She’s a teacher?”
“Home Economics and Life Skills.”
“You have got to be shitting me.”
“I shit you not,” he promised. “Is this because she stole your high school boyfriend out from under you?”
Floyd was remarkably well-versed in ancient gossip.
“Is that what she’s saying?” I asked wearily. How in the holy hell was I supposed to survive an entire semester in the same building as that banshee?
“She may have brought it up once or seventeen times.”
“I only accepted the job yesterday.”
He shrugged. “Word travels fast.”
“She didn’t steal Travis away from me. I broke up with him, and then she ensnared him.”
“Interesting. Very interesting.” Floyd stroked his beard.
“It’s not that interesting,” I countered. I needed to find a strategy that would let me fade into the background as a coach and a teacher. The sooner, the better. I didn’t want to be thrust into the small-town spotlight. I was going to do my time, collect my meager paycheck, and then move on. Maybe I’d finally find the job, the cause, the meaning I’d been looking for.
“I’m sure you’re up on all the Hostetter news,” Floyd said expectantly.
“Actually no.” When I’d left for college, I’d given my mother a list of people whose names I never wanted to hear again. Travis, Amie Jo, and Jake Weston’s names were at the top. And while she’d talked my ears off about everyone else in town, she’d honored my request. “I just realized yesterday that they live next door to my parents.”
“Did you meet Manolo?”
“Who’s Manolo? Their butler?” I asked wearily.
“The swan.”
“Yes. I did see something that looked like a swan in their front yard.” I didn’t add that I’d then proceeded to flop over my parents’ azaleas and crash land.
“So, Travis took over the Cadillac dealership from his father. Apparently it’s very lucrative,” Floyd said, leaning in as if he were imparting secrets. “They bought that lot and tore down a perfectly good two-story to build their mini castle just so the twins wouldn’t have to wait at the bus stop anymore because—get this—the elements were ruining the boys’ hairdos.”
“That seems…extravagant.”
“Well, when you spend $200 per twin every month at the barber shop, I guess you’d look at it as an investment.”
I wasn’t big on gossip. I’d been the target of it enough my senior year that I didn’t partake as a matter of principle. Besides, what business of mine was it if someone was screwing their boss or taking long lunches so they could run home and spy on their third-shift husband to see if he was having an affair? However, this piqued my interest.
“$200 per twin?”
The air conditioning vent above me blew a steady stream of arctic air onto my sweaty skin, and I started to feel the chill.
Floyd nodded. “Every month. Rumor has it Amie Jo is pushing to give them both Escalades for their birthday next year. They both drive pimped-out Jeeps that they got when they turned sixteen. Milton is on his second one since he drove the first one into Dunkleburger’s pond.”
Swans, Escalades, hair.
I shook my head.
“It’ll be very interesting to see how you two get along at school.” He grinned.
“You seem like a guy who knows a lot about a lot of people,” I noted.
He gave a shrug of his massive shoulders. “To be honest, there’s not a lot to do around here. And this feels healthier than watching reality TV. So yeah, if you need the dirt on anyone, you just let me know.”
I wet my lips and tried to talk myself out of it. What would stop Floyd from telling the entire town if I asked about him? Nothing. But did it really matter? I was only going to be here for a few months, and then I’d be back out in the world forgetting all about Culpepper.
“Jake Weston,” I said finally.
Floyd’s brown eyes lit up like I’d just handed him a winning lottery ticket.
“What do you want to know?”
6
Jake
The foam roller dug into the hot spot on my quad with a satisfying zing of pain. The first preseason practice was behind me for the day, and I could enjoy a few more hours of summer malaise.
August was bittersweet for me as a teacher.
I loved my summers off. Made great use of them. Taking the bike or the dog on road trips. But there was something exciting about heading back to school. New beginnings. Not that I’d felt that way when I’d been a student. I’d been more “rebel without a clue” back in the day.
“I’m rolling here,