Laura Ray (Ray Series) (2 page)

While Nora washed the dishes
and Danny dried, Nora said, “By the way, Mom, I may go back to the university and take summer classes. I’m waiting for Jeremy to come home on Saturday before I know what I will do. It depends on whether he stays for the summer or not.”

Nora, Jeremy, and Danny used to come and go from their house so much that she felt that Jeremy was almost like another child. Jeremy and Nora
started dating the summer before their senior year of high school. Now Jeremy attended Harvard University Law School because his father, the attorney Donald Littlefield insisted that Littlefield’s were lawyers. Jeremy would have chosen a different field given the opportunity.

As Laura lay in bed that night with her hands behind her neck
, she snickered about the first time she saw Jeremy. She and Nora decided to build the flowerbed along the edge of the front porch. They were in the process of digging holes to plant the flowers. Nora had on her old work clothes which were well covered in soil. Her rump stuck up in the air as she bent over to place a tray of flowers closer, when Jeremy came up behind her on the sidewalk. She felt so embarrassed that she covered her red face with her hands smearing dirt all over her face as well.

Monday afternoon, when Laura came home from work Nora announced, “Jamie and I
went to Grand Valley Hospital today. I got a job to work during the summer if I want it. Depends on what Jeremy plans to do.”

Nora and Jamie Rhodes became friends at the hospital when they worked together as nurse’s aides. Jamie just completed her first year at Bacone College in Muskogee this year to become a registered nurse. 

One afternoon when Laura walked into the kitchen she found Nora sitting at the table with books piled all over it. Some stacked with paper markers sticking out in various places. Some were open where she studied and compared information to satisfy her curiosity. She had combed her long blond hair into her usual braid that hung to her waist in the back. Strands of hair stuck out in all directions where she had pulled at it or it just worked itself loose. She wore an old tee shirt with her old baggy jeans which she had pulled up over her knees to keep cool. Her legs curled around the chair legs with her bare feet resting on the chair leg braces.

Laura
leaned against the kitchen door frame and thought how many times she had seen her daughter sitting in that position doing her homework. It felt like a moment of time from the past revisiting her.

Nora glanced up at her mother and said, “I’ve been studying the heart.”

Laura refilled Nora’s tea glass and fixed herself a glass and sat down, “You’re thinking about Dad’s condition?”

Nora nodded, “From what I can figure out from what I’m reading, he had congestive heart failure.”

“Yes,” Laura agreed, “I believe that is the term that the doctor used.”

While they discussed Nora’s findings, Danny came into the kitchen and Nora pointed out various things to him that she had studied.

Danny asked sadly, “That’s why we lost our farm wasn’t it?”

Laura walked over and sat down beside him, “Yes, Danny, that’s why we sold the farm, but
its okay. We have everything we need right here. We have a house that is comfortable that’s close to your school.”

He put his arms around her neck and vowed, “I will buy back our farm. When I become a pro football player, I will have lots of money and I will buy back our farm.”

It reminded Laura of the time soon after Nora found out that her Dad was dying of heart failure, she vowed to become a heart doctor. Her two children were not so different after all.

The farm and dairy had been in the Ray family for five generations. John had held on to it as long as he could possibly work it. His father had handed it down to him. H
e hated so badly to sell it but in the end, Nora and Laura ended up doing most of the work. Much heavier work than either one of them should have done. John’s dream to hand the farm down to Danny became impossible. Danny at the time was nine years old, way too small for that kind of responsibility. With John not being able to work, they needed the money just to survive. Both children needed money for college, so John found a realtor to sell their home.

It was a happy day when Jeremy drove into the driveway. Jeremy had a way about him that cheered the rest of them up. He seemed to bubble with plans and cheer. She and John always thought that Jeremy and Nora
was a good pair. Nora was always so serious, so studious and he was such a tease that they kept each other balanced. Jeremy told Nora that he had not intended to spend the summer at the University so she notified the hospital that she wanted the summer job.

This summer Jeremy had convinced his mother to build a lab for him to study on some plants.
Before long he had also convinced his dad that his younger brother Jeffrey was the one he should look toward, to be the next generation of Littlefield attorneys. Jeremy now had free time to study his plant experiments.

The biggest surprise of the summer came two weeks before school started again. Nora said, “Mom, you may not approve but Jeremy and I are going away for a week’s vacation. We’re leaving on Saturday morning.”

Laura stood there speechless. She would have given her right arm for John to be there to make decisions
.
What could she say? They are both of age and engaged. Hoping they knew what they were doing, she finally said, “Have a good time and be careful.”

Laura’s heart rejoiced again as she
remembered the day they came in proudly displaying their engagement ring. Their faces glowed with excitement. Laura wanted to cry with happiness for them. She called out through her tears, “Let’s celebrate.” She turned on the record player and Elvis Presley’s
You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog
already lay on the turntable. They laughed and danced around in the living room. Danny came in and joined in the celebration with them.

It was a happy, silly time. What a crazy song to play at a time when you’re celebrating your engagement but somehow it worked.

Well, Nora and Jeremy did go on vacation together without being married, not exactly kosher these days. Who knew about this new generation? Samantha and she had tried to down play it and keep it quiet. Maybe not too much gossip will come of it.

Chapter Two

Danny started in the sixth grade. Laura watched Danny leave for school on his bike wearing the new clothes she had bought him. He was getting so tall, almost as tall as she. The older he got, the more he reminded her of John. His hair was a soft golden brown with a slight wave across the top. His eyes shone with the same true sky blue that Nora’s eyes radiated, but the shape of his eyes looked more like John’s eyes. He looked very much like he would develop the football build. Laura felt so proud of him. He had never given her any problems. How could she be so fortunate to have such good children? 

L
aura watched Danny until she saw Aaron swing out from his house on his bike and join him.
Good
she thought to herself
. There’s always safety in numbers
. She hoped that boy Bobby Jackson who threw rocks at him last year had moved away during the summer or something.

She quickly gathered her things and left for work. She had relaxed a lot this summer with the children home and Mr. Hudson behaving himself. She walked into work with a smile and greeted him pleasantly. She sat down to her desk anxious to see what the day might bring.

She had met lots of people since working in the office. She felt fortunate that her job didn’t go into depths about Mr. Hudson’s accounting business. However, when she went to school functions or met these people in the grocery store, she always smiled and acknowledged them kindly. Somehow down inside she felt weird that she knew way too much about these people’s personal business. She declared in her heart that she never would divulge a word out of her mouth any of their secrets.

Danny brought a note home
from school that there would be a PTO meeting after school on Monday afternoon. She made a mental note to get permission to leave work early on Monday to attend.

She opened her mouth to ask
‘How was school?’ when Danny said, “Remember that boy, Bobby Jackson?” Danny went on, “Well, I haven’t seen him this year. I think he went to Junior High.”

“That’s good,” Laura sighed with relief.

“I hope he stays away, if he doesn’t, Aaron and I are going to wipe him out. We’re bigger now.” Danny looked at her determinedly.

Laura felt frightened. She imagined her son coming in with broken bones and bloody. “If you get in a fight, there might be consequences you don’t want to deal with, Danny,” Laura cautioned.

Danny nodded as if he understood. “I’m going to my room to do homework, Mom.”

Laura sat in the PTO meeting at one of the back tables of the school cafeteria. She had previously not attended many school functions; firstly, because of the dairy and secondly, because of John’s illness. Now she felt ready to try to contribute more of her energy toward Danny’s school.

Three women sat at the table in the front of the room. The woman on the far right called the meeting to order. Her tightly curled, dyed black hair shined out in contrast to her pale skin and bright red lips. She stood to start the meeting, “My name is Lydia Jackson, president of the PTO. I’m sure most of you remember me from last year.” She introduced the other two women as vice president, Sherry Nelson, and Jennifer Trout as secretary.

When Lydia stood Laura noticed that her red cardigan sweater and her red wool skirt matched perfectly and she could almost smell expensive clear to the back of the room. Lydia went on, “As you may know, my son Bobby is in seventh grade this year. He has moved on to Junior High, so I must give up my seat as president to one of you lucky ladies.
Does anyone have a nomination?”

Laur
a sat there thinking, Lydia Jackson, the person who is filing a petition to divorce her husband or declare bankruptcy, one or the other or both. Sherry Nelson’s husband owns the Ford dealership and is making money hand over fist. As for Jennifer Trout, Laura happily concluded that she didn’t have a clue.

The door opened and Mary Roberts, Aaron’s mom stepped in. She looked all around, then walked back and sat down by Laura. She looked very smart dressed in her black and green plaid dress. She had twisted her hair in a neat figure eight and pinned it to the back of her head. She smiled at Laura and mouthed, “Hi.”

The nominations went on. The President was replaced by the vice president, a new vice president was chosen and the secretary continued in her position. Relieved that she wasn’t included, Laura sighed, sometimes anonymity can be a blessing.

Mrs. Jack
son stepped down and Sherry Nelson continued as if she knew all along and had been prepped, “All of you know that our Halloween Carnival is our biggest fund raiser. This year is no different. We will need every parent who is available to man a booth. If you can help, please write your name on the paper which we will circulate to let us know which booth and which time you will be available. Also if you have more than one child, please sign up to volunteer at least an hour for each child you have.”

The meeting went on and Laura
and Mary signed up for an hour in Danny’s class’s booth.

Thankful that the meeting closed Laura and Mary stepped outside in the bright sun squinting their eyes. Mary walked Laura to her car before she sa
id, “Did you know that Lydia Jackson is Bobby’s mom? The same boy who has tormented our boys for a year.”

“No, but I
suspected that she might be when she told her name,” Laura responded.

“Yep, the sam
e,” Mary stated bobbing her head. “So far, he hasn’t bothered them this year. I hope he has so many friends in Junior High that he will be too busy to think about our boys.”

“I hope so. At times when Danny has a problem like this, is when I miss John the most,” Laura confided.

“It seems to be a thing boys have to deal with, sort of like a rite of passage or something,” Mary smiled making light of it. “I’m sure they will come through with flying colors.”

Laura got in John’s old pickup to go home. She hoped that Mary was right. She wished she had her confidence.

Laura called Samantha, Jeremy’s mother a few weeks later, “Have you heard from Jeremy lately?”

Samantha answered, “No, not lately. You know how these boys are. They don’t call their mothers like a girl would. Have you heard anything from Nora?”

“No, I was hoping maybe Jeremy had called you. I’m still worried about their little outing they took before school started,” Laura confided.

“I know what you mean.” Samantha said, “I’ve tried to keep my fingers crossed ever since. Having a baby in their second year of college scares me. It could wreck their careers with the extra expense and responsibility.”

Laura responded with, “They are good kids with good heads on their shoulders. We have to trust them, but that little excursion that they took, shook my faith in them just a little bit. That’s one thing about Nora; she doesn’t worry much about other people’s opinion about her. That can be a good thing and also a bad thing.”