Love Is a Battlefield (7 page)

Kristy had opted not to tell her mother she had accepted Robert's dinner invitation. Sure, she'd be a little mad when she found out, but Kristy didn't need anyone else overanalyzing her social life. She did fine with that all on her own, and Ainsley and Vickie were glad to help when needed. Besides, Robert seemed pleasant enough last Sunday. And he was cute. Even better, he seemed like a good Christian guy, and Kristy knew those weren't easy to come by.

She plopped down on her overstuffed couch and flipped on the television. An episode of
Friends
was on. Maybe it would get rid of her predate jitters. Sam joined her on the couch, resting his head on her leg. “Oh sure, now you're a good dog.”

She kept a close watch on the clock. He should arrive in five minutes. She turned the TV off, then back on. There was no need to look like she was just sitting there with nothing better to do than wait for him.

Another episode of
Friends
came on.
Any minute.
It was six thirty on the dot. She smoothed her hair and did a quick lipstick check. She was as ready as she could be. And starving.

At six forty-five, she peeked out the window. No sign of him.
Hmm.
It wasn't as if he could get lost. Aside from the large signs proclaiming the park entrance, his mother lived adjacent to the park. So Kristy was certain he knew how to get there.

She started pacing at seven. She could understand being a few minutes late. Thirty minutes was pushing it, though. And she was on her third episode of
Friends.
A marathon maybe.

Now she had a huge knot in her stomach. Partly hunger, partly anxiety. Any excitement she'd been feeling was gone. Where was he? Maybe he'd been held up at work. Maybe his car wouldn't start. Surely he would've had the decency to call and let her know. Maybe his phone battery was dead.

Thirty more minutes later, she was still sitting on the couch going over possible scenarios in her head. Finally, she flipped through her caller ID and found his number. She wasn't sure if it was his home number or cell number, but it was worth a try. When she had everything dialed but the last digit, she chickened out. She didn't want to seem overeager.
Play it cool, Kristy,
she coached herself.
Breezy.

Finally, she turned the TV off. She'd just seen Ross and Rachel break up, get back together, then break up again, and her date was still a no-show. Maybe there'd been a car accident. A family emergency. Maybe he was carjacked. In this rural Tennessee town? Doubtful.

It had been long enough to justify calling him for real. She picked up the phone and bravely let the call go all the way through. On the third ring, it connected.

“Hi, this is Robert. I'm unable to get to the phone right now. Leave a message at the sound of the tone and...” Frustrated, Kristy clicked the phone off.

It was time to face the music. She'd obviously been stood up. Honestly, she'd never actually been stood up before. Unless you counted being left at the altar. But even Mark had the decency to show up on their
first
date.

Did Robert decide I was ugly? Weird? I'll bet it's because I'm a Civil War buff.

Before she could go through a mental checklist of all the reasons Robert probably didn't want to date her, the phone rang. She jumped up to grab it. Surely it was him with an explanation.

“Hey, Kris.” not Robert. It was Ainsley. She settled back down onto the couch.

“Hi.” Kristy knew why she was calling and hated to tell her how wrong everyone had been with the whole “get back on the horse” theory.

“So ... how'd the date go? Oh wait, I just realized what time it is. He's probably still there, isn't he?”

Kristy gazed out the window, wishing she had better news to tell. “No. He didn't show.”

“Why not? is he sick?” Why were all of her friends such optimists when it came to love? she really needed to add another cynic to her group.

“No. He just didn't show.” she reached over and smoothed Sam's ear. “As in, he stood me up.” There. The proverbial cat was out of the bag.

Silence.

Then ... “There's got to be a logical explanation. Are you sure you got the date right? Maybe he asked you out for Saturday night instead of Friday.” bless her heart. Kristy knew Ainsley was only trying to make her feel better. Unfortunately, implying that she couldn't even get the day of the week right only made her feel worse.

“I'm pretty sure he just changed his mind. I was a little surprised he called in the first place. He didn't seem too interested in me when we met. And when he finally called, it was like he couldn't wait to hang up.” no sense sugarcoating this one. “It's okay. I have to work tomorrow anyway. And besides, you know I wasn't ready for this.”

After a lot of work, she finally convinced Ainsley she'd be fine. All she wanted to do was get out of her cute date outfit. Ever since she'd realized Robert wasn't going to show, Kristy felt like her clothing somehow mocked her. She slipped off her sandals and padded down the hallway, Sam at her heels. She carefully hung up her date clothes and threw on a pair of old sweats, a faded T-shirt, and flip-flops. Maybe not her best fashion statement, but she didn't care. As Sam watched with interest, Kristy took off her makeup and brushed her hair back into a ponytail. With her comfy clothes and no-longer-made-up face, the image looking back at her in the mirror hardly resembled the glamour girl Robert would've seen if he'd bothered to show up.

Aside from yet another blow to her self-esteem, the downside to her dinner date standing her up was that now she had to provide her own food. And there were no groceries in the house except for dog food and Pop-Tarts. Neither sounded appetizing. Once again, Kristy wished a restaurant would deliver to her house. Unfortunately, that was one of the drawbacks of living in such an isolated area. So even though she didn't feel like it, she would have to go out.

She took Sam along for company on the short drive to the grocery store. Kristy pulled into a space and rolled the window down a tad so he could get some air. Judging from the nearly empty parking lot, she knew she was one of the few shoppers at the Four star General store. And that suited her just fine.

She mindlessly filled her cart with treats to make herself feel better. Chocolate bars, chips, a honey bun; she was Denise Austin's worst nightmare. As she rounded the corner to the frozen food aisle, she saw him. Ace Kennedy.

Just my luck.

She quickly opened the door to the ice cream section and held it open until it started to frost over. There were probably icicles forming on her face, but if she stayed hidden behind the frosted door, maybe he wouldn't be able to see her.
Please don't want ice cream tonight.
She could see his blurry outline as he made his way down the frozen food aisle. If she could've crawled into the freezer, she would have. And if she stood there much longer, she'd be frozen in place.

He came right over and parked his cart beside hers.

Go for the vegetables, Ace. Walk away from the ice cream. S
he tried to urge him, telepathically, to leave the area, but it didn't seem to be working. Not that she believed in that, but she was desperate.

He reached for the door she was hiding behind, and they had a little tug-of-war.

He won.

“Kristy?”

She didn't know which was worse, the possibility of him figuring out that she'd been stood up, or him seeing her again in a less than attractive state. At least this time she was fully clothed.

“Hello.” Her teeth were chattering a little. “I'm just trying to decide which ice cream flavor to buy tonight.”

“Right.” He looked amused. “Tough decision, but chocolate always gets my vote.”

Maybe we do have something in common. S
he picked up the Breyer's smooth-churned chocolate and put it in her basket. “Sounds good to me, too.” Kristy just wanted to get her calorie-filled cart out of there. “I've gotta go.” she finally closed the freezer door. It was highly possible that she'd just thawed out the entire section. “Thanks for the input on the ice cream.”

“Anytime.” He looked like he wanted to say more.

Please don't ask me about my date. S
he grabbed her cart and forced her lips into a smile. “See you at work tomorrow.”

“Actually, tomorrow is my day off,” he informed her.

“Oh. So you have ‘real' weekends off?” she wondered briefly if he had some kind of inside connection at the park. Since the park was open seven days a week, not many employees had Saturday and Sunday off.

“Sure do. How about you?”

“I'm off Sundays and Mondays.”

“I see. Well, hey. That means tomorrow is like your Friday.” He looked at her intently.

“Yes.” she nodded, suddenly aware of her bare face and ponytail. “I need to go. Sam's in the car.”

“Have a good evening.”

She could feel his eyes on her as she pushed the cart in the opposite direction.
Don't look back. Just keep going.

She bypassed the posters of Generals Grant and Lee and headed for the checkout. The Four star was the only grocery store she knew of where you could buy authentic Civil War souvenirs along with your bread and milk.

Kristy handed her debit card to the cashier. She should've just stayed in bed today. Called in sick of life. First, the dog ran away. Then she got stood up. If anyone had ever needed a do-over, it was her.

Oh well, she'd just have to find her inner Scarlett.

Tomorrow is another day.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. Just the opposite of Kristy's mood. But she was trying not to think about the disasters of yesterday. No point in dwelling on what couldn't be changed. So Robert stood her up. Fine. He probably wasn't her type anyway. And so what if she'd made a complete fool of herself in front of Ace? Twice. She hardly knew him. And she certainly didn't like him. So why did it bug her so much? she suddenly remembered that it was his day off and was immediately in better humor.

She threw on her Smokey bear hat, kissed Sam good-bye, and headed out the door. The walk to the visitor center was much more comfortable than the barefoot run she'd taken the previous day. And Saturdays were always busy at the park, with lots of families and tour groups. No time to think about her problems. Plus, she needed to resume training since both Matthew and Mason would be working today. She hoped to have them take turns tagging along on some of her ranger programs so they could learn how to conduct them.

Since tomorrow was her day off, she only had to get through the day before she would be rewarded with a break. Kristy hadn't mentioned it to Ace last night, but she'd had to fight long and hard to get Sundays off. She couldn't imagine giving up going to Sunday morning services. Now that she was a seasonal, she was a little afraid her days off would change. But so far Hank hadn't mentioned it.

Before she checked the daily schedule, she started a pot of coffee. The drawback of being the only female ranger was that she had to do anything that might be considered “domestic.” she watched it brew and savored the smell. Her general rule was “Don't talk to me until you've seen me have at least one cup—loaded with sugar and cream.” she knew the caffeine, not to mention the sugar and cream, probably wasn't the healthiest breakfast, but it was the only way she could get her mornings off to a good start.

Her day was loaded with programs, and despite her gloominess, she was thrilled. Lots of programs meant she would spend most of her time outside, talking to visitors. She'd take that any day over being stuck on front-desk duty—having to stand at the desk all day long, taking entrance fees and pointing out the restrooms. No fun. And lots of time to dwell on what was going wrong in her life.

“Good morning.” Owen grabbed a Styrofoam cup and waited for the coffee to finish brewing. Upon meeting him, some people thought Owen was quite a force to reckon with. But much like Hank, underneath his gruff exterior, he was a big teddy bear.

“Morning. Thanks for scheduling me outside most of the day.” Owen made the daily schedules, and it was always best to stay on his good side.

“No problem.” He poured his coffee right to the top of the cup.

Kristy had to fight to keep from flinching as she watched the hot coffee slosh around. He always poured his coffee a little too full, and the old blue carpet that ran between his office and the coffee station featured a trail of little coffee stains.

“You gonna have the twins attend your programs today?” He took a sip of coffee.

“I figured I'd have them switch off. That way one of them can be in here learning how to work the front desk.”

He nodded. “Good plan.”

“So any more news about the monument vandal?” she asked.

“None. Arnie was pretty mad about getting hit a second time. Said he wanted whoever did it to be found.” Owen raked his fingers through his thinning gray hair and splashed a couple of drops of coffee in the process.

“Not much chance of that. Surely they're not stupid enough to do it a third time.” Kristy hoped the culprit was long gone. “Let's hope you're right about that.” He took another sip of coffee and ambled back to his office.

Kristy put her hat and purse in the seasonal office, thankful for a few minutes alone before being surrounded by people all day. Despite her desire to forget about the embarrassment of last night, it was still hanging over her like a big black cloud. The coffee helped, but she couldn't completely shake the feeling of discontent.

A loud ringing in his ears brought Ace to consciousness. He squinted at the bedside clock. Through bleary eyes, he could barely make out 8:00. And after a night spent poring over thick books, he hadn't gotten to bed until nearly dawn. How had he set the alarm wrong? He squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his hand on the snooze button. But the ringing continued. Even in his tired brain, he knew that left only one other option. Without opening his eyes, he scrabbled around on the bedside table with his fingers until they closed around the phone.

“Hello?”

“Could I speak to Ace, please?” His brain teetered on the brink of recognizing the woman's voice, but he couldn't quite place it.

He sat up and tried to will the grogginess from his voice. “Speaking.”

“Um, this is Maggie Hamilton. Caroline's mother.”

The name had the effect of cold ice water splashed in his face. “Mrs. Hamilton. What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong, dear. I just wanted to let you know.... That is, I needed to tell you ... there are some things of Caroline's I thought you might want.” The sadness in her voice as she said the name of her only daughter cut to his heart.

“Oh, well, thanks.”

“I know it took us a long time to go through her things. But after the accident, I just couldn't...” she trailed off, as if to collect herself. “I couldn't handle it then. It was easier to just put it all in storage.”

Ace knew exactly what she meant. He'd done the same with his pain for a long time. Put it in storage. “I understand, Mrs. Hamilton.” if he closed his eyes, he could see Caroline, her shiny brown hair glinting in the sun. “I still miss her.”

“I know. We all do.” Mrs. Hamilton was quiet for a moment. “But, honey, you know, Caroline is in a better place now. Every time I get sad, I think about what she used to say to me when I'd worry about her going somewhere by herself.”

“God is with me, so I'm never alone,” Ace said, remembering, his eyes suddenly stinging. “She used to say the same thing to me when I'd worry about her taking a cab home alone at night.”

Mrs. Hamilton gave a little laugh. “She had a faith that couldn't be shaken. I think we could all learn a lot from the way she lived her life.”

“Yes.” He certainly had. If her death had taught him anything, it was that he should live his life to the fullest. That there were no guarantees. And especially, that he should let people know how he felt about them.

He gave his address to her and was about to hang up when she spoke. “Oh, Ace?”

“Yes, ma'am?”

“Did you put those beautiful yellow daisies on her grave a few weeks ago?” she asked.

His face grew hot at the realization that his impulsive act had been noticed. “They were always her favorite. And since I was moving ... well, I wanted to do something special.”

“They were perfect. She'd have loved them. Thanks.”

After a quick good-bye, he hung up the phone and stared blankly at his bedroom wall. A flood of memories washed over him. The first day they met, as college freshmen. He'd wanted to impress her, but he'd never seen anyone with such dancing brown eyes. And there was the time she'd called him, crying, after her long-term boyfriend had cheated on her during her senior year. Her tears had changed to laughter when he'd offered to go beat the guy up for her. But at least she'd quit crying. And he remembered how hard he'd tried to be serious at the fancy dinner celebration they'd had after they both got “real” jobs. But she'd laughed that night and said she still felt like a kid inside. He'd admitted he did, too.

And then she'd died.

But like her mother said, she wasn't alone. And unless Ace was badly mistaken, wherever she was, she was probably laughing. To his amazement, the memories didn't make him sad anymore. And if Caroline could see that, he knew it made her happy.