Page 28 of The Cadence
“You can put Will on the taken list,” I informed her.
Kirsten looked at me and then laughed. “I knew it!” she crowed. “I knew you two were together! I thought I saw you pulling out of his driveway, but I wasn’t sure.”
“He and I are not together, he doesn’t have any secret children, and you shouldn’t watch his house. I’m not going to talk about him anymore, either.” Before she could continue, I diverted her attention by asking about the college she attended and what she studied there. According to her description, it was in another backwater because nothing was as good as The City, the place where she didn’t actually live. She studied something that she called “communications bullshit.”
“It’s totally stupid, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to work for my dad,” Kirsten said.
“What does he do?”
“Some kind of thing in The City. My friend and I are going to live there together so we don’t have the long commute. It’s not so long, though, because I’m practically there already,” she quickly added.
I had no idea about the geography of that place and to be honest, I didn’t really care. It was more important to me that she stop talking about Will and my relationship with him, but for her part, she didn’t care much about me except in regard to my connection with the Woodsmen. I kept on asking more questions and it was definitely interesting to hear about the life of the typical college girl, which I assumed she was. She had a car that her parents had given her and she didn’t have to pay forthe insurance, and she had a credit card that she used to buy the gas and also anything else that she wanted.
“It’s supposed to be ‘within reason,’” she said, and made a face while nodding, as if I would understand some secret meaning.
Unfortunately, I could only do so much diversion, and when Kirsten returned to quizzing me about Will, when she could meet him, and when the three of us were going out to party, I said I had to go. “I have to get to work,” I explained.
“Now?” She looked at the time on her phone.
“Now,” I agreed, and waved. She followed me out to my car, though, and she nodded when she saw it.
“I recognize this! I did see you driving out of Will Bodine’s house. Go, girlie!”
“No, I don’t want to bump fists,” I said, shaking my head at her raised knuckles. “This isn’t a ‘go, girlie’ situation, not at all. Bye.” I left, thinking that I didn’t much want to see her again.
When Will had been trying to convince me to leave Tennessee, he’d told me that I didn’t have to worry about quitting at the Biscuit Barrel and the grocery store. “You could get jobs like that anywhere,” he had stated and he’d been right, because I had. I was now working part-time at the grocery store closest to his house, usually taking the second shift that started after I’d completed the minimal work he asked me to do for his company. My new employment wasn’t something that he supported, but it wasn’t the loss of my companionship that appeared to bother him.
“You’re going out to your car late at night and then driving around in the dark,” he’d pointed out, frowning, and I’d said that this seemed like a very safe area.
“If it’s not, tell me!” I’d urged, but it was. He was still concerned, though, and he especially didn’t like that I was going to the store when he was out of town on an island that you had to take a boat to (but that did have room service in the hotel).
But the job I was heading to now wasn’t at the grocery store. I’d finished redoing the free chest of drawers that I’d gotten from Kirsten’s grandma and even with my lack of tools and skills, I was happy with the result. I’d gone ahead and bought a little nightstand for twenty bucks and was working on that, too, and Will had helped me to set up an area in the garage as my furniture workshop. I had a lot of ideas about what I would do with my new piece, and I was happy when he called so that I could discuss them.
“How was today? Did you make friends with the new players?” I asked him first.
“Yes, I tried that ‘you’re pretty’ line on the rookie center, and he and I are besties. Is that how you say it?”
I laughed. “Is he really cute?”
“You don’t have any competition there. Are you on your way to the grocery store?”
“No, not today.” I did get the chance to tell him all about my new furniture project.
“I’ve been watching some videos about woodworking,” he told me. “I also found out that there’s a guy in town who gives classes. He’s the brother of one of the offensive linemen. You’ll know his name.” He said it: Jory Morin, but I didn’t think I’d heard it before.
“I don’t care about the offense,” I explained. “When you weren’t out there playing, I usually read or worked around my grandma’s house. I weeded or cleaned the bathroom.”
“That does sound better than watching the offense. What are you going to do when you’re at the stadium, bring one of your books?”
“Do I get to come to Woodsmen Stadium for your games?” I asked. “Really?”
“Yes, Calla, I think that I should be able to get you a single ticket. But maybe Miss Mozella would want to come up, too. Didn’t you also say that you were friends with that little guy, Albert?”
“No, we didn’t keep in touch,” I answered. I hadn’t kept in touch with anyone from high school—some of them had gone on to college, some into the armed forces, and some to jobs in our city and beyond. I had stayed in the same place and I hadn’t done much different, but I had been busy all the same. “Anyway, I already told you about Miss Mozella’s issues with travel, and I don’t think she’s much of a football fan. But I’m sure she’d love to see you,” I added. I remembered how she’d stared when he’d come to my grandmother’s house.
“We get a few tickets to each game but I never picked them up before. They might seat all the Woodsmen families together, so you wouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’d talk to whoever was there, even if I did go by myself, and I’d have fun if I never spoke a word.”
