Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“Those are the same two words,” I pointed out.
“Shhh,” Liz said from the porch.
Lana gestured for me to follow her down the hall. We got to the door just as Geralin, today in green scrubs, came in. She gave us a wave as she passed.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m all in favor of a rebound for you,” she said, once we were out on the porch. “Ben just isn’t the right person.”
“I’m only going for moral support,” I told her.
“Oh.” She leaned against the porch rail, brushing her hair from her face. “Okay, then. Good.”
Now, though, I had to ask. “Why not, though?”
“Hmmm?” Her eyes were on the water.
“Why wouldn’t Ben be the right person for me?”
She shrugged. “Lots of reasons. Again, you’re on the rebound. Which means whatever happens is temporary.”
“Not necessarily,” I said, then added, quickly, “I mean, I’m just saying.”
“Plus Ben’s just not a fling kind of guy,” she continued. “I cannot have you breaking his heart. Too messy.”
“I wouldn’t break his heart,” I said, offended.
“I’m not saying you’d do it on purpose.” Was this supposed to make me feel better? “Anyway, you said you guys are just friends. So all of this is irrelevant. Right?”
“Right,” I said. “Of course.”
I heard a car: Clark coming up the driveway. Once parked, he gave the Tides van a pointed look. “Who’s that?”
“Some eco-design person walking the property,” Lana told him, nodding at the guy, now examining the hydrangea bushes.
“Where’s Kasey?” Clark asked. “I’m going to Bly Supply. She said to check in, that she might have something else for the list.”
“Meeting with the lawyers inside,” Lana told him, and he headed that way.
“Excuse me? Is Kasey by any chance available now?”
It was the Tides guy again. He’d sweated through his shirt and gotten his shoes wet, judging by the squelching noises as he got closer.
“Um,” I said, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll just… let me see.”
I turned, going inside. A beat later, I realized he was following me, as if I’d issued an invitation.
“It’s really interesting,” he said, dabbing at his wet brow with an already soaked tissue. “I don’t think our team had any idea of the vast amount of species that are present here. It’s not just the expected native ones. But others that haven’t been recorded in this area for years.”
We were coming into the kitchen now, where Geralin was filling a water glass, a row of pills laid out on the counter beside her.
“… thank you so much,” Liz was saying from the porch, where she, Kasey, and my mom were clearly wrapping things up. Only one box was left on the screen. “We’ll just plan to get these signed, notarized, and sent off, then.”
“Perfect,” said the tinny voice from the computer. “Have a great day, ladies.”
Beep! went the familiar chime signaling the end of a VizUL. “Kasey,” I said. “This gentleman has a question about the land.”
They all turned to look at us. “Jeremy?” my mom said.
A beat. Then the Tides guy replied, “Catherine! What are you doing here?”
The door banged again. The next thing I knew, Lana was beside me, all ears.
“This is my family’s house,” my mom said now, sitting up straighter. “What are you doing out of Minneapolis?”
“Got too cold,” Jeremy replied. “Also, I needed a career pivot. Went back to my college major! Ecology.”
My mom’s eyes widened. “Really? Why?”
He smiled, dabbing his moist forehead again. “Well, you did come in and downsize our entire company.”
“But not your division!” my mom protested. She was flushed. Nervous? “You got a promotion and a raise, if I remember correctly.”
“You do.” Jeremy smiled, then looked at me. “What recall.”
Lana said, “So you guys work together?”
We all looked at my mom, who cleared her throat, shuffling the already neat papers in front of her. Jeremy said, “We crossed paths a bit leading up to the restructuring.”
This time my mom definitely blushed. It was like I could feel Lana’s intrigue from beside me. Now Bigfoot had a love life?
Ben appeared in the kitchen. “There you are,” Clark said. “Ready to go to Bly Supply?”
“Sorry,” Ben replied. “Can’t. I have to go to the Tides.”
“The Tides?”
“Their band has a gig,” Lana told him. “Our own personal Spinnerbait.”
“Hate Spinnerbait,” I said. Colin’s friend Owen, a radio DJ, had taught me this was the proper response to hearing this.
Ben looked at me. “Exactly. And I hate this.”
“Who’s got a gig?” Kasey asked from the table. Jeremy the Tides guy and my mom were now having their own conversation, low enough so I couldn’t hear.
“Ben’s band,” Lana said.
“A band?” Liz asked. “How fun!”
Geralin came in then, carrying a glass of water and my mom’s pills. As she bent over, putting them on the table, I watched Jeremy’s eyes follow her. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said smoothly, setting the glass down beside my mom. “Just need to have Cat take these real quick.”
Now my mom reddened again, but this time, she was embarrassed. I could just tell. It made me feel awkward for her. A quick glance at Liz, who was biting her lip, confirmed I wasn’t the only one.
Once back in the kitchen, Nurse Geralin began chatting with Clark. “… thought you looked familiar!” she was saying. “I’ve seen you at the library at Bly Community. You sit in that corner by the computers.”
“Fewer distractions,” Clark said. “Are you still in school there?”
“Graduated in June.”
“So you wanted to talk about the land?” Kasey asked Jeremy. “I’m pretty sure I’ve told the Tides everything already.”
“Of course,” he replied. “But I’d just love to pick your brain for a moment… if you can spare it.”
“Sure,” Kasey told Jeremy, pushing out her chair. “Now’s good.”
“Great!” He dabbed his forehead again as she came around the table, then said to my mom, “It was great to see you, Catherine. I’ll, um—”
“Yes, take care,” my mom said curtly.
Kasey left, Jeremy—after another look at my mom, who did not turn her head—following. Lana trailed along behind them, clearly to get intel.
“Shoot.” Ben looked at his watch. “We should go.”
I turned to my mom. “You okay if I go out for a while?”
“Of course,” she said, waving me off. “I’m fine. Everyone can stop asking.”
I followed Ben, who was moving at a fast clip as we headed through the kitchen, passing Clark, who was still talking to Geralin. Hadn’t he been in a hurry?
“… right across the road,” he was saying now. “Really good breakfast sandwiches. Award winning, actually.”
“I love a breakfast sandwich,” she replied.
“We open every day at seven,” he said as his phone buzzed on the counter. I glanced at the screen. STUDY GROUP, it said, a row of unanswered messages beneath. “You should come by, have one.”
“I will,” Geralin said, adjusting her big glasses. “What days are you there? I mean, just so I can be sure I get the right thing.”
He flushed, opening his mouth and then closing it. Clearly, he was rattled. Something, I realized, I had never seen. “Every day,” he said after a moment. “Just look for the food window. Can’t miss me.”
As Ben and I went out onto the porch, Kasey and Jeremy were walking across the grass to the cabin, him gesturing, her with a hand cupped over her eyes.
Lana walked closely, but not too closely, behind them.
I looked at Ben, who was getting into the truck, remembering another afternoon not very long ago, when I’d found myself alone with him, drunk and feeling lost. It wasn’t like I was found now. But it did feel different.