"Okay, everybody, what are the colors of Halloween?" Jerry asked the kids.
"Orange and black!" chanted all the smock-clad children, who were spread out across the brightly-lit community centre room, its walls already wonderfully crammed with their artwork.
"That's right," Jerry said. "But I'll tell you what I think. I think if you want to use every color in your paint set, that's just fine! If your Halloween story has blue witches and green pumpkins, go ahead and paint those, all right?"
"Jerry!" called out little Amy, always a stickler for the rules. "My mom says you should paint realistically!"
Jerry walked over to Amy's table and squatted down to her eye level. "Tell you what, Amy," he said. "When you imagine the picture you want to paint, do you see only orange pumpkins and black bats and witches in black dresses?"
"Well, no," Amy said. "I see a green field with lots of kids to play with, and pumpkins of every color around the edges."
"Then paint that!" Jerry said. "And if your mother asks you why, just say that's what you imagined. That's what imagination is for!"
"I guess," Amy said. Though she didn't look sure of herself at all, she did start painting a purple pumpkin in the corner of the page, where she'd already painted her name in pink.
"Good for you, Amy." Jerry patted her back and stood up to have a look around the room. Most of the other kids were busy using every color in the rainbow. He was pleased. That pleasure was deepened when he glanced out into the hallway and saw Megan and Ellen peering in at him. They clearly liked what they saw. Jerry gave them a friendly wave and turned his attention to little Tommy's rather graphic painting of a ghost chasing a dog.
"He sure is great with those kids," Megan said. "Even that little brat Amy. I wish he'd volunteered sooner."
"He hasn't been in town that long, you know," Ellen said. "But the move's been good for him, obviously."
"Good for him?" Megan asked. "What, he's not a recovering druggie or anything, is he?"
"That's not funny, Megan." Ellen turned to head down the hall to the office from which she and Megan ran the centre.
"What? I was just asking." Megan followed her best friend, whose politically correct seriousness she was all too used to. "Say, you don't know if he's got a date for the centre party yet, does he?"
Ellen looked back in surprise. "Oh, Megan, don't go there!"
"What is your problem, Ellen? He's a nice guy and I'm just wondering!"
"It's not my story to share," Ellen said. "But what I can tell you is, don't bother."
"He has a girlfriend, then?"
"Not anymore."
Megan took one last look at Jerry. She'd heard Ellen, but he was looking adorable as ever as he helped little Lisa with her brushstrokes. A wounded soul? Surely she could help heal it!
It took Jerry the better part of an hour to wash the brushes and get the tables cleaned up after the kids had gone, but he didn't begrudge it in the least. Nothing made him happier these days than sharing the joy of art with the kids. Besides, all that awaited him afterward was a long workout at the gym -- well worth the effort and he'd be glad he'd done it as always, but a hassle nonetheless -- and then another night of fighting off the ghost of Johnson Spivak. To avoid that, Jerry would have happily spent the whole night washing paintbrushes.
He'd taken up painting himself in jail last winter. It had made the time pass by better than anything else while he'd waited to see if they were going to compound the tragedy by bringing him up on assault and battery charges. Ultimately they hadn't -- Jerry's lawyer had reassured him from the start that everyone on his jury would be wishing they'd been the one who'd beaten Johnson Spivak within an inch of his life, and the prosecutor knew it -- but he'd nevertheless had to cool his heels for three months in that man-made hell.
So of course he'd come to love bright colors no matter the occasion. He loved them just like he loved Sarah and her partner Randi for taking him in after the charges had been dropped back in February, and like he loved their little town and the chance it had given him to start over, and like he would always love Janet.
He ought to go visit Janet tomorrow, he reminded himself as he put the final touches on tidying the room. The idea brought him no relief, not like it had the first few times he'd gone to visit her, but the thought of not going made him feel awfully guilty.
Not anymore
...what had Ellen meant by that? And if he was single, why should she keep her distance? Megan was still wondering about that when art class let out and she knew Jerry would be heading to the gym across the street like always. She also knew Ellen was usually right about these things, but then Ellen had been settled in a relationship with a lovely guy since college and didn't know a thing about finding eligible men in their little town. So Megan threw caution to the wind and headed for the gym as soon as she'd seen the last of the kids carrying their Halloween paintings off.
Her hopes were answered scarcely ten minutes into her long run on the treadmill. Megan gave Jerry the brightest smile she could muster through her intense workout, and was delighted when he responded in kind before heading for the weights. She had a few miles to go before any flirting might take place, but she welcomed the time to admire him from afar and let him return the favor if he wanted.
Jerry did return the favor. He'd long since noticed the great shape Megan was in, and he'd seen her at the gym enough times to know why. Today Megan was smoldering as usual in her jog bra and yoga pants, and the sight was especially welcome after a gray autumn day that was now nearly dark outside. Jerry, struggling gallantly to complete a set of ten shoulder presses, kept his glances to a respectable minimum. That, plus a sense of guilt and loyalty to Janet, made it easy for him to hide his delight when he realized Megan was done and was coming to say hello.
Hidden or not, though, he certainly felt delighted. Megan was absolutely glowing as she stepped over to him. A fine sheen of sweat made her toned body glisten in the fluorescent light as she stepped off the machine and grinned at Jerry, who hoped he hadn't been seen gazing at her. He threw himself back into his pressing as always.
"How's it coming along?" she asked him as she approached.
"Up a notch from last week," he said optimistically.
"That's great! Keep it up!"
"I get tired just watching you," Jerry confessed. "You're killing it as always."
"Oh, Jerry, I used to feel the same way!" Megan said. "Maybe Sarah can tell you, I got into this in the first place because I was struggling with my weight. That's how I got stuck with these," she added, taking a swipe at her detested large breasts, which were clamped tightly into a sports bra at least a size too small for them.
"Aw, Megan, c'mon, they're beautiful!" Jerry couldn't resist, although he did wonder how Megan could breathe in that bra.
Megan returned the smile that had been making her heart melt for weeks at least. "Thank you. But they sure can get in the way sometimes. In any case, Jerry, when I first made up my mind to get in shape, I had the same reaction you did, thinking I could never do that. You just have to believe, though, if you don't give up, you can do it too. And you can!" She flexed her remarkably muscular arms for show, and to his shame, Jerry couldn't help but think of how delightful they would feel around him, how safe he would be in the embrace of a woman who could easily beat the daylights out of him -- but of course never would. He'd have to take care of something in the shower, that he knew.
"I sure will stick with it, Megan," Jerry grunted as he finished off the last of his set. He sat up straight and took his turn with a drink of water. "Thanks for the encouragement."
"You deserve it." Megan sat down beside him on the bench and patted his shoulder, sending a fleeting shockwave of joy through his body. "I've been wanting to tell you, I adore how great you are with those kids. I didn't get to see too many of the paintings today, but I saw you got them to use plenty of colors. Orange and black alone is so boring!"
