Chapter 28
The glass company came out to fix the window the next day. Somehow, Granny had sweet-talked them into coming out on a Sunday.
Mylie watched from the kitchen table, a glass of orange juice in one hand and a blueberry muffin in the other.
“Could you at least attempt to make yourself look decent?” Granny asked, coming down the hallway dressed and wearing full
makeup.
“It’s Sunday,” Mylie said, her mouth half full of muffin.
“And we have guests,” Granny replied.
“Fine,” Mylie said. “I’ll go put on some pants.”
She took her orange juice and her muffin and went back up to her room. She set the orange juice on her nightstand and flopped
down on the bed. She tried to think of something, anything, to keep from wondering why Ben had seen her last night and not
come outside. She knew he’d seen her. She hadn’t knocked, second-guessing herself at the last minute, but she saw the curtains
ruffle. She knew he was there.
Maybe he thought their kiss was a mistake. She still hadn’t decided. That was part of the reason she’d gone over last night
after their fight about Robbie. She’d wanted to... well, she didn’t know exactly. She’d just wanted to kiss him again.
She wanted to see if it was as mind-blowing the second time as it had been the first time.
Mylie hadn’t known a kiss could be like that. It scrambled her brain. It made her question every kiss she’d ever had before.
She hadn’t wanted to fight with him last night. She’d been glad he stood up for her at the dance, and she knew he was upset
about the brick through the window. She was upset about it, too. She knew Robbie was trying to get to her. He wanted her to
say something, do something that would allow him to blame her for his own behavior, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
“Mylie!” Granny called from downstairs. “You have a gentleman caller!”
“I’ll be right down,” Mylie called back, giggling at her Granny’s antiquated phrase. She’d been doing that since Mylie was
old enough to date.
Mylie threw on a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt and hustled down the stairs to find Ben waiting for her. Actually, what
he was doing was consulting with the glass repairmen about their methods of installation. He didn’t even notice Mylie standing
there, watching him.
Finally, she said, “Do economists fix windows?”
Ben turned to her and grinned. “Not usually,” he said.
“Not ever” one of the repair men muttered, and Ben’s face reddened.
“It was nice meeting you gentlemen,” Ben said, making his way over to Mylie.
“Nice guys,” Ben said.
“They are,” Mylie said, angling her head toward him. “Look, about last night...”
“What about last night?” Ben asked.
“I’m sorry,” Mylie replied.
“What exactly are you apologizing for?” Ben asked.
“Not that ,” Mylie said. “The other stuff.”
“Good,” Ben replied. “I’m sorry for the other stuff, too. Do you, uh, want to go for a walk?”
Mylie shrugged. “Sure.”
“Take Stanley with you!” Granny called from the kitchen.
She slid her feet into a pair of Cassie’s Crocs and headed outside with Stanley and Ben. They walked down the road a ways
without saying anything, Stanley tugging them forward. Finally, Ben looked over at her and said, “I’m sorry... about last
night.”
“Which part?” Mylie asked.
“The argument,” he said. “I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I was just so furious. What kind of a person does that?”
“I think Cassie said it best,” Mylie replied. “An asshole.”
“I didn’t mean to tell you how to handle it,” Ben continued.
“Look,” Mylie said. “If the sheriff can link it to him, that’s one thing. But unless someone saw him do it, this is just a
way for him to play the victim. He’s already bad-mouthing me all over town. It’ll make him madder if we ignore it, anyway.”
“Are you sure you want him madder?” Ben asked.
“What, you don’t want to protect me?” Mylie replied with a smirk.
Ben grabbed her hand. “I’ll protect you. But I also know you can protect yourself.”
Mylie looked at him. She willed herself to ask him about the kiss, but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to ask.
She wasn’t sure, regardless of what the answer was, if she would like it. So instead, she just kept her free hand inside of
his and continued to walk.
They reached the stop sign at the end of the road and turned around. Stanley paused, sniffing the air, a low growl emanating
from his throat.
“Oh, stop it,” Mylie said to him. “Let’s go.”
But Stanley refused to budge, and his ears pricked at the slight rustling in the bushes.
“It’s probably a squirrel or something,” Mylie said to Ben, attempting to drag Stanley from his spot. “He sounds mean, but
he doesn’t have a prey drive. He just wants to play.”
“The squirrels don’t want to play?” Ben asked with a smirk.
“They absolutely do not,” Mylie said. “Stanley, come ON!”
“I don’t think that’s a squirrel,” Ben said, pointing to the bush.
Sure enough, there was a flash of a blue collar, and Mylie realized too late that it was Fat Tony, probably heading back to
wherever he went after his nighttime prowling to sleep. Before she could stop him, Stanley broke free of her grip and gave
chase, Fat Tony fleeing.
“What is happening?” Ben called after Mylie as she scrambled to regain control of Stanley. “Aren’t raccoons supposed to be
nocturnal?”
“Don’t worry,” Mylie huffed. “He’s not rabid. He’s just an asshole.”
“How do you know?” Ben replied.
“We... had... him... vaccinated,” Mylie said, her words coming out in short bursts. “Distemper... and... rabies.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Ben said.
Fat Tony had found a tree to climb, and he stayed there, halfway up the tree, just out of Stanley’s reach, taunting him. Stanley
barked and growled and scratched, but try as he might, he couldn’t reach the raccoon.
Mylie got ahold of Stanley’s leash, cursing. “Come. On. You. Damn. Dog.”
Stanley didn’t budge, keeping his vigil at the tree.
Ben stared up at Fat Tony, who Mylie could have sworn was grinning down at Stanley. Without saying anything, he reached down and picked up the massive pit bull and began carrying him like a baby toward the house.
“You’re really a ridiculous animal,” Ben said to him.
Mylie burst out laughing. “I cannot believe you just picked him up,” she said.
“Well, I wasn’t going to stand there and watch you two fight all day,” Ben replied. “Besides, I think he likes it.”
“He’ll never live this down with Fat Tony,” Mylie said. “Now the raccoon has the upper hand.”
Ben patted Stanley’s rump and cooed, “Don’t listen to her Stan the Man.”
Mylie couldn’t help but grin all the way back to her house.