known a guy who can stay friends-only with a girl forever. They always end up wanting to get their hot little hands in—”
“Hey, Sylvie!” A guy tuning a guitar in the far corner of the café waves her over.
She waves back and says to me, “Speaking of hot hands, I need to make amends with the entertainment. Jonesy called last night and I never called back.”
“Sure, go on.”
As she leaves the booth, I bite into a pizza slice and stare out the window, disappointed that Sylvie didn’t offer any easy solutions to my dilemma about Wyatt and Ty. But it’s not her fault. I don’t think any exist.
Later, Wyatt calls while I’m driving home. When I tell him I struck out at the video store, he says, “I’ll loan you Superbad.”
I laugh. “That’s not exactly the sort of movie I had in mind for Mom.”
“What? You loved it. You wet your pants you were laughing so hard.”
“I did not wet my pants.”
“Almost. You knocked over Gram’s favorite vase trying to get to the bathroom.”
“You are so lame,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“It’s true! I caught it before it hit the floor. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
“Yeah, right. Embarrassing me is your favorite pastime.”
We laugh, then grow silent. Five seconds pass. Ten. I notice that the late-to-leaf cottonwood trees along the county road are finally budding. Wyatt and I will be graduating soon. Everything’s changing.
“You should stop by,” Wyatt says.
“I need to work on my paper. And Mom still hasn’t called Dad’s clients, so I’m going to do it tonight. I don’t think she can handle talking to them right now.”
“Doesn’t sound like a fun job. I’ll be thinking about you.” Wyatt pauses, then adds in a softer voice, “Of course, I’ve been thinking about you all day anyway.”
“I’ve been thinking about you, too,” I say, wondering if our friendship has been leading us to this new place all along, and our getting closer was meant to be.
“I should go since I’m driving,” I tell him.
“Yeah, be safe. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I put the phone in the cup holder, oddly flattered by the change in Wyatt’s voice when he said he’d been thinking about me. But out of nowhere, Ty pops into my thoughts, and I’m confused all over again.
After I get home, I devote a couple hours to my paper, then start calling Dad’s clients to tell them that his friend Sal will be in touch about finishing their projects. Sal called Mom yesterday and was nice enough to volunteer to do the work without taking any of the fee. I’m on the phone until close to ten o’clock, and Wyatt was right; it isn’t fun. By the time I make the last call, I’m so drained that I can’t muster the energy or enthusiasm to go out to the workshop. I know Iris is disappointed, but I can’t handle any more stress. I fall asleep curled up on the couch with my clothes still on and Cookie in his pen nearby, whining in his sleep again.
Iris doesn’t pester me to go out to the workshop the next morning while I’m working on my paper. I guess she’s finally figured out that I won’t be able to give my full attention to anything else until I’m finished. I work nonstop until after one o’clock, then slip out of the cabin and take a sandwich to Ty.
When I call out to him from the deck, he starts down from the roof to meet me. I saw him earlier when he arrived and we said hello, but Mom was with me. It’s the first time we’ve been alone since we left the springhouse yesterday, and I feel a rush of anticipation at the thought of seeing him again. I keep remembering Sylvie’s question about who I’m more “jazzed” to kiss: Wyatt or Ty? One thing I know—I’d let Ty kiss me right now in a heartbeat if he tried.
Midway down the ladder, he jumps to the deck and turns to me, looking dusty, sweaty, and gorgeous in his torn flannel shirt and holey jeans. His dark hair just misses brushing his shoulders.
“I’ve been waiting all morning for this,” he says.
“I didn’t know my sandwiches are that good.”
“I was talking about seeing you.” The smile he flashes is so dazzling it blinds me.
Feeling shy, I give him a sandwich and say, “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with schoolwork.”