by Lorin Grace
“I don’t care what Grandfather’s PR firm comes up with to fix your little stunt, you will comply. And then I never want to see you again, and, if necessary, I will get a restraining order.” He knew he was going too far and letting anger cloud his words. He looked to Marci. “Get a ride with EmilyAnne. I need to go clear my head.”
Kyle climbed in the cab of his truck and turned the ignition.
How would he explain this to Araceli?
twenty-three
They all stared at the screen in silence.
Zoe shut off the webcast. “Maybe there was more we didn’t see when they cut to the commercial.”
Araceli tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It sat there like a too-big vitamin.
Mandy handed Araceli more tissues. “Hey, there could be another explanation. Like when Summerset Vandermark set Daniel up.”
Araceli’s phone beeped. She read Tessa’s text. That kiss was soooo fake. Talk to him. Don’t write him off. She handed the phone to Abbie, who read the text to everyone.
Her phone beeped again. Marci. Kyle yelled at Jade and left. They are not engaged. REPEAT: NOT ENGAGED. I have his phone in my purse. Don’t dump him. Please!!! The text ended in several emojis, mostly hearts.
“I am not upset about the kiss. I spent a week as Jade’s roommate. Of course she set it up. Why does everyone assume I am upset about the kiss?”
Candace put an arm around Araceli. “Because that is when you started crying.”
“I did not.”
One painted-on eyebrow raised high enough to touch Candace’s wig.
Mandy stood. “Anyone want ice cream? I have a new double-chocolate caramel brownie.”
Maybe it would numb the pain for a moment. Araceli raised her hand along with the others. Abbie followed Mandy into the kitchen.
A text from Cassie, whom she only met on video calls. My brother is an idiot. I’ll go knock some sense into him as soon as I get home from Paris.
Araceli wasn’t sure what to reply, so she set the phone down.
“So, if it wasn’t the kiss, why are you so upset?” Mandy handed Araceli an overflowing bowl of ice cream.
“The kiss was more like the last straw. Part of me knows he wasn’t enjoying it, and he was pushing back, but I still saw a kiss. But it was his not correcting Jade on the painting. She helped all of ten minutes and tried to destroy the mural, not that I ever told him that. But the photo they showed looked like she was directing everything. Even when the host complimented Jade on all her work, Kyle didn’t correct her. I didn’t expect Chelsea would because she is Jade’s sidekick, but Kyle didn’t take the opening.” Araceli took a too-large bite, hoping for the pain from an ice cream headache to dull the other pain.
Mandy sat on Araceli’s other side. “Nonartists don’t understand how much of our souls we put into the work. Having someone not credit you when credit is due is almost as bad as having your work plagiarized.”
“Try graphic design. No one ever gives you credit unless it is a logo.” Zoe crossed her arms.
Araceli wiped her tears. “I thought we already established that graphic artists don’t do art. You don’t take the photos, draw the illustrations, create the font, or write the copy. So, since you don’t do anything, you don’t need the credit.” She flashed Zoe a big smile so Zoe would know it was all teasing.
“Hey! From what you say, even I do more than Jade did. At least I put the credits in for the artists and writers.” Zoe made a face and stuck out her tongue. There was no way a designer would ever win the argument in a house full of artists.
Abbie moved a pillow out of the way. “If you want, I can send Alex out to have words with Kyle.”
Mandy nodded. “Alex is in desperate need of something with a bit more action than following a woman who is starting to wobble.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. I don’t want to force him to apologize.”
“Are you at least going to explain how much he hurt you?”
Araceli shrugged. “I don’t know if I can. You guys get me because you are artists. What if he doesn’t?”
“I don’t think you need to be an artist to empathize with having the credit given to someone else. I’ve had others claim my ideas before, and it hurts. After all the hard work you did at the orphanage, I think it would hurt more than having someone take credit for a suggestion.” Abbie’s thoughts were unexpected. She usually stayed on the fringes of their conversations. The distinction between bodyguard and friend blurred more each day.
“You told me he was smart. I bet you a week’s worth of household duties he gets it within the next four hours and you get a call.” Zoe extended her hand for a handshake.
“I’ll double that.” Candace added her hand.
“If I lose, do I have to do your work?”
Zoe and Candace conferred silently. “No.”
“Okay, then, at least if he doesn’t call I get out of some cleaning.”
Mandy set her empty bowl on the coffee table. “More ice cream?”
Candace picked up the empty bowl. “Wow, you really are eating for two. You didn’t eat that much ice cream when you were upset with all of Daniel’s fake dates.”
“Doctor’s orders. I lost too much weight the first trimester. Ice cream equals calcium and calories, not to mention its magical qualities of soothing broken hearts.”
“I think I would feel better if I could throw it at Kyle, or perhaps Jade.” Araceli put the last spoonful in her mouth.
“If you do, make sure it isn’t the good stuff. Use bubble-gum or cotton-candy ice cream. They might even stain.”
Everyone laughed at Zoe’s suggestion.
Araceli took a deep breath. “Don’t we have a nursery to paint?”
Welcome to Oklahoma!
Kyle sped past the sign and glanced at the clock on his dashboard—two and a half hours since he’d left the news station. His only thought was to get to Celi. Odd his sisters hadn’t called him to ask where he went. Mom should have called by now too. He didn’t expect Celi to call, not after the disaster of a show.
He felt for his phone on the console.
Oh no.
A few choice words ran through his brain. He’d put his phone in Marci’s purse when they were in the green room getting ready for the show. Turning around would add at least five hours to the trip as traffic would have picked up by now and the construction areas would be clogged to a standstill. Even if he found a flight, he wouldn’t make it before tomorrow morning.
He passed the casino on the south side of Durant, and the highway traffic immediately diminished. His truck’s GPS told him there were twelve more hours of driving. By the time he turned around, purchased a plane ticket, transferred, and rented a car, he would have used twelve hours anyway. But Mom would go only slightly crazy if he didn’t call until tomorrow morning, so he pulled off the highway and found a Walmart not far from a Chicken Express.
Setting up his burner phone while eating fried chicken required more napkins than he anticipated. Before leaving, he paid for a double order of rolls and fried pickle slices to go—comfort food for the road as the gravy would be too messy to eat and drive.
In the truck, he connected the phone to his hands-free speakers. “Okay, Google. Call Marci.”
The female computer voice responded, “Who do you want to call?”
Kyle looked at the screen and repeated, “Marci.”
The voice responded, “I do not know Marci. Please try again.”
No phone numbers. Why hadn’t he memorized anything other than his parents’ landline and his office number? He punched in the number to the home phone, grateful the number hadn’t changed since kindergarten. Predictably, his call went to voice mail. “Hi, Mom, Marci has my phone. I am going to Indiana. I need
to . . . I need to . . . Please have Marci call me at . . .” Kyle paused. He didn’t know his new number. “At whatever Oklahoma number is on the caller ID. I got a burner. Love y’all. Bye.”
Before getting back on the highway, Kyle filled the tank with gas. It crossed his mind that he could video call as he knew the passwords. But he needed to hold Celi, and a call wasn’t the same. What he wanted to do was kiss her silly to erase Jade’s kiss and tell her in person . . . What was he going to say to her? He had no idea. But something had clicked halfway through the interview. Celi wasn’t there, and it was wrong.
Four hours later, he crossed into Missouri and Marci finally called.
“What are you doing?” She didn’t even say hello.
“Driving to Indiana.”
“Either this is the most romantic thing ever or you are stupid!”
“Why do you say I am stupid?”
“Have you called her?”
“Of course not. My phone is in your purse.”
“See? Stupid. It has been six hours since you left here, and what do you think she has been doing? Waiting for you to call!”
“I don’t have her number.” Kyle could feel Marci’s eye roll over the phone.
“Do you even have a plan? Or are you going to show up at 3:00 a.m. and wing it?”
“Pretty much. And apologize for the kiss and Jade’s announcement.”
“You are stupid, bro. I doubt she is as upset by the kiss as she is by what you said, or didn’t say, during the interview.” He pictured Marci rolling her eyes at him again.
“What are you talking about?”
Marci huffed before answering “The part where you agreed Jade was a great painter.”
“I what?”
“You weren’t paying attention, were you?”
“The whole thing was distracting. Nothing went as planned. I was thinking and trying to stay out of Jade’s reach after they sat us on the couch together.”
“Poor big brother. So much on his mind he didn’t know what he was saying.” Sarcasm oozed through the speaker.
“Hey, I was on top of things. I described Mom’s work and the difficult situation down there without sounding like a bleeding heart or an unfeeling politician.”
“You have practiced it enough you should have, but then you totally spaced when they started showing the photos.”
“They showed the photo of Celi with the paint on her face, and I got distracted. She should have been there. I heard from the director that the children love having their own spaces to show off their art and work. Even some of the kids about to age out are using their spaces. A couple of the ones experiencing problems in school worked harder so they’d have papers to put in their clips.”
“Have you told Araceli you wanted her there?”
“Not in so many words.”
“Sheesh, you are an idiot. Where are you, anyway?”
“I just passed Joplin.”
“Hey, isn’t that like Route 66?”
“I’m on the freeway, but I did see a few signs. I think they overlap.”
“So how many hours do you have left?”
Kyle read his GPS. “About eight or nine.”
“Then you have time to show up with something better than flowers!”
He needed way more than flowers. Tomorrow was Celi’s birthday. He’d already sent her gift, but if he was going to be there . . .
Before he could ask Marci anything else, the connection was lost.
Kyle couldn’t call back using voice commands because the number wasn’t in his contacts. At least he had Marci’s phone number now. He pulled off at the next exit. There was only one number listed in his history. Marci had called from the landline. He called it anyway.
It went to voice mail.
“Marci, please text me Celi’s number.”
“Here is one more paintbrush.” Zoe dropped the blue-tinged brush in the sink where Araceli was cleaning the other brushes they’d used to paint the nursery.
The grandfather clock chimed six, and the doorbell rang.
“That better be the pizza. I am starving.” Mandy didn’t bother answering the door. Either Alex or Abbie would. As long as there wasn’t a security gate on the house and grounds, it was one of the things Mandy couldn’t do.
Alex came in, arms full of pizza boxes. “You do realize you should have asked me to go pick these up, right? I had to run to intercept him at the door.”
Mandy opened the top box. “Sorry, I didn’t think about it at the time.”
“Can you at least pretend to let me earn my pay?”
“Sure, you can deck the next man to come to the door.”
“You do realize your husband should be here within the hour?”
Mandy bit her lip. “Okay, the next person who isn’t my husband—as long as you take one of those lots-a-meat pizzas back over to the garage with you.”
“Only for you, Mrs. Crawford.” Alex slid the two bottom boxes out of the pile and went out the back door in the direction of the detached garage with its attic apartment that doubled as a security center.
Candace snagged a piece of the veggie pizza. “I thought Daniel wasn’t coming until the morning.”
“He called me a couple hours ago when you and Araceli were debating if the gray was too cool to paint the entire room in. By the way, I am glad she won. I think the stripes are perfect.”
Candace twirled the end of her headscarf. “Is he alone?”
“Of course not. He will have Mr. Hastings with him. But that isn’t what you are asking, is it, cousin?” Zoe’s voice was teasing.
Candace joined Araceli at the sink, her back to the room. A faint blush tinted her cheeks, but Araceli knew better than to tread where Zoe dared. Teasing Candace about Colin could land a girl homeless.
“I think you both owe me a week of household chores. It has been more than four hours.”
“Make sure you give Zoe the worst ones. How are you doing?”
“Fine, as long as I don’t think. I am glad we decided to paint the nursery today. I don’t think I could have concentrated on my end-of-term paper for English.”
“Three weeks until graduation. How do you feel?”
“Confused? I applied to a couple Dallas-area universities, but I need to pick up some classes someplace for prerequisites if I want to become an art therapist.”
“So you decided?”
“I thought so. I applied for jobs in the DFW area. Deah says the kids at the orphanage love their gallery and it is helping some of them express themselves. She jokes they may go through half the donated crayons before the end of the year if they don’t run out of paper first. They are working on convincing them to use both sides.”
Candace wrapped the bristles of a brush in a paper towel. “So, what are you going to do this summer?”
Araceli shrugged. Friday night, Kyle had discussed the possibility of going to Haiti in July and being house parents for three months. They’d danced around the notion that the directors who served as house parents were married and shared a little apartment on the top floor. There was a separate bedroom up there one of them could use. This assumed the board would approve it in the first place. The conversation had served as the catalyst for her dreams last night and daydreams this morning. All shattered by the reality of the TV.
“Hey, are you two going to come eat?” Zoe asked around the food in her mouth.
Still unwilling to answer Candace’s question, Araceli grabbed a paper plate and joined the others at the table.
twenty-four
It was past sunset by the time Kyle reached St. Louis. Despite stops at three different roadside gift/tourist traps, he was making decent time. He’d picked up several Askinosie chocolate bars, similar en
ough to the Askanya chocolate they’d purchased in Haiti for his purposes, as well as a custom-made teddy bear sewn from old jeans with a working pocket. The “I’m in Missouri without you” T-shirt seemed like a good idea an hour ago. Not so much now.
Marci hadn’t called back.
While putting together a gas-station dinner, Kyle called home again.
Deah answered. “Kyle, is that you?”
“Ya, is Marci there?”
“No, and you need to explain yourself.”
Kyle added an energy drink to the assortment of things in his arms. “I’m in a gas station on the outskirts of St. Louis buying a high-caffeine dinner.”
“Why are you on this road trip?”
“At the time, driving over to DFW and catching the first flight to Fort Wayne or South Bend and renting a car didn’t enter my mind. So I just drove.”
“Kyle Alan Evans! That is not what I mean, and you know it.” His mother’s voice boomed through the phone.
“Mom, I know what you mean. But I am not going to explain myself in a gas-station convenience store. Let me check out. Did Marci get my message? She hasn’t texted me Celi’s number.”
“I don’t know. She went to the movie.”
“Do you have Celi’s number?”
“Yes.”
“Will you text it to me?” Kyle set his food on the counter.
“Possibly, after I get some answers.”
Kyle gave the clerk his credit card and a tight smile.
The clerk handed him a receipt but no bag.
“I’ll call you back in a minute, Mom.” Kyle put the phone in his pocket and stacked his purchases in his arms. After he got in the truck, he redialed home.
Voice mail?
Kyle hung up without leaving a message. No way was he going to leave a message that could come back to haunt him or be misunderstood.
