Chapter 11
Angie
Small towns are the places
where everybody knows your name
and everybody knows your business.
~ Unknown
Power is restored and we quickly fill the popper with another round of oil, kernels, salt and sugar.
When the batch is popped, we start serving customers again.
The rest of the vendors’ lines move along too.
The sun starts its slow descent and the street is bathed in the sweet golden glow of evening.
I’m about to take off my apron to go hunt down Mom and the boys when Cherry approaches the booth. “Oh, Angie, I was looking for you.”
“You were?”
“Yes.”
Her smile is deceptively warm. Cherry Blanchard is notorious for wanting a firefighter husband—or a doctor—or any single, employed man. But she’s especially fond of firemen.
Cherry steps closer to the table, moving to the side so a customer can put an order in with Laura while she talks to me.
She says, “I heard EJ telling Truck he was cautious about your boys.”
I should know better than to engage in this conversation with her, but my curiosity gets the better of me.
“Cautious?” I ask.
“Yes. Cautious. It’s a shame too. You two seemed so happy together.”
“We seemed happy?” My stomach clenches and then it flips.
“I saw EJ stride into the Dippity Do on more than one occasion. And then I saw the two of you when he walked you to your van after work. Cozy.”
“Cozy.” I echo the word.
“A man like EJ wouldn’t want to upset you. That’s for sure.”
“Do you think you might have misheard him?” I ask Cherry.
She’s not a reliable witness, but I still want to know—need to know.
“I heard what I heard,” she says.
“Well, thank you,” I say, even though thankful is not what I’m feeling.
My head knows this is just Cherry. But after a few other tidbits being said to me today, I’m wondering if I’m reading EJ all wrong.
Laura steps over to me, pointing to the next customer and telling Shannon, “Help her out, would you?”
“Are you alright?” Laura asks.
“I’m okay. Cherry just heard EJ talking about the boys. Sounds like he was doing a lot of that today.”
“Sounds like and actually did can exist in separate galaxies,” Laura says. “Consider the source. I’d ask him if I were you.”
“Oh, I intend to,” I assure Laura. “I’m not one to let misunderstandings sit. And I also don’t want to waste EJ’s time. If he’s really not interested in having anything to do with my boys, there’s not a future for us together.”
“I hope you’re wrong,” Laura says.
“Me too,” I say.
My heart’s in my shoes right now. I can’t imagine EJ feeling hesitant about the boys and not telling me. But why would so many people mention it to me today if it weren’t true?
I will ask him. Just not tonight. I’m exhausted and I still have to get the boys home and into a bath and bed.
I fold my apron, hunt down my mom and the boys. They’re sitting at a picnic bench eating corndogs and tater tots. Levi has ketchup smeared on his cheek. I reach over and wipe it with a napkin from the pile Mom has stacked between the boys. He squirms, but smiles up at me.
“Did you have a very fun day, Mommy?” Jack asks around a bite of corndog.
“I did have a very fun day. Did you?” I ask him.
“We had the best fun ever!” he exclaims.
“We petted the donkey and the llama. But the llama is too grumpy,” Levi says.
“And the sheep,” Jack adds. “They not grumpy.”
I smile over at Mom. “Thanks for taking them around.”
“We had the best fun ever,” she says with a soft smile.
Once the boys finish eating, we pack up and I take them home to tuck them into bed.
EJ and I had talked about getting together tonight, but I really am tired.
So, when he calls asking if I can still come out for a while, I’m already in my pajamas, sitting up in bed with a book.
I smile softly at the way he seems so eager to see me. And then I say, “I really am exhausted.”
“That makes sense. You worked a long day and then you had to care for the boys.”
“I don’t mind caring for them,” I tell him. It’s a sentence I probably wouldn’t have said before today.
“I know you don’t. You’re an amazing mom.”
“And they’re amazing boys,” I say.
Do I sound defensive? I hope not. I really don’t want to assume the worst about EJ.
I clear my throat. “EJ?”
“Yeah?”
“I hate to ask you this, but people kept coming to the kettle corn booth today.”
“Lots of customers, huh?”
“Yes. Customers, and also people talking about you—about us.”
“Ahhh. Yeah. I got some of that too.”
I blow out a breath and then I say, “A few of them brought up the boys.”
“Yes. I got asked about the boys too,” he says. “I told people the boys are a totally separate situation. You and I are dating. It's not about the boys.”
I go quiet. Everything in me stills as if someone flicked a light switch and the room went dark.
EJ says, “I was really looking forward to seeing you tonight.”
I don’t say anything for a beat and then I ask him, “Can we take a rain check?”
“Of course. Anything for you, Angie.”
Anything for me.
Maybe even taking on my boys out of obligation—because he has to if he wants to be with me.
“I think I’m going to get some sleep,” I tell EJ.
“Sweet dreams, Angie. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Sweet dreams,” I tell him, but my words feel like they’re coming out through cotton.
My head spins. There’s a small thought that I’m getting this all wrong.
The memory of him taking the hit from the boys in the grocery store surprises me.
I smile softly. I took his playfulness as a sign that he wanted to be a part of the boys’ life.
The louder voice in my head, along with the chorus of voices from today at the kettle corn booth, all say EJ’s not interested in my boys—at least, not in a fatherly way.
And why would he be?
I know better than to try to process these thoughts alone. I’m not a teenager in high school, passing notes to the boy I have a crush on. I’m a grown woman—a mom.
I hang up with EJ and immediately dial Laura. I bring my hand up to my temple and rub in a small circle. Then I sink down under the covers.
“Hey,” Laura answers.
“Who is it?” Rob asks in the background.
“Sorry, Laura,” I say, glancing at the clock and wincing when I see the hour. “We can talk tomorrow.”
“Not so fast,” she says to me. Then she tells Rob, “It’s Angie. I’ll be right back.”
I hear Rob’s muted voice say, “Okay,” and then Laura shuffling around.
“We really can talk about this tomorrow.”
“Nope. No. Uh-uh,” she says. Then, she must have moved far enough away from Rob because she says, “What’s up?”
“I think I misread EJ,” I tell her. “He said he sees dating me as something he can separate from my boys.”
“Wow,” Laura says. “I didn't get that feel from him at all.”
“Yeah. I didn't either, but he just said it himself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I'm sure.”
“Something doesn’t add up. Why would he pursue you if the boys are an afterthought? EJ’s not the type of man to lead a woman on.”
“He really isn’t. That’s what’s making me second-guess everything.”
“What were his exact words?” Laura asks.
“He said people were asking about the boys today. He told them my boys are a totally separate situation. He even said, ‘It's not about the boys.’”
“Wow,” Laura says. “I don’t know. Something feels off—like we’re missing a piece of a puzzle. You’re not wrong to be cautious. Rob had to earn his way back to me. A man needs to do more than sweet talk. He needs to put action behind his words.”
“What should I do?” I ask Laura.
“Get some sleep. Tomorrow you can ask EJ some very specific questions. You don’t need to waste your time if he’s not interested in you as a package deal. But for now, don’t assume the worst.”
“I’ll try not to,” I tell her.
We hang up and I set my phone on my bedside table. I try to sleep, but it takes a while to finally settle. I really like EJ—a lot. My feelings for him grew quickly. After all, we’ve known one another for most of our lives.
If he’s not interested in fatherhood, I can’t blame him.
But I also can’t date him.