Minders by Michele Jaffe

Author:Michele Jaffe [Jaffe, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-01-30T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Tiny prickles of impatience teased Ford all day at work.

He’d texted Plum that morning—“I CAN’T GET YOU OFF MY MIND. I’M SORRY I WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT. WILL YOU GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE?”—and had been checking his phone all day for a reply that didn’t materialize, but Sadie knew his anticipation was really due to his excitement about his date with Cali that night.

He stopped at the tree house on his way home from work, and as he put out candles and set the table he hummed to himself, his mind almost as playful as it was when he was with Lulu. He hung a mirror he’d found at a job site on one wall, and grinned when he unwrapped a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream he’d skipped lunch for three days to afford because it was Cali’s favorite.

Watching him go through the preparations, Sadie was envious of Cali. Not because of Ford, of course. Because of the hours he’d spent planning to make the night a success. He’d built a whole tree house just for her.

He rushed home to get dressed, and he’d been tucking in a surprisingly unwrinkled dress shirt when his mother came out of her room and said, “We need to talk, Ford.”

“No we don’t,” he told her, his mind filling with matte dots, as though ready to repel anything that might try to penetrate it.

“We do.”

“Well, I can’t right now.”

“Soon,” she insisted.

He shrugged, already pushing the conversation to the farthest corner of his mind, determined not to let anything spoil the night. “Fine, tomorrow after work.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding to herself. “Okay.” Disappearing back into the gloom of her bedroom.

• • •

He rode his bike the two miles to Cali’s house, a yellow one-story with its own yard and a front porch. Leaving the picnic basket on the porch, he rang the bell then walked through the unlocked screen door.

A man in a tank top and work pants sat on the couch, his face lit by the television.

“Hello, Mr. Moss,” Ford said.

“Hello, Ford,” Cali’s father answered without taking his eyes from the television. “Have a seat.”

Ford sat and watched a show about making fondue for ten minutes while his mind buzzed impatiently with different imagined versions of Cali saying, “Ford, no way!” for each surprise she discovered in the tree house. Cali came out wearing a tight dress and high heels with her hair pinned up.

Ford’s mind played a drum flourish. Sadie thought she looked pretty, and there was no denying that she had boobs.

“You look—” Ford began, searching for words. “Better than dinner.”

“Must not be much of a place you’ve picked out then.” Cali smiled at him.

“Oh, it is. It is.” Their fingers twined together, and Sadie felt his heartbeat pick up.

Cali said goodbye to her dad, and they stepped out onto the porch into the warm night. Ford bent to grab the picnic basket, and Cali tugged her hand from his. “No,” she said emphatically. “No, no, no.”

What was going on? Sadie wondered as Ford’s mind filled with even lines of dark circles hovering in protective formation.

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