Hometown Sweetheart

I stepped out of my rental car and into the thick Alabama air. The humidity was palpable and made my skin tickle. The symphony of cicadas were my only greeting. My father wasn’t aware I was coming into town.

The three-hour flight from Denver seemed to drag. I had been dreading the moment I would arrive home. It wasn’t a happy reason to be visiting. My best friend Sarah Beth had just lost her father to lung cancer. Her family practically raised me after my own mother passed and my father sank into a deep whiskey filled depression. I hadn’t been back to visit in over six years, even when I knew her father had grown ill. The guilt was eating me alive.

As I was walking to the front of my childhood home, the porch door swung open and a short over-weight man greeted me with a shotgun. “Get off my property!” My father hollered. I didn’t even flinch.

“Oh Dad, put that damn thing away before you hurt yourself,” I called to him.

He squinted into bright morning light, “Mary Anne, is that you?”

I shook my head at him. “Who else would call you ‘Dad?’ I’m your only child.”

“That you know of,” He huffed. “Well, all be damned. What’s got you showin’ up here all unannounced? You knocked up or somethin’?” He said with no malice. With his shotgun in his hand, he opened the front door a little wider to invite me inside.

I took his welcome. The house smelled like cigarettes and musty clothes. Everything was in disarray. Discarded alcohol bottles littered the living room. I walked past without comment and into the kitchen. The 70s wallpaper was yellowed from cigarette smoke and the old appliances were slightly rusted. But overall, the kitchen was in pretty good shape. I was slightly impressed. “Dr. Keller passed away last week,” I told him.

My father scoffed. He would never admit it, but he was slightly offended I hadn’t come home to see him. “Ah yeah. I heard ‘bout that. Ironic a doctor died to cancer,” he said indifferently.

“You always were a sensitive one,” I remarked. I pour two glasses of cool sweet tea from the pitcher in the fridge. Somehow, my father still managed to take care of himself even after all the booze. “I’m heading to the funeral here shortly, I just wanted to stop by before I left.”

A sad look crossed his eyes. I would have missed if it I hadn’t been looking close enough. “You headin’ back to that fancy Colorado today?” He asked me with a steady voice.

I nodded my head. “Just here to send my condolences to Sarah Beth and Mrs. Keller.”

“Well, I’m happy you stopped by to see your old man.” It was one of the sincerest statements I had ever heard my father tell me. If I had responded, I would have been reduced to tears. Instead, I clinked my glass against his.

A little while later I made my way into my unchanged childhood bedroom. Pictures packed a wall that held my dresser and mirror. My bed was made with a pink quilt my mom had made me as a child. There were stuffed animals lining the floor by the window. I stopped in front of the mirror and took a look at myself. I seemed out of place compared to the time capsule of my room. My face had more lines. My hair was a little shorter and darker from the lack of sun. My body was a little rounder. I felt a little uncomfortable.

Quickly, I changed into a black short-sleeved dress with a pair of black wedge heels, matched with a large black brimmed hat. It was going to be a warm afternoon. I left my room without a second glance. Before leaving, I gave a brief goodbye to my dad, we weren’t a family that enjoyed sentimentality. Then, I headed into town to purchase some last-minute flowers.

I was hoping nobody in town would recognize me. It had been a while since I had last stepped foot into Old Downtown. The only flower shop in town, Lola’s Flower Shop, also remained unchanged. I stepped inside without being stopped. Maybe my wish was going to come true.

“I’ll be right with you sweetheart,” The older woman called from behind the counter. She was helping a tall gentleman.

“Not a problem,” I informed her.

At the sound of my voice the large man turned to face me. “Mary Anne,” the man stated in a surprised tone. My heart fell to my stomach. It was Jacob Welch.

Jacob had always been the cliché Alabama boy. The star child of the town. In high school, he was captain of the football team as well as the debate team. He was smart and athletic and had clean good looks to boot. Jacob stood six-foot two inches by his senior year. And he had a genuine smile that displayed the prettiest white teeth. Everybody loved him.

We grew up together. Our mothers were the best of friends when we were babies. Nobody in town even knew we knew each other. His mother ran off when we were six. His father was also a drunk.

I went to all of his football games as a kid. Mr. Welch would pick me up and I would ride with them to games. When we got older, we would sneak out in the middle of the night and meet at Old Man Ray’s corn farm on the edge of town. We always brought a bottle of our father’s finest whiskey to share underneath our favorite dogwood tree.

Our relationship was always platonic. We had known each other forever and he would have never cheated on Lauren Annabeth. They started dating when they were thirteen and lasted all of high school. They were probably married by now. She was the star debutant and future Miss Alabama. It was hard to dislike her. She was always sweet as can be. The epitome of a Southern Belle.

Before I left for college, we had a falling out. I kept some tabs on him through the years, always through Sarah Beth. In college, Jacob played at Alabama State University as a running back with a full ride scholarship for academics. He just finished Medical School and started his residency at the local hospital. He didn’t mind getting stuck in our little town. Unlike me. I wanted to get as far away as soon as I could.

He gave me that million-dollar smile. “Wow. It’s really nice to see you. You look great,” he told me with a thick accent I never realized he had. I didn’t know what to say. The last I had seen him; we had been screaming at each other in a corn field about me leaving town. His smile receded. “Are you headed to Dr. Keller’s service?” He asked as he finished paying for his flowers.

Of course, he was going to be there. I just hadn’t thought much about anybody besides Sarah Beth and Mr. Keller. “Uh, yeah.” I composed myself a little. I wasn’t trying to be standoffish. I had just forgotten how nice it was to be in his presence. “I will see you there yeah?”

Jacob nodded his head. “Well, it was good run into you here,” he said while letting me step up to the counter.

“It was,” I replied truthfully.

He nodded his head once again. It was as if he didn’t know what else to say. He began to leave and then hesitated. “Can we meet up after the service?” He asked me. His words came out rushed as if he were embarrassed to be asking.

My stomach clenched into a knot. I could feel the pulse in my neck. I had never felt this way before. “I would like that very much.”

Jacob nodded once more, and his smile returned. My face was starting to feel warm. “See you then.”

The service was held at the local Protestant church. Almost the entire town had been present. Dr. Keller was a loved man in the town, unlike my father. It was refreshing to see Sarah Beth’s face, even if it was stained with tears. It was a beautiful ceremony. Many people spoke of his accomplishments as a doctor, husband, friend, and father.

The cemetery wasn’t as crowed. Only the closest friends and family members of Dr. Keller were allowed to attend the funeral. Thousands of flowers covered his grave marker, where his ashes were laid to rest beneath. I said my goodbyes to Sarah Beth and her family. They hugged me as if they never wanted to let me go. They had some grieving they should do without me, so they eventually let me go. Sarah Beth pulled me aside one last time I left. “I saw how he was looking at you all day,” she said.

“Who are you talking about?” I asked her sheepishly.

She shook her head in disappointment. Sarah Beth knew I understood. “Take your shot,” she advised. It was the last thing she said before she kissed my cheek and sent me on my way.

At the entrance of the cemetery, I found Jacob leaning against his beat-up Chevy truck. It was the same truck he had in high school. His eyes brightened and his smile returned once he saw me. He opened the passenger door for me and waved at me to get in. Then, we were on our way to an undisclosed location.

He made a quick stop at the liquor store and returned with a brown paper bag with a bottle in it. I was expecting it to be whiskey for old time’s sake, but it was a bottle of Merlot. I looked down at the wine and then towards him. He shrugged and said, “I thought we could use a change of pace.”

I accepted his answer. I had grown quite used to drinking wine myself. I didn’t ask any questions and just let him drive me. He pulled his pickup truck in from of a sign that read, “Ray’s Corn.”

“I thought you said we could use a change of pace?” I teased.

He didn’t say anything and stepped out of the truck. He came to the passenger side and opened it for me. I forgot how chivalrous the men in my hometown were.

Slowly he reached for my free hand. My heart skipped a beat and the tight feeling returned to my stomach. He had never held my hand before, not even when we were kids. He led me to our tree.

We sat down in the shade beneath the tree. The day was at its hottest hour. We sat side by side, our hips touching and backs against the tree. He twisted off the cap and took a swig and then handed it to me. I followed suit and then held the bottle between our legs. We turned to face each other.

There was a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. A deep longing that had never been present when we were kids. I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in a little closer, intoxicated by his closeness. He seemed to have the same idea. Before I knew it, our lips were touching. It started soft and then years of pent up desire exploded. Our kiss intensified. My insides were tingling. He pulled away slightly to see if I was okay.

I was shocked, but more than okay. It was an experience I never thought would happen even if I had secretly dreamed about it for the majority of my childhood. “That was different,” I told him out of breath.

“There’s always a first time for everything,” he whispered as he pulled me into another kiss.