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Chapter 7
Sally sat by the lake, contemplating what she had just done. She had given up the accountant position that, first of all, she needed and, second of all, would have brought her into daily contact with Peter, whom she admired and respected and would like to have gotten to know better, except Norma Jean had claimed him first.
Was she taking the friend thing too far? After all, wasn’t it a commonly established protocol that if a person’s friend put a claim on a man, then there was nothing she could do until that friend gave up the claim?
She wasn’t exactly sure how it went, because it never applied to her before. She just knew she was depressed and sad. She felt like she’d lost something that she’d never really had but always wanted. Plus, she needed a job. Working at the inn all winter wasn’t going to provide enough money for her to continue to pay her bills.
She wasn’t going to go under right away, but it would be soon if she didn’t figure something out.
“Hello. I didn’t realize you were down here,” Lana said as she walked up to her. “Is it okay if I sit a spell?”
“Sure,” Sally said, trying to put a happy smile on her face but knowing she failed.
“It’s a pretty day. We need to enjoy this weather while it lasts. Pretty soon, it’s going to be cold and... I want to say miserable, but there is a certain beauty about winter that I just love.”
“Me too. I get tired of it though. A lot faster than I get tired of the hot weather.”
“I’m the same. I can handle being hot a lot better than I can handle being cold, but I think it’s the darkness that really gets to me,” Lana said as she settled into the sand beside Sally, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I guess it’s just such a long time where you’re kind of not stuck inside exactly, but not a whole lot of people are out and about. I do my best thinking outside. It’s kind of hard to think outside when you’re freezing to death.” Sally laughed a little, and Lana’s warm chuckle drifted into the air right alongside her. There was just something about Lana that made a person feel safe and happy and like she was a motherly figure to them.
Sally figured she couldn’t be the only person like that, but since her parents were split up, and neither one of them really seemed to care too much about her, it was nice to have someone who did.
“I hope I’m not bothering you,” Lana said as she settled down and lifted her head to the breeze.
“Not at all. I appreciate you seeing me and coming over. I... I guess I feel like maybe I did something that I shouldn’t have.”
“You want to talk about it?” Lana asked easily, and Sally seemed to read in her tone that Lana didn’t care if Sally wanted to keep it to herself or if she wanted to speak. She was welcome to do either, and that made her feel like she was free to say what she wanted to.
“I want to be a loyal friend, but sometimes... I’m not sure if I’m just a little bit too loyal?”
That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t think of the words to get anything else out.
“I don’t think there’s any such thing as too loyal. It’s always good to know your convictions and stick to them. Whether it’s being a good friend or being a good daughter or wife or even a fan of a sports team.” Lana chuckled. “Not that I know anything about that.”
Sally laughed. She couldn’t imagine Miss Lana cheering for a sports team. She was always busy doing something or helping people, and that just didn’t seem like something Miss Lana would stop to do.
“But if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
