her apartment. Ordinarily she waited and made sure her friend got into her apartment before leaving, but not this time. So many thoughts cluttered her mind. Jase was still hung up on Rachel. Rachel. Such a pretty name for a pretty girl. Slender. Blond haired, blue eyed. As unlike Lori as a girl could be. She bet nobody ever tormented Rachel with nicknames like Roly-Poly or Homely or Lowlife. Even though none of the nicknames rhymed with her given name, kids still made it work. And why not? The names fit.
She turned into the parking lot of the rows of former motel rooms converted into efficiency apartments. Run down and dismal, but still more peaceful than living under her dad’s roof. She parked the car near her door and got out.
With the bag gripped in her hand, she clomped up the cracked sidewalk and let herself in. Music with a strong beat vibrated the wall separating her apartment from the girl’s next door. She’d banged on the wall a few times in the past, but it never helped, so why bother? Instead, she turned her attention to the bag. The brownies would help her forget the brain-jarring music, her loneliness, her unworthiness…her wishful thoughts.
She set the bag on her eating bar, clawed a hole in the plastic, and pulled the brownie pan free. The aluminum foil had come loose and the brownies were all scattered inside the trash bag. No matter. As she’d told Jase the night of his welcome-to-Bradleyville party, they tasted as good in chunks as in cut squares. She grabbed a sizable piece and lifted it toward her mouth. Slowly. Salivating. Anticipating.
Her cell phone rang.
She froze with her mouth open and the brownie in front of her face. It rang again. Should she ignore the call? Might be a junk call. But it might be Ruby or Kenzie or even Sister Kraft. Ring number three. The aroma rising from the brownies tormented her, but she could eat after she took the call. She dropped the moist chunk and snatched up her phone as it rang for the fourth time. Her heart jolted at the name displayed on her screen. She jammed her finger against the accept icon and shoved the phone up to her ear.
“J-Jase. Hello.”
“Hi, Lori. Am I bothering you?”
Her knees went weak. She staggered to her sofa and sank down, holding the phone with both hands. “No. Not at all.” Thank goodness she hadn’t shoved that brownie in her mouth so she could speak clearly. Well, sort of clearly. Her voice was shaking, the same way her whole body was shaking. “What can I do for you?”
“I wish I’d thought of this when you and Kenzie were here. The young adult class has a get-together this Thursday, right?”
She closed her eyes, envisioning the church calendar. Then she nodded. “Yes. This one’s a bowling and pizza party.”
“Are you planning to go?”
Turn down pizza? Not this gal. “Uh-huh.”
“What about Kenzie?”
Lori licked her dry lips. “We usually go together to the parties.”
“That’s what I kind of figured.” If Dad had made the comment, it would’ve been snide, like Lori couldn’t handle doing anything on her own. But Jase didn’t sound unkind. Not at all. “Would you two mind if I tagged along? I feel kind of funny showing up alone since I haven’t really gotten acquainted with any of the others in the group. But I know you two. After our lunch together and all.”
Lori’s pulse thundered so hard she wondered if he could hear it. “Sure, you can go with us. I always drive because Kenzie doesn’t have a car. She walks everywhere, but the class is meeting at the bowling alley on North Rock, and it’s too far for her to walk. So I’ll pick her up.” She clamped her mouth closed. Did she always have to prattle?
Jase’s chuckle came through the connection. “That’s nice of you. So…how should we meet up?”
Lori forced her rattled mind to think. “I was going to clean at the church Thursday afternoon. Maybe you could come with me afterward. We’ll get Kenzie and go.” Too late she realized she’d want to run home and shower before the get-together. “Or—”
“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll stick around Thursday until you’re ready to go, then leave with you.”
She swallowed a moan. Could she manage a wash in the church bathroom?
“Lori? You there?”
No way would she tell Brother Jase she’d need a shower before she put him in the