When Caroline searched for airline
tickets to San Antonio and accidentally bought a round trip ticket on
a one-click-unrefundable website she was overjoyed. She would see her
sister and baby nephew at last! Sara and Toby had lived in Texas for
four months and their baby, Ben, was already saying 'mama.'
Caroline's parents were not so
exultant: it was not a bargain and would cost her fifty extra
dollars. The extra cost didn't trouble Caroline, for she was
determined to see Leon Wasser, millionaire, at his annual music event
while she was visiting his city, and she was gladly paying four
hundred and fifty dollars on his account.
Leon Wasser of San Antonio! The
famous cowboy singer she followed avidly on facebook, liking every
picture and commenting on every post. There was no one like the
handsome Leon Wasser to make her heart race and face blush; she was
determined to get a glimpse of him.
The only difficulty in her life
now was her clothes. Especially her cowboy boots. They were old and
out of style and the heels were wobbly. But the extra fifty dollars
for the ticket was the last fifty dollars to her name and there
wasn't time to earn more money before she left.
So Caroline arrived at the STA
airport looking outdated and wobbly, but very, very happy.
“Sister!” cried Sara, rushing
to hug her. “I can't believe you spent all that money to come visit
me because you knew I've been lonely here in Texas, and you knew I
was lonely because we are such close sisters, and I was so excited
when I got your text about coming, and you are a dear sister, and now
you're here!”
Caroline exchanged her heavy
carry-on for her sister's bouncing baby and the visit began.
It was a blazing Texas afternoon;
the sun shone so brightly Caroline wondered how her sister survived
in such a desert. In her own state, it was 75 degrees with a chance
of rain.
For a couple days, the sisters
talked and giggled, shared news and personal information, shopped,
watched chic flicks and cooked nice dinners for when Toby got home
from work.
Caroline vocally lamented her
shabby clothes and worn-out boots and secretly watched and waited for
her opportunity to stalk Leon Wasser in the downtown part of the
city. But Sara was so enjoying her sister's company, Caroline didn't
get an hour to herself, and Caroline refused to reveal the true
mission of her flight to San Antonio to her sweet, unsuspecting
sister who wouldn't understand. Caroline was frustrated almost to
tear thinking she would not see Leon at all, when Sara finally
proposed touring the Alamo.
Caroline made some sandwiches for
lunch (she planned on being gone all day,) snatched Ben from his
swing and jumped in the car.
The sky looked apologetic for its
scorching severity, covering the whole city in an embrace of clouds.
Caroline planned carefully as they rode downtown.
She planned to slip away from Sara
while they were shopping at the mall and run across the road to the
convention center. Billboards and posters in town were all announcing
The Leon Wasser Event, $120 a ticket. Somehow she see that cowboy
singer: she would wait at the front door, or the back door to see him
enter, she would find a discarded ticket in the trash, she would peer
at him through the gap between closed doors- anything!
Now Sara was discussing the
stroller she got on sale, and how her eyes were feeling irritated,
and that Ben inherited his allergies from her. They took selfies in
front of the Alamo and in the gardens. Next the gift shop and then a
beautiful stroll along the Riverwalk toward the mall.
Caroline's heart began to pound.
She looked for her opportunity.
Then, three sudden things
happened: Sara's phone vibrated, Sara began sneezing violently, and
the embrace of clouds released a sudden downpour of rain with a
thunderclap.
“It is raining,” called a
Hispanic tour guide from inside a nearby parking garage. “Come in,
come in!”
Sara rolled the stroller quickly
into the shelter, sneezing and sneezing.
“It- it's my- allergies...”
she said, checking her phone. “And T-Toby says he's bringing a-a-a
co-worker to dinner. He-he wants that roast” and here she sneezed the word 'roast' which sounded like a bark and a homeless dog replied
and wagged his tail. “and that roast-”
bark! “takes hours to make. We have to- to go home.”
“Maybe
I could stay downtown and catch a bus later,” Caroline immediately
murmured, hardly realizing she spoke.
Sara
sneezed again and baby Ben gave an infant 'achoo' like an echo.
Caroline
looked from her sister to her nephew; their eyes were already puffy
and red.
“Or
maybe I should drive you home and help you make that roast,” she
answered herself. Her heart sank. She could see groups of fancily
dressed people hurrying inside the convention center across the road
where a huge banner of Leon Wasser playing a guitar fought with
gusty, Texas wind.
“please-”
said Sara right before a fit of sneezing interrupted her.
Caroline
loved her sister and knew what she must do.
“Come
on,” she said, taking control of the stroller with right hand and
taking her sister's hand with her left.
“Sidewalk
blocked ahead,” said the tour guide, pointing to a detour sign.
“Notice signs. Be careful.”
Caroline
whimpered goodby to Leon and plunged into the downpour, half running
with the stroller and pulling poor Sara along, followed by the
homeless dog barking encouragingly every time Sara or Ben sneezed.
The
heels on her boots wobbled looser and looser. With a sharp scream,
Caroline tripped to a stop. The heel of her left boot completely fell
off, and the last binding seams of them both were disintegrating
before her eyes. She kicked them off and stood up in her socks.
It
was a wild run back to the Alamo, and Caroline could not tell what
was rain or tears on her face, or distinguish between the desert
storm and the storm in her heart when they reached the car. She got
her relatives safely in the back seat, tossed the dog on top of them,
and hopped into the driver's seat, giving the key a sharp turn in the
ignition.
She
saw the convention banner tear away from the building and fall to the
ground as she drove past it, and Leon Wasser seemed to stare at her
with a shocked and hurt face from the billboards.
Everything
was sad.
At
home, Caroline found her sister's allergy medicine, changed Ben's wet
clothes, prepared the roast and got it in the oven. She picked up
around the house, washed the dog, named him Leon and fed him,
reproaching the storm whenever she saw it out a window.
“Desert
rain!” she chafed. “It's not even beautiful, eastern, country
rain that grows blue grass and corn and fresh tomatoes!” Then she
noticed her feet. “My boots!” she moaned. “The only shoes I
brought to Texas and now I must go home in socks!”
Six
o'clock came and Caroline was subdued but sorrowful. Toby and his
co-worker arrived and she laid a delicious meal on the table. Ben was
sleeping peacefully, and Sara was well enough to sit at the table by
her husband and thank Caroline for dinner.
After
dinner she served brownies and very strong coffee.
“Perfect
coffee, Caroline,” Toby said. “Carson likes strong coffee; it's
so strong, though, that I can't drink it.”
Caroline
hadn't even looked at their guest but now she watched Carson take a
sip of the coffee and smile. It was so much like Leon Wasser's smile
that tears refilled her eyes, and Carson thought it was the cutest
gesture of hospitable goodwill he had ever seen.
He
came over every day after that, and finally asked Caroline out for a
date.
The
evening before she left, Carson told her he loved her and asked if
her could give her a symbol of his desire to take care of her
forever. It was not a kiss, it was not a ring, it was a pair of Leon
Wasser-brand, turquoise-colored, pearl-studded cowboy boots!
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