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“Yes. Actually, there is.” Taking in a big breath, she explained. “We can’t see each other at school, and he works late at night. I don’t think my mom would want me bringing him here, so would you mind if we hung out at your bar? I’d feel safe there. We both would feel comfortable, and it would only be in the afternoon. His work starts early in the evening, so we’ll get out of your hair before the bar gets busy. I promise.”
Giving all that some consideration, I nodded. “Of course you can hang out there. If this boy is as nice as you say, I want to meet him, and I want you to be able to visit with him in a place where you feel comfortable.”
“Thank you, Aunt Addy.”
“You’re welcome, Claire.” I leaned toward her. “Can you do something for me?”
She nodded but stiffened, probably nervous given the seriousness of my expression.
“Give your mom a chance. Let her in,” I said gently. “This is a difficult time for her. She keeps so much of her pain bottled inside.”
I wasn’t dense. I knew I was the queen of bottling up pain, so I definitely recognized my sister doing the same thing.
“But she needs you, Claire. And I think maybe you need her a little bit too.”
Addy
My morning conversation with Claire lingered in my mind as I went through the routine of my day.
My niece was into her guy. I was glad for her. Even though I agreed with her mother about the sneaking out being wrong, it was good that Claire had Missy as a friend, and maybe even a boyfriend who was good for her too. She was connecting to the world again after grieving.
I hoped with the time off today, Rachel might be able to reflect and put the incident in perspective too. Those two needed each other.
I went to the restaurant supply store first for a replacement part for the walk-in freezer. It worked, but the motor was coughing and sputtering again.
After that, I made a stop at the wholesaler to restock the basics that we’d depleted over a busy weekend. In the long checkout line, I pulled out my phone to pass the time.
Barry’s last text was still at the top of my messages. I touched the playful words from him, wishing I could touch him instead.
My heart ached every time this past week that I thought of him, and I’d thought about him a lot. Even now, I was tempted to text him, to beg him to reconsider us being just friends, even though just friends wasn’t what I wanted. Because of Martin, I was now and always would be condemned to be alone.
Barry was better off without me in any capacity.
My eyes burning, I purposefully swept out of my message log. I called Footit’s instead to check on Bob. He answered on the first ring.
“Footit’s Place, Bob speaking.”
“Hey, Bob. How are you? I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
“No, Addy. I’m awake. I was watching television and the monitors.”
“Is everything okay? No one suspicious lurking around?”
“Everything is fine. I didn’t see anyone I didn’t know on the monitors. I would call you. Day or night, you told me.”
That was exactly what I’d said. “Good. You’re doing a great job, Bob. I’m so glad I hired you.”
His voice brightened. “I’m glad to work here. I like working with you and Rachel.”
“She likes you too.”
And so far, Rachel hadn’t made the connection to Collin, since Bob only went by Bob, and Kyle never seemed to be around.
I knew I needed to tell my sister who Bob was. I needed to come clean about a lot of things, including the part about Barry being back in town. But I was accustomed to shielding her and handling things alone.
After all my errands were completed, I parked at Footit’s and unloaded from the trunk what I could carry. Inside, I found Bob, and he and I both took the remaining items to the storage room or kitchen as needed.
Shortly afterward, Claire arrived with Missy and Missy’s handsome friend Chad, who was a star on the Southside High basketball team, or he had been before an Achilles tendon rupture the previous year. He’d also been friends with Lace Lowell that year. But Lace was with Martin now, and Martin didn’t allow her to have friendships outside of him, or not that I knew about.
