Love In Bloom by Karen Rose Smith

Author:Karen Rose Smith [Smith, Karen Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2011-02-25T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

By Friday evening, Clay was restless. Humidity hung in the air outside, not letting the summer temperature drop much even with the onset of evening. Conditions cried out for rain. A storm was brewing, the wind picking up, so he couldn't work outdoors, his basic remedy for pushing away unsettling thoughts.

After their visit to Miriam, Clay had dropped Paige off at Doc's. She'd touched his hand, said, "See you soon," and was gone. He longed to see her soon, he longed to do more than see her, but doubts still ran rampant in his head.

Since then, nothing had held Clay's attention for very long. He'd picked up Miriam's handwork earlier that day and taken it to the shopkeeper in Westminster. Now, stuck in the house, he couldn't decide what to do next. He wandered around the living room, picked up a magazine, and tossed it back to the coffee table. He could go into the store, but that wouldn't keep him from thinking about Paige. His connection to her was Ben. How was the boy doing? What decision had he made about college?

Clay went to the phone. When Ben's mother answered and learned it was Clay, she said, "I'll get him. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

What had happened now?

Ben came to the phone. "Hello, Mr. Reynolds."

"Hi, Ben. I wondered how everything was going."

"It's all right."

"Have you made up your mind about college?"

"Yeah. I'm not going."

The teenager's decision surprised Clay. "Ben, if it's the money, don't let that stop you. I could set up a scholarship fund to get you started." He was met by silence. "You wouldn't have to pay it back."

"That's great of you, Mr. Reynolds, but I've made my decision."

Clay heard the intractability. Where was it coming from? "Why?"

Ben's tone was angry. "Because I'm tired of pushing and pushing. Look how long I've been working on this leg. Months and months. And it's not better."

Clay gentled his tone so he could reason with Ben. "It's better now than when you started, isn't it?"

"But not good enough. Why work for the future when it's never enough?"

"Ben, give it time."

"I'm tired of giving it time. Gus offered me a job at the convenience store. In a month, I'll have my diploma. I can work full-time till I save enough for a car, then I can go to Westminster and look for something better."

The naivete and inexperience of youth, Clay thought. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a salesman at a sporting goods store."

Clay closed his eyes and sighed. "That can't be all you want. Ben, an education can open so many doors. Don't you see that?"

"I see that everyone wants me to do what they want me to do. What about what I want?"

"What do you want?" Clay asked, understanding that was the essence of the problem. Ben didn't know.

"I want my life back. I want everything I lost. But since I can't have that, I'll take what I can get. Right now, a job and some money will do it.

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