Chapter Eight #2
“There’s no, and.” I jerk upright in my seat and drum my fingertips on the steering wheel. I don’t want to talk about Emily. “Besides, we were working.”
“There should be an and.” She taps the toe of her shoe on the gravel. “You should’ve done something that day. You should’ve punched Spencer for poaching on your girl and dragging her out of there.”
“Let it go.” My teeth are clenched as I wish I could crawl into a ditch and lay there until she leaves.
“The night before, you went on and on about her. How you felt. How it could change things between you and Kaleb. Your plans for moving back home after graduation.” She unlaces her arms and swings one in front of me, waving it into the air.
Like I could forget how the coffee turned cold and the cookies were too stale to eat, we talked so long. Or the pinging messages from Amanda who was still trying to get me to go to her place instead of hanging out with my mom.
I eventually had to block her because she wouldn’t stop blowing up my phone.
“We talked about everything. Then I get a cryptic message from you. That you’re leaving town, and–”
“Mom!” Ivy leans out the now-open car door. “Come on. I’m tired of waiting. If I knew you were going to spend half the morning in a mother-son powwow, I would’ve had Jamie’s mom pick me up for school.”
“I’ll be there in just a second.”
When my mother returns her attention to me, Ivy mouths, “You’re welcome.”
I tip my head to her in thanks because if I say the words, I’ll get backhanded in the chest and another lecture. Before she turns her wrath on my sister.
“I’m not finished. I’m not pleased with that girl. I don’t understand why she’d choose some boy she didn’t even know over you. You’d been her brother’s best friend for years.” My mom’s eyes flash with anger.
“Mom, I said, let it go.” I grip the steering wheel with both hands. Yes, after a lot of soul searching that weekend, I’d realized that my serial dating was because I didn’t want a girlfriend. I wanted Emily. Not anyone else.
I didn’t want one-and-done. Or a weekend fling. I was finally ready to admit what I’d hidden from myself for years. I wanted her. I wanted a future with her. A real future. Dating. Convincing her to fall in love with me. Living together. Marriage. Children. Everything.
It didn’t matter that I wasn’t good enough for her. I was going to prove to her that I could be what she wanted. What she needed.
And the next day, I walked into the café to grab her a piece of triple-chocolate cake as a peace offering and found her with Spencer, my supposed friend and roommate.
Instead of telling her how I felt, spending the entire Christmas break with her, and making plans for a long-distance relationship, she blew me off.
Then, I had to watch her kiss the loser that I brought to her house.
Spencer tried to talk to me after one of our other friends brought him back, but all he got was a punch in the face. The punch my mom wished I had given him. The one that I never told her about.
I moved out and never spoke to him again. Not that I didn’t hear stories about him. Late that same night, when he made it back to Columbia; he was making out with a couple of girls at a party. The first one had to go home early for her curfew, so he found another one. And that’s who Emily wanted?
The door squeaks open again. “Mom!”
“I need to go.” I nod to her as I grasp the door handle. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too.” She clutches the birthstone necklace at her throat and rubs the diamond at the top–the one for my birthstone, followed by Hannah’s emerald and Ivy’s opal. We went together and got it for her last year for Christmas.
After I start the engine, I back up and drive off without glancing in their direction.
I don’t want to think about Emily, so I shove her in a box where she belongs–Toys We Stupidly Wished We’d Gotten for Christmas.
Those toys that our parents knew we’d discard a minute after opening the box, because they were all flash and no substance.
And remind myself, she’s not who I thought she was.
When I roll to a stop at the sign at the end of my street, a vintage, dark green, supped-up Cutlass revs its engine to my right.
Within the shadows of the interior, the driver stares me down.
Chad Whitlock. There’s a young girl in the car with him, but I can’t make out her features.
She’s slumped in the passenger seat, facing the opposite window.
I grip the steering wheel and frown. Chad Whitlock was the biggest asshole in our class. Mean, cruel, and sadistic. It wasn’t unusual to find him pushing grade-schoolers around and stealing their lunchboxes. Or at least, taking out the items he wanted and tossing the rest on the sidewalk.
It was stupid to hope that he’d have moved away.
Granted, I expected him to be in prison rather than driving the streets, but here he is.
He revs the engine again while staring me down and then stomps on the gas, laying rubber on the pavement.
But he’s smart, he doesn’t go a mile over the speed limit.
Fuck. I shake my head in disgust. I didn’t just think that Chad was smart, did I? What’s gotten into me?
I chuckle as I pass through the intersection, lifting a finger to wave at an oncoming car. Chad’s a no-account loser.
As I travel down Main Street, I wave at Rosemarie Martin, who’s watering the flowers in front of her shop before she opens for the day. The pots hanging from the overhang are teeming with blooms and colors. Geraniums, petunias, and impatiens. I think those small flowers are called impatiens.
I’m not familiar with the types of flowers. I’m a roses, tulips, and daisies kind of guy. Not that I’ve ever purchased flowers for anyone but my mom.
Once, in my senior year, I thought about buying flowers for Amanda. I was going to make a decorated sign and buy a bouquet of flowers when I asked her to homecoming, but Emily overheard my plan and said it was a stupid idea. Unoriginal and pathetic.
I never got the flowers. Nor did I ask Amanda out. She ended up asking me, and afterward, I lost my virginity to her.
I’m not going to complain about the experience. I got off, and it was better than using my hand. But it wasn’t what I expected it to be. I didn’t feel like a different person. I didn’t hear birds singing, and the heavens didn’t open. There was a boom, and it was over.
Louise Walker smiles broadly and waves from under the library awning.
Although she’s shrouded in shadows with only the faint light from inside the glass storefront window, I’m able to make out the same flowerpot arrangements as Rosemarie.
The instant her hand drops to her side, she’s digging in her pocket and dragging out her cell phone.
Peachy. It’s begun… ‘I saw little Jake Thompson driving to work. He’s going to make a fabulous police office, and he looks just like his daddy.’
I tug my cap down lower and focus my attention on the pickup taillights in front of me. It’s one of the vehicles at my friends’ house the other day when I stopped and played backyard football with the guys. I left before everyone else, so I’m not sure which of my old classmates it belongs to.
The blinker for the black, lifted pickup flips on for the street leading to the police station. I follow but slowly, so it doesn’t look like I’m shadowing the driver. I don’t want a shotgun or a 2x4 aimed at my head.
When the pickup brakes flash, then the blinker picks back up where it left off, I cringe. Okay, now I really look like a stalker. I follow the pickup into the police station parking lot.
As we both climb out of our vehicles, I grin at Xavier, one of my high school best friends. “Hey, bud.” I lock my doors and stride toward him. I shouldn’t have worried. Xavier won’t give a rat’s ass if I’m stalking him. He’d just take it as a compliment.
“Hey, man.” He smiles back as we give each other a bro hug, complete with a clap on the back.
“It’s good to see you all dressed up and ready to protect our little slice of heaven. I heard you already played the hero role twice yesterday. Once at the park and the second time you rescued a kitten, no less.”
“Thanks.” I step back as the sun breaches the horizon, leaving a slight orange glow in its wake. “You’re up early.”
The parking lot is empty with only our vehicles, a couple of cruisers, and the two overnight police officers’ cars parked in the gravel next to us. My gaze flickers to the ambulance lot on the other side of the block to find no signs of Emily’s car.
My goal is to avoid running into her again for as long as possible.
Dumbass. How long do you think that’s going to last? The police work closely with the EMTs, and you live in a town of under two thousand people.
“I’m on my way to a construction job on Harrison Drive.” Xavier folds his arms over his chest. He might look like a pretty boy GQ model, but he’s a hard worker.
“How’s working for your dad going?” He earned a degree in architecture, but rather than moving to the city and climbing the corporate ladder at a firm, he stayed in town, working for his father and designing construction projects on the side.
“Great. The crew are all hard workers, so no complaints there.” He frowns. “We’ve had issues with our receptionist position, but we make do.” He laughs. “Yesterday, I stayed at the office, answered the damn phones, and did payroll.”
“A man of many talents.”
He waggles his eyebrows and grins. “That’s me.”
I glance at my watch. “I’d better get inside. My shift starts in ten minutes.”
“No worries.” He puts his hand up to his forehead in a salute. “I just wanted to stop by and say hello.” He frowns. “Hey, I heard you bought the Caldwell place.”
“Yeah, I did. The owners updated the living room and dining room, but that’s where their renovations stopped. The structure has good bones, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I’m starting the master bedroom this weekend.”
“I’ll stop by sometime and check it out.”
“Sounds good. I’d appreciate your insight.”
As he pulls off the lot, I track across the parking lot.
It’s good to be home. I’ve missed the small-town charm, my friends, and the simplicity of living in Brookhaven.
Columbia wasn’t a large city, but compared to Brookhaven, the crime rate was astronomical.
Thefts, assaults, shootings. You name it, I’ve dealt with it over the last couple of years.
Here.... I grin as my steps near the front door. Here, my job will consist of chatting with my neighbors and giving stickers to the little kids. I couldn’t be happier about the change of pace.