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Clark turned the vehicle and started toward Lexington. Beth looked out the window rather than face him. When he entered the parking garage of a high-rise apartment building, she needed no more proof that Clark’s economic situation had improved greatly. She had refused to many him because she wanted someone to take her away from eastern Kentucky, and now here he was, ensconced in a city, and she was going back to Harlan County. Beth could have cried over the ironic twist of fate, but she didn’t have any more tears left. She’d shed them all in his luxury vehicle.
“I live on the eighth floor,” he said. “I like it up there. I can look out over most of the other buildings and pretend I see the mountains, even if I can’t.”
“Then you don’t like living here?” Beth asked in some surprise, as they entered the heavily carpeted building and waited for the elevator.
“It isn’t home.”
Beth hadn’t looked at Clark since she’d first seen him in Shriver’s office, but she sensed that his tender, compassionate eyes watched her intently.
“It’s just a small apartment,” he said, as he opened the door into a combination living room and kitchenette, with a door to the left leading to a bedroom. Clark took her coat and hung it in the closet, then shrugged out of his topcoat.
“I’ll make something to drink. Tea or coffee?”
“Tea with some sugar, please. If I may, I’ll go to the bathroom and rinse my face.”
He pointed toward the bedroom door, turned on the gas burner, and ran water into a teakettle. Beth took her purse and went into the bathroom. Her makeup was streaked, her eyes were red, and her skin felt dry and parched. She drenched a washcloth with hot water and soaked up the warmth from it into her face. With the small amount of makeup she had in her purse, she was able to repair some of the damage from her crying jag.
As she walked through Clark’s bedroom, she stopped abruptly and stared at the picture in a gilded heart-shaped frame on the nightstand beside his bed. It was her ninth-grade picture—the one she had once given him for Christmas. Beth clutched her throat, hardly able to breathe, and a sob escaped her lips. “Oh, Clark,” she whispered.
So Clark was still harboring the unfailing love he’d once declared for her. She had assumed that by now he had found someone else. Dared she admit that she had feared he might have forgotten her? And she certainly wouldn’t have blamed him if he had.
Returning to the kitchen, she found Clark had set two cups and two small plates on the table. Water was boiling, and she smelled scrambled eggs and toast. She didn’t mention the picture.
He held a chair for her, put a tea bag in her cup and poured hot water over it. He placed a slice of toast and a portion of eggs on each plate, then pushed the butter plate to where she could reach it.
“Do you realize that this is the first time we’ve ever eaten a meal together?” he asked.
She lowered her eyes and fiddled with the spoon beside her plate.
“Sorry I can’t do any better with the menu, but I don’t eat here except for breakfast I’m either at a business dinner or bring in takeout.”
Beth could tell that Clark was chatting to give her time to regain her composure, but at last he said, “I’m sorry that meeting me gave you such a jolt. I didn’t realize it would be a complete surprise to you.”
“It wasn’t only that. I’ve been wallowing in sentiment for the past two days, and encountering you was just the last straw. You see, I made the mistake yesterday of going back to Randolph Mountain, and all the memories that I’d kept bottled up for seven years exploded.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “I’d rather hear about you. The last time I saw you, you were working in the mine. Today, you’re an executive in the company. How did it happen?”
“I thought perhaps you’d heard.”
“Nothing. My grandmother died a tew weeks before I went to Pennsylvania, and I didn’t correspond with anyone in Kentucky while I was away.”
They ate in silence. Beth felt ill at ease in Clark’s presence, and she had never been that way before. It was a strange sensation.
“Let’s take our tea into the living room where we can be more comfortable.” He poured some more hot water into their cups, replaced the tea bags in the liquid, and carried them to a table in front of the couch. She sat on the couch, and he took the chair opposite her.
“Didn’t you know that my mother’s maiden name was Shriver?”
Beth shook her head, wonderingly. The way he had occupied her mind for seven years, it was amazing how little she knew about him and his family.
“She’s Milton Shriver’s sister, but her father disowned her when she married Daddy, who was a poor coal miner. My mother is proud, and she never contacted any of her family—not even after Daddy was hurt and we lived in dire circumstances. Nor was she notified when her parents died.”
Sometimes when Beth heard about the problems of others, she wondered if her childhood had been as difficult as she’d thought.
“Soon after you left for college, I was able to prevent a mine accident that could easily have led to a disaster involving the loss of many lives. The newspapers played up the story, and several of the company officials, including Milton, came down to the mine to thank me.”
The hot tea was soothing and Beth kicked off her shoes, curled her feet beneath her, and listened wonderingly as Clark explained his rise from “rags to riches.”
“After my grandfather died, Milton had become the CEO of the company, and when he realized my identity, he decided that it was time to make some recompense for the wrongs of the past. My parents refused to take anything from him, but he offered to send me to college and continue my salary, so that I could still help my family. It seemed like too good an opportunity to refuse.”
Beth stared at him, her eyes wide in wonder. It sounded like a fairy story, but it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.
“While I was in college, I was an apprentice here at the corporate offices and out in the field, learning more about the mining industry. After two years I started to work full-time for the company, but I still take night classes and will eventually earn an engineering degree.”
“What do you do for the company?”
“They’ve given me the title of ‘technical supervisor,’ but I’m mostly a troubleshooter,” he said, with a grin. “It took a lot of doing to transform me from a miner to an executive, but the company enrolled me in some classes, so I’ve learned how to dress and how to conduct myself in various social situations.”
She smiled at him. “I’m really impressed by your success. I was considering the irony of life a few minutes ago. You were content to stay in the coalfields, and now you’re here in Lexington, living in a plush apartment and headed for the top. And I, who wanted to leave Kentucky forever, am being sent back to Harlan County. That news is what really set me off.”
“I don’t spend all my time in the office,” he told her. “I’m around the coal mines more than I am here. That’s why Milton thought I was the one to show you the new clinic and acquaint you with your work there.”
“He said you would be my supervisor.”
“Not really. I couldn’t supervise a nurse, but I’m your liaison with the company. If you have any trouble, I’m supposed to assist you.”
Beth put her cup on the table and walked to the window, where Clark had said he stood and pretended he was in the mountains. She found she couldn’t imagine anything beyond the rooftops of the buildings around them and the noise of traffic that moved in a steady stream around the apartment complex. The cold air radiating from the windowpane reminded her of her chilly, miserable experience of the day before.
“I drove up Randolph Mountain yesterday, walked out to the summit, looked over my birthplace, and now I wish that I hadn’t. For years I’ve tried to ignore that part of my life, but when I stood on the ridge with the wind sweeping up from the hollow, I started remembering things I hoped I’d forgotten. I’ve been miserable ever since.”
Clark came to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him gratefully.
“Everything wasn’t so bad, was it? Don’t you have any pleasant memories?”
“No, not really, for my parents seemed to fear any changes in our lives, and I resented it. I know now that it was fear of the complications of ill health, but as a child, I didn’t realize that I was a misfit somehow—I was never satisfied with my life, but I couldn’t seem to do anything about it. When I return to Harlan County, it will seem as if I’m retracing the past.”
“You don’t have to go back. Milton will find some other place for you—he’s a reasonable man. People with your training are in demand in many different institutions.” He paused for a moment, and his hand massaged her shoulders, and the muscles in her neck relaxed. “But, Bethie—” and her heart ached when he used his special name for her “—if you’re ever going to be happy, you’ll have to deal with the past and the hang-ups you have about it. If you do choose to take this job, I’ll be there to help you as much as possible. I’ll see you over the rough spots.”
Wearily she said, “Oh, I’ll go—I don’t think it’s right to refuse or ask for a different assignment. If it hadn’t been for Shriver Mining, I would probably be working for minimum wage in some store or market I could never have gotten anyplace on my own. I owe the corporation two years of my life, but I dread it.”
Clark squeezed her slightly. “Shall we go get your car and check you into the motel, then we can drive someplace for dinner? I know a nice restaurant close to the interstate a few miles to the west.”
“I do feel hungry. My stomach was in knots a few hours ago, but I’m getting over it” She touched his arm as they started to leave the apartment “I want you to know that I’m happy you’ve done so well, Clark. I’m proud of you, and thanks for understanding about what happened today. I don’t know what Mr. Shriver thought of my behavior.”
“Whatever he thought, he won’t question you about it. I’ve learned to have a great deal of respect for him.”
When they parked at the motel, Beth said, “All I need for the night is that small case and the hanging bag that contains my better clothing. All of those other cartons are books and mementos I accumulated while I was away.”
“Nice car,” Clark said, looking over the brown four-door sedan.
“It took almost all of me money I had to make a down payment on it, but I knew I had to have some kind of transportation. I’ve had it only about a week.”
“You’ll be getting an adequate salary now, so you won’t have to worry about finances.”
Clark carried in her luggage, and after Beth registered, he paid for her lodging with a company credit card.
“She may want to stay longer,” he explained to the clerk, “but her plans are indefinite just yet.”
In the room, Beth said, “Give me a few minutes to change my clothes.” She took a dress from her garment bag, and carried the small suitcase to the bathroom. Clark flipped on the television, and when she returned, he was sprawled in the easy chair, engrossed in a football game.
“I always wanted to play football,” he said. “That’s one of the regrets of my past.”
“Do you have many of them?” Beth asked, as she perched on the arm of the couch.
“Not many,” he replied, and his face had a guarded look that didn’t reveal his true thoughts.
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