Shoe Strings

to hear me weeping.”
    “Who the hell are you talking to?”
    He whirled around to see Kerri Ann just a few feet behind
him.   He hadn’t heard her approach
and wondered how long she’d been standing there.   “No one.”   He ran his hands through his hair,
walked up to where she stood with a foot resting on an old canoe.   “What are you doing here?   Is something wrong with Ty?”
    “No, nothing’s wrong.”   She looked down at her feet, up at him again.   “I wanted to tell you something, that’s
all.   Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
    “You’re not.”   He
suddenly remembered the odd friendship she’d begun with Angelita.   “Is this about Angelita?   Did you know she was leaving?”
    “She left?   When?”
    Great, another dead end and now he looked like a fool.   “This morning.   You didn’t know she was going?”
    “No,” she said.   “I guess she didn’t tell you good-bye?”
    “Never mind.   What’d you want to tell me?”
    She eyed him a moment, then held out her left hand.   He’d probably seen a bigger diamond, but
couldn’t actually recall where.   “Bryce and I are engaged.   We’re getting married.”
    She couldn’t say it without blushing like a schoolgirl and
he couldn’t hear it without thinking at least someone finally got what they
deserved.   “Congratulations,
sweetheart.   I mean that.”
    “I know you do.”   She walked into his embrace and he could feel a big chapter of his life
close.   She backed away and clasped
her hands in front of her.   “We’re
telling Ty tonight and I wanted you to know first, in case he’s upset or wants
to talk to you about it.”
    “I don’t think he’ll be upset, Kerri Ann.   I think he’ll be happy.”   He looked at her, fidgeting like she did
when she got nervous and pretty as a picture.   “Are you happy?”
    She scrunched up her shoulders as a shy smile spread across
her face.   “Oh, Jesse.   I’m…over the moon.”
      “There’ll be no
living with Bryce now.”   Jesse
turned to walk back to the shop.   He
stopped when she placed a hand on his arm.  
    “Jesse, what happened with Lita?”
    He should have known she wouldn’t drop it.   “I don’t know.   We had dinner last night and this
morning she’s gone.”   He kept
walking, couldn’t face the pity he saw in her eyes.
    “I don’t understand.   Why wouldn’t she say anything to anyone?   Why would she just slink off like she did?”  
    “I can’t worry about it, about her.”   He plopped onto the stool behind the
counter and rustled through the papers he’d walked away from when his mind
couldn’t focus.   “Too much to do and
now a wedding to get ready for.”
    “Jesse, I’m sorry.   I know you care about her.”
    “Yeah,” he admitted.   “Isn’t it just a pisser?”
    “You should call her, find out what happened.”   She pushed the papers he held down to
get his full attention.   “Jesse, it
doesn’t seem right, her leaving without saying anything.   Do you think something happened?   Do you think she’s in trouble?”
    He’d thought of that, of her father and her worries over his
threats.   But, damn it, no matter
what happened, she should have told him she was leaving.   After all they’d shared together, after
he’d opened himself up to her about his past and the future…   “I don’t know, but I’m not gonna chase
her down.   She wants to talk to me,
she can call.”
    Kerri Ann huffed out a breath.   “Don’t let your thick-headed pride get
in the way of this, Jesse.   Take it
from me, it’s better to be honest than just make assumptions that keep you
alone and unhappy.”
    He looked at her, near beaming with joy, her whole life
ahead of her with the man she’d always loved, and he felt a small pebble of
jealously for what she had.   He felt
instantly contrite for the stupidity of his feelings.   She deserved nothing but happiness from
here on out.   “I’ll deal with it,
but if you hear from her, will you let me know?”
    “Of course I will.”

 

 
    Chapter 29
    Lita stood outside the store, gazing at the window display
and the customers milling about inside.   Sophie had changed the shoes in the front to showcase the spring and
summer sandals and had blown up the advance article in Atlanta
Wears to use as a backdrop.   She looked at it, at the smiling picture of herself, and wondered just
what she had to be happy about.  
    The sound of a scream