Chapter 7
K alista sped down the dirt road toward Viv’s house, squeezing the old leather wheel in her hands.
She didn’t know the speed limit and she didn’t care, although the plastic bags full of groceries sitting on the floor next to her were tossing back and forth.
Whatever—she’d fix them when she got to Viv’s.
Then she’d use her stepmother’s phone to give her father a very large piece of her mind.
After her interview with Mr. Hudson, she’d gone to the diner to try to call her friend Abbie, but her phone didn’t work.
It was like it was dead, but it still had more than half the battery life left.
Before she went to the Piggles Wiggles or whatever that store was called, she saw her phone carrier’s office in a strip mall and stopped to have them look at the phone.
“Your service has been shut off,” a guy wearing a red shirt, square, dark-framed glasses, and a handwritten name tag that said John, told her.
“What does that mean?”
“You don’t have service.” He tapped on a computer keyboard. “Do you have your passcode so I can see your account?” “Passcode?”
“For the account. I can’t access it unless you have a code. It’s like a pin code.”
“Oh, for the ATM. Sure.” She leaned forward and whispered it to him. There were a few people in the store, and she didn’t want them hearing it. Ryan had had his pin stolen a couple of times.
“It should be five numbers, not four.” The guy tilted his head at her.
Kalista mentally went over the pin in her head. She was sure it was four numbers. “Then it’s not the one for the ATM?”
John’s jaw fell open, then shut again. “It’s a five-digit code specific to your phone account. Did you get your phone here?”
“No. In California.”
“Then you would have given the tech the code when they were setting up the phone.”
She waved her hand. “Daddy did all that.”
He smirked and continued to type. “What’s his name?”
“Raymond Clark.” She gave him Daddy’s address and phone number.
“Here he is. I see he’s also on your account.”
“Because he set it up. I already said that.” She crossed her arms, her purse dangling from her left wrist. She didn’t have the time or patience for this.
John scanned the computer screen. “Looks like he’s turned off your phone.”
“What?”
“There’re some notes here... yeah. About an hour ago he asked us to put a lock on it too. The only person who can turn it back on is him.”
“That can’t be right!” she wailed, not caring that the customers were now looking at her. “I have to have my phone.”
John’s gaze darted from the customers and back to her. “Miss Clark, you’ll have to take that up with your father. I can’t turn your phone back on. Only he can.”
“Ooooooh.” She snatched her cell off the counter. “Thanks for nothing!”
The trip through the Pig Wig wasn’t much better.
They had almost nothing she wanted, although she did find everything on Viv’s list. At least she was able to get a few bottles of sparkling water.
Harrison was definitely a bigger city than Clementine, but she was still in culture shock.
And now that she didn’t have a working phone, how was she supposed to talk to her friends? Or Ryan?
Kalista whipped into Viv’s driveway and brought the truck to a stop near the tiny house.
When she stepped out into the heat, her throat constricted from the dust and debris coming from the three riding lawn mowers that were mowing the huge yard on Bo’s farm.
She hated Arkansas. It was hot, everyone talked funny, it smelled like manure, and now she couldn’t even speak to her friends or Ryan.
Oh, and she also had a job. What a joke.
Workers were setting up tents, mowing the yard, working in the barn, and doing other stuff she didn’t care about as Viv came out of the house, looking fresh, happy, and like she belonged here. “How did everything go?” she asked as Kalista stormed past her, leaving the groceries in the truck.
Then she stopped. Viv didn’t deserve to be ignored. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t have phone service. She turned and faced her stepmother. “I got the job and everything on the list. I need to call Daddy right now.”
Viv frowned. “Are you okay?”
She was very much not okay, but she didn’t want to bother Viv with it. What could her former stepmother do anyway? She couldn’t unlock her phone or send her back to California. Unfortunately.
“I’ll get the groceries,” Viv said, opening the heavy passenger door. “Go call Raymond.”
Kalista hurried into the house where a light green phone hung on the wall. She lifted the receiver and saw the round dialing mechanism. She couldn’t even remember the last time she dialed a phone. But dial she did, using her father’s phone number.
“Hello?
Kalista groaned, her shoulders slumping at the sound of the breathy, high-pitched voice on the other line. Bettany. Ew, she did not want to deal with her. “I need to talk to Daddy.”
“He’s not available.”
“Bettany, who’s on the phone?” Daddy’s question sounded in the distance.
Anger rose inside Kalista. “I thought you said he was busy?”
“I said he was unavailable. Which he is. He’s very busy, Kalista.”
A stab of pain burst through the anger. How many times had she heard those words—from secretaries, nannies, maids, his former wives... He was always busy. Too busy for me.
“I’ll take it, babe,” Daddy said.
“But Ray—”
“Hello, Kalista. I’m glad to hear from you—”
“Why did you turn off my phone?”
“Because I didn’t want you spending all your free time on it. You’re there to work and learn, not chitchat with your friends.”
“But that’s not fair!” She stamped her foot.
“And that right there is why I’m doing this. Sweetheart, you’re not a child anymore.”
Kalista rolled her eyes. “Daddy, I don’t want a lecture. I want my phone turned back on. And if you won’t do that, I’ll buy another one.”
“With what? You have no credit cards, no checkbook, and your bank account is suspended.”
“Can’t you give them all back to me?” she whined. “I don’t understand why you’re being so mean.”
Silence. Then, “I’m sorry, Kalista. I don’t like being mean to you, but this is for your own good. You have to learn responsibility—”
“I am. I have a job. I start tomorrow.”
“Really?” he sounded shocked, then happy. “That’s great! Where are you working?”
“I’m... in the newspaper business. At The Clementine Times .” He didn’t need to know she was throwing newspapers.
“That’s wonderful, Kalista.”
“Can I have my stuff back?”
“No. I’m proud of you for getting a job, honey. But let’s see what you do with it first.”
He’s proud of me? The words sounded foreign coming from him. A small smile formed on her face. Then she realized she had an opening. “I could do my job better if I had my phone.”
“If you’ve got a job, you can buy your own phone.”
“Ray,” Bettany whined in the background. “I’m waiting .”
Ick. Kalista didn’t want to know what she was waiting on. Or for. Double ick.
“Kalista, I have to go,” Daddy said. “I’m glad you got a job.”
“But—”
“Talk to you later.”
She stared at the receiver. She had heard those words from him many a time. Later almost never came. He was paying attention to her now, somewhat, but it was all wrong. He should be giving her things, not taking them away.
Viv walked in with the bags looped around her wrists and arms. “Did you get ahold of him?” she asked, setting everything on the table.
Kalista put the receiver back in its cradle. “Yeah,” she whispered.
“Good. Thanks for getting the groceries. You can tell me all about your interview while you help me put these away.”
She almost rolled her eyes again. If Bo had such a big farm, couldn’t he afford a maid?
But she complied, answering Viv’s questions with short ones of her own.
If she noticed Kalista’s distant mood, she didn’t say anything.
When they were done, she said, “I’m going to help with the hoedown setup in the barn. ”
Kalista held her breath, waiting for Viv to ask her to help. She’d never been in a barn before, and she didn’t want to go in one now.
“Why don’t you stay here and relax a little? You’ve had a busy couple of days.”
Oh, thank goodness. She nodded as Viv left the kitchen, and a few seconds later, the back door banged shut.
Kalista was tempted to go to her bedroom and take a nap.
A long plane ride, having to get a job, and discovering she couldn’t use her cell phone anymore was exhausting.
Oh, and she’d gotten up at a tragically early hour. She huffed. Tomorrow would be worse.
Now that she had a minute to breathe and bemoan her circumstances, Jade suddenly came to mind.
Kalista hadn’t exactly been polite to her when she left the diner after parting with the last six dollars in her wallet to pay for her salad.
But Kalista was always the one who treated others to lunch, like her friends and Ryan.
And other boyfriends. She was the big spender.
And now she was one hundred percent broke and stuck in a tacky old house where the air-conditioning barely worked. Fanning herself with her hand, she glanced at the telephone on the chicken-and-egg wallpapered wall. Hmm. She might not have her phone, but she had access to one.
Kalista picked up the phone and dialed Ryan’s number. When he didn’t answer—again—she left him a message. “Hey, it’s me. I’m missing you so much. Give me a call when you get a chance. I’m in the worst place ever—”
Beep.
She scowled. Ryan needed to fix his voicemail. It always ended too soon. She dialed Abbie’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Abs.” Kalista leaned against the wall. Finally, a sympathetic voice, other than Viv’s, of course.
“Oh, hey—”
“You can’t believe how messed up everything is.” Kalista wound the cord around her thumb.
“I thought you were on your dad’s yacht.”
“Huh?” Then she remembered that she’d told her friends she was on vacation. “Ah, right. Yeah, his yacht is, um, messed up. We’re docked, waiting for it to be fixed.”