Chapter 54
* * * *
At noon, Ward called his mother and let her know Tyler, the boys, and Tyler’s folks were coming to see Addy. She suggested she call Mrs. Hughes and make it a dinner invitation as it’d been a while since they’d been out to the farm.
Ward immediately thought of how it would have been before all of this had happened—the two families becoming one around the dinner table. He could imagine the banter, laughter, and love that could have been shared.
“Edward?” His mother broke into his thoughts.
“Oh, yeah, that’s a great idea, Mom,” Ward said, forcing enthusiasm into his voice.
“I’ll call Jane and let her know then. See you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Bye, Mom.”
Ward didn’t know if he was glad or sad about the dinner. It could be that it would shake Tyler from his determination to back away from all that was developing between them; it also could make things worse if Tyler refused to come. Ward was glad his mother was going to invite the Hugheses. He wouldn’t have wanted to have to bring the invitation to Tyler and face the possible rejection of the idea himself.
* * * *
Feeling the need to get away and have some time on his own to think, Ward went to The Pub and chose a booth in a dark corner farthest from the door. His usual server came over. She asked the usual question of why he wasn’t there with Tyler and commented that they hadn’t been in for lunch together in a while. He glossed this over with some excuse that Tyler was busy learning the business from his father and so…
He placed his order, and she left. He had been tempted to order a beer, but resisted. Drinking wasn’t going to solve this problem.
Just as his burger and fries arrived, so did the last person in Summerville he’d want to see at this moment.
“Hello there, you naughty boy,” came the familiar female voice. “You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?” Emme Lou slid into the booth opposite Ward.
At least she didn’t try to sit on the same side as me, he thought.
“Hello,” Ward said with a flat tone to his voice. He was in no mood to play her silly game of pretending there was anything left of their relationship.
“Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself?” she asked, pretending to be hurt.
“Look, Emme Lou…” Ward started, then just stopped talking and took a deep breath.
Emme Lou looked at him and gave him a simple smile. It wasn’t a put-on smile. It was a sincere smile that seemed to recognize he was in some kind of emotional pain. She reached out and put a hand on his. “Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Ward dropped his eyes and shook his head.
“It’s Tyler, isn’t it?”
Ward’s head snapped up. “What makes you think it has something to do with Tyler?”
Emme Lou smiled again and sort of tilted her head to one side. “Because I ran into him the other day at Helber’s Drug Store, and he looked about as miserable as you do now.”
“Did he say anything?”
“We talked some, and I read between the lines.”
“What do you mean by that?” Ward asked, wondering just how much Emme Lou had surmised about him and Tyler.
“Well, it’s no secret the two of you have been spending lots of time together since you got home. And with the boys as well. Then when both of you turn up separate and looking like you’ve just lost your best friend or…”
“Or what?” Ward asked suspiciously.
“Or that you mean more to each other than you’d like to let on, and something’s happened to threaten that.”
“How do you know all this?” Ward asked, his apprehension rising.
This time Emme Lou took both his hands in hers. “Because when I throw all my considerable charms at a man and he doesn’t respond, he’s either over the hill, comatose, or he plays for a different team.”
Ward pulled his hands away and sat up. Emme Lou laughed softly.
“Ward, we dated in high school. I could tell you weren’t that into me. I could see how you acted whenever Tyler was around. I knew how much time the two of you spent together. Both Tiffany and I suspected. We talked about it often.”
“You and Tiffany?”
“Of course. We may be small town but we do have some sense of life and how a man is supposed to respond to a woman. And then there was the way Tyler fell apart when you left for the army. When you came home, and the two of you picked up right where you left off, I saw Tyler happier than he’d been in a long time. I was pretty sure what was going on between you.