Three

December 22nd

“So, you’re back for good?” Jane Wells, one of my best friends from high school, asked.

We’d met at R Bar and Grill in Brookside, a stretch of Peoria Avenue near the Arkansas River where the hipsters of Tulsa liked to hang out. My parents’ house wasn’t far from here, just a five-minute walk as the crow flies, so, hip or not, it was my default stomping ground.

“I’ve been away long enough. I know I could have finished my master’s here in town, but with Gregg on the road so much, I figured I’d concentrate better without the constant reminder that Mom and Dad are gone.”

“So you’re keeping their house?”

I nodded as I took a deep pull from my beer. “They left it to both Gregg and me, and neither one of us is ready to sell. I figure one day, I’ll meet someone and build a life with him, and then we can decide what to do with their home.”

“Do you still want to work with disabled kids?”

My mouth pulled into a grin. She’d been there the day I’d met Seth, an autistic boy at our school. There was something about me he’d liked, so I went out of my way to always say hi to him in the hallways. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was an aid in the special education room, working with Seth on his fine and gross motor skills. His successes as he learned to live in our world became my successes as well. I’d been more proud the day he’d learned to write his name than I was of graduating with honors.

“I plan to apply at the Little Lighthouse as soon as the holidays are over.”

Jane returned my smile. “The world needs more people like you. You almost give me hope that bringing kids into this world isn’t a mistake.”

I looked at her stomach. “Are you?”

“No!” she answered, choking on her own beer. “I just meant figuratively.”

The waitress arrived with our burgers; I leaned to the left so she could place them on the table. As I did, I looked out the large picture window. Across the street toward Trader Joe’s, I saw the man from the accident the night before walking casually down the sidewalk. My breath caught as he looked up and down Peoria before crossing the slush-covered street. He didn’t see me sitting by the window as he looked in our direction, but I got a good look at him. His dark, soulful eyes almost seemed sad as he darted between parked cars.

I followed his progress as he passed the front of R Bar. He walked with purpose and just a bit of swagger, as his powerful thighs stretched the seams of his Wranglers. He paused as he passed the window, then turned back my way and watched a woman carrying a small child, and what looked like last-minute gifts, dash to her car. When the little blond-headed toddler raised his hand and waved, my eyes shot back to my mystery man. He was smiling at the child, waving in return. My stomach dropped a bit at the sight. He was a rugged-looking man, dark and mysterious when he wasn’t smiling. But when his face lit up like it did for the child, he went from ruggedly handsome to sinfully gorgeous, until his eyes flashed with pain for some reason.

“He has to be taken,” I mumbled as his retreating backside disappeared from view, wondering at the intense look I’d seen cross his face when he looked away from the child.

Jane mumbled something in reply, and I looked up. I’d been so lost in my own thoughts as I watched my mystery man leave, I’d forgotten where I was.

“Did you say something?”

“I said, if you were a smart woman, you’d follow him and find out where he lives. That man was F.I.N.E.”

I chuckled nervously at having been caught ogling the man.

“I’m serious, Anna. If he was walking, then he lives close by, like you.”

I shook my head. “I’m not so desperate for a date that I’ll start stalking men. However, in this case, I won’t need to. That man was in an accident with Gregg last night. That’s how I know him. If I want to find him, I only have to ask my brother for his information.”

Her eyes grew wide. “It’s like destiny or a Christmas gift.”

I snorted. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t see it like that.”

“If he was attracted to you, he might.”

The image of the man staring back at me as our eyes locked filled my head. There’d been something there between us. I’d felt it.

“Maybe,” I admitted, wondering if Gregg had left the man’s information in his room before he left town.

Jane and I parted company after we ate, and I headed home on quick feet. I couldn’t shake the image of my mystery man smiling at that child. I needed to know more about him, but I was too chicken to call my brother and ask him outright for the man’s information. He’d tease me endlessly if he knew I was attracted to him, so instead, I crept into his room like I was afraid of getting caught, looking for the card he’d handed to Gregg.

My search was to no avail, though, so I went downstairs and grabbed a book to read. But the stillness of the house began to spook me. I grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, hoping to drown out the silence.

It’s a Wonderful Life was playing, so I settled back into the couch and watched as I tried to ignore the emptiness that slowly crept in. I was home, but home was no longer what it should have been. Once a place that filled me with love and safety, now just felt lonely and cold. The ghosts of my past taunted me with memories of a better time. One with family, love, and security, reminding me again that I was all alone.