The bell rang, but I kept the phone in my lap and tapped the screen anyway.
Feeling better?
:) Hey. Yeah? Why?
Just checking. You were kinda wheezing earlier.
Nah. ;)
;)
The phone slid smoothly back into my pocket, and the exhilaration of breaking the rules came over me as Mr. Barrows began his lesson. I’d seen so many people do it before and couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they would risk getting in trouble, their phone taken away, or detention. It was clear to me in that moment why they did it, and it had nothing to do with the text message itself.
I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again, but that wasn’t the only promise I would break that day.
Chapter 4
FRANKIE WIPED THE CHOCOLATE SYRUP on her apron and swore, promptly covering her mouth. “Oops.”
“As long as you don’t do it with the speaker on,” I said with a wink.
“I’m feeling a little off today.”
“Nervous?”
“About what?” she asked, even though she knew exactly what I meant.
“Did you forget about your date with Mark?”
“I did, actually, thanks for reminding me,” she said, pretending to check something on top of the shelf on the wall next to the drive-through window.
“You’re such a liar.”
She gasped. “Rude!”
I giggled, and then Frankie laughed. After trying to stop laughing for a full minute, we both began to cackle. A thunderstorm had rolled through an hour before, and the rain had Main Street sparkling under the streetlights.
“I’m so glad the days are longer,” Frankie said after wiping her smeared mascara. “Gives me time to play with the kids when I get off work.”
“Does Mark know you have kids?” I asked.
“What is your obsession with Mark?” she teased. “Probably. He’s only lived here a couple of months, and I’m sure everyone at Kay Electric has given him my credit score and sexual history by now. Just kidding. Not really.”
“Didn’t Barbara send him your way?” I asked. Barbara was in billing at Kay Electric, and Frankie made her laugh every time she came through the drive-through. The weekend before, Barbara came through on her way home and told Frankie all about Mark, the new lineman from Alabama. He was cute and sweet and single, and he loved to laugh. Barbara asked Frankie if she could give him her number, and to everyone’s surprise, Frankie wrote her number on a napkin and held it out the window.
Three phone calls later, Frankie agreed to a first date. She had been dropping and spilling things and messing up orders all evening. Even Weston noticed when he visited for a few minutes after practice.
She looked at her watch. “Welp. That’s closing time, kiddo. How do I look?” She was rocking her curves in a newer pair of capri jeans and a purple plaid button-up shirt.
“Covered in chocolate, which I bet he’ll like.”
She laughed and pulled off her apron. “Thanks, Erin. Have a good dinner with your…Sam.”
“I will. I’ll have a fantastic dinner with my Sam.” I smiled. I liked the sound of that.
I could hear Sam’s Range Rover idling on the other side of the back door before I opened it. He smiled bright when our eyes met, and I waved to Frankie before climbing into the passenger seat.
“I ran off and forgot my purse again,” he joked. “Mind if we stop by the house before we grab dinner? My phone’s in it.”
“Sure,” I said.
Sam pulled onto the road, and we drove south. The first minute or two was quiet, and then Sam cleared his throat. “You can change the station if you want.”
“This is fine.”
“How was work?”
“Uneventful for the most part. Weston stopped by. Frankie has a date tonight.”
“Julianne wanted to call during the storm. I assured her you wouldn’t be too scared.” He chortled to himself, but then looked to me when I didn’t respond. “I’m sorry. Were you? Should we have called?”
“No, I like storms.”
Sam nodded, relieved. “I do too. Julianne, not so much. We got a dog once so when I wasn’t home and it was storming, Julianne had a buddy, but it wasn’t meant to be. It aggravated Sonny’s asthma.”
“You mean Weston’s?”
Sam thought about that for a moment and then conceded. “You have a point. The dander would have triggered his asthma too. Back then, though, we saw Sonny nearly every day. For a long time, Weston only came over if Peter and Veronica forced him to play with the girls.”
“Sonny had asthma?”
“You didn’t know?” Sam asked.
I shook my head.
“I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. She denied it as much as Weston does.”
“He doesn’t talk about it much.”
“He works pretty hard to impress you. I’ve never seen him act like this.” Sam said, lost in thought for a moment before snapping back to the present. “Anyway, since Sonny was over at the house so much, we decided to get rid of…huh. I can’t even remember its name.”
We pulled up to the curb, and I waited. It didn’t occur to me that Sam hadn’t pulled into the drive until I saw Julianne standing next to another vehicle. Not her white G-Wagon, but a red BMW. With a big, white bow on top.
Sam got out and walked around to my side of the Range Rover.
“This isn’t happening,” I whispered before he opened the door.
I stepped out. Sam and Julianne were both beaming.
“We’ve missed a few birthdays and Christmases,” Sam said.
“Graduation is coming up too,” Julianne said.
I pointed to the shiny red paint. “Is this for me?”
Sam held up a small, black remote with a few silver buttons. “It’s not the same as holding up keys, but this goes to your new car. We hope you like red.”
I choked on my own spit. “Do I like—? You’re joking.”
They both shook their heads, and I did the same.
Their smiles fell away, and Julianne held out her hands, walking toward me.
“Please let us do this. I’m not even sure who came up with the idea. Both of us, I think.”
Sam nodded in agreement.
Julianne continued, her voice shaking. “And you need a car, honey. You’re eighteen, and you work hard, and…you should have a vehicle.”