Chapter 19
MOCHA ICE BLEND WITH TWO shots and extra whip,” I call out into the coffee shop, sliding a perfectly made drink onto the pickup counter. A five-hour shift and zero mistakes. Progress. Mostly thanks to Kendra not scheduling me with Cal anymore.
“You’re really getting it down again, Stevie,” Kendra says with a satisfied look.
“Thanks for being so patient with me,” I reply, feeling like I’m finally starting to settle in now that I’m not spending all my time trying to remember the past.
“Oh please, you’re killing it.” She looks at the analog clock on the decorative brick wall behind us. Noon. “Go on. Get out of here. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says.
“Sweet. I convinced my dad to rent a boat today to take my mom and me out on the reservoir,” I reply, with a stupid smile plastered onto my face.
We haven’t actually done anything together all three of us since the accident, which feels so weird.
So I think it’s the perfect time for our annual summer boat outing. I think it’s exactly what we need.
“Well, have a good time! You’ve got a great day for it,” she replies.
I pull my phone out of my pocket to let them know I’m going to head to the marina, but before I can, I find a voice mail from an unknown number and a different kind of text from my dad.
Hey kiddo, not going to be able to get out on the water today. Swamped at the garage and Uncle Chuck called out sick. Maybe see you tonight if I’m not home too late.
Damn.
I peel off my apron and then head out the back door toward my Volvo.
I press play on that voice mail and hold it up to my ear. I’m assuming it’s a telemarketer since who really leaves voicemails anymore, so I’m not expecting it to improve my mood. But my mouth drops open slightly as the guy on the other end talks and my disappointment is temporarily forgotten.
I can’t actually believe it.
The second he’s finished, I quickly dial Ryan’s number, strapping my seat belt around me at the same time. With each ring, my smile grows a little wider.
Pick up. Pick up.
“Hello?” he says finally.
“Ryan… we won! We freaking won a cow!” I scream into the phone, and he laughs.
“You’re kidding me. That’s amazing! Where are you?” he asks, incredulous.
“I’m on my way to the farm to like… I don’t know, tell Nora it’s hers, I guess?”
I can figure out the logistics of picking up and re-delivering a cow later.
“You have to call me after and tell me what she says.”
“I will,” I reply as I turn the key over, switching my phone to the other ear.
“Maybe we could do it again sometime,” he says.
“Win another cow? I’m not sure we should press our luck,” I joke.
“I was thinking more like lunch. I work the next two days, but maybe Thursday?” he asks.
“I don’t think I can,” I reply.
“Oh… okay. Yeah, that’s cool. I—”
I cut him off before he spirals. “I have to work the lunch shift on Thursday. How about Friday?”
“Friday.” I can almost hear his smile widening through the phone and it brings nerves to my stomach. “Okay. I’ll text you.”
“Bye, Ryan,” I say before hanging up and trying not to think too much about what a second date might entail. Instead, I focus on what my mom said about giving him a chance, about how it might take time like it did with my parents.
I shake it off and shoot Nora a text.
Meet me at the meat shop. I’ve got something for you.
When I arrive twenty minutes later, I’m so caught up in the excitement of telling Nora that I totally forget that there might be someone else working here today.
Luckily, when I walk through the worn door, it’s not her mom.
Instead, the guy I bought the tickets from is standing behind the counter.
Nora is nowhere to be seen, but he is staring expectantly at me, waiting for me to order or something.
“Uh, hi. I’m Stevie. I won the cow.” Never thought I’d say those particular words in my entire life.
“ ’Ey, congrats! I’ll be right back…” His voice trails off as he points behind him. I nod and he disappears through the doorframe. God, I hope he doesn’t walk it out here and expect me to put it in my backseat.
“Is Nora here?” I call out. If he brings it, I guess I’ll walk it out to her.
“I think she’s out working on the fence right now,” he says. I can hear him rummaging around back there.
“Okay. Do you know when she’ll be done?” I ask, checking my phone, but there’s no reply from her.
“I’m not sure. But it’s taking her forever. If you ask me, I bet she’s been sneaking around with some boy instead, but she keeps denying it,” he replies, emerging from the back, dragging a cart behind him.
Nora never mentioned a boy, but I guess it’s possible.
“Okay, well, I actually won the cow for—” Before I can finish, a giant vacuum-sealed slab of red meat smacks down onto the counter in front of me with a thud…
followed by another and then another. I watch with horror as he empties the whole cart, until the counter is covered with enough meat to fill the entire display case at our local grocery store.
“Oh my God,” I gasp as I picture the cute brown cow that was lying on the barn floor at the fair and then fully take in the pile that’s stacking up in front of me. Ribs, ground beef, steaks, tenderloin, roast…
What have I done?!
“Stevie?” a voice asks from behind me, making sweat break out across my brow and goose bumps rise to the surface of my skin. Oh no.
Sure enough, I turn around to find Nora stepping in through the front door.
“Nora!” I quickly slide in front of the counter, as if my 120-pound frame and stick arms could even come close to covering the enormous pile of raw beef behind me.
“I-I,” I stutter, unable to string an explanation together.
What started as an idea to do something nice for her by saving this cow’s life has ended with her seeing me take home five hundred pounds of meat. She’s going to think I’m a murderer.
“I got your text. What are you doing here? What’s that?
” she asks, her eyes shifting to look behind me.
This was a bad idea. I should never even have bought tickets for it.
Why did I ever think they would give me the opportunity to take a live cow from a meat farm?
But she’s standing there looking at me, waiting for an answer, so I have to get myself together.
“I won the cow at the raffle… for you,” I tell her, and she twists her face up in confusion.
“Why the hell would you do that?” she asks, walking across the small space to stand next to me.
“Well, it was supposed to be alive,” I explain, trying to clear everything up, but she looks even more lost, if that’s possible.
“Again… why would you do that?” she repeats, and now I’m the one looking at her like she’s not making any sense. The answer is so clear.
“You seemed super bummed at the fair that night and I know you’re vegan, so I thought maybe it was your favorite cow or something and it was about to get… you know.” I run my thumb across my neck, clicking my tongue.
Nice, Stevie. Way to be delicate.
But then to my surprise, Nora laughs. “You know I live on a beef farm, right? We slaughter hundreds of cattle every single year. You think I’d have a problem with one cow?”
My eyes shift from her to the pile of meat and then back to her. “Well, why are you vegan, then?!”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” the guy working the counter cuts in.
“Albert, how many times am I going to have to explain it to you?” Nora asks, throwing her hands up in the air before turning to face me.
Then she checks her watch and glances at the front door again.
“I’m really sorry, Stevie, but I gotta get back to work or my mom is going to kill me. Can we talk later?” she asks.
Later. I don’t really want to wait until later.
After talking to my mom, I’m done waiting to uncover things.
I want to start living my second chance, to be an actual friend to Nora, after everything she did for me.
She’s different than everyone else here.
Definitely way different than Savannah and Rory.
Somehow, hanging out with Nora feels more effortless than spending time with the two people I’ve known my entire life.
I can’t quite put my finger on why yet, but I want to figure it out.
Not that I should be giving anyone relationship advice, but maybe I can lend an ear for her boy drama.
“Wait, what are you working on out there?” I ask as she wipes the sweat off her brow.
“Just putting up that new fence that I was telling you about the other day.”
“Well, could you use an extra set of hands?”
She looks over her shoulder at the wall, thinking, and then back to me. Finally she takes in a deep breath and lets it out. “Come on.”