There Is No Knight in Shining Armor

Eydie is forced to go back to her hometown but must face the demons she avoided for years. She was too old to believe in a knight in shining armor, yet there he was, still waiting... Her childhood friend.

Enjoy!

Xo

DG

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THERE IS NO KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR

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The deep blue sky was adorned with fluffy white cotton candies. At least until the plane started its descent into Tampa Airport. The thick greying clouds looked like deflated whipping cream, the morning after. An overcast Tampa matched my sullen attitude.

It wasn't as though I resented coming home to retrieve my mother's ashes and sign some papers. It was that I could think of just about anywhere I'd rather be than the small town I grew up in.

We taxied towards the terminal, and I buttoned my suit jacket and attempted to smooth my skirt. A suit in Florida wasn't necessary, but my working attire made me most comfortable. Which added to my surly attitude because I wouldn't be working since, I'd be here. Depending on how long it would take to wrap up the paperwork and sell the house. Mom had done as much as she could, including a directive that I am not there at the end. I was her only child and she thought about me right until the end.

I blinked back tears, loosened my seat belt, crowded into the aisle, and retrieved my bag from the overhead. A man used the tight confines to his advantage to move in closer than necessary. I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled and was rewarded with a confident grin.

I turned my head, and he brought his ear close to my lips. After a steamy breath I said, "Would you kindly get your hard dick off of me."

His face flushed, and at the expense of the person behind him, he quickly stepped back. It was a good thing that he didn't trust what my next move might be.

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I avoided driving through town on my way to the house and took the back roads. If you know Florida, you know that the sparse backroads could take you miles out of your way. There was rarely a direct drive anywhere.

In no hurry, I stopped and put the top down on my red rental Mustang and decided to enjoy the day that had become sunny. In contrast to New York City, which was gloomy, damp, and cold when I left early this morning.

I frowned when Chris Stapleton stopped singing mid-sentence to allow a phone call to come through.

"Chandra!" I imagined her tapping her pencil eraser on her paperwork with her usual impatience.

"Eydie! How was the trip? How's the weather?" she asked and continued before giving me time to answer. That was Chandra. "Hey, I wanted to ask about the files you left on your desk---"

I answered all her questions and eventually filled her in on the flight and the weather. She was my office assistant and the best one I'd ever had. She was me when I was her age. I knew when she was my age, she'd be even further along in her career. I'd guide her and when she was ready, I'd sacrifice and let her fly.

The call ended and Brett Young was singing you had my heart a long, long time ago... in case you didn't know. I quickly hit the button to the next satellite station, but not before my heart did a quick flip.

I pulled up in front of the neat white cottage that was flanked each side by a variety of massive old roses. The moss still hung low from the trees, and the scent of jasmine was thick in the air, just as Mom had designed. She had been gone from the house a month, but her presence was palpable. I still expected to hear her call from the kitchen. I dropped the keys on the table inside the door and carried my bag up the stairs to my old room.

I knew my room would be as I left it. The softball trophies, ribbons from events I don't even remember, pictures tucked into the mirror frame, a wrist corsage with perfectly dried blood-red roses. All are still there. Waiting to intensify the memories.

I saw Mom a lot, but just not there. I flew her to New York often. She loved the city and for that I was glad. All holidays and birthdays were celebrated in the city.

But now it was time to come home and deal with all the memories. It was a small town, and everyone knew what everyone else was doing. Mom never shared and I was grateful. When I graduated college, I moved from there to the city for a job. I never looked back.

Gazing around my room laid painfully bare just how different I was. I'm thirty-five and this is a teenager's room, so of course nothing would be the same in that way. But it was somewhat painful that I could not remember the girl that lived in this room.

I pulled open a dresser drawer and smiled at the neatly folded stacks of clothes. The light scent of detergent, the fresh smell of the outdoors. My mom didn't miss a thing, I thought fondly, catching my lower lip between my teeth before I could full on cry.

The cutoff jean shorts were snugger than I remembered and showed a bit more ass than I remember. I pulled on a white t-shirt with Cary High School emblazoned across the front.

I laughed louder when I checked myself in the mirror and saw the knit stretched tightly across my much-developed breasts. An expanse of skin showed above the jeans and below the t-shirt hem. I shrugged; happy I could fit into my high school clothes at all.

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Glad I had the foresight to have groceries delivered, I went into the kitchen to throw lunch together. I went to the front porch to eat.

"Eydie? Is that you, hon?" I started awake. Dozing in the sun in Florida isn't smart and I jumped up and went to unlock the door.

"Mrs. Slocum!" I was genuinely happy to see the woman that had been our neighbor ever since I could remember. I hugged her around the casserole dish she was holding.

"Oh, I'm so happy to see you, honey. It has been way too long," she said, handing me the dish. "I'm so sorry about your mother. She was so afraid you'd come here at the end. She was adamant that you not be here, you know."

"Thank you. Yes, I do know. It was difficult staying away, but I respected her wishes. Please come sit down. How's Grady?" I asked after my neighbor and best friend all through high school.

"Oh, I can't stay, I must get back. He's doing wonderfully! I hope you can see him before you go. He bought a house a couple of blocks over."

I wasn't sure if I'd see her son. I hoped to escape town without seeing anyone at all.

"Thank you again! I'll try to get over to see you soon."

I peeked under the foil before putting it away. Macaroni and hamburger casserole, dotted with juicy pieces of her garden tomatoes. My favorite. She remembered.

I sniffled.

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The next morning, I automatically put on a summer suit, pulled my blonde hair up, applied a light coat of makeup, slipped on my high heels, and headed downtown to the lawyer's office.

"Eydie, it's great to see you!" he said enthusiastically, then remembering why I was there, toned it down and added, "Under the circumstances. So sorry about your mother. Gladys and I loved her. We often had her to dinner."

Mr. Rossi was a big burly man of Italian descent. He didn't look any older than when I left town so many years ago.

I shook his hand. "Thank you and it's wonderful to see you again. Please say hello to your wife for me."

He spread the contents of a file across the big mahogany desk.

"Your mom took care of every last detail she possible. That you're an only child makes it even smoother. The house is in your name and taxes and any payments like that are taken care of. I don't know if you plan to keep or sell?"

"I believe I'll be selling it," I said.

A shadow of sadness quickly crossed his face and he nodded. "I understand. I know some folks were hoping you might move back to town."

I opened my mouth to ask who that might be but didn't.

I signed all the necessary paperwork and left. Now it was a matter of cleaning out the house and calling in a realtor.

The Tog Shop was next door. I remembered that back in the day togs were just another name for Florida vacation clothes and loved that they kept the name.

The window mannequins sported resort wear that invited snowbirds and vacationers in. Wide-brimmed sun hats in natural, swimsuits and bikinis in coral with matching beach bags. Sandals that wrapped the ankles and flashed with colorful stones. White shorts with a midriff top, a nod to current fashion. The blue and white stripe and white embroidered anchor, are a wink to old Florida style.

Other than a pair of shorts and a top that I brought with me, I had nothing suitable to wear while I was here. My high school clothes were mostly inappropriate to wear outside the house, and my business attire was just as unsuitable.

The bell on the door trilled when I walked in.

"Hey," a female voice drawled from somewhere amongst the racks. "Welcome to the Tog Shop. Have a look around and let me know if you'd be needin' any help."

"Thank you, I will," I answered.

I quickly flipped through the clothes on the hanging racks and chose shorts and tops to try on. The store was the same as when I lived here, and likely the same as when Mom was a teenager. I spotted the fitting rooms and wove through all the brightly colored racks of clothing.

The bell tinkled again, and several female voices chattered. I grabbed the clothes I wanted to buy and left the remainder in the room.

I placed them on the old glass counter and dug in my purse for a credit card.

"Will that be all, honey?"

"Yes, thanks," I said, looking up and sliding the card across the glass.

"Well, I'll be durned! If'n it ain't Eydie!" she said somewhere in between a shriek and a trill.

I looked at her, blinked, searched my memory, and came up blank. Totally blank.

"I'm sorry, I---" I stumbled.

"Y'all don't remember me, do you? I'm Grady's cousin, Gloria!" She hesitated, seeing my confusion. "Little Gloria?"

Just as the light went on, another face appeared in front of me. "Well, there's Eydie. Whatever brings you back to our little town."

This one I knew. The voice and the face. Janice. She latched on to Rex immediately after I left for college and had him at the altar within months. It was during that time that he and I planned on meeting at college with him starting two semesters after me. It was about time I quit thinking about my hometown and almost everyone in it.

I smiled warmly at Gloria. "No wonder I didn't remember you. You were just a little pigtailed kid when I last saw you. Just look at you now, hon," I said sincerely. She was a buck-toothed little girl that blossomed into a breathtaking beauty.

Her grin was broad and bright. "Thanks, Eydie. Grady—we all missed you a lot."

"So, what brings you back to our little town," Janice butted in with her acidic voice.

"My mom died." I relished the shock on her face, "I thought you'd know seeing as how it's such a little town."

She did look embarrassed.

"No, I had no idea. Sorry." She turned and began to absently go through the summer dress rack.

I paid for my purchases, said goodbye to Gloria, and wondered how much Janice was going to put on Rex's credit card. Triple digits at least, I hoped.

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Mom's heirloom roses and jasmine were her pride and joy. Everyone always told her that the cottage and gardens could be on the cover of Cottage Homes, and it was still true. She must have tended them right up until the end because hardly anything was overgrown.

I worked the shed door open and pulled on a pair of Mom's well-worn garden gloves and picked up the clippers. I trimmed while I wandered through the yard. Mom had designed her garden to seem much larger than it was with paths that curved throughout.

Each turn had a hidden surprise. A low-water container for wildlife. A wind chime she made from the seashells we picked up at the beach. A cascading fountain with a small chair to stop for a while and enjoy.

In the end, I came out to a small patio with four chairs. That was a surprise because I'd not seen it before. On closer inspection, I saw my Mom's hand in the concrete slabs because they were inlaid with bits of colorful broken glass, seashells, and other little odd trinkets.

Bathed in the Florida sun, the glass glistened like a kaleidoscope of sparkling sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

The tears finally flowed. I sobbed that my Mom was no longer here. I sobbed for myself at the time I lost with her. I mourned until my head hurt and my eyes were puffy.

And that was how Grady found me.

"Eydie."

Grady knelt next to my chair, his hand on my shoulder. Still too upset to be mortified by anyone seeing me like this, I cried even harder when I saw him. He was the beating heart of my childhood, a sunlit meadow of my fondest memories. He was never not there. He never caused me any pain.

He sat in the Adirondack chair next to mine and pulled me into his lap, crooning and rocking me as I wept on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I blubbered.

"Oh, shut up," he growled with humor and sympathy. As only Grady could do and despite myself, I giggled with an inelegant gurgle.

It wasn't as though Grady hadn't seen me at my worst moments. The day I became a woman was traumatic and he was there for me. Even though my Mom had explained what was going to happen, nothing could prepare a girl for bleeding.

When he saw me on my porch dressed in a lace and satin semi-formal, hair piled up on my head, controlled with half a can of hairspray, waiting for the date for the school dance to never show up. How he ran in, showered, found a suit and pulled up in his Dad's car at the end of the walkway, got out, and opened the passenger door just as though my date was with him. He even scrounged up a corsage.

He never left my side during the trauma of my Dad's death.

"You're always here for me. I don't deserve a friend like you," I said, punctuated by hiccups.

"You don't. Yet here I am, always at the ready," he said, grinning.

I sniffed. "I'm serious. You're the best friend I ever had," I admitted, just realizing it now. "And I've been the worst friend ever."

"Oh come, don't be ridiculous. I've had way worse," he said, and I heard the laughter in his voice. I tugged the auburn hair that curled around the edge of his shirt. "Ow! You always did like to beat me up."

"I did. And you let me."

"Well yeah, because I was always a gentleman."

"Yes you were."

Butterflies suddenly appeared over Mom's butterfly garden, and we sat in silence watching their delicate and brilliant wings color the sky.

I didn't think that I really should get off his lap and move to the other chair, and he didn't seem to be in any hurry to let me go. His arm wrapped around my back, and I felt protected. I didn't realize how much I missed that. Grady had always made me feel protected. Especially at my most vulnerable.

Like now.

After a while, I dried up and I hoped my eyes weren't so puffy I sat up.

"Your legs have to be going to sleep," I grinned.

"Yeah, but you were so comfortable I'd never complain."

I looked at him for a moment. "No, you wouldn't, would you."

He smiled and ran his hand comfortingly over my back.

"I do have to get to the clinic though. I'm sad to say because I'm enjoying my time with you in your Mom's garden. She would have been beside herself to see us together."

"She loved anyone that loved her garden for sure."

He just smiled in response.

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Chandra called later that afternoon.

"So, are you about ready to get back here?" she asked without any preliminaries.

I laughed. "I'm still working on it. I know the office isn't falling apart, you're there."

"Flattery will get you everywhere. At least a few more days off." I heard the smile in her voice.

"I have a few more loose ends to tie up here than I realized. I got the Wi-Fi hooked up so you can send anything that needs my attention."

We were a small department within a large corporation. They paid no attention to us as long as we ran smoothly, which of course we always did.

"So far so good. I hope you can take some time to relax while you're there. I mean I know it's an unpleasant visit, so I wasn't saying---"

"I know what you meant Chandra, and I really appreciate it. You're a good friend too."

We talked business a bit and ended the conversation.

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I'd finally worked up the nerve to go into Mom's bedroom and was surprised to see the closet empty and boxes neatly stacked in front. Someone had come in and packed all of her clothing, leaving only the things they knew I would want.

The relief I felt nearly knocked me off my feet. I did not need to go through her clothing, and it would only have served to upset me more.

On the bed were boxes of items that I would want to go through. I don't know who did this, but I owed them a debt of gratitude.

I was weepy on and off but got through the afternoon narrowing down what I wanted to keep. I called the thrift store in the next town over because I knew had many folks of more meager means and they were happy to come pick up. Late afternoon I carried all the boxes out and stacked them on the front porch.

Just as I was going in, an older somewhat beat up car slowed in front of the house and turned into the driveway. I couldn't tell who it was with the glare on the windshield. The door opened and I waited and wondered who it could be because I'd kept my visit quiet.

Who emerged was the quarterback of Cary High School football. The last person I wanted to see. Ever. Rex. Janice's Rex to be accurate.

He walked up the sidewalk smiling and shocked me when I felt nothing. Not dislike or like. Just nothing. It was as though he was a stranger.

"Eydie, you look great sweetheart. I heard you were in town and had to come see you."

I got out what I thought was a smile and said, "Well, you've seen me, Rex."

I stood half in the doorway to the house, holding the screen door in front of me like a shield.

"I'd hoped you put it all behind us," he said with alarming sincerity.

"Put it behind us," I said evening. "The man that was supposed to meet me at college runs away with another girl the second I leave for said college." I just looked at him for a long second wondering what I ever saw in him. "I have put it all behind me. You. The situation. Everything. Long ago."

"Awh c'mon Eydie, don't be like that. It was you I loved. I had to get married. Janice was pregnant. I had no choice."

I saw red. Enraged, I said, "You mean you were fucking her before I even left for college? You had no intention of meeting me there. You're an even bigger dick than I took you for."

"I planned on going to college. Meeting you there the second semester," he said, trailing off.

I stepped in, closed the screen door, and hooked it. Just then a shiny blue pickup truck pulled into the drive, parked alongside Rex's rusted car, and Grady got out.

"But you fucked Janice and knocked her up instead." I shook my head. Just looking at him turned my stomach. "Go away, Rex. Just go away. I do not want to see you anymore."

Grady walked up the sidewalk, brushing by Rex.

"You heard her, Rex. Leave her alone."

Grady's tone bore no backtalk and Rex jumped in his car and peeled out the drive and down the road.

"Thanks, you have a knack for showing up at just the right time. C'mon in," I said, unhooking the creaky wooden screen door and pushing it open.

He saw the boxes on the porch and said, "You had a tough day."

"Not as bad as it could be. Someone had already boxed her clothing up. I'm forever grateful to whoever did that."

"Mom came over and did that. She knew how rough it would be on you. Going through her clothes and all."

"Oh my god, I have to go over and thank your Mom. She was always so good to me."

"She'd love you to visit, I know."

"Hey, I was just getting ready to put some dinner together. Just veggies and chicken for stir fry."