Page 103 of Love in Riverbend
Her forehead furrows. “Today? Before you got to Riverbend?”
Pressing my lips together, I shake my head.
Jill’s green eyes open wide. “Oh, here.” She hops off the bed. “Devan Dunn is moving back to Riverbend.”
“It’s not official,” I say. “I’m torn. Especially now that I know you’ll be in Indy.”
Her green eyes sparkle. “You do what is best for you. I’d love to live close, but if you come back here, Marilyn will still be in Bloomington, right between us. We can meet up there. And you can keep us up-to-date on all things in Riverbend.”
Marilyn’s eyes squint. “You just said that you don’t like being in Bloomington.”
“On Little 500 weekend. Trust me, there are plenty of nice grown-up, puke-free places to have a good time any other weekend of the year.”
Standing, I turn a circle and shake my head. “Oh my God,” I say, struck with the realization that it isn’t only happening to me. “You guys…”
They both turn my way.
“We are really grown-ups.” I scrunch my nose. “Aren’t we?”
“Not too fast,” Marilyn says. She turns to Jill. “Is Todd coming to Riverbend this weekend?”
“Nope. I told him I wanted some time with the two of you.” She rolls her eyes. “He’s insanely busy with his classes. I’ll head to Indy on Sunday and probably back to Bloomington Monday before class.”
Marilyn grins. “I’m curious if Mrs. Kohlberg is aware of your plans.”
“Mom’s excited about the engagement. She may or may not know I visit Indy regularly.”
We all laugh.
“Okay,” I say. “We order pizza and hang out in Marilyn’s bedroom, or we go do something.”
“Something,” Marilyn says with a smile looking around the room.
“Ideas?” I ask.
Jill responds, “Todd reminded me that tonight is the Gordons’ hog roast.”
“No,” I answer. “Remember, my visit is covert.”
“I forgot.” Jill grins. “I have an idea. We wait until it gets dark.” She opens Marilyn’s closet and starts looking through her things. Jill pulls out a Purdue hoodie from when Marilyn’s older brother Marcus went to Purdue. “And we go incognito. We can spy on our old classmates, see what’s happening that our moms haven’t told us.”
Rolling my eyes, I say, “It will only be old people and people who never broke free.”
Jill stands her ground. “You know this hog roast is always a big deal, remember? We even went in high school. It’s the first party of the year, getting people out after the long winter. I think it’s pretty cool Mrs. Gordon is carrying it on after Mr. Gordon died. And some people have broken free but want to come back. Am I looking at one of those?”
Is she?
I don’t know.
Marilyn nudges me with her elbow. “Might be a good way to explore your thoughts about moving back.”
I take the hoodie from Jill’s grasp. “And you think wearing a sweatshirt from another school will fake out the people we’ve known all our lives?” I make eye contact with one friend and then the other, seeing the sparkle from both. “Okay, let’s do this!”
“Can you find two more sweatshirts?” Jill asks Marilyn.
“Are you kidding? My parents have enough Purdue and Ball State attire to clothe a small country.”
I pull the hoodie over my head.
