Aunt Sunny’s Rock Pile
“For the record, it isn’t anything that’ll cause permanent damage,” Jorgen said through his hands that covered his mouth. “I don’t want him holding anything like that over my head for eternity.”
Curtis had caught up to them just as they reached the door to her room. Jorgen ushered Pam into the room and followed behind her. She looked behind her to see a broad smile on his face. There was no remorse for whatever it was that he had done.
Her brother Curtis, on the other hand, was red faced angry. He gestured toward Jorgen, “This guy is worse than Mark!”
From the first time she brought Mark home, Curtis declared him unworthy of Pam’s time. For Jorgen to be worse than him, it had to be bad. “What did you do to my brother?”
Curtis didn’t give Jorgen time to answer the question. “There is a mountain of snow behind my car. And by mountain, I mean a pile bigger than Aunt Sunny’s rock pile.”
Pam gasped. Their Aunt Sunny believed in discipline. Whenever the kids were unruly, she made them relocate a pile of rocks she used for decoration. The pile was taller than a ten-year-old child and about the size of one of those kiddy plastic pools. Pam and Curtis got in trouble for fighting when they were younger. It took the both of them working together two days to move the rocks. When the pile was moved, Aunt Sunny added snippets of silk flowers. She said, “Beauty stems from hardship. Watch. You two will get along better because of what you’ve done.”
It only took moving the pile once for the kids to know to settle down when she said, “It looks like I’m going to have to get new flowers for the pile.”
Pam gasped at Jorgen. First in horror for her brother. Then in confusion. How did he manage to move that much snow in such a short amount of time? He was gone for less than a half hour.
Jorgen held his hands in the air the way a child shows a parent that they are clean. “Technically, I didn’t do it.” The sparkle in his eyes said otherwise.
At the time, Pam only focused Amanda’s advice to avoid Jorgen. But there was a second admonition. Amanda also said, “You’ll find yourself regretting it the first time he has to help you with something. And, that definitely will happen at some point in time.”
The rule was to be nice. Because of the way the relationships are woven, everyone in the small community was connected one way or another. Pam thought the familiar tone Jorgen used with Rachel was flirty when in fact he was conspiring with her to win Pam’s favor. The nurse was his cousin, not a potential relationship.
Pam arched her brow in accusation, “Are you related to anyone else at the hospital?”
He gave her the answer she didn’t want to hear. “Of course.”
Pam cringed at the complication. Her brother hadn’t had time to be acquainted with a small community. They came from a larger city. He had no idea of the connections in rural towns.
“What does that mean?” Curtis’s face said it all. The angry wrinkle in his brow straightened as he tried to connect the pieces of the puzzle. His eyes darted back and forth in search of the one piece he knew he was missing. He had stepped into a situation far more complicated than he imagined.
“It means he is worse than Mark.” Pam pressed her palm against her forehead. “Jorgen knows what he’s doing. Mark was just playing games.”
Jorgen’s brow wrinkled, “I don’t know if that is a compliment or an insult.”
Pam ignored the request for an explanation. She cut to the chase, “Why did you do it?”
“I didn’t…”
“Okay, let me rephrase the question. Why is my brother’s vehicle barricaded into one parking space?” Pam hadn’t stood for a couple of days. Exhausted from the excitement, she leaned against the bed.
Jorgen rushed to her side to help her get seated. “I figured we needed some time for your brother to hear you out. This bought you some.”
“We?” The part of her that was defending her brother struggled against the part of her that took notice of how hard Jorgen fought for her. Two days ago, he was satisfied with her just being friends. What changed?
“Yes, we.” He said. “I told you I wanted to be more than just friends and you agreed.”
“But, we haven’t dated,” she objected. “What makes you think I want to be part of a we?”
“I can explain.” Jorgen held out his hands to calm her. When she settled, he began his explanation. “Right before I met you at the brewery, I was in the bathroom.”
Pam motioned to object, and Jorgen cut her off, “Don’t worry. This story isn’t going to be obscene. Anyway, this other guy was in there, which is no big deal. He does his thing I do mine. When out of nowhere, a woman’s voice comes in through the door.”
He changed the voice to sound like a woman. “Greg? Are you in there?”
“Now I’m thinking to myself this guy’s got it bad. He can’t have a minute to take care of his business.”
Nancy walked into the room ready to talk. “You’re not going to believe what happened in the park...” She stopped speaking when she saw Jorgen and Curtis standing on opposite sides of Pam. She back stepped out of the room, “I’ll come talk to Pam a little later.” When she had cleared the door, she made a pained face and hustled to the left
“Greg,” Jorgen continued, “I’m on a first name basis with this guy, thanks to his wife. Anyway, Greg says yeah, I’m in here. But, he isn’t bothered. Now me. I’m wondering if Greg’s wife is going to see a little more of me than she expected.”
Jorgen was such an easy storyteller; Pam forgot that she was supposed to be upset with him for what he did to her brother.
“This woman says, ‘there’s no toilet paper in the woman’s bathroom. Can you bring some out with you when you’re done?’”
Jorgen’s eyes were wide, and he shook his head. “I was like wow! But Greg is smiling like a fox that caught a chicken. He says, ‘That’s my wife for you.’ He washed his hands, unrolled a wad of toilet paper, and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. I can hear his wife through the door thanking him. And Greg. Greg is laughing with her over the whole thing. Anyway, I left that bathroom thinking, that’s the kind of relationship I want.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I want to be the guy who has a wife bugging him in the bathroom for toilet paper. Well, right after I thought it, you sat beside me and started answering the questions. It was like you were the answer to my request. Then I asked you out, and you said that you just wanted to be friends. If you think about it that’s what Greg had with his wife. I’m sure there’s more to what they have. But I could tell in the bit of time I spent with them that they were good friends too. I knew it was only a matter of time before you and I were going to be close.”
Jorgen turned to Curtis. “When you live in a small town, you’re never really alone.”
“Yeah,” Nancy’s face peeked in from her post beside the door where she had been hiding. “We’re more than friends. We’re a family.”
“That only happens in books and cheesy romance movies,” Pam objected.
“Really?” Jorgen argued, “Who was out there like Dale Earnhardt Jr. when she heard that Claire was in the hospital?” He tucked his finger under her chin, “It’s time for you to wake up and see that you are right where you belong.”
“For the first time in my life, I’m going to have to say he’s right,” Nancy agreed.