by A. L. Moore
"Invite me where?" Mama said, her fuzzy, blue bedroom slippers sliding along the floor as she shuffled into the room.
Thomas looked amused, waiting for me to answer.
"We were just talking about going to Katy's for ice cream on Sunday," I said quickly. "I was trying to explain to Thomas that it's an open invitation."
"Ice cream sounds good," Mama said, opening the freezer and fanning the cool air toward her face. "Do you kids want some?"
Thomas leaned back in his chair a smug look on his face. I contemplated kicking the legs out from under him, but he sat up pretty quickly when he saw the look on my face.
"I promised Thomas lunch," I said. "He invited me for waffles this morning."
"Yum," she said, dipping into a gallon of strawberry. "Were they good?"
"As good as any diner's," Thomas answered, daring me with his eyes.
"There's plenty of stuff in there for sandwiches," Mama said, gesturing toward the refrigerator. "Do you want me to whip some up?
"Do you like mayo, Thomas?"
I took the ice cream carton and stuck it back in the freezer. "I've got it Mama. You're not even supposed to be up."
She pulled the chair out across from Thomas and sat down. "That doctor wouldn't know his butt from a hole in the ground. He's never had a baby before,” she said, cutting into a fresh tomato. "Besides," she eyed me. "I've done this before.
"Thomas, what've you been up to lately?" she asked as I assembled bread onto plates. "Built anymore pens?"
Mama and I'd sat on the porch, sipping tea and watching him and daddy construct the horse pen every afternoon until they’d finished in preparation for Addy's arrival.
"No pens," he said, catching the plate I slid his way. "I've been helping Mr. Johnson with some car stuff."
Mama looked impressed. "It's a good thing, being mechanical like you are. You'll be a good husband to some lucky girl one day." Thomas blushed and suddenly became engrossed in his sandwich.
"Of course, you're both too young to even be thinking about that," Mama added, glancing between us as we chewed in silence. I wanted to melt into the floor.
"Is everything alright over at your place?" she asked, changing the subject when I shot her a pained look.
"Mama," I complained.
"I’m not trying to pry," she said, glancing at me questioningly. "I just want Thomas to know that our door is always open. For Rusty, too."
I could feel Thomas's eyes on me, so I kept mine on the table. I'd never be able to keep a straight face if I saw the smile that I was sure curved his lips.
"Thanks, ma'am," he said. "That's mighty nice of you."
We finished our sandwiches, and I pretended to give Thomas a tour of the house he'd slept in last night. In truth, he hadn't seen the upstairs in the daylight. I let him hold my hand as we walked through the living room where Mama sat. Daddy would take it better coming from her rather than seeing it firsthand. I’d never thought about how much kid stuff I had around until now, when it was too late to hide it. Thomas poked fun at the fairy toothbrush holder in my bathroom and the Holiday Barbie that sat, still in the box, on my dresser.
“Is there nothing you’ve held on to,” I asked, jerking the strip of pictures of me and Katy out of his hand. We’d had them made in a booth at the mall in the sixth grade. “I’m sure you have a blanket or a stuffed animal? I get to go through your stuff next."
He peered out the window. Mr. Tyner was backing the car out of the drive. “All of my stuff was lost in the shuffle,” he said dismissively. “I don’t have much besides clothes and a couple of pictures.”
“Nothing sentimental at all?” I questioned. That was so sad. I couldn't imagine not having my room full of things I'd collected over the years.
He thought for a minute and pulled his hat off and handed it to me. “This belonged to my daddy. When the social worker took me back to the house to get my things, I grabbed it. He rarely took it off.”
I put it on and took a look in the mirror. It didn’t sit right with my hair up. “That’s not embarrassing,” I sighed.
He grabbed the hat from my head on his way out the door. “It’s no Holiday Barbie, but I like it.”
“That’s it, cowboy,” I said, giving him a hard shove. “My room is off limits to you.”
Chapter 10
(Present)
Loud, bellowing country music caught my attention as I started down the stairs. It was a slow song. I knew it well and didn’t have to look out to see where it was coming from. Hot summer night, sappy country music shaking our windows, it could only mean one thing. Katy and Drew were on the mend.
"Come on, Katy," I shouted over the music, making my way across the dark yard to where they'd parked Drew's pick-up between our properties. She was swaying against Drew, in a pale pink sundress that cut off mid-thigh. Her blond hair was pulled up but had fallen in pieces down her golden tanned neck.
"Drew." I tugged his shirt sleeve as Katy ran her hand through his wavy, brown hair. It had grown out since I'd seen him last and nearly reached his chin. “Give me a hand."
Drew wasn't quite as tall as Thomas, but he was taller than Katy's five-foot-five and had a sun-kissed tan from working his parent's cattle ranch. He gave me a sheepish grin, revealing the cutest dimple on his left cheek as they climbed into the bed of his truck to continue their dance. "You know better than anyone that once Katy gets going, there ain’t no stoppin’ her."
"Give it a rest, Breelynn," Katy sang, spinning under Drew's arm. "It's summer. Do you remember what that means?" Her grin was contagious as she leaned down, crooking her finger for me to join them. “Come on," she said, her eyes bright as she stood back up and bounced on her feet. "This is our jam, remember?" How could I forget? She hadn’t stopped singing it all week.
"I don’t have anyone to dance with," I sighed, grabbing her hand for a boost.
"I got you, Breelynn," Drew said, grabbing both of us by the waist and lifting us off our feet. The way Katy’s dress rode up, I was suddenly very thankful for my cutoffs.
It was things like this that kept getting Drew dumped. They weren't officially back together yet. Katy liked to stretch things out, string him along a little while after he'd screwed up. I don't think Drew intended to hurt Katy. He just had the kind of face girls flocked to, like a newborn puppy in a store window. His big, blue eyes were lethal weapons, but I swear the boy didn’t even know they were loaded. So maybe he needed to learn to keep his hands to himself, and that not all friendly hugs are meant to stay friendly, but as far as I knew, he'd never actually cheated.
I sat on the side of the truck as soon as I could politely disentangle from Rusty's arms and stared up at the stars. The sky was beautiful when it was clear, stretching for miles, a bright oasis of lanterns. I'd spent countless nights under them dreaming about the future. Where it might take me. Who I might meet there.
"Thomas!" Katy called over my head, waving her hands over her head as if he could miss her standing in the back of a pickup with music loud enough to wake the dead. I refused to turn around. He'd had enough of my attention today. Enough for a lifetime. "Yes, you," Katy laughed. "Do you see any other boys named Thomas out here? Come and dance with Breelynn." What? She did not just say that! Drew wouldn’t have to worry about getting back in her good graces, because I was going to kill her with my bare hands!
"No," I said horrified, looking over my shoulder. Thomas was still dressed in his work clothes, dirty, faded jeans that, as much as I hated to admit, fit him a little too perfectly in all the right places, and a mud splattered, white t-shirt. "I'm sure he's tired, Katy. He's been working in the hot sun all day."
"Sun...shmun," she sighed, adding another nail to her coffin as she gave him a bright smile.
"Yeah, come on, man," Drew waved him over, popping the top on a can of Coke. "It ain’t right to have a pretty girl sitting all by her lonesome."
"Right," Katy chuckled, "come and get Baby out of the corner." Really? Did we have to drag
Dirty Dancing into this? I was going to kill them both before the night was over.
Thomas stood by the tailgate with his hands in his pockets watching the spectacle Katy was creating as she spun around to the music with her hands raised in the air. "You don't have to," I said, hugging my chest when his eyes moved to where I sat next to Drew. “I'm perfectly fine where I am.”
Thomas smirked, his eyes zeroing in on my pouty lip. I quickly transformed it into a small smile. No need in having him think I was upset about him. It was Katy whose head was on the chopping block. "I'm pretty dirty," he said, dusting his hands on his pants.
"Breelynn don't mind," Katy grinned. "She likes 'em dirty."
No, she did not just say that! "Katy, you better give your heart to Jesus because your butt is mine," I hissed under my breath, giving her a look I hoped would set her a blaze. I swung my legs over the tailgate and hopped down to stand in front of Thomas. It was clear there was no getting out of this. I wasn’t about to make a fuss in front of him. It clearly meant nothing to him, so why should it mean anything to me. A dance with an old friend, it didn’t get any more cliché than that.
His eyes moved from my bare feet, over my too long legs to the well fitted tank top that I’d pulled on with plans of going to bed early. It showed a little more cleavage than I was comfortable with, at least in front of him. When his eyes finally reached mine, I would’ve sworn there was a challenge hidden there in the depths. Stilling my hands by my sides, I silently challenged him right back. If this was happening, he was making the first move. No way was I going to step out on a limb only to have him break it. He dusted his hands against his jeans again before taking a half step forward and placing his hand gently on my hip. His touch seared through me like a hot branding iron. Our eyes locked as I moved to close the distance between us. Then, the music stopped.
"Damn battery," Drew muttered. "I just had it checked."
Thomas withdrew his hand as I turned to look at Drew who’d hopped out of the cab and started for the hood. "I need to get some rest anyway," Thomas said, scratching the back of his head and taking a step backwards toward the house.
"It's not even ten," Katy complained to his back. "What's your rush, Grandpa?"
"Some of us have to work in the morning," he called back with the wave of his hand.
"Right," she called. "Breelynn said you were a real buzz kill now."
"Katy!" I grabbed her arm in a vice grip. "I did not. Why would you say that? He's going to think I really said that!"
"Good to see you again, too, Katy. Goodnight," Thomas said over his shoulder.
Katie rolled her eyes and went to the front of the truck with Drew. He'd traced the problem to the cab light Katy’d left on. This happened all the time. Anyone else would've replaced the battery by now, but not Drew. He was a modern-day scrooge when it came to replacing things. It drove Katy crazy, but he wouldn't throw anything out until it was completely useless. Katy was busy telling him just that when a blue Mazda pulled onto the grass next to his truck. Chase Owens. He and Drew had been best friends since Chase had moved here last year. Katy’d tried to set us up, but there was nothing there. No spark. No chemistry. Nothing. He wasn’t a bad looking guy. His black hair, that he usually wore long like Drew’s, was cut short in a crew cut, and his equally dark eyes landed on me the moment he stepped out of the car. He’d played football all through high school and had spent hours in the gym, which showed in the stretched, short sleeves of his shirt. He’d mostly dated the cheerleader type in school, which made me question why he showed interest in me. I’d never been one for pep and school spirit, choosing to spend my spare time on the farm or in the library. No, it wasn’t Chase’s looks that kept me at bay. He was just so...goofy. Sometimes goofy can be funny but not with Chase. He was funny like a five-year-old who told the punchline before the joke. The worst part was that because people laughed, he hadn't stopped.
"My heart be still," Chase said, rounding the truck in a pair of cut-off, blue jean shorts and flip-flops. "Katy didn’t mention you were here."
“It’s my house.” I rolled my eyes, moving over to make room for him on the tailgate. "How's it going, Chase?" I asked as he sat close enough to brush my arm.
"It just got a lot better," he smiled, pulling me into a one-armed hug and leaving his arm around my shoulders. At least he had on deodorant.
Drew gave him an exasperated glance and headed up to my house for help.
"Maybe it was Memphis..." Katy screamed more than sang the new Patty Loveless song we'd been listening to before the battery'd died, making up for the lack of a radio. "Maybe it was...
"Do you think this song's about Elvis?" she asked just as Drew reappeared with Thomas who clutched a pair of jumper cables in his fist. "It doesn't say it is, but it has to be. Who writes a song about Memphis and doesn’t mention Elvis?”
"That's who it makes me think of," I agreed, watching Thomas as he leaned over the left side of the hood and helped Drew attach the cables. Katy and Chase were both singing now, moving me in a sway that in no way went with the beat of the song. They had zero rhythm, but they were having so much fun, I couldn't help but join in. Drew plugged his ears as he slid into the cab and fired the engine. Thomas glanced at us on his way to the house and it almost looked like he smiled, but it could've just been a shadow.
We sang the chorus through twice before Drew slammed the hood and called for Chase who was taking advantage of his goodnight hug. I mouthed to Katy for help, but she just grinned and gave me a thumbs up as Chase's hand rubbed the length of my back.
"You staying with me or Breelynn?" Drew called impatiently from the truck window, the brake lights shining across my legs.
"Do I get to pick," Chase asked eagerly, giving me the eyes. Unfortunately for him, his eyes did little more than make me wish I were already in the house.
"Not on your life," Katy said, pulling my arm until he let go. "I'm staying with Breelynn. You boys get out of here." She really was playing hard to get with Drew. Katy had been sleeping over at Drew's since the beginning of the year. His parents treated him like an adult since he'd turned eighteen, which was more than I could say for mine.
Mama and Daddy were watching TV when we went inside. I looked at them expectantly before heading to the kitchen. Katy and I’d planned a movie night and they needed to skedaddle. I grabbed a bag of chips while Katy made popcorn. We did this every weekend during the school year and even more now that we were free.
Katy took her regular seat on the overstuffed recliner, kicking her sandals off and curling her legs beneath her. In keeping with her Memphis mood, Katy pushed in a terrible copy of a TV movie she'd recorded. It was one we'd seen dozens of times, so the black squiggling lines didn't bother me. We watched in a comfortable silence, only speaking to quote our favorite lines.
“I wish Drew looked like Elvis,” Katy sighed, hugging a throw pillow to her chest as the credits rolled. “Then I wouldn’t care if he cheated.”
“I know, right,” I said, passing her a tissue. Even though we'd seen the movie a hundred times, and everyone in the world knew the outcome, we always got choked up at the end. “But guys don’t look like that anymore.”
“It’s ashamed, too,” she sniffed. “Because I have an uncanny resemblance to Ann Margaret,” she said, sticking out her chest and giving her hips a suggestive shake.
I laughed loud enough to wake up the house.
“What does Lucas look like?”
“More Leo than Dean,” she said, rolling the bag of chips and sticking a clip on the end. “Don’t worry. He’s hot. You’ll have a good time. I promise.”
She’d been pestering me for weeks to go out with another of Drew's friends, Lucas. I’d only recently given in, and I still had reservations, mostly because she became all dreamy eyed when she talked about him. I'd seen those eyes before and couldn't help but wonder if she had a crush on him, herself.
Katy headed upstairs to call Drew while I cleaned the living room back to its
original perfection, leaving Jenny’s blocks strewn in the corner. Cleaning her toys was pointless. When I got upstairs, I was surprised not to find Katy in my room, though I shouldn’t have been. She was a magnet for anything male. I should've known better than to send her upstairs where unexpectant Thomas slept. I whispered her name a couple of times into the dark hall, to no response. Thomas’s door was open, but I didn’t want to go down there if I could help it. I could hear her laughing, so I went in my room and closed the door, reaching back too late to catch it from slamming. It shouldn’t’ve bothered me that she felt comfortable enough to talk and laugh with him. Afterall, Thomas had been her friend, too, but I couldn’t help the surge of jealousy that struck me. I listened for her to come in while I showered, but the room was still empty when I climbed into bed sometime later. I'm not sure how long I'd been asleep when her voice woke me.
“Breelynn,” she whispered, nudging me as she climbed into the bed. “Breelynn, you asleep?”
“What?” I loosened the blanket from my legs. “Am I hogging the covers?”
“No,” she said, slipping her legs under the blanket and pressing her cold toes against my leg. I gave her a swift kick and turned back toward the wall.
“Are you mad at me?” I didn’t answer right away because I knew it was illogical to be mad at her. I wasn’t dating Thomas. If she’d grabbed a pillow and headed down the hall, it wasn’t my business.
“I thought you were calling Drew.”
“The line was busy,” she said. “And then I ran into Thomas coming out of the bathroom. If you don’t want me to talk to him…”
“I don’t care if you talk to him,” I sighed, punching the stuffing in my pillow instead of her face. “I just don’t get why he can talk to everyone but me.
“Whatever. I don’t care,” I said, shuffling away from her feet. “Go to sleep.”
“You know me and my mouth,” she said sheepishly. “When have I ever needed another person to have a conversation?”
“True,” I allowed, bumping her with my butt. “Get your icebergs off me!”
