As Mr. Jenson reached the bank he tried to maintain his anger. Mr. Jenson knew that Steven was just like his father. Jack Spazcosi’s laziness had ruined his last chance to say goodbye to his mother. Steven Spazcosi’s laziness had ruined his wonderful meeting with Lilly Watson. Mr. Jenson did find solace in the stark contrast between the two children; Lilly Watson and Steven Spazcosi. One was well groomed, well spoken and did nothing but good for the town of Liberty. The other wore ratty clothes, didn’t have the common courtesy to say excuse me and in Mr. Jenson’s mind had never done anything for anyone but himself. Mr. Jenson had heard the old adage ‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’, way too many times, but this was a typical example of how untrue that axiom was. Mr. Jenson straightened his tie and tried his hardest to supplant the thoughts of the Spazcosi’s with the remembrance of lovely Lilly Watson. It wasn’t working but he pretended that it was. He put on a huge fake smile and walked though the bank’s front door.
Lilly Watson would always treat herself to a sweet on the bus ride to Jefferson City. Depending on her mood she would either get an ice cream at Mr. Sugars or a bear claw pastry at ABC bakery. Lilly for the most part would alternate every week between the two. Once in a blue moon during the summer Lilly would get fresh strawberries at the simple plywood fruit stand that the Johnson’s had build on the empty lot where the voluntary fire station had burned down. When Mr. Sugars saw that Lilly was coming to his shop he was very ecstatic. This was two weeks in a row. Mr. Sugars felt a little bad that he wasn’t able to say proper goodbye to Mr. Jenson but he really wanted to make sure that he had Lilly’s ice cream ready so that she didn’t miss the bus.
As he finished putting the chocolate sprinkles onto the two scoops of chocolate chip ice cream, he looked up to see Lilly bump on into the store. Mr. Sugars wondered once again how this little girl could see where she was going though with the precariously stacked boxes in her arms. Mr. Sugars suddenly realized that Lilly was heading straight for an unexpected Ms. Bates. Ms. Bates always came into the store after her lunch to grab butterscotch candy. Mr. Sugars was a married man but he often thought if he wasn’t, Ms. Bates would be the type of woman that he would court. Ms. Bates was a little overweight, but Mr. Sugars really didn’t care. She was smart, fun loving, independent and she loved his candy. These were important qualities in a woman, but what made Ms. Bates even more special was that she was an artist. The made wonderful thinks out of glass, everything from vases to bowls to glass figurines.
Mr. Sugars loved his wife. He would never leave her for another woman, divorce just wasn’t done in Liberty, but sometimes his mind would wander. He would think about how his life might have been different if he would have never got caught up in the tornado that was his wife. Janet’s family for the most part owned the whole town. Jonah Philips, Janet’s great grand father, was co-founder of the Liberty. He and Thomas Johnson Sr. had established Liberty as a supply town over 100 years ago. The Philips had always carried an air of superiority, even when Janet and Mr. Sugars were kids; she acted as if she owned the town. A fact that was indirectly true. Back then Janet never gave a second look at the young Mr. Sugars. He was the son of the local miller and she had been in love with Benjamin Packard. Big Dumb Ben as Mr. Sugars use to call him in school was everything that a school girl could want. He was popular, athletic and good looking. Mr. Sugars remembered being the brunt of many of Ben’s Jokes and pranks though out school, that was until he went missing.
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