Best Friends in the Show Me State

by Jessie Gussman

  She nodded.

  His lips split into another grin. “Good.” He didn’t say anything else, but his head leaned down, and he kissed her, right there in the kitchen. It might not have been a kiss quite as heart-stopping as the one they shared on top of the water tower, but it was enough to make Marlowe feel like she needed to grab for the counter to steady herself when he pulled back.

  “Eww. You guys are kissing. That’s gross.” Huck’s cute little voice cut through the fog that surrounded Marlowe’s brain.

  “You know, son, when I was your age, I thought the exact same thing. Since Marlowe’s grown up, though, she’s gotten a little better at it, and it’s not quite so bad.”

  Huck wrinkled his nose.

  Marlowe put her free hand on her hip. “I know for a fact that kissing you was gross when you were that age. And you’ve gotten a little bit better at it too.”

  “I’m pretty sure you said I got a lot better.”

  “Oh really?” She raised her brows. “I can’t remember.” And with a little sassy swing of her chin, she turned and went back to her supper preparations.

  Chapter 15

  Friday afternoon, Marlowe was just leaving the feed store when she got a call on her cell phone. She stopped on the sidewalk beside her car and answered. It was a number she didn’t recognize.

  “Hello?”

  “Ms. Glass?” a slightly older male voice said.

  “Yes?” She kinda suspected that it might be a call from the insurance adjuster. It had been slightly odd that she hadn’t heard anything from him, but she had told him to put her case on last.

  “This is Mr. Bill Sanders, your insurance adjuster. I was out there ten or so days ago, to look at your house.”

  “Yes sir, I remember.”

  “I didn’t say this at the time, but there was significant structural damage, and I was pretty sure that we were going to be tearing it down and building a new one. I had to get the final go-ahead from my boss, but the way your house is built, there’s just one crossbeam, and it was cracked significantly. We could have braced it, but I wouldn’t trust that.”

  He paused, so Marlowe said, “Okay?”

  He huffed a little. Maybe a laugh. “What that means is I’m going to be giving you a rather large check. Obviously, you can bulldoze the house and rebuild if you want. Or you can relocate. Since you don’t have a mortgage, you don’t absolutely have to use the money to rebuild the house. It’s up to you.”

  Marlowe couldn’t think of what else she would do with it, except...a thought popped into her head. She’d always wanted to go back and finish college, but she’d struggled with being a single mom, worrying about taking care of Kylie and working and studying.

  She’d never wanted to be in debt, which was why she’d spent two years working before she started college to begin with.

  Maybe this was God opening that door for her. Finally.

  What timing. She thought about Clark. They’d never talked any more about the relationship, other than they weren’t going to hide it from their children. She supposed both of them were a little wary about having a relationship with each other while they were living in the same house. It was a recipe for disaster. But they hadn’t talked about that, either.

  She wanted to talk to Clark about it right away, but she knew he was supposed to be late getting home tonight. The corn was mostly planted, and he had been spraying. With the rain that was forecast to move in tomorrow, he wasn’t going to want to stop until he absolutely had to. They only had a short window after the corn was planted to get the field sprayed.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll be emailing you my estimate, you can take a look over it, and if it suits you, you have to sign it and send it back to me. Then we’ll cut your check. Over and done. That easy.”

  “Thanks.” She pushed the red button and turned to her car.

  Whatever she was getting would almost assuredly be enough for her to pay to finish her degree and get her master’s, which would enable her to get a really fantastic job. She’d be able to take care of Kylie easily, maybe even send her to private school.

  They’d have to move away for her to go to school, and also for her to get a good-paying job, as there was no such thing around here.

  Since the tree had fallen, she’d pretty much come to grips that she’d be losing her house – the place where she’d grown up and her last real connection to her mom and sister. It wasn’t as hard as it might have been. After all, she’d spent almost as much time in Clark’s home as she had in her own, and Clark had been able to get everything with sentimental value out. That wasn’t the problem.

  Did she really want to move?

  She and Clark could still have a relationship. Of course. But it would be a long-distance one, since there really weren’t any colleges around that she could commute to. She would have to move. Of course.

  Well, she didn’t have to make that decision right now. She wouldn’t be seeing Clark tonight anyway. At least not until late, if he did come home.

  She drove to the school, picked the kids up, and listened to them chat about their days and to each other on the ride home.

  She didn’t want to pull into the driveway when she came over the rise and saw Dana’s car parked in front of Clark’s house.

  But being an adult meant that she couldn’t play hooky—that’s what it would be—from going home. So she pulled in beside Dana’s car and helped the children out. They ran into the house with her following along more slowly.

  She’d barely gotten in the house, was still closing the door behind her, when Dana confronted her in the kitchen. “I’m taking Huck with me. I’ll have him back by bedtime.”

  Marlowe stopped, still holding onto the doorknob. “Did you talk to Clark about this?”

  She knew Clark was busy, but usually he was pretty good at texting her about any plans for the children. She couldn’t imagine that he wouldn’t have said something about this.

  “I’m his mother. I didn’t see him last weekend, so obviously, it’s perfectly fine for me to see him now. Clark’s not even here. If I know him, since it’s not raining, he’ll be out in the field somewhere puttering around.”

  Marlowe clamped her teeth together and tried to keep a pleasant expression on her face. Clark was out in the field, working his butt off, putting in long hours, and growing grain on hundreds of acres. It wasn’t like he was out playing, the way Dana insinuated. It made her mad that Dana would dismiss what Clark did with such a blasé ignorance.

  “I’ll text him now and make sure it’s okay. I really don’t have the authority to give permission for Huck to leave.” She pulled her phone out and started typing on it.

  “Don’t get smart with me. I know what’s going on between you two. I think it’s pretty sad that you’re doing this right under the nose of my son.”

  Marlowe hit send and blinked at her phone several times, taking several measured breaths. Dana didn’t really believe what she was saying; she didn’t see anything wrong with what she was insinuating was going on between Clark and Marlowe. But Marlowe supposed she’d lived in a small town long enough to know that that was an area where she could hit Marlowe and possibly score points.

  Maybe if she and Clark were actually doing what Dana had insinuated, it would have.

  “I just sent a text. Hopefully he’ll reply shortly.”

  She tried to remember if he was working in the one field where they didn’t have very good reception. She didn’t think so. And sure enough, his text came back right away.

  I guess if she has to. I can’t really stop her. Did she say where she was taking him?

  “He was just wondering where you’re going to take Huck?”

  “I don’t have to tell him.”

  “No. Of course not. But it’s probably a smart idea to at least let him know where you’re going to be. That way if anything happens, we know where to start looking for you. Just as a safety precaution.” It seemed like common sense to Marlowe
, but she also knew so often divorce seemed to eradicate common sense.

  “Nothing’s going to happen. But if you want to talk to your boyfriend some more, you can tell him that I’ve spoken with my lawyer, and we will be filing papers for me to get full custody.” Her lips smiled, but her eyes were shrewd. “He said since I was married and can provide a much more stable home for my little Huck, that there was every possibility that a judge would grant me the full custody that I deserve.” Her nose wrinkled a little before she turned. “Huck, darling? Oh, Hucky. Darling little boy, come to Mommy. We’re going for a little ridey.”

  Marlowe’s knuckles were white as she gripped her phone. How was she going to tell this to Clark? Should she say it in such a way that he was alarmed and possibly came immediately? Or should she reassure him and try to make sure her words were not incendiary?

  She wished she could keep her bias out of it, but there had to be some kind of bias. She couldn’t clinically tell him that she thought his ex-wife was trying to steal his son.

  Maybe that was a little too dramatic.

  At the very least, if they went to court, Clark would lose the full custody he had with permitted visits.

  Finally, she decided to just be as honest as she could.

  She won’t say where she’s going, but she said she should have him back by bedtime.

  She hesitated a bit before she hit send. The idea that Dana had gone to a lawyer was definitely something she wanted to tell Clark, but it probably didn’t fit into this conversation. She hoped she was making the right decision.

  Thanks.

  He didn’t say more. She set her phone down.

  Huck, with Kylie at his side, came walking back through the living room and into the kitchen. He stopped in front of Marlowe. “Is Dad going to be here when I get back?”

  It figured this would happen in the busiest time of year. She sighed.

  “I think so. He’s planning on it.”

  “But you will be, right?”

  She nodded. “I’ll be here.”

  The golden bracelets on Dana’s wrist clanked together as she put a skinny arm around Huck. “Come on now, sweetie. I have a special surprise for you. And I know you’re going to love this. You and Mommy are going to have a really great time together.” She opened the door and walked out without a backward glance.

  Marlowe closed it behind her. The house seemed unnaturally quiet.

  She’d almost forgotten about Kylie until her daughter spoke from behind her. “She is going to bring him back, isn’t she?”

  Marlowe wanted to say a definite yes. But she also didn’t want her daughter to have this memory etched in her head, one of her mother lying, in case Huck didn’t come back. So she had to be honest. “I hope so.”

  She was just about ready to tell Kylie that maybe they could do something special this evening since it was just them home alone, for the first time since the storm, when her phone rang.

  “I have some fruit on a tray in the fridge if you want to grab it for a little snack,” she said before she answered the call. It was Emma, Clark’s mother. “Hello?”

  “Marlowe. I hope I’ve caught you at a good time. I just had a quick question.”

  “Yeah. I’m not busy.”

  “Well, I was really calling about Kylie. I know Dana’s in town. She was talking at the diner while I was in with Walter, and she said she was taking Huck for the evening. I wasn’t really eavesdropping; she was just talking in the booth right behind me. Anyway, I knew Kylie and you would probably be alone this evening. I didn’t know if it would be okay if I took Kylie, and she and I could do something? That would give you a little time for yourself.”

  Marlowe didn’t have to think about it. “She would love that. Thank you so much for offering, Mrs. Hudson. I can bring her to meet you if you want me to.” Marlowe didn’t have to even ask Kylie. She’d spent plenty of time with Mrs. Hudson, who was like a grandmother to her. Marlowe knew she’d be over the moon to spend the evening with her.

  “Oh no, honey, you don’t have to do that. I was just out delivering supper to the guys that are in the field, and I can swing by and pick her up. I’ll have her back by nine or so this evening. I think we’ll have a girls’ night and give ourselves mannies and peddies and watch a movie.”

  “Kylie will love it. Thanks.”

  “Perfect. Will she be ready in ten minutes?”

  “Yes. We’ll wait on the porch.”

  They hung up. And as she suspected, Kylie was staring at her, waiting to pounce as soon as her phone hit the counter. “Who was it, Mommy? What’s happening? What will I like?”

  It was as excited as Kylie got, since she was usually very mature and serious for a five-year-old. It made Marlowe smile to see her animation.

  “Grandma Hudson is gonna take you and spend some time with you this evening. I think she said you guys are going to paint your nails and watch a movie. I’m sure there’s going to be food involved, too.”

  “Yay!” Kylie jumped up and down and waved the apple slice in her hand.

  True to her word, Mrs. Hudson pulled in nine and a half minutes later.

  Kylie hadn’t needed that much time to get everything ready to go, and she was waiting at the door. She squealed when Mrs. Hudson pulled in and went running out the door. Marlowe walked out to the porch and stood at the top of the stairs with her hand on the post while Kylie ran to Mrs. Hudson and wrapped her arms around the older lady.

  Despite having raised five boys, Mrs. Hudson still looked young and was slender but not skinny. She chatted with Kylie for a couple of minutes, then stepped back, and her little dog, some kind of poodle mix, hopped out of her car. Kylie took off running around the house with it.

  Mrs. Hudson closed her door and started toward the steps. “I hope you don’t mind, I told Kylie she could run around with Gracie for a little bit. Do you have a minute to chat?”

  “I sure do. All of the sudden, I have a completely free evening in front of me. Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee and a snack?”

  “Oh no, honey. You don’t have to do that. But I told you I was delivering meals to the boys, and I talked to Clark for a little bit.” She gave a little smile, and Marlowe figured she knew what was coming. Clark must’ve told her.

  Mrs. Hudson made it to the top of the steps, and Marlowe held her hand out. “It’s not my house, not my porch, but if you’d like to have a seat, you’re more than welcome.”

  “Well, thank you. I will for a minute. It’s been a busy day.”

  “Spring’s like that. Everything kinda busts loose at once. Then you can’t catch a breath until Thanksgiving rolls around.”

  “Ain’t that the truth?” Mrs. Hudson smiled and nodded, the wisdom of age coloring her eyes and expression some, although she still had a youthful glow about her, and energy seemed to radiate off her. Along with kindness and love. Marlowe just hoped she grew to be that kind of woman.

  “Definitely things got a lot busier at the feed store.”

  “Clark told me that you guys are together.” Mrs. Hudson leaned over and patted Marlowe’s hand. “It sure took you guys long enough. About the time you were in eighth grade, I kinda figured you guys would get together and nothing would ever split you up. You two just didn’t see it.”

  “That’s the truth. I didn’t even one time consider the idea of Clark and me as anything other than best friends. It just seemed dangerous to mess with a friendship as good as ours.”

  “That’s true. In all my years, I’ve seen very few people with the rapport that you two have. I’ve been hoping for this day for a really long time.”

  Marlowe looked off the porch as Kylie came running around the house, Gracie jumping along beside her. It was crazy the amount of fun a child could have with a dog. Gracie had a rope in her mouth, and Kylie carried the other end, and Marlowe wasn’t sure whether they were playing tug-of-war, or they were just having fun carrying the rope between them.

  “You seem a little pensive tho
ugh. I thought you’d be really excited and happy. Is there something wrong?” Mrs. Hudson leaned in, then her lips formed an “O”. “Is Dana giving you a hard time? She doesn’t seem like she really likes anyone but herself, but I could see her being upset that Clark has moved on. She seemed to take a perverse kind of pleasure in seeing that he hadn’t and maybe even thinking that he pined after her, in some weird egotistical way.”

  Marlowe had started to shake her head no, to answer Mrs. Hudson’s first question. But then she ended up nodding along in agreement, because she could totally see what Mrs. Hudson was saying about Dana. It seemed a little like gossip, so she didn’t add a comment of her own, other than, “Clark doesn’t seem to notice it. At least if he has, he’s never said anything to me about it bothering him.”

  “Me either. Though men usually don’t talk about that stuff. Clark might with you. When you guys were growing up, and you’d hang out here in the kitchen, sometimes it would surprise me the things he’d say to you.”

  That definitely made her smile. It made her feel like she was special, even back in high school, to Clark.

  “But I kind of veered off the subject of what I meant to be talking about. Are you okay?”

  This time, Mrs. Hudson put her hand on Marlowe’s and didn’t move it. For some reason, that warm hand, and that kindly concern, made Marlowe’s throat close and her eyes prick.

  She wanted a mother so bad. Just someone to talk to about the decisions that she needed to make, the money she could have, what to do.

  Before she knew it, the whole story had fallen out. About how she had given up what she wanted to raise Kylie. “And I don’t regret it. I don’t regret any of it. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Kylie’s worth it. But I have this opportunity, and I feel like I should take it. Because I might never have it again.”

  “Which opportunity? The one with the money and your career, or the one with Clark?”

  Marlowe paused. She had assumed the opportunity with Clark would still be there when she was finished with school. Wouldn’t it?