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Chapter 17
Jay walked back to the corner of the gym she’d temporarily
set up as a tape library grinning, after settling the little kids down with their movie. She couldn’t believe the
number of classic childrens movies they’d gotten along with everything else. Jay couldn’t help but remember how
excited she’d been as a child the first time she’d seen "Lady
and the Tramp" and from the looks of it, most
of these kids hadn’t seen it before. It didn’t taken long before every little pair of eyes was glued to the screen.
Sheridan strolled into the Youth Center humming a very upbeat tune wearing a far way grin. Jay noticed it immediately
and couldn’t help but chuckle. As for herself, the dreary weather of the past few days had really dampened her
spirits, but Sheridan seemed completely unaffected. If anything, her mood seemed lighter and more relaxed than
Jay had seen it since they met.
"Good morning Jay" Sheridan greeted with a contagious smile. "I see you’re checking out those movies.
Today would make a great day to watch some of them."
"I agree, movies are the perfect thing on such a dreary day. I’ve already got the little ones watching Lady and the Tramp.
I‘ve also already separated all the children‘s movies out of the boxes so we should be able to keep the kids entertained
all day today."
"Sounds like fun. There‘s nothing like watching old movies when it‘s raining outside" Sheridan said,
focusing on the positive. Nothing could lower her spirits today.
"We’ve got quite an assortment" Jay said holding a cassette in her hands. Mr. Riley was definitely right
about that."
"It really was nice of him to donate all these tapes to the Youth Center" Sheridan smiled.
"Yes it was" Jay grinned. In fact when I got here this morning Mr. Riley was waiting with another full
box of tapes. You certainly charmed the heck out of him, Sheridan. I don’t think the poor guy had any idea what
hit him.
"I just showed him the benefits to donation. Besides, he wanted the extra shelf space for newer movies"
Sheridan laughed as she began picking up tapes looking at titles. You know, we really should categorize the rest
of these."
"I agree, but it looks like the natives are getting restless" Jay said as she glanced over at the kids
who were beginning to get antsy in their seats.
"What do the kids want to see?" Sheridan asked. She didn’t realize anyone else was listening to her when
she asked that question, but within seconds a half dozen teens had descended on her.
"Can we look?" Simone Russell asked.
"Of course Simone" Sheridan smiled. Simone, her best friend Kay and a few others sifted through the dozens
of tapes on the table.
"Hey check this out! It’s The Rocky Horror
Picture Show! I remember hearing my mother talk
about this. She said it was a cult classic when she was in college! Can we watch this one?" Tommy Parks asked.
Sheridan and Jay looked at each other, hiding the grins on their faces. Somehow I don’t think that’s a good idea
Tommy" Sheridan said with a warm smile. "Why not find something else?"
Tommy frowned and put the movie back. The teens were shouting out titles for dozens of movies, most of which were
horror movies or just plain horrible. Finally Simone picked one up. "Hey, I recognize this name, but it’s
mislabeled."
"Mislabeled?" Jay questioned as she took the tape from Simone. She looked at the title and a smile crept
onto her face. She handed the tape to Sheridan, who also smiled when she saw it.
"I think the label is correct Simone" Jay said kindly.
"But I saw that movie and Christopher Reeves was in it. Who the heck is Jimmy Stewart anyway?
"Simone Russell, are you really going to stand there and tell me that you’ve never heard of Jimmy Stewart?"
Jay asked in surprise.
"Of course Simone knows who Jimmy Stewart is" Kay said as she nudged her friend. "He was in that
movie our parents make us watch every Christmas."
"That’s right Kay" Sheridan said. "It’s a Wonderful Life."
"Yeah, that’s it" Kay agreed, recognizing the name.
"Right, I guess I forgot" Simone said sheepishly. "Anyway, don’t you have the "Rear Window" with
Christopher Reeve in it? That movie was so cool!"
"I know that Christopher Reeves did a marvelous job with the remake, but personally I like the original better"
Sheridan said matter of factly.
"You’re kidding, right? That movie’s gotta be what, 100, 200 years old?" Kay asked rolling her eyes.
"Not exactly" Jay answered. "For what it’s worth, I agree with Sheridan. I like the original version
better."
"Don’t tell me it’s in black and white?" Simone groaned.
"Don’t ask and I won’t tell" Sheridan grinned. "Come on everyone, movie time! Popcorn’s on the house!"
Sheridan smiled when she heard cheers erupt from the restless crowd. Buzzy had been busy popping corn for the last
hour and was now distributing it to the kids.
Sheridan popped the movie into the VCR. This is a Hitchcock classic everyone. And in case any of you wonder who
Hitchcock is, he makes Stephen King look like an amateur." Sheridan walked away from the kids, while Jay dimmed
the lights as the movie started.
With the small children in one corner of the gym and the teens in another, Sheridan and Jay quietly made themselves
comfortable in yet another area while they began to sort movies.
Jay glanced at Sheridan and couldn’t get over her cheerfulness. She couldn’t imagine what could have her so happy
this morning unless it was a man. "I’ve been meaning to ask you something Sheridan" Jay asked quietly.
What made you come back to the States after being abroad all these years?"
Suddenly the smile that had been all but plastered on Sheridan’s face disappeared. She looked at Jay and Jay immediately
decided she shouldn’t have brought the subject up. "I’m sorry Sheridan" she apologized. "Forget
I asked."
"No, don’t be silly Jay" Sheridan answered, trying her best to hide her discomfort. "It’s a perfectly
valid question." Sheridan took a deep breath as she decided how to best answer. "Truthfully, I was engaged
to be married and found out my fiancé was a first class jerk. I broke things off with him and decided it
was time for a change. I’d lived in Paris most of my life, but it never truly was home to me."
"But why Harmony? There are so many other places in this world you could have gone that would be more exciting,
not to mention warmer than Harmony!"
"Well, for one reason, my family is here. Ethan and I have always been close and I wanted to spend some time
with him I’ve also always loved the idea of living in a small town and Harmony seemed like the perfect place to
try. If I decide I don’t like it I can always move someplace else later."
"So is life in Harmony’s small town atmosphere what has your mood getting better by the day?"
Sheridan grinned. "I’d like to say being home is the reason for my happiness, but it’s only a small part of
it. As a matter of fact I was tempted to leave after my run in with Officer Lopez Fitzgerald, but I decided to
stick it out."
"So ... what is it? I'm curious. What could be so wonderful to have you floating on air? Is it a man? That
has to be it. It's gotta be a man. Have you actually met a man here in Harmony?"
"The only man I’ve met since I’ve come back to Harmony is Luis Lopez Fitzgerald and you’ve seen first hand
how that meeting turned out" Sheridan said with disdain.
"Well, Pilar did tell me you and Luis hit it off when you first met. It wasn’t until he found out your last
name was Crane that he turned into Dr. Jeklyll. So, tell me all about your first meeting with Luis."
Sheridan raised her brow. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes, I’d love to hear what you REALLY thought of Luis before he found out you were a Crane."
"That’s a tall order" Sheridan said. "It’s hard for me to remember that meeting without his arrogant,
egotistical, condescending, supercilious manner tainting my opinion."
"C'mon, humor me. Besides we've got plenty of time to kill today and I want to hear all the details"
"All right" Sheridan agreed. "I was on my way to meet Pilar at the Book Cafe when I had a flat tire.
Luis was just finishing radar patrol and he saw me struggling on the side of the road with the tire. He stopped
and changed the tire for me."
"That's Luis, always the hero" Jay said.
"I thought so at the time" Sheridan admitted. "I also thought he was about the most handsome man
I’d ever seen." Sheridan remembered her first meeting with Luis fondly for a brief moment until she shook
her head and brought herself back to reality. "That was of course until I met the real Luis."
"I have to agree with you on one account. Luis is ab-so-lutely the most handsome and well-built man I've ever
met. Gorgeous, incredible, sexy, you name it. Women generally fall all over him and it never ceases to amaze me
that he doesn't let it go to his head."
"He seems to have a pretty good idea if you ask me" Sheridan remarked sarcastically
"OK, You’ve told me about your first meeting with Luis, but how about your second? Didn't Pilar set up a meeting
for the two of you to talk about you working at the Youth Center? What did you think when he showed up at the Book
Cafe, when you saw Luis again?"
"As I said before, my judgment is clouded where Officer Lopez Fitzgerald is concerned now, but I vaguely recall
I was attracted to him before he turned into The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Sheridan sighed. "I
really don’t want to spoil my mood by thinking about RoboCop if you don’t mind."
"No problem" Jay chuckled. "That will just bring me to my earlier question. Who’s the guy that has
you floating on cloud 9?"
"Why do people always assume it’s a guy that’s responsible for an incredibly good mood?" Sheridan asked
curiously.
"Because it usually is a guy that's responsible and in your case, I'm definitely getting a vibe that says
it's all about a guy."
Sheridan laughed. "You are something, you know that Jay?"
"So, who is he Sheridan?" Jay asked. "Some golf fanatic from the Country Club?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sheridan grinned, rolling her eyes. "Those country club sorts are about the
most boring men I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting."
"So who is it then?" Jay asked again.
"He’s just a guy I met on the internet. It’s nothing really, not yet anyway. We started emailing each other
while I was still in Paris and now we email and chat as often as we can. He really is the most incredible person
I’ve ever met."
"So you’ve met him?" Jay asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Actually no" Sheridan grinned shyly.
"Sheridan, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jay asked in concern. "I mean there are a lot of weirdoes
out there just praying on vulnerable women. As a cop I‘ve seen and heard too many Internet horror stories."
"No, it’s not like that at all Jay" Sheridan insisted. We met very innocently, by accident in fact. It’s
not like we were in a chat room looking for a cyber love affair. We have so much in common it’s actually scary."
"Do you know anything about him? His name? Where he lives? What he does for a living? Does he know anything
about you, like maybe the fact that you’re from a rich family?"
"Jay, it really is sweet of you to worry, but I’m telling you it’s not like that" Sheridan tried to assure
Jay. "We talk about things such as what we want out of life, how we’ve overcome past relationships and traveling
the world. I can’t explain it in a way you’ll understand, because I’m not sure I even understand it all myself,
but I feel connected to him and I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about me. I know it sounds crazy, but he‘s
all I can think of these days. When I‘m talking with him I feel as if nothing can hurt me. He‘s fun, charming,
witty and we both want the same things out of life. It‘s almost as if there is a force out there wanting us to
be together. Can you believe we met while I was living in Paris and I came home to Harmony not knowing where he
lived, only to find later we live in the same state?"
"Sheridan, this really sounds wonderful, it does, but you should still be very careful of cyber relationships.
Besides, have you ever stopped to think that while you're spending so much time alone in your house on your PC
you might be passing up a chance at a relationship with the most incredible, hot ,sexy, gorgeous, muscular, intelligent,
fun and "LIVE" specimen of a man in New England?"
Sheridan couldn‘t help but laugh out loud at Jay‘s description of Luis. "Why do I get the feeling you’re trying
to sell Luis on me?" Sheridan asked.
"Because I am trying to sell you on Luis!"
"Jay, if you think Luis is such a wonderful guy and so incredibly hot, why aren’t you dating him?"
"Lots of reasons, Sheridan, lots of reasons" Jay explained."For one, most of the past 10 years Luis
had a girlfriend and there are rules about going after another woman's man, even if you don't like the woman and
you know she's wrong for the guy. In this case, I knew that they weren't right for each other, but when Luis commits
to someone he is a one woman sort of guy and I respected that commitment."
Sheridan listened attentively as Jay explained herself. She respected Jay’s honesty. "Go on" Sheridan
encouraged.
"I first met Luis at the Police Academy. We got thrown together there and became good friends. After the Academy,
when we both joined the Harmony P. D., Chief Bennett assigned us to be partners and it is never a good idea to
get romantically involved with your partner. It will probably surprise you to hear this, but Luis and I actually
talked about our relationship and possibly being "involved." We both agreed that we weren't the right
romantic partners for each other. Besides that, I wanted to live in a warmer climate. Luis is Mr. Harmony. He's
a small town kind of guy and he loves his life here in Harmony, lousy weather and all. No one will ever get him
to leave Harmony. That's what finally broke him and Beth up. She was constantly pushing Luis to leave Harmony for
the big city and when he refused, she left without him."
"I’m surprised anyone could stay with that man for almost ten years" Sheridan smirked. "She deserved
a medal of honor."
"I have to disagree with you on that one Sheridan. You and I don't see eye to eye on Luis right now, but Beth
was not the one who deserved a medal in that relationship."Anyway, having Beth leave town and hearing that
Luis could finally move on with his life was the best news I’ve had in ages."
"I’ll have to trust you on that one."
The morning flew by and Jay and Sheridan managed to categorize all the movies. The kids were having a great time,
and the Jimmy Stewart version of "Rear Window" won when put for a vote against it’s more contemporary
counterpart. Jay and Sheridan gave each other knowing grins, but didn’t dare tell the teens "I told you so"
as they knew it would be the last time they ever be able to show a classic movie.
After lunch and the movies all put away, Jay and Sheridan decided to have the kids work on decorations for the
upcoming End of Summer dance. On her way to the Youth Center that morning, Sheridan had stopped at the Matushek and Company
department store with the intention of purchasing the needed crafts so the kids could make the decorations for
the party.
As luck would have it, she ran into the store's manager, Alfred Kralik. When he saw how excited Sheridan was about
the party and she told him what the event was, he graciously donated all the needed supplies.
Part of the fun, Sheridan knew from her time in Spain was making the decorations yourself. As a Crane, one would
never have the opportunity to do such a thing, which was probably one of the reasons she enjoyed spending time
with her friend Marianna in Spain.
Jay was impressed with Sheridan’s coup and equally impressed with her knowledge of making decorations for a party
with a Latin theme. She was very surprised a Crane would be involved in such menial tasks, never mind be good at
them. She then remembered that Sheridan had spent much of her life away from the Cranes and also Pilar’s insistence
that Sheridan was different from the rest of her family. The Sheridan Crane she was seeing was anything but a stereotypical
Crane and she was going to make sure one way or another that Luis knew that.
Jay watched with interest as Sheridan directed the younger children in cutting the colorful tissue paper into different
shapes and sizes and then stringing them all together. The older kids worked diligently in making the paper maché
piñatas.
"Where on earth did you learn to do this?" Jay finally asked.
"In Spain" Sheridan grinned as she helped Tammy cut out her designs. "Where else?"
"Still, I’m impressed you can do all of this. Somehow if I think of you in Spain, I picture you in the penthouse
suite at a five star resort in Madrid. I doubt they teach guests how to make decorations for fiestas."
"Well, it’s true" Sheridan answered. "I did spend one trip to Spain in such a resort, but the best
times I’ve had there were spent in Costa de Marbella with a host family. I spent a summer there once with that
family and it was wonderful. Marianna, my host took me to all the local festivals and all the people from the village
help plan the fiesta, decorate it and cook all the food. I’m a culinary disaster, so I spent most of my time helping
with the decorating." Sheridan’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she talked about her experiences in Spain.
"Sounds wonderful" Jay remarked.
"It was wonderful" Sheridan offered. "I’ll never visit Spain again from a big city. There’s nothing
like spending time in the small villages with the locals learning their customs. It’s an absolutely beautiful country
and the villagers welcomed me with opened arms. Marbella is probably my favorite place in all of Europe."
Jay had the feeling of déjà vu. There was something so familiar about this conversation, but she
couldn’t place it. She continued to watch as the kids made row after row of brightly colored decorations. The older
kids made three colorful piñatas, a parrot, a pony and bear. They were hoping to help fill them with the
toys and candy, but Jay informed them that would be done right before the party.
Sheridan and Jay were stacking the chairs from the "movie theatre" as the last of the children were picked
up. Buzzy had gone much earlier, it was his son’s birthday and he’d bought tickets for the two of them to see the
Red Sox. Buzzy had been praying all day for the rain to stop and it looked like he finally had his wish, at least
in Harmony. Sheridan and Jay both hoped for Buzzy’s sake that Boston would be the same.
"Sheridan, I’ll finish putting these chairs away if you want to start gathering up the decorations. I’ve cleared
off a shelf in the storage closet for them" Jay yelled across the gym.
"Sure thing" Sheridan returned, as she headed over to the decorations corner. Quickly, she began piling
the beautiful artwork the children made so she could put it all into he storage closet. The rest of the supplies
were still sitting in bags and boxes on the floor, while the piñatas sat on their own table to dry. So involved
with her task, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a male voice say "Hi" from across the
room.
Almost dropping what she was carrying, she looked up to see those handsome penetrating brown eyes staring right
into her deep blue ones. "Hi" she responded without thinking.
"What’s all this?" He asked as he stared at all the decorations in front of him.
"The kids were making decorations for the party" Sheridan told him. "Aren’t they great?"
"Well, yeah" Luis said quite impressed. "They certainly are, but where on earth did all these supplies
come from? I didn’t realize we had this much stuff laying around."
"You didn’t actually" Sheridan began. "I bought them at Matushek
and Company."
"What are you crazy? Why did you go to Matushek
and Company? Don’t you know they’re the most expensive
store in town?" Luis yelled.
"And the best" Sheridan reminded him. She now had her hands on her hips and was prepared for the fight
that would ensue. By now she was used to them.
"The Youth Center doesn't have the money The Crane Empire has Sheridan!" Luis shouted. "We work
off a budget. Now because of your thoughtlessness, we’ll have to do without something else. I know what I’ll do.
I’ll just tell the kids, Sorry kids, but we can’t fill these pinatas because we spent too much money decorating
them, or maybe you’d like it if we decided that 20 of the kids can’t eat that night because there’s not enough
food to go around or maybe..."
"Oh give it a rest!" Sheridan seethed. "Just who the hell do you think you are anyway? For your
information OFFICER,
I didn’t spend any of the Youth Center’s money on these decorations, so get over it!"
"Don’t even tell me you bought this stuff with CRANE money?" Luis asked already having made up his mind that’s
indeed what she’d done. "I don’t believe this!" He shouted throwing his hands up in the air. "Haven’t
I made myself perfectly clear that we don’t WANT anything from the Cranes? We don’t NEED anything from the Cranes.
You need to take this stuff back, all of it."
Sheridan was absolutely fuming. "I will do no such thing!" Sheridan shot back. The two were merely inches
apart and both looked as if they’d kill the other one given half a chance. "Now look OFFICER"
Sheridan shouted angrily, "If you’d ever shut up and listen instead of always assuming you know what a person
is going to say next, you’d have HEARD me say that I didn’t use any of the Youth Center’s money because Mr. Kralik
the store’s manager DONATED all of the supplies." Sheridan turned away from Luis and walked over
to the table to grab an envelope she’d left sitting there.
"Here!" She hollered, shoving the envelope in his hands. "He told me to give you this." Making
sure Luis had the envelope in hand, she gave him one last icy glare and walked out of the gym. Jay shot her an
apologetic look as she’d come back in time to here most of the conversation. She walked over to Luis who was reading
the letter from Alfred Kralik.
"Good going Luis" Jay said quietly. She knew better than to say much more just yet as she could already
see remorse on Luis’ face. Luis didn’t respond to her, he just handed her the letter and walked away.
"Where are you going?" Jay asked.
"I guess this time I need to apologize" he said simply.
Jay glanced down at the letter in her hands and read,
Dear Luis,
Please accept these decorations on behalf of Matushek and Company for the Youth Center. I can not begin to express
my gratitude for everything the Center has done for my family. My granddaughter Tammy has been completely lost
since her mother passed away last summer and it has only been recently that she has begun to return to us. My son
Robert heard her talking to her rag doll last night and cried. It is the first time he’s heard her sweet voice
in a very long time. Please thank that Angel you have working for you, again for me. I didn’t tell her about Tammy
when we met this morning, as I wanted to tell you first. She has the most beautiful spirit I’ve met in a very long
time and I feel as if she truly is an angel sent to help those of us in Harmony. We should all be grateful to have
Sheridan here with us.
Sincerely, Alfred J. Kralik
Jay looked up from reading the letter in total disbelief
as she watched Luis go after Sheridan.
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