Best Friends in the Show Me State

by Jessie Gussman

  “That’s new,” he said with a laugh.

  “Oh, don’t you even start joking with me now.”

  “How can I not call you out on that? Little Miss I-pushed-my-best-friend-into-the-deep-end-of-the-pool-when-I-knew-that-he-couldn’t-swim-very-well. And I actually believe you shoved me out of that tree. At least twice. Not to mention the time you tried to run me over with your car.”

  “Oh, stop. You know doggone well that I did not mean to run over you. Your foot is just bigger than I thought it was.”

  “Well, that’s easy for you to say because you weren’t the one that had a cast on your foot for six weeks because somebody broke five of your toes.”

  “That is a huge exaggeration. You had one broken toe. And the doctor said just take it easy. And gave you some pain pills. Which you loved, by the way.”

  “Yeah. They were some good stuff.”

  And just like that, she was laughing. Funny how he could do that to her. But she sobered, because losing her house was a serious matter. “This is one of the things the insurance will cover?”

  She’d read the policy when she’d gotten it, and there were certain things, like an airplane crashing into her house from the sky, that the insurance wouldn’t take care of. Being that they lived in Missouri, and tornadoes weren’t exactly uncommon, she was pretty sure she remembered reading that it covered severe storms and tornadoes, although not floods, but in her distressed and distraught state, she couldn’t remember.

  “They cover tornadoes. We live in Missouri. I wouldn’t have allowed you to get insurance that didn’t cover tornadoes.”

  “Have you talked to anyone else? Is everyone okay?”

  She thought of all the people in town, all of her friends and neighbors. The feed mill where she worked. Clark’s family, who were almost like her family. “Your parents? Are your parents okay?”

  “I talked to my mom. She said they, and all my brothers, and the town of Cowboy Crossing were fine. Some wind damage, like the tree out here. She did say she thought Trumbull had a touchdown, a direct hit possibly, but she didn’t have any more information, and I thought it was more important that I take care of you and the kids. If she hasn’t texted me back by the time we get them back in bed and you settled, I’ll see if I can get a hold of Andy.”

  She was grateful he was going to call the fire chief and see if he could help, but thankfully he’d get the kids and her up first. “If you get Huck, I might be able to stand up with Kylie.”

  Their voices had been low and soft, and the kids hadn’t even stirred. She wanted to get them to bed and get things settled, because as much as she’d like for Clark to stay with her, she knew he needed to get out and see if there was any way he could help anyone else.

  “You just hang tight. I’ll be back down in a minute.” Clark’s arms went around his son, and Huck groaned a little as Clark lifted him, cradling him against his chest.

  Marlowe had always admired Clark with his son. It was funny that the goofball that she’d grown up with could be so tender and sweet. But there was no doubt about it; he’d been a great dad. She didn’t want to wake Kylie, as much as for her sake as for Kylie’s sake, as she didn’t want to have to answer all the questions that were sure to ensue.

  It didn’t feel like any time at all had passed before Clark was back, carefully lifting Kylie and cradling her with the same gentleness he’d shown to his own child.

  Something warm stirred in her chest. A little bit of a longing.

  She supposed that was what other women termed their biological clocks. That longing to have a family.

  She’d never really had that problem. Although occasionally, she thought about how nice it would be to have a husband to share child-raising duties with. Not very often though, because Clark was always there. She basically shared child-raising duties with him, and it had been working out just fine. She wasn’t sure what was up with the sudden longing,

  His lips were pressed tight as he moved slowly and carefully, trying to move her daughter without waking her. In the light from the cellar that shone in the door, her eyes hooked on those lips, and she remembered what she and her girlfriends had said about the high school Clark.

  All of them had agreed that she was seven different kinds of lucky to have someone like Clark as her best friend. But they’d also all agreed that she was exactly that many kinds of unlucky, because with Clark having the most kissable lips in all of their high school, it was a pity they were off-limits to her, since he was her best friend.

  What a weird time to think about kissing Clark. Although maybe that was the aftereffects of adrenaline. She’d heard about it but never experienced it herself.

  “What?” Clark asked softly, pausing as he had been turning to take Kylie out of the room.

  He’d caught her staring. Embarrassing.

  “Nothing. I guess the adrenaline hasn’t quite worn off. I’m a little shaky in getting back to normal.”

  “Yeah, me too. That’s normal. As long as we know that’s what’s going on, the shakiness, and the weird feeling of things being a little bit surreal, and maybe even tiredness. Man, I don’t know what all you’re supposed to feel, but it’s normal. It might even take a couple days to get it all out of your system. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He chuckled. “I know, it’s hard for you not to be hard on yourself. Just try.”

  He gave her a grin before he walked out of the room with Kylie.

  If he only knew.

  MARLOWE STOOD AT THE kitchen window while dawn broke across the eastern sky. She hadn’t slept well at all, of course, and she’d heard Clark walking around most of the night, too.

  He’d actually left for a while, and she assumed he was going to help someone. He’d come back in an hour ago, just before daylight.

  He might have sent her a text, but she hadn’t checked her phone.

  She breathed deeply through her nose as the brightening light showed the devastation that used to be her house.

  Maybe she was being a little dramatic. The tree landed on her house and broke through. The front part was completely destroyed. But obviously, it wasn’t a direct strike from any kind of tornado, and there would be plenty of things that would be salvageable in the back. If they were allowed in it.

  “I was going to go over and get what I could out of there before people came and put the yellow tape around.” Clark’s voice came from behind her, and his hand landed on her shoulder. Again. She still hadn’t gotten the feeling of that out of her head from last night.

  Obviously, the adrenaline hadn’t worn completely off yet.

  “I don’t want you to endanger yourself for us.”

  “I think you and I both know there’s no danger. But it will be one of those things where they can’t allow us to be in, because they’ll be afraid we’ll sue them if we get hurt in some way. It’s almost light enough.”

  “Did you go somewhere last night?” She knew he had. And she assumed he probably knew that she knew. She just didn’t ask the question that she meant. Where were you? That seemed...nosy somehow.

  “I’d been keeping tabs on the Trumbull situation, from what I saw, no one died. But about two AM, they sent out a message asking for people to help take folks to a temporary shelter, and I figured I could do that much. I sent you a text.”

  “I haven’t looked at my phone yet today.” She knew her voice sounded fatalistic maybe. After all, she just lost her home. She didn’t say that she just couldn’t handle any more bad news, which was why she’d been avoiding her phone. “Where were the shelters you were taking them to?” She supposed she needed to think about that, because she would need shelter for herself and Kylie.

  “Over in Sinking Springs. The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter in their rec building. I think it doubles as the municipal building, and it’s in the back of the fire hall. There’s lots of open space, and they had a bunch of cots set up when I was there.”

  She nodded, almost absently. “Did it look safe?”


  His fingers tightened just a little on her shoulder, and he shifted behind her. “Safe? Yeah. I’d say it was safe. Not ideal, and definitely not private, but I think it’ll be safe for everyone. That seemed like an odd question...” He seemed to be asking her where she was going with it, like he hadn’t realized she’d need to be thinking about such a thing.

  “I was concerned about Kylie and me. I guess that’s where we’ll be going.”

  “No.” His voice was soft and gentle. Not a voice he used often on her.

  They bantered back and forth more than anything, but she’d heard it a few times. Mostly when she got hurt. Although when she tried out for the school play sophomore year and hadn’t made it and had been completely devastated, Clark downplayed the lead role that he’d landed and used that same voice to comfort her.

  He’d used it again at her mother and sister’s funeral.

  “You’re not going to a shelter. You’re staying here. There are plenty of empty bedrooms, and Kylie is safe here. There’s no way I would let you do that.”

  She turned to him, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrows up near her hairline. She wasn’t even sure they stopped there. They might be going through the roof.

  Then he would have a leaky roof too.

  The thought almost made her smile. It would have if she hadn’t been so annoyed.

  “You’re my best friend, and that gives you certain rights. I can’t deny it. But you will not tell me what to do.”

  She set her jaw and turned back toward the window, but it didn’t even take two seconds before she realized how stupid she sounded. He’d just offered her his home. A much safer place for Kylie than any shelter. And she wouldn’t be taking up a spot that somebody else could be using.

  Still, she let five more seconds tick by before she pulled both lips between her teeth and turned back, dropping her arms, shoving her hands into her pockets, and looking at the floor.

  “I’m sorry. Thank you. Thank you so much for caring about us and for offering us your home. You know we’ll take you up on it.”

  His hand had dropped from her shoulder, but now it came back up and grasped her upper arm. His other hand pushed up on her chin, gently and carefully.

  “You forget who you’re talking to, Marlowe. I know you like to be in control of your life. Complete control of everything. And last night, God showed you again that you’re not. And you have a hard time with that.”

  He wasn’t being arrogant, or she wouldn’t be able to handle his words, would have to argue. But he was being sweet, like Clark often was and definitely could be.

  “And yeah, I can see that I didn’t make it any better by demanding that you stay here. I’m sorry. The idea of you and Kylie being there, and me not being able to protect you, gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. My words were definitely way more demanding than what you deserved.” He tilted her head and chucked her chin. “I forgot who I was talking to. Nobody can tell you what to do, and anyone who tries is going to have you doing the exact opposite.”

  He was right about that. It was a character flaw she was working on. Everyone except for her mom and Elanor. She hadn’t had a choice about Kylie when they died, and she hadn’t even thought about not doing it. Kylie had become her world. She hadn’t made a squawk of protest, nor did she want to.

  “That’s the most amazing thing about you, Clark.” She tweaked his nose, just because he’d chucked her chin. She couldn’t let him get away with it. “You aren’t afraid to apologize. That’s an appealing character trait in a man.”

  “It’s my feminine side coming out.”

  “It’s your smart side coming out.”

  “Well, before that smart side takes over, tell me what you want out of your house.”

  “I’m not telling you a thing. You better not be going in that house.”

  “Ha. I’m going in, and I’m going in right now. If you don’t want me to bring you back the box of clothes you were going to donate to Goodwill, instead of the items that you most need, you better start talking, sister.”

  “I’m not qualified to be a nun.”

  “Don’t I know it. That temper, holy cow. They’d have the abbey on lockdown before you even set foot off the bus.”

  “Are you done making fun of me?”

  “Nope. The day’s young, and I’m just getting started.”

  “This is a good strategy. You keep going on like this, and I’m gonna be like get your butt over to that house and get inside of it. Smart.”

  They laughed together. She knew there was no point trying to talk him out of going in the house, and she figured there probably wasn’t any danger.

  Much.

  There was always some danger. Wasn’t that life? Danger. Everyone worked so hard to avoid it. Not that one shouldn’t. Just...sometimes a person had to take a risk. Physical risk. And...emotional risk as well.

  She hadn’t. Not for a long time.

  “Oh no. Someone’s gotten serious on me. You thinking them smart thoughts again?” he asked in his goofy voice that was always guaranteed to elicit a smile from her.

  “Not really. Just wondering what combination of poisonous herbs the wicked stepmother used to get Snow White to sleep for a hundred years. I think I can slip that into your oatmeal later, and Kylie and I would have the house to ourselves.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Deep stuff.” He took a step toward the door. “You’re gonna want the pictures off the walls. Your mom’s jewelry box that’s in the top drawer of your dresser, Kylie’s baby books and the Bible on your nightstand that was your grandmothers.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She didn’t care what weird things she’d been feeling. She walked over to him and put her arms around him, pressing her cheek against his chest, solid and familiar. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  His hands came up and slid down her back, bringing comfort. “Maybe I’ll get Kylie some school clothes to wear today, too.”

  She laughed and swallowed against the lump in her throat. “Her hat for hat day.”

  “Of course.”

  His hands tightened.

  “I guess the full effect of having my home damaged hasn’t hit me yet.”

  “You’re safe. Kylie’s safe. That’s all that matters in the end.”

  “You and Huck are safe, too. The tree could have fallen the other way.”

  “You’re right. It could have.”

  “I can make more trips, but anything else right now?” he asked as she pulled away, straightening her spine and lifting her chin.

  She gave him a list of a few more things, mostly stuff for Kylie, to help ease the transition, although Marlowe was pretty sure that Kylie would be fine. It would be a fun adventure to get to live with Clark and Huck for a while.

  She decided to call in to the feed mill and tell them she wouldn’t be in until at least lunchtime. That would give her a chance to call the insurance company and get their stuff settled in Clark’s house.

  She supposed she’d be moving into a bedroom too. She really didn’t want to disrupt his life. Although, her moving into his house would be much less disruptive than him moving into hers. Just because of their personalities.

  She was trying to do better.

  She kinda thought he was too. They both knew that they were on opposite ends of an ideal center. Maybe that was another reason they got along so well, since they both knew they weren’t perfect. It was always easier to get along with someone who could be shown their flaws, and admit that they have them, and who would be working on making them better.

  Her heart still drooped, since she was not looking forward to the phone calls that she was going to have to make, but she was thankful that Kylie and she had been in Clark’s basement last night and that he’d been concerned about taking care of her. She needed to remember to thank him when he came back.

  Chapter 6

  By the time Clark had made five or six trips from Marlowe’s house to his, trying to get everything she had said she ne
eded, she had the kids up, ready for school, and breakfast on the table.

  “Are you sure they’re having school today?” he asked, sniffing the air appreciatively. He wasn’t used to someone cooking breakfast. Since his parents had built their dream home and moved out, breakfast had been on him. Sometimes, it hadn’t been pretty.

  “Yes, I checked online. Everything’s business as usual.”

  “Okay, then I better get ready to go. They need to be there early today.”

  Her lips curved up as she continued to fork the bacon out of the skillet. He knew exactly why him remembering things made her smile. He wasn’t the kind of person that one would expect to keep that stuff organized in his brain. He didn’t expect it of himself, most of the time. But he put a lot of effort into remembering what he needed to for the children. His own life, not so much, but for the kids, it was worth it to make the effort.

  He supposed he’d made that effort for his wife too. Maybe he hadn’t been as good at it back then.

  He sighed, annoyed at himself, because there was no point going back and reliving the past. Although he was sure there were a few things that, if he could do them differently, would make a difference. Now that he was older, he could see where he’d made mistakes.

  At the time, it had been easy to blame her. Really, everyone else did, too. After all, she was the one who left. They were both immature, needing to grow up. It wasn’t like he was the only one who made mistakes.

  Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference after all.

  But he could still be more responsible when it came to his son and any wife he might have in the future. And Marlowe, of course. Although he could still tease her.

  “I called in to the feed store, and I’m going to be late today, while I make all the phone calls I need to about the house. Hopefully I can get them all done.”

  “Well, I just pieced together the planter yesterday in order to get the field finished, because I knew there was rain coming through, so I have some repair work to do, but if you need me to help you with any of that, you know I will.”