“I thought we agreed we couldn’t...”
“That’s like practicing lines, and you were okay with that.”
“Yes, but a movie is more like a date.” She checked the time. A little after eight.
“Then, how about this? Help me practice my lines by watching Annie with me.” He grinned engagingly. Looking at his handsome face, Harris knew how easy it would be to fall under his spell. He was a genuine nice guy.
It was actually to her benefit to make sure he practiced his lines, so giving in this once wouldn’t really count as a date.
“I’ll bring pizza,” she said.
“I like mine with pineapple and spinach.”
“Seriously? We might not be able to eat in the same room.”
He grinned. “I’m kidding. You already know I’ll eat cardboard if you put enough salt on it.”
TURBO ARRANGED THE pillows on his porch swing and straightened the clean cloth he’d placed over the small, backyard table he’d placed in front of it. He’d figured Harris and he could watch Annie here in his backyard with his laptop sitting on the table. It was a little cool, but he’d brought blankets out.
He hoped Harris would enjoy sitting outside with him. She seemed to like the stars last night. He’d considered setting things up in the back of his pickup, but he’d decided to play it a little safer. For once.
Maybe he wanted to please her since he’d spent so much time during the play being obnoxious. Not on purpose, but to keep her from figuring out the truth. He’d not wanted to, but he didn’t have much choice.
She had every right to be angry at him and to call him out about it. It was exactly the way he’d acted in high school. But, come on, once a kid gets to a certain age—like fourth grade—and if he isn’t reading by then, everyone in his class is going to make fun of him, and he’ll be put in the “slow” group and marked for the rest of his school career. It had taken Turbo exactly two seconds to figure that out. And less time to figure out how to keep the attention off the fact that as the class moved ahead, he fell farther and farther behind and got better and better at cheating and faking it.
Even if nothing ever happened between Harris and him, he wanted her to know that he respected her. But he had to do it here, because he couldn’t do it at play practice. Not yet.
Gravel crunching announced her arrival, and he walked around the side of his house.
Her car came to a stop. He opened the door and grabbed the pizza from the front seat. She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“I have everything set up behind the house, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Lead the way,” she said.
He walked in front of her around his house. “Watch your step here,” he cautioned her as he stepped up onto the porch.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“I have blankets, but if it’s too cold for you...”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She looked around.
He’d left a small lamp on in the living room, and it gave enough light through the windows to see by. Her face didn’t show distress. In fact, she looked excited, so he figured he must have done okay.
He moved his laptop and set the pizza on the table. Then he sat down, unsure if it was more polite to let the lady sit first. But he wanted her to choose how close to sit to him. He wasn’t exactly sure where he stood with her after her dismissal last night and his antics this evening.
She sat close but not touching. He’d take it.
They ate the pizza—the only topping was pepperoni—in silence.
“Is that your fourth piece?”
He stopped with the pizza almost to his mouth. “Maybe.”
“It is. I’m just finishing my first piece, and you’re on your fourth. Wow.”
“I have three brothers, all older. It’s a wonder I got any food at all growing up. I had to be fast.”
She laughed, as he’d intended, and finished off her one piece. “Can I ask you something?” she said as he put the last bite in his mouth.
“Uh, sure?” It couldn’t be a question he’d want to answer if she felt she had to ask him if she could ask him.
“Why did you do that tonight?” She looked down at her lap and pressed the folds of her skirt together. “I mean, was it because of today—me not going for wood? Were you mad at me?”
“No.”
She looked up at him. “Then why?”
He pushed the swing a little with his foot, and the springs creaked. “I can’t say.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
Just tell her.
He wanted to. But for someone to whom words usually came easily, the three little words he needed to say stuck in his throat.
“Turbo.” She turned toward him, her knee hitting his leg. She placed a hand on his arm. “Help me understand. Please?”
His chest felt like it was going to explode. His throat felt like a drain that was plugged and someone was sticking a plunger in it.
But the words just wouldn’t come out.
He shook his head. “I’ll try to do better.” That was the honest truth.
Her lips flattened, and the disappointment in her eyes made his heart hurt, but she didn’t press him.
They started the movie. Turbo put his arm along the back of the swing, and by the time Annie had snuck Sandy into the orphanage, Harris had snuggled against him.
Shortly after that, his phone buzzed. He’d set it on the banister. He didn’t recognize the number. “Hey, I’m expecting a confirmation call about a load I had to cancel since my truck’s not going to be fixed in time. I’d better get this.”
“That’s fine.” Harris smiled, sitting up and pausing the movie.
He swiped the button on his phone. “Hello?”
“Turbo?”
“Yeah?”
“Hey, it’s Aalyiah.” She paused when he didn’t say anything. “From play practice?”
“Uh, okay?”
“You remembered me from high school.”
“Yeah.” He could tell Harris was watching him out of the corner of her eye. How much could she hear? He switched the phone to his other ear.
“You hired me to write a few papers for you.”
“Yeah.” It was too late for her to turn him in, right? They wouldn’t take his diploma. That couldn’t be what she wanted. She didn’t sound mad.
“Well, I’d gotten the impression, from you and some others, that...well, that you would struggle with things like reading and memorizing lines.”
She paused. Harris straightened, her head coming off his arm and completely breaking contact. It felt like a big loss.
Turbo didn’t know what to say to Aalyiah, so he kept his mouth shut. He’d pulled a lot of fast ones, and yes, he’d cheated some to pass each grade at school, but he hated cheaters and couldn’t stand liars either. Any time he had a choice, he chose the truth. This time, he chose silence.
Aalyiah went on. “I thought maybe you’d need me to go over your lines with you. To help you learn them.”
He glanced at Harris. She was studying her nails like she could really see them in the dark. He stood up from the swing and walked over to the edge of the porch. He pitched his voice low, trying to whisper without sounding like he was, to keep Harris from hearing what he was saying and asking questions.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m watching the movie to learn them.”
“Oh.” Did she sound disappointed? “That’s a great idea.”
“Thanks. I don’t think I’ll need help. A few more days and I’ll have it. Thanks for the offer.”
“No problem, Turbo. You probably don’t realize it, but my little brother was in the hospital a few years ago, and you took him for a ride in your truck. You let him blow the train horn and hold the steering wheel. It was all he talked about for days. You couldn’t steal the smile off his face. It’s funny, but that’s when he seemed to crest the hump and slowly start to get better. Thank you for taking the time to do that.”
; “Hey, I enjoy it.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
She ended the call.
He turned back to Harris.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’d taken Aalyiah’s brother for a truck ride years ago, and she wanted to thank me for it.”
“Oh.” Harris nodded. “That was nice of her.”
“Yeah. I guess seeing me today jogged her memory.”
“I guess.”
He walked back over and settled down where he was before, putting his arm over the back of the swing. She started the movie and settled back, maybe not as close as before. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, willing himself to keep listening, focusing on the words as they were spoken, but a part of him basked in the companionship, warmth, and closeness of the woman next to him. He wished this could be his life. Snuggled on the porch swing every evening for the rest of his life.
Sandy and Annie had just entered Daddy Warbucks’s mansion when his phone buzzed again. Harris shifted beside him. He grinned without lifting his head from the back of the swing. “Aren’t too many times in my life when I wanted to be still. Figures my phone would ring, again.”
He felt Harris laugh a little beside him. “Want me to get it?”
Reaching over, he grabbed his phone off the banister and, without looking at it, handed it to Harris.
“Hi, DeShaun,” she said.
Turbo pushed his head farther back. He’d spent the time he usually spent with DeShaun at play practice and with Harris. Sometimes DeShaun was too busy for Turbo, but he’d had a rough start to his school year, and Turbo had been spending extra time with him. Regret pinched his chest.
“This is Miss Winsted, the librarian... No, I’m not Turbo’s girlfriend.” Harris lifted her brows at Turbo. “...No, we’re outside... Sure, you can talk to him.”
She pressed “mute” on his phone. “If he wants to come over and watch it with us... I mean, it might be too juvenile for him, but I don’t mind, if you don’t.”
Turbo minded. He hadn’t realized how much he would enjoy snuggling up with Harris and just spending time with her.
“I forgot I usually meet DeShaun and Pap on Thursday evenings and we do something.” It wasn’t like a set date all the time, and Turbo always initiated it. “I didn’t realize DeShaun even noticed that was kind of my schedule. Friday’s the day I always sign Pap out of the home.”
“So, it’s okay?”
“You mind going and picking him up and watching this at the nursing home with Pap?”
She tilted her head, a little smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “I don’t.”
“Then let’s do it.” He held out his hand for his phone. He unmuted it. “DeShaun?”
“Hey, man. You ditched me for a chick.”
“Nah. I just got screwed up on my days with my truck down and play practice. I’ve got a movie to watch for homework for the play. You mind if I pick you up and we’ll go to Pap’s and watch it there?”
“Yeah. I’m down for that.”
“You mind if I bring Miss Winsted?”
There was a pause. “She said she wasn’t your girlfriend.”
Chapter 13
“SHE’S NOT.”
Harris had risen from the swing, closed his computer, and started folding the blankets. Her face held serene contentment. She didn’t seem like she was disturbed about having to move. He supposed that was a good thing, although he wouldn’t mind if she showed a little annoyance at having their cozy movie time interrupted.
He was sure as heck annoyed. But he felt bad too, since DeShaun was right. He’d totally forgotten about what he usually did because of Harris.
“Why you bringing her?”
“I think she needs us, bud. She’s stuck in that library with all those books all the time. Messes with your head.”
“Oh. Yeah. I can see that. Okay. I’ll try to help her be normal. If you’re sure she’s not your girlfriend.”
“Not yet,” Turbo said with a grin. Harris either couldn’t hear or wasn’t listening, because she finished folding the last blanket and set it in a pile with the rest. “We’ll see you in a few.”
He swiped off and looked up. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“It was my idea.” She straightened. “Won’t DeShaun’s parents want him home at a certain time on a school night?”
“They’re probably not home. If his dad is, he’ll be passed out drunk on the couch.”
Harris covered her mouth with her hand. “How sad.”
“Yeah.” Turbo shrugged. He couldn’t do more than what he was. “You ready? DeShaun sounded a little jacked at me.”
“You want to take the blankets along? We can make a cozy spot somewhere at the nursing home.”
They ended up taking the blankets, picking up DeShaun, getting Pap, and making a makeshift movie theater in the common room at the nursing home. As they moved Pap in, several others gathered around, and it became a regular movie night. Someone made popcorn, which someone else complained about because it smelled so good, but it got stuck in their dentures and they couldn’t eat it.
By the time Turbo and Harris had arranged all the wheelchairs and confirmed with the nurses that everyone who was eating popcorn was allowed to, the movie was started. DeShaun lay sprawled out on the floor, and all the couches and other seats were taken. A line of wheelchairs ringed the outer edges. Someone had hooked up Turbo’s laptop to the TV because the screen was bigger.
“We can bring some chairs up from the activity room downstairs for you two,” the nurse whose name started with a “J” said.
“You don’t have to. Not for me, at least,” Harris said. “I can sit on the floor.”
Turbo threaded through the wheelchairs and grabbed the last blanket that had been thrown over the back of the couch. “Come on.” He held it up. “I’ll share.”
“Would you two be quiet? We’re trying to watch the movie,” a silver-haired woman said from her seat on the couch.
“The TV is up so loud, I can’t believe they can even hear us over it,” Harris said.
“I can hear you just fine. You’re worse than my kids were when I tried to watch my soaps,” the same woman snapped. “If you can’t be quiet, go to a different room.”
“I think someone is up past their bedtime,” Turbo whispered in Harris’s ear.
She laughed and turned to him, her unique scent of books and smiles reaching his nose, tempting him to lean closer.
She grabbed his hand. “Come on. We can sit along the wall.”
He allowed her to lead him over, savoring the feel of her soft, sweet hand in his. He tightened his fingers. She looked up. He stared down into her eyes.
She let out a little puff of breath, then her chest rose and fell faster.
He pulled on their linked hands, and she came closer. He wanted to put his arms around her and press her to him, but with all the people in the room, it wasn’t exactly a romantic setting. Plus, she seemed to have wanted distance, even though it looked like she’d forgiven or forgotten about his behavior at the play tonight. It might embarrass her. He didn’t want that, either.
Taking the quilt from her, he said, “I’ll spread it out.”
Giving him an easy smile, she said, “Thanks.”
They sat down in the back, behind the last row of wheelchairs, on the comfy quilt. Darkness had settled outside the large picture window, which gave the dim room an even cozier feel. Annie sang and danced her way across the screen, and Turbo paid attention to the lines he needed to learn, but his whole focus was on the woman beside him. Soft and warm, sweet and generous. If only he could swallow his pride and confess. She’d want to “fix” him, sure. But it might be worth it.
HARRIS SNUGGLED AGAINST Turbo’s side. Sometime during the movie, she’d laid her head on his arm. They’d both shifted a little closer, and now they sat with their sides touching as the credits rolled. She didn’t want to get up. Somethi
ng about being with Turbo made everything in her soul feel just right.
One of the workers turned the lights from dim to bright, and they started wheeling residents to their rooms. Harris shifted. Beside her, Turbo stirred, moving his legs and standing in one fluid motion. He held his hand out for her. She met his laughing gaze with a smile of her own.
“I’m gonna give the folks a hand getting back to their rooms. It’ll just be a few minutes.”
DeShaun was already up, giving his arm to an elderly woman with a cane in her other hand. Harris jumped in, rearranging the furniture back to the way it was and picking up pieces of popcorn and garbage that littered the floor.
They left the home not long after eleven and stopped at DeShaun’s house. Turbo parked along the curb and strode up the walk despite DeShaun’s protests that he was old enough to walk himself into his house.
Turbo was in the house about ten minutes before he jogged back out and climbed in the driver’s side.
“I’m sorry about that.” He put the truck in gear and pulled out.
“It’s okay.”
“I just know that sometimes if his dad isn’t completely passed out, he gets violent, and it doesn’t take much to set him off. I like to know DeShaun didn’t set off a rage by being with me.”
Harris narrowed her eyes at him. “You think DeShaun is abused?”
Turbo shrugged. “Kids are usually pretty protective of their parents. Even bad parents. He won’t say. I’ve never seen evidence on DeShaun, but the guy came thundering down the steps a couple of times while I was there playing video games. Just the look on the kid’s face...made me think the man’s done more than yell at him.” He took the turn and started on the road that led out of town. “I’d rather drop you off at your house, but we left your car at mine.”
She stifled a yawn. “It’s been quite a day.” She looked at Turbo, who still looked alert and energetic. Did the man never stop? He’d been up way before her to get wood.
“I’m picking up my hood at Tough’s tomorrow if you want to come along.” His words were said casually, like he didn’t care whether she did or not. But his fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and he kept his eyes on the road.
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