Some Things Never Change (WIP) Chapter 3

Myra Mae Monroe was in the kitchen of her Oklahoma ranch stirring a skillet full of her famous sausage gravy. A pan of fresh biscuits in the stove and a pot of coffee on the burner next to the gravy, the house was filled with the smell of a home cooked breakfast.

Though her children and grandchildren were all grown with families of their own, the weekends at the Rocking M ranch was a busy time. At any moment her front door would swing open and her kinfolk would come pouring into the house, expecting the breakfast that she was preparing.

Her two sons lived on their own ranches, but they were still close by. In fact their ranches bordered the Rocking M and the family shared a large herd of Black Angus. Their children were scattered across the country but a handful of them still lived either in town or in nearby Tulsa, so they, too, would be here for breakfast.

Her daughter, Christine, and her husband had also lived near the ranch, but they were killed twenty-three years ago in a tragic car accident, leaving behind their nine-year-old daughter.

Myra and Ben had taken little Elizabeth in and finished her up-bringing the best they could, but they were older and didn’t have the energy to keep up with a teenaged girl. They didn’t need to, though. All in all, Elizabeth was a good girl. She was rarely in trouble, and the community had pulled together after the accident to help the orphaned girl.

Elizabeth couldn’t go anywhere in this town without running into someone that felt a personal responsibility to her. She often received free meals at the local diner, got driving lessons from the Pastor of the church, and when she was old enough, enjoyed drinks on the house at the local bar and honky tonk. When she returned from Chicago after her divorce with her young daughter, she had never been without a handful of babysitters and an earful of motherly advice from anybody that was lucky enough to catch her at church or at the grocery store.

Unfortunately, they also felt the need to inform Myra and Ben when Elizabeth was doing something that she shouldn’t. Though it was rare, there were times in her youth that Elizabeth had pushed the limits. She had been beautiful and popular at the only high school in town. She’d had her pick of the boys and was always surrounded by her friends. From the east coast to the west, whenever you have a group of energetic youths, they will undoubtedly have at least a few bad ideas.

Elizabeth and her friends were no different, although the only time that Myra ever really recalled any trouble was during Elizabeth’s senior year of high school, right before graduation. She and the rest of the cheerleading squad had gone down in Sperry history as the only group of students that had successfully filled the principal’s office with forty-two hens as a senior prank.

She would have gotten away with it, too, if her charm bracelet hadn’t accidentally fallen off in the process of unloading the chickens through the window. Though, everyone knew that there was absolutely no way that she had done it by herself, and she was the only one that had gotten caught, not once did she so much as hint at the other kids that were with her that night, despite the offer to lessen her punishment.

Ben and Myra knew that she had to be punished, for the sake of appearances, but they were both impressed by the strong spirited girl. Her loyalty to her friends and her willingness to take the blame all herself was too much to ignore. Besides, it had been the funniest thing that had happened in this town in years. Myra had always wished that she could have seen old man Johnson’s face when he unlocked his office door to find forty-two hens flapping around his office, spreading feathers from one end to the other, and laying eggs on every surface in the room.

Elizabeth’s charms spread wide across this town, and even the angry principal couldn’t resist her smile and bright blue eyes. She had been a model student up to that point and as long as she promised to clean his office from top to bottom, he would let her attend graduation and the prom. But the most impressive display of the town’s loyalty to Elizabeth came on the day that she showed up to clean Mr. Johnson’s office. Not only were the other girls that had been her accomplices there, but the entire senior class, many of their parents, and other people that lived in the town, were all waiting to help her. Mr. Johnson himself even helped carry the full garbage bags to the dumpster.

Yes, everyone in this small town adored Elizabeth, but none as much as the young men. Myra always noticed the way that the boys in church would crane their necks to see her and they were always riding their bikes around the ranch, hoping to get a glimpse of her. When she entered high school, the bikes had changed to old beat up pick up trucks that constantly cruised the road in front of the house.

There had been a constant stream of young men that stopped by to ask her to the movies, or to accompany them to the Tastee Freeze on Friday night, and while she always graciously accepted their invitations, she only had eyes for one boy. Jake Callahan.

Though Jake was two years older than her, he wasn’t immune to her charms. By the time that Elizabeth was a sophomore, she and Jake were inseparable, and much to the other young men’s distress; everyone knew that she was Jake’s.

Jake left for Oklahoma University the following fall, and they agreed that they should see other people. Myra knew for a fact that Elizabeth saw absolutely no one in his absence, and she always suspected that Jake hadn’t been fooling around during that time either.

He came home at every opportunity and his first stop, after saying a quick hello to his momma, was the Rocking M. To nobody’s surprise, Elizabeth also chose OU to further her education after graduation.

Most of the town expected a wedding at any time. But that was fourteen years ago. There was never discussion about a wedding, at least none that Myra knew of. She never understood why, but she tried not to stick her nose in her granddaughter’s business unless she was specifically invited to do so or if it was absolutely necessary.

Jake went to Kansas University School of medicine in Kansas City two years after that, and once again they agreed to see other people. This time however, they did. Elizabeth met and married a successful businessman from Chicago, several years later, and Jake took a position with Doctor’s Abroad, an organization that sends doctors and medical supplies to poverty stricken countries around the world, and finally ended up as an oncologist somewhere in Florida.

Elizabeth returned to Oklahoma last year, after a nasty divorce and brought her young daughter with her. She had stayed at the ranch until she secured a job at Bank of Oklahoma and found an apartment in Tulsa, closer to work. Despite the fact that she now lived in Tulsa, she spent every weekend and holiday at the ranch. This weekend was no different.

Myra felt a tug at the hem of her skirt and she leaned over her round stomach to see the child standing at her feet.

“Well now,” Myra said in her usual cheerful voice. “You’re up awful early. Is your momma up yet?”

“No.” Karen responded, “She’s still sleeping.”

“Oh, I see.” She smiled at Karen to which Karen responded with her own wide smile. “I suppose that you want some milk, huh?”

Karen nodded vigorously and Myra walked to the refrigerator to retrieve the carton of milk. She had just screwed the lid of the sippy cup on and was tightening it when Elizabeth stumbled into the kitchen, still wearing her pajama pants and a tank top.

“G’mornin’” Myra said enthusiastically.

“Good Morning.” Elizabeth returned, rubbing the sleep for her eyes and yawning.

“Are you hungry?” Myra asked.

“Grandma,” Elizabeth drawled “I have lived with you for most of twenty three years. Have I ever declined one of your home cooked breakfasts?”

“No,” Myra replied, her gray curls bouncing as she shook her head. “Can’t say that you have.”

“Then why do you ask me, every morning, if I’m hungry?”

“Well, it seems like a nice conversation starter.” Myra shrugged.

Elizabeth couldn’t restrain a small chuckle as she poured a cup of the steaming coffee in one of the light blue mugs on the counter. “What are you going to do today, Grandma?” She asked.

“Well, I was hopin’ that someone was headed to the hospital and I could catch a ride with them. I want to see your Pops. You know in fifty-seven years of marriage, we’ve only spent a handful of nights away from each other. I don’t like it one bit.”

Elizabeth smiled. She knew very well how long her grandparents had been married, but Myra always felt the need to remind anyone that would listen as to just how long it had been. Elizabeth liked it. It gave her something to aspire to. Fifty-seven years of marriage wasn’t anything to balk at and certainly not in this day in age. She was very aware that fifty percent of all marriages ended in divorce. She knew it first hand.

“I’ll take you to the hospital, if I can find someone to watch Karen.” Elizabeth said, squatting next to her daughter and pecking a kiss on her cheek.

“I’ll watch her.” A third voice from the hallway burst out. Elizabeth, Myra, and Karen all turned to see Joan Callahan standing in the kitchen doorway, beaming her artificially white smile. Joan was well into her sixties, but if one didn’t know that for a fact, they would never be able to tell. She still exuded radiance and youth with her tiny waist and flawless skin. Her bright red hair was probably courtesy of Miss Clairol, but Joan certainly would never admit to that.

Elizabeth stood and placed a hand on her hip, while Karen bounced across the kitchen floor to throw herself in Joan’s arms. Joan tossed her designer purse and her car keys on the counter and crouched down to receive the elated three-year-old.

“Joan!” Karen squealed as she wrapped her short arms around the woman’s neck.

“Hiya, pumpkin.” Joan said, nuzzling the girl. “Whatcha up to?”

“We’re gonna have breakfast.” Karen replied.

“Well, then. I’m just in time.” Joan said. She stood taking Karen with her. She situated the little girl on her hip as she walked further into the room. She greeted Myra with a smile and kiss on the cheek, before she turned her attention to a frowning Elizabeth.

“I’m not talking to you.” Elizabeth stated as she turned and marched into the hearth room where she plopped herself down in one of the arm chairs that flanked the stone fireplace.

Joan sighed and smiled at her. “You don’t have to be like that, it ain’t my fault.”

“What ain’t your fault?” Myra interjected.

Joan looked over her shoulder at the round woman bent over the open oven door pulling out a pan of biscuits. “Lizze’s mad that I didn’t tell her that Jake was home.” She explained.

“Oh, I knew that.” Myra said absently, still concentrating on the breakfast she was making. She was so preoccupied with carefully pulling the biscuits out of the pan that she didn’t see Elizabeth’s mouth drop open and her eyes fill with fury.

“What is this? A conspiracy?” She shrieked. “Everyone in the whole damn town knew that he was here, and nobody bothered to tell me. Y’all just waited until I was face to face with him at the hospital.”

“Oh, Lizzie. Don’t be so dramatic.” Her grandmother scolded. “He’s just a man.”

But Jake Callahan was not just a man. He was a huge chunk of her past, and not all of it was good. Jake was the only person alive that could push her buttons, the way that he could. He was the only person that made her so mad that she wanted to explode. He was also the only person that could produce a physical reaction deep inside her with one simple touch.

She had changed. She had grown. She was better off without him, and he was better off without her. She was in a better place without him in her life.

Yes, their physical attraction to one another had withstood the test of time and distance, but that didn’t change anything. She had come to that conclusion four years ago, after a brief affair with the man through e-mail, long distance phone calls and one vacation to Cancun.

After a week together on the white sand beaches and the ocean view suite of the high dollar resort, she was sure that what she had with him as a young woman, would never work in the real world. He was a talented doctor, and he needed his freedom to go where his patients needed him the most, it was important to him. Besides, she was already seeing Robert, and he was a better suit for her, or at least she thought so at the time.

She knew her own weakness when it came to Jake, and that must be the reason that she was so upset at his return. One sideways glance, wry smile and soft caress and she was putty in his hands.

But, not this time. There was no way that she would let that happen again. Nope. It just wasn’t possible. Anyway, she was a mother now. She had more responsibility. She had a whole other person that she had to think about, now.

Still, it was going to be a battle. Living in different cities was easy. No contact. But living in the same city was a little more difficult. It was harder to avoid him, especially since he was her grandfather’s doctor. That was going to make it tough.

It was going to be even trickier once the town got involved, and they would. She knew as well as she knew her own body, that the townsfolk would do everything in their power to put the two of them together. There had been a widely known disappointment when they didn’t marry after college. They had accepted that Jake and she were living their own lives, but she also knew that they still held out hope.

Joan being the worst offender. The sparkle in her eye as she glared at Elizabeth sitting in the hearth room, and the sly smile, only confirmed Elizabeth’s suspicions. Joan was up to something. And it would involve Elizabeth somehow finding herself alone with Jake, Joan’s eldest son.

Joan often volunteered to watch Karen. She and Karen adored one another. But, Joan seemed entirely too eager to baby-sit today. Probably because this particular time, it was so that Elizabeth could go to the hospital where she knew her son would be.

It was a conspiracy.