Chapter 26
Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
—Psalm 17:5
The day started off slow, but by its end, all of that quickly changed.
Ethan called. That was a huge surprise. I hadn’t talked with him since back in September when he’d called to tell me about his wife’s breast cancer. It was pretty serious; they had to perform immediate surgery. She ended up having a double mastectomy. He’d been busy taking care of her for the past two and a half months.
“How’s the family?” I asked.
“Doing well,” Ethan said.
“And your wife?”
“She’s coming along nicely. Chemo and radiation is no joke. She lost her hair and she got tired easily; in fact, she’s still tired. But all in all, she’s doing well. Thank you so much for asking.”
“I’m glad she’s doing well. I’ll continue to pray for you and her both.”
“Appreciate that,” Ethan said. “Listen, I need to get out for a while. I’ve been essentially going from work to home to church and back, taking care of everything at home. That’s pretty much been it. I was thinking about getting out and getting me some fresh air. I was wondering if you’d like to go to the park and walk today.”
“Today?” I said with a spike in my voice. All I could think about was that it was December and not the warmest day outside. Yes, people did walk during this time, but only the truly dedicated folks.
“Yes, today. I’d really like to see you. I was thinking we could bundle up and walk around the track while we talk. You know, sort of like old times.”
“So you want to go walking today?” I scratched my head. “You do know we’re off of daylight savings time so it gets dark a lot earlier now.”
“Yeah, I know that. And if you can’t or don’t want to do it, it’s fine. I really just wanted to talk to someone. You’re wonderful at lifting my spirits.”
“Oh, so you’re just using me,” I said, teasing him.
“No,” he said in a serious tone. “I wouldn’t dare do anything like that. I just wanted to see you.”
“Hey. I was just kidding,” I said.
“Well, I don’t kid about something like that. Not when it comes to you. I know you probably don’t entirely trust my motives as it is. The last thing I want is for you to think that I’m using you.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was four thirty. The chance of anyone coming in now or before closing time at five was pretty slim. “Okay, we can go walking. Where?”
“Our usual place?” he said.
I giggled. “Oh, so now we have a usual meeting spot? You think you can call and just say ‘our usual place’ and I know precisely where you’re talking about?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much like that. So can you leave right now?”
“Yeah. I can do that.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to mess things up for you at the shop.”
“It’s fine. It’s been slow today. I was thinking about leaving early anyway.”
“Great. Then I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be there.” And as soon as I hung up, I regretted saying I would. Now I’d have to find my walking shoes that I hadn’t worn in over two months.
The phone rang again. I looked at the caller ID. It was Zynique. I hurried to answer it. She hardly ever called me at the shop. Since Madame Perry’s death, the dance studio had remained closed, orders from her son, until further notice.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?”
“Mom, I just got a call from a lawyer’s office.”
“A lawyer’s office. For what?”
“He said he was representing Madame Perry. He’s been trying to reach me for days now. He wants to know if I can come over to his office.”
“Did he say for what?”
“No. He just mentioned Madame Perry’s name and asked if I could come to his office. It’s not far from your shop. I told him I could come now.”
“Now? Why would you tell him you would come today? Why didn’t you schedule it for the daytime? Like tomorrow.”
“Mother, you know how I am. I hate waiting. If you tell me something is a secret or a surprise, I want to know what it is as soon as possible. You know how I am. Besides, he said I could come today, so I want to go today.”
“Well, you definitely don’t need to go there by yourself.”
“That’s why I called you. I was wondering if you’d take off early and go with me.”
“Today?”
“Yes, Mother. Today. We can meet up at the law firm.”
“Where’s your father? Is he home?”
“Yeah, he’s here. Why?”
“Do you think you might like to ask him and see if he’ll go with you?”
“You mean Daddy? We’re talking about my daddy? You want me to see if my daddy, your husband, will go somewhere with me?”
“Okay, when you put it that way, I hear how it sounds. But you never know. This might be a turning point for him. He just might surprise us both.”
“Hold on,” Zynique said. I faintly heard her in the background asking her father if he would go with her to the lawyer’s office. Zynique came back to the line. “He said no. He told me to ask you to go if I needed somebody to go with me. I told you. So will you go?”
I thought about Ethan. I’d just told him I would go walking with him. I couldn’t exactly call him at home to let him know I wouldn’t be able to make it. What if his wife answered the phone? If he had a cell phone, I could have called him on something like that. But I wasn’t about to call his house.
“Mom, are you still there?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m here. Okay. Give me the address and I’ll meet you at the lawyer’s office.”
Zynique rattled off the address. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best!”
“Excuse me? But what was that again?” I said. “I don’t think I caught that.”
Zynique laughed. “You’re the best! I’ll see you in a few.”
When I hung up, I had to decide what to do, now that I’d essentially agreed to be in two places at the exact same time.