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“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m not her type? Maybe she’s not looking for anything right now?”
“You could find out by asking her,” he says simply.
“I don’t want to make things awkward. What if I make her uncomfortable? And then we still have to work on the funeral together,” I say, stretching my arms.
“I’m sure you could figure out a way,” he says, hauling himself back on his feet. “I have to go. I’ve got to check in on my dad.”
“How’s he doing?” I get to my feet as well, my body sore from working at the garage all day.
“He’s alright. I think he’s lonely, so I’ve been trying to go there more often. It’s just depressing. It’s an awful thing to say because he’s my dad, but it sucks to see him that way.”
“I’m sorry. That sounds awful.” I give his shoulder a squeeze. “But you need to do more stuff for yourself. Let’s go out next week. Have some fun.”
“Sounds good.” He nods, clapping me on the back. “Good luck tonight. Just remember he has no control over you. You can leave at any point.”
“I’ll get through it. I’ll have Robin with me.”
“That’s the spirit,” he says, waving goodbye as I watch him walk to his car.
I quickly get rid of the empty bottles and pick up my tools before I head out myself. There’s a knot in my stomach that tightens as the gala draws nearer, but I try to push down my negative emotions.
“It’ll be fine,” I tell myself, walking toward my parked motorcycle.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I fish it out, expecting an update from Robin, but it’s a call from Sarah. I hesitate. As much as I love talking to my friend, I cannot fathom telling her that I’m about to see my dad tonight. But knowing Sarah, she’ll call five more times if I ignore her. I make a quick decision and pick up.
“Hey,” Sarah chirps from the other end of the line.
“Hey, what’s up?” I get settled on my motorcycle.
“Not much. Haven’t heard from you in a minute, so I wanted to check in. I’m worried you’re slowly dying in that town.”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s been really busy with Darlene’s funeral and all.”
“How’s that going?”
“Not bad. How are you and Mira?”
“Well, she hasn’t hit any boys at school, so that’s been good.” She chuckles. “But we’re good. My friend from work babysat her last night because I went on a date.”
“Oh,” I tease. “Care to tell me about it?”
“It went well, but too early to tell if it will go anywhere. I’ll give you the full scoop if anything comes from it.”
“Well, I hope he’s a keeper. Listen, I don’t want to cut this short, but I have plans tonight, and I’m currently full of grease, so I have to rush home to get showered and changed.”
“Plans, huh? Is there a woman involved?”
“Yes,” I admit.
“Wow, okay. Don’t tell me everything at once.”
“You didn’t give me a lot of details about your date either.”
“True. Well, how about this. Once you’re back, I’ll fill you in on everything, and you’ll do the same?”
I feel a brief moment of panic when I think about going home and not seeing Robin anymore. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve dreaded leaving Cottondale. Mike’s earlier words come back to my mind, and with them, images of a future I know I can’t have.
