check of the battery
indicated it held full power.
I patted her hood and whispered, “I’ll see you soon, dear
girl. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Jon turned the key again and she
started right up.
I waved as he backed out, turned, and drove away. It was the
first time he hadn’t proposed. In the parking spot Christine vacated, I found a
shiny Washington, DC, quarter. I curled my fist around it and cried in my bed
until I fell asleep, crawling out of bed only to eat lunch and dinner and go
the bathroom.
Jon called from a hotel in Tennessee where he’d holed up for
the night. He sounded tired and planned on making an early start in the
morning. I lied when he asked if I was feeling okay because I sounded like I
was getting a cold by agreeing that I might be and hoped he didn’t catch
anything from me.
The next night he called from DC, from his new apartment,
saying it was very nice but small. His building was in the same neighborhood
he’d left a little over a year earlier when he’d moved to Dallas. He’d already
run into several people he knew at the grocery store where he made a quick trip
for a few essentials.
His whole life was continuing on, while mine was stuck in
first gear in a city that had never embraced me.
The next day, my caller ID identified the person on the
other end of the line as “Cripps, J.” I’d never seen that readout for Jon
before and wondered if he’d had his apartment phone hooked up or if he was
calling from some work line assigned to him. I answered with a tentative, “Hello?”
instead of my usual, “Hi, sexy!”
“Gayle?” A female voice. Who was using his phone? A
momentary wave of dread hit me.
“Yes.”
“This is Jenny Cripps.”
I slapped my palm to the side of my head. Of course it was
Jenny! Why hadn’t I considered that? Okay, for starters, why would she be
calling me? “Jenny! Hi! How are you?” Best not to assume anything but let her
talk and explain herself.
“I was wondering if you might want to have dinner with me
one night this week. I mean, you’re dating my brother and I’m dating yours, it
seems—”
“Of course. I’d love to. I’m free any night this week.” I
wandered into my kitchen, my phone pressed to my ear, and took stock of my
dwindling food supply. I had been postponing my grocery trip until I got my
first paycheck, but as that was only three days away, I figured one night on
the credit card wouldn’t kill me. I’d just cut back on the frivolous stuff like
Diet Cokes. Or maybe not those, but sweets and snacks.
“Would you mind coming to my house for a home-cooked meal?”
“I’d love that.” Boy howdy, would I ever!
We set up our dinner for the next night, swapping cell phone
numbers and directions to her house, even though I’d been once before.
She welcomed me graciously into her home when I rang the
bell. It looked virtually unchanged from when Jon and I had holed up there a
month earlier.
I handed her the bottle of wine I’d brought as a gift, a
bottle my brother had purchased and left behind. How fortuitous that I’d never
opened it.
“Oh, I love this kind of wine. Thank you! Come on in!” She
swept her hand toward the kitchen. “I thought we’d keep it casual and hang out
in the kitchen while I finish up.”
“Sounds great,” I said, heading in the direction she
indicated.
Once installed on a bar stool, with a generously poured
glass of wine, we made generic chit chat about her job, my home state, the
weather, everything except the topics I knew we both really wanted to discuss
which were: Jon, Ian, DC and, for my own nosey purposes, the outcome of the
Jason-Kat-Tully love triangle.
“So,” she began after an awkward lull in the conversation.
“So,” I repeated, smiling at her.
A mischievous grin stole its way onto Jenny’s face. “Alright,
I’ll go first, since you’re my guest. “I’m thinking about moving to Houston.”
“What? Really? Will the airline let you
indicated it held full power.
I patted her hood and whispered, “I’ll see you soon, dear
girl. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Jon turned the key again and she
started right up.
I waved as he backed out, turned, and drove away. It was the
first time he hadn’t proposed. In the parking spot Christine vacated, I found a
shiny Washington, DC, quarter. I curled my fist around it and cried in my bed
until I fell asleep, crawling out of bed only to eat lunch and dinner and go
the bathroom.
Jon called from a hotel in Tennessee where he’d holed up for
the night. He sounded tired and planned on making an early start in the
morning. I lied when he asked if I was feeling okay because I sounded like I
was getting a cold by agreeing that I might be and hoped he didn’t catch
anything from me.
The next night he called from DC, from his new apartment,
saying it was very nice but small. His building was in the same neighborhood
he’d left a little over a year earlier when he’d moved to Dallas. He’d already
run into several people he knew at the grocery store where he made a quick trip
for a few essentials.
His whole life was continuing on, while mine was stuck in
first gear in a city that had never embraced me.
The next day, my caller ID identified the person on the
other end of the line as “Cripps, J.” I’d never seen that readout for Jon
before and wondered if he’d had his apartment phone hooked up or if he was
calling from some work line assigned to him. I answered with a tentative, “Hello?”
instead of my usual, “Hi, sexy!”
“Gayle?” A female voice. Who was using his phone? A
momentary wave of dread hit me.
“Yes.”
“This is Jenny Cripps.”
I slapped my palm to the side of my head. Of course it was
Jenny! Why hadn’t I considered that? Okay, for starters, why would she be
calling me? “Jenny! Hi! How are you?” Best not to assume anything but let her
talk and explain herself.
“I was wondering if you might want to have dinner with me
one night this week. I mean, you’re dating my brother and I’m dating yours, it
seems—”
“Of course. I’d love to. I’m free any night this week.” I
wandered into my kitchen, my phone pressed to my ear, and took stock of my
dwindling food supply. I had been postponing my grocery trip until I got my
first paycheck, but as that was only three days away, I figured one night on
the credit card wouldn’t kill me. I’d just cut back on the frivolous stuff like
Diet Cokes. Or maybe not those, but sweets and snacks.
“Would you mind coming to my house for a home-cooked meal?”
“I’d love that.” Boy howdy, would I ever!
We set up our dinner for the next night, swapping cell phone
numbers and directions to her house, even though I’d been once before.
She welcomed me graciously into her home when I rang the
bell. It looked virtually unchanged from when Jon and I had holed up there a
month earlier.
I handed her the bottle of wine I’d brought as a gift, a
bottle my brother had purchased and left behind. How fortuitous that I’d never
opened it.
“Oh, I love this kind of wine. Thank you! Come on in!” She
swept her hand toward the kitchen. “I thought we’d keep it casual and hang out
in the kitchen while I finish up.”
“Sounds great,” I said, heading in the direction she
indicated.
Once installed on a bar stool, with a generously poured
glass of wine, we made generic chit chat about her job, my home state, the
weather, everything except the topics I knew we both really wanted to discuss
which were: Jon, Ian, DC and, for my own nosey purposes, the outcome of the
Jason-Kat-Tully love triangle.
“So,” she began after an awkward lull in the conversation.
“So,” I repeated, smiling at her.
A mischievous grin stole its way onto Jenny’s face. “Alright,
I’ll go first, since you’re my guest. “I’m thinking about moving to Houston.”
“What? Really? Will the airline let you
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