CHAPTER 7
Just What I Needed
I needed to talk to Jane. Now. I waited impatiently as the phone rang. "Answer, answer," I whispered intolerantly into the receiver. Voicemail. Grrrrr! As I was preparing to leave a message, my phone beeped. Thank goodness it was Jane.
"Sorry," she said in a raspy voice. "I was sleeping."
"Well, wake up quickly because I have to tell you what just happened!"
"What about last night? You didn't call."
"Sorry. Okay. So, Ty's house is un-believable. They must be very wealthy. His mother was so nice. She made this southern meal especially for us. His father, who owns and runs the local newspaper, was really nice, too. He even invited me to visit the paper's office. We all talked the whole time we were there. No awkward silences. And he has this gorgeous sister who wants to be besties. And, then, this morning, he texted me."
"He texted you already?" Jane asked incredulously.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about!"
"He must really like you, Essie," she said with a hint of teasing in her voice.
"That's what I was thinking. Do you think I should text him back?"
"Well?" she mused. "What did the text say?"
I read it to her.
"Yes," she stated matter-of-factly. "He's obviously very direct. And you usually are, too. What's the problem?"
"No problem, Jane. He just takes me off-guard and it's messing with my confidence."
"Well, I think you should just go with it. Text him back and tell him thanks for the invite and you had a good time, too. That's it. That's just good manners. Nothing more. See what happens after that."
"All right. Let me go and I'll text him now and let you know later on what happens, if anything."
"Okay. Don't forget. Talk to you later."
"Okay. See you."
"See you."
I pressed "END," then the text icon, and typed the following, "Good Morning, Ty. We all had a great time last night. Thanks again for inviting us. Essie." Nothing more.
It was a beautiful morning. Not too hot yet. I thought I'd take the dog for a walk through a subdivision not far from our house. I finished my coffee and went inside.
"Good morning," I said to no one in particular, acknowledging the various family members sitting around the kitchen and family room.
"I'm going to take Axl for a walk."
"Can I go? Can I go?" Hollie squealed impatiently.
"No," I said as nicely as possible. She didn't usually take no for an answer, though, and I continued before she could start begging. "I'm going to walk him kind of far, over to that subdivision down the road. You know you'll get tired halfway through and want Mum to come pick you up."
She made that disappointed face that always got to me.
"How about if I take you for an ice cream after lunch instead?"
She jumped up and down and sweetly yelled, "Okay, Essie." She was so adorable. I really loved spending time with her.
I threw on some gym shorts and a t-shirt, pulled my hair back, and searched for an old collar and leash that I was sure was somewhere in one of the boxes we had yet to unpack in the garage. We'd had a dog, Dali, a beautiful Dalmatian with ice blue eyes, up until a couple of years ago. We had to put her to sleep because she got so old that she couldn't function. It was traumatic for the whole family. Although we wanted another dog, we'd just never gotten around to it. Now Axl just appeared and was immediately accepted by all.
"Here they are. Finally." I huffed after spending a good twenty minutes searching through stacks of boxes. I grabbed them, whistled for Axl, and started off down the long Bradford pear tree-lined driveway. Hmmm. He didn't come running. I walked back to the house. I opened the front door and yelled, "Has anyone seen Axl?"
"No," I heard from the kitchen.
I assumed that he must have wandered off; after all, I had found him in the woods. Perhaps he belonged to another family, although he wasn't wearing a collar. I decided right then that I would get him a new collar and a tag as soon as possible if he returned. Once again, I headed down the driveway. Before I had made it to the road, Axl came running up behind me.
"There you are," I exclaimed happily. "Let's go back and get your leash so we can go for a walk." He seemed thrilled to comply.
About fifteen minutes later, I had made it to the nearby subdivision. I was totally sweating. I checked my phone, only to be discouraged to see that it was already 83? with a real feel of 91?. Ugh! Suck it up, I thought disapprovingly. Then, just as quickly, How can people stand it here? It's sooooooo humid. It felt like we lived in a swamp. After I stopped the internal whining, I started noticing how cute the houses were. Each perfectly manicured yard had its own old-fashioned lamppost with a sign hanging from it indicating the owner's name. Adorable! I walked along with Axl, admiring each house and waving to any person who happened to be in their yard. The people here were extremely friendly. As I rounded the first block, I saw a couple of guys throwing a football. Axl unexpectedly darted toward them, yanking the leash out of my hand. I didn't know if he was going to attack them or what, and I ran after him, yelling his name. When he reached them, he just sat there, staring.
"Is he friendly?" the big one asked in a heavy Southern accent.
"So far. I just found him yesterday."
"I think he wants to hang out with us. How 'bout you?" the leaner one invited.
"Actually?"
Axl growled softly.
Undeterred, he continued, "Hey, are you from the new family that moved in down the road?"
"Yes. And it's really weird that everyone knows that. I'm Essie," I said as I walked closer.
The leaner one offered his hand. "Jackson. And this is Colton."
This time Axl barked and scooted very close to me. The guys stepped back. "It's okay, Axl," I said reassuringly.
"Good to meet you, Essie," Colton said with a shy grin.
"You must go South Effingham High School, right?"
Jackson replied first. "Yeah, we're both seniors this year. You?"
I nodded.
"That kinda sucks, huh? I mean, transferring your senior year?"
"Very much so. But I had no choice in the matter, so I'm trying to make the best of it. But Eden is so small. It doesn't seem like there's much to do here."
"A bunch of us are going four-wheeling after dinner tonight. You should come," Colton offered.
"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "At Black Creek. Do you have a four-wheeler? If not, we have one you can borrow."
"Surprisingly enough, my dad bought one for my sister and me right before we moved here. He figured we could use it since we had a little land and my sister's not old enough to drive a car yet."
"Cool. You need directions to Black Creek?" Colton drawled, making Creek sound like Crake. I was getting used to the accent.
I nodded.
"Give me your number and I'll text them to you later."
I complied. "Thanks," I said, and quickly added, "I'd better get on with my walk. It's going to be too hot real soon."
"See you later then?" Jackson asked uncertainly.
"Sure. Later. See you."
"Bye, Essie," Colton said sweetly.
I smiled and continued my walk with Axl, happy that I'd finally have something to do that didn't involve a member of my family.
The day went by quickly as I helped my mother unpack and organize a bunch of the boxes from the garage. As promised, I received a text from Colton giving me directions to Black Creek. They seemed to be pretty straight forward. That being said, what was clear to one person, wasn't usually clear to me. It was embarrassing to think of how many times I'd gotten lost. But I figured I'd find it eventually. At least it wouldn't be dark.
After dinner, I struggled to push the four-wheeler up the makeshift ramp into the back of the used pickup that my mother had purchased a few days earlier. She figured we'd need it for any number of things, living out in the middle of nowhere as we now did. Apparently, she was right. I sta
rted the truck, cranked the radio, and headed for Black Creek. I was excited. Not only was I getting out of the house, but I'd get the chance to meet some more people before school started in three short weeks. At sixteen, there weren't many things more awkward than walking into a new school, not knowing a soul, and enduring the inevitable stares and whispers. I felt guilty now, knowing that I had done that in the past, wishing for a do-over.
The only stations that the truck radio picked up were country stations. I hadn't heard much of that in Bradford, but I thought I liked it, although I wasn't sure I'd admit that to Jane, Peggie or Annie. I guess that, without thinking about it, we accepted the stereotype that country music equals redneck. But the people that I'd met so far were not like that at all, at least not what I'd imagined a redneck to be. Then again, most, if not all, of my information came straight from Jeff Foxworthy.
Amazingly, I found my way to Black Creek without getting lost even once. I felt proud. As I pulled in to the makeshift parking lot and found a space amidst a dozen trucks, I didn't see Jackson or Colton, and I started feeling a little nervous.
"Please let them be here," I whispered. I jumped out of the truck and headed around the back to open the tailgate. Just as it slammed down, I felt a huge hand on my shoulder. It startled me, and I turned quickly to see that it was Colton. Yay! I thought. They were here.
"Hi, Colton."
"Hi, Essie. I saw you pull in and thought you could use a hand getting this down off the truck."
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver. It took me forever to get it up there. I was afraid it might get away from me on the way down."
He laughed. "Let me." He put the two wooden planks in place and rode the red machine down in about ten seconds.
"It's like you've done this before," I teased.
"Once or twice," he replied shyly. "Come on. Jackson's down there," he pointed. "Everyone else, too. Gimme a ride?"
I looked around and realized he must have walked up to get me, since mine was the only four-wheeler in sight. "Why don't you give me a ride? Full disclosure, this will be my first time riding in a long while. I'd hate to make a bad first impression by crashing this thing and permanently disfiguring you."
He laughed and got on. "Jump on and hold on tight," he said as he cranked it. He started out smoothly enough but then he hit the throttle really hard and accelerated, causing the front end to come up off the ground. I squeezed him tightly and muffled a scream, while he laughed heartily, let off the throttle, and returned my four-wheeler to earth. We drove for just a minute before reaching the rest of the group, hanging out around a large stone pit that looked as though it had contained many fires over the years.