"All Over Again" (continued) "He's billing us for how many gallons of milk?" Gloria Davis threw her hands up in the air and shook her head. She was clearly upset over something--so upset that she must not have heard the bells on the door ring when Hank walked into Rupert's. As Hank came up to the counter, taking off his hat and setting it down before him, he heard Gloria say from behind their door-less kitchen, "I told him if this happened again, we would switch vendors. Didn't you talk to him, Abel?" "Of course, I did, Mother! He's got a new delivery boy--I'm sure it's just an honest mistake." "All his honest mistakes are going to put us out of business." She sighed and handed the coffee pot to Abe, then grabbed one of her own and motioned him to follow her. "Well I guess we'd better get back out there." Hank felt a little uncomfortable having been within earshot of their conversation. It was bad enough he found himself in the middle of Jeff and Ginger's newlywed bantering earlier, but now he seemed to have managed to overhear yet another couple's private discussion. As he saw the Davises emerging from the kitchen, he quickly got back up again from his seat, pretending to have just arrived so they wouldn't know he had ever heard a thing. "I heard this place served the best cobbler around," he said, smiling as he caught Abe's eye. "Hank? Hank Metcalf? Well how are you son!" Abe placed the coffee pot down and marched over to him, shaking his hand vigorously. "Mother," he said, waving Gloria over, "look who it is!" "Why, Hank, when did you get back in town?" Her warm cocoa eyes crinkled into a smile as she came to her husband's side. "Just this afternoon," Hank said. "My brother and his wife are renewing their wedding vows, and it's become quite an occasion..." Abe nodded, draping an arm across Gloria's shoulders and pulling her close to him. "Yes, Jeff was kind enough to invite us," he said. "Your brother is a fine young man. A fine young man." Hank pretended to smile, though he suddenly felt as if he had just been knifed in the heart. "And he's lucky to have married such a great lady," he finally said, knowing his silence would have probably elicited a question from the Davises. "He doesn't deserve her, but for some reason, she loves him anyway." "Oh what a thing to say!" Gloria laughed, swatting him playfully on the arm. "But you're right, Ginger is quite a gal. Jeff brought her over here a while back to introduce her to us." "My mother even had her autograph a can of tomato juice we had in the pantry," Abe said with a chuckle. "She won't let us open it--not even to make tomato soup. She said this was the first time she had met any celebrity, and here she met two in one shot." "They make a lovely couple," Gloria said. "What about you, Hank? Have you..." She seemed a little uncomfortable with asking the question and paused for a bit before she went on, as if choosing her words carefully. "A young man like you, I'm sure you'll be finding a nice girl soon... I'm sorry, I hope I'm not getting too personal-" Hank smiled at her. "No, Mrs. Davis, it's all right," he said. "My mother tells me this all the time too. I don't mind, really." "I know you lost your wife in such a tragic way," she said softly. She looked at Abe, who offered a smile of understanding. "The world is... it's not fair sometimes," he said. "No," Hank said, "it's not. But we make the best of what we're given." "That's right," Gloria said. "Well Hank, it's been really wonderful to see you--we don't want to keep you from your family-" "Oh no, not at all," Hank said. "I've already gone to the house. I was there a while ago. I stopped by to have dinner here at my favorite restaurant." Gloria smiled with a mixture of puzzlement and gratitude. "A-aren't you... I mean, of course you're welcome to have dinner here, but... you're not having dinner at the Metcalfs?" Hank shook his head. "My sister is working late. Jeff and Ginger have some sort of party to attend, and my mother and her husband have plans too." He knew the story sounded too thin, but he hoped they wouldn't push it any further. "So I thought, what better night than to come here?" "Well, since you haven't been here in a while," Gloria said, "you're in for quite a treat." "I am?" She nodded and smiled excitedly at Abe, who handed Hank the menu. "Go ahead," Abe said, "take a look at the third item there." "Chicken-fried steak!" "That's right," Gloria said. "We couldn't afford beef on the menu when we first opened, but the good Lord has been especially kind to us and we've been able to turn a profit on this place in the last few months. So the first thing we did was bring back Rupert's specialty." Hank laughed softly as he looked down on the menu again. Chicken-fried steak. This had been the best news he'd gotten in a while. Ginger had already been awake for hours when Linda poked her head into the kitchen. "Is that bacon I smell?" "Oh hey, sleepyhead!" Ginger said, waving her in with the hand that held the spatula. "Jeff had an early practice today, so I thought I'd make breakfast for everyone since I was already up." Linda reached for a piece of bacon on the plate that Ginger had set on the counter and smiled as she put it her mouth. "I can see living with the Fine Family Foods Hour hostess has its advantages," she said. "You're spoiling us rotten, Ginger. Mom said the other day that she doesn't remember the last time she cooked since she and Al have been back. And you and Jeff taking care of Michael--it's been a lifesaver for them." Ginger laughed and shrugged off the praises. "Well your family has always been aces to me, Linda." She emptied the rest of the bacon from the frying pan onto the plate, and sat down at the table with her sister-in-law. "As a matter of fact," she said, "I've felt like a part of this family since the day we moved down the street and my mother brought me over here to ask your mother if she'd let you play with me." "Oh, how could I forget!" Linda said, nearly choking on her toast as she let out a giggle. "Even at nine years old you were a little spitfire, Ginger." "I was, wasn't I?" Ginger said, joining her in laughter. "Jeff likes to remind me that I still am." "Well, that's why he loves you so much." Ginger felt herself blush. It still felt strange to her at times, talking to Linda about Jeff. Growing up, she had never in a million years imagined she would fall in love with her best friend's brother. She had always thought he was polite and sweet, and well, even she had to admit that once Jeff entered his teenage years, there were times where she would notice just how good-looking he had become. But she had never given him much thought beyond that. At nineteen, she was already planning a life with Charlie--something that only amused her now when she thought about it. Life sure had a funny way of surprising her. She looked beside her at Linda, eating her breakfast in silence. "Hey," she said, nudging her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Why the long face all of the sudden?" "I'm just so tired," Linda said--rather unconvincingly. "Phil asked me to get this story in this morning's edition..." She paused to yawn and rubbed at her eyes. "Don't get me wrong, Ginger, I love this job. I love being at the paper, and I love being a reporter, but I guess I just never expected this much work. I couldn't even help you with the paper flowers last night!" "Oh Linda, don't mention those paper flowers to me," Ginger snapped back, remembering her frustration from last night. Linda tried to suppress a snicker--Ginger started to glare at her, but couldn't resist laughing herself. "Don't feel bad about it," she finally said, between breaths. "Besides, Gina and Judy are coming by later to try on the dresses that Gina finally finished last week. I plan to beg for their help with the rest of the decorations." "Ginger?" "Hmm?" "I'm glad... I'm glad you're finally getting to have your wedding. A proper wedding. I know how long you've waited for this day." Again, Ginger felt the hot rush of blood to her cheeks. "I'm lucky I get the best of both worlds," she said softly. "I got to marry your brother, which was the most important thing, after all, but now I'm going to get to have my dream wedding too." Linda returned her eyes to her plate and didn't say anything. For a moment, Ginger cursed herself silently for having gushed about her wedding, when it was obvious that talking about it was a bit tough for Linda. They had both had their hearts broken once the war ended, but Ginger had been lucky enough to fall in love with Jeff; her best friend hadn't been so fortunate in finding true love as of yet. "I'm sorry, Linda," she muttered. "What? Oh no, there's nothing to be sorry about!" She got to her feet and took her plate to the sink. She had answered a little too quickly, as far as Ginger was concerned. "Come on, this is me you're talking to. Don't forget I'm the one who got drunk with you in this very kitchen three years ago, when Mike..." Linda broke into a smile without looking at Ginger. "Sometimes I hate the fact that you know me so well," she said, heading back to the table. "Ginger, I don't want to take anything away from your day... This is your time to be happy and I am not about to rain on your parade." "Would you just let me help?" Ginger said. "Heaven knows you've been my sounding board enough times in my life. Let me return the favor once in a while, won't you?" Linda let out a sigh and looked back up at her. "I just thought... I mean, I love having a career, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but..." "But you'd also like someone to come home to." Linda nodded. "Three years ago my life was all planned out. And then Mike..." She stopped herself, perhaps knowing that Ginger had heard the slight tremor in her voice. "And then Phil shows up in my life, and I thought it might lead to something, but all it led to was a dead end." Finally she laughed shakily and said, "Why can't you have any brothers I can fall in love with too?" Ginger put her arms around her and drew her in for an embrace. "He's out there somewhere," she said. "You just don't know when love comes along. Take me for example! Who would have ever thought Jeff and I would end up together?" "Certainly not me." "Linda Metcalf!" "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Linda laughed. "In case I haven't told you this lately... I'm awfully glad you're my sister-in-law." Ginger smiled. "Me too, Linda." Previous| Next Home| Kyle| Tammy| History| Transcripts|Quotes|Milestones|Episodes| Pictures| Fanfic| Links| Email List