Read Online Twisting Topeka by Lissa Staley - Free Book Online Page A

the dusty
leather of the boots, their barnyard scent apparently a delight to
him. Despite Melanie’s tugs, the dog sprawled his short, white body
on the top of the boots. The man reached down and sank his fingers
into Beau’s curly white fur. Man and beast seemed in need of each
other, so Melanie sat to the man’s left, noting the last glimmers
of sunlight sparkling across the pond.
    “ Don’t you love this
garden?” she said. “They created it the same year I started as a
freshman at the new high school building, back in 1931.” She sat
back and analyzed how the garden had matured. “I can’t believe that
was nine years ago. My two favorite places in Topeka—the rock
garden and Topeka High—both finished in the same year. I’d never
considered it.” He didn’t respond, but remained slumped over, his
fingers woven in Beau’s fur while the dog appeared quite content.
Melanie continued:  ”What’s your favorite place in
Topeka?”
    “ I live in the country,” he
said after a long silence. “But I guess it would be the grain
elevator.”
    An unusual response she thought. “I
assume you’re a farmer.”
    “ I won’t be for much
longer,” he replied, choking on the last word. “I have to sell the
farm.”
    “ Why?”
    “ My fiancée is very ill.
The last few years have been difficult for her—her father passed
away. Then her mother got influenza during the winter
and…Loraine…she...” He shook his head but never revealed his face.
“She would never let me help her. Her mother died and Loraine
blamed herself. She…she…well, she’s in the hospital on the hill.”
He nodded to the north, and Melanie knew exactly what he was
referring to.
    “ She’ll get excellent care
there. I promise.”
    “ Expensive care,” he
added.
    “ Yes.” She knew dinner at
her parent’s house would be served at eight o’clock sharp, but
walking away from this man and his pain seemed heartless. “What’s
your name?”
    “ Reginald.”
    “ It’s nice to meet you. I’m
Melanie.” His face remained hidden, but a bit of black hair
protruded under the bottom of his straw hat. “I’m a graduate
student at Kansas University,” she said. “It’s spring break week,
and I had planned to spend it at the Gulf of Mexico with my
sorority sisters, but after a few days I was bored. Perhaps I’m too
grown-up for that sort of thing now.” No response from the man. “So
I came back early. Maybe for the company of adults.”
    Reginald let go of Beau and slapped
that hand over his face, loud sobs causing Melanie to regret her
words. “This pond is so pretty,” she said quickly, hoping to plant
happier thoughts in his head. “But all the years I’ve been coming
here with my family and Beau, I’ve never left without having this
one thought.” She pointed to the clearing. “I’d like to see a water
fountain in that spot. European. Romantic. Poseidon, the Greek God
of the sea, standing tall in the center of a pool, with water
shooting straight up in the air from the tips of his trident. And
off to the side of the pool,” she motioned, “I imagine Pegasus
playfully splashing in the water.” Melanie sighed, looking up to
the heavens. It was going to be a wonderful night. Even though her
mother was on the east coast visiting her grandmother, Melanie was
so looking forward to time with her father. She’d have a quiet
dinner with him, maybe a few games of cards, then she’d sleep in
her own bed with Beau snoozing by her feet.
    Reginald stood up but still kept his
head twisted away from her. Beau jumped on her lap nuzzling his
face into her dress. “An awful waste of money if I ever heard one,”
Reginald said. “I apologize for being bad company. Good night,
ma’am.”
    He walked down the path, then down the
road. Melanie didn’t move an inch until he was out of sight. She
allowed her back to relax, enjoying the sunset for twenty minutes
or so, imagining evening sunrays sparkling across the splashing
water of