Facing the Hurt
by CLynn
Part I
Jim stood straight in front the full length mirror in his bedroom. He tucked his green long sleeve shirt into his jeans. Jim turned left, then right making sure he looked okay and that there were no spots or weird marks on his jeans or shirt. He took a deep breath, looked the image of himself straight in the eye. Honey had mentioned at breakfast that Trixie’s fiancé had arrive,d but he was hoping that Trixie would still agree to go for a walk with him or at the very least to talk with him. He gave himself a pep-talk. “Okay, you can do this. You can face them all. You can face Trixie and hear what she has to say. You can meet and make nice with Mike.” With that thought spoken, Jim grimaced, turned and left his room. As he walked down the hill towards Crabapple Farm he gave himself another pep-talk. As he approached the farm, he could hear Honey and Trixie laughing in the kitchen and a bit of a commotion.
“Trixie, you’re going to set that on fire!” Mart yelled.
Jim walked quietly up the steps, onto the porch hoping to hear more.
“Oh, but sweetie,” he could hear Honey respond, “She has her own firefighter right here.”
How could she have her own firefighter here? Firefighter! Her fiancé is a firefighter. Jim stopped his hand raised in the air to knock on the door. How am I going to compete with a firefighter? All women love firefighters and they’re always saying how hot they are. Maybe this one won’t be, he thought hopefully. Knocking on the kitchen door, he could hear Trixie squealing, and Mart and another man’s laughter.
As Mart opened the door, Jim could see Trixie and Honey disappearing into the living room and Mrs. Belden standing at the stove. As Jim stepped into the kitchen, Mrs. Belden turned and smiled at him. Helen spoke first, “Hello dear, so glad you could make it. Have your parents returned yet?”
Jim smiled. “No, I’m afraid not Mrs. Belden. They were not at the house by the time I left.” He turned to face Mart. He could see dark circles under his eyes; and Jim really didn’t want to think about what might have caused those circles. “Hi, Mart. How’s it going?”
Mart hesitated, the things he had heard from Trixie and Mike were fresh in his mind. So were Honey’s comments, and the struggles he knew Jim had been through in recent years. “Hi, Jim. Glad you could make it.” Mart nodded towards the living room, and the laughter coming from it. “The others are in there.”
Jim glanced towards the laughter, and taking a shaky breath, he headed towards the happy sounds emanating from the living room.
Brian spotted him first. “Hey, Jim.” As he stood, he gestured to another man to follow him, a man that Jim had never seen. “Mike, this is Jim, Honey’s brother.” Brian turned to include the other man, “Jim, this is Mike, Trixie’s fiancé.” All but one head in the room turned to watch both Jim and Mike’s reactions.
Trixie held her head down. I can do this, she thought, when it comes time for all of us to say hi, I WILL look him in the eye and say hello. And then, I will tell him we need to talk.
“You can do this,” a voice whispered in her ear. “You are strong,” whispered another voice in her other ear.
Trixie smiled thankfully at her two best friends. “Thank you, Honey. Thank you, Di.”
Mike held Jim’s gaze steady, his face held a smile, a hard smile but a smile nonetheless. Mike took in the man in front of him. A little shorter than I was expecting, he thought. He looks nervous. His hand shake is definitely firm, a little tense I’d say. Yeah buddy, I’m going to look you straight in the eye. Others may falter or back down from you, but I will not.
“Nice to meet you, Jim.”
Wow, he’s taller than I was expecting, he’s at least two inches taller than me. He’s strong; I’m not going to look away first Mike. “Likewise. Welcome to Sleepyside.”
Both men held each other’s hands firmly. Mike released first and turned to reclaim his seat on the couch.
Honey stood and walked over to her brother, “Hi Jim.” She hugged him, pulling him down so that her lips almost touched his ear she hissed, “Behave.”
“Hi, Jim,” Di smiled at him.
“Hey,” added Dan, before turning his attention back to his wife watching Trixie carefully out of the corner of his eye.
Trixie took a deep breath. Getting a comforting squeeze of the hand from Mike, she turned to look Jim straight in the eye. “Hello Jim, long time no see.”
Jim smiled tensely. What am I supposed to say to that?! She left! “But you were the cause of her failure to return,” the voice in the back of his head reminded him. “Hello Trixie.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t think I had a chance the other day to welcome you home. Welcome back, Trixie.” Jim held his hand out.
Honey watched as Trixie then turned and looked at Mike. He was looking up at her, his love written all over his face. In his expression and his eyes, she seemed to find the strength that she needed. Trixie’s eyes closed and she turned once again to face Jim. Shaking his hand, she spoke, “Hi, Jim. I think, no,” she paused, “I know we need to talk. Shall we go sit in the garden for a bit?”
Jim drew a shaky breath, “If that is what you want.” He cringed; it came out colder than he meant it to. Jim followed Trixie through the kitchen and out the door.
In the kitchen, Helen came down the stairs. “Well,” she said, “since I didn’t hear any yelling can I assume that that went better than expected? Where did they go to talk?”
Mart, who entered the kitchen in time to hear his mother’s question, gestured towards the garden. “Out there.” He was followed by all the Bob-Whites and Mike. They moved towards the window overlooking the garden.
“Good!” exclaimed Peter, “W can keep an eye on them from here.”
“Peter!” Helen admonished glancing at Honey.
“No, Moms, it is okay,” Honey’s expression was troubled, “as hard as it is for me to accept what Jim did, I know that Trixie is telling the truth.” She grinned conspiratorially. “And from here, we can make sure Trixie doesn’t deck him.”
Mike smiled with some relief at Honey’s statement, crossed the kitchen and pulled her into a hug.
Through the window, they could see Jim and Trixie talking on the bench. In the kitchen Mike helped Honey, Helen and Mart with the preparations for the dinner.
Diana turned away from the window. “Maybe we shouldn’t be standing here watching them, what if one of them comes in and,” she barely got those words out of her mouth before Trixie forcibly walked through the door. She looked at her friends and family all gathered in the kitchen, all whom were trying, and failing, to not look at her.
“No offense to your valiant efforts,” she sneered, “however, we are fully aware that you were watching us. As I just told Jim, I do not have the energy to dissect or discuss this anymore. I don’t have it in me.” Trixie took a deep breath. “So, for tonight, Jim and I are going to work on being civil, and not making anyone else feel uncomfortable. I am going to lie down for a bit.” With that she turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs to her room.
Mart cleared his throat. “I am going to suggest, now mind you this is just a suggestion… that we all scatter so that Jim does not enter an inquisition.” Honey smiled at him, “My second suggestion is that Mike keeps Trix company for a bit.”
As Mike disappeared up the stairs, the doorbell rang.
“Crabapple Farm has a working doorbell?” Asked Dan.
Everyone present laughed. Mart shook his head chuckling. As per usual if he couldn’t lighten the mood, his best friend could. “Imagine that?” Mart cocked an eyebrow at Dan.
Brian re-entered the kitchen with his fiancée, Addy. “Hi everyone,” she smiled. “Sorry I’m late. Brian filled me in on the plan for tonight.” She glanced out the window and saw that Jim was still sitting on the bench, alone.
Outside Jim had his head in his hands, thinking. I knew I would have competition; I wasn’t prepared for how much. He’s happy, she’s happy. He is good for her, he loves he. I can see that he loves her. It was written all over his face when she greeted me. It was all over her face when she looked at him. Jim drew a deep breath. It is not a competition. All I can hope for is her forgiveness and friendship. Jim squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from flowing down his cheeks. Failing to do so, he wiped his hands across his face. Jim sighed, pushed himself off the bench and for the second time that night walked towards Crabapple Farm and the warm inviting kitchen.
To Be Continued
Author’s Notes:
The characters Mike and Addy belongs to me, they are a figment of my imagination, any resemblance to anyone real is purely a coincidence. All other characters are from the Trixie Belden series and are property of Random House. No money is being made from this story.
I want to say thank you to my wonderful editor from the board, Jill. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.