When her classmates came by with the requested notes, she didn’t invite them in, claiming she had a dreadful virus that her doctor said was highly contagious.
Her parents called every night and she strove to inject some animation into her voice so they wouldn’t worry. Little did she know how forced her speech sounded.
It was with the same lethargy that Shelley pulled herself out of bed Friday morning. Mechanically she dragged herself into the kitchen and began to make unwanted coffee. When the phone rang, she reached to answer it without any interest.
“Shelley,” her mother said peremptorily, “your father and I think you should come home for a few days. You’ve got to get out of that house.”
She slumped against the counter. “No, mother. For the last time,
I’ll be all right. It’ll just take awhile to get over him.”
“I don’t think so. You always had a special feeling for this man, didn’t you, Shelley?” her mother asked softly.
“Yes, Mom. Always,” she admitted.
Mrs. Browning sighed. “I thought so. That whole year, I think it was your junior year, he was all you talked about. When he left, you went into a decline, lost interest in everything. At first I didn’t put two and two together, but when you continued to drop his name, always wistfully, I began to wonder. Eventually you seemed to recover and went away to college. I had forgotten all about him until he called that day. I was surprised to hear from him out of the blue like that. Once he’d introduced himself—”
Shelley pressed the telephone receiver closer to her ear. “He called?” she breathed. “He called? When? He came to Poshman Valley?”
Her mother recognized instantly the new alertness in Shelley’s voice. “No, he telephoned from Oklahoma City. He said he had come down to the capital on an errand for one of the congressional representatives. I—”
“What did he want?”
“He … he asked about you, wanted to know what you were doing, where you were.”
Shelley’s heart had begun to pound. He hadn’t forgotten about her! He’d called! She swallowed hard. “Mom, when was this? What was I doing? Where was I?”
“Oh gosh, Shelley, I don’t remember. I think it was in the spring just after you married Daryl. Yes, I think so because I remember you and Daryl were talking about your quitting school to go to work and—”
“I was married. And you told Grant that?”
“Well, yes. I told him you were married and living in Norman. I’m surprised he never told you this.”
Shelley’s head dropped. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the stabbing pain behind them. He had tried to contact her and she had already been married. He had been in Oklahoma City. So close. She’d only been married a few months. He’d gone back to Washington and she’d never known he had called. So close. If she hadn’t been married she could have met him and … So close. If only … But it had been too late. Too late … Then!
Her eyes flashed open, her head snapped up, and the spiderwebs in her brain fell away. “What time is it?” she asked, glancing wildly at the wall clock. “Nine-forty. Good-bye, Mom, I’ll call you later. I’ve got to hurry. Oh, and thanks!”
She threw down the telephone receiver and swept out of the room like a tornado, tearing off her robe as she ran across the living room.
“I’m going after him. Something I should have done a long time ago,” she said to herself as she stepped into boots and pulled on a dress. Grant couldn’t have gotten that girl pregnant. “Besides that, he loves me. I know it.”
She whirled into the bathroom to hastily apply her makeup. Luckily she had showered and washed her hair the night before.
“I’ve loved him for ten years,” she said to the reflection in the mirror. “I should have gone to him directly after I graduated from high school and told him that. Gone straight to Washington to see him, or called him, or written him, but I didn’t. A nice girl doesn’t do things like that. She does what’s expected of her. She marries an acceptable man whether she loves him or not. She goes with the flow and never swims upstream.”
She had always loved Grant, but had lacked the courage to claim that love. All her life she’d been afraid of creating the tiniest ripple. This time, if she had to, she was going to make a wave.
“Young lady, you’d better have a very good reason for disrupting this meeting and barging your way in here,” the judge said sternly.
“I do,” Shelley stated without timidity. She looked directly at Pru Zimmerman. “She’s lying. Mr. Chapman couldn’t possibly have fathered her baby, if indeed she’s pregnant.”
After arriving at the courthouse, Shelley had discovered that the hearing was being held in the judge’s chambers. Apparently the parties were going to try to settle the suit out of court.
Shelley had approached the court bailiff, handed him a note and insisted that she be allowed into the chambers as she had information pertinent to the lawsuit being reviewed. The bailiff was hesitant, but finally obliged her by taking the note inside.
She’d heard Grant’s loud “No” of objection and the protests of Pru Zimmerman, but she’d been allowed to go in. Facing the querulous judge had caused her barely a qualm. Now that she had boldly made her statement, she felt a great sense of pride.
For the first time since she had entered the judge’s chambers, Shelley looked at Grant. His eyes telegraphed his love to her. She almost sank to the floor with relief that he didn’t blame her for her temporary lack of trust.