by Dylann Crush
“But you stopped coming around. It wasn’t me who ended our friendship. It was you.”
“I know. When I made cheerleader, they pretty much required me to only hang out with girls on the squad. But I missed you. And then you became friends with Jaylene and I used to watch the two of you running around town, having a blast together. I would have much rather been swimming in the creek with you than spending three hours a day at practice.”
Squinting, I shook my head at her. “If you didn’t enjoy being a cheerleader, why did you stay?”
She looked at me like I didn’t have an ounce of common sense in my entire body. “Because you don’t walk away from being a cheerleader. Not in Swallow Springs, Missouri, where that’s just about the only way to distinguish yourself.”
“Right. The only way.”
“Hey, I’m trying to apologize here. Can you hear me out?” Her eyes flashed with frustration.
“By all means, please continue.” I leaned back against the cool vinyl of the chair, waiting for April to unburden herself.
“So when I broke up with Judd our senior year, I knew he asked you to make me mad. And it worked, too.” She dabbed at the corner of her eye again. “But then we got back together the week after Homecoming. He never mentioned that the two of you…” Her lips formed a tiny pout.
“We had sex. You can say it.”
“That’s my husband you’re talking about.”
“He wasn’t your husband then. He wasn’t anything to you at the time except your ex.”
“But surely you knew we’d get back together. How could you share such an intimate moment with him when you knew we were meant to be?”
I let out a sigh, tired of being a pawn in April and Judd’s lives. “This doesn’t sound like much of an apology.”
“I’m sorry.” April shook her head. “Thinking about the past gets me stirred up sometimes. As I was saying, he never told me about that night. So when you showed up pregnant, I never for a single second thought that my Judd could be the father. But even then, he always looked at you different. It made me wonder if he’d seen it too.”
“Seen what, exactly?” April’s roundabout apology slash explanation was wearing me out.
“How you bring out the best in people. After that, I got even more jealous. I figured Judd was harboring some secret crush on you. Of course he denied it.”
“Of course.”
“But he just always looked at you a certain way. Drove me bonkers. That’s why I tended to…” She shifted on her seat as she pursed her lips. “That’s why it might have seemed like I didn’t like you very much over the past several years.”
“So you’re saying that you started out pretending you didn’t like me because you were jealous we didn’t hang out anymore. But we didn’t hang out anymore because you were a cheerleader and I wasn’t.”
“Right.”
“And then you decided you really didn’t like me because you thought Judd did?”
“Pretty much. But now I know he didn’t. So I’m sorry for all those years I was mean to you when you weren’t trying to steal my husband.” Her brow furrowed. “Were you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Well then I think we should be friends. After Judd tells Rodney he’s his dad we’ll practically be related, and—”
“No. Judd’s not going to tell Rodney. That’s what we talked about last night.” My heart seemed to expand in size, filling my chest, squeezing my lungs so tight that I couldn’t catch my breath.
“Of course he’s going to tell him. Judd’s his daddy and Rodney has a right to know.”
“What about all those years Judd sat by and said nothing? The only reason he wants to be part of Rodney’s life right now is because my son is excelling on the football field and your husband can’t stand it. Judd wants to take over, micro-manage Rodney’s football career, and bask in the glory right beside the kid he’d never give a crap about if he hadn’t inherited his jackass dad’s miraculous throwing arm.”
“Scarlett, I think you need to calm down. I came here to apologize, not stir up more drama. Don’t you think Rodney deserves to know his dad?”
I stared at her, the way her lipstick was just the slightest bit crooked on her top lip, making the left side slightly higher than the right.
“Scarlett?” April got up and shifted to the chair next to me. “We can figure out a way to make this work for all of us. I just know we can.”
Back when Rodney was a baby, I thought I had all the time in the world with him. That he’d always be mine and that I’d never have to share him. Looking back, that was so naive and silly of me. I thought by honoring Judd’s wishes and keeping him out of the picture, that he’d never want to worm his way back in. How wrong I was.
“I need some time. Rodney’s going to freak when he finds out about this. I need to be the one to tell him.” I reached for the box of tissues on the table. Empty. Figures.
April pulled a fresh hanky out of her purse and handed it to me. “Here, go ahead and keep this.”
I glanced at the lacy square. Hot pink letters were embroidered on one corner. AJW. April Jean Waite. Man, life had come full circle for me and was knocking me out with an upper cut to the chin.
“Tell Judd I’ll break the news to Rodney. I just need some time to find the right moment. He thinks his dad is completely out of the picture.”
“What, like dead?” April put her hand to her heart again. I guess I’d never noticed how often she used that particular gesture. It was starting to annoy the crap out of me.
“No, although that might have made things easier. What else was I supposed to say? Would it have been better to have him wonder his whole life?”
“But Judd isn’t dead. He’s very much alive.”
“I know that. At the time I couldn’t come up with a good reason.” April must have bleached her brain cells out along with her dark roots. I didn’t remember her being so dense before. And from one blonde to another, that was saying something.
“Time. How much time do you need?” She stood and grabbed the handles of her bag. “Football season will be over in a month. If Judd wants a chance to work with Rodney one on one they need to get started.”
I wanted to growl at her. Working with Rodney on football seemed to be the catalyst for Judd’s sudden change of heart. Would he still feel the same if Rodney was as into his STEM classes as he was memorizing the playbook?
“Give me a few weeks, okay? I’ll find a good time in the next few weeks and we’ll have a heart to heart.”
April nodded then reached into her bag and grabbed her phone. She glanced down and her lopsided pink lips rounded into an awkward oval.
“What? What’s wrong?”
She bit her upper lip with her bottom teeth, scraping the lipstick off. “It’s Judd. He’s leaving practice and wanted to know what’s for dinner.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah.” She reached out and gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder. “I hope we can become friends again. I really do.”
I waited until the door closed behind her. What a week. Eager to meet up with Rodney and Theo, I cleaned up my station. Moriah must have left through the back during my chat with April since there was no sign of her. As I turned off the lights and locked up, I considered my options on how to break the news to Rodney. No matter what I said, I’d come out looking like the bad person. Maybe Theo could help me figure it out. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on him—we still barely knew each other. But at this point in time, he was the only other person who knew the truth. Hopefully it would stay that way until I was ready to share the information. In my own way. On my own timeline.
33
Theo
“Rodney, wait!” I ran after him as he barreled through the locker room. Dammit. Scarlett was right about Coach Judd Waite. He was a major douche who was only out for himself.
Rodney slammed his fist into an open locker as he raced past, sending the door flying
against the metal. I caught up to him as he paused to grab his backpack.
“Hey, wait up.” My hand grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
He turned away from me, probably not wanting me to see him cry. When he stormed out of Judd’s office a minute ago he’d already starting bawling. Poor kid. Being fifteen was hard enough without some asswipe changing the course of your life by dumping his own personal agenda in your lap.
Rodney’s shoulders rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. I didn’t have much experience with high school kids except for having made it through those awkward years myself.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“So what do you want to do? We’re supposed to meet up with your mom in just a bit. Want me to call her?”
Rodney shook his head again.
“Okay. So you want me to cancel dinner and just have her meet us at home?”
Again with the head shake. I was in over my head in this particular situation. Scarlett needed to be the one to comfort her son. Just as I grabbed my phone and was about to pull up her number, Rodney turned around.
He pulled the hem of his shirt up to wipe at his eyes. “Don’t tell Mom.”
“What do you mean, don’t tell your mom?” My thumb paused on my contacts list.
“No.” His voice lost its shaky edge. “I told Coach Waite to stay out of my life. He hurt her once, and I won’t let it happen again. We don’t have to tell Mom about this. It’ll just make her sad.”
“You sure? I think she’d want to know that you know. She’s going to want to help you through this.” The last place I wanted to be was wedged between Scarlett and her son.
“Yeah. I’m sure.” He swiped his sleeve under his nose. “I’m gonna go rinse my face off then we can meet up for dinner.”
“Okay.” I stood to the side as he brushed past me to return to the locker room. This wasn’t going to go well. I could tell already. Based on the limited amount of time I’d spent with Judd, I already knew he wouldn’t let it go at this. Not with the kind of arm Rodney had. I’d seen the way he could throw at the Homecoming game. That kind of skill couldn’t be learned, you either had it or you didn’t. But I’d honor Rodney’s wishes, at least for now.
A few minutes later he emerged from the locker room, barely recognizable as the watery-eyed kid who’d left me standing here just moments ago.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I clapped a hand on his shoulder as he reached me.
“Yeah. Mom’s been happy since she met you. I don’t want to take that away from her. I’ll tell her, just not yet, okay? Promise me you won’t say anything?”
Damn, when did high school kids get to be so mature? “If you think that’s best. Your mom has been through a lot lately. It might be easier on her if you take a few days to process before you bring it up.” I squeezed his shoulder then let my hand drop back to my side. “But if you want to talk about it or need anything before you have a chance to bring it up to her, you let me know, okay?”
He nodded. Then he paused and turned toward me. “Thanks.”
Before I realized what was happening, he flung his arms around me and hugged. I drew him closer, wanting to absorb his hurt. If I could fix things for Scarlett’s son and help him avoid the potential heartbreak, I’d have done it.
Pulling away, he tried to make light of the emotions clearly running all over his face. “My mom likes you, and I think you’re good for her. Please don’t hurt her.”
“I don’t plan on it.” That was the truth, too. Scarlett and I hadn’t known each other very long, but every once in a while someone came along who sparked an instant connection. It was like that with her. Technically I’d just met her. But it seemed like we’d known each other for at least half a lifetime. Whatever it was, I didn’t plan on messing it up.
Fifteen minutes later we walked into the Lovebird Café to find Scarlett holding court in a large corner booth. Cassie sat across the table, the ever-present carafe of coffee in hand. When she saw us coming, she scooted out to make room for me and Rodney.
“Hey. How was practice?” Scarlett asked.
“Good.” Rodney nodded as he scooted in next to Scarlett. I sat on the opposite side of her, scooting closer on the C-shaped corner cushion.
“Hey, how was your day?” She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
My gut warmed at the contact. Something about this woman put my mind, my heart and my soul at ease. “Good. I drove my dad and the team out to the cave this morning.”
“I thought they weren’t coming until tomorrow?” A crinkle appeared between her eyebrows. I wanted to reach over and smooth it out with my thumb.
“He heard my schedule changed so they showed up early. We’ll go in tomorrow. Today was all about getting some measurements and marking the location. He’s also going to camp outside the entrance so he can see if there are any bats leaving and re-entering the cave in the morning.”
“Your dad’s gonna sleep where all those bats are flying around?” Rodney asked.
“Yeah, weird, huh?” I picked up a menu and shot him a grin.
“What can I get for y’all to drink?” Cassie asked. “Thanks to Scarlett’s fudge sauce we’ve got a new hot fudge milkshake on the menu.”
We went around the table. I asked for a hot fudge milkshake but I would have much rather had something stiff to help with the unsettled feeling in my chest. Rodney hadn’t let on that anything was bothering him, but I couldn’t help but keep seeing his tear-stained face in my mind.
“Did you stay after to watch videos with Coach Waite?” Scarlett toyed with the paper napkin ring as she asked the question. I reached over on the bench beside me and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, letting me know she was probably just as nervous asking the question as Rodney was going to be trying to answer.
“Yeah. No biggie. I think we’re ready to take on the Wheaters tomorrow.”
“The Wheaters?” I asked. “Wharton’s mascot is the Wheaters?”
“Yeah. They dress a kid up like a sheaf of wheat,” Rodney said.
I cocked my head, trying to figure out if he was shitting me. “Really?”
Scarlett grinned, erasing the worry lines from her forehead. “It’s pretty funny. Last year something happened with the costume and the sheaf of wheat didn’t have arms. He bounced into one of the cheerleaders and fell on the forty yard line.”
“You’re coming to the game tomorrow night, aren’t you, Theo?” Rodney asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Dad had already asked me about staying in the cave with him. I’d have to figure out a way out of that. As much as I wanted to be his number one, a bigger part of me wanted to put Scarlett first.
Cassie stopped by, her tray loaded with the shakes we ordered. “Three hot fudge shakes and a basket of fries on the house to get you started. What are y’all having for dinner tonight?”
“Is there anything better than the chicken fried steak?” I asked.
Rodney shook his head. “Nope. That’s what I’m having.” He never even looked at the menu.
“The fall harvest salad for me,” Scarlett said.
“What do you recommend?” I asked Cassie.
“Thursday night special is deep-fried turkey breast, loaded mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans from the garden.”
“Sold. Good thing I don’t live around here. I’d probably gain fifty pounds.” I slid my menu back into the holder.
“Hey, Scarlett. I’m going to need some more of that hot fudge sauce. The shakes have been a big hit and people want to buy it by the bottle. When do you think you can get me some more?” Cassie tucked her pen behind her ear.
“Monday? I can make some more this weekend.” Scarlett pulled out her phone and typed something in.
“Sounds good. Give me double this time, okay? You’ve got a great product on your hands. I bet Harmony would be willing to sell it at her place too.”
“The wellness center?
” Rodney smirked. “Isn’t she all about helping people become healthier?”
Cassie tapped him on the head with a menu. “Sometimes becoming healthier means becoming happier, and your mama’s hot fudge sauce is happiness in a jar.”
Scarlett beamed at the compliment. It was nice to see her smile with all the heartache she’d been going through over the past few days.
After Cassie retreated to the kitchen, Scarlett took a sip of her shake. “Maybe I should ask Harmony about it. Or see if the Country Fresh might be interested in carrying some.”
“I think you should open up that ice cream shop you keep talking about.” Rodney dug a spoon into his milkshake and pulled up a glob of hot fudge sauce from the bottom. “I love how they give you a heap of it in the bottom of the glass. When you open up your shop, you need to do that too.”
“I think you’re getting a little bit ahead of yourself.” Scarlett’s cheeks tinged pink.
“Is that something you’re interested in?” I asked. “I’ve had your ice cream and your hot fudge sauce, and they’re both delicious. Rodney’s right, you should consider it.”
Now her cheeks took on a full blush. “I don’t know the first thing about opening a business.”
“But Cassie does. And Harmony. They’d help you. I know they would,” Rodney said.
“Yeah, I know. It still seems like a huge undertaking. I’ll think about it.” Scarlett spun her straw between her fingers. “In the meantime I’ve got plenty to do to keep me busy.”
I glanced at Rodney. He lifted his gaze from his shake to meet mine. An unspoken promise seemed to pass between us. Keeping Scarlett busy would keep her mind off of Judd and Rodney and the threat of her secret being exposed. If that’s what would help her, that’s what I vowed to do. Only one question remained…how?
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