Flamingos and Cokes, Part 2

The second part in a series, this short story continues with Sadie and Lana. Lana gets herself into a situation, causing Sadie to come face to face with someone from her past.

Cup of coffee in her hand, Sadie was on the porch savoring her last moments to herself when an all too familiar pickup truck came around the bend. Reflexively spitting her coffee out in surprise, she hurriedly dashed inside, glanced in the hallway mirror and grimaced. Hair unbrushed and without makeup on, she was definitely NOT the sight for sore eyes she’d prefer to be in this situation.

Sprinting to her bathroom in fuzzy socks, she slid a bit too far on the hardwood floor and had to grab the door frame to stop. She brushed her hair as best she could in four strokes and looked down to see a trail of coffee stains on her shirt.

“Argh!” she uttered out loud as she heard the truck door slam outside. A blue cardigan was nearby; she grabbed it, threw it on, and wrapped it around her torso. No time for makeup now.

A firm but polite knock rapped twice on the screen door. Sadie took a deep breath trying to keep her heart rate down as she left her room and walked casually towards the sound.

At the door was Brady, but another shadow was beside him.

“Lana?” Sadie said quizzically as she furrowed her brow trying to take in the scene. She had actually been expecting Lana, her artist agent and dear friend, but certainly not in Brady’s truck. Lana was soaked from head to toe, so much so that dripping water from her designer black dress was pooling on Sadie’s porch. Her stilettos looked like something the cat drug in. Caked in mud, and no sign of the sheen they likely had at some point—that pair was a complete and total loss.

Opening the screen door and motioning for them both to come in, Brady was relatively dry in comparison.

“Oh thank God Sadie! I’ve never been so elated to arrive anywhere in my life. This was worse than the three layovers and cancellations trying to get to Milan two years ago,” Lana said as she shifted to now pool water inside the house like a spring rain cloud.

“Lana, do you want to take your shoes off and clean up in my bathroom? It’s down the hall to the left. Feel free to change into some of my clothes too.”

“You’re an absolute ANGEL,” Lana gratefully replied as she took her shoes off and proceeded to create a watery trail down the hall. Without turning around, she said over her shoulder, “Brady, thank you again!”

“Ummm,” Sadie said to Brady, motioning to Lana as she disappeared into the bathroom. “Thank you for helping her out of whatever situation she got into.”

“It was nothing really. I was on my way in to work, saw a car nose down in the ditch, and a woman ankle deep in mud waving her hands like she was doing jumping jacks without the jumping. The rain washed out the road pretty good, over there by the old Carter house before it forks. My guess is she was driving to the side, lost traction and slid clear off, “ Brady explained. “Anyways, I told her to get in and she said she was trying to get to your house. It was no bother.”

“Thank you. She isn’t exactly…from around here,” Sadie chuckled softly and then looked, really looked into his eyes. He was still as she had remembered all those years ago. Stringy dirty blonde hair grazed the collar of his flannel shirt, brown eyes accentuating his bronzed skin from years of outside work.

“Well, I gotta be on my way. It was nice seeing you again Sadie,” he said as he gave her a brief hug good-bye. She wanted to melt as her head touched his chest for those two seconds. He smelled like the earth, and for just one moment--his lean, corded muscles held her again.

He opened the screen door and put his cap on his head, pulling it down low as he descended her five front steps.

Sadie went through a dozen phrases in her head as he took those five steps, none of them quite right. “Brady, could you maybe help us pull her car out later today, when you get off?”

“Yeah, I reckon I could. I’ll meet you around six.”

“Thank you.” Sadie watched him drive off and was beyond grateful that she had bought herself some more time.

Meanwhile, she had to turn her attention to the drenched Yankee in her bathroom that was all out of sorts in the wilderness of no Uber, Wi-Fi, or street signs for that matter. However would she manage?

“Sadie, you need to call your—whoever it is you call out here when something doesn’t work. Your toilet has taken this opportunity to stop working,” Lana called from inside.

“Just jiggle the handle,” Sadie answered as she closed the screen door behind her. Lana was about to learn a whole lot of other new life skills. Sadie grinned—she couldn’t wait.