Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  When he turned to look at her, she continued softly, “Do you hate your dad?” She held up her hand. “No don’t answer that yet. Do you think he’s ever made any mistakes, decisions he’d really wish he hadn’t made? We all have Matt. When I look back at my marriage to Dave, I can’t believe I actually married him. Not only did I never love him, I don’t even think I even liked him very much. But it was a mistake and I’m doing my best now to put my life back together after that mistake.”

  She paused and smiled. “That is, with the help of so many wonderful people in this town.”

  Matt’s mind was in a whirl now but he suddenly knew what she wanted him to say. He blew out a sigh and said, “No, Betty Sue, I don’t hate my dad.”

  Before she could say anything else, he forged on. “I guess I just don’t like the way he expects so much from me and never seems to like anything I do.”

  Betty Sue clapped her hands together. “Now we’re getting somewhere Matt. If you will just stop trying to live your life for others or maybe I should say against others, maybe, just maybe, you’ll start doing what you want to do.”

  His mind was so crowded with all she had just said that he almost missed the next thing she said.

  “Now, Matt. Let’s talk about Grace for a minute.”

  That brought his head back up to stare at her again.

  “What about Grace?”

  She slapped her knee. “Do you think Grace is living her life for your parents?”

  He was ready with an answer for that one. “No, but she’s doing something that they approve of. So that’s not the same.”

  “Wait Matt. Back up a minute. Grace came over to Trish’s house Sunday evening and told me all about her marriage. Sounds like she made quite a few of the same mistakes I did. In fact, didn’t she defy your parents when she married the man they didn’t want her to?”

  That was when some of what she was trying to say began to sink in.

  “Are you saying that if I’d gone ahead into heating and cooling that my parents would have accepted it?”

  She shook her head slightly. “No, I’m not exactly saying that. But what I am saying is that if you would have done it because you wanted to instead of to spite them, they might have accepted it.”

  He shook his head and stared into her eyes. “How’d you get to be so smart?”

  “I don’t know if I’d call it smart. It’s just that I’ve been through the wringer, so to speak. You heard all that Sunday at your parents’ house.”

  Matt was still thinking about all that when Betty Sue said, “Matt could I use your phone to call Trish?”

  “Sure.” He handed it to her but she held it in her hand and just looked at it then back up at him.

  “Do you know her number?”

  He shook his head but reached for a thin phone book that was under a stack of biker magazines on the other end of the coffee table. “Here, she’s in this under Howard.”

  When Trish answered, Betty Sue said, “Trish what do you know about that tech school that I saw when my bus went through that bigger town just south of here.”

  Trish must have been talking, then Betty Sue said, “How about heating and cooling?”

  She listened for a minute then said, “Thanks Trish. I’ll explain later.”

  Matt had a thought. “Betty Sue. Let me talk to Trish for a minute . . . please.”

  When she handed the phone to him, he said, “Hey Trish. Don’t you think that if Betty Sue’s going to stay around here and be driving your pickup that she’s going to need a cell phone?”

  Trish snorted. “Why Matt, I do think you’re right. That’s a good idea. I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow after we get off work. Thanks Son.”

  He turned the phone off and laid it back down on the coffee table.

  He was going to ask her what she was up to but she started talking first.

  “Oh Matt, I don’t need a cell phone.”

  He shook his head and realized that it didn’t hurt to do so anymore. “If you’re going to be running all over town in that 4x4, then yes you do need a cell phone.”

  She didn’t say any more and he took that opportunity to ask, “Well, what was that phone call all about?”

  Betty Sue grinned back at him. “Trish said that the tech school has a fifteen week program that would get your HVAC certification to do heating and cooling as a business if you wanted to. She said a friend of hers had a son go there and it’s really a good school. He’s got his own business down in Springfield now.”

  Matt was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say. Here was this unbelievable woman he’d only known for one short week giving him hope that he’d never had before. For that matter, did he dare hope that he could do what she was suggesting?

  “I couldn’t just quit my job and go to school for almost four months.”

  She grinned back at him. “Oh Matt, I think that if God really wants you to do this, then He’ll find a way for you to do it.”

  “Hah! What has God ever done for me? Don’t bring God into this. “

  “Why not?”

  Chapter Seven

  Betty Sue went away from Matt’s apartment feeling as thought she might have really accomplished something. She thought that she had at least gotten Matt to think about going to school for heating and cooling. That was great. She also knew that he’d never be able to accomplish that if he didn’t stop the drugs. Would he be able to do that?

  As she drove the unfamiliar streets of Strawberry, Betty Sue once more admired the beautiful Christmas decorations that had caught her eye from the bus. She was so glad for and how those decorations had changed her life so much.

  That made her think about just how much her life had changed in that one short week. Wow! She had gone from being broke without a job and virtually homeless, to not only having a good job and place to live but now she had been befriended by such a fantastic group of people who were everything she’d ever wanted in a family. Family? Where had that thought come from? She’d never had much of a family.

  Trish! She could never thank Trish enough. She had taken Betty Sue in and given her so much. She now felt like she had something to look forward to each new day.

  When she parked the truck in the garage, she marveled again that Trish had given her the truck to drive. It sure was nice. She hadn’t been able to afford a car since the divorce.

  She jumped out of the truck and rushed into Trish’s kitchen hoping the dear lady would be there and wasn’t disappointed.

  “Oh Trish, you should have seen Matt after I told him how easy it would be for him to learn all he needed to in order to work in heating and cooling.

  Trish was grinning too by the time Betty Sue finished and then drew her into a hug.

  “Oh Betty Sue, you don’t how much I’ve prayed for something like this to happen to that boy. Why, he’s just been floundering around for the last ten years since he graduated from high school.”

  Betty Sue leaned back and looked into Trish’s eyes. “Ten years? Trish, how old is Matt?”

  Trish was grinning in a different way now. “Well, if you have to know Dear, he’s twenty-eight.”

  “Oh. Then that makes him younger than me.”

  “Yes, but one year doesn’t make that much difference. Does it?”

  Betty Sue was thinking then nodded. “I guess not.”

  Trish laughed then. “You should have seen the expressions on your face just now. I think that tells me which way the wind’s blowing now for sure.”

  Betty Sue was still wondering if she’d given anything away that Trish could have seen on her face when Trish pointed toward the table and said, “Sit down girl, supper’s ready and then I’ve got something very important I want to talk over with you.”

  Betty Sue helped Trish put supper on the table and then sat down wondering what her friend wanted to talk about now.

  All through supper, Betty Sue kept waiting for Trish to tell her what she wanted to talk about but it didn’t hap
pen.

  Finally, when they had cleared the table and were sitting back down with glasses of iced tea in front of them, it looked like Trish was ready to talk.

  But just then, the phone rang. When Trish answered it, she turned to Betty Sue and said, “It’s Grace and she wants to hear about your visit with her brother.”

  It really made Betty Sue feel good at how excited Grace became when she told her that Matt was considering going to school.

  “Oh Betty Sue. I just knew you were going to be good for my big brother. Thank you so much.”

  Betty Sue hung up feeling slightly uneasy. What if none of this ever turned out? She sure didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up over nothing. Well, she’d just have to work a little harder at getting Matt to want to change.

  When Betty Sue sat back down, Trish looked her directly in the eye and said, “I guess you’ve heard some of the others at the diner talking about the fact that Mike is trying to sell it and the motel together.”

  Betty Sue nodded. She’d heard all right and had wondered what might happen to her if it was sold.

  Trish blew out a sigh. “Well, I can see that you’re just a might worried about what would happen to you if the diner changed hands, especially if I wasn’t the manager of it anymore.”

  She seemed to be letting Betty Sue think about that for a moment.

  “Well, as I see it, I have two choices. If someone buys the diner and wants to manage it themselves, then I’ll probably have to quit and let me tell you, I’m only fifty-one and that’s way too young to retire but it’s also too old to be looking for another job.”

  As Betty Sue let all that sink in, she waited for Trish to go on.

  “Okay, here’s my other option. I could buy the place and let me tell you it sure is tempting. I’ve had all kinds of ideas on how to improve the place but Mike never wanted to change anything.”

  Just as Betty Sue was getting her hopes up, Trish said, “But the problem is that Mike has to sell both the diner and the motel together since they’re on the same property. That’s probably why it hasn’t sold yet.”

  “But Trish . . .”

  Trish waved her hand in the air. “Yeah, I know. You don’t know Mike as well as I do. He gets an idea in his head and he won’t change no matter what. He says he will not separate the two.” She snickered, “You wouldn’t believe all the fights we’ve had over that diner. So I’m not going to try to talk him out of keeping them together.”

  Betty Sue was beginning to worry again when Trish smiled at her and said, “The only reason I haven’t bought them before now was that I had no one to manage the motel for me. As you know, Mike is doing it now.”

  When Trish finished, she placed her elbows on the table with her chin in her hands, and stared expectantly at Betty Sue.

  It didn’t take Betty Sue long to figure out what Trish was hinting at.

  “Oh no Trish, I don’t know the first thing about managing a motel. I could never do that.”

  Trish laughed then. “Anyone who can waitress as well as you do and can take care of four rowdy boys the way you did the other day, can manage a motel.”

  Betty Sue wasn’t convinced but Trish wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  “Just listen to me for a minute, Betty Sue.” When Betty Sue nodded, Trish said, “I know how much it’s hurting your back to wait on tables at that diner.”

  Betty Sue was surprised. She thought she’d been hiding that little fact rather well. But that just went to show that either she wasn’t as good at hiding it or Trish was more observant than she’d given her credit for. Probably a little of both.

  Trish seemed to know that she had Betty Sue’s full attention now.

  “If you keep waitressing for very long Dear, you’re really going to have serious back problems. And I certainly don’t want to see that.” She placed a hand on one of Betty Sue’s on the table.

  “There’s a rather comfortable two bedroom apartment behind the front desk and office for the motel manager. It would be perfect for you.” She snickered. “Even two people.”

  Betty Sue blushed at that last comment.

  “Not that I don’t love for you to live here with me Dear, but you’d have your privacy there.”

  Betty Sue didn’t know what to think much less say.

  “Could I think on it for a little while?”

  Trish smiled again. “Sure Sweetie. You take as long as you need to. I don’t think Mike has any other prospective buyers right now. At least he hasn’t shown it to anybody for a while.”

  * * *

  An hour after Betty Sue left his apartment, Matt was still reeling from all that had been said and done in the short time she’d been there. He had to laugh when he realized that her coming to his apartment had been drastically different from any other girls’ visits. But Betty Sue was so much different from any other girl he’d known for a long time.

  For the second time lately, he compared her to Grace. Yes, they were as different as night and day in looks but otherwise they were very much alike. It surprised him when he realized just how much alike the two really were.

  Okay, he was going to take some time to think about that, but later. What did that really mean? Had he actually been looking for a girl just like his little sister? Whoa! That was scary . . . or was it?

  He realized that his mind was finally clear. He’d been fairly clear when Betty Sue was there, but now he could really put his mind to what she’d said about him going to school.

  But how could he go to school and still drive a truck the way he did now? He couldn’t afford to stop. He never knew when he’d be home enough to be able to take classes like she’d talked about.

  All of those thoughts were running around in his head when his phone rang. He was rather surprised that it was Randy Bowman, his boss at the truck line. And he didn’t waste time getting to the point.

  “Hey Matt, if you’re going to be laid up for the next three weeks, I’m going to have to give your job to somebody else.”

  Just when Matt was about to get mad, Randy continued, “But I’ve decided that when you get back, I’ll put you on the local runs which means no more than a two-hundred mile turn around.”

  Matt was still processing that when Randy added, “For the most part, you’ll be on straight days with very few overnighters. Is that okay with you?”

  Matt caught himself before he snorted. It didn’t sound like he had much of a choice in the matter. But then when he thought about it, this could possibly be just what he needed to be able to go to school. If he decided he wanted to, that is.

  “Okay, Randy, that sounds good to me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know for sure when I’ll be able to come back to work.”

  Matt lay there thinking about this new development and he suddenly felt the need to tell someone about it. Hah! Who was he kidding? He wanted to tell Betty Sue about it.

  Just as he grabbed the phone to call her though, he had another thought. No, wait a minute. She’d said that God would find a way. Well, he didn’t think this was something God had done and he sure didn’t want her throwing that back in his face either.

  So, he did the only thing he felt he could do. He laid the phone back down on the coffee table and continued marveling at that wonderfully strange woman named Betty Sue Farris.

  As Matt lay there though, it didn’t take long for him to start feeling sorry for himself again. He had to fight that feeling. So, he worked at getting himself to a standing position and hobbled to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

  He was proud of how well he had learned to maneuver now with his cast and crutches. He was still awkward and it was still difficult but it didn’t take nearly as long as it had.

  He had just made it back to the couch and was trying to sit up for a few minutes with his leg straight out on the floor when the doorbell rang.

  Now who? He didn’t really want any more company. But then he thought that maybe it was Betty Sue coming back to talk more about his maybe goi
ng to school.

  “Come on in. The door’s unlocked.”

  He was not pleased but shouldn’t have been surprised to see Crystal come through the door. She was a willowy blond and she was wearing her usual jeans and white t-shirt. And on top of it all, as he looked at her right then through new eyes, she looked like the druggie she was.

  What was happening to him? That never bothered him before. Why was it bothering him now? Sure, he knew the answer to that question. He was comparing her to Betty Sue.

  Crystal didn’t hesitate but sat down on the couch next to him, almost on top of his right leg. She leaned into him, brought her hand up to his chest, and began unbuttoning his shirt.

  Later, he would think about why he did what he did. But right then, he didn’t want her hands on him. So he pushed her hand away and said, “Even if I could Crystal, I’m not in the mood to mess around with you today.”

  She immediately turned away and began to pout just like he knew she would. Then she turned back to face him and said, “Don’t you love me anymore Matt?”

  Where did that come from? Sure, they’d been together some lately, but he couldn’t ever remember telling her that he loved her.

  He had to say something so he said, “If I ever told you that I loved you, I was high and I certainly don’t remember it.”

  There, that should solve things. He was feeling rather good about things but only for a moment, that is, until she spoke again.

  “But Matt, I’m pregnant and you said we’d be getting married.”

  That threw him for a loop, big time. Now what could he do?

  “But Crystal, haven’t you been with a whole bunch of other guys too? How can you say that the baby is mine?”

  She didn’t blush, but she did turn her eyes away. “I just know that it’s yours Matt. Wouldn’t that be great for us to have a baby together?”

  Matt wanted to shout no as loud as he could. But he tried to remain as calm as possible. He reached out and touched Crystal’s shoulder.

  “Crystal. I won’t accept responsibility for this baby without proof that it really is mine. We will have a DNA test done as soon as possible.”

  She started to object but he held up his hand and continued, “The first thing you have to do is stay off the stuff. If it doesn’t kill the kid, it could come out really screwed up if you stay on the stuff.”