Leah

Leah caught the red and blue lights in the rear-view mirror and cursed under her breath. After pulling over she kept her hands on the steering wheel as her police officer father had instructed her to do if she ever got pulled over.

She watched the officer in the side mirror as he exited his squad. He unlatched his holster and had his hand near his weapon as he approached. He had the perfect 24 inch step that her father had and looked like he worked out several times a week.

“Hello, ma’am. Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“No.”

“Do you know what speed you were going?”

“I thought I was the speed limit through town.”

“I tagged you north of town.”

“Oh, I had the cruise set at 65.”

The officer looked like he was stifling a laugh. “The speed limit on this road is 55. I need your license and insurance information.”

Leah pointed over her shoulder, “The license is in my purse.”

“All right, get it out.”

Leah exited the car to dig through her purse. She pulled out the letter from the DMV and pulled her license off the cardstock that it was tacked to. She felt the tingles when their fingers touched as she handed him the license. She surreptitiously glanced at his left hand and felt oddly satisfied that he was not married.

“New license?”

“Yeah, today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me.”

The officer was grinning, but he was not going back to his car. “Still need your insurance card.”

“The insurance card is in this cubby.”

“All right. Pull it out.”

Leah reached in the car and pulled out a handful of insurance cards from the drawer on the dash. “No, that’s not it. Maybe this one…no, that’s not it either. Officer ….”

“Davidson.”

Leah held out the stack of insurance cards, “Officer Davidson, it’s in here somewhere.”

“You can throw the old ones away. Take a seat in your car while I run your license.”

She took her time getting back in the car so that she could watch him walk away. She saw him shaking his head and could see he was not fooled. She had the new insurance card tacked on the fridge at her house. If she did not get a ticket, she would count herself quite lucky.

She was pulled out of her daydream when Officer Davidson was at her window again. “I’ll let you off with a warning to watch the speed and carry your current insurance card in your car.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

***

Leah pulled the last of the documents together that would be needed for her meeting with the police officer that she and the prosecutor would be prepping for the upcoming trial.

She made her way down to the conference room, stopping at the attorney’s office on the way. She saw him punching in numbers on the phone. “I have everything. Do you need more time?”

“I’ll meet you down there. I have one more quick phone call to make and I’ll be right there.”

Leah continued down the long hall and turned the corner into the reception area. “Hey, Tam, is he here yet?”

“I set him up in Conference Room 2.”

“Sounds good. Jack will be along shortly. Is it set up with coffee, water and refreshments?”

“Yes. Find out if he’s available for me, will you?”

Leah had to giggle at Tammie’s comment. “How many will that make it for you?”

Tammie waved her wedding ring at Leah, “Not for me, for a friend of mine.”

Leah shook her head and she tried to suppress her smile. “I’ll see what I can do. Get back to work!”

Tammie dutifully answered the phone in her usual effervescent charm.

Leah got to the conference room, knocked and cracked the door open to introduce herself. She held out her hand. “Hello, Officer Davidson, Leah Tolliver.”

“I remember. I knew you when I pulled you over.”

Leah cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows.

“I saw your name on my appearance summons and paperwork.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Have a seat. Mr. Pendleton will be here shortly. You can read over the police reports you wrote while we wait.”

He played with the papers more than he read them.

“Officer, do you have any questions?”

While pretending to read the papers, he asked, “Any chance you want to go out with me?”

“Yes. Any work-related questions?”

“No. When?”

Jack Reynolds burst in the room, apologizing and ready to work. “Tom, good to see you again. You’ve met Leah?”

“Yes, sir, we’ve met. Just going over the reports.”

“Good, good. This won’t take long.”

****

Leah checked her look one more time in the mirror. Leah had invited Tom to movie when she was escorting him out to the elevator. He was maybe a little too eager to accept. Leah did not care which one he chose, what date or time, she just wanted to see him again.

Leah took one more spin in front of the mirror. The red rayon wrap dress was her favorite. That with her matching red open toe heels, she felt beautiful. She picked up her hairbrush to give her curls one a touch up. She threw it back down again when the doorbell rang.

He looked as good out of uniform as he did in uniform. After light small talk, Tom asked, “This is going to sound rude, but may I use your bathroom?”

Leah pointed down the hall, “second door on the right.”

Thank you, Lori. Leah thought to herself. Her roommate had insisted on cleaning the bathroom for the dates. Leah could hear her say, ‘Trust me, if he’s interested in long-term, he will look in the bathroom. They always do.’

***

“Lori, are you sure?”

Lori nodded vigorously causing her blonde curls to be in a continuous bounce long after she had calmed down to explain again. “The man just thinks he pops the question, but it’s always the woman who has to get the ball rolling. Unless he is an idiot, he’ll pick up the clues.”

“What do I say?”

Lori rolled her eyes and dramatically raised her arms in the air and then let them slap down to her thighs. “How should I know? He’s not my boyfriend!”

“You have more experience in this than I do.”

“Excuse me, that’s probably my date.” Lori greeted the person who had been knocking on the door with fake drama. “Oh, it’s you. Come in. Would you two just get married or something and keep me out of the middle? I am leaving. Do something I would do.”

Leah and Tom stared at her in disbelief. Lori left with her signature dramatic wave. Thirty seconds later, the door was cracked open and they witnessed Lori extend her arm through the opening and feel along the wall. Tom kindly put her hand on the key rack and let Lori select the set that she needed. There was an embarrassed “thank you” before the door shut again, this time with a little less drama.

Tom and Leah burst out laughing together. Tom said, “Your roommate is a firecracker.”

“That she is.”

As the laughter stopped, an awkward silence fell on them. “About what Lori said –“

“She said other stuff before you got here.”

“Do I want to know?”

“She said I should tell you how I feel. Will you run away real fast if I tell you I’m falling in love with you?”

Tom let out the breath he was holding. “No. Actually, I wanted to tell you that I am feeling that way myself.”

The two came together and tentatively at first explored each other’s body, dropping kisses wherever feelings commanded.

Tom took Leah’s face in both hands and kissed her. He spoke against her lips, “I want to be with you.”

“Me, too. Feel kind of nervous.”

“Me, too.”

****

Leah smiled at that memory. Five years had passed since the day they had met. Today, she stood huddled with arms wrapped around her body in a futile effort to keep the sharp winds from reaching through her jacket and down to her bones. Her spirit had been silent for several months. Coming here was the one thing she committed to do each week. Standing silent vigil for as long as her body could stand it was her ritual while in this place.



Icicles began forming on her face from the tears that had traced their way down her cheeks recalling each of the joyful memories she shared with her man. She had waited so long to find the perfect partner, and now this was all that was left. She would neither give or receive the love of another man, this man’s love was all that she needed or welcomed. On schedule, as the distant sounds from the nearby town took up their predetermined rhythm, she began to move from foot to foot to get the circulation to return. It was time to go. She dragged the sleeve of her jacket across her face in an ineffective attempt to wipe away signs of the sorrow.



She gave one last barren look at the marker bearing Tom’s name, a brief touch to the headstone, she whispered, “Good-bye, my love ... Until next week.”

Leah walked slowly back to her car and drove to the house she was sharing with her mom and dad. It was not ideal to move back in with her parents, but she needed the help and did not want to live alone. The steadfast and enduring love of her family was all that made days like this bearable. Her spirits were lifted when she walked up the steps to the farmhouse and heard the squeal of delight from the mirror image her Tom. “Hey, Little Guy, come to mama.”



[word count: 1655]