Page 21 of The Ex Puck Bunny
On a chuckle, I say, “You two were a pair of slobs. I don’t know how your mother put up with you.”
“She’s a saint.” Heidi gazes toward the house with gratitude.
“She is.” The gravity in my voice makes her look sharply up at me. I add, “The number of times Mrs. Rice fed me, let me spend the night, and didn’t ask questions saved my life.”
Heidi glances quickly at me as if trying to conceal her surprise. Mrs. Rice also helped me keep track of my insulin levels when I’d get distracted, trying to be a normal kid. Heidi now pulls her gaze from her hands to the big bay window with blue light flashing between the slit in the drapes. Likely, Mr. Rice is watching hockey highlights.
Heidi takes a full inhalation and exhalation, thawing the ice between us a bit. It’s a relief like shaking off a chill.
“Would you like some chili and cornbread?” she asks.
“Sounds good, but no thanks. If there is any of yourmom’s delicious carrot cake on the other hand, I could be tempted.” The cream cheese frosting has the perfect amount of tang.
“Dad polished it off yesterday.” She grips the door handle but still doesn’t get out.
I swish my mouth from side to side, hesitant to ask but do so anyway. “Was offering me food an apology?”
She lets out a long breath. “Sort of. Next time you come into the Fish Bowl, we’ll have loaded potato skins.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I’m not in any rush and will gladly sit here all night, chatting with Heidi, piecing together the past, and hoping that gives me a better sense of where she’s at in the present. But mostly, I feel peace which is the last thing I’ve ever experienced in this town.
She glances over and asks, “What? Why are you smiling?”
I shake my head slowly against the back of the seat. “I didn’t realize I was.”
She says, “You still have that wonky front tooth.”
I run my tongue over it. “It’s dead. I figure it’ll get knocked out, eventually.”
“Tough guy, eh?”
I scrub my hand down my face. Not quite. “You remembered my tooth?”
“I was there when Derek hit you with his hockey stick.”
“He complained about the retaliatory bruise on his hip for a month.”
“You two were the worst.”
“What about the third member of our trio?” I risk asking because if this isn’t about Trey and some absurd connection to me, I’ll take a hockey puck to my other front tooth.
“I’ll need to consult a dictionary for a word that’s worse thanworst.”
“Would I find Trey’s picture in there?” I ask, sensing I’m in warm territory if we were playing a game of hot and cold.
“You would,” she says shortly.
“I wish that surprised me.” Trey was spoiled and his sense of right and wrong was sometimes askew. Like he only ever thought about the moment and never about long-term consequences.
I suppose, keeping my eyes on the horizon was a result of me hoping that my future would be better. Meanwhile, Derek has always been firmly rooted in the present.
“If you ever want to swap bad ex stories, I’m your guy.” Alivia took some low blows.
“You’re my guy?” Heidi repeats, blinking slowly.
“Yeah,” I answer without question.
