The Girl in the Woods
Page 28
Ariel shrugged. ‘Good days and bad,’ she said.
‘And Trista?’
‘She’s with my brother and his wife today,’ said Ariel. ‘I’m hoping she won’t remember much of what happened.’
‘That would be a mercy,’ said Blair.
Ariel nodded, and leaned in to give Blair a brief hug.
‘Are you coming to Lucille’s house?’ she asked.
Blair sighed. ‘I’m not sure. I have to get back to Philly.’
Ariel turned to Tom. ‘Make sure she comes. We need to talk.’
‘We’ll stop by,’ said Tom.
Ariel gave them a wan smile, and then followed Yusef out to where the reporters were waiting.
Blair looked at Tom. ‘I guess we should,’ she said.
Tom nodded. ‘It’s a big day. Finally, something to celebrate.’
‘Ok,’ she said. ‘I’m still not caught up, but I guess work can wait a little longer.’
‘Let’s nip out the side door,’ he said. ‘Avoid the crowd.’
Blair nodded and followed him down a dark corridor to a door with an exit sign.
Tom pushed it open and looked outside, checking in both directions.
‘All clear,’ he said.
Blair followed him down the steps and out to the street. They walked in the weak winter light out to Tom’s truck and got inside.
‘I thought Ellis might come today,’ said Tom.
‘To support Yusef?’ Blair asked wryly.
Tom nodded and turned on the engine. ‘True. Some things don’t change.’
‘Still, I’m glad I stayed with him at the house this time,’ said Blair. ‘Malcolm stayed over too. It was like the bad old days.’
Tom smiled. ‘I know you have all the reason in the world to resent him, but I have to say, Ellis was genuinely worried about you when you were … in danger.’
‘I know it,’ said Blair ruminatively. ‘I know he was. You know, I can never decide how I feel about him. Part of me never wants to set eyes on him again and then I see how Malcolm still loves him, and I think, that’s got to count for something. He’s not all bad …’
Tom nodded, and they drove in silence for a while. ‘How is Malcolm doing at Peter and Amanda’s?’
‘Fine,’ said Blair. ‘I guess. He and Zach are into some kind of snowboarding thing.’
‘So it’s working out for him? Living with the Tuckers?’ Tom asked.
‘Seems to be,’ said Blair. ‘He seems happy. Of course, you never know.’
Tom shifted in his seat. He was quiet for a few minutes. Then he said, ‘So now that this is over, I guess we won’t see much of you anymore.’
‘Oh, I’ll be back,’ said Blair. ‘I mean, Malcolm is here. I promised Celeste I would stay in his life and I intend to.’
Tom nodded. ‘I think that’s a good idea,’ he said.
‘This morning, Uncle Ellis actually asked me when he was going to see me again.’
Tom smiled. ‘Go figure.’
Blair glanced at him. ‘And I’d like to see you too. We’ve made a pretty good team.’
Tom looked at her in surprise. ‘You would?’
Blair shrugged. ‘Well, sure.’
‘Right,’ Tom said, and then lapsed into silence.
Blair stared out the truck window at the passing landscape. From time to time, she thought she detected a spark between them, but she had her doubts if it could ever amount to more than a spark. I don’t know why I even mentioned us seeing one another, she thought. Both of us like our lives the way they are. She glanced at her watch. She intended to leave this party as soon as possible. If Tom wanted to stay, she could get somebody else to drive her back to her car.
‘I hear music,’ he said.
Blair frowned and then nodded. ‘Oh yeah.’
‘Marvin Gaye,’ he said.
Blair smiled, recognizing it. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘Kind of our song,’ he said.
Blair thought there was a suggestion of intimacy in his remark. ‘Damn lucky for me that you knew that song,’ she said.
Tom pulled up outside of Lucille’s house, where Motown was blaring from the windows, and parked. People were coming and going, celebrating the amazing victory.
‘You probably won’t believe this,’ he said, ‘but I was once a pretty good dancer.’
‘Are you still?’ said Blair.
Tom reached out a hand toward her and his hand quivered. ‘Want to find out?’ he asked.
Blair shook her head. This is hopeless. The world’s two wariest people.
‘Afraid I’ll make you look bad?’ he asked wryly.
Blair hesitated. Chicken, she thought. It was just a dance. She took a deep breath and smiled.
‘I’m game if you are,’ she said.