CHAPTER 5
New Kid in Town
We'd been in Eden for a little less than a week and, except for our first trip to the local grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, which was a couple of towns over, I hadn't left the house. We had had a visitor on Sunday afternoon, Miss Ginny, the town historian, she told us proudly. She was a sweet, older lady whose gray hair was tied in a knot at the nape of her neck. She wanted "to be sure to welcome us properly", that sentiment being conveyed through the homemade chicken and rice casserole and pecan pie that she handed off as she walked through the front door. This house, she told us in a manner that hinted at the possibility of a mystery, had once belonged to her grandparents. Several families had purchased the house after her grandparents had passed away some twenty-five years ago, but no one had stayed very long. While there was always a good excuse - a better job offer, family considerations, etc. - she had, nonetheless, found it strange and thought the house must be waiting for a special family to occupy it. The kids, of course, found this fascinating, and hoped aloud that we were that special family. "Me, too," she said with a twinkle in her eye.
When Miss Ginny saw that our furniture had yet to arrive, she quickly made a couple of calls and, within the hour, several people showed up with cots, blankets and pillows, setting them up in each of the bedrooms. Could these people be any nicer? By the time they left, it felt like we had known them for years. Our stuff finally arrived on Wednesday morning and, after arranging and re-arranging the furniture in each of the rooms too many times, I'd had enough. I needed to get out and explore.
Jennie wanted to go with me and I gladly brought her along, knowing that she would make any chance encounters less awkward. I usually ran out of things to say to strangers after the obligatory, "Nice to meet you". We drove to the center of town, a mere seven minutes from our new home, where it took us all of two seconds to see MaMaws BBQ, the Dollar General store, the Eden, GA U.S. Post Office and, finally, Powers Baptist Church. That was "town". All of it.
"Well, it is a Wednesday afternoon," I said to Jennie with a hopefulness in my voice that attempted to convey an expectation of more exciting times in the future.
"Let's just drive around and see if we see any kids our age," she countered optimistically.
"Okay."
I turned up the volume on the cd that had been left in the player. It was the Beach Boys again, the cd we were listening to on the way to Sawyer's 4th of July party. I let my mind wander back to that night as I drove down the main road that took us from Eden to Pooler, the road on which we found the Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but not much else. Where did the high school kids hang out? There was nothing here that even suggested a "hangout" - no movie theater, no bowling alley, no mall, nothing. We kept driving.
Caroline called and asked us to pick up a few things from the Piggly Wiggly so I made a u-turn at the first available place and headed back for groceries. As I was making the turn, I saw a billboard bearing the huge head of Dennis, our real estate agent. Well, his head wasn't really huge, but on a 14' x 48' sign?
BROLIN REALTY
"Tell your friends!"
I had noticed how he looked at my mother when he stopped by a couple of days earlier to see how we were settling in. I wondered if he checked up on all of his clients or just the pretty, single ones. She claimed she didn't notice and thought I was being silly. I thought she was out of practice. He was very handsome, for an older guy. I guessed he was around forty or so with mostly black hair, a dark tan, and blue eyes. He wore a cowboy hat and boots and had a friendly smile. Before he left, he handed Mum his card and told her to call him if she needed anything, emphasis on anything. What she needed was a date. I might have to intervene in her non-existent love life. Yes, a night out with Dennis, or DB as he said he preferred, would be a good thing. I had formulated a ruse in my mind by the time we reached the grocery store.
As Jennie and I walked up and down each aisle, carefully committing to memory the location of items that we would be purchasing frequently, we stopped to get more cereal. When I went to push the cart again, another cart was blocking my way. The guy had his back to me so I politely said, in a slightly raised voice, "Excuse me." He turned around and flashed an amazingly bright smile, the kind you'd swear you saw sparkle. I was caught off guard and barely noticed that he was speaking to me. Jennie discreetly hit the side of my thigh with her fist, making me realize that I must have looked like an idiot, standing motionless and staring. I was saying something in my head, yet no words were coming out of my mouth. Our eyes met and locked. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away.
He spoke first. "Hi. You must be Essie Jacobs," he said in a smooth Southern drawl.
"How?would?you?know?that??" I stammered.
"Welcome to the small town of Eden," he said, continuing to dazzle me with his smile.
"Great," I sighed. "Well, I'm at a disadvantage then," I said, finally able to compose myself. "You know me, and this is my sister, Jennie. And you are?"
"It's nice to meet you, Jennie. I'm Ty. I'm sorry we haven't been by your house to welcome you properly, but my family and I just got back to town last night. I'm glad I ran into you both here."
"Thank you. But it really isn't necessary for you to come to our house. Not that you're not welcome. I mean, a bunch of people from the church already came over the day after we arrived. They brought us food and everything. It was sweet."
"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully, his smile finally fading. After a brief moment, he continued, "Well, then, you'll have to come to our house for dinner. My mother loves to entertain and she'd be very disappointed to learn that I'd met you and didn't invite you over. If you'll give me your number, I'll call you and we can work out the details."
The look on my face must have translated as deer-in-the-headlights.
"Please?" he asked sweetly.
"Oh, sure, sure," I said, slightly embarrassed. I was not used to people behaving this way, especially gorgeous teenage boys, and it threw me. Jennie had my back, though, and was already writing down my number.
When she handed it to him, Ty smiled again and looked directly into my eyes. "Thanks. I'll call you."
"Okay, then," I replied, still unable to look away.
"Okay, then," he repeated and slowly walked past me with his cart.
"Holy crap!" Jennie whispered excitedly when he disappeared from the aisle. "He is beautiful! And he likes you, Essie!"
"Ssshhh," was all I could manage right then. My brain was trying hard to process what just happened. This beautiful stranger, who knew who I was, just invited my family to his home for dinner. Things like that didn't happen in real life, at least not in Bradford. First, the church people; now the new face of Calvin Klein. What was going on in Eden?
We quickly got the rest of the items that we needed and drove home. Jennie, of course, couldn't wait to run inside and tell Mum what happened. The first thing she asked me was if Ty was the guy from my dream. That hadn't even entered my mind, since, even though he was gorgeous, it was definitely not the same guy. My dream guy had long-ish tousled brown hair and blue eyes. Ty had short-cropped, sandy blond, perfectly styled hair that was probably achieved with plenty of product and a blow dryer. And his eyes were a distinctive golden brown. But I was pleased to know that not only had my mother listened to me gush about my amazingly vivid dream, she actually remembered it. She surprised me sometimes, in a good way.
After dinner, my phone rang. To my utter astonishment, it was Ty's voice I recognized on the other end. "Hi, Essie. It's Ty Gregory."
I waited too long to respond.
"Uhm, we met at the grocery store this afternoon," he continued, his statement sounding more like a question.
"Yes, I remember," I sputtered. Get it together, Essie. What is your problem? I chastised myself. Recovering quickly, I added, "I wasn't expecting you to call so soon."
"Well, I told you my mother loves to entertain. And the minute she heard that I had run into you at the market, she insisted I call i
mmediately to invite you and your family over for dinner. Are you free Saturday night at six?"
"Seeing that we're new in town and don't really know anyone yet, we're pretty much free every night."
"Great! If you have a pen and paper, I'll give you directions."
It took me a few seconds to grab a piece of paper and a pencil from the junk drawer next to the phone. "Ready," I said and listened intently as he gave me step-by-step directions in a sweet southern drawl.
After I hung up the phone, the questions started flying.
"Essie, who was that?" my mother inquired, trying to act nonchalant.
"Yeah, Essie. Who was it? A boy?" Hollie giggled.
"Essie, was it Ty?" Jennie asked anxiously.
"Ty? From this afternoon?" Mum pressed.
"Essie, who's Ty? A boy?" Hollie said teasingly, as only a tween girl could.
I stood quietly, the irritated look on my face communicating my annoyance with the childish guessing game. After several seconds of silence, I filled my family in on our plans for Saturday night. My three youngest siblings were excited to be invited somewhere and began to wonder aloud at what would be served, what the house would look like, would there be any children their age, etc., etc., etc. Caroline was as bewildered as I was. This just wasn't normal. At least not what I considered to be the norm based on my life's experiences. As the kids continued to speculate amongst themselves, I slipped away.
It was only a little after seven o'clock and I needed to get out of the house for a while. The sun had started its downward journey and was just about to go behind the tree tops, so I decided to take a walk around our property. Although we had been in Eden for a few days, I hadn't taken the time to survey the seven acres on which our house sat. That was mostly because it was ridiculously hot during the day. About ninety-five degrees and probably ninety-five percent humidity. The kind of weather that had you sweating before you could make it off the porch. With the sun behind the trees, this would be the perfect time to explore.
Our house faced east, so the front of our property was touched by the many hues of the sun as it rose slowly throughout the morning, while the back yard and the adjacent woods were suffused with bright yellow sunshine all afternoon. I headed west, following the setting sun.
Only a few feet into the wooded area, I spied an indistinct path littered with pine needles and pine cones. As I parted some low-hanging branches, a slight tingle ran through my body and I felt as though I was being drawn in. Obviously, I was not the first to venture into this forest, but the overgrown brush on either side of the path that threatened to entangle my feet if I wasn't careful meant that it had been a while since anyone had traversed the area.
I continued cautiously, thinking about the events of the day, trying to quash the negative thoughts that had taken hold in my mind. If something seems too good to be true? Just because a super hot guy seemed to like me after one awkward conversation, was that any reason to be pessimistic? Was it so hard to believe that he could find me attractive? Compared to Ty, I was very plain. I had never cared much for makeup other than the occasional blush and lip gloss. I had been blessed with olive skin, long black eyelashes and a nice complexion so I never saw makeup as a necessity. My dark hair had a slight wave to it and hung below my shoulders. I had had a few layers cut into it in an attempt at some kind of style, but I usually just wore it down and tucked behind my ears. With my uniform of t-shirt, jeans and flip flops, I was the definition of plain. And here was this stranger, this beautiful stranger, appearing to be pursuing me. With a population of only 837, maybe he had dated all the other girls in town and I was the shiny, new plaything on top of his chest of discarded toys.
Just then, my cynical thoughts were interrupted by a soft whining sound. It was difficult to tell which direction it was coming from. I called out. "Hello? Is someone there?" I waited a couple of seconds and I heard it again. Yes, it was definitely whining. I followed the soft noise, which led me off the path. I had made it twenty feet or so when it felt like something stung me. "Ow!" I said angrily as I examined my foot which had several red ants crawling over it. "Damn it!" I cursed as I hurriedly stomped my feet, trying to get the ants off of me. I felt another bite. It was then that I noticed I had been standing in an ant mound. Great! Just great!
As I jumped up and down, flailing helplessly, I was tripped up by a root that had broken through the ground. Before I could right myself, I saw the source of the whining. It was a dog and it looked like he was stuck somehow. I approached him warily, crawling toward him on my hands and knees, ignoring the pain and itch of the ant bites.
"Hi, doggie. I'm going to see what you're stuck on and try to get you free." As I was thinking how ridiculous I must look talking to this dog, his floppy ears perked up a bit and he tilted his head as though he were able to understand me. As I inched closer, his big, brown eyes revealed a trust that I was determined to live up to. I was pretty sure he was some kind of shepherd, although he was multi-colored and shaggy. He was very calm and allowed me to move him slightly in order to see the cause of his predicament. As I slowly and gently moved his fur around, I saw that he was entangled in the same overgrown brush that had tripped me up during my brief exploration of the woods. I carefully separated the fur from each strand of the thorny, spindly weeds that had captured him. He lay patiently, seeming to understand what I was doing. After several minutes, he was free.
"Good boy," I praised enthusiastically, as he got to his feet and vigorously shook his whole body, happy to be liberated.
Realizing that the sun was now setting quickly, I tried to head back to the path that would lead me home. With the sea of leaves and branches crowded around me like adoring fans around a celebrity, I found myself fighting my way through. Normally, I might panic a little bit, as each minute stole more of the faint light that was barely making its way through the thick canopy above. I didn't like not knowing where I was going when it was dark. But I felt different in this place, almost empowered somehow. My new friend, I decided to name him Axl, followed closely and I felt safe.
A few seconds later, I stumbled onto the path, and Axl and I walked together toward my back yard. As we emerged from the pine forest, the kids saw us and immediately ran toward us, squealing with joy at the prospect of having a dog. I was certain that my mother would let us keep him. He was too adorable and too sweet to say no to.
While everyone was busy welcoming the newest member of our family, the evening passed quickly. As I laid in my bed later that night, thinking about the upcoming dinner, a feeling of dread came over me. I was excited that I had met someone so quickly, but apprehensive about our families meeting before we'd even had a chance to really talk. It still seemed strange to me. But maybe this was just the way all people treated strangers in the South. What was I going to wear? Why was I even worrying about that? I didn't like the emotions that were consuming me. Go to sleep already!
I couldn't sleep. My mother had insisted that I have the bedroom with the large bay window that contained a cozy built-in window seat. This was definitely my favorite spot in the house to sit and read, especially since it was too hot to be outside most of the day. With no friends around and an abundance of free time, I had already read two books in the short time we'd been here. My room was on the second floor in the rear of the house and through my bay window, I had a panoramic view of the back yard and the woods. The windows opened on to the roof of the back deck and, dragging a pillow and blanket, I decided to crawl out and stargaze.
Axl followed me out and stood there taking in the view. I hoped he wouldn't decide to jump. I arranged my blanket and pillow and laid flat on my back, my hands clasped behind my head. Axl began beating his tail loudly on the rooftop, trying his best to lick my face, as I was trying my best to avoid his wet kisses. "I'm happy you're here, too, Axl." At that, he calmed down and snuggled up next to me.
My mind continued to race, even in this peaceful spot, and I realized that I needed to talk to Jane. I ducked back th
rough the window and found my phone. It was late, so I texted, "You awake? Need to talk." I returned to the rooftop and Axl and I made ourselves comfortable again. A few seconds later, my phone rang.
"I have to tell you about this guy I met today at the grocery store," I blurted out before she'd even had a chance to say hello.
Axl picked up his head and looked at me as though he wanted to hear this story as well.
"Okay. Tell."
"First, his name is Ty. Second, he is gorgeous, disarmingly gorgeous. He..."
"What does 'disarmingly gorgeous' mean exactly?" she interrupted.
"Well, he looks like an Abercrombie & Fitch model, with the kind of looks that make your jaw drop and render you speechless. Does that explain it clearly enough?"
"Describe, please."
"He's probably close to six feet tall. He's pretty lean, but not skinny. His biceps looked good in the t-shirt he had on," I shared with an embarrassed laugh. "He has dark blond hair that's short in the back but it's a little longer and kind of stands up on the top. It looks like he probably spends a good amount of time getting it that way. Anyway, his eyes are a gold-ish brown and when he looks at me, I literally can't look away. It's disconcerting."
"Sounds terrible."
"Haha. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. He makes me feel self-conscious."
"You? Self-conscious?"
"I know. But he is definitely the best looking guy I've ever seen in person. And he lives in Eden. Go figure."
"Keep describing, please."
"Well, he has a strong square jaw with a cleft chin. And he kind of has a baby face, perfect skin with slightly rosy cheeks. Oh, and full lips and sparkling white teeth. I'll bet other guys hate him."
"Do you have a picture?"
"How would I have a picture yet? That would be weird. I only met him today."
"Oh, yeah."
"So, that's not even everything I needed to tell you."
"What else?" she asked curiously.
"He called me earlier tonight and invited my whole family to dinner at his family's house this Saturday night!"
"Shut the front door!"
"I know, right?"
"Are you going? What did Caroline say?"
"Yeah, everyone's pretty excited about it. We've done absolutely nothing outside of arranging the house since we got here. I think Mum will be happy to have some adult interaction. She doesn't start her job till Monday."
"I can't wait to hear how this goes. Promise me you'll call as soon as you get home."
"I will. I'm going to go. Talk to you later."
"Ok. Good luck."
"Thanks, Janie. See you." I put my phone on the window's ledge and resumed my stargazing with Axl for what seemed to be a very long time. When I finally made my way to the bed and drifted off to sleep, I dreamt of Ty, but it wasn't a good dream. It felt ominous and was filled with images that I didn't understand.