Page 71 of Something that Could Last

A couple hours after returning home, there’s a thunderous pounding on the door. I check the clock, realizing it’s about time for Tiff to be showing up. It can’t be her though, because she never knocks. She just breezes right in like she lives here, which at one time, she practically did. I open the door to find my friend, red-faced, huffing and puffing, her arms loaded down with goodies, foot raised in preparation of kicking my door again.

“Hey!” she greets me breathlessly. “I brought pizza and movies.” She looks like she’s about to drop everything in her arms. I take the bag of chips, cookies, and movies from her and open the door wide so she can fit through with the over-sized pizza box.

“Wow, Tiff, how many people were you expecting?” I ask jokingly. She huffs as she sets the pizza on the table and removes the plastic bag holding two two-liters of pop from around her arm, leaving red, angry lines carved into her forearm. I barely have time to take the bags from her and place them on the table before she pulls me in close and squeezes me tightly, her breath stuttering and coming in spurts as she tries to suppress her tears. After a long embrace, she lets go of me and greets Jacob.

“I should probably get out of here,” he offers, pressing his lips against my temple. “I don’t want to feel like the third wheel.” Despite his playful smile, I can see that he’s worried about me. And I’m really not ready for him to leave.

“Why don’t we call Luke and see if he wants to join us? There’s enough food here for ten people.” I love Tiff, but IneedJacob. I want him to stay, but I don’t want him to be uncomfortable and outnumbered by us girls.

“Sure, why not?” Tiff shrugs. Her indifference at the prospect of seeing him makes me wonder if she’s losing interest already.

Jacob pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials Luke, inviting him to our little get together. Twenty minutes later, an unfamiliar car pulls into the driveway and Luke hops out of the back seat. I’m stunned when I open the front door and Luke wraps his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“Hey girl. You alright?” he asks.

“I’m okay.” I blink back tears and swallow the lump in my throat. Luke’s unexpected affection catches me off guard and my strong façade begins to crack. After a moment, he releases me and goes straight to Tiff, picking her up and swinging her around. She throws her head back and laughs, and seems genuinely happy to see him. Maybe I misread her earlier.

“Hey beautiful.” He smiles at her warmly and presses his lips to hers. “Did you miss me while you were at work?” His growing affection for her is sweet and endearing.

“Of course,” she croons. I’m relieved that she’s back to her usual self.

My grandmother returns from Sunday night church services as we’re loading our plates with pizza and chips. Jacob invites her to join us, but she declines, having already eaten dinner with her ladies’ Bible study group. She gives me a hug and bids me goodnight before retiring to her bedroom at the end of the hall. We spend the evening eating pizza and watching funny movies, laughing and joking in hushed tones to keep from disturbing my grandmother. It’s like we haven’t a care in the world, and that’s exactly what I need.

Jacob

I WAKE UPMonday morning to an empty bed and even emptier arms. I left Abby’s house late last night and crawled into this king-sized bed alone. It was hard to do, but I knew I couldn’t stay there all night.

The four of us had a really good time just hanging out at her house. Having us all together, spending time doing normal things, seemed to relax Abby tremendously. She laughed a lot and ate pizza and cookies and drank more Mountain Dew than I’ve ever seen anyone drink before.

She insisted on going back to work today, but I’m worried about her. I’m sure word of what happened Saturday has gotten around by now, but I hope nobody says anything to her about it. That would just upset her, and I hate to see her in pain.

I decide to grab a late lunch at Rosie’s so I can check on her and make sure she’s okay. Luke and I got up early to go kayaking and haven’t eaten since breakfast.

“Feel like stopping by and seeing the girls?” I glance at Luke in the passenger seat. He’s gazing distractedly out the window.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That sounds good. I’m starving.”

Rosie’s is the slowest I’ve ever seen it. We missed the lunch rush and the dinner crowd hasn’t started trickling in yet. Tiff finds us instantly and comes over to our table to take our order.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Luke’s eyes light up when he greets her. “How’s it goin’?” “Good, now that you’re here.” When she throws a flirtatious smile his way, his face splits into a grin so wide, his damn cheeks must hurt.

“Where’s Abby? Is she doing alright?” I ask Tiff, hoping that nobody has upset her.

“She’s on break, but she’ll be back in a minute. It’s been really busy up ‘til now, so she really hasn’t had time to think about anything.”

“Anybody say anything to her about Saturday?”

“No, not since this morning when Ros took her into the office to talk to her. She was worried, ya know.” Abby’s aunt has always looked out for her. Of course, she’d want to talk to Abby and make sure she’s okay.

“Where’s she at? I need to see her.”

Tiff turns and waves for me to follow, leading me down the hallway, past the restrooms, and through the back exit. Abby is sitting at a picnic table with a salad that looks like it’s barely been touched sitting in front of her. Her eyes find mine when she hears the door spring open.

“Jacob.” She gets up and runs to me, jumping into my arms. “I didn’t know you were coming.” Warmth engulfs my chest at how excited she is to see me.

“I had to see you.” As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly. “And I was hungry.” I smile down at her beautiful face. She looks tired but happy. I can live with that. “I want you to stay with me tonight.” I don’t mean to just blurt that out, but there it is, hanging in the air between us.

“Okay,” she agrees easily. I need to hold her in my arms tonight and know that she’s safe. It damn near killed me to be without her last night.

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