Marriage Seasons 01 - It Happens Every Spring (28 page)

Patsy Pringle had cleared her schedule for most of the afternoon
this Wednesday, and she was looking forward to the arrival of the
other members of the Tea Ladies' Club. She had filled the urn with
fresh water and set out a large variety of tea bags. That morning,
she had baked a lemon-poppy seed bread for the group. Now she
took it out of the foil wrap, sliced it into sweet, moist portions, and
arranged them on a cut-glass plate she had inherited from her
grandmother.

This would be the fourth meeting of the club, and Patsy had
quickly discovered that the gathering of women was the highlight
of her week. Each Wednesday they sat in the tea area, sun streaming through the windows, and chatted in cheerful voices while
music played softly in the background. Sometimes the recounting
of a story sent everyone into gales of laughter, and other times the
whole group ended up in tears.

Every Wednesday afternoon without fail, into the salon
marched Ashley Hanes and Kim Finley. Esther Moore was never
far behind. In fact, she often showed up first. She considered the
club her idea, so she told Patsy she felt responsible for making sure
everything was set up. The only member who had failed to reappear for tea at Just As I Am was Brenda Hansen.

Patsy hadn't seen her or heard a peep out of her since the day
they had formed the group almost a month ago. This morning on
her way to the salon, Patsy had stopped by the Hansen house to
leave a little reminder note for Brenda and tell her how much they
had missed her. As she stepped onto the porch, the homeless man
lifted his head from a pillow on the swing and nearly scared Patsy
out of her wits. Once she recovered from the shock of that scarecrow face and ratty hair sticking out in all directions, Patsy asked
him about Brenda.

"She makes me sandwiches and soup and chocolate cake," he
had said, proudly displaying a cooler filled to the brim with food. "Brenda is my friend, but she doesn't talk to me anymore. She says
she doesn't feel like talking and please leave her alone. So I do. I sit
on the swing or wash the windows with the garden hose. I like to
keep things span. That's what I used to do for my daddy."

Patsy hadn't known what to say after that, so she tucked the note
inside the screen door and drove off. But all day she kept thinking
about Brenda Hansen, worrying about her and wondering if there
was anything she could do. She worried about the homeless man,
too. After dredging around in her brain for a while, she finally
remembered that his name was Cody. What on earth would happen to Cody when winter came around again? And why would
Brenda cook for the fellow but not talk to him? The whole situation was definitely a matter for prayer.

Which is exactly what Patsy was doing this afternoon as she finished spraying her last client's hairstyle into place and the door
opened to admit the main members of the TLC. All except Brenda
... once again.

Esther bustled everyone into the tea area and began passing
around the basket of colorful tea bags. She chose a central table and
moved chairs around so that everyone had a place. Kim and Ashley
were caught up in discussing the health of Kim's son, the twin who
seemed to be having more bad days than good lately. Kim and her
husband, Derek, had driven Luke to a doctor in Osage Beach, but
so far they weren't sure what was wrong with him. They had been
thinking of seeing a specialist in St. Louis.

As the women took their places, Patsy checked out her customer
at the cash register and motioned to the other stylists that she
would be away from her station for a while. Then she hurried into
the tearoom, fixed herself a cup of steaming Darjeeling with plenty
of milk and sugar, and took a slice of poppy-seed cake. Her favorite
CD by Color of Mercy was playing, and for once she was absolutely
certain that Pete Roberts would not interrupt with a leaf blower or
chain-saw engine.

As much as Patsy hated to acknowledge anything good about the man, he had done a fantastic job soundproofing the wall
between their two stores. Not only that, but he had built the
flower boxes, painted them bright yellow, and set them in place
on the sidewalk in front of each business in the Tranquility mall.
He had asked Patsy if she would consider going to the NASCAR
races with him some afternoon, and lo and behold if she hadn't
said yes.

"I have a subject to discuss," Esther Moore began when Patsy
had seated herself at the table. "I think it's something we can all
pitch in on, and if we intend to give each other tender loving care,
it's the perfect thing to do."

"Is this about the video store?" Ashley asked. "Because Brad
told me to stay out of it. He said this is a free country, and people
have a right to do whatever they want as long as it's not hurting
anyone.

Patsy had a few words she would like to say to Brad Hanes, but
she managed to keep her mouth shut on that account. "It's too
late to stop the video store," she told the women. "I saw the new
renter over there a couple of days ago. He was painting and working on the light fixtures. He told me he was just waiting for his
shelving systems and his product to come in, and he'd be in business.

"Product!" Esther said with a snort. "That makes his trash sound
like graham crackers or something!"

"I wonder if the school bus will keep dropping kids off here,"
Kim mused aloud. "They try to be very careful where they let the
children out."

"I'd like to report that Kim and I have done about all we can
think of to keep that business out of Tranquility." Esther was stirring her tea so energetically that it was slopping over the sides into
the saucer. "Ashley, how about you and Brenda? Has she asked
Brad to build a bridge over her ditch?"

"Not yet. I told you the last time I saw her was at the club that
night when she cried her mascara all down her cheeks and Steve finally just took her home. I've thought about knocking on her
door when I ride by in my golf cart, but that weird guy is always on
her porch. He creeps me out, and Brad doesn't want me talking to
him. I called her once or twice too, to try to reschedule our
fried-chicken dinner, but she never answers the phone or returns
my calls."

"That brings me to the point of today's meeting," Esther
announced. "It's Brenda Hansen. She's a founding member of
the TLC, remember, and that makes her our responsibility.
Something has gotten into that girl, and we need to find out what
it is. Not only that, but we've got a duty to help her figure out
what to do with that hobo on her porch swing. Charlie tells me
he's there night and day, swinging back and forth or eating sandwiches. I hate to say this, but it's almost like the Hansens have a
stray dog hanging around."

"A stray dog that needs a bath and a good grooming," Patsy said.
"Though I don't think referring to Cody as a dog is going to help
matters. He's scary to look at, but he seems nice enough. I've never
heard of any problems he's caused in the neighborhood-anything missing or broken-have you?"

The other women shook their heads.

Esther squared her shoulders. "Well, I say we go over there right
now. We'll march onto the Hansens' porch and ring their doorbell
until Brenda lets us in. Then we'll make her tell us what's wrong,
and we'll fix it."

Patsy couldn't help but stare openmouthed. "We can't just
barge into someone else's house and fix their problems. Maybe
what's going on is none of our business."

"I'll say this one more time," Esther declared. "Brenda is a bona
fide member of the TLC, and that makes her our business. There's
trouble at the Hansens' house, and I believe that, as her friends, we
need to find out what it is."

"Sounds like prying to me," Kim Finley said. She didn't often
speak up, but when she did, it was worth hearing.

Esther was not inclined to listen. "It's not prying. Not when you
do it because you care about the person. We love Brenda, and as
concerned club members, we need to help her."

"I wouldn't mind going over there," Ashley said. "I've been
really worried. I haven't seen Brenda in more than a week, and
Steve never mentions her at the club."

"Well, that's two of us," Esther said. "Where do you stand,
Patsy? Can you leave the salon for a few minutes in order to help a
dear friend?"

Patsy knew her schedule had been cleared for the next two
hours, but she tended to side with Kim. Bursting into Brenda's
house and demanding to know her problems just didn't feel right.
Over the years, Patsy had learned that if people were troubled, they
usually booked an appointment and talked things out while she
styled their hair. It wasn't in her nature to meddle.

"I don't have any clients for a while," she began, "but I'm not
sure-

"You'll understand how important this is when you get there,"
Esther assured her. "So, that's three of us. What about you, Kim?
Are you with us?"

Kim glanced out the window. "I'm waiting for the school bus, so I
only have an hour. I guess I'd agree to it if we only dropped in for a
short visit. Maybe we could ask Brenda if we could help her with
Cody."

"Now that's more like it," Patsy said. "Let's offer to shave that
boy and do something about his hair. I'll take a bag of scissors,
shampoo, and such. Then Brenda won't feel like we're being
nosy.

"All right," Esther said. "Our stated mission will be to clean up
the homeless fellow. But our real efforts will be focused on Brenda.
As much as I worry about Cody, it's poor, sweet Brenda who has
my heart. We don't have to pry into her private business, but we
can at least do our best to help her feel better."

The other women nodded in agreement. Patsy was the first to rise. She stepped to her station, gathered supplies, put them in a
bag, and told the other stylists she'd be gone for a while. By the
time she was ready, Esther, Kim, and Ashley had finished their
cups of tea and eaten the last crumbs of lemon-poppy seed cake.
With a prayer for fortitude, Patsy Pringle led the ladies of the TLC
out the door of the salon on their first mission of mercy.

Brenda sat in the rocking chair in her living room and stared at
the family portrait over the sofa. Taken several years ago when
LAMB Chapel was putting together a directory of members, the
photograph held a prominent place on the wall. Brenda recalled
the effort of getting her family ready for the photo sitting-wrangling everyone into color-coordinated outfits, brushing wayward
hair, ordering Steve into a coat and tie, and arguing down the children's desire to have Ozzie, the cat, in the picture. All that hubbub,
and when they arrived at the church, the Hansens had been an irritable, grumpy bunch. But Brenda had begged for relaxed, happy
smiles, and despite everything, she had received her dream portrait
in the mail a few weeks later.

What had happened? she wondered as she gazed at the five
people posed against a mottled blue background. How had this
once-fused unit fissured into fragments that rarely found time to
reconnect?

Unable to force herself out of the rocker, Brenda sat for hours.
Sometimes she slept. Other times she watched television to blunt the pain. But mostly she just rocked and stared out at the empty,
bleak future. No light at the end of the tunnel. No silver lining
behind the dark clouds. Nothing enclosing her but four black
walls, a black ceiling, and a black floor.

As the days passed, Cody sidled into the house now and then to
raid the refrigerator. They rarely spoke. Brenda managed to make
him some sandwiches one afternoon. She ate saltine crackers and
drank water. She stared. And she rocked.

A knock on the front door startled Brenda from her stupor. She
called out to Cody to come in. But instead of the lanky young man,
in walked Esther Moore.

"Brenda?" Esther's head of glossy white curls peered into the
foyer as the door opened. Her bright blue eyes squinted when she
smiled. "How are you feeling today, sweetie pie?"

Unable to think of a response, Brenda stared at the woman.
What was Esther doing inside the house? How had that happened?
Now she was tiptoeing in like a little pixie bent on mischief.

"Hey, Brenda. What's up?" Ashley Hanes, tall and erect and hair
glowing a burnished copper, followed Esther through the door. "I
haven't seen you since that night at the country club last week,
remember? Are you okay?"

And then Patsy Pringle-today a platinum blonde with
bleached eyebrows-stepped inside. "We came over to find out if
we could help you with Cody," she told Brenda. "We haven't seen
you at our TLC meetings lately, and Ashley told us you hadn't been
feeling well. We wondered if you might need something."

Kim Finley entered next, dark-haired and silent, joining the
others who stood like a police lineup against the living-room wall.
"We don't mean to disturb you if you're not feeling well."

And then Cody walked in and stared at Brenda from the doorway. "Hi, I'm Cody!" he announced, hair and beard surrounding
his face like the dusty petals of a roadside sunflower. "Remember
me? I thought I saw Jesus in your basement, but it was just me. You said Jesus doesn't live here, but I know you're a Christian because
you give me chocolate cake."