Chapter 2: The Letter

Chapter 2

Granger couldn't believe his eyes as he peered at the woman in a wedding gown on the front porch.
      "Can I help you?"
      Celeste sat frozen on the swing. It was bad enough that he was in her house and that he scared her half to death, but that voice. His voice was all too familiar. She knew who it was without even looking. Granger. Granger Thompson was his name. Celeste had a secret crush on him back in high school. It was only secret because he was too wrapped up in miss hot pants, Jenny Perkins to notice anyone else, let alone her. They definitely hung around different crowds, but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed him. What on earth could he be doing here, she wondered. She also wondered how he had gained access to the house. Now, her house.
    Slowly, she stood from the swing.
    "You certainly can Granger Thompson," she said harshly.
    "You can begin by telling me what in the hell you're doing here scaring the beans out of me and then tell me how you got in here?"
    A smile crept on his face as he watched her. She was even more beautiful now than he remembered in high school. They traveled in separate circles in high—school. Celeste always hung out with the goody-goody crowd and Granger hung out with the trouble making boys and the trampy girls. Girls like Jenny Perkins. Her cheeks were always hanging out of her skimpy shorts. She was bound to turn most heads at that age and dressed the way she did, but, as he grew older, he also grew wiser to women like Jenny. Especially after he married one like her and was divorced a year later because she had run off with another man. Celeste was certainly easy on the eyes and most definitely no Jenny Perkins. Celeste Morgan was someone he definitely wanted to get to know better.
    "Hello Celeste."
    "Why you do know who I am," she said sarcastically. "Now, answer my damn questions."
    Granger couldn't help but think of how cute she was when her dander was up.
    "I'll answer your questions, but first, come in out of the cold and tell me why you were sitting on the porch dressed like that."
    Celeste decided that it was rather cold to be standing on the porch, her porch, arguing with him. She was angrier because he frightened her than anything else. He wasn't a crook or anything.... or at least not back then.
    "You never mind why I'm here or why I'm dressed this way. Just tell me what the hell you're doing in my house dammit," she shouted.
    "First of all, I'm sorry if I startled you. Can we call a truce? Please?"
    "Granger, please just tell me what you're doing here," Celeste replied in a much nicer tone.
    "I'm here because I was checking on the pipes and cleaning a bit. Before...." His sentence trailed off. There was just no easy way to go about this at all. "While your folks were alive, I used to come and help them with some work around here. They gave me a key so that when they were away, I could look after things and water the plants and stuff. Celeste, I really do apologize for frightening you. You actually gave me a bit of a start. There have been no visitors here in years. I wasn't expecting you to be here either. Am I forgiven?"
    Celeste wasn't sure what to say. Now she felt like the fool. She should have noticed the upkeep outside. Someone had to have been maintaining it. It most certainly didn't look like Miranda's old house.
    "I'm sorry for grumbling at you. It's been a horrible, long day for me. I had no idea you were helping my dad."
      "Grumbling? That was not grumbling. That was more like biting," he said with a laugh.
      "Biting may be a bit harsh, don't ya think? Perhaps growling would be more to your liking." Now they were both laughing hysterically. Celeste found herself very comfortable with Granger. Maybe it was the fact she was in her home after all this time. All those years spent running from the painful memories, only to be brought back by a new source of pain. Perhaps it was some sort of sign. Life sure was funny sometimes.
    "So tell me why you are here in a wedding gown."
    Celeste had almost forgotten. She wished she would have changed out of it first and then she wouldn't have to face the questions.
    "It's a very long story and part of my horrible day that I'd rather forget. Actually, I need to clean up a bit and get out of this hideous thing. You go ahead and finish up whatever it is you were doing before we startled one another."
    Celeste climbed the stairs, deep in thought of her day. She most certainly didn't find the dress hideous when she purchased it. Now she didn't care if it were burned up in a fire, cut up into tiny little shreds or given away...perhaps used for a doormat like he used her. She began to rummage through her old closet for something else to put on. Luckily for her, she had kept some clothes here on prior visits. The visits were never very long, an overnight and then it was back to work.
      She climbed into the tub. The warm water felt like heaven as she eased into it. She was glad she decided to take a pamper herself, even if only for a few minutes. After all, Granger was still in the house. She just wanted to forget about the day for a few minutes.
    Granger couldn't help himself but wonder why Celeste had shown up in a wedding gown. He wondered if she'd had a change of heart on her way to the church and decided to come home instead. He plucked a can of soup from the cupboard and dumped it into a pan to heat up on the stove. That was as far as his cooking skills went. You had two choices at his house. It was either soup, or a sandwich. He wouldn't even have a kitchen if it weren't the apartment. Coffee he could make, everything else that went into his mouth came from a can or. Most time he didn't even bother with that. He normally stopped at the diner on his way home. It's not that he couldn't cook, he just didn't want to after working all day long. All he wanted was relaxation at the end of the day.
    Celeste pulled on a pair of faded jeans and worked an old T-shirt down over her head. Comfort clothes. They were the best to slouch around the house in.
Granger heard the stairs creek as Celeste reached the bottom.
    "Come on in the kitchen," he called.
      Celeste went in the kitchen and found him pouring soup into two bowls he'd carefully placed on the dinning room table. She didn't realize how hungry she was until the aroma drifted past her nose. 
    "You cook too?" she asked with a smile. She was shocked by his kindness after she had been so crotchety with him earlier.
    "Very funny. No. I don't cook. All I did was open a can. I thought you might be hungry. Soup will do you good after sitting out in the cold for heaven knows how long."
    "Thank you Granger. That was very thoughtful of you. I am hungry. I didn't realize it until I smelled the soup."
    Celeste pulled out a chair opposite of him and began buttering some bread and passed it over to him. Granger accepted it and thanked her.
    "So what brings you to Oakhaven after all this time?"
    "To be honest, I'm really not sure. This wasn't a planned trip. I sort of ended up here."
    "How can you just 'sort of ' end up any place?"
    "Well, let's see. I was upset and angry. I packed a bag, a very small bag and hopped in my car and started driving and here I am. I had no destination in mind."
    "In any case, it's nice to see you. It's been a long time Celeste."
    "Yes. It has been a long time. She began drifting back to her folks. The funeral was the last time she came home. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. They were all she had. No siblings, no aunts or grandparents. Only them. She was a bit angry they had been taken from her.
    "Why did you leave here?"
    "Miranda.  She was my best friend. I just had a hard time getting through the rest of school without her. I had a hard time dealing with everything after her death."
    "You were running Celeste. And now you're running back home. Why?"
    "Who says I'm running?"
    "You don't have to say it. It shows. How many people do you know that go visiting their hometown in a wedding dress, alone? You're definitely running from something."
    He read her very well. She was running. As far as she could get from Taylor Jacobs. She never wanted to see that man again for as long as she lived. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she was drowning with thoughts of her day.
    Granger saw the tears in her eyes. He reached over and put his hands on hers.
    "Would you like to talk about it?"
    "No. Not particularly, but thank you. I just as soon forget," she replied as she began cleaning up what few dishes they had dirtied.
    "What have you been doing since I've been away Granger? Are you still tinkering with Jenny Perkins?"
    Granger was momentarily taken aback. He hadn't realized she noticed whom he was fooling around with back in the days.
    "No way. She's not even in these parts any more. I guess she's moved on to greener pastures. Hopefully she's found someone just as foolish and immature as she was. I have definitely grown up since then.
    "You certainly have," said Celeste. Her cheeks flushed when she realized she was thinking aloud.
    "I learned the hard way for my behavior back then. I married someone just like Jenny, if not worse. I picked her up in some bar where she had been dancing on a table. You go looking at them trampy girls and that's just what you get. A tramp. She ran off with a truck driver and we divorced a year later.
    "I'm very sorry Granger," Celeste replied, turning her back toward him so he wouldn't notice the fresh tear beginning to pooling her eyes. Her mind was smart enough to know it was a good thing Taylor jilted her now instead of after they were married and there was more at risk, but her heart just hadn't caught up to her mind.
    "Aw hell, don't be sorry. I deserved what I got. I was always thinking with the wrong head back then. It just wasn't meant to be. Lust and love are two very different things. I was never loved Rebecca nor was I ever in love with her. I wanted to get in her pants and I did."
    Celeste began to wonder if that was why Taylor was absent on their wedding day. Had he fallen out of love, or hadn't he loved her at all? She couldn't stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks this time.
    Granger put an arm around her and guided her to the living room on the sofa. She put up no resistance. He held her in his arms and gently stroked her long, auburn hair.
    "Are you ready to talk about it Celeste? It might make you feel better to get it off your chest.
    "I was supposed to marry Taylor Jacobs today," she cried. "He decided to be a no show and I was left standing at the church." Celeste hugged him tighter and cried on his chest.  She hadn't even told him the worst part of it all. She didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her. She would have this child and raise it and love it all on her own.
  "He's a damn fool Celeste, to leave a woman like you." Granger thought about how he would give anything to have someone like her in his life instead of floozies he'd wasted so much precious time fooling around with. Celeste was genuine and caring, not to mention beautiful.
    He kept his arms entwined around her and let her cry. Finally, she cried herself to sleep. Granger didn't move a muscle for fear of waking her. She needed the rest, and needed to be held. Besides, he didn't really want to let her go. He thought this Taylor must have been out of his ever-loving mind to throw her away like trash.
    Granger drifted off to sleep with his arms around Celeste. His cheek rested gently upon the top of her head.
    They were both jolted awake at the sound of someone beating furiously on the front door.
    Celeste scrambled to her feet and went to the window. She peered outside to find a car in the driveway along side hers. She turned to Granger and shouted, "Don't you dare move and inch to answer that door!"