door and went back to watch his TV show.

After they both were seated in the car, Laura said, “He’s grown up so much.”

“You’ve done a fantastic job with that kid,” Art said starting the engine. “By the way, Laura, you look lovely tonight.”

“Thank you, Art,” Laura said kindly. “You dress up nice yourself.”

Art’s pickup might not be the fanciest car but Laura hand to admit that it rode nicely.
“This is a really nice pickup, Art. Pretty, too.” Laura commented brushing her hand over the black vinyl seats.

“Thank you, Laura. I hope you don’t mind riding to a Tulsa in my pickup, but at the moment, this is the only chariot that I have,” Art said with a sideward glace and a smile.

“You don’t have to apologize to me. All John would ever drive was a pickup. He said that with our farm, it was the only practical thing to buy. Actually for the kind of work he did, I understood.” She said with a shrug. “So, no, I don’t feel embarrassed.”

“I’m proud of this baby,” he said patting the dashboard. “It’s a 1959 Chevy 3100 Apache
Red with V8 engine and 4 wheel drive. It’s exactly what I need for picking up parts for the garage. By having 4 wheel drive, I can also earn a little extra pulling people out when they get stuck.”

“Sounds like the perfect pickup for you,” Laura commented. “It’s a beauty for a pickup.”

“Thank you,” Art said. “I agree, I think it’s a beauty too, for a pickup.” He jibbed teasing her.

She glanced at over at him with twist to her mouth, and then laughed.

Art had decided to go all out and stopped at Lone Star Steak House when they reached Tulsa. After seeing the portions of food arriving on her plate she was thankful that she had been so preoccupied with her drawing she had forgotten to eat lunch.

Which reminded her, Laura placed her fork on her plate and said, “Art, you will be happy to know that I have started a new hobby.”

His interest piqued, he asked, “Good. What new hobby have you started?”

“I bought a new camera to take pictures of things that interest me. Mostly I took pictures of houses that I passed on the street. I got my film developed and today I sketched my first picture.
”

Art nodded thoughtfully, “So you want to sketch. Would you show it to me when we get back?”

She laughed apprehensively, “It’s not as good as other people might do, but I feel proud of it. Understand it’s my first.”

“Laura, it’s your first. I wouldn’t expect a Picasso, but I’m really proud of you,” Art said approvingly. “I’m anxious to see it.”

Soon they arrived at the Performing Arts Center. Laura saw all the people dressed to the hilt with tuxedos and the women wearing fancy gowns to the floor. She turned to Art, “I don’t think I’m dressed for this.”

“If you’ll notice, I didn’t wear a tuxedo either. Laura, you look beautiful.” He escorted her in with dignity and his head held high. Laura had been so proud of the way she loo
ked in her almost new dress, she had saved for special occasions. Art had dressed in a black suit and she thought he looked amazing when he picked her up. Now she wondered if it was enough.

He held her hand and they walked through the lobby.
Laura sort of felt like a child still clutching her parent’s hand while he pulled her through a castle or something. Art handed the usher their tickets and they were seated just like everybody else. She sighed in big relief and Art put his arm around her hoping to calm her nerves.

She cuddled into him and whispered, “It’s beautiful!”

As soon as the ballet began she was totally entranced by the music and the beauty of the dance.

On the way home she still felt like she was in a wonderland, and wondered why she didn’t take up ballet when she was a child. “I thoroughly enjoyed the ballet, Art. Thank you so much for taking me. I will never forget this night.
I have always wanted to go to the
Nutcracker
but never had the opportunity.”

He reached over and squeezed her hand, “I noticed. I’m so glad I took you.” He was thankful that he went to the extra expense of taking her. He hadn’t realized at the time when he asked her that she had never been to a ballet before.

She saw when they reached the house that Danny had left the porch light on for her but the other lights were out so she could tell that he had gone to bed. She invited Art in to see her sketch that she had drawn earlier in the day. She held it out apprehensively, hoping he wouldn’t see it as a child scratching on the paper.

He reached out and took the sketch and walked over to see it in better light. She stood patiently like a child waiting for her teacher’s approval. He studied the sketch longer than she expected so she felt apprehensive wondering what he would finally say.

He turned toward her with wonder in his face, “Laura, you definitely have talent. Have you ever taken art lessons?”

Surprise was written all over her face and she shook her head, “No.”

“You might think about it. You could do so much more using oil paints as your medium rather than pencils.”

Her jaw dropped, “Oil paints? I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Art shrugged, “I thought I’d throw that out. It’s something to think about. I see a lot of talent there. I’m proud of you.” He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless but considering the rape; he brushed her lightly on the lips.

He hoped soon she would give him the signal that she was ready but he didn’t want to rush her, not yet. He walked to the front door,
and she followed him. Since she was so near, he reasoned to himself, he kissed her again a little longer and very tenderly. He smiled at her, “I could get used to this.”

She smiled and backed away. He knew it was time to go.

The next weekend was Danny’s Christmas program at school and with the flurry of Christmas preparations she and Art didn’t get the opportunity to see each other much. Mary had invited Laura and Danny to their house since Nora and Jeremy didn’t plan to come home this Christmas. It was Laura’s first Christmas in twenty-one years without her daughter present. She reasoned with herself, that Nora had her own home now and things like this will happen now, still she felt sad.

She and Danny had put up their decorations. In spite of it being only the two
of them. Danny still had his youthful excitement and anticipation of Christmas
.
God bless children! Christmas was designed with them in mind.

Laura brought her favorite
Christmas dishes to Mary’s house along with gifts for all. Mary had turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings along with pumpkin and pecan pie.

The house was gaily decorated with a huge fir tree glistening in the living
room. Just walking in the house lifted a person’s spirits. Laura wondered if her home would ever have that Christmas spirit again. Right now except for Danny, Laura hadn’t really felt any enthusiasm for it much this year.

Art met her at the door and took her food dishes to the table to place with the accumulating abundance that Mary placed there. Danny placed their gifts under the tree to be distributed after the meal.

Aaron called
enthusiastically, “Danny, come see what I got!”

Art handed Laura a beautifully decorated box which contained a necklace with a topaz teardrop that she immediately put on. He gave Danny a model airplane to assemble.

Laura gave Art a light blue shirt with matching tie that she thought would look nice on him. She gave Mary a new recipe book that Laura had heard her talk about, Harold cologne, and Aaron a game of Manacala.

Mary gave her another sketch
pad, Danny got a Chevrolet Corvette model car to assemble. Laura laughed, “Danny, that’s what you get when you tell everybody that’s what you want for Christmas.”

“That’s okay, Mom. I wanted both of these.”

They had a good time but eventually pulled out the playing cards for another challenge before they all decided they needed another piece of turkey and pie. Art and Laura paired up against Harold and Mary who dared them to beat them in a game of spades. They were evenly matched and played the rest of the day.

Art walked Laura to the car to help her carry her d
ishes to take home, “Do you think Danny could find something to do on New Year’s Eve? That is if you would like to go the Cain’s Ballroom with me. I hear that Bob Wells and the Texas Playboys are playing. We could have a lot of fun.”

“Art
Bailey, you are definitely broadening my horizons. That’s another place I have never been.” She thought a minute about how embarrassing it would be to attempt to dance in public. The only time she had ever danced was with John in the living room. She didn’t feel qualified to claim she knew how to dance.